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Jing Liu,1– 3 Liying Guan,4 Meng Zhao,1,2,5 Qihang Li,2,3,5 An Song,6 Ling Gao,2,7,8 Haiyan Lin,4 Jiajun Zhao1,2,5,7 1Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China; 2Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Affiliated to Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China; 3Shandong Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Disease, Affiliated to Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China; 4Health Management Center, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China; 6Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Affiliated to Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, People’s Republic of China; 7Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Endocrinology and Lipid Metabolism, Affiliated to Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China; 8Department of Scientific Center, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Haiyan LinHealth Management Center, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jing 5 Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-531-68776123 (Clin.)Fax +86-531-87068707Email zxhlhy@126.comJiajun ZhaoDepartment of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jing 5 Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-531-68776375 (Clin.); +86-531-68776094 (Lab.)Fax +86-531-87068707Email jjzhao@sdu.edu.cnBackground: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly becoming a major health burden. Due to the difficulty of liver biopsy, there is no reliable indicator to evaluate the outcomes of NAFLD. The triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index is a simple and convenient marker of insulin resistance for use in medical practice. Whether the TyG index is predictive of later risk of NAFLD remains unknown.Objective: To evaluate the relationship between TyG index with NAFLD progression and improvement during a median follow-up period of 21 months.Material and Methods: A total of 11,424 subjects (9327 men) diagnosed with NAFLD were included. The TyG index was calculated as follows: ln [fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) * fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was applied to analyze the data.Results: In this study, the severity of NAFLD remained the same in 38.8% of subjects, worsened in 17.4% of subjects, and improved in 43.8% of subjects. Compared with the lowest quartile of the TyG index, the adjusted HR of NAFLD progression in the highest quartile (TyG≥ 9.34) was 1.448 (1.229 to 1.706), and the adjusted HR of NAFLD improvement was 0.817 (0.723 to 0.923). Subgroup analysis found that smoking increased the correlation between the TyG index and the risk of NAFLD progression, while female, vegan diet, and weight control enhanced the correlation between the TyG index and the risk of NAFLD improvement.Conclusion: The TyG index may be a simple and helpful indicator for further risk appraisal of NAFLD in daily clinical practice.Keywords: triglyceride–glucose index, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, outcomes

Additional file 1: Table S1. Association of diabetes, elevated fasting glucose, elevated OGTT-2h glucose, and elevated HbA1c with non-fatal CVD events and CVD mortality among current, former, and never smokers. 126,181 participants were included in the analysis. The numbers of missing values are 120 for fasting glucose, 683 for OGTT-2h glucose, and 179 for HbA1c. aAdjusted for age, sex, education attainment (less than high school, high school or further education), family history of diabetes (yes, no), family history of CVD (yes, no), fruits and vegetables intake (

The development of polymer sponges with large adsorption capacity, high oil/water selectivity and mechanical stability is an effective strategy for the separation of oil from oil-polluted water. The improvement in the adsorption performance for polymer sponges should not be accompanied by the sacrifice of mechanical properties and recycling stability, which are fundamental to their long-term operation in the cleanup of oil-spill accidents. In this work, we synthesized a robust and reusable sponge based on a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) frame coated stereoscopically with graphene oxide (GO) via the amidation between PDMS and GO. The combination of the PDMS skeleton with the robust macroporous structure and GO nanosheets acting as mechanical fortifiers contributes to the nanocomposite sponge with great integrity and durability. The resultant PDMS/GO nanocomposite sponge exhibited a high compressive strength of 42.7 kPa with a strain of 60% after 50 cycles. The high adsorption capacity for various oils and organic solvents was obtained in the nanocomposite sponge, and the maximum capacity of 14.6 g g-1 was achieved for chloroform, which is ascribed to the large porosity and hydrophobicity caused by the rough PDMS skeleton covered by the GO nanosheets. Furthermore, a vacuum device with the nanocomposite sponge demonstrated effective separation for a large amount of oil/water mixture, with the maximum separation of 724 times the sponge weight during adsorption. This work provides a productive approach to develop porous polymer nanocomposites with high absorption properties and mechanical cycling stability and paves the path for the application of polymer sponges in oil pollution.

Additional file 4: Figure S1. Differences in four groups on microbial community diversity between baseline and 16 weeks.

With the popularity of smart phones, augmented reality technology has also developed rapidly in recent years. Based on the Unity 3D game engine, this article uses augmented reality technology to interact and display architectural models. First, briefly introduce the development of augmented reality technology and the design process of this article, then mainly introduce the two key augmented reality technologies used in this article, and finally explain the application of Unity 3D, AR ground recognition and gesture recognition and control to build architectural models The overall process of interaction is shown and tested. The test shows that augmented reality technology can be used to display other characteristic architectural models. Through its unique experience and interaction, it can play a role in displaying local characteristic buildings and promoting local traditional culture.

Removal of soluble organic and inorganic contaminants from wastewater to produce clean water has received much attention recently. However, the simultaneous enhancement of water permeability and removal efficiency is still a challenge for filtration membranes. Here, we present a new kind of nanocomposite paper (CSH/CNF) consisting of calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) nanosheets and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), and demonstrate the rapid water filtration and highly efficient contaminant (e.g., dyes, proteins, and metal ions) adsorption properties. The CNFs can serve as the bridging material to connect the CSH nanosheets to form a porous network structure and vital channels in the CSH/CNF paper for rapid water transportation. The weight ratio of CSH nanosheets in the paper is up to 75–85%. The weight ratio of CSH nanosheets has a significant effect on the water permeability and removal efficiency. The water permeability of the CSH/CNF paper with 82.5 wt% CSH nanosheets reaches as high as 312.7 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, which is about 14.7 times that of the CSH/CNF paper with 75 wt% CSH nanosheets. Because of the high specific surface area and abundant adsorption sites of CSH nanosheets, the CSH/CNF paper with 82.5 wt% CSH nanosheets exhibits high adsorption capacities and removal efficiencies for methyl blue (242.6 mg g−1, 97.3%), bovine serum albumin (289.2 mg g−1, 98.5%) and Pb2+ ions (366.2 mg g−1, 98.2%). The CSH/CNF nanocomposite paper holds great potential for application in environmental wastewater purification.

Using the phenomenon of extraordinary sound transmission (EST) through artificially constructed density-near-zero (DNZ) materials, we propose an alternative approach to realize a very robust acoustic cloaking, which includes one absorber and one projector connected by an energy channel. The elementary unit cell is made of one single-piece homogeneous copper, but it well maintains both the original planar wavefront and the nearly perfect one-dimensional transmission, in the presence of any inserted objects. Furthermore, the overall cloaked space can be increased, designed, and distributed by arbitrarily assembling additional DNZ cells without any upper limit in the total cloaking volume. We demonstrate acoustic cloaking by different combinations of DNZ cells in free space as well as in acoustic waveguides, which enables any objects inside the cells imperceptible along undistorted sound paths.

Background Serum lipid profiles may be influenced by thyroid function, but the detailed mechanism remains unclear. Increasing evidence suggests that thyrotropin (TSH) may exert extra-thyroidal effects. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum TSH levels and the lipid profiles in euthyroid non-smokers with newly diagnosed asymptomatic coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods This was a retrospective study of 406 euthyroid non-smokers (187 males and 219 females) with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD from 2004 to 2010 in Jinan, China. Lipid parameters and the levels of TSH, FT3, and FT4 were determined. Multiple linear regression analysis and Logistic regression analysis were used to assess the influence of TSH on the lipid profiles and the risks of dyslipidemia. Results The TSH level, even within the normal range, was positively and linearly correlated with total cholesterol (TC), non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) (Beta = 0.173, 0.181 and 0.103, respectively, P < 0.01 in all). With 1 mIU/L rise of TSH, the levels of TC, TG and non-HDL-C will increase by 1.010, 1.064, and 1.062 mmol/L, respectively. The odds ratio of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia with respect to the serum TSH level was 1.640 (95% CI 1.199-2.243, P = 0.002) and 1.349 (95% CI 1.054-1.726, P = 0.017), respectively. Conclusions TSH levels were correlated in a positive linear manner with the TC, non-HDL-C and TG levels in euthyroid non-smokers with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD. TSH in the upper limits of the reference range might exert adverse effects on lipid profiles and thus representing as a risk factor for hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia in the context of CHD.

Objectives Thyroid status may affect lipid profile and the mechanism of this relationship is traditionally attributed to the influence of thyroid hormone. Some recent study indicated that TSH might up-regulate the key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis and have a role in maintaining lipid homeostasis. The goal of this study was to probe into the relationship between serum TSH levels and the lipid profile in patients with newly diagnosed asymptomatic coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods A retrospective study was conducted including 689 patients with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD from 2004 to 2010 in Jinan, China (308 males and 381 females, age ranged 45–88 years). Lipid parameters and the levels of TSH, thyroid hormones were determined. Patients were grouped into different thyroid status according to the thyroid function assay. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess the association between TSH level and lipid profile. Path model analysis was employed to determine the total effect, direct and indirect effect of TSH on lipid parameters. Results Most of the patients were euthyroid (78.4%), while the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction including subclinical ones was 21.6%. SCH accounted for 8.6%, while subclinical hyperthyroidism accounted for only 1.5%. There were more patients with hypothyroidism than those with hyperthyroidism including the subclinical ones (14% vs 7.7%). In euthyroid patients, the TSH level within the normal range was positively and linearly correlated with log-transformed total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) (β=0.191 and 0.113, respectively; p Conclusions Most of the patients with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD were euthyroid, while the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism was higher than that of subclinical hyperthyroidism in this study population. TSH levels were positively and linearly associated with the TC and TG levels in euthyroid non-diabetics with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD. Within the normal range, TSH might exert direct and positive effect on TC and TG, and the influence on TC was stronger than that on TG.

Objectives Elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and hypercholesterolemia commonly coexist, as typically seen in subclinical hypothyroid, which can lead to and aggravate heart disease if it gets serious. However, there is no known whether TSH plays direct action on the heart. In the present study, we investigated the expression and function of thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) in ventricle tissue and myocytes. We further examined that TSH regulated the expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), a rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis, by interacting with TSHR in ventricular myocytes. Our research provides a new insight into explore the mechanism of hypothyroid cardiomyopathy. Methods (1) Rat ventricle myocyte cell line H9C2 cells, ventricle tissues of normal Wistar rats as well as BALB/c and C57BL/6J mice were selected as research samples. Rat thyroid cell line FRTL-5 cells were used as the positive controls. TSHR mRNA expression was measured using Reverse-Transcription (RT); While the expression of TSHR protein was measured using western blotting and immunofluorescence, respectively. (2) After starved in 2% CS-FBS medium to achieve synchronisation, H9C2 cells were stimulated with bTSH for the different time and concentrations, collected the cells and tested the intracellular cAMP production, HMGCR mRNA and protein expression, respectively. At the same time, as the secreted contents of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in the culture media were assayed and the corresponding cell protein level was also collected to correct the BNP levels. (3) H9C2 cells were pre-incubated with the adenylyl cyclase inhibitor SQ22536 or cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H89 respectively before subsequent stimulation with bTSH for 48 h. The intracellular cAMP production and the expression of pCREB and HMGCR were examined, respectively. (4) To further investigate the role of TSH in the regulation of HMGCR in the ventricle in vivo, we employed Tshr −/− type (supplement with exogenous T4) and wild type C57BL/6 mice. Testing the expression of HMGCR mRNA and protein and pCREB protein in ventricle tissue using real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Echocardiography was used to assess mouse heart function. Results (1) TSHR mRNA and protein expression was present in both the ventricle tissue and myocytes of rats and mice. TSHR protein was located in H9C2 cell membrane as same as FRTL-5 cells. (2) bTSH stimulated the accumulation of cAMP production in H9C2 cells in dose-and time dependent manners (all p (3) Treatment with bTSH resulted an increase in either the expression of pCREB protein, HMGCR mRNA and protein or the BNP secretionin in dose- and time-dependent manners (all p (4) The above bTSH-stimulated effects were not only blunted by SQ22536 but also by H89, indicating TSH up-regulated HMGCR expression in ventricle myocytes through cAMP/PKA/pCREB signalling pathway. (5) The immunohistochemical results of mouse ventricle tissue showed that HMGCR protein mainly expressed in cytoplasm while pCREB protein expressed in cell nuclei. In comparison to wild type mice, the expression, in left ventricle of Tshr −/− type mice, of HMGCR mRNA and protein and pCREB protein was significantly reduced by 15–36% (p 0.05). Conclusions Functional TSHR exists in ventricle tissue and myocytes. TSH induces ventricle myocyte HMGCR expression through cAMP/PKA/pCREB and promotes BNP secretion, which is dependent of TSHR.

Objectives Lipid profile is influenced by both thyroid function and glucose metabolism. Increasing evidence demonstrated that TSH might affect the cardiovascular risk factors through some extrathyroidal effects. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum TSH levels and the lipid profile in euthyroid non-diabetics with newly diagnosed asymptomatic coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods A retrospective study was conducted including 438 euthyroid non-diabetics (209 males and 229 females, age ranged 40–88 years) with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD from 2004 to 2010 in Jinan, China. Lipid parameters and the levels of TSH, thyroid hormones were determined. The patients were divided into three groups according to different TSH levels within the normal range: a lower limits TSH subgroup (TSH 0.3–0.99 mIU/l, G1), a moderate TSH subgroup (TSH 1.0–1.89 mIU/l, G2) and a upper limits TSH subgroup (TSH 1.9–4.8 mIU/l, G3). Regression analysis and ORs were used to assess the influence of the parameters on the lipid profile and to estimate the risks of dyslipidemia with respect to the TSH levels. Results The TSH level, even within the normal range, was positively and linearly correlated with total cholesterol (TC), non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) (β=0.200, 0.224 and 0.128, respectively; p Conclusions TSH levels were associated in a positive and linear manner with the TC, non-HDL-C and TG levels in euthyroid non-diabetics with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD. TSH in the upper limits of normal range might exert adverse effects on the lipid profile and might represent a risk factor for hypercholesterolaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia in the context of CHD. Maintaining TSH in a relative low normal range might be beneficial for lipid profile in euthyroid non-diabetics with newly diagnosed asymptomatic CHD.