Autonomic dysregulation is associated with cardiovascular consequences in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aimed to investigate the effect of acute continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on autonomic activity and to identify factors contributing to the heart rate variability (HRV) changes in OSA. Frequency domain HRV parameters were calculated and compared between the baseline polysomnography and during the CPAP titration in 402 patients with moderate to severe OSA. There were significant reductions in total power, very low-frequency band power, low-frequency band power, and high-frequency band power during the CPAP titration as compared to the baseline polysomnography. This tendency was more pronounced in men than in women, and in patients with severe OSA than those with moderate OSA. Multivariate analysis found that changes in apnea-hypopnea index and oxygen saturation were significantly associated with changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively. This study demonstrated that HRV parameters significantly changed during the CPAP titration, indicating a beneficial effect of CPAP in restoration of sympathetic and parasympathetic hyperactivity in OSA. Prospective longitudinal studies should determine whether long-term CPAP treatment aids in maintaining the long-lasting improvement of the autonomic functions, thereby contributing to the prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in patients with OSA.

Rice is an important cereal crop worldwide, the growth of which is affected by rice blast disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. As climate change increases the diversity of pathogens, the disease-resistance genes (R genes) in plants must be identified. The major blast-resistance genes have been identified in indica rice varieties; therefore, japonica rice varieties with R genes now need to be identified. Because leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain proteins possess R-gene properties, we used bioinformatics analysis to identify the rice candidate LRR domain receptor-like proteins (OsLRR-RLPs). OsLRR-RLP2, which contains six LRR domains, showed differences in the DNA sequence, containing 43 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in indica and japonica subpopulations. The results of M. oryzae inoculation analysis indicated that indica varieties with partial deletion of OsLRR-RLP2 showed susceptibility, whereas japonica varieties with intact OsLRR-RLP2 showed resistance. oslrr-rlp2 mutant generated using clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) showed increased pathogen susceptibility, whereas plants overexpressing this gene showed pathogen resistance. These results indicate that OsLRR-RLP2 confers resistance to rice, and OsLRR-RLP2 may be useful for breeding resistant cultivars.