Background: Athletes will increase their state anxiety under stress situations, which will lead to the decline of sports performance. The improvement of anxiety by probiotics has been reported, but there is a lack of research in the athlete population. The purpose of the current study is to explore the effectiveness of probiotics in improving athletes’ state anxiety and sports performance under stress situations.Methods: We conducted this single-arm study in Chongqing Institute of Sports Technology. In the 8-week study, 21 Chongqing young divers (mean age: 9.10 ± 1.80) were given probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 (1 × 10⁹ colony-forming units/100 g) daily. The state anxiety and sports performance of athletes were measured before, during, and after the intervention, and the gut microbiota of athletes was measured before and after the intervention.Results: The intervention results showed that cognitive state anxiety, somatic state anxiety, and anxiety emotion were improved (cognitive: Z = −3.964, P < 0.001; somatic: Z = −3.079, P = 0.003; anxiety: Z = −2.973, P < 0.001). In terms of gut microbiota, the intervention did not change the gut microbial composition (such as α diversity and β diversity) but increased the abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae. At the 8th week, the performance of athletes under stress was significantly improved (χ² = 7.88, P = 0.019).Limitations: First of all, due to the restriction of the number of subjects in this study, there was no control group. Secondly, although the athletes’ diet was recorded in this study, the influence of this factor on gut microbiota was not eliminated. Finally, the anxiety level of the athletes in this study was obtained through a self-report, lacking physiological data in state anxiety.Conclusion: The results show that probiotics intervention can improve the state anxiety of athletes under stress situation and improve the performance of athletes under stress situation.

Room-temperature liquid metal is a very ideal material for the design of catalytic materials. At low temperatures, the liquid metal enters the liquid state. It provides an opportunity to utilize the liquid phase in the catalysis, which is far superior to the traditional solid-phase catalyst. Aiming at the low performance and narrow application scope of the existing single-phase liquid metal catalyst, this paper proposed a type of liquid metal/metal oxide core-shell composite multi-metal catalyst. The Ga₂O₃ core-shell heterostructure was formed by chemical modification of liquid metals with different nano metals Cu/W/Mo/Ni, and it was applied to photocatalytic degrading organic contaminated raw liquor. The effects of different metal species on the rate of catalytic degradation were explored. The selectivity and stability of the LM/MO core-shell composite catalytic material were clarified, and it was found that the Ni-LM catalyst could degrade methylene blue and Congo red by 92% and 79%, respectively. The catalytic mechanism and charge transfer mechanism were revealed by combining the optical band gap value. Finally, we provided a theoretical basis for the further development of liquid metal photocatalytic materials in the field of new energy environments.

With the rapid development of sports science and molecular biology technology, academia refers to molecules or microorganisms that mimic or enhance the beneficial effects of exercise on the body, called “exercise mimetics.” This review aims to clarify the concept and development history of exercise mimetics, and to define the concept of exercise mimetics by summarizing its characteristics and functions. Candidate molecules and drug targets for exercise mimetics are summarized, and the relationship between exercise mimetics and exercise is explained, as well as the targeting system and function of exercise mimetics. The main targeting systems for exercise mimetics are the exercise system, circulatory system, endocrine system, endocrine system, and nervous system, while the immune system is potential targeting systems. Finally, future research directions for exercise mimetics are discussed.

Background: With rapid population ageing, depressive symptoms in older adults have become a pressing public health concern. While functional dependency is a known risk factor, the impact of changes in dependency over time remains unclear. Objective: To examine the association between changes in daily living dependency and incident depressive symptoms in older adults across international cohorts. Methods: We used data from 46 327 adults aged ≥50 years across four longitudinal ageing studies: China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (China), Health and Retirement Study (USA), English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (England) and Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Europe). Daily living dependency was classified into three levels based on difficulties in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs). Change in dependency was assessed using baseline and 2-year follow-up data. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies depressive symptoms Scale or the European Depression Scales (EURO-D). Cox proportional hazard models estimated HRs and 95% CIs for incident depressive symptoms over a median follow-up of 4.2–5.1 years. Findings: A total of 12 902 new depressive symptom cases occurred during follow-up. Compared with participants whose dependency status remained unchanged, those who recovered to independency had a significantly reduced risk of depressive symptoms. Functional deterioration, including transitions from independency to ADL or IADL dependency, was associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms (both pooled HRs 1.55), while functional improvement, from ADL or IADL dependency to independency, was linked to reduced risk (HRs 0.83 and 0.80, respectively). Conclusions: Improvement in ADL dependency is linked to a lower risk of depressive symptoms, while worsening dependency significantly increases depressive symptoms risk. Clinical implications: Routine assessment of functional status and early interventions to maintain or restore daily living independency may help prevent depressive symptoms in older adults. Targeted rehabilitation and support services could play a key role in reducing the mental health burden of ageing populations.