Land use improves spatial predictions of mountain plant abundance but not presence-absence

Question Does a land-use variable improve spatial predictions of plant species presence-absence and abundance models at the regional scale in a mountain landscape? Location Western Swiss Alps. Methods Presence-absence generalized linear models (GLM) and abundance ordinal logistic regression models (LRM) were fitted to data on 78 mountain plant species, with topo-climatic and/or land-use variables available at a 25-m resolution. The additional contribution of land use when added to topo-climatic models was evaluated by: (1) assessing the changes in model fit and (2) predictive power, (3) partitioning the deviance respectively explained by the topo-climatic variables and the land-use variable through variation partitioning, and (5) comparing spatial projections. Results Land use significantly improved the fit of presence-absence models but not their predictive power. In contrast, land use significantly improved both the fit and predictive power of abundance models. Variation partitioning also showed that the individual contribution of land use to the deviance explained by presence-absence models was, on average, weak for both GLM and LRM (3.7% and 4.5%, respectively), but changes in spatial projections could nevertheless be important for some species. Conclusions In this mountain area and at our regional scale, land use is important for predicting abundance, but not presence-absence. The importance of adding land-use information depends on the species considered. Even without a marked effect on model fit and predictive performance, adding land use can affect spatial projections of both presence-absence and abundance models.

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy.

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

Financial Repression in a Natural Experiment: Loan Allocation and the Change in the Usury Laws in 1714

If financial deepening aids economic growth, then financial repression should be harmful. We use a natural experiment – the change in the English usury laws in 1714 – to analyze the effects of interest rate restrictions. We use a sample of individual loan transactions to demonstrate how the reduction of the legal maximum rate of interest affected the supply and demand for credit. Average loan size and minimum loan size increased strongly, and access to credit worsened for those with little ‘social capital.’ While we have no direct evidence that loans were misallocated, the discontinuity in loan receipts makes this highly likely. We conclude that financial repression can undermine the positive effects of financial deepening.

Efficacy of brief motivational intervention at army conscription to address alcohol use and related problems: a randomized controlled trial

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of brief motivational intervention (BMI) in reducing alcohol use and related problems among binge drinkers randomly selected from a census of 20 year-old French speaking Swiss men and to test the hypothesis that BMI contributes to maintain low-risk drinking among non-bingers. Methods: Randomized controlled trial comparing the impact of BMI on weekly alcohol use, frequency of binge drinking and occurrence of alcohol-related problems. Setting: Army recruitment center. Participants: A random sample of 622 men were asked to participate, 178 either refused, or missed appointment, or had to follow military assessment procedures instead, resulting in 418 men randomized into BMI or control conditions, 88.7% completing the 6-month follow-up assessment. Intervention: A single face-to-face BMI session exploring alcohol use and related problems in order to stimulate behaviour change perspective in a non-judgmental, empathic manner based on the principles of motivational interviewing (MI). Main outcome measures: Weekly alcohol use, binge drinking frequency and the occurrence of 12 alcohol-related consequences. Results: Among binge drinkers, we observed a 20% change in drinking induced by BMI, with a reduction in weekly drinking of 1.5 drink in the BMI group, compared to an increase of 0.8 drink per week in the control group (incidence rate ratio 0.8, 95% confidence interval 0,66 to 0,98, p = 0.03). BMI did not influence the frequency of binge drinking and the occurrence of 12 possible alcohol-related consequences. However, BMI induced a reduction in the alcohol use of participants who, after drinking over the past 12 months, experienced alcohol-related consequences, i.e., hangover (-20%), missed a class (-53%), got behind at school (-54%), argued with friends (-38%), engaged in unplanned sex (-45%) or did not use protection when having sex (-64%). BMI did not reduce weekly drinking in those who experienced the six other problems screened. Among non-bingers, BMI did not contribute to maintain low-risk drinking. Conclusions: At army conscription, BMI reduced alcohol use in binge drinkers, particularly in those who recently experienced alcohol-related adverse consequences. No preventive effect of BMI was observed among non-bingers. BMI is an interesting preventive option in young binge drinkers, particularly in countries with mandatory army recruitment.

Structural sustainability of cambisol under different land use system

Incongruous management techniques have been associated with some significant loss of agricultural land to degradation in many parts of the world. Land degradation results in the alteration of physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil, thereby posing a serious threat to sustainable agricultural development. In this study, our objective is to evaluate the changes in a Cambisol structure under six land use systems using the load bearing capacity model. Sampling was conducted in Amazonas Region, Brazil, in the following land use: a) young secondary forest; b) old secondary forest; c) forest; d) pasture; e) cropping, and f) agroforestry. To obtain the load bearing capacity models the undisturbed soil samples were collected in those land use systems and subjected to the uniaxial compression test. These models were used to evaluate which land use system preserved or degraded the Cambisol structure. The results of the bulk density and total porosity of the soil samples were not adequate to quantify structural degradation in Cambisol. Using the forest topsoil level (0-0.03 m) as a reference, it was observed that pasture land use system was most severe in the degradation of the soil structure while the structure were most preserved under old secondary forest, cropping system and forest. At the subsoil level (0.10-0.13 m depth), the soil structure was most degraded in the cropping land use system while it was most preserved in young secondary forest and pasture. At the 0.20-0.23 m depth, soil structure degradation was most severe in the old secondary forest system and well preserved in young secondary forest, cropping and agroforestry.

Report on a special investigation of the Amana Colonies Land Use District for the period May 21, 2007 through March 31, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Amana Colonies Land Use District for the period May 21, 2007 through March 31, 2011

Remote Sensing Change Analysis Methodology to Support Traffic Monitoring Programs, 2003

The Federal Highway Administration mandates that states collect traffic count information at specified intervals to meet the needs of the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). A manual land use change detection method was employed to determine the effects of land use change on traffic for Black Hawk County, Iowa, from 1994 to 2002. Results from land use change detection could enable redirecting traffic count activities and related data management resources to areas that are experiencing the greatest changes in land use and related traffic volume. Including a manual land use change detection process in the Iowa Department of Transportation’s traffic count program has the potential to improve efficiency by focusing monitoring activities in areas more likely to experience significant increase in traffic.

Land plants and DNA barcodes: short-term and long-term goals.

Land plants have had the reputation of being problematic for DNA barcoding for two general reasons: (i) the standard DNA regions used in algae, animals and fungi have exceedingly low levels of variability and (ii) the typically used land plant plastid phylogenetic markers (e.g. rbcL, trnL-F, etc.) appear to have too little variation. However, no one has assessed how well current phylogenetic resources might work in the context of identification (versus phylogeny reconstruction). In this paper, we make such an assessment, particularly with two of the markers commonly sequenced in land plant phylogenetic studies, plastid rbcL and internal transcribed spacers of the large subunits of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS), and find that both of these DNA regions perform well even though the data currently available in GenBank/EBI were not produced to be used as barcodes and BLAST searches are not an ideal tool for this purpose. These results bode well for the use of even more variable regions of plastid DNA (such as, for example, psbA-trnH) as barcodes, once they have been widely sequenced. In the short term, efforts to bring land plant barcoding up to the standards being used now in other organisms should make swift progress. There are two categories of DNA barcode users, scientists in fields other than taxonomy and taxonomists. For the former, the use of mitochondrial and plastid DNA, the two most easily assessed genomes, is at least in the short term a useful tool that permits them to get on with their studies, which depend on knowing roughly which species or species groups they are dealing with, but these same DNA regions have important drawbacks for use in taxonomic studies (i.e. studies designed to elucidate species limits). For these purposes, DNA markers from uniparentally (usually maternally) inherited genomes can only provide half of the story required to improve taxonomic standards being used in DNA barcoding. In the long term, we will need to develop more sophisticated barcoding tools, which would be multiple, low-copy nuclear markers with sufficient genetic variability and PCR-reliability; these would permit the detection of hybrids and permit researchers to identify the 'genetic gaps' that are useful in assessing species limits.

Chronic NSAID use and long-term decline of renal function in a prospective rheumatoid arthritis cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may cause kidney damage. This study assessed the impact of prolonged NSAID exposure on renal function in a large rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient cohort. METHODS: Renal function was prospectively followed between 1996 and 2007 in 4101 RA patients with multilevel mixed models for longitudinal data over a mean period of 3.2 years. Among the 2739 'NSAID users' were 1290 patients treated with cyclooxygenase type 2 selective NSAIDs, while 1362 subjects were 'NSAID naive'. Primary outcome was the estimated glomerular filtration rate according to the Cockroft-Gault formula (eGFRCG), and secondary the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration formula equations and serum creatinine concentrations. In sensitivity analyses, NSAID dosing effects were compared for patients with NSAID registration in ≤/>50%, ≤/>80% or ≤/>90% of assessments. FINDINGS: In patients with baseline eGFRCG >30 mL/min, eGFRCG evolved without significant differences over time between 'NSAID users' (mean change in eGFRCG -0.87 mL/min/year, 95% CI -1.15 to -0.59) and 'NSAID naive' (-0.67 mL/min/year, 95% CI -1.26 to -0.09, p=0.63). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusted for significant confounders age, sex, body mass index, arterial hypertension, heart disease and for other insignificant factors, NSAIDs were an independent predictor for accelerated renal function decline only in patients with advanced baseline renal impairment (eGFRCG <30 mL/min). Analyses with secondary outcomes and sensitivity analyses confirmed these results. CONCLUSIONS: NSAIDs had no negative impact on renal function estimates but in patients with advanced renal impairment.

Osteoclastic tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b. Diagnostic use and biological significance in bone physiology

The skeleton undergoes continuous turnover throughout life. In women, an increase in bone turnover is pronounced during childhood and puberty and after menopause. Bone turnover can be monitored by measuring biochemical markers of bone resorption and bone formation. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) is an enzyme secreted by osteoclasts, macrophages and dendritic cells. The secreted enzyme can be detected from the blood circulation by recently developed immunoassays. In blood circulation, the enzyme exists as two isoforms, TRACP 5a with an intact polypeptide chain and TRACP 5b in which the polypeptide chain consists of two subunits. The 5b form is predominantly secreted by osteoclasts and is thus associated with bone turnover. The secretion of TRACP 5b is not directly related to bone resorption; instead, the levels are shown to be proportional to the number of osteoclasts. Therefore, the combination of TRACP 5b and a marker reflecting bone degradation, such as C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen (CTX), enables a more profound analysis of the changes in bone turnover. In this study, recombinant TRACP 5a-like protein was proteolytically processed into TRACP 5b-like two subunit form. The 5b-like form was more active both as an acid phosphatase and in producing reactive oxygen species, suggesting a possible function for TRACP 5b in osteoclastic bone resorption. Even though both TRACP 5a and 5b were detected in osteoclasts, serum TRACP 5a levels demonstrated no change in response to alendronate treatment of postmenopausal women. However, TRACP 5b levels decreased substantially, demonstrating that alendronate decreases the number of osteoclasts. This was confirmed in human osteoclast cultures, showing that alendronate decreased the number of osteoclats by inducing osteoclast apoptosis, and TRACP 5b was not secreted as an active enzyme from the apoptotic osteoclasts. In peripubertal girls, the highest levels of TRACP 5b and other bone turnover markers were observed at the time of menarche, whereas at the same time the ratio of CTX to TRACP 5b was lowest, indicating the presence of a high number of osteoclasts with decreased resorptive activity. These results support the earlier findings that TRACP 5b is the predominant form of TRACP secreted by osteoclasts. The major source of circulating TRACP 5a remains to be established, but is most likely other cells of the macrophage-monocyte system. The results also suggest that bone turnover can be differentially affected by both osteoclast number and their resorptive activity, and provide further support for the possible clinical use of TRACP 5b as a marker of osteoclast number.

Natural regeneration in abandoned fields following intensive agricultural land use in an Atlantic Forest Island, Brazil

The time required to regrowth a forest in degraded areas depends on how the forest is removed and on the type of land use following removal. Natural regeneration was studied in abandoned old fields after intensive agricultural land use in areas originally covered by Brazilian Atlantic Forests of the Anchieta Island, Brazil in order to understand how plant communities reassemble following human disturbances as well as to determine suitable strategies of forest restoration. The fields were classified into three vegetation types according to the dominant plant species in: 1) Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae) fields, 2) Dicranopteris flexuosa (Schrader) Underw. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets, and 3) Gleichenella pectinata (Willd.) Ching. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets. Both composition and structure of natural regeneration were compared among the three dominant vegetation types by establishing randomly three plots of 1 x 3 m in five sites of the island. A gradient in composition and abundance of species in natural regeneration could be observed along vegetation types from Dicranopteris fern thickets to Miconia fields. The gradient did not accurately follow the pattern of spatial distribution of the three dominant vegetation types in the island regarding their proximity of the remnant forests. A complex association of biotic and abiotic factors seems to be affecting the seedling recruitment and establishment in the study plots. The lowest plant regeneration found in Dicranopteris and Gleichenella thickets suggests that the ferns inhibit the recruitment of woody and herbaceous species. Otherwise, we could not distinguish different patterns of tree regeneration among the three vegetation types. Our results showed that forest recovery following severe anthropogenic disturbances is not direct, predictable or even achievable on its own. Appropriated actions and methods such as fern removal, planting ground covers, and enrichment planting with tree species were suggested in order to restore the natural forest regeneration process in the abandoned old fields.

Benzodiazepines and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults. With Emphasis on Long-Term Use and Withdrawal

Benzodiazepines (BZD) and benzodiazepine related drugs (RD) are the most commonly used psychotropics among the aged. The use of other psychotropics taken concomitantly with BZD/ RD or their cognitive effects with BZD/RD have not been studied frequently. The aim of this academic thesis was to describe and analyse relationships between the use of BZD/RD alone or concomitantly with antipsychotics, antidepressants, opioids, antiepileptics, opioids and anticholinergics in the aged and their health. Especially, the relationships between long-term use of BZD/RD and cognitive decline were studied. Additionally, the effect of melatonin on BZD/RD withdrawal and the cognitive effects of BZD/RD withdrawal were studied. This study used multiple data sets: the first study (I) was based on clinical data containing aged patients (≥65 years; N=164) admitted to Pori City Hospital due to acute disease. The second data set (Studies II and III) was based on population-based data from the Lieto Study, a clinico-epidemiological longitudinal study carried out among the aged (≥65 years) in the municipality of Lieto. Follow-up data was formed by combining the cohort data collected in 1990-1991 (N=1283) and in 1998-1999 (N=1596) from those who participated in both cohorts (N=617). The third data set (Studies IV and V) was based on the Satauni Study’s data. This study was performed in the City of Pori in 2009-2010. In the RCT part of the Satauni Study, ninety-two long-term users of BZD/RD were withdrawn from their drugs using melatonin against placebo. The change of their cognitive abilities was measured during and after BZD/ RD withdrawal. BZD/RD use was related to worse cognitive and functional abilities, and their use may predict worse cognitive outcomes compared with BZD/RD non-users. Hypnotic use of BZD/RD could be withdrawn with psychosocial support in motivated participants, but melatonin did not improve the withdrawal results compared to those with placebo. Cognitive abilities in psychomotor tests did not show, or showed only modest, improvements for up to six months after BZD/RD withdrawal. This suggests that the cognitive effects of BZD/RD may be longlasting or permanent.

Spectral and symbolic analysis of the effect of gender and postural change on cardiac autonomic modulation in healthy elderly subjects

The objective of this study was to use linear and non-linear methods to investigate cardiac autonomic modulation in healthy elderly men and women in response to a postural change from the supine to the standing position. Fourteen men (66.1 ± 3.5 years) and 10 women (65.3 ± 3.3 years) were evaluated. Beat-to-beat heart rate was recorded in the supine and standing positions. Heart rate variability was studied by spectral analysis, including both low (LFnu-cardiac sympathetic modulation (CSM) indicator) and high (HFnu-cardiac vagal modulation (CVM) indicator) frequencies in normalized units as well as the low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) ratio. Symbolic analysis was performed using the following indexes: 0V% (CSM indicator), 1V% (CSM and CVM indicators), 2LV% (predominantly CVM indicator) and 2ULV% (CVM indicator). Shannon entropy was also calculated. Men presented higher LFnu and LF/HF ratio and lower HFnu and 1V% symbolic index (57.56, 4.14, 40.53, 45.96, respectively) than women (24.60, 0.45, 72.47, 52.69, respectively) in the supine position. Shannon entropy was higher among men (3.53) than among women (3.33) in the standing position, and also increased according to postural change in men (3.25; 3.53). During postural change, the LFnu (24.60; 49.85) and LF/HF ratio (0.45; 1.72) increased, with a concomitant decrease in HFnu (72.47; 47.56) and 2LV% (14.10; 6.95) in women. Women presented increased CSM in response to postural change and had higher CVM and lower CSM than men in the supine position. In conclusion, women in the age range studied presented a more appropriate response to a postural change than men, suggesting that cardiac autonomic modulation may be better preserved in women than in men.