Controlled attenuation parameter for non-invasive assessment of hepatic steatosis in Chinese patients

AIM: To evaluate the performance of a novel non-invasive controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) to assess liver steatosis.

circRNA_0046366 inhibits hepatocellular steatosis by normalization of PPAR signaling

AIM To investigate micro(mi)R-34 a-antagonizing circular(circ)RNA that underlies hepatocellular steatosis.METHODS The effect of circ RNA on mi R-34 a was recognized by the mi RNA response element(MRE), and validated by the dual-luciferase reporter assay. Its association with hepatocellular steatosis was investigated in Hep G2-based hepatocellular steatosis induced by free fatty acids(FFAs; 2:1 oleate:palmitate) stimulation. After normalization of the steatosis-related circRNA by expression vector, analysis of mi R-34 a activity,peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor(PPAR)α level, and expression of downstream genes were carried out so as to reveal its impact on the mi R-34 a/PPARα regulatory system. Both triglyceride(TG) assessment and cytopathological manifestations uncovered the role of circRNA in miR-34 a-dependent hepatosteatogenesis.RESULTS Bioinformatic and functional analysis verified circRNA_0046366 to antagonize the activity of mi R-34 a via MRE-based complementation. In contrast to its lowered level during FFA-induced hepatocellular steatosis, circ RNA_0046366 up-regulation abolished the mi R-34 a-dependent inhibition of PPARα that played a critical role in metabolic signaling pathways. PPARα restoration exerted transcriptional improvement to multiple genes responsible for lipid metabolism. TGspecific lipolytic genes [carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 A(CPT1 A) and solute-carrier family 27 A(SLC27 A)] among these showed significant increase in their expression levels. The circ RNA_0046366-related rebalancing of lipid homeostasis led to dramatic reduction of TG content, and resulted in the ameliorated phenotype of hepatocellular steatosis.CONCLUSION Dysregulation of circ RNA_0046366/mi R-34 a/PPARα signaling may be a novel epigenetic mechanism underlying hepatocellular steatosis. circ RNA_0046366 serves as a potential target for the treatment of hepatic steatosis.

非圆同步带轮传动的类多边形效应计算与分析

非圆同步带轮传动能够实现大中心距的非匀速直接传动,但是同步带绕到非圆同步带轮后是一个由曲线和直线交替连接而成的封闭图形,这封闭图形与非圆同步带光滑的节曲线存在差异,传动过程中同步带和同步带轮就不是实时相切的关系,这影响传动的精确性,称之为“类多边形效应”。建立了非圆同步带传动“类多边形效应”的计算模型,并通过计算实例对比分析了不同初始位置、不同齿数和不同非匀速变化系数等因素对非圆带轮传动比规律的影响,发现非匀速变化系数、齿数和初始位置是影响类多边形效应的三大重要因素,且齿数越多、非匀速变化系数越小实际传动比曲线波动幅度越小,主从轮同相状态时的实际传动比曲线波动幅度明显小于主从轮异相状态时的幅度;为非圆同步带轮齿数的设计加工和安装时初始位置的确定提供重要参考。

PNPLA3 rs738409 underlies treatment response in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)has now become the leading cause of chronic liver disease with its growing incidence worldwide.Patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3(PNPLA3)rs738409 C>G reflects one of the critical genetic factors that confers high-risk to NAFLD.However,the role of PNPLA3 polymorphism in NAFLD treatment remains uncertain.Here,the present review reveals that NAFLD patients with G-allele at PNPLA3 rs738409(PNPLA3 148M variant)are sensitive to therapies of lifestyle modification,dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors,and bariatric surgery.They exhibit much significant reduction of liver fat content,in concurrence with weigh loss and abolished insulin resistance,as compared to those of C-allele carriers.In contrast,patients bearing PNPLA3 rs738409 C-allele(PNPLA3 148I variant),instead of G-allele,demonstrate greater beneficial effects by omega-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids and statin intervention.Improved adipose tissue-liver interaction and decrease in intrahepatic triglyceride efflux may contribute to the PNPLA3 rs738409related diversities in therapeutic efficacy.Therefore,PNPLA3 rs738409 underlies the response to a variety of treatments,which warrants a personalized,precise medicine in NAFLD on the basis of genotype stratification.

Nodular Regenerative Hyperplasia of Liver Mimicking Cirrhosis: a Case Report

A 34-year-old man with no history of any abdominal pain or fatigue was admitted to our hospital in June 2008 due to the cirrhosis found incidentally during a physical examination. Laboratory examination, electrocardiograph, abdominal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging were carried out during his hospitalization. However, according to the results of the above measures, the diagnosis of nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver (NRHL) could not be made. The result of electrocardiograph showed there was no sinus bradycardia. The abdominal ultrasonography showed evidence of hepatosplenomegaly, and magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple non-enhancing hepatic nodules. Histologic conifrmation was available by means of liver biopsy and the deifnitive diagnosis of NRHL was conifrmed histologically by liver biopsy. NRHL always presents with signs of portal hypertension with little evidence of obvious liver disease, NRHL may mimick the cirrhosis of liver and be easily confused with cirrhosis of the liver nodules, so liver biopsy should be recommended for correct diagnosis. The clinical, radiological and pathologic features of this case with NRHL was reported in order to familiarize the physicians with its clinical manifestations.

Rapid development methodology of agricultural robot navigation system working in GNSS-denied environment

Robotic autonomous operating systems in global n40avigation satellite system(GNSS)-denied agricultural environments(green houses,feeding farms,and under canopy)have recently become a research hotspot.3D light detection and ranging(LiDAR)locates the robot depending on environment and has become a popular perception sensor to navigate agricultural robots.A rapid development methodology of a 3D LiDAR-based navigation system for agricultural robots is proposed in this study,which includes:(i)individual plant clustering and its location estimation method(improved Euclidean clustering algorithm);(ii)robot path planning and tracking control method(Lyapunov direct method);(iii)construction of a robot-LiDAR-plant unified virtual simulation environment(combination use of Gazebo and SolidWorks);and(vi)evaluating the accuracy of the navigation system(triple evaluation:virtual simulation test,physical simulation test,and field test).Applying the proposed methodology,a navigation system for a grape field operation robot has been developed.The virtual simulation test,physical simulation test with GNSS as ground truth,and field test with path tracer showed that the robot could travel along the planned path quickly and smoothly.The maximum and mean absolute errors of path tracking are 2.72 cm,1.02 cm;3.12 cm,1.31 cm,respectively,which meet the accuracy requirements of field operations,establishing the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.The proposed methodology has good scalability and can be implemented in a wide variety of field robot,which is promising to shorten the development cycle of agricultural robot navigation system working in GNSS-denied environment.