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AIM The global burden of chronic liver disease is substantial. Limited studies have reported the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and liver fibrosis among middle-aged and older people. Therefore, we aimed to determine the nationwide prevalence of and associated factors for MAFLD and fibrosis in adults aged 45-79 years from the United States. METHODS This cross-sectional study utilized data from the 2017-2018 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted with a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized US population. Hepatic steatosis and fibrosis were assessed by transient elastography with controlled attenuation parameter and liver stiffness measurement, respectively. RESULTS A total of 1186 eligible participants aged 45-79 years were finally included in the analyses. The estimated prevalence of MAFLD, significant fibrosis (F ≥ F2), and advanced fibrosis (F ≥ F3) was 48.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 43.1%-54.0%), 9.5% (95% CI, 6.8%-12.7%), and 6.7% (95% CI, 4.1%-10.1%), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression revealed an increased MAFLD predisposition in subjects with metabolic disorders including overweight/obesity, abdominal obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Moreover, the presence of depression was an independent and strong predictor of MAFLD risk (odds ratio = 3.23; 95% CI, 1.37-7.11). Elevated liver enzymes, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hepatitis virus infection, and steatosis were associated with a high risk of significant fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS Newly defined MAFLD is highly prevalent in the US middle-aged and older population. Approximately 1 in 10 people has significant liver fibrosis. In addition to metabolic disorders, the presence of depression potentially increases the risk of MAFLD.

To distinguish between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children, we have uncovered a new discriminative feature, hemoglobin coupling. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record resting-state hemodynamic fluctuations in the bilateral temporal lobes in 25 children with ASD and 22 TD children, in which the coupling between low frequency oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb) fluctuations was evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed significantly weak coupling in children with ASD in both the left and right, and throughout the whole temporal cortex. To explain this observation, a simulation study was performed using a balloon model, in which we found four related parameters could impact the coupling. This study suggested that hemoglobin coupling might be applied as a new cerebral hemodynamic characteristic for ASD screening or diagnostics.

In this Article, a hybrid foam was fabricated through the integration of amine-functionalized Fe-MOF (MIL-101-NH2) into cellulosic matrix. The existence of enormous group linkages and ionic bonding...

In order to achieve high-sensitivity time-domain diffuse correlation spectroscopy (TD-DCS) measurement of functional changes in cerebral blood flow, this study applied simulation methods to optimize the TD-DCS system under real experimental conditions (including the consideration of the effects of finite coherence length ${L_C}$ and non-ideal instrument response function IRF). Under a real experimental condition where the incident power is 75 mW, the source-detector distance is 1.0 cm, and the full width at half maxima of the IRF is 160 ps, we used simulation experiments to investigate the relationship between the contrast of the intensity autocorrelation function (${g_2}$) in two brain functional states (i.e., baseline and activation) and TD-DCS system parameters (including ${L_C}$, IRF, source-detector distance, gate opening time and gate width).Our simulation results show that both longer ${L_C}$ and longer integration time are beneficial to a more sensitive detection. With a fixed ${L_C}$ and integration time, the optimal parameters of gate opening time is 800 ps (relative to the peak time of IRF), and gate width is equal to or larger than 800 ps. This study may be useful for guiding the sensitive measurement of human brain functions (e.g., changes in cerebral blood flow) using the TD-DCS technology.

Resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) can be used to assess autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Measuring RSFC usually takes 5 to 10 min, during which children with ASD may have difficulty keeping their heads motionless. Therefore, a short acquisition time for RSFC would make clinical implementation more feasible.To find a suitable acquisition time necessary for measuring RSFC with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) for the differentiation between children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children.We used fNIRS to record the spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations from the bilateral temporal lobes of 25 children with ASD and 22 TD children. The recorded signals were truncated into several segments with different time windows, and then the homotopic RSFC was computed for each of these segments and compared between the two groups.We observed even in a very short time duration of 0.5 min, the RSFC had already existed a significant difference between the two groups, and 2.0 min might be the minimal time required for measuring RSFC for accurate differentiation between the two groups.The fNIRS-RSFC acquired even in a short time, e.g., 2.0 min, might be a reliable feature for the differentiation between children with ASD and TD children.

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between different cornstarch levels in tilapia diet and immune function. All test fish were fed with three cornstarch levels: low-cornstarch (0, LS), medium-cornstarch (18%, MS) and high-cornstarch (36%, HS) diets. Three hundred and sixty fish (initial mean body weight 31.73 ± 1.36 g) were randomly allocated into twelve water-circulated tanks, and thirty fish per tank. Compared with the low and medium cornstarch diets, the results of growth showed that the high cornstarch diet significantly decreased the FBW, WGR, and SGR, and increased the FCR of tilapia (P P P P P P P P > 0.05). In conclusion, the overall results suggested that the 36% cornstarch diet reduced not only the growth performance, but also body immunity. Under this experimental condition, GIFT tilapia could tolerate 18% cornstarch, but not 36% cornstarch.

The continuous integration of fluctuating distributed generators and nonlinear power electronic equipment have produced severe signal contamination and induced various power quality (PQ) problems to modern power systems. PQ disturbances (PQD) greatly ruin user experience and also bring significant power losses. Therefore, a high-precision machine learning-based PQD identification model is proposed in this article, which combines the advantages of the modified fast independent component analysis method and the improved random forest classifier. First, ten types of PQD models are established, and fast independent component analysis is adopted to denoise the PQD sample signals mixed with Gaussian noises. Second, the discrete wavelet transform is utilized to extract the statistical and wavelet-related features from the denoised PQD samples, so as to form the desired feature set. Finally, a random forest-based PQD identification model is proposed. Compared with several existing models, the proposed model has higher identification accuracy and stronger feasibility under strong noise environment, which could provide valuable information for future PQ management.

A feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of three compound attractants on the growth performance, immunity, and intestinal morphology of Yellow River (YR) carp. Five treatment groups were included in the feeding experiment. Group I consisted of a fishmeal-based diet (positive control), and group II was a plant protein diet (negative control). The compound attractants 1 ( 0.06 % dimethyl − beta − propiothetin DMPT + 0.22 % tangerine peel powder + 0.75 % yeast powder ), 2 ( 0.05 % garlic powder + 0.06 % DMPT + 0.75 % yeast powder ), and 3 ( 0.07 % sodium glutamate + 0.22 % tangerine peel powder + 0.34 % betaine ) were added to the plant protein diet, belonging to groups III, IV, and V, respectively. The three different compound attractants significantly improved the weight gain rate, special growth rate, and protein efficiency ratio of Yellow River (YR) carp ( P < 0.05 ) compared with the negative control, among which group III performed best. Similarly, group III had significantly higher serum lysozyme (LZM) and acid phosphatase (ACP) activities than the negative control, and groups III, IV, and V depicted significantly higher LZM activities in the liver and gill ( P < 0.05 ). Groups III, IV, and V revealed significantly higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) activities in the serum and liver than the negative control ( P < 0.05 ), while the malondialdehyde (MDA) content was the opposite ( P < 0.05 ). Moreover, the height and width of the plica in the foregut and midgut and the thickness of the midgut muscle layer in group III were significantly higher than those in the negative control ( P < 0.05 ). Therefore, adding compound attractants in a plant protein diet can significantly enhance the total antioxidant and immune capacity, along with improved growth performance of YR carp. Similarly, compound attractants significantly elevated the height and width of the intestinal fold within the anterior and middle sections of the intestine, depicting that compound attractants promote intestinal digestion and absorption, thereby reducing intestinal injury. The results from the three experimental groups found that the compound attractants combined with 0.06% DMPT, 0.22% tangerine peel powder, and 0.75% yeast powder were more suitable for the basic plant protein diet of YR carp.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of glimepiride on the growth, glucose metabolism and the expressions of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38MAPK), C-JUN N-terminal kinase (JNK) in skeletal muscle of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT). The tilapia were categorized into five feed groups: normal starch group (32%, LS), high starch group (53%, HS), HS+ glimepiride group 1 (10 mg/kg, G1), HS+ glimepiride group 2 (20 mg/kg, G2), and HS+ glimepiride group 3 (30 mg/kg, G3). The results showed that the final body weight and specific growth rate of the G2 group increased (P > 0.05), and the protein efficiency ratio of groups G1 and G2 was significantly higher than that of the HS group (P 0.05). The expression of p38MAPK and JNK mRNAs in the G1 and G2 groups were significantly lower than those in the HS groups (P 0.05). Thus, GIFT tilapia can tolerate a high amount of starch, and the addition of glimepiride at an optimal dosage of 10–20 mg/kg does not significantly impact the growth index. However, it can improve glucose metabolism by promoting insulin secretion and liver/muscle glycogen synthesis.

To investigate the relationship between short-range and homotopic long-range resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children, we analyzed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) RSFC in 25 children with ASD and 22 age-matched TD children. The resting state fNIRS signals, including spontaneous fluctuations in the oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations, were recorded from the bilateral temporal lobes. We found that (1) there was no difference in the short-range RSFC between the left and right hemisphere in either ASD or TD group, (2) both the short-range and homotopic long-range RSFC were weaker in the ASD than TD group, and (3) the short-range RSFC was stronger than the homotopic long-range RSFC in the ASD group, whereas no such difference was observed in the TD group. These observations might be helpful for a better understanding of the underlying cortical mechanism in ASD.

Feature extraction and recognition in brain signal processing is of great significance for developing brain imaging-based diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, the complexity of resting-state (RS) functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals collected from the bilateral temporal lobes was assessed by the multiscale entropy (MSE). 25 children with ASD and 22 typically developing (TD) children participated in the experiment. The quantitative analysis of MSE revealed the increased complexity in RS-fNIRS in children with ASD. In particular, in the left temporal lobe the significant differences were observed between children with ASD and TD children. The complexity in RS signal and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) were also observed to exhibit negative correlation. These results indicated that the MSE might serve as a novel measure for RS-fNIRS signals in characterizing ASD.

The study aimed to explore the effects of rosiglitazone on glucose metabolism of GIFT tilapia based on the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. The experiment was divided into five groups: normal starch group (32%, LC), high starch group (53%, HC), high starch +rosiglitazone group 1 (10 mg/kg, R1), high starch + rosiglitazone group 2 (20 mg/kg, R2), and high starch + rosiglitazone group 3 (30 mg/kg, R3). The results showed that a high starch diet supplemented with 10–20 mg/kg rosiglitazone had a better specific growth rate and protein efficiency that was beneficial for the growth of the tilapia. Rosiglitazone had no significant effect on the contents of crude lipid, crude protein, crude ash, and moisture of the whole fish body (p > 0.05). The contents of triglycerides and total cholesterol in the R1, R2, and R3 groups were lower than those in the HC group. The levels of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) in R1 and R2 groups were significantly lower than those in the HC groups (p 0.05). The protein expression of p‐GSK‐3β in the R1 and R2 groups was significantly higher than that in the HC group (p, A high starch diet supplemented with rosiglitazone can improve the growth performance, reduce the serum glucose and insulin levels, improve the blood biochemical indices, and increase the muscle glycogen content. Rosiglitazone upregulates the mRNA levels of IRS‐1, PI3K, and GLUT‐4 in the skeletal muscle, increases the insulin sensitivity, and promotes glucose uptake.

Hemispheric asymmetry in the power spectrum of low-frequency spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations has been previously observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This observation may imply a specific narrow-frequency band in which individuals with ASD could show more significant alteration in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC). To test this assumption, we evaluated narrowband RSFC at several frequencies for functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals recorded from the bilateral temporal lobes on 25 children with ASD and 22 typically developing (TD) children. In several narrow-frequency bands, we observed altered interhemispheric RSFC in ASD. However, in the band of 0.01–0.02 Hz, more mirrored channel pairs (or cortical sites) showed significantly weaker RSFC in the ASD group. Receiver operating characteristic analysis further demonstrated that RSFC in the narrowband of 0.01–0.02 Hz might have better differentiation ability between the ASD and TD groups. This may indicate that the narrowband RSFC could serve as a characteristic for the prediction of ASD.

Arsenic is an environmental contaminant, its multiple effects on human tend to increase the rate of disease, cancer and other health problems. Some of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can be induced in major cellular processes such as necrosis, proliferation, and mutation. While the toxicity of arsenic is well established, the association between arsenic exposure and long non-coding RNAs has not been studied enough. This study investigated the association between arsenic and the expression of HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 in vivo and vitro. In epidemiological studies, the expression of HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 was increased after long-term arsenic exposure. HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 expression were positively linked to monomethylarsenic acid (MMA), dimethylarsenic acid (DMA), inorganic arsenic (iAs), total arsenic (tAs), and MMA% and negatively linked to secondary methylation index (SMI). In A549 cells, arsenic exposure resulted in enhanced HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 expression dose-dependently. The expression of HOTAIR was considerably high in the presence of NaAsO2 and MMA but showed no difference in DMA compared with control group. And LincRNA-p21 expression was increased in the presence of NaAsO2, MMA, and DMA. The expression of HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 induced by iAs was much higher than that induced by MMA and DMA. Compared with the control group, treatment of A549 cells with NaAsO2/S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and NaAsO2/glutathione (GSH) combination increased HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 expression. The expression of LincRNA-p21 in combination of NaAsO2/GSH was significantly decreased compared with NaAsO2 alone. Besides, in the presence of arsenic, both of HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21 were upregulated significantly when P53 was knocked down. We revealed that inorganic arsenic, its methylated metabolites, and arsenic metabolism efficiency affect the expression of HOTAIR and LincRNA-p21.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of mixed plant protein (MP) (rapeseed meal:cottonseed meal:peanut meal = 1:1:1) on growth, body composition, blood biochemical parameters, growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1, and relative non-specific immune response in Yellow River carp Cyprinus carpio. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic trial diets were formulated to replace fish meal at 0 (MP0, control), 25% (MP25), 50% (MP50), 75% (MP75), and 100% (MP100) mixed plant protein, respectively. The 25% mixed plant protein did not affect the weight gain, specific growth rate, and protein efficiency ratio, whereas these parameters were depressed by 50% and above mixed plant protein. The whole body protein content gradually decreased with increasing dietary MP; meanwhile, the whole body lipid content is the opposite. The MP75 and MP100 diets adversely affected the glucose level, total cholesterol value, alanine transaminase, and aspartate transaminase activity of serum. Fish fed MP75 and MP100 diets showed higher growth hormone level than that of MP0 diet; however, the insulin-like growth factor 1 level got the opposite result. The 50% and above inclusion of MP decreased lysozyme activity and increased malondialdehyde content. In conclusion, no more than 50% of fish meal could be replaced by mixed plant protein in diet. However, 50% and above inclusion of mixed plant protein in diet could depress the growth, insulin-like growth factor 1 level, and non-specific immune response, and significantly affect the whole body composition and serum biochemical parameters in Yellow River carp.