Role of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in the Pathogenesis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Comprehensive Review

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the most common liver disorder, affecting around 25% of the population worldwide. It is a complex disease spectrum, closely linked with other conditions such as obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, which may increase liver-related mortality. In light of this, numerous efforts have been carried out in recent years in order to clarify its pathogenesis and create new prevention strategies. Currently, the essential role of environmental pollutants in NAFLD development is recognized. Particularly, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have a notable influence. EDCs can be classified as natural (phytoestrogens, genistein, and coumestrol) or synthetic, and the latter ones can be further subdivided into industrial (dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, and alkylphenols), agricultural (pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides), residential (phthalates, polybrominated biphenyls, and bisphenol A), and pharmaceutical (parabens). Several experimental models have proposed a mechanism involving this group of substances with the disruption of hepatic metabolism, which promotes NAFLD. These include an imbalance between lipid influx/efflux in the liver, mitochondrial dysfunction, liver inflammation, and epigenetic reprogramming. It can be concluded that exposure to EDCs might play a crucial role in NAFLD initiation and evolution. However, further investigations supporting these effects in humans are required.     

A novel differential synchronous demodulator for AC signals

We describe a new analog differential synchronous demodulator for AC signals where (i) the signal is synchronously demodulated using the floating-capacitor technique after being amplified, if necessary, by an AC amplifier with differential input and differential output, thus yielding a very high CMRR; and (ii) the differential-to-single-ended signal conversion is performed after demodulation, that is, on a low-frequency signal that can be amplified by low-cost, high-performance circuits. The possible signal-to-noise ratio degradation because of synchronous sampling is prevented by using bandpass differential filters     

The molecular biology of bladder carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: The clinical course of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder can be difficult to predict due to its potential to invade the muscle layer and/or develop to a high grade lesion. Bladder carcinoma can arise from genetic changes that may activate the oncogenes (-c-erbB2, c-erbB1, c-myc, ras, etc.) and/or inactivate the suppressor genes (p53, Rb). The aim of the present study is to continue a study protocol on the molecular biology of bladder tumors. METHODS/RESULTS: From January, 1993 to January, 1995, 85 patients were studied. These patients were divided into two groups: the first group comprised 14 controls of urothelial tissue and the second comprised 65 cases of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. p53 expression was determined by an immunohistochemical method (NCL-p53-DO7 monoclonal antibody). Quantification of the p8 oncoprotein in cytosol and EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) in membrane was performed by ELISA (Oncogene Science) and RIA (Vienna Lab), respectively. A statistically significant relationship between the expression of p53 and EGFR with tumor stage and grade was found. Quantification of p185 and EGFR showed higher values in the tumor tissue than in the control samples, but a worse survival could not be determined. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that p53 expression can be considered to be a prognostic factor. It provides useful information on the aggressive behaviour of the tumor and has a direct relation with the survival rates.     

Normal phase propagation along a current carrying superconducting wire and its heat transfer to a cooling He II bath

A theoretical and experimental study of the longitudinal propagation velocity of a normal phase along a superconducting cylindrical wire suspended in a superfluid helium bath is presented. The theoretical model supposes a moving nonplanar separating boundary between the normal and superconducting phases and takes into account the latent heat absorbed during the destruction of the superconducting state. The comparison of the measured and calculated normal zone propagating velocities versus the circulating electrical currents shows an excellent agreement for all the bath temperatures considered. A boundary thermal conductance across the wire wall and superfluid helium bath interface is inferred by adjusting the calculated velocities with the experimental data. The deduced boundary thermal conductance is similar to the Kapitza conductance in the sense that both are proportional to the superfluid helium bath temperature raised to a constant power. Furthermore the deduced boundary conductance seems unaffected by the dynamical aspect of the longitudinal destruction process of the superconducting state and by the heat flux range across the solid and He II separating boundary covered by the normal zone propagation velocity versus the circulating electrical current plots. To the authors knowledge this is the first study of heat transfer using the data obtained from longitudinal normal zone propagation experiments.     

Antimony Solubility and Speciation in Aqueous Sulphuric Acid Solutions at 298 K

This work is an experimental and theoretical study of antimony speciation and the solubility of Sb₂O₅, Sb₂O₃ and Sb₂(SO₄)₃ at 298 K in aqueous sulphuric acid solutions (0 to 6 kmol/m³). A thermodynamic model was developed to quantify the solubility products and aqueous metal speciation. Main dissolved species were H₃SbO_3(aq) and H₃SbO_4(aq). The solubility of antimony increases with increasing solution acidity and with the presence of hydrogen peroxide in the solution. The following standard equilibrium constants at 298 K were obtained: Log K⁰_(Sb2O5) = 11.7±0.5, Log K⁰_(Sb2O3) = 32±1, and Log K⁰_(Sb2(SO4)3) = 55±2.     

4D video textures for interactive character appearance

4D Video Textures (4DVT) introduce a novel representation for rendering video‐realistic interactive character animation from a database of 4D actor performance captured in a multiple camera studio. 4D performance capture reconstructs dynamic shape and appearance over time but is limited to free‐viewpoint video replay of the same motion. Interactive animation from 4D performance capture has so far been limited to surface shape only. 4DVT is the final piece in the puzzle enabling video‐realistic interactive animation through two contributions: a layered view‐dependent texture map representation which supports efficient storage, transmission and rendering from multiple view video capture; and a rendering approach that combines multiple 4DVT sequences in a parametric motion space, maintaining video quality rendering of dynamic surface appearance whilst allowing high‐level interactive control of character motion and viewpoint. 4DVT is demonstrated for multiple characters and evaluated both quantitatively and through a user‐study which confirms that the visual quality of captured video is maintained. The 4DVT representation achieves >90% reduction in size and halves the rendering cost.     

Influence of different reactor types on Nannochloropsis oculata microalgae culture for lipids and fatty acid production

Greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere by burning of fossil fuels cause global warming. One option is obtaining biodiesel. Nannochloropsis oculata was cultured under different light intensities and reactors at 25°C for 21 days with f/2 medium to assess their effects on cell density, lipid, and fatty acids (FAs). N. oculata improved cell density on fed-batch glass tubular reactor (7 L) at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹, yielding 3.5 × 10⁸ cells ml⁻¹, followed by fed-batch Erlenmeyer flask (1 L) at 650 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹ with 1.7 × 10⁸ cells ml⁻¹. The highest total lipid contents (% g lipid × g dry biomass⁻¹) were 44.4 ± 0.8% for the reactor (1 L) at 650 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹ and 35.2 ± 0.2% for the tubular reactor (7 L) at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹, until twice as high compared with the control culture (Erlenmeyer flask 1 L, 80 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹) with 21.2 ± 1%. Comparing the total lipid content at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹, tubular reactor (7 L) and reactor 1 L achieved 35.2 ± 0.2% and 28.3 ± 1%, respectively, indicating the effect of shape reactor. The FAs were affected by high light intensity, decreasing SFAs to 2.5%, and increased monounsaturated fatty acids + polyunsaturated fatty acids to 2.5%. PUFAs (20:5n-3) and (20:4n-3) were affected by reactor shape, decreasing by half in the tubular reactor. In the best culture, fed-batch tubular reactor (7 L) at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹ contains major FAs (16:0; 38.06 ± 0.16%), (16:1n-7; 30.74 ± 0.58%), and (18:1n-9; 17.15 ± 0.91%).     

Detecting end-effectors on 2.5D data using geometric deformable models: Application to human pose estimation

End-effectors are usually related to the location of limbs, and their reliable detection enables robust body tracking as well as accurate pose estimation. Recent innovation in depth cameras has re-stated the pose estimation problem. We focus on the information provided by these sensors, for which we borrow the name 2.5D data from the Graphics community. In this paper we propose a human pose estimation algorithm based on topological propagation. Geometric Deformable Models are used to carry out such propagation, implemented according to the Narrow Band Level Set approach. A variant of the latter method is proposed, including a density restriction which helps preserving the topological properties of the object under analysis. Principal end-effectors are extracted from a directed graph weighted with geodesic distances, also providing a skeletal-like structure describing human pose. An evaluation against reference methods is performed with promising results. The proposed solution allows a frame-wise end-effector detection, with no temporal tracking involved, which may be generalized to the tracking of other objects beyond human body.     

Advance human–machine interface automatic evaluation

The need for accessibility evaluation tools is motivated by several endogenous and exogenous reasons coming from the end user (the designer and the developer) and companies releasing information systems. Existing evaluation tools mainly concentrate on examining the code of Web pages: Web pages more and more frequently contain non-HTML parts that entirely escape from being treated by existing techniques. This is the case of the advanced human–machine interface (AHMI), a piece of software programmed in C/C++, used for controlling the advanced flight management system in the aircraft cockpit. Studying this new user interface (UI) requires a structured approach to evaluate and validate AHMI designs. The goal in this work is to develop an evaluation tool to automate the process of evaluating the AHMI. The method addresses: support of multiple bases of guidelines (accessibility or usability or both) on-demand (partial or total evaluation), with different levels of details (a presentation for developers and for those responsible for certifying accessibility). The method goes a step toward the automatic evaluation of UI containing non-HTML parts.