Global trends and scenarios for terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services from 1900 to 2050.

Based on an extensive model intercomparison, we assessed trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services from historical reconstructions and future scenarios of land-use and climate change. During the 20th century, biodiversity declined globally by 2 to 11%, as estimated by a range of indicators. Provisioning ecosystem services increased several fold, and regulating services decreased moderately.

Extensive epidural pneumatosis and pneumomediastinum combined with diabetic ketoacidosis.

Key Clinical Message: Epidural pneumatosis and pneumomediastinum are rare, benign complications of diabetic ketoacidosis. As they can mimic serious conditions including esophageal rupture, diagnostic evaluation, and attentive monitoring are crucial.

Abstract: Diabetic ketoacidosis can rarely present with epidural pneumatosis and pneumomediastinum, possibly due to forceful vomiting and Kussmaul breathing.

Global estimates of stress-reflecting indices reveal key climatic drivers of climate-induced forest range shifts.

Climate change has the potential to cause forest range shifts at a broad scale and consequently can alter crucial forest functions, including carbon sequestration. However, global-scale projections of future forest range shifts remain challenging because our knowledge of the physiological responses of plants to climatic stress is limited to particular species and is insufficient for wide-range projections, in addition to the uncertainties in the impacts of non-climatic factors, such as wildfire, wind, and insect outbreaks. To evaluate the vulnerability and resilience of forests to climate change, we developed a new empirical approach using climatic indices reflecting physiological stressors on plants.

Tongue thickness measured by ultrasonography is associated with tongue pressure in the Japanese elderly.

The term "oral frailty" reflects the fact that oral health is associated with physical frailty and mortality. The gold standard methods for evaluating the swallowing function have several problems, including the need for specialized equipment, the risk of radiation exposure and aspiration, and general physicians not possessing the requisite training to perform the examination. Hence, several simple and non-invasive techniques have been developed for evaluating swallowing function, such as those for measuring tongue pressure and tongue thickness.

Biodiversity can benefit from climate stabilization despite adverse side effects of land-based mitigation.

Limiting the magnitude of climate change via stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation is necessary to prevent further biodiversity loss. However, some strategies to mitigate GHG emission involve greater land-based mitigation efforts, which may cause biodiversity loss from land-use changes. Here we estimate how climate and land-based mitigation efforts interact with global biodiversity by using an integrated assessment model framework to project potential habitat for five major taxonomic groups.

Successful treatment of porocarcinoma with maxacalcitol and imiquimod.

This is the first report of a case of porocarcinoma that was successfully treated with maxacalcitol and imiquimod.

Potential distribution of pine wilt disease under future climate change scenarios.

Pine wilt disease (PWD) constitutes a serious threat to pine forests. Since development depends on temperature and drought, there is a concern that future climate change could lead to the spread of PWD infections. We evaluated the risk of PWD in 21 susceptible Pinus species on a global scale.

Gut Microbial Fatty Acid Metabolites Reduce Triacylglycerol Levels in Hepatocytes.

Hydroxy and oxo fatty acids were recently found to be produced as intermediates during gut microbial fatty acid metabolism. Lactobacillus plantarum produces these fatty acids from unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid. In this study, we investigated the effects of these gut microbial fatty acid metabolites on the lipogenesis in liver cells.

A novel unsaturated fatty acid hydratase toward C16 to C22 fatty acids from Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Hydroxy FAs, one of the gut microbial metabolites of PUFAs, have attracted much attention because of their various bioactivities. The purpose of this study was to identify lactic acid bacteria with the ability to convert linoleic acid (LA) to hydroxy FAs. A screening process revealed that a gut bacterium, Lactobacillus acidophilus NTV001, converts LA mainly into 13-hydroxy-cis-9-octadecenoic acid and resulted in the identification of the hydratase responsible, fatty acid hydratase 1 (FA-HY1).

Characterization of the linoleic acid Δ9 hydratase catalyzing the first step of polyunsaturated fatty acid saturation metabolism in Lactobacillus plantarum AKU 1009a.

Linoleic acid Δ9 hydratase, which is involved in linoleic acid saturation metabolism of Lactobacillus plantarum AKU 1009a, was cloned, expressed as a his-tagged recombinant enzyme, purified with an affinity column, and characterized. The enzyme required FAD as a cofactor and its activity was enhanced by NADH. The maximal activities for the hydration of linoleic acid and for the dehydration of 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid (HYA) were observed at 37 °C in buffer at pH 5.

Measurement of body composition in response to a short period of overfeeding.

Background: Obesity and overweight are increasing in prevalence in developed countries as a result of changing dietary habits and a lack of physical activity. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the changes in body composition during short-term overfeeding using the three-component model, which is composed of fat mass (FM), total body water (TBW), and fat-free dry solids (FFDS).

Methods: Ten healthy men completed 3 days of overfeeding during which they consumed 1,500 kcal/day more energy than consumed in their normal diets.

The Rintala flap: a versatile procedure for nasal reconstruction.

Introduction: For the nasal reconstruction, local flap using the adjacent tissue is selected from an esthetic viewpoint. The Rintala flap is a useful option, and reconstruction of the glabellar over the nasal tip with this flap is ideal, for which the procedure was modified to increase the blood flow to the Rintala flap to extend its clinical applications.

Methods: For defects of the glabellar over the middle one third of nasal dorsum, the Rintala flap is transferred employing the original design and technique dissected on supraperiosteal plane.

Simultaneous irradiation with different wavelengths of ultraviolet light has synergistic bactericidal effect on Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is an increasingly used method of water disinfection. UV rays can be classified by wavelength into UVA (320-400 nm), UVB (280-320 nm), and UVC (<280 nm). We previously developed UVA sterilization equipment with a UVA light-emitting diode (LED).

Polyunsaturated fatty acid saturation by gut lactic acid bacteria affecting host lipid composition.

In the representative gut bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum, we identified genes encoding the enzymes involved in a saturation metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids and revealed in detail the metabolic pathway that generates hydroxy fatty acids, oxo fatty acids, conjugated fatty acids, and partially saturated trans-fatty acids as intermediates. Furthermore, we observed these intermediates, especially hydroxy fatty acids, in host organs. Levels of hydroxy fatty acids were much higher in specific pathogen-free mice than in germ-free mice, indicating that these fatty acids are generated through polyunsaturated fatty acids metabolism of gastrointestinal microorganisms.

Effect of different substituents on the water-solubility and stability properties of 1 : 2 [60]fullerene derivative·gamma-cyclodextrin complexes.

We have demonstrated that C60 derivatives bearing a pyrrolidine moiety as well as a variety of other substituents can form 1 : 2 complexes with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CDx) using a mechanochemical high-speed vibration milling apparatus. When the influence of the steric hindrance of the substituents on the formation of the complexes was negligible, the water-solubilities of the complexes were shown experimentally to be completely dependent on the hydrophobic properties of the substituent. Furthermore, the stabilities of the γ-CDx-complexes of several different C60 derivatives were found to be similar to or slightly higher than that of the C60·γ-CDx complex, with the solubilities of the complexes showing no correlation to the stabilities.

Bifidobacterial α-galactosidase with unique carbohydrate-binding module specifically acts on blood group B antigen.

Bifidobacterium bifidum is one of the most frequently found bifidobacteria in the intestines of newborn infants. We previously reported that B. bifidum possesses unique metabolic pathways for O-linked glycans on gastrointestinal mucin (Yoshida E, Sakurama H, Kiyohara M, Nakajima M, Kitaoka M, Ashida H, Hirose J, Katayama T, Yamamoto K, Kumagai H.

VopB1 and VopD1 are essential for translocation of type III secretion system 1 effectors of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a pathogenic Vibrio species that causes food-borne acute gastroenteritis, often related to the consumption of raw or undercooked seafood. Vibrio parahaemolyticus has 2 type III secretion systems (T3SS1 and T3SS2). Here, we demonstrate that VP1657 (VopB1) and VP1656 (VopD1), which share sequence similarity with Pseudomonas genes popB (38%) and popD (36%), respectively, are essential for translocation of T3SS1 effectors into host cells.

VP2118 has major roles in Vibrio parahaemolyticus response to oxidative stress.

Background: Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide anion radical, induce chronic risk of oxidative damage to many cellular macromolecules resulting in damage to cells. Superoxide dismutases (SODs) catalyze the dismutation of superoxide to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide and are a primary defense against ROS. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a marine bacterium that causes acute gastroenteritis following consumption of raw or undercooked seafood, can survive ROS generated by intestinal inflammatory cells.

Glycoside hydrolase family 89 alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Clostridium perfringens specifically acts on GlcNAc alpha1,4Gal beta1R at the non-reducing terminus of O-glycans in gastric mucin.

In mammals, α-linked GlcNAc is primarily found in heparan sulfate/heparin and gastric gland mucous cell type mucin. α-N-acetylglucosaminidases (αGNases) belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 89 are widely distributed from bacteria to higher eukaryotes. Human lysosomal αGNase is well known to degrade heparin and heparan sulfate.

Granuloma and cryptococcosis.

This review describes the general histopathological features of cryptococcosis in immunocompetent individuals, as well as in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Details of the histological examination of cryptococcal lesions are described, with the consideration of morphological modifications induced by treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The essential histological features of cryptococcosis in individuals with impaired T-cell functioning are yeast-cell proliferation with a histiocytic response, but only minor lymphocytic and neutrophilic components.

[Sucessful treatment by micafungin of pulmonary aspergillosis occurring in an old lung abscess].

A 55-year-old man, who had diabetes from age 46 years old had been treated for a lung abscess in the right upper lobe at age 51. He underwent an operation for stomach cancer at age 52. When he was 55 years old, a cavity lesion appeared in his right upper lobe at the site of the treated lung abscess.