| 1. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 4. |
- Gremel, G., et al.
(författare)
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Functional and prognostic relevance of the homeobox protein MSX2 in malignant melanoma
- 2011
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0007-0920 .- 1532-1827. ; 105:4, s. 565-574
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The homeobox containing transcription factor MSX2 is a key regulator of embryonic development and has been implicated to have a role in breast and pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Using a selection of two-and three-dimensional in vitro assays and tissue microarrays (TMAs), the clinical and functional relevance of MSX2 in malignant melanoma was explored. A doxycyline-inducible over-expression system was applied to study the relevance of MSX2 in vitro. For TMA construction, tumour material from 218 melanoma patients was used. RESULTS: Ectopic expression of MSX2 resulted in the induction of apoptosis and reduced the invasive capacity of melanoma cells in three-dimensional culture. MSX2 over-expression was shown to affect several signalling pathways associated with cell invasion and survival. Downregulation of N-Cadherin, induction of p21 and inhibition of both BCL2 and Survivin were observed. Cytoplasmic MSX2 expression was found to correlate significantly with increased recurrence-free survival (P = 0.008). Nuclear expression of MSX2 did not result in significant survival correlations, suggesting that the beneficial effect of MSX2 may be independent of its DNA binding activity. CONCLUSIONS: MSX2 may be an important regulator of melanoma cell invasion and survival. Cytoplasmic expression of the protein was identified as biomarker for good prognosis in malignant melanoma patients.
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| 5. |
- Brussaard, Lijbert, et al.
(författare)
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Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in soil
- 1997
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Ingår i: Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment. - 0044-7447. ; 26:8, s. 563-570
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We review the current knowledge on biodiversity in soils, its role in ecosystem processes, its importance for human purposes, and its resilience against stress and disturbance. The number of existing species is vastly higher than the number described, even in the macroscopically visible taxa, and biogeographical syntheses are largely lacking. A major effort in taxonomy and the training of a new generation of systematists is imperative. This effort has to be focussed on the groups of soil organisms that, to the best of our knowledge, play key roles in ecosystem functioning. To identify such groups, spheres of influence (SOI) of soil biota - such as the root biota, the shredders of organic matter and the soil bioturbators - are recognized that presumably control ecosystem processes, for example, through interactions with plants. Within those SOI, functional groups of soil organisms are recognized. Research questions of the highest urgency are the assignment of species to functional groups and determining the redundancy of species within functional groups. These priorities follow from the need to address the extent of any loss of functioning in soils, associated with intensive agriculture, forest disturbance, pollution of the environment, and global environmental change. The soil biota considered at present to be most at risk are species-poor functional groups among macrofaunal shredders of organic matter, bioturbators of soil, specialized bacteria like nitrifiers and nitrogen fixers, and fungiforming mycorrhizas. An experimental approach in addressing these research priorities is needed, using longterm and large-scale field experiments and modern methods of geostatistics and geographic information systems.
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| 6. |
- De Palma, Adriana, et al.
(författare)
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Predicting bee community responses to land-use changes : effects of geographic and taxonomic biases
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 6, s. 1-14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Land-use change and intensification threaten bee populations worldwide, imperilling pollination services. Global models are needed to better characterise, project, and mitigate bees' responses to these human impacts. The available data are, however, geographically and taxonomically unrepresentative; most data are from North America and Western Europe, overrepresenting bumblebees and raising concerns that model results may not be generalizable to other regions and taxa. To assess whether the geographic and taxonomic biases of data could undermine effectiveness of models for conservation policy, we have collated from the published literature a global dataset of bee diversity at sites facing land-use change and intensification, and assess whether bee responses to these pressures vary across 11 regions (Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe; North, Central and South America; Australia and New Zealand; South East Asia; Middle and Southern Africa) and between bumblebees and other bees. Our analyses highlight strong regionally-based responses of total abundance, species richness and Simpson's diversity to land use, caused by variation in the sensitivity of species and potentially in the nature of threats. These results suggest that global extrapolation of models based on geographically and taxonomically restricted data may underestimate the true uncertainty, increasing the risk of ecological surprises.
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| 7. |
- Breitholtz, Ellen, et al.
(författare)
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Reasoning in Multiparty Dialogue Involving Patients with Schizophrenia
- 2021
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Ingår i: (In)coherence of Discourse : formal and Conceptual Issues of Language / Maxime Amblard, Michel Musiol, Manuel Rebuschi (eds.). - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2364-4109 .- 2364-4117. - 9783030714338 ; , s. 43-63
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Interacting with others frequently involves making common-sense inferences linking context, background knowledge, and beliefs to utterances in the dialogue. As language users we are generally good at this kind of dialogical reasoning, and might not even be aware we are involved in it while we engage in a conversation. However, sometimes it is not obvious how a particular contribution should be interpreted in terms of the underpinning assumptions warranting an inference. In dialogue involving participants who demonstrate atypical linguistic behavior, such as patients with schizophrenia, the effects may be even more marked. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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| 8. |
- Davitt, C. J. H., et al.
(författare)
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A novel adjuvanted capsule based strategy for oral vaccination against infectious diarrhoeal pathogens
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Controlled Release. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-3659. ; 233, s. 162-173
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diarrhoeal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and cholera imposing a significant global burden. There is currently no licensed vaccine for ETEC. Development of new nonliving oral vaccines has proven difficult due to the physicochemical and immunological challenges associated with the oral route. This demands innovative delivery solutions to protect antigens, control their release and build in immune-stimulatory activity. We describe the Single Multiple Pill (R) (SmPill (R)) vaccine formulation which combines the benefits of enteric polymer coating to protect against low gastric pH, a dispersed phase to control release and aid the solubility of non-polar components and an optimized combination of adjuvant and antigen to promote mucosal immunity. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this system with whole cell killed E. coli overexpressing colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I), JT-49. Alpha-galactosylceramide was identified as a potent adjuvant within SmPill (R) that enhanced the immunogenicity of JT-49. The bacteria associated with the dispersed phase were retained within the capsules at gastric pH but released at intestinal pH. Vaccination with an optimized SmPill (R) formulation promoted CFA/I-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses in the intestinal mucosa in addition to serum IgG and a solubilized adjuvant was indispensable for efficacy.
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| 9. |
- Davitt, C. J. H., et al.
(författare)
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Alpha-galactosylceramide enhances mucosal immunity to oral whole-cell cholera vaccines
- 2019
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Ingår i: Mucosal Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1933-0219. ; 12, s. 1055-1064
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) that results in 3–4 million cases globally with 100,000–150,000 deaths reported annually. Mostly confined to developing nations, current strategies to control the spread of cholera include the provision of safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene, ideally in conjunction with oral vaccination. However, difficulties associated with the costs and logistics of these strategies have hampered their widespread implementation. Specific challenges pertaining to oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) include a lack of safe and effective adjuvants to further enhance gut immune responses, the complex and costly multicomponent vaccine manufacturing, limitations of conventional liquid formulation and the lack of an integrated delivery platform. Herein we describe the use of the orally active adjuvant α-Galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) to strongly enhance intestinal bacterium- and toxin-specific IgA responses to the OCV, Dukoral ® in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. We further demonstrate the mucosal immunogenicity of a novel multi-antigen, single-component whole-cell killed V. cholerae strain and the enhancement of its immunogenicity by adding α-GalCer. Finally, we report that combining these components and recombinant cholera toxin B subunit in the SmPill ® minisphere delivery system induced strong intestinal and systemic antigen-specific antibody responses. © 2019, The Author(s).
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| 10. |
- Howes, Christine, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Gesture, self-repair and reasoning in schizophrenia
- 2016
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Ingår i: Languages as Mechanisms for Interaction : Explorations and Repercussions. Workshop at Ghent University 24 th - 25 th of June, 2016, Ghent, Belgium.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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