Development and validation of machine learning-augmented algorithm for insulin sensitivity assessment in the community and primary care settings: a population-based study in China

ObjectiveInsulin plays a central role in the regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis, and insulin resistance (IR) is widely considered as the “common soil” of a cluster of cardiometabolic disorders. Assessment of insulin sensitivity is very important in preventing and treating IR-related disease. This study aims to develop and validate machine learning (ML)-augmented algorithms for insulin sensitivity assessment in the community and primary care settings.MethodsWe analyzed the data of 9358 participants over 40 years old who participated in the population-based cohort of the Hubei center of the REACTION study (Risk Evaluation of Cancers in Chinese Diabetic Individuals). Three non-ensemble algorithms and four ensemble algorithms were used to develop the models with 70 non-laboratory variables for the community and 87 (70 non-laboratory and 17 laboratory) variables for the primary care settings to screen the classifier of the state-of-the-art. The models with the best performance were further streamlined using top-ranked 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, and 20 features. Performances of these ML models were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPR), and the Brier score. The Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) analysis was employed to evaluate the importance of features and interpret the models.ResultsThe LightGBM models developed for the community (AUROC 0.794, AUPR 0.575, Brier score 0.145) and primary care settings (AUROC 0.867, AUPR 0.705, Brier score 0.119) achieved higher performance than the models constructed by the other six algorithms. The streamlined LightGBM models for the community (AUROC 0.791, AUPR 0.563, Brier score 0.146) and primary care settings (AUROC 0.863, AUPR 0.692, Brier score 0.124) using the 20 top-ranked variables also showed excellent performance. SHAP analysis indicated that the top-ranked features included fasting plasma glucose (FPG), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), triglycerides (TG), gender, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), the number of daughters born, resting pulse rate (RPR), etc.ConclusionThe ML models using the LightGBM algorithm are efficient to predict insulin sensitivity in the community and primary care settings accurately and might potentially become an efficient and practical tool for insulin sensitivity assessment in these settings

The deformation, cracking and failure behavior of lithological layered coal disk in Brazilian experiment

The cracking characterization of lithological layered coal disk under tensile stress is important for hydraulic fracturing in coal seam gas recovery. With digital image correlation and acoustic emission techniques, the cracking and fracture pattern of layered coal disk in Brazilian test were investigated considering different anisotropy angle between axial load and stratification plane and loading rate. The results show that both tensile and shear cracks developed in coal disk, and the crack initiation deviated from the center for most coal samples, closely related to stratification orientation, but irrespective of loading rate. The anisotropy angle in a range of 0°–45° favors the shear slip along stratification, leading to shear stick slip in both pre- and post-peak stages. However, the tensile cracks dominate in the early loading stage and then shear cracks start to be significant after the tensile cracks intersect with stratification plane. The stress state changed when the tensile cracks intersect with stratification plane, making crack deviate from the original propagation path. In addition, the tensile strength is related to the anisotropy angle. The maximum tensile strength occurs when the anisotropy angle α = 0° and the minimum tensile strength appears when the anisotropy angle α = 30°

Compressive Failure Mechanism of Structural Bamboo Scrimber

Bamboo scrimber is one of the most popular engineering bamboo composites, owing to its excellent physical and mechanical properties. In order to investigate the influence of grain direction on the compression properties and failure mechanism of bamboo scrimber, the longitudinal, radial and tangential directions were selected. The results showed that the compressive load–displacement curves of bamboo scrimber in the longitudinal, tangential and radial directions contained elastic, yield and failure stages. The compressive strength and elastic modulus of the bamboo scrimber in the longitudinal direction were greater than those in the radial and tangential directions, and there were no significant differences between the radial and tangential specimens. The micro-fracture morphology shows that the parenchyma cells underwent brittle shear failure in all three directions, while the fiber failure of the longitudinal compressive specimens consisted of ductile fracture, and the tangential and radial compressive specimens exhibited brittle fracture. This is one of the reasons that the deformation of the specimens under longitudinal compression was greater than those under tangential and radial compression. The main failure mode of bamboo scrimber under longitudinal and radial compression was shear failure, and the main failure mode under tangential compression was interlayer separation failure. The reason for this difference was that during longitudinal and radial compression, the maximum strain occurred at the diagonal of the specimen, while during tangential compression, the maximum strain occurred at the bonding interface. This study can provide benefits for the rational design and safe application of bamboo scrimber in practical engineering

A fast numerical method and optimization of 3D discrete fracture network considering fracture aperture heterogeneity

A novel numerical method was developed to evaluate the effect of the aperture heterogeneity of individual fractures on fluid flow through three-dimensional discrete fracture networks (DFNs). First, the rock fractures are modelled as circular discs with sizes, orientations, and positions following exponential, Fisher, and uniform distributions, respectively. Isolated fractures (clusters) that make no contribution to fluid flow through the DFN were then removed by optimization programming using breadth optimization and deep optimization algorithms. Subsequently, individual fractures with heterogeneous apertures were developed using successive random addition algorithms. After that, fracture networks were triangulated, and the Reynolds equations were solved for fluid dynamics computations. The verification showed that the developed method provides advantages in computational accuracy and efficiency. Finally, the influence of the aperture heterogeneity of individual fractures on fluid flow through a DFN was evaluated with the proposed method. For comparison, DFN models with identical mechanical apertures (DFN-I) and another model with heterogeneous apertures (DFNH) were developed. The results show that a preferential flow phenomenon appeared in both the DFN-I and DFNH models. However, owing to the aperture heterogeneity of the individual fractures, the results of the DFNH model were more substantial than those of the DFN-I model. This preferential flow phenomenon would be weakened by an increase in either the mechanical aperture or the fracture density. The results also showed that the permeability difference between the DFN-I and DFNH models was obvious for DFN models with small apertures and low fracture densities, but this permeability discrepancy decreased with increasing mechanical aperture or fracture density. Therefore, a critical mechanical aperture exists for a DFN model with a specified fracture density. Beyond this threshold, the influence of aperture heterogeneity within individual fractures on fluid flow can be neglected, and the DFN-I model can be selected to replace the DFNH model for efficient modelling and computation

Genetic diversity and population structure of the endangered Japanese sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) in natural seas of northern China

Overfishing and habitat destruction have decimated wild sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) stocks, causing this species to become endangered. Several conservation measures have been implemented to assist in the recovery of A. japonicus. Due to the low efficiency of conventional domestication methods and the current prevalence of bottom-sowing culture in marine ranches, it is urgent to evaluate the genetic diversity and population structure of sea cucumber geographical groups in the natural seas of northern China using genome-wide molecular markers. In this study, six sea cucumber geographical groups were collected from marine ranches in Shandong, Hebei, and Liaoning provinces. A total of 18,191 high-quality genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in 70 A. japonicus individuals using 2b-RAD technology. These SNPs were used to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of the six groups. Compared with previous studies, these six geographical groups showed much lower levels of genetic diversity both among and between groups, with all individuals clustering into one population. These findings demonstrate the necessity of continuous genetic monitoring of A. japonicus in the natural seas of northern China. Furthermore, this study serves as a valuable reference for future genome-assisted breeding and germplasm improvement in this economically critical species

Close Association Between Platelet Biogenesis and Alveolarization of the Developing Lung.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a neonatal chronic lung disease characterized by an arrest in alveolar and vascular development. BPD is secondary to lung immaturity, ventilator-induced lung injury, and exposure to hyperoxia in extremely premature infants, leading to a lifelong impairment of lung function. Recent studies indicate that the lung plays an important role in platelet biogenesis. However, the dynamic change of platelet production during lung development and BPD pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. We investigated the dynamic change of platelet parameters in extremely premature infants during BPD development, and in newborn rats during their normal development from birth to adulthood. We further studied the effect of hyperoxia exposure on platelet production and concomitant pulmonary maldevelopment in an experimental BPD rat model induced by prolonged exposure to hyperoxia. We detected a physiological increase in platelet count from birth to 36 weeks postmenstrual age in extremely premature infants, but platelet counts in extremely premature infants who developed BPD were persistently lower than gestational age-matched controls. In line with clinical findings, exposure to hyperoxia significantly decreased the platelet count in neonatal rats. Lung morphometry analysis demonstrated that platelet counts stabilized with the completion of lung alveolarization in rats. Our findings indicate a close association between platelet biogenesis and alveolarization in the developing lung. This phenomenon might explain the reduced platelet count in extremely premature infants with BPD

Vascular and pulmonary effects of ibuprofen on neonatal lung development.

BACKGROUND: Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is commonly used to stimulate closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in very premature infants and may lead to aberrant neonatal lung development and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). METHODS: We investigated the effect of ibuprofen on angiogenesis in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the therapeutic potential of daily treatment with 50 mg/kg of ibuprofen injected subcutaneously in neonatal Wistar rat pups with severe hyperoxia-induced experimental BPD. Parameters investigated included growth, survival, lung histopathology and mRNA expression. RESULTS: Ibuprofen inhibited angiogenesis in HUVECs, as shown by reduced tube formation, migration and cell proliferation via inhibition of the cell cycle S-phase and promotion of apoptosis. Treatment of newborn rat pups with ibuprofen reduced pulmonary vessel density in the developing lung, but also attenuated experimental BPD by reducing lung inflammation, alveolar enlargement, alveolar septum thickness and small arteriolar wall thickening. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, ibuprofen has dual effects on lung development: adverse effects on angiogenesis and beneficial effects on alveolarization and inflammation. Therefore, extrapolation of the beneficial effects of ibuprofen to premature infants with BPD should be done with extreme caution

Bright Room-Temperature Phosphorescence from Mixed Mothballs Enabling Specific Identification of the Illegal Component

Ultralong organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with high brightness was rarely achieved to date despite their huge potential in various applications such as lighting, sensing, anti-counterfeiting and imaging. Herein, by exploiting π-π* nature of the lowest excited triplet state of naphthalene (NL, the traditional active ingredient for mothball) and intersystem crossingpromoting factors from 1,4-dichlorobenzene (DCB, a safer alternative to NL as mothball), we report a simple and novel guest/host system, namely NL/DCB, that could produce strong green RTP with quantum yield > 20% and lifetime > 0.76 s (afterglow duration > 10 s) at ambient conditions. The RTP performance with simultaneous high efficiency and ultralong lifetime is superior to that of most purely organic (metal-free) RTP materials reported so far. Control experiments with different hosts and first-principle theoretical calculations revealed that the robust RTP behavior in the unique NL/DCB system was mainly attributed to a combination of clusterexciton formation and external heavy atom effect. Meanwhile, the remarkable “turn-on” type RTP to naked eyes allows fast and specific detection of illegal NL mothball using DCB as a sensor, which is valuable in household as well as industrial applications