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Aims: Several factors are known to increase risk for cerebrovascular disease and dementia, but there is limited evidence on associations between multiple vascular risk factors (VRFs) and detailed aspects of brain macro- and microstructure in large community-dwelling populations across middle- and older age. Methods and Results: Associations between VRFs (smoking, hypertension, pulse pressure, diabetes, hypercholersterolaemia, BMI, and waist-hip ratio) and both global and regional brain structural and diffusion MRI markers were examined in UK Biobank (N = 9722, age range 44-77 years). A larger number of VRFs was associated with greater brain atrophy, lower grey matter volume, and poorer white matter health. Effect sizes were small (brain structural R2 ≤ 1.8%). Higher aggregate vascular risk was related to multiple regional MRI hallmarks associated with dementia risk: lower frontal and temporal cortical volumes, lower subcortical volumes, higher white matter hyperintensity volumes, and poorer white matter microstructure in association and thalamic pathways. Smoking pack years, hypertension and diabetes showed the most consistent associations across all brain measures. Hypercholesterolaemia was not uniquely associated with any MRI marker. Conclusion: Higher levels of VRFs were associated with poorer brain health across grey and white matter macro- and microstructure. Effects are mainly additive, converging upon frontal and temporal cortex, subcortical structures, and specific classes of white matter fibres. Though effect sizes were small, these results emphasise the vulnerability of brain health to vascular factors even in relatively healthy middle and older age, and the potential to partly ameliorate cognitive decline by addressing these malleable risk factors.

Regulatory T cells (Treg) suppress T effector cell proliferation and maintain immune homeostasis. Autoimmune liver diseases persist despite high frequencies of Treg in the liver, suggesting that the local hepatic microenvironment might affect Treg stability, survival, and function. We hypothesized that interactions between Treg and endothelial cells during recruitment and then with epithelial cells within the liver affect Treg stability, survival, and function. To model this, we explored the function of Treg after migration through human hepatic sinusoidal‐endothelium (postendothelial migrated Treg [PEM Treg]) and the effect of subsequent interactions with cholangiocytes and local proinflammatory cytokines on survival and stability of Treg. Our findings suggest that the intrahepatic microenvironment is highly enriched with proinflammatory cytokines but deficient in the Treg survival cytokine interleukin (IL)‐2. Migration through endothelium into a model mimicking the inflamed liver microenvironment did not affect Treg stability; however, functional capacity was reduced. Furthermore, the addition of exogenous IL‐2 enhanced PEM Treg phosphorylated STAT5 signaling compared with PEMCD8. CD4 and CD8 T cells are the main source of IL‐2 in the inflamed liver. Liver‐infiltrating Treg reside close to bile ducts and coculture with cholangiocytes or their supernatants induced preferential apoptosis of Treg compared with CD8 effector cells. Treg from diseased livers expressed high levels of CD95, and their apoptosis was inhibited by IL‐2 or blockade of CD95. Conclusion: Recruitment through endothelium does not impair Treg stability, but a proinflammatory microenvironment deficient in IL‐2 leads to impaired function and increased susceptibility of Treg to epithelial cell‐induced Fas‐mediated apoptosis. These results provide a mechanism to explain Treg dysfunction in inflamed tissues and suggest that IL‐2 supplementation, particularly if used in conjunction with Treg therapy, could restore immune homeostasis in inflammatory and autoimmune liver disease. (Hepatology 2016;64:138–150)

Sex differences in the human brain are of interest for many reasons: for example, there are sex differences in the observed prevalence of psychiatric disorders and in some psychological traits that brain differences might help to explain. We report the largest single-sample study of structural and functional sex differences in the human brain (2750 female, 2466 male participants; mean age 61.7 years, range 44–77 years). Males had higher raw volumes, raw surface areas, and white matter fractional anisotropy; females had higher raw cortical thickness and higher white matter tract complexity. There was considerable distributional overlap between the sexes. Subregional differences were not fully attributable to differences in total volume, total surface area, mean cortical thickness, or height. There was generally greater male variance across the raw structural measures. Functional connectome organization showed stronger connectivity for males in unimodal sensorimotor cortices, and stronger connectivity for females in the default mode network. This large-scale study provides a foundation for attempts to understand the causes and consequences of sex differences in adult brain structure and function.

Sex differences in the human brain are of interest for many reasons: for example, there are sex differences in the observed prevalence of psychiatric 28 8 2959 2975

Background & Aims Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are innate-like T cells characterised by the invariant TCR-chain, Vα7.2-Jα33, and are restricted by MR1, which presents bacterial vitamin B metabolites. They are important for antibacterial immunity at mucosal sites; however, detailed characteristics of liver-infiltrating MAIT (LI-MAIT) and their role in biliary immune surveillance remain unexplored. Methods The phenotype and intrahepatic localisation of human LI-MAIT cells was examined in diseased and normal livers. MAIT cell activation in response to E. coli-exposed macrophages, biliary epithelial cells (BEC) and liver B cells was assessed with/without anti-MR1. Results Intrahepatic MAIT cells predominantly localised to bile ducts in the portal tracts. Consistent with this distribution, they expressed biliary tropic chemokine receptors CCR6, CXCR6, and integrin αEβ7. LI-MAIT cells were also present in the hepatic sinusoids and possessed tissue-homing chemokine receptor CXCR3 and integrins LFA-1 and VLA-4, suggesting their recruitment via hepatic sinusoids. LI-MAIT cells were enriched in the parenchyma of acute liver failure livers compared to chronic diseased livers. LI-MAIT cells had an activated, effector memory phenotype, expressed α4β7 and receptors for IL-12, IL-18, and IL-23. Importantly, in response to E. coli-exposed macrophages, liver B cells and BEC, MAIT cells upregulated IFN-γ and CD40 Ligand and degranulated in an MR1-dependent, cytokine-independent manner. In addition, diseased liver MAIT cells expressed T-bet and RORγt and the cytokines IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-17. Conclusions Our findings provide the first evidence of an immune surveillance effector response for MAIT cells towards BEC in human liver; thus they could be manipulated for treatment of biliary disease in the future.

This thesis describes the preparation and reactivity of lithium molybdenum nitride samples and the preparation and characterisation of the nitride precursors. It has been shown that samples containing lithium molybdenum nitride (LiMoN2) can be formed from the direct ammonolysis of lithium molybdate (Li2MoO4), although it has proved challenging to produce the nitride as a single phase material. The “LiMoN2” samples were observed to be catalytically active for ammonia synthesis in reaction with nitrogen containing feed gas (25% N2/H2). An impurity, which cannot be indentified through powder X-ray diffraction, was demonstrated to be the likely active phase in the sample. The role of ‘lattice’ nitrogen in the ammonia synthesis reaction was investigated through reactions with a feed gas with no source of nitrogen present (25% Ar/H2). It was shown that this proposed active phase will produce ammonia, in the absence of nitrogen in the feed gas. One candidate impurity that could be responsible for this anomalous activity was lithium nitride. Reactions were conducted and it was seen that lithium nitride was very active in the production of ammonia. Subsequent investigations showed that the generation of ammonia probably originates from the direct decomposition of lithium amide.