| 1. |
- Beaumont, Robin N, et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide association study of placental weight identifies distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature genetics. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 55:11, s. 1807-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A well-functioning placenta is essential for fetal and maternal health throughout pregnancy. Using placental weight as a proxy for placental growth, we report genome-wide association analyses in the fetal (n=65,405), maternal (n=61,228) and paternal (n=52,392) genomes, yielding 40 independent association signals. Twenty-six signals are classified as fetal, four maternal and three fetal and maternal. A maternal parent-of-origin effect is seen near KCNQ1. Genetic correlation and colocalization analyses reveal overlap with birth weight genetics, but 12 loci are classified as predominantly or only affecting placental weight, with connections to placental development and morphology, and transport of antibodies and amino acids. Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that fetal genetically mediated higher placental weight is causally associated with preeclampsia risk and shorter gestational duration. Moreover, these analyses support the role of fetal insulin in regulating placental weight, providing a key link between fetal and placental growth.
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| 2. |
- Breslin, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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A Novel Anthropomorphic Phantom Composed of Tissue-Equivalent Materials for Use in Experimental Radiotherapy : Design, Dosimetry and Biological Pilot Study
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biomimetics. - 2313-7673. ; 8:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The production of anthropomorphic phantoms generated from tissue-equivalent materials is challenging but offers an excellent copy of the typical environment encountered in typical patients. High-quality dosimetry measurements and the correlation of the measured dose with the biological effects elicited by it are a prerequisite in preparation of clinical trials with novel radiotherapy approaches. We designed and produced a partial upper arm phantom from tissue-equivalent materials for use in experimental high-dose-rate radiotherapy. The phantom was compared to original patient data using density values and Hounsfield units obtained from CT scans. Dose simulations were conducted for broad-beam irradiation and microbeam radiotherapy (MRT) and compared to values measured in a synchrotron radiation experiment. Finally, we validated the phantom in a pilot experiment with human primary melanoma cells.
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| 3. |
- Dahl-Jensen, D., et al.
(författare)
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Eemian interglacial reconstructed from a Greenland folded ice core
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 493:7433, s. 489-494
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efforts to extract a Greenland ice core with a complete record of the Eemian interglacial (130,000 to 115,000 years ago) have until now been unsuccessful. The response of the Greenland ice sheet to the warmer-than-present climate of the Eemian has thus remained unclear. Here we present the new North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling ('NEEM') ice core and show only a modest ice-sheet response to the strong warming in the early Eemian. We reconstructed the Eemian record from folded ice using globally homogeneous parameters known from dated Greenland and Antarctic ice-core records. On the basis of water stable isotopes, NEEM surface temperatures after the onset of the Eemian (126,000 years ago) peaked at 8 +/- 4 degrees Celsius above the mean of the past millennium, followed by a gradual cooling that was probably driven by the decreasing summer insolation. Between 128,000 and 122,000 years ago, the thickness of the northwest Greenland ice sheet decreased by 400 +/- 250 metres, reaching surface elevations 122,000 years ago of 130 +/- 300 metres lower than the present. Extensive surface melt occurred at the NEEM site during the Eemian, a phenomenon witnessed when melt layers formed again at NEEM during the exceptional heat of July 2012. With additional warming, surface melt might become more common in the future.
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| 4. |
- Erhardt, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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High-resolution aerosol concentration data from the Greenland NorthGRIP and NEEM deep ice cores
- 2022
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Ingår i: Earth System Science Data. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1866-3508 .- 1866-3516. ; 14:3, s. 1215-1231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Records of chemical impurities from ice cores enable us to reconstruct the past deposition of aerosols onto polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Through this they allow us to gain insight into changes of the source, transport and deposition processes that ultimately determine the deposition flux at the coring location. However, the low concentrations of the aerosol species in the ice and the resulting high risk of contamination pose a formidable analytical challenge, especially if long, continuous and highly resolved records are needed. Continuous flow analysis, CFA, the continuous melting, decontamination and analysis of ice-core samples has mostly overcome this issue and has quickly become the de facto standard to obtain high-resolution aerosol records from ice cores after its inception at the University of Bern in the mid-1990s.Here, we present continuous records of calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), ammonium (NH+4), nitrate (NO-3) and electrolytic conductivity at 1 mm depth resolution from the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project) and NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling) ice cores produced by the Bern Continuous Flow Analysis group in the years 2000 to 2011 (Erhardt et al., 2021). Both of the records were previously used in a number of studies but were never published in full 1 mm resolution. Alongside the 1 mm datasets we provide decadal averages, a detailed description of the methods, relevant references, an assessment of the quality of the data and its usable resolution. Along the way we will also give some historical context on the development of the Bern CFA system.
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| 5. |
- Fischer, Hubertus, et al.
(författare)
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Reconstruction of millennial changes in dust emission, transport and regional sea ice coverage using the deep EPICA ice cores from the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sector of Antarctica
- 2007
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Ingår i: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-821X. ; 260, s. 340-354
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Continuous sea salt and mineral dust aerosol records have been studied on the two EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring inAntarctica) deep ice cores. The joint use of these records from opposite sides of the East Antarctic plateau allows for an estimate ofchanges in dust transport and emission intensity as well as for the identification of regional differences in the sea salt aerosolsource. The mineral dust flux records at both sites show a strong coherency over the last 150 kyr related to dust emission changes inthe glacial Patagonian dust source with three times higher dust fluxes in the Atlantic compared to the Indian Ocean sector of theSouthern Ocean (SO). Using a simple conceptual transport model this indicates that transport can explain only 40% of theatmospheric dust concentration changes in Antarctica, while factor 5–10 changes occurred. Accordingly, the main cause for the strong glacial dust flux changes in Antarctica must lie in environmental changes in Patagonia. Dust emissions, hence environmentalconditions in Patagonia, were very similar during the last two glacials and interglacials, respectively, despite 2–4 °C warmertemperatures recorded in Antarctica during the penultimate interglacial than today. 2–3 times higher sea salt fluxes found in bothice cores in the glacial compared to the Holocene are difficult to reconcile with a largely unchanged transport intensity and thedistant open ocean source. The substantial glacial enhancements in sea salt aerosol fluxes can be readily explained assuming sea iceformation as the main sea salt aerosol source with a significantly larger expansion of (summer) sea ice in the Weddell Sea than inthe Indian Ocean sector. During the penultimate interglacial, our sea salt records point to a 50% reduction of winter sea icecoverage compared to the Holocene both in the Indian and Atlantic Ocean sector of the SO. However, from 20 to 80 ka beforepresent sea salt fluxes show only very subdued millennial changes despite pronounced temperature fluctuations, likely due to thelarge distance of the sea ice salt source to our drill sites.
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