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  • research article
    Baubinienė, Alla
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    Berūkštis, Egidijus
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    Grigonienė, Lina
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    Kibarskis, Aleksandras
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    Marcinkus, Romualdas
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    Milvidaitė, Irena
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    Vasiliauskas, Donatas Antanas
    Lancet. London : The Lancet Publishing Group, 2003, vol. 362, iss. 9386., p. 782-788
    Background. Treatment with angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduces the rate of cardiovascular events among patients with left-ventricular dysfunction and those at high risk of such events. We assessed whether the ACE inhibitor perindopril reduced cardiovascular risk in a low-risk population with stable coronary heart disease and no apparent heart failure. Methods We recruited patients from October, 1997, to June, 2000. 13 655 patients were registered with previous myocardial infarction (64%), angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease (61%), coronary revascularisation (55%), or a positive stress test only (5%). After a run-in period of 4 weeks, in which all patients received perindopril, 12 218 patients were randomly assigned perindopril 8 mg once daily (n=6110), or matching placebo (n=6108). The mean follow-up was 4.2 years, and the primary endpoint was cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or cardiac arrest. Analysis was by intention to treat...
      33Scopus© Citations 2062WOS© IF 18.316WOS© AIF 3.971
  • research article
    Vilà, Montserrat
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    Basnou, Corina
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    Pyšek, Petr
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    Josefsson, Melanie
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    Genovesi, Piero
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    Gollasch, Stephan
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    Nentwig, Wolfgang
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    Roques, Alain
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    Roy, David
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    Hulme, Philip E.
    Fronties in ecology and the environment. Hoboken : Wiley, 2010, vol. 8, iss. 3, p. 135-144
    Recent comprehensive data provided through the DAISIE project (www.europe-aliens.org) have facilitated the development of the first pan-European assessment of the impacts of alien plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates – in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments – on ecosystem services. There are 1094 species with documented ecological impacts and 1347 with economic impacts. The two taxonomic groups with the most species causing impacts are terrestrial invertebrates and terrestrial plants. The North Sea is the maritime region that suffers the most impacts. Across taxa and regions, ecological and economic impacts are highly correlated. Terrestrial invertebrates create greater economic impacts than ecological impacts, while the reverse is true for terrestrial plants. Alien species from all taxonomic groups affect “supporting”, “provisioning”, “regulating”, and “cultural” services and interfere with human well-being. Terrestrial vertebrates are responsible for the greatest range of impacts, and these are widely distributed across Europe. Here, we present a review of the financial costs, as the first step toward calculating an estimate of the economic consequences of alien species in Europe.
      7Scopus© Citations 822WOS© IF 8.82WOS© AIF 2.729
  • research article
    Hulme, P.E.
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    Bacher, S.
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    Kenis, M.
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    Klotz, S.
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    Kühn, I.
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    Minchin, Jonathan Dan
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    Nentwig, W.
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    Panov, V.
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    Pergl, J.
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    Pyšek, P.
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    Roques, A.
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    Sol, D.
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    Solarz, W.
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    Vilà, M.
    Journal of applied ecology. Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell, 2008, vol. 45, iss. 2., p. 403-414
    1. Pathways describe the processes that result in the introduction of alien species from one location to another. A framework is proposed to facilitate the comparative analysis of invasion pathways by a wide range of taxa in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Comparisons with a range of data helped identify existing gaps in current knowledge of pathways and highlight the limitations of existing legislation to manage introductions of alien species. The scheme aims for universality but uses the European Union as a case study for the regulatory perspectives. 2. Alien species may arrive and enter a new region through three broad mechanisms: importation of a commodity, arrival of a transport vector, and/or natural spread from a neighbouring region where the species is itself alien. These three mechanisms result in six principal pathways: release, escape, contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided. 3. Alien species transported as commodities may be introduced as a deliberate release or as an escape from captivity. Many species are not intentionally transported but arrive as a contaminant of a commodity, for example pathogens and pests. Stowaways are directly associated with human transport but arrive independently of a specific commodity, for example organisms transported in ballast water, cargo and airfreight. The corridor pathway highlights the role transport infrastructures play in the introduction of alien species. The unaided pathway describes situations where natural spread results in alien species arriving into a new region from a donor region where it is also alien. 4. Vertebrate pathways tend to be characterized as deliberate releases, invertebrates as contaminants and plants as escapes. Pathogenic micro-organisms and fungi are generally introduced as contaminants of their hosts. The corridor and unaided pathways are often ignored in pathway assessments but warrant further detailed consideration. 5. Synthesis and applications. Intentional releases and escapes should be straightforward to monitor and regulate but, in practice, developing legislation has proved difficult. New introductions continue to occur through contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided pathways. These pathways represent special challenges for management and legislation. The present framework should enable these trends to be monitored more clearly and hopefully lead to the development of appropriate regulations or codes of practice to stem the number of future introductions.
      11Scopus© Citations 723WOS© IF 4.56WOS© AIF 2.626
  • research article
    Pyšek, Petr
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    Jarošíka, Vojtěch
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    Hulme, Philip E.
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    Kühn, Ingolf
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    Wild, Jan
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    Arianoutsou, Margarita
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    Bacher, Sven
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    Chiron, Francois
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    Essl, Franz
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    Genovesi, Piero
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    Gherardi, Francesca
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    Hejda, Martin
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    Kark, Salit
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    Lambdon, Philip W.
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    Desprez-Loustau, Marie-Laure
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    Nentwig, Wolfgang
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    Pergl, Jan
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    Poboljšaj, Katja
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    Rabitsch, Wolfgang
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    Roques, Alain
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    Roy, David B.
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    Shirley, Susan
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    Solarz, Wojciech
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    Vilà, Montserrat
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    Winter, Marten
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Washington : National Academy of Sciences, 2010, vol. 107, no. 27., p. 12157-12162
    The accelerating rates of international trade, travel, and transport in the latter half of the twentieth century have led to the progressive mixing of biota from across the world and the number of species introduced to new regions continues to increase. The importance of biogeographic, climatic, economic, and demographic factors as drivers of this trend is increasingly being realized but as yet there is no consensus regarding their relative importance. Whereas little may be done to mitigate the effects of geography and climate on invasions, a wider range of options may exist to moderate the impacts of economic and demographic drivers. Here we use the most recent data available from Europe to partition between macroecological, economic, and demographic variables the variation in alien species richness of bryophytes, fungi, vascular plants, terrestrial insects, aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Only national wealth and human population density were statistically significant predictors in the majority of models when analyzed jointly with climate, geography, and land cover. The economic and demographic variables reflect the intensity of human activities and integrate the effect of factors that directly determine the outcome of invasion such as propagule pressure, pathways of introduction, eutrophication, and the intensity of anthropogenic disturbance. The strong influence of economic and demographic variables on the levels of invasion by alien species demonstrates that future solutions to the problem of biological invasions at a national scale lie in mitigating the negative environmental consequences of human activities that generate wealth and by promoting more sustainable population growth.
      6Scopus© Citations 437WOS© IF 9.771WOS© AIF 8.741
  • research article
    Heiss, Markus M.
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    Murawa, Pawel
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    Koralewski, Piotr
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    Kutarska, Elzbieta
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    Kolesnik, Olena O.
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    Ivanchenko, Vladimir V.
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    Dudnichenko, Alexander S.
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    Aleknavičienė, Birutė
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    Gore, Martin
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    Ganea-Motan, Elena
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    Ciuleanu, Tudor
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    Wimberger, Pauline
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    Schmittel, Alexander
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    Schmalfeldt, Barbara
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    Burges, Alexander
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    Bokemeyer, Carsten
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    Lindhofer, Horst
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    Lahr, Angelika
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    Parsons, S.L.
    International journal of cancer
    Malignant ascites is a common manifestation of advanced cancers, and treatment options are limited. The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab (anti-epithelial cell-adhesion molecule x anti-CD3) represents a targeted immunotherapy for the intraperitoneal (i.p.) treatment of malignant ascites secondary to epithelial cancers. In this phase II/III trial (EudraCT 2004-000723-15; NCT00836654), cancer patients (n = 258) with recurrent symptomatic malignant ascites resistant to conventional chemotherapy were randomized to paracentesis plus catumaxomab (catumaxomab) or paracentesis alone (control) and stratified by cancer type (129 ovarian and 129 nonovarian). Catumaxomab was administered as an i.p. infusion on Days 0, 3, 7 and 10 at doses of 10, 20, 50 and 150 mug, respectively. The primary efficacy endpoint was puncture-free survival. Secondary efficacy parameters included time to next paracentesis, ascites signs and symptoms and overall survival (OS). Puncture-free survival was significantly longer in the catumaxomab group (median 46 days) than the control group (median 11 days) (hazard ratio = 0.254: p < 0.0001) as was median time to next paracentesis (77 versus 13 days; p < 0.0001). In addition, catumaxomab patients had fewer signs and symptoms of ascites than control patients. OS showed a positive trend for the catumaxomab group and, in a prospectively planned analysis, was significantly prolonged in patients with gastric cancer (n = 66; 71 versus 44 days; p = 0.0313). Although adverse events associated with catumaxomab were frequent, they were manageable, generally reversible and mainly related to its immunologic mode of action. Catumaxomab showed a clear clinical benefit in patients with malignant ascites secondary to epithelial cancers, especially gastric cancer, with an acceptable safety profile.
      12Scopus© Citations 419WOS© IF 4.926WOS© AIF 4.604