It is challenging to emulate high-speed and short-duration surface piercing motions for a self-propelled robotic dolphin when it attempts to perform leaps in the context of bioinspired robotics. This ...paper presents motion control strategies for a repetitive leaping robotic dolphin serving as a platform for implementation and evaluation of modeling and control methods. First, an integrative model that takes account of both kinematics and dynamics is established to explore the possibility of leaping with an untethered swimming robot. Then, a novel high-speed swimming control strategy is then put forward based on the angle of attack theory, followed by the proposal of orientation control strategy. Finally, leaping tests on the actual robot verify the effectiveness of the conducted leaping analysis along with the proposed control strategies. Remarkably, the robot was able to conduct three continuous leaps back-to-back for the first time in a confined swimming pool. Results from this study also have implications for bioinspired design, where high speeds and maneuverability are required.
A key step in managing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is to differentiate nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) from simple steatosis (SS).
Serum samples were collected from three groups: ...NASH patients (N=21), SS patients (N=38) and healthy controls (N=31). High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was used to analyse the metabolic profile of the serum samples. The acquired data were processed by multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) to identify novel metabolites. The potential biomarkers were quantitatively determined and their diagnostic power was further validated.
A total of 56 metabolites were capable of distinguishing NASH from SS samples based on the OPLS-DA model. Pyroglutamate was found to be the most promising factor in distinguishing the NASH from SS groups. With an optimal cut-off value of 4.82mmol/L, the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of NASH were 72% and 85%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) of the pyroglutamate levels of NASH versus SS patients was more than those of tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin and interleukin-8.
These data suggest that pyroglutamate may be a new and useful biomarker for the diagnosis of NASH.
•HPLC-MS was used to analyse the metabolic profile of the serum samples from patients with NASH.•Uracil, α-linolenic acid, glutamate, l-glutamine and pyroglutamate, were identified as prominent factors for NASH.•Pyroglutamate distinguished the NASH from SS groups with the sensitivity and specificity 72% and 85%, respectively.•The potential diagnostic power of pyroglutamate was superior to factor-α (TNF-α), adiponectin and interleukin-8 (IL-8).
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease for which there is no cure. Effective diagnosis and precise assessment of disease exacerbation remains a major challenge.
We ...performed peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proteomics of a discovery cohort, including patients with active SLE and inactive SLE, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and healthy controls (HC). Then, we performed a machine learning pipeline to identify biomarker combinations. The biomarker combinations were further validated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) in another cohort. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from active SLE, inactive SLE, and HC PBMC samples further elucidated the potential immune cellular sources of each of these PBMC biomarkers.
Screening of the PBMC proteome identified 1023, 168, and 124 proteins that were significantly different between SLE vs. HC, SLE vs. RA, and active SLE vs. inactive SLE, respectively. The machine learning pipeline identified two biomarker combinations that accurately distinguished patients with SLE from controls and discriminated between active and inactive SLE. The validated results of ELISAs for two biomarker combinations were in line with the discovery cohort results. Among them, the six-protein combination (IFIT3, MX1, TOMM40, STAT1, STAT2, and OAS3) exhibited good performance for SLE disease diagnosis, with AUC of 0.723 and 0.815 for distinguishing SLE from HC and RA, respectively. Nine-protein combination (PHACTR2, GOT2, L-selectin, CMC4, MAP2K1, CMPK2, ECPAS, SRA1, and STAT2) showed a robust performance in assessing disease exacerbation (AUC=0.990). Further, the potential immune cellular sources of nine PBMC biomarkers, which had the consistent changes with the proteomics data, were elucidated by PBMC scRNAseq.
Unbiased proteomic quantification and experimental validation of PBMC samples from two cohorts of patients with SLE were identified as biomarker combinations for diagnosis and activity monitoring. Furthermore, the immune cell subtype origin of the biomarkers in the transcript expression level was determined using PBMC scRNAseq. These findings present valuable PBMC biomarkers associated with SLE and may reveal potential therapeutic targets.
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is a global concern and highly infectious. HCMV-infected individuals are often carriers with damaged immunity. However few diagnostic indicators block HMCV ...control and prevention. Thus, we measured 21 serum proteins related to HCMV infection using iTRAQ-labeling based quantitative proteomic approaches and SAA1 and APOE were confirmed as candidate serum indicators for identification of HMCV infection according to ROC curve analysis and that co-occurrence of SAA1 and APOE are better markers than individual proteins.
Aim
The mechanisms of non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in hepatocytes are unknown. Our aim is to study the tissue metabolic profiling and pathways of NASH.
Methods
We built rat models for simple ...steatosis and NASH and analyzed the liver extract using a liquid chromatograph–mass spectrometer. The acquired data were processed by multivariate principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) to obtain metabolic profiling. Orthogonal projections to latent structures DA was used to obtain metabolites capable of distinguishing NASH and steatosis. The total differences in the metabolites between groups were analyzed to determine their metabolic pathways.
Results
Principal component analysis showed that the metabolic profiles of NASH and steatosis are different. The PLS‐DA modeling revealed a clear separation between two groups with parameters R2Y and Q2Y all greater than 0.7. The orthogonal projections to latent structures DA model identified 171 metabolites capable of distinguishing NASH from steatosis. The identified metabolites are involved in fatty acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, the urea cycle, and the citric acid cycle in hepatocytes.
Conclusions
These metabolic profiles and pathways in rat hepatocytes will offer useful information when studying metabolic disorders in patients with NASH.
Our objective is to develop an assay based on magnetic particles (MPs) to determine the concentration of procalcitonin (PCT) using a chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA). Fluorescein isothiocyanate ...(FITC) and N-(aminobutyl)-N-(ethylisoluminol) (ABEI) were used to label two different anti-procalcitonin (PCT) monoclonal antibodies. The labeled antibodies, the PCT antigen, and the anti-FITC antibody-coated MPs formed a double-sandwiched immunocomplex. The measured relative light units (RLUs) of ABEI in the substrate solution were directly proportional to the amount of PCT present in the samples. The proposed method was linear to 600 ng/mL with a detection limit of 0.03 ng/mL. The coefficient of variation (CV) was <5% and <6% for the intra- and inter-assay precision, respectively. The average recoveries were between 95 and 107%. The linearity-dilution effect gave a linear correlation coefficient of 0.9912. This proposed assay provided an alternative method to quantitatively measure PCT in serum for the diagnosis of sepsis.
The aim of this study was to compare the components of waxy and non-waxy corn kernels from a metabolomic perspective. All samples were analysed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with ...mode+ and mode− to obtain spectral data. Unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA), Partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to identify significant components of waxy and non-waxy corn kernels. A total of 1589 features in (ESI+) ion mode and 2310 features in (ESI-) ion mode were obtained in this project. OPLS-DA identified 117 differential metabolites, including citric acid, alpha-linolenic metabolites, distinguished non-waxy corn from waxy corn. Compared with waxy corn, non-waxy corn expressed the enhanced metabolites such as guanine, guanosine and the reduced ones represented by citric acid, and oleic acid. This study offer new clues for the study of the taste and nutritional value of waxy and non-waxy corn.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Muscle aspect ratio of cross-sectional area is one of the most widely used parameters for quantifying muscle function in both diagnosis and rehabilitation assessment. Ultrasound imaging has been ...frequently used to noninvasively study the characteristics of human muscles as a reliable method. However, the aspect ratio measurement is traditionally conducted by the manual digitization of reference points; thus, it is subjective, time-consuming, and prone to errors. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to continuously detect the muscle aspect ratio. Two keypoint pairs are manually digitized on the lateral and longitudinal borders at the first frame, and automatically tracked by an optical flow technique at the subsequent frames. The muscle aspect ratio is thereby obtained based on the estimated muscle width and thickness. Six ultrasound sequences from different subjects are used to evaluate this method, and the overall coefficient of multiple correlation of the results between manual and proposed methods is 0.97 ± 0.02. The linear regression shows that a good linear correlation between the results of the two methods is obtained (R 2 = 0.974), with difference -0.01 ± 0.16. The method proposed here provides an accurate, high repeatable, and efficient approach for estimating muscle aspect ratio during human motion, thus justifying its application in biological sciences.
Aim: The aims of the present study were to depict the serum metabolic characteristics of hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐infected cirrhosis and alcoholic cirrhosis patients, and to find the specific serum ...biomarkers associated with the diseases.
Methods: A pilot metabolic profiling study was conducted using three groups: HBV‐infected cirrhosis patients (n = 21), alcoholic cirrhosis patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)‐based metabonomics was used to obtain the serum metabolic profiles of the samples. The acquired data were processed by multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least‐squares‐discriminant analysis (OPLS‐DA). The discriminatory metabolites between HBV‐infected cirrhosis and alcoholic cirrhosis were further validated by classical biochemical assays.
Results: The OPLS‐DA model was capable of distinguishing between HBV‐infected and alcoholic cirrhosis patients. Five metabolites, creatine, acetoacetate, isobutyrate, glutamine and glutamate, were identified as the most influential factors to compare HBV‐infected cirrhosis and alcoholic cirrhosis. The validation tests showed that the changes of the five metabolites were well coincident with the results of NMR.
Conclusion: NMR spectra combined with pattern recognition analysis techniques may provide a new way to explore the pathogenesis of HBV‐infected and alcoholic cirrhosis patients.
This paper investigates a controllable fluke's regulation effect on the gliding motion of a self-propelled robotic dolphin in both theory and practice. In theory, based on a dynamic model, the ...gliding equilibria is first analyzed. Through deriving the explicit expressions of the pitch angle, gliding angle, and velocities, we explore how the deflection angle of the controllable fluke changes the gliding performance. Then, aided by these theoretical analyses, a pitch control strategy relying on the fluke is constructed. In simulations, the robotic dolphin is able to track a given pitch angle during gliding, directly through adopting this control strategy to regulate the fluke's deflection angle. Furthermore, extensive gliding experiments in different fluke's deflection angles are carried out. From the statistical data, we further explore the remarkable effects of the controllable fluke on the gliding performance in practice. Besides, the other pitch control experiment is also executed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control approach. The results of this paper shed light on improving the gliding performance of the robotic dolphin in future mechanical design and gliding control.
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