Orthostatic Hypotension Promotes the Progression From Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

CONTEXT: In type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with cognition, but the mechanisms governing the link between OH and cognition are still unclear. OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers and the part of complement proteins in modulating the association of OH with cognitive impairment and examine whether OH could accelerate the clinical progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia in T2DM. METHODS: We recruited patients with T2DM with MCI and collected general healthy information and blood samples. Complement proteins of astrocyte-derived exosomes were isolated and AD biomarkers of neuronal cell-derived exosomes isolated were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cognitive assessments were performed at patient enrollment and follow-up. RESULTS: Mediation analysis showed that the influence of OH on cognition in T2DM was partly mediated by baseline AD biomarkers and complement proteins. Cox proportional-hazards regression proved the OH group had a higher risk of developing dementia compared to the T2DM without OH group. CONCLUSION: In T2DM with MCI patients, AD biomarkers and complement proteins mediate the effects of OH on cognitive impairment and OH may be a risk factor of progression from MCI to dementia in T2DM.

Concurrent datasets on land cover and river monitoring in Fukushima decontaminated catchment during 2013-2018.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Japanese government implemented extensive decontamination work in 137Cs contaminated catchments for residents' health and local revitalization. Whether dramatic land use changes in the upstream decontaminated regions affected river suspended sediment (SS) and particulate 137Cs discharge downstream remain unknown because of the poor quantification on land cover changes and long-term river SS dynamics. We here introduce a 6-year concurrent database of the Niida River Basin, a decontaminated catchment, including the first available vector decontamination maps, satellite images in decontaminated regions with a spatial resolution of 10 m, and long-term river monitoring datasets spanning decontamination (2013-2016) and subsequent natural restoration stages (2017-2018). These datasets allow us, for the first time, to directly link the transport dynamics of river SS (particulate 137Cs) to land use changes caused by humans in real-time, which provide fundamental data for better understanding the river response of sediment to land use change. Moreover, the data obtained by interdisciplinary methods offer a template for land use change impact assessment in other river basins.

Fe/Co/N-C/graphene derived from Fe/ZIF-67/graphene oxide three dimensional frameworks as a remarkably efficient and stable catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

The development of non-noble metal catalysts with high-performance, long stability and low-cost is of great importance for fuel cells, to promote the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, Fe/Co/N-C/graphene composites were easily prepared by using Fe/ZIF-67 loaded on graphene oxide (GO). The Fe/Co/porous carbon nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on graphene with high specific surface area and large porosity, which endow high nitrogen doping and many more active sites with better ORR performance than the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C. Therefore, Fe/Co/N-C/graphene composites exhibited excellent ORR activity in alkaline media, with higher initial potential (0.91 V) and four electron process. They also showed remarkable long-term catalytic stability with 96.5% current retention after 12 000 s, and outstanding methanol resistance, compared with that of 20 wt% Pt/C catalysts. This work provides an effective strategy for the preparation of non-noble metal-based catalysts, which could have significant potential applications, such as in lithium-air batteries and water-splitting devices.

Understory biomass measurement in a dense plantation forest based on drone-SfM data by a manual low-flying drone under the canopy.

Forest is an important part of the environmental system, which has a significant impact on soil hydrological characteristics and forest landscapes, because these processes are influenced by forest management and understory vegetation. Quantitative understory vegetation biomass (UVB) measurement and estimation are vital processes in forest ecology and environmental management. However, these estimations are difficult to make on a large scale especially dense planted forest. Here, we applied catchment-scale Structure from Motion and a manually operated ultralow-flying drone under the canopy of a dense planted (2000 stems/ha) Japanese cedar/cypress plantation forest to reconstruct the understory. An understory drone survey was performed over a 1.1-ha sub-catchment to generate a canopy height model based on dense point cloud data. A biomass survey of three 16-m2 harvesting plots was conducted to compute understory vegetation volume data based on point clouds. Combined with harvested biomass data in the field, quantitative models were developed between the understory vegetation volume and biomass. Subsequently, the models were used to map spatial understory vegetation biomass distribution in the sub-catchments. Aerial photos taken by the ultralow-flying drones under the canopy yielded a high-resolution catchment-scale understory with point cloud density >10/cm2. Strong cubic model coefficients of determination (R2 = 0.75) predicted the understory vegetation biomass based on the canopy height model. The mean understory vegetation biomass was 0.82 kg/m2 and dominated by low ferns. In the present study, we successfully reconstructed the multilayered forest structure and generated understory vegetation biomass distribution models. This results also will be essential to evaluate the erosion and evapotranspiration in dense plantation forests and future environmental management.

dsRNAs Targeted to the Brown Planthopper Nilaparvata lugens: Assessing Risk to a Non-Target, Beneficial Predator, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis.

RNA interference (RNAi) technology is becoming a maturing insect management approach. Before commercial-scale application, however, it is necessary to assess risks to non-target organisms (NTOs). Here, we evaluated the influence of RNAi technology, targeted to the brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens, Hemiptera: Delphacidae), a serious pest of Asian rice cropping systems, by dsRNA feeding. Three dsRNA fragments, targeting sodium channel protein Nach-like (dsNlNa), autophagy protein 5 (dsNlAup5), and V-type proton ATPase catalytic subunit A (dsNlvATP-A), which were highly lethal to BPH, were selected to evaluate their effects on an important predator of BPH, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (Hemiptera: Miridae). It showed that these three dsRNA fragments posed no risks to C. lividipennis at worst-case treatments when fed with high concentrations (10×) dsRNAs. These findings not only establish part of a risk assessment protocol for RNAi-based products on NTOs but also contribute to the development and deployment of new technologies for BPH management.

Decreased percentage of NKG2D+NK cells in patients with incident onset of Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by absolute insulin deficiency owing to autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic ß cells. A significant decrease in natural killer (NK) cells in peripheral blood has been observed in patients with untreated T1DM. In the present study, we aimed to explore the role of NK cells and their subsets in young T1DM patients. A total of 30 children and adolescents with untreated T1DM and 27 healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that the percentage of peripheral blood CD3-CD56+ NK cells and NK cells subsets (CD56bright, CD56dim and CD56neg), were significantly decreased in the T1DM patients compared to healthy controls. In addition, the percentage of inducible CD107a+ and IFN-γ-secreting NK cells was significantly decreased compared to HC. Interestingly, the percentage of NKG2D+ NK cells negatively correlated with the level of serum TCHOL and TG in T1DM patients. Our data indicate that decreased number and impaired function of NK cells may have a role in the pathogenesis of T1DM.

NKG2A expression and impaired function of NK cells in patients with new onset of Graves' disease.

BACKGROUND: Graves' disease (GD) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease. A significant decrease of the distribution of NK cells in the peripheral blood in children and adolescents with untreated GD has been observed. However, the role of NK and its subsets in adults with GD remains unclear. METHODS: A total of 28 adult patients with new onset of GD and 23 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. The number of activated inhibitory NK cells in peripheral blood of individual subjects was determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The number of CD3(-)CD56(+) and CD3(-)CD16(+)NK cells in peripheral blood was significantly decreased in the GD patients than the HC. Compared to the HCs, decreased number of NKG2D(+), NKG2C(+), NKp30(+) and NKG2A(+) NK cells and increased number of KIR3DL1(+) NK cells were detected in the GD patients. Moreover, the number of inducible CD107a(+) and IFN-γ-secreting NK cells in GD patients significantly decreased than those in HC. Interestingly, the number of NKG2A(+)NK cells was negatively correlated with the level of serum TRAb in GD patients. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that decreased number and impaired function of NK cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of GD.