Hepatic lipid composition analysis using 3.0-T MR spectroscopy in a steatotic rat model

Purpose

To investigate the feasibility of in vivo assessment of hepatic lipid composition using 3.0-T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in a steatotic rat model and compare it to histopathological and biochemical assessment.

Materials and Methods

Hepatic steatosis was induced by feeding rats with a methionine/choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 weeks (n=5 per group). At the end of the diet period, ¹H-MRS of the liver was performed, and rats were sacrificed for histopathological and biochemical assessment of the liver. Spectra were acquired in a single voxel (1.2 cc) using a point-resolved spectroscopic sequence with TE/TR=35/2000 ms and 64 signal acquisitions. From the MR spectra, peak area ratios were calculated to estimate hepatic lipid composition.

Results

During MCD diet periods, hepatic steatosis significantly increased on histopathology (P<.001). The ¹H-MRS measurements of total hepatic fat content [1.3/(1.3+4.65) ppm] correlated strongly with histological macrovesicular hepatic steatosis (r=0.93, P<.001) and with the biochemical total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.94, P<.001). Total unsaturated fatty acids [TUFA, 5.4/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical unsaturated fatty acids (r=0.90, P<.001). Polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA, 2.8/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with biochemical PUFA (r=0.91, P<.001). The proportion of total unsaturated fatty acids relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rTUFA, 5.4/1.3ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical amount of unsaturated relative to total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.81, P<.001). The proportion of PUFA relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rPUFA, 2.8/1.3 ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS correlated with the biochemical amount of PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.59, P=0.005,) and with the biochemical amount of omega-6 PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.73, P<.001).PUFA at ¹H-MRS correlated with the histopathologically assessed degree of lobular inflammation in the liver (r=0.57, P=.001).

Conclusion

3.0T ¹H-MRS is able to measure poly- and unsaturated hepatic fatty acids and this strongly correlates with biochemical assessment. This study provides evidence that 3.0-T ¹H-MRS is a noninvasive technique to assess hepatic lipid composition.     

外汇期权的多维跳-扩散模型

本文建立了外汇期权的多维跳-扩散模型,在此模型下将外汇欧式未定权益的定价问题归结为一类倒向随机微分方程的求解问题,证明了这类倒向随机微分方程适应解的存在唯一性问题,并给出了一个关于外汇欧式未定权益的定价公式.     

EXPECTED PRESENT VALUE OF TOTAL DIVIDENDS IN THE COMPOUND BINOMIAL MODEL WITH DELAYED CLAIMS AND RANDOM INCOME

In this paper, a compound binomial model with a constant dividend barrier and random income is considered. Two types of individual claims, main claims and by-claims, are defined, where every by-claim is induced by the main claim and may be delayed for one time period with a certain probability. The premium income is assumed to another binomial process to capture the uncertainty of the customer＇s arrivals and payments. A system of difference equations with certain boundary conditions for the expected present value of total dividend payments prior to ruin is derived and solved. Explicit results are obtained when the claim sizes are Kn distributed or the claim size distributions have finite support. Numerical results are also provided to illustrate the impact of the delay of by-claims on the expected present value of dividends.     

高分辨飞行时间质谱在蛋白质组学相对定量分析中的应用

利用TripleTOF 5600高分辨质谱仪分析牛血清白蛋白等3种蛋白质标准品,研究了质谱离子强度与蛋白质样品相对含量的相关性。蛋白质标准品用胰酶酶切后,稀释成1~1024 fmol/7μL的系列溶液,考察在1~1024 fmol 上样量情况下,肽段的前体离子计数( cps)、蛋白质全部肽段的离子计数之和以及被检出肽段数目与上样量的相关性,以及相同样品在3次平行实验之间这些数值的变化幅度。结果表明。被检出肽段数目与上样量正相关,当cps超过1000时,所有肽段离子强度之和与上样量呈线性关系,但是用最灵敏肽段的离子强度表示更为准确。3次测量同一肽段的最高离子强度通常不会超过最低强度的1.5倍,提示当不同样品中同一蛋白的离子强度相差3倍以上是判断不同样品中相同蛋白质的含量具有差异的可靠阈值。本研究提供了一种利用高分辨率和高扫描速度蛋白质组组学定性数据进行半定量分析的方法,简便、快速,可为相关生物学和医学研究提供参考。     

Micro-level reserving for general insurance claims using a long short-term memory network

Detailed information about individual claims are completely ignored when insurance claims data are aggregated and structured in development triangles for loss reserving. In the hope of extracting predictive power from the individual claims characteristics, researchers have recently proposed to use micro-level loss reserving approaches. We introduce a discrete-time individual reserving framework incorporating granular information in a deep learning approach named Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network. At each time period, the network has two tasks: first, classifying whether there is a payment or a recovery, and second, predicting the corresponding non-zero amount, if any. Based on a generalized Pareto model for excess payments over a threshold, we adjust the LSTM reserve prediction to account for extreme payments. We illustrate the estimation procedure on a simulated and a real general insurance dataset. We compare our approach with the chain-ladder aggregate method using the predictive outstanding loss estimates and their actual values.     

Experimental Investigation of Continual- and Intermittent-Spray Cooling

This work involved continual- and intermittent-spray cooling heat transfer experiments on a flat surface to study the effects of the spray cycle, duty ratio, and spray time. The spray droplet parameters were similar, while the heat transfer coefficients for continual-spray cooling were appreciably larger than those of intermittent-spray cooling for the same pressure; however, the heat dissipated per kilogram of water for the intermittent-spray cooling was larger, especially in the non-boiling region. The results show that an optimal spray cycle and optimal duty ratio make more efficient use of the coolant in intermittent-spray cooling.     

依据光谱研究闪电放电通道的半径及能量传输特性

利用无狭缝摄谱仪获得的云对地闪电回击过程的光谱, 结合同步辐射电场变化资料, 计算了闪电放电通道的温度、线电荷密度、通道的初始半径和扩张后的半径以及回击通道单位长度储存的能量. 结果与文献报道的其他方法得到的结果符合很好. 这些物理量的相关性分析表明: 电弧通道的初始半径主要取决于回击电流的持续时间; 通道温度越高, 半径越大; 通道初始半径、单位长度储存的能量与光谱总强度正相关, 通道单位长度储存的能量与初始半径的平方成正比. 关键词： 闪电放电通道 半径 能量 光谱总强度