| 1. |
- Lembrechts, Jonas J., et al.
(författare)
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SoilTemp : A global database of near-surface temperature
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:11, s. 6616-6629
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Current analyses and predictions of spatially explicit patterns and processes in ecology most often rely on climate data interpolated from standardized weather stations. This interpolated climate data represents long-term average thermal conditions at coarse spatial resolutions only. Hence, many climate-forcing factors that operate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions are overlooked. This is particularly important in relation to effects of observation height (e.g. vegetation, snow and soil characteristics) and in habitats varying in their exposure to radiation, moisture and wind (e.g. topography, radiative forcing or cold-air pooling). Since organisms living close to the ground relate more strongly to these microclimatic conditions than to free-air temperatures, microclimatic ground and near-surface data are needed to provide realistic forecasts of the fate of such organisms under anthropogenic climate change, as well as of the functioning of the ecosystems they live in. To fill this critical gap, we highlight a call for temperature time series submissions to SoilTemp, a geospatial database initiative compiling soil and near-surface temperature data from all over the world. Currently, this database contains time series from 7,538 temperature sensors from 51 countries across all key biomes. The database will pave the way toward an improved global understanding of microclimate and bridge the gap between the available climate data and the climate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions relevant to most organisms and ecosystem processes.
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| 2. |
- Campbell, PJ, et al.
(författare)
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Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 578:7793, s. 82-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale1–3. Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4–5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter4; identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation5,6; analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution7; describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity8,9; and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes8,10–18.
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| 3. |
- Bellomo, Rinaldo, et al.
(författare)
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Early acid-base and blood pressure effects of continuous renal replacement therapy intensity in patients with metabolic acidosis
- 2013
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Ingår i: Intensive Care Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0342-4642 .- 1432-1238. ; 39:3, s. 429-436
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE:In acute kidney injury patients, metabolic acidosis is common. Its severity, duration, and associated changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and vasopressor therapy may be affected by the intensity of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). We aimed to compare key aspects of acidosis and MAP and vasopressor therapy in patients treated with two different CRRT intensities.METHODS:We studied a nested cohort of 115 patients from two tertiary intensive care units (ICUs) within a large multicenter randomized controlled trial treated with lower intensity (LI) or higher intensity (HI) CRRT.RESULTS:Levels of metabolic acidosis at randomization were similar [base excess (BE) of -8 ± 8 vs. -8 ± 7 mEq/l; p = 0.76]. Speed of BE correction did not differ between the two groups. However, the HI group had a greater increase in MAP from baseline to 24 h (7 ± 3 vs. 0 ± 3 mmHg; p < 0.01) and a greater decrease in norepinephrine dose (from 12.5 to 3.5 vs. 5 to 2.5 μg/min; p < 0.05). The correlation (r) coefficients between absolute change in MAP and norepinephrine (NE) dose versus change in BE were 0.05 and -0.37, respectively.CONCLUSIONS:Overall, LI and HI CRRT have similar acid-base effects in patients with acidosis. However, HI was associated with greater improvements in MAP and vasopressor requirements (clinical trial no. NCT00221013).
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| 4. |
- Bentley, Blair P., et al.
(författare)
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Divergent sensory and immune gene evolution in sea turtles with contrasting demographic and life histories
- 2023
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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 (PNAS). - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 120:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sea turtles represent an ancient lineage of marine vertebrates that evolved from terrestrial ancestors over 100 Mya. The genomic basis of the unique physiological and ecological traits enabling these species to thrive in diverse marine habitats remains largely unknown. Additionally, many populations have drastically declined due to anthropogenic activities over the past two centuries, and their recovery is a high global conservation priority. We generated and analyzed high-quality reference genomes for the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and green (Chelonia mydas) turtles, representing the two extant sea turtle families. These genomes are highly syntenic and homologous, but localized regions of noncollinearity were associated with higher copy numbers of immune, zinc-finger, and olfactory receptor (OR) genes in green turtles, with ORs related to waterborne odorants greatly expanded in green turtles. Our findings suggest that divergent evolution of these key gene families may underlie immunological and sensory adaptations assisting navigation, occupancy of neritic versus pelagic environments, and diet specialization. Reduced collinearity was especially prevalent in microchromosomes, with greater gene content, heterozygosity, and genetic distances between species, supporting their critical role in vertebrate evolutionary adaptation. Finally, diversity and demographic histories starkly contrasted between species, indicating that leatherback turtles have had a low yet stable effective population size, exhibit extremely low diversity compared with other reptiles, and harbor a higher genetic load compared with green turtles, reinforcing concern over their persistence under future climate scenarios. These genomes provide invaluable resources for advancing our understanding of evolution and conservation best practices in an imperiled vertebrate lineage.
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| 5. |
- Biurrun, Idoia, et al.
(författare)
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Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Vegetation Science. - Oxford : John Wiley & Sons. - 1100-9233 .- 1654-1103. ; 32:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Journal of Vegetation Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Vegetation Science.Aims: Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups). Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m2 and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class. Results: Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi-natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open-access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats. Conclusions: The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high-quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation-plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology. © 2021 The Authors.
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| 6. |
- Holmes, Michael V., et al.
(författare)
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Secretory Phospholipase A(2)-IIA and Cardiovascular Disease
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. - : Elsevier. - 0735-1097 .- 1558-3597. ; 62:21, s. 1966-1976
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives This study sought to investigate the role of secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2))-IIA in cardiovascular disease. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanBackground Higher circulating levels of sPLA(2)-IIA mass or sPLA(2) enzyme activity have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. However, it is not clear if this association is causal. A recent phase III clinical trial of an sPLA(2) inhibitor (varespladib) was stopped prematurely for lack of efficacy. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods We conducted a Mendelian randomization meta-analysis of 19 general population studies (8,021 incident, 7,513 prevalent major vascular events [MVE] in 74,683 individuals) and 10 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) cohorts (2,520 recurrent MVE in 18,355 individuals) using rs11573156, a variant in PLA2G2A encoding the sPLA(2)-IIA isoenzyme, as an instrumental variable. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults PLA2G2A rs11573156 C allele associated with lower circulating sPLA(2)-IIA mass (38% to 44%) and sPLA(2) enzyme activity (3% to 23%) per C allele. The odds ratio (OR) for MVE per rs11573156 C allele was 1.02 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.98 to 1.06) in general populations and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.90 to 1.03) in ACS cohorts. In the general population studies, the OR derived from the genetic instrumental variable analysis for MVE for a 1-log unit lower sPLA(2)-IIA mass was 1.04 (95% CI: 0.96 to 1.13), and differed from the non-genetic observational estimate (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.61 to 0.79). In the ACS cohorts, both the genetic instrumental variable and observational ORs showed a null association with MVE. Instrumental variable analysis failed to show associations between sPLA2 enzyme activity and MVE. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusions Reducing sPLA(2)-IIA mass is unlikely to be a useful therapeutic goal for preventing cardiovascular events.
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| 7. |
- Kotecha, Dipak, et al.
(författare)
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Integrating new approaches to atrial fibrillation management : the 6th AFNET/EHRA Consensus Conference.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Europace. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1099-5129 .- 1532-2092. ; 20:3, s. 395-407
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are major challenges ahead for clinicians treating patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The population with AF is expected to expand considerably and yet, apart from anticoagulation, therapies used in AF have not been shown to consistently impact on mortality or reduce adverse cardiovascular events. New approaches to AF management, including the use of novel technologies and structured, integrated care, have the potential to enhance clinical phenotyping or result in better treatment selection and stratified therapy. Here, we report the outcomes of the 6th Consensus Conference of the Atrial Fibrillation Network (AFNET) and the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), held at the European Society of Cardiology Heart House in Sophia Antipolis, France, 17-19 January 2017. Sixty-two global specialists in AF and 13 industry partners met to develop innovative solutions based on new approaches to screening and diagnosis, enhancing integration of AF care, developing clinical pathways for treating complex patients, improving stroke prevention strategies, and better patient selection for heart rate and rhythm control. Ultimately, these approaches can lead to better outcomes for patients with AF.
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| 8. |
- Maasri, Alain, et al.
(författare)
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A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecology Letters. - : Wiley. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 25:2, s. 255-263
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms. Inspired by a global consultation, we identify 15 pressing priority needs, grouped into five research areas, in an effort to support informed stewardship of freshwater biodiversity. The proposed agenda aims to advance freshwater biodiversity research globally as a critical step in improving coordinated actions towards its sustainable management and conservation.
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| 9. |
- Neto, Julio, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence and diversity of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus parasites in the globally-threatened Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Parasitology. - 1469-8161. ; 142:9, s. 1183-1189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The diversity and prevalence of malaria parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus were determined in the globally-threatened Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola. Birds were sampled during migration in Portugal and at the wintering quarters in Senegal and parasites were detected using molecular methods. Only three generalist parasite lineages (Plasmodium) were found. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of parasites between sexes in Europe, but adults had higher prevalence than first-year birds, and birds in Europe had higher prevalence than those captured in Africa. When comparing with other Acrocephalus species and taking sample size into account, Aquatic Warblers had the lowest prevalence and, together with another threatened species, the Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis, the lowest diversity of malaria parasites. We hypothesize that the low diversity of parasites and absence of specialist lineages of Aquatic Warblers are caused by its small population size and fragmented distribution. Furthermore, Aquatic Warblers' extreme habitat specialization may decrease their exposure to malaria parasites, but other explanations such as high mortality (which would constraint the sampling of infected birds) or, in contrast, very efficient immunological system in clearing the infections cannot be ruled out. This study contributes to explain variation in prevalence and diversity of malaria parasites among hosts.
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| 10. |
- Alström, Per, et al.
(författare)
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New insights into family relationships within the avian superfamily Sylvioidea (Passeriformes) based on seven molecular markers
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Evolutionary Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2148. ; 12, s. 1-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The circumscription of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea is a matter of long ongoing debate. While the overall inclusiveness has now been mostly agreed on and 20 families recognised, the phylogenetic relationships among the families are largely unknown. We here present a phylogenetic hypothesis for Sylvioidea based on one mitochondrial and six nuclear markers, in total ~6.3 kbp, for 79 ingroup species representing all currently recognised families and some species with uncertain affinities, making this the most comprehensive analysis of this taxon. Results: The resolution, especially of the deeper nodes, is much improved compared to previous studies. However, many relationships among families remain uncertain and are in need of verification. Most families themselves are very well supported based on the total data set and also by indels. Our data do not support the inclusion of Hylia in Cettiidae, but do not strongly reject a close relationship with Cettiidae either. The genera Scotocerca and Erythrocercus are closely related to Cettiidae, but separated by relatively long internodes. The families Paridae, Remizidae and Stenostiridae clustered among the outgroup taxa and not within Sylvioidea. Conclusions: Although the phylogenetic position of Hylia is uncertain, we tentatively support the recognition of the family Hyliidae Bannerman, 1923 for this genus and Pholidornis. We propose new family names for the genera Scotocerca and Erythrocercus, Scotocercidae and Erythrocercidae, respectively, rather than including these in Cettiidae, and we formally propose the name Macrosphenidae, which has been in informal use for some time. We recommend that Paridae, Remizidae and Stenostiridae are not included in Sylvioidea. We also briefly discuss the problems of providing a morphological diagnosis when proposing a new family-group name (or genus-group name) based on a clade.
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| 11. |
- Chew, Michelle, et al.
(författare)
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A descriptive study of the surge response and outcomes of ICU patients with COVID-19 during first wave in Nordic countries
- 2022
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Ingår i: Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica. - : WILEY. - 0001-5172 .- 1399-6576. ; 66:1, s. 56-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background We sought to provide a description of surge response strategies and characteristics, clinical management and outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) during the first wave of the pandemic in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Methods Representatives from the national ICU registries for each of the five countries provided clinical data and a description of the strategies to allocate ICU resources and increase the ICU capacity during the pandemic. All adult patients admitted to the ICU for COVID-19 disease during the first wave of COVID-19 were included. The clinical characteristics, ICU management and outcomes of individual countries were described with descriptive statistics. Results Most countries more than doubled their ICU capacity during the pandemic. For patients positive for SARS-CoV-2, the ratio of requiring ICU admission for COVID-19 varied substantially (1.6%-6.7%). Apart from age (proportion of patients aged 65 years or over between 29% and 62%), baseline characteristics, chronic comorbidity burden and acute presentations of COVID-19 disease were similar among the five countries. While utilization of invasive mechanical ventilation was high (59%-85%) in all countries, the proportion of patients receiving renal replacement therapy (7%-26%) and various experimental therapies for COVID-19 disease varied substantially (e.g. use of hydroxychloroquine 0%-85%). Crude ICU mortality ranged from 11% to 33%. Conclusion There was substantial variability in the critical care response in Nordic ICUs to the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, including usage of experimental medications. While ICU mortality was low in all countries, the observed variability warrants further attention.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Haase, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Shallow genetic population structure in an expanding migratory bird with high breeding site fidelity, the Western Eurasian Crane Grus grus grus
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Ornithology = Journal fur Ornithologie. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0021-8375 .- 1439-0361. ; 160, s. 965-972
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For more than half a century, the Western Eurasian Crane (Grus grus grus) has been expanding its range toward western Europe, recolonizing areas where it had been previously driven to extinction, including the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark. The Western Eurasian Crane is, on the one hand, a very mobile, migratory species, but on the other, is territorial and shows high breeding site fidelity. Hence, its genetic population structure is subject to antagonizing forces, which have different consequences. Based on the genotyping of six highly variable microsatellite loci, we inferred the population structure of the Western Eurasian Crane from samples from eight regions. We integrated classic F-statistics including analyses of molecular variance with a priori designation of structure and divisive clustering approaches, i.e. a Bayesian procedure (STRU CTU RE) and discriminant analysis of principal components, which infer structure a posteriori. According to the F-statistics, populations were only weakly differentiated, and the majority of the genetic variance (> 90%) was attributed to individuals. At first glance, the divisive approaches appeared to agree in finding four clusters. Yet, there was no correspondence regarding the composition of the clusters and none of the results were biologically meaningful. However, STRU CTU RE delivered an alternative interpretation, designating the highest likelihood to a scenario without subdivision, in clear agreement with the findings based on the F-statistics. In conclusion, the Western Eurasian Crane is genetically largely homogeneous, probably as a consequence of the rapid growth and range expansion of its population.
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| 14. |
- Haase, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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A Hitchhiker's guide through the bio‐image analysis software universe
- 2022
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Ingår i: FEBS Letters. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0014-5793 .- 1873-3468. ; 596:19, s. 2472-2485
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modern research in the life sciences is unthinkable without computational methods for extracting, quantifying and visualising information derived from microscopy imaging data of biological samples. In the past decade, we observed a dramatic increase in available software packages for these purposes. As it is increasingly difficult to keep track of the number of available image analysis platforms, tool collections, components and emerging technologies, we provide a conservative overview of software that we use in daily routine and give insights into emerging new tools. We give guidance on which aspects to consider when choosing the platform that best suits the user's needs, including aspects such as image data type, skills of the team, infrastructure and community at the institute and availability of time and budget.
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| 15. |
- Idoia Biurrun, Idoia, et al.
(författare)
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GrassPlot v. 2.00 – first update on the database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands
- 2019
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Ingår i: Palaearctic Grasslands. - : Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG). - 2627-9827. ; :44, s. 26-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). Following a previous Long Database Report (Dengler et al. 2018, Phytocoenologia 48, 331–347), we provide here the first update on content and functionality of GrassPlot. The current version (GrassPlot v. 2.00) contains a total of 190,673 plots of different grain sizes across 28,171 independent plots, with 4,654 nested-plot series including at least four grain sizes. The database has improved its content as well as its functionality, including addition and harmonization of header data (land use, information on nestedness, structure and ecology) and preparation of species composition data. Currently, GrassPlot data are intensively used for broad-scale analyses of different aspects of alpha and beta diversity in grassland ecosystems.
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| 16. |
- Majidi, Fatemeh, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical spectrum of primary adrenal lymphoma: results of a multicenter cohort study
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Journal of Endocrinology. - : BIOSCIENTIFICA LTD. - 0804-4643 .- 1479-683X. ; 183:4, s. 453-462
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: We sought to refine the clinical picture of primary adrenal lymphoma (PAL), a rare lymphoid malignancy with predominant adrenal manifestation and risk of adrenal insufficiency. Methods: Ninety-seven patients from 14 centers in Europe, Canada and the United States were included in this retrospective analysis between 1994 and 2017. Results: Of the 81 patients with imaging data, 19 (23%) had isolated adrenal involvement (iPAL), while 62 (77%) had additional extra-adrenal involvement (PAL+). Among patients who had both CT and PET scans, 18FDG-PET revealed extra-adrenal involvement not detected by CT scan in 9/18 cases (50%). The most common clinical manifestations were B symptoms (55%), fatigue (45%), and abdominal pain (35%). Endocrinological assessment was often inadequate. With a median follow-up of 41.6 months, 3-year progression-free (PFS) and overall (OS) survival rates in the entire cohort were 35.5% and 39.4%, respectively. The hazard ratios of iPAL for PFS and OS were 40.1 (95% CI: 2.63-613.7, P = 0.008) and 2.69 (95% CI: 0.61-11.89, P = 0.191), respectively. PFS was much shorter in iPAL vs PAL+ (median 4 months vs not reached, P = 0.006), and OS also appeared to be shorter (median 16 months vs not reached), but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.16). Isolated PAL was more frequent in females (OR = 3.81; P = 0.01) and less frequently associated with B symptoms (OR = 0.159; P = 0.004). Conclusion: We found unexpected heterogeneity in the clinical spectrum of PAL. Further studies are needed to clarify whether clinical distinction between iPAL and PAL+ is corroborated by differences in molecular biology.
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| 17. |
- Melin, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Cryopreservation of autologous bone flaps following decompressive craniectomy : A new method reduced positive cultures without increase in post-cranioplasty infection rate.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Brain & spine. - : Elsevier. - 2772-5294. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Cranioplasty (CP) after decompressive craniectomy (DC) is a common neurosurgical procedure. Implementation of European Union (EU) directives recommending bacterial cultures before cryopreservation, lead to increased number of autologous bone flaps being discarded due to positive cultures. A new method for handling bone flaps prior to cryopreservation, including the use of pulsed lavage, was developed.RESEARCH QUESTION: The aim was to evaluate the effect of a new method on proportion of positive bacterial cultures and surgical site infection (SSI) following CP surgery.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-one bone flaps from 53 consecutive DC surgery patients were retrospectively included and the study period was divided into before and after method implementation. Patient demographics, laboratory and culture results, type of CP and occurrence of SSI were analyzed.RESULTS: Twenty-six and 18 bone flaps were available for analysis during the first and second period, respectively. The proportion of positive bacterial cultures was higher in the first period compared to the second (n = 9(35%) vs 0(0%); p = 0.001), and thus the use of custom made implants was considerably higher in the first study period (p = 0.001). There was no difference in the frequency of post-cranioplasty SSI between the first and second study period (n = 3 (11.5%) vs 1 (4.8%), p = 0.408).DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The new method for handling bone flaps resulted in a lower frequency of positive bacterial cultures, without increased frequency of post-cranioplasty SSI, thus demonstrating it is safe to use, allows compliance with the EU-directives, and may reduce unnecessary discarding of bone flaps.
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| 18. |
- Micheal Raj, Pushparani, et al.
(författare)
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Fabrication and characterisation of a silicon-borosilicate glass microfluidic device for synchrotron-based hard X-ray spectroscopy studies
- 2021
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2046-2069. ; 11:47, s. 29859-29869
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Some of the most fundamental chemical building blocks of life on Earth are the metal elements. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an element-specific technique that can analyse the local atomic and electronic structure of, for example, the active sites in catalysts and energy materials and allow the metal sites in biological samples to be identified and understood. A microfluidic device capable of withstanding the intense hard X-ray beams of a 4th generation synchrotron and harsh chemical sample conditions is presented in this work. The device is evaluated at the K-edges of iron and bromine and the L-3-edge of lead, in both transmission and fluorescence mode detection and in a wide range of sample concentrations, as low as 0.001 M. The device is fabricated in silicon and glass with plasma etched microchannels defined in the silicon wafer before anodic bonding of the glass wafer into a complete device. The device is supported with a well-designed printed chip holder that made the microfluidic device portable and easy to handle. The chip holder plays a pivotal role in mounting the delicate microfluidic device on the beamline stage. Testing validated that the device was sufficiently robust to contain and flow through harsh acids and toxic samples. There was also no significant radiation damage to the device observed, despite focusing with intense X-ray beams for multiple hours. The quality of X-ray spectra collected is comparable to that from standard methods; hence we present a robust microfluidic device to analyse liquid samples using synchrotron XAS.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Pivarcsi, Andor, et al.
(författare)
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Tumor immune escape by the loss of homeostatic chemokine expression.
- 2007
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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. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 104:48, s. 19055-60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The novel keratinocyte-specific chemokine CCL27 plays a critical role in the organization of skin-associated immune responses by regulating T cell homing under homeostatic and inflammatory conditions. Here we demonstrate that human keratinocyte-derived skin tumors may evade T cell-mediated antitumor immune responses by down-regulating the expression of CCL27 through the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-Ras-MAPK-signaling pathways. Compared with healthy skin, CCL27 mRNA and protein expression was progressively lost in transformed keratinocytes of actinic keratoses and basal and squamous cell carcinomas. In vivo, precancerous skin lesions as well as cutaneous carcinomas showed significantly elevated levels of phosphorylated ERK compared with normal skin, suggesting the activation of EGFR-Ras signaling pathways in keratinocyte-derived malignancies. In vitro, exogenous stimulation of the EGFR-Ras signaling pathway through EGF or transfection of the dominant-active form of the Ras oncogene (H-RasV12) suppressed whereas an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor increased CCL27 mRNA and protein production in keratinocytes. In mice, neutralization of CCL27 led to decreased leukocyte recruitment to cutaneous tumor sites and significantly enhanced primary tumor growth. Collectively, our data identify a mechanism of skin tumors to evade host antitumor immune responses.
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| 21. |
- Raj, Pushparani, et al.
(författare)
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Fabrication and characterisation of a silicon-borosilicate glass microfluidic device for synchrotron-based hard X-ray spectroscopy studies
- 2021
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - Cambridge : RSC Publishing. - 2046-2069. ; 11:47, s. 29859-29869
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Some of the most fundamental chemical building blocks of life on Earth are the metal elements. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an element-specific technique that can analyse the local atomic and electronic structure of, for example, the active sites in catalysts and energy materials and allow the metal sites in biological samples to be identified and understood. A microfluidic device capable of withstanding the intense hard X-ray beams of a 4th generation synchrotron and harsh chemical sample conditions is presented in this work. The device is evaluated at the K-edges of iron and bromine and the L3-edge of lead, in both transmission and fluorescence mode detection and in a wide range of sample concentrations, as low as 0.001 M. The device is fabricated in silicon and glass with plasma etched microchannels defined in the silicon wafer before anodic bonding of the glass wafer into a complete device. The device is supported with a well-designed printed chip holder that made the microfluidic device portable and easy to handle. The chip holder plays a pivotal role in mounting the delicate microfluidic device on the beamline stage. Testing validated that the device was sufficiently robust to contain and flow through harsh acids and toxic samples. There was also no significant radiation damage to the device observed, despite focusing with intense X-ray beams for multiple hours. The quality of X-ray spectra collected is comparable to that from standard methods; hence we present a robust microfluidic device to analyse liquid samples using synchrotron XAS.
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| 22. |
- Sabatini, F. M., et al.
(författare)
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sPlotOpen - An environmentally balanced, open-access, global dataset of vegetation plots
- 2021
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Motivation Assessing biodiversity status and trends in plant communities is critical for understanding, quantifying and predicting the effects of global change on ecosystems. Vegetation plots record the occurrence or abundance of all plant species co-occurring within delimited local areas. This allows species absences to be inferred, information seldom provided by existing global plant datasets. Although many vegetation plots have been recorded, most are not available to the global research community. A recent initiative, called 'sPlot', compiled the first global vegetation plot database, and continues to grow and curate it. The sPlot database, however, is extremely unbalanced spatially and environmentally, and is not open-access. Here, we address both these issues by (a) resampling the vegetation plots using several environmental variables as sampling strata and (b) securing permission from data holders of 105 local-to-regional datasets to openly release data. We thus present sPlotOpen, the largest open-access dataset of vegetation plots ever released. sPlotOpen can be used to explore global diversity at the plant community level, as ground truth data in remote sensing applications, or as a baseline for biodiversity monitoring. Main types of variable contained Vegetation plots (n = 95,104) recording cover or abundance of naturally co-occurring vascular plant species within delimited areas. sPlotOpen contains three partially overlapping resampled datasets (c. 50,000 plots each), to be used as replicates in global analyses. Besides geographical location, date, plot size, biome, elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation type, naturalness, coverage of various vegetation layers, and source dataset, plot-level data also include community-weighted means and variances of 18 plant functional traits from the TRY Plant Trait Database. Spatial location and grain Global, 0.01-40,000 m(2). Time period and grain 1888-2015, recording dates. Major taxa and level of measurement 42,677 vascular plant taxa, plot-level records. Software format Three main matrices (.csv), relationally linked.
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| 23. |
- Saldan, Ivan, et al.
(författare)
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Hydrogen Sorption in the LiH-LiF-MgB2 System
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 117:33, s. 17360-17366
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A composite material in the LiH-LiF-MgB2 system has been synthesized by high-energy ball milling. Some peaks in addition to that of the binary 2LiH-MgB2 and 2LiF-MgB2 systems are observed for the composite material by high-pressure differential scanning calorimetry (HP-DSC), indicating the formation of intermediate phases. In situ synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD) performed at 60 bar of H-2 and 390 degrees C shows a superposition of both reaction pathways that are typical for 2LiH-MgB2 and 2LiF-MgB2. After hydrogen absorption of the LiH-LiF-MgB2 composite the vibrational modes of LiBH4 were observed by attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. The F-19 MAS NMR spectrum of the LiF-LiBH4 sample after heat treatment in hydrogen is strongly dominated by the centerband and spinning sidebands from LiF; in addition, a low-intensity resonance, very similar to that of [BF4](-) ion, is identified.
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| 24. |
- Zicari, Roberto V., et al.
(författare)
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On assessing trustworthy AI in healthcare : Machine learning as a supportive tool to recognize cardiac arrest in emergency calls
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Human Dynamics. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2673-2726. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to greatly improve the delivery of healthcare and other services that advance population health and wellbeing. However, the use of AI in healthcare also brings potential risks that may cause unintended harm. To guide future developments in AI, the High-Level Expert Group on AI set up by the European Commission (EC), recently published ethics guidelines for what it terms “trustworthy” AI. These guidelines are aimed at a variety of stakeholders, especially guiding practitioners toward more ethical and more robust applications of AI. In line with efforts of the EC, AI ethics scholarship focuses increasingly on converting abstract principles into actionable recommendations. However, the interpretation, relevance, and implementation of trustworthy AI depend on the domain and the context in which the AI system is used. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how to use the general AI HLEG trustworthy AI guidelines in practice in the healthcare domain. To this end, we present a best practice of assessing the use of machine learning as a supportive tool to recognize cardiac arrest in emergency calls. The AI system under assessment is currently in use in the city of Copenhagen in Denmark. The assessment is accomplished by an independent team composed of philosophers, policy makers, social scientists, technical, legal, and medical experts. By leveraging an interdisciplinary team, we aim to expose the complex trade-offs and the necessity for such thorough human review when tackling socio-technical applications of AI in healthcare. For the assessment, we use a process to assess trustworthy AI, called 1Z-Inspection® to identify specific challenges and potential ethical trade-offs when we consider AI in practice.
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