| 1. |
- Daw, Tim M., et al.
(författare)
-
Elasticity in ecosystem services : exploring the variable relationship between ecosystems and human well-being
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 21:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although ecosystem services are increasingly recognized as benefits people obtain from nature, we still have a poor understanding of how they actually enhance multidimensional human well-being, and how well-being is affected by ecosystem change. We develop a concept of ecosystem service elasticity (ES elasticity) that describes the sensitivity of human well-being to changes in ecosystems. ES Elasticity is a result of complex social and ecological dynamics and is context dependent, individually variable, and likely to demonstrate nonlinear dynamics such as thresholds and hysteresis. We present a conceptual framework that unpacks the chain of causality from ecosystem stocks through flows, goods, value, and shares to contribute to the well-being of different people. This framework builds on previous conceptualizations, but places multidimensional well-being of different people as the final element. This ultimately disaggregated approach emphasizes how different people access benefits and how benefits match their needs or aspirations. Applying this framework to case studies of individual coastal ecosystem services in East Africa illustrates a wide range of social and ecological factors that can affect ES elasticity. For example, food web and habitat dynamics affect the sensitivity of different fisheries ecosystem services to ecological change. Meanwhile high cultural significance, or lack of alternatives enhance ES elasticity, while social mechanisms that prevent access can reduce elasticity. Mapping out how chains are interlinked illustrates how different types of value and the well-being of different people are linked to each other and to common ecological stocks. We suggest that examining chains for individual ecosystem services can suggest potential interventions aimed at poverty alleviation and sustainable ecosystems while mapping out of interlinkages between chains can help to identify possible ecosystem service trade-offs and winners and losers. We discuss conceptual and practical challenges of applying such a framework and conclude on its utility as a heuristic for structuring interdisciplinary analysis of ecosystem services and human well-being.
|
|
| 2. |
- Burguillos Garcia, Miguel, et al.
(författare)
-
Microglia-Secreted Galectin-3 Acts as a Toll-like Receptor 4 Ligand and Contributes to Microglial Activation.
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Cell Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 2211-1247. ; 10:9, s. 1626-1638
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inflammatory response induced by microglia plays a critical role in the demise of neuronal populations in neuroinflammatory diseases. Although the role of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in microglia's inflammatory response is fully acknowledged, little is known about endogenous ligands that trigger TLR4 activation. Here, we report that galectin-3 (Gal3) released by microglia acts as an endogenous paracrine TLR4 ligand. Gal3-TLR4 interaction was further confirmed in a murine neuroinflammatory model (intranigral lipopolysaccharide [LPS] injection) and in human stroke subjects. Depletion of Gal3 exerted neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects following global brain ischemia and in the neuroinflammatory LPS model. These results suggest that Gal3-dependent-TLR4 activation could contribute to sustained microglia activation, prolonging the inflammatory response in the brain.
|
|
| 3. |
- Chaigneau, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
-
Incorporating basic needs to reconcile poverty and ecosystem services
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Conservation Biology. - : Wiley. - 0888-8892 .- 1523-1739. ; 33:3, s. 655-664
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conservation managers frequently face the challenge of protecting and sustaining biodiversity without producing detrimental outcomes for (often poor) human populations that depend on ecosystem services for their well-being. However, mutually beneficial solutions are often elusive and can mask trade-offs and negative outcomes for people. To deal with such trade-offs, ecological and social thresholds need to be identified to determine the acceptable solution space for conservation. Although human well-being as a concept has recently gained prominence, conservationists still lack tools to evaluate how their actions affect it in a given context. We applied the theory of human needs to conservation by building on an extensive historical application of need approaches in international development. In an innovative participatory method that included focus groups and household surveys, we evaluated how human needs are met based on locally relevant thresholds. We then established connections between human needs and ecosystem services through key-informant focus groups. We applied our method in coastal East Africa to identify households that would not be able to meet their basic needs and to uncover the role of ecosystem services in meeting these. This enabled us to identify how benefits derived from the environment were contributing to meeting basic needs and to consider potential repercussions that could arise through changes to ecosystem service provision. We suggest our approach can help conservationists and planners balance poverty alleviation and biodiversity protection and ensure conservation measures do not, at the very least, cause serious harm to individuals. We further argue it can be used as a basis for monitoring the impacts of conservation on multidimensional poverty.
|
|
| 4. |
- Decaesteker, Bieke, et al.
(författare)
-
SOX11 regulates SWI/SNF complex components as member of the adrenergic neuroblastoma core regulatory circuitry
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 14:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The pediatric extra-cranial tumor neuroblastoma displays a low mutational burden while recurrent copy number alterations are present in most high-risk cases. Here, we identify SOX11 as a dependency transcription factor in adrenergic neuroblastoma based on recurrent chromosome 2p focal gains and amplifications, specific expression in the normal sympatho-adrenal lineage and adrenergic neuroblastoma, regulation by multiple adrenergic specific (super-)enhancers and strong dependency on high SOX11 expression in adrenergic neuroblastomas. SOX11 regulated direct targets include genes implicated in epigenetic control, cytoskeleton and neurodevelopment. Most notably, SOX11 controls chromatin regulatory complexes, including 10 SWI/SNF core components among which SMARCC1, SMARCA4/BRG1 and ARID1A. Additionally, the histone deacetylase HDAC2, PRC1 complex component CBX2, chromatin-modifying enzyme KDM1A/LSD1 and pioneer factor c-MYB are regulated by SOX11. Finally, SOX11 is identified as a core transcription factor of the core regulatory circuitry (CRC) in adrenergic high-risk neuroblastoma with a potential role as epigenetic master regulator upstream of the CRC.
|
|
| 5. |
- Encarnacao, Joao Crispim, et al.
(författare)
-
Detecting ligand interactions in real time on living bacterial cells
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. - : SPRINGER. - 0175-7598 .- 1432-0614. ; 102:9, s. 4193-4201
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Time-resolved analysis assays of receptor-ligand interactions are fundamental in basic research and drug discovery. Adequate methods are well developed for the analysis of recombinant proteins such as antibody-antigen interactions. However, assays for time-resolved ligand-binding processes on living cells are still rare, in particular within microbiology. In this report, the real-time cell-binding assay (RT-CBA) technology LigandTracerA (R), originally designed for mammalian cell culture, was extended to cover Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This required the development of new immobilization methods for bacteria, since LigandTracer depends on cells being firmly attached to a Petri dish. The evaluated Escherichia coli CJ236 and BL21 as well as Staphylococcus carnosus TM300 strains were immobilized to plastic Petri dishes using antibody capture, allowing us to depict kinetic binding traces of fluorescently labeled antibodies directed against surface-displayed bacterial proteins for as long as 10-15 h. Interaction parameters, such as the affinity and kinetic constants, could be estimated with high precision (coefficient of variation 9-44%) and the bacteria stayed viable for at least 16 h. The other tested attachment protocols were inferior to the antibody capture approach. Our attachment protocol is generic and could potentially also be applied to other assays and purposes.
|
|
| 6. |
- Fortnam, M., et al.
(författare)
-
The Gendered Nature of Ecosystem Services
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 159, s. 312-325
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article assesses the extent to which our conceptualisation, understanding and empirical analysis of ecosystem services are inherently gendered; in other words, how they might be biased and unbalanced in terms of their appreciation of gender differences. We do this by empirically investigating how women and men are able to benefit from ecosystem services across eight communities in coastal Kenya and Mozambique. Our results highlight different dimensions of wellbeing affected by ecosystem services, and how these are valued differently by men and women. However, it is not just the division of costs and benefits of ecosystem services that is gendered. Using a heuristic device of the 'ecosystem-wellbeing chain', we explain patterns within our primary data as an outcome of gendered knowledge systems, gendered behavioural expectations, gendered access to resources and gendered institutions. We conclude that this holistic, gendered understanding of ecosystem services is important not just for how ecosystem services are conceptualised, but also for the development and implementation of sustainable and equitable policy and interventions.
|
|
| 7. |
- Juzenas, Simonas, et al.
(författare)
-
Detailed transcriptional landscape of peripheral blood points to increased neutrophil activation in treatment-naïve inflammatory bowel disease
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Journal of Crohn's & Colitis. - : Oxford University Press. - 1873-9946 .- 1876-4479. ; 16:7, s. 1097-1109
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, which generally manifests as Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). These subtypes are heterogeneous in terms of disease location and histological features, while sharing common clinical presentation, genetic associations and thus, common immune regulatory pathways.METHODS: Using miRNA and mRNA coupled transcriptome profiling and systems biology approaches, we report a comprehensive analysis of blood transcriptomes from treatment-naïve (n=110) and treatment-exposed (n=177) IBD patients as well as symptomatic- (n=65) and healthy controls (n=95).RESULTS: Broadly, the peripheral blood transcriptomes of CD and UC patients were similar. However, there was an extensive gene deregulation in the blood of IBD patients, while only a slight deregulation in symptomatic controls, when compared with healthy controls. The deregulated mRNAs and miRNAs are mainly involved in the innate immunity and are especially enriched in neutrophil activation-related pathways. Oxidative phosphorylation and neutrophil activation-related modules were found to be differentially co-expressed among treatment-naïve IBD as compared to healthy controls. In the deregulated neutrophil activation-related co-expression module, the IL1B was identified as the central gene. The co-expression levels among IL1B and chemosensing receptor (CXCR1/2 and FPR1/2) genes were reduced in the blood of IBD patients when compared with healthy controls.CONCLUSIONS: Immune dysregulation seen in peripheral blood transcriptomes of treatment-naïve IBD patients is mainly driven by neutrophil activation.
|
|
| 8. |
- Kloetzl, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
-
Reduced Connectivity for Local Bilinear Jacobi Sets
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 2022 IEEE WORKSHOP ON TOPOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION (TOPOINVIS 2022). - : IEEE. - 9781665493543 - 9781665493550 ; , s. 39-48
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a new topological connection method for the local bi-linear computation of Jacobi sets that improves the visual representation while preserving the topological structure and geometric configuration. To this end, the topological structure of the local bilinear method is utilized, which is given by the nerve complex of the traditional piecewise linear method. Since the nerve complex consists of higher-dimensional simplices, the local bilinear method (visually represented by the 1-skeleton of the nerve complex) leads to clutter via crossings of line segments. Therefore, we propose a homotopy-equivalent representation that uses different collapses and edge contractions to remove such artifacts. Our new connectivity method is easy to implement, comes with only little overhead, and results in a less cluttered representation.
|
|
| 9. |
- Kraus, Ludwig, et al.
(författare)
-
Estimation of the Number of People With Opioid Addiction in Germany
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. - : Deutscher Arzte-Verlag GmbH. - 1866-0452. ; 116:9, s. 137-143
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Opioid addiction is one of the most common substance-related disorders worldwide, and morbidity and mortality due to opioid addiction place a heavy burden on society. Knowing the size of the population that is addicted to opioids is a prerequisite for the development and implementation of appropriate health-policy measures.Methods: Our estimate for Germany for 2016 is based on an enumeration of opioid-addicted persons who were entered in a registry of persons receiving substitution therapy, an enumeration of persons receiving outpatient and inpatient care for addiction without substitution therapy, an extrapolation to all addiction care facilities, and an estimation of the number of opioid-addicted persons who were not accounted for either in the substitution registry or in addiction care.Results: The overall estimate of the number of opioid-addicted persons in Germany in 2016 was 166 294 persons (lower and upper bounds: 164 794 and 167 794), including 123 988 men (122 968 to 125 007) and 42 307 women (41 826 to 42 787). The estimates for each German federal state per 1000 inhabitants ranged from 0.1 in Brandenburg to 3.0 in North Rhine-Westphalia and 5.5 in Bremen. The average value across Germany was 3.1 per 1000 inhabitants.Conclusion: Comparisons with earlier estimates suggest that the number of persons addicted to opioids in Germany has hardly changed over the past 20 years. Despite methodological limitations, this estimate can be considered highly valid. Nearly all persons who are addicted to opioids are in contact with the addiction care system.
|
|
| 10. |
- Lerche, Stefanie, et al.
(författare)
-
Cognitive impairment in Glucocerebrosidase (GBA)-associated PD: Not primarily associated with cerebrospinal fluid Abeta and Tau profiles.
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. - : Wiley. - 1531-8257. ; 32:12, s. 1780-1783
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A proportion of idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients (PDidiopathic ) with dementia show altered CSF profiles of amyloid β (Aβ) and Tau. PD patients with Glucocerebrosidase (GBA) mutations (PDGBA ) present with even more cognitive decline than seen in PDidiopathic .The objective of this study was to evaluate whether CSF profiles of Aβ and tau are associated with the prominent cognitive impairment in PDGBA .CSF levels of Aβ1-42 , t-Tau, p-Tau, and total alpha-synuclein were assessed in 479 participants (50 PDGBA , 308 PDidiopathic , 121 healthy controls).Older age was associated with cognitive impairment in PDGBA and PDidiopathic . Despite prominent cognitive impairment, PDGBA showed similar CSF levels of Aβ1-42 , t-Tau, and p-Tau as seen in healthy controls. In contrast, lower levels of Aβ1-42 and higher levels of t-Tau and p-Tau were associated with worse cognitive performance in PDidiopathic .The prominent cognitive impairment in PDGBA seems not primarily associated with Aβ and Tau profiles in CSF. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
|
|
