Osteopontin Promotes Macrophage M1 Polarization by Activation of the JAK1/STAT1/HMGB1 Signaling Pathway in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background and Aims:Osteopontin(OPN)is reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD).However,the function of OPN in NAFLD is still inconclusive.Therefore,our aim in this study was to evaluate the role of OPN in NAFLD and clarify the involved mechanisms.Methods:We analyzed the expression change of OPN in NAFLD by bioinformatic analysis,qRT-PCR,western blotting and immunofluorescence staining.To clarify the role of OPN in NAFLD,the effect of OPN from HepG2 cells on macrophage polarization and the involved mechanisms were examined by FACS and western blotting.Results:OPN was significantly upregulated in NAFLD patients compared with normal volunteers by microarray data,and the high expression of OPN was related with disease stage and progression.OPN level was also significantly increased in liver tissue samples of NAFLD from human and mouse,and in HepG2 cells treated with oleic acid(OA).Furthermore,the supernatants of OPN-treated HepG2 cells promoted the macrophage M1 polarization.Mechanistically,OPN activated the janus kinase 1(JAK1)/signal transducers and activators of transcription 1(STAT1)signaling pathway in HepG2 cells,and consequently HepG2 cells secreted more high-mobility group box 1(HMGB1),thereby promoting macrophage M1 polarization.Conclusions:OPN promoted macrophage M1 polarization by increasing JAK1/STAT1-induced HMGB1 secretion in hepatocytes.

Identifying and managing risks of AI-driven operations:A case study of automatic speech recognition for improving air traffic safety

In this work,the primary focus is to identify potential technical risks of Artificial Intel-ligence(AI)-driven operations for the safety monitoring of the air traffic from the perspective of speech communication by studying the representative case and evaluating user experience.The case study is performed to evaluate the AI-driven techniques and applications using objective metrics,in which several risks and technical facts are obtained to direct future research.Considering the safety–critical specificities of the air traffic control system,a comprehensive subjective evaluation is conducted to collect user experience by a well-designed anonymous questionnaire and a face-to-face interview.In this procedure,the potential risks obtained from the case study are confirmed,and the impacts on human working are considered.Both the case study and the evaluation of user experience provide compatible results and conclusions:(A)the proposed solution is promising to improve the traffic safety and reduce the workload by detecting potential risks in advance;(B)the AI-driven techniques and whole diagram are suggested to be enhanced to eliminate the possible distraction to the attention of air traffic controllers.Finally,a variety of strategies and approaches are discussed to explore their capability to advance the proposed solution to industrial practices.