611 research outputs found
Rarity types among plant species with high conservation priority in Switzerland
Abstract.: Broennimann O., Vittoz P., Moser D. and Guisan A. 2005. Rarity types among plant species with high conservation priority in Switzerland. Bot. Helv. 115: 95-108. We investigated the ecogeographic characteristics of 118 Swiss plant species listed as those deserving highest conservation priority in a national conservation guide and classified them into the seven Rabinowitz' rarity types, taking geographic distribution, habitat rarity and local population size into account. Our analysis revealed that species with high conservation priority in Switzerland mostly have a very restricted geographic distribution in Switzerland and generally occur in rare habitats, but do not necessarily constitute small populations and are generally not endemics on a global scale. Moreover, species that are geographically very restricted on a regional scale are not generally restricted on a global scale. By analysing relationships between rarity and IUCN extinction risks for Switzerland, we demonstrated that species with the highest risk of extinction are those with the most restricted geographic distribution; whereas species with lower risk of extinction (but still high conservation priority) include many regional endemics. Habitat rarity and local population size appeared to be of minor importance for the assessment of extinction risk in Switzerland, but the total number of fulfilled rarity criteria still correlated positively with the severity of extinction risk. Our classification is the first preliminary assessment of the relative importance of each rarity type among endangered plant species of the Swiss flora and our results underline the need to distinguish between a regional and a global responsibility for the conservation of rare and endangered specie
Targeting thromboinflammation in COVID-19 - A narrative review of the potential of C1 inhibitor to prevent disease progression.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic carriers to critically ill patients with complications including thromboembolic events, myocardial injury, multisystemic inflammatory syndromes and death. Since the beginning of the pandemic several therapeutic options emerged, with a multitude of randomized trials, changing the medical landscape of COVID-19. The effect of various monoclonal antibodies, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anticoagulation drugs have been studied, and to some extent, implemented into clinical practice. In addition, a multitude of trials improved the understanding of the disease and emerging evidence points towards a significant role of the complement system, kallikrein-kinin, and contact activation system as drivers of disease in severe COVID-19. Despite their involvement in COVID-19, treatments targeting these plasmatic cascades have neither been systematically studied nor introduced into clinical practice, and randomized studies with regards to these treatments are scarce. Given the multiple-action, multiple-target nature of C1 inhibitor (C1-INH), the natural inhibitor of these cascades, this drug may be an interesting candidate to prevent disease progression and combat thromboinflammation in COVID-19. This narrative review will discuss the current evidence with regards to the involvement of these plasmatic cascades as well as endothelial cells in COVID-19. Furthermore, we summarize the evidence of C1-INH in COVID-19 and potential benefits and pitfalls of C1-INH treatment in COVID-19
Transfert
The book has three axes of reflection on the concept of transference. In the first part of the volume, Hans-JĂŒrgen LĂŒsebrink evokes contemporary changes that increase intercultural communications. Walter Moser examines the history of concepts and explores the possibility of "cultural transfer" an instrument that would account for the great cultural mobility that we see today worldwide. Pierre LĂ©vy gives this conceptual exploration highest amplitude by moving it to the general area of information transfer. The second part, "The transfer and knowledge", occupies the bulk of the work. Daniel Simeoni explores translation studies documenting the parallelism of translation and transfer concepts. In psychoanalysis, both as a site that as a practice, the transfer has a long conceptual history; Ellen Corin yet open dialogue with other disciplines and knowledge and raises the possibility of laterally moving the achievements of his thinking to the field of anthropology. In criminal law, Alvaro Pires explores theoretical and methodological issues of transfer, supporting his words with examples. Nicolas Goyer distinguishes between "family transfer" and "migration transfer" to illustrate the need to challenge the priority that has long given the intergenerational transfer.
The third part explores the overlapping of transfers and the media. Timothy Murray explores the 'new media art', where the political intersect, the médiaticotechnologique, psychoanalytic and intercultural. Wolfgang Ernst questioned the "transfer" the confluence of ethnology, ethnography, museology, history and cultural analysis, compared to the theory and history of the media
Luminescence from two-dimensional electron gases in InAlN/GaN heterostructures with different In content
The luminescence properties of InxAl1âxN/GaN heterostructures are investigated systematically as a function of the In content (xâ=â0.067âââ0.208). The recombination between electrons confined in the two-dimensional electron gas and free holes in the GaN template is identified and analyzed. We find a systematic shift of the recombination with increasing In content from about 80âmeV to only few meV below the GaN exciton emission. These results are compared with model calculations and can be attributed to the changing band profile and originating from the polarization gradient between InAlN and GaN
Dynamics of disease characteristics and clinical management of critically ill COVID-19 patients over the time course of the pandemic: an analysis of the prospective, international, multicentre RISC-19-ICU registry
Background: It remains elusive how the characteristics, the course of disease, the clinical management and the outcomes of critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) worldwide have changed over the course of the pandemic.
Methods: Prospective, observational registry constituted by 90 ICUs across 22 countries worldwide including patients with a laboratory-confirmed, critical presentation of COVID-19 requiring advanced organ support. Hierarchical, generalized linear mixed-effect models accounting for hospital and country variability were employed to analyse the continuous evolution of the studied variables over the pandemic.
Results: Four thousand forty-one patients were included from March 2020 to September 2021. Over this period, the age of the admitted patients (62 [95% CI 60-63] years vs 64 [62-66] years, p < 0.001) and the severity of organ dysfunction at ICU admission decreased (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment 8.2 [7.6-9.0] vs 5.8 [5.3-6.4], p < 0.001) and increased, while more female patients (26 [23-29]% vs 41 [35-48]%, p < 0.001) were admitted. The time span between symptom onset and hospitalization as well as ICU admission became longer later in the pandemic (6.7 [6.2-7.2| days vs 9.7 [8.9-10.5] days, p < 0.001). The PaO2/FiO2 at admission was lower (132 [123-141] mmHg vs 101 [91-113] mmHg, p < 0.001) but showed faster improvements over the initial 5 days of ICU stay in late 2021 compared to early 2020 (34 [20-48] mmHg vs 70 [41-100] mmHg, p = 0.05). The number of patients treated with steroids and tocilizumab increased, while the use of therapeutic anticoagulation presented an inverse U-shaped behaviour over the course of the pandemic. The proportion of patients treated with high-flow oxygen (5 [4-7]% vs 20 [14-29], p < 0.001) and non-invasive mechanical ventilation (14 [11-18]% vs 24 [17-33]%, p < 0.001) throughout the pandemic increased concomitant to a decrease in invasive mechanical ventilation (82 [76-86]% vs 74 [64-82]%, p < 0.001). The ICU mortality (23 [19-26]% vs 17 [12-25]%, p < 0.001) and length of stay (14 [13-16] days vs 11 [10-13] days, p < 0.001) decreased over 19 months of the pandemic.
Conclusion: Characteristics and disease course of critically ill COVID-19 patients have continuously evolved, concomitant to the clinical management, throughout the pandemic leading to a younger, less severely ill ICU population with distinctly different clinical, pulmonary and inflammatory presentations than at the onset of the pandemic.
Keywords: ARDS; COVID-19; Disease dynamics; Intensive care unit; Pandemic
Gender differences in perceptions of psoriatic arthritis disease impact, management, and physician interactions: results from a global patient survey
Introduction: We evaluated the impact of gender on disease severity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), treatment management, and patientâhealthcare professional (HCP) interactions from the perspectives of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
Methods: Data were collected from a global online patient survey conducted by The Harris Poll (November 2, 2017 to March 12, 2018). Eligible patients were agedââ„â18 years, with a self-reported diagnosis of PsA forâ>â1 year, had visited a rheumatologist/dermatologist in the past 12 months, and had reported previously usingââ„â1 conventional synthetic or biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug. Data were stratified by gender and analyzed descriptively, inferentially by binomial (chi-square) tests, and by multivariate logistic regression models.
Results: Data from 1286 patients who participated were included: 52% were female, 48% were male. Varying perceptions of disease severity between males and females were indicated by differences in symptoms leading to a diagnosis of PsA, and in symptoms reported despite treatment; more females than males reported joint tenderness, skin patches/plaques, and enthesitis. More females than males reported a major/moderate impact of PsA on their physical activity and emotional/mental well-being. Reasons for switching medication differed between genders, with more females switching because they perceived their medication to not be effective enough related to their joint symptoms. More females than males were very satisfied with their communication with their rheumatologist and were more likely to discuss the impact of PsA on their daily lives, their treatment satisfaction, and treatment goals with their rheumatologist.
Conclusions:Patientsâ perceptions of the impact of PsA on HRQoL, treatment management, and interactions with HCPs varied between males and females. More females than males reported major/moderate physical and emotional impacts of PsA. When treating patients, it is important for HCPs to consider the potential impact of gender on patientsâ experience of PsA and its symptoms.
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Analyticity of layer potentials and solvability of boundary value problems for divergence form elliptic equations with complex coefficients
We consider divergence form elliptic operators of the form L=-\dv
A(x)\nabla, defined in , ,
where the coefficient matrix is , uniformly
elliptic, complex and -independent. We show that for such operators,
boundedness and invertibility of the corresponding layer potential operators on
, is stable under
complex, perturbations of the coefficient matrix. Using a variant
of the Theorem, we also prove that the layer potentials are bounded and
invertible on whenever is real and symmetric (and
thus, by our stability result, also when is complex, is small enough and is real, symmetric,
and elliptic). In particular, we establish solvability of the Dirichlet and
Neumann (and Regularity) problems, with (resp. data, for
small complex perturbations of a real symmetric matrix. Previously,
solvability results for complex (or even real but non-symmetric) coefficients
were known to hold only for perturbations of constant matrices (and then only
for the Dirichlet problem), or in the special case that the coefficients
, , which corresponds to the Kato square
root problem
Climate change affects vegetation differently on siliceous and calcareous summits of the European Alps
The alpine life zone is expected to undergo major changes with ongoing climate change. While an increase of plant species richness on mountain summits has generally been found, competitive displacement may result in the long term. Here, we explore how species richness and surface cover types (vascular plants, litter, bare ground, scree and rock) changed over time on different bedrocks on summits of the European Alps. We focus on how species richness and turnover (new and lost species) depended on the density of existing vegetation, namely vascular plant cover. We analyzed permanent plots (1 x 1 m) in each cardinal direction on 24 summits (24 x 4 x 4), with always four summits distributed along elevation gradients in each of six regions (three siliceous, three calcareous) across the European Alps.
Mean summer temperatures derived from downscaled climate data increased synchronously over the past 30 years in all six regions. During the investigated 14 years, vascular plant cover decreased on siliceous bedrock, coupled with an increase in litter, and it marginally increased on higher calcareous summits. Species richness showed a unimodal relationship with vascular plant cover. Richness increased over time on siliceous bedrock but slightly decreased on calcareous bedrock due to losses in plots with high plant cover.
Our analyses suggest contrasting and complex processes on siliceous versus calcareous summits in the European Alps. The unimodal richness-cover relationship and species losses at high plant cover suggest competition as a driver for vegetation change on alpine summits
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