bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Leaf phenology in 22 North American tree species during the 21st century
Authors: MORIN XAVIER , LECHOWICZ MARTIN J. , AUGSPURGER CAROL , O'KEEFE JOHN , VINER DAVID , CHUINE ISABELLE 
Published: January 2009

AbstractRecent shifts in phenology are the best documented biological response to current anthropogenic climate change, yet remain poorly understood from a functional point of view. Prevailing analyses are phenomenological and approximate, only correlating temperature records to imprecise records of phenological events. To advance our understanding of phenological responses to climate change, we developed, calibrated, and validated process‐based models of leaf unfolding for 22 North American tree species. Using daily meteorological data predicted by two scenarios (A2: +3.2 °C and B2: +1 °C) from the HadCM3 GCM, we predicted and compared range‐wide shifts of leaf unfolding in the 20th and 21st centuries for each species. Model predictions suggest that climate change will affect leaf phenology in almost all species studied, with an average advancement during the 21st century of 5.0 days in the A2 scenario and 9.2 days in the B2 scenario. Our model also suggests that lack of sufficient chilling temperatures to break bud dormancy will decrease the rate of advancement in leaf unfolding date during the 21st century for many species. Some temperate species may even have years with abnormal budburst due to insufficient chilling. Species fell into two groups based on their sensitivity to climate change: (1) species that consistently had a greater advance in their leaf unfolding date with increasing latitude and (2) species in which the advance in leaf unfolding differed from the center to the northern vs. southern margins of their range. At the interspecific level, we predicted that early‐leafing species tended to show a greater advance in leaf unfolding date than late‐leafing species; and that species with larger ranges tend to show stronger phenological changes. These predicted changes in phenology have significant implications for the frost susceptibility of species, their interspecific relationships, and their distributional shifts.
High microbial activity on glaciers: importance to the global carbon cycle
Authors: ANESIO ALEXANDRE M. , HODSON ANDREW J. , FRITZ ANDREAS , PSENNER ROLAND , SATTLER BIRGIT 
Published: January 2009

AbstractCryoconite holes, which can cover 0.1–10% of the surface area of glaciers, are small, water‐filled depressions (typically <1 m in diameter and usually <0.5 m deep) that form on the surface of glaciers when solar‐heated inorganic and organic debris melts into the ice. Recent studies show that cryoconites are colonized by a diverse range of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria and algae. Whether microbial communities on the surface of glaciers are actively influencing biogeochemical cycles or are just present in a dormant state has been a matter of debate for long time. Here, we report primary production and community respiration of cryoconite holes upon glaciers in Svalbard, Greenland and the European Alps. Microbial activity in cryoconite holes is high despite maximum temperatures seldom exceeding 0.1 °C. In situ primary production and respiration in cryoconites during the summer is often comparable with that found in soils in warmer and nutrient richer regions. Considering only glacier areas outside Antarctica and a conservative average cryoconite distribution on glacial surfaces, we found that on a global basis cryoconite holes have the potential to fix as much as 64 Gg of carbon per year (i.e. 98 Gg of photosynthesis minus 34 Gg of community respiration). Most lakes and rivers are generally considered as heterotrophic systems, but our results suggest that glaciers, which contain 75% of the freshwater of the planet, are largely autotrophic systems.
Are local weather, NDVI and NAO consistent determinants of red deer weight across three contrasting European countries?
Authors: MARTÍNEZ‐JAUREGUI MARÍA , SAN MIGUEL‐AYANZ ALFONSO , MYSTERUD ATLE , RODRÍGUEZ‐VIGAL CARLOS , CLUTTON‐BROCK TIM , LANGVATN ROLF , COULSON TIM 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThere are multiple paths via which environmental variation can impact herbivore ecology and this makes the identification of drivers challenging. Researchers have used diverse approaches to describe the association between environmental variation and ecology, including local weather, large‐scale patterns of climate, and satellite imagery reflecting plant productivity and phenology. However, it is unclear to what extent it is possible to find a single measure that captures climatic effects over broad spatial scales. There may, in fact, be no a priori reason to expect populations of the same species living in different areas to respond in the same way to climate as their population may experience limiting factors at different times of the year, and the forms of regulation may differ among populations. Here, we examine whether the same environmental indices [seasonal Real Bioclimatic Index (RBI), seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)] influence body size in different populations of a large ungulate living in Mediterranean Spain, Western Scotland and Norway. We found substantial differences in the pattern of weight change over time in adult female red deer among study areas as well as different environmental drivers associated with variation in weight. The lack of general patterns for a given species at a continental scale suggest that detailed knowledge regarding the way climate affects local populations is often necessary to successfully predict climate impact. We caution against extrapolation of results from localized climate–population studies to broad spatial scales.
How far do experimentally elevated CO2 levels reach into the surrounding? – An example using the 13C label of soil organic matter as an archive
Authors: HEIM ALEXANDER , MOSER NINA , BLUM HERBERT , SCHMIDT MICHAEL W. I. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractDuring the last two decades, free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) studies have been conducted to study the effects of rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations on ecosystems. The distances between fumigated and control plots differ widely among those projects, but no experimental data are available how far into the surrounding area an effect of CO2 fumigation can be detected. As the CO2 gas added to the fumigated plots has a different 13C label than ambient atmospheric CO2, its carbon can be traced into plants and soil organic matter (SOM). The Swiss FACE in Eschikon had been conducted for 10 years on a grassland site. After it had ended, we analysed soil samples from three transects extending from the plots to the surrounding area for their organic carbon (Corg) content and carbon isotopic signature. We determined the maximum spatial extension to which carbon originating from the fumigation was incorporated into SOM. A budget of the fumigation gas‐derived Corg in the upper 10 cm of the soil showed that approximately 50 kg C were stored within the plots, and an additional 31 kg C were stored in their immediate surroundings up to a distance of 9 m from the gas pipes. The presented approach provides us with a method to determine a posteriori the extension to which the CO2 fumigation treatment contaminated its immediate surroundings during a FACE experiment. In the presented example, this showed that the distances between plots could have been reduced significantly. Although not generalizable to other experimental settings, the finding indicates that optimizing the spatial layout, e.g. by modelling gas dispersion, will be useful when planning future large‐scale FACE infrastructures. Our approach provides a solid basis to test such gas‐dispersion models on existing FACE sites before planning new sites.
Do increases in agricultural yield spare land for nature?
Authors: EWERS ROBERT M. , SCHARLEMANN JÖRN P. W. , BALMFORD ANDREW , GREEN RHYS E. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractFeeding a rapidly expanding human population will require a large increase in the supply of agricultural products during the coming decades. This may lead to the transformation of many landscapes from natural vegetation cover to agricultural land use, unless increases in crop yields reduce the need for new farmland. Here, we assess the evidence that past increases in agricultural yield have spared land for wild nature. We investigated the relationship between the change in the combined energy yield of the 23 most energetically important food crops over the period 1979–1999 and the change in per capita cropland area for 124 countries over the same period. Per capita area of the 23 staple crops tended to decrease in developing countries where large yield increases occurred. However, this was counteracted by a tendency for the area used to grow crops other than staples to increase in the countries where staple crop yields increased. There remained a weak tendency in developing countries for the per capita area of all cropland to decline as staple crop yield increased, a pattern that was most evident in developing countries with the highest per capita food supplies. In developed countries, there was no evidence that higher staple crop yields were associated with decreases in per capita cropland area. This may be because high agricultural subsidies in developed countries override any land‐sparing pattern that might otherwise occur. Declines in the area of natural forest were smaller in countries where the yield of staple crops increased most, when the negative effects of human population increases on forest area were controlled for. Our results show that land‐sparing is a weak process that occurs under a limited set of circumstances, but that it can have positive outcomes for the conservation of wild nature.
Changes in organic carbon distribution with depth in agricultural soils in northern Belgium, 1960–2006
Authors: MEERSMANS J. , VAN WESEMAEL B. , DE RIDDER F. , FALLAS DOTTI M. , DE BAETS S. , VAN MOLLE M. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn most studies concerning the carbon (C) exchange between soil and atmosphere only the topsoil (0–0.3 m) is taken into account. However, it has been shown that important amounts of stable soil organic carbon (SOC) are also stored at greater depth. Here, we developed a quantitative model to estimate the evolution of the distribution of SOC with depth between 1960 (database ‘Aardewerk’) and 2006 in northern Belgium. This temporal analysis was conducted under different land use, texture and drainage conditions. The results indicate that intensified land management practices seriously affect the SOC status of the soil. The increase in plough depth and a change in crop rotation result in a significant decrease of C near the surface for dry silt loam cropland soils, (i.e. 1.02 ± 0.23 kg C m−2 in the top 0.3 m between 1960 and 2006). In wet to extremely wet grasslands, topsoil SOC decreased significantly, indicating a negative influence of intensive soil drainage on SOC stock. This resulted in a decline of SOC between 1960 and 2006 in the top 1 m, ranging from 3.99 ± 2.57 kg C m−2 in extremely wet silt loam soils to 2.04 ± 2.08 kg C m−2 in wet sandy soils. A slight increase of SOC stock is observed under dry to moderately wet grasslands at greater depths corresponding to increased livestock densities in the region. The increase of SOC in the top 1 m under grassland ranges from 0.65 ± 1.39 kg C m−2 in well drained silt loam soils to 2.59 ± 6.49 kg C m−2 in moderately drained silt loam soils over entire period.
Regulatory T cells overturned: the effectors fight back
Authors: Walker Lucy S. K. 
Published: January 2009

SummaryIn the past 15 years, regulatory T cell (Treg) suppression has graduated from a phenomenon that ‘dare not speak its name’ to a field at the centre of a global research effort. It is now accepted that Tregs can target numerous cell populations to elicit potent immunosuppression. Intriguingly, emerging data suggest that certain signals can confer resistance to Treg suppression. Moreover, such resistance may be relevant to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. In this article I review various pathways linked to resistance to Treg suppression. These include Toll‐like receptor (TLR) signals, cytokines [in particular those that use the common γ chain, such as interleukin (IL)‐7 and IL‐21] and the triggering of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family members (such as glucocorticoid induced tumor necrosis factor receptor (GITR), OX40 and 4‐1BB). I also propose a model of ‘tuned suppression’ in which inflammatory stimuli and TLR ligation actively promote Treg function, such that as soon as effector cells re‐acquire sensitivity to suppression the immune response can be efficiently curtailed.
High‐P metamorphism, pattern of induced flow in the mantle wedge, and the link with plutonism in paired metamorphic belts
Authors: Aoya Mutsuki , Mizukami Tomoyuki , Uehara Shin‐ichi , Wallis Simon R. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe convex form of subduction‐stage pressure–temperature (P–T) paths up to c. 2.0 GPa implies the Sambagawa high‐P metamorphic belt, Japan, formed a few million years before ridge subduction. Additional compilation of P–T conditions for higher‐P Sambagawa rocks (c. 2.0–2.5 GPa) reveals that the thermal profile along the slab surface shows a remarkable high‐T‐ward warping at c. 2.0 GPa (c. 65 km). Previous thermal models indicate that this warping corresponds to the onset of induced mantle flow towards the subducting slab. If a normal thickness continental crust of c. 30 km was present, this implies the hangingwall region between 30 and 65 km depth was occupied by serpentinized wedge mantle isolated from large‐scale mantle flow. Subsequent arrival of the spreading ridge, reheating and dehydration of the serpentinized wedge probably supplied the water necessary for causing granitic magmatism in the Ryoke high‐T metamorphic belt, which is paired with the Sambagawa belt.
Missense mutation Thr309Lys in the coagulation factor XII gene in a Spanish family with hereditary angioedema type III
Authors: Prieto A. , Tornero P. , Rubio M. , Fernández‐Cruz E. , Rodriguez‐Sainz C. 
Published: January 2009

Background:  A new type of hereditary angioedema (type III) affecting mainly women with normal C1‐inhibitor level and function has been described. Exposition to estrogens is an important precipitating factor. Recently, a missense mutation in the gene of the blood coagulation factor XII (Hageman factor) has been reported in a few families with this type of hereditary angioedema.Aim:  To study a patient and her family with recurrent swelling attacks during pregnancy.Methods:  Complement factors C3 and C4 as well as C1‐inhibitor level and function were determined. Genomic DNA was isolated from venous blood samples and screened for mutations in the coagulation factor XII gene.Results:  C3 and C4 levels as well as C1‐inhibitor level and function were normal. A missense mutation Thr309Lys was identified in factor XII gene with a heterozygotic pattern. This mutation was also identified in the mother of the patient, her daughter and her son.Conclusion:  These results support that the mentioned mutation in factor XII gene causes hereditary angioedema type III.
Interleukin‐13 promoter gene polymorphism ‐1112C/T is associated with the systemic form of mastocytosis
Authors: Nedoszytko B. , Niedoszytko M. , Lange M. , Van Doormaal J. , Gleń J. , Zabłotna M. , Renke J. , Vales A. , Buljubasic F. , Jassem E. , Roszkiewicz J. , Valent P. 
Published: January 2009

Background:  Mastocytosis is a heterogenous disease involving mast cells (MC) and their progenitors. Cutaneous and systemic variants of the disease have been reported. In contrast to cutaneous mastocytosis (CM), patients with systemic mastocytosis (SM) are at risk to develop disease progression or a nonMC‐lineage haematopoietic neoplasm. Little is known, however, about factors predisposing for the development of SM. One factor may be cytokine regulation of MC progenitors.Methods:  We examined the role of the interleukin‐13 (IL‐13) promoter gene polymorphism ‐1112C/T, known to be associated with increased transcription, in mastocytosis using allele‐specific polymerase chain reaction method. Serum tryptase and IL‐13 levels were determined by immunoassay, and expression of the IL‐13 receptor in neoplastic MC by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry.Results:  The frequency of the ‐1112T allele of the IL‐13 promoter was significantly higher in patients with SM compared with CM (P < 0.008) and in mastocytosis patients compared with healthy controls (P < 0.0001). Correspondingly, the polymorphism was found to correlate with an elevated serum tryptase level (P = 0.004) and with adult‐onset of the disease (P < 0.0015), both of which are almost invariably associated with SM. Serum IL‐13 levels were also higher in SM patients compared with CM (P = 0.011), and higher in CT‐ than in CC carriers (P < 0.05). Finally, we were able to show that neoplastic human MC display IL‐13 receptors and grow better in IL‐13‐containing medium.Conclusions:  The ‐1112C/T IL‐13 gene polymorphism and the resulting ‘hypertranscription’ may predispose for the development of SM.
Skin testing in patients with hypersensitivity reactions to iodinated contrast media – a European multicenter study
Authors: Brockow K. , Romano A. , Aberer W. , Bircher A. J. , Barbaud A. , Bonadonna P. , Faria E. , Kanny G. , Lerch M. , Pichler W. J. , Ring J. , Rodrigues Cernadas J. , Tomaz E. , Demoly P. , Christiansen C. ,   for the European Network of Drug Allergy and the EAACI interest group on drug hypersensitivity
Published: January 2009

Background:  Iodinated contrast media cause both immediate and nonimmediate hypersensitivity reactions. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the specificity and sensitivity of skin tests in patients who have experienced such reactions.Methods:  Skin prick, intradermal and patch tests with a series of contrast media were conducted in 220 patients with either immediate or nonimmediate reaction. Positive skin tests were defined according to internationally accepted guidelines. Seventy‐one never‐exposed subjects and 11 subjects who had tolerated contrast medium exposure, served as negative controls.Results:  Skin test specificity was 96–100%. For tests conducted within the time period from 2 to 6 months after the reaction, up to 50% of immediate reactors and up to 47% of nonimmediate reactors were skin test positive. For immediate reactors, the intradermal tests were the most sensitive, whereas delayed intradermal tests in combination with patch tests were needed for optimal sensitivity in nonimmediate reactors. Contrast medium cross‐reactivity was more common in the nonimmediate than in the immediate group. Interestingly, 49% of immediate and 52% of nonimmediate symptoms occurred in previously unexposed patients. Many of these patients were skin test positive, indicating that they were already sensitized at the time of first contrast medium exposure.Conclusions:  These data suggest that at least 50% of hypersensitivity reactions to contrast media are caused by an immunological mechanism. Skin testing appears to be a useful tool for diagnosis of contrast medium allergy and may play an important role in selection of a safe product in previous reactors.
Identification of B‐cell epitopes of Bet v 1 involved in cross‐reactivity with food allergens
Authors: Klinglmayr E. , Hauser M. , Zimmermann F. , Dissertori O. , Lackner P. , Wopfner N. , Ferreira F. , Wallner M. 
Published: January 2009

Background:  The pollen‐food syndrome (PFS) is an association of food allergies to fruits, nuts, and vegetables in patients with pollen allergy. Mal d 1, the major apple allergen, is one of the most commonly associated food allergens for birch pollen‐allergic patients suffering from PFS. Although the reactions are due to cross‐reactive IgE antibodies originally raised against pollen Bet v 1, not every Bet v 1‐allergic patient develops clinical reactions towards apple.Aim of the study:  We speculate that distinct IgE epitopes are responsible for the clinical manifestation of PFS. To test this hypothesis we grafted five Mal d 1 stretches onto Bet v 1. The grafted regions were 7‐ or 8‐amino acids long encompassing amino acids residues previously shown to be crucial for IgE recognition of Bet v 1.Methods:  A Bet v 1‐Mal d 1 chimeric protein designated BMC was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. IgE reactivity of BMC was tested with patients’ sera originating from (i) Bet v 1‐allergic patients displaying no clinical symptoms upon ingestion of apples; and (ii) Bet v 1‐allergic patients displaying allergic symptoms upon ingestion of apples and other Bet v 1‐related foods.Results and conclusion:  Compared to birch pollen‐allergic individuals, patients suffering from PFS showed significantly higher IgE reactivity with BMC (chimeric protein). The results suggest that the Mal d 1 regions grafted onto the Bet v 1 sequence comprise important IgE epitopes recognized by Bet v 1‐allergic patients suffering from allergy to apples.
A simple filtration system for red blood cell depletion and volume reduction in routine processing of human umbilical cord blood
Authors: Sowemimo‐Coker S. O. , Andrade F. , Kim A. , Pesci S. 
Published: January 2009

Background and Objectives  Currently, stem cells and other progenitor cells are obtained from human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) using a variety of methods that are designed primarily for red blood cell depletion and volume reduction prior to freezing and storage. Some of these methods are very cumbersome and involve several steps that may result in significant cell loss. Therefore, processes that minimize the loss of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) remains very critical. In the present study, we describe a simple filtration process for achieving both volume reduction and red blood cell depletion in a ‘closed sterile system’ with significant recovery of viable HSPC.Materials and Methods  About 80–100 ml of HUCB were collected into citrate–phosphate–dextrose–adenine 1 anticoagulant. Each HUCB was divided into 25–70‐ml aliquots and then either diluted with isotonic saline or filtered without any prior dilution with an experimental Red Cell Volume Reduction System (RCVRS). The HSPCs were recovered by retrograde rinsing of the filter with an isotonic stem cell recovery solution. The viability, colony forming properties, leucocytes and CD34+ cells recoveries were determined.Results  The mean volume of the HUCB before processing was reduced from 43·9 ± 7·9 ml to 11·8 ± 0·7 ml (n = 55) with red blood cell depletion of 85·2 ± 3·7%. Diluting the HUCB with isotonic saline prior to processing with RCVRS increased the red blood cell depletion to 91·9 ± 3·0% (n = 7) without any significant loss in viability or cell recovery. The mean viability of the RCVRS‐processed HUCB was not significantly different from the control unprocessed blood (96·60 ± 1·90 vs. 96·63 ± 2·12%; P > 0·05). The mean recoveries of the CD34+ and the haematopoietic clonogenic progenitor cells with the filter were 83·9 ± 26·8 (n = 40) and 99·9 ± 27·9% (n = 35), respectively.Conclusion  The present results show that the RCVRS provides a simple and easy‐to‐use process for obtaining red blood cell depletion and volume reduction of HUCB with good cell viability and recoveries.