| 1. |
- Vos, Theo, et al.
(author)
-
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
- 2015
-
In: The Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 386:9995, s. 743-800
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Up-to-date evidence about levels and trends in disease and injury incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) is an essential input into global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013), we estimated these quantities for acute and chronic diseases and injuries for 188 countries between 1990 and 2013. Methods Estimates were calculated for disease and injury incidence, prevalence, and YLDs using GBD 2010 methods with some important refinements. Results for incidence of acute disorders and prevalence of chronic disorders are new additions to the analysis. Key improvements include expansion to the cause and sequelae list, updated systematic reviews, use of detailed injury codes, improvements to the Bayesian meta-regression method (DisMod-MR), and use of severity splits for various causes. An index of data representativeness, showing data availability, was calculated for each cause and impairment during three periods globally and at the country level for 2013. In total, 35 620 distinct sources of data were used and documented to calculated estimates for 301 diseases and injuries and 2337 sequelae. The comorbidity simulation provides estimates for the number of sequelae, concurrently, by individuals by country, year, age, and sex. Disability weights were updated with the addition of new population-based survey data from four countries. Findings Disease and injury were highly prevalent; only a small fraction of individuals had no sequelae. Comorbidity rose substantially with age and in absolute terms from 1990 to 2013. Incidence of acute sequelae were predominantly infectious diseases and short-term injuries, with over 2 billion cases of upper respiratory infections and diarrhoeal disease episodes in 2013, with the notable exception of tooth pain due to permanent caries with more than 200 million incident cases in 2013. Conversely, leading chronic sequelae were largely attributable to non-communicable diseases, with prevalence estimates for asymptomatic permanent caries and tension-type headache of 2.4 billion and 1.6 billion, respectively. The distribution of the number of sequelae in populations varied widely across regions, with an expected relation between age and disease prevalence. YLDs for both sexes increased from 537.6 million in 1990 to 764.8 million in 2013 due to population growth and ageing, whereas the age-standardised rate decreased little from 114.87 per 1000 people to 110.31 per 1000 people between 1990 and 2013. Leading causes of YLDs included low back pain and major depressive disorder among the top ten causes of YLDs in every country. YLD rates per person, by major cause groups, indicated the main drivers of increases were due to musculoskeletal, mental, and substance use disorders, neurological disorders, and chronic respiratory diseases; however HIV/AIDS was a notable driver of increasing YLDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Also, the proportion of disability-adjusted life years due to YLDs increased globally from 21.1% in 1990 to 31.2% in 2013. Interpretation Ageing of the world's population is leading to a substantial increase in the numbers of individuals with sequelae of diseases and injuries. Rates of YLDs are declining much more slowly than mortality rates. The non-fatal dimensions of disease and injury will require more and more attention from health systems. The transition to non-fatal outcomes as the dominant source of burden of disease is occurring rapidly outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Our results can guide future health initiatives through examination of epidemiological trends and a better understanding of variation across countries.
|
|
| 2. |
- Forouzanfar, Mohammad H, et al.
(author)
-
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.
- 2015
-
In: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 386:10010, s. 2287-2323
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging threats to population health and opportunities for prevention. The GBD 2013 provides a timely opportunity to update the comparative risk assessment with new data for exposure, relative risks, and evidence on the appropriate counterfactual risk distribution.METHODS: Attributable deaths, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) have been estimated for 79 risks or clusters of risks using the GBD 2010 methods. Risk-outcome pairs meeting explicit evidence criteria were assessed for 188 countries for the period 1990-2013 by age and sex using three inputs: risk exposure, relative risks, and the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL). Risks are organised into a hierarchy with blocks of behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks at the first level of the hierarchy. The next level in the hierarchy includes nine clusters of related risks and two individual risks, with more detail provided at levels 3 and 4 of the hierarchy. Compared with GBD 2010, six new risk factors have been added: handwashing practices, occupational exposure to trichloroethylene, childhood wasting, childhood stunting, unsafe sex, and low glomerular filtration rate. For most risks, data for exposure were synthesised with a Bayesian meta-regression method, DisMod-MR 2.0, or spatial-temporal Gaussian process regression. Relative risks were based on meta-regressions of published cohort and intervention studies. Attributable burden for clusters of risks and all risks combined took into account evidence on the mediation of some risks such as high body-mass index (BMI) through other risks such as high systolic blood pressure and high cholesterol.FINDINGS: All risks combined account for 57·2% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 55·8-58·5) of deaths and 41·6% (40·1-43·0) of DALYs. Risks quantified account for 87·9% (86·5-89·3) of cardiovascular disease DALYs, ranging to a low of 0% for neonatal disorders and neglected tropical diseases and malaria. In terms of global DALYs in 2013, six risks or clusters of risks each caused more than 5% of DALYs: dietary risks accounting for 11·3 million deaths and 241·4 million DALYs, high systolic blood pressure for 10·4 million deaths and 208·1 million DALYs, child and maternal malnutrition for 1·7 million deaths and 176·9 million DALYs, tobacco smoke for 6·1 million deaths and 143·5 million DALYs, air pollution for 5·5 million deaths and 141·5 million DALYs, and high BMI for 4·4 million deaths and 134·0 million DALYs. Risk factor patterns vary across regions and countries and with time. In sub-Saharan Africa, the leading risk factors are child and maternal malnutrition, unsafe sex, and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing. In women, in nearly all countries in the Americas, north Africa, and the Middle East, and in many other high-income countries, high BMI is the leading risk factor, with high systolic blood pressure as the leading risk in most of Central and Eastern Europe and south and east Asia. For men, high systolic blood pressure or tobacco use are the leading risks in nearly all high-income countries, in north Africa and the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. For men and women, unsafe sex is the leading risk in a corridor from Kenya to South Africa.INTERPRETATION: Behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks can explain half of global mortality and more than one-third of global DALYs providing many opportunities for prevention. Of the larger risks, the attributable burden of high BMI has increased in the past 23 years. In view of the prominence of behavioural risk factors, behavioural and social science research on interventions for these risks should be strengthened. Many prevention and primary care policy options are available now to act on key risks.FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
|
|
| 3. |
- Chen, Zhishan, et al.
(author)
-
Fine-mapping analysis including over 254 000 East Asian and European descendants identifies 136 putative colorectal cancer susceptibility genes
- 2024
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 15:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 common genetic variants independently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the causal variants and target genes are mostly unknown. We sought to fine-map all known CRC risk loci using GWAS data from 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of East Asian and European ancestry. Our stepwise conditional analyses revealed 238 independent association signals of CRC risk, each with a set of credible causal variants (CCVs), of which 28 signals had a single CCV. Our cis-eQTL/mQTL and colocalization analyses using colorectal tissue-specific transcriptome and methylome data separately from 1299 and 321 individuals, along with functional genomic investigation, uncovered 136 putative CRC susceptibility genes, including 56 genes not previously reported. Analyses of single-cell RNA-seq data from colorectal tissues revealed 17 putative CRC susceptibility genes with distinct expression patterns in specific cell types. Analyses of whole exome sequencing data provided additional support for several target genes identified in this study as CRC susceptibility genes. Enrichment analyses of the 136 genes uncover pathways not previously linked to CRC risk. Our study substantially expanded association signals for CRC and provided additional insight into the biological mechanisms underlying CRC development.
|
|
| 4. |
- Fernandez-Rozadilla, Ceres, et al.
(author)
-
Deciphering colorectal cancer genetics through multi-omic analysis of 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of European and east Asian ancestries
- 2023
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 55, s. 89-99
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. We conducted a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of 100,204 CRC cases and 154,587 controls of European and east Asian ancestry, identifying 205 independent risk associations, of which 50 were unreported. We performed integrative genomic, transcriptomic and methylomic analyses across large bowel mucosa and other tissues. Transcriptome- and methylome-wide association studies revealed an additional 53 risk associations. We identified 155 high-confidence effector genes functionally linked to CRC risk, many of which had no previously established role in CRC. These have multiple different functions and specifically indicate that variation in normal colorectal homeostasis, proliferation, cell adhesion, migration, immunity and microbial interactions determines CRC risk. Crosstissue analyses indicated that over a third of effector genes most probably act outside the colonic mucosa. Our findings provide insights into colorectal oncogenesis and highlight potential targets across tissues for new CRC treatment and chemoprevention strategies.
|
|
| 5. |
- Naghavi, Mohsen, et al.
(author)
-
Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
- 2015
-
In: The Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 385:9963, s. 117-171
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age-sex-specifi c all-cause and cause-specifi c mortality is essential for the formation of global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) we estimated yearly deaths for 188 countries between 1990, and 2013. We used the results to assess whether there is epidemiological convergence across countries. Methods We estimated age-sex-specifi c all-cause mortality using the GBD 2010 methods with some refinements to improve accuracy applied to an updated database of vital registration, survey, and census data. We generally estimated cause of death as in the GBD 2010. Key improvements included the addition of more recent vital registration data for 72 countries, an updated verbal autopsy literature review, two new and detailed data systems for China, and more detail for Mexico, UK, Turkey, and Russia. We improved statistical models for garbage code redistribution. We used six different modelling strategies across the 240 causes; cause of death ensemble modelling (CODEm) was the dominant strategy for causes with sufficient information. Trends for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias were informed by meta-regression of prevalence studies. For pathogen-specifi c causes of diarrhoea and lower respiratory infections we used a counterfactual approach. We computed two measures of convergence (inequality) across countries: the average relative difference across all pairs of countries (Gini coefficient) and the average absolute difference across countries. To summarise broad findings, we used multiple decrement life-tables to decompose probabilities of death from birth to exact age 15 years, from exact age 15 years to exact age 50 years, and from exact age 50 years to exact age 75 years, and life expectancy at birth into major causes. For all quantities reported, we computed 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We constrained cause-specific fractions within each age-sex-country-year group to sum to all-cause mortality based on draws from the uncertainty distributions. Findings Global life expectancy for both sexes increased from 65.3 years (UI 65.0-65.6) in 1990, to 71.5 years (UI 71.0-71.9) in 2013, while the number of deaths increased from 47.5 million (UI 46.8-48.2) to 54.9 million (UI 53.6-56.3) over the same interval. Global progress masked variation by age and sex: for children, average absolute diff erences between countries decreased but relative diff erences increased. For women aged 25-39 years and older than 75 years and for men aged 20-49 years and 65 years and older, both absolute and relative diff erences increased. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the prominent role of reductions in age-standardised death rates for cardiovascular diseases and cancers in high-income regions, and reductions in child deaths from diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal causes in low-income regions. HIV/AIDS reduced life expectancy in southern sub-Saharan Africa. For most communicable causes of death both numbers of deaths and age-standardised death rates fell whereas for most non-communicable causes, demographic shifts have increased numbers of deaths but decreased age-standardised death rates. Global deaths from injury increased by 10.7%, from 4.3 million deaths in 1990 to 4.8 million in 2013; but age-standardised rates declined over the same period by 21%. For some causes of more than 100 000 deaths per year in 2013, age-standardised death rates increased between 1990 and 2013, including HIV/AIDS, pancreatic cancer, atrial fibrillation and flutter, drug use disorders, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and sickle-cell anaemias. Diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, neonatal causes, and malaria are still in the top five causes of death in children younger than 5 years. The most important pathogens are rotavirus for diarrhoea and pneumococcus for lower respiratory infections. Country-specific probabilities of death over three phases of life were substantially varied between and within regions. Interpretation For most countries, the general pattern of reductions in age-sex specifi c mortality has been associated with a progressive shift towards a larger share of the remaining deaths caused by non-communicable disease and injuries. Assessing epidemiological convergence across countries depends on whether an absolute or relative measure of inequality is used. Nevertheless, age-standardised death rates for seven substantial causes are increasing, suggesting the potential for reversals in some countries. Important gaps exist in the empirical data for cause of death estimates for some countries; for example, no national data for India are available for the past decade.
|
|
| 6. |
- Bousquet, Jean, et al.
(author)
-
ARIA digital anamorphosis : Digital transformation of health and care in airway diseases from research to practice
- 2021
-
In: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 76:1, s. 168-190
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Digital anamorphosis is used to define a distorted image of health and care that may be viewed correctly using digital tools and strategies. MASK digital anamorphosis represents the process used by MASK to develop the digital transformation of health and care in rhinitis. It strengthens the ARIA change management strategy in the prevention and management of airway disease. The MASK strategy is based on validated digital tools. Using the MASK digital tool and the CARAT online enhanced clinical framework, solutions for practical steps of digital enhancement of care are proposed.
|
|
| 7. |
- Bremer, Kåre, et al.
(author)
-
An ordinal classification for the families of flowering plants
- 1998
-
In: ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. - : MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. - 0026-6493. ; 85:4, s. 531-553
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Recent cladistic analyses are revealing the phylogeny of flowering plants in increasing detail, and there is support for the monophyly of many major groups above the family level. With many elements of the major branching sequence of phylogeny established
|
|
| 8. |
- Abbafati, Cristiana, et al.
(author)
-
- 2020
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)
|
|
| 9. |
- Bhat, P. Narayana, et al.
(author)
-
THE THIRD FERMI GBM GAMMA-RAY BURST CATALOG : THE FIRST SIX YEARS
- 2016
-
In: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 223:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Since its launch in 2008, the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) has triggered and located on average approximately two.-ray bursts (GRBs) every three days. Here, we present the third of a series of catalogs of GRBs detected by GBM, extending the second catalog by two more years through the middle of 2014 July. The resulting list includes 1405 triggers identified as GRBs. The intention of the GBM GRB catalog is to provide information to the community on the most important observables of the GBM-detected GRBs. For each GRB, the location and main characteristics of the prompt emission, the duration, peak flux, and fluence are derived. The latter two quantities are calculated for the 50-300 keV energy band where the maximum energy release of GRBs in the instrument reference system is observed, and also for a broader energy band from 10 to 1000 keV, exploiting the full energy range of GBM's low-energy [NaI[Tl)] detectors. Using statistical methods to assess clustering, we find that the hardness and duration of GRBs are better fit by a two-component model with short-hard and long-soft bursts than by a model with three components. Furthermore, information is provided on the settings and modifications of the triggering criteria and exceptional operational conditions during years five and six in the mission. This third catalog is an official product of the Fermi GBM science team, and the data files containing the complete results are available from the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center.
|
|
| 10. |
- Burgess, J. Michael, et al.
(author)
-
AN OBSERVED CORRELATION BETWEEN THERMAL AND NON-THERMAL EMISSION IN GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
- 2014
-
In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 784:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent observations by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have confirmed the existence of thermal and non-thermal components in the prompt photon spectra of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Through an analysis of six bright Fermi GRBs, we have discovered a correlation between the observed photospheric and non-thermal gamma-ray emission components of several GRBs using a physical model that has previously been shown to be a good fit to the Fermi data. From the spectral parameters of these fits we find that the characteristic energies, E-p and kT, of these two components are correlated via the relation E-p proportional to T-alpha which varies from GRB to GRB. We present an interpretation in which the value of the index alpha indicates whether the jet is dominated by kinetic or magnetic energy. To date, this jet composition parameter has been assumed in the modeling of GRB outflows rather than derived from the data.
|
|
| 11. |
- Law, Philip J., et al.
(author)
-
Association analyses identify 31 new risk loci for colorectal cancer susceptibility
- 2019
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and has a strong heritable basis. We report a genome-wide association analysis of 34,627 CRC cases and 71,379 controls of European ancestry that identifies SNPs at 31 new CRC risk loci. We also identify eight independent risk SNPs at the new and previously reported European CRC loci, and a further nine CRC SNPs at loci previously only identified in Asian populations. We use in situ promoter capture Hi-C (CHi-C), gene expression, and in silico annotation methods to identify likely target genes of CRC SNPs. Whilst these new SNP associations implicate target genes that are enriched for known CRC pathways such as Wnt and BMP, they also highlight novel pathways with no prior links to colorectal tumourigenesis. These findings provide further insight into CRC susceptibility and enhance the prospects of applying genetic risk scores to personalised screening and prevention.
|
|
| 12. |
- ODonnell, Michael, et al.
(author)
-
Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998)
- 2018
-
In: Perspectives on Psychological Science. - : SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD. - 1745-6916 .- 1745-6924. ; 13:2, s. 268-294
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence (professor) subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence (soccer hooligans). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%-3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and -0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the professor category and those primed with the hooligan category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender.
|
|
| 13. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(author)
-
Meteor studies in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program
- 2017
-
In: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 143, s. 245-255
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We summarize the state of the art of a program of UV observations from space of meteor phenomena, a secondary objective of the JEM-EUSO international collaboration. Our preliminary analysis indicates that JEM-EUSO, taking advantage of its large FOV and good sensitivity, should be able to detect meteors down to absolute magnitude close to 7. This means that JEM-EUSO should be able to record a statistically significant flux of meteors, including both sporadic ones, and events produced by different meteor streams. Being unaffected by adverse weather conditions, JEM-EUSO can also be a very important facility for the detection of bright meteors and fireballs, as these events can be detected even in conditions of very high sky background. In the case of bright events, moreover, exhibiting some persistence of the meteor train, preliminary simulations show that it should be possible to exploit the motion of the ISS itself and derive at least a rough 3D reconstruction of the meteor trajectory. Moreover, the observing strategy developed to detect meteors may also be applied to the detection of nuclearites, exotic particles whose existence has been suggested by some theoretical investigations. Nuclearites are expected to move at higher velocities than meteoroids, and to exhibit a wider range of possible trajectories, including particles moving upward after crossing the Earth. Some pilot studies, including the approved Mini-EUSO mission, a precursor of JEM-EUSO, are currently operational or in preparation. We are doing simulations to assess the performance of Mini-EUSO for meteor studies, while a few meteor events have been already detected using the ground-based facility EUSO-TA.
|
|
| 14. |
- Briggs, Ewan P, et al.
(author)
-
Formation of highly adherent nano-porous alumina on Ti-based substrates : a novel bone implant coating
- 2004
-
In: Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine. - 0957-4530 .- 1573-4838. ; 15:9, s. 1021-1029
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Thin, nano-porous, highly adherent layers of anodised aluminium formed on the surface of titanium alloys are being developed as coatings for metallic surgical implants. The layers are formed by anodisation of a 1–5 m thick layer of aluminium which has been deposited on substrate material by electron beam evaporation. The surface ceramic layer so produced is alumina with 6–8 wt % phosphate ions and contains 5×108 cm–2 pores with a 160 nm average diameter, running perpendicular to the surface. Mechanical testing showed the coatings'' shear and tensile strength to be at least 20 and 10 MPa, respectively. Initial cell/material studies show promising cellular response to the nano-porous alumina. A normal osteoblastic growth pattern with cell number increasing from day 1 to 21 was shown, with slightly higher proliferative activity on the nano-porous alumina compared to the Thermanox control. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination of the cells on the porous alumina membrane showed normal osteoblast morphology. Flattened cells with filopodia attaching to the pores and good coverage were also observed. In addition, the pore structure produced in these ceramic coatings is expected to be suitable for loading with bioactive material to enhance further their biological properties.
|
|
| 15. |
- Guiriec, Sylvain, et al.
(author)
-
Detection of a thermal spectral component in the prompt emission of GRB 100724B
- 2011
-
In: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS. - 2041-8205. ; 727:2, s. L33-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Observations of GRB 100724B with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor find that the spectrum is dominated by the typical Band functional form, which is usually taken to represent a non-thermal emission component, but also includes a statistically highly significant thermal spectral contribution. The simultaneous observation of the thermal and non-thermal components allows us to confidently identify the two emission components. The fact that these seem to vary independently favors the idea that the thermal component is of photospheric origin while the dominant non-thermal emission occurs at larger radii. Our results imply either a very high efficiency for the non-thermal process or a very small size of the region at the base of the flow, both quite challenging for the standard fireball model. These problems are resolved if the jet is initially highly magnetized and has a substantial Poynting flux.
|
|
| 16. |
- Haas, Brian J., et al.
(author)
-
Genome sequence and analysis of the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans
- 2009
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 461:7262, s. 393-398
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Phytophthora infestans is the most destructive pathogen of potato and a model organism for the oomycetes, a distinct lineage of fungus-like eukaryotes that are related to organisms such as brown algae and diatoms. As the agent of the Irish potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century, P. infestans has had a tremendous effect on human history, resulting in famine and population displacement(1). To this day, it affects world agriculture by causing the most destructive disease of potato, the fourth largest food crop and a critical alternative to the major cereal crops for feeding the world's population(1). Current annual worldwide potato crop losses due to late blight are conservatively estimated at $6.7 billion(2). Management of this devastating pathogen is challenged by its remarkable speed of adaptation to control strategies such as genetically resistant cultivars(3,4). Here we report the sequence of the P. infestans genome, which at similar to 240 megabases (Mb) is by far the largest and most complex genome sequenced so far in the chromalveolates. Its expansion results from a proliferation of repetitive DNA accounting for similar to 74% of the genome. Comparison with two other Phytophthora genomes showed rapid turnover and extensive expansion of specific families of secreted disease effector proteins, including many genes that are induced during infection or are predicted to have activities that alter host physiology. These fast-evolving effector genes are localized to highly dynamic and expanded regions of the P. infestans genome. This probably plays a crucial part in the rapid adaptability of the pathogen to host plants and underpins its evolutionary potential.
|
|
| 17. |
- Haverd, Vanessa, et al.
(author)
-
A new version of the CABLE land surface model (Subversion revision r4601) incorporating land use and land cover change, woody vegetation demography, and a novel optimisation-based approach to plant coordination of photosynthesis
- 2018
-
In: Geoscientific Model Development. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1991-959X .- 1991-9603. ; 11:7, s. 2995-3026
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Community Atmosphere-Biosphere Land Exchange model (CABLE) is a land surface model (LSM) that can be applied stand-alone and provides the land surface-atmosphere exchange within the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (ACCESS). We describe new developments that extend the applicability of CABLE for regional and global carbon-climate simulations, accounting for vegetation responses to biophysical and anthropogenic forcings. A land use and land cover change module driven by gross land use transitions and wood harvest area was implemented, tailored to the needs of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6). Novel aspects include the treatment of secondary woody vegetation, which benefits from a tight coupling between the land use module and the Population Orders Physiology (POP) module for woody demography and disturbance-mediated landscape heterogeneity. Land use transitions and harvest associated with secondary forest tiles modify the annually resolved patch age distribution within secondary vegetated tiles, in turn affecting biomass accumulation and turnover rates and hence the magnitude of the secondary forest sink. Additionally, we implemented a novel approach to constrain modelled GPP consistent with the coordination hypothesis and predicted by evolutionary theory, which suggests that electron-transport- and Rubisco-limited rates adjust seasonally and across biomes to be co-limiting. We show that the default prior assumption - common to CABLE and other LSMs - of a fixed ratio of electron transport to carboxylation capacity at standard temperature (Jmax,0/Vcmax,0) is at odds with this hypothesis; we implement an alternative algorithm for dynamic optimisation of this ratio such that coordination is achieved as an outcome of fitness maximisation. The results have significant implications for the magnitude of the simulated CO2 fertilisation effect on photosynthesis in comparison to alternative estimates and observational proxies. These new developments enhance CABLE's capability for use within an Earth system model and in stand-alone applications to attribute trends and variability in the terrestrial carbon cycle to regions, processes and drivers. Model evaluation shows that the new model version satisfies several key observational constraints: (i) trend and interannual variations in the global land carbon sink, including sensitivities of interannual variations to global precipitation and temperature anomalies; (ii) centennial trends in global GPP; (iii) coordination of Rubisco-limited and electron-transport-limited photosynthesis; (iv) spatial distributions of global ET, GPP, biomass and soil carbon; and (v) age-dependent rates of biomass accumulation in boreal, temperate and tropical secondary forests. CABLE simulations agree with recent independent assessments of the global land-atmosphere flux partition that use a combination of atmospheric inversions and bottom-up constraints. In particular, there is agreement that the strong CO2-driven sink in the tropics is largely cancelled by net deforestation and forest degradation emissions, leaving the Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropics as the dominant contributor to the net land sink.
|
|
| 18. |
- Haverd, Vanessa, et al.
(author)
-
A stand-alone tree demography and landscape structure module for Earth system models
- 2013
-
In: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 1944-8007 .- 0094-8276. ; 40:19, s. 5234-5239
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We propose and demonstrate a new approach for the simulation of woody ecosystem stand dynamics, demography, and disturbance-mediated heterogeneity suitable for continental to global applications and designed for coupling to the terrestrial ecosystem component of any earth system model. The approach is encoded in a model called Populations-Order-Physiology (POP). We demonstrate the behavior and performance of POP coupled to the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange model (CABLE) applied along the Northern Australian Tropical Transect, featuring gradients in rainfall and fire disturbance. The model is able to simultaneously reproduce observation-based estimates of key functional and structural variables along the transect, namely gross primary production, tree foliage projective cover, basal area, and maximum tree height. Prospects for the use of POP to address current vegetation dynamic deficiencies in earth system modeling are discussed.
|
|
| 19. |
- Haverd, Vanessa, et al.
(author)
-
Higher than expected CO2 fertilization inferred from leaf to global observations
- 2020
-
In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:4, s. 2390-2402
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several lines of evidence point to an increase in the activity of the terrestrial biosphere over recent decades, impacting the global net land carbon sink (NLS) and its control on the growth of atmospheric carbon dioxide (ca). Global terrestrial gross primary production (GPP)—the rate of carbon fixation by photosynthesis—is estimated to have risen by (31 ± 5)% since 1900, but the relative contributions of different putative drivers to this increase are not well known. Here we identify the rising atmospheric CO2 concentration as the dominant driver. We reconcile leaf-level and global atmospheric constraints on trends in modeled biospheric activity to reveal a global CO2 fertilization effect on photosynthesis of 30% since 1900, or 47% for a doubling of ca above the pre-industrial level. Our historic value is nearly twice as high as current estimates (17 ± 4)% that do not use the full range of available constraints. Consequently, under a future low-emission scenario, we project a land carbon sink (174 PgC, 2006–2099) that is 57 PgC larger than if a lower CO2 fertilization effect comparable with current estimates is assumed. These findings suggest a larger beneficial role of the land carbon sink in modulating future excess anthropogenic CO2 consistent with the target of the Paris Agreement to stay below 2°C warming, and underscore the importance of preserving terrestrial carbon sinks.
|
|
| 20. |
- Lankinen, Åsa, et al.
(author)
-
Fokusprojekt Lågriskmedel i växtskyddet
- 2019
-
Reports (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Fokusgruppens syfte har varit att definiera kunskapsluckor avseende den praktiska användningen och implementeringen av alternativa medel med låg risk för bekämpning av skadegörare och sjukdomar inom jordbruk, trädgårdsodling och skogsbruk. Vi har utgått från en bred definition av medel med låg risk, som har omfattat både allmänkemikalier och växtskyddsmedel med låg risk (enligt gällande EU-lagstiftning). Trots att det idag finns ett ökat behov av alternativa verktyg inom växtskyddet och politiska mål om minimerad användning av kemiska medel, så är användningen av alternativa bekämpningsmedel i fältodlade grödor mycket begränsad. • En viktig faktor som styr och begränsar tillgängligheten av alternativa medel är EU-lagstiftningen för godkännande av dessa medel. För att kunna registrera ett medel behövs en investering från det företag som ansöker om godkännande, vilket kan vara en anledning till att medel inte blir tillgängliga på marknaden. En annan lagteknisk begränsning är ogynnsamma skatteregler för dessa medel. • Från ett användarperspektiv är bristande kunskap om hur effektiva dessa medel är, hur man bäst applicerar dem samt hur de kan integreras i befintliga växtskyddsstrategier en bidragande orsak till att de inte används fullt ut. • Rådgivningen pekar också på en otydlighet om vilka medel som får användas speciellt i ekologisk produktion och att användningen missgynnas av höga priser i kombination med en osäkerhet om hur effektiva dessa medel är. • I Jordbruksverkets rapport ”Hinder för ökad användning av alternativa bekämpningsmedel” (SJV, Rapport 2019:3), som medlemmar av fokusgruppen har varit med att skriva, är ett av förslagen en utökad rådgivningsverksamhet. Detta eftersom informationsinsatser och aktiv rådgivning kan påverka hur snabbt odlare accepterar och börjar använda ett växtskyddsmedel, speciellt om det har nya egenskaper (och en ny verkningsmekanism). Forskning visar att en ny åtgärd/metod inte bara ska Sammanfattning och slutsatser 5 passa in i befintliga verksamheter utan också passa med attityd och värderingar hos användaren. • Från ett forskningsperspektiv kan vi se ett klart behov av tillämpningsnära forskning framför allt för att få en ökad kunskap om hur alternativa bekämpningsmedel kan integreras i befintliga växtskyddsstrategier. En utmaning är den begränsade mängd forskningsmedel som finns att söka för denna typ av forskning. • Forskningen är ofta väldigt uppdelad mellan agrikultur, hortikultur och skogsbruk. Här skulle man kunna dra nytta av kunskap inom respektive system eftersom vissa aspekter är generella mellan olika system, åtminstone för vissa grödor/träd. • Från ett internationellt perspektiv kan vi se vinster med ett bättre samarbete med närliggande länder, tex Plant Biologicals Network (PBN) som koordineras från Danmark, men även engagemang inom det vidare EUperspektivet (bla lagar). • Ytterligare en slutsats från fokusgruppens arbete är att växtskyddsforskningen på SLU behöver samordnas bättre, tex genom att knyta samman de kompetenscentrum som finns idag – CBC och CKB – med nya strukturer som skulle kunna fokusera på i) analys av växtskadegörare och ii) lågrisk-metoder och hur dessa kan spela en roll i integrerat växtskydd (IPM). • ygarbeta tillsammans för att få till en bra samverkan och kunskapsutbyte.
|
|
| 21. |
- Lorgelly, Paula K, et al.
(author)
-
An economic evaluation of rosuvastatin treatment in systolic heart failure: evidence from the CORONA trial.
- 2010
-
In: European journal of heart failure. - : Wiley. - 1879-0844 .- 1388-9842. ; 12:1, s. 66-74
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AIMS: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of 10 mg rosuvastatin daily for older patients with systolic heart failure in the Controlled Rosuvastatin Multinational Study in Heart Failure (CORONA) trial. METHODS AND RESULTS: This within trial analysis of CORONA used major cardiovascular (CV) events as the outcome measure. Resource use was valued and the costs of hospitalizations, procedures, and statin use compared. Cost-effectiveness was estimated as cost per major CV event avoided. There were significantly fewer major CV events in the rosuvastatin group compared with the placebo group (1.04 vs. 1.20 per patient; difference 0.164; 95% CI: 0.075-0.254, P < 0.001). The average cost of CV hospitalizations and procedures was significantly lower for those receiving rosuvastatin ( pound1531 vs. pound1769; difference pound238; 95% CI: pound73-403, P = 0.005); the additional cost of the statin resulted in significantly higher total costs for the rosuvastatin group ( pound1769 vs. pound2072; difference pound303; 95% CI: pound138-468, P < 0.001). Overall, rosuvastatin was found to cost pound1840 (95% CI: pound562-6028) per major CV event avoided. CONCLUSION: This economic analysis showed that a significant reduction in major CV events with rosuvastatin led to significantly reduced costs of CV hospitalizations and procedures. The reduction in associated costs for major CV events was found to offset partially (by 44%) the cost of rosuvastatin treatment in patients with systolic heart failure.
|
|
| 22. |
- Maier, Hannes, et al.
(author)
-
Consensus Statement on Bone Conduction Devices and Active Middle Ear Implants in Conductive and Mixed Hearing Loss
- 2022
-
In: Otology and Neurotology. - : Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. - 1531-7129 .- 1537-4505. ; 43:5, s. 513-529
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nowadays, several options are available to treat patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss. Whenever surgical intervention is not possible or contra-indicated, and amplification by a conventional hearing device (e.g., behind-the-ear device) is not feasible, then implantable hearing devices are an indispensable next option. Implantable bone-conduction devices and middle-ear implants have advantages but also limitations concerning complexity/invasiveness of the surgery, medical complications, and effectiveness. To counsel the patient, the clinician should have a good overview of the options with regard to safety and reliability as well as unequivocal technical performance data. The present consensus document is the outcome of an extensive iterative process including ENT specialists, audiologists, health-policy scientists, and representatives/technicians of the main companies in this field. This document should provide a first framework for procedures and technical characterization to enhance effective communication between these stakeholders, improving health care.
|
|
| 23. |
- McGrath, Matthew J., et al.
(author)
-
The consolidated European synthesis of CO2 emissions and removals for the European Union and United Kingdom : 1990-2020
- 2023
-
In: Earth System Science Data. - 1866-3508. ; 15:10, s. 4295-4370
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Quantification of land surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and their trends and uncertainties is essential for monitoring progress of the EU27+UK bloc as it strives to meet ambitious targets determined by both international agreements and internal regulation. This study provides a consolidated synthesis of fossil sources (CO2 fossil) and natural (including formally managed ecosystems) sources and sinks over land (CO2 land) using bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) approaches for the European Union and United Kingdom (EU27+UK), updating earlier syntheses (Petrescu et al., 2020, 2021). Given the wide scope of the work and the variety of approaches involved, this study aims to answer essential questions identified in the previous syntheses and understand the differences between datasets, particularly for poorly characterized fluxes from managed and unmanaged ecosystems. The work integrates updated emission inventory data, process-based model results, data-driven categorical model results, and inverse modeling estimates, extending the previous period 1990-2018 to the year 2020 to the extent possible. BU and TD products are compared with the European national greenhouse gas inventory (NGHGI) reported by parties including the year 2019 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The uncertainties of the EU27+UK NGHGI were evaluated using the standard deviation reported by the EU member states following the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and harmonized by gap-filling procedures. Variation in estimates produced with other methods, such as atmospheric inversion models (TD) or spatially disaggregated inventory datasets (BU), originate from within-model uncertainty related to parameterization as well as structural differences between models. By comparing the NGHGI with other approaches, key sources of differences between estimates arise primarily in activities. System boundaries and emission categories create differences in CO2 fossil datasets, while different land use definitions for reporting emissions from land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) activities result in differences for CO2 land. The latter has important consequences for atmospheric inversions, leading to inversions reporting stronger sinks in vegetation and soils than are reported by the NGHGI. For CO2 fossil emissions, after harmonizing estimates based on common activities and selecting the most recent year available for all datasets, the UNFCCC NGHGI for the EU27+UK accounts for 926g±g13gTggCgyr-1, while eight other BU sources report a mean value of 948 [937,961]gTggCgyr-1 (25th, 75th percentiles). The sole top-down inversion of fossil emissions currently available accounts for 875gTggC in this same year, a value outside the uncertainty of both the NGHGI and bottom-up ensemble estimates and for which uncertainty estimates are not currently available. For the net CO2 land fluxes, during the most recent 5-year period including the NGHGI estimates, the NGHGI accounted for -91g±g32gTggCgyr-1, while six other BU approaches reported a mean sink of -62 [-117,-49]gTggCgyr-1, and a 15-member ensemble of dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) reported -69 [-152,-5]gTggCgyr-1. The 5-year mean of three TD regional ensembles combined with one non-ensemble inversion of -73gTggCgyr-1 has a slightly smaller spread (0th-100th percentiles of [-135,+45]gTggCgyr-1), and it was calculated after removing net land-atmosphere CO2 fluxes caused by lateral transport of carbon (crop trade, wood trade, river transport, and net uptake from inland water bodies), resulting in increased agreement with the NGHGI and bottom-up approaches. Results at the category level (Forest Land, Cropland, Grassland) generally show good agreement between the NGHGI and category-specific models, but results for DGVMs are mixed. Overall, for both CO2 fossil and net CO2 land fluxes, we find that current independent approaches are consistent with the NGHGI at the scale of the EU27+UK. We conclude that CO2 emissions from fossil sources have decreased over the past 30 years in the EU27+UK, while land fluxes are relatively stable: positive or negative trends larger (smaller) than 0.07 (-0.61)gTggCgyr-2 can be ruled out for the NGHGI. In addition, a gap on the order of 1000gTggCgyr-1 between CO2 fossil emissions and net CO2 uptake by the land exists regardless of the type of approach (NGHGI, TD, BU), falling well outside all available estimates of uncertainties. However, uncertainties in top-down approaches to estimate CO2 fossil emissions remain uncharacterized and are likely substantial, in addition to known uncertainties in top-down estimates of the land fluxes. The data used to plot the figures are available at 10.5281/zenodo.8148461 (McGrath et al., 2023).
|
|
| 24. |
- Villalobos, Yohanna, et al.
(author)
-
Carbon in, carbon out: Australia’s ‘carbon budget’ assessment reveals astonishing boom and bust cycles
- 2023
-
In: The Conversation. - 2201-5639.
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- If you really want to know how much Australia contributes to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere, you have to study all the “sources” and “sinks”.Sources release CO₂ into the atmosphere, while sinks take it out. There are sources from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, and there are natural sinks such as plants absorbing CO₂. You can tally it all up on a balance sheet to find the net result. Are we adding to CO₂ levels in the atmosphere, overall? And if so, by how much?It’s an enormous undertaking, but not impossible. We have just published the most comprehensive assessment of Australian CO₂ sources and sinks. It covers the decade from 2010 to 2019, and it reveals some surprising features.Astonishingly, we found the net annual carbon balance of the entire continent switches from year to year. Australia can be a large net source of CO₂ one year and a large net CO₂ sink the next, in response to our increasingly variable climate. That makes it harder to detect long-term trends and understand whether our natural carbon sinks are growing or decreasing.
|
|
| 25. |
- Yu, Hoi-Fung, et al.
(author)
-
Synchrotron cooling in energetic gamma-ray bursts observed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor
- 2015
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 573
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. We study the time-resolved spectral properties of energetic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with good high-energy photon statistics observed by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor ((IBM) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Aims. We aim to constrain in detail the spectral properties of GRB prompt emission on a time-resolved basis and to discuss the theoretical implications of the fitting results in the context of various prompt emission models. Methods. Our sample comprises eight GRBs observed by the Fermi (IBM in its first five years of mission, with 1 keV-1 MeV fluence f > 1.0 x 10(-4) erg cm(-2) and a signal-to-noise ratio level of S/N >= 10.0 above 900 keV. We performed a time-resolved spectral analysis using a variable temporal binning technique according to optimal S/N criteria, resulting in a total of 299 time-resolved spectra. We performed Band function fits to all spectra and obtained the distributions for the low-energy power-lay index alpha, the high-energy power-law index beta, the peak energy in the observed nu F-nu, spectrum E-p, and the difference between the low- and high-energy power-law indices Delta s = alpha-beta. We also applied a physically motivated synchrotron model, which is a triple power-law with constrained power-law indices and a blackbody component, to test the prompt emission for consistency with a synchrotron origin and obtain the distributions for the two break energies E-b,E-1 and E-b,E-2 the middle segment power-law index beta, and the Planck function temperature kT. Results. The Band function parameter distributions are alpha = -0.73(-0.21)(+0.16), beta = -2.13(-0.56)(+0.28), E-p = 374.47(-187.7)(+307.3) keV (log(10) E-p = 2.577(-0.30)(+0.26)), and Delta s = 1.38(-0.31)(+0.54), with average errors sigma(alpha) similar to 0.1, sigma(beta) similar to 0.2, and sigma(Ep) similar to 0.1E(p). Using the distributions of Delta s and beta, the electron population index p is found to be consistent with the "moderately fast" scenario, in which fast- and slow-cooling scenarios cannot be distinguished. The physically motivated synchrotron-fitting function parameter distributions are E-b,E-1 = 129.6(-32.4)(+132.2) keV, E-b,E-2 = 631.4(-309.6)(+582) keV, beta = 1.721(-0.25)(+0.48), and kT = 10.4(-3.7)(+4.9) keV, with average errors sigma(beta) similar to 0.2, sigma E-b,E-1 similar to 0.1E(b,1), sigma E-b,E-2 similar to 0.4E(b,2,) and sigma(kT) similar to 0.1kT. This synchrotron function requires the synchrotron injection and cooling break (i.e., E-min and E-cool) to be close to each other within a factor of ten, often in addition to a Planck function. Conclusions. A synchrotron model is found that is consistent with most of the time-resolved spectra for eight energetic Fermi (IBM bursts with good high-energy photon statistics as long as both the cooling and injection break are included and the leftmost spectral slope is lifted either by including a thermal component or when an evolving magnetic field is accounted for.
|
|
