| 1. |
- Arge, Tummas Napoleon, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring structural inhomogeneity of a helical conjugated polymer at high pressure and temperature
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics. - : Wiley. - 0887-6266. ; 57:7, s. 392-396
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on X-ray scattering measurements of helical poly[9,9-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-fluorene-2,7-diyl] by mapping the sample with 10 μm spatial resolution from 0.3 GPa to 36 GPa. We follow the strongest 00l reflection, which moves toward higher scattering angles with pressure indicating planarization of helical polyfluorene. Lateral inhomogeneity is increased for >10 GPa concomitant with the solidification of the pressure transmitting medium (a 4:1 mixture of methanol and ethanol). We also follow the 00l reflection with increasing temperature at the constant pressure of 4.3 GPa in neon. We observe a sharp shift toward higher scattering angles indicative of a phase transition at 167–176 °C.
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| 2. |
- Biró, Péter, et al.
(författare)
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Building Kindey Exchange Programmes in Europe - An Overview of Exchange Practice and Activities
- 2019
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Ingår i: Transplantation. - 1534-6080. ; 103:7, s. 1514-1522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bakgrund: Considerable differences exist among the living donor Kidney Exchange Programmes (KEPs) that are in use and being built in Europe, contributing to a variation in the number of living donor transplants [6]. Efforts of European KEPs to exchange (best) practices and share approaches to address challenges have, however, been limited.Methods: Experts from 23 European countries, collaborating on the ENCKEP COST Action, developed a questionnaire to collect detailed information on the functioning of all existing KEPs in Europe, as well as their opportunities and challenges. Following a comparative analysis, results were synthesised and interpreted by the same experts.Results: The practices, opportunities and challenges reported by 17 European countries reveal that some of the 10 operating programmes are mature, while others are in earlier stages of development. Over 1300 transplants were performed through existing KEPs up to the end of 2016, providing approximately 8% of their countries’ living kidney donations in 2015. All countries report challenges to either initiating KEPs or increasing volumes. Some challenges are shared, whilst others differ because of differences in context (eg, country size, effectiveness of deceased donor programme) and ethical and legal considerations (eg, regarding living donation as such, nonrelated donors, and altruistic donation). Transnational initiatives have started in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and Southern Europe.Conclusions: Exchange of best practices and shared advancement of national programmes to address existing challenges, aided by transnational exchanges, may substantially improve access to the most (cost) effective treatment for the increasing number of patients suffering from kidney disease.
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| 3. |
- Haase, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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A method for the reintroduction of entire benthic invertebrate communities in formerly degraded streams
- 2019
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Ingår i: Limnologica. - : Elsevier. - 0075-9511 .- 1873-5851. ; 77
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reintroduction is a commonly used tool in wildlife conservation. Although freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened worldwide, reintroductions of entire benthic invertebrate communities have never been reported before. Here, for the first time, we developed a comprehensive method for the reintroduction of entire communities in formerly degraded streams that describes the selection of donor and recipient streams, the transfer of specimens, mortality rates, and a monitoring scheme. The stream selection procedure of the new method is based on widely available environmental variables and richness metrics that are regularly monitored by water authorities to fulfill the requirements of water policy frameworks (e.g. EU WFD). The sampling and transfer of specimens is also based on common and simply applicable methods (i.e. kick sampling). For each recipient stream, three donor streams were selected with a complementary set of reference species missing at the recipient stream. The sampling at each donor stream was done six times a year to cover different seasons and life stages. We applied our method to one stream (10 km2) and one river (1608 km2) in central Germany. In total, we transferred 325,197 and 401,233 specimens from three different donor streams, including 45 (28,682 specimens) and 50 (47,716 specimens) missing reference taxa into each recipient stream and river, respectively. Average mortality rates varied between 0.97% for all specimens and 1.72% for reference specimens. We recommend a post-reintroduction monitoring that includes new methods, i.e. environmental DNA and high throughput sequencing. Our proposed reintroduction method is based on commonly used variables, metrics and sampling techniques. Accordingly, this method requires only minor modifications to become applicable in other countries. The simultaneous reintroduction of a large number of reference taxa will increase the likelihood to reestablish near-natural benthic invertebrate communities in formerly degraded streams. This may increase the public and political acceptance of costly river restoration projects that so far, do not often reach a good ecological status even after decades, due to a large-scale depletion of potential source populations. Our method will help in the reintroduction of reference species in restored streams where natural recolonization is not possible.
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| 4. |
- Haase, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Moderate warming over the past 25 years has already reorganized stream invertebrate communities
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 658, s. 1531-1538
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate warming often results in species range shifts, biodiversity loss and accumulated climatic debts of biota (i.e. slower changes in biota than in temperature). Here, we analyzed the changes in community composition and temperature signature of stream invertebrate communities over 25 years (1990-€“2014), based on a large set of samples (n = 3782) over large elevation, latitudinal and longitudinal gradients in central Europe. Although warming was moderate (average 0.5°C), we found a strong reorganization of stream invertebrate communities. Total abundance (+35.9%) and richness (+39.2%) significantly increased. The share of abundance (TA) and taxonomic richness (TR) of warm-dwelling taxa (TA: +73.2%; TR: +60.2%) and medium-temperature-dwelling taxa (TA: +0.4%; TR: +5.8%) increased too, while cold-dwelling taxa declined (TA: -61.5%; TR: -ˆ’47.3%). The community temperature index, representing the temperature signature of stream invertebrate communities, increased at a similar pace to physical temperature, indicating a thermophilization of the communities and, for the first time, no climatic debt. The strongest changes occurred along the altitudinal gradient, suggesting that stream invertebrates use the spatial configuration of river networks to track their temperature niche uphill. Yet, this may soon come to an end due to the summit trap effect. Our results indicate an ongoing process of replacement of cold-adapted species by thermophilic species at only 0.5 °C warming, which is particularly alarming in the light of the more drastic climate warming projected for coming decades.
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| 5. |
- Jourdan, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of changing climate on European stream invertebrate communities : A long-term data analysis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 621, s. 588-599
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Long-term observations on riverine benthic invertebrate communities enable assessments of the potential impacts of global change on stream ecosystems. Besides increasing average temperatures, many studies predict greater temperature extremes and intense precipitation events as a consequence of climate change. In this study we examined long-term observation data (10–32years) of 26 streams and rivers from four ecoregions in the European Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network, to investigate invertebrate community responses to changing climatic conditions. We used functional trait and multi-taxonomic analyses and combined examinations of general long-term changes in communities with detailed analyses of the impact of different climatic drivers (i.e., various temperature and precipitation variables) by focusing on the response of communities to climatic conditions of the previous year. Taxa and ecoregions differed substantially in their response to climate change conditions. We did not observe any trend of changes in total taxonomic richness or overall abundance over time or with increasing temperatures, which reflects a compensatory turnover in the composition of communities; sensitive Plecoptera decreased in response to warmer years and Ephemeroptera increased in northern regions. Invasive species increased with an increasing number of extreme days which also caused an apparent upstream community movement. The observed changes in functional feeding group diversity indicate that climate change may be associated with changes in trophic interactions within aquatic food webs. These findings highlight the vulnerability of riverine ecosystems to climate change and emphasize the need to further explore the interactive effects of climate change variables with other local stressors to develop appropriate conservation measures.
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| 6. |
- Pilotto, Francesca, et al.
(författare)
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Diverging response patterns of terrestrial and aquatic species to hydromorphological restoration
- 2019
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Ingår i: Conservation Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0888-8892 .- 1523-1739. ; 33:1, s. 132-141
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although experiences with ecological restoration continue to accumulate, the effectiveness of restoration for biota remains debated. We complemented a traditional taxonomic analysis approach with information on 56 species traits to uncover the responses of 3 aquatic (fish, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes) and 2 terrestrial (carabid beetles, floodplain vegetation) biotic groups to 43 hydromorphological river restoration projects in Germany. All taxonomic groups responded positively to restoration, as shown by increased taxonomic richness (10–164%) and trait diversity (habitat, dispersal and mobility, size, form, life history, and feeding groups) (15–120%). Responses, however, were stronger for terrestrial than aquatic biota, and, contrary to our expectation, taxonomic responses were stronger than those of traits. Nevertheless, trait analysis provided mechanistic insights into the drivers of community change following restoration. Trait analysis for terrestrial biota indicated restoration success was likely enhanced by lateral connectivity and reestablishment of dynamic processes in the floodplain. The weaker response of aquatic biota suggests recovery was hindered by the persistence of stressors in the aquatic environment, such as degraded water quality, dispersal constraints, and insufficient hydromorphological change. Therefore, river restoration requires combined local- and regional-scale approaches to maximize the response of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Due to the contrasting responses of aquatic and terrestrial biota, the planning and assessment of river restoration outcomes should consider effects on both components of riverine landscapes.
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