Habitual Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine Consumption, Circulating Metabolites, and the Risk of Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity.

Context: Cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM) is an increasing public health concern. Previous observational studies have suggested inverse associations between coffee, tea, and caffeine intake and risks of individual cardiometabolic diseases; however, their associations with CM and related biological markers are unknown.

Methods: This prospective study involved 172 315 (for caffeine analysis) and 188 091 (tea and coffee analysis) participants free of any cardiometabolic diseases at baseline from the UK Biobank; 168 metabolites were measured among 88 204 and 96 393 participants.

A large study of metabolomics reveals common and distinct metabolic biomarkers for type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

We aimed at examining the shared and unique associations of metabolites with multiple cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), i.e. type 2 diabetes (T2D), coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.

Determining optimal ALT cut-off values for predicting significant hepatic histological changes in patients with normal ALT in the grey zone of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Background And Aims: We aimed to define gender-specific, optimal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) cut-off values for the prediction of significant liver histological changes (SLHC) in Chinese patients with grey zone (GZ) chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and normal ALT.

Methods: In a retrospective study, we included 1101 consecutive patients with GZ CHB and normal ALT assigned to training or internal validation cohorts. We included an independent cohort of 842 patients for external validation.

Hepatitis B Virus Envelope Antigen and Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen Both Contribute to the Innate Immune Response During Persistent Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

This study aimed to investigate the changes of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), proinflammatory cytokine expression, hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), and hepatitis B virus envelope antigen (HBeAg) expression as well as innate immune cell percentages in a mouse model of persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection to better understand the innate immune response. Mouse models of persistent HBV infection, HBsAg expression, and HBeAg expression were developed using high-pressure tail-vein injection of recombinant adeno-associated viruses. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to determine the serum proinflammatory cytokine levels.

Development a novel nomogram model for predicting significant hepatic histological changes in chronic hepatitis B virus carriers.

A proportion of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers with normal alanine transaminase (ALT) present with significant liver histological changes (SLHC). To construct a noninvasive nomogram model to identify SLHC in chronic HBV carriers with different upper limits of normal (ULNs) for ALT. The training cohort consisted of 732 chronic HBV carriers who were stratified into four sets according to different ULNs for ALT: chronic HBV carriers I, II, III, and IV.

Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry and Risks of Macrovascular, Microvascular Complications and Mortality Among Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: The prospective associations of preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) with new-onset macrovascular and microvascular complications and mortality among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and whether PRISm enhances the prediction ability of an established office-based risk score remain to be elucidated.

Research Question: Can PRISm be used as a predictor of poor prognosis in individuals with T2D?

Study Design And Methods: We included 20,047 study participants with T2D and complete data on spirometry at recruitment from the UK Biobank cohort. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations of baseline PRISm (FEV to FVC ratio, ≥ 0.

Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry, Metabolomics, and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

Context: Whether baseline preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) is associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and if this association could be mediated by circulating metabolites remains to be elucidated.

Objective: To measure the prospective association of PRISm with T2D and potential metabolic mediators thereof.

Methods: This study used data from the UK Biobank and included 72 683 individuals without diabetes at baseline.

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol modifies the association between blood lead and uric acid: results from NHANES 2005-2016.

Background: The association between blood lead (PbB) and uric acid (SUA) remains unclear in US adults without a high level of lead exposure. Additionally, the effects of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) modifying this association are still unclear. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect of modification of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol on the association between PbB and SUA.

Advantages of a Novel Model for Predicting Hepatic Fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Carriers Compared with APRI and FIB-4 Scores.

Background And Aims: Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) are widely used to assess liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Currently, the definition of normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is controversial. We aimed to examine the diagnostic value of APRI and FIB-4 in chronic HBV carriers with different upper limits of normal (ULNs) for ALT.

Associations of handgrip strength with morbidity and all-cause mortality of cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

Background: Cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM) is an increasing public health and clinical concern. However, predictors for the development and prognosis of CM are poorly understood. The aims of this study were to investigate the relation between handgrip strength (HGS) and the risk of CM and to examine the association of HGS with all-cause mortality risk among patients with CM.

NOTCH1 signaling establishes the medullary thymic epithelial cell progenitor pool during mouse fetal development.

The cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cell (cTEC and mTEC) lineages are essential for inducing T cell lineage commitment, T cell positive selection and the establishment of self-tolerance, but the mechanisms controlling their fetal specification and differentiation are poorly understood. Here, we show that notch signaling is required to specify and expand the mTEC lineage. is expressed by and active in TEC progenitors.

Rapid reformation of larger aerobic granular sludge in an internal-circulation membrane bioreactor after long-term operation: Effect of short-time aeration.

The investigation aimed at revealing the influence of an external disturbance on the rapid reformation of larger aerobic granular sludge (AGS) in an internal-circulation membrane bioreactor (IC-MBR) after long-term operation. The used IC-MBR was continuously operated well for more than one year, in which, the biomass was still in the state of AGS with a balanced average size at around 200 μm and an even size distribution. By providing short-time aeration to the biomass within this bioreactor, the characteristics of biomass were totally changed in a very short time, including the surface hydrophilicity, physic-chemical properties, and the structure of microbial community, which created suitable conditions for the growth of filamentous bacteria (Saccharibacteria).

Heterogeneity of the diverse aerobic sludge granules self-cultivated in a membrane bioreactor with enhanced internal circulation.

The present work revealed the heterogeneity of the sludge granules formed in a membrane bioreactor with enhanced internal circulation, and also contributed to better understanding of their forming mechanisms. By continuously carrying out an experiment lasting for more than 3 months with the floc sludge from a local municipal wastewater treatment plant as inoculation sludge, diverse aerobic sludge granules were found to be successfully self-cultivated within the reactor. The results of scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence microscope and high-throughput sequencing measurement indicated that the obtained diverse granules exhibited quite obvious heterogeneity in their basic physico-chemical and microbial properties, and filamentous bacteria actually acted as a main skeleton to keep the self-cultivated sludge granules stable in both their structure and morphology.

The dynamics of a dominant dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, in the subtropical coastal waters of the Matsu archipelago.

Bioluminescent seas caused by blooms of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans are a famous scenic attraction in the Matsu archipelago near the Chinese coast in the northern part of the Taiwan Strait. The relationship between the abundance of N. scintillans and various environmental factors was examined in the subtropical coastal waters of these islands from April to December, 2016.