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Abstract Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs frequently in critically ill patients and is associated with adverse outcomes. Cellular mechanisms underlying AKI and kidney cell responses to injury remain incompletely understood. Methods We performed single-nuclei transcriptomics, bulk transcriptomics, molecular imaging studies, and conventional histology on kidney tissues from 8 individuals with severe AKI (stage 2 or 3 according to Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria). Specimens were obtained within 1–2 h after individuals had succumbed to critical illness associated with respiratory infections, with 4 of 8 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. Control kidney tissues were obtained post-mortem or after nephrectomy from individuals without AKI. Results High-depth single cell-resolved gene expression data of human kidneys affected by AKI revealed enrichment of novel injury-associated cell states within the major cell types of the tubular epithelium, in particular in proximal tubules, thick ascending limbs, and distal convoluted tubules. Four distinct, hierarchically interconnected injured cell states were distinguishable and characterized by transcriptome patterns associated with oxidative stress, hypoxia, interferon response, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, respectively. Transcriptome differences between individuals with AKI were driven primarily by the cell type-specific abundance of these four injury subtypes rather than by private molecular responses. AKI-associated changes in gene expression between individuals with and without COVID-19 were similar. Conclusions The study provides an extensive resource of the cell type-specific transcriptomic responses associated with critical illness-associated AKI in humans, highlighting recurrent disease-associated signatures and inter-individual heterogeneity. Personalized molecular disease assessment in human AKI may foster the development of tailored therapies.

The environmental regulation of planktonic food web structure is a key determinant for the efficiency of energy transfer through trophic levels, with direct implications for the amount of energy that is available to top-consumers and deep-sea communities. Yet, the complex trophic interplay between the different components of plankton communities under contrasting environmental conditions remains unresolved. Here, we present a comprehensive field study based on compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids that aims to explore depth-resolved changes in the trophic strategies of various size-classes of mesozooplankton from distinct habitats across the Southeast Pacific. According to the δ15N values of the so-called source amino acids such as phenylalanine, we first identified a clear shift in nitrogen sources for biological production, from nitrate in the productive upwelling waters of the Humboldt Current System to increased inputs of diazotroph-N within the ultra-oligotrophic South Pacific gyre. These shifts in the productivity and in the source of N at the base of the food web were not accompanied by significant changes in the trophic position (TP) of mesozooplankton, which were mainly omnivores (TP = 2.8 ± 0.3, n = 65) in all ecoregions. However, although the planktonic food web length remained relatively unaltered along the productivity gradient, the microbial contribution to mid-trophic level consumers appeared to be more important at relatively high productivities, likely due to more intense remineralization processes in a late successional stage of the upwelling throughout the coastal-transition zone. Altogether, this research work will contribute to a better understanding of the food web functioning in one of the least explored marine regions of the world’s oceans.

Anoxic marine zones are expanding and intensifying with climate change. Here the authors show that microbial dark carbon fixation influences the carbonate system and the stable isotope composition in waters off Chile, contributing up to 35% of the organic carbon reaching the mesopelagic region.

The subtropical gyres occupy approximately 40% of the surface of the Earth and are widely recognized as oligotrophic zones. Among them, the South Pacific subtropical gyre (SPSG) shows the lowest chlorophyll-a levels (0.02–0.04 μgL–1), the deepest nutricline (>200 m) and euphotic zone (∼160 m), and the lowest rates of nitrogen fixation. The zooplankton community is poorly known in the SPSG. We report a study focused on the composition and distribution of pelagic copepods within the gyre so as to uncover the diversity and habitat conditions of this special community. Therefore, during the austral spring of 2015, an oceanographic cruise was conducted across the eastern side of the SPSG. Physical and chemical variables were measured in the upper 1000 m, while zooplankton samples were collected by means of vertically stratified hauls using a multiple net sampler for five layers (0–800 m). Satellite data were also used to assess near-surface phytoplankton biomass (Chl-a) and physical-dynamics conditions during the cruise, and 121 species of copepods were identified, which belonged to five taxonomic orders, 24 families, and 50 genera. Calanoida and Cyclopoida were the most frequent orders, containing 57% and 38% of species, respectively, whereas Harpacticoida and Mormonilloida contained 2% of species each, and Siphonostomatoida contained 1% of species. The vertical distribution of copepods revealed an ecological zonation linked to a strongly stratified water column, such that three different vertical habitats were defined: shallow (0–200 m), intermediate (200–400 m), and deep (400–800 m). Both the abundance and diversity of copepods were greater in the shallow habitat and were strongly associated with water temperature, whereas copepods in the subsurface layers subsisted with relatively low oxygen waters (2–3 mL O2 L–1) and presumably originated at the Chilean upwelling zone, being transported offshore by mesoscale eddies. Furthermore, the analysis of species composition revealed a marked dominance of small-sized copepods, which may play a key role in nutrient recycling under an oligotrophic condition, as inferred from their mostly omnivorous feeding behavior. Our findings also suggested a potentially high endemism within the gyre, although basin-scale circulation and mesoscale eddies, traveling from the coastal upwelling zone and transporting plankton, can also influence the epipelagic fauna.

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Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) significantly improves overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The most common treatment-related event (grade ≥3) was hematological toxicity. We here report long-term disease-stabilizing FTD/TPI treatment of an mCRC patient (KRAS wild-type, ECOG performance status 1 at baseline and at the end of FTD/TPI therapy) with multifocal synchronous metastases and a longstanding history of extensive hematological events during previous treatments. Finally, this 62-year-old male patient was treated for 10 months with FTD/TPI by consecutive alteration of treatment parameters: (i) initial daily dose reduction to 80 mg (72% of the recommended dose), (ii) 20 days dose delay, (iii) a second and later third dose reduction to 70 mg and 60 mg (about 64% and 55%, respectively, of the recommended dose), and (iv) 30 µg per day of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administration first for 3 days, and later for 5 days, for each treatment cycle.

Biochemical conditions and taxonomic composition of size-fractioned mesozoo-plankton were studied after a cruise conducted in September 2015 between the Chilean coast (70°W) and Easter Island (110°W) within the central south Pacific gyre. Taxonomy was assessed with an automated method based on image analysis and biochemical conditions assessed by analyses of C and N contents and stable isotope composition. Based on surface Chlorophyll-a levels, four regions were distinguished across the zonal gradient: eutrophic (Chilean upwelling zone), mesotrophic (Coastal Transition Zone), oligotrophic (open ocean water) and ultraoligotrophic (central south Pacific gyre). The zones had marked differences in temperature, oxygen, salinity and Chlorophyll-a, and they also exhibited significant differences in zooplankton composition, C/N ratios and δ13C and δ15N for all size fractions of zooplankton. Variability in the sources of C and N, linked to biogeochemical processes, such as new production and denitrification in the upwelling zone, potential diazotrophy, highly regenerated C and N and extreme oligotrophy (N-deficiency) in oceanic areas, are suggested as the key drivers of these differences. Our findings also suggest a strong coupling between taxonomic and size zooplankton-diversity and the sources of nutrients that fuel phytoplankton, the major food source for zooplankton. Although multiple factors and processes can modulate C and N and their isotopes composition of zooplankton biomass, our study shows that changes in community structure are linked to different biogeochemical regions across the zonal gradient, providing the basis for ecological zonation associated with nutrient utilization at lower trophic levels.

The Valdivia River estuary (VRE) located in south-central Chile is known as one of the largest estuarine ecosystems on the Pacific coast. This research aims to determine the intra-tidal and sub-tidal variability of saline intrusions into the VRE between November 2017 and March 2019 derived from salinity sensors located along the VRE. Complementary hydrographic measurements were conducted during flood and ebb conditions of the spring and neap tides for each of the four seasons of the year along the central axis of the VRE. The results of the salinity time series showed that saline intrusions (values greater than 0.5 Practical Salinity Units) occurred ~20 km from the estuary mouth, when the total flow of the Cruces and Calle-Calle rivers (main tributaries of the estuary) was low, around 280–300 m3 s−1. During the same period, the best co-variability was observed between the saline intrusions and the mixed-semidiurnal tide and the fortnightly and monthly periods of the tide. Regression analyses indicated that salinity intrusion length (L) is best correlated to discharge (D) with a fractional power model L α D−1/2.64 (R2 = 0.88). The decreasing discharge trend, found between 2008–2019, implies that saline water intrusions would negatively impact the Valdivia’s main drinking water intake during the low rainfall season under future climate conditions.

As a result of climate change, the frequency of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) is increasing in Chilean Patagonia. Yet, the impacts of the flood events on the physics and biology of fjords is still unknown. Current velocities, density, in-situ zooplankton samples, and volume backscatter (Sv) derived from an acoustic profiler were used to explore the response of circulation and zooplankton abundance in a Patagonian fjord to GLOF events in 2010 and 2014. Maximum Sv was found both during the GLOFs and in late winter to early spring of 2010 and the fall and summer of 2014. The increase in Sv in late winter and spring of 2010 corresponded to multiple zooplankton species found from in-situ net sampling. In addition, diel vertical migrations were found during this seasonal increase both qualitatively and in a spectral analysis. Concurrently with zooplankton increases, wind forcing produced a deepening of the pycnocline. Zooplankton abundance peaked in the fjord when the pycnocline depth deepened due to wind forcing and throughout the entire spring season, indicating that mixing conditions could favor secondary production. These results were corroborated by the 2014 data, which indicate that weather events in the region impact both fjord physics and ecology.

Das Merkmal «Migrationshintergrund» wird in der Literatur uneinheitlich defi- niert. In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene Klassifizierungskriterien und Informa- tionsquellen vergleichend gegenüber gestellt. Es wird deutlich, dass bei Bestimmung des Migrationsstatus anhand von Muttersprache und Geburtsland der Eltern mehr Kinder als über einen Migrationshintergrund verfügend identifiziert werden als bei Klassifizierung anhand der in der Familie gesprochenen Sprachen. Zudem zeigt sich eine Unterschätzung des Migrationsanteils durch Erzieherinnen im Vergleich zu Elternangaben. Analysen zum Zusammenhang der genannten Indikatoren mit den deutschen Sprachkompetenzen der Kinder ergeben, dass alle untersuchten Kriterien in der Lage sind, Kinder zu identifizieren, die ein erhöhtes Risiko für sprachliche Defizite aufweisen.

An update on the Eastern South Pacific Intermediate Water (ESPIW) distribution has been possible based on ARGO (Array for Real-Time Geostrophic Oceanography) data. This study comprised over 46,000 profiles obtained during 2007-2012 from an area between the western coast of South America and 150°W, and 5° and 40°S. This information was complemented with data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) P06 transects conducted in 1992 and 2010 at 32°30’S in the South Pacific Ocean. Based on a comparison of this update and data from 1990-2001, it was established that the ESPIW volume has increased by approximately 53%. Moreover, the area occupied by ESPIW in the 2010 WOCE P06 transect was 48% higher than in 1992. Ekman pumping velocity, calculated from the wind for the time and region of ESPIW formation, showed a significant increase in Ekman pumping between 2000 and 2012. The increase in Ekman pumping from 2000 onward could explain the observed changes in ESPIW distribution (the water mass had extended zonally) and properties (salinity showed a decrease of 0.1). These changes could be explained as the consequence of atmospheric climate variability over the interior ocean.

Well-developed phonological awareness skills are a core prerequisite for early literacy development. Although effective phonological awareness training programs exist, children at risk often do not reach similar levels of phonological awareness after the intervention as children with normally developed skills. Based on theoretical considerations and first promising results the present study explores effects of an early musical training in combination with a conventional phonological training in children with weak phonological awareness skills. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design and measurements across a period of two years, we tested the effects of two interventions: a consecutive combination of a musical and a phonological training and a phonological training alone. The design made it possible to disentangle effects of the musical training alone as well the effects of its combination with the phonological training. The outcome measures of these groups were compared with the control group with multivariate analyses, controlling for a number of background variables. The sample included N = 424 German-speaking children aged 4 to 5 years at the beginning of the study. We found a positive relationship between musical abilities and phonological awareness. Yet, whereas the well-established phonological training produced the expected effects, adding a musical training did not contribute significantly to phonological awareness development. Training effects were partly dependent on the initial level of phonological awareness. Possible reasons for the lack of training effects in the musical part of the combination condition as well as practical implications for early literacy education are discussed.

Con un microperfilador SCAMP (Self Contained Autonomous MicroProfile) se detectó un proceso de Doble Difusión Convectiva (DDC), en los canales Martínez y Baker de la Patagonia central, Chile. Este perfilador midió temperatura y salinidad en la columna de agua con una resolución del orden de milímetros. El muestreo se efectuó en diciembre 2011, en 19 estaciones oceanográficas de ~55 m de profundidad. Los registros del microperfilador permitieron detectar la formación de escaleras termohalinas que caracterizan la formación de la DDC. Por medio del ángulo de Turner se confirmó que debajo de una capa superficial fuertemente estratificada (7-10 m) se registraron eventos de DDC a profundidades entre 15 y 45 m. La DDC fue débil en la mayoría de los registros pero se evidenciaron eventos fuertes entre 15 y 40 m. En la capa subsuperficial, su origen se debió al intercalamiento de las masas aguas estuarinas (aguas frías y menos saladas) encima de las oceánicas (aguas más cálidas y saladas), mientras que en la superficie la interacción océano-atmósfera favoreció su ocurrencia. La DDC en conjunto con el viento, las mareas y las ondas internas, puede constituir un mecanismo importante para la mezcla vertical, influenciando los flujos de calor, el hábitat de las especies marinas en estas profundidades y la exportación de carbono hacia los sedimentos.

The present study was conducted to explore the potential positive influence of a short strategy training on metacognitive monitoring competencies covering a life-span approach. Participants of four age groups (3rd-grade children, adolescents, younger and older adults) concluded a paired-associate learning task. Additionally, they gave delayed Judgments-of-Learning (JOLs), that is, they rated their certainty that they would later be able to recall specific details correctly, and Confidence Judgements (CJs), that is, they rated their certainty that the provided answers in the recall test were correct. Half of the participants underwent a short strategy training in order to enhance their recollection of contextual details thus providing a diagnostic basis for forming metacognitive judgements. Results revealed significant gains in memory performance after completing the strategy training. Moreover, a positive effect of the strategy training on JOLs and CJs differentiation and accuracy could be detected. Effects were most pronounced for children and older adults. Participants who had completed the strategy training also reported a decrease of familiarity-based metacognitive judgments and were able to identify memories for which no reliable cues existed more easily than participants in the control condition. Accordingly, improvements in monitoring performance seemed to be due to a shift in underlying cues. In sum, this study integrates traditional aims from the relatively separately existing lines of metacognitive research in the developmental and cognitive literature and adds to understanding and improving monitoring judgments in a life-time sample.

The Cuban Countercurrent (CCC), along with the Yucatan Current, forms part of the Yucatan Basin circulation system, but it has not been well described and its connection to the system of currents in the Caribbean Sea has not been studied. Based on altimetry data (1993–2009) and the MERCATOR three-dimensional assimilation model (2007–2009), the CCC was observed flowing ~1000 km from the eastern Yucatan Channel to Jamaica and to have a width of ~150 km. Off southern Cuba, the mean velocity was 0.20 m s–1 at the surface and 0.05 m s–1 at 1000 m depth. The CCC transported ~3.5 Sv when it passed through the Yucatan Channel towards the Caribbean Sea, where ~1.6 Sv was recorded south of Cuba. During its annual cycle, the CCC weakened from December to February (0–250 m) and in the summer its magnitude intensified slightly, reaching 0.35 m s–1 in August, due to the increase in water temperature of the Atlantic warm pool. Consequently, the sea level rose in the center of the Yucatan Basin and the pressure gradient increased along the Cuban coast, producing an increase in zonal velocity (0.1 m s–1) and transport (2–3 Sv; r = 0.90). Its connection to the Caribbean current system demonstrated the importance of its study.

Recent high-resolution hydrographic measurements (1976-2001) from the eastern South Pacific (ESP) were employed combined with high-resolution data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment to evaluate the vertical and horizontal extension of the OMZ (oxygen minimum zone, < 20 µmol kg-1) there. Of the six permanent hypoxic regions in the world oceans, the ESP OMZ is volumetrically the fourth largest, occupying 2.74 x 10(6) km³ and accounting for ~11% globally. Examples of variability in the vertical position of the OMZ in the water-column and also in its intensity offshore central Chile will be addressed. We conclude that the OMZ in the ESP is partly based on old, low-oxygen waters from intermediate depths of the North Pacific Ocean, which were further depleted of oxygen off Mexico and Peru, advected into the region along the eastern Pacific coast. Coastal upwelling zones along the eastern Pacific combined with general circulation thus might provide a mechanism that allows the renewal of upper Pacific Deep Water, the oxygen poorest and oldest water mass of the world oceans.Datos hidrográficos obtenidos recientemente en el Pacífico Sur oriental (PSO, 1976-2001) se combinaron con datos de alta resolución provenientes del Experimento de Circulación de Océano Mundial (WOCE) para evaluar la extensión vertical y horizontal de la zona mínima de oxígeno (ZMO,

Between December 2001 and February 2002, NOAA-AVHRR images were obtained twice a day for the region between 30-40S and 70-80W. Within the cloud free areas, sea surface temperature was calculated according to standard split window algorithms. The geo-referenced horizontal resolution for each SST-pixel resulted in 2 km, in east-west and north-south direction. All pairs of images were analyzed with respect to advective surface velocity by means of Maximum Cross-Correlation. Maximum Cross-Correlations exceeding the predetermined significance level of cross correlation were accepted. From all pairs of comparison monthly advective velocity maps (and SST maps) were constructed and separated in a coastal and offshore band. Coastal upwelling was observed along the coast of central Chile in all three months via the SST maps. Onshore-offshore transports were towards the west in December, rotated northwest in January and towards the north in February. These results are explained by an increased advection of suptropical surface water towards the coast in January and February

Daily images collected with the MODIS sensor on the NASA Aqua satellite were used to describe chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations before, during, and after synoptic-scale meteorological pulses in the Yucatan Basin, Caribbean Sea. The relative influence of vertical diffusive and vertical advective transport on mixing of the near surface layer was quantified with wind data from the QuikSCAT satellite. Computation of vertical density eddy diffusivity and gradient Richardson numbers was done with data from the three-dimensional MERCATOR model. The model evidenced the importance of vertical shear (i.e., vertical diffusive processes) in generating mixing during autumn and winter (2007–2009). During moderate meteorological pulses (e.g., cold fronts, easterly tropical waves, and low-pressure systems with wind speeds of 9–15 m s–1 sustained over 2 days), mixing caused by diffusive transport (eddy viscosity of 10 × 10–3 m2 s–1) was at least one order of magnitude higher than upward advective mixing (0.3 × 10–3 m2 s–1). During the passage of hurricanes Ivan (September 2004) and Wilma (October 2005), upward advective mixing (5–7 m2 s–1) dominated mixing of the upper water column and was nearly four orders of magnitude higher than during moderate meteorological events. Background chl-a concentrations of 0.03–0.08 mg m–3 were observed during the July–October period. During synoptic weather pulses, three different patterns in the chl-a concentrations were observed: first, chl-a concentrations in the range of 0.05 to 0.12 mg m–3 followed moderate meteorological pulses; second, higher regional chl-a concentrations (0.5–2.0 mg m–3) followed the passage of hurricanes; and third, the formation of filaments showing apparent high chl-a (0.3–1.5 mg m–3) south of Cuba, possibly caused by freshwater discharge from land. The changes in chlorophyll patterns following meteorological events illustrate typical patterns of connectivity among different parts of the Yucatan Basin.

Characteristics of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the eastern Pacific are derived from the monthly mean wind convergence of ERS-QuikSCAT fields for 1991-2004. Its climatology is computed over 1999-2004, and compared with those derived from monthly sea surface temperature, atmospheric water vapor, cloud liquid water, and rain rate from the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM, 1999-2004). Preliminary results indicated an excellent relationship between wind convergence and TRMM data for the northern branch of ITCZ (NITCZ). However, none of the TRMM fields show, as the ERS-QuikSCAT fields does the southern branch of ITCZ (SITCZ). Therefore, an especial emphasis is given over SITCZ, for instance only shown in wind convergence, with a permanent characteristic, although with a wide and narrow cover during February-March and October-November, respectively. TRMM data only shows the SITCZ during February to April. We extend the analysis to interannual time scales, with a particular emphasis on El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle. The analysis of the ERS-QuikSCAT fields shows that during El Niño events both NITCZ and SITCZ are united in the first months and SITCZ disappear in the rest, whereas during la Niña, the SITCZ tends to strength and permanence throughout the year

Mathematical competencies are important not only for academic achievement at school, but also for several professions later in life. Although plenty of research has focused on the development of linguistic competencies and the impact of learning environments in families, mathematics has mostly been neglected so far. However, a few initial studies indicate that the mathematical learning environment in families, the so-called “Home Numeracy Environment” (HNE), is important for the development of mathematical abilities. The present longitudinal study was carried out from kindergarten until the end of Grade 1, using a sample of about 600 children. Results show the impact of family-related mathematical activities, such as playing dice or number games, on the development of mathematical competencies. The positive effects remained even after intelligence had been controlled for. Moreover, HNE was not only a significant predictor of mathematical abilities at the end of kindergarten, but it also influenced the further development of mathematical competencies above and beyond its initial impact. Results are shown in a structural equation model, and are discussed with regard to their practical implications. Zusammenfassung Mathematische Kompetenzen sind nicht nur für schulischen Erfolg, sondern auch später für viele Berufe wichtig. Während zahlreiche Untersuchungen zur sprachlichen Kompetenzentwicklung und deren Zusammenhang mit der familiären Lernumwelt vorliegen, wurde der Bereich Mathematik bislang nur randständig untersucht. Dabei weisen ersten Studien auf die Bedeutsamkeit der mathematischen Lernumwelt in Familien, der sogenannten „Home Numeracy Environment“ (HNE), für die mathematische Kompetenzentwicklung hin. Befunde der vorliegenden Längsschnittstudie mit etwa 600 Kindern vom Kindergarten bis Ende der ersten Klasse zeigen den Einfluss mathematischer Aktivitäten der Eltern wie z.B. Würfel- oder Zahlenspiele auf die mathematischen Fähigkeiten der Kinder. Die positiven Effekte bleiben auch unter Kontrolle der Intelligenz der Kinder bestehen. Weiterhin sagt die HNE nicht nur die mathematischen Kompetenzen beim Schuleintritt vorher, sondern beeinflusst darüber hinaus auch die weitere mathematische Kompetenzentwicklung. Die Befunde werden in einem Strukturgleichungsmodell dargestellt und hinsichtlich ihrer praktischen Implikationen diskutiert.