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- Hilbert, Kevin, et al.
(författare)
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Cortical and Subcortical Brain Alterations in Specific Phobia and Its Animal and Blood-Injection-Injury Subtypes: A Mega-Analysis From the ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group.
- 2024
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Ingår i: The American Journal of Psychiatry. - 1535-7228.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Specific phobia is a common anxiety disorder, but the literature on associated brain structure alterations exhibits substantial gaps. The ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group examined brain structure differences between individuals with specific phobias and healthy control subjects as well as between the animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) subtypes of specific phobia. Additionally, the authors investigated associations of brain structure with symptom severity and age (youths vs. adults).Data sets from 31 original studies were combined to create a final sample with 1,452 participants with phobia and 2,991 healthy participants (62.7% female; ages 5-90). Imaging processing and quality control were performed using established ENIGMA protocols. Subcortical volumes as well as cortical surface area and thickness were examined in a preregistered analysis.Compared with the healthy control group, the phobia group showed mostly smaller subcortical volumes, mixed surface differences, and larger cortical thickness across a substantial number of regions. The phobia subgroups also showed differences, including, as hypothesized, larger medial orbitofrontal cortex thickness in BII phobia (N=182) compared with animal phobia (N=739). All findings were driven by adult participants; no significant results were observed in children and adolescents.Brain alterations associated with specific phobia exceeded those of other anxiety disorders in comparable analyses in extent and effect size and were not limited to reductions in brain structure. Moreover, phenomenological differences between phobia subgroups were reflected in diverging neural underpinnings, including brain areas related to fear processing and higher cognitive processes. The findings implicate brain structure alterations in specific phobia, although subcortical alterations in particular may also relate to broader internalizing psychopathology.
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| 2. |
- Oskarsson, Viktor, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of geographical latitude on vitamin D status: cross-sectional results from the BiomarCaRE consortium
- 2022
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Ingår i: British Journal of Nutrition. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0007-1145 .- 1475-2662. ; 128:11, s. 2208-2218
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Even though sunlight is viewed as the most important determinant of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) status, several European studies have observed higher 25(OH)D concentrations among north-Europeans than south-Europeans. We studied the association between geographical latitude (derived from ecological data) and 25(OH)D status in 6 European countries by using harmonized immunoassay data from 81,084 participants in the Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Europe (BiomarCaRE) project (male sex 48.9%; median age 50.8 years; examination period 1984 to 2014). Quantile regression models, adjusted for age, sex, decade and calendar week of sampling, and time from sampling to analysis, were used for between-country comparisons. Up until the median percentile, the ordering of countries by 25(OH)D status (from highest to lowest) was as follows: Sweden (at 65.6 to 63.8 oN), Germany (at 48.4 oN), Finland (at 65.0 to 60.2 oN), Italy (at 45.6 to 41.5 oN), Scotland (at 58.2 to 55.1 oN), and Spain (at 41.5 oN). From the 75th percentile and upwards, Finland had higher values than Germany. As an example, using the Swedish cohort as comparator, the median 25(OH)D concentration was 3.03, 3.28, 5.41, 6.54, and 9.28 ng/mL lower in the German, Finnish, Italian, Scottish, and Spanish cohort, respectively (P-value < 0.001 for all comparisons). The ordering of countries was highly consistent in subgroup analyses by sex, age, and decade and season of sampling. In conclusion, we confirmed the previous observation of a north-to-south gradient of 25(OH)D status in Europe, with higher percentile values among north-Europeans than south-Europeans.
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| 3. |
- Rixen, C., et al.
(författare)
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Winters are changing: snow effects on Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems
- 2022
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Ingår i: Arctic Science. - : Canadian Science Publishing. - 2368-7460. ; 8:3, s. 572-608
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Snow is an important driver of ecosystem processes in cold biomes. Snow accumulation determines ground temperature, light conditions, and moisture availability during winter. It also affects the growing season's start and end, and plant access to moisture and nutrients. Here, we review the current knowledge of the snow cover's role for vegetation, plant-animal interactions, permafrost conditions, microbial processes, and biogeochemical cycling. We also compare studies of natural snow gradients with snow experimental manipulation studies to assess time scale difference of these approaches. The number of tundra snow studies has increased considerably in recent years, yet we still lack a comprehensive overview of how altered snow conditions will affect these ecosystems. Specifically, we found a mismatch in the timing of snowmelt when comparing studies of natural snow gradients with snow manipulations. We found that snowmelt timing achieved by snow addition and snow removal manipulations (average 7.9 days advance and 5.5 days delay, respectively) were substantially lower than the temporal variation over natural spatial gradients within a given year (mean range 56 days) or among years (mean range 32 days). Differences between snow study approaches need to be accounted for when projecting snow dynamics and their impact on ecosystems in future climates.
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| 6. |
- Ågren, Anneli, et al.
(författare)
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Ditches show systematic impacts on soil and vegetation properties across the Swedish forest landscape
- 2024
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 555
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Novel mapping methods using AI have led to improved mapping of the extent of drainage systems, but the full scope of the effects of drainage on ecosystems has yet to be understood. By combining ditches mapped with remote sensing and AI methods with soil data from the Swedish Forest Soil Inventory, and vegetation data from the National Forest Inventory we identified 4 126 survey plots within 100 m of a ditch. The inventory data span across three biomes; the northern boreal zone, the hemiboreal zone, and the temperate zone. We explored if soils and vegetation close to ditches were indeed different from the surrounding landscape. The large number of plots spread widely across the Swedish forest landscape spanning different physiographic regions, climates, topography, soils, and vegetation made it possible to identify the general effect of drainage on soil properties, tree productivity, and plant species composition. We found a surprisingly large amount of ditches on mineral soils (50-70%, depending on the definition of peatlands). Forest growth was affected, with higher growth rates of trees closer to ditches, particularly Norway spruce. Sphagnum mosses - a key indicator of wet soils - were less common near ditches, where they were replaced by feather mosses. The soil bulk density was higher closer to ditches, as was the concentration of metals that are typically associated with organic matter (Al), while concentrations of metals with a lower affinity for organic material decreased toward ditches (Na, K, Mg). The results from mineral soils and peat soils often differed. For example, N and tree volume increased toward ditches, but on different levels for peat and mineral soils, while the thickness of the humus layer and Pleurozium schreberi cover showed opposite patterns for the different soils. Clearly, ditches have affected the entire Swedish forest landscape, driving it towards a drier, more spruce-dominated productive forested ecosystem and away from wetland ecosystems like mires and littoral areas along streams. Furthermore, the biogeochemistry of the soils and understory species cover near ditches have changed, potentially irreversibly, at least within human time frames, and have implications for restoration goals and the future of forestry.
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