Comparison of weight loss and adverse events of obesity drugs in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The global incidence of childhood obesity is increasing. Currently, there are only few established drugs for treating adolescent obesity. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing pharmacological interventions in children with obesity are scarce; therefore, we aimed to analyze the relative efficacy and adverse reactions of these drugs and compare the effects of each drug on body mass index (BMI). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This meta-analysis focused on the slimming effect, safety, and correlation of metformin, orlistat, exenatide, liraglutide, and topiramate in children with obesity. Several international databases were searched and clinical trials on the treatment of obesity in children in which the drug was administered for ≥ 6 months were included. Changes in BMI before and after treatment were analyzed using a Bayes framework, and the surface under the cumulative ranking was calculated. RESULTS: Of 2102 relevant articles retrieved, 21 RCTs were included in the study. Compared to other drugs, liraglutide reduced BMI the most in children with obesity. However, it was most associated with drug withdrawal due to adverse events while topiramate was least. CONCLUSIONS: Liraglutide had a higher probability of achieving clinically significant weight loss compared with other drugs while topiramate was superior in safety.

Data-Driven Studies of the Magnetic Anisotropy of Two-Dimensional Magnetic Materials.

A key issue in layered materials is the dependence of their properties on their chemical composition and crystal structure in addition to the dimensionality. For instance, atomically thin magnetic structures exhibit novel spin properties that do not exist in the bulk. We use first-principles calculations, based on density functional theory, and machine learning to study the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of a set of single-layer two-dimensional structures that are derived from changing the chemical composition of the ferromagnetic semiconductor Cr2Ge2Te6. We discuss trends and identify descriptors for the magnetocrystalline anisotropy in monolayers with the chemical formula A2B2X6. Our data-driven study aims to provide physical insights into the microscopic origins of magnetic anisotropy in two dimensions. For instance, we demonstrate that hybridization plays a key role in determining the magnetic anisotropy of the materials investigated in this study. In addition, we demonstrate that first-principles calculations can be combined with machine learning to create a high-throughput computational approach for the targeted design of quantum materials with potential applications in areas ranging from sensing to data storage.

Square Peg in a Circular Hole: Choosing the Right Ansatz for Isolated Black Holes in Generic Gravitational Theories.

The metric of a spacetime can be greatly simplified if the spacetime is circular. We prove that in generic effective theories of gravity, the spacetime of a stationary, axisymmetric, and asymptotically flat solution must be circular if the solution can be obtained perturbatively from a solution in the general relativity limit. This result applies to a broad class of gravitational theories that include arbitrary scalars and vectors in their light sector, so long as their nonstandard kinetic terms and nonmininal couplings to gravity are treated perturbatively.

The synergistic strategy and microbial ecology of the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste under the regulation of domestic garbage classification in China.

With the implementation of new domestic garbage classification policy in China, attention is growing to improve the treatment efficiency of municipal 'wet' waste. Combing with the new regulation, the synergistic strategy and the microbial ecology of the anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of cooked food waste (CFW), uncooked food waste (UCFW) and rice straw (RS) were analyzed in current study. Results showed that the maximum cumulative methane yield (CMY) and synergic index were obtained when CFW and UCFW were mixed at the ratio of 1:1 (based on volatile solid content). The highest CMY 452.94 ± 0.99 mL/g-VS was obtained when the ratio of CFW, UCFW and RS was 0.81:0.09:0.10, which was 16.29%, 36.20% and 121.84% higher than their mono-digestion, respectively. The AcoD promoted the methane potential by prolonging the release time of organic matter and slowing down the hydrolysis rate. Furthermore, the AcoD increased the species diversification and relative abundance of fermentation bacteria in digesters, and Methanosaeta predominated the methanogen communities. This study demonstrated a clean and sustainable AcoD strategy for safe disposal of urban food waste and revealed the variation of microbial community, which can provide a base for efficient bioenergy recovery from urban domestic garbage.

LAN: A Materials Notation for Two-Dimensional Layered Assemblies.

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials offer intriguing possibilities for novel physics and applications. Before any attempt at exploring the materials space in a systematic fashion, or combining insights from theory, computation, and experiment, a formal description of information about an assembly of arbitrary composition is required. Here, we introduce a domain-generic notation that is used to describe the space of 2D layered materials from monolayers to twisted assemblies of arbitrary composition, existent or not yet fabricated. The notation corresponds to a theoretical materials concept of stepwise assembly of layered structures using a sequence of rotation, vertical stacking, and other operations on individual 2D layers. Its scope is demonstrated with a number of example structures using common single-layer materials as building blocks. This work overall aims to contribute to the systematic codification, capture, and transfer of materials knowledge in the area of 2D layered materials.