Gut microbiota changes associated with frailty in older adults:A systematic review of observational studies

BACKGROUND Frailty is a complex aging-related syndrome characterized by a cumulative loss of physiological reserve and increased vulnerability to adverse clinical outcomes,including falls,disability,incapacity and death.While an increasing number of studies suggest that the gut microbiota may play a key role in the pathophy-siology of frailty,direct evaluation of the association between gut microbiome alterations and frailty in older adults remains limited.AIM Seven electronic databases(China National Knowledge Infrastructure,VIP,SinoMed,Wanfang,PubMed,Web of Science and EMBASE)were searched for articles published before October 31,2023 to identify observational studies that compared the microbiomes of older adults with and without frailty.The diversity and composition of the gut microbiota were the main outcomes used to analyze the associations of changes in the gut microbiota with frailty in older adults.The quality of the included studies was assessed via the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.RESULTS Eleven observational studies with 912 older adults were included in this review.Consistent results revealed a significant difference in the gut microbiota composition between frail and non-frail older adults,with a significant decrease inαdiversity and a significant increase inβdiversity in frail older adults.The pooled results revealed that at the phylum level,four microbiota(Actinobacteria,Proteo-bacteria,Verrucomicrobia and Synergistetes)were significantly enriched,and two microbiota(Firmicutes and Fusobacteria)were significantly depleted in frail older adults.At the family level,the results consistently revealed that the abundances of 6 families,most of which belong to the Actinobacteria or Proteo-bacteria phylum,were greater in frail than in non-frail older adults.At the genus or species level,consistent results from more than two studies revealed that the abundances of the genera Prevotella,Faecalibacterium,and Roseburia were significantly lower in frail older adults;individual studies revealed that the abundances of some genera or species(e.g.,Megamonas,Blautia,and Megasphaera)were significantly lower,whereas those of other genera or species(e.g.,Bifidobacterium,Oscillospira,Ruminococcus and Pyramidobacter)were significantly greater in frail older adults.CONCLUSION This systematic review suggests that changes in the gut microbiota are associated with frailty in older adults,which is commonly reflected by a reduction in beneficial species and an increase in pathogenic species.However,further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Glacial lakes under climate change: the imperative for comparative studies of microbial carbon metabolism in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the Arctic

Glacial lakes,intimately linked to glacier termini,are crucial landscape features of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau(QXP,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau)and the Arctic.Climate warming has accelerated glacier retreat and the rapid expansion of glacial lakes in both regions.Despite being typically considered harsh environments,these lakes serve as vital reservoirs for microbial biodiversity and carbon metabolism.In the face of climate change,glacial lake ecosystems over the QXP and the Arctic are undergoing unprecedentedtransformations.Thisopinioneditorial highlights the significance of conducting research and establishing long-term monitoring programs focused on microbial carbon metabolism in these glacial lakes.

A Review of Impacts of Climate Change on Birds:Implications of Long-term Studies

It is generally accepted that climate has changed greatly on a global scale, and that the earth＇s climate has already wanned by some degrees over the past century. Ample evidence shows that there have been apparent changes in avian population dynamics, life-history traits and geographic ranges in response to global climate change. This paper briefly reviews the possible effects of climate change on avian biology and ecology all over the world, with emphasis on new findings from several long-term studies in Europe and North America, which provide unique opportunities to investigate how long-term changes in climate affect birds at both individual and population levels. The implications of such long-term studies for future bird studies in China is discussed with hope that this review can contribute to the preparation and plan for studies of climatic effects on birds in China in the future.

The land use and land cover change database and its relative studies in China

In the mid-1990s, we established the national operative dynamic information serving systems on natural resources and environment. During building the land-use/land-cover change (LUCC) database for the mid-1990s, 520 scenes of remotely sensed images of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) were interpreted into land-use/land-cover categories at scale of 1:100,000 under overall digital software environment after being geo-referenced and ortho-rectified. The vector map of land-use/land-cover in China at the scale of 1:100,000 was recently converted into a 1-km raster database that captures all of the high-resolution land-use information by calculating area percentage for each kind of land use category within every cell. Being designed as an operative dynamic information serving system, monitoring the change in land-use/land-cover at national level was executed. We have completed the updating of LUCC database by comparing the TM data in the mid-1990s with new data sources received during 1999–2000 and 1989–1990. The LUCC database has supported greatly the national LUCC research program in China and some relative studies are incompletely reviewed in this paper.

Recent Progress in Studies on Land Cover Change and Its Regional Climatic Effects over China during Historical Times

The recent progresses on the reconstruction of historical land cover and the studies on regional climatic effects to temperature, precipitation, and the East Asian Monsoon across China were reviewed. Findings show that the land cover in China has been significantly modified by human activities over the last several thousands years, mainly through cropland expansion and forest clearance. The cropland over traditional Chinese agricultural areas increased from 5.32×10^5 km^2 in the mid-17th century to 8.27×10^5 km^2 in the mid-20th century, while the forest area over the Chinese mainland had been reduced by 1.66×10^6 km^2 during the last 300 years. These changes of land cover have been detected as an important driving force of climate change by simulations of climatic effects based on various climate models （including RegCM3, RegCM2-NCC, RIEMS version1, MM5 version 2, and AGCM＋SSiB） with reconstructed historical land cover data or by contrasting current land cover to potential natural vegetation. The human-induced land cover changes over China have led to the enhancement of the East Asian winter monsoon, as well as cooling in winter and warming in summer approximately since 1700. However, the simulation results on annual mean temperature, precipitation, and the East Asian summer monsoon varied from model to model, which cannot be simply attributed to certain forcing so far, but undoubtedly, using different land cover datasets in various simulations played a key role. Thus, developing different regional scales with high time resolution more accurate gridded historical land cover datasets on is needed in the future.

Review of the studies on climate change since the last inter-glacial period on the Tibetan Plateau

As the ＂Third Pole＂ of the world, the Tibetan Plateau has important effects on climate of its surrounding areas and even the whole world. Many results have been achieved on climate change since the last inter-glacial period in recent decades from ice core, tree-ring and lake sediment records over the Tibetan Plateau. In this paper, we review these achievements, especially those in the special periods. During the last inter-glacial period, temperature went down rapidly and went up slowly. The temperature record of the last glacial period is consistent with Greenland ice core records, also having own features over the Tibetan Plateau. Younger Dryas event agrees with the records from Europe and Greenland. Generally speaking, it is warm in the Holocene, and temperature has been rising gradually in the last 2000 years and gone up rapidly in recent decades. Climate changes on different time scales on the Tibetan Plateau occurred earlier and the change amplitude is larger than those in other parts of China.

Recent Progress in Studies of Climate Change in China

An overview of basic research on climate change in recent years in China is presented. In the past 100 years in China, average annual mean surface air temperature （SAT） has increased at a rate ranging from 0.03℃ （10 yr）-1 to 0.12℃ （10 yr）-1. This warming is more evident in northern China and is more significant in winter and spring. In the past 50 years in China, at least 27% of the average annual warming has been caused by urbanization. Overall, no significant trends have been detected in annual and/or summer precipitation in China on a whole for the past 100 years or 50 years. Both increases and decreases in frequencies of major extreme climate events have been observed for the past 50 years. The frequencies of extreme temperature events have generally displayed a consistent pattern of change across the country, while the frequencies of extreme precipitation events have shown only regionally and seasonally significant trends. The frequency of tropical cyclone landfall decreased slightly, but the frequency of sand/dust storms decreased significantly. Proxy records indicate that the annual mean SAT in the past a few decades is the highest in the past 400-500 years in China, but it may not have exceeded the highest level of the Medieval Warm Period （1000 1300 AD）. Proxy records also indicate that droughts and floods in eastern China have been characterized by continuously abnormal rainfall periods, with the frequencies of extreme droughts and floods in the 20th century most likely being near the average levels of the past 2000 years. The attribution studies suggest that increasing greenhouse gas （GHG） concentrations in the atmosphere are likely to be a main factor for the observed surface warming nationwide. The Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins underwent a cooling trend in summer over the past 50 years, which might have been caused by increased aerosol concentrations and cloud cover. However, natural climate variability might have been a main driver for the mean and extreme precipitation variations observed over the past century. Climate models generally perform well in simulating the variations of annual mean SAT in China. They have also been used to project future changes in SAT under varied GHG emission scenarios. Large uncertainties have remained in these model-based projections, however, especially for the projected trends of regional precipitation and extreme climate events.

Understanding the Interactions between Climate Change,Landscape Evolution,Surface Processes and Tectonics in the Earth System:What Can the Studies of Chinese Deserts Contribute?

Due to large deserts on Earth surface a thorough understanding of climate change, landscape evolution and geomorphological processes having occurred in deserts is crucial for Earth System Science. The landscapes in deserts are, however, diverse and different over the globe with regard to their geomorphological nature, human activities and geological histories. In the last decades a great number of efforts have been put to the investigation of the initial timing of the occurrence of arid climate, e. g. in northwestern China. Silty sediments in the downwind directions have been used to deduce the histories of deserts. In general, there is a lack of knowledge about processes and landscapes in Chinese drylands between the initial Miocene silt sedimentation at desert margins and the late Quaternary multiple occurrences of wetter climate with assumed large lakes in many of the deserts in northern China. The geomorphological concept of three primary triggering factors, i.e., the sediment supply, sediment availability and transport capacity of wind, and additionally the underground geology need to be fully considered for a better understanding of the environmental histories of sand seas which should not be viewed as equivalent for deserts because sand seas cover between 〈 1% and ca. 45% of the desert areas in various continents dependent on a complex interaction between various processes of both exogenous and endogenous origins.

Recent Progress in Studies of the Variabilities and Mechanisms of the East Asian Monsoon in a Changing Climate

Located in a monsoon domain,East Asia suffers devastating natural hazards induced by anomalous monsoon behaviors.East Asian monsoon(EAM)research has traditionally been a high priority for the Chinese climate community and is particularly challenging in a changing climate where the global mean temperature has been rising.Recent advances in studies of the variabilities and mechanisms of the EAM are reviewed in this paper,focusing on the interannual to interdecadal time scales.Some new results have been achieved in understanding the behaviors of the EAM,such as the evolution of the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM),including both its onset and withdrawal over the South China Sea,the changes in the northern boundary activity of the EASM,or the transitional climate zone in East Asia,and the cycle of the EASM and the East Asian winter monsoon and their linkages.In addition,understanding of the mechanism of the EAM variability has improved in several aspects,including the impacts of different types of ENSO on the EAM,the impacts from the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean,and the roles of mid-to high-latitude processes.Finally,some scientific issues regarding our understanding of the EAM are proposed for future investigation.

Unveiling DNA methylation in Alzheimer’s disease:a review of array-based human brain studies

The intricacies of Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis are being increasingly illuminated by the exploration of epigenetic mechanisms,particularly DNA methylation.This review comprehensively surveys recent human-centered studies that investigate whole genome DNA methylation in Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology.The examination of various brain regions reveals distinctive DNA methylation patterns that associate with the Braak stage and Alzheimer’s disease progression.The entorhinal cortex emerges as a focal point due to its early histological alterations and subsequent impact on downstream regions like the hippocampus.Notably,ANK1 hypermethylation,a protein implicated in neurofibrillary tangle formation,was recurrently identified in the entorhinal cortex.Further,the middle temporal gyrus and prefrontal cortex were shown to exhibit significant hypermethylation of genes like HOXA3,RHBDF2,and MCF2L,potentially influencing neuroinflammatory processes.The complex role of BIN1 in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is underscored by its association with altered methylation patterns.Despite the disparities across studies,these findings highlight the intricate interplay between epigenetic modifications and Alzheimer’s disease pathology.Future research efforts should address methodological variations,incorporate diverse cohorts,and consider environmental factors to unravel the nuanced epigenetic landscape underlying Alzheimer’s disease progression.

Summary of Recent Climate Change Studies on the Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles in the Terrestrial Ecosystem and Ocean in China

This article reviews recent advances over the past and their relationship to climate change in China. The was 0.19-0.26 Pg C yr-1 for the 1980s and 1990s. 4 years in the study of the carbon-nitrogen cycling net carbon sink in the Chinese terrestrial ecosystem Both natural wetlands and the rice-paddy regions emitted 1.76 Tg and 6.62 Tg of CH4 per year for the periods 1995 2004 and 2005 2009, respectively. China emitted -1.1 Tg N20-N yr-1 to the atmosphere in 2004. Land soil contained -8.3 Pg N. The excess nitrogen stored in farmland of the Yangtze River basin reached 1.51 Tg N and 2.67 Tg N in 1980 and 1990, respectively. The outer Yangtze Estuary served as a moderate or significant sink of atmospheric CO2 except in autumn. Phytoplankton could take up carbon at a rate of 6.4 ×1011 kg yr-1 in the China Sea. The global ocean absorbed anthropogenic CO2 at the rates of 1.64 and 1.73 Pg C yr-1 for two sinmlations in the 1990s. Land net ecosystem production in China would increase until the mid-21st century then would decrease gradually under future climate change scenarios. This research should be strengthened in the future, including collection of more observation data, measurement of the soil organic carbon （SOC） loss and sequestration, evaluation of changes in SOC in deep soil layers, and the impacts of grassland management, carbon-nitrogen coupled effects, and development and improvement of various component models and of the coupled carbon cycle-climate model.

An overview of studies of observed climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH hereafter) region is characterized by mountainous environments and a variety of regional climatic conditions. High-altitude regions in the HKH have the recent warming amplifications, especially during the global warming hiatus period. The rapid warming cause solid state water (snow, ice, glacier, and permafrost) to shrink, leading to increase in meltwater and there have been found more frequent incidences of flash floods, landslides, livestock diseases, and other disasters in the HKH region. Increasing awareness of climate change over the HKH region is reached a consensus. Meanwhile, the HKH region is often referred to as the water towers of Asia as many highaltitude regions store its water in the form of snow and/or glacier, feeding ten major large rivers in Asia. Therefore, the impacts of climate change on water availability in these river basins have huge influences on the livelihood of large number of population, especially in downstream regions. However, the scarcity of basic hydro-meteorological observations particularly in high-altitude regions of HKH limits rigorous analysis of climate change. Most studies used reanalysis data and/or model-reconstructed products to explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of hydro-meteorological processes, especially for extreme events. In this study, we review recent climate change in the HKH region, and the scientific challenges and research recommendations are suggested for this high-altitude area.

Pretreatment and analysis techniques development of TKIs in biological samples for pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs)have emerged as the first-line small molecule drugs in many cancer therapies,exerting their effects by impeding aberrant cell growth and proliferation through the modulation of tyrosine kinase-mediated signaling pathways.However,there exists a substantial inter-individual variability in the concentrations of certain TKIs and their metabolites,which may render patients with compromised immune function susceptible to diverse infections despite receiving theoretically efficacious anticancer treatments,alongside other potential side effects or adverse reactions.Therefore,an urgent need exists for an up-to-date review concerning the biological matrices relevant to bioanalysis and the sampling methods,clinical pharmacokinetics,and therapeutic drug monitoring of different TKIs.This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the advancements in pretreatment methods,such as protein precipitation(PPT),liquid-liquid extraction(LLE),solid-phase extraction(SPE),micro-SPE(μ-SPE),magnetic SPE(MSPE),and vortex-assisted dispersive SPE(VA-DSPE)achieved since 2017.It also highlights the latest analysis techniques such as newly developed high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)and high-resolution mass spectrometry(HRMS)methods,capillary electrophoresis(CE),gas chromatography(GC),supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC)procedures,surface plasmon resonance(SPR)assays as well as novel nanoprobes-based biosensing techniques.In addition,a comparison is made between the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches while presenting critical challenges and prospects in pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring.

Recent advances and key perspectives of in-situ studies for oxygen evolution reaction in water electrolysis

Electricity-driven water splitting to produce hydrogen is one of the most efficient ways to alleviate energy crisis and environmental pollution problems,in which the anodic oxygen evolution reaction(OER)is the key half-reaction of performance-limiting in water splitting.Given the complicated reaction process and surface reconstruction of the involved catalysts under actual working conditions,unraveling the real active sites,probing multiple reaction intermediates and clarifying catalytic pathways through in-situ characterization techniques and theoretical calculations are essential.In this review,we summarize the recent advancements in understanding the catalytic process,unlocking the water oxidation active phase and elucidating catalytic mechanism of water oxidation by various in-situ characterization techniques.Firstly,we introduce conventionally proposed traditional catalytic mechanisms and novel evolutionary mechanisms of OER,and highlight the significance of optimal catalytic pathways and intrinsic stability.Next,we provide a comprehensive overview of the fundamental working principles,different detection modes,applicable scenarios,and limitations associated with the in-situ characterization techniques.Further,we exemplified the in-situ studies and discussed phase transition detection,visualization of speciation evolution,electronic structure tracking,observation of reaction active intermediates,and monitoring of catalytic products,as well as establishing catalytic structure-activity relationships and catalytic mechanism.Finally,the key challenges and future perspectives for demystifying the water oxidation process are briefly proposed.

Epistasis-aware genome-wide association studies provide insights into the efficient breeding of high-yield and high-quality rice

Marker-assisted selection(MAS)and genomic selection(GS)breeding have greatly improved the efficiency of rice breeding.Due to the influences of epistasis and gene pleiotropy,ensuring the actual breeding effect of MAS and GS is still a difficult challenge to overcome.In this study,113 indica rice varieties(V)and their 565 testcross hybrids(TC)were used as the materials to investigate the genetic basis of 12 quality traits and nine agronomic traits.The original traits and general combining ability of the parents,as well as the original traits and midparent heterosis of TC,were subjected to genome-wide association analysis.In total,381 primary significantly associated loci(SAL)and 1,759 secondary SALs that had epistatic interactions with these primary SALs were detected.Among these loci,322 candidate genes located within or nearby the SALs were screened,204 of which were cloned genes.A total of 39 MAS molecular modules that are beneficial for trait improvement were identified by pyramiding the superior haplotypes of candidate genes and desirable epistatic alleles of the secondary SALs.All the SALs were used to construct genetic networks,in which 91 pleiotropic loci were investigated.Additionally,we estimated the accuracy of genomic prediction in the parent V and TC by incorporating either no SALs,primary SALs,secondary SALs or epistatic effect SALs as covariates.Although the prediction accuracies of the four models were generally not significantly different in the TC dataset,the incorporation of primary SALs,secondary SALs,and epistatic effect SALs significantly improved the prediction accuracies of 5(26%),3(16%),and 11(58%)traits in the V dataset,respectively.These results suggested that SALs and epistatic effect SALs identified based on an additive genotype can provide considerable predictive power for the parental lines.They also provide insights into the genetic basis of complex traits and valuable information for molecular breeding in rice.

Heat transfer and parametric studies of an encapsulated phase change material based cool thermal energy storage system

This work investigates the transient behaviour of a phase change material based cool thermal energy storage (CTES) system comprised of a cylindrical storage tank filled with encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) in spherical container integrated with an ethylene glycol chiller plant. A simulation program was developed to evaluate the temperature histories of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) and the phase change material at any axial location during the charging period. The results of the model were validated by comparison with experimental results of temperature profiles of HTF and PCM. The model was also used to investigate the effect of porosity, Stanton number, Stefan number and Peclet number on CTES system performance. The results showed that increase in porosity contributes to a higher rate of energy storage. However, for a given geometry and heat transfer coefficient, the mass of PCM charged in the unit decreases as the increase in porosity. The St number as well as the Ste number is also influential in the performance of the unit. The model is a convenient and more suitable method to determine the heat transfer characteristics of CTES system. The results reported are much useful for designing CTES system.

A Research Conception on Indigenous Chinese Leadership:Based on Comparative Case Studies on Political Elites in Ancient China

Due to the complexity of leadership and its variability across situations,it is suggested that research on leadership should focus on attempts to understand leadership in specific situations or roles,and develop local knowledge about leadership in each situation or role.This paper validates the possibility and importance of building indigenous leadership theories from historical perspective.We demonstrated how to carry out research on indigenous Chinese leadership from a historical perspective by comparative case studies using historical data.Based on the principles of typicalness,representativeness,and comparativeness,we selected six counterparts of political elites in ancient China as comparative cases,which includes Guan Zhong&Shang Yang(organizational reformer),Liu Bang&Xiang Yu(entrepreneur),Li Shimin&Qin Shihuang(intergenerational transition successor),Zhuge Liang&Zeng Guofan(professional manager),Lu Su&Zhang Juzheng(mess-to-order maker),and Zuo Zongtang&Wang Anshi(national dream driver).The paper aims to develop indigenous leadership theory specific to Chinese mental states and culture.

Exploring the Path of Shantytown Renewal Based on the Theory of Environment-behavior Studies: A Case Study of the Northwest Area of Saihantala in Baotou City

The application of environment-behavior studies plays an important role in studying the renewal of shantytowns.One of the most humane ways of renewal is designing and constructing the necessary urban spatial environment from the perspective of human daily behavior.Most of the shantytown renovation projects currently carried out in China are mainly focused on demolition and reconstruction,which not only incurs high costs but also damages the original social structure and economic model.During the process of shantytown renewal,it should improve the urban landscape,living environment,and life quality of residents,and ensure the daily life of shantytown residents without increasing their economic burden,and preserve the traces of urban development.In order to achieve this goal,it should explore the renewal strategies of shantytowns from the perspective of environment-behavior studies through behavior maps,on-site research,and literature review.Updating and design from a human perspective often achieve faster and better development;the renewal of shantytowns should be a bottom-up approach and start from a grassroots perspective,completing the renovation design through the composition of the population and behavioral patterns.

Genetic Parameters and Genome-Wide Association Studies for Body Size Traits of Shuxuan Cattle in China

In domestic cattle,the body size traits have important implications in terms of breed characteristics and production performance.Shuxuan cattle is a dual-purpose breed mainly raised in Sichuan province,China,for which we have known less about the genetic parameters and underlying candidate genes in relation to the body size traits.In this study,we obtained the genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)using the Illumina Bovine BeadChip in 275 Shuxuan cattle.These SNPs were first used for estimating genetic parameters for the withers height(WH)and diagonal body length(BL).Using the bivariate animal model,the estimates(±standard error)of heritabilities were 0.71±0.22 and 0.49±0.29 for BL,and their genetic correlation was 0.64±0.37.Second,the genome-wide association study(GWAS)was performed.However,these did not result into genome-wide significant SNPs for both WH and BL traits.According to a less stringent suggestive significance,some positional candidate genes were found,and some of them(such as FAM110B,TAS1R2,PAX3,and FHIT)were previously reported in literature to be associated with body size traits in cattle.In conclusion,we estimated the genetic parameters in Shuxuan cattle using genomic information for the first time,which are required for implementing the genomic selection programs in the future.

Genome-wide and candidate gene association studies identify BnPAP17 as conferring the utilization of organic phosphorus in oilseed rape

Phosphorus(P)is essential for living plants,and P deficiency is one of the key factors limiting the yield in rapeseed production worldwide.As the most important organ for plants,root morphology traits(RMTs)play a key role in P absorption.To investigate the genetic variability of RMT under low P availability,we dissected the genetic structure of RMTs by genome-wide association studies(GWAS),linkage mapping and candidate gene association studies(CGAS).A total of 52 suggestive loci were associated with RMTs under P stress conditions in 405 oilseed rape accessions.The purple acid phosphatase gene BnPAP17 was found to control the lateral root number(LRN)and root dry weight(RDW)under low P stress.The expression of BnPAP17 was increased in shoot tissue in P-efficient cultivars compared to root tissue and P-inefficient cultivars in response to low P stress.Moreover,the haplotype of BnPAP17^(Hap3)was detected for the selective breeding of P efficiency in oilseed rape.Over-expression of the BnPAP17^(Hap3)could promote the shoot and root growth with enhanced tolerance to low P stress and organic phosphorus(Po)utilization in oilseed rape.Collectively,these findings increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying BnPAP17-mediated low P stress tolerance in oilseed rape.