Diagnostic accuracy of the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index for the prediction of hepatitis B-related fibrosis: a leading meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), a tool with limited expense and widespread availability, is a promising noninvasive alternative to liver biopsy for detecting hepatic fibrosis. The objective of this study was to systematically review the performance of the APRI in predicting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in hepatitis B-related fibrosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Areas under summary receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), sensitivity and specificity were used to examine the accuracy of the APRI for the diagnosis of hepatitis B-related significant fibrosis and cirrhosis. Heterogeneity was explored using meta-regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine studies were included in this meta-analysis (n = 1,798). Prevalence of significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were 53.1% and 13.5%, respectively. The summary AUCs of the APRI for significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were 0.79 and 0.75, respectively. For significant fibrosis, an APRI threshold of 0.5 was 84% sensitive and 41% specific. At the cutoff of 1.5, the summary sensitivity and specificity were 49% and 84%, respectively. For cirrhosis, an APRI threshold of 1.0-1.5 was 54% sensitive and 78% specific. At the cutoff of 2.0, the summary sensitivity and specificity were 28% and 87%, respectively. Meta-regression analysis indicated that the APRI accuracy for both significant fibrosis and cirrhosis was affected by histological classification systems, but not influenced by the interval between Biopsy & APRI or blind biopsy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our meta-analysis suggests that APRI show limited value in identifying hepatitis B-related significant fibrosis and cirrhosis.</p

Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study

Introduction. Switchingfrom polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal)to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions.While studies have evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse community settings, is not well understood. Methods.We examined longitudinal survey data from 24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a median of 10 years offollow up (∼2005–2015).We used hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households(12 369)reported changing their primary cookingfuels between baseline andfollow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582) switchedfrom polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene)to clean (gas, electricity)fuels, 26% (3109)switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164)switched from clean to polluting fuels and 3% (522)switched between different clean fuels

Exploration of Pyrolysis Behaviors of Waste Plastics (Polypropylene Plastic/Polyethylene Plastic/Polystyrene Plastic): Macro-Thermal Kinetics and Micro-Pyrolysis Mechanism

Pyrolysis is a promising technology used to recycle both the energy and chemicals in plastics. Three types of plastics, polyethylene plastic (PE), polypropylene plastic (PP) and polystyrene plastic (PS) were investigated using thermogravimetry–mass spectrometry (TG–MS) and reactive force field molecular dynamics (ReaxFF-MD) simulation. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that all three plastics lost weight during the pyrolysis in one step. The thermal decomposition stability is PS < PP < PE. The activation energies and reaction mechanism function of the three plastics were determined by the Kissinger and CR methods. Meanwhile, the ReaxFF-MD combined with density functional theory (DFT) was used to calculate the kinetics, as well as explore the pyrolysis mechanism. The calculated kinetic results agree well with the experimental methods. The common pyrolysis reaction process follows the dissociation sequence of the polymer to polymeric monomer and, then, to the gas molecules. Based on the bond length between the monomers and the bond dissociation energy for different plastics, the required energy for polymer dissociation is PS < PP < PE, which microscopically explains the macro-activation energy sequence and thermal stability. Moreover, due to the retention of aromatic rings in its monomers, PS almost completely converts into oil

E167K polymorphism of TM6SF2 gene affects cell cycle of hepatocellular carcinoma cell HEPA 1-6

Abstract Background Some studties reported that the polymorphism of TM6SF2 gene E167K affects the occurrence and the progression of hepatocytes carcinoma (hepatocellular, HCC). In oeder to investigate the effects of the polymorphism of TM6SF2 gene E167K in the pathogenesis of HCC, we explored its influence on the cell cycle in hepatocellular carcinoma cell HEPA1-6. Methods HEPA 1–6 cells which could respectively overexpress TM6SF2 wild type and E167K variant were cultured and HEPA 1–6 cells with zero load plasmids were used as matched control. Flow cytometry was used to detect the cell cycles of these 3 type of HEPA 1–6 cells. Realtime fluores-cence quantitative PCR and western blot were used to analyzed the expression of regulatory factors (Cyclin D1、p53、P16、P27、P21 and Rb) of cell cycle. T-test was used in statistical analysis. Results Cell cycle phase distribution was presented by the proportion of cells in each phases (%). Compared with the control group, the cell cycle phase distribution (G1 phase 57.36 ± 0.21%, G2/M phase 25.61 ± 0.36%,S phases 19.31 ± 0.25%) had no differences in wild type group (G1 phase 57.63 ± 0.28%, G2/M phase 25.77 ± 0.51%, S phases 19.54 ± 0.25%; P  0.05). P16 and P21 expression showed no statistical sigtfificance in any of these three groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion E167K polymorphism of TM6SF2 gene affects cell cycles of HEPA1–6 cells via up-regulating CyclinD1、P53 and Rb and down-regulating P27

Evolution modes of interbedded weathering crust karst: A case study of the 1st and 2nd members of Ordovician Yingshan Formation in EPCC block, Tazhong, Tarim Basin

The evolution of interbedded weathering crust karst on the top of the Ordovician Yingshan Formation were described based on the geological background, oil and gas show while drilling, core, log imaging and seismic reflection features in the Tazhong area. The study shows that: Filling features of dissolved caves near unconformities depend on the hydrodynamic strength, which, together with the vertical lithofacies, determines the development degree of the interbedded karst. Karst units are classified into several first order units, namely highland, sub-high, slope, and sub-sag, and some secondary units such as dissolved peak, cliff, platform, and dissolved mound, stretching like a strip from northwest to southeast on the whole. The surface weathering zone developed only in the north of the EPCC block, the vertical vadose zone has different thickness in south and north, while the seasonal variation zone changes to horizontal vadose zone from south to north. Sedimentary microfacies affects karst development, but it is not the deciding factor of karst cycle classification, the main factors resulting in the karst difference between south and north are structural uplift, climate, and ancient hydrological conditions. Three cycles and eight secondary cycles are identified in the interbedded weathering karst in Member Ying1-Ying2 in the EPCC block, among them, the third cycle, including the fifth to the eighth secondary cycles, remains, and the fifth and eighth secondary cycles show obvious “different facies” features from south to north. Key words: Tazhong, EPCC block, Ordovician, interbedded karst, karst cycle, evolution mod