1. |
- Alimena, Juliette, et al.
(author)
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Searching for long-lived particles beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider
- 2020
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In: Journal of Physics G. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 47:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Particles beyond the Standard Model (SM) can generically have lifetimes that are long compared to SM particles at the weak scale. When produced at experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, these long-lived particles (LLPs) can decay far from the interaction vertex of the primary proton-proton collision. Such LLP signatures are distinct from those of promptly decaying particles that are targeted by the majority of searches for new physics at the LHC, often requiring customized techniques to identify, for example, significantly displaced decay vertices, tracks with atypical properties, and short track segments. Given their non-standard nature, a comprehensive overview of LLP signatures at the LHC is beneficial to ensure that possible avenues of the discovery of new physics are not overlooked. Here we report on the joint work of a community of theorists and experimentalists with the ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments-as well as those working on dedicated experiments such as MoEDAL, milliQan, MATHUSLA, CODEX-b, and FASER-to survey the current state of LLP searches at the LHC, and to chart a path for the development of LLP searches into the future, both in the upcoming Run 3 and at the high-luminosity LHC. The work is organized around the current and future potential capabilities of LHC experiments to generally discover new LLPs, and takes a signature-based approach to surveying classes of models that give rise to LLPs rather than emphasizing any particular theory motivation. We develop a set of simplified models; assess the coverage of current searches; document known, often unexpected backgrounds; explore the capabilities of proposed detector upgrades; provide recommendations for the presentation of search results; and look towards the newest frontiers, namely high-multiplicity 'dark showers', highlighting opportunities for expanding the LHC reach for these signals.
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2. |
- Kehoe, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Make EU trade with Brazil sustainable
- 2019
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 364:6438, s. 341-
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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3. |
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- 2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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4. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
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Very high-energy gamma-ray follow-up program using neutrino triggers from IceCube
- 2016
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In: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe and report the status of a neutrino-triggered program in IceCube that generates real-time alerts for gamma-ray follow-up observations by atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes (MAGIC and VERITAS). While IceCube is capable of monitoring the whole sky continuously, high-energy gamma-ray telescopes have restricted fields of view and in general are unlikely to be observing a potential neutrino-flaring source at the time such neutrinos are recorded. The use of neutrino-triggered alerts thus aims at increasing the availability of simultaneous multi-messenger data during potential neutrino flaring activity, which can increase the discovery potential and constrain the phenomenological interpretation of the high-energy emission of selected source classes (e. g. blazars). The requirements of a fast and stable online analysis of potential neutrino signals and its operation are presented, along with first results of the program operating between 14 March 2012 and 31 December 2015.
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5. |
- Alvarez-Mora, Iker, et al.
(author)
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Progress, applications, and challenges in high-throughput effect-directed analysis for toxicity driver identification : is it time for HT-EDA?
- 2024
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In: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. - : Springer Nature. - 1618-2642 .- 1618-2650.
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rapid increase in the production and global use of chemicals and their mixtures has raised concerns about their potential impact on human and environmental health. With advances in analytical techniques, in particular, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), thousands of compounds and transformation products with potential adverse effects can now be detected in environmental samples. However, identifying and prioritizing the toxicity drivers among these compounds remain a significant challenge. Effect-directed analysis (EDA) emerged as an important tool to address this challenge, combining biotesting, sample fractionation, and chemical analysis to unravel toxicity drivers in complex mixtures. Traditional EDA workflows are labor-intensive and time-consuming, hindering large-scale applications. The concept of high-throughput (HT) EDA has recently gained traction as a means of accelerating these workflows. Key features of HT-EDA include the combination of microfractionation and downscaled bioassays, automation of sample preparation and biotesting, and efficient data processing workflows supported by novel computational tools. In addition to microplate-based fractionation, high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) offers an interesting alternative to HPLC in HT-EDA. This review provides an updated perspective on the state-of-the-art in HT-EDA, and novel methods/tools that can be incorporated into HT-EDA workflows. It also discusses recent studies on HT-EDA, HT bioassays, and computational prioritization tools, along with considerations regarding HPTLC. By identifying current gaps in HT-EDA and proposing new approaches to overcome them, this review aims to bring HT-EDA a step closer to monitoring applications.
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6. |
- Arndt, D. S., et al.
(author)
-
State of the Climate in 2016
- 2017
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In: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 98:8, s. S1-S280
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In 2016, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth's atmosphere-carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide-continued to increase and reach new record highs. The 3.5 +/- 0.1 ppm rise in global annual mean carbon dioxide from 2015 to 2016 was the largest annual increase observed in the 58-year measurement record. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth's surface surpassed 400 ppm (402.9 +/- 0.1 ppm) for the first time in the modern atmospheric measurement record and in ice core records dating back as far as 800000 years. One of the strongest El Nino events since at least 1950 dissipated in spring, and a weak La Nina evolved later in the year. Owing at least in part to the combination of El Nino conditions early in the year and a long-term upward trend, Earth's surface observed record warmth for a third consecutive year, albeit by a much slimmer margin than by which that record was set in 2015. Above Earth's surface, the annual lower troposphere temperature was record high according to all datasets analyzed, while the lower stratospheric temperature was record low according to most of the in situ and satellite datasets. Several countries, including Mexico and India, reported record high annual temperatures while many others observed near-record highs. A week-long heat wave at the end of April over the northern and eastern Indian peninsula, with temperatures surpassing 44 degrees C, contributed to a water crisis for 330 million people and to 300 fatalities. In the Arctic the 2016 land surface temperature was 2.0 degrees C above the 1981-2010 average, breaking the previous record of 2007, 2011, and 2015 by 0.8 degrees C, representing a 3.5 degrees C increase since the record began in 1900. The increasing temperatures have led to decreasing Arctic sea ice extent and thickness. On 24 March, the sea ice extent at the end of the growth season saw its lowest maximum in the 37-year satellite record, tying with 2015 at 7.2% below the 1981-2010 average. The September 2016 Arctic sea ice minimum extent tied with 2007 for the second lowest value on record, 33% lower than the 1981-2010 average. Arctic sea ice cover remains relatively young and thin, making it vulnerable to continued extensive melt. The mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which has the capacity to contribute similar to 7 m to sea level rise, reached a record low value. The onset of its surface melt was the second earliest, after 2012, in the 37-year satellite record. Sea surface temperature was record high at the global scale, surpassing the previous record of 2015 by about 0.01 degrees C. The global sea surface temperature trend for the 21st century-to-date of +0.162 degrees C decade(-1) is much higher than the longer term 1950-2016 trend of +0.100 degrees C decade(-1). Global annual mean sea level also reached a new record high, marking the sixth consecutive year of increase. Global annual ocean heat content saw a slight drop compared to the record high in 2015. Alpine glacier retreat continued around the globe, and preliminary data indicate that 2016 is the 37th consecutive year of negative annual mass balance. Across the Northern Hemisphere, snow cover for each month from February to June was among its four least extensive in the 47-year satellite record. Continuing a pattern below the surface, record high temperatures at 20-m depth were measured at all permafrost observatories on the North Slope of Alaska and at the Canadian observatory on northernmost Ellesmere Island. In the Antarctic, record low monthly surface pressures were broken at many stations, with the southern annular mode setting record high index values in March and June. Monthly high surface pressure records for August and November were set at several stations. During this period, record low daily and monthly sea ice extents were observed, with the November mean sea ice extent more than 5 standard deviations below the 1981-2010 average. These record low sea ice values contrast sharply with the record high values observed during 2012-14. Over the region, springtime Antarctic stratospheric ozone depletion was less severe relative to the 1991-2006 average, but ozone levels were still low compared to pre-1990 levels. Closer to the equator, 93 named tropical storms were observed during 2016, above the 1981-2010 average of 82, but fewer than the 101 storms recorded in 2015. Three basins-the North Atlantic, and eastern and western North Pacific-experienced above-normal activity in 2016. The Australian basin recorded its least active season since the beginning of the satellite era in 1970. Overall, four tropical cyclones reached the Saffir-Simpson category 5 intensity level. The strong El Nino at the beginning of the year that transitioned to a weak La Nina contributed to enhanced precipitation variability around the world. Wet conditions were observed throughout the year across southern South America, causing repeated heavy flooding in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Wetter-than-usual conditions were also observed for eastern Europe and central Asia, alleviating the drought conditions of 2014 and 2015 in southern Russia. In the United States, California had its first wetter-than-average year since 2012, after being plagued by drought for several years. Even so, the area covered by drought in 2016 at the global scale was among the largest in the post-1950 record. For each month, at least 12% of land surfaces experienced severe drought conditions or worse, the longest such stretch in the record. In northeastern Brazil, drought conditions were observed for the fifth consecutive year, making this the longest drought on record in the region. Dry conditions were also observed in western Bolivia and Peru; it was Bolivia's worst drought in the past 25 years. In May, with abnormally warm and dry conditions already prevailing over western Canada for about a year, the human-induced Fort McMurray wildfire burned nearly 590000 hectares and became the costliest disaster in Canadian history, with $3 billion (U.S. dollars) in insured losses.
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7. |
- Arndt, D. S., et al.
(author)
-
STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2017
- 2018
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In: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - : American Meteorological Society. - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 99:8, s. S1-S310
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Research review (peer-reviewed)
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8. |
- Barbus, Sebastian, et al.
(author)
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Differential retinoic acid signaling in tumors of long- and short-term glioblastoma survivors.
- 2011
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In: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0027-8874 .- 1460-2105. ; 103:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although the prognosis of most glioblastoma patients is poor, 3%-5% patients show long-term survival of 36 months or longer after diagnosis. To study the differences in activation of biochemical pathways, we performed mRNA and protein expression analyses of primary glioblastoma tissues from 11 long-term survivors (LTS; overall survival ≥ 36 months) and 12 short-term survivors (STS; overall survival ≤ 6 months). The mRNA expression ratio of the retinoic acid transporters fatty acid-binding protein 5 (FABP5) and cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABP2), which regulate the differential delivery of retinoic acid to either antioncogenic retinoic acid receptors or prooncogenic nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, was statistically significantly higher in the tumor tissues of STS than those of LTS (median ratio in STS tumors = 3.64, 10th-90th percentile = 1.43-4.54 vs median ratio in LTS tumors = 1.42, 10th-90th percentile = -0.98 to 2.59; P < .001). High FABP5 protein expression in STS tumors was associated with highly proliferating tumor cells and activation of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 and v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog. The data suggest that retinoic acid signaling activates different targets in glioblastomas from LTS and STS. All statistical tests were two-sided.
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9. |
- Chotiwan, Nunya, et al.
(author)
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Type I interferon shapes brain distribution and tropism of tick-borne flavivirus
- 2023
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 14:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Viral tropism within the brain and the role(s) of vertebrate immune response to neurotropic flaviviruses infection is largely understudied. We combine multimodal imaging (cm-nm scale) with single nuclei RNA-sequencing to study Langat virus in wildtype and interferon alpha/beta receptor knockout (Ifnar-/-) mice to visualize viral pathogenesis and define molecular mechanisms. Whole brain viral infection is imaged by Optical Projection Tomography coregistered to ex vivo MRI. Infection is limited to grey matter of sensory systems in wildtype mice, but extends into white matter, meninges and choroid plexus in Ifnar-/- mice. Cells in wildtype display strong type I and II IFN responses, likely due to Ifnb expressing astrocytes, infiltration of macrophages and Ifng-expressing CD8+ NK cells, whereas in Ifnar-/-, the absence of this response contributes to a shift in cellular tropism towards non-activated resident microglia. Multimodal imaging-transcriptomics exemplifies a powerful way to characterize mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and tropism.
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10. |
- Clark, Andrew G., et al.
(author)
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Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny
- 2007
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 450:7167, s. 203-218
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Comparative analysis of multiple genomes in a phylogenetic framework dramatically improves the precision and sensitivity of evolutionary inference, producing more robust results than single-genome analyses can provide. The genomes of 12 Drosophila species, ten of which are presented here for the first time (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi), illustrate how rates and patterns of sequence divergence across taxa can illuminate evolutionary processes on a genomic scale. These genome sequences augment the formidable genetic tools that have made Drosophila melanogaster a pre-eminent model for animal genetics, and will further catalyse fundamental research on mechanisms of development, cell biology, genetics, disease, neurobiology, behaviour, physiology and evolution. Despite remarkable similarities among these Drosophila species, we identified many putatively non-neutral changes in protein-coding genes, non-coding RNA genes, and cis-regulatory regions. These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species.
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11. |
- Comasco, Erika, et al.
(author)
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Emotional fronto-cingulate cortex activation and brain derived neurotrophic factor polymorphism in premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- 2014
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In: Human Brain Mapping. - : Wiley. - 1065-9471 .- 1097-0193. ; 35:9, s. 4450-4458
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is the prototypical sex-specific disorder in which symptom onset and offset require a particular hormonal milieu and for which there is moderate heritability. The present study investigated brain emotion processing in PMDD and healthy controls, as well as functional polymorphisms in two candidate genes for PMDD, the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The 5-HTT linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms were genotyped in 31 patients with PMDD and 31 healthy controls. A subset of 16 patients and 15 controls participated in two functional magnetic resonance imaging-sessions performing an emotion processing task; once in the mid-follicular, and once in the late luteal phase which corresponds with maximum severity of mood symptoms. Genotypes were not directly associated with PMDD. A main effect of group was found in the whole brain analysis, with patients having lower activation of the pre-genual anterior cingulate and ventro-medial prefrontal cortex, independent of menstrual cycle phase. Post-hoc functional ROI analyses in the fronto-cingulate cluster showed no effect of 5-HTTLPR genotype but a genotype-by-group-by-phase interaction effect of BDNF Val66Met. Women with PMDD who were carriers of the Met-allele had lower fronto-cingulate cortex activation in the luteal phase compared to Met-allele carrying controls. The results provide suggestive evidence of impaired emotion-induced fronto-cingulate cortex activation in PMDD patients. Although limited by a small sample, the potential influence of BDNF Val66Met in PMDD is in line with preclinical findings. Hum Brain Mapp, 2014.
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12. |
- Gallo, Selene, et al.
(author)
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Functional connectivity signatures of major depressive disorder: machine learning analysis of two multicenter neuroimaging studies
- 2023
-
In: Molecular Psychiatry. - : SPRINGERNATURE. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 28:7, s. 3013-3022
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The promise of machine learning has fueled the hope for developing diagnostic tools for psychiatry. Initial studies showed high accuracy for the identification of major depressive disorder (MDD) with resting-state connectivity, but progress has been hampered by the absence of large datasets. Here we used regular machine learning and advanced deep learning algorithms to differentiate patients with MDD from healthy controls and identify neurophysiological signatures of depression in two of the largest resting-state datasets for MDD. We obtained resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the REST-meta-MDD (N = 2338) and PsyMRI (N = 1039) consortia. Classification of functional connectivity matrices was done using support vector machines (SVM) and graph convolutional neural networks (GCN), and performance was evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation. Features were visualized using GCN-Explainer, an ablation study and univariate t-testing. The results showed a mean classification accuracy of 61% for MDD versus controls. Mean accuracy for classifying (non-)medicated subgroups was 62%. Sex classification accuracy was substantially better across datasets (73-81%). Visualization of the results showed that classifications were driven by stronger thalamic connections in both datasets, while nearly all other connections were weaker with small univariate effect sizes. These results suggest that whole brain resting-state connectivity is a reliable though poor biomarker for MDD, presumably due to disease heterogeneity as further supported by the higher accuracy for sex classification using the same methods. Deep learning revealed thalamic hyperconnectivity as a prominent neurophysiological signature of depression in both multicenter studies, which may guide the development of biomarkers in future studies.
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13. |
- Godbersen, Godber M., et al.
(author)
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Task-evoked metabolic demands of the posteromedial default mode network are shaped by dorsal attention and frontoparietal control networks
- 2023
-
In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- External tasks evoke characteristic fMRI BOLD signal deactivations in the default mode network (DMN). However, for the corresponding metabolic glucose demands both decreases and increases have been reported. To resolve this discrepancy, functional PET/MRI data from 50 healthy subjects performing Tetris were combined with previously published data sets of working memory, visual and motor stimulation. We show that the glucose metabolism of the posteromedial DMN is dependent on the metabolic demands of the correspondingly engaged task-positive networks. Specifically, the dorsal attention and frontoparietal network shape the glucose metabolism of the posteromedial DMN in opposing directions. While tasks that mainly require an external focus of attention lead to a consistent downregulation of both metabolism and the BOLD signal in the posteromedial DMN, cognitive control during working memory requires a metabolically expensive BOLD suppression. This indicates that two types of BOLD deactivations with different oxygen-to-glucose index may occur in this region. We further speculate that consistent downregulation of the two signals is mediated by decreased glutamate signaling, while divergence may be subject to active GABAergic inhibition. The results demonstrate that the DMN relates to cognitive processing in a flexible manner and does not always act as a cohesive task-negative network in isolation.
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14. |
- Hahn, Andreas, et al.
(author)
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Association Between Earliest Amyloid Uptake and Functional Connectivity in Cognitively Unimpaired Elderly
- 2019
-
In: Cerebral Cortex. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1460-2199 .- 1047-3211. ; 29, s. 2173-2182
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alterations in cognitive performance have been noted in nondemented subjects with elevated accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrils. However, it is not yet understood whether brain function is already influenced by Aβ deposition during the very earliest stages of the disease. We therefore investigated associations between [18F]Flutemetamol PET, resting-state functional connectivity, gray and white matter structure and cognitive performance in 133 cognitively normal elderly that exhibited normal global Aβ PET levels. [18F]Flutemetamol uptake in regions known to accumulate Aβ fibrils early in preclinical AD (i.e., mainly certain parts of the default-mode network) was positively associated with dynamic but not static functional connectivity (r = 0.77). Dynamic functional connectivity was further related to better cognitive performance (r = 0.21-0.72). No significant associations were found for Aβ uptake with gray matter volume or white matter diffusivity. The findings demonstrate that the earliest accumulation of Aβ fibrils is associated with increased functional connectivity, which occurs before any structural alterations. The enhanced functional connectivity may reflect a compensatory mechanism to maintain high cognitive performance in the presence of increasing amyloid accumulation during the earliest phases of AD.
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15. |
- Javaheripour, Nooshin, et al.
(author)
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Altered resting-state functional connectome in major depressive disorder : a mega-analysis from the PsyMRI consortium
- 2021
-
In: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 2158-3188. ; 11:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with abnormal neural circuitry. It can be measured by assessing functional connectivity (FC) at resting-state functional MRI, that may help identifying neural markers of MDD and provide further efficient diagnosis and monitor treatment outcomes. The main aim of the present study is to investigate, in an unbiased way, functional alterations in patients with MDD using a large multi-center dataset from the PsyMRI consortium including 1546 participants from 19 centers (). After applying strict exclusion criteria, the final sample consisted of 606 MDD patients (age: 35.8 +/- 11.9 y.o.; females: 60.7%) and 476 healthy participants (age: 33.3 +/- 11.0 y.o.; females: 56.7%). We found significant relative hypoconnectivity within somatosensory motor (SMN), salience (SN) networks and between SMN, SN, dorsal attention (DAN), and visual (VN) networks in MDD patients. No significant differences were detected within the default mode (DMN) and frontoparietal networks (FPN). In addition, alterations in network organization were observed in terms of significantly lower network segregation of SMN in MDD patients. Although medicated patients showed significantly lower FC within DMN, FPN, and SN than unmedicated patients, there were no differences between medicated and unmedicated groups in terms of network organization in SMN. We conclude that the network organization of cortical networks, involved in processing of sensory information, might be a more stable neuroimaging marker for MDD than previously assumed alterations in higher-order neural networks like DMN and FPN.
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16. |
- Jensen, Poul Erik H., et al.
(author)
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Detection and kinetics of persistent neutralizing anti-interferon-beta antibodies in patients with multiple sclerosis : Results from the ABIRISK prospective cohort study
- 2019
-
In: Journal of Neuroimmunology. - : Elsevier. - 0165-5728 .- 1872-8421. ; 326, s. 19-27
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two validated assays, a bridging ELISA and a luciferase-based bioassay, were compared for detection of anti-drug antibodies (ADA) against interferon-beta (IFN-β) in patients with multiple sclerosis. Serum samples were tested from patients enrolled in a prospective study of 18 months. In contrast to the ELISA, when IFN-β-specific rabbit polyclonal and human monoclonal antibodies were tested, the bioassay was the more sensitive to detect IFN-β ADA in patients' sera. For clinical samples, selection of method of ELISA should be evaluated prior to the use of a multi-tiered approach. A titer threshold value is reported that may be used as a predictor for persistently positive neutralizing ADA.
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17. |
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18. |
- Nordlund, Lina Mtwana, et al.
(author)
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One hundred priority questions for advancing seagrass conservation in Europe
- 2024
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In: PLANTS PEOPLE PLANET. - 2572-2611.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Societal Impact StatementSeagrass ecosystems are of fundamental importance to our planet and wellbeing. Seagrasses are marine flowering plants, which engineer ecosystems that provide a multitude of ecosystem services, for example, blue foods and carbon sequestration. Seagrass ecosystems have largely been degraded across much of their global range. There is now increasing interest in the conservation and restoration of these systems, particularly in the context of the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis. The collation of 100 questions from experts across Europe could, if answered, improve our ability to conserve and restore these systems by facilitating a fundamental shift in the success of such work.SummarySeagrass meadows provide numerous ecosystem services including biodiversity, coastal protection, and carbon sequestration. In Europe, seagrasses can be found in shallow sheltered waters along coastlines, in estuaries & lagoons, and around islands, but their distribution has declined. Factors such as poor water quality, coastal modification, mechanical damage, overfishing, land-sea interactions, climate change and disease have reduced the coverage of Europe's seagrasses necessitating their recovery. Research, monitoring and conservation efforts on seagrass ecosystems in Europe are mostly uncoordinated and biased towards certain species and regions, resulting in inadequate delivery of critical information for their management. Here, we aim to identify the 100 priority questions, that if addressed would strongly advance seagrass monitoring, research and conservation in Europe. Using a Delphi method, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with seagrass experience from across Europe and with diverse seagrass expertise participated in the process that involved the formulation of research questions, a voting process and an online workshop to identify the final list of the 100 questions. The final list of questions covers areas across nine themes: Biodiversity & Ecology; Ecosystem services; Blue carbon; Fishery support; Drivers, Threats, Resilience & Response; Monitoring & Assessment; Conservation & Restoration; Governance, Policy & Management; and Communication. Answering these questions will fill current knowledge gaps and place European seagrass onto a positive trajectory of recovery. Seagrass ecosystems are of fundamental importance to our planet and wellbeing. Seagrasses are marine flowering plants which engineer ecosystems that provide a multitude of ecosystem services, for example, blue foods and carbon sequestration. Seagrass ecosystems have largely been degraded across much of their global range. There is now increasing interest in the conservation and restoration of these systems, particularly in the context of the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis. The collation of 100 questions from experts across Europe could, if answered, improve our ability to conserve and restore these systems by facilitating a fundamental shift in the success of such work. image
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19. |
- Peng, Bile, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Statistical Characteristics Study of Human Blockage Effect in Future Indoor Millimeter and Sub-millimeter Wave Wireless Communications
- 2018
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In: IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference. - 1550-2252.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The millimeter and sub-millimeter wave communication is a promising solution to future indoor multi-gigabit wireless communications because of its huge available bandwidth. One of the key difficulties is the human blockage effect since the human body can no longer be considered as being "transparent" as at lower frequencies. In this paper a study of statistical characteristics of this problem is presented. At first, broadband measurements of human blockage are provided. Afterwards, a realis- tic mobility model for indoor movements of humans is adopted and elliptic cylinders are applied to approximate human bodies in ray-launching simulations. Consequently, the distributions of Line-Of-Sight (LOS) path and blockage durations as well as blockage numbers are obtained by simulations. Finally, the system performance in presence of the distributed antennas is evaluated.
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20. |
- Sodergren, Erica, et al.
(author)
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The genome of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.
- 2006
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 1095-9203 .- 0036-8075. ; 314:5801, s. 941-52
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the sequence and analysis of the 814-megabase genome of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, a model for developmental and systems biology. The sequencing strategy combined whole-genome shotgun and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequences. This use of BAC clones, aided by a pooling strategy, overcame difficulties associated with high heterozygosity of the genome. The genome encodes about 23,300 genes, including many previously thought to be vertebrate innovations or known only outside the deuterostomes. This echinoderm genome provides an evolutionary outgroup for the chordates and yields insights into the evolution of deuterostomes.
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21. |
- Wallner-Hahn, Sieglind, et al.
(author)
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Destructive gear use in a tropical fishery : Institutional factors influencing the willingness-and capacity to change
- 2016
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In: Marine Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-597X .- 1872-9460. ; 72, s. 199-210
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to empirically assess institutional aspects shaping fishers' behavior leading to unsustainable resource use, by using the example of destructive drag-net fishing in Zanzibar, Tanzania. A broad institutional approach was used to specifically assess institutional factors influencing the fishers' reasons for the current use of destructive drag-nets as well as their willingness- and economic capacity to change to less destructive gears. Different regulative, normative, cultural-cognitive and economic factors (tradition, group-belonging, social acceptance, common practice, identity of drag-net users and weak economic capacity) were identified as critical elements influencing the current use of destructive gears, as well as obstructing changes to other gears. Hence, the importance of addressing all of these factors, matching to the different contexts, rather than focusing on fast-moving regulative measures, is emphasized to increase chances of management success. More promising approaches would be resource allocations to more sustainable fishing gears, well-managed gear exchange programs, as well as alterations of slow-moving normative and cultural factors, e.g. awareness raising on the advantages of more sustainable fishing gears, their traditional and cultural values, information on the actual income they generate, as well as education and an exchange of traditional knowledge on how to use them.
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