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This paper describes the characterisation of an ultra-thin silicon semicondoctor Delta E detector to be used as a pre-cell ion hit detector in single ion experiments on individual, living cells. The characteristics of interest for this specific application are the hit detection efficiency, which has to be close to 100% to enable bombardment with either a single ion or a counted number of ions, the beam spreading, which should be as small as possible to maintain the targeting accuracy, and the vacuum tightness, since the detector is intended, if possible, to be used simultaneously as vacuum window. The hit detection efficiency was shown to be above 99% when detecting alpha particles or 2 MeV protons, the increase in beam size was about 1 mu m and the vacuum tightness was comparable to that of the Si3N4 wafer which is normally used as vacuum window, thus the Delta E detector fulfils the main criteria to function properly as a single ion hit detector. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

We compared the plant understorey between stands of introduced Pinus contorta and native P. sylvestris in boreal northern Sweden using a chronosequence of 24 paired stands of P. contorta or P. sylv ...

Major rivers worldwide have experienced dramatic changes in flow, reducing their natural ability to adjust to and absorb disturbances. Given expected changes in global climate and water needs, this may create serious problems, including loss of native biodiversity and risks to ecosystems and humans from increased flooding or water shortages. Here, we project river discharge under different climate and water withdrawal scenarios and combine this with data on the impact of dams on large river basins to create global maps illustrating potential changes in discharge and water stress for dam-impacted and free-flowing basins. The projections indicate that every populated basin in the world will experience changes in river discharge and many will experience water stress. The magnitude of these impacts is used to identify basins likely and almost certain to require proactive or reactive management intervention. Our analysis indicates that the area in need of management action to mitigate the impacts of climate change is much greater for basins impacted by dams than for basins with free-flowing rivers. Nearly one billion people live in areas likely to require action and approximately 365 million people live in basins almost certain to require action. Proactive management efforts will minimize risks to ecosystems and people and may be less costly than reactive efforts taken only once problems have arisen.

Environmental fluctuations exert strong control on behavior, survival, and fitness of stream biota. Technical improvements increasingly allow for tracking the response of large numbers of individuals to environmental fluctuations, for instance, by remote detection of animals equipped with PIT (passive integrated transponder) tags. PIT tags were implanted into 393 juvenile and adult brown trout Salmo trutta L. and European sculpin Cottus gobio L. in a boreal stream subjected to considerable ice formation. With weekly trackings over 6 months, we quantified apparent survival and detection probability in relation to biological, environmental, and methodological factors. Individuals with a higher physical condition in autumn showed a higher apparent survival; this pattern was consistent across all species and age classes. Detection probability decreased with increasing thickness of the surface ice layer; this effect was most pronounced for juvenile trout and benthic‐living sculpin, both tagged with smaller‐sized tags. Detection probability was reduced in structurally complex habitats. Our study demonstrates that apparent survival and particularly detection probability may show pronounced spatiotemporal variation. In order to compare results from different sampling occasions and sites, a good knowledge of the study site and of the regulating factors is crucial. © 2016 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objectives: To investigate informal caregivers' psychological well-being and predicted increase in psychological well-being, when caring for persons with dementia (PwDs) living at home, related to caregiver, PwD and formal care (FC) factors.Method: A cohort study at baseline and 3 months' follow-up in eight European countries. Caregivers included (n = 1223) were caring for PwDs aged >= 65 years at home. Data on caregivers, PwDs and FC were collected using standardized instruments. Regression analysis of factors associated with caregiver psychological well-being at baseline and 3 months later was performed.Results: Factors associated with caregiver psychological well-being at baseline were positive experience of caregiving, low caregiver burden, high quality of life (QoL) for caregivers, male gender of PwD, high QoL of PwD, few neuropsychiatric symptoms and depressive symptoms for the PwD. At follow-up, caregivers with increased psychological well-being experienced of quality of care (QoC) higher and were more often using dementia specific service. Predicting factors for caregivers' increased psychological well-being were less caregiver burden, positive experience of caregiving, less supervision of the PwD and higher caregiver QoL, if PwD were male, had higher QoL and less neuropsychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, higher QoC predicted increased caregivers' psychological well-being.Conclusion: Informal caregiving for PwDs living at home is a complex task. Our study shows that caregivers' psychological well-being was associated with, among other things, less caregiver burden and higher QoL. Professionals should be aware of PwD neuropsychiatric symptoms that might affect caregivers' psychological well-being, and provide proper care and treatment for caregivers and PwDs.

Special Feature: Quantifying resilience., Understanding and predicting ecosystem responses to multiple environmental pressures is a long-standing interest in ecology and environmental management. However, few studies have examined how the functional features of freshwater biological communities vary along multiple gradients of environmental stress. Furthermore, modelling these functional features for a whole river network constitutes a strong potential basis to improve ecosystem management. We explored how functional redundancy of biological communities (FR, a functional feature related to the stability, resistance and resilience of ecosystems) responds to single and multiple environmental filters. We compared these responses with those of functional richness, evenness and divergence. We used riparian vegetation of a Mediterranean basin, and three of the main environmental filters affecting freshwater communities in such regions, that is drought, flow regulation and agricultural intensity, thus considering the potential effect of natural environmental variability. We also assessed the predictability of FR and estimated it for the entire river network. We found that all functional measures decreased with increasing environmental filter intensity. However, FR was more sensitive to single and multiple environmental filters compared to other functional measures. The best-fitting model explained 59% of the FR variability and included agriculture, drought and flow regulation and the pairwise interactions of agriculture with drought and flow regulation. The parameters of the FR models differed from null model expectations reflecting a non-random decline along stress gradients. Synthesis and applications. We found non-random detrimental effects along environmental filters' gradients for riparian functional redundancy (the most sensitive functional index), meaning that increased stress could jeopardize stability, resistance and resilience of these systems. In general, agriculture caused the greatest impact on functional redundancy and functional diversity measures, being the most important stressor for riparian functionality in the study area. Temporary streams flowing through an agricultural, regulated basin had reduced values of functional redundancy, whereas the free-flowing medium-sized, perennial water courses flowing through unaltered sub-basins displayed higher values of functional redundancy and potentially greater stability against human impacts. All these findings along with the predicted basin-wide variation of functional redundancy can assist environmental managers in improving monitoring and ecosystem management., D.B. and D.S.-F. were supported by a predoctoral (FPU) and postdoctoral grant (Juan de la Cierva programme), respectively, both from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Finally, C.G.-C. was supported by the MARS project (Managing Aquatic ecosystems and water resources under multiple stress), funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme, contract no. 603378.

The CELLION project is directed towards the studies on cellular response to targeted single ions. This paper gives an account of the modifications made at the Lund sub-micron beam line in order to create a Single Ion Hit Facility for biological applications within the CELLION project. The most relevant new feature is the specially developed software used to locate the cells. A program for cell recognition and localization that gives the coordinates of the centre of the cells has been designed. The recognition is made online. A picture taken by a microscope is used as input parameter for the recognition program. Using V79 Chinese hamster cells, the recognition procedure can be done in less than 0.5 s for a picture size of 800 × 600 pixels with approximately 96% efficiency. This paper also reports target accuracy test results and the first non-targeted irradiation procedure performed at the Lund sub-micron beam line.

The nuclear microprobe (NMP) technique using PIXE for elemental analysis and STIM on/off axis for parallel mass density normalization has proven successful to investigate possible interactions between minerals and ectomycorrhizal (EM) mycelia that form symbiotic associations with forest trees. The ability for the EM to make elements biologically available from minerals and soil were compared in field studies and in laboratory experiments, and molecular analysis (PCR-RFLP) was used to identify ectomycorrhizal species from the field samplings. EM rhizomorphs associated with apatite in laboratory systems and in mesh bags incubated in forest ecosystems contained larger amounts of Ca than similar rhizomorphs connected to acid-washed sand. EM mycelium produced in mesh bags had a capacity to mobilize P from apatite-amended sand and a high concentration of K in some rhizomorphs suggests that these fungi are good accumulators of K and may have a significant role in transporting K to trees. Spores formed by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in laboratory cultures were compared with spores formed in saline soils in Tunisia in Northern Africa. We found lower concentrations of P and higher concentrations of Cl in the spores collected from the field than in the spores collected from laboratory cultures. For the case of laboratory cultures, the distribution of e.g. P and K was found to be clearly correlated.

1. This paper introduces key messages from a number of papers emanating from the Second International Symposium on Riverine Landscapes held in August 2004 in Sweden, focusing on river restoration. ...

Fluvial processes such as flooding and sediment deposition play a crucial role in structuring riparian plant communities. In rivers throughout the world, these processes have been altered by channelization and other anthropogenic stresses. Yet despite increasing awareness of the need to restore natural flow regimes for the preservation of riparian biodiversity, few studies have examined the effects of river restoration on riparian ecosystems. In this study, we examined the effects of restoration in the Ume River system, northern Sweden, where tributaries were channelized to facilitate timber floating in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Restoration at these sites involved the use of heavy machinery to replace instream boulders and remove floatway structures that had previously lined stream banks and cut off secondary channels. We compared riparian plant communities along channelized stream reaches with those along reaches that had been restored 3-10 years prior to observation. Species richness and evenness were significantly increased at restored sites, as were floodplain inundation frequencies. These findings demonstrate how river restoration and associated changes in fluvial disturbance regimes can enhance riparian biodiversity. Given that riparian ecosystems tend to support a disproportionate share of regional species pools, these findings have potentially broad implications for biodiversity conservation at regional or landscape scales.

BACKGROUND: The "Lister family complex," an extensive Swedish family with autosomal dominant Parkinson disease, was first described by Henry Mjönes in 1949. On the basis of clinical, molecular, and genealogic findings on a Swedish and an American family branch, we provide genetic evidence that explains the parkinsonism in this extended pedigree. METHODS: Clinical methods included a detailed neurologic exam of the proband of the Swedish family branch, MRI, and ([123]I)-beta-CIT SPECT imaging. Genomic analysis included alpha-synuclein sequencing, SNCA real-time PCR dosage, chromosome 4q21 microsatellite analysis, and high-resolution microarray genotyping. The geographic origin and ancestral genealogy of each pedigree were researched in the medical literature and Swedish Parish records. RESULTS: The proband of the Swedish family branch presented with early dysautonomia followed by progressive parkinsonism suggestive of multiple system atrophy. Molecular analysis identified a genomic duplication of Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Mar-20

The potential role of tributaries as seed sources to an impoundment in northern Sweden : a field experiment with seed mimics

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor encephalitis was first described as a severe form of encephalitis by Dalmau et al in 2006. This is an autoimmune disorder usually associated with paraneoplastic mechanism that manifests as neuropsychiatric disorder affecting mainly women of child-bearing age. Nevertheless anti- NMDA receptor encephalitis is a rare condition during pregnancy. To -date, there have been only four reported cases during pregnancy. We report a case of a 23-year-old primigravida in first trimester pregnancy with altered mental status and multiple neurological symptoms related to anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis during pregnancy in Australasia.

Flooding governs riparian plant diversity along boreal rivers but the ecological role of extreme floods is only partly understood. We studied the dynamics of riparian plant composition and richness ...

Currently, a single ion hit facility, for irradiation of single cells with single, light MeV ions is under development at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe. In this paper, a novel approach to the ion detection issue is presented. A silicon detector, a type utilized at other facilities for post-cell ion detection, has been investigated as a possible option for pre-cell hit detection. If proven successful, this detector could possibly also be used simultaneously as vacuum window. The first experiments carried out on the 9 mu m thick silicon detector, with an area of 4 mm(2), have been aimed at investigations of signal-to-noise ratio and efficiency. The results thus far reveal a low noise level and a noise distribution, which is well separated from the signal peak. However, the efficiency remains a problem, since at present it is far from the required 100%.

A system for ion beam tomography has been implemented in conjunction with the new sub-micron bearriline at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe laboratory. The first version of the system is dedicated to STIM (scanning transmission ion microscopy) tomography for three-dimensional mass density analysis, but future development will allow also PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission) tomography for elemental analysis of micrometer-sized samples. The PIXE tomography will gain from the 8-element large area HPGe X-ray detector (100 mm(2) for each element) at the low beam currents inherited with a sub-micrometer beam spot size. In this work, the first results are presented together with a detailed description of the developed system, including computer control of the sample rotation. The reconstruction technique, as well as potential tomography applications is briefly discussed. (Less)

In hilly boreal landscapes topography governs groundwater flow which strongly influences soil development, and thus vegetation composition. Soil pH is known to correlate well with plant species density and composition, but in boreal forests this relationship has been little studied. Previously, we successfully used a topography-based hydrological index, the topographical wetness index (TWI), as an approximation of the variation in groundwater flow to predict local plant species density in a boreal forest landscape. Data on species indicator values demonstrated that soil pH can be an important soil variable linking groundwater flow and plant species density. In the present paper we explore this link by relating measured soil pH to species numbers of vascular plants and TWI in 200-m2 plots within two boreal forest landscapes, differing in average soil pH. The two landscapes showed almost identical relationships between plant species number and soil pH, implying that this relationship is robust. The landscapes also had similar relationships between soil pH and TWI as well as between plant species number and TWI except at high TWI values, which indicate groundwater discharge areas. In these areas soil pH and plant species numbers were higher in the high-pH landscape at any given TWI value. We conclude that for predictive mapping of the species density of vascular plants in boreal forests, soil pH is a major factor. However, TWI as a measure of groundwater flow is a practical alternative predictor.

Unprecedented global changes caused by human actions challenge society's ability to sustain the desirable features of our planet. This requires proactive management of change to foster both resilience (sustaining those attributes that are important to society in the face of change) and adaptation (developing new socioecological configurations that function effectively under new conditions). The Arctic may be one of the last remaining opportunities to plan for change in a spatially extensive region where many of the ancestral ecological and social processes and feedbacks are still intact. If the feasibility of this strategy can be demonstrated in the Arctic, our improved understanding of the dynamics of change can be applied to regions with greater human modification. Conditions may now be ideal to implement policies to manage Arctic change because recent studies provide the essential scientific understanding, appropriate international institutions are in place, and Arctic nations have the wealth to institute necessary changes, if they choose to do so.

Although numerous studies have focused on the dynamics of coarse woody debris (CWD) in boreal Fennoscandian forests, information on CWD in streams remains limited. To achieve a better understanding of CWD dynamics in streams we compared amounts and characteristics of CWD between streams and adjacent riparian forests in old-growth and managed forest sites, respectively. We also identified distances to the sources of CWD and evaluated these in relation to the lateral zonation of riparian trees. CWD volumes found in the stream channels were related to, but exceeded, the volumes found in the adjacent forest. In-channel volumes separated by species were better correlated with terrestrial volumes of CWD than with volumes of living trees. Tree species appeared to be zoned across the riparian zone, with slightly higher abundances of deciduous trees and lower abundances of Scots pine trees close to the stream. Similar to upland forests, riparian forests were dominated by coniferous tree species, mainly Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). These findings suggest large similarities in CWD input between streams and riparian forests and substantially slower decomposition rates in stream channels compared with those in riparian forest. The results provide an improved basis for creating reliable models of CWD supply and maintenance in streams based on knowledge of forest development and CWD dynamics in the terrestrial environment. Site productivity could potentially be used to predict CWD volumes in stream channels under pristine conditions.

259.Biologists have long noted higher levels of species diversity in the longitudinal middle-courses of river systems and have proposed many explanations. As a new explanationfor this widespread pattern, we suggest that many middle-course peaks in richness maybe, at least in part, a consequence of geometric constraints on the location of species’ranges along river courses, considering river headwaters and mouths as boundaries forthe taxa considered. We demonstrate this extension of the mid-domain effect (MDE) toriver systems for riparian plants along two rivers in Sweden, where a previous studyfound a middle-course peak in richness of natural (non-ruderal) species. We comparepatterns of empirical richness of these species to null model predictions of speciesrichness along the two river systems and to spatial patterns for six environmentalvariables (channel width, substrate fineness, substrate heterogeneity, ice scour, bankheight, and bank area). In addition, we examine the independent prediction of mid-domain effects models that species with large ranges, because the location of theirranges is more constrained, are more likely to produce a mid-domain peak in richnessthan are species with small ranges. Species richness patterns of riparian plants were bestpredicted by models including both null model predictions and environmentalvariables. When species were divided into large-ranged and small-ranged groups, themid-domain effect was more prominent and the null model predictions were a better fitto the empirical richness patterns of large-ranged species than those of small-rangedspecies. Our results suggest that the peak in riparian plant species richness in the middlecourses of the rivers studied can be explained by an underlying mid-domain effect(driven by geometric constraints on large-ranged species), together with environmentaleffects on richness patterns (particularly on small-ranged species). We suggest that themid-domain effect may help to explain similar middle-course richness peaks alongother rivers.R. R. Dunn (Rob_Dunn@ncsu.edu), Dept of Zoology, North Carolina State Univ.,Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA.

A new nuclear microscopy technique called ion photon emission microscopy or IPEM was recently invented. IPEM allows analysis involving single ions, such as ion beam induced charge (IBIC) or single event upset (SEU) imaging using a slightly modified optical microscope. The spatial resolution of IPEM is currently limited to more than 10 mu m by the scattering and reflection of ion-induced photons, i.e. light blooming or spreading, in the ionoluminescent phosphor layer. We are developing a '' Microscopic Gridded Phosphor '' (also called Black Matrix) where the phosphor nanocrystals are confined within the gaps of a micrometer scale opaque grid, which limits the amount of detrimental light blooming. MeV-energy proton beam lithography is ideally suited to lithographically form masks for the grid because of high aspect ratio, pattern density and sub-micron resolution of this technique. In brief, the fabrication of the grids was made in the following manner: (1) a MeV proton beam focused to 1.5-2 mu m directly fabricated a matrix of pillars in a 15 mu m thick SU-8 lithographic resist; (2) 7:1 aspect ratio pillars were then formed by developing the proton exposed area; (3) Ni (Au) was electrochemically deposited onto Cu-coated Si from a sulfamate bath (or buffered CN bath); (4) the SU-8 pillars were removed by chemical etching; finally (5) the metal micro-grid was freed from its substrate by etching the underlying Cu layer. Our proposed metal micro-grids promise an order-of-magnitude improvement in the resolution of IPEM. (Less)

The objective of this study was to increase understanding of the processes structuring and controlling the species richness of riparian plant communities. In particular, I examined the unimodal relationship, found in many rivers, between plant species richness and location along the river corridor. The most important finding was that this pattern is dynamic and varies with time, most likely in response to large-scale flood disturbances. I also found that the sensitivity to flood disturbance varied with the environmental setting of the riparian reaches. Turbulent sections of the river retained high species richness, whereas tranquil reaches had significantly lower species richness in years following high and prolonged flooding, compared to a period without extreme flood events. Riparian soils along turbulent reaches are more resistant to oxygen depletion during floods, a factor which is likely to contribute to the maintenance of species richness. The finding that the species richness pattern varied with time led me to ask which factors control plant diversity along riparian zones. I addressed this question by formulating three contrasting, although not mutually exclusive, hypotheses: (1) longitudinal patterns in riparian plant species richness are governed by local, river-related processes independent of the regional species richness, (2) riparian plant species richness is controlled by dispersal along the river, i.e., longitudinal control, and (3) the variation in riparian plant species richness mirrors variation in regional richness, i.e., lateral control. I found indications of all three types of control, although local factors seemed to fit most of the criteria. Riparian species richness was not significantly correlated to species richness in the surrounding upland valley. It was however significantly negatively correlated to soil pH, a local habitat factor of the reach. The fact that the species richness pattern varied in time, corresponding to the presence or absence of extreme flood events suggest that it is influenced by local disturbance regimes. The potential for control by longitudinal dispersal was found to be highest in the middle reaches of a river. Here, the similarity between upland and riparian vegetation was lowest, and invasibility (germination ability) was highest. Earlier work has shown that regulated rivers have an inverted species richness pattern compared to free-flowing rivers, with lowest species richness in the middle reaches. One potential mechanism behind this could be varying susceptibility to disturbance along the river. I tested this by experimentally disturbing the vegetation, applying the same level of disturbance along an entire free-flowing river. However, the response to experimental disturbance did not vary with location, likely because of a major flood disturbance preceding the experiment.

Log floating in the 19th to mid 20th centuries has profoundly changed the environmental conditions in many northern river systems of the world. Regulation of flow by dams, straightening and narrowing of channels by various piers and wing dams, and homogenization of bed structure are some of the major impacts. As a result, the conditions for many riverine organisms have been altered. Removing physical constructions and returning boulders to the channels can potentially restore conditions for these organisms. Here we describe the history of log driving, review its impact on physical and biological conditions and processes, and predict the responses to restoration. Reviewing the literature on comparable restoration efforts and building upon this knowledge, using boreal Swedish rivers as an example, we address the last point. We hypothesize that restoration measures will make rivers wider and more sinuous, and provide rougher bottoms, thus improving land-water interactions and increasing the retention capacity of water, sediment, organic matter and nutrients. The geomorphic and hydraulic/hydrologic alterations are supposed to favor production, diversity, migration and reproduction of riparian and aquatic organisms. The response rates are likely to vary according to the types of processes and organisms. Some habitat components, such as beds of very large boulders and bedrock outcrops, and availability of sediment and large woody debris are believed to be extremely difficult to restore. Monitoring and evaluation at several scales are needed to test our predictions.

Effects of slash harvest on bryophytes and vascular plants in southern boreal forest clear-cuts

1The importance of dispersal for plant community structure is poorly understood. Previous studies have hypothesized that patterns in the distribution and genetic structure of riparian plant commun ...

Little is known about how past forest management in Sweden influenced the quantity and quality of large woody debris (LWD) in streams. The present study provides information of the long-term dynamics of LWD in a reach of a boreal stream intersecting a managed forest. Dendrochronological methods were used to reconstruct mortality years of the pieces of LWD and the general history of fire and cuttings of the surrounding riparian forest. Today, spruce dominates among the living trees, whereas the LWD is dominated by birch in the forest and by pine in the stream. Fire frequency prior to active fire suppression was similar to values reported from boreal forests. Pine trees were more abundant in the riparian forest before selective logging operations and active fire suppression began in the 1800s. Many of the pieces of LWD found in the stream today died more than 200 years ago and derived from a cohort of pines that generated in the early 1600s. Pine LWD in stream channels is highly resistant to decomposition and can reside for more than 300 years. A substantial amount of the LWD found today in managed forest streams in boreal Sweden most likely derives from the time before extensive human influence and is likely to decrease further in the future. Management of riparian forests to ascertain future supply of long-lived LWD in streams should target to increase the proportion of pine trees.

A new beam line for generating a sub-micron beam spot for high-resolution nuclear microprobe applications has been constructed at the Lund nuclear microprobe facility. In this paper, the first in a series of three, a detailed theoretical investigation of different focusing systems is presented based on calculations performed with the computer programs PRAM and OXTRACE. Comparison is made between a doublet, a triplet, a quadruplet and a split quadruplet (two-stage focusing). For the split quadruplet all four quadrupole magnets were uncoupled. The conclusion from the calculations was that to obtain the smallest possible beam, the two-stage focusing system should be used. Such a focusing system (a doublet at each stage) has been chosen for the new sub-micron set-up at the Lund NMP laboratory. The first stage focuses the beam in an intermediate chamber, which has a high-resolution optical viewing system facilitating more control over the beam spot. This real image of the first stage is then used as a virtual object for the second stage.

Modern sunscreens contain particles like TiO2 having sizes of 25-70 nm and acting as a reflecting substance. For cosmetic reasons the particle size is minimized. Questions have been raised to what degree these nano particles penetrate the skin barrier, and how they do affect the human. The EU funded project "Quality of skin as a barrier to ultra-fine particles" - NANODERM has started with the purpose to evaluate the possible risks of TiO2 penetration into vital skin layers. The purpose of the work presented here was to find the optimal conditions for micro-PIXE analysis of Ti in thin skin sections. In the skin region where Ti is expected to be found, the naturally occurring major elements phosphorus, chlorine, sulphur and potassium have steep gradients and thus influence the X-ray background in a non-predictable manner. Based on experimental studies of Ti-exposed human skin sections using proton energies ranging from 1.8-2.55 MeV, the corresponding PIXE detection limits for Ti were calculated. The energy that was found to be the most favourable, 1.9 MeV, was then selected for future studies. (Less)

Hydrogen has been shown to occur as a trace element in many nominally anhydrous minerals. The presence of hydrogen in several of the major minerals in the Earth's mantle has received attention, due to the possibility that these phases provide a significant hydrogen reservoir. Recently an experimental and analytical procedure for hydrogen measurements in thin mineral samples by proton-proton scattering has been developed at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe facility. An annular surface barrier detector, divided in two insulated halves, is used to detect the scattered proton and the recoiled proton in coincidence. The summed energy of each detected proton pair can be used to produce depth profiles if the individual scattering angles are known. The easiest case is when only a small difference in energy between each detected proton pair is allowed, i.e. scattering angles very close to 45 degrees. This limitation criterion considerably reduces the statistics. For this reason the analytical method has been expanded to use the full detector area (35-55 degrees) and to identify the scattering angles individually for each hydrogen event. Nominally anhydrous minerals, both synthesized and of natural occurrence, with hydrogen concentrations from 10 to 100 ppm have been analysed. Hydrous minerals, as well as Mylar foils were used as standards. Depth profiles show that intrinsic hydrogen can be distinguished from surface contaminations, e.g. water adsorbed on the sample surfaces. (Less)

A new sub-micron beamline for high-resolution nuclear microprobe applications has been constructed at the Lund nuclear microprobe facility. The design and construction of the main experimental chamber.. sample viewing system and computer controlled precision sample stage movement is presented in this paper. The chamber is especially designed for using a large area annular HPGe detector. The advantages with such a large area detector are discussed and illustrated. In addition the quality of the optical viewing and the precision sample stage is discussed.

Analysis of landscape-scale patterns of plant invasiveness can assist in interpreting spatial patterns of plant species richness. We investigated downstream variation in plant invasiveness in the r ...

We set up two alternative hypotheses on how environmental variables could foster nestedness; one of “nested habitats” and another of “nested habitat quality”. The former hypothesis refers to situations where the nestedness of species depends on a nestedness of discrete habitats. The latter considers situations where all species in an assemblage increase in abundance along the same environmental gradient, but differ in specialisation or tolerance. We tested whether litter-dwelling land snails (terrestrial gastropods) in boreal riparian forest exhibited a nested community structure, whether such a pattern was related to differences in environmental variables among sites, and which of the two hypotheses that best could account for the found pattern. We sampled litter from 100 m2 plots in 29 mature riparian forest sites along small streams in the boreal zone of Sweden. The number of snail species varied between 3 and 14 per site. Ranking the species-by-site matrix by PCA scores of the first ordination axis revealed a similarly significant nested pattern as when the matrix was sorted by number of species, showing that the species composition in this meta-community can be properly described as nested. Several environmental variables, most notably pH index, were correlated with the first PCA axis. All but two species had positive eigenvectors in the PCA ordination and the abundance increased considerably along the gradient for most of the species implying that the hypothesis of “nested habitats” was rejected in favour of the “nested habitat quality” hypothesis. Analyses of nestedness have seldom been performed on equal sized plots, and our study shows the importance of understanding that variation in environmental variables among sites can result in nested communities. The conservation implications are different depending on which of our two hypotheses is supported; a conservation focus on species “hotspots” is more appropriate if the communities are nested because of “nested habitat quality”.

We investigated the short-term effects of forest clearcutting on land snails (terrestrial gastropods) in 15 forest stands along small streams in Sweden. Two different silvicultural treatments were ...

For the precise determination of the local mass density in thin samples analysed at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe, a modified version of off-axis STIM is described. An on-axis/off-axis geometry is used where a thin C-foil, placed behind the sample scatters protons into the particle detector. The advantage of this geometry compared to the off-axis case where particles are directly scattered from the sample into the particle detector is that the energy-loss spectrum acquired is less degraded. A spectral resolution comparable to on-axis STIM is achieved at a beam current high enough to allow for a simultaneous PIXE analysis (50-100 pA). (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The tumour selective ability of the boron compound boronophenylalanine (BPA), today used in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy in Sweden, has been investigated with the Lund Nuclear Microprobe. The tumour to tissue ratio of the boron concentration, as well as the location of boron within the cells, is critical for the efficiency of the therapy. It is desirable that the boron is accumulated as close as possible to the cell nucleus, since the alpha particles produced in the B-10(n,alpha)Li-7 reaction only have a range of about 10 microns, i.e. a cell diameter. The nuclear reaction B-11(p,alpha)2alpha, which has an especially high cross-section (300 mb) for 660 keV protons, has been used to analyse brain tissue from BPA-injected rats. Previous studies on other boron compounds have shown significant background problems when the alpha particles are detected in the backward direction. By a specially designed set-up, alpha particles in the forward and backward direction are detected simultaneously, and only the coincidences between the two directions are considered to be true boron events. In this way we could achieve excellent background suppression. The analysis shows that BPA indeed is tumour selective. Quantifications show a boron abundance of 150 +/- 20 ng/cm(2) in normal tissue and 567 70 ng/cm(2) in tumour tissue. If the rat is fed with L-dopa before the injection of BPA the uptake increases 3-4 times. The boron is homogeneously distributed in the cellular structure and no specific intracellular accumulation has been shown. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

It has been concluded by geologists that a significant amount of hydrogen is stored as point defects in nominally anhydrous minerals. Determination of the amount of hydrogen bound in these minerals is a step towards determining the total water content of the earth mantle as well as comprehending its internal water cycle. The possibility to measure hydrogen in thin geological samples by elastic p–p scattering has been investigated at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe. In this work the development of the experimental procedure and standardisation of data analysis is described. Special emphasis has been put into doing the data analysis as simple as possible and at the same time applicable to all sorts of thin samples, even those of unknown nature. A special annular surface barrier detector composed of two insulated detector halves, which are read out simultaneously, is used to detect the recoiled proton and the scattered proton in coincidence. Conditions on the difference in time and energy of the detected particles, enables us to distinguish true hydrogen events from false or random ones. Homogeneous Mylar foils with known hydrogen content are used as reference material and enables determination of the total amount of hydrogen in the bulk of the geological samples as well as depth profiling, in order to separate contaminations in the surface from the bulk concentrations. The method has been tested with a 2.8 MeV proton beam on thin samples of both Muscovite, which is known to have a natural hydrogen concentration of about 0.5 wt%, and Pyroxene, which is a nominally anhydrous mineral.

A new beam blanking system was installed at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe and employed in proton beam lithography (PBL) for polymer microstructures fabrication. The blanker consists of two parallel plates connected to a high voltage generator. Measurement of the beam blanking time on a sample was performed by means of the standard PIXE system. The beam is blanked and returns to a sample within 200 ns. The blanking system is designed for the new sub-micrometer beamline under installation in the accelerator laboratory. A number of pilot MeV ion beam lithography experiments were performed to illustrate the possibility to use the blanking system in combination with the existing data acquisition and scanning system. A 2.5 MeV proton beam was used to irradiate 50 mum SU-8 negative resist. The blanker was shown to be a necessary part of the lithography system. It enables blanking between each pixel and hence fabrication of various patterns down to a single pixel. The blanker has significantly simplified beam control and enhanced process time and spatial resolution. Three-dimensional microstructures with 20:1 aspect ratio were fabricated.

In the new sub-micron beamline at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe facility a special large area HPGe X-ray detector has been installed. It consists of eight 100-mm(2)-size detector elements arranged in an annular formation around the beam entrance hole. Different parameters like FWHM, FWTM, peak-to-background ratio and peak-to-valley ratio for each individual detector element as well as their sum spectra have been investigated. The data handling, i.e. how eight parallel signals are individually stored and summed together, has been discussed. The possibility to use the detector for simultaneous measurement of high and low energy photons, i.e. PINE combined with PIGE has been demonstrated. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stable carbon isotopes play an important role in the interpretation of biological activity, particularly when the fossil record is studied. In combination with morphological and chemical data, isotopic information can be useful in paleontology and astrobiology. In this paper the development of a microanalytical ion beam system for the measurement of the carbon isotope ratio with high spatial resolution and good statistics is presented. The technique used is elastic scattering of alpha particles with an energy of 2.75 MeV. At this energy the C-13 cross-section is enhanced relative to the Rutherford cross-section and while the C-12 cross-section is reduced. The optimisation of the system is described, including sample preparation and the design of the particle detection system for high efficiency combined with good energy resolution. Finally, some results from the initial test run of the system are shown and discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

Accurate description of the response function of X-ray detectors is important for quantitative PIXE analysis. For analytical description of low-energy tailing in PIXE spectra, the GUPIX approach was used, i.e. a combination of Hypermate type functions. The low-energy tailing parameters of a low-energy high purity germanium X-ray detector in the region 1.3-9.2 keV was determined by systematic fitting of X-ray spectra from thin MicroMatter standards. Except for the main Gaussian peak and germanium escape peaks, one shelf, one truncated shelf, one exponential function and KMM radiative Auger feature was applied to fit the spectral data collected with this low-energy Ge X-ray detector. The overall trend of different tail parameters shows similar characteristic as those for Si(Li) X-ray detectors used in this energy range, i.e. very strong tailing at low X-ray energies and a rapid fall off with increasing X-ray energy. The fitted parameters, as a function of X-ray energy, were then incorporated into the GUPIX library for PIXE analysis. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The quantity and quality of freshwater resources are now being seriously threatened, partly as a result of extensive worldwide changes in land use, and scientists are often called upon by policy makers and managers to predict the ecological consequences that these alterations will have for stream ecosystems. The effects of the urbanization of stream ecosystems in the United States over the next 20 years are of particular concern. To address this issue, we present a multidisciplinary research agenda designed to improve our forecasting of the effects of land-use change on stream ecosystems. Currently, there are gaps in both our knowledge and the data that make it difficult to link the disparate models used by economists, hydrologists, geomorphologists, and ecologists. We identify a number of points that practitioners in each discipline were not comfortable compromising on—for example, by assuming an average condition for a given variable. We provide five instructive examples of the limitations to our ability to forecast the fate of stream and riverine ecosystems one drawn from each modeling step: (a) Accurate economic methods to forecast land-use changes over long periods (such as 20 years) are not available, especially not at spatially explicit scales; (b) geographic data are not always available at the appropriate resolution and are not always organized in categories that are hydrologically, ecologically, or economically meaningful; (c) the relationship between low flows and land use is sometimes hard to establish in anthropogenically affected catchments; (d) bed mobility, suspended sediment load, and channel form—all of which are important for ecological communities in streams—are difficult to predict; and (e) species distributions in rivers are not well documented, and the data that do exist are not always publicly available or have not been sampled at accurate scales, making it difficult to model ecological responses to specified levels of environmental change. Meeting these challenges will require both interdisciplinary cooperation and a reviewed commitment to intradisciplinary research in the fields of economics, geography, quantitative spatial analysis, hydrology, geomorphology, and ecology.

The ecological restoration of streams in Sweden has become increasingly important to counteract effects of past timber floating. In this study, we focused on the effect on riparian soil properties after returning coarse sediment (cobbles and boulders) to the channel and reconnecting riparian with in-stream habitats. Restoration increases habitat availability for riparian plants, but its effects on soil quality are unknown. We also analyzed whether the restoration effect differs with variation in climate and stream size. We used standardized plant species to measure the performance of a grass ( L.) and a forb ( L.) in soils sampled in the riparian zones of channelized and restored streams and rivers. Furthermore, we analyzed the mass fractions of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) along with the proportions of the stable isotopes C and N in the soil, as well as its grain size composition. We found a positive effect of restoration on biomass of phytometers grown in riparian soils from small streams, indicating that restoration enhanced the soil properties favoring plant performance. We suggest that changed flooding with more frequent but less severe floods and slower flows, enhancing retention, could explain the observed patterns. This positive effect suggests that it may be advantageous to initiate restoration efforts in small streams, which make up the highest proportion of the stream network in a catchment. Restoration responses in headwater streams may then be transmitted downstream to facilitate recovery of restored larger rivers. If the larger rivers were restored first, a slower reaction would be expected.

Future of biodiversity in the Barents Region Climate change may affect biodiversity to a large extent. Its effects have already caused shifts in species distributions and even species extinctions. Since especially high latitude regions are expected to be affected, this publication assesses the impact of future climate change on the biodiversity in the Barents Region (northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and Northwest Russia). It reports on the impact of climate change on a large range of species, including amphibians, butterflies, birds, mammals, moths, plants, slugs, snails, and reptiles, of which a few were studied more in depth. It further identifies future hotspots of species diversity and gives recommendations on species that should be prioritized for conservation and on areas that should be included in the network of protected areas in future. Lastly, it provides guidance on which aspects require further study.

Introduction The aim of this study is to identify disease-specific changes of the thalamus, basal ganglia, pons, and midbrain in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism (MSA-P) using diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric analysis. Methods MRI diffusion and volumetric data were acquired in a derivation of 30 controls and 8 patients with PSP and a validation cohort comprised of controls (n = 21) and patients with PSP (n = 27), PD (n = 10), and MSA-P (n = 11). Analysis was performed using regions of interest (ROI), tract-based spatial statistic (TBSS), and tractography and results compared between diagnostic groups. Results In the derivation cohort, we observed increased mean diffusivity (MD) in the thalamus, superior cerebellar peduncle, and the midbrain in PSP compared to controls. Furthermore, volumetric analysis showed reduced thalamic volumes in PSP. In the validation cohort, the observations of increased MD were replicated by ROI-based analysis and in the thalamus by TBSS-based analysis. Such differences were not found for patients with PD in any of the cohorts. Tractography of the dentatorubrothalamic tract (DRTT) showed increased MD in PSP patients from both cohorts compared to controls and in the validation cohort in PSP compared to PD and MSA patients. Increased MD in the thalamus and along the DRTT correlated with disease stage and motor function in PSP. Conclusion Patients with PSP, but not PD or MSA-P, exhibit signs of structural abnormalities in the thalamus and in the DRTT. These changes are associated with disease stage and impaired motor function.

Introduction Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is associated with changes in dorsal striatal parts of the basal ganglia (caudate nucleus and putamen), related to dysfunction in the cortico-striato-thalamic circuits which help mediate executive and motor functions. We aimed to determine whether the size and shape of striatal structures correlated with diagnosis of bvFTD, and measures of clinical severity, behaviour and cognition. Materials and Methods Magnetic resonance imaging scans from 28 patients with bvFTD and 26 healthy controls were manually traced using image analysis software (ITK-SNAP). The resulting 3-D objects underwent volumetric analysis and shape analysis, through spherical harmonic description with point distribution models (SPHARM-PDM). Correlations with size and shape were sought with clinical measures in the bvTFD group, including Frontal Behavioural Inventory, Clinical Dementia Rating for bvFTD, Color Word Interference, Hayling part B and Brixton tests, and Trail-Making Test. Results Caudate nuclei and putamina were significantly smaller in the bvFTD group compared to controls (left caudate 16% smaller, partial eta squared 0.173, p=0.003; right caudate 11% smaller, partial eta squared 0.103, p=0.023; left putamen 18% smaller, partial eta squared 0.179, p=0.002; right putamen 12% smaller, partial eta squared 0.081, p=0.045), with global shape deflation in the caudate bilaterally but no localised shape change in putamen. In the bvFTD group, shape deflations on the left, corresponding to afferent connections from dorsolateral prefrontal mediofrontal/anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex, correlated with worsening disease severity. Global shape deflation in the putamen correlated with Frontal Behavioural Inventory scores—higher scoring on negative symptoms was associated with the left putamen, while positive symptoms were associated with the right. Other cognitive tests had poor completion rates. Conclusion Behavioural symptoms and severity of bvFTD are correlated with abnormalities in striatal size and shape. This adds to the promise of imaging the striatum as a biomarker in this disease.

Humans depend on services provided by ecosystems, and how services are affected by climate change is increasingly studied. Few studies, however, address changes likely to affect services from seminatural ecosystems. We analyzed ecosystem goods and services in natural and seminatural systems, specifically how they are expected to change as a result of projected climate change during the 21st century. We selected terrestrial and freshwater systems in northernmost Europe, where climate is anticipated to change more than the global average, and identified likely changes in ecosystem services and their societal consequences. We did this by assembling experts from ecology, social science, and cultural geography in workshops, and we also performed a literature review. Results show that most ecosystem services are affected by multiple factors, often acting in opposite directions. Out of 14 services considered, 8 are expected to increase or remain relatively unchanged in supply, and 6 are expected to decrease. Although we do not predict collapse or disappearance of any of the investigated services, the effects of climate change in conjunction with potential economical and societal changes may exceed the adaptive capacity of societies. This may result in societal reorganization and changes in ways that ecosystems are used. Significant uncertainties and knowledge gaps in the forecast make specific conclusions about societal responses to safeguard human well-being questionable. Adapting to changes in ecosystem services will therefore require consideration of uncertainties and complexities in both social and ecological responses. The scenarios presented here provide a framework for future studies exploring such issues.

Summary 1 The long history of river regulation has resulted in extensively changed ecosystem structures and processes in rivers and their associated environments. This fact, together with changing climatic and hydrological conditions, has increased the need to recover the natural functions of rivers. To develop guidelines for river restoration, comparative ecological experiments at contrasting water-level regimes are needed. We compared growth and survival of transplanted individuals of four riparian plant species (Betula pubescens, Carex acuta, Filipendula ulmaria and Leontodon autumnalis) over 2 years on four free-flowing and four regulated riverbank sites in northern Sweden. The species were chosen as representatives of dominating life-forms and species traits on different elevations of the riverbanks. 2 In Betula and Filipendula, mean proportional growth rates were significantly higher at free-flowing sites than at regulated sites, whereas no consistent differences between free-flowing and regulated sites were found in Carex and Leontodon. Differences among species were generally in accordance with natural distribution patterns along riverbank elevation gradients and with experimental evidence on flooding tolerance, although plants of all species survived and even showed positive growth rates on elevations below their natural range of occurrence. 3 Partial least squares regression was used to relate plant performance (growth and survival) to duration, frequency and timing of flooding at the different sites. Flood duration and frequency typically reduced performance in all species and during all time periods, although to various degrees. Flood events early in the experiment determined the outcome to a high degree at all sites. Variables indicating a regulated regime were mostly negatively related to plant performance, whereas free-flowing regime variables were positively related to plant performance. 4 We used two of the regression models generated from our data with an acceptably high predictive power to simulate a hypothetical re-regulation scenario in run-of-river impoundments. With an overall reduction in flooding duration and frequency of 50–75%, plant performance of Filipendula at low riverbank elevations showed predicted increases of about 20–30%, levelling off to zero at the highest elevations. Reductions in summer floods represented about one-third to half of this increase. 5 We conclude that for a range of species individual plant performance is clearly reduced on banks of impoundments and storage reservoirs due to changes in the water-level regime. Furthermore, our model simulation suggests that rather substantial reductions of flood duration and frequency are needed to improve plant performance on riverbanks upstream from dams in impounded rivers. River restoration principles should, however, be based on a combination of experimental data on plant performance of individual species and observed long-term changes in plant communities of regulated rivers. Consequently, successful re-regulation schemes in boreal rivers should include both reductions of summer and winter floods as well as re-introduced spring floods.

Recent research has emphasized the importance of riparian ecosystems as centers of biodiversity and links between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Riparian ecosystems also belong among the environments that are most disturbed by humans and are in need of restoration to maintain biodiversity and ecological integrity. To facilitate the completion of this task, researchers have an important function to communicate their knowledge to policy-makers and managers. This article presents some fundamental qualities of riparian systems, articulated as three basic principles. The basic principles proposed are: (1) The flow regime determines the successional evolution of riparian plant communities and ecological processes. (2) The riparian corridor serves as a pathway for redistribution of organic and inorganic material that influences plant communities along rivers. (3) The riparian system is a transition zone between land and water ecosystems and is disproportionately plant species-rich when compared to surrounding ecosystems. Translating these principles into management directives requires more information about how much water a river needs and when and how, i.e., flow variables described by magnitude, frequency, timing, duration, and rate of change. It also requires information about how various groups of organisms are affected by habitat fragmentation, especially in terms of their dispersal. Finally, it requires information about how effects of hydrologic alterations vary between different types of riparian systems and with the location within the watershed.

Rivers and river lakes, i.e., lakes that are part of river systems, provide distinctive geomorphic and hydrologic conditions for riparian plants. This variation between lotic and lentic water bodies results in various environments for establishment and growth of plants, but also presents a range of conditions under which plant propagules are trans- ported and deposited along riverbanks and lakeshores. Propagules may be differentially deposited in specific types of fluvial settings depending on their buoyancy. Among river- banks and lakeshores, we predicted that lakeshores would capture the highest proportion of long-floating seeds, because short floaters will sink before reaching the shoreline. We also predicted that turbulent reaches would receive the highest proportion of short-floating seeds, because these are the sections where buoyancy is least important. Tranquil reaches of rivers were predicted to be intermediate between turbulent reaches and lakes with respect to their efficiency in capturing of long- and short-floating seeds. We tested whether these differences were mirrored in the floras of the different reach types, using reaches of a range of current velocities in 67 sites along a free-flowing river system in northern Sweden. We also related floristic differences to environmental conditions in each of the three reach types (turbulent sections, tranquil sections, and river lakes). The proportions of species with long-floating propagules, herbs, and aquatic species were higher along river lakeshores and tranquil reaches than along turbulent reaches, and the opposite was true for species with short-floating propagules, dwarf shrubs, graminoids, and terrestrial species. The patterns remained when the largest species groups (herbs and graminoids) were tested for floating ability, i.e., the highest proportions of long-floating herbs and graminoids were found in lakes, and the lowest in turbulent reaches; tranquil reaches were intermediate or similar to lakes. Exposure to waves and currents and peat cover explained most of the variation in proportions of species with different floating abilities. We suggest that reach type is a good indicator for predicting the composition of riparian vegetation, especially the proportionate representation of species with various dispersal traits. These results suggest that there is a functional relationship between dispersal traits, channel characteristics, and plant community composition.

We suggest that fluvial ecosystems are legitimate users of water and that there are basic ecological principles guiding the maintenance of long-term ecological vitality. This article articulates some fundamental relationships between physical and ecological processes, presents basic principles for maintaining the vitality of fluvial ecosystems, identifies several major scientific challenges and opportunities for effective implementation of the basic ecological principles, and acts as an introduction to three specific articles to follow on biodiversity, biogeochemistry, and riparian communities. All the objectives, by necessity, link climate, land, and fresh water. The basic principles proposed are: (1) the natural flow regime shapes the evolution of aquatic biota and ecological processes, (2) every river has a characteristic flow regime and an associated biotic community, and (3) aquatic ecosystems are topographically unique in occupying the lowest position in the landscape, thereby integrating catchment-scale processes. Scientific challenges for the immediate future relate to quantifying cumulative effects, linking multidisciplinary knowledge and models, and formulating effective monitoring and assessment procedures. Additionally, forecasting the ecological consequences of changing water regimes is a fundamental challenge for science, especially as environmental issues related to fresh waters escalate in the next two to three decades.