Maternal smoking, nutritional factors at different life stage, and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: a prospective study of the UK Biobank.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate potential interactions between maternal smoking around birth (MSAB) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) pathway-specific genetic risks in relation to the development of T2D in offspring. Additionally, it seeks to determine whether and how nutritional factors during different life stages may modify the association between MSAB and risk of T2D. METHODS: This study included 460,234 participants aged 40 to 69 years, who were initially free of T2D from the UK Biobank. MSAB and breastfeeding were collected by questionnaire. The Alternative health eating index(AHEI) and dietary inflammation index(DII) were calculated. The polygenic risk scores(PRS) of T2D and pathway-specific were established, including ß-cell function, proinsulin, obesity, lipodystrophy, liver function and glycated haemoglobin(HbA1c). Cox proportion hazards models were performed to evaluate the gene/diet-MSAB interaction on T2D. The relative excess risk due to additive interaction (RERI) were calculated. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 12.7 years, we identified 27,342 cases of incident T2D. After adjustment for potential confounders, participants exposed to MSAB had an increased risk of T2D (HR=1.11, 95%CI:1.08-1.14), and this association remained significant among the participants with breastfeeding (HR= HR=1.10, 95%CI: 1.06-1.14). Moreover, among the participants in the highest quartile of AHEI or in the lowest quartile of DII, the association between MSAB and the increased risk of T2D become non-significant (HR=0.94, 95%CI: 0.79-1.13 for AHEI; HR=1.09, 95%CI:0.99-1.20 for DII). Additionally, the association between MSAB and risk of T2D became non-significant among the participants with lower genetic risk of lipodystrophy (HR=1.06, 95%CI:0.99-1.14), and exposed to MSAB with a higher genetic risk for ß-cell dysfunction or lipodystrophy additively elevated the risk of T2D(RERI=0.18, 95%CI:0.06-0.30 for ß-cell function; RERI=0.16, 95%CI:0.04-0.28 for lipodystrophy). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that maintaining a high dietary quality or lower dietary inflammation in diet may reduce the risk of T2D associated with MSAB, and the combination of higher genetic risk of ß-cell dysfunction or lipodystrophy and MSAB significantly elevate the risk of T2D in offspring.

The association between biomarkers of acrylamide and cancer mortality in U.S. adult population: Evidence from NHANES 2003-2014.

The association between acrylamide (AA) and the development of cancer has been extensively discussed but the results remained controversial, especially in population studies. Large prospective epidemiological studies on the relationship of AA exposure with cancer mortality were still lacking. Therefore, we aimed to assess the association between AA biomarkers and cancer mortality in adult population from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2014. We followed 3717 participants for an average of 10.3 years. Cox regression models with multivariable adjustments were performed to determine the relationship of acrylamide hemoglobin adduct (HbAA) and glycidamide hemoglobin adduct (HbGA) with cancer mortality. Mediation analysis was conducted to demonstrate the mediated role of low-grade inflammation score (INFLA-score) in this correlation. Compared with the lowest quintile, participants with the highest quintile of HbAA, HbGA and HbAA+HbGA had increased cancer mortality risk, and the hazard ratios(HRs) were 2.07 (95%CI:1.04-4.14) for HbAA, 2.39 (95%CI:1.29-4.43) for HbGA and 2.48 (95%CI:1.28-4.80) for HbAA+HbGA, respectively. And there was a considerable non-linearity association between HbAA and cancer mortality (p for non-linearity = 0.0139). We further found that increased INFLA-score significantly mediated 71.67% in the effect of HbGA exposure on increased cancer mortality risk. This study demonstrates that hemoglobin biomarkers of AA are positively associated with cancer mortality in adult American population and INFLA-score plays a mediated role in this process. Our findings can raise public awareness of environmental and dietary exposure to acrylamide and remind people to refrain from smoking or having acrylamide-rich foods.

The Association of Dietary Vitamin Intake Time Across a Day With Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality.

Background: Chrono-nutrition emphasized the importance of the intake time; however, less is known about the impact of dietary vitamin intake time on health. This study aimed to examine our hypothesis about which vitamin intake time could influence the natural course of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: A total of 27,455 adults enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during 2003-2014 were recruited. The 12 dietary vitamin intakes in the morning, afternoon, and evening were categorized into tertiles or quartiles. Cox-proportional hazard regression models were developed to evaluate the association of vitamin intake time with CVD and all-cause mortalities. Results: Compared with participants in the lowest quartile, participants in the highest quartile of dietary VB2 intake in the morning had significantly lowest mortality risk of CVD [hazard ratio (HR)VB2 = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.60-0.94, p = 0.017]; whereas, participants in the highest quartile of dietary-vitamin B6 (VB6), vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE), and folate-equivalent consumed in the evening showed the lowest risks of CVD (HRVB6 = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60-0.99, p = 0.103; HRVC = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65-0.98, p = 0.050; HRVE = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.56-0.99, p = 0.032; HRfolate-equivalent = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.63-0.97, p = 0.116) and all-cause mortalities (HRVB6 = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.71-0.93, p = 0.006; HRVC = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76-0.95, p = 0.004; HRVE = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.72-0.97, p = 0.011; HRfolate-equivalent = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.71-0.90, p = 0.001). Moreover, equivalently replacing 10% intake of dietary VB6, VC, VE, and folate-equivalent in the morning with evening were associated with 4% (HRVB6 = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.92-0.99), 5% (HRVC = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.99), 4% (HRVE = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.91-0.99), and 5% (HRfolate-equivalent = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.99) lower risk of CVD mortality. Conclusion: This study found that the optimal intake time of dietary VB2 was in the morning, and the optimal intake times of dietary VB6, VC, VE, and folate-equivalent were in the evening.

The Association of Consumption Time for Food With Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality Among Diabetic Patients.

AIMS: This study aims to investigate whether food intake time across 3 meals is associated with long-term survival among the people with diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 4642 diabetic patients participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2014. Food consumed across a day including the forenoon, afternoon, and evening was divided into quantiles based on their distribution. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the survival relationship between food intakes time and mortality. RESULTS: In the forenoon, compared to the participants in the lowest quantile of potato and starchy vegetable, participants in the highest quantile had lower mortality risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) [hazard ratio (HR)potato = 0.46, 95% CI 0.24-0.89; HRstarchy-vegetable = 0.32, 95% CI 0.15-0.72]. In the afternoon, participants who consumed whole grain had lower mortality of CVD (HRwhole grain = 0.67, 95% CI 0.48-0.95). In the evening, the highest quantile of dark vegetable and milk intake is related to lower mortality risk of CVD (HRdark vegetable = 0.55, 95% CI 0.35-0.87; HRmilk = 0.56, 95% CI 0.36-0.88) and all-cause mortality (HRmilk = 0.71, 95% CI 0.54-0.92), whereas participants in the highest quantile of intakes of processed meat are more likely to die due to CVD (HRprocessed-meat = 1.74, 95% CI 1.07-2.82). Isocalorically switching 0.1 serving potato or starchy vegetable consumed in the afternoon or evening to the forenoon, 0.1 serving dark vegetable consumed in the afternoon to the evening, and 0.1 serving whole grain consumed in the forenoon to the afternoon reduced the risk of CVD mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Higher intake of potato or starchy vegetable in forenoon, whole grain in the afternoon, and dark vegetable and milk in the evening and lower intake of processed meat in the evening was associated with better long-term survival in people with diabetes.

In-situ regulation of zinc metal surface for Dendrite-Free Zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors.

Aqueous Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) combine the high power density of supercapacitors with the high energy density of batteries. However, the growth of dendrite and spontaneous Zn corrosion damage the service life of ZHSCs and further seriously restrict their large-scale application in energy storage fields. Herein, we study the corrosion mechanism of Zn metal in ZnSO4 solution and report a method for the modification of Zn anode with zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) layer grown in-situ. The obtained ZIF-8 layer with hydrophobicity can not only inhibit Zn corrosion and induce Zn electroplating/peeling on the Zn surface, but also promote uniform deposition of Zn during charge/discharge processes. As a result, the prepared dendrite-free Zn electrode shows low polarization (89.0 mV at 10 mA cm-2) and high cycling stability (over 800 h at 10 mA cm-2), and the developed ZHSC maintains a high capacity retention of 96% after 13,000 cycles at 5 A g-1. Furthermore, a solar power supply system is assembled by the ZHSC and monocrystalline silicon plates to certify the utility of the device, and it can light a LED successfully. This study provides a simple and inexpensive strategy to manipulate the Zn electrodeposition behavior from dendrites to non-dendritic structures, which builds a way for the development of practical ZHSCs with mild electrolytes.

Core-shell nanostructured Zn-Co-O@CoS arrays for high-performance hybrid supercapacitors.

Although zinc oxide (ZnO) with wide distribution is one of the most attractive energy storage materials, the low electronic conductivity and insufficient active sites of bulk ZnO increase the internal resistance and reduce the capacity of electrodes for supercapacitors. Herein, CoS nanosheets are coated on the surface of heterostructured ZnO/Co3O4 nanowires to synthesize a core-shell Zn-Co-O@CoS electrode by a three-step method. The built-in electric field formed between ZnO and Co3O4 can enhance the conductivity of the composite electrode. The coating of amorphous CoS can also provide sufficient active sites and improve the chemical stability of ZnO/Co3O4 nanowires. As a result, the as-prepared Zn-Co-O@CoS electrode delivers a high specific capacity of 1190 C g-1, which is 7 times higher than that of the pristine ZnO electrode. Besides, a hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) with the Zn-Co-O@CoS electrode exhibits a high energy density of 56.8 W h kg-1 at a power density of 771.6 W kg-1. Furthermore, we assembled a solar-charging power system by combining the HSC and monocrystalline silicon plates to prove the practicability of the device, which can power a toy electric fan successfully. This study provides an effective idea and strategy for preparing Zn-based supercapacitor electrodes with low cost and deep discharge.

Atom-Thin SnS2-xSex with Adjustable Compositions by Direct Liquid Exfoliation from Single Crystals.

Two-dimensional (2D) chalcogenide materials are fundamentally and technologically fascinating for their suitable band gap energy and carrier type relevant to their adjustable composition, structure, and dimensionality. Here, we demonstrate the exfoliation of single-crystal SnS2-xSex (SSS) with S/Se vacancies into an atom-thin layer by simple sonication in ethanol without additive. The introduction of vacancies at the S/Se site, the conflicting atomic radius of sulfur in selenium layers, and easy incorporation with an ethanol molecule lead to high ion accessibility; therefore, atom-thin SSS flakes can be effectively prepared by exfoliating the single crystal via sonication. The in situ pyrolysis of such materials can further adjust their compositions, representing tunable activation energy, band gap, and also tunable response to analytes of such materials. As the most basic and crucial step of the 2D material field, the successful synthesis of an uncontaminated and atom-thin sample will further push ahead the large-scale applications of 2D materials, including, but not limited to, electronics, sensing, catalysis, and energy storage fields.

Direct Pen Writing of High-Tc, Flexible Magnesium Diboride Superconducting Arrays.

High-Tc , flexible MgB2 -nanowire-based superconducting arrays are fabricated via a direct pen writing method on both copper foils and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrates. Such superconducting arrays constitute a new approach for fabricating superconducting devices. The realization of a PDMS-based device demonstrates the potential for expanding this material into other high-Tc superconductor systems, which may lead to novel ways of driving the development of "real-life" applications.

Study of DXA-derived lateral-medial cortical bone thickness in assessing hip fracture risk.

The currently available clinical tools have limited accuracy in predicting hip fracture risk in individuals. We investigated the possibility of using normalized cortical bone thickness (NCBT) estimated from the patient's hip DXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) as an alternative predictor of hip fracture risk. Hip fracture risk index (HFRI) derived from subject-specific DXA-based finite element model was used as a guideline in constructing the mathematical expression of NCBT. We hypothesized that if NCBT has stronger correlations with HFRI than the single risk factors such as areal BMD (aBMD), then NCBT can be a better predictor. The hypothesis was studied using 210 clinical cases, including 60 hip fracture cases, obtained from the Manitoba Bone Mineral Density Database. The results showed that, in general HFRI has much stronger correlations with NCBT than any of the single risk factors; the strongest correlation was observed at the superior side of the narrowest femoral neck with r2 = 0.81 (p < 0.001), which is much higher than the correlation with femoral aBMD, r2 = 0.50 (p < 0.001). The capability of aBMD, NCBT, and HFRI in discriminating the hip fracture cases from the non-fracture ones, expressed as the area under the curve with 95% confidence interval, AUC (95% CI), is respectively 0.627 (0.593-0.657), 0.714 (0.644-0.784) and 0.839 (0.787-0.892). The short-term repeatability of aBMD, NCBT, and HFRI, measured by the coefficient of variation (CV, %), was found to be in the range of (0.64-1.22), (1.93-3.41), (3.10-4.16), respectively. We thus concluded that NCBT is potentially a better predictor of hip fracture risk.