Emergent global patterns of ecosystem structure and function from a mechanistic general ecosystem model

Anthropogenic activities are causing widespread degradation of ecosystems worldwide, threatening the ecosystem services upon which all human life depends. Improved understanding of this degradation is urgently needed to improve avoidance and mitigation measures. One tool to assist these efforts is predictive models of ecosystem structure and function that are mechanistic: based on fundamental ecological principles. Here we present the first mechanistic General Ecosystem Model (GEM) of ecosystem structure and function that is both global and applies in all terrestrial and marine environments. Functional forms and parameter values were derived from the theoretical and empirical literature where possible. Simulations of the fate of all organisms with body masses between 10 µg and 150,000 kg (a range of 14 orders of magnitude) across the globe led to emergent properties at individual (e.g., growth rate), community (e.g., biomass turnover rates), ecosystem (e.g., trophic pyramids), and macroecological scales (e.g., global patterns of trophic structure) that are in general agreement with current data and theory. These properties emerged from our encoding of the biology of, and interactions among, individual organisms without any direct constraints on the properties themselves. Our results indicate that ecologists have gathered sufficient information to begin to build realistic, global, and mechanistic models of ecosystems, capable of predicting a diverse range of ecosystem properties and their response to human pressures

Comparison of the protein-coding genomes of three deep-sea, sulfur-oxidising bacteria: “Candidatus Ruthia magnifica”, “Candidatus Vesicomyosocius okutanii” and Thiomicrospira crunogena

Abstract Objective “ Candidatus Ruthia magnifica”, “Candidatus Vesicomyosocius okutanii” and Thiomicrospira crunogena are all sulfur-oxidising bacteria found in deep-sea vent environments. Recent research suggests that the two symbiotic organisms, “Candidatus R. magnifica” and “Candidatus V. okutanii”, may share common ancestry with the autonomously living species T. crunogena. We used comparative genomics to examine the genome-wide protein-coding content of all three species to explore their similarities. In particular, we used the OrthoMCL algorithm to sort proteins into groups of putative orthologs on the basis of sequence similarity. Results The OrthoMCL inflation parameter was tuned using biological criteria. Using the tuned value, OrthoMCL delimited 1070 protein groups. 63.5% of these groups contained one protein from each species. Two groups contained duplicate protein copies from all three species. 123 groups were unique to T. crunogena and ten groups included multiple copies of T. crunogena proteins but only single copies from the other species. “Candidatus R. magnifica” had one unique group, and had multiple copies in one group where the other species had a single copy. There were no groups unique to “Candidatus V. okutanii”, and no groups in which there were multiple “Candidatus V. okutanii” proteins but only single proteins from the other species. Results align with previous suggestions that all three species share a common ancestor. However this is not definitive evidence to make taxonomic conclusions and the possibility of horizontal gene transfer was not investigated. Methodologically, the tuning of the OrthoMCL inflation parameter using biological criteria provides further methods to refine the OrthoMCL procedure

Atherosclerosis in young Brazilians suffering violent deaths: a pathological study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke, which can cause sudden death in adulthood. In general, the clinical manifestations of cardiovascular diseases are caused by atherosclerosis, which is a process that starts during middle age. More recent studies indicate that the atherosclerotic process begins during childhood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To evaluate the extent of atherosclerotic disease in young Brazilians, we conducted a study of the pathological alterations in the major arteries of victims of violent death. Samples of the right carotid artery, left coronary artery, and thoracic aorta of young victims of violent death were analyzed and graded in accordance with the histological atherosclerotic lesion types proposed by the American Heart Association. Samples were collected from 100 individuals who had died from external causes, aged from 12 to 33 years.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The majority of cases (83%) were male, and 66% of deaths were homicides caused by firearms. The median age was 20.0 years and mean body mass index was 20.9 kg/m². Of the right carotid artery specimens, 3% were normal, 55% had type I, 40% had type II, 1% had type III, and 1% had type IV atherosclerotic lesions. Of the left coronary artery specimens, 5% were normal, 48% had type I, 41% had type II, 3% had type III, and 3% had type IV lesions. Of the thoracic aorta specimens, none were normal, 13% had type I, 64% had type II, 22% had type III, and 1% had type IV lesions. Overall, 97.34% of arteries examined had some degree of atherosclerosis. The most common histological type was type II (foam cells). No thoracic aorta specimens were normal, and the coronary artery specimens had the most atherosclerosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show a high prevalence of atherosclerotic lesions among young people in Brazil. Intervention should be undertaken to decrease the rate of sudden cardiac death in the adult population.</p

Chiropractic and self-care for back-related leg pain: design of a randomized clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Back-related leg pain (BRLP) is a common variation of low back pain (LBP), with lifetime prevalence estimates as high as 40%. Often disabling, BRLP accounts for greater work loss, recurrences, and higher costs than uncomplicated LBP and more often leads to surgery with a lifetime incidence of 10% for those with severe BRLP, compared to 1-2% for those with LBP.</p> <p>In the US, half of those with back-related conditions seek CAM treatments, the most common of which is chiropractic care. While there is preliminary evidence suggesting chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy is beneficial for patients with BRLP, there is insufficient evidence currently available to assess the effectiveness of this care.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study is a two-site, prospective, parallel group, observer-blinded randomized clinical trial (RCT). A total of 192 study patients will be recruited from the Twin Cities, MN (n = 122) and Quad Cities area in Iowa and Illinois (n = 70) to the research clinics at WHCCS and PCCR, respectively.</p> <p>It compares two interventions: chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) plus home exercise program (HEP) to HEP alone (minimal intervention comparison) for patients with subacute or chronic back-related leg pain.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Back-related leg pain (BRLP) is a costly and often disabling variation of the ubiquitous back pain conditions. As health care costs continue to climb, the search for effective treatments with few side-effects is critical. While SMT is the most commonly sought CAM treatment for LBP sufferers, there is only a small, albeit promising, body of research to support its use for patients with BRLP.</p> <p>This study seeks to fill a critical gap in the LBP literature by performing the first full scale RCT assessing chiropractic SMT for patients with sub-acute or chronic BRLP using important <b>patient-oriented </b>and <b>objective biomechanical </b>outcome measures.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00494065">NCT00494065</a></p

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

Relationships of low serum vitamin D3 with anthropometry and markers of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in overweight and obesity

Low serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D3 (vitamin D3) is known to perturb cellular function in many tissues, including the endocrine pancreas, which are involved in obesity and type II diabetes mellitus (TIIDM). Vitamin D3 insufficiency has been linked to obesity, whether obesity is assessed by body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference (waist). Central obesity, using waist as the surrogate, is associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), insulin resistance, TIIDM and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). We tested how vitamin D3 was related to measures of fat mass, MetSyn markers, haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and MetSyn in a cross-sectional sample of 250 overweight and obese adults of different ethnicities. There were modest inverse associations of vitamin D3 with body weight (weight) (r = -0.21, p = 0.0009), BMI (r = -0.18, p = 0.005), waist (r = -0.14, p = 0.03), [but not body fat % (r = -0.08, p = 0.24)], and HbA1c (r = -0.16, p = 0.01). Multivariable regression carried out separately for BMI and waist showed a decrease of 0.74 nmol/L (p = 0.002) in vitamin D3 per 1 kg/m2 increase in BMI and a decrease of 0.29 nmol/L (p = 0.01) per 1 cm increase in waist, with each explaining approximately 3% of the variation in vitamin D3 over and above gender, age, ethnicity and season

Innate Immune Response of Human Alveolar Macrophages during Influenza A Infection

Alveolar macrophages (AM) are one of the key cell types for initiating inflammatory and immune responses to influenza virus in the lung. However, the genome-wide changes in response to influenza infection in AM have not been defined. We performed gene profiling of human AM in response to H1N1 influenza A virus PR/8 using Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 chips and verified the changes at both mRNA and protein levels by real-time RT-PCR and ELISA. We confirmed the response with a contemporary H3N2 influenza virus A/New York/238/2005 (NY/238). To understand the local cellular response, we also evaluated the impact of paracrine factors on virus-induced chemokine and cytokine secretion. In addition, we investigated the changes in the expression of macrophage receptors and uptake of pathogens after PR/8 infection. Although macrophages fail to release a large amount of infectious virus, we observed a robust induction of type I and type III interferons and several cytokines and chemokines following influenza infection. CXCL9, 10, and 11 were the most highly induced chemokines by influenza infection. UV-inactivation abolished virus-induced cytokine and chemokine response, with the exception of CXCL10. The contemporary influenza virus NY/238 infection of AM induced a similar response as PR/8. Inhibition of TNF and/or IL-1β activity significantly decreased the secretion of the proinflammatory chemokines CCL5 and CXCL8 by over 50%. PR/8 infection also significantly decreased mRNA levels of macrophage receptors including C-type lectin domain family 7 member A (CLEC7A), macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1), and CD36, and reduced uptake of zymosan. In conclusion, influenza infection induced an extensive proinflammatory response in human AM. Targeting local components of innate immune response might provide a strategy for controlling influenza A infection-induced proinflammatory response in vivo

Supervolcanoes Within an Ancient Volcanic Province in Arabia Terra, Mars

Several irregularly shaped craters located within Arabia Terra, Mars represent a new type of highland volcanic construct and together constitute a previously unrecognized martian igneous province. Similar to terrestrial supervolcanoes, these low-relief paterae display a range of geomorphic features related to structural collapse, effusive volcanism, and explosive eruptions. Extruded lavas contributed to the formation of enigmatic highland ridged plains in Arabia Terra. Outgassed sulfur and erupted fine-grained pyroclastics from these calderas likely fed the formation of altered, layered sedimentary rocks and fretted terrain found throughout the equatorial region. Discovery of a new type of volcanic construct in the Arabia volcanic province fundamentally changes the picture of ancient volcanism and climate evolution on Mars. Other eroded topographic basins in the ancient Martian highlands that have been dismissed as degraded impact craters should be reconsidered as possible volcanic constructs formed in an early phase of widespread, disseminated magmatism on Mars