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Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by absolute insulin deficiency owing to autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic β 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.

In Fukushima, government-led decontamination reduced radiation risk and recovered 137Cs-contaminated soil, yet its long-term downstream impacts remain unclear. Here we provide the comprehensive decontamination impact assessment from 2013 to 2018 using governmental decontamination data, high-resolution satellite images and concurrent river monitoring results. We find that regional erosion potential intensified during decontamination (2013–2016) but decreased in the subsequent revegetation stage. Compared with 2013, suspended sediment at the 1-year-flood discharge increased by 237.1% in 2016. A mixing model suggests that the gradually increasing sediment from decontaminated regions caused a rapid particulate 137Cs decline, whereas no significant changes in downstream discharge-normalized 137Cs flux were observed after decontamination. Our findings demonstrate that upstream decontamination caused persistently excessive suspended sediment loads downstream, though with reduced 137Cs concentration, and that rapid vegetation recovery can shorten the duration of such unsustainable impacts. Future upstream remediation should thus consider pre-assessing local natural restoration and preparing appropriate revegetation measures in remediated regions for downstream sustainability.

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