| 1. |
- Arvidson, R. E., et al.
(author)
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Opportunity Mars Rover mission : Overview and selected results from Purgatory ripple to traverses to Endeavour crater
- 2011
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research. - Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116, s. E00F15-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Opportunity has been traversing the Meridiani plains since 25 January 2004 (sol 1), acquiring numerous observations of the atmosphere, soils, and rocks. This paper provides an overview of key discoveries between sols 511 and 2300, complementing earlier papers covering results from the initial phases of the mission. Key new results include (1) atmospheric argon measurements that demonstrate the importance of atmospheric transport to and from the winter carbon dioxide polar ice caps; (2) observations showing that aeolian ripples covering the plains were generated by easterly winds during an epoch with enhanced Hadley cell circulation; (3) the discovery and characterization of cobbles and boulders that include iron and stony-iron meteorites and Martian impact ejecta; (4) measurements of wall rock strata within Erebus and Victoria craters that provide compelling evidence of formation by aeolian sand deposition, with local reworking within ephemeral lakes; (5) determination that the stratigraphy exposed in the walls of Victoria and Endurance craters show an enrichment of chlorine and depletion of magnesium and sulfur with increasing depth. This result implies that regional-scale aqueous alteration took place before formation of these craters. Most recently, Opportunity has been traversing toward the ancient Endeavour crater. Orbital data show that clay minerals are exposed on its rim. Hydrated sulfate minerals are exposed in plains rocks adjacent to the rim, unlike the surfaces of plains outcrops observed thus far by Opportunity. With continued mechanical health, Opportunity will reach terrains on and around Endeavour's rim that will be markedly different from anything examined to date. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.
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| 2. |
- Orton, F., et al.
(author)
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Exposure to an anti-androgenic herbicide negatively impacts reproductive physiology and fertility in Xenopustropicalis
- 2018
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amphibians are threatened on a global scale and pollutants may be contributing to population declines, but how chemicals impact on their reproduction is poorly understood. We conducted a life cycle analysis to investigate the impacts of early life exposure to two anti-androgens (exposure until completion of metamorphosis;stage 66): flutamide, (50 µg/L)/linuron (9 and 45 µg/L)) on sexual development and breeding competence in Xenopus tropicalis. Our analyses included: mRNA levels of dmrt1, cyp17, amh, cyp19, foxl2 and ar (tadpoles/metamorphs), gonadal histomorphology (metamorphs/adults), mRNA levels of ar/gr (adult male brain/gonad/forelimb), testosterone/corticosterone levels (adult males), secondary sexual characteristics (forelimb width/nuptial pad: adult males) and breeding competence (amplexus/fertility: adult males). Compared to controls, feminised sex ratios and increased number of spermatogonia (adults) were observed after exposure to flutamide and the lower linuron concentration. Exposure to the lower linuron concentration also resulted in demasculinisation of secondary sexual characteristics and reduced male fertility. Flutamide exposure resulted in masculinisation of the nuptial pad and elevated mRNA levels of dmrt1, cyp17, amh and foxl2 in brains (metamorphs). Testosterone levels were higher in all treatment groups, however, overall few effects were observed in response to the higher linuron concentration. Our findings advance understanding of reproductive biology of X. tropicalis and illustrate negative effects of linuron on reproductive processes at a concentration measured in freshwater environments.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Economou, Andrew D, et al.
(author)
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Periodic stripe formation by a Turing-mechanism operating at growth zones in the mammalian palate
- 2012
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 44:3, s. 348-352
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present direct evidence of an activator-inhibitor system in the generation of the regularly spaced transverse ridges of the palate. We show that new ridges, called rugae, that are marked by stripes of expression of Shh (encoding Sonic hedgehog), appear at two growth zones where the space between previously laid rugae increases. However, inter-rugal growth is not absolutely required: new stripes of Shh expression still appeared when growth was inhibited. Furthermore, when a ruga was excised, new Shh expression appeared not at the cut edge but as bifurcating stripes branching from the neighboring stripe of Shh expression, diagnostic of a Turing-type reaction-diffusion mechanism. Genetic and inhibitor experiments identified fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and Shh as components of an activator-inhibitor pair in this system. These findings demonstrate a reaction-diffusion mechanism that is likely to be widely relevant in vertebrate development.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Schuenemann, Verena J., et al.
(author)
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Genome-Wide Comparison of Medieval and Modern Mycobacterium leprae
- 2013
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 341:6142, s. 179-183
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Leprosy was endemic in Europe until the Middle Ages. Using DNA array capture, we have obtained genome sequences of Mycobacterium leprae from skeletons of five medieval leprosy cases from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In one case, the DNA was so well preserved that full de novo assembly of the ancient bacterial genome could be achieved through shotgun sequencing alone. The ancient M. leprae sequences were compared with those of 11 modern strains, representing diverse genotypes and geographic origins. The comparisons revealed remarkable genomic conservation during the past 1000 years, a European origin for leprosy in the Americas, and the presence of an M. leprae genotype in medieval Europe now commonly associated with the Middle East. The exceptional preservation of M. leprae biomarkers, both DNA and mycolic acids, in ancient skeletons has major implications for palaeomicrobiology and human pathogen evolution.
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| 7. |
- Kapsch, Marie-Luise, et al.
(author)
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Long-term trends of hail-related weather types in an ensemble of regional climate models using a Bayesian approach
- 2012
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 117
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper investigates the long-term variability of specific weather types that are associated with damaging hailstorms in Germany for past (1971-2000) and future (2011-2050) time periods. Forty large-scale weather types are determined by the objective weather type classification scheme of German Weather Service. This scheme is applied to both reanalyses (ERA-40) and eight different regional climate model (RCM) simulations. It is shown that the RCMs are able to approximately reproduce the distribution of weather type occurrences obtained from the reference of ERA-40. Using additional insurance loss data, the weather types are further identified as hail-related or hail-unrelated. Hailstorms are neither captured comprehensively by existing observation systems nor can they be modeled reliably and the large-scale weather types are here considered as proxies for hail occurrence. Four weather types that are most likely associated with damaging hailstorms show a slight increase both during the past and future period according to the RCM simulations. A novel statistical model is developed for the probabilistic prediction of the fraction of hail damage days conditional on the weather types. The model is Bayesian and uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach. For the ERA-40 reanalysis the model prediction agrees well with fraction of hail damage days observed in the insurance data. For most of the RCM projections, the statistical model predicts a slight increase in the number of hail days in the future (2031-2045), with relative changes between 7 and 15% compared to the period 1971-2000.
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| 8. |
- Porter, Richard T. J., et al.
(author)
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Techno-economic assessment of CO2 quality effect on its storage and transport : CO(2)QUEST An overview of aims, objectives and main findings
- 2016
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In: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. - : Elsevier BV. - 1750-5836 .- 1878-0148. ; 54, s. 662-681
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper provides an overview of the aims, objectives and the main findings of the CO(2)QUEST FP7 collaborative project, funded by the European Commission and designed to address the fundamentally important and urgent issues regarding the impact of the typical impurities in CO2 streams captured from fossil fuel power plants and other CO2 intensive industries on their safe and economic pipeline transportation and storage. The main features and results recorded from some of the unique test facilities constructed as part of the project are presented. These include an extensively instrumented realistic-scale test pipeline for conducting pipeline rupture and dispersion tests in China, an injection test facility in France to study the mobility of trace metallic elements contained in a CO2 stream following injection near a shallow-water qualifier and fluid/rock interactions and well integrity experiments conducted using a fully instrumented deep-well CO2/impurities injection test facility in Israel. The above, along with the various unique mathematical models developed, provide the fundamentally important tools needed to define impurity tolerance levels, mixing protocols and control measures for pipeline networks and storage infrastructure, thus contributing to the development of relevant standards for the safe design and economic operation of CCS.
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| 9. |
- White, MP, et al.
(author)
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Associations between green/blue spaces and mental health across 18 countries
- 2021
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In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 11:1, s. 8903-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Living near, recreating in, and feeling psychologically connected to, the natural world are all associated with better mental health, but many exposure-related questions remain. Using data from an 18-country survey (n = 16,307) we explored associations between multiple measures of mental health (positive well-being, mental distress, depression/anxiety medication use) and: (a) exposures (residential/recreational visits) to different natural settings (green/inland-blue/coastal-blue spaces); and (b) nature connectedness, across season and country. People who lived in greener/coastal neighbourhoods reported higher positive well-being, but this association largely disappeared when recreational visits were controlled for. Frequency of recreational visits to green, inland-blue, and coastal-blue spaces in the last 4 weeks were all positively associated with positive well-being and negatively associated with mental distress. Associations with green space visits were relatively consistent across seasons and countries but associations with blue space visits showed greater heterogeneity. Nature connectedness was also positively associated with positive well-being and negatively associated with mental distress and was, along with green space visits, associated with a lower likelihood of using medication for depression. By contrast inland-blue space visits were associated with a greater likelihood of using anxiety medication. Results highlight the benefits of multi-exposure, multi-response, multi-country studies in exploring complexity in nature-health associations.
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