Characteristic gene expression in the liver monocyte-macrophage-DC system is associated with the progression of fibrosis in NASH

BackgroundThe monocyte-macrophage-dendritic cell (DC) (MMD) system exerts crucial functions that may modulate fibrogenesis in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). In this study, we explored the cell characteristics, distribution and developmental trajectory of the liver MMD system in NASH mice with fibrosis and clarified characteristic genes of the MMD system involved in liver fibrosis progression in NASH mice and patients.MethodsSingle cells in liver tissue samples from NASH and normal mice were quantified using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the MMD system by pseudotime analysis were validated by tyramide signal amplification (TSA)-immunohistochemical staining (IHC) and analyzed by second harmonic generation (SHG)/two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF).ResultsCompared with control mice, there were increased numbers of monocytes, Kupffer cells, and DCs in two NASH mouse models. From the transcriptional profiles of these single cells, we identified 8 monocyte subsets (Mono1-Mono8) with different molecular and functional properties. Furthermore, the pseudotime analysis showed that Mono5 and Mono6 were at the beginning of the trajectory path, whereas Mono2, Mono4, Kupffer cells and DCs were at a terminal state. Genes related to liver collagen production were at the late stage of this trajectory path. DEGs analysis revealed that the genes Fmnl1 and Myh9 in the MMD system were gradually upregulated during the trajectory. By TSA-IHC, the Fmnl1 and Myh9 expression levels were increased and associated with collagen production and fibrosis stage in NASH mice and patients.ConclusionsOur transcriptome data provide a novel landscape of the MMD system that is involved in advanced NASH disease status. Fmnl1 and Myh9 expression in the MMD system was associated with the progression of NASH fibrosis

The Characteristics of Blood Glucose and WBC Counts in Peripheral Blood of Cases of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease in China: A Systematic Review

Background: Outbreaks of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) have occurred in many parts of the world especially in China. We aimed to summarize the characteristics of the levels of blood glucose and white blood cell (WBC) counts in cases of HFMD in Mainland China and Taiwan, using meta-analysis based on systematic review of published articles. Methods: We systematically reviewed published studies, from the MEDLINE and WANFANG Data, about the levels of blood glucose and WBC counts in cases of HFMD until 15 th June 2011, and quantitatively summarized the characteristics of them using meta-analysis. Results: In total, 37 studies were included in this review. In Mainland China and Taiwan, generally, the average level of blood glucose, the prevalence of hyperglycemia, WBC counts and the prevalence of leukocytosis increased with the severity of the illness. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of leukocytosis between ANS (autonomic nervous system dysregulation)/PE (pulmonary edema) group and CNS (central nervous system) group, and in the average level of blood glucose between healthy controls and mild cases of HFMD. WBC counts in cases infected by EV71 were less than those in cases infected by CA16. Conclusions: our analyses indicated that blood glucose and WBC counts increased with the severity of HFMD disease, which would help doctors to manage patients efficiently

A Review of Current Methodologies for Regional Evapotranspiration Estimation from Remotely Sensed Data

An overview of the commonly applied evapotranspiration (ET) models using remotely sensed data is given to provide insight into the estimation of ET on a regional scale from satellite data. Generally, these models vary greatly in inputs, main assumptions and accuracy of results, etc. Besides the generally used remotely sensed multi-spectral data from visible to thermal infrared bands, most remotely sensed ET models, from simplified equations models to the more complex physically based two-source energy balance models, must rely to a certain degree on ground-based auxiliary measurements in order to derive the turbulent heat fluxes on a regional scale. We discuss the main inputs, assumptions, theories, advantages and drawbacks of each model. Moreover, approaches to the extrapolation of instantaneous ET to the daily values are also briefly presented. In the final part, both associated problems and future trends regarding these remotely sensed ET models were analyzed to objectively show the limitations and promising aspects of the estimation of regional ET based on remotely sensed data and ground-based measurements

What determines the cost-effectiveness of diabetes screening?

Aims/hypothesis: The cost-effectiveness of screening for diabetes is unknown but has been modelled previously. None of these models has taken account of uncertainty. We aimed to describe these uncertainties in a model where the outcome was CHD risk. Subjects and methods: Our model used population data from the Danish Inter99 study, and simulations were run in a theoretical population of 1,000,000 individuals. CHD risk was estimated using the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) risk engine, and risk reduction from published randomised clinical trials. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was used to provide confidence intervals for modelled outputs. Uncertain parameter values were independently simulated from distributions derived from existing literature and deterministic sensitivity analysis performed using multiple model runs under different strategy choices and using extreme parameter estimates. Results: In the least conservative model (low costs and multiplicative risk reduction for combined treatments), the 95% confidence interval of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio varied from £23,300–82,000. The major contributors to this uncertainty were treatment risk reduction model parameters: the risk reduction for hypertension treatment and UKPDS risk model intercept. Overall cost-effectiveness ratio was not sensitive to decisions about which groups to screen, nor the costs of screening or treatment. It was strongly affected by assumptions about how treatments combine to reduce risk. Conclusions/interpretation: Our model suggests that there is considerable uncertainty about whether or not screening for diabetes would be cost-effective. The most important but uncertain parameter is the effect of treatment. In addition to directly influencing current policy decisions, health care modelling can identify important unknown or uncertain parameters that may be the target of future research

Multimodal engagement level recognition in casual conversition

Automatic detection of engagement in human-human and human-machine in dyadic and multiparty interaction scenarios is important in evaluating the success of communication. Engagement detection has a wide range of applications including monitoring in spoken dialogue systems, event detection in conversations, and user satisfaction detection using designated devices. However, pre-processing approaches and knowledge of relevant features for engagement level recognition (for example feature normalization and until now unexplored facial features) are required for a robust learning method to model engagement, as well as explore real-time automatic conversational engagement. In this research we sequentially 1/ build an engagement corpus, 2/ analyse the annotation of engagement, 3/ investigate useful non-verbal features and approaches to model engagement dynamically and sequentially. The final goal is to automatically detect and recognize engagement in a spontaneous human-human conversation and human-machine interaction. In this work, engagement is studied using non-verbal features, in particular, visual -- auditory features and machine learning methods for engagement level recognition. The proposed engagement prediction paradigm with advanced results, new features, novel learning models and speaker dependency effects are documented in this thesis

Ga-doped ZnO films by magnetron sputtering at ultralow discharge voltages: Effects of defect annihilation

Preparation of high quality transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films by sputter deposition involves an intricate balance of defect generation by the highly energetic negative oxygen ions (depending on the discharge voltage) and the concomitant annihilation of these defects during film growth. Ga-doped ZnO films with a low Ga content (1.7 at.%) were deposited to investigate the effects of defect annihilation on the microstructure evolutions as well as the optical and electrical properties. To achieve this aim, we prepared the GZO films by magnetron sputtering at ultralow discharge voltages (similar to 70 V) to minimize the defect generation, and varied the substrate temperature (from 130 degrees C to 380 degrees C) to adjust the annihilation rates. The microstructure was systematically characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Raman Spectroscopy. The electrical and optical properties were obtained by a Hall-effect measurement system and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE), respectively. It was found that (i) even under the condition of highly controlled defect generation from the bombardment of negative oxygen ions, a sufficient annihilation of the defects cannot be realized without externally heating the substrate; and (ii) there existed a threshold temperature, above which both the structural quality and the electrical properties were improved with the increased temperature over the temperature range we examined. These results reveal that the growth temperature during the GZO film deposition has played an important role in effective annihilation of the irradiation-induced structural defects, which may be due to the higher diffusion barrier of Ga atoms in our GZO films. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Decomposition and Attribution Analysis of Runoff Alteration of the Dongting Lake in China

The runoff process in the Dongting Lake has been influenced by climate change and human activities in recent decades. To manage the Dongting Lake efficiently and exploit water resources properly under the background of water shortage, it is desired to detect the factors of runoff change in the Dongting Lake. Hydro-meteorological data from 1961 to 2019 are analyzed to reveal the climate change and runoff alteration of the Dongting Lake comprehensively. Mutation test is used to detect the change points of runoff depth series, finding that 1984 and 2005 are change points and therefore 1961–1983, 1984–2004, and 2005–2019 are regarded as baseline period (BP), period 1 (P1), and period 2 (P2), respectively. Eight methods are used to quantitatively assess the relative contribution of human activities and climate change on runoff variation. It reveals that climate change especially precipitation change plays the dominant role (climate change makes runoff depth increase 70.14–121.51 mm, human activities make runoff depth decrease 51.98–103.35 mm) in runoff alteration in P1 while human activities play a prime role (account for 88.47–93.17%) in P2. Human activities such as reservoir construction, water consumption, and land-use (land-cover) change may be the main factors that influence the runoff in the Dongting Lake in P2. According to the sensitivity analysis, runoff in the Dongting Lake is more sensitive to climate change in P2 compared with that in P1, and no matter in P1 or P2, runoff is more sensitive to change in precipitation than the change in potential evapotranspiration. Combined with climate forecast, the results of sensitivity analysis can be used to estimate runoff change caused by climate change in the future

Protective effect of the orientin on noise-induced cognitive impairments in mice

There is increasing evidence that chronic noise stress impairs cognition and induces oxidative stress in the brain. Recently, orientin, a phenolic compound abundant in some fruits, millet, and herbs, has been shown to have antioxidant properties. This study investigated the potential effects of orientin against chronic noise-induced cognitive decline and its underlying mechanisms. A moderate-intensity noise exposure model was used to investigate the effects of orientin on behavior and biochemical alterations in mice. After 3 weeks of the noise exposure, the mice were treated with orientin (20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg, oral gavage) for 3 weeks. The chronic noise exposure impaired the learning and memory in mice in the Morris water maze and step-through tests. The noise exposure also decreased exploration and interest in a novel environment in the open field test. The administration of orientin significantly reversed noise-induced alterations in these behavior tests. Moreover, the orientin treatment significantly improved the noise-induced alteration of serum corticosterone and catecholamine levels and oxidative stress in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, the orientin treatment ameliorated the noise-induced decrease in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and synapse-associated proteins (synaptophysin and postsynaptic density protein 95) in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Thus, orientin exerts protective effects on noise-induced cognitive decline in mice, specifically by improving central oxidative stress, neurotransmission, and increases synapse-associated proteins. Therefore, supplementation with orientin-enriched food or fruit could be beneficial as a preventive strategy for chronic noise-induced cognitive decline