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Objective Methods Results Interpretation The objective of this study was to investigate the association between developmental and premorbid body composition measurements and the risk of motor neuron disease (MND).We performed a cohort study in the UK Biobank to assess the association of developmental body metrics and premorbid body composition measures (using 28 measurements and 7 patterns of body composition) with the risk of MND. Among participants with longitudinal measures, we compared the changes in body composition over time between individuals who later developed MND and those who remained free of MND.Among the 412,691 individuals included in this study, 549 people received an MND diagnosis during the follow‐up visit. Higher birth weight was associated with an increased risk of MND among individuals born over 4 kg (hazard ratio [HR] per kg increase = 2.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.38–3.55), and taller adult height was associated with an increased risk of MND (HR per 5 cm increase = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.03–1.17). We observed that measures of elevated fat mass were associated with a lower risk of MND more than 5 years before diagnosis. A higher “leg‐dominant fat distribution” pattern was associated with an increased risk whereas higher “muscle strength” was associated with a reduced risk of MND 5 years before diagnosis. Longitudinal analyses indicated a faster decline in measures of fat mass and muscle strength, as well as a shift in fat distribution from arm to leg dominant, among individuals who later developed MND, compared with others.Body composition at early and middle age may be indicative of the risk of MND development. ANN NEUROL 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies disclosed that molten salts provide a special liquid reaction environment, accelerate the diffusion rate of active elements, and promote the formation of high-purity materials in the molten-salt synthesis method. Herein, the interlayer halogen-competing reactions between molten salts and halogen layers during the formation of BaBi4TiNbO11X (X = Cl, Br) oxyhalides were discovered for the first time. The liquid environment provided by molten salts can facilitate the full migration of halogen atoms between molten salts and halogen layers and form an even distribution of halogen atoms, which is ascribed to the weak van der Waals forces of the halogen layers between [BaBiO2]+ and [Bi2O2]2+ blocks. By employing this mechanism, BaBi4TiNbO11(Cl1−xBrx) with different x contents could be easily obtained. DFT calculations showed that the mixed halogen oxyhalides, such as BaBi4TiNbO11(Cl0.5Br0.5), introduce new chemical bonds between the O and Bi atoms, which increase their contribution to lowest occupied/unoccupied orbitals, thus regulating the energy band and accelerating the separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers. Consequently, the optimized BaBi4TiNbO11(Cl0.5Br0.5) sample showed a superior degradation rate of RhB compared to the traditional P25 photocatalyst, and its O2 evolution performance was also enhanced compared with other blank samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing efficient photocatalyst for the photoreduction of CO2 and degradation of organic pollutants is an effective alternative to address increasingly serious energy problems and environmental pollution. Herein, the isostructural Sillén–Aurivillius oxyhalides, Bi7Fe2Ti2O17X (X = Cl, Br, and I; BFTOX), are fabricated for CO2 reduction and degradation of organic pollutants for the first time. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the valence band maximum (VBM) of BFTOC and BFTOB is contributed by the dispersive 2p orbitals of O-atoms, providing the narrow band gap (Eg) and possibly the stability against self-decomposition deactivation. The photocatalytic activities of BFTOX are strongly affected by the halogens (Cl, Br, and I), namely, the BFTOCl sample displays outstanding activity improvement (3.74 μmol·g−1·h−1) for photocatalytic performance. This is mainly attributed to the high separation of charge carriers, small optical band gap, and extended optical absorption. This work focuses on affording a reference to develop efficient and stable photocatalysts from Sillén-Aurivillius layered oxyhalide materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bi2MO4Cl (M = Gd and Nd) nanosheets were prepared by a molten salt flux method for the first time. The resulted Bi2GdO4Cl (F-BG) nanosheets showed the highest photocatalytic activity for oxygen (O2) evolution and trypan blue (TB) degradation than Bi2NdO4Cl (F-BN), Bi2GdO4Cl (S-BG) and Bi2NdO4Cl (S-BN) synthesized by a solid-state method. The F-BG nanosheets showed the larger specific surface areas and abundant pores, which could provide more reactive sites. The photoelectrochemical and photoluminescence (PL) results revealed that F-BG sample had the excellent separation and transfer rates of photogenerated charge carriers, leading to the highly photocatalytic performance for both O2 evolution and TB degradation. The UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) showed all samples had the visible-light-responsive characteristic. The radical trapping experiment revealed hole (h+) played a major role, while superoxide radical ( · O 2 - ) contributed a little to photocatalytic degradation process. Thus, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on the radical trapping experiment. This work shows us a useful insight into the preparation of highly active bismuth-based oxyhalide nanosheets photocatalysts by a molten salt synthesis through surface modification and morphology control and provides the possibility of water splitting under visible light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We examined the impact of acarbose, an α-glucosidase inhibitor, on incident diabetes and regression to normoglycemia in 6,522 Acarbose Cardiovascular Evaluation (ACE) trial participants in China who had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and coronary heart disease (CHD).Research Design and Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to acarbose or placebo and followed with four monthly fasting plasma glucose (FPG) tests and annual oral glucose tolerance tests. Incident diabetes was defined as two successive diagnostic FPG levels ≥7 mmol/L or 2-h plasma glucose (PG) levels ≥11.1 mmol/L while taking study medication or a masked adjudicated confirmation of this diagnosis. Regression to normoglycemia was defined as FPG <6.1 mmol/L and 2-h PG <7.8 mmol/L. Intention-to-treat and on-treatment analyses were conducted using Poisson regression models, overall and for subgroups (age, sex, CHD type, HbA1c, FPG, 2-h PG, BMI, estimated glomerular filtration rate, for IGT alone, for IGT + impaired fasting glucose, and for use of thiazides, ACE inhibitors [ACEis]/angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs], β-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or statins).Results: Incident diabetes was less frequent with acarbose compared with placebo (3.2 and 3.8 per 100 person-years, respectively; rate ratio 0.82 [95% CI 0.71, 0.94], P = 0.005), with no evidence of differential effects within the predefined subgroups after accounting for multiple testing. Regression to normoglycemia occurred more frequently in those randomized to acarbose compared with placebo (16.3 and 14.1 per 100 person-years, respectively; 1.16 [1.08, 1.25], P < 0.0001). This effect was greater in participants not taking an ACEi or ARB (1.36 [1.21, 1.53], Pinteraction = 0.0006). The likelihood of remaining in normoglycemic regression did not differ between the acarbose and placebo groups (P = 0.41).Conclusions: Acarbose reduced the incidence of diabetes and promoted regression to normoglycemia in Chinese people with IGT and CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We aim to conduct a meta-analysis, by stratifying diabetic patients with or without clinical cardiovascular diseases (CVD), to explore whether there are different cardiovascular effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4is) on these two different classes of diabetic patients. Methods: We searchedMedline,Embase, theCochrane Libraryand ClinicalTrials.gov for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The included trials are divided into CVD (+) trials (subjects with established CVD), and CVD (-) trials (subjects with no CVD). We use all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes as primary endpoints. Results: (1) Three CVD (+) trials were included and 36,895 subjects were enrolled with a mean follow-up duration of 127.1 weeks. The pooled results showed that DPP-4is treatment, compared with the placebo, did not significantly affect all-cause mortality (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.11), cardiovascular death (1.01, 0.91 to 1.12), myocardial infarction (0.98, 0.88 to 1.08) or stroke (1.02, 0.88 to 1.18) in diabetic patients with coexisting CVD history; however, it significantly increased the risk of heart failure (1.14, 1.01 to 1.27) in this population. 2) Thirty-five CVD (-) trials were included, and 29,600 patients were enrolled with a mean follow-up duration of 77.8 weeks. The analysis comparing DPP-4is with the placebo control showed that DPP-4is treatment did not significantly affect the risk of all-cause mortality or cardiovascular outcomes in diabetic patients free of CVD history. However, when compared with the active control, the pooling data showed that DPP-4is had a significant reduction on the risk of stroke (0.58, 0.34 to 0.99) but did not significantly affect the risk of all-cause mortality and other cardiovascular outcomes. Conclusion: DPP-4is may have no cardiovascular protective effects in diabetic patients with coexisting CVD, while there is a lack of definitive evidence supporting the cardiovascular benefits of DPP-4is treatment among diabetic patients free of CVD history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Accumulating evidence connects diverse components of body composition (e.g., fat, muscle, and bone) to neurodegenerative disease risk, yet their interplay remains underexplored. This study examines the associations between patterns of body composition and the risk of neurodegenerative diseases, exploring the mediating role of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)., Methods: This retrospective analysis used data from the UK Biobank, a prospective community-based cohort study. We included participants free of neurodegenerative diseases and with requisite body composition measurements at recruitment, who were followed from 5 years after recruitment until April 1, 2023, to identify incident neurodegenerative diseases. We assessed the associations between different components and major patterns of body composition (identified by principal component analysis) with the risk of neurodegenerative diseases, using multivariable Cox models. Analyses were stratified by disease susceptibility, indexed by polygenetic risk scores for Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, APOE genotype, and family history of neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, we performed mediation analysis to estimate the contribution of CVDs to these associations. In addition, in a subcohort of 40,790 participants, we examined the relationship between body composition patterns and brain aging biomarkers (i.e., brain atrophy and cerebral small vessel disease)., Results: Among 412,691 participants (mean age 56.0 years, 55.1% female), 8,224 new cases of neurodegenerative diseases were identified over an average follow-up of 9.1 years. Patterns identified as "fat-to-lean mass," "muscle strength," "bone density," and "leg-dominant fat distribution" were associated with a lower rate of neurodegenerative diseases (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.74-0.94) while "central obesity" and "arm-dominant fat distribution" patterns were associated with a higher rate (HR = 1.13-1.18). Stratification analysis yielded comparable risk estimates across different susceptibility groups. Notably, 10.7%-35.3% of the observed associations were mediated by CVDs, particularly cerebrovascular diseases. The subcohort analysis of brain aging biomarkers corroborated the findings for "central obesity," "muscle strength," and "arm-dominant fat distribution" patterns., Discussion: Our analyses demonstrated robust associations of body composition patterns featured by "central obesity," "muscle strength," and "arm-dominant fat distribution" with both neurodegenerative diseases and brain aging, which were partially mediated by CVDs. These findings underscore the potential of improving body composition and early CVD management in mitigating risk of neurodegenerative diseases.