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- Ahnström, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Farmers' Interest in Nature and Its Relation to Biodiversity in Arable Fields
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Ecology. - : Hindawi Publishing Corporation. - 1687-9708 .- 1687-9716.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity declines in farmland have been attributed to intensification of farming at the field level and loss of heterogeneity at the landscape level. However, farmers are not solely optimizing production; their actions are also influenced by social factors, tradition and interest in nature, which indirectly influence biodiversity but rarely are incorporated in studies of farmland biodiversity. We used social science methods to quantify farmers’ interest in nature on 16 farms with winter wheat fields in central Sweden, and combined this with biodiversity inventories of five organism groups (weeds, carabid beetles, bumblebees, solitary bees, and birds) and estimates of landscape composition andmanagement intensity at the field level.Agricultural intensity,measured as crop density, and farmers’ interest in nature explained variation in biodiversity, measured as the proportion of the regional species richness found on single fields. Interest in nature seemed to incorporate many actions taken by farmers and appeared to be influenced by both physical factors, for example, the surrounding landscape, and social factors, for example, social motivations.This study indicates that conservation of biodiversity in farmland, and design of new agri-environmental subsidy systems, would profit from taking farmers’ interest in nature and its relation to agricultural practices into account.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hedlund, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Type I IFN system activation in newborns exposed to Ro/SSA and La/SSB autoantibodies in utero
- 2020
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Ingår i: RMD Open. - : BMJ. - 2056-5933. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: In utero exposure of the fetus to Ro/La autoantibodies may lead to congenital heart block (CHB). In the mother, these autoantibodies are associated with activation of the type I interferon (IFN)-system. As maternal autoantibodies are transferred to the fetus during pregnancy, we investigated whether the type I IFN-system is activated also in newborns of anti-Ro/La positive mothers, and whether fetal IFN activation is affected by maternal immunomodulatory treatment.METHODS: Blood drawn at birth from anti-Ro/La positive mothers, their newborns and healthy control pairs was separated into plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). PBMC were analysed directly or cultured. mRNA expression was analysed by microarrays, cell surface markers by flow cytometry, and IFNα levels by immunoassays.RESULTS: We observed increased expression of IFN-regulated genes and elevated plasma IFNα levels not only in anti-Ro/La positive women, but also in their newborns. CD14+ monocytes of both anti-Ro/La positive mothers and their neonates showed increased expression of Sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin-1, indicating cellular activation. Notably, the IFN score of neonates born to mothers receiving immunomodulatory treatment was similar to that of controls, despite persistent IFN activation in the mothers. In both maternal and neonatal PBMC, IFNα production was induced when cells were cultured with anti-Ro/La positive plasma.CONCLUSIONS: Ro/La autoantibody-exposed neonates at risk of CHB have signs of an activated immune system with an IFN signature. This study further demonstrates that neonatal cells can produce IFNα when exposed to autoantibody-containing plasma, and that maternal immunomodulatory treatment may diminish the expression of IFN-regulated genes in the fetus.
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| 4. |
- Lönn, Johanna, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Hepatocyte growth factor in patients with coronary artery disease and its relation to periodontal condition
- 2012
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Ingår i: Results in Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 2211-2839. ; 2, s. 7-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is an angiogenic, cardioprotective factor important for tissue and vascular repair. High levels of HGF are associated with chronic inflammatory diseases, such as coronary artery disease (CAD) and periodontitis, and are suggested as a marker of the ongoing atherosclerotic event in patients with CAD. Periodontal disease is more prevalent among patients with CAD than among healthy people. Recent studies indicate a reduced biological activity of HGF in different chronic inflammatory conditions. Biologically active HGF has high affinity to heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) on cell-membrane and extracellular matrix. The aim of the study was to investigate the serum concentration and the biological activity of HGF with ELISA and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), respectively, before and at various time points after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with CAD, and to examine the relationship with periodontal condition. The periodontal status of the CAD patients was examined, and the presence of P. gingivalis in periodontal pockets was analyzed with PCR. The HGF concentration was significantly higher, at all time-points, in patients with CAD compared to the age-matched controls (P< 0.001), but was independent of periodontal status. The HGF concentration and the affinity to HSPG adversely fluctuated over time, and the biological activity increased one month after intervention in patients without periodontitis. We conclude that elevated concentration of HGF but with reduced biological activity might indicate a chronic inflammatory profile in patients with CAD and periodontitis.
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| 5. |
- Olén, Ola, et al.
(författare)
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Increasing Risk of Lymphoma Over Time in Crohn's Disease but Not in Ulcerative Colitis : A Scandinavian Cohort Study
- 2023
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Ingår i: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. - : Elsevier. - 1542-3565 .- 1542-7714. ; 21:12, s. 3132-3142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background & Aims: Earlier studies have provided varying risk estimates for lymphoma in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but often have been limited by detection biases (especially during the first year of follow-up evaluation), misclassification, and small sample size; and rarely reflect modern-day management of IBD.Methods: We performed a binational register-based cohort study (Sweden and Denmark) from 1969 to 2019. We compared 164,716 patients with IBD with 1,639,027 matched general population reference individuals. Cox regression estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for incident lymphoma by lymphoma subtype, excluding the first year of follow-up evaluation.Results: From 1969 to 2019, 258 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 479 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 6675 matched reference individuals developed lymphoma. This corresponded to incidence rates of 35 (CD) and 34 (UC) per 100,000 person-years in IBD patients, compared with 28 and 33 per 100,000 person-years in their matched reference individuals. Although both CD (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.16–1.50) and UC (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.00–1.20) were associated with an increase in lymphoma, the 10-year cumulative incidence difference was low even in CD patients (0.08%; 95% CI, 0.02–0.13). HRs have increased in the past 2 decades, corresponding to increasing use of immunomodulators and biologics during the same time period. HRs were increased for aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in CD and UC patients, and for T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in CD patients. Although the highest HRs were observed in patients exposed to combination therapy (immunomodulators and biologics) or second-line biologics, we also found increased HRs in patients naïve to such drugs.Conclusions: During the past 20 years, the risk of lymphomas have increased in CD, but not in UC, and were driven mainly by T-cell lymphomas and aggressive B-cell lymphomas.
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