Initial biomass and biomass change of tundra and forest plants in three herbivore treatments in Norway and Sweden

Recent Pan-Arctic shrub expansion has been interpreted as a response to a warmer climate. However, herbivores can also influence the abundance of shrubs in arctic ecosystems. We addressed these alternative explanations by following the changes in plant community composition during the last 10 years in permanent plots inside and outside exclosures with different mesh sizes that exclude either only reindeer or all mammalian herbivores including voles and lemmings. The exclosures were replicated at three forest and tundra sites at four different locations along a climatic gradient (oceanic to continental) in northern Fennoscandia. Since the last 10 years have been exceptionally warm, we could study how warming has influenced the vegetation in different grazing treatments. Our results show that the abundance of the dominant shrub, Betula nana, has increased during the last decade, but that the increase was more pronounced when herbivores were excluded. Reindeer have the largest effect on shrubs in tundra, while voles and lemmings have a larger effect in the forest. The positive relationship between annual mean temperature and shrub growth in the absence of herbivores and the lack of relationships in grazed controls is another indication that shrub abundance is controlled by an interaction between herbivores and climate. In addition to their effects on taller shrubs (> 0.3 m), reindeer reduced the abundance of lichens, whereas microtine rodents reduced the abundance of dwarf shrubs (< 0.3 m) and mosses. In contrast to short-term responses, competitive interactions between dwarf shrubs and lichens were evident in the long term. These results show that herbivores have to be considered in order to understand how a changing climate will influence tundra ecosystems.

(Table 2) Seroprevalence against Trichinella spp. in Ursus maritimus from Svalbard and Barents Sea pack ice

Blood samples of live-caught polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from Svalbard collected 1991-2000 (Period 1) and 2006-2008 (Period 2) and from the pack ice of the Barents Sea collected in Period 1, were assayed for antibodies against Trichinella spp. by ELISA. Of 54 cubs-of-the-year included in the Period 1 sample, 53 were seronegative, indicating that exposure to Trichinella infected meat is uncommon during the first months of life for polar bears in the Svalbard region. Of 30 mother-offspring pairs, 18 mothers were seropositive with seronegative offspring (n = 27), suggesting (1) that maternal antibodies had dropped to levels below detection limit by the time of capture in April (offspring approximately 4 months old), and (2) supporting experimental studies in other animal models showing that vertical transmission of Trichinella spp. is uncommon. Bear 1 year and older had higher prevalence in Svalbard (78%) than in the Barents Sea (51%). There was no temporal change in prevalence for bears from Svalbard during the time between the two periods. The prevalence increased with age in both sexes. A positive correlation was found between anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Trichinella spp. antibodies.

Comparison of different stomatal conductance algorithms for ozone flux modelling

A multiplicative and a semi-mechanistic, BWB-type [Ball, J.T., Woodrow, I.E., Berry, J.A., 1987. A model predicting stomatalconductance and its contribution to the control of photosynthesis under different environmental conditions. In: Biggens, J. (Ed.), Progress in Photosynthesis Research, vol. IV. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht, pp. 221–224.] algorithm for calculating stomatalconductance (gs) at the leaf level have been parameterised for two crop and two tree species to test their use in regional scale ozone deposition modelling. The algorithms were tested against measured, site-specific data for durum wheat, grapevine, beech and birch of different European provenances. A direct comparison of both algorithms showed a similar performance in predicting hourly means and daily time-courses of gs, whereas the multiplicative algorithm outperformed the BWB-type algorithm in modelling seasonal time-courses due to the inclusion of a phenology function. The re-parameterisation of the algorithms for local conditions in order to validate ozone deposition modelling on a European scale reveals the higher input requirements of the BWB-type algorithm as compared to the multiplicative algorithm because of the need of the former to model net photosynthesis (An)

Synergies and trade-offs between renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation - a cross-national multifactor analysis

Peer reviewed

Global change synergies and trade-offs between renewable energy and biodiversity

Funded by Kone Foundation ERC-StG. Grant Number: 260393 Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence Programme 2012–2017

The rotary-vane attenuator as an interlaboratory standard /

Includes bibliographical references.

Atti delle assemblee costituzionali italiane dal Medio Evo al 1831.

Issued in 3 series: 1. Stati generali e provinciali. 2. Parlamenti dell'età moderna. 3. Parlamenti e consigli maggori dei comuni italiani.

Synthesis dataset of physical and ecosystem properties from pan-arctic wetland sites using peat core analysis

Permafrost dynamics play an important role in high-latitude peatland carbon balance and are key to understanding the future response of soil carbon stocks. Permafrost aggradation can control the magnitude of the carbon feedback in peatlands through effects on peat properties. We compiled peatland plant macrofossil records for the northern permafrost zone (515 cores from 280 sites) and classified samples by vegetation type and environmental class (fen, bog, tundra and boreal permafrost, thawed permafrost). We examined differences in peat properties (bulk density, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and organic matter content, C/N ratio) and C accumulation rates among vegetation types and environmental classes.

Reformulation of a thermostable broadly protective recombinant vaccine against human papilloma virus

The causal relationship between Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer has motivated the development, and further improvement, of prophylactic vaccines against this virus. 70% of cervical cancers, 80% of which in low-resources countries, are associated to HPV16 and HPV18 infection, with 13 additional HPV types, classified as high-risk, responsible for the remaining 30% of tumors. Current vaccines, Cervarix® (GlaxoSmithKline) and Gardasil®(Merk), are based on virus-like particles (VLP) obtained by self-assembly of the major capsid protein L1. Despite their undisputable immunogenicity and safety, the fact that protection afforded by these vaccines is largely limited to the cognate serotypes included in the vaccine (HPV 16 and 18, plus five additional viral types incorporated into a newly licensed nonavalent vaccine) along with high production costs and reduced thermal stability, are pushing the development of 2nd generation HPV vaccines based on minor capsid protein L2. The increase in protection broadness afforded by the use of L2 cross-neutralizing epitopes, plus a marked reduction of production costs due to bacterial expression of the antigens and a considerable increase in thermal stability could strongly enhance vaccine distribution and usage in low-resource countries. Previous studies from our group identified three tandem repeats of the L2 aa. 20-38 peptide as a strongly immunogenic epitope if exposed on the scaffold protein thioredoxin (Trx). The aim of this thesis work is the improvement of the Trx-L2 vaccine formulation with regard to cross-protection and thermostability, in order to identify an antigen suitable for a phase I clinical trial. By testing Trx from different microorganisms, we selected P. furiosus thioredoxin (PfTrx) as the optimal scaffold because of its sustained peptide epitope constraining capacity and striking thermal stability (24 hours at 100°C). Alternative production systems, such as secretory Trx-L2 expression in the yeast P. pastoris, have also been set-up and evaluated as possible means to further increase production yields, with a concomitant reduction of production costs. Limitations in immune-responsiveness caused by MHC class II polymorphisms –as observed, for example, in different mouse strains- have been overcome by introducing promiscuous T-helper (Th) epitopes, e.g., PADRE (Pan DR Epitope), at both ends of PfTrx. This allowed us to obtain fairly strong immune responses even in mice (C57BL/6) normally unresponsive to the basic Trx-L2 vaccine. Cross-protection was not increased, however. I thus designed, produced and tested a novel multi-epitope formulation consisting of 8 and 11 L2(20-38) epitopes derived from different HPV types, tandemly joined into a single thioredoxin molecule (“concatemers”). To try to further increase immunogenicity, I also fused our 8X and 11X PfTrx-L2 concatemers to the N-terminus of an engineered complement-binding protein (C4bp), capable to spontaneously assemble into ordered hepatmeric structures, previously validated as a molecular adjuvant. Fusion to C4bp indeed improved antigen presentation, with a fairly significant increase in both immunogenicity and cross-protection. Another important issue I addressed, is the reduction of vaccine doses/treatment, which can be achieved by increasing immunogenicity, while also allowing for a delayed release of the antigen. I obtained preliminary, yet quite encouraging results in this direction with the use of a novel, solid-phase vaccine formulation, consisting of the basic PfTrx-L2 vaccine and its C4bp fusion derivative adsorbed to mesoporus silica-rods (MSR).

Internationalizing sales research:current status, opportunities and challenges

With economic activity in emerging markets growing at 40 percent, and with 10 percent and more of the firms in the Global Fortune 500 now headquartered in emerging economies, intense interest lies in the globalization of business activities, including the sales function. This systematic review of the international sales literature in a selection of the most influential journals explains, consolidates, and analyzes current knowledge. This paper also explores the challenges inherent in conducting international sales research, including conceptualization, research management, and data collection issues. Finally, we suggest ways to move forward for researchers in this field, including pertinent topics and how methodological and practical constraints might be addressed.