| 1. |
- Abbott, Benjamin W., et al.
(författare)
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Biomass offsets little or none of permafrost carbon release from soils, streams, and wildfire : an expert assessment
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 11:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As the permafrost region warms, its large organic carbon pool will be increasingly vulnerable to decomposition, combustion, and hydrologic export. Models predict that some portion of this release will be offset by increased production of Arctic and boreal biomass; however, the lack of robust estimates of net carbon balance increases the risk of further overshooting international emissions targets. Precise empirical or model-based assessments of the critical factors driving carbon balance are unlikely in the near future, so to address this gap, we present estimates from 98 permafrost-region experts of the response of biomass, wildfire, and hydrologic carbon flux to climate change. Results suggest that contrary to model projections, total permafrost-region biomass could decrease due to water stress and disturbance, factors that are not adequately incorporated in current models. Assessments indicate that end-of-the-century organic carbon release from Arctic rivers and collapsing coastlines could increase by 75% while carbon loss via burning could increase four-fold. Experts identified water balance, shifts in vegetation community, and permafrost degradation as the key sources of uncertainty in predicting future system response. In combination with previous findings, results suggest the permafrost region will become a carbon source to the atmosphere by 2100 regardless of warming scenario but that 65%-85% of permafrost carbon release can still be avoided if human emissions are actively reduced.
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| 2. |
- van den Berg, L, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of the serotonergic genes htr1A, htr1B, htr2A, and slc6A4 in aggressive behavior of golden retriever dogs
- 2008
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Ingår i: Behavior Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-8244 .- 1573-3297. ; 38:1, s. 55-66
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aggressive behavior displays a high heritability in our study group of Golden Retriever dogs. Alterations in brain serotonin metabolism have been described in aggressive dogs before. Here, we evaluate whether four genes of the canine serotonergic system, coding for the serotonin receptors 1A, 1B, and 2A, and the serotonin transporter, could play a major role in aggression in Golden Retrievers. We performed mutation screens, linkage analysis, an association study, and a quantitative genetic analysis. There was no systematic difference between the coding DNA sequence of the candidate genes in aggressive and non-aggressive Golden Retrievers. An affecteds-only parametric linkage analysis revealed no strong major locus effect on human-directed aggression related to the candidate genes. An analysis of 41 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 1 Mb regions flanking the genes in 49 unrelated human-directed aggressive and 49 unrelated non-aggressive dogs did not show association of SNP alleles, genotypes, or haplotypes with aggression at the candidate loci. We completed our analyses with a study of the effect of variation in the candidate genes on a collection of aggression-related phenotypic measures. The effects of the candidate gene haplotypes were estimated using the Restricted Maximum Likelihood method, with the haplotypes included as fixed effects in a linear animal model. We observed no effect of the candidate gene haplotypes on a range of aggression-related phenotypes, thus extending our conclusions to several types of aggressive behavior. We conclude that it is unlikely that these genes play a major role in the variation in aggression in the Golden Retrievers that we studied. Smaller phenotypic effects of these loci could not be ruled out with our sample size.
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| 3. |
- Forsberg, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Treatment with Anti-HER2 Chimeric Antigen Receptor Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (CAR-TILs) Is Safe and Associated with Antitumor Efficacy in Mice and Companion Dogs
- 2023
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Ingår i: Cancers. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6694. ; 15:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Simple Summary CAR-T cells are immune cells equipped with a claw that enable them to bind cancer cells. Usually, CAR-T cells are made using immune cells from blood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that also immune cells that reside in the tumor, so called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, can also be modified to carry the claw. This may mean that these cells, called CAR-TILs, will be able to attack cancer cells in two ways, using the claw or binding using its normal protein on the cell surface, the so-called T cell receptor. We show that CAR-TILs can be generated, and that they can kill melanoma cells in cell culture and in mice. Finally, to prepare for clinical trials, we also assess if CAR-TILs can be safe in a human cancer patient-like model, a companion dog suffering from cancer. Our data suggest that CAR-TILs may be a way to treat patients with melanoma but human clinical trials are needed. Patients with metastatic melanoma have a historically poor prognosis, but recent advances in treatment options, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy, have drastically improved the outcomes for some of these patients. However, not all patients respond to available treatments, and around 50% of patients with metastatic cutaneous melanoma and almost all patients with metastases of uveal melanoma die of their disease. Thus, there is a need for novel treatment strategies for patients with melanoma that do not benefit from the available therapies. Chimeric antigen receptor-expressing T (CAR-T) cells are largely unexplored in melanoma. Traditionally, CAR-T cells have been produced by transducing blood-derived T cells with a virus expressing CAR. However, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can also be engineered to express CAR, and such CAR-TILs could be dual-targeting. To this end, tumor samples and autologous TILs from metastasized human uveal and cutaneous melanoma were expanded in vitro and transduced with a lentiviral vector encoding an anti-HER2 CAR construct. When infused into patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models carrying autologous tumors, CAR-TILs were able to eradicate melanoma, even in the absence of antigen presentation by HLA. To advance this concept to the clinic and assess its safety in an immune-competent and human-patient-like setting, we treated four companion dogs with autologous anti-HER2 CAR-TILs. We found that these cells were tolerable and showed signs of anti-tumor activity. Taken together, CAR-TIL therapy is a promising avenue for broadening the tumor-targeting capacity of TILs in patients with checkpoint immunotherapy-resistant melanoma.
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| 4. |
- Ran, Ylva, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental assessment of diets: overview and guidance on indicator choice
- 2024
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Ingår i: The Lancet Planetary Health. - 2542-5196. ; 8:3, s. e172-e187
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Comprehensive but interpretable assessment of the environmental performance of diets involves choosing a set of appropriate indicators. Current knowledge and data gaps on the origin of dietary foodstuffs restrict use of indicators relying on site-specific information.This Personal View summarises commonly used indicators for assessing the environmental performance of diets, briefly outlines their benefits and drawbacks, and provides recommendations on indicator choices for actors across multiple fields involved in activities that include the environmental assessment of diets.We then provide recommendations on indicator choices for actors across multiple fields involved in activities that use environmental assessments, such as health and nutrition experts, policy makers, decision makers, and private-sector and public-sector sustainability officers. We recommend that environmental assessment of diets should include indicators for at least the five following areas: climate change, biosphere integrity, blue water consumption, novel entities, and impacts on natural resources (especially wild fish stocks), to capture important environmental trade-offs.If more indicators can be handled in the assessment, indicators to capture impacts related to land use quantity and quality and green water consumption should be used. For ambitious assessments, indicators related to biogeochemical flows, stratospheric ozone depletion, and energy use can be added.
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| 5. |
- Salvà-Serra, Francisco, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Complete genome sequences of Streptococcus pyogenes type strain reveal 100%-match between PacBio-solo and Illumina-Oxford Nanopore hybrid assemblies
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first complete, closed genome sequences of Streptococcus pyogenes strains NCTC 8198(T) and CCUG 4207(T), the type strain of the type species of the genus Streptococcus and an important human pathogen that causes a wide range of infectious diseases. S. pyogenes NCTC 8198(T) and CCUG 4207(T) are derived from deposit of the same strain at two different culture collections. NCTC 8198(T) was sequenced, using a PacBio platform; the genome sequence was assembled de novo, using HGAP. CCUG 4207(T) was sequenced and a de novo hybrid assembly was generated, using SPAdes, combining Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequence reads. Both strategies yielded closed genome sequences of 1,914,862 bp, identical in length and sequence identity. Combining short-read Illumina and long-read Oxford Nanopore sequence data circumvented the expected error rate of the nanopore sequencing technology, producing a genome sequence indistinguishable to the one determined with PacBio. Sequence analyses revealed five prophage regions, a CRISPR-Cas system, numerous virulence factors and no relevant antibiotic resistance genes. These two complete genome sequences of the type strain of S. pyogenes will effectively serve as valuable taxonomic and genomic references for infectious disease diagnostics, as well as references for future studies and applications within the genus Streptococcus.
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| 6. |
- Büker, P, et al.
(författare)
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New flux based doseeresponse relationships for ozone for European forest tree species
- 2015
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Ingår i: Environmental Pollution. - : Elsevier BV. - 0269-7491. ; 206, s. 163-174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To derive O3 doseeresponse relationships (DRR) for five European forest trees species and broadleaf deciduous and needleleaf tree plant functional types (PFTs), phytotoxic O3 doses (PODy) were related to biomass reductions. PODy was calculated using a stomatal flux model with a range of cut-off thresholds (y) indicative of varying detoxification capacities. Linear regression analysis showed that DRR for PFT and individual tree species differed in their robustness. A simplified parameterisation of the flux model was tested and showed that for most non-Mediterranean tree species, this simplified model led to similarly robust DRR as compared to a species- and climate region-specific parameterisation. Experimentally induced soil water stress was not found to substantially reduce PODy, mainly due to the short duration of soil water stress periods. This study validates the stomatal O3 flux concept and represents a step forward in predicting O3 damage to forests in a spatially and temporally varying climate.
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| 7. |
- Eriksson, John, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of genotyping methods by application to Salmonella livingstone strains associated with an outbreak of human salmonellosis
- 2005
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Ingår i: International Journal of Food Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1605 .- 1879-3460. ; 104:1, s. 93-103
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During 2000 and 2001, an outbreak of human salmonellosis occurred in Sweden and Norway, caused by Salmonella livingstone. In this study, the genotypic differences between three strains obtained from food sources during the outbreak, two human strains and 27 more or less unrelated strains were analysed, using the three methods; automated ribotyping, pulsed field get electrophoresis (PFGE) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Each method was evaluated regarding its discriminatory ability, reproducibility and typeability. Simpson's discriminatory index calculated for each method was 0.556 for automated ribotyping, 0.766 for PFGE and 0.236 for RAPD. The reproducibility, defined as the minimum similarity between individual replicates in a cluster analysis, was 96% for automated ribotyping and PFGE, and 90% for RAPD. All the strains were typeable with each method. When combining results for the three genotyping methods, it was found that RAPD did not increase the discriminatory index and was therefore excluded from further analysis. Using a combination of the results obtained from ribotyping and PFGE (D = 0.855), two strains that had been isolated from feed factories during 1998 were shown to be identical to the outbreak strain, indicating a possible route of contamination due to a clone of Salmonella livingstone persisting in feed producing facilities. No connection to poultry was established. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 8. |
- Hotchkiss, E. R., et al.
(författare)
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Sources of and processes controlling CO2 emissions change with the size of streams and rivers
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 8:9, s. 696-699
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) evasion from streams and rivers to the atmosphere represents a substantial flux in the global carbon cycle(1-3). The proportions of CO2 emitted from streams and rivers that come from terrestrially derived CO2 or from CO2 produced within freshwater ecosystems through aquatic metabolism are not well quantified. Here we estimated CO2 emissions from running waters in the contiguous United States, based on freshwater chemical and physical characteristics and modelled gas transfer velocities at 1463 United States Geological Survey monitoring sites. We then assessed CO2 production from aquatic metabolism, compiled from previously published measurements of net ecosystem production from 187 streams and rivers across the contiguous United States. We find that CO2 produced by aquatic metabolism contributes about 28% of CO2 evasion from streams and rivers with flows between 0.0001 and 19,000 m(3) s(-1). We mathematically modelled CO2 flux from groundwater into running waters along a stream-river continuum to evaluate the relationship between stream size and CO2 source. Terrestrially derived CO2 dominates emissions from small streams, and the percentage of CO2 emissions from aquatic metabolism increases with stream size. We suggest that the relative role of rivers as conduits for terrestrial CO2 efflux and as reactors mineralizing terrestrial organic carbon is a function of their size and connectivity with landscapes.
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| 9. |
- Larson, Greger, et al.
(författare)
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Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 109, s. 8878-8883
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The dog was the first domesticated animal but it remains uncertain when the domestication process began and whether it occurred just once or multiple times across the Northern Hemisphere. To ascertain the value of modern genetic data to elucidate the origins of dog domestication, we analyzed 49,024 autosomal SNPs in 1,375 dogs (representing 35 breeds) and 19 wolves. After combining our data with previously published data, we contrasted the genetic signatures of 121 breeds with a worldwide archeological assessment of the earliest dog remains. Correlating the earliest archeological dogs with the geographic locations of 14 so-called "ancient" breeds (defined by their genetic differentiation) resulted in a counterintuitive pattern. First, none of the ancient breeds derive from regions where the oldest archeological remains have been found. Second, three of the ancient breeds (Basenjis, Dingoes, and New Guinea Singing Dogs) come from regions outside the natural range of Canis lupus (the dog's wild ancestor) and where dogs were introduced more than 10,000 y after domestication. These results demonstrate that the unifying characteristic among all genetically distinct so-called ancient breeds is a lack of recent admixture with other breeds likely facilitated by geographic and cultural isolation. Furthermore, these genetically distinct ancient breeds only appear so because of their relative isolation, suggesting that studies of modern breeds have yet to shed light on dog origins. We conclude by assessing the limitations of past studies and how next-generation sequencing of modern and ancient individuals may unravel the history of dog domestication.
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| 10. |
- Laszlo Ambjörnsson, Emmeline, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Forest discourses and the role of planning-related perspectives : the case of Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 31:1, s. 111-118
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Forest use in Sweden may be seen as constituting an essentially conflicted area, in which a number of actors positionthemselves. Based on a review of policy documents, this study reviews discourses on forest amongst majororganisational actors between 2001 and 2011, with the aim of discussing the ways in which discourse may havechanged following increasing criticism of the previously dominating production paradigm during the period. Thestudy also discusses the ways in which forest discourses at present may also exclude areas that are relevant to forestplanning. Results illustrates the continuous role of, on the one hand, production and private ownership discoursesamong the forest industry, and, on the other, conservation and public access discourses, among environmental andother NGOs. Large differences thus continue to exist despite the double aim towards production and protection inSwedish forest law. Areas that are not directly related to this nexus although related to land use at large, such asmunicipal planning, on the other hand, are largely absent from discourse even if, for instance, shore planning andwind power issues that are related to municipal planning are taken up.
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