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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common chronic liver disease, and among the non-invasive tests, controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) have shown better diagnostic performance in NAFLD. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the performance of CAP and LSM for assessing steatosis and fibrosis in NAFLD.We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases for relevant articles published up to February 13A total of 10537 patients from 61 studies were included in our meta-analysis. The AUROC of CAP were 0·924, 0·794 and 0·778 for steatosis grades ≥ S1, ≥ S2 and = S3, respectively, and the AUROC of LSM for detecting fibrosis stages ≥ F1, ≥ F2, ≥ F3, and = F4 were 0·851, 0·830, 0·897 and 0·925, respectively. Subgroup analysis revealed that BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² had lower accuracy for diagnosing S ≥ S1, ≥ S2 than BMI30 kg/m². For the mean cut-off values, significant differences were found in CAP values among different body mass index (BMI) populations and LSM values among different regions. For diagnosing S ≥ S1, ≥ S2 and = S3, the mean CAP cut-off values for BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² were 30·7, 28·2, and 27·9 dB/m higher than for BMI30 kg/m² (The good performance of CAP and LSM for the diagnosis of mild steatosis (S ≥ S1), advanced liver fibrosis (F ≥ F3), and cirrhosis (F = F4) can be used to screen for NAFLD in high-risk populations. Of note, the accuracy of CAP for the detection of steatosis in patients with obesity is reduced and requires specific diagnostic values. For LSM, the same diagnostic values can be used when the appropriate probes are selected based on BMI and the automated probe selection tool. The performance of CAP and LSM in assessing steatosis in patients with obesity, moderate to severe steatosis, and low-grade fibrosis should be further validated and improved in the future.The study was funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

Methamphetamine (METH) abusing contributes to dopaminergic neurons degeneration, resulting inParkinson's disease (PD)-like changes. More recently, the association between METH exposure and the Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like changes gained more attention, however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether METH exposure promotes the formation of Aβ42, one of the key AD-like pathological proteins. With the cell model PC-12 cell line, it showed that METH treatment significantly increased the level of the precursor protein APP and its hydrolysates CTFs expression in a dose-dependent manner. In parallel, with the ELISA assay, we found that METH exposure contributed to an obvious elevation of the Aβ1-42 excretion in the cell culture supernatant. Therefore, we examined the expression of p-GSK3α and BACE-1, which were responsible for APP and Aβ1-42 generation respectively, it suggested in that METH obviously activated the p-GSK3α and increased the level of BACE-1, and the expression of BACE-1 was also detected by the immunofluorescence, with the significant elevation of the BACE-1 fluorescence intensity. In conclusion, METH treatment promotes the expression of Aβ precursor protein APP and its hydrolysis product CTFs and Aβ1-42, and p-GSK3α as well as BACE-1 may be involved in this process.

Here we report five cases of NDM-7-producing Escherichia coli from patients with bacteriuria in a teaching hospital in mainland China. Two isolates belonged to sequence type 131 (ST131), simultaneously carrying blaCTX-M-15, blaSHV-11, blaTEM-1 and qnrS1. The blaNDM-7 gene was located on a conjugative IncX3-type plasmid bearing blaTEM-1 and qnrS1. These findings indicate the spread of NDM-7 metallo-β-lactamase in a highly resistant and virulent E. coli sequence type in China.

We consider a wide class of integrable nonautonomous nonlinear integro-differential Schrodinger equation which contains the models for the soliton management in Bose–Einstein condensates, nonlinear optics, and inhomogeneous Heisenberg spin chain. With the help of the nonisospectral AKNS hierarchy, we obtain the N-fold Darboux transformation and the N-fold soliton-like solutions for the equation. The soliton management, especially the synchronized dispersive and nonlinear management in optical fibers is discussed. It is found that in the situation without external potential, the synchronized dispersive and nonlinear management can keep the integrability of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation; this suggests that in optical fibers, the synchronized dispersive and nonlinear management can control and maintain the propagation of a multi-soliton.

The electronic, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of α -UH 3 are comparatively investigated within the LDA and LDA+ U formalisms. After choosing a reasonable U parameter, the LDA+ U method can produce a more precise lattice constant. For the ground-state electronic structures of α -UH 3 , the uranium 5 f electronic states are divided into multiple peaks in the LDA+ U results, resulting in weakening of the material’s metallicity, and enhancement of the ionic character of the uranium-hydrogen bonds. However, inclusion of the U parameter induces negligible changes on the mechanical properties of α -UH 3 . Lastly for thermodynamic properties, systematic phonon dispersion curve calculations reveal that the LDA and LDA+ U methods give quite different frequencies for the optical branches of phonons of α -UH 3 . Our systematical studies can serve as comparisons for further experimental investigations on UH 3 .

The wavelength shift of surface plasmon resonance peak resulting from the electromagnetic coupling noble metal nanoparticle increases with the increase in the dielectric constant of the medium and the decrease in the interparticle separation distance. In this work, the discrete dipole approximation method was used to calculate the extinction efficiency spectra of the silver–silver and gold–gold nanoparticle pairs. This work shows that the silver coupled-particle system has higher plasmon resonance sensitivity as compared to the gold coupled-particle system. However, the silver coupled-particle system has lower and a faster near-exponential decay of sensitivity enhancement factor than the gold coupled-particle system. Thus, the silver coupled-particle may be more suited for sensing applications as compared to the gold coupled-particle, but the interparticle coupling effect displays more pronounced effect on the gold coupled-particle system as compared to the silver coupled-particle system.

Changes in cell density and cyst flux of Alexandrium tamarense, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin contents in shellfishes, and environmental parameters were measured in two stations in Daya Bay, South China Sea from March 2005 to July 2006. Vegetative cells of A. tamarense occurred sporadically; however, they presented abundantly during the winter months. Meanwhile, cyst flux reached its maximum level just following the peak abundance of motile cells. The PSP contents in shellfish were generally low, but higher in winter with the maximum of 14,015 μg STX equiv./kg. The majority of toxins were found in digestive glands, with a maximum of 66,227 μg STX equiv./kg. There were significant positive relationships between toxin level and vegetative cell density and cyst flux. This indicates that vegetative cells and cysts of Alexandrium significantly influenced PSP level, and could be an important source of PSP toxins in shellfish during winter.

Recent trends in eutrophication and human disturbance were evaluated using dinoflagellate resting cysts and geochemical parameters. Analyses were performed on three sediment cores from Daya Bay, South China Sea covering the past hundred years. Changes in cyst assemblages as well as geochemical parameters including biogenic silica (BSi), organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) reflected environmental change in the area. The clear increase in overall cyst concentration and the prominence of Scrippsiella cysts suggested an increase in cultural eutrophication which began in the 1970s and become evident since 1985. Large fluctuation in cyst assemblages and BSi in the upper 22 cm signaled the influence of construction and operation of nuclear power stations on phytoplankton community and environments, with an increase in the early stage of construction, a rapid decline in the late stage of construction and early operation, and then a sharp increase thereafter. High Alexandrium cyst abundance in shallowest sediments was consistent with high PSP levels and PSP events in the area, and the persistent toxicity suggests recurrent seeding from the rich cyst bed in these surface sediments.

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) cryopolymerizations of acrylamides and acrylates were successfully carried out at −5 °C with cumene hydroperoxide/ascorbic acid as redox initiation couple and 2-dodecylsulfanyl- thiocarbonylsulfanyl-2-methylpropinoic acid as chain transfer agent. The cryopolymerization features of N , N -dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and tert -butyl acrylate ( t BA) were investigated in view of kinetics, molecular weight and its distribution by proton nuclear magnetic resonance analysis and gel permeation chromatography. Furthermore, sequential block cryopolymerizations of N -isopropylacrylamide were performed with the obtained trithiocarbonate- functionalized PDMA or PtBA as macro-CTA and the corresponding block polymers were obtained. All the results demonstrated that these cryopolymerizations bear all the characteristics of controlled/living radical polymerizations.

Environmental characteristics and phytoplankton community structure were investigated in two aquaculture areas in Dapeng Cove of Daya Bay, South China Sea, between April 2005 and June 2006. Phytoplankton abundance ranged between 5.0 and 8877.5 cells/mL, with an average of 751.8 cells/mL. The seasonal cycle of phytoplankton were demonstrated by frequent oscillations, with recurrent high abundances from late spring to autumn and a peak stage in late winter. Diatoms were the predominant phytoplankton group, accounting for 93.21% of the total abundance. The next most abundant group was the dinoflagellates, which made up only 1.24% of total abundance. High concentrations of Alexandrium tamarense (Lebour) Balech with a maximum of 603.0 cells/mL were firstly recorded in this area known for high rates of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) contamination. Temperatures and salinities were within the suitable values for the growth of phytoplankton, and were important in phytoplankton seasonal fluctuations. The operation of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station (DNPS) exerts influences on the phytoplankton community and resulted in the high abundances of toxic dinoflagellate species during the winter months. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved silicate (DSi) were sufficient, and rarely limited for the growth of phytoplankton. Dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) was the most necessary element for phytoplankton growth. The enriched environments accelerated the growth of small diatoms, and made for the shift in predominant species from large diatom Rhizosolenia spp. to chain-forming diatoms such as Skeletonema costatum, Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and Thalassiosira subtilis.

NiCrAlY coating was deposited on a single crystal Ni-base superalloy by detonation gun spraying. By means of XRD, SEM and EDS, isothermal oxidation behavior of the coatings at 1050 degreesC were studied. The results showed that detonation gun sprayed NiCrAlY coatings held a favorable oxidation resistance. Their oxidation kinetics at 1050 degreesC obeyed the parabolic law. alpha-Al2O3 scale was formed on the coating surface and kept almost intact after oxidation for 300 It. Internal oxidation led to the formation of Al2O3 at the coating/substrate interface, and needlelike (Al, N) compounds appeared in the undersurface area of the substrate. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.