TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Impact du traitement par abatacept sur les cellules dendritiques et le lymphocytes T régulateurs chez des patients atteints de polyarthrite rhumatoïde

Dans le sillage des biothérapies, de nouvelles approches thérapeutiques comme l'abatacept, ont été développées offrant des perspectives intéressantes dans le traitement des maladies auto-immunes. Cette molécule est un modulateur de la réponse T dont l'effet sur les cellules de l'immunité n'est pas clairement défini. Aussi, nous avons étudié l'impact de l'abatacept sur les concentrations sériques des cellules dendritiques myéloides, plasmacytoides et des lymphocytes T régulateurs, chez des patients traités pour une polyarthrite rhumatoide. Dans cette étude prospective ont été inclus des patients en échec des traitements anti-TNF-a, suivis dans les centres hospitaliers de Bordeaux, Dax et Libourne. Le recueil des données clinico-biologiques a été réalisé lors des 6 premiers mois de traitement. A l'inclusion les patients présentaient, par rapport aux sujets sains, une diminution de la concentration sérique des cellules dendritiques, des lymphocytes T CD4 et CD8. Les concentrations des cellules plasmacytoides et CD8 étaient corrélées à l'activité de la maladie. Au 3ème mois de traitement, l'abatacept entraînait une augmentation du taux des cellules dendritiques plasmacytoides et une diminution de celui des lymphocytes T régulateurs circulants. Ainsi, l'abatacept ne présente pas une action déplétante majeure sur les cellules de l'immunité. Son impact fonctionnel mérite toutefois d'être étudié chez des patients naifs de biothérapie.BORDEAUX2-BU Santé (330632101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Role of stress in the development of rheumatoid arthritis: a case–control study

Objectives The primary objective of this study was to assess the stressful life events preceding the onset of symptoms in RA. The secondary objectives were to assess how early RA patients perceive stress and cope with stressors. Methods A case–control study was performed, comparing patients recently diagnosed with RA to age- and gender-matched control subjects recently hospitalized for an unplanned surgical procedure not known to be influenced by stress. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale assessed the cumulative stress induced by stressful life events in the year preceding the onset of symptoms. Coping strategies, stress and anxiety symptoms were evaluated using validated psychological scales. Results Seventy-six subjects were included in each group. The mean Social Readjustment Rating Scale score was twice as high in cases compared with controls [respectively, 167.0 (172.5) vs 83.3 (124.4), P < 0.001]. The association between cumulative stress and RA was statistically significant only in women, with a dose-dependent association between stress and RA. While female patients with RA attributed more often the onset of symptoms to a life event than female controls (70.2 vs 24.5%, P < 0.001), no significant difference was found when comparing male RA patients with male controls (26.9 vs 18.5%, respectively, P = 0.46). Increased perceived stress score (P = 0.04) and coping based on emotions (P = 0.001) were found in cases compared with controls. Conclusion Patients with early RA reported more life events in the year preceding the onset of symptoms than controls. Gender specificities were found with a significant association between cumulative stress and RA only in women

Adult-onset Still’s disease biological treatment strategy may depend on the phenotypic dichotomy

International audienceObjectives: Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) phenotype appears to be dichotomized in systemic or chronic articular forms. As biologicals and particularly interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 blockers play a more and more prominent role in the treatment, their place requires clarification. This study aimed to identify factors predictive of treatment response to anakinra or tocilizumab and investigate whether the choice of biotherapy and delays in the initiation of biotherapy influenced the likelihood of steroid discontinuation.Methods: A multicenter exploratory retrospective study included all patients diagnosed with AOSD and receiving biological treatments in three regional hospitals until 2018. Clinical and biological characteristics at diagnosis and treatment-related data were collected. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was used to perform univariate analysis for quantitative variables, and Fisher’s exact test was used for qualitative variables.Results: Twenty-seven patients were included. All but one patient achieved remission with either anakinra or tocilizumab. Treatment responses depended on disease phenotype: the presence of arthritis and a chronic articular phenotype were associated with a substantial response to tocilizumab with p = 0.0009 (OR 36 [2.6–1703]) and p = 0.017 (OR 10 [1.22–92.6]), respectively, whereas the systemic form and the absence of arthritis were associated with a substantial response to anakinra with p = 0.0009 (OR 36 [2.6–1703]) and p = 0.017 (OR 10 [1.22–92.6]), respectively. Tocilizumab increased the likelihood of corticosteroid withdrawal (p = 0.029) regardless of delays in initiation or when it was initiated relative to other treatment in the overall therapeutic strategy.Conclusion: This study highlights the therapeutic implications of the phenotypic dichotomy of AOSD and should help us better codify AOSD treatment

A global meta-analysis of the relative extent of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities

International audienceRecent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole-plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ-level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait-based community and ecosystem studies

A global meta‐analysis of the relative extent of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities

Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta‐analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole‐plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ‐level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait‐based community and ecosystem studies181214061419CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP479083/2008‐8; 141451/2011‐4; 306573/2009‐1; 303534/2012‐5; 303714/2010‐7BEX 7913/13‐3; PNPD 14540132013/50169‐1; 2014/06453‐0We thank Mark Westoby, Ian Wright and three anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. AS was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE‐1247399) and NSF grant DEB‐03089. CV was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Program (DiversiTraits project, no. 221060) and by the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant Project ‘Ecophysiological and biophysical constraints on domestication in crop plants’ (Grant ERC‐StG‐2014‐639706‐CONSTRAINTS). LC received funding from the European Research Council under the 7th European Community Framework Program FP7/2007‐2013 Grant Agreement no. 281422 (TEEMBIO). Financial support to AF came from the Chilean Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) project No. 1120171. FdB was supported by the Czech Science Foundation, grant P505/12/1296. LWA and BSS were supported by Discovery Grants from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. CS was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PA00P3_136474 and PZ00P3_148261). MBC, MVC, LDSD, VDP and CRF were supported by CAPES‐Brazil (grants BEX 7913/13‐3 and PNPD #1454013) and CNPq‐Brazil (grants 479083/2008‐8, 141451/2011‐4, 306573/2009‐1, 303534/2012‐5 and 303714/2010‐7). MK received support from the JSPS as a Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad. VLD was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation (processes: 2013/50169‐1 and 2014/06453‐0). DAP, SJR and NWHM were supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment core funding to Crown Research Institutes and the Ministry for the Environment. YLBP was supported by the project Postdoc USB (reg.no. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0006) realised through EU Education for Competitiveness Operational Programme and received funding from the European Social Fund and Czech State Budget. The Forest Dynamics Plot of Yasuni National Park has been made possible through the generous support of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, the government of Ecuador, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Aarhus of Denmar

Reducing socio-economic inequalities in all-cause mortality: a counterfactual mediation approach

Auteurs : LIFEPATH ConsortiumInternational audienc