A programmable environment for shape optimization and shapeshifting problems.

Soft materials underpin many domains of science and engineering, including soft robotics, structured fluids, and biological and particulate media. In response to applied mechanical, electromagnetic or chemical stimuli, such materials typically change shape, often dramatically. Predicting their structure is of great interest to facilitate design and mechanistic understanding, and can be cast as an optimization problem where a given energy function describing the physics of the material is minimized with respect to the shape of the domain and additional fields.

Effect of low-volume exercise on hepatic steatosis in adults with obesity plus normal glucose, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a novel, low-volume combined high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and progressive resistance training (PRT) in overweight/obese adults.

Methods: This randomised control trial compared the effect of regular supervised HIIT combined with PRT (Exercise) with an unsupervised stretching intervention (Control), in previously inactive adults with either normal glucose (NG), pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes (T2DM) with body mass index of >25 kg/m. Participants were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive low-volume exercise or control by an online randomisation tool.

Circulating CD31 Angiogenic T cells are reduced in prediabetes and increase with exercise training.

Aims: To investigate circulating angiogenic cells in adults with prediabetes and the effect of a structured exercise program.

Methods: A cohort of adults with overweight/obesity and either normal glucose (NG) or prediabetes were randomised to receive exercise (Exercise) (as twice weekly supervised combined high intensity aerobic exercise and progressive resistance training, and once weekly home-based aerobic exercise) or an unsupervised stretching intervention (Control) for 12 weeks. Circulating angiogenic T cells, muscle strength, and cardiovascular disease risk factors, including blood lipids, arterial stiffness, central haemodynamic responses, and cardiorespiratory fitness (VOpeak) in those with prediabetes (n = 35, 16 Control, 19 Exercise) and NG (n = 37, 17 Control, 20 Exercise) were analysed at baseline and after the 12-week intervention.

The metabolic consequences of 'yo-yo' dieting are markedly influenced by genetic diversity.

Background: Weight loss can improve the metabolic complications of obesity. However, it is unclear whether insulin resistance persists despite weight loss and whether any protective benefits are preserved following weight regain (weight cycling). The impact of genetic background on weight cycling is undocumented.

Reducing cardiometabolic risk with semaglutide in type 1 diabetes (RESET1): Study protocol of a phase 2 double-blinded randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Premature cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in people living with type 1 diabetes. Therapies are urgently needed to address cardiovascular risk in this group. Semaglutide, a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, has been shown to reduce cardiovascular events and improve weight and glycaemia in type 2 diabetes.

Applications of SGLT2 inhibitors beyond glycaemic control.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were initially developed for their glucose-lowering effects and have shown a modest glycaemic benefit in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In the past decade, a series of large, robust clinical trials of these therapies have demonstrated striking beneficial effects for various care goals, transforming the chronic disease therapeutic landscape. Cardiovascular safety studies in people with T2DM demonstrated that SGLT2 inhibitors reduce cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure.

Intensive Lifestyle Intervention for Remission of Early Type 2 Diabetes in Primary Care in Australia: DiRECT-Aus.

Objective: We aimed to assess whether remission of type 2 diabetes (T2D) could be achieved with a low-energy total diet replacement (TDR) in an Australian primary care setting.

Research Design And Methods: Individuals aged 20-65 years with T2D duration up to 6 years, BMI >27.0 kg/m2, and not treated with insulin were prescribed a 13-week low-energy TDR (Optifast; Nestlé Health Science) followed by 8-week structured food reintroduction and 31-week supported weight maintenance.

Challenging Clinical Perspectives in Type 2 Diabetes with Tirzepatide, a First-in-Class Twincretin.

Tirzepatide is a first-in-class GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist ('twincretin')-a single molecule that acts as an agonist at both glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors. In the SURPASS clinical trial program in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), tirzepatide was associated with unprecedented reductions in HbA1c, clinically significant weight loss and other metabolic benefits, combined with low rates of hypoglycaemia across a wide range of patient characteristics. The safety and adverse event rate for tirzepatide appears comparable to that of GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Motivations for participation in weight loss clinical trials.

Males are under-represented in weight loss clinical trials, usually comprising fewer than one-quarter of participants. Our study aimed to investigate people's motivations for participating in weight loss trials and determine any relationship with gender. Eighty individuals from an existing registry for weight loss trials were contacted, of whom 24 (9 males, 15 females) agreed to participate in a 20-min semi-structured interview around their expectations and motivations for volunteering.

Individualised prescription of medications for treatment of obesity in adults.

Obesity continues to increase in prevalence globally, driven by changes in environmental factors which have accelerated the development of obesity in individuals with an underlying predisposition to weight gain. The adverse health effects and increased risk for chronic disease associated with obesity are ameliorated by weight loss, with greater benefits from larger amounts of weight reduction. Obesity is a heterogeneous condition, with the drivers, phenotype and complications differing substantially between individuals.

Assessing the relative impacts and economic costs of Japanese knotweed management methods.

Sustainable land management encompasses a range of activity that balance land use requirements with wider conservation and ecosystem impact considerations. Perennial invasive alien plants (IAPs), such as Japanese knotweed, cause severe ecological and socio-economic impacts, and methods to control their spread also come at a cost. Synthetic herbicides are generally viewed as less sustainable and more ecologically damaging than alternative approaches.

Understanding the confluence of injury and obesity in a Grade 2 obesity and above population.

Objective: Obesity and injury are major inter-related public health challenges. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of injury in people with severe obesity.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed to capture injury perception and lifestyle habits via questionnaires.

Oral health-care needs among clients receiving alcohol and other drugs treatment-A scoping review.

Issues: Poor oral health is a significant problem among people who access alcohol and other drugs (AOD) health services, yet little is known about their oral health-care needs and whether any interventions and guidelines are implemented within AOD treatment services.

Approach: A scoping review was conducted to identify scientific literature in three focus areas: oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices of clients and clinicians at AOD-related services; oral health guidelines for AOD clinicians; and interventions that describe clinicians promoting oral health among clients.

Key Findings: Thirty-two reports were identified.

Metabolic effects of lipectomy and of adipose tissue transplantation.

Objective: The goal of this study was to review the metabolic effects of fat transplantation.

Methods: Fat (adipose tissue [AT]) transplantation has been performed extensively for many years in the cosmetic reconstruction industry. However, not all fats are equal.

Obesity in South and Southeast Asia-A new consensus on care and management.

Obesity is a chronic disease in which the abnormal or excessive accumulation of body fat leads to impaired health and increased risk of mortality and chronic health complications. Prevalence of obesity is rising rapidly in South and Southeast Asia, with potentially serious consequences for local economies, healthcare systems, and quality of life. Our group of obesity specialists from Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam undertook to develop consensus recommendations for management and care of adults and children with obesity in South and Southeast Asia.

Obesity, lifestyle behaviours and psychological effects of the COVID-19 lockdown: A survey of patients attending a tertiary weight loss clinic.

Lockdown measures due to coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) have impacted lifestyle factors. This study aimed to explore whether health and lifestyle behaviours changed during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown among patients with obesity. A specifically designed online survey and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) were administered to patients scheduled to attend a tertiary weight management service between 6 June-12 August 2020.

Differences in weight loss outcomes for males and females on a low-carbohydrate diet: A systematic review.

It has been widely demonstrated that there are a broad range of individual responses to all weight management regimens, often masked by reports of the mean. Identifying features of responders and non-responders to weight loss regimens enables a more tailored approach to the provision of weight management advice. Low-carbohydrate diets are currently popular, and anecdote suggests that males are more successful at losing weight using this approach.

Highly Variable Expression of Merozoite Surface Protein MSPDBL2 in Diverse Plasmodium falciparum Clinical Isolates and Transcriptome Scans for Correlating Genes.

The merozoite surface protein MSPDBL2 of Plasmodium falciparum is under strong balancing selection and is a target of naturally acquired antibodies. Remarkably, MSPDBL2 is expressed in only a minority of mature schizonts of any cultured parasite line, and gene transcription increases in response to overexpression of the gametocyte development inducer GDV1, so it is important to understand its natural expression. Here, MSPDBL2 in mature schizonts was analyzed in the first culture cycle of 96 clinical isolates from 4 populations with various levels of infection endemicity in different West African countries, by immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies against a conserved region of the protein.

Development and internal validation of the Edmonton Obesity Staging System-2 Risk screening Tool (EOSS-2 Risk Tool) for weight-related health complications: a case-control study in a representative sample of Australian adults with overweight and obesity.

Objective: Excess weight and related health complications remain under diagnosed and poorly treated in general practice. We aimed to develop and validate a brief screening tool for determining the presence of unknown clinically significant weight-related health complications for potential application in general practice.

Design: We considered 14 self-reported candidate predictors of clinically significant weight-related health complications according to the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS score of ≥2) and developed models using multivariate logistic regression across training and test data sets.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes of women with gestational diabetes and without specific medical conditions: an Australian population-based study comparing induction of labor with expectant management.

Background/aims: To evaluate maternal birth and neonatal outcomes among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), but without specific medical conditions and eligible for vaginal birth who underwent induction of labour (IOL) at term compared with those who were expectantly managed.

Materials And Methods: Population-based cohort study of women with GDM, but without medical conditions, who had a singleton, cephalic birth at 38-41 completed weeks gestation, in New South Wales, Australia between January 2010 and December 2016. Women who underwent IOL at 38, 39, 40 weeks gestation (38-, 39-, 40-induction groups) were compared with those who were managed expectantly and gave birth at and/or beyond the respective gestational age group (38-, 39-, 40-expectant groups).

The impact of weight cycling on health outcomes in animal models: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The pattern of weight loss and regain, termed "weight cycling," is common in overweight individuals. It is unclear whether the well-established benefits of weight loss persist following weight regain or whether weight cycling is harmful. Human studies of weight cycling have conflicting results reflecting limitations of the observational designs of these studies.