Filtyp
Microplastic particles are of increasing environmental concern around the globe and recent studies have shown that these particles are present in the entire water column, thus affecting a range of zooplankton including copepods that have a vital role in the marine food web. This study investigated whether microplastic beads have an effect in the filtration rate in the copepod Acartia tonsa, which
In this thesis the relationship between socioeconomic equality and democratic consolidation is evaluated through a case study of Bolivia. The country is one of the poorest in the Latin American region and has suffered a large degree of socioeconomic inequality. The country ended the transition to democracy in 1985 and has since then met challenges in consolidating the democracy and create stable p
Nanoplastics are emerging environmental contaminants that increasingly threaten soil ecosystems, yet their effects on microbial behavior remain poorly understood. This is mainly due to the lack of experimental tools capable of directly observing microbial dynamics in situ under realistic soil-like conditions. Here, we present a proof-of-concept system that enables real-time, high-throughput monito
Clinical studies of Parkinson’s disease (PD) using a dopamine cell replacment strategy have been tried for more than 30 years. The outcomes following transplantation of human fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue (hfVM) have been variable, with some patients coming off their anti-PD treatment for many years and others not responding and/or developing significant side effects, including graft-induced
Climate change may affect the yield of mass-flowering crops by altering the interplay between pest pressure and service delivery by pollinators, but realistic predictions need to account for the frequent use of insecticides in conventional farming. We tested the interactive effects of insecticide use and warmer winter conditions on oilseed rape (Brassica napus) production, pest pressure, and the a
Voltage-gated Ca2+ (CaV) channels trigger glucose-induced insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cell and their dysfunction increases diabetes risk. These heteromeric complexes include the main subunit alpha1, and the accessory ones, including subunit gamma that remains unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that CaV gamma subunit 4 (CaVγ4) is downregulated in islets from human donors with diabetes, diabe
Temperature is a key constraint on ecosystem respiration but is typically measured at only one or a few points across a study site. Given the exponential relationship between temperature and respiration, small differences in temperature across a heterogeneous ecosystem may result in large differences in respiration fluxes. These differences are not captured in current respiration models which use
The boreal biome exchanges large amounts of carbon (C) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) with the atmosphere and thus significantly affects the global climate. A managed boreal landscape consists of various sinks and sources of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC and DIC) across forests, mires, lakes, and streams. Due to the spatial heterogeneity, large u
Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for prostate cancer incidence have been proposed to optimize prostate cancer screening. Prediction of lethal prostate cancer is key to any stratified screening program to avoid excessive overdiagnosis. Herein, PRS for incident prostate cancer was evaluated in two population-based cohorts of unscreened middle-aged men linked to cancer and death registries: the Västerbott
Declining bond yields and rising public debts have caused many economists to suggest raising the debt ceiling in the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact. Implicitly, they argue for replacing GDP as the anchor with the bond yield. We discuss the risks of such a shift. While such a change would provide short-term relief to highly indebted EU member states, it is based on the expectation that bond yields
The global temperature rise is proportional to the cumulative amount of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. This observation is consistent between climate models and historical observations. It has also given rise to the concept of a carbon budget, which sets a threshold for the amount of CO2 that can be emitted into the atmosphere while still fulfilling political goals such as the Paris Agreement.Te
People appear to vary in their susceptibility to lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic disease; determining a priori who is most sensitive may help optimize the timing, design, and delivery of preventative interventions. We aimed to ascertain a person's degree of resilience or sensitivity to adverse lifestyle exposures and determine whether these classifications help predict cardiometabolic d
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dementia cases are expected to triple during the next 30 years, highlighting the importance of finding modifiable risk factors for dementia. The aim of this study is to investigate whether adherence to conventional dietary recommendations or to a modified Mediterranean diet are associated with subsequent lower risk of developing all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease (A
This study investigates possible structural changes of an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) when it adsorbs to a solid surface. Experiments on IDPs primarily result in ensemble averages due to their high dynamics. Therefore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are crucial for obtaining more detailed information on the atomistic and molecular levels. An evaluation of seven different force
Differences by sex in lung cancer incidence and mortality have been reported which cannot be fully explained by sex differences in smoking behavior, implying existence of genetic and molecular basis for sex disparity in lung cancer development. However, the information about sex dimorphism in lung cancer risk is quite limited despite the great success in lung cancer association studies. By adoptin
Background: Traditional risk factors for atherosclerotic disease (AD) are well-known, of which some are relevant also for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The present study compares the importance of plasma biomarkers and traditional risk factor profiles for incident AD without concomitant AAA (isolated AD) and AAA without concomitant AD (isolated AAA) during long-term follow-up. Methods: In the
Large-scale gene sequencing studies for complex traits have the potential to identify causal genes with therapeutic implications. We performed gene-based association testing of blood lipid levels with rare (minor allele frequency < 1%) predicted damaging coding variation by using sequence data from >170,000 individuals from multiple ancestries: 97,493 European, 30,025 South Asian, 16,507 African,
In transplants of embryonic striatal cells placed into the excitotoxically lesioned rat striatum (a model of Huntington's disease), as many as 60 to 90% of the grafted cells are believed to die. Caspase activation is part of a cascade of events that can lead to apoptosis. We investigated the effect of the caspase inhibitor acetyl-tyrosinyl-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-chloromethylketone (Ac-YVAD-cmk) on In transplants of embryonic striatal cells placed into the excitotoxically lesioned rat striatum (a model of Huntington's disease), as many as 60 to 90% of the grafted cells are believed to die. Caspase activation is part of a cascade of events that can lead to apoptosis. We investigated the effect of the caspase inhibitor acetyl-tyrosinyl-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-chloromethylketone (Ac-YVAD-cmk) on
The pancreatic islet is a highly structured micro-organ that produces insulin in response to rising blood glucose. Here we develop a label-free and automatic imaging approach to visualize the islets in situ in diabetic rodents by the synchrotron radiation X-ray phase-contrast microtomography (SRμCT) at the ID17 station of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The large-size images (3.2 mm ×
Background: Atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, triggered by blood flow–associated biomechanical forces, cause most myocardial infarctions and strokes. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the exact location and underlying mechanisms of atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, identifying therapeutic targets against cardiovascular events. Methods: Histology, electron microscopy, bulk and spatial RNA se
