Association of hypoglycaemia with the risks of arrhythmia and mortality in individuals with diabetes - a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundHypoglycaemia has been linked to an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias by causing autonomic and metabolic alterations, which may be associated with detrimental outcomes in individuals with diabetes(IWD), such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and mortality, especially in multimorbid or frail people. However, such relationships in this population have not been thoroughly investigated. For this reason, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsRelevant papers published on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and CINHAL complete from inception to December 22, 2022 were routinely searched without regard for language. All of the selected articles included odds ratio, hazard ratio, or relative risk statistics, as well as data for estimating the connection of hypoglycaemia with cardiac arrhythmia, CVD-induced death, or total death in IWD. Regardless of the heterogeneity assessed by the I2 statistic, pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using random-effects models.ResultsAfter deleting duplicates and closely evaluating all screened citations, we chose 60 studies with totally 5,960,224 participants for this analysis. Fourteen studies were included in the arrhythmia risk analysis, and 50 in the analysis of all-cause mortality. Hypoglycaemic patients had significantly higher risks of arrhythmia occurrence (RR 1.42, 95%CI 1.21-1.68), CVD-induced death (RR 1.59, 95% CI 1.24-2.04), and all-cause mortality (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.49-1.90) compared to euglycaemic patients with significant heterogeneity.ConclusionHypoglycaemic individuals are more susceptible to develop cardiac arrhythmias and die, but evidence of potential causal linkages beyond statistical associations must await proof by additional specifically well planned research that controls for all potential remaining confounding factors

Microstructure, formation mechanism and mechanical properties of ZrC–Fe coating on cast iron via in situ solid-phase diffusion

To improve the mechanical properties of the surface of iron-based alloys, a ZrC–Fe coating is produced on cast ion via in situ solid-phase diffusion (ISSD) at 1130 °C. The coating is completely dense, reaching a thickness of approximately 18 μm after 10 h of ISSD. The volume fraction of the ZrC phase in the coating reaches approximately 92.3%. The size of the long axis (short axis) of columnar ZrC particles gradually decreases from approximately 4 μm (1.5 μm) to 1 μm (0.3 μm) as the thickness of the coating increases, displaying a gradient microstructure. The formation mechanism of the coating is mainly attributed to the carbon atoms diffuse into the octahedral vacancies of the zirconium lattice to undergo a diffusion-type solid state phase transformation to form ZrC, and α-Fe phase are distributed among the ZrC particles through the Fe atoms diffusion. Due to the carbon concentration gradient, the nucleation rate is reduced, thereby forming a gradient microstructure on the grain scale. The growth of the coating obeys the growth kinetic model d2=30.5t. In addition, the nanohardness and elastic modulus of the surface of the ZrC–Fe coating reach 29.7 GPa and 425.1 GPa, respectively, showing remarkable improvement compared to those of the cast iron substrate (4.5 GPa and 229.5 GPa, respectively). The fracture toughness gradually increases from 2.9 ± 0.1 MPa m1/2 to 3.6 ± 0.1 MPa m1/2 as the thickness of the coating increases. Moreover, the coating exhibits the superior coating/substrate adhesion. The excellent comprehensive mechanical properties are tightly related to a small amount of high toughness α-Fe phase, high volume fraction of in situ ZrC particles and the gradient change of the ZrC grain scale

Strategies for the development of CBM gas industry in China

Since the environment for the CBM development in China has been changing in recent years, it is necessary to re-consider the relevant strategies. Through investigations, surveys, geologic assessment, strategic decision-making and other techniques, the strategies for CBM development in China were discussed in respect to present situations, opportunities, challenges, proved reserves, producing reserves, strategic principles, strategic countermeasures, time-spatial allocation of strategies, risk assessments, and elimination of relevant risks. Some research results were obtained. Firstly, still in its initial development stage with fast growth, the CBM industry in China has made outstanding achievements in six aspects and also faces challenges in six aspects. Secondly, strategic focus can be summarized as constructing six CBM production bases in Qinshui, Eastern margin of Ordos Basin, Southwest China, Changqing, Northwest China, and Northeast China, respectively, according to the principles of “steadily developing middle-high rank coals, accelerating the development of low-rank coals and strengthening the comprehensive utilization of mining gas wells”. It is expected that the producing reserves and peak-production rate will be 3–4 trillion m3 and 35–45 billion m3/a, respectively. Thirdly, major strategic risks in CBM development in China include low productivities of individual wells, improper understandings of geologic conditions, decline in investments and lack of technical reserves. To eliminate these risks, it is necessary to reinforce work in the following five aspects, namely, strengthening comprehensive exploration and development of coal-bearing formations, creating favorable environments for the development of private oil companies, expanding spaces for the growth of technical service companies, conducting more researches for the development of innovative technologies in more areas and intensifying law enforcement

Dietary Supplementation of Astragalus membranaceus Extract Affects Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, Immune Response, and Energy Metabolism of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

The present study investigated the effects of Astragalus membranaceus extract (AME) on growth performance, immune response, and energy metabolism of juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Seven diets containing 0%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.6% AME (Con, AME0.1, AME0.2, AME0.3, AME0.4, AME0.5, and AME0.6 groups) were formulated and fed to M. salmoides for 8 weeks. Final body weight (FBW), feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG), and specific growth rate (SGR) were all significantly higher in AME0.4 group than in Con group (P<0.05). Feed conversion rate (FCR) was significantly improved in AME0.5 group compared with Con group (P<0.05). Whole-body crude protein contents were significantly increased in AME0.2 group (P<0.05). Whole-body crude lipid contents were significantly lower in AME0.2 and AME0.3 groups, while muscle lipid was upregulated by dietary AME (P<0.05). Hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were significantly lowered in AME0.3 and AME0.4 groups, and catalase (CAT) activities were significantly increased in AME0.1 and AME0.2 groups (P<0.05). Plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level was significantly lowered in AME0.5, and AME0.6 groups, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was lowered in AME0.5 groups (P<0.05). Plasma triglyceride was declined in AME0.6 group, and glucose was decreased by 0.3%−0.5% AME (P<0.05). Significantly higher hepatocyte diameter, lamina propria width, and submucosal layer thickness were recorded in AME0.6 groups, while the longest villi height was obtained in AME0.2 and AME0.3 groups (P<0.05). The mRNA expression levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (igf1) revealed the growth-promoting effect of AME. The anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects of AME were demonstrated by transcription levels of interleukin 8 (il-8), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-a), caspase, B-cell lymphoma-xl (Bcl-xl), bcl-2 associated x (Bax), and bcl-2-associated death protein (Bad). The transcription levels of lipid metabolism and gluconeogenesis related genes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase alpha (acc1), fatty acid synthase (fasn), fatty acid binding protein 1 (fabp1), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 2 (pepck2), and glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit 1a (g6pc), were reduced by AME treatment, while the levels of glycolysis-related genes, including glucokinase (gck) and pyruvate kinase (pk), were the highest in AME0.2 and AME0.3 groups (P<0.05). According to polynomial regression analysis of SGR, WG, FCR, whole-body crude lipid, MDA, and ALT, the optimal AME supplementation level was estimated to be 0.320%−0.429% of the diet. These results provided insights into the roles of AME in regulating immunity and metabolism, which highly indicated its potential as immunostimulants and metabolic regulators in diverse aquatic animals