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- Bengtson, Sven-Axel, et al.
(författare)
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Man-dependence of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) in the Faroe Islands: habitat patch characteristics as determinants of presence and numbers
- 2010
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Ingår i: Dorete - her book, Annales Societatis Scientiarum Færoensis, Suppl. 52. ; , s. 227-243
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) began to colonize the Faroe Islands in the mid-1940s and occurs in most built-up areas. Breeding is confined to the discrete human habitations (settlements) that form a pattern of patches (”habitat-islands”). In 2002 all settlements were surveyed and the number of pairs of sparrows (total number ca. 2,700 pairs) and amount of vegetation (”green space”) were estimated. The settlements ranged in size from 0.01 km2 (a single farmstead) to 8.72 km2 (the capital) and 68% of them (n=118) were occupied by sparrows. Patch occupancy was positively correlated with both area and amount of vegetation (p < 0.001) but not quite with the degree of isolation (p = 0.15). The latter was crudely scored as a function of distance to nearest settlement with > 10 pairs (a possible source area) and topography (mainly mountains and open sea). The patch variables area, human population, number of houses and houses were strongly intercorrelated. Abundance (number of pairs) of sparrows was positively correlated with the number of houses (r = 0.84, p < 0.001). In all but one of the settlements with < 10 houses sparrows were absent, and also in many of those with 10-60 houses where the scatter swas wide (no significant correlation p = 0.25). All but one of the settlements with > 60 houses supported sparrows and the correlation with abundance was highly significant (p < 0.001). The absence of sparrows in small settlements is discussed in terms of risks of associated with small populations such as stochastic extinctions, Allee effects, competition, and predation (incl. persecution by Man). Various anthropogenic effects on abundance of sparrows are discussed; e.g. age, type and conditions of buildings and the presence of gardens, cultivations, and plantations all contributing to shelter and food resources. The Faroese House Sparrow as a metapopulation is briefly discussed.
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- Hendrickson, Sara J., et al.
(författare)
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Plasma Carotenoid- and Retinol-Weighted Multi-SNP Scores and Risk of Breast Cancer in the National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium
- 2013
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Ingår i: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - Philadelphia, PA, USA : American Association for Cancer Research. - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 22:5, s. 927-936
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Dietary and circulating carotenoids have been inversely associated with breast cancer risk, but observed associations may be due to confounding. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase 1 (BCMO1), a gene encoding the enzyme involved in the first step of synthesizing vitamin A from dietary carotenoids, have been associated with circulating carotenoid concentrations and may serve as unconfounded surrogates for those biomarkers. We determined associations between variants in BCMO1 and breast cancer risk in a large cohort consortium. Methods: We used unconditional logistic regression to test four SNPs in BCMO1 for associations with breast cancer risk in 9,226 cases and 10,420 controls from the National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3). We also tested weighted multi-SNP scores composed of the two SNPs with strong, confirmed associations with circulating carotenoid concentrations. Results: Neither the individual SNPs nor the weighted multi-SNP scores were associated with breast cancer risk [OR (95% confidence interval) comparing extreme quintiles of weighted multi-SNP scores = 1.04 (0.94-1.16) for beta-carotene, 1.08 (0.98-1.20) for alpha-carotene, 1.04 (0.94-1.16) for beta-cryptoxanthin, 0.95 (0.87-1.05) for lutein/zeaxanthin, and 0.92 (0.83-1.02) for retinol]. Furthermore, no associations were observed when stratifying by estrogen receptor status, but power was limited. Conclusions: Our results do not support an association between SNPs associated with circulating carotenoid concentrations and breast cancer risk. Impact: Future studies will need additional genetic surrogates and/or sample sizes at least three times larger to contribute evidence of a causal link between carotenoids and breast cancer. (C) 2013 AACR.
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