Dynamic Development of Fecal Microbiome During the Progression of Diabetes Mellitus in Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats

Background: Although substantial efforts have been made to link the gut microbiota to type 2 diabetes, dynamic changes in the fecal microbiome under the pathological conditions of diabetes have not been investigated.Methods: Four male Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats received Purina 5008 chow [protein = 23.6%, Nitrogen-Free Extract (by difference) = 50.3%, fiber (crude) = 3.3%, ash = 6.1%, fat (ether extract) = 6.7%, and fat (acid hydrolysis) = 8.1%] for 8 weeks. A total of 32 stool samples were collected from weeks 8 to 15 in four rats. To decipher the microbial populations in these samples, we used a 16S rRNA gene sequencing approach.Results: Microbiome analysis showed that the changes in the fecal microbiome were associated with age and disease progression. In all the stages from 8 to 15 weeks, phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria primarily dominated the fecal microbiome of the rats. Although Lactobacillus and Turicibacter were the predominant genera in 8- to 10-week-old rats, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Ruminococcus, and Allobaculum were the most abundant genera in 15-week-old rats. Of interest, compared to the earlier weeks, relatively greater diversity (at the genus level) was observed at 10 weeks of age. Although the microbiome of 12-week-old rats had the highest diversity, the diversity in 13–15-week-old rats was reduced. Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that F/B was negatively correlated with age. Random blood glucose was negatively correlated with Lactobacillus and Turicibacter but positively correlated with Ruminococcus and Allobaculum and Simpson’s diversity index.Conclusion: We demonstrated the time-dependent alterations of the abundance and diversity of the fecal microbiome during the progression of diabetes in ZDF rats. At the genus level, dynamic changes were observed. We believe that this work will enhance our understanding of fecal microbiome development in ZDF rats and help to further analyze the role of the microbiome in metabolic diseases. Furthermore, our work may also provide an effective strategy for the clinical treatment of diabetes through microbial intervention

Dai-Huang-Fu-Zi-Tang Alleviates Intestinal Injury Associated with Severe Acute Pancreatitis by Regulating Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore of Intestinal Mucosa Epithelial Cells

Objective. The aim of the present study was to examine whether Dai-Huang-Fu-Zi-Tang (DHFZT) could regulate mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) of intestinal mucosa epithelial cells for alleviating intestinal injury associated with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Methods. A total of 72 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (sham group, SAP group, and DHFZT group, n=24 per group). The rats in each group were divided into 4 subgroups (n=6 per subgroup) accordingly at 1, 3, 6, and 12 h after the operation. The contents of serum amylase, D-lactic acid, diamine oxidase activity, and degree of MPTP were measured by dry chemical method and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The change of mitochondria of intestinal epithelial cells was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Results. The present study showed that DHFZT inhibited the openness of MPTP at 3, 6, and 12 h after the operation. Meanwhile, it reduced the contents of serum D-lactic acid and activity of diamine oxidase activity and also drastically relieved histopathological manifestations and epithelial cells injury of intestine. Conclusion. DHFZT alleviates intestinal injury associated SAP via reducing the openness of MPTP. In addition, DHFZT could also decrease the content of serum diamine oxidase activity and D-lactic acid after SAP

Artificial Auditory Perception Pattern Recognition System Based on Spatiotemporal Convolutional Neural Network

It is difficult to combine human sensory cognition with quality detection to form a pattern recognition system based on human perception. In the future, miniature stepper motor modules will be widely used in advanced intelligent equipment. However, the reducer module based on powder metallurgy parts and the stepper motor may have various defects during operation, with varying definitions of those that affect the user comfort. It is tremendously important to develop an intelligent system to effectively simulate human senses. In this work, an elaborated personification of the perceptual system is proposed to simulate the ventral and flow of the human perception system: two branch systems consisting of a spatiotemporal convolutional neural network (S-CNN) and a concatenated HoppingNet temporal convolutional neural network (T-CNN). To ensure high robustness of the system, we combined principal component analysis (PCA) with the opinions of an experienced quality control (QC) team members to screen the data, and used a bionic ear to simulate human perception characteristics. After repeated comparisons of the tester, the results show that our anthropoid pattern sensing system has high accuracy and robustness for a stepper motor module

Fingerprint analysis and multi-component determination of Zibu Piyin recipe by HPLC with DAD and Q-TOF/MS method

<p>Zibu Piyin recipe (ZBPYR), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, is used for curing dementia caused by diabetes. For quality control of ZBPYR, fingerprint analysis and qualitative analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a diode-array detector, and confirmation using HPLC coupled with electrospray ionisation quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) were undertaken. HPLC fingerprint consisting of 34 common peaks was developed among 10 batches of ZBPYR, in which 7 common peaks were identified in comparison with the authentic standards and detected simultaneously. Furthermore, these seven compounds were verified by HPLC-Q-TOF-MS methods. The method can be applied to the quality control of ZBPYR.</p

Efficacy of Chinese Herbal Medicine as an Adjunctive Therapy on in-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute Kidney Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective. We aimed to systematically assess the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) as an adjunctive therapy on in-hospital mortality in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods. We did a systematic review of articles published in any language up until Jun 23, 2015, by searching PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CBM, and CNKI. We included all RCTs that compared outcomes of patients with AKI taking CHM plus Western treatment (WT) with those taking WT alone. We applied Cochrane risk-of-bias tool to assess the methodological quality of the included trials. Results. Of 832 citations, 15 studies involving 966 patients met inclusion criteria. The methodological quality was assessed with unclear risk of bias. In the primary outcome of meta-analysis, pooled outcome of in-hospital mortality showed that patients randomly assigned to CHM treatment group were associated with low risk of in-hospital mortality compared with those randomly assigned to WT alone (RR = 0.41; 95% CI = 0.24 to 0.71; P=0.001). Conclusions. CHM as an adjunctive therapy is associated with a decreased risk of in-hospital mortality compared with WT in patients with AKI. Further studies with high quality and large sample size are needed to verify our conclusions

Dynamic Simulation and Experimental Study of Electric Vehicle Motor-Gear System Based on State Space Method

In the research on electric vehicle transmission vibration characteristics, the dynamic model involving a multistage gear system is still rare, especially the influences of driving motor excitation and load excitation which are not considered, and which makes the gear system research deviate from the actual situation. In addition, the changing processes of variables are usually simplified or neglected in the study of gear systems, which is not conducive in revealing the mechanism of gear dynamic behavior. In this paper, an improved dynamic model of a motor-gear system is established. The influences of driving motor excitation and load excitation are included, and the changing processes of tangential, axial, and torsional vibration variables of driving gear and driven gear are obtained using the state space method. Furthermore, the transmission housing vibration responses are investigated. By comparing the simulation results with the measurement data, the improved dynamic model, as well as the state space solution method, are verified as reliable and universal. On this basis, the influence of motor excitation on the state change of the gear system is discussed, which provides a theoretical approach for further study of motor drive gear systems

Dynamic Simulation and Experimental Study of Electric Vehicle Motor-Gear System Based on State Space Method

In the research on electric vehicle transmission vibration characteristics, the dynamic model involving a multistage gear system is still rare, especially the influences of driving motor excitation and load excitation which are not considered, and which makes the gear system research deviate from the actual situation. In addition, the changing processes of variables are usually simplified or neglected in the study of gear systems, which is not conducive in revealing the mechanism of gear dynamic behavior. In this paper, an improved dynamic model of a motor-gear system is established. The influences of driving motor excitation and load excitation are included, and the changing processes of tangential, axial, and torsional vibration variables of driving gear and driven gear are obtained using the state space method. Furthermore, the transmission housing vibration responses are investigated. By comparing the simulation results with the measurement data, the improved dynamic model, as well as the state space solution method, are verified as reliable and universal. On this basis, the influence of motor excitation on the state change of the gear system is discussed, which provides a theoretical approach for further study of motor drive gear systems

Stress-Induced Neuroprotective Effects of Epiregulin and Amphiregulin

<div><p>Members of the epidermal growth factor family play important roles in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation, and survival. However, the specific roles of each epidermal growth factor family member with respect to brain injury are not well understood. Gene chip assay screens have revealed drastic increases in the expression of the epidermal growth factor family members amphiregulin and epiregulin following lipopolysaccharide stimulation, which activates an immune response. Both immune activity and endoplasmic reticulum stress are activated during cerebral ischemia. We found that the expression levels of amphiregulin and epiregulin were significantly increased under conditions of cerebral ischemia. Because endoplasmic reticulum stress increased the expression of amphiregulin and epiregulin in glial cells, endoplasmic reticulum stress may be a key mediatory factor of pathophysiological activity. Recombinant epiregulin and amphiregulin proteins effectively inhibited endoplasmic reticulum stress and the subsequent induction of neuronal cell death. Therefore, the upregulation of the epidermal growth factor family members epiregulin and amphiregulin may play a critical role in preventing endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced cell death, thus providing a potential therapy for brain injury.</p></div