Plant Biomarker Pattern, Screening Programme for Phytochemical Differences in Plants Exposed to Stress

A screening programme is developed to investigate phytochemical differences in plants xposed to stress compared with non-exposed plants. The screening programme, in its resent form or in a more simplified form, can be utilized in several different areas as a preliminary broad screening. The screening programme covers the most general groups of compounds found in plants. The following groups of phytochemical compounds are included in the programme: Unspecific compounds, organic acids, lipids, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates, terpenoids and N-, S- and P-containing compounds

Colonization of an empty island:how does a plant with a plastic gender system respond?

<i>Honckenya peploides</i> is the most common plant species on the island of Surtsey. It arrived in 1967 and after a juvenile period of 4 years it produced seeds and had increased its number from below 100 to several millions. Most populations had the individuals distributed in a regular or random pattern, suggesting that intraspecific competition is important. <i>H. peploides</i> has a subdioecious reproductive system consisting of pistillate plants producing capsules, and staminate plants delivering pollen. Some of the latter are in addition producing capsules and are denoted hermaphrodites. Populations at the south coast of Iceland had around equal numbers of pistillate and staminate plants. At Surtsey we found more pistillate plants, probably due to their higher water stress tolerance. We also found a tendency to a higher frequency of hermaphrodite plants with a higher number of seeds per capsule compared to populations at the south coast of Iceland and the nearby island of Heimaey. We suggest that this arises from the time right after the colonization of Surtsey where population size was small and the small generalist pollinators were not able to deposit sufficient pollen on pistillate plants, causing the hermaphrodites to have an advantage by being able to set seed after selfing. The result of this initial advantage of the hermaphrodites in combination with the inheritance of the sexes can still be seen due to the longevity of individuals. A generalized account of the colonization history of <i>H. peploides</i> is given

Danmarks Rederiforening – skibsfartens interesseorganisation gennem 125 år

Torkil Adsersen er cand. phil. i europæisk etnologi ved Københavns universitet. Han har bl.a. været ansat som inspektør og leder af skoletjenesten på Arbejdermuseet og har lavet dokumentationer af flere arbejdspladser, herunder B&amp;W Skibsværft i 1996. Torkil Adsersen blev ansat som inspektør på Handels- og Søfartsmuseet første maj 2008

Spatial genetic structure of the sea sandwort (<i>Honckenya peploides</i>) on Surtsey:an immigrant's journey

Sea sandwort (Honckenya peploides) was one of the first plants to successfully colonize and reproduce on the volcanic island Surtsey, formed in 1963 off the southern coast of Iceland. Using amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) markers, we examined levels of genetic variation and differentiation among populations of H. peploides on Surtsey in relation to populations on the nearby island Heimaey and from the southern coast of Iceland. Selected populations from Denmark and Greenland were used for comparison. In addition, we tested whether the effects of isolation by distance could be seen in the Surtsey populations. Using two primer combinations, we obtained 173 AFLP markers from a total of 347 plant samples. The resulting binary matrix was then analysed statistically. The main results include the following: (i) Surtsey had the highest proportion of polymorphic markers as well as a comparatively high genetic diversity (55.5% proportion of polymorphic loci, PLP; 0.1974 HE) and Denmark the lowest (31.8% PLP; 0.132 HE), indicating rapid expansion during an early stage of population establishment on Surtsey and/or multiple origins of immigrants; (ii) the total genetic differentiation (FST) among Surtsey (0.0714) and Heimaey (0.055) populations was less than half of that found among the mainland populations in Iceland (0.1747), indicating substantial gene flow on the islands; (iii) most of the genetic variation (79%, p < 0.001) was found within localities, possibly due to the outcrossing and subdioecious nature of the species; (iv) a significant genetic distance was found within Surtsey, among sites, and this appeared to correlate with the age of plant colonization; and (v) the genetic structure analysis indicated multiple colonization episodes on Surtsey, whereby H. peploides most likely immigrated from the nearby island of Heimaey and directly from the southern coast of Iceland

Regional and age differences in specialised palliative care for patients with pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND: Despite national recommendations, disparities in specialised palliative care (SPC) admittance have been reported. The aims of this study were to characterize SPC admittance in patients with pancreatic cancer in relation to region of residence and age. METHOD: The data sources were two nationwide databases: Danish Pancreatic Cancer Database and Danish Palliative Care Database. The study population included patients (18+ years old) diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from 2011 to 2018. We investigated admittance to SPC, and time from diagnosis to referral to SPC and first contact with SPC to death by region of residence and age. RESULTS: In the study period (N = 5851) admittance to SPC increased from 44 to 63%. The time from diagnosis to referral to SPC increased in the study period and overall, the median time was 67 days: three times higher in Southern (92 days) than in North Denmark Region. The median number of days from diagnosis to referral to SPC was lower in patients ≥70 years (59 days) vs patients < 70 years (78 days), with regional differences between the age groups. Region of residence and age were associated with admittance to SPC; highest for patients in North Denmark Region vs Capital Region (OR = 2.03 (95%CI 1.67–2.48)) and for younger patients (< 60 years vs 80+ years) (OR = 2.54 (95%CI 2.05–3.15)). The median survival from admittance to SPC was 35 days: lowest in Southern (30 days) and highest in North Denmark Region (41 days). The median number of days from admittance to SPC to death was higher in patients < 70 years (40 days) vs ≥ 70 years (31 days), with a difference between age groups in the regions of 1–14 days. CONCLUSIONS: From 2011 to 2018 more patients with pancreatic cancer than previously were admitted to SPC, with marked differences between regions of residence and age groups. The persistently short period of time the patients are in SPC raises concern that early integrated palliative care is not fully integrated into the Danish healthcare system for patients with pancreatic cancer, with the risk that the referral comes so late that the patients do not receive the full benefit of the SPC