Sichuan cuisine was previously fitted into the Chinese Heart-Healthy Diet (CHH) trial to verify the antihypertensive effect. Whether the modified Sichuan diet lessens cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not fully explored. We aimed to estimate the effects of the Sichuan version of CHH diet (CHH diet-SC) on the 10-year risk of CVD and vascular age. A single-blinded randomised controlled feeding trial was conducted. General CVD prediction model was used in manners of intention-to-treat and per-protocol set. After a 7-d run-in period, fifty-three participants with pre- and grade I hypertension from local communities were randomised and provided with either CHH diet-SC (n 27) or a control diet (n 26) for 4 weeks. Mean absolute and relative estimated CVD risks were reduced by 4·5 % and 27·9 % in the CHH diet-SC group, and the between-group relative risk reduction was 19·5 % (P < 0·001) using linear mixed-effects models. The sensitivity analysis with datasets and models showed consistent results, and pre-specified factors were not associated with the intervention effects. The vascular age of CHH-SC group was theoretically 4·4 years younger than that of the control group after intervention. Compared with a typical diet, adopting the CHH diet-SC over 1 month significantly reduced 10-year CVD risks and vascular ages among local adults with mild hypertension.

In the abstract, these sentences (page 1, line 5) should be: ‘Additionally, hepatic betaine–homocysteine methyltransferase concentration as well as its mRNA abundance and lecithin level were found increased (P<0·05) by betaine supplementation in both basal diet-fed rats and high-fat diet-fed rats. Betaine administration in high-fat diet-fed rats exhibited a higher (P<0·05) concentration of hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) comparedwith high-fat diet-fed rats.’

To assess the effects of betaine on hepatic lipid accumulation and investigate the underlying mechanism, thirty-two male Sprague–Dawley rats weighing 100 (sd 2·50) g were divided into four groups, and started on one of four treatments: basal diet, basal diet with betaine administration, high-fat diet and high-fat diet with betaine administration. The results showed that no significant difference of body weight was found among experimental groups. Compared with high-fat diet-fed rats, a betaine supplementation decreased (P< 0·05) hepatic TAG accumulation induced by high-fat diet, which was also supported by hepatic histology results. Additionally, hepatic betaine–homocysteine methyltransferase activity as well as its mRNA abundance and lecithin level were found increased (P< 0·05) by betaine supplementation in both basal diet-fed rats and high-fat diet-fed rats. Betaine administration in high-fat diet-fed rats exhibited a higher (P< 0·05) activity of hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) compared with high-fat diet-fed rats. High-fat diet inhibited (P< 0·05) the gene expression of hepatic PPARα and CPT1. However, betaine administration in high-fat diet-fed rats elevated (P< 0·05) the gene expression of PPARα and CPT1. Moreover, concentration, gene and protein expressions of hepatic fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) were increased (P< 0·05) in response to betaine administration in high-fat diet group; meanwhile the gene expression of hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase was increased (P< 0·05) as well. The results suggest that betaine administration enhanced hepatic lipid export and fatty acid oxidation in high-fat diet-fed rats, thus effectively alleviating fat accumulation in the liver.

In this article, we report on enhanced broadband near-infrared emission in Yb–Bi codoped phosphate glasses. The emission intensity of Yb–Bi codoped glass was ˜32 times larger than that of Bi-doped glass when excited with 980-nm laser diode. The highest 1/e fluorescent lifetime of Yb–Bi codoped glass reached 1650 μs. The dependence of emission intensity and fluorescent lifetime on Yb2O3 concentration was investigated. The enhancement of the near-infrared emission is due to energy transfer from Yb3+ (2F5/2–2F7/2) transition to Bi ions, and the highest energy transfer efficiency reached 50%. Yb–Bi codoped phosphate glass should be a promising candidate for broadband optical amplification.

Broadband near-infrared (IR) luminescence in transparent alkali gallium silicate glass-ceramics containing Ni2+-doped β-Ga2O3 nanocrystals was observed. This broadband emission could be attributed to the 3T2g (3F) → 3A2g (3F) transition of octahedral Ni2+ ions in glass-ceramics. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the near-IR luminescence and fluorescent lifetime of the glass-ceramic doped with 0.10 mol% NiO were 260 nm and ∼1220 μs, respectively. It is expected that transparent Ni2+-doped β-Ga2O3 glass-ceramics with this broad near-IR emission and long fluorescent lifetime have potential applications as super-broadband optical amplification media.

We report on ultrabroad infrared (IR) luminescences covering the 1000–1700-nm wavelength region, from Bi-doped 75GeO2–20RO–5Al2O3–1Bi2O3(R = Sr, Ca, and Mg) glasses. The full width at half-maximum of the IR luminescences excited at 980 nm increases (315 → 440 → 510 nm) with the change of alkaline earth metal (Mg2+→ Ca2+→ Sr2+). The fluorescence lifetime of the glass samples is 1725, 157, and 264 μs when R is Sr, Ca, and Mg, respectively. These materials may be promising candidates for broad-band fiber amplifiers and tunable laser resources.