Comparative analyses of Defense gene expression in Norway spruce sapwood

As the most important species in Europe’s forest industry, Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] has a very high economical impact. Unfortunately, the forest industry has yearly losses of approximately 800 million euro, because many Norway spruce stands suffer infection by one of the tree’s major pathogens Heterobasidion parviporum (Fr.) Niemelä & Korhonen. H. parviporum is a basidiomycete fungus. It belongs to a species complex called Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato, which includes four other Heterobasidion species besides H. parviporum, with other but slightly overlapping host ranges. To infect Norway spruce, H. parviporum spores need a surface presenting fresh wood, e. g. freshly occurring wounds in stems and roots or stump surface of a tree, to germinate and begin growing into the tree. Once H. parviporum has reached the inner column (heartwood) of the tree, it spreads vertically in the tree’s heartwood towards the crown and root system. When it reaches the root system, H. parviporum can use root-to- root contacts between spruce trees to spread from tree to tree. During its infection process it decays the heartwood as well as the roots. Therefore, the disease highly reduces timber quality and enhances the changes of storm breakage of infected Norway spruce trees. If the infection progresses H. parviporum will come into contact and interact with the sapwood, consisting not only of dead cells (tracheids) but also of living ray and parenchyma cells. Norway spruce reacts to this penetration by forming a defense barrier, called the reaction zone, which is highly compact and enriched in secondary metabolites that have the ability to restrict the invaders growth. Thus, the secondary metabolites encased in the reaction zone were shown to hinder fungal growth. Interestingly, recent research could correlate the presence of a reaction zone with reduced diameter growth of the trees. The authors suggested that formation of the reaction zone goes along with an enhanced investment in secondary metabolism instead of biomass production, with the reaction zone acting as a carbon sink, allocating carbon from neighboring tissue in H. parviporum challenged trees. In addition, it was suggested that the increase in secondary metabolite production will be due to changes in the expression of genes that encode proteins which function in the production of the enriched metabolites. Previous studies thus analysed the expression levels of these genes by in various Picea species which had been inoculated with H. parviporum in bark. It could be shown that various genes involved in secondary metabolism respond to H. parviporum attack in respect to their expression profiles. Interestingly, wounding tissue without adding H. parviporum revealed the same but weaker response. In this study, we investigated the difference of Norway spruce’s defense response in a radial direction analysing i) bark, primary xylem and sapwood tissue bordering the reaction zone in trees inoculated with H. parviporum into the sapwood compared to trees wounded in the sapwood and ii) sapwood adjacent to the reaction zone compared to sapwood distal of the reaction zone in naturally infected and healthy trees. We choose to determine the expression of genes encoding enzymes representative for several secondary metabolite pathways and production of precursors. Further we studied gene expression of genes associated with the plant hormone synthesis of the pathogen defense response related plant hormones jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis and its signaling and the ethylene biosynthesis. In comparison with previous studies, our results indicate that Norway spruce defense shows an up-regulation of the secondary metabolism and the hormonal response at the position of the H. annosum s. l. challenge, but the response is similar regardless of the tissue type. Comparison of H. parviporum to wounding treatment suggests that carbon distribution within the secondary metabolite pathways rather than the amount of carbon allocated from the energy metabolism is important. Further, we propose that distal tissues react to the challenge with H. parviporum by decreasing their own secondary metabolite production and providing carbon at the inoculation site. However, our findings need further testing using chemical analysis in Norway spruce inoculated with H. parviporum at different time points with a high spatial resolution

Altered EEG spectral power during rest and cognitive performance: a comparison of preterm-born adolescents to adolescents with ADHD

Preterm birth has been associated with an increased risk for ADHD-like behavioural symptoms and cognitive impairments. However, direct comparisons across ADHD and preterm-born samples on neurophysiological measures are limited. The aim of this analysis was to test whether quantitative EEG (QEEG) measures identify differences or similarities in preterm-born adolescents, compared to term-born adolescents with and without ADHD, during resting-state and cognitive task conditions. We directly compared QEEG activity between 186 preterm-born adolescents, 69 term-born adolescents with ADHD and 135 term-born control adolescents during an eyes-open resting-state condition (EO), which previously discriminated between the adolescents with ADHD and controls, and during a cued continuous performance task (CPT-OX). Absolute delta power was the only frequency range to demonstrate a significant group-by-condition interaction. The preterm group, like the ADHD group, displayed significantly higher delta power during EO, compared to the control group. In line with these findings, parent-rated ADHD symptoms in the preterm group were significantly correlated with delta power during rest. While the preterm and control groups did not differ with regard to absolute delta power during CPT-OX, the ADHD group showed significantly higher absolute delta power compared to both groups. Our results provide evidence for overlapping excess in the absolute delta range in preterm-born adolescents and term-born adolescents with ADHD during rest. During CPT-OX, preterm-born adolescents resembled controls. Increased delta power during rest may be a potential general marker of brain trauma, pathology or neurotransmitter disturbances

Can economic experiments contribute to a more effective CAP?

In order to keep pace with the evolution of the objectives and means of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, evaluation tools also need to adapt. A set of tools that have proved highly effective in other policy fields is economic experiments. These allow the testing of a new policy before its implementation, provide evidence of its specific effects, and identify behavioural dimensions that can influence policy outcomes. We argue that agricultural policy should be subject to economic experiments, providing examples to illustrate how they can inform CAP design. We identify the additional efforts needed to establish further proof-of-concept, by running more – and more robust – experiments related to the CAP. This can happen only by integrating experimental evaluation results within the policy cycle and addressing ethical and practical challenges seriously. To do so, researchers would benefit from a concerted European effort to promote the methodology across the EU; organise the replication in time and across Europe of experiments relevant for the CAP; and build a multi-national panel of farmers willing to participate in experiments. Steps are being taken in this direction by the Research Network of Economics Experiments for CAP evaluation (REECAP)

Antidepressant discontinuation before or during pregnancy and risk of psychiatric emergency in Denmark:A population-based propensity score-matched cohort study

Background AWUom: Pelneapsreecsocnrfiibremdthaantatildlheepardeisnsgalenvteslsfaarceerethperedseilnetmedmcoarroefcwtlhy:ether or not to continue their treatment during pregnancy. Currently, limited evidence is available on the efficacy of continuing versus discontinuing antidepressant treatment during pregnancy to aid their decision. We aimed to estimate whether antidepressant discontinuation before or during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of psychiatric emergency (ascertained by psychiatric admission or emergency room visit), a proxy measure of severe exacerbation of symptoms/mental health crisis. Methods and findings We carried out a propensity score-matched cohort study of women who gave birth to liveborn singletons between January 1, 1997 and June 30, 2016 in Denmark and who redeemed an antidepressant prescription in the 90 days before the pregnancy, identified by Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) code N06A. We constructed 2 matched cohorts, matching each woman who discontinued antidepressants before pregnancy (N = 2,669) or during pregnancy (N = 5,467) to one who continued antidepressants based on propensity scores. Maternal characteristics and variables related to disease severity were used to generate the propensity scores in logistic regression models. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of psychiatric emergency in the perinatal period (pregnancy and 6 months postpartum) using stratified Cox regression. Psychiatric emergencies were observed in 76 women who discontinued antidepressants before pregnancy and 91 women who continued. There was no evidence of higher risk of psychiatric emergency among women who discontinued antidepressants before pregnancy (cumulative incidence: 2.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.3% to 3.6% for discontinuation versus 3.4%, 95% CI: 2.8% to 4.2% for continuation; HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.61 to 1.16, p = 0.298). Overall, 202 women who discontinued antidepressants during pregnancy and 156 who continued had psychiatric emergencies (cumulative incidence: 5.0%, 95% CI: 4.2% to 5.9% versus 3.7%, 95% CI: 3.1% to 4.5%). Antidepressant discontinuation during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of psychiatric emergency (HR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.55, p = 0.048). Study limitations include lack of information on indications for antidepressant treatment and reasons for discontinuing antidepressants. Conclusions In this study, we found that discontinuing antidepressant medication during pregnancy (but not before) is associated with an apparent increased risk of psychiatric emergency compared to continuing treatment throughout pregnancy.</p

Exposure to prenatal infection and the development of internalizing and externalizing problems in children:a longitudinal population-based study

Background:A large body of work has reported a link between prenatal exposure to infection and increased psychiatric risk in offspring. However, studies to date have focused primarily on exposure to severe prenatal infections and/or individual psychiatric diagnoses in clinical samples, typically measured at single time points, and without accounting for important genetic and environmental confounders. In this study, we investigated whether exposure to common infections during pregnancy is prospectively associated with repeatedly assessed child psychiatric symptoms in a large population-based study.Methods:Our study was embedded in a prospective pregnancy cohort (Generation R; n = 3,598 mother-child dyads). We constructed a comprehensive prenatal infection score comprising common infections for each trimester of pregnancy. Child total, internalizing, and externalizing problems were assessed repeatedly using the parent-rated Child Behavioral Checklist (average age: 1.5, 3, 6, 10, and 14 years). Linear mixed-effects models were run adjusting for a range of confounders, including child polygenic scores for psychopathology, maternal chronic illness, birth complications, and infections during childhood. We also investigated trimester-specific effects and child sex as a potential moderator.Results:Prenatal exposure to infections was associated with higher child total, internalizing, and externalizing problems, showing temporally persistent effects, even after adjusting for important genetic and environmental confounders. We found no evidence that prenatal infections were associated with changes in child psychiatric symptoms over time. Moreover, in our trimester-specific analysis, we did not find evidence of significant timing effects of prenatal infection on child psychiatric symptoms. No interactions with child sex were identified.Conclusions:Our research adds to evidence that common prenatal infections may be a risk factor for psychiatric symptoms in children. We also extend previous findings by showing that these associations are present early on, and that rather than changing over time, they persist into adolescence. However, unmeasured confounding may still explain in part these associations. In the future, employing more advanced causal inference designs will be crucial to establishing the degree to which these effects are causal

Exposure to prenatal infection and the development of internalizing and externalizing problems in children:a longitudinal population-based study

Background:A large body of work has reported a link between prenatal exposure to infection and increased psychiatric risk in offspring. However, studies to date have focused primarily on exposure to severe prenatal infections and/or individual psychiatric diagnoses in clinical samples, typically measured at single time points, and without accounting for important genetic and environmental confounders. In this study, we investigated whether exposure to common infections during pregnancy is prospectively associated with repeatedly assessed child psychiatric symptoms in a large population-based study.Methods:Our study was embedded in a prospective pregnancy cohort (Generation R; n = 3,598 mother-child dyads). We constructed a comprehensive prenatal infection score comprising common infections for each trimester of pregnancy. Child total, internalizing, and externalizing problems were assessed repeatedly using the parent-rated Child Behavioral Checklist (average age: 1.5, 3, 6, 10, and 14 years). Linear mixed-effects models were run adjusting for a range of confounders, including child polygenic scores for psychopathology, maternal chronic illness, birth complications, and infections during childhood. We also investigated trimester-specific effects and child sex as a potential moderator.Results:Prenatal exposure to infections was associated with higher child total, internalizing, and externalizing problems, showing temporally persistent effects, even after adjusting for important genetic and environmental confounders. We found no evidence that prenatal infections were associated with changes in child psychiatric symptoms over time. Moreover, in our trimester-specific analysis, we did not find evidence of significant timing effects of prenatal infection on child psychiatric symptoms. No interactions with child sex were identified.Conclusions:Our research adds to evidence that common prenatal infections may be a risk factor for psychiatric symptoms in children. We also extend previous findings by showing that these associations are present early on, and that rather than changing over time, they persist into adolescence. However, unmeasured confounding may still explain in part these associations. In the future, employing more advanced causal inference designs will be crucial to establishing the degree to which these effects are causal

The Association Between Prenatal Infection and Adolescent Behavior:Investigating Multiple Prenatal, Perinatal, and Childhood Second Hits

Objective: Exposure to infection during pregnancy may be a potential risk factor for later psychopathology, but large-scale epidemiological studies investigating associations between prenatal infection and long-term offspring behavioral problems in the general population are scarce. In our study, we aimed to investigate (1) the association between prenatal infection and adolescent behavior, (2) putative underlying pathways (mediation) and (3) ‘second hits’ interacting with prenatal infection to increase the risk of adolescent behavior problems (moderation).Method: Our study was embedded in a prospective Dutch pregnancy cohort (Generation R; n=2,213 mother-child dyads). We constructed a comprehensive prenatal infection score comprising common infections for each trimester of pregnancy. At age 13-16 years, we assessed total, internalizing, and externalizing problems, and autistic traits using the Child Behavioral Checklist and the Social Responsiveness Scale, respectively. We investigated maternal lifestyle and nutrition, perinatal (placental health and delivery outcomes) and child health (lifestyle, traumatic events, infections) as mediators and moderators.Results: We observed associations of prenatal infection with adolescent total behavioral, internalizing, and externalizing problems. The association between prenatal infection and internalizing problems was moderated by higher levels of maternal psychopathology, alcohol and tobacco use, and a higher number of traumatic childhood events. We found no association between prenatal infection and autistic traits. Yet, children exposed to prenatal infections and maternal substance use, and/or traumatic childhood events had a higher risk of adolescent autistic traits.Conclusion: Prenatal infection may be a risk factor for later psychiatric problems as well as a disease primer making individuals susceptible to other hits later in life. <br/

Farmers' risk preferences in 11 European farming systems: A multi-country replication of Bocquého et al. (2014)

We replicate Bocquého et al. (2014), who used multiple price lists to investigate the risk preferences of 107 French farmers. We collected new data from 1430 participants in 11 European farming systems. In agreement with the original study, farmers' risk preferences are best described by Cumulative Prospect Theory. Structural model estimates show that farmers in the new samples are, on average, less loss averse and more susceptible to probability distortion than in the original study. Explorative analyses indicate differences between estimation approaches, as well as heterogeneity between and within samples. We discuss challenges in replications of economic experiments with farmers across farming contexts