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Background In recent years, physical impairment (PI) combined with cognitive impairment (CI) is a common comorbidity in the elderly. An early detection of PI combined with CI in the elderly and timely interventions may help to improve the quality of life of the elderly and reduce the burden on their families and society. However, relevant studies on the comorbidity of PI and CI in the elderly and its influencing factors have been rarely reported. Objective To observe the clinical characteristics of the comorbidity of PI and CI in the elderly and the influencing factors. Methods Elderly patients hospitalized in Peking University People's Hospital from September 2018 to November 2019 were selected. A total of eligible 244 subjects meeting the inclusion criteria were surveyed for the physical function and cognitive function using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE), respectively. PI was diagnosed with lower than 10 points of the SPPB, and CI was diagnosed with lower than 27 points of the MMSE. Patients were divided into non-PI+non-CI, PI+non-CI, non-PI+CI, PI+CI. Social demographic, anthropometric, laboratory examination and other indicators of patients were collected, and Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors for PI combined with CI in the elderly. Results Among the 244 patients, there were 102 (41.80%), 64 (26.23%), 26 (10.66%) and 52 (21.31%) cases of non-PI+non-CI, PI+non-CI, non-PI+CI and PI+CI, respectively. Multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with non-PI+non-CI cases, age (P

Autophagy, a process that isolates intracellular components and fuses them with lysosomes for degradation, plays an important cytoprotective role by eliminating harmful intracellular substances and maintaining cellular homeostasis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells with the capacity for self-renewal that can give rise to a subset of tissues and therefore have potential in regenerative medicine. However, a variety of variables influence the biological activity of MSCs following their proliferation and transplantation in vitro. The regulation of autophagy in MSCs represents a possible mechanism that influences MSC differentiation properties under the right microenvironment, affecting their regenerative and therapeutic potential. However, a deeper understanding of exactly how autophagy is mobilized to function as well as clarifying the mechanisms by which autophagy promotes MSCs differentiation is still needed. Here, we review the current literature on the complex link between MSCs differentiation and autophagy induced by various extracellular or intracellular stimuli and the molecular targets that influence MSCs lineage determination, which may highlight the potential regulation of autophagy on MSCs’ therapeutic capacity, and provide a broader perspective on the clinical application of MSCs in the treatment of a wide range of diseases.

Plant roots are the primary source of soil organic carbon (C) and critically support the growth and activities of microbes in the rhizosphere. Climate change factors may, however, modify root-microbial interactions and impact C dynamics in the rhizosphere. Yet, the direction and magnitude of interactive climate change effects, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remain unclear. Here we show evidence from a field experiment demonstrating that warming and precipitation changes strengthen root controls over litter decomposition in a semi-arid grassland. While warming and precipitation reduction suppressed microbial decomposition of root litter regardless of the root presence, precipitation increase stimulated litter decomposition only in the absence of roots, suggesting that plant competition for water constraints the activities of saprophytic microbes. Root presence increased microbial biomass but reduced microbial activities such as respiration, C cycling enzymes and litter decomposition, indicating that roots exert differential effects on microbes through altering C or water availability. In addition, nitrogen (N) input significantly reduced microbial biomass and microbial activities (respiration). Together, these results showed that alterations in soil moisture induced by climate change drivers critically modulate root controls over microbial decomposition in soil. Our findings suggest that warming-enhanced plant water utilization, combined with N-induced suppression of microbes, may provide a unique mechanism through which moderate increases in precipitation, warming and N input interactively suppress microbial decomposition, thereby facilitating short-term soil C sequestration in the arid and semi-arid grasslands.

The Cox-Maze IV (CMIV) procedure is the mainstay in surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), but the rate of AF recurrence after the CMIV procedure in patients with persistent AF is difficult to accurately evaluate. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a risk prediction model of AF recurrence within 1 year after undergoing the Cox-Maze IV procedure. We retrospectively enrolled 303 consecutive patients who underwent the Cox-Maze IV procedure for persistent AF concomitant with other cardiac procedures at our institute between 2019 and 2021. A nomogram was developed using multivariate logistic regression analysis, and the concordance statistic (C-statistic) was computed. Differentiation, calibration, clinical suitability, and bootstrapping were performed to verify the model. Among the 303 patients, 71 developed recurrent AF within 1 year of CMIV. Factors predictive of postoperative AF recurrence included age, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), early atrial tachyarrhythmias (ATAs), and congenital heart disease surgery (namely, ventricular septal defect repair and atrial septal defect repair). Based on the training dataset, the nomogram had a C-statistic of 0.864 (95% CI 0.811–0.918) for predicting AF recurrence. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve, (ROC curve), the cutoff value of the model was 0.293, and the specificity and sensitivity were 0.841 and 0.789, respectively. This model can predict the risk of AF recurrence after the CMIV procedure. Its discrimination, calibration, and clinical applicability are strong, and its clinical application is simple and easy to promote. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimizing energy loss is crucial for breaking through the efficiency bottleneck of organic solar cells (OSCs). The main mechanism of energy loss can be attributed to non‐radiative recombination energy loss (ΔEnr) that occurs due to exciton–vibration coupling. To tackle this challenge, tuning intramolecular noncovalent interactions is strategically utilized to tailor novel fused ring electron acceptors (FREAs). Upon comprehensive analysis of both theoretical and experimental results, this approach can effectively enhance molecular rigidity, suppress structural relaxation, reduce exciton reorganization energy, and weakens exciton–vibration coupling strength. Consequently, the binary OSC device based on Y‐SeSe, which features dual strong intramolecular Se ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ O noncovalent interactions, achieves an outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.49 %, accompanied by an extremely small ΔEnr of 0.184 eV, much lower than those of Y‐SS and Y‐SSe based devices with weaker intramolecular noncovalent interactions. These achievements not only set an efficiency record for selenium‐containing OSCs, but also mark the lowest reported ΔEnr value among high‐performance binary devices. Furthermore, the ternary blend device showcases a remarkable PCE of 20.51 %, one of the highest PCEs for single‐junction OSCs. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of intramolecular noncovalent interactions in suppressing exciton–vibration coupling, thereby achieving low‐energy‐loss and high‐efficiency OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]