| 1. |
- Abalaka, Jacinta, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic diversity and population structure of the range restricted rock firefinch Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis
- 2015
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Ingår i: Conservation Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1566-0621 .- 1572-9737. ; 16:2, s. 411-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the degree of genetic population differentiation is important in conservation genetics for inferring gene flow between populations and for identifying small and isolated threatened populations. We evaluated the genetic variation within and between three populations of the rock firefinch (Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis), a range restricted firefinch endemic to Nigeria and Cameroon. The populations were closely located (c. 100 km apart) within the species' core distribution in Central Nigeria. We found that the populations had similar levels of gene diversities (H (E) ) and low but significant inbreeding coefficients (F (IS) ). Despite the short distance between populations there was a weak but significant population structure, which indicates that the populations are somewhat isolated and affected by drift within the species' core distribution in Nigeria. The knowledge of the genetic status of the rock firefinch will serve as a foundation to future studies to help understand population demography and for managing and maintaining viable populations.
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| 2. |
- Abalaka, J. L., et al.
(författare)
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Rock Firefinch Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis in the Mandara Mountains, north-east Nigeria : a new subspecies?
- 2010
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Ingår i: African Bird Club Bulletin. - 1352-481X. ; 17:2, s. 210-211
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- L’Amarante des rochers Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis dans les Monts Mandara, Nigeria du sud-est: une nouvelle sous-espèce ? Nous fournissons une description d’un mâle et d’une femelle, ainsi que desphotos d’un mâle, d’un amarante capturé dans les Monts Mandara, au nord-est du Nigeria. Le plumage et le cri de cet amarante sont identiques à ceux de l’Amarante des rochers Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis, une espèce précédemment rapportée de la zone, excepté que le mâle n’a pas la couronne grise typique de l’espèce. Des travaux supplémentaires sur le terrain sont nécessaires pour déterminer s’il agit d’un individu aberrant ou d’une population de l’Amarante des rochers morphologiquement distincte.
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| 3. |
- Barshep, Yahkat, et al.
(författare)
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Non-breeding ecology of the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra in Nigeria
- 2012
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Ingår i: Ornis Svecica. - 1102-6812 .- 2003-2633. ; 22, s. 25-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study on the non-breeding ecology of the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra was conducted in central Nigeria from February through April. The core site was at Gwafan (N09°53', E08°57'), an open scrubland located 10 km east of the city of Jos. The density of Whinchats at Gwafan was 0.58 individuals/ha, almost three times the overall density around Jos. Time budget observations of colour banded Whinchats, including six birds fitted with radio-transmitters, showed that they spent 80% of their time perching, 11% foraging, 7% preening, and 2% flying. The main method of catching insects was a swoop to the ground. There was no change in perching, preening or flying time but the time some Whinchats spent foraging increased towards the end of the study period. GPS positions of individuals showed that all birds held clearly demarcated territories and defended them against neighbours. Aggressive interactions were also recorded between Whinchats and other bird species. Three birds colour-ringed in 2006 returned to the study site in 2007 and one occupied almost the same territory, indicating site fidelity.
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| 4. |
- Dekkers, Koen, et al.
(författare)
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An online atlas of human plasma metabolite signatures of gut microbiome composition.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human gut microbiota produce a variety of molecules, some of which enter the bloodstream and impact health. Conversely, dietary or pharmacological compounds may affect the microbiota before entering the circulation. Characterization of these interactions is an important step towards understanding the effects of the gut microbiota on health. In this cross-sectional study, we used deep metagenomic sequencing and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography linked to mass spectrometry for a detailed characterization of the gut microbiota and plasma metabolome, respectively, of 8583 participants invited at age 50 to 64 from the population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study. Here, we find that the gut microbiota explain up to 58% of the variance of individual plasma metabolites and we present 997 associations between alpha diversity and plasma metabolites and 546,819 associations between specific gut metagenomic species and plasma metabolites in an online atlas ( https://gutsyatlas.serve.scilifelab.se/ ). We exemplify the potential of this resource by presenting novel associations between dietary factors and oral medication with the gut microbiome, and microbial species strongly associated with the uremic toxin p-cresol sulfate. This resource can be used as the basis for targeted studies of perturbation of specific metabolites and for identification of candidate plasma biomarkers of gut microbiota composition.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Ding, Mei, et al.
(författare)
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Secretome screening reveals immunomodulating functions of IFNα-7, PAP and GDF-7 on regulatory T-cells
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; , s. 16767-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are the key cells regulating peripheral autoreactive T lymphocytes. Tregs exert their function by suppressing effector T cells. Tregs have been shown to play essential roles in the control of a variety of physiological and pathological immune responses. However, Tregs are unstable and can lose the expression of FOXP3 and suppressive functions as a consequence of outer stimuli. Available literature suggests that secreted proteins regulate Treg functional states, such as differentiation, proliferation and suppressive function. Identification of secreted proteins that affect Treg cell function are highly interesting for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes in either hyperactive or immunosuppressed populations. Here, we report a phenotypic screening of a human secretome library in human Treg cells utilising a high throughput flow cytometry technology. Screening a library of 575 secreted proteins allowed us to identify proteins stabilising or destabilising the Treg phenotype as suggested by changes in expression of Treg marker proteins FOXP3 and/or CTLA4. Four proteins including GDF-7, IL-10, PAP and IFNα-7 were identified as positive regulators that increased FOXP3 and/or CTLA4 expression. PAP is a phosphatase. A catalytic-dead version of the protein did not induce an increase in FOXP3 expression. Ten interferon proteins were identified as negative regulators that reduced the expression of both CTLA4 and FOXP3, without affecting cell viability. A transcriptomics analysis supported the differential effect on Tregs of IFNα-7 versus other IFNα proteins, indicating differences in JAK/STAT signaling. A conformational model experiment confirmed a tenfold reduction in IFNAR-mediated ISG transcription for IFNα-7 compared to IFNα-10. This further strengthened the theory of a shift in downstream messaging upon external stimulation. As a summary, we have identified four positive regulators of FOXP3 and/or CTLA4 expression. Further exploration of these Treg modulators and their method of action has the potential to aid the discovery of novel therapies for both autoimmune and infectious diseases as well as for cancer.
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| 7. |
- Efiom, Edu, et al.
(författare)
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Bushmeat hunting changes regeneration of African rainforests.
- 2013
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 280:1759
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To assess ecological consequences of bushmeat hunting in African lowland rainforests, we compared paired sites, with high and low hunting pressure, in three areas of southeastern Nigeria. In hunted sites, populations of important seed dispersers-both small and large primates (including the Cross River gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli)-were drastically reduced. Large rodents were more abundant in hunted sites, even though they are hunted. Hunted and protected sites had similar mature tree communities dominated by primate-dispersed species. In protected sites, seedling communities were similar in composition to the mature trees, but in hunted sites species with other dispersal modes dominated among seedlings. Seedlings emerging 1 year after clearing of all vegetation in experimental plots showed a similar pattern to the standing seedlings. This study thus verifies the transforming effects of bushmeat hunting on plant communities of tropical forests and is one of the first studies to do so for the African continent.
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| 8. |
- Ekström, Ulf, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of the chemisorption of methylsilane on a au(1,1,1) surface from the silicon K- And L-edge spectra : A theoretical study using the four-component static exchange approximation
- 2007
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 111:37, s. 13846-13850
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra (NEXAFS) of methylsilane, isolated and chemisorbed to a Au(1,1,1) surface, are determined in the fully relativistic four-component static exchange approximation - both the K- and the L-edge of silicon are addressed in this investigation. In the fully chemisorbed structure, three H(Si) atoms have been cleaved off when Si binds in the hollow site of Au forming three Si - Au bonds of normal length. As due to die tri-coordinated chemisorption, the onsets of the K- and L-edge NEXAFS absorption bands occur some 2.0 and 2.5 eV lower in energy, respectively. The spin-orbit splittings in the silicon 2p-shell are not significantly changed due to adsorption. A partly chemisorbed methylsilane with only one H(Si) bond cleaved was also studied, and it is shown that the polarization dependence in the surface spectra contains details that can be used experimentally to identify the surface coordination of silicon. The red-shifts in the XPS silicon 1s (2p) spectra upon surface binding are 0.95 (0.65) and 1.15 (0.83) eV for the mono- and tricoordinated system, respectively.
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| 9. |
- Hedenström, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Migration, stopover and moult of the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus in Ghana, West Africa
- 1993
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Ingår i: Ibis. - 0019-1019. ; 135:2, s. 177-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We studied Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus at two localities in Ghana during the winter. In the north (Tono), the birds arrived from late September and conducted a rapid moult soon after arrival. Towards the end of moult, birds accumulated fat and disappeared from the site. In the south (Tafo), birds arrived from mid-November in fresh plumage. This seemed to be the final wintering area as birds stayed there during the winter. In March-April they again accumulated fat, although only small amounts, before spring migration back to breeding areas.
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| 10. |
- Hellgren, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Circannual variation in blood parasitism in a sub-Saharan migrant passerine bird, the garden warbler
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 26:5, s. 1047-1059
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knowing the natural dynamics of pathogens in migratory birds is important, for example, to understand the factors that influence the transport of pathogens to and their transmission in new geographical areas, whereas the transmission of other pathogens might be restricted to a specific area. We studied haemosporidian blood parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon in a migratory bird, the garden warbler Sylvia borin. Birds were sampled in spring, summer and early autumn at breeding grounds in Sweden, on migration at Capri, Italy and on arrival and departure from wintering staging areas in West Africa: mapping recoveries of garden warblers ringed in Fennoscandia and Capri showed that these sites are most probably on the migratory flyway of garden warblers breeding at Kvismaren. Overall, haemosporidian prevalence was 39%, involving 24 different parasite lineages. Prevalence varied significantly over the migratory cycle, with relatively high prevalence of blood parasites in the population on breeding grounds and at the onset of autumn migration, followed by marked declines in prevalence during migration both on spring and autumn passage. Importantly, we found that when examining circannual variation in the different lineages, significantly different prevalence profiles emerged both between and within genera. Our results suggest that differences in prevalence profiles are the result of either different parasite transmission strategies or coevolution between the host and the various parasite lineages. When separating parasites into common vs. rare lineages, we found that two peaks in the prevalence of rare parasites occur; on arrival at Swedish breeding grounds, and after the wintering period in Africa. Our results stress the importance of appropriate taxonomic resolution when examining host-parasite interactions, as variation in prevalence both between and within parasite genera can show markedly different patterns.
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