| 1. |
- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(author)
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Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
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In: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource-poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally.Methods: Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality, analysed by multilevel logistic regression.Results: This study included 1409 patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and 694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95% CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009) countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per 1000 procedures performed.Conclusions: Adjusted mortality in children following emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health agendas.
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| 2. |
- Kremer, Peleg, et al.
(author)
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Key insights for the future of urban ecosystem services research
- 2016
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In: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 21:No.2, s. 29-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the dynamics of urban ecosystem services is a necessary requirement for adequate planning, management, and governance of urban green infrastructure. Through the three-year Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (URBES) research project, we conducted case study and comparative research on urban biodiversity and ecosystem services across seven cities in Europe and the United States. Reviewing > 50 peer-reviewed publications from the project, we present and discuss seven key insights that reflect cumulative findings from the project as well as the state-of-the-art knowledge in urban ecosystem services research. The insights from our review indicate that cross-sectoral, multiscale, interdisciplinary research is beginning to provide a solid scientific foundation for applying the ecosystem services framework in urban areas and land management. Our review offers a foundation for seeking novel, nature-based solutions to emerging urban challenges such as wicked environmental change issues.
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| 3. |
- Palmer, Jonathan G., et al.
(author)
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Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
- 2016
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 153, s. 139-155
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The warming trend at the end of the last glacial was disrupted by rapid cooling clearly identified in Greenland (Greenland Stadial 1 or GS-1) and Europe (Younger Dryas Stadial or YD). This reversal to glacial-like conditions is one of the best known examples of abrupt change but the exact timing and global spatial extent remain uncertain. Whilst the wider Atlantic region has a network of high-resolution proxy records spanning GS-1, the Pacific Ocean suffers from a scarcity of sub-decadally resolved sequences. Here we report the results from an investigation into a tree-ring chronology from northern New Zealand aimed at addressing the paucity of data. The conifer tree species kauri (Agathis australis) is known from contemporary studies to be sensitive to regional climate changes. An analysis of a ‘historic’ 452-year kauri chronology confirms a tropical-Pacific teleconnection via the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We then focus our study on a 1010-year sub-fossil kauri chronology that has been precisely dated by comprehensive radiocarbon dating and contains a striking ring-width downturn between ∼12,500 and 12,380 cal BP within GS-1. Wavelet analysis shows a marked increase in ENSO-like periodicities occurring after the downturn event. Comparison to low- and mid-latitude Pacific records suggests a coherency with ENSO and Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation change during this period. The driver(s) for this climate event remain unclear but may be related to solar changes that subsequently led to establishment and/or increased expression of ENSO across the mid-latitudes of the Pacific, seemingly independent of the Atlantic and polar regions.
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| 4. |
- Rainsley, Eleanor, et al.
(author)
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Pleistocene glacial history of the New Zealand subantarctic islands
- 2019
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In: Climate of the Past. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1814-9324 .- 1814-9332. ; 15:2, s. 423-448
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The New Zealand subantarctic islands of Auckland and Campbell, situated between the subtropical front and the Antarctic Convergence in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, provide valuable terrestrial records from a globally important climatic region. Whilst the islands show clear evidence of past glaciation, the timing and mechanisms behind Pleistocene environmental and climate changes remain uncertain. Here we present a multidisciplinary study of the islands-including marine and terrestrial geomorphological surveys, extensive analyses of sedimentary sequences, a comprehensive dating programme, and glacier flow line modelling-to investigate multiple phases of glaciation across the islands. We find evidence that the Auckland Islands hosted a small ice cap 384 000 +/- 26 000 years ago (384 +/- 26 ka), most likely during Marine Isotope Stage 10, a period when the subtropical front was reportedly north of its present-day latitude by several degrees, and consistent with hemispheric-wide glacial expansion. Flow line modelling constrained by field evidence suggests a more restricted glacial period prior to the LGM that formed substantial valley glaciers on the Campbell and Auckland Islands around 72-62 ka. Despite previous interpretations that suggest the maximum glacial extent occurred in the form of valley glaciation at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; similar to 21 ka), our combined approach suggests minimal LGM glaciation across the New Zealand subantarctic islands and that no glaciers were present during the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; similar to 15-13 ka). Instead, modelling implies that despite a regional mean annual air temperature depression of similar to 5 degrees C during the LGM, a combination of high seasonality and low precipitation left the islands incapable of sustaining significant glaciation. We suggest that northwards expansion of winter sea ice during the LGM and subsequent ACR led to precipitation starvation across the middle to high latitudes of the Southern Ocean, resulting in restricted glaciation of the subantarctic islands.
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| 5. |
- Reed, Zoe, et al.
(author)
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Geographical gene-environment interaction in ASD and ADHD traits
- 2019
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In: Behavior Genetics. - : Springer. - 0001-8244 .- 1573-3297. ; 49:6, s. 519-519
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Where we live can affect the balance of genetic and environmental influences on many developmental disorders and traits. For example, some genetic influences may be drawn out specifically by urban or rural environments. We used two different approaches to investigate the influence of location on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), on both national and local scales.First, using data from Sweden’s Child and Adolescent Twin Study, we used spACE structural equation models to estimate spatial patterns of genetic, shared environmental and non-shared environmental influences on symptoms of ASD and ADHD at ages 9 and 12 for thousands of locations across the country. We compared the maps to our previous analyses in the UK’s Twins Early Development Study.Second, we explored how polygenic risk for ASD and ADHD varies across a single city-region using data at age 10 from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in Bristol, UK. We obtained effect estimates at multiple locations across the study area using weighted linear regression models of polygenic risk.We found geographical variation in genetic and non-shared environmental influences for both ASD and ADHD in Sweden, paralleling our previous results from the UK. We also found evidence of geographical variation in polygenic risk on a local scale in Bristol and surrounding areas. The maps produced by these analyses may inform the discovery of novel environments that draw out or mask genetic risk, facilitating the discovery of genetic variants and the development of targeted environmental interventions.
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| 6. |
- Stacey, Glyn N, et al.
(author)
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Stem cell culture conditions and stability : a joint workshop of the PluriMes Consortium and Pluripotent Stem Cell Platform
- 2019
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In: Regenerative Medicine. - : Future Medicine Ltd. - 1746-0751 .- 1746-076X. ; 14:3, s. 243-255
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Human stem cells have the potential to transform medicine. However, hurdles remain to ensure that manufacturing processes produce safe and effective products. A thorough understanding of the biological processes occurring during manufacture is fundamental to assuring these qualities and thus, their acceptability to regulators and clinicians. Leaders in both human pluripotent and somatic stem cells, were brought together with experts in clinical translation, biomanufacturing and regulation, to discuss key issues in assuring appropriate manufacturing conditions for delivery of effective and safe products from these cell types. This report summarizes the key issues discussed and records consensus reached by delegates and emphasizes the need for accurate language and nomenclature in the scientific discourse around stem cells.
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| 7. |
- Thomas, Mathew, et al.
(author)
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Towards Adaptive, Streaming Analysis of X-ray Tomography Data
- 2015
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In: Synchrotron Radiation News. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0894-0886 .- 1931-7344. ; 28:2, s. 10-14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Temporal and spatial resolution of chemical imaging methodologies such as X-ray tomography are rapidly increasing, leading to more complex experimental procedures and fast-growing data volumes. Automated analysis pipelines and big data analytics are becoming essential to effectively evaluate the results of such experiments. Offering those data techniques in an adaptive, streaming environment can further substantially improve the scientific discovery process by enabling experimental control and steering based on the evaluation of emerging phenomena as they are observed by the experiment. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)'s Chemical Imaging Initiative (CII, http://imaging.pnnl.gov/) has worked since 2011 towards developing a framework that allows users to rapidly compose and customize high-throughput experimental analysis pipelines for multiple instrument types. The framework, named “Rapid Experimental Analysis” (REXAN) Framework [1M. Thomas, 3D imaging of microbial biofilms: Integration of synchrotron imaging and an interactive visualization interface, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, Chicago, IL, August 28 (2014). [Google Scholar]], is based on the idea of reusable component libraries and utilizes the PNNL-developed collaborative data management and analysis environment “Velo” to provide a user-friendly analysis and data management environment for experimental facilities. This article will discuss the capabilities established for X-ray tomography, review lessons learned, and provide an overview of our more recent work in the Analysis in Motion Initiative (AIM, http://aim.pnnl.gov/) at PNNL to provide REXAN capabilities in a streaming environment.
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| 8. |
- Turney, Chris S M, et al.
(author)
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High-precision dating and correlation of ice, marine and terrestrial sequences spanning Heinrich Event 3 : Testing mechanisms of interhemispheric change using New Zealand ancient kauri (Agathis australis)
- 2016
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 137, s. 126-134
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Robustly testing hypotheses of geographic synchroneity of abrupt and extreme change during the late Pleistocene (60,000 to 11,650 years ago) requires a level of chronological precision often lacking in ice, marine and terrestrial sequences. Here we report a bidecadally-resolved New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) tree-ring sequence spanning two millennia that preserves a record of atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) during ice-rafted debris event Heinrich Event 3 (HE3) in the North Atlantic and Antarctic Isotope Maximum 4 (AIM4) in the Southern Hemisphere. Using 14C in the marine Cariaco Basin and 10Be preserved in Greenland ice, the kauri 14C sequence allows us to precisely align sequences across this period. We observe no significant difference between atmospheric and marine 14C records during HE3, suggesting no stratification of surface waters and collapse in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Instead our results support recent evidence for a weakened AMOC across at least two millennia of the glacial period. Our work adds to a growing body of literature confirming that Heinrich events are not the cause of stadial cooling and suggests changes in the AMOC were not the primary driver of antiphase temperature trends between the hemispheres. Decadally-resolved 14C in ancient kauri offers a powerful new (and complementary) approach to polar ice core CH4 alignment for testing hypotheses of abrupt and extreme climate change.
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| 9. |
- Turney, Chris S M, et al.
(author)
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Rapid global ocean-atmosphere response to Southern Ocean freshening during the last glacial
- 2017
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 8:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Contrasting Greenland and Antarctic temperatures during the last glacial period (115,000 to 11,650 years ago) are thought to have been driven by imbalances in the rates of formation of North Atlantic and Antarctic Deep Water (the 'bipolar seesaw'). Here we exploit a bidecadally resolved 14C data set obtained from New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) to undertake high-precision alignment of key climate data sets spanning iceberg-rafted debris event Heinrich 3 and Greenland Interstadial (GI) 5.1 in the North Atlantic (~30,400 to 28,400 years ago). We observe no divergence between the kauri and Atlantic marine sediment 14C data sets, implying limited changes in deep water formation. However, a Southern Ocean (Atlantic-sector) iceberg rafted debris event appears to have occurred synchronously with GI-5.1 warming and decreased precipitation over the western equatorial Pacific and Atlantic. An ensemble of transient meltwater simulations shows that Antarctic-sourced salinity anomalies can generate climate changes that are propagated globally via an atmospheric Rossby wave train.
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