Estimating coextinction risks from epidemic tree death

At least 10% of the world's tree species are threatened with extinction and pathogens are increasingly implicated in tree threats. Coextinction and threats to affiliates as a consequence of the loss or decline of their host trees is a poorly understood phenomenon. Ash dieback is an emerging infectious disease causing severe dieback of common ash Fraxinus excelsior throughout Europe. We utilized available empirical data on affiliate epiphytic lichen diversity (174 species and 17,800 observations) among 20 ash dieback infected host tree populations of F. excelsior on the island Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Sweden. From this, we used structured scenario projections scaled with empirical data of ash dieback disease to generate probabilistic models for estimating local and regional lichen coextinction risks. Average coextinction probabilities (A - ) were 0.38 (95% CI 60.09) for lichens occurring on F. excelsior and 0.14 (95% CI 60.03) when considering lichen persistence on all tree species. A - was strongly linked to local disease incidence levels and generally increasing with lichen host specificity to F. excelsior and decreasing population size. Coextinctions reduced affiliate community viability, with significant local reductions in species richness and shifts in lichen species composition. Affiliates were projected to become locally extirpated before their hosts, illuminating the need to also consider host tree declines. Traditionally managed open wooded meadows had the highest incidence of ash dieback disease and significantly higher proportions of affiliate species projected to go extinct, compared with unmanaged closed forests and semi-open grazed sites. Most cothreatened species were not previously red-listed, which suggest that tree epidemics cause many unforeseen threats to species. Our analysis shows that epidemic tree deaths represent an insidious, mostly overlooked, threat to sessile affiliate communities in forested environments. Current conservation and management strategies must account for secondary extinctions associated with epidemic tree death

In Search of a Method for Measuring the Output Gap of the Swedish Economy

This paper describes and evaluates measures of trend (or potential) output in order to improve the measuring and understanding of the current state of the Swedish economy. The target group of the paper is primarily policy makers and analysts in Sweden and international organisations who study the Swedish economy and give recommendations concerning appropriate stabilization policies. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the ones of neither the National Institute of Economic Research nor the Ministry of Finance.

Studies on hereditary C2 deficiency: Frequent occurrence of severe infections, atherosclerosis and rheumatological manifestations

The complement system is a part of the innate immunity and is essential in the defence against microorganisms. Hereditary C2 deficiency (C2D) is one of the most common complement deficiency states with an estimated prevalence of 1:20,000 in persons of Western descent. In the present investigation, the identification of more than 40 C2D persons at a single centre combined with long observation periods provided a unique basis for assessment of C2D-associated manifestations and diseases. The predominant clinical manifestation was severe bacterial infections. The infections were mainly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Repeated infections occurred primarily during infancy and childhood. On the other hand, about 25-30 % of the C2D persons remained healthy during the observation period. Immunological factors as IgG subclass levels, GM allotypes, complement proteins, and Fc receptors were assessed to explain this difference. Homozygosity for the G2M*n allele was strongly associated with protection against severe infections (p<0.001). This indicated that an efficient antibody response to polysaccharide antigens is of great importance in C2D. Mannan-binding lectin deficiency also contributed to the susceptibility to infection. The association between C2D and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was confirmed, but notably the severity of SLE in patients with C2D was similar to that of other SLE patients. Another novel finding was a high occurrence of anti-cardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and antibodies to the collagen-like region of C1q. Both autoantibodies have a pro-atherosclerotic effect that might explain the high occurrence of cardiovascular disease found in the cohort. Interestingly, anti-phospholipid syndrome was not observed despite the high occurrence of aCL. Vaccination in 25 C2D persons resulted in antibody responses which show that C2D persons benefit from vaccination against infections caused by encapsulated bacteria such as pneumococci

Art and Science: A different convergence

In today's world, so much knowledge is developed through a steady stream of short research projects that longer ones are becoming more unusual. That is why we decided to pause and look back over the seven-year-long joint endeavor between The Pictorium and Certec. This was also seen as a short-term project from the beginning. What has sustained it over the years? The answer surprised even us: its staying power has arisen from its core, in the convergence of art and science. Such a meeting is part of what our culture and society often advocate in comprehensive terms. Conscious efforts of a similar nature are at times carried out from within the worlds of art and science. But in this case the convergence was not at all part of the original intention, and we who have participated in the work have not actually considered it in those terms from within the project's framework. After so many year of not seeing what was staring us in the face, it is thus exciting to raise the question about what is holding it all together, what the linchpin can be. Is it perhaps so elementary and at the same time so exquisite that the questions of art, and the questions-and-answers of science have happened to find a meeting place, unusual though it might be

A case of Mycobacterium goodii prosthetic valve endocarditis in a non-immunocompromised patient: use of 16S rDNA analysis for rapid diagnosis

Background: Mycobacterium goodii is a rare cause of significant infection. M. goodii has mainly been associated with lymphadenitis, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, and wound infection. Case presentation: A case of a 76-year-old Caucasian female is presented. The patient developed a prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by M. goodii. She had also suffered from severe neurological symptoms related to a septic emboli that could be demonstrated as an ischemic lesion found on CT of the brain. Transesophageal echocardiography verified a large vegetation attached to the prosthetic valve. Commonly used blood culture bottles showed growth of the bacteria after 3 days. Conclusions: Although M. goodii is rarely involved in these kinds of severe infections, rapidly growing mycobacteria should be recognized during conventional bacterial investigations and identified by molecular tools such as analysis of 16S rDNA. Species identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria is demanding and is preferably done in collaboration with a mycobacterial laboratory. An early diagnosis provides the opportunity for adequate treatment. In the present case, prolonged antimicrobial treatment and surgery with replacement of the prosthetic valve was successful

Normalization of array-CGH data: influence of copy number imbalances

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High-resolution microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) techniques have successfully been applied to study copy number imbalances in a number of settings such as the analysis of cancer genomes. For normalization of array-CGH data, methods initially developed for gene expression microarray analysis have, in general, been directly adopted and used. However, these methods are designed to work under assumptions that may not be valid for array-CGH data when copy number imbalances are present. We therefore sought to investigate the effect on normalization imposed by copy number imbalances.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we demonstrate that copy number imbalances correlate with intensity in array-CGH data thereby causing problems for conventional normalization methods. We propose a strategy to circumvent these problems by taking copy number imbalances into account during normalization, and we test the proposed strategy using several data sets from the analysis of cancer genomes. In addition, we show how the strategy can be applied to conveniently define adaptive sample-specific boundaries between balanced copy number, losses, and gains to facilitate management of variation in tissue heterogeneity when calling copy number changes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We highlight the importance of considering copy number imbalances during normalization of array-CGH data, and show how failure to do so can deleteriously affect data and hamper interpretation.</p

Chest Wall Sarcoma: Outcome in 22 Patients After Resection Requiring Thoracic Cage Reconstruction

Purpose. To evaluate the outcome after resection of malignant chest wall sarcoma, requiring reconstruction of the chest wall