AIM:To evaluate the performance of a novel non-invasive controlled attenuation parameter(CAP)to assess liver steatosis.METHODS:This was a multi-center prospective cohort study.Consecutive ...patients(aged≥18 years)who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy and CAP measurement were recruited from three Chinese liver centers.Steatosis was categorized as S0:<5%;S1:5%-33%;S2:34%-66%;or S3:≥67%,according to the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)activity score.The FibroScan?502 equipped with the M probe(Echosens,Paris,France)was used to capture both CAP and liver stiffness measurement values simultaneously.Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted,and the areas under the curves were calculated to determine the diagnostic efficacy.The accuracy of the CAP values at the optimal thresholds was defined by maximizing the sum of sensitivity and specificity(maximum Youden index).RESULTS:A total of 152 patients were recruited,including 52(34.2%)patients with NAFLD and 100(65.8%)with chronic hepatitis B(CHB)virus infection.After adjustment,the steatosis grade(OR=37.12;95%CI:21.63-52.60,P<0.001)and body mass index(BMI,OR=6.20;95%CI:2.92-9.48,P<0.001)were found independently associated with CAP by multivariate linear regression analysis.CAP was not influenced by inflammation,fibrosis or aetiology.The median CAP values and interquartile ranges among patients with S0,S1,S2 and S3 steatosis were 211(181-240)dB/m,270(253-305)dB/m,330(302-360)dB/m,and 346(313-363)dB/m,respectively.The cut-offs for the CAP values in all patients with steatosis≥5%,≥34%and≥67%were 253 dB/m,285 dB/m and 310 dB/m,respectively.The areas under the curves were 0.92,0.92and 0.88 for steatosis≥5%,≥34%and≥67%,respectively.No significant differences were found in the CAP values between the NAFLD group and the CHB group in each steatosis grade.CONCLUSION:CAP appears to be a promising tool for the non-invasive detection and quantification of hepatic steatosis,but is limited by BMI.
The local environment may affect the development and function of tissue-resident T regulatory cells (Tregs), which are crucial for controlling inflammation. Although the aryl hydrocarbon receptor ...(Ahr), an environmental sensor, is expressed by Tregs, its role in Treg cell development and/or function remains elusive. Here, we generated mouse genetic models to ablate or activate Ahr expression specifically in Tregs. We showed that Ahr was expressed more abundantly by peripherally induced Tregs (pTregs) in the gut and that its expression was independent of microbiota. Ahr was important for Treg gut homing and function. Ahr inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by Tregs but was dispensable for Treg stability. Furthermore, Ahr-expressing Tregs had enhanced in vivo suppressive activity compared with Tregs lacking Ahr expression in a T cell transfer model of colitis. Our data suggest that Ahr signaling in Tregs may be important for gut immune homeostasis.
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•Ahr is preferentially expressed by intestinal pTregs independent of the microbiota•Ahr regulates Treg homing to the gut•Ahr is important for in vivo Treg function but not Foxp3 expression•Ahr-expressing Tregs have enhanced suppressive activity in a model of colitis
Ye et al. find that Ahr is most abundantly expressed by peripherally derived Tregs (pTregs) in the gut. Ahr expression and activation are important for Treg gut homing and function to suppress intestinal inflammation.
Metalenses have emerged as a new optical element or system in recent years, showing superior performance and abundant applications. However, the phase distribution of a metalens has not been measured ...directly up to now, hindering further quantitative evaluation of its performance. We have developed an interferometric imaging phase measurement system to measure the phase distribution of a metalens by taking only one photo of the interference pattern. Based on the measured phase distribution, we analyse the negative chromatic aberration effect of monochromatic metalenses and propose a feature size of metalenses. Different sensitivities of the phase response to wavelength between the Pancharatnam-Berry phase-based metalens and propagation phase-reliant metalens are directly observed in the experiment. Furthermore, through phase distribution analysis, it is found that the distance between the measured metalens and the brightest spot of focusing will deviate from the focal length when the metalens has a low nominal numerical aperture, even though the metalens is ideal without any fabrication error. We also use the measured phase distribution to quantitatively characterise the imaging performance of the metalens. Our phase measurement system will help not only designers optimise the designs of metalenses but also fabricants distinguish defects to improve the fabrication process, which will pave the way for metalenses in industrial applications.
Behaving as structural protectors and electronic modulators, catalyst supports such as graphene derivatives are generally constructed by covalent bonds. Here, hydrogen‐bonded ultrathin nanosheets are ...reported as a new type of catalyst support. Melamine (M) and cyanuric acid (CA) molecules self‐assemble to form the graphite‐like hydrogen‐bonded co‐crystal M‐CA, which can be easily exfoliated by ultrasonic treatment to yield ultrathin nanosheets with thickness of ≈1.6 nm and high stability at pH = 0. The dynamic nanosheets form adaptive defects/pores in the synthetic process of CoP nanoparticles, giving embedded composite with high hydrogen evolution activity (overpotential of 66 mV at 10 mA cm−2) and stability. Computational calculations, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy unveil the electron modulation effects of the nanosheets. This pseudo‐porous catalyst support also can be applied to other metal phosphides.
A hydrogen‐bonded supramolecular network consisting of melamine and cyanuric acid is fabricated as ultrathin nanosheets with extraordinary stability at pH = 0, serving as a pseudo‐porous catalyst support to simultaneously give remarkable enhancement in the catalytic stability and activity of metal phosphides for the hydrogen evolution reaction in strong acidic conditions.
•A novel stabilized formulation for compressible flows on moving domains using the ALE approach is proposed.•A direct approach to the construction of the stabilization matrix, which consistently ...accounts for the stabilization of all the modes in the compressible-flow equations system, is developed.•A new formulation for weakly enforced essential boundary conditions is proposed.•A new formulation for sliding interfaces is proposed.
A novel stabilized formulation for 3D compressible viscous flows on moving domains is developed. New weak imposition of essential boundary conditions and sliding-interface formulations are also proposed in the context of moving-domain compressible flows. The new formulation is successfully tested on a set of examples spanning a wide range of Reynolds and Mach numbers showing its superior robustness. Experimental validation of the new formulation is also carried out with good success. In addition, the formulation is applied to simulate flow inside a gas turbine stage, illustrating its potential to support design of real engineering systems through high-fidelity aerodynamic analysis.
Extracellular adenosine triphosphate (eATP) and its main metabolite adenosine (ADO) constitute an intrinsic part of immunological network in tumor immunity. The concentrations of eATP and ADO in ...tumor microenvironment (TME) are controlled by ectonucleotidases, such as CD39 and CD73, the major ecto-enzymes expressed on immune cells, endothelial cells and cancer cells. Once accumulated in TME, eATP boosts antitumor immune responses, while ADO attenuates immunity against tumors. eATP and ADO, like yin and yang, represent two opposite aspects from immune-activating to immune-suppressive signals. Here we reviewed the functions of eATP and ADO in tumor immunity and attempt to block eATP hydrolysis, ADO formation and their contradictory effects in tumor models, allowing the induction of effective anti-tumor immune responses in TME. These attempts documented that therapeutic approaches targeting eATP/ADO metabolism and function may be effective methods in cancer therapy.
Ethanol production from food wastes does not only solve environmental issues but also provides renewable biofuels. This study investigated the feasibility of producing ethanol from food wastes at ...high solids content (35%, w/w). A vacuum recovery system was developed and applied to remove ethanol from fermentation broth to reduce yeast ethanol inhibition. A high concentration of ethanol (144 g/L) was produced by the conventional fermentation of food waste without a vacuum recovery system. When the vacuum recovery is applied to the fermentation process, the ethanol concentration in the fermentation broth was controlled below 100 g/L, thus reducing yeast ethanol inhibition. At the end of the conventional fermentation, the residual glucose in the fermentation broth was 5.7 g/L, indicating incomplete utilization of glucose, while the vacuum fermentation allowed for complete utilization of glucose. The ethanol yield for the vacuum fermentation was found to be 358 g/kg of food waste (dry basis), higher than that for the conventional fermentation at 327 g/kg of food waste (dry basis).
•A simulator was used to test drivers’ collision avoidance behaviors.•Effects of situational urgency on collision avoidance were investigated.•As situational urgency increase, drivers brake faster ...and harder.•Multi-stage braking behavior was observed at low situational urgency.
Rear-end collisions have been estimated to account for 20–30% of all crashes, and about 10% of all fatal crashes. A thorough investigation of drivers’ collision avoidance behaviors when exposed to rear end collision risks is needed to help guide the development of effective countermeasures. Urgency or criticality of the situation affects drivers’ collision behavior, but has not been systematically investigated. A high fidelity driving simulator was used to examine the effects of differing levels of situational urgency on drivers’ collision avoidance behaviors. Drivers’ braking and steering decisions, perception response times, throttle release response times, throttle to brake transition times, brake delays, maximum brake pedal pressures and peak decelerations were recorded under lead vehicle decelerations of 0.3g, 0.5g, and 0.75g and under headways of 1.5s and 2.5s. Results showed (1) as situational urgency increased, drivers released the accelerator and braked to maximum more quickly; (2) the transition time between initial throttle release and brake initiation was not affected by situational urgency; (3) at low situational urgency, multi-stage braking behavior led to longer delays from brake initiation to full braking. These findings show that effects of situational urgency on drivers’ response times, braking delays, and braking intensity should be considered when developing forward collision warnings systems.
Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are being increasingly used as constituents in cosmetics, biosensors, bioimaging, photothermal therapy, and targeted drug delivery. This elevated exposure to Au-NPs poses ...systemic risks in humans, particularly risks associated with the biodistribution of Au-NPs and their potent interaction with biological barriers. We treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells with Au-NPs and comprehensively examined the expression levels of tight junction (TJ) proteins such as occludin, claudin-5, junctional adhesion molecules, and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), as well as endothelial paracellular permeability and the intracellular signaling required for TJ organization. Moreover, we validated the effects of Au-NPs on the integrity of TJs in mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells in vitro and obtained direct evidence of their influence on blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability in vivo. Treatment with Au-NPs caused a pronounced reduction of PKCζ-dependent threonine phosphorylation of occludin and ZO-1, which resulted in the instability of endothelial TJs and led to proteasome-mediated degradation of TJ components. This impairment in the assembly of TJs between endothelial cells increased the permeability of the transendothelial paracellular passage and the BBB. Au-NPs increased endothelial paracellular permeability in vitro and elevated BBB permeability in vivo. Future studies must investigate the direct and indirect toxicity caused by Au-NP-induced endothelial TJ opening and thereby address the double-edged-sword effect of Au-NPs.
In recent years, China's end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling industry has kept abreast with the rapidly developing automotive industry, and the laws and regulations are continuously being improved. ...However, no existing literature systematically introduces and analyzes such ELV policies. This paper classified such policies and regulations, which can be used to analyze China's ELV recycling industry to facilitate its development. The study referred to the experience of ELV laws and EPR (extended producer responsibility) implementation of the developed countries, and proposed strategies and perspectives to Chinese government to improve the policies and regulations for China's ELV recycling industry.
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