Physical activity and sleep pattern in relation to incident Parkinson's disease: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: How physical activity (PA) and different sleep traits and overall sleep pattern interact in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD) remain unknown. OBJECTIVE: To prospectively investigate the joint associations of PA and sleep pattern with risk of PD. METHODS: Included were 339,666 PD-free participants from the UK Biobank. Baseline PA levels were grouped into low (< 600 MET-mins/week), medium (600 to < 3000 MET-mins/week) and high (≥ 3000 MET-mins/week) according to the instructions of the UK Biobank. Healthy sleep traits (chronotype, sleep duration, insomnia, snoring, and daytime sleepiness) were scored from 0 to 5 and were categorized into "ideal sleep pattern" (≥ 3 sleep scores) and "poor sleep pattern" (0-2 sleep scores). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of PD were estimated by Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: During a median of 11.8 years of follow-up, 1,966 PD events were identified. The PD risk was lower in participants with high PA (HR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.64, 0.84), compared to those with low PA; and participants with ideal sleep pattern also had a lower risk of PD (HR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.87), compared to those with poor sleep pattern. When jointly investigating the combined effect, participants with both high PA and ideal sleep pattern had the lowest risk of incident PD (HR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.69), compared to those with low PA and poor sleep pattern; notably, participants with high PA but poor sleep pattern also gained benefit on PD risk reduction (HR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Both high PA and ideal sleep pattern were independently associated with lower risk of developing PD, and those with both high PA level and ideal sleep pattern had the lowest risk. Our results suggest that improving PA levels and sleep quality may be promising intervention targets for the prevention of PD.

A Novel Zero-Velocity Interval Detection Algorithm for a Pedestrian Navigation System with Foot-Mounted Inertial Sensors.

The zero-velocity update (ZUPT) algorithm is a pivotal advancement in pedestrian navigation accuracy, utilizing foot-mounted inertial sensors. Its key issue hinges on accurately identifying periods of zero-velocity during human movement. This paper introduces an innovative adaptive sliding window technique, leveraging the Fourier Transform to precisely isolate the pedestrian's gait frequency from spectral data. Building on this, the algorithm adaptively adjusts the zero-velocity detection threshold in accordance with the identified gait frequency. This adaptation significantly refines the accuracy in detecting zero-velocity intervals. Experimental evaluations reveal that this method outperforms traditional fixed-threshold approaches by enhancing precision and minimizing false positives. Experiments on single-step estimation show the adaptability of the algorithm to motion states such as slow, fast, and running. Additionally, the paper demonstrates pedestrian trajectory localization experiments under a variety of walking conditions. These tests confirm that the proposed method substantially improves the performance of the ZUPT algorithm, highlighting its potential for pedestrian navigation systems.

Resveratrol protects BV2 mouse microglial cells against LPS-induced inflammatory injury by altering the miR-146a-5p/TRAF6/NF-κB axis.

Objective: To investigate the role of miR-146a-5p in the effects of resveratrol (RSV) on inflammatory response in BV2 mouse microglial cells. Materials and methods: BV2 cells were pretreated by RSV and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cell Viability was checked using a MTT assay. Real-Time PCR was performed to detect the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosisfactor-α－TNF-α, interleukin-1ß－IL-1ß and interleukin-6 － IL-6) and miR-146a-5p expression. Western blot was used to analyze the protein expression of TNF receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6) and phospho-nuclear factor kappa B (pNF-κB). Gain-of-function and loss-of-function analysis of miR-146a-5p was performed using transfection of miR-146a-5p mimic and miR-146a-5p inhibitor, respectively. Results: Pretreatment with RSV significantly and dose dependently inhibited LPS-induced production of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 in BV2 cells. MiR-146a-5p was significantly upregulated after LPS treatment, and further increased in RSV and LPS-co-treated cells. MiR-146a-5p overexpression via miR-146a-5p mimic transfection downregulated the mRNA level of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6, as well as abrogated the protein expression of TRAF6 and pNF-κB in BV2 cells exposed to LPS. More importantly, the reducion of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 level by RSV were reversed by miR-146a-5p silence via miR-146a-5p inhibitor transfection. Furthermore, silencing miR-146a-5p attenuated the inhibitory effect of RSV on the TRAF6/NF-κB pathway which was activated after induction with LPS. Conclusions: RSV can suppress LPS-induced inflammatory injury via modulating the miR-146a-5p/TRAF6/NF-κB axis in BV2 mouse microglial cells.

Marinobacter aromaticivorans sp. nov., a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium isolated from sea sediment.

A rod-shaped, Gram-stain-negative, slightly halotolerant bacterium, designated strain D15-8PT, was isolated from a sediment sample from the South China Sea. The strain could grow in NaCl concentrations ranging from 0.5 % to 10 % (w/v) (optimum 0.5-1.5 %), and could be cultivated at 10-40 °C (optimum 25 °C) and pH 5.5-9.5 (optimum pH 7.0-8.0). The strain was positive for catalase, oxidase, and hydrolysis of Tween 80, but negative for hydrolysis of DNA and gelatin, nitrite reduction, indole production, Voges-Proskauer reaction, and methyl red test. Strain D15-8PT could biodegrade naphthalene, phenanthrene, and anthracene. The major respiratory quinone was Q-9. The main cellular fatty acids were C12 : 0 (11.5 %), C14 : 0 3-methyl (22.0 %), C16 : 0 (19.2 %), C16 : 1ω9c (22.9 %), and C18 : 1ω9c (6.7 %). The polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminophospholipid and an unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content was 56.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes showed that strain D15-8PT was most closely related to Marinobacter maritimus JCM 12521T (98.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Marinobacter antarcticus CGMCC 1.10835T (98.1 %), Marinobacter lipolyticus DSM 15157T (97.1 %), and Marinobacter guineae CECT 7243T (97.0 %). Results of the gyrB gene analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization were both less than the cut-off values (90 % for gyrB gene sequence similarity and 70 % for DNA-DNA hybridization). On the basis of this taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach, strain D15-8PT represents a novel species of the genus Marinobacter, for which the name Marinobacter aromaticivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is D15-8PT ( = CGMCC 1.11015T = KCTC 23781T).

Association of physical activity with risk of metabolic syndrome: findings from a cross-sectional study conducted in rural area, Nantong, China.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome increases rapidly worldwide, and its association with physical activity (PA) varies with race and lifestyles. Little is known about the association in rural China. The Nantong Metabolic Syndrome Study recruited 13,505 female and 6997 male participants in 2007 and 2008. Socio-demographic characteristics, and physiological and behavioural data were collected. Logistic regression model was applied to estimate associations of metabolic syndrome and its components with different PAs. The overall metabolic syndrome prevalence was 21.6% in current study. Increasing total PA or moderate-to-vigorous-intensity occupational PA was associated with decreasing 5%-60% risk of having metabolic syndrome and abnormal metabolic syndrome components in both genders. An association between leisure-time PA and blood pressure was found in men, but no associations between leisure-time PA and metabolic syndrome components were found in women. Commuting PA, such as walking and taking bus, by bicycle and walking only, was associated with decrease of 20%-45% risk of several abnormal metabolic syndrome components in women. This study provides information for future investigation into the nature of these associations so that recommendations can be developed to reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components among rural population in China.

PCBP2 regulates hepatic insulin sensitivity via HIF-1α and STAT3 pathway in HepG2 cells.

Elevated free fatty acids (FFAs) are fundamental to the pathogenesis of hepatic insulin resistance. However, the molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance remain not completely understood. Transcriptional dysregulation, post-transcriptional modifications and protein degradation contribute to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Poly(C) binding proteins (PCBPs) are RNA-binding proteins that are involved in post-transcriptional control pathways. However, there are little studies about the roles of PCBPs in insulin resistance. PCBP2 is the member of the RNA-binding proteins and is thought to participate in regulating hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1α) and signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) pathway which are involved in regulating insulin signaling pathway. Here, we investigated the influence of PCBP2 on hepatic insulin resistance. We showed that the protein and mRNA levels of PCBP2 were down-regulated under insulin-resistant conditions. In addition, we showed that over-expression of PCBP2 ameliorates palmitate (PA)-induced insulin resistance, which was indicated by elevated phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT) and glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (GSK3ß). We also found that over-expression of PCBP2 inhibits HIF1α and STAT3 pathway. Furthermore, glucose uptake was found to display a similar tendency with the phosphorylation of Akt. The expressions of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), two key gluconeogenic enzymes, were down-regulated following Over-expression of PCBP2. Accordingly, PA-induced intracellular lipid accumulation was suppressed in over-expression of PCBP2 HepG2 cells. In addition, we found that over-expression of PCBP2 inhibits HIF1α and STAT3 pathway. Our results demonstrate that PCBP2 was involved in hepatic insulin sensitivity might via HIF-1α and STAT3 pathway in HepG2 cells.

PRDX1 is involved in palmitate induced insulin resistance via regulating the activity of p38MAPK in HepG2 cells.

Studies have identified that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients displayed higher levels of plasma peroxiredoxin1(PRDX1) than non-diabetics. However, the impact of PRDX1 on insulin resistance and the underlying mechanism remains totally unknown. Here, we investigated the influence of PRDX1 on hepatic insulin resistance. We showed that the protein and mRNA levels of PRDX1 were significantly elevated under insulin-resistant conditions. In addition, we showed that interference of PRDX1 ameliorated palmitate-induced insulin resistance in HepG2 cells, which was indicated by elevated phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT) and of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3ß). Furthermore, the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), two key gluconeogenic enzymes, were down-regulated following PRDX1 depletion. Accordingly, glucose uptake was suppressed in PRDX1-interferred HepG2 cells. In addition, Over-expression of PRDX1 enhanced PA-induced insulin resistance in HepG2 cells. Moreover, we found that knocking down PRDX1 improves insulin sensitivity and decreased the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK). Our results demonstrate that PRDX1 can induce hepatic insulin resistance by activating p38MAPK signaling and identifies potential targets for new treatments.

TRAM1 protect HepG2 cells from palmitate induced insulin resistance through ER stress-JNK pathway.

Excess serum free fatty acids (FFAs) are fundamental to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Chronic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a major contributor to obesity-induced insulin resistance in the liver. With high-fat feeding (HFD), FFAs can activate chronic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in target tissues, initiating negative crosstalk between FFAs and insulin signaling. However, the molecular link between insulin resistance and ER stress remains to be identified. We here reported that translocating chain-associated membrane protein 1 (TRAM1), an ER-resident membrane protein, was involved in the onset of insulin resistance in hepatocytes. TRAM1 was significantly up-regulated in insulin-resistant liver tissues and palmitate (PA)-treated HepG2 cells. In addition, we showed that depletion of TRAM1 led to hyperactivation of CHOP and GRP78, and the activation of downstream JNK pathway. Given the fact that the activation of ER stress played a facilitating role in insulin resistance, the phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3ß was also analyzed. We found that depletion of TRAM1 markedly attenuated the phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3ß in the cells. Moreover, application with JNK inhibitor SP600125 reversed the effect of TRAM1 interference on Akt phosphorylation. The accumulation of lipid droplets and expression of two key gluconeogenic enzymes, PEPCK and G6Pase, were also determined and found to display a similar tendency with the phosphorylation of Akt. Glucose uptake assay indicated that knocking down TRAM1 augmented PA-induced down-regulation of glucose uptake, and inhibition of JNK using SP600125 could block the effect of TRAM1 on glucose uptake. These data implicated that TRAM1 might protect HepG2 cells against PA-induced insulin resistance through alleviating ER stress.

Interaction with cyclin H/cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CCNH/CDK7) stabilizes C-terminal binding protein 2 (CtBP2) and promotes cancer cell migration.

CtBP2 has been demonstrated to possess tumor-promoting capacities by virtue of up-regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and down-regulating apoptosis in cancer cells. As a result, cellular CtBP2 levels are considered a key factor determining the outcome of oncogenic transformation. How pro-tumorigenic and anti-tumorigenic factors compete for fine-tuning CtBP2 levels is incompletely understood. Here we report that the cyclin H/cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CCNH/CDK7) complex interacted with CtBP2 in vivo and in vitro. Depletion of either CCNH or CDK7 decreased CtBP2 protein levels by accelerating proteasome-dependent CtBP2 clearance. Further analysis revealed that CCNH/CDK7 competed with the tumor repressor HIPK2 for CtBP2 binding and consequently inhibited phosphorylation and dimerization of CtBP2. Phosphorylation-defective CtBP2 interacted more strongly with CCNH/CDK7 and was more resistant to degradation. Finally, overexpression of CtBP2 increased whereas depletion of CtBP2 dampened the invasive and migratory potential of breast cancer cells. CtBP2 promoted the invasion and migration of breast cancer cells in a CCNH-dependent manner. Taken together, our data have delineated a novel pathway that regulates CtBP2 stability, suggesting that targeting the CCNH/CDK7-CtBP2 axis may yield a viable anti-tumor strategy.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin promotes astrocyte activation and the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α via PKC/SSeCKS-dependent mechanisms.

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant that could induce significant toxic effects in the human nervous system. However, the underlying molecular mechanism has not been entirely elucidated. Reactive astrogliosis has implicated in various neurological diseases via the production of a variety of pro-inflammatory mediators. Herein, we investigated the potential role of TCDD in facilitating astrocyte activation and the underlying molecular mechanisms. We showed that TCDD induced rapid astrocyte activation following TCDD exposure, which was accompanied by significantly elevated expression of Src-Suppressed-C Kinase Substrate (SSeCKS), a protein involved in protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated Nuclear Factor kappa B signaling, suggesting a possible involvement of PKC-induced SSeCKS activation in TCDD-triggered reactive astroglia. In keeping with the finding, we found that the level of phosphorylated Nuclear Factor kappa B p65 was remarkably increased after TCDD treatment. Furthermore, interference of SSeCKS attenuated TCDD-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase, glial fibrillary acidic protein, phospho-p65 expression, and tumor necrosis factor-α secretion in astrocytes. In addition, pre-treatment with PKC inhibitor also attenuated TCDD-induced astrocyte activation, as well as SSeCKS expression. Interestingly, we found that TCDD treatment could lead to SSeCKS perinuclear localization, which could be abolished after treatment with PKC inhibitor. Finally, we showed that inhibition of PKC activity or SSeCKS expression would impair TCDD-triggered tumor necrosis factor-α secretion. Our results suggested that TCDD exposure could lead to astrocyte activation through PKC/SSeCKS-dependent mechanisms, highlighting that astrocytes might be important target of TCDD-induced neurotoxicity. 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) elicits neurotoxic effects. Here, we show TCDD induces pro-inflammatory responses in astrocytes. TCDD initiates an increase of [Ca2+]i, followed by the activation of PKC, which then induces the activation of Src-suppressed C-kinase substrate (SSeCKS). SSeCKS promotes NF-κB activation and the secretion of TNF-α and nitric oxide in astrocytes.

Downregulation of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway is involved in manganese-induced neurotoxicity in rat striatum and PC12 cells.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element. However, exposure to excessive Mn may cause neurodegenerative disorders called manganism. Accumulating evidence indicated that dysregulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling was tightly associated with the onset of neurodegenerative disorders. However, whether aberrant Wnt/ß-catenin signaling contributes to Mn-induced neurotoxicity remains unknown. The present study investigates the involvement of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in Mn-induced neurotoxicity. Western blot and immunohistochemistry analyses showed a remarkable downregulation of p-Ser9-glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and ß-catenin in rat striatum after Mn exposure. TUNEL assay revealed significant neuronal apoptosis following treatment with 25 mg/kg Mn. Immunofluorescent staining showed that ß-catenin was expressed predominantly in neurons, and colocalization of ß-catenin and active caspase-3 was observed after Mn exposure. Furthermore, Mn exposure resulted in PC12 cells apoptosis, which was accompanied by reduced levels of cellular ß-catenin and p-GSK-3ß. Accordingly, the mRNA level of the prosurvival factor survivin, a downstream target gene of ß-catenin, was synchronously decreased. More importantly, blockage of GSK-3ß activity with the GSK-3ß inhibitor lithium chloride could attenuate Mn-induced downregulation of ß-catenin and survivin as well as neuronal apoptosis. Overall, the present study demonstrates that downregulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway may be of vital importance in the neuropathological process of Mn-induced neurotoxicity.

Research on fruit picking test of blueberry harvesting machinery under transmission clearance.

Since China possesses the vast territory and a large blueberry planting area, blueberry harvesting with hand is laborious and time consuming. As the blueberry planting agronomy in China is different from other countries, it is pretty significant to develop blueberry harvesting machinery applicable to the domestic planting agronomy to achieve mechanized harvesting of blueberries. In blueberry harvesting operation, the harvesting system as the core component of the machine is the key technology of the harvesting machinery. The previous study found that: in terms of harvesting machinery, most of the literature has studied the dynamic characteristics, while few articles have been published to study the transmission clearance. But the clearance collision force generated by the transmission clearance of the harvesting system directly affected the output load moment and harvesting force of the machine developed by acting on the plant, and then affected the picking efficiency and the quality of picked fruit. Therefore, this paper focuses on the study of the transmission clearance of the blueberry harvesting machine. Firstly, the MLSD modeling method was applied to establish the transmission clearance model of the harvesting device, and the corresponding mechanical analysis of the transmission clearance was carried out. Secondly, after programming in MATLAB software and simulation in ADAMS software, the correctness of the transmission clearance model of the harvesting device was verified in different environments. The multi-body dynamics analysis software ADAMS was used for building the transmission clearance model of the harvesting device and perform mechanical simulation to analyze the clearance collision force and the output load moment of the harvesting device. Pro/E, ADAMS and ANSYS software were integrated to establish the flexible body of blueberry plant. Then the flexible body was combined with the mechanical model of harvesting device for rigid-flexible coupling simulation analysis to study the fruit harvesting force under different transmission clearances. Finally, the orthogonal method was used to conduct field test on blueberry harvesting to study the influence of the transmission clearance on the quality of picked fruit and picking efficiency of the machinery. Therefore, the best combination of the transmission clearance of the harvester was obtained as follows: cam clearance (the clearance joints of cam) was 0.25 mm, the slider clearance was 0.2 mm, left connecting rod clearance pair was 0.1 mm, right connecting rod clearance pair was 0.2 mm; the field picking test was conducted to obtain the machine's picking efficiency was 3.93 kg min-1, the shedding rate of unripe fruit was 3.1 %, and the damage rate of picked fruit was 2.8 %. The research findings of this paper can offer referenced basis and theoretical support for berry harvesting machinery, and also can provide guidance for the design and improvement of other agricultural and forestry harvesting machinery.

An improved adaptive position tracking strategy for automatic shift actuator with uncertain parameters.

Realizing precise and fast position control of the gear is a challenging issue because of its nonlinearity, parameter uncertainty and external disturbance. Therefore, this paper researches the clutch position control considering the influence because of the factor on the system performance. By virtue of the traditional adaptive control method, an improved strategy based on finite time theory is proposed to further improve the convergence rate as well as the position tracking precision. First, a model of electromechanical clutch actuator system is established by theoretical analysis. Then, an enhanced adaptive controller is designed using finite time idea by introducing power function in the virtual control. And parameter update rate is adopted in the control action. Next, the stability of the control system is proved theoretically. Finally, Matlab simulations and experimental bench test are carried out to exhibit the effectiveness of the presented method. The results show that the satisfactory performance has been achieved with accurate position tracking and fast convergence speed.

Effects of plasma-activated water combined with ultrasonic treatment of corn starch on structural, thermal, physicochemical, functional, and pasting properties.

In this study, corn starch was used as the raw material, and modified starch was prepared using a method combining plasma-activated water and ultrasound treatment (PUL). This method was compared with treatments using plasma-activated water (PAW) and ultrasound (UL) alone. The structure, thermal, physicochemical, pasting, and functional properties of the native and treated starches were evaluated. The results indicated that PAW and UL treatments did not alter the shape of the starch granules but caused some surface damage. The PUL treatment increased the starch gelatinization temperature and enthalpy (from 11.22 J/g to 13.13 J/g), as well as its relative crystallinity (increased by 0.51 %), gel hardness (increased by 16.19 %) compared to untreated starch, without inducing a crystalline transition. The PUL treatment resulted in a whitening of the samples. The dual treatment enhanced the thermal stability of the starch paste, which can be attributed to the synergistic effect between PAW and ultrasound (PAW can modify the starch structure at a molecular level, while ultrasound can further disrupt the granule weak crystalline structures, leading to improved thermal properties). Furthermore, FTIR results suggested significant changes in the functional groups related to the water-binding capacity of starch, and the order of the double-helical structure was disrupted. The findings of this study suggest that PUL treatment is a promising new green modification technique for improving the starch structure and enhancing starch properties. However, further research is needed to tailor the approach based on the specific properties of the raw material.

Decreased expression and role of GRK6 in spinal cord of rats after chronic constriction injury.

Nerve injury and inflammation can both induce neuropathic pain via the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In the process, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) were involved in pain signal transduction. GPCR kinase (GRK) 6 is a member of the GRK family that regulates agonist-induced desensitization and signaling of GPCRs. However, its expression and function in neuropathic pain have not been reported. In this study, we performed a chronic constriction injury (CCI) model in adult male rats and investigated the dynamic change of GRK6 expression in spinal cord. GRK6 was predominantly expressed in the superficial layers of the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn neurons and its expression was decreased bilaterally following induction of CCI. The changes of GRK6 were mainly in IB4 and P substrate positive areas in spinal cord dorsal horn. And over-expression of GRK6 in spinal cord by lentivirus intrathecal injection attenuated the pain response induced by CCI. In addition, the level of TNF-α underwent the negative pattern of GRK6 in spinal cord. And neutralized TNF-α by antibody intrathecal injection up-regulated GRK6 expression and attenuated the mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia in CCI model. All the data indicated that down-regulation of neuronal GRK6 expression induced by cytokine may be a potential mechanism that contributes to increasing neuronal signaling in neuropathic pain.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin induces liver lipid metabolism disorder via the ROS/AMPK/CD36 signaling pathway.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is widely considered as the most toxic and common carcinogen in the world. Exposure to TCDD causes liver lipid metabolism disorder and steatosis. However, the molecular mechanism of TCDD-induced liver lipid accumulation is not completely clear. Here, we found that a 5 µg/kg TCDD exposure for 3 weeks induced hepatocyte lipid deposition, increased CD36 expression, and promoted AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) ɑ phosphorylation in the liver of C57BL/6J mice. Furthermore, sulfo-N-succinimidyl oleate, a CD36 inhibiter, blunted TCDD-induced lipid deposition in Huh7 cells, confirming the critical role of CD36 in TCDD-induced hepatic steatosis. In terms of molecular mechanisms, we found that TCDD exposure increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in Huh7 cells, which activated AMPK. Moreover, the activated AMPK upregulated CD36 expression. Therefore, we can see that the increase in CD36 expression induced by TCDD was regulated by ROS/AMPK/CD36 signaling pathway. Our results help to clarify the molecular mechanism of TCDD-induced hepatic steatosis.

Validity of total polar compound and its three components in monitoring the evolution of epoxy fatty acids in frying oil: Fast food restaurant conditions.

This study evaluated the validity of total polar compounds (TPC) and its three components in monitoring the evolution of epoxy fatty acids in frying oil under fast food restaurant conditions. The content of epoxy fatty acids can be predicted using the TPC rather than oxidized triglyceride monomer. When TPC content reached 24 g/100 g, 25 g/100 g, and 27 g/100 g, the epoxy fatty acid content in oil was found to be 1.47-3.63 mg/g, 1.58-4.06 mg/g, and 1.83-5.08 mg/g, respectively. More epoxy fatty acids were generated in high oleic sunflower oil than in canola and cottonseed oil during frying. At current discarding points of TPC 24-27 g/100 g, its epoxy fatty acid content was 3.63-5.08 mg/g, which was lower than the limit of 7 mg/g recommended by Max Rubner-Institut in Germany. Our results indicate that the risk of epoxy fatty acids can be monitored using the current TPC index.

Research on decoupling control for the longitudinal and lateral dynamics of a tractor considering steering delay.

To enhance the efficiency of tractor operation, the longitudinal and lateral dynamic control of a self-driving tractor is studied in this paper, and a control system that decouples control of the longitudinal and lateral movement of the tractor is proposed. The trajectory controller calculates the desired speed and desired yaw rate signals of each subsystem, and a PID controller regulates the longitudinal speed of the tractor. A pure pursuit algorithm calculates the desired front wheel angle of the tractor. To decrease the system time delay in the automatic steering system, an automatic steering scheme based on improved Smith predictive control is proposed. Through decoupling control of the longitudinal and lateral controllers, the tractor's path tracking performance is assured.

Effect of vitamin A on the relationship between maternal thyroid hormones in early pregnancy and fetal growth: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Fetal growth patterns are influenced by maternal thyroid function and vitamin A level during pregnancy. Vitamin A presents interactions with thyroid tissues and hormonal systems. We examined whether vitamin A status modified the associations of maternal thyroid hormones in early pregnancy and fetal growth outcomes among euthyroid pregnant women in a prospective cohort study (n = 637). Methods: We performed multiple linear regression and multinomial logistic regression analysis to investigate the effects of thyroid hormones in early pregnancy on fetal growth according to different levels of serum vitamin A based on median value. Results: A 1 pmol/L increase in maternal free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels was associated with an increased birth weight of 0.080 kg (p = 0.023) in women with lower maternal vitamin A levels in early pregnancy. Increased maternal free thyroxine (FT4) was associated with decreased odds for both small size for gestational age (SGA) [odds ratios (OR) = 0.66, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.45-0.95] and large size for gestational age (LGA) (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.45-0.98) in women with higher vitamin A level in early pregnancy after adjustment for maternal prepregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, maternal employed, parity, gestational week at sampling, and gestational diabetes mellitus. Conclusions: In Chinese pregnant women without overt thyroid dysfunction, maternal FT4 in early pregnancy was positively associated with optimal fetal growth among women with higher serum vitamin A concentrations.

LF-NMR intelligent evaluation for lipid oxidation indices of polar compound distribution, fatty acid unsaturation, and dynamic viscosity: Preference and mechanism.

The Low Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LF-NMR) intelligent analysis for lipid oxidation indices of polar compound distribution, fatty acid unsaturation, and dynamic viscosity was established and compared. LF-NMR curves obtained from the multivariate approach were more suitable for the establishment of prediction models. Results proved the ability of LF-NMR for the aging evaluation of edible oil, but different prediction performance was found for various indices. The order from the good to bad prediction was: fatty acid unsaturation > polar compound > dynamic viscosity. It demonstrated the preference of LF-NMR for reporting the information of fatty acid than triglyceride in oxidized oil. Two mechanisms for the LF-NMR method were summarized and expressed by equations. Results also supported that the peak 21 in the LF-NMR curve provided unique information about polar and low-molecular-weight products rather than polymer compounds. Data were expected for a better understanding of LF-NMR signals and to accelerate its wide application in the food industry.