Metabolic syndrome and gallstone disease

AIM:To investigate the association between metabolic syndrome(MetS) and the development of gallstone disease(GSD).METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted in 7570 subjects(4978 men aged 45.0 ± 8.8 years,and 2592 women aged 45.3 ± 9.5 years) enrolled from the physical check-up center of the hospital.The subjects included 918 patients with gallstones(653 men and 265 women) and 6652 healthy controls(4325 men and 2327 women) without gallstones.Body mass index(BMI),waist circumference,blood pressure,fasting plasma glucose(FPG) and serum lipids and lipoproteins levels were measured.Colorimetric method was used to measure cholesterol,high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C).Dextrose oxidizing enzyme method was used to measure FPG.Subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire that enquired about the information on demographic data,age,gender,histories of diabetes mellitus,hypertension,and chronic liver disease and so on.Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to the Adult Treatment Panel Ⅲ(ATP Ⅲ) criteria.Gallstones were defined by the presence of strong intraluminal echoes that were gravity-dependent or attenuated ultrasound transmission.RESULTS:Among the 7570 subjects,the prevalence of the gallstone disease was 12.1%(13.1% in men and 10.2% in women).BMI,waist circumference,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure,fasting blood glucose and serum triglyceride(TG) in cases group were higher than in controls,while serum high-density lipid was lower than in controls.There were significant differences in the waist circumference,blood pressure,FPG and TG between cases and controls.In an ageadjusted logistic regression model,metabolic syndrome was associated with gallstone disease.The age-adjusted odds ratio of MetS for GSD in men was 1.29 [95% confidence interval(CI),1.09-1.52;P = 0.0030],and 1.68(95% CI,1.26-2.25;P = 0.0004) in women;the overall age-adjusted odds ratio of MetS for GSD was 1.42(95% CI,1.23-1.64;P < 0.0001).The men with more metabolic disorders had a higher prevalence of gallstone disease,the trend had statistical significance(P < 0.0001).The presence of 5 components of the MetS increased the risk of gallstone disease by 3.4 times(P < 0.0001).The prevalence of GSD in women who had 5 components of MetS was 5 times higher than in those without MetS component.The more the components of MetS,the higher the prevalence of GSD(P < 0.0001).The presence of 5 components of the MetS increased the risk of gallstone disease by 4.0 times.CONCLUSION:GSD appears to be strongly associated with MetS,and the more the components of MetS,the higher the prevalence of GSD.

Iterative reverse deformation optimization design of castings based on numerical simulation of solidification thermal stress

In the casting process,in order to compensate for the solidification shrinkage to obtain higher dimensional accuracy of the casting,it is often necessary to modify the original design of castings,and a suitable compensation method has a decisive impact on the dimensional accuracy of the actual casting.In this study,based on solidification simulation,a design method of reverse deformation is proposed,and two compensation methods,empirical compensation and direct reverse deformation,are implemented.The simulation results show that the empirical compensation method has problems such as difficulty in determining the parameters and satisfaction of both the overall and local accuracy at the same time;while based on the simulation results for each node of the casting,the direct reverse deformation design achieves the design with shape.In addition,the casting model can be optimized through iterative revisions,so that higher dimensional accuracy can be continuously obtained in the subsequent design process.Therefore,the direct reverse deformation design is more accurate and reasonable compared to empirical compensation method.

Statistical investigation on the formation of sunspot light bridges

Light bridges(LBs)are bright lanes that divide one sunspot umbra into two or more parts.Though frequently observed in sunspots,their formation mechanisms have rarely been studied and thus are not well understood.Here we present results from the first statistical investigation on the formation of LBs.Using observations with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory,we identified 144 LBs within 71 active regions(ARs)over the whole year of 2014.The formation processes of these LBs can be categorized into three groups:penumbral intrusion(type-A),sunspot merging(typeB)and umbral-dot emergence(type-C).The numbers of events in these three categories are 74,57 and 13,respectively.The duration of the LB formation process is mostly less than 40 hours,with an average of~20 hours.Most LBs have a maximum length of less than 20.For type-A LBs,we found a positive correlation between the LB length and the duration of the LB formation process,suggesting a similar speed of penumbral intrusion in different sunspots.