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Anna Picca,1 Riccardo Calvani,1 Hélio José Coelho-Júnior,2 Francesco Landi,1,2 Emanuele Marzetti1,2 1Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “Agostino Gemelli” IRCCS, Rome, Italy; 2Department of Geriatrics and Orthopedics, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Riccardo Calvani, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “Agostino Gemelli” IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, Rome, 00168, Italy, Tel +39-06-3015-5559, Fax +39-06-3051911, Email riccardo.calvani@policlinicogemelli.itAbstract: The age-associated decrease in appetite and food intake is referred to as “anorexia of aging”. Older adults with anorexia show changes in the quantity/quality of energy supplied to the organism which eventually may cause a mismatch between ingested calories and physiological energy demands. Therefore, a state of malnutrition and impaired metabolism may ensue which renders older people more vulnerable to stressors and more prone to incur negative health outcomes. These latter cover a wide range of conditions including sarcopenia, low engagement in physical activity, and more severe consequences such as disability, loss of independence, hospitalization, nursing home placement, and mortality. Malnutrition has been recognized by the European Society of Clinical Nutrition (ESPEN) among the chief risk factors for the development of frailty. Frailty refers to a state of increased vulnerability to stressors stemming from reduced physiologic reserve, and according to ESPEN, is also nutrition-based. Alike frailty, anorexia is highly prevalent among older adults, and its multifactorial nature includes metabolic changes that develop in older age and possibly underly the condition. Circulating factors, including hormones (eg, cholecystokinin, ghrelin, leptin, and inflammatory and microbial mediators of gut dysbiosis), have been proposed as biomarkers for this condition to support early identification and develop personalized nutritional interventions. Additional studies are needed to untangle the interrelationship between gut microbiota and appetite regulation in older adults operating through brain–gut crosstalk. Furthermore, the contribution of the genetic background to appetite regulation and specific nutritional needs warrants investigation. Here, we provide an overview on anorexia of aging in the context of age-related metabolic changes. A special focus is placed on candidate biomarkers that may be used to assist in the early identification of anorexia of aging and in the development of personalized nutritional counseling.Keywords: frailty, geroscience, inflammation, muscle, nutrition, sarcopenia

Maxime Billot,1,2 Riccardo Calvani,3,4 Annele Urtamo,5 Juan Luis Sánchez-Sánchez,6 Cecilia Ciccolari-Micaldi,1 Milan Chang,7,8 Regina Roller-Wirnsberger,9 Gerhard Wirnsberger,10 Alan Sinclair,11 Nieves Vaquero-Pinto,12 Satu Jyväkorpi,5 Hanna Öhman,5 Timo Strandberg,13,14 Jos MGA Schols,15 Annemie MWJ Schols,16 Nick Smeets,17 Eva Topinkova,18 Helena Michalkova,19 Anna Rita Bonfigli,20 Fabrizia Lattanzio,20 Leocadio Rodríguez-Mañas,21 Hélio Coelho-Júnior,4 Marianna Broccatelli,4 Maria Elena D’Elia,4 Damiano Biscotti,4 Emanuele Marzetti,3,4 Ellen Freiberger22 1Clinical Gerontology, University Hospital of Limoges, Limoges, France; 2PRISMATICS (Predictive Research in Spine/Neurostimulation Management and Thoracic Innovation in Cardiac Surgery), Poitiers University Hospital, Poitiers, France; 3Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; 4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy; 5University of Helsinki, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Unit of Primary Health Care, Helsinki, Finland; 6Foundation for Biomedical Research Getafe University Hospital, Madrid, Spain; 7Faculty of Health Promotion, Sports and Leisure Studies, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; 8The Icelandic Gerontological Research Center, Landspitali University Hospital and University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; 9Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Graz, Austria; 10Medical University of Graz, Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Graz, Austria; 11Foundation for Diabetes Research in Older People, Diabetes Frail Ltd., Luton, UK; 12University Hospital of Ramon Cajal IRYCIS, Madrid, Spain; 13University of Helsinki, Clinicum, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki University Hospital, Medicine and Rehabilitation, Helsinki, Finland; 14University of Oulu, Center for Life Course Health Research, Oulu, Finland; 15Department of Health Services Research, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 16Department of Respiratory Medicine, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 17Department of Health & Fitness, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 18 First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; 19Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, South Bohemian University, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; 20Scientific Direction, IRCCS INRCA, Ancona, Italy; 21Geriatrics Service, University Hospital of Getafe, Madrid, Spain; 22Institute for Biomedicine of Aging, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nürnberg, GermanyCorrespondence: Maxime Billot CHU De Poitiers, PRISMATICS (Predictive Research in Spine/Neurostimulation Management and Thoracic Innovation in Cardiac Surgery)Poitiers University Hospital, 2 Rue De La Miléterie, Poitiers 86021, FranceTel +33 549 443 224Email maxime.billot2@gmail.comAbstract: One of the most widely conserved hallmarks of aging is a decline in functional capabilities. Mobility loss is particularly burdensome due to its association with negative health outcomes, loss of independence and disability, and the heavy impact on quality of life. Recently, a new condition, physical frailty and sarcopenia, has been proposed to define a critical stage in the disabling cascade. Physical frailty and sarcopenia are characterized by weakness, slowness, and reduced muscle mass, yet with preserved ability to move independently. One of the strategies that have shown some benefits in combatting mobility loss and its consequences for older adults is physical activity. Here, we describe the opportunities and challenges for the development of physical activity interventions in people with physical frailty and sarcopenia. The aim of this article is to review age-related physio(patho)logical changes that impact mobility in old age and to provide recommendations and procedures in accordance with the available literature.Keywords: physical exercise, muscle mass, strength, walking, balance, better aging

We demonstrate an original all-fiber self-injection seeding technique based on a noninterferometric reflector for the optical timing jitter reduction in a chirp compen sated gain-switched Distributed FeedBack (DFB) laser. Two experiments, at 2.5 and 5 GHz, show standard deviations of the optical timing jitter of 0.28 ps and a reduction factor of 17 in the best case. The self-injection seeding sensitivity to polarization effects and to modulating frequency changes was measured in terms of standard deviation. A final experiment at 10 GHz, with no external feedback, shows an optical timing jitter down to 0.4 ps due to a time dynamics of spontaneous emission fluctuations slower than the pulse period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple technique of pulse compression, based on the linear chirp compensation of self-phase modulation (SPM) spectra in dispersion shifted fibers, is demonstrated. The optimization procedure is carried out, for a short span of a single-mode fiber, using a parabolic law, which describes the behavior of the squared output pulse width versus the pump peak power in the case of Gaussian pulses. The experimental results give a minimum pulse duration of 233 fs, which is in good agreement with the model. Shorter and coherent pulses, down to 90 fs, have been obtained by inserting an interference filter at the optical output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we demonstrate all optical demultiplexing of a 40-Gb/s optical time division multiplexed signal with simultaneous wavelength shift of 19 nm (2.3 THz) using dual-pump wave mixing in a bulk semiconductor optical amplifier. Bit-error-rate measurements of the four demultiplexed 10-Gb/s channels together with eye diagrams are reported and optimization procedures for the operation of the demultiplexer/shifter are discussed, [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We have observed and measured two-photon absorption in In1-x-yGaxAlyAs/InP waveguides grown by molecular beam epitaxy over the wavelength range of 1.5–1.65 μm. The values of β2, the two-photon absorption coefficient, were 63 and 20 cm/GW for waveguides of compositions x=0.32, y=0.17 and x=0.15, y=0.31, respectively. These values are comparable with those predicted by scaling laws. We estimate the associated nonlinear refractive index coefficient n2 and discuss the implications for all-optical switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]