| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Cornelissen, Johannes H C, et al.
(författare)
-
Global negative vegetation feedback to climate warming responses of leaf litter decomposition rates in cold biomes
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Ecology Letters. - : Wiley. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 10:7, s. 619-627
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Whether climate change will turn cold biomes from large long-term carbon sinks into sources is hotly debated because of the great potential for ecosystem-mediated feedbacks to global climate. Critical are the direction, magnitude and generality of climate responses of plant litter decomposition. Here, we present the first quantitative analysis of the major climate-change-related drivers of litter decomposition rates in cold northern biomes worldwide.Leaf litters collected from the predominant species in 33 global change manipulation experiments in circum-arctic-alpine ecosystems were incubated simultaneously in two contrasting arctic life zones. We demonstrate that longer-term, large-scale changes to leaf litter decomposition will be driven primarily by both direct warming effects and concomitant shifts in plant growth form composition, with a much smaller role for changes in litter quality within species. Specifically, the ongoing warming-induced expansion of shrubs with recalcitrant leaf litter across cold biomes would constitute a negative feedback to global warming. Depending on the strength of other (previously reported) positive feedbacks of shrub expansion on soil carbon turnover, this may partly counteract direct warming enhancement of litter decomposition.
|
|
| 3. |
- Hafsteinsdottir, Solveig, et al.
(författare)
-
Suspected infections in children treated for ALL
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Acta Pædiatrica. - : Wiley. - 1651-2227 .- 0803-5253. ; 98:7, s. 1149-1155
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of our study was to get epidemiological information on bacterial infections in children treated for ALL and to analyse which patients have an enhanced infection risk. Episodes of suspected or confirmed infections were evaluated during the first 12 months of treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The number of patients was 73 (43 boys). The median age was 4.6 years. A total of 179 episodes occurred, varying from none in six patients to eight in one. Bacteria were cultured in 57 episodes (31.8%), the most common being coagulase-negative staphylococci. The number of episodes fell significantly with increasing age for suspected and confirmed infections (p < 0.001 and p = 0.03). The proportion of confirmed infections was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the first episodes. The average number of suspected infections was higher in girls than in boys (p = 0.03), but confirmed infections were not. Most of the serious infections occur early in the treatment and the number of suspected and confirmed infections falls with age. Suspicion of infection is more likely in girls, but the number of confirmed infections is equal in both sexes. Coagulase-negative staphylococcus was most commonly isolated, highlighting the importance of careful handling of central venous devices.
|
|
| 4. |
- Hicks, Andrew A., et al.
(författare)
-
Genetic determinants of circulating sphingolipid concentrations in European populations
- 2009
-
Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 5:10, s. e1000672-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sphingolipids have essential roles as structural components of cell membranes and in cell signalling, and disruption of their metabolism causes several diseases, with diverse neurological, psychiatric, and metabolic consequences. Increasingly, variants within a few of the genes that encode enzymes involved in sphingolipid metabolism are being associated with complex disease phenotypes. Direct experimental evidence supports a role of specific sphingolipid species in several common complex chronic disease processes including atherosclerotic plaque formation, myocardial infarction (MI), cardiomyopathy, pancreatic β-cell failure, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, sphingolipids represent novel and important intermediate phenotypes for genetic analysis, yet little is known about the major genetic variants that influence their circulating levels in the general population. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) between 318,237 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and levels of circulating sphingomyelin (SM), dihydrosphingomyelin (Dih-SM), ceramide (Cer), and glucosylceramide (GluCer) single lipid species (33 traits); and 43 matched metabolite ratios measured in 4,400 subjects from five diverse European populations. Associated variants (32) in five genomic regions were identified with genome-wide significant corrected p-values ranging down to 9.08×10−66. The strongest associations were observed in or near 7 genes functionally involved in ceramide biosynthesis and trafficking: SPTLC3, LASS4, SGPP1, ATP10D, and FADS1–3. Variants in 3 loci (ATP10D, FADS3, and SPTLC3) associate with MI in a series of three German MI studies. An additional 70 variants across 23 candidate genes involved in sphingolipid-metabolizing pathways also demonstrate association (p = 10−4 or less). Circulating concentrations of several key components in sphingolipid metabolism are thus under strong genetic control, and variants in these loci can be tested for a role in the development of common cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological, and psychiatric diseases.
|
|
| 5. |
- Jonasson, J M, et al.
(författare)
-
Insulin glargine use and short-term incidence of malignancies-a population-based follow-up study in Sweden.
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Diabetologia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-0428 .- 0012-186X. ; 52:9, s. 1745-54
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: In the light of a report suggesting that insulin glargine may increase cancer occurrence, the EASD asked us to perform this study. METHODS: We followed 114,841 individuals who had a prescription dispensed for insulin between 1 July and 31 December 2005. From 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2007, we noted the occurrence of malignancies. Seven different nationwide registers were used to obtain information on insulin exposure, outcome and possible confounders; these were linked using the unique personal identity number assigned to every Swedish resident. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and, when appropriate, sex, users of insulin glargine alone (no other types of insulin), compared with users of types of insulin other than insulin glargine, had an RR of 1.99 (95% CI 1.31-3.03) for breast cancer, 0.93 (95% CI 0.61-1.40) for gastrointestinal cancer, 1.27 (95% CI 0.89-1.82) for prostate cancer and 1.07 (95% CI 0.91-1.27) for any type of malignancy. Adjustment for age, smoking, BMI, age at onset of diabetes, age at birth of first child, cardiovascular disease and oestrogen use gave an RR for breast cancer of 1.97 (95% CI 1.29-3.00). The 95% CIs crossed 1.0 for the RR calculated in all analyses of users of insulin glargine in combination with other types of insulin. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In Sweden, during 2006 and 2007, women using insulin glargine alone (no other types of insulin) had an increased incidence rate of breast cancer as compared with women using types of insulin other than insulin glargine. This result may be due to a random fluctuation; the possibilities for examining validity are limited, and no statistically significant results were obtained for any other individual cancer site or for the outcome 'all malignancies'. No definitive conclusions regarding a possible causal relationship between insulin glargine use and the occurrence of malignancies can be drawn from the results of this study.
|
|
| 6. |
- Lindh, Christina, et al.
(författare)
-
Trabecular pattern in intraoral radiographs as a sign of osteoporosis : the OSTEODENT study
- 2006
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate if the trabecular pattern in intraoral radiographs, assessed by five observers, could serve as an indicator of osteoporosis. Methods: Six hundred and seventy one women (45 - 70 yrs) from four European centers were included in the study and examined with intraoral radiographs in the right upper and lower premolar region. The patients also underwent examinations with central dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the hip and lumbar spine. Five observers assessed the trabecular pattern in the intraoral radiographs into one of three classes: dense, heterogeneous or sparse trabecular pattern. The assessments were made with the aid of reference images and the observers underwent a calibration procedure before starting their assessments. The classifications were compared with the true diagnosis of osteoporosis measured using DXA. Results: The sensitivity and specificity for five observers’ assessments of the intraoral radiographs with sparse trabecular pattern as indicative of osteoporosis at either hip or spine are given in the table below. The values are calculated for patients diagnosed as having osteoporosis at any of the examined sites. Upper jaw Lower jaw Observer Sensitivity Specificity Sensitivity Specificity 1 22.2 90.2 13.2 94.5 2 22.6 94.8 15.8 94.2 3 26.5 91.6 28.1 86.7 4 36.3 87.4 30.2 82.4 5 35.3 93.7 39.1 95.6 If the cut-off included either “heterogeneous” or “sparse” trabeculation then a higher sensitivity was achieved (90.6 – 73.7) but a lower specificity (49.4 – 26.2). Conclusion: Assessment of sparse trabecular pattern on intraoral radiographs offered a combination of low sensitivity but high specificity for osteoporosis diagnosis. If it is assumed that high specificity is preferred for osteoporosis assessment by dentists, then this method may have potential for clinical use, although inter-observer variability may be a problem. This work was supported by a research and technological development project grant from the European Commission FP5 'Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources' (QLK6-2002-02243).
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
