| 1. |
- Van den Steen, Evi, et al.
(författare)
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Brominated flame retardants and organochlorines in the European environment using great tit eggs as a biomonitoring tool
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-6750 .- 0160-4120. ; 35:2, s. 310-317
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large-scale studies are essential to assess the emission patterns and spatial distribution of organohalogenated pollutants (OHPs) in the environment. Bird eggs have several advantages compared to other environmental media which have previously been used to map the distribution of OHPs. In this study, large-scale geographical variation in the occurrence of OHPs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), was investigated throughout Europe using eggs of a terrestrial residential passerine species, the great tit (Parus major). Great tit eggs from 22 sampling sites, involving urban, rural and remote areas, in 14 European countries were collected and analysed (5-8 eggs per sampling site). The environmentally most important congeners/compounds of the analysed pollutants were detectable in all sampling locations. For PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs, no clear geographical contamination pattern was found. Sum PCB levels ranged from 143 ng/g lipid weight (lw) to 3660 ng/g lw. As expected, PCB concentrations were significantly higher in the sampled urban compared to the remote locations. However, the urban locations did not show significantly higher concentrations compared to the rural locations. Sum PBDEs ranged from 4.0 ng/g lw to 136 ng/g lw. PBDEs were significantly higher in the urbanized sampling locations compared to the other locations. The significant, positive correlation between PCB and PBDE concentrations suggests similar spatial exposure and/or mechanisms of accumulation. Significantly higher levels of OCPs (sum OCPs ranging from 191 ng/g lw to 7830 ng/g lw) were detected in rural sampling locations. Contamination profiles of PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs differed also among the sampling locations, which may be due to local usage and contamination sources. The higher variance among sampling locations for the PCBs and OCPs, suggests that local contamination sources are more important for the PCBs and OCPs compared to the PBDEs. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which bird eggs were used as a monitoring tool for CHPs on such a large geographical scale. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Carracedo, Juan Carlos, et al.
(författare)
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The 2011 submarine volcanic eruption in El Hierro (Canary Islands)
- 2012
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Ingår i: Geology Today. - : Wiley. - 0266-6979 .- 1365-2451. ; 28:2, s. 53-58
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Forty years after the Teneguía Volcano (La Palma, 1971), a submarine eruption took place off the town of La Restinga, south of El Hierro, the smallest and youngest island of the Canarian Archipelago. Precursors allowed an early detection of the event and its approximate location, suggesting it was submarine. Uncertainties derived from insufficient scientific information available to the authorities during the eruption, leading to disproportionate civil protection measures, which had an impact on the island's economy—based primarily on tourism—while residents experienced extra fear and distress.
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| 3. |
- Del Cura-González, Isabel, et al.
(författare)
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How to Improve Healthcare for Patients with Multimorbidity and Polypharmacy in Primary Care : A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial of the MULTIPAP Intervention
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Personalized Medicine. - : MDPI AG. - 2075-4426. ; 12:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- (1) Purpose: To investigate a complex MULTIPAP intervention that implements the Ariadne principles in a primary care population of young-elderly patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and to evaluate its effectiveness for improving the appropriateness of prescriptions. (2) Methods: A pragmatic cluster-randomized clinical trial was conducted involving 38 family practices in Spain. Patients aged 65-74 years with multimorbidity and polypharmacy were recruited. Family physicians (FPs) were randomly allocated to continue usual care or to provide the MULTIPAP intervention based on the Ariadne principles with two components: FP training (eMULTIPAP) and FP patient interviews. The primary outcome was the appropriateness of prescribing, measured as the between-group difference in the mean Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) score change from the baseline to the 6-month follow-up. The secondary outcomes were quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), patient perceptions of shared decision making (collaboRATE), use of health services, treatment adherence, and incidence of drug adverse events (all at 1 year), using multi-level regression models, with FP as a random effect. (3) Results: We recruited 117 FPs and 593 of their patients. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the between-group difference for the mean MAI score change after a 6-month follow-up was -2.42 (95% CI from -4.27 to -0.59) and, between baseline and a 12-month follow-up was -3.40 (95% CI from -5.45 to -1.34). There were no significant differences in any other secondary outcomes. (4) Conclusions: The MULTIPAP intervention improved medication appropriateness sustainably over the follow-up time. The small magnitude of the effect, however, advises caution in the interpretation of the results given the paucity of evidence for the clinical benefit of the observed change in the MAI.
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| 4. |
- Collado, Eduardo, et al.
(författare)
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Divergent above- and below-ground responses of fungal functional groups to forest thinning
- 2020
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Ingår i: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. - : Elsevier. - 0038-0717 .- 1879-3428. ; 150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Forest disturbances have a strong effect on soil fungal communities and associated ecosystem processes. However, little is known about the response of mycelial biomass to disturbances, and how fungi reallocate carbon into different fungal structures under environmental stressors. We investigated above- and below-ground fungal biomass shifts in response to different intensities of forest management in Mediterranean Pinus pinaster forests. Soil fungal biomass was estimated by ergosterol quantification and production of sporocarps was estimated from repeated field samplings during 5 years in 26 experimental plots. Abundance of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi belowground was determined using Pacific Biosciences sequencing of fungal ITS2 amplicons. Thinning had a prolonged negative effect belowground, inter- and intra-annually, on total fungal biomass and on the biomass of ectomycorrhizal fungi, but not on saprotrophic fungi. Total and ectomycorrhizal mushroom yields were negatively correlated with the total and the ectomycorrhizal mycelial biomass, respectively. Thinning also correlated positively with the aboveground/belowground ratio of both total and ectomycorrhizal fungal biomass. We show potential short-term shifts in resource allocation of fungi from below-to above-ground structures under disturbances such as forest thinning. Ectomycorrhizal fungi may respond to disturbances by increasing reproduction rather than colonizing the surrounding soil.
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| 5. |
- Hagenbo, Andreas, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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Production and turnover of mycorrhizal soil mycelium relate to variation in drought conditions in Mediterranean Pinus pinaster, Pinus sylvestris and Quercus ilex forests
- 2021
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Ingår i: New Phytologist. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 230:4, s. 1609-1622
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In forests, ectomycorrhizal mycelium is pivotal for driving soil carbon and nutrient cycles, but how ectomycorrhizal mycelial dynamics vary in ecosystems with drought periods is unknown. We quantified production and turnover of mycorrhizal mycelium in Mediterranean Pinus pinaster, Pinus sylvestris and Quercus ilex forests and related the estimates to standardized precipitation index (SPI), to study how mycelial dynamics relates to tree species and drought-moisture conditions.Production and turnover of mycelium was estimated between July-February, by quantifying the fungal biomass (ergosterol) in ingrowth mesh bags and using statistical modelling. SPI for time scales of 1 to 3 months, was calculated from precipitation records and precipitation data over the study period.Forests dominated by Pinus trees displayed higher biomass but were seasonally more variable, as opposed to Q. ilex forests where the mycelial biomass remained lower and stable over the season. Production and turnover respectively varied between 1.4-5.9 kg ha-1 day-1 and 7.2-9.9 times year-1 over the different forest types and were positively correlated with 2- and 3-month SPI over the study period.Our results demonstrate that mycorrhizal mycelial biomass vary with season and tree species and we speculate that production and turnover are related to physiology and plant-host performance during drought.
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| 6. |
- Manry, Jérémy, et al.
(författare)
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The risk of COVID-19 death is much greater and age dependent with type I IFN autoantibodies.
- 2022
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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. - 1091-6490. ; 119:21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection fatality rate (IFR) doubles with every 5 y of age from childhood onward. Circulating autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-α, IFN-ω, and/or IFN-β are found in ∼20% of deceased patients across age groups, and in ∼1% of individuals aged <70 y and in >4% of those >70 y old in the general population. With a sample of 1,261 unvaccinated deceased patients and 34,159 individuals of the general population sampled before the pandemic, we estimated both IFR and relative risk of death (RRD) across age groups for individuals carrying autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs, relative to noncarriers. The RRD associated with any combination of autoantibodies was higher in subjects under 70 y old. For autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-α2 or IFN-ω, the RRDs were 17.0 (95% CI: 11.7 to 24.7) and 5.8 (4.5 to 7.4) for individuals <70 y and ≥70 y old, respectively, whereas, for autoantibodies neutralizing both molecules, the RRDs were 188.3 (44.8 to 774.4) and 7.2 (5.0 to 10.3), respectively. In contrast, IFRs increased with age, ranging from 0.17% (0.12 to 0.31) for individuals <40 y old to 26.7% (20.3 to 35.2) for those ≥80 y old for autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-α2 or IFN-ω, and from 0.84% (0.31 to 8.28) to 40.5% (27.82 to 61.20) for autoantibodies neutralizing both. Autoantibodies against type I IFNs increase IFRs, and are associated with high RRDs, especially when neutralizing both IFN-α2 and IFN-ω. Remarkably, IFRs increase with age, whereas RRDs decrease with age. Autoimmunity to type I IFNs is a strong and common predictor of COVID-19 death.
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| 7. |
- Miravitlles, Marc, et al.
(författare)
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lObservational study to characterise 24-hour COPD symptoms and their relationship with patient-reported outcomes: results from the ASSESS study
- 2014
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Ingår i: Respiratory Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1465-9921 .- 1465-993X. ; 15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Few studies have investigated the 24-hour symptom profile in patients with COPD or how symptoms during the 24-hour day are inter-related. This observational study assessed the prevalence, severity and relationship between night-time, early morning and daytime COPD symptoms and explored the relationship between 24-hour symptoms and other patient-reported outcomes. Methods: The study enrolled patients with stable COPD in clinical practice. Baseline night-time, early morning and daytime symptoms (symptom questionnaire), severity of airflow obstruction (FEV1), dyspnoea (modified Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Scale), health status (COPD Assessment Test), anxiety and depression levels (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), sleep quality (COPD and Asthma Sleep Impact Scale) and physical activity level (sedentary, moderately active or active) were recorded. Results: The full analysis set included 727 patients: 65.8% male, mean +/- standard deviation age 67.2 +/- 8.8 years, % predicted FEV1 52.8 +/- 20.5%. In each part of the 24-hour day, > 60% of patients reported experiencing >= 1 symptom in the week before baseline. Symptoms were more common in the early morning and daytime versus night-time (81.4%, 82.7% and 63.0%, respectively). Symptom severity was comparable for each period assessed. Overall, in the week before baseline, 56.7% of patients had symptoms throughout the whole 24-hour day (3 parts of the day); 79.9% had symptoms in >= 2 parts of the 24-hour day. Symptoms during each part of the day were inter-related, irrespective of disease severity (all p < 0.001). Early morning and daytime symptoms were associated with the severity of airflow obstruction (p < 0.05 for both). Nighttime, early morning and daytime symptoms were all associated with worse dyspnoea, health status and sleep quality, and higher anxiety and depression levels (all p < 0.001 versus patients without symptoms in each corresponding period). In each part of the 24-hour day, there was also an association between symptoms and a patient's physical activity level (p < 0.05 for each period). Conclusions: More than half of patients experienced COPD symptoms throughout the whole 24-hour day. There was a significant relationship between night-time, early morning and daytime symptoms. In each period, symptoms were associated with worse patient-reported outcomes, suggesting that improving 24-hour symptoms should be an important consideration in the management of COPD.
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| 8. |
- Miravitlles, Marc, et al.
(författare)
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The Relationship Between 24-Hour Symptoms and COPD Exacerbations and Healthcare Resource Use : Results from an Observational Study (ASSESS)
- 2016
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Ingår i: COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1541-2555 .- 1541-2563. ; 13:5, s. 561-568
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This observational study assessed the relationship between nighttime, early-morning and daytime chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms and exacerbations and healthcare resource use. COPD symptoms were assessed at baseline in patients with stable COPD using a standardised questionnaire during routine clinical visits. Information was recorded on exacerbations and healthcare resource use during the year before baseline and during a 6-month follow-up period. The main objective of the analysis was to determine the predictive nature of current symptoms for future exacerbations and healthcare resource use. 727 patients were eligible (65.8% male, mean age: 67.2 years, % predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second: 52.8%); 698 patients (96.0%) provided information after 6 months. Symptoms in any part of the day were associated with a prior history of exacerbations (all p <0.05) and nighttime and early-morning symptoms were associated with the frequency of primary care visits in the year before baseline (both p <0.01). During follow-up, patients with baseline symptoms during any part of the 24-hour day had more exacerbations than patients with no symptoms in each period (all p <0.05); there was also an association between 24-hour symptoms and the frequency of primary care visits (all p ≤ 0.01). Although there was a significant association between early-morning and daytime symptoms and exacerbations during follow-up (both p <0.01), significance was not maintained when adjusted for potential confounders. Prior exacerbations were most strongly associated with future risk of exacerbation. The results suggest 24-hour COPD symptoms do not independently predict future exacerbation risk.
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| 9. |
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