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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis (skin psoriasis, PsO) is a chronic inflammatory condition. In about one-third of cases, the joints are affected (psoriatic arthritis, PsA). Both conditions, especially PsA, profoundly impact patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). To describe the impact of psoriasis on HRQoL and patients' contact with the healthcare system in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, the NORdic PAtient survey of Psoriasis and Psoriatic arthritis (NORPAPP) asked 22,050 adults randomly selected in Sweden, Denmark and Norway if they had psoriasis. 1264 individuals who reported physician-diagnosed PsO/PsA were invited to the full survey; 1221 responded (74.6% diagnosed with PsO alone; 25.4% with PsA ± PsO). Respondents with PsA most frequently consulted a rheumatologist; however, 14.3% had never seen a rheumatologist. Respondents with PsO alone most frequently consulted a general practitioner and 10.7% had never seen a dermatologist (although those with severe symptoms visited dermatologists more often). Negative impacts on HRQoL were reported by 38.1% of respondents with PsO [mostly limitations on clothing (22.6%), sleep disorders (16%), and depression/anxiety (16%)] and by 73% of respondents with PsA [mostly limitations on clothing (41.8%), sports/leisure (44.0%), or daily routine (45.1%) and sleeping disorders]. Absence from work/education was more common with PsA ± PsO (51.9%) than PsO alone (15.1%). In this survey in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, the impact of psoriasis on the respondents' HRQoL was profound and was greater for PsA than for PsO, as was sickness absence. Sleeping disorders and depression were common and should not be overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual conflict is thought to be an important evolutionary force in driving phenotypic diversification, population divergence, and speciation. However, empirical evidence is inconsistent with the generality that sexual conflict enhances population divergence. Here, we demonstrate an alternative evolutionary outcome in which sexual conflict plays a conservative role in maintaining male and female polymorphisms locally, rather than promoting population divergence. In diving beetles, female polymorphisms have evolved in response to male mating harassment and sexual conflict. We present the first empirical evidence that this female polymorphism is associated with (i) two distinct and sympatric male morphological mating clusters (morphs) and (ii) assortative mating between male and female morphs. Changes in mating traits in one sex led to a predictable change in the other sex which leads to predictable within-population evolutionary dynamics in male and female morph frequencies. Our results reveal that sexual conflict can lead to assortative mating between male offence and female defence traits, if a stable male and female mating polymorphisms are maintained. Stable male and female mating polymorphisms are an alternative outcome to an accelerating coevolutionary arms race driven by sexual conflict. Such stable polymorphisms challenge the common view of sexual conflict as an engine of rapid speciation via exaggerated coevolution between sexes.

Optimal clinical management of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) Optimal clinical management of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) requires understanding of the impact on patients. The NORdic PAtient survey of Psoriasis and PsA (NORPAPP) aimed to obtain current data on disease prevalence and patient perceptions in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Among 22,050 individuals questioned, the reported prevalence of psoriasis and/or PsA was 9.7% (5.7% physician-diagnosed plus 4.0% self-diagnosed only); prevalence was similar in Sweden (9.4%) and Denmark (9.2%) but significantly higher in Norway (11.9%). Of those reporting a physician's diagnosis, 74.6% reported psoriasis alone, 10.3% PsA alone and 15.1% both. Patients with PsA perceived their disease to be more severe than those with psoriasis; patients with PsA and psoriasis reported greater disease severity than those with each condition alone. Patient's perceptions of psoriasis severity correlated weakly (Spearman's rho 0.42) with clinical severity; both patient perceptions and clinical measures are important in the assessment and management of psoriasis.