Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with benign gastrointestinal disorders

AIM:To explore associations between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)and benign gastrointestinal and pancreato-biliary disorders.METHODS:Patient demographics,diagnoses,and hospital outcomes from the 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample were analyzed.Chronic liver diseases were identified using International Classification of Diseases,the 9thRevision,Clinical Modification codes.Patients with NAFLD were compared to those with other chronic liver diseases for the endpoints of total hospital charges,disease severity,and hospital mortality.Multivariable stepwise logistic regression analyses to assess for the independent association of demographic,comorbidity,and diagnosis variables with the event of NAFLD(vs other chronic liver diseases)were also performed.RESULTS:Of 7800441 discharge records,32347(0.4%)and 271049(3.5%)included diagnoses of NAFLD and other chronic liver diseases,respectively.NAFLD patients were younger(average 52.3 years vs55.3 years),more often female(58.8%vs 41.6%),less often black(9.6%vs 18.6%),and were from higher income areas(23.7%vs 17.7%)compared to counterparts with other chronic liver diseases(all P<0.0001).Diabetes mellitus(43.4%vs 28.9%),hypertension(56.9%vs 47.6%),morbid obesity(36.9%vs 8.0%),dyslipidemia(37.9%vs 15.6%),and the metabolic syndrome(28.75%vs 8.8%)were all more common among NAFLD patients(all P<0.0001).The average total hospital charge($39607 vs$51665),disease severity scores,and intra-hospital mortality(0.9%vs6.0%)were lower among NALFD patients compared to those with other chronic liver diseases(all P<0.0001).Compared with other chronic liver diseases,NAFLD was significantly associated with diverticular disorders[OR=4.26(3.89-4.67)],inflammatory bowel diseases[OR=3.64(3.10-4.28)],gallstone related diseases[OR=3.59(3.40-3.79)],and benign pancreatitis[OR=2.95(2.79-3.12)]on multivariable logistic regression(all P<0.0001)when the latter disorders were the principal diagnoses on hospital discharge.Similar relationships were observed when the latter disorders were associated diagnoses on hospital discharge.CONCLUSION:NAFLD is associated with diverticular,inflammatory bowel,gallstone,and benign pancreatitis disorders.Compared with other liver diseases,patients with NAFLD have lower hospital charges and mortality.

Changes in lake area and water level in response to hydroclimate variations in the source area of the Yellow River:a case study from Lake Ngoring

In the north-eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP),the source area of the Yellow River(SAYR)has been experiencing significant changes in climatic and environmental conditions in recent decades.To date,few studies have combined modern hydrological conditions with paleoclimate records to explore the mechanism(s)of these changes.This study seeks to improve understanding of hydrological variability on decadal and centennial timescales in the SAYR and to identify its general cause.We first determined annual fluctuations in the surface area of Lake Ngoring from 1985 to 2020 using multi-temporal Landsat images.The results show that lake surface area changes were generally consistent with variations in precipitation,streamflow and the regional dry-wet index in the SAYR,suggesting that the water balance of the Lake Ngoring area is closely associated with regional hydroclimate changes.These records are also comparable to the stalagmite δ^(18)O monsoon record,as well fluctuations in the Southern Oscillation Index(SOI).Moreover,an association of high TSI(total solar insolation)anomalies and sunspot numbers with the expansion of Lake Ngoring surface area is observed,implying that solar activity is the key driving factor for hydrologic variability in the SAYR on a decadal timescale.Following this line of reasoning,we compared the δ^(13)C org-based lake level fluctuations of Lake Ngoring for the last millennium,as previously reported,with the hydroclimatic history and the reconstructed TSI record.We conclude that the hydrological regime of Lake Ngoring has been mainly controlled by centennial fluctuations in precipitation for the last millennium,which is also dominated by solar activity.In general,it appears that solar activity has exerted a dominant influence on the hydrological regime of the SAYR on both decadal and centennial timescales,which is clearly manifested in the variations of lake area and water level of Lake Ngoring.

Uncertain Opinion Evolution with Bounded Confidence Effects in Social Networks

When people express their opinions for an issue, they can express both exact opinions and uncertain opinions, such as numerical interval opinions. Moreover, social network is a crucial medium of opinion interaction and evolution. In this paper, uncertain opinion evolution with bounded confidence effects in social networks is investigated by theoretical demonstration and numerical examples analyses, and experiments simulations analyses. Theoretical results show when all the agents are with uncertainty tolerances, then the ratios of agents expressing uncertain opinions are impossible to decrease, even increase, as time increases;while when all the agents are without uncertainty tolerances, then the ratios of agents expressing uncertain opinions are impossible to increase, even decrease, as time increases. Moreover, the average widths of uncertain opinions are always smaller than the maximum opinion width of all the initial opinions among agents. Experiments simulations results show different ratios of agents with uncertainty tolerances and different ratios of agents expressing uncertain opinions have strong impact on the ratios of the agents expressing the uncertain opinions in the stable state, and the average widths of uncertain opinions in the stable state.