Skeletal Muscle Health and Cognitive Function: A Narrative Review

Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function with advancing age. It involves both complex genetic and modifiable risk factors, such as lack of exercise, malnutrition and reduced neurological drive. Cognitive decline refers to diminished or impaired mental and/or intellectual functioning. Contracting skeletal muscle is a major source of neurotrophic factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which regulate synapses in the brain. Furthermore, skeletal muscle activity has important immune and redox effects that modify brain function and reduce muscle catabolism. The identification of common risk factors and underlying mechanisms for sarcopenia and cognition may allow the development of targeted interventions that slow or reverse sarcopenia and also certain forms of cognitive decline. However, the links between cognition and skeletal muscle have not been elucidated fully. This review provides a critical appraisal of the literature on the relationship between skeletal muscle health and cognition. The literature suggests that sarcopenia and cognitive decline share pathophysiological pathways. Ageing plays a role in both skeletal muscle deterioration and cognitive decline. Furthermore, lifestyle risk factors, such as physical inactivity, poor diet and smoking, are common to both disorders, so their potential role in the muscle–brain relationship warrants investigation.     

Intergenerational Metabolomic Analysis of Mothers with a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Their Offspring

Shared metabolomic patterns at delivery have been suggested to underlie the mother-to-child transmission of adverse metabolic health. This study aimed to investigate whether mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring show similar metabolomic patterns several years postpartum. Targeted metabolomics (including 137 metabolites) was performed in plasma samples obtained during an oral glucose tolerance test from 48 mothers with GDM and their offspring at a cross-sectional study visit 8 years after delivery. Partial Pearson’s correlations between the area under the curve (AUC) of maternal and offspring metabolites were calculated, yielding so-called Gaussian graphical models. Spearman’s correlations were applied to investigate correlations of body mass index (BMI), Matsuda insulin sensitivity index (ISI-M), dietary intake, and physical activity between generations, and correlations of metabolite AUCs with lifestyle variables. This study revealed that BMI, ISI-M, and the AUC of six metabolites (carnitine, taurine, proline, SM(-OH) C14:1, creatinine, and PC ae C34:3) were significantly correlated between mothers and offspring several years postpartum. Intergenerational metabolite correlations were independent of shared BMI, ISI-M, age, sex, and all other metabolites. Furthermore, creatinine was correlated with physical activity in mothers. This study suggests that there is long-term metabolic programming in the offspring of mothers with GDM and informs us about targets that could be addressed by future intervention studies.     

Pregnancy by Assisted Reproductive Technology Is Associated with Shorter Telomere Length in Neonates

Telomere length (TL) influences the development of lifestyle-related diseases, and neonatal TL may influence their prevalence. Various factors have been reported to affect neonatal TL. Although the fetus is exposed to multiple conditions in utero, the main factors affecting the shortening of neonatal TL are still not known. In this study, we sought to identify factors that influence fetal TL. A total of 578 mother-newborn pairs were included for TL analysis. TL was measured in genomic DNA extracted from cord blood samples using quantitative PCR. The clinical factors examined at enrollment included the following intrauterine environmental factors: maternal age, assisted reproductive technology (ART) used, body mass index (BMI), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), maternal stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, preterm delivery, small-for-gestational-age, neonatal sex, and placental weight. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to verify the relationship between neonatal TL and these clinical factors. The median neonatal TL to single-copy gene ratio was 1.0. Pregnancy with ART was among the 11 factors associated with shorter neonatal TL. From multiple regression analysis, we determined that neonatal TL was significantly shorter for pregnancies in the ART group than in the other groups. We conclude that pregnancy with ART is associated with shorter neonatal TL.     

一个有表情的大房子——旺德府国际家俱建材购物中心方案设计

以家居的方式提炼建筑,打破以往建材家俱市场的冰冷面孔,给顾客提供以"家"为中心,集家俱、建材、设计、装修以及智能信息、文化传播、展览演示、购物休闲等综合功能为一体的"一站式"服务。     

浅析Pruitt Igoe居住区的兴与废

通过对Pruitt lgoe居住区兴与废的分析，阐明由不同的生活习惯而导致的居住建筑的复杂性与矛盾性，揭示出居住建筑设计中个人化行为存在的原因和重要性。     

中国传统价值观对于消费行为影响研究——以上海手机市场为例

This study investigates how traditional Chinese values influence Chinese consumer behavior directly and indirectly through the impact on peoples lifestyles and perceived values. The empirical research is conducted in the context of the mobile phone market in Shanghai. The study establishes measurement scales of Confucian value, lifestyle, and customer perceived value for Chinese market. Relationships of multiple factors are tested in the structural equation model and their impacts on consumer behavior are elaborated. Findings indicate that Confucian values not only have a direct impact on Chinese consumer behavior but also indirectly influence this behavior through impacting peoples lifestyles and perceived values.     

广告营销对消费者生活习惯的影响

随着科学技术的进步和社会经济的发展,广告已成为人们日常生活不可或缺的一部分。广告作为一种营销手段,在生活中扮演着重要的角色,并影响着人们的生活习惯。为了达到最佳广告效果,分析广告营销对消费者的影响及广告产业的发展具有十分重要的意义。     

Quantifying energy demand reduction considering householder willingness to apply measures

ABSTRACT

Reducing energy demand in the domestic sector will be an important feature of future energy systems but is challenging to achieve in practice. Solutions lie in a range of building fabric and system improvements as well as adopting more sustainable routines and conceptions of normality in the home. The impact of such measures has so far been quantified without considering the willingness of the householder to adopt them. This paper uses a modelling approach to evaluate the effectiveness of technical and lifestyle measures to reduce energy demand in six households based on monitoring data and insights from interviews. The results are benchmarked against estimated tailored 2050 reduction targets and demonstrate that although these targets are achievable in the studied homes, householders might not always be willing to apply them. The resultant reduction pathways are shown to vary significantly between households, suggesting that bespoke strategies are needed to allow households to identify and select the most appropriate methods that allow them to maximize demand reduction.     

基于居住实态调查的家庭室内空间研究——以福建漳浦诒安堡为例

本文以居住实态调查为基础，在深入调研的基础上，分析诒安堡内居民的生活实态及其与室内空间的相互关系。并在此基础上展开居住生活方式和居住空间的分析，从传统的居住生活方式中获得启示，为住宅设计及住宅产品开发提供科学的依据，从而正确的传承传统的居住文化。     

Retail Change in Southern Sydney: Lifestyle-Linked Restructuring?

Examination of the changing composition of shopping centres in suburban Sydney between 1969 and 1998 suggests that retail restructuring is linked to lifestyle changes. The growth in the number of shops appears to have matched population growth in the 1990s, suggesting that the suburbanisation of retailing has stabilised. At the same time there has been increasing diversification in terms of the retail functions which are available and in terms of the places where these are available. These changes appear linked to a blurring of the distinction between shopping and leisure and to the use of shopping as a way of signifying identity.