To investigate the risk factors associated with the development of thrombocytopenia, and define the thresholds of efficacy and safety in critically ill patients who received linezolid therapy. A ...retrospective study was performed in critically ill patients treated with linezolid. Risk factors associated with thrombocytopenia were identified via medical records and trough levels (C
min
) measured during linezolid treatment. By establishing a logistic model, the risks were predicted by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the thresholds of efficacy and safety were identified in the patients. Logistic analysis showed that, weight (OR = 0.906; 95 % CI, 0.839–0.978;
P
= 0.011), baseline platelet count (OR = 0.989; 95 % CI, 0.977–1.000;
P
= 0.049), C
min
(OR = 1.545; 95 % CI, 1.203–1.983;
P
= 0.001), and APACHE II score (OR = 1.130; 95 % CI, 1.003–1.273;
P
= 0.044) were significant factors for linezolid-associated thrombocytopenia. The area under the ROC curve of the combined predictor was larger based on the above factors. When the Youden index was the maximum, the best optimal cut-off point was 205.6 on the ROC curve; when C
min
≥ 2 mg/L, the probability of bacterial eradication was more than 80 %; when C
min
≥ 6.3 mg/L, the probability of thrombocytopenia was more than 50 %. In clinical practice, when the calculating results of the combined predictor ≤205.6, the risk of the development of thrombocytopenia may be higher. Furthermore, maintenance of C
min
between 2 and 6.3 mg/L over time may be helpful in retaining appropriate efficacy and reducing the associated thrombocytopenia.
Lagrangian particles in the material point method (MPM) are free to flow through the background Eulerian mesh to represent material deformation. Excessive compression or tension in the kinematic ...field tends to entangle the particles from the initial uniform configuration, causing artificial voids or aggregations that lead to loss of the continuity of the stress field and the singular deformation gradient of the particles, undermining computational robustness and accuracy. In this paper, the reseeding operation is performed in elements depending on the numbers of the accommodated particles and their accumulated deformations. The state variables of the reseeded particles are recovered from their surrounding old counterparts. The stresses of the reseeded particles around the structure are adjusted to mitigate the fluctuations of contact force from errors in the state recovery. Benchmark problems of deep penetration of a wished-in-place T-bar and the dynamic impact of a submarine landslide on a partially buried mudmat are analysed. The results of the MPM analyses are validated by comparison with the exact solutions by theoretical analyses and the numerical predictions using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.
As a major component of the LAMOST Galactic surveys, the LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anticentre (LSS-GAC) aims to survey a significant volume of the Galactic thin/thick discs and halo ...for a contiguous sky area of over 3400 deg2 centred on the Galactic anticentre (|b| ≤ 30°, 150 ≤ l ≤ 210°), and obtain λλ3700–9000 low-resolution (R ∼ 1800) spectra for a statistically complete sample of ∼3 M stars of all colours down to a limiting magnitude of r ∼ 17.8 mag (to 18.5 mag for limited fields). Together with Gaia, the LSS-GAC will yield a unique data set to advance our understanding of the structure and assemblage history of the Galaxy, in particular its disc(s). In addition to the main survey, the LSS-GAC will also target hundreds of thousands objects in the vicinity fields of M 31 and M 33 and survey a significant fraction (over a million) of randomly selected very bright stars (r ≤ 14 mag) in the Northern hemisphere. During the Pilot and the first year Regular Surveys of LAMOST, a total of 1042 586 750 867 spectra of a signal-to-noise ratio S/N(7450 Å) ≥ 10 S/N(4650 Å) ≥ 10 have been collected. In this paper, we present a detailed description of the target selection algorithm, survey design, observations and the first data release of value-added catalogues (including radial velocities, effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, values of interstellar extinction, distances, proper motions and orbital parameters) of the LSS-GAC.
As a carrier of deformation information, the speckle pattern, or more exactly the random intensity distributions, which could be naturally occurred or artificially fabricated onto test samples’ ...surface, plays an indispensable role in digital image correlation (DIC). It is now well recognized that the accuracy and precision in DIC measurements not only rely on correlation algorithms, but also depend highly on the quality of the speckle pattern. Considering the huge diversity in test materials, spatial scales and experimental conditions, speckle pattern fabrication could be a challenging issue facing DIC practitioners. To obtain good speckle patterns suitable for DIC measurements, some key issues of fabrication methods and quality assessment of speckle patterns must be well addressed. To this end, this review systematically presents the speckle pattern classification and fabrication techniques for various samples and scales, as well as some typical quality assessment metrics.
In mice, a high-fat diet (HFD) induces obesity, insulin resistance and myostatin production. We tested whether inhibition of myostatin in mice can reverse these HFD-induced abnormalities.
C57BL/6 ...mice were fed a HFD for 16 weeks including the final 4 weeks some mice were treated with an anti-myostatin peptibody. Body composition, the respiratory exchange ratio plus glucose and insulin tolerance tests were examined. Myostatin knock down in C2C12 cells was performed using small hairpin RNA lentivirus. Adipose tissue-derived stem cells were cultured to measure their responses to conditioned media from C2C12 cells lacking myostatin, or to recombinant myostatin or irisin. Isolated peritoneal macrophages were treated with myostatin or irisin to determine whether myostatin or irisin induce inflammatory mechanisms.
In HFD-fed mice, peptibody treatment stimulated muscle growth and improved insulin resistance. The improved glucose and insulin tolerances were confirmed when we found increased muscle expression of p-Akt and the glucose transporter, Glut4. In HFD-fed mice, the peptibody suppressed macrophage infiltration and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in both the muscle and adipocytes. Inhibition of myostatin caused the conversion of white (WAT) to brown adipose tissue, whereas stimulating fatty acid oxidation and increasing energy expenditure. The related mechanism is a muscle-to-fat cross talk mediated by irisin. Myostatin inhibition increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1α expression and irisin production in the muscle. Irisin then stimulated WAT browning. Irisin also suppresses inflammation and stimulates macrophage polarization from M1 to M2 types.
These results uncover a metabolic pathway from an increase in myostatin that suppresses irisin leading to the activation of inflammatory cytokines and insulin resistance. Thus, myostatin is a potential therapeutic target to treat insulin resistance of type II diabetes as well as the shortage of brown/beige fat in obesity.
Abstract
We present the second release of value-added catalogues of the LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anticentre (LSS-GAC DR2). The catalogues present values of radial velocity Vr, ...atmospheric parameters – effective temperature Teff, surface gravity log g, metallicity Fe/H, α-element to iron (metal) abundance ratio α/Fe (α/M), elemental abundances C/H and N/H and absolute magnitudes MV and $M_{K_{\rm s}}$ deduced from 1.8 million spectra of 1.4 million unique stars targeted by the LSS-GAC since 2011 September until 2014 June. The catalogues also give values of interstellar reddening, distance and orbital parameters determined with a variety of techniques, as well as proper motions and multiband photometry from the far-UV to the mid-IR collected from the literature and various surveys. Accuracies of radial velocities reach 5 km s−1 for the late-type stars, and those of distance estimates range between 10 and 30 per cent, depending on the spectral signal-to-noise ratios. Precisions of Fe/H, C/H and N/H estimates reach 0.1 dex, and those of α/Fe and α/M reach 0.05 dex. The large number of stars, the contiguous sky coverage, the simple yet non-trivial target selection function and the robust estimates of stellar radial velocities and atmospheric parameters, distances and elemental abundances make the catalogues a valuable data set to study the structure and evolution of the Galaxy, especially the solar-neighbourhood and the outer disc.
High-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs), which lose energy quickly during their propagation, provide a probe of Galactic high-energy processes and may enable the observation of ...phenomena such as dark-matter particle annihilation or decay. The CRE spectrum has been measured directly up to approximately 2 teraelectronvolts in previous balloon- or space-borne experiments, and indirectly up to approximately 5 teraelectronvolts using ground-based Cherenkov γ-ray telescope arrays. Evidence for a spectral break in the teraelectronvolt energy range has been provided by indirect measurements, although the results were qualified by sizeable systematic uncertainties. Here we report a direct measurement of CREs in the energy range 25 gigaelectronvolts to 4.6 teraelectronvolts by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) with unprecedentedly high energy resolution and low background. The largest part of the spectrum can be well fitted by a 'smoothly broken power-law' model rather than a single power-law model. The direct detection of a spectral break at about 0.9 teraelectronvolts confirms the evidence found by previous indirect measurements, clarifies the behaviour of the CRE spectrum at energies above 1 teraelectronvolt and sheds light on the physical origin of the sub-teraelectronvolt CREs.
Milk intake is widely recommended for a healthy diet. Epidemiological studies have suggested that the consumption of dairy products may be associated with a reduction in type 2 diabetes mellitus ...(T2DM). A meta-analysis was conducted to elucidate the association between dairy products consumption and T2DM.
A systematical literature search was done through the Medline database and seven related cohort studies were identified. The adjusted relative risks (RRs) with the highest and the lowest categories from each study were extracted to calculate the combined RR. A least-square trend estimation was applied to assess the dose-response relationships.
A combined RR of 0.86 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.79-0.92) was revealed on T2DM risk associated to dairy intake, with little evidence of heterogeneity. For subgroup analysis, a combined RR was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.74-0.90), 1.00 (95% CI, 0.89-1.10), 0.95 (95% CI, 0.86-1.05) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.74-0.93) for the intake of low-fat dairy, high-fat dairy, whole milk and yogurt, respectively. Dose-response analysis showed that T2DM risk could be reduced 5% for total dairy products and 10% for low-fat dairy products.
An inverse association of daily intake of dairy products, especially low-fat dairy, with T2DM was revealed, indicating a beneficial effect of dairy consumption in the prevention of T2DM development.
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