Soil organisms have an important role in aboveground community dynamics and ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems. However, most studies have considered soil biota as a black box or ...focussed on specific groups, whereas little is known about entire soil networks. Here we show that during the course of nature restoration on abandoned arable land a compositional shift in soil biota, preceded by tightening of the belowground networks, corresponds with enhanced efficiency of carbon uptake. In mid- and long-term abandoned field soil, carbon uptake by fungi increases without an increase in fungal biomass or shift in bacterial-to-fungal ratio. The implication of our findings is that during nature restoration the efficiency of nutrient cycling and carbon uptake can increase by a shift in fungal composition and/or fungal activity. Therefore, we propose that relationships between soil food web structure and carbon cycling in soils need to be reconsidered.
Volatile organic compounds play an important role in microbial interactions. However, little is known about how volatile-mediated interactions modulate biogeochemical processes. In this study, we ...show the effect of volatile-mediated interaction on growth and functioning of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria, grown in co-culture with five different heterotrophs. Both growth and methane oxidation of Methylobacter luteus were stimulated by interaction with specific heterotrophs. In Methylocystis parvus, we observed significant growth promotion, while methane oxidation was inhibited. Volatolomics of the interaction of each of the methanotrophs with Pseudomonas mandelii, revealed presence of a complex blend of volatiles, including dimethylsulfide, dimethyldisulfide, and bicyclic sesquiterpenes. Although the ecological role of the detected compounds remains to be elucidated, our results provide unprecedented insights into interspecific relations and associated volatiles for stimulating methanotroph functioning, which is of substantial environmental and biotechnological significance.
Home field advantage (HFA; acceleration of plant litter decomposition in soils that receive their indigenous litter) and priming effects (PE; short-term changes in the turnover of soil organic matter ...caused by the addition of fresh organic carbon) are two aspects of decomposition processes that are driven by the composition and functioning of soil decomposer communities. Physicochemical similarity between added organic compounds and soil organic matter fractions has been indicated as an important steering factor of PE. It is unknown whether PE, like litter decomposition, experience HFA, i.e., whether PE are higher than expected in soils receiving their own litter due to specialization of the decomposer community. Here we studied both HFA and PE by measuring litter- and SOM-derived carbon (C) fluxes after the addition of fresh plant litter. We reciprocally incubated three 13C labelled litter types (maize, bent and beech) in soils from ecosystems where these litters are abundantly produced (e.g., arable sites, grasslands and forests), with and without the addition of mineral nitrogen (N). Generally, respiration of both litter-derived and SOM-derived C were lowest when beech litter was added, and were lower in forest soils than in arable or grassland soils. N addition generally slightly increased the respiration of litter-derived C, but had no effect on SOM-derived C. All litter types induced a positive PE in all soils. HFA effects were not significantly different from zero, but were significantly higher in grasslands than in maize fields amended with nitrogen. We found a positive relationship between litter and priming HFA, indicating that the rates of both litter decomposition and PE may be affected in the same manner by home combinations of plant and litter versus away combinations. This positive relationship disappeared when N was added. Our results provide a first indication that the extent to which indigenous soil microbes are specialized to breakdown home litter, not only accelerates or decelerates the decomposition of litter, but affects the breakdown of SOM in the same way. This could imply that a specialized litter decomposer community driving HFA can further accelerate soil C mineralization via enhanced induction of PE. Therefore, the impact of specialized decomposer communities on the dynamics of soil C pools may be bigger than expected from HFA of litter decomposition alone.
•All litter types primed the breakdown of soil organic matter in all soils.•Home-field advantage for litter breakdown was higher in grasslands than arable fields.•Home-field advantage for priming did not differ between ecosystems.•Home-field effects for litter decomposition and priming were positively related.•Fertilization weakens relationships between litter- and priming home-field effects.
Considering the limited availability of dermatologists to perform live consultations in nursing homes, teledermatology could be used as a triage tool for selection of cases for which live ...consultations are considered to be of added value compared with teledermatology. This prospective, multicentre observational study aimed to determine the reasons for dermatology consultations in nursing homes and the estimated value of teledermatology as a triage tool, including potential predictors. Skin tumours were the most common reason (n = 161/270; 59.6%) for dermatology consultations in nursing homes. Dermatologists estimated that live consultations added value compared with teledermatology in 67.8% of cases (n = 183). Multivariable logistic regression showed that predictors for this added value of live consultations were: consultations because of a skin tumour; consultations during which a diagnostic or treatment procedure was performed; consultations during which a secondary diagnosis was made; and the dermatologist involved. These results indicate that using teledermatology as a triage tool potentially reduces the need for additional live consultations in one-third of patients, whereas live consultations are estimated to have added value over teledermatology in two-thirds of cases. To make optimal use of the limited capacity for live consultations by dermatologists, it could therefore be helpful if elderly care physicians use teledermatology more frequently.
► Colipa and PLM provide causality schemes used in Cosmetovigilance. ► Both schemes were validated against clinical assessment (global introspection). ► The Colipa causality method yielded a better ...correlation to global introspection. ► The greatest impact factor consisted in the course of the reaction.
The European Cosmetics Regulation requires a post-marketing system for detection of undesirable effects on human health of cosmetic products. Colipa, the European Cosmetic, toiletry and perfumery association, provided guidelines for causality assessment of these effects. In addition another causality method originally designed for causality rating in Post Launch Monitoring (PLM) of novel foods has been employed to assess causality of cosmetic products.
In this study these two causality schemes for consumer cosmetic products were validated against clinical assessment, using the method of global introspection (GI) in 100 reported cases. Causality assessments were performed by three experienced assessors in pharmacovigilance. In the event of discordance between the assessors, an adapted Delphi method was used.
The overall Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.74 for comparison of Colipa versus GI, whereas this was 0.50 for PLM versus GI. According to current guidelines, the sensitivity was 0.95 for both the Colipa and PLM method, specificity was 0.84 for Colipa and 0.40 for PLM. From these results it can be concluded the performance of the Colipa causality method yielded better correlation to GI than PLM causality method. The factor identified from comparison of these two schemes as having greatest impact was the course of the reaction.
Evidence for the validity of US in detecting structural joint pathology in OA is increasing. However, despite the rapidly emerging field of US in OA, few studies have reported on the inter-observer ...reliability of US to date. The objective of this study was to assess inter-observer reliability of ultrasonography (US) in the evaluation of specifically defined features in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
US was performed independently by two rheumatologists in 60 outpatients fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology clinical criteria for knee OA. The acquisition protocol comprised medial meniscus protrusion, synovial hypertrophy, effusion, infrapatellar bursitis and cartilage thickness. Cartilage thickness and meniscal protrusion (if >3 mm) were measured on a continuous scale, all other variables were scored dichotomously.
Inter-observer agreement (κ-value) was moderate for protrusion of the medial meniscus (0.54), good for infrapatellar bursitis (0.66) and effusion (0.74), excellent for Bakers' cyst (0.85) and poor for the detection of synovial hypertrophy (-0.08). Inter-observer reliability was good for the measurement of medial meniscus protrusion (correlation coefficient 0.80, 95% limits of agreement -1.93 to 1.94 mm) and cartilage thickness (correlation coefficient 0.62 and 0.68, 95% limits of agreement -0.87 to 0.84 mm and -0.77 to 0.96 mm at the medial and lateral condyle respectively).
This study demonstrated good reproducibility of US in the assessment of the majority of the investigated mechanical, inflammatory and degenerative features of knee OA, and contributes to exploring the use of US in knee OA as a useful tool in research as well as in clinical practice.
This study aims to provide more insight in attenuation characteristics and corresponding lead (Pb) equivalences of a broad range of commercially available lead composite and nonlead protective ...garments. Thirty garments of five manufacturers (listed as 0.25-0.35-0.50 mm Pb equivalent) were tested. Transmission values were determined at 70, 90 and 110 kVp using an inverse broad beam geometry. Pb equivalence was determined using lead sheets as reference material. A substantial variability in photon transmission across garments was found. Differences between lead composite and nonlead garments were not statistically significant. Depending on tube voltage, between 9 and 12 out of 30 garments had a lower Pb equivalence than the indicated value. This work shows that lead equivalence as indicated on a garment's label may overestimate its protective performance. Depending on the application a more thorough verification of the effectiveness of protective garments at the desired kVp is warranted.
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