Trees First Inhibit Then Promote Litter Decomposition in the Subarctic.

Trees affect organic matter decomposition through allocation of recently fixed carbon belowground, but the magnitude and direction of this effect may depend on substrate type and decomposition stage. Here, we followed mass loss, chemical composition and fungal colonisation of leaf and root litters incubated in mountain birch forests over 4 years, in plots where belowground carbon allocation was severed by tree girdling or in control plots. Initially, girdling stimulated leaf and root litter mass loss by 12% and 22%, respectively, suggesting competitive release of saprotrophic decomposition when tree-mediated competition by ectomycorrhizal fungi was eliminated (Gadgil effect).

The prognostic value of global longitudinal strain in patients with myocardial infarction and preserved ejection fraction - a prespecified substudy of the REDUCE-AMI trial.

Aims: The REDUCE-AMI trial showed that beta-blockers in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) had no effect on mortality or cardiovascular outcomes. The aim of this substudy was to evaluate whether global longitudinal strain (GLS) is a better prognostic marker than LVEF, and if beta-blockers have a beneficial effect in patients with decreased GLS.

Methods And Results: REDUCE-AMI was a registry-based randomized clinical trial.

Exploring the impact of age on the predictive power of the National Early Warning score (NEWS) 2, and long-term prognosis among patients reviewed by a Rapid Response Team: A prospective, multi-centre study.

Aim: To explore the impact of age on the discriminative ability of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) 2 in prediction of unanticipated Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) and mortality within 24 hours of Rapid Response Team (RRT) review. Furthermore, to investigate 30- and 90-day mortality, and the discriminative ability of NEWS 2 in prediction of long-term mortality among RRT-reviewed patients.

Methods: Prospective, multi-centre study based on 830 complete cases.

Are ultrasound salivary parenchymal lesions more severe in primary Sjögren patients with a longer disease duration? A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Salivary gland ultrasound (SGUS) has an interest in primary Sjögren's disease (pSD) for diagnosis, but the evolution of parenchymal lesions over time is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the severity of ultrasound abnormalities in relation to pSD duration from the time of buccal dryness onset.

Methods: In this cross-sectional international multicentre study, patients with pSD according to the 2002 or 2016 ACR/EULAR classification criteria were included.