Background
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage of cognitive function between normal aging and dementia. Substantial variations in the prevalence of MCI in different countries have ...been studied including China. In this study, we established a prediction system to assess the risk of MCI among the elderly in China.
Methods
The Rothman-Keller model was conducted on the basis of the risk factors of MCI obtained by the combined results of a meta-analysis. The accuracy of the model was verified using actual population data.
Results
A total of 1826 subjects as a verification set were enrolled in this study in February 2019. There were statistically significant differences in the combined results of 10 risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, educational level, hyperlipidemia, smoking, physical exercise, living alone, stroke, drinking and heart disease (
P
<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of the actual data and the predictive results of this model was 0.859 (95%CI: 0.812–0.906,
P
<0.05), the sensitivity was 86.6% and the specificity was 76.5%.
Conclusions
This model performs an effective prediction that may be applied to the primary prevention for patients with MCI, helping to reduce the risk of MCI.
A feeding trial was conducted to assess the effects of replacing fishmeal (FM) with canola meal (CM) on the growth performance, feed utilization and related gene expression of juvenile blunt snout ...bream (Megalobrama amblycephala). Fishes were fed with five isonitrogenous (330 g/kg crude protein) and isoenergetic (15 MJ/kg) diets for 16 weeks, which was graded replacing levels of fishmeal (replacing 0, 37.5, 75, 112.5 and 150 g/kg FM with CM). The results revealed that specific growth rate, feed efficiency ratio and protein efficiency ratio of the groups with replacement level up to half were significantly higher than the others, while feed intake was inverse. Peptide transporter 1 (PepT1) mRNA level in the gut was significantly up‐regulated in groups CM25 and CM50 compared to other groups. Relative gene expression of IGF‐1 among groups was extremely significant based on the nonparametric test. Replacement of FM with CM caused a reduction in the hepatic expression of target of rapamycin (TOR), while significant increase trends were observed in hepatic genes of protein kinase B (AKT) and eIF4‐binding protein (4E‐BP2). However, TOR gene expression in the gut was significantly up‐regulated first and then down‐regulated, while mRNA levels of 4E‐BP2 and S6K1 in the gut were first significantly decreased and then increased in CM75, finally significantly decreased to the lowest. The overall results indicated that up to 75 g/kg FM could be replaced by CM (350.5 g/kg CM) in the diets for juvenile blunt snout bream. Besides, these signalling molecules could explain further the mechanisms that juvenile blunt snout can only maintain optimal growth performance up to 75 g/kg FM replacement with CM.
This work applied Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for heat transfer analysis of shell-and-tube heat exchangers with segmental baffles or continuous helical baffles. Three heat exchangers were ...experimentally investigated. Limited experimental data was obtained for training and testing neural network configurations. The commonly used Back Propagation (BP) algorithm was used to train and test networks. Prediction of the outlet temperature differences in each side and overall heat transfer rates were performed. Different network configurations were also studied by the aid of searching a relatively better network for prediction. The maximum deviation between the predicted results and experimental data was less than 2%. Comparison with correlation for prediction shows superiority of ANN. It is recommended that ANN can be used to predict the performances of thermal systems in engineering applications, such as modeling heat exchangers for heat transfer analysis.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the dominant histological type of esophageal cancer worldwide (90%). We aimed to provide an update of the global temporal trends in the incidence of ESCC.
...Incidence data for ESCC were collected from 30 well-established cancer registries from 20 countries in Europe, Northern America, Australia, or Asia for 1970-2015. Time trends in annual age-standardized incidence rates of ESCC were assessed using joinpoint analysis and log-linear regression. Age-period-cohort analysis was used to estimate the influence of age, calendar-period, and birth-cohort on the observed time trends in incidence.
The age-standardized incidence rates of ESCC varied more than eightfold in men and sevenfold in women across populations. In 2012, the highest rate of ESCC in men was observed in Nagasaki, Japan (9.7/100,000 person-years) and in women in Scotland (2.7/100,000 person-years). In men, the incidence decreased globally during the study period, as well as during the last few years. In women, the incidence increased in Japan (three regions), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, whereas it stabilized or decreased in other populations. Among ethnic groups in the United States, black men and women had more pronounced decreases in incidence than other groups. Generally, birth-cohort effects were stronger determinants of incidence trends than calendar-period effects.
In men, the global ESCC incidence has decreased over time. In women, the incidence trends vary across populations, and the rates have increased in some countries. Changes in the prevalence of tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption may have contributed to these time trends.
Microcystis blooms induce release of dissolved phosphorus from lake sediments.
To clarify the possible influence of
Microcystis blooms on the exchange of phosphorus (P) between sediment and lake ...water, an enclosure experiment was conducted in the hypereutrophic subtropical Lake Donghu during July–September 2000. Eight enclosures were used: six received sediment while two were sediment-free. In mid-August,
Microcystis blooms developed in all the enclosures. There was a persistent coincidence between the occurrence of
Microcystis blooms and the increase of both total P (TP) and soluble reactive P (SRP) concentrations in the water of the enclosures with sediments. In sediment-free enclosures, TP and SRP concentrations remained rather stable throughout the experiment, in spite of the appearance of
Microcystis blooms. The results indicate that
Microcystis blooms induced massive release of P from the sediment, perhaps mediated by high pH caused by intense algal photosynthesis, and/or depressed concentrations of nitrate nitrogen (NO
3-N).
Blood-circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be used as potential biomarkers in various cancers. MiR-101 has been found to act as a tumor suppressor in many tumor types, but little is ...known for osteosarcoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate miR-101 expression in osteosarcoma patients and assess its correlation with clinical features and prognosis. Serum samples from 152 osteosarcoma patients and 70 healthy controls were detected using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The data showed that miR-101 expression levels were remarkably underexpressed in serum samples from osteosarcoma patients compared to controls, and the post-treatment serum miR-101 expression was significantly higher than that in the pre-treatment expression. Low serum miR-101 expression was positively associated with advanced clinical stage and distant metastasis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that serum miR-101 could serve as a useful marker for osteosarcoma diagnosis, with a high sensitivity and specificity. Moreover, patients with high miR-101 expression had longer overall survival and recurrence free survival than those with low miR-101 expression. In addition, both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that serum miR-101 downregulation was associated with shorter overall survival and recurrence free survival. Our present results implicated serum miR-101 might be a useful biomarker for the clinical diagnosis and prognosis of osteosarcoma.
Omentin-1 (also known as intelectin-1) is a recently identified visceral adipose tissue-derived cytokine that is inversely related to obesity. Our previous study showed that omentin-1 inhibits ...osteoblastic differentiation of calcifying vascular smooth muscle cells (CVSMCs) in vitro. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of omentin-1 on arterial calcification and bone metabolism in vivo.
In vitro, omentin-1 stimulated production of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and inhibited production of receptor activator for nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) in both CVSMCs and osteoblasts. In vivo, adenovirus-mediated over-expression of omentin-1 attenuated arterial calcification and bone loss in OPG(-/-) mice. All these in vitro and in vivo actions were abrogated by blockade of the PI3K-Akt signalling pathway. Furthermore, omentin-1 reduced serum levels of RANKL, tartarate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b and osteocalcin, all of which are increased dramatically in OPG(-/-) mice.
These data suggest that omentin-1 ameliorates arterial calcification and bone loss in vivo through the regulation of the RANK signalling pathway.
Visfatin (also known as pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor or PBEF) is a novel adipocytokine that is highly expressed in visceral fat and upregulated in obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Visfatin ...binds to and activates the insulin receptor (IR), thereby exerting insulin-mimetic effects in various cell lines. IR has been detected in osteoblasts, which is consistent with the role of insulin as an important osteotropic hormone. This study investigated the actions of visfatin on human primary osteoblasts. The expression and tyrosine phosphorylation of IR, IR substrate-1 (IRS-1), and IRS-2 were determined by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. Cell proliferation was determined by measuring (3)Hthymidine incorporation and cell number. Glucose uptake was determined by measuring 2-(3)Hdeoxyglucose incorporation. Real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for determining alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin, and type I collagen mRNA expression. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and radioimmunoassay were used for measuring ALP activity, osteocalcin secretion, and type I collagen production. We found that visfatin induced tyrosine phosphorylation of IR, IRS-1, and IRS-2. Moreover, the effects of visfatin - glucose uptake, proliferation, and type I collagen enhancement of cultured human osteoblast-like cells - bore a close resemblance to those of insulin and were inhibited by hydroxy-2-naphthalenylmethylphosphonic acid tris-acetoxymethyl ester, a specific inhibitor of IR tyrosine kinase activity. We also unexpectedly found that visfatin downregulated osteocalcin secretion from human osteoblast-like cells. These data indicate that the regulation of glucose uptake, proliferation, and type I collagen production by visfatin in human osteoblasts involves IR phosphorylation, the same signal-transduction pathway used by insulin.
Aluminizing is widely used in the surface protection of high-temperature components in the aeroengines, but the effect mechanism of aluminizing on the fatigue properties of matrix alloys is unclear. ...Based on the analysis of microstructure and element distribution in an aluminized layer of K403 nickel-based superalloy, the effect of the thickness of the aluminized layer on the fatigue life is investigated in this study. By analyzing the phase composition on the surface of the aluminized layer with different thicknesses and combined with first-principles calculations, the effect mechanism of the surface phase structure on the fatigue performance of aluminized alloys is proposed. Results show that the aluminized layer presents an obvious layered structure along the depth direction, and the aluminum content gradually decreases from the outside to the inside. The fatigue life of the aluminized samples is the highest when the surface of the aluminized layer is of the NiAl phase, with the strongest metallic bond characteristics. However, when the surface is of the Ni2Al3 phase with high hardness and brittleness, the fatigue life is the lowest.
•The effect mechanism of aluminizing on fatigue performance of K403 nickel-based superalloy is studied.•The fatigue properties of samples with different surface phase structure are ihterpreted by first-principles.•The surface phase structure after aluminizing is the main reason affecting the performance of K403 superalloy.
Summary
What is known and objective
Statins are the cornerstone of primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and are effective for the prevention of vascular events in ...diabetic patients. Diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for CVDs .The majority of patients with diabetes mellitus benefits from statin therapy. According to the recent clinical guidelines of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, moderate‐intensity or high‐intensity statin therapy should be used as the primary prevention for individuals with diabetes mellitus, aged between 40 and 75 years and with low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) from 70 to 189 mg/dL. The objective of this review was to compare the associations of individual statins with their adverse effects on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods
MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL were searched from inception through March 2017. There were included randomized controlled trials comparing statins with placebo or active comparators in patients with T2DM. The endpoints of interest were glycated haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). We performed a pairwise meta‐analysis and a network meta‐analysis within a frequentist framework. The standard mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.
Results
Twenty‐three trials were included. A significant increase in HbA1c was detected in the pairwise meta‐analysis when statins as a class were compared with placebo (SMD: 0.11). Moderate‐intensity pitavastatin lowered HbA1c compared with moderate‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: −0.16), high‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: −0.77), moderate‐intensity rosuvastatin (SMD: −0.16) and low‐intensity pravastatin (SMD: −0.15). Moderate‐intensity simvastatin lowered HbA1c compared with high‐intensity rosuvastatin (SMD: −0.45) and high‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: −0.77). High‐intensity atorvastatin elevated HbA1c compared with placebo (SMD: 0.63), moderate‐intensity rosuvastatin (SMD: 0.50), low‐intensity pravastatin (SMD: 0.51) and moderate‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: 0.50). Moderate‐intensity pitavastatin has lowered FPG compared with placebo (SMD: −0.55), moderate‐intensity rosuvastatin (SMD: −0.65), moderate‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: −0.65) and high‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: −1.25). High‐intensity atorvastatin has elevated FPG compared with placebo (SMD: 0.70), moderate‐intensity atorvastatin (SMD: 0.60), moderate‐intensity rosuvastatin (SMD: 0.60) and moderate‐intensity simvastatin (SMD: 0.90).
What is new and conclusion
Statins were associated with an increase in HbA1c compared with placebo. In patients with T2DM, moderate‐intensity pitavastatin improved the glycemic control whereas high‐intensity atorvastatin worsened it. Appropriate statins should be administered for patients with diabetes mellitus.
Results of direct comparisons were listed in the upper triangle, and Results of network meta‐analysis were listed in the lower triangle. The estimation was calculated as the column‐defining treatment compared with the row‐defining treatment. NA: not available.
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