| 1. |
- Gei, Maga, et al.
(författare)
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Legume abundance along successional and rainfall gradients in Neotropical forests
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The nutrient demands of regrowing tropical forests are partly satisfied by nitrogen-fixing legume trees, but our understanding of the abundance of those species is biased towards wet tropical regions. Here we show how the abundance of Leguminosae is affected by both recovery from disturbance and large-scale rainfall gradients through a synthesis of forest inventory plots from a network of 42 Neotropical forest chronosequences. During the first three decades of natural forest regeneration, legume basal area is twice as high in dry compared with wet secondary forests. The tremendous ecological success of legumes in recently disturbed, water-limited forests is likely to be related to both their reduced leaflet size and ability to fix N2, which together enhance legume drought tolerance and water-use efficiency. Earth system models should incorporate these large-scale successional and climatic patterns of legume dominance to provide more accurate estimates of the maximum potential for natural nitrogen fixation across tropical forests.
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| 2. |
- Almeida, A. M., et al.
(författare)
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Animal board invited review: advances in proteomics for animal and food sciences
- 2015
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Ingår i: Animal. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP): STM Journals. - 1751-7311 .- 1751-732X. ; 9:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Animal production and health (APH) is an important sector in the world economy, representing a large proportion of the budget of all member states in the European Union and in other continents. APH is a highly competitive sector with a strong emphasis on innovation and, albeit with country to country variations, on scientific research. Proteomics (the study of all proteins present in a given tissue or fluid - i.e. the proteome) has an enormous potential when applied to APH. Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons and in contrast to disciplines such as plant sciences or human biomedicine, such potential is only now being tapped. To counter such limited usage, 6 years ago we created a consortium dedicated to the applications of Proteomics to APH, specifically in the form of a Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action, termed FA1002 - Proteomics in Farm Animals: www.cost-faproteomics.org. In 4 years, the consortium quickly enlarged to a total of 31 countries in Europe, as well as Israel, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. This article has a triple purpose. First, we aim to provide clear examples on the applications and benefits of the use of proteomics in all aspects related to APH. Second, we provide insights and possibilities on the new trends and objectives for APH proteomics applications and technologies for the years to come. Finally, we provide an overview and balance of the major activities and accomplishments of the COST Action on Farm Animal Proteomics. These include activities such as the organization of seminars, workshops and major scientific conferences, organization of summer schools, financing Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) and the generation of scientific literature. Overall, the Action has attained all of the proposed objectives and has made considerable difference by putting proteomics on the global map for animal and veterinary researchers in general and by contributing significantly to reduce the East-West and North-South gaps existing in the European farm animal research. Future activities of significance in the field of scientific research, involving members of the action, as well as others, will likely be established in the future.
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| 3. |
- Almeida, Erika, et al.
(författare)
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Antipredator responses of two anurans towards native and exotic predators
- 2011
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Ingår i: Amphibia-Reptilia. - 0173-5373 .- 1568-5381. ; 32:3, s. 341-350
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When faced with the risk of predation, tadpoles of many amphibian species are known to modify their phenotype. In this work we studied the effect of an exotic species, the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), on the phenotype of two species of amphibians with different reproduction habitats: the Iberian painted frog, Discoglossus galganoi, that normally reproduces in temporary water bodies and the common toad, Bufo bufo, that reproduces in permanent water bodies. The responses were compared with the ones shown in the presence of a native predator, dragonfly (Aeshnidae) larvae. Behaviour, growth and morphology of tadpoles were monitored in a factorial experiment with five treatments. Our results showed that only the permanent habitat species altered its behaviour and life-history traits in the presence of P. clarkii; however, this was mediated by chemical cues from consumed conspecifics. Antipredator responses of B. bufo towards the exotic crayfish were similar to the ones towards the native predator, while D. galganoi responded to the dragonfly larvae but not to P. clarkii. This may be the result of infrequent colonization events of temporary habitats by the crayfish. Therefore, the consequences of the introduction of P. clarkii might be more serious for D. galganoi and other species living in temporary habitats. Species breeding in permanent habitats, more prone to having generalized antipredator responses, may be relatively protected against this exotic crayfish although the effectiveness of these responses still needs to be tested.
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| 4. |
- Alves, Gustavo R., et al.
(författare)
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International Cooperation for Remote Laboratory Use
- 2018
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Ingår i: Contributions to Higher Engineering Education. - Singapore : Springer. - 9789811089176 ; , s. 1-31
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Experimenting is fundamental to the training process of all scientists and engineers. While experiments have been traditionally done inside laboratories, the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies added two alternatives accessible anytime, anywhere. These two alternatives are known as virtual and remote laboratories and are sometimes indistinguishably referred as online laboratories. Similarly to other instructional technologies, virtual and remote laboratories require some effort from teachers in integrating them into curricula, taking into consideration several factors that affect their adoption (i.e., cost) and their educational effectiveness (i.e., benefit). This chapter analyzes these two dimensions and sustains the case where only through international cooperation it is possible to serve the large number of teachers and students involved in engineering education. It presents an example in the area of electrical and electronics engineering, based on a remote laboratory named Virtual Instruments System in Reality, and it then describes how a number of European and Latin American institutions have been cooperating under the scope of an Erasmus+ project, for spreading its use in Brazil and Argentina.
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| 5. |
- Bento, Celeste, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic Basis of Congenital Erythrocytosis : Mutation Update and Online Databases
- 2014
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Ingår i: Human Mutation. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1059-7794 .- 1098-1004. ; 35:1, s. 15-26
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Congenital erythrocytosis (CE), or congenital polycythemia, represents a rare and heterogeneous clinical entity. It is caused by deregulated red blood cell production where erythrocyte overproduction results in elevated hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. Primary congenital familial erythrocytosis is associated with low erythropoietin (Epo) levels and results from mutations in the Epo receptor gene (EPOR). Secondary CE arises from conditions causing tissue hypoxia and results in increased Epo production. These include hemoglobin variants with increased affinity for oxygen (HBB, HBA mutations), decreased production of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate due to BPGM mutations, or mutations in the genes involved in the hypoxia sensing pathway (VHL, EPAS1, and EGLN1). Depending on the affected gene, CE can be inherited either in an autosomal dominant or recessive mode, with sporadic cases arising de novo. Despite recent important discoveries in the molecular pathogenesis of CE, the molecular causes remain to be identified in about 70% of the patients. With the objective of collecting all the published and unpublished cases of CE the COST action MPN&MPNr-Euronet developed a comprehensive Internet-based database focusing on the registration of clinical history, hematological, biochemical, and molecular data (http://www.erythrocytosis.org/). In addition, unreported mutations are also curated in the corresponding Leiden Open Variation Database.
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| 6. |
- Bernal, Ximena E., et al.
(författare)
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Empowering Latina scientists
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 363:6429, s. 825-826
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 7. |
- Beven, Keith, et al.
(författare)
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Epistemic uncertainties and natural hazard risk assessment - Part 1 : A review of different natural hazard areas
- 2018
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Ingår i: Natural hazards and earth system sciences. - : COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH. - 1561-8633 .- 1684-9981. ; 18:10, s. 2741-2768
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper discusses how epistemic uncertainties are currently considered in the most widely occurring natural hazard areas, including floods, landslides and debris flows, dam safety, droughts, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic ash clouds and pyroclastic flows, and wind storms. Our aim is to provide an overview of the types of epistemic uncertainty in the analysis of these natural hazards and to discuss how they have been treated so far to bring out some commonalities and differences. The breadth of our study makes it difficult to go into great detail on each aspect covered here; hence the focus lies on providing an overview and on citing key literature. We find that in current probabilistic approaches to the problem, uncertainties are all too often treated as if, at some fundamental level, they are aleatory in nature. This can be a tempting choice when knowledge of more complex structures is difficult to determine but not acknowledging the epistemic nature of many sources of uncertainty will compromise any risk analysis. We do not imply that probabilistic uncertainty estimation necessarily ignores the epistemic nature of uncertainties in natural hazards; expert elicitation for example can be set within a probabilistic framework to do just that. However, we suggest that the use of simple aleatory distributional models, common in current practice, will underestimate the potential variability in assessing hazards, consequences, and risks. A commonality across all approaches is that every analysis is necessarily conditional on the assumptions made about the nature of the sources of epistemic uncertainty. It is therefore important to record the assumptions made and to evaluate their impact on the uncertainty estimate. Additional guidelines for good practice based on this review are suggested in the companion paper (Part 2).
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| 8. |
- Chazdon, Robin L., et al.
(författare)
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Carbon sequestration potential of second-growth forest regeneration in the Latin American tropics
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 2:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regrowth of tropical secondary forests following complete or nearly complete removal of forest vegetation actively stores carbon in aboveground biomass, partially counterbalancing carbon emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, burning of fossil fuels, and other anthropogenic sources. We estimate the age and spatial extent of lowland second-growth forests in the Latin American tropics and model their potential aboveground carbon accumulation over four decades. Our model shows that, in 2008, second-growth forests (1 to 60 years old) covered 2.4 million km2 of land (28.1% of the total study area). Over 40 years, these lands can potentially accumulate a total aboveground carbon stock of 8.48 Pg C (petagrams of carbon) in aboveground biomass via low-cost natural regeneration or assisted regeneration, corresponding to a total CO2 sequestration of 31.09 Pg CO2. This total is equivalent to carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial processes in all of Latin America and the Caribbean from 1993 to 2014. Ten countries account for 95% of this carbon storage potential, led by Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. We model future land-use scenarios to guide national carbon mitigation policies. Permitting natural regeneration on 40% of lowland pastures potentially stores an additional 2.0 Pg C over 40 years. Our study provides information and maps to guide national-level forest-based carbon mitigation plans on the basis of estimated rates of natural regeneration and pasture abandonment. Coupled with avoided deforestation and sustainable forest management, natural regeneration of second-growth forests provides a low-cost mechanism that yields a high carbon sequestration potential with multiple benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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| 9. |
- Marco-Ramell, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Proteomics and the search for welfare and stress biomarkers in animal production in the one health context
- 2016
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Ingår i: Molecular Biosystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 12:7, s. 2024-2035
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Stress and welfare are important factors to animal production in a context of growing production optimization and scrutiny by the general public. In a context in which animal and human health are intertwined aspects of the one-health concept it is of utmost importance to define markers for stress and welfare. These are important tools for producers, retailers, regulatory agents and ultimately consumers to effectively monitor and assess the welfare state of production animals. Proteomics is the science that studies the proteins existing in a given tissue or fluid. In this review we address this topic by showing clear examples where proteomics has been used to study stress-induced changes at various levels. We adopt a multi-species (cattle, swine, small ruminants, poultry, fish and shellfish) approach under the effect of varied stress inducers (handling, transport, management, nutritional, thermal and exposure to pollutants) clearly demonstrating how Proteomics and Systems Biology are key elements to the study of stress and welfare on farm animals and a powerful tool to animal welfare, health and productivity.
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| 10. |
- Pinto, Dalila, et al.
(författare)
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Convergence of Genes and Cellular Pathways Dysregulated in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
- 2014
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Ingår i: American journal of human genetics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1537-6605 .- 0002-9297. ; 94:5, s. 677-694
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rare copy-number variation (CNV) is an important source of risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We analyzed 2,446 ASD-affected families and confirmed an excess of genic deletions and duplications in affected versus control groups (1.41-fold, p = 1.0× 10(-5)) and an increase in affected subjects carrying exonic pathogenic CNVs overlapping known loci associated with dominant or X-linked ASD and intellectual disability (odds ratio = 12.62, p = 2.7× 10(-15), ∼3% of ASD subjects). Pathogenic CNVs, often showing variable expressivity, included rare de novo and inherited events at 36 loci, implicating ASD-associated genes (CHD2, HDAC4, and GDI1) previously linked to other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as other genes such as SETD5, MIR137, and HDAC9. Consistent with hypothesized gender-specific modulators, females with ASD were more likely to have highly penetrant CNVs (p = 0.017) and were also overrepresented among subjects with fragile X syndrome protein targets (p = 0.02). Genes affected by de novo CNVs and/or loss-of-function single-nucleotide variants converged on networks related to neuronal signaling and development, synapse function, and chromatin regulation.
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