3 results
Decreased hemoglobin levels, cerebral small-vessel disease, and cortical atrophy: among cognitively normal elderly women and men
- Sang Eon Park, Hojeong Kim, Jeongmin Lee, Na Kyung Lee, Jung Won Hwang, Jin-ju Yang, Byoung Seok Ye, Hanna Cho, Hee Jin Kim, Yeo Jin Kim, Na-Yeon Jung, Tae Ok Son, Eun Bin Cho, Hyemin Jang, Eun Young Jang, Chang Hyung Hong, Jong-Min Lee, Mira Kang, Hee-Young Shin, Duk L. Na, Sang Won Seo
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- Journal:
- International Psychogeriatrics / Volume 28 / Issue 1 / January 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 May 2015, pp. 147-156
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Background:
Decreased hemoglobin levels increase the risk of developing dementia among the elderly. However, the underlying mechanisms that link decreased hemoglobin levels to incident dementia still remain unclear, possibly due to the fact that few studies have reported on the relationship between low hemoglobin levels and neuroimaging markers. We, therefore, investigated the relationships between decreased hemoglobin levels, cerebral small-vessel disease (CSVD), and cortical atrophy in cognitively healthy women and men.
Methods:Cognitively normal women (n = 1,022) and men (n = 1,018) who underwent medical check-ups and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were enrolled at a health promotion center. We measured hemoglobin levels, white matter hyperintensities (WMH) scales, lacunes, and microbleeds. Cortical thickness was automatically measured using surface based methods. Multivariate regression analyses were performed after controlling for possible confounders.
Results:Decreased hemoglobin levels were not associated with the presence of WMH, lacunes, or microbleeds in women and men. Among women, decreased hemoglobin levels were associated with decreased cortical thickness in the frontal (Estimates, 95% confidence interval, −0.007, (−0.013, −0.001)), temporal (−0.010, (−0.018, −0.002)), parietal (−0.009, (−0.015, −0.003)), and occipital regions (−0.011, (−0.019, −0.003)). Among men, however, no associations were observed between hemoglobin levels and cortical thickness.
Conclusion:Our findings suggested that decreased hemoglobin levels affected cortical atrophy, but not increased CSVD, among women, although the association is modest. Given the paucity of modifiable risk factors for age-related cognitive decline, our results have important public health implications.
14 - Rapid land use change impacts on coastal ecosystem services: a South Korean case study
- from Part III - Assessing water ecosystem services
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- By Hojeong Kang, Yonsei University, Heejun Chang, Portland State University, Min Gon Chung, Yonsei University
- Edited by Julia Martin-Ortega, Robert C. Ferrier, Iain J. Gordon, Shahbaz Khan, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), France
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- Book:
- Water Ecosystem Services
- Published online:
- 05 May 2015
- Print publication:
- 26 March 2015, pp 119-126
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Summary
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Coastal zones occupy a relatively small portion of the global land surface, but play a key role in various aspects of the biophysical settings of ecosystems and human activities. Coastal areas form the interface of land, freshwater, and sea, where terrestrial and marine ecosystems and socio-economic processes are linked. As such, coastal areas are one of the most ecologically and economically productive areas on Earth, providing multiple ecosystem services, including water quality amelioration, accumulation, and conversion of carbon and nutrients, protection against floods and tidal inundation, and the provision of wildlife habitat. They also provide fisheries, agricultural production, living spaces, water resources for industry, and recreational activities. More than half of the world's population lives within 200 kilometres of a coast (Hinrichsen 1998), many of them in coastal cities. Overall, coastal zones produce more than 60% of the economic value of the Earth (Martínez et al. 2007).
Both population growth and climate change increase the importance of coastal ecosystem services and yet, paradoxically, many coastal areas have been significantly degraded, primarily because of ongoing land development driven by population growth (Hong et al. 2010). For example, expanding urban development has caused land subsidence in the Pearl River delta in China (Wang et al. 2012). Additionally, globalization of trade in natural commodities, such as shrimp and oysters, has promoted the over-exploitation of these resources, negatively affecting the regulating ecosystem services, and species diversity more generally (Vermaat et al. 2012). Together with the predicted rise in sea levels caused by global climate change, coastal ecosystems are now facing many challenges associated with changes in land cover and land intensification that result in nitrogen enrichment, exposure to toxins, and alteration of hydrological regimes. Thus, maintaining the functions and integrity of coastal ecosystems through land use and development planning in a changing climate has become a primary policy issue in coastal ecosystem-based management (Barbier et al. 2008).
Association between body mass index and cortical thickness: among elderly cognitively normal men and women
- Hojeong Kim, Changsoo Kim, Sang Won Seo, Duk L. Na, Hee Jin Kim, Mira Kang, Hee-Young Shin, Seong Kyung Cho, Sang eon Park, Jeongmin Lee, Jung Won Hwang, Seun Jeon, Jong-Min Lee, Geon Ha Kim, Hanna Cho, Byoung Seok Ye, Young Noh, Cindy W. Yoon, Eliseo Guallar
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- Journal:
- International Psychogeriatrics / Volume 27 / Issue 1 / January 2015
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 29 September 2014, pp. 121-130
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Background:
There is increasing evidence of a relationship between underweight or obesity and dementia risk. Several studies have investigated the relationship between body weight and brain atrophy, a pathological change preceding dementia, but their results are inconsistent. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cortical atrophy among cognitively normal participants.
Methods:We recruited cognitively normal participants (n = 1,111) who underwent medical checkups and detailed neurologic screening, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the health screening visits between September 2008 and December 2011. The main outcome was cortical thickness measured using MRI. The number of subjects with five BMI groups in men/women was 9/9, 148/258, 185/128, 149/111, and 64/50 in underweight, normal, overweight, mild obesity, and moderate to severe obesity, respectively. Linear and non-linear relationships between BMI and cortical thickness were examined using multiple linear regression analysis and generalized additive models after adjustment for potential confounders.
Results:Among men, underweight participants showed significant cortical thinning in the frontal and temporal regions compared to normal weight participants, while overweight and mildly obese participants had greater cortical thicknesses in the frontal region and the frontal, temporal, and occipital regions, respectively. However, cortical thickness in each brain region was not significantly different in normal weight and moderate to severe obesity groups. Among women, the association between BMI and cortical thickness was not statistically significant.
Conclusions:Our findings suggested that underweight might be an important risk factor for pathological changes in the brain, while overweight or mild obesity may be inversely associated with cortical atrophy in cognitively normal elderly males.