| 1. |
- Fortier, A., et al.
(författare)
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CHEOPS in-flight performance: A comprehensive look at the first 3.5 yr of operations
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 687
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Since the discovery of the first exoplanet almost three decades ago, the number of known exoplanets has increased dramatically. By beginning of the 2000s it was clear that dedicated facilities to advance our studies in this field were needed. The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is a space telescope specifically designed to monitor transiting exoplanets orbiting bright stars. In September 2023, CHEOPS completed its nominal mission duration of 3.5 yr and remains in excellent operational conditions. As a testament to this, the mission has been extended until the end of 2026. Aims. Scientific and instrumental data have been collected throughout in-orbit commissioning and nominal operations, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the missiona's performance. In this article, we present the results of this analysis with a twofold goal. First, we aim to inform the scientific community about the present status of the mission and what can be expected as the instrument ages. Secondly, we intend for this publication to serve as a legacy document for future missions, providing insights and lessons learned from the successful operation of CHEOPS. Methods. To evaluate the instrument performance in flight, we developed a comprehensive monitoring and characterisation (M&C) programme. It consists of dedicated observations that allow us to characterise the instrumenta's response and continuously monitor its behaviour. In addition to the standard collection of nominal science and housekeeping data, these observations provide valuable input for detecting, modelling, and correcting instrument systematics, discovering and addressing anomalies, and comparing the instrumenta's actual performance with expectations. Results. The precision of the CHEOPS measurements has enabled the mission objectives to be met and exceeded. The satellitea's performance remains stable and reliable, ensuring accurate data collection throughout its operational life. Careful modelling of the instrumental systematics allows the data quality to be significantly improved during the light curve analysis phase, resulting in more precise scientific measurements. Conclusions. CHEOPS is compliant with the driving scientific requirements of the mission. Although visible, the ageing of the instrument has not affected the missiona's performance. The satellitea's capabilities remain robust, and we are confident that we will continue to acquire high-quality data during the mission extension.
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| 2. |
- Guiomar, N., et al.
(författare)
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Typology and distribution of small farms in Europe : Towards a better picture
- 2018
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Ingår i: Land use policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 75, s. 784-798
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The contribution of small farms to local food supply, food security and food sovereignty is widely acknowledged at a global level. In the particular case of Europe, they often are seen as an alternative to large and specialised farms. Assessing the real role of small farms has been limited by a lack of information, as small farms are frequently omitted from agricultural censuses and national statistics. It is also well acknowledged that small farms differ widely, and are distributed according to different spatial patterns across Europe, fulfilling different roles according to the agriculture and territorial characteristics of each region. This paper presents the result of a novel classification of small farms at NUTS-3 level in Europe, according to the relevance of small farms in the agricultural and territorial context of each region, and based on a typology of small farms considering different dimensions of farm size. The maps presented result from an extensive data collection and variables selected according to European wide expert judgement, analysed with advanced cluster procedures. The results provide a fine grained picture of the role of small farms at the regional level in Europe today, and are expected to support further data analysis and targeted policy intervention.
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| 3. |
- Biro, T, et al.
(författare)
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How best to fight that nasty itch - from new insights into the neuroimmunological, neuroendocrine, and neurophysiological bases of pruritus to novel therapeutic approaches
- 2005
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Ingår i: Experimental Dermatology. - : Wiley. - 0906-6705 .- 1600-0625. ; 14:3, s. 225-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While the enormous clinical and psychosocial importance of pruritus in many areas of medicine and the detrimental effects of chronic 'itch' on the quality of life of an affected individual are widely appreciated, the complexity of this sensation is still often grossly underestimated. The current Controversies feature highlights this complexity by portraying pruritus as a truly interdisciplinary problem at the crossroads of neurophysiology, neuroimmunology, neuropharmacology, protease research, internal medicine, and dermatology, which is combated most successfully if one keeps the multilayered nature of 'itch' in mind and adopts a holistic treatment approach - beyond the customary, frequently frustrane monotherapy with histamine receptor antagonists. In view of the often unsatisfactory, unidimensional, and altogether rather crude standard instruments for pruritus management that we still tend to use in clinical practice today, an interdisciplinary team of pruritus experts here critically examines recent progress in pruritus research that future itch management must take into consideration. Focusing on new insights into the neuroimmunological, neuroendocrine, and neurophysiological bases of pruritus, and discussing available neuropharmacological tools, specific research avenues are highlighted, whose pursuit promises to lead to novel, and hopefully more effective, forms of pruritus management.
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| 4. |
- Schindler, S., et al.
(författare)
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Floodplain management in temperate regions : Is multifunctionality enhancing biodiversity?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Environmental Evidence. - : BioMed Central Ltd.. - 2047-2382. ; 2:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Floodplains are among the most diverse, dynamic, productive and populated but also the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Threats are mainly related to human activities that alter the landscape and disrupt fluvial processes to obtain benefits related to multiple ecosystem services (ESS). Floodplain management therefore requires close coordination among interest groups with competing claims and poses multi-dimensional challenges to policy-makers and project managers. The European Commission proposed in its recent Biodiversity Strategy to maintain and enhance European ecosystems and their services by establishing green infrastructure (GI). GI is assumed to provide multiple ecosystem functions and services including the conservation of biodiversity in the same spatial area. However, evidence for biodiversity benefits of multifunctional floodplain management is scattered and has not been synthesised. Methods/design: This protocol specifies the methods for conducting a systematic review to answer the following policy-relevant questions: a) what is the impact of floodplain management measures on biodiversity; b) how does the impact vary according to the level of multifunctionality of the measures; c) is there a difference in the biodiversity impact of floodplain management across taxa; d) what is the effect of the time since implementation on the impact of the most important measures; and e) are there any other factors that significantly modify the biodiversity impact of floodplain management measures? Within this systematic review we will assess multifunctionality in terms of ESS that are affected by an implemented intervention. Biodiversity indicators included in this systematic review will be related to the diversity, richness and abundance of species, other taxa or functional groups. We will consider if organisms are typical for and native to natural floodplain ecosystems. Specific inclusion criteria have been developed and the wide range of quality of primary literature will be evaluated with a tailor-made system for assessing susceptibility to bias and the reliability of the studies. The review is intended to bridge the science-policy interface and will provide a useful synthesis of knowledge for decision-makers at all governance levels. © 2013 Schindler et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
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| 5. |
- Schindler, S., et al.
(författare)
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Multifunctionality of floodplain landscapes : Relating management options to ecosystem services
- 2014
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Ingår i: Landscape Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0921-2973 .- 1572-9761. ; 29:2, s. 229-244
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of green infrastructure has been recently taken up by the European Commission for ensuring the provision of ecosystem services (ESS). It aims at the supply of multiple ESS in a given landscape, however, the effects of a full suite of management options on multiple ESS and landscape multifunctionality have rarely been assessed. In this paper we use European floodplain landscapes as example to develop an expert based qualitative conceptual model for the assessment of impacts of landscape scale interventions on multifunctionality. European floodplain landscapes are particularly useful for such approach as they originally provided a high variety and quantity of ESS that has declined due to the strong human impact these landscapes have experienced. We provide an overview of the effects of floodplain management options on landscape multifunctionality by assessing the effects of 38 floodplain management interventions on 21 relevant ESS, as well as on overall ESS supply. We found that restoration and rehabilitation consistently increased the multifunctionality of the landscape by enhancing supply of provisioning, regulation/maintenance, and cultural services. In contrast, conventional technical regulation measures and interventions related to extraction, infrastructure and intensive land use cause decrease in multifunctionality and negative effects for the supply of all three aspects of ESS. The overview of the effects of interventions shall provide guidance for decision makers at multiple governance levels. The presented conceptual model could be effectively applied for other landscapes that have potential for a supply of a high diversity of ESS. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
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| 8. |
- Pelisek, J, et al.
(författare)
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Biobanking: Objectives, Requirements, and Future Challenges-Experiences from the Munich Vascular Biobank
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of clinical medicine. - : MDPI AG. - 2077-0383. ; 8:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Collecting biological tissue samples in a biobank grants a unique opportunity to validate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for translational and clinical research. In the present work, we provide our long-standing experience in establishing and maintaining a biobank of vascular tissue samples, including the evaluation of tissue quality, especially in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens (FFPE). Our Munich Vascular Biobank includes, thus far, vascular biomaterial from patients with high-grade carotid artery stenosis (n = 1567), peripheral arterial disease (n = 703), and abdominal aortic aneurysm (n = 481) from our Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery (January 2004–December 2018). Vascular tissue samples are continuously processed and characterized to assess tissue morphology, histological quality, cellular composition, inflammation, calcification, neovascularization, and the content of elastin and collagen fibers. Atherosclerotic plaques are further classified in accordance with the American Heart Association (AHA), and plaque stability is determined. In order to assess the quality of RNA from FFPE tissue samples over time (2009–2018), RNA integrity number (RIN) and the extent of RNA fragmentation were evaluated. Expression analysis was performed with two housekeeping genes—glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and beta-actin (ACTB)—using TaqMan-based quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT)-PCR. FFPE biospecimens demonstrated unaltered RNA stability over time for up to 10 years. Furthermore, we provide a protocol for processing tissue samples in our Munich Vascular Biobank. In this work, we demonstrate that biobanking is an important tool not only for scientific research but also for clinical usage and personalized medicine.
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| 9. |
- Schindler, S., et al.
(författare)
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Multifunctional floodplain management and biodiversity effects : a knowledge synthesis for six European countries
- 2016
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Ingår i: Biodiversity and Conservation. - : Springer Netherlands. - 0960-3115 .- 1572-9710. ; 25:7, s. 1349-1382
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Floodplain ecosystems are biodiversity hotspots and supply multiple ecosystem services. At the same time they are often prone to human pressures that increasingly impact their intactness. Multifunctional floodplain management can be defined as a management approach aimed at a balanced supply of multiple ecosystem services that serve the needs of the local residents, but also those of off-site populations that are directly or indirectly impacted by floodplain management and policies. Multifunctional floodplain management has been recently proposed as a key concept to reconcile biodiversity and ecosystem services with the various human pressures and their driving forces. In this paper we present biophysics and management history of floodplains and review recent multifunctional management approaches and evidence for their biodiversity effects for the six European countries Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and the Ukraine. Multifunctional use of floodplains is an increasingly important strategy in some countries, for instance in the Netherlands and Hungary, and management of floodplains goes hand in hand with sustainable economic activities resulting in flood safety and biodiversity conservation. As a result, biodiversity is increasing in some of the areas where multifunctional floodplain management approaches are implemented. We conclude that for efficient use of management resources and ecosystem services, consensual solutions need to be realized and biodiversity needs to be mainstreamed into management activities to maximize ecosystem service provision and potential human benefits. Multifunctionality is more successful where a broad range of stakeholders with diverse expertise and interests are involved in all stages of planning and implementation.
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| 10. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Mind training, stress and behaviour-A randomised experiment
- 2021
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 16:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we evaluate the effects of a psychological training, called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on stress and risk and time preferences. MBSR is a well-known psychological technique, which is believed to improve self-control and reduce stress. We conduct the experiment with 139 participants, half of whom receive the MBSR training, while the other half are asked to watch a documentary series, both over 4 consecutive weeks. Using a range of self-reported and physiological measures (such as cortisol measures), we find evidence that mindfulness training reduces perceived stress, but we only find weak evidence of effects on risk and inter-temporal attitudes.
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| 11. |
- Austin, CC, et al.
(författare)
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Fostering global data sharing: highlighting the recommendations of the Research Data Alliance COVID-19 working group
- 2020
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Ingår i: Wellcome open research. - : F1000 Research Ltd. - 2398-502X. ; 5, s. 267-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The systemic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic require cross-disciplinary collaboration in a global and timely fashion. Such collaboration needs open research practices and the sharing of research outputs, such as data and code, thereby facilitating research and research reproducibility and timely collaboration beyond borders. The Research Data Alliance COVID-19 Working Group recently published a set of recommendations and guidelines on data sharing and related best practices for COVID-19 research. These guidelines include recommendations for clinicians, researchers, policy- and decision-makers, funders, publishers, public health experts, disaster preparedness and response experts, infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations), and other potential users. These guidelines include recommendations for researchers, policymakers, funders, publishers and infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations). Several overarching themes have emerged from this document such as the need to balance the creation of data adherent to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), with the need for quick data release; the use of trustworthy research data repositories; the use of well-annotated data with meaningful metadata; and practices of documenting methods and software. The resulting document marks an unprecedented cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and cross-jurisdictional effort authored by over 160 experts from around the globe. This letter summarises key points of the Recommendations and Guidelines, highlights the relevant findings, shines a spotlight on the process, and suggests how these developments can be leveraged by the wider scientific community.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Guilford, Tim, et al.
(författare)
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GPS tracking of the foraging movements of Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus breeding on Skomer Island, Wales
- 2008
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Ingår i: Ibis. - 1474-919X. ; 150, s. 462-473
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the first successful use of miniature Global Positioning System loggers to track the ocean-going behaviour of a c. 400g seabird, the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus. During three field seasons, breeding birds were tracked during the incubation and chick rearing periods on their foraging excursions from the large colony on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, UK. Foraging effort was concentrated in the Irish Sea. Likely foraging areas were identified to the north off the Mull of Galloway (some 330km from Skomer), in Dundalk Bay, Cardigan Bay, and more diffusely to the west of the colony both locally and off southern Ireland. No foraging excursions were recorded significantly to the south of the colony, conflicting with the conclusions of earlier studies based on ringing recoveries and off-shore observations. We discuss several explanations including the hypothesis that foraging may have shifted substantially northwards in recent decades (although the possibility that breeding birds forage further south in the very early part of the season remains open). We found no obvious relationship between birds’ positions and water depth, although night-time observations were more likely to be in shallower water than day-time observations. We also found that despite the fact that shearwaters can be observed rafting off-shore from their colonies in the hours prior to making landfall at night, breeding birds are usually located much further from the colony in the last eight hours before arrival, a finding that has significance for the likely effectiveness of marine protection areas if they are only local to the colony. Short sequences of precise second-by-second fixes gathered every two hours enabled us to measure movement speed and direction. Movement speeds were bimodal, corresponding to sitting on the water and flying, with flight behaviour separable into erratic (perhaps indicative of searching for food) and directional (perhaps indicative of travelling). Movement behaviour had a diurnal pattern, with flight predominating in the morning and evening, with more sitting at night and around midday. We also provide a first direct measurement of mean flight speed during directional flight (approximately 40 kmh-1), slower than a shearwater’s predicted Vmr (maximum range velocity) and suggesting that birds are exploiting wave or dynamic soaring during long-distance travel.
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| 15. |
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| 18. |
- Mitchell, David J., et al.
(författare)
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Temporal autocorrelation : a neglected factor in the study of behavioral repeatability and plasticity
- 2020
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Ingår i: Behavioral Ecology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1045-2249 .- 1465-7279. ; 31:1, s. 222-231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quantifying individual variation in labile physiological or behavioral traits often involves repeated measures through time, so as to test for consistency of individual differences (often using repeatability, R) and/or individual differences in trendlines over time. Another form of temporal change in behavior is temporal autocorrelation, which predicts observations taken closely together in time to be correlated, leading to nonrandom residuals about individual temporal trendlines. Temporal autocorrelation may result from slowly changing internal states (e.g., hormone or energy levels), leading to slowly changing behavior. Autocorrelation is a well-known phenomenon, but has been largely neglected by those studying individual variation in behavior. Here, we provide two worked examples which show substantial temporal autocorrelation (r > 0.4) is present in spontaneous activity rates of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and house mice (Mus domesticus) in stable laboratory conditions, even after accounting for temporal plasticity of individuals. Second, we show that ignoring autocorrelation does bias estimates of R and temporal reaction norm variances upwards, both in our worked examples and in separate simulations. This bias occurs due to the misestimation of individual-specific means and slopes. Given the increasing use of technologies that generate behavioral and physiological data at high sampling rates, we can now study among- and within-individual changes in behavior in more detailed ways, including autocorrelation, which we discuss from biological and methodological perspectives and provide recommendations and annotated R code to help researchers implement these models on their data.
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| 19. |
- Newman, P., et al.
(författare)
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Porous and strong three-dimensional carbon nanotube coated ceramic scaffolds for tissue engineering
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of materials chemistry. B. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2050-750X .- 2050-7518. ; 3:42, s. 8337-8347
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biomaterials research is investigating increasingly complex materials capable of mirroring the highly organized biochemical and architectural environments of the body. Accordingly, tissue scaffolds with nanoscale properties that mirror the fibrous proteins present in tissue are being developed. Such materials can benefit from the inherent dimensional similarities and nanocomposite nature of the cellular environment, altering nanoscale dimensional and biochemical properties to mimic the regulatory characteristics of natural cellular environments. One nanomaterial which demonstrates potential across a diverse range of biomaterial applications is carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Building on previous reports, a method to coat CNTs throughout 3D porous structures is developed. Through modifications to typical chemical vapour deposition (CVD), a high-quality uniform coating of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is demonstrated over beta-tricalcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite (or TCP/HA), which is in clinical use; and the high-mechanical-strength multicomponent ceramic Ca2ZnSi2O7-ZnAl2O4, (or Sr-HT-Gah). The resulting materials address deficiencies of previously reported CNT biomaterials by simultaneously presenting properties of high porosity, biocompatibility and a mechanical stability. Together, this unique combination of properties makes these scaffolds versatile materials for tissue engineering in load bearing applications.
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| 21. |
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