| 1. |
- Conway, Marie C, et al.
(författare)
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Maternal and child FADS genotype as determinants of cord blood long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) concentrations in the Seychelles Child Development Study
- 2021
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Ingår i: British Journal of Nutrition. - 1475-2662. ; 126:11, s. 1687-1697
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optimal maternal long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) status is essential for the developing foetus. The fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes are involved in the endogenous synthesis of LCPUFA. The minor allele of various FADS single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with increased maternal concentrations of the precursors linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA), and lower concentrations of arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). There is limited research on the influence of FADS genotype on cord PUFA status. The current study investigated the influence of maternal and child genetic variation in FADS genotype on cord blood PUFA status in a high fish-eating cohort. Cord blood samples (n=1088) collected from the Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS) Nutrition Cohort 2 (NC2) were analysed for total serum PUFA. Of those with cord PUFA data available, maternal (n=1062) and child (n=916), FADS1 (rs174537, rs174561), FADS2 (rs174575), and FADS1-FADS2 (rs3834458) were determined. Regression analysis determined that maternal minor allele homozygosity was associated with lower cord blood concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and the sum of EPA+DHA. Lower cord blood AA concentrations were observed in children who were minor allele homozygous for rs3834458 (β=0.075; p=0.037). Children who were minor allele carriers for rs174537, rs174561, rs174575 and rs3834458 had a lower cord blood AA:LA ratio (p<0.05 for all). Both maternal and child FADS genotype were associated with cord LCPUFA concentrations, and therefore, the influence of FADS genotype was observed despite the high intake of preformed dietary LCPUFA from fish in this population.
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| 2. |
- Bakker, F. T., et al.
(författare)
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The Global Museum: natural history collections and the future of evolutionary science and public education
- 2020
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Ingår i: PeerJ. - : PeerJ. - 2167-8359. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Natural history museums are unique spaces for interdisciplinary research and educational innovation. Through extensive exhibits and public programming and by hosting rich communities of amateurs, students, and researchers at all stages of their careers, they can provide a place-based window to focus on integration of science and discovery, as well as a locus for community engagement. At the same time, like a synthesis radio telescope, when joined together through emerging digital resources, the global community of museums (the 'Global Museum') is more than the sum of its parts, allowing insights and answers to diverse biological, environmental, and societal questions at the global scale, across eons of time, and spanning vast diversity across the Tree of Life. We argue that, whereas natural history collections and museums began with a focus on describing the diversity and peculiarities of species on Earth, they are now increasingly leveraged in new ways that significantly expand their impact and relevance. These new directions include the possibility to ask new, often interdisciplinary questions in basic and applied science, such as in biomimetic design, and by contributing to solutions to climate change, global health and food security challenges. As institutions, they have long been incubators for cutting-edge research in biology while simultaneously providing core infrastructure for research on present and future societal needs. Here we explore how the intersection between pressing issues in environmental and human health and rapid technological innovation have reinforced the relevance of museum collections. We do this by providing examples as food for thought for both the broader academic community and museum scientists on the evolving role of museums. We also identify challenges to the realization of the full potential of natural history collections and the Global Museum to science and society and discuss the critical need to grow these collections. We then focus on mapping and modelling of museum data (including place-based approaches and discovery), and explore the main projects, platforms and databases enabling this growth. Finally, we aim to improve relevant protocols for the long-term storage of specimens and tissues, ensuring proper connection with tomorrow's technologies and hence further increasing the relevance of natural history museums.
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| 3. |
- Conway, Marie C, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of fish consumption on serum n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations in women of childbearing age : a randomised controlled trial (the iFish Study)
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Journal of Nutrition. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1436-6215 .- 1436-6207. ; 60:3, s. 1415-1427
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) can be synthesised endogenously from linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA) in a pathway involving the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes. Endogenous synthesis is inefficient; therefore, dietary intake of preformed LCPUFA from their richest source of fish is preferred. This study investigated the effect of fish consumption on PUFA concentrations in women of childbearing age while stratifying by FADS genotype. The influence of fish consumption on lipid profile, and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress was also examined.METHODS: Healthy women (n = 49) provided a buccal swab which was analysed for FADS2 genotype (rs3834458; T/deletion). Participants were stratified according to genotype and randomised to an intervention group to receive either no fish (n = 18), 1 portion (n = 14) or 2 portions (n = 17) (140 g per portion) of fish per week for a period of 8 weeks. Serum PUFA was analysed at baseline and post-intervention. Lipid profile, and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were also analysed.RESULTS: Participants consuming 2 portions of fish per week had significantly higher concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 PUFA, and a lower n-6:n-3 ratio compared to those in the no fish or 1 portion per week group (all p < 0.05). Fish consumption did not have a significant effect on biomarkers of oxidative stress, inflammation and lipid profile in the current study.CONCLUSION: Consumption of 2 portions of fish per week has beneficial effects on biological n-3 PUFA concentrations in women of childbearing age; however, no effects on oxidative stress, inflammation or lipid profile were observed. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03765580), registered December 2018.
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| 4. |
- Yeates, Alison Jayne, et al.
(författare)
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Maternal Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Status, Methylmercury Exposure, and Birth Outcomes in a High-Fish-Eating Mother-Child Cohort
- 2020
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Ingår i: The Journal of nutrition. - : Elsevier BV. - 1541-6100 .- 0022-3166. ; 150:7, s. 1749-1756
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Maternal status of long-chain PUFAs (LC-PUFAs) may be related to fetal growth. Maternal fish consumption exposes the mother to the neurotoxicant methylmercury (MeHg), which, in contrast, may restrict fetal growth. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to examine relations between maternal LC-PUFA status at 28 wk and birth outcomes (birth weight, length, and head circumference), controlling for MeHg exposure throughout pregnancy, in the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2. Our secondary aim was to examine the influence of maternal variation in genes regulating the desaturation of LC-PUFAs [fatty acid desaturase (FADS)] on birth outcomes. METHODS: From nonfasting blood samples collected at 28 wk of gestation, we measured serum total LC-PUFA concentrations and FADS1 (rs174537, rs174561), FADS1-FADS2rs3834458, and FADS2rs174575 genotypes, with hair total mercury concentrations assessed at delivery. Data were available for n = 1236 mother-child pairs. Associations of maternal LC-PUFAs, MeHg, and FADS genotype with birth outcomes were assessed by multiple linear regression models, adjusting for child sex, gestational age, maternal age, BMI, alcohol use, socioeconomic status, and parity. RESULTS: In our cohort of healthy mothers, neither maternal LC-PUFA status nor MeHg exposure were significant determinants of birth outcomes. However, when compared with major allele homozygotes, mothers who were heterozygous for the minor allele of FADS1 (rs174537 and rs174561, GT compared with TT, β = 0.205, P = 0.03; TC compared with CC, β = 0.203, P = 0.04) and FADS1-FADS2 (rs3834458, Tdel compared with DelDel, β = 0.197, P = 0.04) had infants with a greater head circumference (all P < 0.05). Homozygosity for the minor allele of FADS2 (rs174575) was associated with a greater birth weight (GG compared with CC, β = 0.109, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: In our mother-child cohort, neither maternal LC-PUFA status nor MeHg exposure was associated with birth outcomes. The observed associations of variation in maternal FADS genotype with birth outcomes should be confirmed in other populations.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Olov, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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WARA-PS : a research arena for public safety demonstrations and autonomous collaborative rescue robotics experimentation
- 2021
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Ingår i: Autonomous Intelligent Systems. - : Springer Nature. - 2730-616X. ; 1:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A research arena (WARA-PS) for sensing, data fusion, user interaction, planning and control of collaborative autonomous aerial and surface vehicles in public safety applications is presented. The objective is to demonstrate scientific discoveries and to generate new directions for future research on autonomous systems for societal challenges. The enabler is a computational infrastructure with a core system architecture for industrial and academic collaboration. This includes a control and command system together with a framework for planning and executing tasks for unmanned surface vehicles and aerial vehicles. The motivating application for the demonstration is marine search and rescue operations. A state-of-art delegation framework for the mission planning together with three specific applications is also presented. The first one concerns model predictive control for cooperative rendezvous of autonomous unmanned aerial and surface vehicles. The second project is about learning to make safe real-time decisions under uncertainty for autonomous vehicles, and the third one is on robust terrain-aided navigation through sensor fusion and virtual reality tele-operation to support a GPS-free positioning system in marine environments. The research results have been experimentally evaluated and demonstrated to industry and public sector audiences at a marine test facility. It would be most difficult to do experiments on this large scale without the WARA-PS research arena. Furthermore, these demonstrator activities have resulted in effective research dissemination with high public visibility, business impact and new research collaborations between academia and industry.
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| 6. |
- Brunetti, D., et al.
(författare)
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Anisotropy and shaping effects on the stability boundaries of infernal ideal MHD modes in tokamak hybrid plasmas
- 2020
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Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 62:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anisotropy and some limiting toroidal flow effects on the stability of nearly resonant ideal magnetohydrodynamic modes in hybrid shaped tokamak plasmas are investigated within the ideal MHD infernal mode framework. Such effects are found to alter the plasma magnetic well/hill, which can be interpreted as imparing the average curvature, and the strength of mode coupling. In line with previous results, it is found that better stability properties are achieved through deepening the magnetic well by special cases of uniform toroidal flow and parallel plasma anisotropy. Plasma shaping provides additional modifications to the magnetic well depth, whose global stabilising or destabilising effect depends on the mutual interplay of elongation, triangularity and toroidicity. Further stabilisation is achieved by weakening the mode drive in vertically elongated plasmas.
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| 7. |
- Marthey, S., et al.
(författare)
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Transcription from a gene desert in a melanoma porcine model
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular Genetics and Genomics. - : Springer. - 1617-4615 .- 1617-4623. ; 295:5, s. 1239-1252
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The genetic mechanisms underlying cutaneous melanoma onset and progression need to be further understood to improve patients' care. Several studies have focused on the genetic determinism of melanoma development in the MeLiM pig, a biomedical model of cutaneous melanoma. The objective of this study was to better describe the influence of a particular genomic region on melanoma progression in the MeliM model. Indeed, a large region of theSus scrofachromosome 1 has been identified by linkage and association analyses, but the causal mechanisms have remained elusive. To deepen the analysis of this candidate region, a dedicated SNP panel was used to fine map the locus, downsizing the interval to less than 2 Mb, in a genomic region located within a large gene desert. Transcription from this locus was addressed using a tiling array strategy and further validated by RT-PCR in a large panel of tissues. Overall, the gene desert showed an extensive transcriptional landscape, notably dominated by repeated element transcription in tumor and fetal tissues. The transcription of LINE-1 and PERVs has been confirmed in skin and tumor samples from MeLiM pigs. In conclusion, although this study still does not identify a candidate mutation for melanoma occurrence or progression, it highlights a potential role of repeated element transcriptional activity in the MeLiM model.
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| 8. |
- Chazot, Nicolas, et al.
(författare)
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Conserved ancestral tropical niche but different continental histories explain the latitudinal diversity gradient in brush-footed butterflies
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The global increase in species richness toward the tropics across continents and taxonomic groups, referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient, stimulated the formulation of many hypotheses to explain the underlying mechanisms of this pattern. We evaluate several of these hypotheses to explain spatial diversity patterns in a butterfly family, the Nymphalidae, by assessing the contributions of speciation, extinction, and dispersal, and also the extent to which these processes differ among regions at the same latitude. We generate a time-calibrated phylogeny containing 2,866 nymphalid species (~45% of extant diversity). Neither speciation nor extinction rate variations consistently explain the latitudinal diversity gradient among regions because temporal diversification dynamics differ greatly across longitude. The Neotropical diversity results from low extinction rates, not high speciation rates, and biotic interchanges with other regions are rare. Southeast Asia is also characterized by a low speciation rate but, unlike the Neotropics, is the main source of dispersal events through time. Our results suggest that global climate change throughout the Cenozoic, combined with tropical niche conservatism, played a major role in generating the modern latitudinal diversity gradient of nymphalid butterflies.
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| 9. |
- Ekstrom, M., et al.
(författare)
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Validation of the Swedevox registry of continuous positive airway pressure, long-term mechanical ventilator and long-term oxygen therapy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Erj Open Research. - : European Respiratory Society (ERS). - 2312-0541. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The Swedish Registry of Respiratory Failure (Swedevox) collects nationwide data on patients starting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, long-term mechanical ventilator (LTMV) and long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). We validated key information in Swedevox against source data from medical records. Methods: This was a retrospective validation study of patients starting CPAP (n=175), LTMV (n=177) or LTOT (n=175) across seven centres 2013-2017. Agreement with medical record data was analysed using differences in means (SD) and proportion (%) of a selection of clinically relevant variables. Variables of interest included for CPAP: apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI), height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score; for LTMV: date of blood gas, arterial carbon dioxide tension (P-aCO2) (breathing air), weight and diagnosis group; and for LTOT: blood gases breathing air and oxygen, spirometry and main diagnosis. Results: Data on CPAP and LTOT had very high validity across all evaluated variables (all <5% discrepancy). For LTMV, variability was higher against source information for P-aCO2 (>0.5 kPa in 25.9%), weight (>5 kg in 47.5%) and diagnosis group. Inconsistency was higher for patients starting LTMV acutely versus electively (P-aCO2 difference >0.5 kPa in 36% versus 21%, p<0.05, respectively). However, there were no signs of systematic bias (mean differences close to zero) across the evaluated variables. Conclusion: Validity of Swedevox data, compared with medical records, was very high for CPAP, LTMV and LTOT. The large sample size and lack of systematic differences support that Swedevox data are valid for healthcare quality assessment and research.
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| 10. |
- Ma, Lijun, et al.
(författare)
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A phylogenomic tree inferred with an inexpensive PCR-generated probe kit resolves higher-level relationships among Neptis butterflies (Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Systematic Entomology. - : Wiley. - 0307-6970 .- 1365-3113. ; 45:4, s. 924-934
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent advances in obtaining reduced representation libraries for next-generation sequencing permit phylogenomic analysis of species-rich, recently diverged taxa. In this study, we performed sequence capture with homemade PCR-generated probes to study diversification among closely related species in a large insect genus to examine the utility of this method. We reconstructed the phylogeny of Neptis Fabricius, a large and poorly studied nymphalid butterfly genus distributed throughout the Old World. We inferred relationships among 108 Neptis samples using 89 loci totaling up to 84 519 bp per specimen. Our taxon sample focused on Palearctic, Oriental and Australasian species, but included 8 African species and outgroups from 5 related genera. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses yielded identical trees with full support for almost all nodes. We confirmed that Neptis is not monophyletic because Lasippa heliodore (Fabricius) and Phaedyma amphion (Linnaeus) are nested within the genus, and we redefine species groups for Neptis found outside of Africa. The statistical support of our results demonstrates that the probe set we employed is useful for inferring phylogenetic relationships among Neptis species and likely has great value for intrageneric phylogenetic reconstruction of Lepidoptera. Based on our results, we revise the following two taxa: Neptis heliodore comb. rev. and Neptis amphion comb. rev.
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