With the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increasing worldwide, many noninvasive techniques have been used to improve its diagnosis. Recently, the serum uric acid/creatinine ...(sUA/sCr) ratio was identified as an indicator of fatty liver disease. Therefore, we examined the relationship between sUA/sCr levels and ultrasound-diagnosed NAFLD in Korean adults.
This study included 16,666 20-year-olds or older who received health checkups at a university hospital's health promotion center from January to December 2021. Among them, 11,791 non-patients with and without NAFLD were analyzed, excluding those without abdominal ultrasound, those without data on fatty liver, cancer, or chronic kidney disease severity, those with a history of alcohol abuse, and those with serum hs-CRP <5 mg/L. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the sUA/sCr ratio according to the presence or absence of fatty liver disease and severity were calculated after correcting for confounding variables using logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) of the sUA/sCr ratio confirmed and compared the sensitivity and specificity of NAFLD and serum uric acid.
sUA/sCr increased with fatty liver severity, and the post-correction OR in the NAFLD group was 1.183 (95% CI: 1.137-1.231) compared to the group without NAFLD. Concerning the fatty liver severity, the post-correction OR in the mild NAFLD group increased to 1.147 (95% CI: 1.099-1.196), and that in the moderate-to-severe NAFLD group increased to 1.275 (95% CI: 1.212-1.341) compared to the group without NAFLD. The sensitivity of sUA/sCr to fatty liver severity was 57.9% for the non-NAFLD group, 56.7% for the mild NAFLD group, and 59.0% for the moderate-to-severe NAFLD group; the specificity of sUA/sCr to fatty liver severity 61.4% for the non-NAFLD group, 57.3% for the mild NAFLD group, and 65.2% for the moderate-to-severe NAFLD group.
NAFLD severity is associated with sUA/sCR.
According to Murray Bowen's family systems theory, the family is an emotional unit where members influence each other. Family strength, in that members care for, respect, and communicate with each ...other sincerely and freely and overcome difficulties together through joint efforts, is what every family yearns for and pursues. Maternal gatekeeping behavior not only affects the relationship between each family member but also has an impact on family strength. Father-perceived family strength and maternal gatekeeping were investigated in this study, along with the mediation effect of father involvement and mutual communication. In total, 320 fathers of children aged 3-5 were randomly recruited to complete self-report questionnaires. The correlation results indicated that maternal gate-opening behavior, father involvement, mutual communication, and family strength are positively correlated with each other, whereas maternal gate closing is negatively associated with father involvement, mutual communication, and family strength. Path analysis verified the partial (dual) mediation effect of father involvement and mutual communication between maternal gate opening and family strength, as well as a complete (dual) mediation effect upon maternal gate closing. The current study provides new insights into understanding the underlying mechanisms of father-perceived family strength influenced by maternal gatekeeping behavior. Meanwhile, the mediation effect of father involvement and mutual communication also highlights the importance of parenting preparation for fathers, such as psychological self-adjustment, especially under interception or restriction.
Peptide neurotransmitters and peptide hormones, collectively known as neuropeptides, are required for cell-cell communication in neurotransmission and for regulation of endocrine functions. ...Neuropeptides are synthesized from protein precursors (termed proneuropeptides or prohormones) that require proteolytic processing primarily within secretory vesicles that store and secrete the mature neuropeptides to control target cellular and organ systems. This review describes interdisciplinary strategies that have elucidated two primary protease pathways for prohormone processing consisting of the cysteine protease pathway mediated by secretory vesicle cathepsin L and the well-known subtilisin-like proprotein convertase pathway that together support neuropeptide biosynthesis. Importantly, this review discusses important areas of current and future biomedical neuropeptide research with respect to biological regulation, inhibitors, structural features of proneuropeptide and protease interactions, and peptidomics combined with proteomics for systems biological approaches. Future studies that gain in-depth understanding of protease mechanisms for generating active neuropeptides will be instrumental for translational research to develop pharmacological strategies for regulation of neuropeptide functions. Pharmacological applications for neuropeptide research may provide valuable therapeutics in health and disease.
Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a biodegradable and environmentally friendly material. And the spent coffee grounds (SCG) are huge waste all over the world. Therefore, the issue that how to convert the ...low‐value wastes SCG into more valuable products is attracting more research attention. In this work, we compounded PLA with SCG. Firstly, the efficiency of oil extraction from SCG was compared by different methods and solvents. Then, the biocomposites specimens of different SCG contents (0, 5, 10, and 15 wt%) were prepared by extrusion and injection molding. The effects of SCG particle size and content on the thermal and mechanical properties were investigated. Next, the effect of coupling agent (4,4‐methylene diphenyl diisocyanate MDI) on the biocomposites properties at 10 wt% SCG was examined by Field emission‐scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results show that the tensile strength and elongation at break of the PLA composites with the optimal contents are increased by about 50% and 120%, respectively, compared with untreated SCG.
Microcellular injection-molded parts have surface defect problems. Gas counter pressure (GCP) is one of the methods to reduce surface defects. This study investigated the effect of GCP on the surface ...roughness, morphology, and tensile strength of foamed and conventional injection-molded polypropylene (PP) products. GCP is generated by filling up the mold cavity with nitrogen during the injection-molding (IM) process. It can delay foaming and affect flow characteristics of microcellular and conventional injection-molding, which cause changes in the tensile strength, flow length, cell morphology, and surface quality of molded parts. The mechanism was investigated through a series of experiments including tuning of GCP and pressure holding duration. Surface roughness of the molded parts decreased with the increase in GCP and pressure holding duration. Compared to microcellular IM, GCP-assisted foaming exhibited much better surface quality and controllable skin layer thickness.
This study provides insight into the use of 3D virtual fitting technology and different perspectives from the domestic suppliers and sourcing agents/contractors in the global apparel industry. A ...total of 213 participants from the apparel industry in South Korea responded to the set of questionnaires, pertaining to the industry's current garment fitting process, the use of virtual fitting technology in the industry, and the industry's viewpoint of the importance of utilising virtual fitting technology in the future. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, t-test, and chi-squared test were used to identify different perspectives of the virtual fitting technology use between domestic suppliers and sourcing agents/contractors. In findings, although the garment industry anticipates the use of virtual fitting technology in the near future, sourcing agents/contractors working with U.S. companies and domestic suppliers have significantly different viewpoints and uncertainty of virtual fitting software use in the current industry.
Aim: Silencing information regulator (SirT1), a NAD-dependent histone deacetylase, is an essential mediator of longevity in normal cells by calorie restriction. SirT1 has many biological functions, ...including transcription regulation, cell differentiation inhibition, cell cycle regulation, and anti-apoptosis. Resveratrol (RV)-induced SirT1 activation also improves endothelial dysfunction and suppresses vascular inflammation. In this study, we investigated the roles of RV-induced SirT1 activation in endothelial cells under oxidative stress. Methods: SirT1 mRNA expression levels were examined in the endothelium layer (endothelial cells) of cardiac coronary vessels from patients receiving coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) surgery and aged rats using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To further explore the effect of SirT1 activation on oxidative stress-induced aging, senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) expression in RV-treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with or without H2O2 treatment was evaluated. Results: SirT1 expression was decreased in aged and atherosclerotic vessels in vivo, and significantly reduced in endothelial cells purified from vessel tissues. Furthermore, SirT1 levels were dose-dependently increased in RV-treated HUVECs. The SA-β gal assay showed that RV inhibited the senescent phenotype of H2O2-treated HUVECs. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the percentage of cells positive for SA-β gal were significantly increased in siRNA-SirT1 (knockdown of SirT1 expression)-treated HUVEC cells. Importantly, the treatment effect of RV was significantly abolished in the oxidative effects of H2O2-treated HUVECs by siRNA-SirT1. Conclusion: Our data suggested that SirT1 could be a crucial factor involved in the endothelial cells of atherosclerotic CAGB patients and aging rats. RV is a potential candidate for preventing oxidative stress-induced aging in endothelial cells. RV may also prevent ROS-induced damage via increased endothelial SirT1 expression.
In this study, we investigated the effects of carbon fiber loading on the electrical conductivity, EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) and mechanical properties of solid and foamed poly butylene ...terephthalate (PBT)/carbon fiber composites. The composites were prepared through compounding using twin-screw extrusion as a master batch containing 13 wt % fibers. The final composite samples containing 1, 3, 5, 8, and 13 wt % fibers were manufactured during solid and foamed injection molding process through the addition of fibers to PBT. As the carbon fiber loading increased, the tensile strength also increased; however, the increasing trend leveled off at fiber loading of 8 wt % both for solid and foamed composites. In the conductivity examinations, the electrical conductivity increased when the fiber content increased. The conductivity examinations were performed at three different locations: on the surface and at 0.3 and 1.5 mm below the surface. This examination indicated an increase in the conductivity in the positions below the surface. The SEM micrographs showed accumulation of more fibers on the PBT matrix farther from the sample surface. No EMI shielding effectiveness for carbon fiber loading less than 13 wt % was observed; therefore, the fiber content was increased to 20, 25, and 30 wt %. When the fiber loading was increased from 20 to 30 wt %, the EMI shielding effectiveness value also increased. Overall, the foamed composites revealed better electrical conductivity and EMI shielding properties than those of solid materials.
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