A study of sediment transport, large woody debris and riparian zones in two headwater streams from forest to agricultural landscapes

Headwater streams are affected by anthropogenic impacts at multiple scales. One aspect of human impact is sediment transport associated to the abundance of stream structures as large woody debris and the composition of the riparian zone from forest to agricultural landscapes. Riparian buffer zones and stream structures like dead wood are considered as generally important structures for protection against an increasing amount of sediment particles in the water. Hence, in this study these structures were quantified in thirty different stream segments on land and in the water. To measure the transport of sediment Whitlock-Vibert boxes were used in three different types of landscapes; forest, transition and fields. The boxes were left in the stream segments for three months, the taken up and dried and weighed. The results showed that the transition-land in Frösvidalsån had the highest sediment transport. The second highest transport of sediment was in Blackstaån at the fields. A factor in common for both these stream sections was that their naturally meandering shape had been straightened. That indicates that straightened water streams attain a higher degree of sediment transport. One contributory cause to the higher sediment transport is the increasing velocity of the water stream. To see if large woody debris could have a connection to the sediment transport a correlations test was made. The test showed that the connection was weak. In a second test the basal area of the riparian zones and the sediment transport was compared to each other in the correlations test, the results showed that the connection was week. In a third correlation test the basal area of the riparian zones was compared to dead wood, also that test showed a weak connection. In the last test the basal area of riparian zones and large woody debris was compared and the test showed a weak connection

Prevalence of heterophilic antibodies in serum samples from horses in an equine hospital, and elimination of interference using chicken IgY

BackgroundHeterophilic antibodies in serum and plasma can interfere with mammalian antibodies in immunoassays and result in false test results, usually false positive. Although studies screening for heterophilic antibodies as well as elimination studies have been conducted in dogs and cats, knowledge of the presence of heterophilic antibodies in other species in veterinary medicine is limited. In this study, a 2-site sandwich-type interference assay that detects anti-mouse antibodies was used to detect heterophilic antibodies in a population of horses treated in an animal hospital.ResultsA total of 194 serum samples from 127 individual horses were analyzed. There were 11/127 (8.7%) interference-positive horses, and these were analyzed in an assay exchanging the capture mouse IgG with chicken IgY. The positive samples were negative in the chicken IgY assay, indicating elimination of a possible interference, with the chicken-based assay. Four interference-positive samples were from geldings, and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) was analyzed from these samples. AMH concentrations were negative in these samples as expected in geldings, indicating that the heterophilic antibodies did not cause interference in the AMH assay.ConclusionThe present study shows that there are heterophilic antibodies in horse serum samples like in samples from humans, dogs, and cats. The use of chicken-based reagents, such as chicken IgY, which do not cross-react with mammalian IgG, eliminates the effects of interfering antibodies in the samples. Equine heterophilic antibodies do not necessarily cause interference in commercial immunoassays

Konfigurerbar systembrygga mellan Jourhavande bibliotekarie och Fråga biblioteket: slutrapport

Arbetet med att utveckla en systembrygga för en fördjupad samverkan inom området virtuell referenstjänst inom och mellan bibliotek och bibliotekarier i olika bibliotekstyper, innebär att en infrastruktur finns för att ta hand om alla frågor på ett systematiskt sätt. Möjligheterna för en samordning av en virtuell referenstjänst på nationell nivå ger inte bara kostnadseffektivitet utan också driftsäkerhet samt möjlighet att utveckla en kunskapsbank för att tillvarata och återanvända den kunskap som skapas vid referenssamtalen. Fråga biblioteket har med sin nuvarande kunskapsbank visat att det går att bygga upp en mycket omfattande sådan inom en rimlig tidsperiod. En nationell lösning med systembryggan som grund gör det möjligt att arbeta lokalt, regionalt och nationellt i ett gränsöverskridande samarbete mellan olika biblioteksorganisationer. En referenstjänst på webben bidrar också till att öka tillgängligheten till bibliotekens tjänster. Att delta i ett arbete med virtuella referenstjänster, där samverkan på olika nivåer mellan bibliotek och bibliotekarier är möjlig, kan också bidra till en kompetensutveckling inom området. En referenstjänst på webben bidrar också till att öka tillgängligheten till bibliotekens tjänster. Att delta i ett arbete med virtuella referenstjänster, där samverkan på olika nivåer mellan bibliotek och bibliotekarier är möjlig, kan också bidra till en kompetensutveckling inom området. Systembryggan i en kort sammanfattning: Ett flexibelt system för hantering av alla e-frågor En kollaborativ lösning som även innebär fristående tjänster lokalt Möjlighet att skapa helt nya tjänster för samverkan En väl utvecklad managementdel med bl.a. uttag av rapporter på lokal, regional och nationell nivå och möjlighet att skapa enkäter på olika nivåer Full frihet att själv skräddarsy layout och texter med exempelvis egna loggor Möjlighet till uppföljning av alla frågor när som helst Funktioner för back office mellan samtliga bibliotek av alla bibliotekstype

Endocrine and dog factors associated with semen quality

Knowledge of factors associated with semen quality may help in investigations of the aetiology and pathophysiology. We investigated the correlation between biomarkers for testicular cell function (antimüllerian hormone, AMH, Inhibin B, testosterone, free androgen-index (testosterone/sex-hormone binding globulin), insulin like peptide 3, INSL-3), alkaline phosphate (ALP), canine prostate-specifc esterase (CPSE), and heterophilic antibodies with dog variables, semen quality, and fertility. Blood and semen were collected from 65 Bernese Mountain Dogs. We evaluated total sperm count, motility and morphological parameters. The semen quality ranged from poor to excellent, with an average total sperm count of 1.1 × ­109 and 50% morphologically normal spermatozoa (MNS). Age and abnormal testicular consistency correlated with decreased motility and MNS. Higher ALP correlated with higher total sperm count. AMH could not be detected in seminal plasma. AMH in blood correlated with head defects and high AMH concentration correlated with a severe decline in several semen parameters. Testosterone was negatively and CPSE positively correlated with age. No correlations were found for INSL-3, inhibin B, or heterophilic antibodies. Our fndings contribute to the understanding of factors associated with semen quality in dogs, particularly related to Sertoli cell function

Investigation of interference from canine anti-mouse antibodies in hormone immunoassays

Background: Canine anti-mouse antibodies are a potential source of immunoassay interference, but erroneous immunoassay results are not always easily identifiable. Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is a marker for the presence of gonads in dogs, but elevated AMH concentrations in neutered dogs could also be caused by antibody interference. For other assays, a discrepant result obtained after antibody precipitation might indicate antibody interference. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate if canine anti-mouse antibodies are a source of erroneous results in the AMH assay and if antibody precipitation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a useful tool for detecting antibody interference in a variety of immunoassays used in the veterinary clinical laboratory. Methods: Twenty-nine positive and 25 negative samples for anti-mouse antibodies were analyzed for AMH, canine total thyroxine (TT4), canine thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and progesterone before and after treatment with PEG. Results that differed by more than four SDs from the intra-assay coefficients of variation were considered discrepant. Elevated AMH concentrations in neutered dogs with anti-mouse antibodies and no visible gonads present were considered evidence of interference. Results: Evidence of antibody interference was found in two samples analyzed for AMH. The presence of anti-mouse antibodies did not lead to a higher proportion of discrepant results after PEG treatment for any of the immunoassays. The overall incidence of discrepant results for healthy controls was very high (73%). Conclusions Canine anti-mouse antibodies are a source of erroneous AMH results. Antibody precipitation with PEG is not a useful tool for detecting interference caused by such antibodies

Assessment of registration methods for thermal infrared and visible images for diabetic foot monitoring

This work presents a revision of four different registration methods for thermal infrared and visible images captured by a camera-based prototype for the remote monitoring of diabetic foot. This prototype uses low cost and off-the-shelf available sensors in thermal infrared and visible spectra. Four different methods (Geometric Optical Translation, Homography, Iterative Closest Point, and Affine transform with Gradient Descent) have been implemented and analyzed for the registration of images obtained from both sensors. All four algorithms´ performances were evaluated using the Simultaneous Truth and Performance Level Estimation (STAPLE) together with several overlap benchmarks as the Dice coefficient and the Jaccard index. The performance of the four methods has been analyzed with the subject at a fixed focal plane and also in the vicinity of this plane. The four registration algorithms provide suitable results both at the focal plane as well as outside of it within 50 mm margin. The obtained Dice coefficients are greater than 0.950 in all scenarios, well within the margins required for the application at hand. A discussion of the obtained results under different distances is presented along with an evaluation of its robustness under changing conditions.This research was funded by the IACTEC Technological Training program, grant number TF INNOVA 2016–2021

Drf1-dependent Kinase Interacts with Claspin through a Conserved Protein Motif

The Dbf4/Drf1-dependent kinase (DDK) is required for the initiation of DNA replication in eukaryotes. Another protein, Claspin, mediates the activation of a cellular checkpoint response to stalled replication forks and is also a regulator of replication. In this study, we found that DDK phosphorylates Claspin in vitro and forms a nuclear complex containing Cdc7, Drf1, and Claspin in Xenopus egg extracts. In addition, purified Claspin and DDK are capable of a direct in vitro interaction. We identified a conserved binding site on Claspin required for its interaction with DDK. This site corresponds to the first of two sequence repeats in the Chk1-binding domain of Claspin. Furthermore, we have established that two amino acids in this motif, Asp^(861) and Gln^(866), are essential for the interaction between Claspin and DDK. We found that mutant forms of Claspin incapable of interacting with DDK are still able to associate with and activate Chk1 in response to DNA replication blockages. However, Claspin-depleted egg extracts that have been reconstituted with these mutants of Claspin undergo DNA replication more slowly. These findings suggest that the interaction of DDK with Claspin mediates a checkpoint-independent function of Claspin related to DNA replication

Detecting gravitationally lensed population III galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope

Small galaxies consisting entirely of population III (pop III) stars may form at high redshifts, and could constitute one of the best probes of such stars. Here, we explore the prospects of detecting gravitationally lensed pop III galaxies behind the galaxy cluster J0717.5+3745 (J0717) with both the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). By projecting simulated catalogs of pop III galaxies at z~7-15 through the J0717 magnification maps, we estimate the lensed number counts as a function of flux detection threshold. We find that the ongoing HST survey CLASH, targeting a total of 25 galaxy clusters including J0717, potentially could detect a small number of pop III galaxies if ~1% of the baryons in these systems have been converted into pop III stars. Using JWST exposures of J0717, this limit can be pushed to ~0.1% of the baryons. Ultra-deep JWST observations of unlensed fields are predicted to do somewhat worse, but will be able to probe pop III galaxies with luminosities intermediate between those detectable in HST/CLASH and in JWST observations of J0717. We also explain how current measurements of the galaxy luminosity function at z=7-10 can be used to constrain pop III galaxy models with very high star formation efficiencies (~10% of the baryons converted into pop III stars).Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS (v.2: presentation improved, but only minor changes in overall results

Operative versus non-operative treatment for 2-part proximal humerus fracture: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

Background Although increasingly used, the benefit of surgical treatment of displaced 2-part proximal humerus fractures has not been proven. This trial evaluates the clinical effectiveness of surgery with locking plate compared with non-operative treatment for these fractures. Methods and findings The NITEP group conducted a superiority, assessor-blinded, multicenter randomized trial in 6 hospitals in Finland, Estonia, Sweden, and Denmark. Eighty-eight patients aged 60 years or older with displaced (more than 1 cm or 45 degrees) 2-part surgical or anatomical neck proximal humerus fracture were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to undergo either operative treatment with a locking plate or non-operative treatment. The mean age of patients was 72 years in the non-operative group and 73 years in the operative group, with a female sex distribution of 95% and 87%, respectively. Patients were recruited between February 2011 and April 2016. The primary outcome measure was Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score at 2-year follow-up. Secondary outcomes included Constant–Murley score, the visual analogue scale for pain, the quality of life questionnaire 15D, EuroQol Group’s 5- dimension self-reported questionnaire EQ-5D, the Oxford Shoulder Score, and complications. The mean DASH score (0 best, 100 worst) at 2 years was 18.5 points for the operative treatment group and 17.4 points for the non-operative group (mean difference 1.1 [95% CI −7.8 to 9.4], p = 0.81). At 2 years, there were no statistically or clinically significant between-group differences in any of the outcome measures. All 3 complications resulting in secondary surgery occurred in the operative group. The lack of blinding in patient-reported outcome assessment is a limitation of the study. Our assessor physiotherapists were, however, blinded. Conclusions This trial found no significant difference in clinical outcomes at 2 years between surgery and non-operative treatment in patients 60 years of age or older with displaced 2-part fractures of the proximal humerus. These results suggest that the current practice of performing surgery on the majority of displaced proximal 2-part fractures of the humerus in older adults may not be beneficial. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01246167.Peer reviewe