Wei Zhang’s research while affiliated with Soochow University and other places

Objective Due to rapid economic development and the unique lifestyles, cultures and customs of Hangzhou, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has attracted widespread attention, with a prevalence rate of 35–45%. In this study, we used the Chinese version of the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire for NAFLD (CLDQ-NAFLD) to investigate the current health-related quality of life (HRQL) among patients with NAFLD and analyse the influencing factors, which provides a reference for improving the patients’ HRQL. Design A cross-sectional design. Setting This study was conducted from March 2022 to March 2023 at a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou. Participants All patients with NAFLD included in this study were diagnosed using FibroScan, with a controlled attenuation parameter ≥248 dB/m. Primary outcome measures The primary outcome of the study was the HRQL score, which was assessed using the Chinese version of the CLDQ-NAFLD. Results A total of 502 patients with NAFLD were enrolled in this study (mean age 1.79±13.49 years; 69.7% male). The overall HRQL score was 5.89 (5.33, 6.36), and the fatigue dimension score was the lowest at 5.17 (4.33, 6.00). Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that poor HRQL score was correlated with other marital status (β=−0.096, p=0.036), liver stiffness ≥10.3 (kPa) (β=−0.110, p=0.017), regular exercise (β=−0.121, p=0.006), sex (β=−0.114, p=0.012) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (β=−0.139, p=0.002). A monthly income >10 000 (renminbi) was associated with a significantly higher HRQL score. Conclusions This cross-sectional survey conducted in Hangzhou, China, revealed that HRQL is impaired among patients with NAFLD. This study revealed a significant association between HRQL and sociodemographic factors, including sex, monthly income and marital status, alongside clinical factors such as liver stiffness, regular exercise and ALT level. Emphasising optimal care management is essential to improve HRQL in patients with NAFLD.

In this study, we investigate the self-triggered impulsive control for stochastic delayed multiagent systems with input saturation. We present a novel self-triggered mechanism using a comparison system method. The next triggering instant is predicted on the basis of agent dynamics knowledge and data obtained from the last triggering instant without real-time monitoring; thus, Zeno behavior is naturally avoided. By applying this new self-triggering mechanism, we provide some sufficient conditions for the mean-square consensus based on the stochastic differential theory, Lyapunov function theory, and linear matrix inequalities. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of our method by presenting numerical simulation results.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common diabetic complication with no currently available curative treatments. Here, we demonstrated that the protein level of G-protein-coupled receptor 40 (GPR40) is significantly repressed in the sciatic nerves (SN) of DPN patients, as well as in the peripheral nerves, including dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and SN, of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic mice and BKS Cg-m+/+Lepr db/J (db/db) type 2 diabetic mice. We identified that amlodipine besylate (AB), a first-line clinical antihypertensive drug, as a GPR40 agonist capable of alleviating DPN-like pathologies in mice. These pathologies include neurological damage, destruction of myelin sheath structures, vascular injury, loss of intraepidermal nerve fibers, and impaired neurite outgrowth in DRG neurons. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we generated the DPN mice with GPR40-specific knockdown in SN and DRG tissues using adeno associated virus 8-GPR40-RNAi. Mechanistically, AB attenuated inflammatory responses via the GPR40/β-arrestin2/NLRP3 pathway and ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunction through the GPR40/LKB1/AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway in DPN mice, which were all further validated in primary human Schwann cells. Additionally, AB suppressed the crosstalk between Schwann cells and endothelial cells /DRG neurons in DPN mice. Collectively, our findings highlight the potential of AB for the treatment of DPN.

Background Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a significant cause of global disability, reducing labor productivity, increasing the burden on public health, and affecting socio-economic well-being. Currently, there is a lack of recognized clinical approaches for molecular classification and precision therapy. Methods Chondrocyte differentiation and prognosis-related genes were extracted from single-cell RNA sequencing and multi-omics data in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database through chondrocyte trajectory analysis and non-parametric tests. Subsequently, a precise IVDD risk stratification system was developed using ConsensusClusterPlus analysis. The clinical significance of molecular typing was demonstrated through case–control trials involving IVDD patients. Specific inhibitors of molecular typing were predicted using the pRRophetic package in R language and then validated in vitro. Results A stratified model for IVDD, considering chondrocyte differentiation and demonstrating high clinical relevance, was developed using a set of 44 chondrocyte fate genes. Extensive analyses of multi-omics data confirmed the clinical relevance of this model, indicating that cases in the High Chondrocyte Scoring Classification (HCSC) group had the most favorable prognosis, whereas those in the Low Chondrocyte Scoring Classification (LCSC) group had the worst prognosis. Additionally, clinical case–control studies provided evidence of the utility of IVDD molecular typing in translational medicine. A gene expression-based molecular typing approach was used to create a matrix identifying potential inhibitors specific to each IVDD subtype. In vitro experiments revealed that gefitinib, a drug designed for LCSC, not only had protective effects on chondrocytes but also could induce the conversion of LCSC into the HCSC subgroup. Therefore, IVDD molecular typing played a critical role in assisting clinicians with risk stratification and enabling personalized treatment decisions. Conclusion The results of the study have provided a comprehensive and clinically relevant molecular typing for IVDD, involving a precise stratification system that offers a new opportunity for customizing personalized treatments for IVDD.

To address the need for accurate classification of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, we employ an interpretable KAN to classify arrhythmia diseases. Experimental evaluation of the MIT-BIH and PTB datasets demonstrates the significant superiority of the KAN in classifying arrhythmia diseases. Specifically, preprocessing steps such as sample balancing and variance sorting effectively optimized the feature distribution and significantly enhanced the model’s classification performance. In the MIT-BIH, the KAN achieved classification accuracy and precision rates of 99.08% and 99.07%, respectively. Similarly, on the PTB dataset, both metrics reached 99.11%. In addition, experimental results indicate that compared to the traditional multi-layer perceptron (MLP), the KAN demonstrates higher classification accuracy and better fitting stability and adaptability to complex data scenarios. Applying three clustering methods demonstrates that the features extracted by the KAN exhibit clearer cluster boundaries, thereby verifying its effectiveness in ECG signal classification. Additionally, convergence analysis reveals that the KAN’s training process exhibits a smooth and stable loss decline curve, confirming its robustness under complex data conditions. The findings of this study validate the applicability and superiority of the KAN in classifying ECG signals for arrhythmia and other diseases, offering a novel technical approach to the classification and diagnosis of arrhythmias. Finally, potential future research directions are discussed, including the KAN in early warning and rapid diagnosis of arrhythmias. This study establishes a theoretical foundation and practical basis for advancing interpretable networks in clinical applications.

Purpose This study was aimed to investigate the microstructure characteristics of cornea verticillata and limbus deposits in patients with Fabry disease (FD) using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). Methods A total of 60 eyes from 30 patients diagnosed with FD were examined and compared with 36 eyes from 18 healthy controls in this prospective, cross-sectional, controlled, single-center study. The initial assessment of cornea verticillata (CV) was conducted using slit-lamp microscopy. Subsequently, IVCM was performed to assess deposits in the corneal and limbal epithelium. We compared the differences between the sexes (heterozygous and hemizygous) and phenotypes (classical and non-classical). Results The epithelial deposit detection rate with IVCM was statistically higher (52/60, 86.67%) compared to the biomicroscopic evaluation of CV using a silt lamp (46/60, 76.67%) (p = 0.031). A higher prevalence of corneal epithelial deposits was observed in the classical phenotype as compared to the non-classical phenotype (p = 0.023). Surprisingly, cardiac variants previously lacking cornea verticillata show a high prevalence (85.71%) of corneal epithelial deposits under IVCM. The prevalence and severity of deposits, especially in limbal epithelial rete pegs, were higher in FD than in controls (p < 0.001). Conclusion Compared with slit-lamp microscopy, IVCM provides a more effective tool for examining the epithelial deposits in patients with FD. Patients with FD demonstrated a profound bilateral increase in corneal epithelial deposits and limbal hyperreflective cells compared to controls, with more prominent pathological changes observed in classical phenotype individuals. The high prevalence of epithelial deposits observed through IVCM in the cardiac variant highlights the essential ability of IVCM as an effective diagnostic tool.