Allometry and growth of eight tree taxa in United Kingdom woodlands.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0As part of a project to develop predictive ecosystem models of United Kingdom woodlands we have collated data from two United Kingdom woodlands - Wytham Woods and Alice Holt. Here we present data from 582 individual trees of eight taxa in the form of summary variables relating to the allometric relationships between trunk diameter, height, crown height, crown radius and trunk radial growth rate to the tree's light environment and diameter at breast height. In addition the raw data files containing the variables from which the summary data were obtained. Large sample sizes with longitudinal data spanning 22 years make these datasets useful for future studies concerned with the way trees change in size and shape over their life-span

Sobre espaços, turistas e homelands imaginadas

Este texto explora relações entre espaços, identidades e processos turísticos. Baseado em trabalho de campo antropológico (realizado em Portugal, Malásia e Sin gapura), aborda-se o processo de construção social do espaço do bairro português de Malaca (1929-2009). Discute-se o processo de apropriação social do bairro por várias categorias de pessoas e argumenta-se que, desde a sua produção colonial à sua reapro priação contemporânea, coexiste uma retórica de nostalgia empacotada subjacente aos usos do espaço

Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Review of Current Clinical Outcomes, Mechanism of Action and Opportunities for Synergistic Therapy

Locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) accounts for 30% of patients with pancreatic cancer. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a novel cancer treatment that may improve survival and quality of life in LAPC. This narrative review will provide a perspective on the clinical experience of pancreas IRE therapy, explore the evidence for the mode of action, assess treatment complications, and propose strategies for augmenting IRE response. A systematic search was performed using PubMed regarding the clinical use and safety profile of IRE on pancreatic cancer, post-IRE sequential histological changes, associated immune response, and synergistic therapies. Animal data demonstrate that IRE induces both apoptosis and necrosis followed by fibrosis. Major complications may result from IRE; procedure related mortality is up to 2%, with an average morbidity as high as 36%. Nevertheless, prospective and retrospective studies suggest that IRE treatment may increase median overall survival of LAPC to as much as 30 months and provide preliminary data justifying the well-designed trials currently underway, comparing IRE to the standard of care treatment. The mechanism of action of IRE remains unknown, and there is a lack of data on treatment variables and efficiency in humans. There is emerging data suggesting that IRE can be augmented with synergistic therapies such as immunotherapy

Rethinking the sub-Antarctic terrestrial N-cycle : evidence for organic N acquisition by Marion Island grasses

Please read abstract in the article.The South African National Research Foundation (NRF), South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP). Open access funding provided by University of Cape Town.http://link.springer.com/journal/300hj2024Plant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

The UK Environmental Change Network datasets – integrated and co-located data for long-term environmental research (1993–2015)

Long-term datasets of integrated environmental variables, co-located together, are relatively rare. The UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) was launched in 1992 and provides the UK with its only long-term integrated environmental monitoring and research network for the assessment of the causes and consequences of environmental change. Measurements, covering a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological “driver” and “response” variables are made in close proximity at ECN terrestrial sites using protocols incorporating standard quality control procedures. This paper describes the datasets (there are 19 published ECN datasets) for these co-located measurements, containing over 20 years of data (1993–2015). The data and supporting documentation are freely available from the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre under the terms of the Open Government Licence (see paper for DOIs)

UK Environmental Change Network stakeholder consultation

During the Environmental Change Network (ECN) site mangers meeting feedback on the role of UK-SCAPE funding was sought. Representatives from collaborating institutions did not restrict their comments to only the period of UK-SCAPE, as this program is a continuation of previous national capability funding. The stakeholders present appreciated the role of UKCEH through the processes of co-design, co-delivery and co-development in shaping the ECN. They further commented on the co-dependency conferred by the network for their institutions and sites. While several stakeholders noted that they could not benefit directly from UK-SCAPE funding they recognised that funding was required for coordination of the network in addition to collecting monitoring data. They highlighted the risk of failure of the network and the lost opportunities in terms of collaborative working and data delivery to the research community if funding is not maintained in the network

Therapeutic potential of TLR8 agonist GS-9688 (selgantolimod) in chronic hepatitis B: re-modelling of antiviral and regulatory mediators

Background & Aims: GS‐9688 (selgantolimod) is a toll‐like receptor 8 (TLR8) agonist in clinical development for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Antiviral activity of GS‐9688 has previously been evaluated in vitro in hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐infected hepatocytes and in vivo in the woodchuck model of CHB. Here we evaluated the potential of GS‐9688 to boost responses contributing to viral control and to modulate regulatory mediators. Approach & Results: We characterised the effect of GS‐9688 on immune cell subsets in vitro in PBMC of healthy controls and CHB patients. GS‐9688 activated dendritic cells and mononuclear phagocytes to produce IL‐12 and other immunomodulatory mediators, inducing a comparable cytokine profile in healthy controls and CHB patients. GS‐9688 increased the frequency of activated natural killer (NK) cells, mucosal‐associated invariant T‐cells (MAITs), CD4+ follicular helper T‐cells (TFH) and, in ~50% of patients, HBV‐specific CD8+T‐cells expressing interferon‐γ (IFNγ). Moreover, in vitro stimulation with GS‐9688 induced NK cell expression of IFNγ and TNFα and promoted hepatocyte lysis. We also assessed whether GS‐9688 inhibited immunosuppressive cell subsets that might enhance antiviral efficacy. Stimulation with GS‐9688 reduced the frequency of CD4+ regulatory T‐cells and monocytic myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSC). Residual MDSC expressed higher levels of negative immune regulators, galectin‐9 and PD‐L1. Conversely, GS‐9688 induced an expansion of immunoregulatory TNF‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand+ (TRAIL) regulatory NK cells and degranulation of arginase‐I+ polymorphonuclear‐MDSC (PMN‐MDSC). Conclusions: GS‐9688 induces cytokines in human PBMC that are able to activate antiviral effector function by multiple immune mediators (HBV‐specific CD8+T‐cells, TFH, NK cells and MAITs). Whilst reducing the frequency of some immunoregulatory subsets, it enhances the immunosuppressive potential of others, highlighting potential biomarkers and immunotherapeutic targets to optimise the antiviral efficacy of GS‐9688

Turnip mosaic potyvirus probably first spread to Eurasian brassica crops from wild orchids about 1000 years ago

Turnip mosaic potyvirus (TuMV) is probably the most widespread and damaging virus that infects cultivated brassicas worldwide. Previous work has indicated that the virus originated in western Eurasia, with all of its closest relatives being viruses of monocotyledonous plants. Here we report that we have identified a sister lineage of TuMV-like potyviruses (TuMV-OM) from European orchids. The isolates of TuMV-OM form a monophyletic sister lineage to the brassica-infecting TuMVs (TuMV-BIs), and are nested within a clade of monocotyledon-infecting viruses. Extensive host-range tests showed that all of the TuMV-OMs are biologically similar to, but distinct from, TuMV-BIs and do not readily infect brassicas. We conclude that it is more likely that TuMV evolved from a TuMV-OM-like ancestor than the reverse. We did Bayesian coalescent analyses using a combination of novel and published sequence data from four TuMV genes [helper component-proteinase protein (HC-Pro), protein 3(P3), nuclear inclusion b protein (NIb), and coat protein (CP)]. Three genes (HC-Pro, P3, and NIb), but not the CP gene, gave results indicating that the TuMV-BI viruses diverged from TuMV-OMs around 1000 years ago. Only 150 years later, the four lineages of the present global population of TuMV-BIs diverged from one another. These dates are congruent with historical records of the spread of agriculture in Western Europe. From about 1200 years ago, there was a warming of the climate, and agriculture and the human population of the region greatly increased. Farming replaced woodlands, fostering viruses and aphid vectors that could invade the crops, which included several brassica cultivars and weeds. Later, starting 500 years ago, inter-continental maritime trade probably spread the TuMV-BIs to the remainder of the world