PPARγ gene C161T substitution alters lipid profile in Chinese patients with coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is a ligand-activated transcription factor, which regulates gene expression of the key proteins involved in lipid metabolism, vascular inflammation, and proliferation. PPARγ may contribute to attenuating atherogenesis and postangioplasty restenosis. PPARγ C161→T substitution is associated with a reduced risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Whether or not the gene substitution alters the risk of CAD in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients remains unclear.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 556 unrelated subjects from a Chinese Han population, including 89 healthy subjects, 78 CAD patients, 86 T2DM patients, and 303 CAD combined with T2DM patients, were recruited to enroll in this study. PPARγC161→T gene polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Plasma levels of lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, glucose, and insulin were measured by ELISA or radioimmunoassay (RIA). The coronary artery lesions were evaluated by coronary angiography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The frequency of the 161T allele in CAD, T2DM, and CAD combined with T2DM patients was similar to that observed in the healthy control group. However, in CAD combined with T2DM patients, the group with angiographically documented moderate stenoses had a higher frequency of the 161T allele in comparison to the group with severe stenoses (P < 0.05). Moreover, in CAD with T2DM patients, the triglyceride levels and apoB in CC homozygote carriers were significantly higher than those in "T" allele carriers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PPARγC161→T genotypes weren't significantly associated with the risk of CAD, but were markedly correlated with severity of disease vessels in patients with CAD and T2DM. Furthermore, PPARγC161→T substitution was associated with an altered adipose, but not glucose metabolism. These results indicate that the PPARγ C161→T polymorphism may reduce the risk of severe atherogenesis by modulation of adipose metabolism, especially triglycerides and apoB, in Chinese patients with CAD and T2DM.</p

Rigid foldability and mountain-valley crease assignments of square-twist origami pattern

Rigid foldability allows an origami pattern to fold about crease lines without twisting or stretching component panels. It enables folding of rigid materials, facilitating the design of foldable structures. Recent study shows that rigid foldability is affected by the mountain- valley crease (M-V) assignment of an origami pattern. In this paper, we investigate the rigid foldability of the square-twist origami pattern with diverse M-V assignments by a kinematic method based on the motion transmission path. Four types of square-twist origami patterns are analyzed, among which two are found rigidly foldable, while the other two are not. The explicit kinematic equations of the rigid cases are derived based on the kinematic equivalence between the rigid origami pattern and the closed-loop network of spherical 4 R linkages. We also convert a non-rigid pattern into a rigid one by introduc- ing an extra crease. The kinematic analysis of the modified pattern reveals an interesting bifurcation behaviour. This work not only helps to deepen our understanding on the rigid foldability of origami patterns and its relationship with the M-V assignments, but also pro- vides us an effective way to create more rigidly foldable origami patterns from non-rigid ones

Theoretical characterization of a non-rigid-foldable square-twist origami for property programmability

Using non-rigid-foldable origami patterns to design mechanical metamaterials could 14 potentially offer more versatile behaviors than the rigid-foldable ones, but their applications are 15 limited by the lack of analytical framework for predicting their behavior. Here, we propose a 16 theoretical model to characterize a non-rigid-foldable square-twist origami pattern by its rigid origami 17 counterpart. Based on the experimentally observed deformation mode the square-twist, a virtual 18 crease was added in the central square to turn the non-rigid-foldable pattern to a rigid-foldable one. 19 Two possible deformation paths of the non-rigid-foldable pattern were calculated through kinematic 20 analysis of its rigid origami counterpart, and the associated energy and force were derived 21 analytically. Using the theoretical model, we for the first time discovered that the non-rigid-foldable 22 structure bifurcated to follow a low-energy deformation path, which was validated through 23 experiments. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the structure could be programmed by the 24 geometrical parameters of the pattern and material stiffness of the creases and facets. This work thus 25 paves the way for development of non-rigid-foldable origami-based metamaterials serving for 26 mechanical, thermal, and other engineering applications

Data mining and its application in natural gas pipeline network under the context of big data

The era of big data has brought about great changes in industry. In order to improve the efficiency, security and automation level of industrial production, it is necessary to find out the hidden rules in the massive data by fully mining and utilizing the big data of industry, so as to improve the level of information management in industry, further providing reliable technical support for intelligent monitoring, operation and maintenance. Herein, the application solution and effect of data mining in load forecasting, safety warning, scheduling optimization and performance monitoring of natural gas pipeline network under the context of big data were analyzed with specific cases. Based on that, the development direction of data mining and other relevant technologies was discussed from the perspectives of multi-data fusion, establishment of integrated information platform and full-life-cycle management. Moreover, the application of data mining in natural gas pipeline network was prospected

Sequencing and analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Hippopus porcellanus

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Hippopus porcellanus was reported. The whole mitochondrial genome was 21,565bp in length with a typical mitochondrial genomic structure including 13 protein-coding genes, 23 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 1 control region (D-loop). Mitogenome base composition was biased toward A + T content, at 60.3%. A phylogenetic tree based on complete mitogenome sequences revealed that, H. porcellanus is closely related to H. hippopus, both of which belong to the genus Hippopus