| 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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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Damasso, M., et al.
(författare)
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Photometric follow-up of the 20 Myr old multi-planet host star V1298 Tau with CHEOPS and ground-based telescopes
- 2023
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 680
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The 20 Myr old star V1298 Tau hosts at least four planets. Since its discovery, this system has been a target of intensive photometric and spectroscopic monitoring. To date, the characterisation of its architecture and planets’ fundamental properties has been very challenging.Aims. The determination of the orbital ephemeris of the outermost planet V1298 Tau e remains an open question. Only two transits have been detected so far by Kepler/K2 and TESS, allowing for a grid of reference periods to be tested with new observations, without excluding the possibility of transit timing variations. Observing a third transit would allow for better constraints to be set on the orbital period and would also help in determining an accurate radius for V1298 Tau e because the previous transits showed different depths.Methods. We observed V1298 Tau with the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) to search for a third transit of planet e within observing windows selected to test three of the shortest predicted orbital periods. We also collected ground-based observations to verify the result found with CHEOPS. We reanalysed Kepler/K2 and TESS light curves to test how the results derived from these data are affected by alternative photometric extraction and detrending methods.Results. We report the CHEOPS detection of a transit-like signal that could be attributed to V1298 Tau e. If so, that result would imply that the orbital period calculated from fitting a linear ephemeris to the three available transits is close to ~45 days. Results from the ground-based follow-up marginally support this possibility. We found that i) the transit observed by CHEOPS has a longer duration compared to that of the transits observed by Kepler/K2 and TESS; and ii) the transit observed by TESS is >30% deeper than that of Kepler/K2 and CHEOPS, and it is also deeper than the measurement previously reported in the literature, according to our reanalysis.Conclusions. If the new transit detected by CHEOPS is found to be due to V1298 Tau e, this would imply that the planet experiences TTVs of a few hours, as deduced from three transits, as well as orbital precession, which would explain the longer duration of the transit compared to the Kepler/K2 and TESS signals. Another and a priori less likely possibility is that the newly detected transit belongs to a fifth planet with a longer orbital period than that of V1298 Tau e. Planning further photometric follow-up to search for additional transits is indeed necessary to solve the conundrum, as well as to pin down the radius of V1298 Tau e.
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| 4. |
- Freud, Lindsay R., et al.
(författare)
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Prenatal vs postnatal diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: cardiac and noncardiac outcomes through 1 year of age
- 2024
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Ingår i: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. - 0002-9378 .- 1097-6868. ; 230:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is the most common microdeletion syndrome and is frequently associated with congenital heart disease. Prenatal diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is increasingly offered. It is unknown whether there is a clinical benefit to prenatal detection as compared with postnatal diagnosis. Objective: This study aimed to determine differences in perinatal and infant outcomes between patients with prenatal and postnatal diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study across multiple international centers (30 sites, 4 continents) from 2006 to 2019. Participants were fetuses, neonates, or infants with a genetic diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome by 1 year of age with or without congenital heart disease; those with prenatal diagnosis or suspicion (suggestive ultrasound findings and/or high-risk cell-free fetal DNA screen for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome with postnatal confirmation) were compared with those with postnatal diagnosis. Perinatal management, cardiac and noncardiac morbidity, and mortality by 1 year were assessed. Outcomes were adjusted for presence of critical congenital heart disease, gestational age at birth, and site. Results: A total of 625 fetuses, neonates, or infants with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (53.4% male) were included: 259 fetuses were prenatally diagnosed (156 [60.2%] were live-born) and 122 neonates were prenatally suspected with postnatal confirmation, whereas 244 infants were postnatally diagnosed. In the live-born cohort (n=522), 1-year mortality was 5.9%, which did not differ between groups but differed by the presence of critical congenital heart disease (hazard ratio, 4.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.56–11.18; P<.001) and gestational age at birth (hazard ratio, 0.78 per week; 95% confidence interval, 0.69–0.89; P<.001). Adjusting for critical congenital heart disease and gestational age at birth, the prenatal cohort was less likely to deliver at a local community hospital (5.1% vs 38.2%; odds ratio, 0.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.06–0.23; P<.001), experience neonatal cardiac decompensation (1.3% vs 5.0%; odds ratio, 0.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.03–0.49; P=.004), or have failure to thrive by 1 year (43.4% vs 50.3%; odds ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.36–0.91; P=.019). Conclusion: Prenatal detection of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome was associated with improved delivery management and less cardiac and noncardiac morbidity, but not mortality, compared with postnatal detection.
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| 5. |
- Herenz, Edmund Christian, et al.
(författare)
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The MUSE-Wide Survey : A determination of the Lyman alpha emitter luminosity function at 3 < z < 6
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 621
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the Lyman alpha emitter (LAE) luminosity function (LF) within the redshift range 2.9 <= z <= 6 from the first instalment of the blind integral field spectroscopic MUSE-Wide survey. This initial part of the survey probes a region of 22.2 arcmin(2) in the CANDELS/GOODS-S field (24 MUSE pointings with 1h integrations). The dataset provided us with 237 LAEs from which we construct the LAE LF in the luminosity range 42.2 <= log L-Ly alpha[erg s(-1)] <= 43.5 within a volume of 2.3 x 10(5) Mpc(3). For the LF construction we utilise three different non-parametric estimators: the classical 1/V-max method, the C- method, and an improved binned estimator for the differential LF. All three methods deliver consistent results, with the cumulative LAE LF being Phi(log L-Ly alpha[erg s(-1)] = 43.5) similar or equal to 3 x 10(-6) Mpc(-3) and Phi(log L-Ly alpha[erg s(-1)] = 42.2) similar or equal to 2 x 10(-3) Mpc(-3) towards the bright and faint end of our survey, respectively. By employing a non-parametric statistical test, and by comparing the full sample to subsamples in redshift bins, we find no supporting evidence for an evolving LAE LF over the probed redshift and luminosity range. Using a parametric maximum-likelihood technique we determine the best-fitting Schechter function parameters alpha = -1.84(-0.41)(+0.42) and log L*[erg s(-1)] = 42.2(-0.16)(+0.22) with the corresponding normalisation log phi*[Mpc(-3)] = -2.71. However, the dynamic range in Ly alpha luminosities probed by MUSE-Wide leads to a strong degeneracy between alpha and L*. Moreover, we find that a power-law parameterisation of the LF appears to be less consistent with the data compared to the Schechter function, even so when not excluding the X-Ray identified AGN from the sample. When correcting for completeness in the LAE LF determinations, we take into account that LAEs exhibit diffuse extended low surface brightness halos. We compare the resulting LF to one obtained by applying a correction assuming compact point-like emission. We find that the standard correction underestimates the LAE LF at the faint end of our survey by a factor of 2.5. Contrasting our results to the literature we find that at log L-Ly alpha[erg s(-1)] less than or similar to 42.5 previous LAE LF determinations from narrow-band surveys appear to be affected by a similar bias.
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| 6. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(författare)
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The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Mishra, A, et al.
(författare)
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Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents' growth and development
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 615:7954, s. 874-883
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.
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