The mediating effect of sleep duration on metabolic syndrome severity in adults: a structural equation modeling approach.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated to sleep duration. It is crucial to identify factors that disrupt sleep regulation. The study aimed to assess the indirect effect of risk factors related to MetS severity through sleep duration by utilizing a structural equation model (SEM). METHODS: The study involving 3,935 adults from the baseline data of the Ravansar Non-Communicable Disease (RaNCD) cohort study. MetS severity scores were the outcome variables. SEM was employed to explore the relationships, utilizing IBM SPSS and AMOS version 23. RESULTS: The mean MetS severity score was higher in women compared to men (0.25 vs. 0.16, P = 0.003). In men, socioeconomic status (SES) has a positive direct effect (ß = 0.048) and a negative indirect effect (ß=-0.006) on MetS severity. Increased physical activity is directly (ß=-0.036) and indirectly (ß=-0.093) associated with reducing MetS severity. Nap duration is directly linked to an increase (ß = 0.072) but has an indirect effect (ß=-0.008) in decreasing MetS severity. In women, SES has a direct (ß=-0.020) and indirect (ß=-0.001) inverse relationship with MetS severity. Increased physical activity is directly (ß=-0.048) and indirectly (ß=-0.036) associated with decreasing MetS severity in women. Nap duration is directly associated with an increase in MetS severity (ß=-0.018) but indirectly contributes to its reduction (ß=-0.002). Sleep duration not only directly affects MetS severity but is also influenced by age, SES, physical activity, obesity and nap duration. CONCLUSION: Physical activity, SES, and nap duration directly and indirectly effect the MetS severity. Sleep duration was recognized as a mediating variable that supports the indirect effects.

Synthesis of Chiral Triazine Frameworks for Enantiodiscrimination.

Manipulation of the structure of covalent organic frameworks at the molecular level is an efficient strategy to shift their biological, physicochemical, optical, and electrical properties in the desired windows. In this work, we report on a new method to construct chiral triazine frameworks using metal-driven polymerization for enantiodiscrimination. The nucleophilic substitution reaction between melamine and cyanuric chloride was performed in the presence of PdCl2, ZnCl2, and CuCl2 as chirality-directing agents. Palladium, with the ability of planar complex formation, was able to assemble monomers in two-dimensions and drive the reaction in two directions, leading to a two-dimensional triazine network with several micrometers lateral size. Nonplanar arrangements of monomers in the presence of ZnCl2 and CuCl2, however, resulted in calix and bouquet structures, respectively. While 2D and bouquet structures showed strong negative and positive bands in the CD spectra, respectively, their calix counterparts displayed long-range weak negative bands. In spite of the ability of both calix and bouquet networks to load l-histidine 35 and 50% more than d-histidine from pure enantiomers, respectively, only calix counterparts were able to take up this enantiomer (78%) from the racemic mixture. The two-dimensional polytriazine network did not show any specific interactions with pure enantiomers or their racemic mixtures.