Reimagining the potential of Earth observations for ecosystem service assessments.

The benefits nature provides to people, called ecosystem services, are increasingly recognized and accounted for in assessments of infrastructure development, agricultural management, conservation prioritization, and sustainable sourcing. These assessments are often limited by data, however, a gap with tremendous potential to be filled through Earth observations (EO), which produce a variety of data across spatial and temporal extents and resolutions. Despite widespread recognition of this potential, in practice few ecosystem service studies use EO.

Effects of human demand on conservation planning for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Safeguarding ecosystem services and biodiversity is critical to achieving sustainable development. To date, ecosystem services quantification has focused on the biophysical supply of services with less emphasis on human beneficiaries (i.e.

Disaggregating the evidence linking biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services (ES) are an increasingly popular policy framework for connecting biodiversity with human well-being. These efforts typically assume that biodiversity and ES covary, but the relationship between them remains remarkably unclear. Here we analyse >500 recent papers and show that reported relationships differ among ES, methods of measuring biodiversity and ES, and three different approaches to linking them (spatial correlations, management comparisons and functional experiments).

Spatial and Temporal Dynamics and Value of Nature-Based Recreation, Estimated via Social Media.

Conserved lands provide multiple ecosystem services, including opportunities for nature-based recreation. Managing this service requires understanding the landscape attributes underpinning its provision, and how changes in land management affect its contribution to human wellbeing over time. However, evidence from both spatially explicit and temporally dynamic analyses is scarce, often due to data limitations.

Origins of the tumor microenvironment: quantitative assessment of adipose-derived and bone marrow-derived stroma.

To meet the requirements for rapid tumor growth, a complex array of non-neoplastic cells are recruited to the tumor microenvironment. These cells facilitate tumor development by providing matrices, cytokines, growth factors, as well as vascular networks for nutrient and waste exchange, however their precise origins remain unclear. Through multicolored tissue transplant procedures; we have quantitatively determined the contribution of bone marrow-derived and adipose-derived cells to stromal populations within syngeneic ovarian and breast murine tumors.

Mesenchymal stromal cells alone or expressing interferon-beta suppress pancreatic tumors in vivo, an effect countered by anti-inflammatory treatment.

Background Aims: Because of the inflammatory nature and extensive stromal compartment in pancreatic tumors, we investigated the role of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) to engraft selectively in pancreatic carcinomas and serve as anti-tumor drug delivery vehicles to control pancreatic cancer progression.

Methods: Human pancreatic carcinoma cells, PANC-1, expressing renilla luciferase were orthotopically implanted into SCID mice and allowed to develop for 10 days. Firefly luciferase-transduced MSC or MSC expressing interferon (IFN)-beta were then injected intraperitoneally weekly for 3 weeks.

Direct evidence of mesenchymal stem cell tropism for tumor and wounding microenvironments using in vivo bioluminescent imaging.

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) have shown potential clinical utility. However, previous assessments of MSC behavior in recipients have relied on visual detection in host tissue following sacrifice, failing to monitor in vivo MSC dispersion in a single animal and limiting the number of variables that can be observed concurrently. In this study, we used noninvasive, in vivo bioluminescent imaging to determine conditions under which MSC selectively engraft in sites of inflammation.

Mesenchymal stem cell transition to tumor-associated fibroblasts contributes to fibrovascular network expansion and tumor progression.

Background: Tumor associated fibroblasts (TAF), are essential for tumor progression providing both a functional and structural supportive environment. TAF, known as activated fibroblasts, have an established biological impact on tumorigenesis as matrix synthesizing or matrix degrading cells, contractile cells, and even blood vessel associated cells. The production of growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, matrix-degrading enzymes, and immunomodulatory mechanisms by these cells augment tumor progression by providing a suitable environment.

The pro-inflammatory peptide LL-37 promotes ovarian tumor progression through recruitment of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells.

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells or multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been shown to engraft into the stroma of several tumor types, where they contribute to tumor progression and metastasis. However, the chemotactic signals mediating MSC migration to tumors remain poorly understood. Previous studies have shown that LL-37 (leucine, leucine-37), the C-terminal peptide of human cationic antimicrobial protein 18, stimulates the migration of various cell types and is overexpressed in ovarian, breast, and lung cancers.