Overlooked plant diversity in urban streetscapes in Oulu and Yokohama

Streets comprise a major area of urban land use and connect built areas to one another. However, the role of streetscapes for maintaining urban plant diversity remains poorly understood. In this study, urban street vegetation was investigated in Oulu, Finland, and Yokohama, Japan, to explore how species richness and composition of plant communities change among different street habitat types, including road-verge grass beds, asphalted surfaces, stone pavements, curbside gaps, wall bases, street shrubbery, and tree bases. All plant species were recorded separately for different street habitat types along a maximum of 500 m of street sections. The gamma diversity of each habitat type and the contributions of native and exotic species were evaluated based on species accumulation curves. Plant species composition was examined using non-metric multidimensional scaling and Venn diagrams. A total of 145 and 273 species were recorded in Oulu and Yokohama, respectively. In Oulu, native species contributed more to the total diversity across habitat types, whereas in Yokohama, we observed similar contributions of native and exotic species to the total diversity. There was a large overlap in species occurrence among different habitat types in Oulu, where the road-verge grass beds included over 90 % of the total diversity, and all species present in asphalted habitats. Road verge grass beds in Oulu and street shrubbery in Yokohama include a large number of unique species, implying that these species have adapted to the environment in each habitat. Thus, streetscape vegetation includes a mixture of common urban species and some unique species depending on habitat type, which is often overlooked as a part of the spontaneous plant diversity across streetscapes. We propose that diverse street habitats, including both gray and green surfaces, support diverse plant species and may thereby create biodiverse urban streetscapes

Cross-National Variation in Glycemic Control and Diabetes-Related Distress Among East Asian Patients Using Insulin: Results from the MOSAIc Study

Introduction: Guidelines recommend insulin progression for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) with inadequate glycemic control. The Multinational Observational Study Assessing Insulin use (MOSAIc [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01400971]) study is a 2-year observational study, investigating factors that influence insulin progression in T2D patients. In this first of two reports, we describe baseline clinical and psychosocial characteristics of Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean patients who participated in MOSAIc. Insulin treatment, factors affecting progression, and outcomes will be reported separately. Methods: Patients with T2D using insulin for ≥3 months were eligible. Baseline demographic, clinical, and psychosocial data were collected from patients. Quality of life instruments, including the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), were used to assess patient’s concerns about disease management, support, and emotional burden. The association between the DDS and the selected covariates was also assessed. Results: A total of 373 patients in China, 157 in Japan, and 141 in South Korea were enrolled from July 2011 to July 2013. Mean ± standard deviation duration (years) of T2D differed across countries (China 11.4 ± 7.5; Japan 13.8 ± 8.7; South Korea 15.7 ± 8.8; P < 0.0001). Japanese patients used more noninsulin anti-hyperglycemic agents than did Chinese or South Korean patients (P < 0.0001). Exclusive use of basal insulin was most common in Japan and South Korea compared with China, whereas approximately 66.8% of Chinese patients used mixed insulin. Covariates associated with the DDS were younger age [P = 0.044 (Japan)], higher incidence of monthly hypoglycemia [P = 0.036 [China]; P = 0.021 (South Korea)], and male gender [P = 0.037 (South Korea)]. Conclusions: There were significant differences amongst East Asian patients with T2D treated with insulin, including in quality of life scores. Results from the MOSAIc longitudinal analyses will further investigate trends of insulin intensification and barriers to insulin progression. Funding Eli Lilly and Company

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy enhances anti-tumor immune response of tumor microenvironment in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Summary: Although chemotherapy has been an essential treatment for cancer, the development of immune checkpoint blockade therapy was revolutionary, and a comprehensive understanding of the immunological tumor microenvironment (TME) has become crucial. Here, we investigated the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on immune cells in the TME of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using single cell RNA-sequencing. Analysis of 30 fresh samples revealed that CD8+/CD4+ T cells, dendritic cells (DCs), and macrophages in the TME of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma showed higher levels of an anti-tumor immune response in the NAC(+) group than in the NAC(−) group. Furthermore, the immune cells of the NAC(+) group interacted with each other resulting in enhanced anti-tumor immune response via various cytokines, including IFNG in CD8+/CD4+ T cells, EBI3 in DCs, and NAMPT in macrophages. Our results suggest that NAC potentially enhances the anti-tumor immune response of immune cells in the TME

Sustaining ecosystem functions in a changing world: a call for an integrated approach

With ever-increasing human pressure on ecosystems, it is critically important to predict how ecosystem functions will respond to such human-induced perturbations. We define perturbations as either changes to abiotic environment (e.g. eutrophication, climate change) that indirectly affects biota, or direct changes to biota (e.g. species introductions). While two lines of research in ecology, biodiversity-ecosystem function (BDEF) and ecological resilience (ER) research, have addressed this issue, both fields of research have nontrivial shortcomings in their abilities to address a wide range of realistic scenarios. We outline how an integrated research framework may foster a deeper understanding of the functional consequences of perturbations via simultaneous application of (i) process-based mechanistic predictions using trait-based approaches and (ii) detection of empirical patterns of functional changes along real perturbation gradients. In this context, the complexities of ecological interactions and evolutionary perspectives should be integrated into future research. Synthesis and applications. Management of human-impacted ecosystems can be guided most directly by understanding the response of ecosystem functions to controllable perturbations. In particular, we need to characterize the form of a wide range of perturbation-function relationships and to draw connections between those patterns and the underlying ecological processes. We anticipate that the integrated perspectives will also be helpful for managers to derive practical implications for management from academic literature. Management of human-impacted ecosystems can be guided most directly by understanding the response of ecosystem functions to controllable perturbations. In particular, we need to characterize the form of a wide range of perturbation-function relationships and to draw connections between those patterns and the underlying ecological processes. We anticipate that the integrated perspectives will also be helpful for managers to derive practical implications for management from academic literature

Cross-National Variation in Glycemic Control and Diabetes-Related Distress Among East Asian Patients Using Insulin: Results from the MOSAIc Study

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