Old and New Biological Therapies for Psoriasis Rønholt, Kirsten; Iversen, Lars
International journal of molecular sciences,
2017-Nov-01, 2017-11-01, 20171101, Letnik:
18, Številka:
11
Journal Article
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Biological therapy became available for psoriasis with the introduction of alefacept at the beginning of this century. Up to then, systemic treatment options comprised small molecule drugs, targeting ...the immune system in a non-specific manner. The first biologics targeted T-cell activation and migration and served as an alternative to small molecules. However, significant improvement in outcome was first accomplished with the introduction of tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors that were already approved for other inflammatory disorders, including rheumatic diseases. Along with the progress in understanding psoriasis pathogenesis, highly targeted and effective therapies have since developed with the perspective not only to improve but to clear psoriasis. These accomplishments enable future achievement of advanced goals to individualize treatment best suited for each patient. Mechanistic studies with patients treated with the new highly targeted biologics may guide us towards these goals. This review offers an overview of biologics developed for psoriasis and illustrate a historical progress in the treatment of this common chronic inflammatory skin condition.
Marine ecosystems worldwide are under threat with many fish species and populations suffering from human over-exploitation. This is greatly impacting global biodiversity, economy and human health. ...Intriguingly, marine fish are largely surveyed using selective and invasive methods, which are mostly limited to commercial species, and restricted to particular areas with favourable conditions. Furthermore, misidentification of species represents a major problem. Here, we investigate the potential of using metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) obtained directly from seawater samples to account for marine fish biodiversity. This eDNA approach has recently been used successfully in freshwater environments, but never in marine settings. We isolate eDNA from ½-litre seawater samples collected in a temperate marine ecosystem in Denmark. Using next-generation DNA sequencing of PCR amplicons, we obtain eDNA from 15 different fish species, including both important consumption species, as well as species rarely or never recorded by conventional monitoring. We also detect eDNA from a rare vagrant species in the area; European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus). Additionally, we detect four bird species. Records in national databases confirmed the occurrence of all detected species. To investigate the efficiency of the eDNA approach, we compared its performance with 9 methods conventionally used in marine fish surveys. Promisingly, eDNA covered the fish diversity better than or equal to any of the applied conventional methods. Our study demonstrates that even small samples of seawater contain eDNA from a wide range of local fish species. Finally, in order to examine the potential dispersal of eDNA in oceans, we performed an experiment addressing eDNA degradation in seawater, which shows that even small (100-bp) eDNA fragments degrades beyond detectability within days. Although further studies are needed to validate the eDNA approach in varying environmental conditions, our findings provide a strong proof-of-concept with great perspectives for future monitoring of marine biodiversity and resources.
The local climate in forest understories can deviate substantially from ambient conditions. Moreover, forest microclimates are often characterized by cyclic changes driven by management activities ...such as clear‐cutting and subsequent planting. To understand how and why understorey plant communities change, both ambient climate change and temporal variation in forest structure have to be considered.
We used inventories from 11,436 productive forest sites in Sweden repeated every 10th year 1993–2017 to examine how variation in forest structure influences changes in the average value of minimum and maximum temperature preferences of all species in a community, that is, community temperature indices (CTIs). We then evaluated to what extent these changes were driven by local extinctions and colonizations, respectively, and to what extent the difference in CTI value between two inventories was related to changes in forest density and in macroclimate. Lastly, we tested whether effects on CTI change by these two drivers were modified by topography, soil moisture and tree species composition.
CTI values of the understorey plant communities increased after clear‐cutting, and decreased during periods when the forest grew denser. During the period immediately after clear‐cutting, changes were predominately driven by colonizations of species with a preference for higher temperatures. During the forest regeneration phase, both colonizations by species preferring lower temperatures and local extinctions of species preferring higher temperatures increased. The change in understorey CTI over 10‐year periods was explained more by changes in forest density, than by changes in macroclimate. Soil moisture, topography and forest tree species composition modified to some extent the effects of changes in forest density and in macroclimate on understorey CTI values.
Synthesis. Via stand manipulation, forest management impacts the effects of regional climate on understorey plant communities. This implies that forest management by creating denser stands locally even can counterbalance the effects of regional changes in climate. Consequently, interpretations of changes in the mean temperature preference of species in forest understorey communities should take forest management regimes into account.
Via stand manipulation, forest management impacts the effects of regional climate on understorey plant communities. This implies that forest management by creating denser stands locally even can counterbalance the effects of regional changes in climate. Consequently, interpretations of changes in the mean temperature preference of species in forest understorey communities should take forest management regimes into account.
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most endangered habitats on Earth, with thousands of animal species known to be threatened or already extinct. Reliable monitoring of threatened organisms is ...crucial for data‐driven conservation actions but remains a challenge owing to nonstandardized methods that depend on practical and taxonomic expertise, which is rapidly declining. Here, we show that a diversity of rare and threatened freshwater animals—representing amphibians, fish, mammals, insects and crustaceans—can be detected and quantified based on DNA obtained directly from small water samples of lakes, ponds and streams. We successfully validate our findings in a controlled mesocosm experiment and show that DNA becomes undetectable within 2 weeks after removal of animals, indicating that DNA traces are near contemporary with presence of the species. We further demonstrate that entire faunas of amphibians and fish can be detected by high‐throughput sequencing of DNA extracted from pond water. Our findings underpin the ubiquitous nature of DNA traces in the environment and establish environmental DNA as a tool for monitoring rare and threatened species across a wide range of taxonomic groups.
See also the Perspective by Lodge et al
Myriophyllum spicatum, Eurasian watermilfoil, is a submerged aquatic plant invasive to North America. Several characteristics found in M. spicatum provide reasoning behind its invasion success such ...as its ability to spread and grow rapidly as well as displace other surrounding native species. However, Eurasian watermilfoil’s effects on ecosystem functioning (such as dissolved oxygen) and how such functioning differ from effects of native vegetation have seldom been studied. Using data collected in field, we used statistical models including Gaussian multivariate linear effect models and structural equation modelling (SEM), to investigate the effect of vegetation type and cover on dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature gradients. Here, we show that invasive Eurasian watermilfoil colonies, relative to native submerged vegetation, can have a direct effect on DO gradients. These changes in DO conditions were driven by both an increase in surface oxygen concentrations and a decrease in bottom layer oxygen concentration in dense M. spicatum vegetation. Furthermore, we find that the differences in DO gradients could be predicted from M. spicatum’s direct impact on oxygen concentration and not indirectly via its effects on water temperature. Our results demonstrate that dense colonies of M. spicatum can directly affect DO concentrations and may do so more than native macrophytes which could explain its rapid spread and potential impacts on ecosystem functioning.
•Linear models test variation in DO and temperatures among vegetation.•SEM is used to assess direct and indirect effect sizes of M. spicatum on DO.•M. spicatum exhibited sharper declines in DO with depth than native vegetation.•M. spicatum increase surface-level DO, and decreased bottom-layer DO.•Vegetation type (native and M. spicatum) did not impact water temperatures.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released from biogenic sources in a temperature-dependent manner. Consequently, Arctic ecosystems are expected to greatly increase their VOC emissions with ...ongoing climate warming, which is proceeding at twice the rate of global temperature rise. Here, we show that ongoing warming has strong, increasing effects on Arctic VOC emissions. Using a combination of statistical modeling on data from several warming experiments in the Arctic tundra and dynamic ecosystem modeling, we separate the impacts of temperature and soil moisture into direct effects and indirect effects through vegetation composition and biomass alterations. The indirect effects of warming on VOC emissions were significant but smaller than the direct effects, during the 14-y model simulation period. Furthermore, vegetation changes also cause shifts in the chemical speciation of emissions. Both direct and indirect effects result in large geographic differences in VOC emission responses in the warming Arctic, depending on the local vegetation cover and the climate dynamics. Our results outline complex links between local climate, vegetation, and ecosystem–atmosphere interactions, with likely local-to-regional impacts on the atmospheric composition.
Background: Software systems using artificial intelligence for medical purposes have been developed in recent years. The success of deep neural networks (DNN) in 2012 in the image recognition ...challenge ImageNet LSVRC 2010 fueled expectations of the potential for using such systems in dermatology.
Objective: To evaluate the ways in which machine learning has been utilized in dermatology to date and provide an overview of the findings in current literature on the subject.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review of existing literature, identifying the literature through a systematic search of the PubMed database. Two doctors assessed screening and eligibility with respect to pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Results: A total of 2175 publications were identified, and 64 publications were included. We identified eight major categories where machine learning tools were tested in dermatology. Most systems involved image recognition tools that were primarily aimed at binary classification of malignant melanoma (MM). Short system descriptions and results of all included systems are presented in tables.
Conclusions: We present a complete overview of artificial intelligence implemented in dermatology. Impressive outcomes were reported in all of the identified eight categories, but head-to-head comparison proved difficult. The many areas of dermatology where we identified machine learning tools indicate the diversity of machine learning.
Functional biogeography has advanced the field of functional ecology into a more spatiallypredictive science. However, freshwater plants are still underrepresented in these traitbased advancements. ...Here, we argue that there is a need for developing a functional biogeographical framework for freshwater plants and initiate global mapping efforts focusing on the form and function of freshwater plants. Specific attention should be given to (1) the placement of freshwater plants in the global plant trait space and show how this placement links to global traitenvironment relationships; (2) the theoretical framework for major structural traittrait correlations based on the physical constraints in aquatic ecosystems; (3) the evolutionary and environmental drivers underlying the global distribution of inter and intraspecific variation in different life forms; and (4) the level of equilibrium between spatial and temporal traitenvironment relationships in freshwater plants. By putting freshwater plants in the context of these spatial aspects, we could advance our understanding of freshwater plant adaptations and responses to environmental gradients, and thereby facilitate predicting the consequences of global changes for freshwater ecosystem functions and services.
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•Freshwater plants have been underexamined in the context of functional biogeography.•Global mapping efforts focusing on their form and function are needed.•This will help advance our understanding of freshwater plant unique adaptations.•Such an exercise will be accomplished by the MAP Project (www.lifeinmud.com/map).•We are recruiting collaborators from around the world, starting in late 2021.
Charophytes grow attached to soft bottoms in ponds, streams, lakes and estuaries and are highly threatened throughout Europe according to the national Red Lists. We used Danish studies on freshwater ...charophyte distributions conducted around 1940 and repeated measurements during recent years to evaluate the historical development of species richness and dominance patterns. We also tested to what extent historical changes of species abundance in 29 waterbodies were related to landscape features, water quality and species traits. We found that three species of freshwater charophytes (Chara filiformis, Tolypella intricata and Nitella gracilis) have apparently disappeared from Denmark while one species (Chara connivens) has immigrated. National species richness has thus declined from 21 to 19 species. Species abundance based on occurrence in many waterbodies followed a linear rank–log abundance relationship both in the historical and the recent studies. The dominance structure was stronger today than historically as common species have become relatively more abundant and uncommon species relatively rarer. Among species traits, perenniality and preference for alkaline waters typical of deep‐growing species in large alkaline lakes, a rare contemporary habitat, were significantly related to the historic species decline. Species increasing in abundance had wide tolerances to alkalinity and water nitrogen content. Twenty‐nine lakes and ponds studied repeatedly showed a significant decline of mean species richness from 3.4 to 2.4 during the 70 years. A small increase in species richness has taken place during the recent 15–20 years in several lakes experiencing reduced nutrient loading. However, many species survive today in relict populations and may find it difficult to recolonise lakes in which water quality has improved. The historical decline of species richness was significantly related to higher nutrient concentrations, higher phytoplankton biomass and lower transparency of eutrophied waterbodies. In contrast, the amount of wetlands and openness of the landscape close to a waterbody did not predict the historical development perhaps because local processes or long‐distance dispersal determine species richness. Considering together the loss of former freshwater habitats and the deterioration of surviving habitats, we conclude that charophyte occurrence has declined by about 56% in Denmark during the last 70 years. Species reductions determined from the reinvestigated waterbodies (29%) and the national species list (10%) are much lower and are less suitable measures of the developmental status of charophytes.
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