Comparison of NIRS based methods to determine legume content of mixed swards

Four established and two new NIRS calibrations for the determination of legume content in dry ground mixtures were used to estimate clover content in ten Finnish red clover-grass mixtures of known legume content

Label-Free Proteomics Approach Characterizes Plasma Protein Signature of Donor Brain Death

Purpose Despite recent advances in donation after circulatory death, transplants from brain-dead donors remain the sole source in heart transplantation (HTx) worldwide. Due to organ shortage, marginal donors are increasingly used and the utilization of transplants becomes markedly more challenging. They undergo invariably brain death that induces a systemic cytokine and catecholamine storm that lead to systemic inflammation, labile hemodynamics, and organ hypoperfusion. Together, these can damage the heart and aggravate later occurring graft injury, and ultimately, compromise graft function. However, the effect of donor brain death on allografts is not well understood. Methods In a separate prospective, blinded single-center trial, we collected donor plasma samples and relevant clinical patient data from 50 HTx brain-dead donors and as controls plasma samples from age- and gender-matched 23 healthy volunteers. Quantitative label-free proteomics in high definition MSE mode (HDMSE) was carried out on the samples. Various statistical analyses were performed on quantitative proteomics data to obtain the most reliably distinguishing proteins, which classify the donors vs controls. Results With two or more unique proteins per identification, 463 proteins were quantified in our pilot study. A complete separation between donors and controls based on a set of 278 proteins (p-valuePeer reviewe

Effect of Donor Simvastatin Treatment on Gene Expression Profiles in Human Cardiac Allografts during Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Purpose Numerous studies have shown that statin therapy initiated early after heart transplantation has beneficial effects on the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy. Recently, we were able to show in a randomized clinical trial that simvastatin treatment of brain-dead donors conditions the heart transplant to withstand ischemia-reperfusion injury and to reduce the need for rejection treatments early after transplantation. In this study, we analyzed myocardial gene expression profiles in cardiac allografts after donor simvastatin treatment. Methods 84 heart transplant donors received 80 mg of simvastatin via nasogastric tube (n=42), or no treatment (n=42) in a prospective, double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Transmural Tru-Cut biopsies were taken from the apex of left ventricle of the donor heart immediately before reperfusion and 1 hour after reperfusion. 20 heart biopsies from donors without treatment and 20 heart biopsies from donors with simvastatin treatment will be analyzed with RNA sequencing. Results The preliminary analysis of RNA sequencing data from myocardial biopsies revealed altogether 137 significantly differentially expressed genes in all pairwise comparisons. The overall biological functions of these genes were related to gene ontology terms such as response to toxic substance, leukocyte migration, neutrophil mediated immunity, response to lipopolysaccharide, and response to oxidative stress. At the KEGG pathway level, our results indicated alterations in IL-17, TNF, MAPK and the AGE-RAGE signaling pathways. Conclusion We have shown in previous studies that donor simvastatin treatment induces protective effects against IRI in heart transplant recipients. In this study, we were able to detect significantly differentially expressed genes related to effects of simvastatin treatment. In order to single out genes that show beneficial effects of simvastatin treatment, further analysis will be conducted by exploring gene expression changes in specific biological functional categories, such as interleukin signaling and neutrophil degranulation. The complete analysis will be presented at the ISHLT 2019 congress.Peer reviewe

Can video mobile phones improve CPR quality when used for dispatcher assistance during simulated cardiac arrest?

Denne artikkelen er en del av doktorgradsavhandlingen til Stein Roar Bolle. Avhandlingen finnes i Munin http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3597Background: Because mobile telephones may support video calls, emergency medical dispatchers may now connect visually with bystanders during pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We studied the quality of simulated dispatcher-assisted CPR when guidance was delivered to rescuers by video calls or audio calls from mobile phones. Methods: One hundred and eighty high school students were randomly assigned in groups of three to communicate via video calls or audio calls with experienced nurse dispatchers at a Hospital Emergency Medical Dispatch Center. CPR was performed on a recording resuscitation manikin during simulated cardiac arrest. Quality of CPR and time factors were compared depending on the type of communication used. Results: The median CPR time without chest compression (‘hands-off time’) was shorter in the video-call group vs. the audio-call group (303 vs. 331 s; P50.048), but the median time to first compression was not shorter (104 vs. 102 s; P50.29). The median time to first ventilation was insignificantly shorter in the video-call group (176 vs. 205 s; P50.16). This group also had a slightly higher proportion of ventiliations without error (0.11 vs. 0.06; P50.30). Conclusion: Video communication is unlikely to improve telephone CPR (t-CPR) significantly without proper training of dispatchers and when using dispatch protocols written for audio-only calls. Improved dispatch procedures and training for handling video calls require further investigation

Lowering water table reduces carbon sink strength and carbon stocks in northern peatlands

Peatlands at high latitudes have accumulated \u3e400 Pg carbon (C) because saturated soil and cold temperatures suppress C decomposition. This substantial amount of C in Arctic and Boreal peatlands is potentially subject to increased decomposition if the water table (WT) decreases due to climate change, including permafrost thaw-related drying. Here, we optimize a version of the Organizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems model (ORCHIDEE-PCH4) using site-specific observations to investigate changes in CO and CH fluxes as well as C stock responses to an experimentally manipulated decrease of WT at six northern peatlands. The unmanipulated control peatlands, with the WT (seasonal max up to 45 cm) below the surface, currently act as C sinks in most years (58 ± 34 g C m year ; including 6 ± 7 g C-CH m year emission). We found, however, that lowering the WT by 10 cm reduced the CO sink by 13 ± 15 g C m year and decreased CH emission by 4 ± 4 g CH m year , thus accumulating less C over 100 years (0.2 ± 0.2 kg C m ). Yet, the reduced emission of CH , which has a larger greenhouse warming potential, resulted in a net decrease in greenhouse gas balance by 310 ± 360 g CO m year . Peatlands with the initial WT close to the soil surface were more vulnerable to C loss: Non-permafrost peatlands lost \u3e2 kg C m over 100 years when WT is lowered by 50 cm, while permafrost peatlands temporally switched from C sinks to sources. These results highlight that reductions in C storage capacity in response to drying of northern peatlands are offset in part by reduced CH emissions, thus slightly reducing the positive carbon climate feedbacks of peatlands under a warmer and drier future climate scenario

Higher Yield and Fewer Weeds in Four-Species Grass/Legume Mixtures Than in Monocultures: Results from the First Year at 20 Sites of Cost Action 852

Utilisation of grass/legume mixtures instead of grass monocultures is a sensible alternative for low input, efficient agricultural systems that reduce production costs, promote environmental policy and maintain a living countryside. Consequently, widely adapted forage legumes will become increasingly important. Instability of simple grass / legume mixtures with only one grass and one legume species is a major problem (Wachendorf et al., 2001). An experiment was established in 39 sites in Europe, Australia and Canada within COST Action 852 to: (1) assess the benefits of grass / legume mixtures in terms of forage production, (2) test whether the combination of fast and slow-growing species improves the stability of the mixtures and (3) assess response patterns over a large environmental gradient

Emissions of methane from northern peatlands : a review of management impacts and implications for future management options

This work was funded in part by the GHG-Europe project (EU grant agreement number: 244122) Greenhouse gases Europe projectPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Postglacial Colonization of Northern Coastal Habitat by Bottlenose Dolphins: A Marine Leading-Edge Expansion?

Oscillations in the Earth’s temperature and the subsequent retreating and advancing of ice-sheets around the polar regions are thought to have played an important role in shaping the distribution and genetic structuring of contemporary high-latitude populations. After the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), retreating of the ice-sheets would have enabled early colonizers to rapidly occupy suitable niches to the exclusion of other conspecifics, thereby reducing genetic diversity at the leading-edge. Bottlenose dolphins (genus Tursiops) form distinct coastal and pelagic ecotypes, with finer-scale genetic structuring observed within each ecotype. We reconstruct the postglacial colonization of the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) by bottlenose dolphins using habitat modeling and phylogenetics. The AquaMaps model hindcasted suitable habitat for the LGM in the Atlantic lower latitude waters and parts of the Mediterranean Sea. The time-calibrated phylogeny, constructed with 86 complete mitochondrial genomes including 30 generated for this study and created using a multispecies coalescent model, suggests that the expansion to the available coastal habitat in the NEA happened via founder events starting ~15 000 years ago (95% highest posterior density interval: 4 900–26 400). The founders of the 2 distinct coastal NEA populations comprised as few as 2 maternal lineages that originated from the pelagic population. The low effective population size and genetic diversity estimated for the shared ancestral coastal population subsequent to divergence from the pelagic source population are consistent with leading-edge expansion. These findings highlight the legacy of the Late Pleistocene glacial cycles on the genetic structuring and diversity of contemporary populations