University of Lausanne

About: University of Lausanne is a education organization based out in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 20508 authors who have published 46458 publications receiving 1996655 citations. The organization is also known as: Université de Lausanne & UNIL.

Climate change and plant distribution: local models predict high-elevation persistence

Abstract: Mountain ecosystems will likely be affected by global warming during the 21st century, with substantial biodiversity loss predicted by species distribution models (SDMs). Depending on the geographic extent, elevation range, and spatial resolution of data used in making these models, different rates of habitat loss have been predicted, with associated risk of species extinction. Few coordinated across-scale comparisons have been made using data of different resolutions and geographic extents. Here, we assess whether climate change-induced habitat losses predicted at the European scale (10 × 10′ grid cells) are also predicted from local-scale data and modeling (25 m × 25 m grid cells) in two regions of the Swiss Alps. We show that local-scale models predict persistence of suitable habitats in up to 100% of species that were predicted by a European-scale model to lose all their suitable habitats in the area. Proportion of habitat loss depends on climate change scenario and study area. We find good agreement between the mismatch in predictions between scales and the fine-grain elevation range within 10 × 10′ cells. The greatest prediction discrepancy for alpine species occurs in the area with the largest nival zone. Our results suggest elevation range as the main driver for the observed prediction discrepancies. Local-scale projections may better reflect the possibility for species to track their climatic requirement toward higher elevations.

Cellular Senescence: Aging, Cancer, and Injury

Abstract: Cellular senescence is a permanent state of cell cycle arrest that occurs in proliferating cells subjected to different stresses. Senescence is, therefore, a cellular defense mechanism that prevents the cells to acquire an unnecessary damage. The senescent state is accompanied by a failure to re-enter the cell cycle in response to mitogenic stimuli, an enhanced secretory phenotype and resistance to cell death. Senescence takes place in several tissues during different physiological and pathological processes such as tissue remodeling, injury, cancer, and aging. Although senescence is one of the causative processes of aging and it is responsible of aging-related disorders, senescent cells can also play a positive role. In embryogenesis and tissue remodeling, senescent cells are required for the proper development of the embryo and tissue repair. In cancer, senescence works as a potent barrier to prevent tumorigenesis. Therefore, the identification and characterization of key features of senescence, the induction of senescence in cancer cells, or the elimination of senescent cells by pharmacological interventions in aging tissues is gaining consideration in several fields of research. Here, we describe the known key features of senescence, the cell-autonomous, and noncell-autonomous regulators of senescence, and we attempt to discuss the functional role of this fundamental process in different contexts in light of the development of novel therapeutic targets.

An e-Business Model Ontology for Modeling e-Business

Abstract: After explaining why business executives and academics should consider thinking about a rigorous approach to e-business models, we introduce a new e-Business Model Ontology Using the concept of business models can help companies understand, communicate and share, change, measure, simulate and learn more about the different aspects of e-business in their firm The generic e-Business Model Ontology (a rigorous definition of the e-business issues and their interdependencies in a company’s business model), which we outline in this paper is the foundation for the development of various useful tools for e-business management and IS Requirements Engineering The e-Business Model Ontology is based on an extensive literature review and describes the logic of a “business system” for creating value in the Internet era It is composed of four main pillars, which are Product Innovation, Infrastructure Management, Customer Relationship and Financial Aspects These elements are then further decomposed

Tree line shifts in the Swiss Alps: Climate change or land abandonment?

Abstract: Questions: Did the forest area in the Swiss Alps increase between 1985 and 1997? Does the forest expansion near the tree line represent an invasion into abandoned grasslands (ingrowth) or a true upward shift of the local tree line? What land cover / land use classes did primarily regenerate to forest, and what forest structural types did primarily regenerate? And, what are possible drivers of forest regeneration in the tree line ecotone, climate and/or land use change? Location: Swiss Alps. Methods: Forest expansion was quantified using data from the repeated Swiss land use statistics GEOSTAT. A moving window algorithm was developed to distinguish between forest ingrowth and upward shift. To test a possible climate change influence, the resulting upward shifts were compared to a potential regional tree line. Results: A significant increase of forest cover was found between 1650 m and 2450 m. Above 1650 m, 10% of the new forest areas were identified as true upward shifts whereas 90% represented ingrowth, and we identified both land use and climate change as likely drivers. Most upward shift activities were found to occur within a band of 300 m below the potential regional tree line, indicating land use as the most likely driver. Only 4% of the upward shifts were identified to rise above the potential regional tree line, thus indicating climate change. Conclusions: Land abandonment was the most dominant driver for the establishment of new forest areas, even at the tree line ecotone. However, a small fraction of upwards shift can be attributed to the recent climate warming, a fraction that is likely to increase further if climate continues to warm, and with a longer time-span between warming and measurement of forest cover.

Partitioning of reproduction in animal societies.

Abstract: A key feature differentiating cooperative animal societies Is the apportionment of reproduction among individuals. Only recently have studies started to focus on intraspecific variability in the distribution of reproduction within animal societies, and the available data suggest that this variability might be greater than previously suspected. How can one account for intra-and interspecific variability in partitioning of reproduction? This Is one of the most intriguing problems in the study of social behaviour, and understanding the factors underlying this variability is one of the keys to understanding the properties of complex animal societies.