A J-shaped Relationship between Sleep Duration and the Risk of Insulin Resistance in a General Japanese Population.

Objective Data on the role of sleep in the risk of insulin resistance (IR) are lacking. We therefore examined the association between sleep duration and IR in a general Japanese population. Methods Data of 1,344 individuals 34 to 89 years old from the Tanushimaru Study were analysed. IR was calculated using the fasting plasma glucose level×fasting insulin level/405, i.e. the homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR). IR was defined as a HOMA-IR ≥1.73 based on the diagnostic criteria used in Japan. Information regarding sleep duration was collected via questionnaire. Results The frequencies of IR and metabolic syndrome (MetS) were 36.7% and 26.9%, respectively. A J-shaped relationship between sleep duration and IR was observed, and the same relationship was also shown between sleep duration and MetS; however, the relationship with MetS disappeared after adjusting for age, sex, and other confounding factors. Conclusion A J-shaped relationship was observed between sleep duration and the risks of IR in a general Japanese population.

Integrating economic measures of adaptation effectiveness into climate change interventions: A case study of irrigation development in Mwea, Kenya.

As climate change adaptation is becoming a recognized policy issue, the need is growing for quantitative economic evaluation of adaptation-related public investment, particularly in the context of climate finance. Funds are meant to be allocated not to any types of beneficial investments with or without climate change but to projects regarded as effective for climate change adaptation based on some metrics. But attempts at such project-specific evaluation of adaptation effects are few, in part because such assessments require an integration of various types of simulation analyses. Against this background, we conduct a case study of a Kenyan irrigation development project using a combination of downscaled climate data, runoff simulations, yield forecasting, and local socioeconomic projections to examine the effects of interventions specifically attributable to climate change adaptation, i.e., how much irrigation development can reduce the negative effects of climate change in the future. The results show that despite the uncertainties in precipitation trends, increased temperatures due to climate change have a general tendency to reduce rice yields, and that irrigation development will mitigate income impacts from the yield loss-for example, for the median scenario, the household income loss of 6% in 2050 due to climate change without irrigation development is flipped to become positive with the project. This means that the irrigation development project will likely be effective as a means for climate change adaptation.

Specific expression of apolipoprotein A-IV in the follicle-associated epithelium of the small intestine.

BACKGROUND: Peyer's patches (PPs), which are covered by specialized follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) including M cells, play a central role in immune induction in the gastrointestinal tract. This study is to investigate a new molecule to characterize PPs. METHODS: We generated a monoclonal antibody (mAb 10-15-3-3) that specifically reacts to the epithelium of PPs and isolated lymphoid follicles. Target antigen was analyzed by immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry. Localization and expression of target antigen were evaluated by immunofluorescence, in situ hybridization and real-time PCR. RESULTS: Immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry revealed that mAb 10-15-3-3 recognized apolipoprotein A-IV (ApoA-IV), a well-known lipid transporter; this finding was confirmed by the specific reactivity of mAb 10-15-3-3 to cells transfected with the murine ApoA-IV gene. Immunofluorescence using mAb 10-15-3-3 showed intestinal localization of ApoA-IV, in which strong expression of the ApoA-IV protein occurred throughout the entire intestinal epithelium during developing period before weaning but was restricted to the FAE in adult mice. In support of these findings, in situ hybridization showed strong expression of the ApoA-IV gene throughout the entire intestinal epithelium during developing period before weaning, but this expression was restricted to the FAE predominantly and the tips of villi to a lesser extent in adult mice. Deficiency of ApoA-IV had no effect on the organogenesis of PP in mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our current results reveal ApoA-IV as a novel FAE-specific marker especially in the upper small intestine of adult mice.

Effects of cyclic-hydrocarbon substituents and linker length on physicochemical properties and reorientational dynamics of imidazolium-based ionic liquids.

We synthesized a series of alkylimidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) incorporating cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, or phenyl groups as nonionic units substituted on an acyclic alkyl linker and characterized them with respect to physicochemical properties and reorientational dynamics. The effects of the nonionic substituents and linker length on the properties of these ILs were carefully examined. The physicochemical properties of the ILs are found to partially reflect the properties of the nonionic substituents. While the liquid densities showed a similar trend in linker-length dependence of each series of ILs, a distinct trend was observed for the shear viscosities of them. By comparison of correlation times obtained by (13)C NMR spectroscopy, it is revealed that elongation of the linkers influences the characteristic effects of the nonionic substituents on the reorientational dynamics of the system.

A novel M cell-specific carbohydrate-targeted mucosal vaccine effectively induces antigen-specific immune responses.

Mucosally ingested and inhaled antigens are taken up by membranous or microfold cells (M cells) in the follicle-associated epithelium of Peyer's patches or nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue. We established a novel M cell-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb NKM 16-2-4) as a carrier for M cell-targeted mucosal vaccine. mAb NKM 16-2-4 also reacted with the recently discovered villous M cells, but not with epithelial cells or goblet cells. Oral administration of tetanus toxoid (TT)- or botulinum toxoid (BT)-conjugated NKM 16-2-4, together with the mucosal adjuvant cholera toxin, induced high-level, antigen-specific serum immunoglobulin (Ig) G and mucosal IgA responses. In addition, an oral vaccine formulation of BT-conjugated NKM 16-2-4 induced protective immunity against lethal challenge with botulinum toxin. An epitope analysis of NKM 16-2-4 revealed specificity to an alpha(1,2)-fucose-containing carbohydrate moiety, and reactivity was enhanced under sialic acid-lacking conditions. This suggests that NKM 16-2-4 distinguishes alpha(1,2)-fucosylated M cells from goblet cells containing abundant sialic acids neighboring the alpha(1,2) fucose moiety and from non-alpha(1,2)-fucosylated epithelial cells. The use of NKM 16-2-4 to target vaccine antigens to the M cell-specific carbohydrate moiety is a new strategy for developing highly effective mucosal vaccines.

Rice-based mucosal vaccine as a global strategy for cold-chain- and needle-free vaccination.

Capable of inducing antigen-specific immune responses in both systemic and mucosal compartments without the use of syringe and needle, mucosal vaccination is considered ideal for the global control of infectious diseases. In this study, we developed a rice-based oral vaccine expressing cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) under the control of the endosperm-specific expression promoter 2.3-kb glutelin GluB-1 with codon usage optimization for expression in rice seed. An average of 30 mug of CTB per seed was stored in the protein bodies, which are storage organelles in rice. When mucosally fed, rice seeds expressing CTB were taken up by the M cells covering the Peyer's patches and induced CTB-specific serum IgG and mucosal IgA antibodies with neutralizing activity. When expressed in rice, CTB was protected from pepsin digestion in vitro. Rice-expressed CTB also remained stable and thus maintained immunogenicity at room temperature for >1.5 years, meaning that antigen-specific mucosal immune responses were induced at much lower doses than were necessary with purified recombinant CTB. Because they require neither refrigeration (cold-chain management) nor a needle, these rice-based mucosal vaccines offer a highly practical and cost-effective strategy for orally vaccinating large populations against mucosal infections, including those that may result from an act of bioterrorism.