Poor Physical Capacity Combined With High Body Fat Percentage as an Independent Risk Factor for Incident Hypertension in Chinese Suburb-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background: This study examined the effects of poor physical capacity and high body fat percentage (BF%) on the incidence of hypertension in Chinese suburb-dwelling older adults. Methods: This study was conducted on 368 Chinese suburb-dwelling participants aged ≥ 60 years without hypertension (mean age: 66.74 ± 5.59 years, 48.9% men). Poor physical capacity is defined by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) criteria as grip strength < 26 kg for men and < 18 kg for women or walking speed <0.8 m/s. High BF% was defined as values that are greater than the upper tertile for BF% as stratified by sex. The outcome was the incidence of hypertension. Results: Overall, 5.7% of subjects had both poor physical capacity and high BF%. After the average follow-up duration of 2 years, the incidence of hypertension was 39.7%, and those experiencing both poor physical capacity and high BF% had the highest incidence (81.0%). After multivariate adjustments, the incidence of hypertension was associated with the combination of poor physical capacity and high BF% [odds ratio (OR) = 6.43, 95% CI = 1.91-21.64] but not solely with poor physical capacity (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 0.55-2.25) or only high BF% (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 0.80-2.34). Conclusion: The combination of poor physical capacity and high BF% can significantly increase the incidence of hypertension in Chinese suburb-dwelling older adults. For hypertension prevention, ideally, we should strive toward decreasing body fat mass while simultaneously improving physical capacity.

Both Short and Long Sleep Durations are Risk Factors for Sarcopenia in Suburban-Dwelling Older Chinese Individuals: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study.

Background: Few longitudinal studies have explored exploring the relationship between sleep duration and sarcopenia. Evidence concerning the relationship between sleep duration and sarcopenia is limited and inconsistent. The purpose of this 3-year prospective study was to explore whether sleep duration was associated with sarcopenia onset in suburb-dwelling older Chinese individuals. Methods: This was a prospective study that included 754 Chinese suburb-dwelling men and women aged ≥60 years (men n=327, mean age 65.24± 4.87 years) who were not initially diagnosed with sarcopenia. We defined sarcopenia using the diagnostic algorithm recommended by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Self-reported sleep duration was a component of the interview measured by trained interviewers. Subjects were categorized into 3 groups at baseline [short: <6 h, medium: 6-8 h, and long: >8 h]. Results: The incidence of sarcopenia during the 3-year follow-up was 12.2%. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that after adjustments for potential confounders long sleep duration was independently associated with sarcopenia incidence from baseline through the 3-year follow-up: when using the 6-8 h sleep duration group as a reference, the adjusted ORs for sarcopenia of the groups who slept <6 and >8 hours were 2.74 (95% CI 1.05-7.13) and 1.84 (95% CI 1.07-3.14). Conclusion: Both short and long sleep durations were associated with a greater incidence of sarcopenia. Thus, sleep duration should be considered when developing prevention and management strategies for sarcopenia.

Mid-infrared ridge waveguides fabricated in CaF2 crystal by the technique of O5+ ion irradiation.

The fabrication of ridge waveguides in calcium fluoride (CaF2) crystal working at the mid-infrared wavelength was studied. First, the planar waveguide was fabricated by using O5+ ion irradiation, and then the ridge waveguide structure was manufactured by precise diamond blade dicing. The propagation loss was measured by end-face coupling arrangement, and then annealing treatment was implemented to optimize the waveguide performance, and the propagation loss was finally reduced to 0.5 dB/cm. We measured the Raman spectra of the waveguide and substrate to observe the damage to the material lattice caused by O5+ ion irradiation technology.