Physical Aging Research Articles

Dose response of leisure time physical activity and biological aging in type 2 diabetes: a cross sectional study

To investigate the relationship between Leisure time physical activity (LTPA) patterns and PhenoAgeAccel in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2D), emphasizing the role of regular LTPA in mitigating biological aging. This study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018, including 4,134 adults with T2D. Multivariable linear regression models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) methods were employed to assess the relationship between LTPA and Phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel), with segmented likelihood ratio tests to detect nonlinear thresholds. Stratified regression and interaction tests were conducted for robust analysis. Compared to individuals with no LTPA patterns, those with regular LTPA patterns had significantly lower PhenoAgeAccel scores (β = -1.164, 95% CI: -1.651 to -0.677, P < 0.0001), while the “Weekend Warrior” and “Inactive-LTPA” patterns showed no significant effects. A nonlinear threshold effect was identified; below 594.57 min of weekly LTPA, there was a significant negative correlation (β = -0.002, 95% CI: -0.003 to -0.001, P = 0.000), with gender-specific effects present. Regular LTPA significantly reduces phenotypic age acceleration in T2D patients, with a nonlinear threshold effect indicating that moderate physical activity is most beneficial. These findings highlight the necessity of personalized physical activity recommendations and provide evidence for public health strategies to promote healthy aging in T2D patients.

The Effect of Long-Term Physical Disability and Aging on Extracellular Matrix Biogenesis in Human Skeletal Muscle

Physical inactivity and aging cause significant impairments in the functionality and mechanical properties of skeletal muscles, as well as remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). We aimed to study the effect of long-term inactivity and age on the biogenesis of ECM in skeletal muscle. For quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis and RNA sequencing, biopsy samples were taken from m. vastus lateralis in 15 young healthy volunteers, 8 young and 37 elderly patients with long-term primary osteoarthritis of the knee/hip joint – which is a model for studying the effects of inactivity on muscles. We detected 1022 mRNAs and 101 ECM and associated proteins (matrisome). An increase in the expression of two dozen highly abundant matrisome proteins, specific to elderly and young patients (in relation to young healthy people), was detected; however, changes in the expression of mRNA encoding matrisome regulators (enzymatic regulators and secreted proteins) were similar. Comparison with previous proteomic and transcriptomic data showed that the changes in the matrisome that we described differed markedly from the changes caused by aerobic physical training in young healthy people, in particular, in the expression of the dominant ECM proteins and, especially, in the expression of mRNA of ECM enzymatic regulators and secreted proteins. Comparison of the changes in the expression profiles of these regulatory genes may be useful for identifying pharmacological targets for the prevention of adverse changes/activation of ECM biogenesis under various pathological conditions/physical training.

Local Structure‐Induced Selective Interactions Enables High‐Performance and Burn‐in‐Free Organic Photovoltaics

Oligomeric acceptors (OAs) have attracted considerable attention in the organic photovoltaics (OPV) field owing to their capacity in balancing the merits from both monomeric and polymeric acceptors. A delicate control over the distortion between blocks of OAs usually determines the performance and stability of relevant OPV devices. However, it imposes great complexity to realize a controllable degree of distortion by tuning the skeleton of blocks and the position of linker between blocks. Herein, we developed a facile strategy to rationally control the geometry distortion of OAs via a straightforward substitution of alkoxy side‐chains on their blocks. This helps elucidate the integrated influences of molecular distortion and non‐bonded contacts on the selective interactions between OA molecules and between OA and host acceptor in ternary blend. We demonstrate the alkoxy‐OA molecules having stronger self‐interactions would mitigate their interactions with host acceptor, therefore alleviating the kinetic diffusion and excessive aggregation of total acceptors. Combining with a composite‐interlayer strategy by introducing a phenyl‐substituted self‐assembled monolayer to enhance the doping with polyoxometalate, an impressive efficiency of 20.1% is achieved accompanied by a negligible burn‐in loss against physical aging. This study demonstrates the validation of tuning of selective interactions towards high‐performance and burn‐in‐free OPV.

Local Structure-Induced Selective Interactions Enables High-Performance and Burn-in-Free Organic Photovoltaics.

Oligomeric acceptors (OAs) have attracted considerable attention in the organic photovoltaics (OPV) field owing to their capacity in balancing the merits from both monomeric and polymeric acceptors. A delicate control over the distortion between blocks of OAs usually determines the performance and stability of relevant OPV devices. However, it imposes great complexity to realize a controllable degree of distortion by tuning the skeleton of blocks and the position of linker between blocks. Herein, we developed a facile strategy to rationally control the geometry distortion of OAs via a straightforward substitution of alkoxy side-chains on their blocks. This helps elucidate the integrated influences of molecular distortion and non-bonded contacts on the selective interactions between OA molecules and between OA and host acceptor in ternary blend. We demonstrate the alkoxy-OA molecules having stronger self-interactions would mitigate their interactions with host acceptor, therefore alleviating the kinetic diffusion and excessive aggregation of total acceptors. Combining with a composite-interlayer strategy by introducing a phenyl-substituted self-assembled monolayer to enhance the doping with polyoxometalate, an impressive efficiency of 20.1% is achieved accompanied by a negligible burn-in loss against physical aging. This study demonstrates the validation of tuning of selective interactions towards high-performance and burn-in-free OPV.

Quality of life of patients with neurofibromatosis 1—Physical disability does not necessarily result in poor mental health

IntroductionNeurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a chronic neurocutaneous disease known to profoundly affect quality of life (QoL). We have performed an analysis of disease severity, mental and physical QoL and compare the different subclasses among patients with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1).Patients and methodsWe conducted a prospective analysis of 89 NF1 patients between January 2016 and March 2018. Data sourced from local records including demographic information, employment status, education level, and marital status. All patients completed 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and additionally the numerical pain rating scale (NPS). Patients were stratified based on severity of NF1, visibility and disease severity.ResultsAmong 89 patients, severity was classified as grade 4 was identified in 42 (47.2%), moderate in 17 (19.1%), mild in 23 (25.8%) and minimal in 7 (7.9%) cases. According to visibility scale, severe grade 3 was found in 28 (31.5%), moderate grade 2 in 26 (29.2%) and mild grade in 35 (39.3%) cases. SF-36 data, except for pain, showed significantly lower values, if compared to the standard German population (P &amp;lt; 0.001, physical component summary P = 0.045). Sex, marital status and education level did not significantly influence results. Employment was significantly associated with better mental and physical status (P = 0.028 and P = 0.01 respectively) and age &amp;gt;40 was linked to lower physical (P = 0.027) but not mental component scores (P = 0.362). The numerical pain rating scale indicated pain levels of 7–10 in 9 cases (10,1%), 5–6 in 10 patients (11.2%), 1–4 in 26 patients (29.2%) and no pain in 44 cases (49.4%). Physical component scores significantly differed across different NPS grades (P &amp;lt; 0.001) but not in mental component scores (P = 0.06). Finally, no significant differences were found in mental component scores across severity or visibility grades.ConclusionSeverity and visibility grades of patients with NF1 may not necessarily result in poor mental health. Symptomatic treatment should be considered even for severely disabled patients as they may have comparable QoL to less severely affected patients with NF1. Employment was linked to better quality of life outcomes in our findings.

A study to explore the role of a low threshold, fitness focussed physical rehabilitation intervention with protein supplementation to target physical function and frailty in people with problematic substance use and homelessness: protocol for a single-arm pre-post intervention study.

Background People who are homeless are more likely to experience poor mental health and addiction as well as suffering from non-communicable diseases. There is evidence of frailty and accelerated physical ageing among people experiencing homelessness. Appropriate physical rehabilitation and nutritional supplementation strategies can stabilise or reverse frailty and general physical decline, but it is not known how this type of intervention would work in practice in this population. Aim To evaluate the feasibility and pre-post intervention impact of a low threshold physical rehabilitation intervention with protein supplementation to target physical functioning and frailty in people with problematic substance use who are experiencing homelessness. Methods The intervention will consist of a 12-week low threshold rehabilitation programme with protein supplementation. Participants will be service users of the Ballyfermot Advance Project, a day services centre for people with addiction issues and experiencing homelessness. Primary outcomes will be feasibility including numbers recruited, retention of participants and adherence to the exercise intervention and protein supplement. Any adverse events will be recorded. Secondary outcomes will be strength and muscular mass, physical performance and lower extremity physical function, pain, frailty and nutritional status. Discussion An immediate impact may be simply a distraction from difficult circumstances and potentially an improvement of physical health of participants, which can be a conduit for the emergence of other positive behaviours and recovery. Longer term, this study will generate preliminary data on which to inform the design of a definitive randomised controlled trial of physical rehabilitation and protein supplementation, if indicated. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was granted by the Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee in TCD. Study findings will be disseminated through publication into an international peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences.

Endothelial dysfunction in acute coronary syndrome: a complex association with cardiovascular risk factors, sleep quality and cardiorespiratory capacity

Abstract Introduction It is widely acknowledged that normal endothelial function plays a pivotal role in conferring cardioprotective effects against ischemia-reperfusion injury following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated by a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), thereby limiting infarct size (1). However, endothelial dysfunction (ED) has been extensively documented in patients with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (2). This study proposes a novel perspective, positing that ED could be intricately linked not only with traditional CV risk factors, but also it can be associated with poor sleep quality. Consequently, this interplay might significantly contribute to the attenuation of exercise capacity. Objective The aim of this study was to assess endothelial function following AMI treated with a PCI and investigate the link between endothelial function, CV risk factors, sleep quality and exercise capacity. Furthermore, the study aimed to determine if endothelial function could serve as a predictive factor for future major adverse acute cardiac events (MAACE) following AMI. Materials and methods Sixty-three patients with AMI (56.21 ± 7.6 years) volunteered to participate in this study, . Endothelial function was assessed using the Endothelium Quality Index (EQI) . Sleep quality was evaluated using both actigraphy and the PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) questionnaire. Exercise capacity was quantified through the 6-minute walking test (6mwt). Results ED was evident, as indicated by an EQI of 1.4 ± 0.7. Furthermore, ED was notably influenced by CV risk factors such as low physical activity level, age, and smoking. A significant correlation was found between EQI and both sleep efficiency (r = 0.340; p = 0.006) and PSQI score (r = -0.533; p &amp;lt; 0.001). Additionally, a strong association was observed between endothelial function and the results of the 6mwt (r = 0.291; p = 0.021). Furthermore, during a follow up period ( near 4 months) following PCI, MAACE were observed in patients with severe ED only. Conclusion In summary, findings of this study may emphasize the importance of enhancing sleep quality and advocating for an active lifestyle as modifiable elements to enhance endothelial function, which can be regarded as a prognostic tool subsequent to AMI, ultimately contributing to improved clinical outcomes. Moreover, this study concluded that AMI patients with severe endothelial dysfunction were more likely to develop MAACE.Endothelial Dysfunction after AMIED following AMI : Causes and effect

Neonatal multimorbidity and the phenotype of premature aging in preterm infants.

Multimorbidity is the co-occurrence of multiple chronic health problems, associated with aging, frailty, and poor functioning. Children born preterm experience more multimorbid conditions in early life compared to term-born peers. Though neonatal multimorbidity is linked to poor health-related quality of life, functional outcomes, and peer group participation, gaps in our theoretical understanding and conceptualization remain. Drawing from life course epidemiology and the Developmental Origins of Heath and Disease models, we offer a framework that neonatal multimorbidity reflects maturational vulnerability posed by preterm birth. The impact of such vulnerability on health and development may be further amplified by adverse exposures and interventions within the environment of the neonatal intensive care unit. This can be exacerbated by disadvantaged home or community contexts after discharge. Uncovering the physiologic and social antecedents of multiple morbid conditions in the neonatal period and their biological underpinnings will allow for more accurate risk-prediction, counseling, and care planning for preterm infants and their families. According to this framework, the maturational vulnerability to multimorbidity imparted by preterm birth and its negative effects on health and development are not predetermined or static. Elucidating pathways of early biologic and physical aging will lead to improvements in care and outcomes. IMPACT: Multimorbidity is associated with significant frailty and dysfunction among older adults and is indicative of early physiologic aging. Preterm infants commonly experience multimorbidities in the newborn period, an underrecognized threat to long-term health and development. We offer a novel framework incorporating multimorbidity, early cellular aging, and life course health development to innovate risk-prediction, care-planning, and therapeutics.

IMPLEMENTATION OF INNOVATIVE INDUSTRY 4.0 TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ENERGY SECTOR OF UKRAINE

Abstract. The article explores the implementation of innovative Industry 4.0 technologies in the energy sector of Ukraine. It investigates key issues in the energy sector, including the reduction of electricity production capacities due to destruction, capture, and damage to property, low levels of innovation activity in energy enterprises, high energy intensity of production, moral and physical aging of equipment, and a low influx of foreign direct investments into Ukraine's energy sphere. The majority of the analyzed period indicates a relatively low level of interest from foreign investors in the examined sector of the domestic economy. The study identifies the Industry 4.0 toolkit applicable for the restoration of damaged and modernization of outdated infrastructure, enhancing the efficiency of Ukraine's energy sector. It is noted that among the tools, special attention should be paid to monitoring and forecasting systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, integrated digital platforms, smart financial technologies, smart meters, remote monitoring systems, and artificial intelligence. The author emphasizes the peculiarities of applying this toolkit to solve the diagnosed problems in the energy sector of Ukraine. It is noted that the use of Industry 4.0 tools, namely the Internet of Things and big data analytics, can significantly improve the monitoring and management of energy processes. The problem of low innovation activity of Ukrainian energy companies can be solved by creating integrated digital platforms and developing partnerships between companies to share innovations. The use of smart financial technologies can make Ukraine's energy sector more attractive to investors. The high level of electricity losses during generation and distribution can be addressed by introducing smart meters and remote monitoring systems.

Innovative thermal crosslinked polyimide gas separation membrane with highly selective and resistance to physical aging base on phenyl ethynyl

In this study, a high performance phenyl ethynyl thermal crosslinked 6FDA-based polyimide (CR-4ETA-x) was developed, which has high gas permeability and selectivity, resistance to physical aging. By introducing 4,4′-(Acetylene-1,2-diyl) diphthalic anhydride (4ETA) monomer into the polyimide structure, the thermal crosslinking precursor membrane was formed. The precursor membrane was heat treated at 440℃ to obtain CR-4ETA-x. After heat treatment, we detected the olefin radical in the crosslinked membrane by electron paramagnetic resonance, which proved that the polyimide network was formed. This allows the crosslinked membrane to have greater d-spacing, higher rigidity, and BET surface area. The CO2 permeability of CR-4ETA-5% is 4114 barrer and the CO2/CH4 selectivity is 19.22. Compared to 6FDA-DAM, the CO2 permeability increased by 477% while the selectivity decreased by only 17%. CR-4ETA-20% shows the CO2 permeability of 3560 Barrer and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 21.1 in CO2/CH4 mixed-gas. After 60 days of aging the permeability maintenance of CR-4ETA-20% were 88%, 84%, 83% and 91% for O2, N2, CO2 and CH4. In addition, in the long-term stability test of more than 100 h, the separation performance of CR-4ETA-20% did not decrease significantly. However, CR-4ETA-x also has limitations, such as poor stability in alkaline environments and lower gas permeability than some advanced carbon molecular sieve membranes. In general, the method of phenyl ethynyl thermal crosslinking provides an effective way for the development of CO2 separation membranes with possible applications.

Examining the causal genetic effects of substance use on aging.

Substance use shortens lifespan, impedes health, and accelerates the biological aging process. We found widespread genetic correlations between alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and opioid use and use disorders with indices of aging across the lifespan. There was evidence of tobacco and alcohol use and use disorders causally impacting physical, cognitive, and biological aging, with the effects of alcohol being more dependent on quantity of consumption; evidence of reverse causality was scant.

Synthesis and Characterization of β-Myrcene-Styrene and β-Ocimene-Styrene Copolymers.

The structure-properties relationships of sustainable materials derived from biomass-based monomers are investigated, focusing on hybrid styrene/terpene-based copolymers with blocky microstructures, such as β-myrcene- and β-ocimene-styrene copolymers. The samples show complex glass transition dynamics, as evidenced by the physical aging experienced by the amorphous phase in styrene-rich copolymers. The tendency of styrene- and terpene-rich sequences to give heterogeneous morphologies with correlation strength extending over 10-40nm is outlined, through small-angle X-ray scattering analysis. A new class of terpene-based hybrid systems, holding promise for applications in surface coating technologies, is identified.

Characterization of polyethylene films drawn by machine direction orientation and consequences on their photooxidation

The effect of uniaxial drawing by Machine Direction Orientation (MDO) on polyethylene films was first studied by complementary analytical methods. XRD and polarized FTIR spectroscopy revealed the transformation of the initial spherulitic structure of PE into microfibrils composed of small crystalline blocks connected by amorphous chains oriented along the drawing direction. No stress-induced crystallization was observed upon MDO processing, but the permeability to oxygen was reduced by 30 % owing to this morphology change. In a second time, the effect of photooxidation on undrawn and MDO-drawn films was studied. There was no difference in the photooxidation kinetics and stoichiometry between them. A slight reorganization of the polymer structure due to physical ageing was observed before any photooxidation, but no change in orientation occurred upon photochemical ageing. Finally, the oxygen permeability of undrawn and MDO-drawn films decreased owing to the changes brought by photooxidation, especially the formation of polar functions within the initially apolar polyethylene and the occurrence of chemicrystallization.

Study on Oil Resistance of Polyurethane Protective Material

Abstract The polyurethane protective tape is a new type of protective material made by coating high performance pressure-sensitive adhesive on polyurethane elastomers, which is widely used in aviation. During its operational life, the polyurethane protective tape inevitably comes into contact with oil, and its oil resistance directly impacts its lifespan. This study focuses on the polyurethane protective tape and conducts immersion tests in No. 15 aviation hydraulic fluid, aircraft gear oil 4450 and RP3 aviation kerosene at room temperature. A comparative analysis was also conducted on the tensile strength, tear resistance, fracture morphology, chemical structure, and thermophysical properties before and after immersion. The research indicates that the tensile properties of polyurethane protective tapes remain essentially unchanged after immersion in RP3 aviation kerosene. After being immersed in No.15 aviation hydraulic fluid and aircraft gear oil 4450, the tensile strength of the polyurethane protective tape gradually decreases. Furthermore, compared to No.15 aviation hydraulic fluid, the rate of tensile strength reduction in polyurethane protective tape immersed in aircraft gear oil 4450 is more rapid. The resistance to tearing of polyurethane protective tapes diminishes gradually with prolonged immersion, with the rate of decline being greater for aircraft gear oil 4450 than for No.15 aviation hydraulic fluid, and even greater for RP3 aviation kerosene. The decrease in mechanical properties of polyurethane protective tapes after immersion in oil is attributed to the swelling effect of the oil, which reduces the intermolecular forces within the polyurethane material and leads to a decrease in physical cross-linking. This process is physical aging, with no evident chemical aging occurring.

Understanding the effect of physical aging on slip dynamics in soft-glassy materials using pure elongation flow

Slip over a solid surface is a very common occurrence in industrial scale transport and the processing of complex fluids. The knowledge of slip also plays a huge role in the correct estimation of rheological properties. In this work, we have studied the slip dynamics in a model soft-glassy material that exhibits physical aging, wherein the structure evolves gradually toward a more solid-like character via rearrangement of constituents. More precisely, we have investigated the impact of physical aging on slip associated with pure elongation flow of the material. We have allowed the sample to age over different waiting times, followed by the sample being deformed slowly in elongation mode by pulling the top plate to achieve a pure elongation flow. Normal force as a function of gap has been recorded during such pure elongation. These normal force–gap curves demonstrated a remarkable gap-waiting time superposition, manifesting the strong signature of self-similarity in the pure elongation flow of the soft-glassy system. We have adopted a slip layer model, which predicted these normal force–gap flow curves remarkably well. Such prediction also rendered slip layer thickness as a function of waiting time, using which we have explained the intriguing self-similar nature of normal force–gap dependence. Finally, we have established a relationship between the slip layer thickness and the age-dependent bulk rheological properties. We have provided a possible physical reasoning to explain this link between the physical aging-driven state of material and the slip dynamics.

Discovering the underground coal mining accident patterns in Spain from 2003 to 2021: Insights through machine learning techniques

The safety of underground coal mining has always been a global concern, involving the stable supply of energy and stakes in miners’ lives. Lessons learned from historical accidents and transforming into practical experience help reduce the quantity and severity of accidents. In this study, six ensemble learning techniques, including AdaBoost, Extra Trees, GBDT, LightGBM, Random Forest, and XGBoost, were used to investigate the correlation between accident-causing factors and severity. Firstly, 39487 underground coal mine accidents data was obtained from Spain, variables were categorized and coded. To address the extreme class imbalance, a new dataset (2468 cases) was obtained by data sampling from the original database. Subsequently, the new dataset was randomly divided into training sets (75% of the data) and test sets (25% of the data), then the hyperparameters of each model were optimized and configured. Thirdly, the models’ performance was evaluated on the test data by five metrics (accuracy, Cohen’s Kappa, precision, recall, and F1). Finally, accident patterns were derived from the identified variables along with preventive strategies. Results show that tree-based ensemble learning model performs better compared to the boosting model, and the relative importance of seven variables were determined, where previous cause (PC) and material agent (MA) are the most important factors, followed by the miner’s physical activity (PA), age (A), and experience (E), scale (S) and preventive organization (PO) are in the third tier. Furthermore, the type of accident and injury caused by PC were confirmed. Working with hand tools, younger age, lack of experience, small-scale coal mines, and unfit preventive organization increased the risk of accidents. This study not only facilitates the prediction of accident severity but also provides strategies for preventing and mitigating accidents.

Dose-response relationship between leisure-time physical activity patterns and phenotypic age acceleration in American adults: A cross-sectional analysis

ObjectivesWith the accelerating global population aging, delaying aging and promoting healthy aging have become focal points in public health and clinical medicine. Phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) is an important indicator of biological aging speed. This study aims to explore the relationship between different leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) patterns and PhenoAgeAccel, analyzing the association and dose-response relationship. MethodsThis study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018, including 14,868 adults. Multivariable linear regression models and restricted cubic spline methods were used to assess the relationship between LTPA and PhenoAgeAccel, with segmented likelihood ratio tests to detect non-linear thresholds. Stratified regression and interaction tests explored potential modifications by sex, age, race, and socioeconomic status. ResultsCompared to individuals with no LTPA, those with inactive and regular LTPA patterns had significantly lower PhenoAgeAccel scores (P < 0.05), while the weekend warrior pattern showed no significant effect (P > 0.05). A non-linear threshold effect was found; below 560 min of weekly LTPA, a significant negative correlation existed (β = −0.001, 95 % CI: 0.001 to −0.0003, P < 0.001). Above this threshold, LTPA was positively correlated with PhenoAgeAccel, indicating a risk for accelerated aging (β = 0.0003, 95 % CI: 0.00002 to 0.001, P = 0.03). Similar non-linear threshold effects were found for both males and females. ConclusionRegular LTPA significantly reduces phenotypic age acceleration, with a non-linear threshold effect indicating moderate physical activity is most beneficial. The weekend warrior pattern was less effective. These findings highlight the necessity of personalized physical activity recommendations and provide evidence for public health strategies to promote healthy aging.

A Description of the Isothermal Ageing Creep Process in Polymethyl Methacrylate Using Fractional Differential Models.

Fractional differential viscoelastic models can describe complex material behaviours and fit experimental data well; however, the physical significance of model parameters is difficult to express. In this study, the fractional differential Maxwell, Kelvin, and Zener models were used to fit the short-term creep compliance curves of polymethyl methacrylate at different ageing times. The model fits were in good agreement with the experimental data. As the ageing time increased, the fractional differential Zener model showed a relative increase in the modulus parameter of the spring and a relative decrease in the modulus parameter reflecting the viscosity of the spring-pot, which indicated that physical ageing made the material more elastic. The relaxation time of the material increased, which indicated that the physical ageing reduced the free volume of the material, hindered the movement of molecules/segments, and increased the time required for the material to reach equilibrium. The fractional order of the model decreased, which reflected the phenomenon that physical ageing reduced the creep compliance of the material. Using the relaxation time as the time scale, the creep curves at different ageing times under the same stress level could be superimposed, naturally presenting the time-ageing time equivalence principle.

Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms by which Porous Polymer Networks Affect Structure, Aging Propensity, and Selectivity of Microporous Glassy Polymer Membranes using a Multiscale Approach.

Microporous glassy polymer membranes suffer from physical aging, which adversely affects their performance in the short time frame. We show that the aging propensity of a model microporous polymer, poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP), can be effectively mitigated by blending with as little as 5 wt % porous polymer network (PPN) composed of triptycene and isatin. The aging behavior of these materials was monitored via N2 pure gas permeability measurements over the course of 3 weeks, showing a 14% decline in PTMSP blended with 5 wt % PPN vs a 41% decline in neat PTMSP. Noteworthy, PPNs are 2 orders of magnitude cheaper than the porous aromatic frameworks previously used to control PTMSP aging. A variety of experimental and computational techniques, such as Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS), free volume measurements, cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) 13C NMR, transport measurements and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to uncover the molecular mechanisms leading to enhanced aging resistance. We show that partial PTMSP chain adsorption into the PPN porosity reduces the PTMSP local segmental mobility, leading to improved aging resistance. Permeability coefficients were broken into their elementary sorption and diffusion contributions, to elucidate the mechanism by which the reduced PTMSP local segmental mobility affects selectivity in gas separation applications. Finally, we demonstrate that in these systems, where both chemical and physical interactions take place, transport coefficients must be corrected for thermodynamic nonidealities to avoid erroneous interpretation of the results.

Systematic review in relation to support of diversity in nursing homes.

Given the increasing global population of older adults, it is essential and inevitable that healthcare centers and nursing homes address and accommodate diversity in their support systems as interventions for healthy aging. The active aging and the inclusion of all people regardless of their religion, origin, and/or sexual orientation is essential to create a climate of safety. Discrimination must be addressed from all angles, at the social level, at the business level and by all workers in nursing homes. This study provides a comprehensive review of existing literature to systematize information on diversity among older adults in healthcare centers and nursing homes. Out of 1.458 articles identified, 10 were analyzed in depth, revealing that addressing diversity among older adults is crucial to overall mental and physical healthy aging. The findings underscore the need for a multidisciplinary approach and effective management through the Person-Centered Care Model (PCCM). This study highlights the critical role of the Person-Centered Care Model (PCCM) in addressing diversity in aging needs. It highlights the necessity of tailoring care based on individual life histories and experiences. Additionally, it calls for the implementation of inclusive policies in nursing homes and emphasizes the need for professional training on diversity to ensure these facilities are safe and supportive for all residents.