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Cattle births can carry the risk of transmissible and zoonotic diseases. The focus of the present study was the excretion of Coxiella (C.) burnetii during cattle births. Small ruminants are considered as the main reservoir of C. burnetii. Cattle are often subclinical carriers and their role as potential reservoir has not been fully elucidated until now, although the excretion of Coxiella has been demonstrated during cattle birth. The study recorded all births, caesarean sections and one abortion in 40 cattle at the ruminant clinic of the Vetsuisse Faculty in Bern in the study period from March 2019 to March 2020. A placenta -, milk - and fecal sample was examined for antigen diagnostics using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, a serum sample was analyzed to detect C. burnetii-specific antibodies. Antigen and/or antibodies (placenta, n=8/9; milk, n=2/9; faeces, n=1/9; serology n= 3/9) were detected in 22,5 % of the cows (n=9/40) without the presence of specific clinical symptoms. It is essential to sensitize contact persons to this zoonosis, since Coxiella can trigger Q-fever in humans.

Homochirality is a generic and unique property of all biochemical life and is considered a universal and agnostic biosignature. Upon interaction with unpolarized light, homochirality induces fractional circular polarization in the light that is scattered from it, which can be sensed remotely. As such, it can be a prime candidate biosignature in the context of future life-detection missions and observatories. The linear polarizance of vegetation is also sometimes envisaged as a biosignature, although it does not share the molecular origin as circular polarization. It is known that the linear polarization of surfaces is strongly dependent on the phase angle. The relation between the phase angle and circular polarization stemming from macromolecular assemblies, such as in vegetation, however, remained unclear. We demonstrate in this study using the average of 27 different species that the circular polarization phase angle dependency of vegetation induces relatively small changes in spectral shape and mostly affects the signal magnitude. With these results we underline the use of circular spectropolarimetry as a promising agnostic biosignature complementary to the use of linear spectropolarimetry and scalar reflectance., Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe lung condition with high mortality and various causes, including lung infection. No specific treatment is currently available and more research aimed at better understanding the pathophysiology of ARDS is needed. Most lung-on-chip models that aim at mimicking the air-blood barrier are designed with a horizontal barrier through which immune cells can migrate vertically, making it challenging to visualize and investigate their migration. In addition, these models often lack a barrier of natural protein-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) suitable for live cell imaging to investigate ECM-dependent migration of immune cells as seen in ARDS. This study reports a novel inflammation-on-chip model with live cell imaging of immune cell extravasation and migration during lung inflammation. The three-channel perfusable inflammation-on-chip system mimics the lung endothelial barrier, the ECM environment and the (inflamed) lung epithelial barrier. A chemotactic gradient was established across the ECM hydrogel, leading to the migration of immune cells through the endothelial barrier. We found that immune cell extravasation depends on the presence of an endothelial barrier, on the ECM density and stiffness, and on the flow profile. In particular, bidirectional flow, broadly used in association with rocking platforms, was found to importantly delay extravasation of immune cells in contrast to unidirectional flow. Extravasation was increased in the presence of lung epithelial tissue. This model is currently used to study inflammation-induced immune cell migration but can be used to study infection-induced immune cell migration under different conditions, such as ECM composition, density and stiffness, type of infectious agents used, and the presence of organ-specific cell types.

Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) is an emerging infectious foot disease in sheep. To date, CODD has been described in Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden and Germany and now in Switzerland for the first time. Unlike foot rot, the CODD lesions do not spread from the interdigital space, but usually begin at the dorsal/abaxial coronary band. The changes can spread to the hoof wall and the sole and finally can lead to exungulation, similar to foot rot. Treponema spp. are often found in CODD lesions analogous to digital dermatitis (Mortellaro's disease) in cattle. Involvement of Dichelobacter nodosus (D. nodosus) is considered a risk factor, but the presence of the bacterium is not mandatory. In February 2022, ulcerative lesions in the dorso-axial coronary band area were noticed on both claws of the left forelimb in an ewe. Histology of the biopsy showed hyperkeratosis and erosion with exocytosis and crust formation. Treponema spp. PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were positive for Treponema phylotype 1 (PT1). In addition, D. nodosus and Porphyromonas levii could be detected in the biopsy using PCR. A single local application of chlortetracycline spray led to clinical healing within two weeks, no recurrence was seen within the following two months. Three control sheep, which were kept together with the diseased sheep, did not show any clinical signs of CODD. Treponema spp could not be found in interdigital and coronary band biopsies by PCR or FISH. This is the first description of CODD in Switzerland and aims to sensitize veterinarians to CODD as a differential diagnosis for foot diseases in sheep.Die kontagiöse ovine digitale Dermatitis (contagious ovine digital dermatitis; CODD) ist eine an Bedeutung gewinnende infektiöse Klauenerkrankung beim Schaf. Bis heute wurde CODD in Grossbritannien, Irland, Schweden und Deutschland beschrieben und nun auch erstmals in der Schweiz. Im Gegensatz zur Moderhinke, breiten sich die Läsionen bei CODD nicht vom Zwischenklauenspalt aus, sondern beginnen üblicherweise am dorsalen/abaxialen Kronsaum. Von dort können sich die Veränderungen auf das Wandhorn und die Sohle ausbreiten und schliesslich bis zum Ausschuhen führen, wie das bei Moderhinke der Fall ist. Analog der Dermatitis digitalis (Mortellaro’sche Krankheit) beim Rind werden in CODD-Läsionen häufig Treponemen nachgewiesen. Eine Beteiligung von Dichelobacter nodosus (D. nodosus) gilt als Risikofaktor, jedoch ist ein Vorliegen des Bakteriums nicht notwendig. Im Februar 2022 fielen bei einer Aue an beiden Klauen der linken Vordergliedmasse ulzerative Läsionen im dorso-axialen Kronsaumbereich auf. In der histologischen Untersuchung der Biopsie der CODD-Läsion wurden Hyperkeratose sowie Erosion mit Exozytose und Krustenbildung beschrieben. Sowohl die Treponema spp. PCR als auch die Fluoreszenz-in-Situ-Hybridisierung (FISH) fielen positiv für Treponema Phylotype 1 (PT1) aus. Daneben konnte in der Biopsie D. nodosus und Porphyromonas levii mittels PCR nachgewiesen werden. Nach Entnahme der Biopsie führte eine einmalige lokale Anwendung von Chlortetrazyklin-Spray zur klinischen Abheilung innerhalb von zwei Wochen, wobei auch innerhalb der darauf folgenden zwei Monate kein Rezidiv aufgetreten ist. Als Negativkontrolle dienten drei Schlachtschafe, welche gemeinsam mit dem erkrankten Schaf gehalten wurden, jedoch keine klinischen Anzeichen von CODD zeigten. Bei diesen wurden in Kronsaum- und Interdigitalbiopsien weder in der PCR noch in der FISH Treponema spp. nachgewiesen. Diese Studie ist die Erstbeschreibung der CODD in der Schweiz und hat zum Ziel, die Tierärzteschaft für CODD als Differentialdiagnose bei Zehenerkrankungen des Schafes zu sensibilisieren.La dermatite digitale contagieuse ovine (contagious ovine digital dermatitis; CODD) est une maladie infectieuse des onglons des moutons d’importance croissante. À ce jour, la CODD a été décrite en Grande-Bretagne, Irlande, Suède et Allemagne, et maintenant pour la première fois également en Suisse. Au contraire du piétain, les lésions de CODD ne s’étendent pas à partir de l’espace interdigité, mais elles commencent en général au bord coronaire dorsal/abaxial. De là, les lésions peuvent s’étendre à la corne de la paroi et à la sole, ce qui peut finalement conduire à une perte complète de la boite cornée de l’onglon, comme en cas de piétain. En analogie à la dermatite digitale (maladie de Mortellaro) chez les bovins, des tréponèmes sont souvent mis en évidence dans les lésions de CODD. La présence de Dichelobacter nodosus (D. nodosus) est considérée comme un facteur de risque, mais elle n’est pas indispensable au développement de la CODD. Des lésions ulcératives dans la région du bord coronaire dorso-axial des deux onglons antérieurs d’une brebis ont été remarqués en février 2022. L’examen histologique de la biopsie de la lésion de CODD a montré une hyperkératose ainsi que des érosions avec de l’exocytose et la formation de croûtes. Aussi bien la PCR pour les Treponema spp. que l’hybridisation in-situ à fluorescence (FISH) étaient positives pour Treponema Phylotype 1 (PT1). De plus, D. nodosus et Porphyromonas levii ont été mis en évidence dans la biopsie. Une application locale unique de spray à la tétracycline après le prélèvement de la biopsie a conduit à une guérison clinique en deux semaines, et aucune récidive n’a été observée dans le deux mois suivants. Trois moutons de boucherie qui étaient détenus avec la brebis malade mais ne présentaient pas de lésions de CODD ont servi de contrôles négatifs. Des Treponema spp. n’ont été mis en évidence chez ces animaux, ni dans des biopsies du bord coronaire ni dans celles de l’espace interdigité. Cette étude représente la première description de la CODD en Suisse et est destinée à sensibiliser la profession vétérinaire à la CODD comme diagnostic différentel en cas de maladies des onglons chez les moutons.La dermatite digitale contagiosa ovina (CODD) è una malattia infettiva podale degli ovini che sta acquisendo sempre più importanza. Ad oggi è stata descritta in Gran Bretagna, Irlanda, Svezia e Germania, e ora per la prima volta in Svizzera. In contrasto con la Zoppina, le lesioni da CODD non si diffondono dallo spazio interdigitale, ma di solito iniziano a livello del cercine coronario dorsale/abassiale. Da qui le lesioni possono estendersi alla parte parietale e alla suola ed eventualmente risultare in un’avulsione completa della capsula cornea, come nel caso della Zoppina. Analogamente alla dermatite digitale (malattia di Mortellaro) nei bovini, i treponemi sono frequentemente rilevati nelle lesioni da CODD. Il coinvolgimento di Dichelobacter nodosus (D. nodosus) è considerato un fattore di rischio, ma la presenza del batterio non è indispensabile. Nel febbraio 2022, sono state riscontrate lesioni ulcerative nella regione coronale dorso-assiale su entrambi gli unghioni dell’arto anteriore sinistro di una pecora. L’esame istologico della biopsia delle lesioni ha mostrato la presenza di ipercheratosi ed erosioni accompagnate da esocitosi e croste. Sia la PCR sia l’ibridazione in situ a fluorescenza (FISH) per Treponema spp. sono risultate positive per Treponema phylotype 1 (PT1). Inoltre, D. nodosus e Porphyromonas levii sono stati rilevati nella biopsia mediante PCR. Dopo il prelievo della biopsia una singola applicazione locale di clortetraciclina spray ha portato alla guarigione clinica entro due settimane e non si sono verificate recidive nei due mesi successivi. Tre pecore da macello, che venivano tenute insieme alla pecora affetta da CODD ma non mostravano segni clinici, sono servite da controllo negativo. In questo caso, né la PCR né il FISH per Treponema spp. sono stati messi in evidenza nelle biopsie prelevate a livello del cercine coronario e dello spazio interdigitale. Questo studio rappresenta la prima descrizione della CODD in Svizzera e ha lo scopo di educare la comunità veterinaria sulla CODD come diagnosi differenziale per le malattie podali degli ovini.

The objectives of this study were: 1- to evaluate the association of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV), Bovine Herpes Virus 1 (BoHV-1), and Neospora caninum (N. caninum) with the risk for Late Embryonic Loss (LEL) in grazing dairy cows, 2- to evaluate blood progesterone concentration at the time of LEL occurrence, and 3- to describe a novel ultrasound-guided technique for conceptus sampling. We run a prospective cohort study involving 92 cows (46 LEL and 46 NLEL). An LEL cow was that having an embryo with no heartbeat, detached membranes, or floating structures, including embryo remnants detected at pregnancy check by ultrasonography (US) 28-42 days post-AI, whereas an NLEL cow was that with embryo heartbeats detectable by US at pregnancy check 28-42 d post-IA. We took two blood samples from every cow at pregnancy check by US (the day of LEL detection) and 28 d later to perform serological diagnosis of BVDV, BoHV-1, and N. caninum; and to measure blood progesterone concentration at pregnancy check (28-42 d post-AI). We also sampled the conceptus from all the LEL cows. We performed PCR to detect BVDV, BoHV-1, and N. caninum in sampled conceptuses from LEL cows. Finally, we evaluated the associations of risk factors (serological titers, seroconversion, and progesterone) with LEL odds with logistic models. The risk for LEL was associated with serological titers to BVDV (P = 0.03) and tended to be associated with seroconversion to BVDV, given that 19.6% (9/46) in LEL and 6.5% (3/46) in NLEL cows seroconverted to BVDV (P = 0.09). In addition, BVDV was detected in conceptuses from LEL cows that seroconverted to BVDV but not in LEL cows that did not seroconvert. Conversely, the risk for LEL was not associated with the titers or seroconversion to BoHV-1 and N. caninum. BoHV-1 and N. caninum were not identified in any of the conceptuses. Finally, blood progesterone concentration was similar in LEL and NLEL cows, and it was not associated with the risk for LEL (P = 0.54). In conclusion, BVDV infection is a risk factor for LEL in dairy cows.

The IUPAC–IUGS joint Task Group “Isotopes in Geosciences” (TGIG) has evaluated the published literature on the half-lives of six long-lived, geologically relevant radioactive nuclides. Where conflicting literature estimates are present, it is necessary to first identify any systematic bias in accordance with metrological traceability and to exclude the biased estimates from further consideration. The TGIG recommends three robust half-life estimates: 49.61 ± 0.16 Ga for 87Rb, corresponding to a decay constant λ(87Rb) = (1.3972 ± 0.0045) × 10−11 a−1; 106.25 ± 0.38 Ga for 147Sm, and a corresponding decay constant λ(147Sm) = (6.524 ± 0.024) × 10−12 a−1; 4.4683 ± 0.0096 Ga for 238U, i.e. a decay constant λ(238U) = (1.55125 ± 0.00333) × 10−10 a−1. All cited uncertainties have a coverage factor k = 2. For other radionuclides of Sm and U, no unambiguous consensus value can be endorsed at present by TGIG, which limits its evaluation to a status report highlighting unaccounted-for potential sources of bias. The improved repeatability of mass spectrometric measurements has revealed systematic bias effects that had been dismissed as subordinate in the past. These issues can only be resolved by future dedicated investigations.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of intramammary antibiotics before, during and after the elimination of Staphylococcus aureus genotype B (SAGTB). Data on intramammary antibiotic use was collected in 65 dairy farms as part of a pilot project for SAGTB elimination in the canton of Ticino from 2017 to 2019. The investigated farms were divided into 46 affected farms (with at least one SAGTB-positive animal) and 19 control farms (SAGTB-free farms). Data on antibiotic use were requested from veterinarians and treatment incidence, as a measure of antibiotic use, was calculated based on medical records and veterinary prescriptions. In addition, the treatment incidence was calculated for 47 farms during alpine farming period. In 2018 (elimination year), the mean incidence of treatment during lactation in the SAGTB-positive farms was significantly higher than in the control farms (p=0,003). In 2019 no significantly lower antibiotic use during lactation or dry period was detected between 2017 (before elimination) and 2019 (after elimination). Alpine farming places where only S. aureus genotype B-negative animals had access to had a significantly lower antibiotic use during lactation (p=0,004). The new federal database (Antibiotics Information System in Veterinary Medicine, IS ABV) should allow continuous monitoring and to confirm the reduction of antibiotic use in the coming years.Das Ziel der Studie war es, den Verbrauch von intramammären Antibiotika vor, während und nach der Sanierung von Staphylococcus aureus Genotyp B (SAGTB) zu bewerten. In der Studie wurden Daten zum intramammären Antibiotikaverbrauch von 2017 bis 2019 in 65 Milchviehbetrieben im Rahmen eines Pilotprojekts zur SAGTB-Sanierung im Kanton Tessin erhoben, aufgeteilt in 46 Fallbetriebe (mit mindestens einem SAGTB-positiven Tier) und 19 Kontrollbetriebe (SAGTB-freie Betriebe). Daten zum Antibiotikaverbrauch wurden von Tierärzten angefordert, und dank der tierärztlichen Aufzeichnungen und Verschreibungen war es möglich, die Behandlungsinzidenz als Messgrösse für den Antibiotikaverbrauch zu berechnen. Zusätzlich konnte für 47 Betriebe auch die Behandlungsinzidenz während der Alpung berechnet werden. Im Jahr 2018 (Sanierungsjahr) war die Behandlungsinzi­denz während der Laktation in den SAGTB – positiven Betrieben im Mittel signifikant höher als für die Kontrollbetriebe (p=0,003). Beim Vergleich von 2017 (vor der Sanierung) mit 2019 (nach der Sanierung) gab es im Jahr 2019 keinen signifikant niedrigeren Antibiotikaverbrauch während der Laktation und für das Trockenstellen zu verzeichnen. Bei den Sömmerungsbetrieben wurde im Jahr nach der Sanierung (2019) ein signifikant tieferer Antibiotikaverbrauch während der Laktation für diejenigen Alpen festgestellt, welche nur S. aureus Genotyp B negative Tiere aufnahmen (p=0,004). Es ist zu hoffen, dass mit Hilfe der neuen Bundesdatenbank (Informationssystem Antibiotika in der Veterinärmedizin, IS ABV) das Monitoring in den kommenden Jahren fortgesetzt werden kann und die Reduzierung des Antibiotikaverbrauchs auch in den Folgejahren bestätigt werden.L’objectif de l’étude était d’évaluer la consommation d’antibiotiques intramammaires avant, pendant et après l’assainissement de Staphylococcus aureus génotype B (SAGTB). Dans le cadre d’un projet pilote d’assainissement SAGTB dans le canton du Tessin, l’étude a recueilli des données sur la consommation d’antibiotiques intramammaires de 2017 à 2019 dans 65 exploitations laitières réparties en 46 exploitations test (avec au moins un animal positif au SAGTB) et 19 exploitations témoins (exploitations exemptes de SAGTB). Les données relatives à la consommation d’antibiotiques ont été demandées aux vétérinaires et, grâce aux enregistrements et aux prescriptions des vétérinaires, il a été possible de calculer l’incidence du traitement en tant que mesure de la consommation d’antibiotiques. En outre, l’incidence des traitements pendant l’alpage a également pu être calculée pour 47 exploitations. En 2018 (année d’assainissement), l’incidence des traitements pendant la lactation était en moyenne significativement plus élevée dans les exploitations SAGTB-positives que pour les exploitations de contrôle (p=0,003). En comparant 2017 (avant l’assainissement) et 2019 (après l’assainissement), il n’y a pas eu de baisse significative de la consommation d’antibiotiques pendant la lactation et le tarissement en 2019. Dans les exploitations d’estivage, on a constaté l’année suivant l’assainissement (2019) une consommation d’antibiotiques significativement plus faible pendant la lactation pour les alpages qui n’accueillaient que des animaux négatifs à S. aureus génotype B (p=0,004). Il faut espérer qu’avec l’aide de la nouvelle base de données fédérale (Système d’information sur les antibiotiques en médecine vétérinaire, IS ABV), le monitoring pourra être poursuivi dans les années à venir et que la réduction de la consommation d’antibiotiques sera confirmée dans les années suivantes.Lo scopo dello studio era di valutare l’uso di antibiotici intramammari prima, durante e dopo il risanamento da Staphylococcus aureus genotipo B (SAGTB). I dati sull’uso di antibiotici intramammari sono stati raccolti in 65 aziende di bovine da latte, dal 2017 al 2019, nell’ambito di un progetto pilota per il risanamento dello SAGTB nel Canton Ticino. Le aziende esaminate sono state suddivise in 46 aziende infette (con almeno un animale positivo allo SAGTB) e 19 aziende di controllo (aziende prive di SAGTB). I dati sull’uso di antibiotici sono stati richiesti ai veterinari e l’incidenza dei trattamenti, come la misura dell’uso di antibiotici, è stata calcolata sulla base delle cartelle cliniche e delle prescrizioni veterinarie. Inoltre, l’incidenza dei trattamenti è stata calcolata per 47 aziende anche durante il periodo dell’alpeggio. Nel 2018 (anno del risanamento), l’incidenza media dei trattamenti durante la lattazione negli allevamenti positivi allo SAGTB era significativamente più alta rispetto agli allevamenti di controllo (p=0,003). Mettendo a confronto il 2017 (prima del risanamento) e il 2019 (dopo il risanamento) non è stato rilevato un uso di antibiotici significativamente inferiore durante la lattazione o il periodo di asciutta. Per gli allevamenti di estivazione, si è registrato un consumo di antibiotici significativamente inferiore durante la lattazione nell’anno successivo al risanamento (2019) per gli alpeggi che hanno alpeggiato solo animali negativi al genotipo B di S. aureus (p=0,004). Si spera che con l’aiuto della nuova banca dati federale (Sistema d’informazione sugli antibiotici nella medicina veterinaria, SI AMV), il monitoraggio possa continuare nei prossimi anni e che la riduzione del consumo di antibiotici sia confermata anche negli anni successivi.

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has resulted in a massive influx of data generated by various edge devices. Machine learning models trained on this data can provide valuable insights and predictions, leading to better decision-making and intelligent applications. Federated Learning (FL) is a distributed learning paradigm that enables remote devices to collaboratively train models without sharing sensitive data, thus preserving user privacy and reducing communication overhead. However, despite recent breakthroughs in FL, the heterogeneous learning environments significantly limit its performance and hinder its real-world applications. The heterogeneous learning environment is mainly embodied in two aspects. Firstly, the statistically heterogeneous (usually non-independent identically distributed) data from geographically distributed clients can deteriorate the FL training accuracy. Secondly, the heterogeneous computing and communication resources in IoT devices often result in unstable training processes that slow down the training of a global model and affect energy consumption. Most existing studies address only the unilateral side of the heterogeneity issue, either the statistical or the resource heterogeneity. However, the resource heterogeneity among various devices does not necessarily correlate with the distribution of their training data. We propose Dynamic Federated Learning (DFL) to address the joint problem of data and resource heterogeneity in FL. DFL combines resource-aware split computing of deep neural networks and dynamic clustering of training participants based on the similarity of their sub-model layers. Using resource-aware split learning, the allocation of the FL training tasks on resource-constrained participants is adjusted to match their heterogeneous computing capabilities, while resource-capable participants carry out the classic FL training. We employ centered kernel alignment for determining the similarity of neural network layers to address the data heterogeneity and carry out layerwise sub-model aggregation. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed technique can improve training performance (i.e., training time, accuracy, and energy consumption) in heterogeneous learning environments with both data and resource heterogeneity.

In the present study, risk groups for infectious foot disorders were identified on two large Swiss cattle mountain pastures by analyzing animal and treatment data of a total of 3256 animals of the bovine species. Both mountain pastures were part of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) consultancy project «Healthy animals, attractive herdsmen positions and less medication on large cattle mountain pastures». The project was launched in 2020 following the increased incidence of lameness on these mountain pastures. Bacteriological and histological analyses were to provide information as to whether the most common foot disorder was interdigital phlegmon (IP) or whether digital dermatitis also occurred. Further, the temporal distribution of cases over the mountain pasture season and the influence of mountain pasture and year were investigated and interpreted for the project years 2020 to 2022, and treatment incidences were compared between years. Multiple treatment cycles in the same individual were classified into persistent infections and new infections. Nineteen of 394 first-treated cattle were clinically examined, 12 of them were additionally sampled for bacteriological and histological analyses. All cases examined showed, both clinically and following laboratory analyses, typical characteristics for IP. In contrast, there was no specific evidence for the presence of digital dermatitis. No persistent infections occurred during treatment with benzylpenicillin. Multivariate logistic regression analyses identified > 365-730-day-old cattle (odds ratio OR 8,29), as well as inseminated (OR 5,30) and non-inseminated (OR 7,85) heifers as risk groups for the disease studied (p < 0,05). Association with the oestrus activity of non-inseminated heifers and a generally higher locomotor activity in heifers compared to cows - with a correspondingly increased risk of injury - is conceivable. Meat breeds had a reduced risk compared to dairy breeds (OR 0,29). Breed differences in behavior and/or the effectiveness of the local immune response might have an impact. Knowing about these risk groups can be put to use in the future when selecting animals to be taken to the mountain pastures and/or when planning pasture management in order to reduce the prevalence of infectious foot disorders and thereby the use of antibiotics.

Morocco is a large country with complex terrain and many sparsely populated regions. With a semi-arid climate, it is highly vulnerable to floods driven by extreme precipitation, whose distribution is highly variable in space and time. Yet, this topic has received little attention. The limited availability of data has so far been the major obstacle to pursue such research in Morocco. Public gridded datasets offer good opportunities to overcome this problem. However, the use of such data should be handled with care, especially when applying extreme value theory. The present work aims at addressing this issue. First, we introduce and analyse a comprehensive set of 120 daily precipitation series which we assembled from different stakeholders in Morocco. Then, we perform quality control of the data and use extreme value statistics to infer trends and large return levels. Finally, we assess the accuracy of nine gridded satellite-based and reanalysis daily precipitation datasets using the station data. These results are intended as a first step towards a comprehensive understanding of extreme precipitation in Morocco, and can help select gridded datasets for future hydrometeorological research.

An inadequate uterine involution can lead to postpartal disorders in sows and thereby negatively affects the reproductive cycle and performance of the animals. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the farrowing process and different sow and piglet traits on the uterine involution in a free farrowing system. In total three data sets of 48 crossbred sows (Large White x Landrace) from the peripartal period were synthesised and analysed. The uterine diameter of three uterine horns per sow was measured daily during the first two weeks postpartum using ultrasonography and then the uterine regression was calculated. Furthermore, the following sow and piglet traits before and during parturition were assessed: parity, body condition score, backfat thickness, gestation length, number of live born piglets, number of stillborn piglets, farrowing duration, duration of placenta expulsion, litter weight, placenta weight, number of placenta parts, faecal score, and birth induction. In addition, the following parameters were recorded five days after farrowing: body temperature, severity and amount of vaginal discharge, pathological colour of vaginal discharge, and lack of appetite. Spearman's correlation test was used to examine the association between the parameters within the group and uterine regression. In addition, a linear multiple regression was used to model the relationship between the uterine involution and explanatory variables from the peripartal period. The mean diameter of the uterus decreased from 32.5��mm on day 2 post-partum to 11.4��mm on day 12 post-partum, which is a relative regression of 66%. In the linear multiple regression model, a significant influence of the body condition score (p��=��0.046) and the presence of high body temperature (p��=��0.022) on uterine involution was detected. When the BCS increases by one unit (from BCS 3 to 4), the relative regression of the uterine involution decreases by approximately 8% and when fever is present, uterine involution is almost 6% slower. Furthermore, a significant correlation between the gestation length and the uterine involution (r��=��0.31; p��=��0.035) was identified. However, no correlation between the farrowing process and piglets' traits on the uterine involution was detected. This study showed that the body condition score, the gestation length and fever in the first five days after farrowing had significant effects on uterine involution in sows in a free farrowing system. Therefore, these parameters should be routinely monitored in the farrowing management to assess reproductive health post-partum and warrant early intervention.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has offered scientists the opportunity to study a comet in unprecedented detail. Four instruments of the Rosetta orbiter, namely, the Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System (MIDAS), the Grain Impact Analyzer and Dust Accumulator (GIADA), the COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser (COSIMA), and the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) have provided information on cometary dust particles. Cross-instrument comparisons are crucial to characterize cometary dust particles beyond the capabilities of individual sensors, as they are sensitive to different dust components. We present the first comparison between detections of the ROSINA COmet Pressure Sensor (COPS) and GIADA. These two instruments are complementary as the former is sensitive solely to volatiles of icy particles, while the latter measured the dust particle as a whole, including refractories and condensed (semi)volatiles. Our goal is to correlate the particles detected by COPS and GIADA and to assess whether they belong to a common group. We statistically analyzed the in situ data of COPS and GIADA by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients. Among the several types of particles detected by GIADA, we find that COPS particles are significantly correlated solely with GIADA fluffy agglomerates (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.55 and p-value of $4.6\cdot 10^{-3}$). This suggests that fluffy particles are composed of both refractories and volatiles. COPS volatile volumes, which may be represented by equivalent spheres with a diameter in the range between 0.06 $\mu$m and 0.8 $\mu$m, are similar to the sizes of the fractal particle's subunits identified by MIDAS (i.e., 0.05-0.18 $\mu$m)., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Persistence is an important concept in meteorology. It refers to surface weather or the atmospheric circulation either remaining in approximately the same state (stationarity) or repeatedly occupying the same state (recurrence) over some prolonged period of time. Persistence can be found at many different timescales; however, the sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescale is especially relevant in terms of impacts and atmospheric predictability. For these reasons, S2S persistence has been attracting increasing attention by the scientific community. The dynamics responsible for persistence and their potential evolution under climate change are a notable focus of active research. However, one important challenge facing the community is how to define persistence, from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Despite a general agreement on the concept, many different definitions and perspectives have been proposed over the years, among which it is not always easy to find one’s way. The purpose of this review is to present and discuss existing concepts of weather persistence, associated methodologies and physical interpretations. In particular, we call attention to the fact that persistence can be defined as a global or as a local property of a system, with important implications in terms of methods but also impacts. We also highlight the importance of timescale and similarity metric selection, and illustrate some of the concepts using the example of summertime atmospheric circulation over Western Europe.

Network Slicing has emerged as a powerful technique to enable cost-effective, multi-tenant communications and services over a shared physical mobile network infrastructure. One major challenge of service provisioning in slice-enabled networks is the uncertainty in the demand for the limited network resources that must be shared among existing slices and potentially new Network Slice Requests. In this paper, we consider admission control of Network Slice Requests in an online setting, with the goal of maximizing the long-term revenue received from admitted requests. We model the Slice Admission Control problem as an Online Multidimensional Knapsack Problem and present two reservation-based policies and their algorithms, which have a competitive performance for Online Multidimensional Knapsack Problems. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we evaluate the performance of our online admission control method in terms of average revenue gained by the Infrastructure Provider, system resource utilization, and the ratio of accepted slice requests. We compare our approach with those of the online First Come First Serve greedy policy. The simulation's results prove that our proposed online policies increase revenues for Infrastructure Providers by up to 12.9 % while reducing the average resource consumption by up to 1.7%. In particular, when the tenants' economic inequality increases, an Infrastructure Provider who adopts our proposed online admission policies gains higher revenues compared to an Infrastructure Provider who adopts First Come First Serve.

Persistent warm and cold spells are often high-impact events that may lead to significant increases in mortality and crop damage, and can put substantial pressure on the power grid. Their spatial extent is seldom taken into account, or only based on case studies. Yet, the spatial dependence in prolonged warm or cold anomalies is critical to correctly understand the associated risks, whether in present-day or future climates. Here, we present a regionalisation of 3-week warm and cold spells in winter and summer across the Northern Hemisphere based on their sensitivity to the large-scale circulation. We identify spatially coherent regions and discuss the physical drivers responsible for persistent extreme temperature anomalies. Blocks are important precursors of such events – co-localized blocks for persistent summer warm spells and upstream blocks for winter cold spells. Recurrent Rossby wave patterns are also relevant for many mid-latitude regions. Additionally, summer warm spells are – unsurprisingly – often accompanied by negative precipitation anomalies that likely play an important role through land-atmosphere feedbacks

Several veterinary specialties, including surgery, have evolved since Claude Bourgelat founded the first veterinary school in Lyon, France in 1761 with the main objective of training veterinarians to protect cattle and horses against disease. As a consequence, veterinary surgery is becoming more specialized, with a general division between orthopedic surgery and soft tissue surgery. Soft tissue surgery encompasses a wide range of procedures including everything not related to bones, joints, muscles, or the neurologic system.

This paper introduces Game-theoretic Trajectory Prediction through distributed reinForcement learning (GTPForce), a system that tackles the challenge of predicting joint pedestrian trajectories in multi-agent scenarios. GTP-Force utilizes decentralized reinforcement learning agents to personalize neural networks for each competing player based on their noncooperative preferences and social interactions with others. By identifying the Nash Equilibria, GTP-Force accurately predicts joint trajectories while minimizing overall system loss in noncooperative environments. The system outperforms existing stateof- the-art trajectory predictors, achieving an average displacement error of 0.19m on the ETH+UCY dataset and 80% accuracy on the Orange dataset, which is -0.03m and 5% better than the best-performing baseline, respectively. Additionally, GTP-Force considerably reduces the model size of social mobility predictors compared to approaches with classical game theory.

Annexe 1 — Leaflet for the recruitment of participants (in French) Annexe 2 — Questionnaire about the building self-assessment guide Annexe 3 – Protocol to compare the building self-evaluation guide with an expert Annexe 4 — Feedback questionnaire about the participation to the pilot-project Annexe 5 – Adequation of the pilot-project with the ten principles in citizen science Annexe 6 — Application form for ethical committee and data management plan Annexe 7 — Data management plan Annexe 8 — Information document and consent form Annexe 9 —Slideshow prepared for and during the in person-meetings, 15 and 16 June 2022 (in French) Annexe 10 – Radon expertise report from the visit performed 20 July 2022 (Cerema document) (in French) Annexe 11 — Slideshow prepared for and validated after the final meeting, 22 July 2022 (in French) ****** Underlying data: Tab 'Questionnaire': response to the questionnaires (see Annexe 2), Tab 'Feedback questionnaire': responses to the feedback questionnaire (see Annexe 4) *******, Underlying data [Excel format]: — Tab 'Questionnaire': responses to the questionnaire (questionnaire is Annexe 2 of the Extended data); — Tab 'Feedback questionnaire': responses to the feedback questionnaire (the feedback questionnaire is Annexe 4 of the extended data).

In this chapter, we explore the origins of cometary material and discuss the clues cometary composition provides in the context of the origin of our solar system. The review focuses on both cometary refractory and volatile materials, which jointly provide crucial information about the processes that shaped the solar system into what it is today. Both areas have significantly advanced over the past decade. We also view comets more broadly and discuss compositions considering laboratory studies of cometary materials, including interplanetary dust particles and meteoritic material that are potential cometary samples, along with meteorites, and in situ/remote studies of cometary comae. In our review, we focus on key areas from elemental/molecular compositions, isotopic ratios, carbonaceous and silicate refractories, short-lived radionuclides, and solar system dynamics that can be used as probes of the solar birth environment. We synthesize this data that points towards the birth of our solar system in a clustered star-forming environment.

The subject of forensic anthropology has always attracted students and the public. The best example of this is the popularity of the degree programmes in this field that have recently been offered in the UK and/or the USA. Contradictorily, there are hardly any jobs for anthropologists in the institutions of forensic medicine in German-speaking countries. In this lecture, I will try to give an overview of forensic-osteological casework in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In doing so, I will discuss the status quo of the employment situation, and the legal context in the three countries as well as the differences. Furthermore, descriptive statistics on the casework of selected institutions in the three countries will be presented. This data has been gathered partly from the literature and partly thanks to personal communication from cooperation partners. As an example, I present practical casework and research approaches from our department in Switzerland. In summary, I try to show perspectives for junior researchers who aspire to a position in the field of forensics.

Positioning estimations of wireless sensors can be enhanced via sensor collaboration. To enable this, various methods have been proposed; yet, most do not leverage the entire collective knowledge, which also involves the estimation’s uncertainty. In this article, we introduce Anchor-free Ranging- Likelihood-based Cooperative Localization (ARLCL); a novel anchor-free and technology-agnostic localization algorithm that utilizes inter-exchanged ranging signals from sensors to enable their simultaneous positioning. Ranging technologies with easyto- model propagation properties, such as UWB or LiDAR are among the first beneficiaries that ARLCL is targeting. To examine its applicability, however, even to signals that are noisier and often unsuitable for ranging, we assess ARLCL with real-world BLE RSS measurements. At the same time, we consider deployments that typically induce flip-ambiguity, being a major problem in cooperative localization. We provide an extensive comparison against the most widely-adopted optimization method (Mass- Spring) but also against the recent likelihood-based approach (Maximum Likelihood - Particle Swarm Optimization). The results showed that ARLCL outperformed the baselines in almost all scenarios. Our gain in positioning accuracy is also found to be positively correlated to both the swarm’s size and the signal’s quality, reaching an improvement of 40%.

Annexe 1 — Leaflet for the recruitment of participants (in French) Annexe 2 — Questionnaire about the building self-assessment guide Annexe 3 – Protocol to compare the building self-evaluation guide with an expert Annexe 4 — Feedback questionnaire about the participation to the pilot-project Annexe 5 – Adequation of the pilot-project with the ten principles in citizen science Annexe 6 — Application form for ethical committee and data management plan Annexe 7 — Data management plan Annexe 8 — Information document and consent form Annexe 9 —Slideshow prepared for and during the in person-meetings, 15 and 16 June 2022 (in French) Annexe 10 – Radon expertise report from the visit performed 20 July 2022 (Cerema document) (in French) Annexe 11 — Slideshow prepared for and validated after the final meeting, 22 July 2022 (in French) ****** Underlying data: Tab 'Questionnaire': response to the questionnaires (see Annexe 2), Tab 'Feedback questionnaire': responses to the feedback questionnaire (see Annexe 4) *******

The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha′apai volcano eruption was a unique event that caused many atmospheric phenomena around the globe. In this study, we investigate the atmospheric gravity waves in the mesosphere/lower-thermosphere (MLT) launched by the volcanic explosion in the Pacific, leveraging multistatic meteor radar observations from the Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars (CONDOR) and the Nordic Meteor Radar Cluster in Fennoscandia. MLT winds are computed using a recently developed 3DVAR+DIV algorithm. We found eastward- and westward-traveling gravity waves in the CONDOR zonal and meridional wind measurements, which arrived 12 and 48 h after the eruption, and we found one in the Nordic Meteor Radar Cluster that arrived 27.5 h after the volcanic detonation. We obtained observed phase speeds for the eastward great circle path at both locations of about 250 m s−1, and they were 170–150 m s−1 for the opposite propagation direction. The intrinsic phase speed was estimated to be 200–212 m s−1. Furthermore, we identified a potential lamb wave signature in the MLT winds using 5 min resolved 3DVAR+DIV retrievals.

Federated Learning (FL) has become popular in the field of mobility and trajectory prediction due to its privacy-preserving and scalability capabilities. Deploying FL over resource-constrained devices and varying network conditions is challenging for achieving a good tradeoff among prediction performance, computational load, and communication volume. On the other hand, the design of FL’s distributed neural architectures is complex, time-consuming, and dependent on experts’ prior knowledge. To tackle the above limitations, we propose the network-adaptive FEDerated learning for reinFORCEd mobility prediction (FedForce) system. FedForce employs reinforcement learning to design a transformer neural network whose architecture jointly optimizes the prediction accuracy, training time, and transmission time based on the mobility dataset’s unique features, the client’s computing capacity, and the available network throughput. FedForce outperforms several state-of-theart trajectory predictors and achieves an average displacement error of 0.20m on the ETH+UCY dataset and an accuracy of 76% on the Orange dataset (-0.02m and 10% higher than the bestperforming baseline, respectively), while cutting the FL training and transmission time by half. FedForce can save up to 80% of computational resources and 96% of communication overheads with a negligible accuracy decrease.

CBA/Ca mice were irradiated with 0.1Gy or 3Gy X-rays. Extracellular vesicles were isolated from the bon marrow of control and irradiated mice 24 hours after irradiaiton. The miRNA content of extracellular vesicls was stuided by nCounter analysis system. Isolated control bone marrow cells were incubated with bone marrow-derived extracellular vesicles treated and isolated as described above. The proteome of bone marrow cells was analyzed 24 hours aftre treatment and compared to the proteome of directly irradiated bone marrow cells 24 hours after irradiaton., Extracellular veicles-derived miRNA analysis by the nCounter analysis system

The key impediments to deploying deep neural networks (DNN) in IoT edge environments lie in the gap between the expensive DNN computation and the limited computing capability of IoT devices. Current state-of-the-art Machine Learning models have significant demands on memory, computation, and energy and raise challenges for integrating them with the decentralized operation of heterogeneous and resource-constrained IoT devices. Recent studies have proposed the cooperative execution of DNN models in IoT devices to enhance the reliability, privacy, and efficiency of intelligent IoT systems but disregarded flexible fine-grained model partitioning schemes for optimal distribution of DNN execution tasks in dynamic IoT networks. In this paper, we propose DISNET, a distributed micro-split deep learning scheme for heterogeneous dynamic IoT. DISNET accelerates inference time and minimizes energy consumption by combining vertical (layer-based) and horizontal DNN partitioning to enable flexible, distributed, and parallel execution of neural network models on heterogeneous IoT devices. DISNET considers the IoT devices’ computing and communication resources and the network conditions for resource-aware cooperative DNN Inference. Experimental evaluation in dynamic IoT networks shows that DISNET reduces the DNN inference latency and energy consumption by up to 5.2× and 6×, respectively, compared to two state-of-the-art schemes without loss of accuracy.

The CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) and the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) are among the main principles for good scientific practice and ethically sound research data management. Ethics issues arise whenever research involves human participants and their cells or tissues; personal data; rare plants or seeds; animals; artificial intelligence as well as methods, materials; or experiments that could harm the environment, research staff, or participants. The first step towards ethical research data management lies in the identification of ethical issues and performing risk-benefit analysis for the subjects involved and research outcomes related to science and society. Information security and data protection analyses might be needed if personal data will be collected. Depending on the study design and data collection involved, the study can be subject to special permission from one of the ethics commissions at the faculties of the University of Bern or from the Cantonal Ethics Commission. Data security aspects should be accurately considered by design using new tools, technologies, and infrastructure. The Open Science Team at the University Library of Bern recommends licensing research data under the CC 0 or the newest version of the CC BY licenses to allow maximal reusability. If data cannot be openly published due to ethical or legal reasons, metadata, and supplementary material can be published under CC0 to fulfill funders' agencies' requirements.

CBA/Ca mice were irradiated with 0.1Gy or 3Gy X-rays. Extracellular vesicles were isolated from the bon marrow of control and irradiated mice 24 hours after irradiaiton. The miRNA content of extracellular vesicls was stuided by nCounter analysis system. Isolated control bone marrow cells were incubated with bone marrow-derived extracellular vesicles treated and isolated as described above. The proteome of bone marrow cells was analyzed 24 hours aftre treatment and compared to the proteome of directly irradiated bone marrow cells 24 hours after irradiaton., Proteome profile of bone marrow cells either directly irradiated or treated with bone marrow-derived extracellular vesicles from irradiated mice

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (i.e., elements heavier than helium, also called "metallicity"), and thus formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2 but have not yielded definitive detections due to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification. Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science Program (ERS). The data used in this study span 3.0 to 5.5 {\mu}m in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3 {\mu}m (26{\sigma} significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, 10x solar metallicity models that assume radiative-convective-thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 {\mu}m that is not reproduced by these models., Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Nature, data and models available at https://doi.10.5281/zenodo.6959427

Icy grain mantles are the main reservoir of the volatile elements that link chemical processes in dark, interstellar clouds with the formation of planets and composition of their atmospheres. The initial ice composition is set in the cold, dense parts of molecular clouds, prior to the onset of star formation. With the exquisite sensitivity of JWST, this critical stage of ice evolution is now accessible for detailed study. Here we show the first results of the Early Release Science program "Ice Age" that reveal the rich composition of these dense cloud ices. Weak ices, including, $^{13}$CO$_2$, OCN$^-$, $^{13}$CO, OCS, and COMs functional groups are now detected along two pre-stellar lines of sight. The $^{12}$CO$_2$ ice profile indicates modest growth of the icy grains. Column densities of the major and minor ice species indicate that ices contribute between 2 and 19% of the bulk budgets of the key C, O, N, and S elements. Our results suggest that the formation of simple and complex molecules could begin early in a water-ice rich environment., Comment: To appear in Nature Astronomy on January 23rd, 2023. 33 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables; includes extended and supplemental data sections. Part of the JWST Ice Age Early Release Science program's science enabling products. Enhanced spectra downloadable on Zenodo at the following DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7501239

File 1. Appendix 1 — Leaflet for the recruitment of participants (in French) Appendix 2 — Questionnaire on the building self-evaluation guide Appendix 3 – Protocol to compare the building self-evaluation guide with an expert Annexe 4 — Feedback questionnaire about the participation to the pilot-project Appendix 5 – Adequation of the pilot-project with the ten principles in citizen science Appendix 6 — Letter of information and informed consent send to participants Appendix 7 —Slideshow prepared for and during the in person-meetings, 15 and 16 June 2022 Appendix 8 – Radon expertise report from the visit carried out 20 July 2022 (Cerema document) (in French) Appendix 9 — Slideshow for the final meeting, 22 July 2022 (in French) ************************** File 2. Annex 1 (CEPN NTE 22/12) Application form for Ethical Clearance Data Management Plan ************************** **************************

Disruptive applications for mobile devices can be enhanced by Edge computing facilities. In this context, Edge Computing (EC) is a proposed architecture to meet the mobility requirements imposed by these applications in a wide range of domains, such as the Internet of Things, Immersive Media, and Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. EC architecture aims to introduce computing capabilities in the path between the user and the Cloud to execute tasks closer to where they are consumed, thus mitigating issues related to latency, context awareness, and mobility support. In this survey, we describe which are the leading technologies to support the deployment of EC infrastructure. Thereafter, we discuss the applications that can take advantage of EC and how they were proposed in the literature. Finally, after examining enabling technologies and related applications, we identify some open challenges to fully achieve the potential of EC, and also research opportunities on upcoming paradigms for service provisioning. This survey is a guide to comprehend the recent advances on the provisioning of mobile applications, as well as foresee the expected next stages of evolution for these applications.

Annexe 1 — Leaflet for the recruitment of participants (in French) Annexe 2 — Questionnaire about the building self-assessment guide Annexe 3 – Protocol to compare the building self-evaluation guide with an expert Annexe 4 — Feedback questionnaire about the participation to the pilot-project Annexe 5 – Adequation of the pilot-project with the ten principles in citizen science Annexe 6 — Application form for ethical committee and data management plan Annexe 7 — Data management plan Annexe 8 — Information document and consent form Annexe 9 —Slideshow prepared for and during the in person-meetings, 15 and 16 June 2022 (in French) Annexe 10 – Radon expertise report from the visit performed 20 July 2022 (Cerema document) (in French) Annexe 11 — Slideshow prepared for and validated after the final meeting, 22 July 2022 (in French) ******, Annexe 1 — Leaflet for the recruitment of participants (in French) Annexe 2 — Questionnaire about the building self-assessment guide Annexe 3 – Protocol to compare the building self-evaluation guide with an expert Annexe 4 — Feedback questionnaire about the participation to the pilot-project Annexe 5 – Adequation of the pilot-project with the ten principles in citizen science Annexe 6 — Application form for ethical committee and data management plan Annexe 7 — Data management plan Annexe 8 — Information document and consent form Annexe 9 —Slideshow prepared for and during the in person-meetings, 15 and 16 June 2022 (in French) Annexe 10 – Radon expertise report from the visit performed 20 July 2022 (Cerema document) (in French) Annexe 11 — Slideshow prepared for and validated after the final meeting, 22 July 2022 (in French) **********

Judiciously designed two-dimensional THz metamaterials consisting of resonant metallic structures embedded in a dielectric environment locally enhance the electromagnetic field of an incident THz pulse to values sufficiently high to cause nonlinear responses of the environment. In semiconductors, the response is attributed to nonlinear transport phenomena via intervalley scattering, impact ionization, or interband tunneling and can affect the resonant behavior of the metallic structure, which results, for instance, in mode switching. However, details of mode switching, especially time scales, are still debated. By using metallic split-ring resonators with nm-size gaps on intrinsic semiconductors with different bandgaps, we identify the most relevant carrier generation processes. In addition, by combining nonlinear THz time-domain spectroscopy with simulations, we establish the fastest time constant for mode switching to around hundred femtoseconds. Our results not only elucidate dominant carrier generation mechanisms and dynamics but also pave the route toward optically driven modulators with THz bandwidth.

The apicomplexan parasite Neospora caninum is an important causative agent of congenital neosporosis, resulting in abortion, birth of weak offspring and neuromuscular disorders in cattle, sheep, and many other species. Among several compound classes that are currently being developed, two have been reported to limit the effects of congenital neosporosis: (i) bumped kinase inhibitors (BKIs) target calcium dependent protein kinase 1 (CDPK1), an enzyme that is encoded by an apicoplast-derived gene and found only in apicomplexans and plants. CDPK1 is essential for host cell invasion and egress; (ii) endochin-like quinolones (ELQs) are inhibitors of the cytochrome bc1 complex of the mitochondrial electron transport chain and thus inhibit oxidative phosphorylation. We here report on the in vitro and in vivo activities of BKI-1748, and of ELQ-316 and its respective prodrugs ELQ-334 and ELQ-422, applied either as single-compounds or ELQ-BKI-combinations. In vitro, BKI-1748 and ELQ-316, as well as BKI-1748 and ELQ-334, acted synergistically, while this was not observed for the BKI-1748/ELQ-422 combination treatment. In a N. caninum-infected pregnant BALB/c mouse model, the synergistic effects observed in vitro were not entirely reproduced, but 100% postnatal survival and 100% inhibition of vertical transmission was noted in the group treated with the BKI-1748/ELQ-334 combination. In addition, the combined drug applications resulted in lower neonatal mortality compared to treatments with single drugs., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • BKI-1748 is a bumped kinase inhibitor with anti-Neospora activity in vitro and in vivo • Endochin-like quinolones target the cytochrome bc1 complex and exhibit anti-Neospora properties. • Single and combined applications of these two compound classes do not interfere in pregnancy outcome in mice • BKI-1748/ELQ-334 combination treatment results in 100% postnatal survival and blocks vertical transmission in the neosporosis mouse model

In the past 50 years, enormous progress has been made in the diagnosis, treatment and control of taeniid cestode infections/diseases and in the scientific understanding thereof. Most interest in this group of parasites stems from the serious diseases that they cause in humans. It is through this lens that we summarize here the most important breakthroughs that have made a difference to the treatment of human diseases caused by these parasites, reduction in transmission of the taeniid species associated with human disease, or understanding of the parasites’ biology likely to impact diagnosis or treatment in the foreseeable future. Key topics discussed are the introduction of anti-cestode drugs, including benzimidazoles and praziquantel, and the development of new imaging modalities that have transformed the diagnosis and post-treatment monitoring of human echinococcoses and neurocysticercosis. The availability of new anti-cestode drugs for use in dogs and a detailed understanding of the transmission dynamics of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato have underpinned successful programs that have eliminated cystic echinococcosis in some areas of the world and greatly reduced the incidence of infection in others. Despite these successes, cystic and alveolar echinococcosis and neurocysticercosis continue to be prevalent in many parts of the world, requiring new or renewed efforts to prevent the associated taeniid infections. Major advances made in the development of practical vaccines against E. granulosus and Taenia solium will hopefully assist in this endeavour, as might the understanding of the parasites’ biology that have come from an elucidation of the nuclear genomes of each of the most important taeniid species causing human diseases.

Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spanish Government, Grant/Award Number: HAR2016-75788-P; Universidad de Granada/CBUA, The introduction of sugarcane in Europe by the Arabs in the 10th century AD brought about a drastic change in gastronomy and oral health. In Southern Spain (Al-Andalus), sugarcane was mainly consumed by the elite, although its consumption became relatively widespread during the Nasrid Kingdom. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of the introduction of sugar on human diet and oral health by comparing patterns of caries in deciduous teeth between nonadult skeletal samples from two Nasrid populations (La Torrecilla and Talara) and a comparative set representing various Iberian populations without access to sugarcane (from Bronze to Medieval Ages). We analyzed 770 teeth from 115 nonadults divided into three groups: infants under 2 years of age, nonadults presenting only deciduous teeth, and nonadults presenting mixed deciduous and permanent dentition. The frequency of caries is high in the Nasrid individuals and very low in the comparative sample. This finding is in agreement with contemporaneous written sources on the utilization of sugarcane in the diet and as a pacifier for infants during weaning. Differences in the frequency of caries between the Nasrid samples (higher in Talara) are likely related to the socioeconomic differences between these populations., Spanish Government HAR2016-75788-P, Universidad de Granada/CBUA

The project «Healthy claws - the foundation for the future» aims to establish a Swiss national claw health monitoring based on digital recordings by claw trimmers during claw trimming. To assess claw health on the participating farms, between-herd prevalence, within-herd prevalence and cow prevalence of all claw disorders based on the «ICAR Claw Health Atlas» were calculated during this study. Claw trimmers underwent an intensive training and examination in order to ensure data quality. To guarantee the representativity of the prevalences, only farm claw trimmings were considered, where ≥ 80 % of the cows in a herd were trimmed. The calculations were based on 7108 cows and 403 heifers from 238 farms, during the period from February 2020 to February 2021. At least one claw disorder was present in 99,2 % of the farms, with 49,6 % of the heifers and 77,7 % of the cows having at least one claw disorder. The high prevalence is seen as a result of all ICAR claw disorders being considered, whereas not all of them are painful and consequently not all of them cause lameness. The absence of lameness assessment limits the evaluation of existing herd problems. High between-herd and cow prevalences were observed for the following claw disorders: heel horn erosion (92,9 %/64,7 %), digital dermatitis (55,9 %/20,7 %), white line disease (81,5 %/17,7 %) and sole hemorrhage (66,4 %/11,6 %). Asymmetric claws, corkscrew claws, scissor claws, horn fissure, interdigital phlegmon, swelling of the coronet and/or bulb and toe necrosis had low prevalences. The proportion of cows treated with a hoof block (0,5 %) was comparatively small in regard of the cows suffering from ulcers (5,6 %) and white line abscesses (2,5 %). The median within-herd prevalence of digital dermatitis was 5,6 %, with a maximal within-herd prevalence of 87,5 %. Despite the contagious nature of digital dermatitis, no increase of between-herd and cow prevalence has been observed in the past ten years throughout Switzerland. Based on this data, the Swiss claw health situation can be monitored, compared over time and improved in the future.Im Projekt «Gesunde Klauen – das Fundament für die Zukunft» wird ein schweizweites Klauengesundheitsmonitoring auf Basis der digitalen Dokumentation der Klauenpflege durch Klauenpfleger umgesetzt. Um die Klauengesundheit der teilnehmenden Betriebe zu evaluieren, wurden in der vorliegenden Studie inter-Herden-, in­- tra-Herden- und Kuhprävalenzen aller Klauenveränderungen gemäss «ICAR Atlas der Klauengesundheit» berechnet. Für die Gewährleistung der Datenerhebungsqualität erfolgte eine intensive Ausbildung und Prüfung der Klauenpfleger. Um die Repräsentativität der Prävalenzen sicherzustellen, wurden nur Betriebsklauenpflegen berücksichtigt, bei denen ≥ 80 % der Kühe einer Herde gepflegt wurden. Die Berechnungen erfolgten anhand von 7108 Kühen und 403 Rindern in 238 Betrieben, über einen Zeitraum von Februar 2020 bis Februar 2021. Bei 99,2 % der Betriebe war mindestens eine Klauenveränderung vorhanden, wobei 49,6 % der Rinder und 77,7 % der Kühe eine Klauenveränderung aufwiesen. Die hohe Prävalenz ergibt sich aus der Berücksichtigung aller ICAR Klauenveränderungen, von welchen nicht alle schmerzhaft sind und folglich nicht alle Lahmheiten verursachen. Durch das Fehlen einer Lahmheitserhebung ist die Evaluierung von vorliegenden Bestandesproblemen eingeschränkt. Hohe inter-Herden- sowie Kuhprävalenzen zeigten sich für die Erkrankungen Ballenhornfäule (92,9 %/64,7 %), Dermatitis digitalis (55,9 %/20,7 %), Weisse-Linie-Erkrankung (81,5 %/17,7 %) und für Sohlenblutungen (66,4 %/11,6 %). Niedrige Prävalenzen wurden für Ungleiche Klauen, Rollklauen, Scherenklauen, Hornkluft/-spalt, sowie Zwischenklauenphlegmone, Schwellung des Kronsaums und/oder des Ballens und Sohlenspitzennekrose verzeichnet. Verhältnismässig gering war der Anteil mit Klotz behandelter Kühe (0,5 %) im Verhältnis zu Kühen mit Klauengeschwüren (5,6 %) und Weisse-Linie-Abszessen (2,5 %). Der Median der intra-Herdenprävalenz von Dermatitis digitalis lag bei 5,6 %, die maximale intra-Herdenprävalenz bei 87,5 %. Trotz der Kontagiösität von Dermatitis digitalis wurde in den letzten zehn Jahren schweizweit keine Steigerung der inter-Herden- und Kuhprävalenz beobachtet. Auf Basis dieser Daten kann die Schweizer Klauengesundheitssituation überwacht, über die Jahre verglichen und künftig verbessert werden.Le projet « Des onglons sains-de bon pied vers l’avenir » vise à établir une surveillance nationale suisse de la santé des onglons basée sur des enregistrements numériques effectués par des ongleurs pendant le parage des onglons. Pour évaluer la santé des onglons dans les exploitations participantes, la prévalence entre les troupeaux, la prévalence au sein du troupeau et la prévalence chez les vaches de tous les troubles des onglons sur la base de l’ « ICAR Claw Health Atlas » ont été calculées au cours de cette étude. Les ongleurs ont subi une formation et un examen intensifs afin de garantir la qualité des données. Afin de garantir la représentativité des prévalences, seuls ont été considérés les parages d’exploitations où ≥ 80% des vaches du troupeau ont été parées. Les calculs ont été basés sur 7108 vaches et 403 génisses de 238 élevages, au cours de la période de février 2020 à février 2021. Au moins une lésion des onglons était présente dans 99,2 % des élevages, avec 49,6 % des génisses et 77,7 % des vaches présentant au moins une lésion. La prévalence élevée est considérée comme le résultat de toutes les lésions selon ICAR, alors que toutes ne sont pas douloureuses et par conséquent ne provoquent pas toute de boiterie. L’absence d’évaluation de la boiterie limite l’évaluation des problèmes de troupeau existants. Des prévalences élevées entre les troupeaux et les vaches ont été observées pour les lésions des onglons suivantes : érosion de la corne du talon (92,9%/64,7%), dermatite digitale (55,9%/20,7%), maladie de la ligne blanche (81,5 %/17,7%) et hémorragie de la sole (66,4%/11,6%). Les onglons asymétriques, les onglons en tire-bouchon, les onglons en ciseaux, la fissure de la corne, le phlegmon interdigital, le gonflement de la couronne et/ou la nécrose de la pince avaient de faibles prévalences. La proportion de vaches traitées avec un sabot (0,5 %) était comparativement faible par rapport aux vaches souffrant d’ulcères (5,6%) et d’abcès de la ligne blanche (2,5%). La prévalence médiane intra-troupeau de dermatite digitale était de 5,6%, avec une prévalence intra-troupeau maximale de 87,5%. Malgré le caractère contagieux de la dermatite digitale, aucune augmentation de la prévalence entre troupeaux et vaches n’a été observée au cours des dix dernières années dans toute la Suisse. Sur la base de ces données, la situation sanitaire des onglons en Suisse peut être surveillée, comparée dans le temps et améliorée à l’avenir.Nel progetto «Zoccoli sani – un’ottima base per il futuro», si vuole implementare un monitoraggio della salute degli zoccoli in tutta la Svizzera basato sulla documentazione digitale della cura degli zoccoli da parte dei tagliatori degli zoccoli. Al fine di valutare la salute degli zoccoli delle aziende partecipanti, nel presente studio sono state calcolate le prevalenze tra le mandrie, all’interno delle mandrie e delle vacche di tutti i cambiamenti degli zoccoli secondo l’”Atlante ICAR delle lesioni podali del bovino”. Per garantire la qualità della raccolta dei dati, si è svolta un’intensa attività di formazione e di valutazione dei tagliatori di zoccoli. Per garantire la rappresentatività delle prevalenze, sono stati presi in considerazione per lo studio, solo i tagliatori per le aziende, che si sono occupati del ≥ 80% delle vacche di una mandria. I calcoli sono stati effettuati utilizzando 7108 mucche e 403 bovini provenienti da 238 aziende, in un periodo che si situa tra febbraio 2020 e febbraio 2021. Nel 99,2% delle aziende è stata individuata almeno una lesione agli zoccoli di cui il 49,6% dei bovini e il 77,7% delle mucche avevano una lesione agli zoccoli. L’alta prevalenza risulta dalla considerazione di tutte le lesioni dello zoccolo secondo ICAR, di cui non tutte sono dolorose e quindi non causano zoppia. La mancanza di un’indagine sulla zoppia limita la valutazione dei problemi esistenti nella mandria. Sono state riscontrate alte prevalenze tra mandrie e vacche per l’erosione del corno dei talloni (92,9%/64,7%), la dermatite digitale (55,9%/20,7%), la malattia della fessura della linea bianca (81,5%/17,7%) e il sanguinamento della punta (66,4%/11,6%). Basse prevalenze sono state registrate per gli unghioni irregolari, gli unghioni a cavatappi, gli unghioni a forbice, la fessura orizzontale del corno, la fessura verticale del corno, così come il flemmone interdigitale, la tumefazione della corona e/o del bulbo e la necrosi della punta. La percentuale di mucche trattate con blocco dello zoccolo (0,5%) è stata relativamente bassa rispetto agli animali affetti da ulcere degli unghioni (5,6%) e ascessi della linea bianca (2,5%). La prevalenza mediana intra-allevamento della dermatite digitale era del 5,6% e la massima prevalenza intra-allevamento era dell’ 87,5%. Nonostante la natura contagiosa della dermatite digitale, negli ultimi dieci anni in Svizzera non è stato osservato alcun aumento della prevalenza tra le mandrie e tra le vacche. Sulla base di questi dati, la situazione della salute degli zoccoli in Svizzera può essere monitorata, confrontata negli anni e migliorata in futuro.

High-resolution transmission spectroscopy has allowed for in-depth information on the composition and structure of exoplanetary atmospheres to be garnered in the last few years, especially in the visible and in the near-infrared. Many atomic and molecular species have been detected thanks to data gathered from state-of-the-art spectrographs installed on large ground-based telescopes. Nevertheless, the Earth daily cycle has been limiting observations to exoplanets with the shortest transits. Aims. The inflated sub-Saturn KELT-11 b has a hot atmosphere and orbits a bright evolved subgiant star, making it a prime choice for atmospheric characterization. The challenge lies in its transit duration – of more than 7 h – which can only be covered partially or without enough out-of-transit baselines when observed from the ground. Methods. To overcome this constraint, we observed KELT-11 b with the HARPS spectrograph in series of three consecutive nights, each focusing on a different phase of the planetary orbit: before, during, and after the transit. This allowed us to gather plenty of out-of-transit baseline spectra, which was critical to build a spectrum of the unocculted star with sufficient precision. Telluric absorption lines were corrected using the atmospheric transmission code MOLECFIT. Individual high-resolution transmission spectra were merged to obtain a high signal-to-noise transmission spectrum to search for sodium in KELT-11 b’s atmosphere through the ~5900 Å doublet. Results. Our results highlight the potential for independent observations of a long-transiting planet over consecutive nights. Our study reveals a sodium excess absorption of 0.28 ± 0.05% and 0.50 ± 0.06% in the Na D1 and D2 lines, respectively. This corresponds to 1.44 and 1.69 times the white-light planet radius in the line cores. Wind pattern modeling tends to prefer day-to-night side winds with no vertical winds, which is surprising considering the planet bloatedness. The modeling of the Rossiter-Mclaughlin effect yields a significantly misaligned orbit, with a projected spin-orbit angle of λ = −77.86−2.26+2.36∘. Conclusions. Belonging to the under-studied group of inflated sub-Saturns, the characteristics of KELT-11 b – notably its extreme scale height and long transit – make it an ideal and unique target for next-generation telescopes. Our results as well as recent findings from HST, TESS, and CHEOPS observations could make KELT-11 b a benchmark exoplanet in atmospheric characterization.

rueperellapyogenesisaGram-positive,non-spore-forming,non-motile,non-capsulated,facultative-anaerobicrod,belongingtotheskinandmucousmembranesoftheupperrespiratory,urogenitalandgastrointestinaltractsbiotaofanimals.T.pyogenesisalsoanopportunisticpathogencausingsuppurativeinfectionsinanimals,mostlyfarmanimals,andrarelyhumans(1).Theseinfectionsarecommonlytreatedwithantibiotics,posingtheriskofselectingresistantbacteriathroughtheacquisitionofmobilegeneticelementscontainingantimicrobialresistancegenes(2).Theobjectivesofthepresentstudywerei)todescribethephenotypicandgenotypicantimicrobialresistanceprofilesofT.pyogenesinSwitzerland,ii)todeterminethegeneticrelatednessbetweenstrainsofdifferentorigins.Thisstudywillalsoserveasabaselineforfurtherinvestigationsofmobilegeneticelementsandmolecularepidemiology. SelectionofTrueperellapyogenesstrains Thirty-oneanimaland8humanT.pyogenesstrainswereselectedfromthecryopreservedcollectionsoftheInstituteofVeterinaryBacteriologyandoftheInstituteforInfectiousDiseases,UniversityofBern,Switzerland.Fouradditionalstrainsfromcattle,previouslysequencedanddepositedintheNCBIdatabase(CP081508,CP096279,CP093279,CP097247),wereaddedtothestudypopulation(3).ThestrainswereisolatedonTSA-S(Becton,Dickson)after5%CO2incubationat37°Cfor24hours.IdentificationwasconfirmedbyMALDI-TOFmassspectrometry(Bruker). Antimicrobialsusceptibilitytests Minimalinhibitoryconcentration(MIC)of19antibioticsand3antisepticswasdeterminedbybrothmicrodilutionmethodusingSensititreEUST2plates(ThermoFisher)andhome-mademicrotiterplates,respectively,andfollowingCLSIrecommendations.AsnoT.pyogenes'specificbreakpointsarecurrentlyavailable,theMICswereinterpretedusingbreakpointsderivedfrompreviouslypublisheddata. Wholegenomesequencing(WGS)andWGS-basedgeneticcharacterization GenomicDNAwasextractedusingMasterpureTMpurificationkit(Lucigen)andsequencedattheNGSPlatform,UniversityofBern,Switzerland,usingPacBioHiFitechnology.PacBioHiFireadsweredemultiplexedanddenovoassembledusingFlyev.2.9.1.The43completegenomeswerescreenedinsilicoforantimicrobialresistancegeneswithResfinderv.4.1(CenterforGenomicEpidemiology)andCARD-RGI(McMasterUniversity).Awholegenome-basedtaxonomicanalysiswasperformedusingType(Strain)GenomeServer(LeibnizInstituteDSMZ)forphylogeneticrelatedness.

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing irreversible perturbations as a result of accelerated climate warming. Of major significance is the expanding influence of Atlantic water that expedites sea-ice decline, alters stratification and vertical mixing of the water column and facilitates northward expansion of temperate biota. Our understanding on how these processes will impact biological communities is severely limited. The Fram Strait is the primary entry route for Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean and exit point for polar water and sea-ice. With the presence of two major current systems combined with horizontal mixing processes, the Fram Strait is characterised by a longitudinal gradient of hydrographic regimes reflective of Arctic, mixed and Atlantic conditions. This provides an invaluable opportunity to study the ecology of microbes over an environmental gradient and under changing conditions. Furthermore, given its high-latitude position, it also facilitates investigations on how dramatic seasonal transformations in conditions, such as sea-ice cover and light availability, influence microbes in the context of water mass history. This thesis provides an ecological characterisation of microbial communities over temporal and spatial scales in the Fram Strait in an effort to address these topics. In Chapter II, we employed metagenomics from short- and long-read sequencing platforms to gain insights into microbial community composition across water masses in the Fram Strait. As that study incorporated the first PacBio HiFi (long-read) metagenomes from the marine environment, it was necessary to perform a methodological comparison. We show that using PacBio HiFi metagenomes, we are able to recover more metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that, on average, are more complete, less fragmented and more frequently contain complete rRNA gene operons compared to using short-read metagenomes. This not only influenced our investigative toolkit throughout the remainder of this thesis but provides valuable data for future considerations on using long-read metagenomics in the study of marine microbial ecology. From the analysis conducted in Chapter II, we observed a flavobacterial clade that is commonly associated with coastal temperate ecosystems, the NS5 Marine Group, to be prominent in high-latitude waters. This motivated us to delve deeper into this group and understand their diversity and function. By combining cultivation, metagenomics, epifluorescence and transmission electron microscopy, we were able to delineate this group into four novel candidate genera and evidence distinctions in function and spatiotemporal dynamics at the species and genus level (Chapter III). In that study, we also presented the first pure isolate and complete genome for a member of the NS5 Marine Group. In Chapter IV, we performed the first high-resolution temporal analysis on microbial taxonomy and function in Arctic polar waters. Using a four-year 16S amplicon dataset and one annual cycle of PacBio HiFi metagenomes, we evidenced that Atlantic water influx and sea-ice cover had a profound impact on the composition and function of microbial communities. Based on their omnipresence irrespective of conditions, we also identified a small fraction of the community that likely represents the resident microbiome of the Fram Strait. Furthermore, we showed that a transition to low-ice and high Atlantic water influx shifted the community to one dominated by heterotrophic clades that are functionally linked to phytoplankton-derived organic matter. Our findings suggest that the continued expansion of Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean will be reflected in a Biological Atlantification of the microbial community, with populations adapted to Arctic conditions exhibiting reduced ecological niche space. These changes will have implications for the future ecosystem functioning and the carbon cycle. In Chapter V of this thesis, we combined metagenomics and metatranscriptomics with analytical techniques to characterise the carbohydrate fraction of particulate organic matter and carbohydrate utilisation by microbes in the Atlantic waters of the Fram Strait during late summer. A high spatial heterogeneity was observed in both carbohydrates and their utilisation, which indicated patchiness in local productivity and a responsive microbial community. Carbohydrate utilisation was dominated by distinct microbial assemblages across sampling sites and consisted of populations making use of labile (communal) and more complex (specialist) substrates. We therein proposed that local biological and physical processes are important for continuing to shape the availability and utilisation of carbohydrates into the late summer. In an effort to clearly and concisely convey the main findings from this thesis in the context of its original aims, a detailed description on the current and future state of the Fram Strait and Arctic Ocean microbiome is provided in the discussion. In addition, insights and recommendations on how to apply long-read metagenomes to answer questions on microbial ecology is provided, given its fundamental importance for this thesis and its relative infancy in environmental research applications. Lastly, owing to it representing an underlying theme throughout much of the research conducted, a discussion on the ecological niche concept is provided along with a proposal for its redefinition in marine microbial ecology.

The mesospheric polar vortex (MPV) plays a critical role in coupling the atmosphere-ionosphere system, so its accurate simulation is imperative for robust predictions of the thermosphere and ionosphere. While the stratospheric polar vortex is widely understood and characterized, the mesospheric polar vortex is much less well-known and observed, a short-coming that must be addressed to improve predictability of the ionosphere. The winter MPV facilitates top-down coupling via the communication of high energy particle precipitation effects from the thermosphere down to the stratosphere, though the details of this mechanism are poorly understood. Coupling from the bottom-up involves gravity waves (GWs), planetary waves (PWs), and tidal interactions that are distinctly different and important during weak vs. strong vortex states, and yet remain poorly understood as well. Moreover, generation and modulation of GWs by the large wind shears at the vortex edge contribute to the generation of traveling atmospheric disturbances and traveling ionospheric disturbances. Unfortunately, representation of the MPV is generally not accurate in state-of-the-art general circulation models, even when compared to the limited observational data available. Models substantially underestimate eastward momentum at the top of the MPV, which limits the ability to predict upward effects in the thermosphere. The zonal wind bias responsible for this missing momentum in models has been attributed to deficiencies in the treatment of GWs and to an inaccurate representation of the high-latitude dynamics. In the coming decade, simulations of the MPV must be improved.

Der durch den Klimawandel bedingte Temperaturanstieg zeigt sich am deutlichsten in den hohen Breitengraden. Aufgrund des Prozesses der arktischen Verstärkung (Arctic Amplification) ist die Amplitude der Veränderungen einer Reihe von Umweltfaktoren in polaren Ökosystemen am stärksten ausgeprägt. Die Inselgruppe von Spitzbergen in der hohen Arktis bildet hier keine Ausnahme. Ihre Fjorde werden seit über 100 Jahren eingehend untersucht und lieferten bereits wichtige Erkenntnisse über die Gegenwart und Zukunft arktischer Ökosysteme angesichts des Klimawandels. Spitzbergen beherbergt eine große Diversität mariner Organismen, darunter auch Großalgen. Da es sich hierbei um sessile Organismen handelt, sind sie ständig starken jahreszeitlichen Schwankungen ausgesetzt und in den letzten Jahrzehnten stark von der Veränderung der abiotischen Faktoren aufgrund des Klimawandels betroffen. Insbesondere der Temperaturanstieg wirkt sich direkt auf die Ökophysiologie und die Verbreitung von Algen in der Arktis aus. Andererseits sind die Auswirkungen des Zusammenspiels abiotischer Faktoren auf die arktischen Algen noch immer ein wenig erforschtes Gebiet. Als Reaktion auf Umweltveränderungen zeigen Algen unterschiedliche Anpassungen, sowohl auf physiologischer als auch auf biochemischer Ebene. Während sich die meisten Studien bisher mit den habitat-bildenden Brauntangen (“kelps”) befassten, wurden andere häufig vorkommende und daher ökologisch relevante Algenarten noch nicht ausreichend untersucht. Um jedoch die Veränderungen der Artenvielfalt in arktischen Fjordsystemen infolge von Umweltveränderungen zu erfassen, sind Informationen über die physiologische Toleranz einer Vielzahl von Arten unerlässlich. Ziel dieser Studie ist es daher, die Anpassungsmechanismen der Braunalge Desmarestia aculeata und der Rotalge Palmaria palmata aus einem hocharktischen Fjordsystem (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard) an veränderte und interagierende Umweltfaktoren zu charakterisieren. Die Akklimatisierung an abiotische Faktoren wie Temperatur und Bestrahlungsstärke wurde bei D. aculeata und P. palmata in Publikation I untersucht. Beide Arten wurden im Sommer 2019 im Kongsfjord, Svalbard, gesammelt und 21 Tage lang verschiedenen Temperaturen von 0, 4 und 8 °C sowie einer konstanten Bestrahlungsstärke von 50 - 500 µmol Photonen m-2 s-1 ausgesetzt. Die ähnliche geografische Verteilung der beiden untersuchten Arten impliziert auch ein ähnliches Akklimatisierungspotenzial. Da D. aculeata eine Algenart ist, die im Allgemeinen im oberen Subtidal und unteren Intertidal wächst, reagierte sie sehr empfindlich auf die Wechselwirkung von Bestrahlungsstärke und Temperatur, während P. palmata, eine Algenart, die im Intertidal lebt, eine höhere Toleranz gegenüber konstant hoher Bestrahlungsstärke zeigte. IV Dennoch hat sich gezeigt, dass der Temperaturanstieg ein wichtiger Faktor für die physiologische und biochemische Akklimatisation der beiden Arten ist. In arktischen Fjordsystemen wird ein Anstieg des Schmelzwasserabflusses aufgrund wärmerer Temperaturen, schmelzenden Schnees und kalbender Gletscher beobachtet. Infolgedessen sind die benthischen Arten des Flachwassers häufig einem niedrigen Salzgehalt und eisfreien Bedingungen ausgesetzt. Die Toleranz gegenüber Hyposalinität und die ausgeprägten Schwankungen der Bestrahlungsstärke im Tagesverlauf wurden bei P. palmata untersucht (Publikation II). Individuen dieser Rotalgenart wurden im Sommer 2019 gesammelt. Die Proben wurden bei einer konstanten Temperatur von 0 °C und unter einem täglichen Bestrahlungszyklus kultiviert, der arktische Sommerbedingungen und unterschiedliche Salzgehalte bei SA 34, 28 und 18 nachahmt, um die Auswirkungen des Schmelzwasserabflusses in Fjordsystemen zu simulieren. Die Hyposalinitätsbedingungen wirkten sich stark auf die tägliche photosynthetische Regulation von P. palmata aus. Die Abnahme der maximalen Quantenausbeute des Photosystems II (Fv/Fm) und eine geringe nicht-photochemische Löschung der Chlorophyllfluoreszenz (“non-photochemical quenching” - NPQ) am Ende des Experiments zeigen eine Abnahme der Reaktionsfähigkeit von P. palmata auf Schwankungen der täglichen Bestrahlungsstärke unter Hyposalinitätsbedingungen. Offensichtlich ist P. palmata in hohen Breitengraden nur begrenzt in der Lage, sich an niedrige Salzgehalte anzupassen, wie die Schädigung der Photosynthese und schließlich der Pigmentabbau zeigen. Folglich könnten verstärkt hyposaline Bedingungen, die durch Schmelzwasserabfluss in arktische Fjorde verursacht werden, zur Abwanderung von P. palmata in tiefere Gewässer oder Gebiete mit höheren Salzgehalten führen, wie z. B. die offenen Küsten des Spitzbergen-Archipels. Die Auswirkung von Schmelzwasser und die Interaktion von Hyposalinität und Bestrahlungsstärke wurde auch an der Braunalge D. aculeata in Publikation III untersucht. Die kontrollierten Hyposalinitätsbedingungen, denen D. aculeata ausgesetzt war, führten nicht zu einer physiologischen und biochemischen Schädigung der Proben. Obwohl D. aculeata auch die Gezeitenzone bewohnen kann, kann eine hohe Bestrahlungsstärke dennoch einen begrenzenden Kontrollfaktor für diese Art darstellen. Dies liegt daran, dass D. aculeata eine gewisse Variation der gemessenen Parameterwerte bei hoher und niedriger Bestrahlungsstärke zeigte, was ein mögliches Zeichen für Lichtstress ist.

Bumped kinase inhibitors (BKIs) target the apicomplexan calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 (CDPK1). BKI-1748, a 5-aminopyrazole-4-carboxamide compound when added to fibroblast cells concomitantly to the time of infection, inhibited proliferation of apicomplexan parasites at EC50s of 165 nM (Neospora caninum) and 43 nM (Toxoplasma gondii). Immunofluorescence and electron microscopy showed that addition of 2.5 μM BKI-1748 to infected HFF monolayers transformed parasites into multinucleated schizont-like complexes (MNCs) containing newly formed zoites, which were unable to separate and form infective tachyzoites or undergo egress. In zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo development assays, no embryonic impairment was detected within 96 h at BKI-1748 concentrations up to 10 μM. In pregnant mice, BKI-1748 applied at days 9–13 of pregnancy at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day was safe and no pregnancy interference was observed. The efficacy of BKI-1748 was assessed in standardized pregnant mouse models infected with N. caninum (NcSpain-7) tachyzoites or T. gondii (TgShSp1) oocysts. In both models, treatments resulted in increased pup survival and profound inhibition of vertical transmission. However, in dams and non-pregnant mice, BKI-1748 treatments resulted in significantly decreased cerebral parasite loads only in T. gondii infected mice. In the T. gondii-model, ocular infection was detected in 10 out of 12 adult mice of the control group, but only in 3 out of 12 mice in the BKI-1748-treated group. Thus, TgShSp1 oocyst infection is a suitable model to study both cerebral and ocular infection by T. gondii. BKI-1748 represents an interesting candidate for follow-up studies on neosporosis and toxoplasmosis in larger animal models., Graphical abstract Image 1

Im Projekt wurde erstmalig das µ-CT und XRM-Verfahren zur zerstörungsfreien Charakterisierung mehrfach zyklisch belasteter Probekörper angewandt und das an realgroßen Probekörper mit Auflösungen bis zu einem Mikrometer. Die bildbasierte Prüfmethode ermöglicht die Identifizierung, Verortung und Charakterisierung der prozessbedingten- und künstlichen Fehlstellen. Die Anwendung der Röntgenverfahren auf die mehrfach zyklisch belasteten Probekörper ermöglicht die Identifizierung und Bewertung von initial Schädigungen “Efects of defects” und in Abhängigkeit von Position, Fehlergröße auf das Bauteilversagen. Am Ende der Untersuchungen steht ein Katalog von aufzufinden Fehler, die in der Produktion zu vermeiden sind und nach der Produktion sowie in der Anwendung der WEA aufgefunden werden müssen. Ein wesentlicher Aspekt war die Entwicklung von automatisierte Auswerteverfahren der µ-CT und XRM-Bilddaten. Im Projekt wurden Methoden der Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) in Form von „machine learning“ und „deep learning“ erprobt und angewandt. Dazu wurden Verfahren wie das „Random Forest Classification“ (machine Learning) zur Erzeugung von annotierten Datensätzen zum Training von neuronalen Netzen angewandt sowie Untersuchung möglicher und relevanter Architekturen und Formen von neuronalen Netzen (z.B. U-Net und Sensor 3D) durchgeführt. An ausgewählten Proben wurden Vergleiche zwischen dem U-Net und Sensor 3D hinsichtlich Fehlstellenerkennung durchgeführt wobei sich das Sensor 3D als das geeignetere zeigte. Auch wurden Verfahren zur Visualisierung der Entwicklung der Fehlstelle nach zyklischer Erosionsbelastung entwickelt und angewandt. Im Projekt wurde erstmalig aktive Thermografie zur Defektdetektion an rotorblattähnlichen, mehrfach zyklisch mit Regen belasteten Probekörpern erfolgreich angewandt. Es wurde gezeigt, dass aktive Thermografie, insbesondere Langpuls-Thermografie auch ohne besonders starke und komplizierte Datenverarbeitung ein mächtiges Tool bei der Defektdetektion an thermisch trägen Materialien darstellt, speziell bei der Qualitätssicherung Wartung von Rotorblättern an Windenergieanlagen.

Background Giardia lamblia, a parasitic protist of the Metamonada supergroup, has evolved one of the most diverged endocytic compartment systems investigated so far. Peripheral endocytic compartments, currently known as peripheral vesicles or vacuoles (PVs), perform bulk uptake of fluid phase material which is then digested and sorted either to the cell cytosol or back to the extracellular space. Results Here, we present a quantitative morphological characterization of these organelles using volumetric electron microscopy and super-resolution microscopy (SRM). We defined a morphological classification for the heterogenous population of PVs and performed a comparative analysis of PVs and endosome-like organelles in representatives of phylogenetically related taxa, Spironucleus spp. and Tritrichomonas foetus. To investigate the as-yet insufficiently understood connection between PVs and clathrin assemblies in G. lamblia, we further performed an in-depth search for two key elements of the endocytic machinery, clathrin heavy chain (CHC) and clathrin light chain (CLC), across different lineages in Metamonada. Our data point to the loss of a bona fide CLC in the last Fornicata common ancestor (LFCA) with the emergence of a protein analogous to CLC (GlACLC) in the Giardia genus. Finally, the location of clathrin in the various compartments was quantified. Conclusions Taken together, this provides the first comprehensive nanometric view of Giardia’s endocytic system architecture and sheds light on the evolution of GlACLC analogues in the Fornicata supergroup and, specific to Giardia, as a possible adaptation to the formation and maintenance of stable clathrin assemblies at PVs.

The biological carbon pump (BCP) exports organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean through which it drives the oceanic carbon storage of atmospheric CO2. The majority of this exported carbon is mediated by sinking marine particles, which are mostly formed by primary producers i.e. phytoplankton, and detrital material including dead zoo- and phytoplankton as well as fecal pellets. The efficiency at which these marine particles are exported is largely dependent on the interplay between their degradation and the duration the particles settle through the water column. Particle and aggregate degradation is largely driven by attached microbes and zooplankton grazing, which is most prominent in the upper few hundred meters of the water column. Settling velocities of particles or aggregates are largely determined by their density and thus composition. Therefore, fast settling aggregates or particles sink more rapidly through the upper water column, which increases the carbon export efficiency. The incorporation of ballasting components, such as sediments or minerals, during particle aggregation may increase the size-specific settling velocities of the aggregates and are thus an important process for carbon export via the biological pump. The manuscripts within this dissertation focus on the impact of aggregate morphology and ballasting on settling velocities and how carbon export is mediated by slow versus fast settling aggregates. We investigated (1) the horizontal relocation of slow vs. fast settling aggregates in form of subsurface particle clouds, (2) aggregate ballasting through the incorporation of minerals which are released by melting sea-ice and (3) the role of the aggregate microstructure on settling.

Over the last 25 years, extensive geological investigations on coral mounds, seafloor structures in the deep-sea built by ecosystem-engineering cold-water corals (CWC), have revealed that the spatial and temporal occurrences of CWC depend on environmental and climate conditions. Coral mounds in the NE Atlantic were the first and have been the most studied coral mound provinces (CMPs), providing the fundamental evidence of the environmental forcing supporting CWC and on the development of coral mounds over glacial-interglacial cycles. However, the continuous discovery of coral mounds under the extremely variable oceanographic conditions along the Atlantic margins have brought new evidence to re-discuss our previous knowledge on CWC and coral mounds. This study was designed for one of the latest CMP discovered: the Namibian coral mounds. More than 2000 mounds are sitting on the Namibian inner shelf (~20°S) between 160-270 m water depths. The Namibian CMP occurs under an oceanographic setting controlled by the Benguela Upwelling System (BUS). The BUS is one of the large eastern-boundary upwelling systems with the highest primary production in the world ocean. Due to these highly productive conditions, shelf-bottom waters become severely oxygen-depleted resulting from the consumption of oxygen through the decomposition of organic matter. The Namibian coral mounds occur exactly at the core of the local oxygen minimum zone (OMZ, 160–270 m water depth), where dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) are 0-0.5 mL L−1 and accompanied by relatively high potential temperatures of 12.4 to 13.4 °C which can already be critical for CWC physiology. These present-day conditions prevent any CWC proliferation, and indeed no living colonies have been observed during the dives of a remotely operated vehicle. After the analysis and discussion of the present-day environmental condition (Manuscript I), this thesis aimed to identify how oceanographic conditions controlled the spatial-morphological variability (Manuscript II) and temporal development (Manuscript III) of the Namibian coral mounds. The results show that spatial distribution and morphometric appearance of the coral mounds is highly controlled by the interplay between the underlying topography (erosional features) and the hydrodynamic regime (internal tides). Moreover, U-series dating on CWC skeletons combined with local paleoceanographic reconstructions link the temporal development (4.5-9.5 kyr BP) of the Namibian coral mounds to a decrease of the BUS activity, with a consequent relative relaxation of the local OMZ. This likely brought DO values comparable to the present-day hypoxic conditions on the Angola CMP, where living CWC colonies have been observed. The findings of this thesis show how a comprehensive geological investigation on coral mounds can reveal important insights on the life and demise of CWC. The methods applied and the results obtained might serve as framework for investigating new CMPs, as well stimulating re-analyses of older datasets acquired from well-known CMPs. Moreover, improving our knowledge on CWC, to which this study on the Namibian coral mounds contributed, will provide insights on the fate of CWC under the changing ocean and climate conditions in the future.