| 1. |
- Haller, Henrik, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Phytoremediation of Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Soils : Capacity of Amaranth Plants to Extract Cadmium from Nutrient-Poor, Acidic Substrates
- 2023
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In: Challenges. - : MDPI. ; 14:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Soil pollution is a threat to food security and ecological and human health. Cd is one of the most common pollutants in agricultural soil and, due its human toxicity, one of the most hazardous. Amaranth is a documented hyperaccumulator of Cd and other pollutants, and it is commonly grown in Asia and South America. A considerable amount of amaranth is grown in suboptimal conditions, including nutrient-poor acidic soils. The objective of this experimental study was to examine the capacity of Amaranthus hypochondriacus to extract Cd from a nutrient-poor, acidic substrate that was spiked with different concentrations of Cd (2 and 20 mg kg−1 dw) during a period of 180 days. The plants grown in the substrate that was spiked with 20 mg Cd kg−1 dw did not develop into mature plants, but the plants grown in substrate that was spiked with 2 mg Cd kg−1 dw extracted a significant amount of Cd from the substrate by accumulating it into the above-ground biomass. The Cd levels varied from 113 to 176 mg kg−1 in the stems at the four measuring points, and from 64 to 94 mg kg−1 in the leaves. The concentrations in the plants increased with time and reached a maximal concentration of 176 ± 45 mg kg−1 dw for stems and 94 ± 41 mg kg−1 dw for leaves after 180 days. The mean bioaccumulation factor in the plants was 86 ± 15 after 90 days, 72 ± 12 after 120 days, 105 ± 37 after 150 days, and 99 ± 31 after 180 days, which confirms the previously reported capacity of Amaranthus hypochondriacus to hyperaccumulate Cd. Amaranthus hypochondriacus may, thus, be used to improve ecological and human health by remediating moderately Cd-polluted soils, even in nutrient-poor acidic soils.
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| 2. |
- Mellion, Michelle L., et al.
(author)
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Quantitative Muscle Analysis in FSHD Using Whole-Body Fat-Referenced MRI Composite Scores for Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Analysis
- 2022
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In: Neurology. - : LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS. - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 99:9, s. E877-E889
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Objectives Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a rare, debilitating disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness. MRI is a sensitive assessment of disease severity and progression. We developed a quantitative whole-body (WB) musculoskeletal MRI (WB-MSK-MRI) protocol analyzing muscles in their entirety. This study aimed to assess WB-MSK-MRI as a potential imaging biomarker providing reliable measurements of muscle health that capture disease heterogeneity and clinically meaningful composite assessments correlating with severity and more responsive to change in clinical trials. Methods Participants aged 18-65 years, with genetically confirmed FSHD1, clinical severity 2 to 4 (Ricci scale, range 0-5), and >= 1 short tau inversion recovery-positive lower extremity muscle eligible for needle biopsy, enrolled at 6 sites and were imaged twice 4-12 weeks apart. Volumetric analysis of muscle fat infiltration (MFI), muscle fat fraction (MFF), and lean muscle volume (LMV) in 18 (36 total) muscles from bilateral shoulder, proximal arm, trunk, and legs was performed after automated atlas-based segmentation, followed by manual verification. A WB composite score, including muscles at highest risk for progression, and functional cross-sectional composites for correlation with relevant functional outcomes including timed up and go (TUG), FSHD-TUG, and reachable workspace (RWS), were developed. Results Seventeen participants enrolled in this study; 16 follow-up MRIs were performed at 52 days (range 36-85 days). Functional cross-sectional composites (MFF and MFI) showed moderate to strong correlations: TUG (rho = 0.71, rho = 0.83), FSHD-TUG (rho = 0.73, rho = 0.73), and RWS (left arm: rho = -0.71, rho = -0.53; right arm: rho = -0.61, rho = -0.65). WB composite variability: LMVtot, coefficient of variation (CV) 1.9% and 3.4%; MFFtot, within-subject SD (S-w) 0.5% and 1.5%; and MFItot (S-w), 0.3% and 0.4% for normal and intermediate muscles, respectively. CV and S-w were higher in intermediate (MFI >= 0.10; MFF <0.50) than in normal (MFI <0.10, MFF <0.50) muscles. Discussion We developed a WB-MSK-MRI protocol and composite measures that capture disease heterogeneity and assess muscle involvement as it correlates with FSHD-relevant clinical endpoints. Functional composites robustly correlate with functional assessments. Stability of the WB composite shows that it could be an assessment of change in therapeutic clinical trials. Classification of Evidence This study provides Class II evidence that quantitative WB-MSK-MRI findings associate with FSHD1 severity measured using established functional assessments.
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| 3. |
- Pilesjö, Petter, et al.
(author)
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Root system estimation based on satellite remote sensing : An applied study in Eastern Uganda
- 2018
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In: Geospatial Technologies for All : short papers, posters and poster abstracts of the 21th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science. Lund University 12-15 June 2018, Lund, Sweden - short papers, posters and poster abstracts of the 21th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science. Lund University 12-15 June 2018, Lund, Sweden.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The density of roots is an important factor influencing the rate and magnitude of landslides. Due to the increased variability in climate, mainly rainfall, Eastern Uganda is severely struck by an increasing number of these mass movements, often with human casualties as one of the negative impacts. The aim of this study is to explore the possibility to estimate the depth and density of the root system influencing the resistance to landslides, from satellite remote sensing data. 104 samples were collected in field, where the root system was classified into 5 different classes, from non-existing to dense and deep (forest). The study was carried out in the Mount Elgon area located at the Ugandan-Kenyan border. The field data were then compared with 30 m Landsat TM data, in order to investigate possible links between reflectance (single bands as well as indices) and ground truth data. The results indicate that, following this methodology, it is not possible to estimate the root system density based on the remotely sensed data, since the maximum Cohen’s kappa value of 0.081 is judged deficient.
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