Purpose: The primary aim was to report feasibility of sarcopenia assessment within 7 days of ischemic stroke. Secondary aims were to estimate prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with functional outcome after stroke. Method: Participants, ischemic stroke survivors from two hospital acute stroke units, underwent sarcopenia assessment steps using the revised European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP-2) guidelines within 7 days after stroke. Functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) was assessed 4-6 months post-stroke. Assessment steps were feasible if all participants completed them without serious adverse events. Ordinal regression was used to assess mRS associations at 4-6 months (dependent variable) with grip strength and muscle mass during the acute phase post-stroke (independent variables). Results: All 47 participants completed bioelectrical impedance analyses (BIA) and grip strength with at least the non-stroke affected side without serious adverse events. Six and five participants did not complete chair-rise and gait speed tests, respectively. Four participants (9%) met criteria for sarcopenia. Higher grip strength was independently associated with reduced odds of higher mRS scores. Conclusions: Grip strength and BIA assessments using the EWGSOP-2 guidelines were feasible. Skeletal muscle strength may be an intervention target to improve functional outcome after stroke.

Oxysterols are generally viewed as individual signaling molecules regulating lipid homeostasis, immunity, development, and disease. However, many primary oxysterols are metabolic hubs that undergo iterative enzymatic transformations, generating secondary and higher-order metabolites with distinct biological activities. We propose the oxysterolome to describe this interconnected network of oxygenated sterols and their metabolic descendants. Through receptor diversification, functional divergence, and the emergence of novel biological activities, iterative metabolism expands the informational and functional diversity of cholesterol-derived signaling. Deciphering the oxysterolome will require moving from the study of individual metabolites toward reconstruction of interconnected metabolic networks, providing new perspectives for understanding endocrine regulation, aging, immunity, and disease.

Temporal trends and future projections of pancreatic cancer mortality in Italy were examined to identify and characterize areas of interventions at medical and administrative level. Pancreatic cancer mortality data for 2005-2022 and demographic data including projections of Italian population through 2035 were retrieved from the Italian National Institute of Statistics public database. Age- and sex-specific mortality rates were projected until 2035 using Bayesian age-period-cohort analysis. The average annual number of deaths from pancreatic cancer in Italy is projected to increase through 2035, with a cumulative rise of +15.4% for males (M), and +13.0% for females (F), compared to the 2020-2022 period. While males consistently have higher Age Standardized Mortality Rates (ASMR) across all macro-regions, the national ASMR trend is projected to decrease slightly for both sexes (M: - 3.8%, F: - 0.6%). At a macro-regional level, those at lowest development index - southern Italy and islands-are the only macro-areas projected to experience an ASMR increase for both sexes. The largest projected ASMR increases were found for females in the islands (+ 22.7%) and for males in the southern regions (+ 18.8%). In contrast, the North-East regions showed the most favorable trend, with the largest projected ASMR decrease for females (- 8.7%). In parallel with population ageing, the absolute burden of pancreatic cancer mortality in Italy is projected to increase substantially, with significant macro-regional disparities. Addressing this growing challenge will require coordinated strategies and region-specific healthcare planning to optimize resource allocation and ensure equitable access to care.

Plant proteins are widely used as natural emulsifiers for carotenoid-enriched foods, yet most delivery studies evaluate freshly prepared emulsions instead of products stored before consumption. During storage, lipids, interfacial proteins, and carotenoids undergo concurrent oxidation. Lipid hydroperoxides and secondary products can modify adsorbed proteins, while carotenoids are prone to isomerization, epoxidation, and oxidative cleavage. Accordingly, the interfacial layer encountered during digestion may differ markedly from that formed after homogenization. This difference can affect pepsin hydrolysis, bile salt displacement, lipase adsorption, lipid digestion, and carotenoid micellization. This review introduces oxidative aging as a concept for describing progressive chemical and structural changes in plant protein-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions during storage. It examines protein sources, residual non-protein components, degree-dependent protein oxidation, and their links to carotenoid bioaccessibility. Limitations of current storage and digestion studies are discussed, and a storage-to-digestion strategy is proposed to improve carotenoid protection during shelf life while maintaining gastrointestinal release.

Meissner corpuscles are rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors involved in tactile discrimination in human glabrous hand skin. Detailed information on their regional distribution and variation across age, sex, and hand side remains limited. This study mapped Meissner corpuscles in 17 phalangeal and palmar regions from 46 individuals (27 male and 19 female) aged 3-92 years. Corpuscles were identified by S100 protein immunoreactivity. Density, the Meissner corpuscle index relative to dermal papillae, and equivalent circular diameter (ECD) were assessed using prespecified morphometric procedures. Descriptive comparisons were made across 17 hand regions. For distal-phalanx density, a secondary aggregate-level analysis compared 20 matched means per age group (five digits × two sexes × two hands). Density was higher in all 20 combinations in both consecutive age-group comparisons before 40 years and lower in all 20 in both comparisons after 40 years (exact two-sided sign-test p = 1.91 × 10[-6]; Holm-adjusted p = 7.63 × 10[-6] for each comparison). Sex- and hand-side analyses showed no consistent directional pattern among the aggregate means (all Holm-adjusted p = 1.000). The Meissner corpuscle index was descriptively highest in the 21- to 40-year group, whereas ECD was higher in the 21- to 40- and 41- to 60-year groups and markedly lower after 60 years. The study provides a detailed anatomical map and identifies a uniform age-related directional pattern in the retained aggregate distal-phalanx data. Because subject-level observations were unavailable for reanalysis, the statistical findings quantify directional consistency among aggregate means and should not be interpreted as subject-level inference.

Under ongoing emission-control measures, PM2.5 pollution in industrial cities is increasingly shaped by changes in chemical composition and secondary aerosol formation. This study investigates the compositional transition of PM2.5 and the coupled formation mechanisms of secondary aerosols in Handan, a typical industrial city in northern China, from 2018 to 2024. Based on long-term PM2.5 samples capturing daytime-nighttime differences across heating periods (HP) and non-heating periods (NHP), multi-scale analyses were performed using positive matrix factorization (PMF), the thermodynamic equilibrium model ISORROPIA-II, and SEM/TEM-EDS. Results reveal a fundamental shift from a sulfate-dominated to a nitrate-driven regime for the PM2.5 pollution. In 2024, sulfate concentrations plummeted from 26.37 μg m-3 in 2018 to 0.70 μg m-3, while the NO3-/SO42- ratio rose from 1.5 to above 3.0. Industrial and mobile sources accounted for 36% and 21% of PM2.5, respectively, emerging as the dominant contributors over the study period. Secondary organic carbon (SOC) showed pronounced aging, with SOC/OC ratios reaching 60-86% during heavy pollution episodes. The dominant SOC formation mechanisms varied seasonally: aqueous-phase dark reactions prevailed during heating periods, whereas photochemical oxidation prevailed during the non-heating periods. Thermodynamic simulations indicate that aerosol pH increased from weakly acidic (approximately 5.8) to near-neutral/weakly alkaline (approximately 7.5). The pH transition, together with suppression of the aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) growth, is identified as a key factor in air quality improvement. Multi-scale observational and microscopic evidence corroborate the synergistic nitrate-ALWC-SOC pathway consistent with haze evolution. Comparison with observations from other industrial cities suggests that the transition towards nitrate-dominated pollution is commonly accompanied by carbonaceous aerosol aging. The results implicate ammonia availability and seasonal temperature variability as important factors influencing SOC formation.