Background
Ageing, chronic diseases, prolonged inactivity, and inadequate nutrition pose a severe threat to skeletal muscle health and function. To date, experimental evidence suggests that ...ageing‐related subclinical inflammation could be an important causative factor in sarcopenia. Although inflammatory signalling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of experimental animal models of sarcopenia, few studies have surveyed the clinical association between circulating factors and muscle mass in patients before and after lifestyle interventions. In this study, we evaluated whether proinflammatory cytokines are associated with the onset of sarcopenia, which circulating factors are associated with the severity of sarcopenia, and how these factors change after lifestyle interventions in sarcopenic elderly persons.
Methods
A total of 56 elderly subjects (age ≥ 60 years) with sarcopenia and 56 elderly non‐sarcopenic subjects, who met entry criteria and had given informed consent, were selected from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital multicentre prospective longitudinal sarcopenia study for testing relevant circulating factors. Thirty‐two elderly subjects from the sarcopenic cohort completed a 12 week intensive lifestyle intervention programme with whey supplements (30 g/day) and a personalized resistance training regimen. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines and metabolic hormones, pre‐intensive and post‐intensive lifestyle interventions, were measured.
Results
The sarcopenic group was significantly older (72.05 ± 6.54 years; P < 0.001), more likely to be inactive and female (57.1% of all sarcopenic patients), and had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes (16% higher risk). Compared with non‐sarcopenic subjects, serum interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐18, tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), TNF‐like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK), and leptin were significantly higher, while insulin growth factor 1, insulin, and adiponectin were significantly lower in sarcopenic patients (all P < 0.05). Logistic regression analyses revealed that high levels of TNF‐α (>11.15 pg/mL) and TWEAK (>1276.48 pg/mL) were associated with a 7.6‐fold and 14.3‐fold increased risk of sarcopenia, respectively. After adjustment for confounding variables, high levels of TWEAK were still associated with a 13.4‐fold increased risk of sarcopenia. Intensive lifestyle interventions led to significant improvements in sarcopenic patients' muscle mass and serum profiles of TWEAK, TNF‐α, IL‐18, insulin, and adiponectin (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions
High levels of the inflammatory cytokines TWEAK and TNF‐α are associated with an increased risk of sarcopenia, while the metabolic hormones insulin growth factor 1, insulin, and adiponectin are associated with a decreased risk of sarcopenia in our Chinese patient cohort. Intensive lifestyle interventions could significantly improve muscle mass, reduce inflammation, and restore metabolic hormone levels in sarcopenic patients. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02873676.
Severe cognitive decline is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In addition to gray matter loss, significant white matter pathology has been identified in AD patients. Here, we characterized the ...dynamics of myelin generation and loss in the APP/PS1 mouse model of AD. Unexpectedly, we observed a dramatic increase in the rate of new myelin formation in APP/PS1 mice, reminiscent of the robust oligodendroglial response to demyelination. Despite this increase, overall levels of myelination are decreased in the cortex and hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice and postmortem AD tissue. Genetically or pharmacologically enhancing myelin renewal, by oligodendroglial deletion of the muscarinic M1 receptor or systemic administration of the pro-myelinating drug clemastine, improved the performance of APP/PS1 mice in memory-related tasks and increased hippocampal sharp wave ripples. Taken together, these results demonstrate the potential of enhancing myelination as a therapeutic strategy to alleviate AD-related cognitive impairment.
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•New myelin formation is increased in adult APP/PS1 mice•Extensive myelin loss occurs in APP/PS1 mice and individuals with AD•Pro-myelinating strategies enhance myelin renewal and alleviate myelin loss in APP/PS1 mice•Enhanced myelin renewal rescues deficits in cognition and hippocampal physiology in APP/PS1 mice
Chen et al. demonstrate that myelin formation is increased in APP/PS1 mice, reminiscent of a regenerative response to extensive demyelination, and that pro-myelinating strategies enhance myelin renewal, rescue cognitive deficits, and increase hippocampal sharp wave ripples in APP/PS1 mice.
The layer‐structured MoS2 is a typical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst but it possesses poor activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, a cobalt covalent doping ...approach capable of inducing HER and OER bifunctionality into MoS2 for efficient overall water splitting is reported. The results demonstrate that covalently doping cobalt into MoS2 can lead to dramatically enhanced HER activity while simultaneously inducing remarkable OER activity. The catalyst with optimal cobalt doping density can readily achieve HER and OER onset potentials of −0.02 and 1.45 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) in 1.0 m KOH. Importantly, it can deliver high current densities of 10, 100, and 200 mA cm−2 at low HER and OER overpotentials of 48, 132, 165 mV and 260, 350, 390 mV, respectively. The reported catalyst activation approach can be adapted for bifunctionalization of other transition metal dichalcogenides.
A cobalt covalent doping catalyst activation approach to induce hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) bifunctionality of MoS2 is proposed and experimentally validated, demonstrating superior bifunctional electrocatalytic activities with great application potential for overall water splitting in alkaline media.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as porous solids of a superior type for the fabrication of membranes. However, it is still challenging to prepare a uniformly dispersed robust MOF hybrid ...membrane. Herein, we propose a simple and powerful strategy, namely, coordination‐driven in situ self‐assembly, for the fabrication of MOF hybrid membranes. On the basis of the coordination interactions between metal ions and ligands and/or the functional groups of the organic polymer, this method was confirmed to be feasible for the production of a stable membrane with greatly improved MOF‐particle dispersion in and compatibility with the polymer, thus providing outstanding separation ability. As an experimental proof of concept, a high‐quality ZIF‐8/PSS membrane was fabricated that showed excellent performance in the nanofiltration and separation of dyes from water.
Mopping up the mess: A hybrid membrane composed of the metal–organic framework (MOF) ZIF‐8 and poly(sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate) was prepared by a coordination‐driven in situ self‐assembly method. The MOF particles were well‐dispersed in the polymer in the resulting stable membrane (see picture), which showed excellent performance in the nanofiltration and separation of dyes from water.
Computational methodologies for metal--organic frameworks and their application in gas separations were investigated. Topics related to molecular modeling are also addressed.
Biological soil crusts across the desert regions play a key role in regional ecological security and ecological health. They are vital biotic components of desert ecosystems that maintain soil ...stability, fix carbon and nitrogen, influence the establishment of vascular plants, and serve as habitats for a large number of arthropods and microorganisms, as well as influencing soil hydrological processes. Changes in temperature and precipitation are expected to influence the functioning of desert ecosystems by altering biotic components such as the species composition of biological soil crusts. However, it remains unclear how these important components will respond to the prolonged warming and reduced precipitation that is predicted to occur with climate change. To evaluate how the hydrological properties of these biological soil crusts respond to these alterations, we used open‐top chambers over a 10‐year period to simulate warming and reduced precipitation. Infiltration, dew entrapment, and evaporation were measured as surrogates of the hydrological functioning of biological soil crusts. It was found that the ongoing warming coupled with reduced precipitation will more strongly affect moss in crustal communities than lichens and cyanobacteria, which will lead to a direct alteration of the hydrological performance of biological soil crusts. Reductions in moss abundance, surface cover, and biomass resulted in a change in structure and function of crustal communities, decreased dew entrapment, and increased infiltration and evaporation of biological soil crusts in desert ecosystems, which further impacted on the desert soil water balance.
Warming coupled with reduced precipitation will more strongly affect moss in crustal communities than lichens and cyanobacteria. Reductions in moss abundance, surface cover, and biomass resulted in a change in structure and function of crustal communities, which will lead to a direct alteration of the hydrological performance of biological soil crusts.
The North China Craton (NCC) hosts some of the world-class gold deposits on the globe, which can be classified into distinct types as the “Jiaodong type”, explosive breccia type and skarn type. The ...“Jiaodong type” gold deposits were formed at ca. 120–130Ma both in the margins and interior of the NCC. Two explosive breccia gold deposits formed at ac. 180Ma and 120Ma and are located in the southern margin and the interior of the NCC. Important skarn gold deposits of ca. 128Ma formed within the interior of the NCC. Although the formation and distribution of these gold deposits are temporally and spatially heterogeneous, they are commonly related with the lithospheric destruction of the NCC. The interplay of several factors such as basement architecture, inhomogeneous decratonization, crust-mantle interaction, mantle dynamics, magmatic characteristics, high heat flow and massive flux of deep-derived ore-forming fluids operated in generating the gold endowment. All the three types of gold systems are closely related with granitoid plutons and different types of dykes, the magmas for which were sourced from the lower crust near the Moho discontinuity and involved the mixing and mingling of felsic and mafic magmas. The ore forming fluids display prominent magmatic signature and were largely derived from deep domains, with probable input from the asthenosphere mantle. The heterogeneous distribution of the giant gold systems in the NCC was geodynamically controlled by the destruction of the craton. The regions at the confluence of two or three Precambrian micro-continental-blocks are generally characterized by thinned lithosphere and high heat flow, constituting the potential sites of giant gold deposits. The mantle beneath these regions shows EM2 characteristics implying the involvement of subducted oceanic components. The magmatic intrusions associated with the gold systems crystallized under high oxygen fugacity conditions and were rich in volatiles.
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•Evaluating the heterogeneous basement architecture and gold systems in the North China Craton•Confluence of Precambrian micro-blocks generally bears thinned lithosphere and high heat flow.•The mantle beneath these confluences generally shows EM2 characteristics.•The magma associated with gold system crystallized at high oxygen fugacity and rich volatiles.•Junctions of Precambrian micro-blocks mark potential sites of giant gold deposits.
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