Role of farnesoid X receptor and bile acids in alcoholic liver disease

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is one of the major causes of liver morbidity and mortality worldwide. Chronic alcohol consumption leads to development of liver pathogenesis encompassing steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and in extreme cases, hepatocellular carcinoma. Moreover, ALD may also associate with cholestasis. Emerging evidence now suggests that farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and bile acids also play important roles in ALD. In this review, we discuss the effects of alcohol consumption on FXR, bile acids and gut microbiome as well as their impacts on ALD. Moreover, we summarize the findings on FXR, FoxO3a (forkhead box-containing protein class O3a) and PPARα (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha) in regulation of autophagy-related gene transcription program and liver injury in response to alcohol exposure.

Simulation analysis of optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrode / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ObjectiveOptic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrode.is a new method for developing visual prosthesis.A simulation system was developed with computer software MATLAB to investigate its mechanism.MethodsVolume conductor model of optic nerve and optic nerve fiber model were developed.With the stimulation of monopolar penetrating electrode,the excitation thresholds of fibers at different depth were calculated.The activating function and activation region were employed to characterize the external stimulation effect.The impact of different parameters on stimulation effects were explored by changing the fiber diameter and the stimulation pulse width.Results Excitation thresholds increased as well as the percentage of activated fibers with the increase of electrode-fiber distance.Excitation threshold of the same depth fiber decreased as the fiber diameter increased,and the longer the electrode-fiber distance was,the more significant the drop was.Excitation threshold of the same depth fiber decreased as the pulse width of monophasic rectangle wave increased.The excitation threshold of the fiber at the same depth hardly changed for pulse durations greater than 0.5 ms.ConclusionThe simulation results indicates that optical nerve stimulation can be realized with penetratingelectrode,and different stimulation parameters can produce different activation effects.The present results providetheoretical guidance for the design of experiments.

Design of Activation Functions for Inference of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: Application to Clinical Decision Making in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Infection / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) representing causal knowledge of relationships between medical concepts have been used as prediction tools for clinical decision making. Activation functions used for inferences of FCMs are very important factors in helping physicians make correct decision. Therefore, in order to increase the visibility of inference results, we propose a method for designing certain types of activation functions by considering the characteristics of FCMs. METHODS: The activation functions, such as the sinusoidal-type function and linear function, are designed by calculating the domain range of the functions to be reached during the inference process of FCMs. Moreover, the designed activation functions were applied to the decision making process with the inference of an FCM model representing the causal knowledge of pulmonary infections. RESULTS: Even though sinusoidal-type functions oscillate and linear functions monotonously increase within the entire range of the domain, the designed activation functions make the inference stable because the proposed method notices where the function is used in the inference. And, the designed functions provide more visible numeric results than do other functions. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing inference results derived using activation functions designed with the proposed method and results derived using activation functions designed with the existing method, we confirmed that the proposed method could be more appropriately used for designing activation functions for the inference process of an FCM for clinical decision making.

Design of Activation Functions for Inference of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: Application to Clinical Decision Making in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Infection / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) representing causal knowledge of relationships between medical concepts have been used as prediction tools for clinical decision making. Activation functions used for inferences of FCMs are very important factors in helping physicians make correct decision. Therefore, in order to increase the visibility of inference results, we propose a method for designing certain types of activation functions by considering the characteristics of FCMs. METHODS: The activation functions, such as the sinusoidal-type function and linear function, are designed by calculating the domain range of the functions to be reached during the inference process of FCMs. Moreover, the designed activation functions were applied to the decision making process with the inference of an FCM model representing the causal knowledge of pulmonary infections. RESULTS: Even though sinusoidal-type functions oscillate and linear functions monotonously increase within the entire range of the domain, the designed activation functions make the inference stable because the proposed method notices where the function is used in the inference. And, the designed functions provide more visible numeric results than do other functions. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing inference results derived using activation functions designed with the proposed method and results derived using activation functions designed with the existing method, we confirmed that the proposed method could be more appropriately used for designing activation functions for the inference process of an FCM for clinical decision making.