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Background Fear of falling and previous falls are both risk factors that affect daily activities of older adults. However, it remains unclear whether they independently limit daily activities accounting for each other. Methods We used the data from Round 1 (Year 1) to Round 5 (Year 5) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. We included a total of 864 community-dwelling participants who provided data on previous falls, fear of falling and limited activities from Year 1 to Year 5 and had no limited daily activities at Year 1 in this study. Previous falls and fear of falling were ascertained by asking participants how many falls they had in the past year and whether they had worried about falling in the last month. Limited daily activities included any difficulties with mobility (e.g., going outside), self-care (e.g., eating), and household activities (e.g., laundering). Generalized estimation equation models were used to examine whether previous falls and fear of falling independently predicted development of limited daily activities adjusting covariates. Results Participants were mainly between 65 and 79 years old (83 %), male (57 %), and non-Hispanic White (79 %). Among participants who had multiple falls in Year 1, 19.1-31 %, 21.4-52.4 %, and 11.9-35.7 % developed limitations in mobility, self-care, and household activities during Year 2 to Year 5, respectively. Among those who had fear of falling in Year 1, 22.5-41.3 %, 30.0-55.0 %, and 18.8-36.3 % developed limitations in mobility, self-care, and household activities during Year 2 to Year 4, respectively. Fear of falling independently predicted limitations in mobility (Incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 1.79, 95 % CI: 1.44, 2.24), self-care (IRR: 1.25, 95 % CI: 1.08, 1.44) and household activities (IRR: 1.39, 95 % CI: 1.08, 1.78) after adjusting for previous falls and covariates. Multiple previous falls independently predicted limitations in mobility (IRR: 1.72, 1.30, 2.27), self-care (IRR: 1.40, 95 % CI: 1.19, 1.66) and household activities (IRR: 1.36, 95 % CI: 1.01, 1.83) after adjusting fear of falling and covariates. Conclusions Fear of falling seems to be as important as multiple previous falls in terms of limiting older adults’ daily activities.

Nanoporous metals represent a class of functional materials with unique bicontinuous open porous structural properties, making them ideal candidates for various catalyst applications. However, the pursuit of nanoporous properties, extremely small pores, and high surface area, results in the restriction of mass transport. Herein, a free‐standing hierarchical nanoporous Cu material, prepared by a selective laser melting 3D printing technique and a one‐step dealloying process, is presented as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation. It is demonstrated that the digitally controlled hierarchical structure with macro‐ and nano‐scaled pores can be utilized for promoting and directing mass transport as well as for the enhancement of catalytic properties. This work highlights a facile, low‐cost, and alternative strategy for hierarchical nanoporous structure design that can be applied to binary, ternary, and quaternary metal alloys for various functional applications.

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Background Subjective age refers to how young or old individuals experience themselves to be and is associated with health status, behavioral, cognitive, and biological processes that influence frailty. However, little research has examined the relationship between subjective age and frailty among older adults. This study examined the bidirectional association between subjective age and frailty among community-dwelling older adults. Methods We used data from the 2011 to 2015 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Our sample consists of 2,592 community-dwelling older adults with complete data on main outcome variables. Subjective age was measured by asking participants, “What age do you feel most of the time?” Based on the five phenotypic criteria: exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, low physical activity, slow gait, and weak grip strength, frailty was categorized into robust = 0, pre-frailty = 1 or 2; frailty = 3 or more criteria met. Generalized estimating equation models were used to examine the concurrent and lagged association between subjective age and frailty. Results Participants were, on average, 75.2 ± 6.8 years old, non-Hispanic whites (76 %), female (58 %). 77 % of the participants felt younger, 18 % felt the same, and 5 % felt older than their chronological age. About 45 %, 46 %, and 9 % of the participants were robust, pre-frailty and frailty in the first wave, respectively. Generalized estimating equations revealed that an “older” subjective age predicted a higher likelihood of pre-frailty and frailty (OR, 95 % CI = 1.93, 1.45–2.56). Conclusions These findings suggest that people with older subjective age are more likely to be pre-frail/frail. Subjective age could be used as a quick and economical screening for those who are potentially frailty or at risk for frailty.

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