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Abstract Background Many ecologically and commercially important species occur in the epipelagic marine environment and have been observed to spend a considerable amount of time associating with surface structure. The bottom depth of this habitat often exceeds transmission (~ 500-1000 m) and receiver (500–750 m) range specifications for commonly used acoustic telemetry methods that rely on an array of receivers deployed on the seafloor with overlapping fields of detection to provide positioning of acoustically tagged individuals. This poses logistical challenges for tracking the fine-scale movements, behaviors, and associations to moored and free-floating structure of these species. Acoustic telemetry can provide high resolution positioning data for tagged animals within an array of receivers with overlapping fields of detection; however, this technique has not been applied in deep open-ocean environments off the benthos. Results Herein, we detail the development of a novel vertical acoustic telemetry array that can be mounted on, or suspended from, various moored and free-floating structures in the open ocean, thus facilitating high resolution tracking of structure-associated epipelagic animals. This new ‘vertical acoustic array’ (VAR) allows for the calculation of a transmitter’s distance from the array and depth with average error around these metrics ranging from 16.2 to 54.8 m (distance error) and 8.6 to 61.5 m (depth error) within the tested range (~ 500 m radius around the array, ~ 300 m deep). We also validated the ability of the VAR to inform the association of an epipelagic species to surface structure by calculating fine-scale positioning for a great barracuda around a fish aggregating device (FAD), which on average was 27.9 ± 2.9 m away at a depth of 9.3 ± 0.4 m over a 9-day tracking period, demonstrating high association with the structure. Conclusions This new array is able to provide two-dimensional (distance away and depth) animal behavior data around natural and anthropogenic moored and free-floating structures in open-ocean environments where bottom depths often exceed transmission (~ 1000 m) and receiver (~ 500 m) range specifications of traditional bottom moored positioning arrays. This array can also be used to quantitatively assess associations of epipelagic species beyond presence/absence using a single receiver, advancing the potential to improve understanding of the interactions between pelagic fauna and anthropogenic structures such as wind turbines, oil rigs, and fish aggregation devices.

Measuring signatures of strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SF-QED) processes in an intense laser field is an experimental challenge: it requires detectors to be highly sensitive to single electrons and positrons in the presence of the typically very strong x-ray and γ -photon background levels. In this paper, we describe a particle detector capable of diagnosing single leptons from SF-QED interactions and discuss the background level simulations for the upcoming Experiment-320 at FACET-II (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). The single particle detection system described here combines pixelated scintillation LYSO screens and a Cherenkov calorimeter. We detail the performance of the system using simulations and a calibration of the Cherenkov detector at the ELBE accelerator. Single 3 GeV leptons are expected to produce approximately 537 detectable photons in a single calorimeter channel. This signal is compared to Monte-Carlo simulations of the experiment. A signal-to-noise ratio of 18 in a single Cherenkov calorimeter detector is expected and a spectral resolution of 2% is achieved using the pixelated LYSO screens.

This trial examined stepped-care cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) among 96 autistic youth with co-occurring anxiety. Step 1 included an open trial of parent-led, therapist-guided bibliotherapy. Step 2 was family-based CBT for those who did not respond to Step 1 or maintenance for those who did. Eighteen participants (28%) who completed Step 1 responded. Responders reported significantly lower pre-treatment anxiety, internalizing symptoms, and functional impairment than non-responders. After Steps 1 and 2, 80% of completers (55% intent-to-treat) were responders. Anxiety, impairment, and ASD-related impairments significantly improved. Youth in maintenance experienced faster improvement through post-treatment, though there were no group differences at 3-month-follow-up. A stepped approach may help some individuals in Step 1, particularly those who are less anxious.

Background: The mental health of university students is a global concern, with high rates of depression and anxiety that need to be addressed. Aim: We aimed to compare the mental health of Portuguese, Swedish and German university students in the health and social sciences following the Covid-19 pandemic and to analyze the factors associated with depressive and anxious symptoms in each country. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample of students from Portugal, Germany and Sweden was conducted. Data from online questionnaires, including a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the MHI-5 (Mental Health Inventory) was collected from October to December 2022. Results: The sample was composed of 1670 university students. The prevalence of mild to severe depressive symptoms was 72.7 % in Germany, 62.9 % in Sweden, and 60.3 % in Portugal and the prevalence of mild to severe anxiety symptoms was 78.6 % in Portugal, 73.7 % in Germany, and 66.9 % in Sweden. Being a female student, having a previous mental health disorder diagnosis, and poor academic performance were associated with higher severity of depression and anxiety symptoms in all three countries. Country-specific factors associated with more depressive and/or anxiety symptoms were younger age, smoking, low socioeconomic level and living away from home. Swedish students who do not consume alcohol had more anxiety symptoms and German students who do not consume alcohol had more depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The high prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among students in the three countries highlights the need to address modifiable factors that contribute to this mental health burden. Our results, which are in line with international trends, underline the need for policy reforms that target the main determinants of mental health, in particular by improving socio-economic conditions. Addressing these factors could play a crucial role in improving mental health outcomes in this population.

The choice of modality of treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms is based on various clinical aspects and the patient’s preference. Financial considerations should not be among these. To evaluate any financial variations between endovascular and microsurgical treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms in the Swiss healthcare system, we retrospectively reviewed 100 consecutive aneurysm cases treated as inpatients in our institution. Case-based financial data were collected (revenues, costs, net earnings) and compared between the treatments. Among 100 consecutive aneurysm cases treated at our institution (2021–2023), 58 were unruptured intracranial aneurysm. Treatment was endovascular in 33, microsurgery in 23 and conservative/antibiotic in 2 cases. Length of stay (but not duration in the intensive care unit) was longer after microsurgical treatment. Total median revenues (public insurance, private insurance, material reimbursement) were Swiss Francs (CHF) 30,012.25 with a maximum of CHF 125,337.20 and a minimum of CHF 9543.25. No marked difference was found between the treatment groups (endovascular and microsurgery). Despite the fact that median net earnings per patient were positive (CHF 3655.03), more than one third of all cases led to a net loss for the hospital with a tendency for more stable net earnings in microsurgery cases. The only factor associated with a higher risk of net loss per case was higher implant costs in endovascular cases. Reimbursement within the Swiss healthcare system does not promote financial bias for decision-making in treatment modality for unruptured intracranial aneurysm. The fact that one third of all cases does not result in positive net earnings (even in the highly paid unruptured intracranial aneurysm sector), although overall net earnings were positive, should be monitored – especially in times of rising costs.

Objective: This expert-led consensus aims to provide primary care providers (PCPs) with recommendations for the care of atopic dermatitis (AD) in patients aged

The purpose of this article is to present findings related to parent- and youth-reported outcomes from a nutrition- and fitness-themed summer camp targeting low-income families and to identify lessons learned in the implementation, evaluation and sustainability of a summer program. The Healthy Lifestyle Fitness Camp, offered through UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE), was a summer camp program for low-income youth at high risk for obesity. From 2009 to 2012, UCCE nutrition staff in Fresno County collaborated with the camp staff to provide a 6-week nutrition education program to the campers and their parents. Anthropometry and dietary data were collected from youth. Data about food preferences and availability were collected from youth and parents. As reported by parents in pre- to immediately post-camp surveys, Healthy Lifestyle Fitness campers consumed fruits and vegetables promoted at camp more often, relative to a comparison group of youth in a nearby non-nutrition themed camp. Summer programs may be an effective tool in the reduction of childhood obesity risk factors if implemented appropriately into the community and through the utilization of supportive partnerships such as UCCE and local parks and recreation departments.

Due to their strict photon-number correlation, the twin beams produced in parametric down-conversion (PDC) work well for heralded state generation. Often, however, this state manipulation is distorted by the optical losses in the herald and by the higher photon-number contributions inevitable in the PDC process. In order to find feasible figures of merit for characterizing the heralded states, we investigate their normalized factorial moments of the photon number that can be accessed regardless of the optical losses in the detection. We then perform a measurement of the joint photon statistics of twin beams from a semiconductor Bragg-reflection waveguide with transition-edge sensors acting as photon-number-resolving detectors. We extract the photon-number parity of heralded single photons in a loss-tolerant fashion by utilizing the moment generating function. The photon-number parity is highly practicable in quantum state characterization, since it takes into account the complete photon-number content of the target state.

We provide experimental and theoretical insight into single-emitter lasing effects in a quantum dot (QD)-microlaser under controlled variation of background gain provided by off-resonant discrete gain centers. For that purpose, we apply an advanced two-color excitation concept where the background gain contribution of off-resonant QDs can be continuously tuned by precisely balancing the relative excitation power of two lasers emitting at different wavelengths. In this way, by selectively exciting a single resonant QD and off-resonant QDs, we identify distinct single-QD signatures in the lasing characteristics and distinguish between gain contributions of a single resonant emitter and a countable number of off-resonant background emitters to the optical output of the microlaser. Our work addresses the important question whether single-QD lasing is feasible in experimentally accessible systems and shows that, for the investigated microlaser, the single-QD gain needs to be supported by the background gain contribution of off-resonant QDs to reach the transition to lasing. Interestingly, while a single QD cannot drive the investigated micropillar into lasing, its relative contribution to the emission can be as high as 70% and it dominates the statistics of emitted photons in the intermediate excitation regime below threshold.

We conducted a search for new ultracool companions to nearby white dwarfs using multiple methods, including the analysis of colors and examination of images in both the optical and the infrared. Through this process, we identified 51 previously unrecognized systems with candidate ultracool companions. 31 of these systems are resolved in at least one catalog, and all but six are confirmed as comoving companions via common proper motion and consistent parallax measurements (when available). We have followed up four comoving companions with near-infrared spectroscopy and confirm their ultracool nature. The remaining twenty candidates are unresolved, but show clear signs of infrared excess which is most likely due to the presence of a cold, low-mass companion or a dusty circumstellar disk. Three of these unresolved systems have existing optical spectra that clearly show the presence of a cool stellar companion to the white dwarf primary via spectral decomposition. These new discoveries, along with our age estimates for the primary white dwarfs, will serve as valuable benchmark systems for future characterization of ultracool dwarfs.

Approximately 25 million children in the United States are obese or at risk of becoming obese, with anticipated negative consequences for individual health as well as the nation's future health-care costs. Effective interventions to prevent obesity require more than educating individuals. To bring about change, we must deploy tactics at multiple levels, from community facilities like parks and bike paths to foods offered in schools. The Spectrum of Prevention proposed in 1999 by L. Cohen and S. Smith first described this approach. UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) has helped evaluate large-scale community-based obesity prevention programs and has experience aligning county nutrition programs with new dietary guidelines. This UCCE expertise enables UC to develop more effective obesity prevention strategies and to influence policy addressing childhood obesity. Notably, UCCE's expertise in nutrition and obesity prevention will be applied to implementing a new intervention program. The new program employs multiple components including UC Cooperative Extension materials and community networks and is designed to impact factors contributing to risk for childhood obesity.

In this work we present an extensive experimental and theoretical investigation of different regimes of strong field light–matter interaction for cavity-driven quantum dot (QD) cavity systems. The electric field enhancement inside a high-Q micropillar cavity facilitates exceptionally strong interaction with few cavity photons, enabling the simultaneous investigation for a wide range of QD-laser detuning. In case of a resonant drive, the formation of dressed states and a Mollow triplet sideband splitting of up to 45 μ eV is measured for a mean cavity photon number $\langle {n}_{c}\rangle \leqslant 1$ . In the asymptotic limit of the linear AC Stark effect we systematically investigate the power and detuning dependence of more than 400 QDs. Some QD-cavity systems exhibit an unexpected anomalous Stark shift, which can be explained by an extended dressed 4-level QD model. We provide a detailed analysis of the QD-cavity systems properties enabling this novel effect. The experimental results are successfully reproduced using a polaron master equation approach for the QD-cavity system, which includes the driving laser field, exciton-cavity and exciton-phonon interactions.

We report on electrically pumped quantum dot–microlasers in the presence of polarized self-feedback. The high- β microlasers show two orthogonal, linearly polarized emission modes which are coupled via the common gain medium. This coupling is explained in terms of gain competition between the two lasing modes and leads to distinct differences in their input–output characteristics. By applying polarized self-feedback via an external mirror, we are able to control the laser characteristics of the emission modes in terms of the output power, the coherence time and the photon statistics. We find that linearly polarized self-feedback stabilizes the lasing of a given mode, while cross-polarized feedback between the two modes reduces strongly the intensity of the other emission mode showing particular high-intensity fluctuations and even super-thermal values of the photon autocorrelation function g ^(2) ( τ ) at zero delay. Measurements of g ^(2) ( τ ) under external feedback also allow us to detect revival peaks associated with the round trip time of the external cavity. Analyzing the damping and shape of the g ^(2) ( τ ) revival peaks by a phenomenological model provides us insight into the underlying physics such as the effective exciton lifetime and gain characteristics of the quantum dots in the active region of these microlasers.

Interaction between light and matter generates optical nonlinearities, which are particularly pronounced in the quantum strong coupling regime. When a single bosonic mode couples to a single fermionic mode, a Jaynes–Cummings (JC) ladder is formed, which we realize here using cavity photons and quantum dot excitons. We measure and model the coherent anharmonic response of this strongly coupled exciton–cavity system at resonance. Injecting two photons into the cavity, we demonstrate a $\sqrt {2}$ larger polariton splitting with respect to the vacuum Rabi splitting. This is achieved using coherent nonlinear spectroscopy, specifically four-wave mixing, where the coherence between the ground state and the first (second) rung of the JC ladder can be interrogated for positive (negative) delays. With increasing excitation intensity and thus rising average number of injected photons, we observe spectral signatures of the quantum-to-classical crossover of the strong coupling regime.

The coldest Y spectral type brown dwarfs are similar in mass and temperature to cool and warm (∼200–400 K) giant exoplanets. We can therefore use their atmospheres as proxies for planetary atmospheres, testing our understanding of physics and chemistry for these complex, cool worlds. At these cold temperatures, their atmospheres are cold enough for water clouds to form, and chemical timescales increase, increasing the likelihood of disequilibrium chemistry compared to warmer classes of planets. JWST observations are revolutionizing the characterization of these worlds with high signal-to-noise, moderate-resolution near- and mid-infrared spectra. The spectra have been used to measure the abundances of prominent species, like water, methane, and ammonia; species that trace chemical reactions, like carbon monoxide; and even isotopologues of carbon monoxide and ammonia. Here, we present atmospheric retrieval results using both published fixed-slit (Guaranteed Time Observation program 1230) and new averaged time series observations (GO program 2327) of the coldest known Y dwarf, WISE 0855–0714 (using NIRSpec G395M spectra), which has an effective temperature of ∼264 K. We present a detection of deuterium in an atmosphere outside of the solar system via a relative measurement of deuterated methane (CH _3 D) and standard methane. From this, we infer the D/H ratio of a substellar object outside the solar system for the first time. We also present a well-constrained part-per-billion abundance of phosphine (PH _3 ). We discuss our interpretation of these results and the implications for brown dwarf and giant exoplanet formation and evolution.

Many giant stars are magnetically active, which causes rotational variability, chromospheric emission lines, and X-ray emission. Large outbursts in these emission features can set limits on the magnetic field strength and thus constrain the mechanism of the underlying dynamo. HD 251108 is a Li-rich active K-type giant. We find a rotational period of 21.3 days with color changes and additional long-term photometric variability. Both can be explained with very stable stellar spots. We followed the decay phase of a superflare for 28 days with NICER and from the ground. We track the flare decay in unprecedented detail in several coronal temperature components. With a peak flux around 10 ^34 erg s ^−1 (0.5–4.0 keV) and an exponential decay time of 2.2 days in the early decay phase, this is one of the strongest flares ever observed, yet it follows trends established from samples of smaller flares, for example, for the relations between H α and X-ray flux, indicating that the physical process that powers the flare emission is consistent over a large range of flare energies. We estimate a flare loop length about 2–4 times the stellar radius. No evidence is seen for abundance changes during the flare.

Including radiative transfer processes within the urban canopy layer into microscale urban climate models (UCMs) is essential to obtain realistic model results. These processes include the interaction of buildings and vegetation with shortwave and longwave radiation, thermal emission, and radiation reflections. They contribute differently to the radiation budget of urban surfaces. Each process requires different computational resources and physical data for the urban elements. This study investigates how much detail modellers should include to parameterize radiative transfer in microscale building-resolving UCMs. To that end, we introduce a stepwise parameterization method to the Parallelized Large-eddy Simulation Model (PALM) system 6.0 to quantify individually the effects of the main radiative transfer processes on the radiation budget and on the flow field. We quantify numerical simulations of both simple and realistic urban configurations to identify the major and the minor effects of radiative transfer processes on the radiation budget. The study shows that processes such as surface and vegetation interaction with shortwave and longwave radiation will have major effects, while a process such as multiple reflections will have minor effects. The study also shows that radiative transfer processes within the canopy layer implicitly affect the incoming radiation since the radiative transfer model is coupled to the radiation model. The flow field changes considerably in response to the radiative transfer processes included in the model. The study identified those processes which are essentially needed to assure acceptable quality of the flow field. These processes are receiving radiation from atmosphere based on the sky-view factors, interaction of urban vegetation with radiation, radiative transfer among urban surfaces, and considering at least single reflection of radiation. Omitting any of these processes may lead to high uncertainties in the model results.

Abstract Future high luminosity polarized deep-inelastic scattering experiments will improve both the knowledge of the spin sub-structure of the nucleons and contribute further to the precision determination of the strong coupling constant, as well as, reveal currently yet unknown higher twist contributions in the polarized sector. For all these tasks to be performed, it is necessary to know the QCD leading twist scaling violations of the measured structure functions. Here an important ingredient consists in the polarized singlet anomalous dimensions and splitting functions in QCD. We recalculate these quantities to three-loop order in the M-scheme by using the traditional method of space-like off-shell massless operator matrix elements, being a gauge-dependent framework. Here one obtains the anomalous dimensions without referring to gravitational currents, needed when calculating them using the forward Compton amplitude. We also calculate the non-singlet splitting function ∆ P qq 2 , s , NS $$ \Delta {P}_{\mathrm{qq}}^{(2),\mathrm{s},\mathrm{NS}} $$ and compare the final results to the literature, also including predictions for the region of small values of Bjorken x.

Room-temperature exciton polaritons in a monolayer WS2 are shown to display strong motional narrowing of the linewidth and enhanced first-order coherence. They can propagate for tens of micrometers while maintaining partial coherence, and display signatures of ballistic (dissipationless) transport.

Excitons in atomically thin crystals couple strongly with light. Here, the authors observe lattice polaritons in a tunable open optical cavity at room temperature, with an imprinted photonic lattice strongly coupled to excitons in a WS2 monolayer.

Abstract Background The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) is a widely used measure of subjective well-being. Recent evidence indicates the fifth item of the scale reduces the reliability of the scale and is inappropriate for use in traumatic injury populations. The purpose of this study was to develop a linking procedure between the five-item version of the SWLS and a modified four-item version, which removes the problematic item, for use in Spinal Cord (SCI), Traumatic Brain (TBI), and Burn Injury populations. Methods Proration (i.e. adding the mean of the four items to their total) was identified as a potential linking solution that could be easily implemented in clinical or research settings. The validity of the proration approach was evaluated by examining mean differences, cross group classification by SWLS category, score correlations, the intraclass correlation coefficient, and visual inspection of Bland-Altman plots in a large sample of SCI, TBI, and Burn Injury survivors who were participants in the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Model Systems’ National Databases. Results A total of 17,897 (SCI n = 8566, TBI n = 7941, and Burn n = 1390) participants were included in this study. SWLS scores ranged from 5 to 35, and the average score difference between directly derived and prorated scores was 0.39 points. A large majority of the sample (93%) had score differences of

Abstract Premature-born infants have impaired amygdala structure, presumably due to increased stress levels of premature birth mediated by the amygdala. However, accounting for lifelong plasticity of amygdala, it is unclear whether such structural changes persist into adulthood. To address this problem, we stated the following questions: first, are whole amygdala volumes reduced in premature-born adults? And second, as adult anxiety traits are often increased after prematurity and linked with amygdala structure, are alterations in amygdala associated with adults’ anxiety traits after premature birth? We addressed these questions by automated amygdala segmentation of MRI volumes in 101 very premature-born adults (

The extensive diversity of the tribe Orobancheae, the most species-rich lineage of holoparasitic Orobanchaceae, is concentrated in the Caucasus and Mediterranean regions of the Old World. This extant diversity has inspired hypotheses that these regions are also centres of origin of its key lineages, however the ability to test hypotheses has been limited by a lack of sampling and phylogenetic information about the species, especially in the Caucasus region. First, we assessed the phylogenetic relationships of several poorly known, problematic, or newly described species and host-races of four genera of Orobancheae occurring in the Caucasus region–Cistanche, Phelypaea, Phelipanche and Orobanche–using nuclear ribosomal (ITS) and plastid (trnL–trnF) sequence data. Then we applied a probablistic dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis model of historical biogeography across a more inclusive clade of holoparasites, to explicitly test hypotheses of Orobancheae diversification and historical biogeography shifts. In sum, we sampled 548 sequences (including 196 newly generated) from 13 genera, 140 species, and 175 taxa across 44 countries. We find that the Western Asia (particularly the Caucasus) and the Mediterranean are the centre of origin for large clades of holoparasitic Orobancheae within the last 6 million years. In the Caucasus, the centres of diversity are composed both of long-branch taxa and shallow, recently diversified clades, while Orobancheae diversity in the Mediterranean appears to represent mainly recent diversification.

Cordillera Darwin in Tierra del Fuego (Chile) remains one of the least studied glaciated regions in the world. However, this region being one of very few terrestrial sites at this latitude in the Southern Hemisphere has the potential to provide key information on the effect of climate variability and climate change on the cryosphere at sub-polar mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. Schiaparelli Glacier is located at the northern side of the Cordillera Darwin draining the north side of Monte Sarmiento (2187 m a.s.l.). Despite being one of the largest glaciers in the Cordillera Darwin, no previous in situ observation of its ice thickness had been made either at this glacier or at any other location in the Cordillera Darwin. Ice thickness is one of the fundamental parameters to understand glacier dynamics, constrain ice dynamical modelling, and predict glacier evolution. In April 2016 we performed the first successful ice thickness measurements using terrestrial ground-penetrating radar in the ablation area of Schiaparelli Glacier (Gacitúa et al., 2020, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.919331). The measurements were made along a transect line perpendicular to the ice flow. Results show a valley-shaped bedrock with a maximum ice thickness of 324 m within a distinct glacier trough. The bedrock is located below current sea level for 51 % of the transect measurements with a minimum of −158 m, which illustrates that the local topography is subject to considerable glacier-related over-deepening.

Abstract Background Microglia-driven cerebral spreading inflammation is a key contributor to secondary brain injury after SAH. Genetic depletion or deactivation of microglia has been shown to ameliorate neuronal cell death. Therefore, clinically feasible anti-inflammatory approaches counteracting microglia accumulation or activation are interesting targets for SAH treatment. Here, we tested two different methods of interference with microglia-driven cerebral inflammation in a murine SAH model: (i) inflammatory preconditioning and (ii) pharmacological deactivation. Methods 7T-MRI-controlled SAH was induced by endovascular perforation in four groups of C57Bl/6 mice: (i) Sham-operation, (ii) SAH naïve, (iii) SAH followed by inflammatory preconditioning (LPS intraperitoneally), and (iv) SAH followed by pharmacological microglia deactivation (colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor-antagonist PLX3397 intraperitoneally). Microglia accumulation and neuronal cell death (immuno-fluorescence), as well as activation status (RT-PCR for inflammation-associated molecules from isolated microglia) were recorded at day 4 and 14. Toll-like receptor4 (TLR4) status was analyzed using FACS. Results Following SAH, significant cerebral spreading inflammation occurred. Microglia accumulation and pro-inflammatory gene expression were accompanied by neuronal cell death with a maximum on day 14 after SAH. Inflammatory preconditioning as well as PLX3397-treatment resulted in significantly reduced microglia accumulation and activation as well as neuronal cell death. TLR4 surface expression in preconditioned animals was diminished as a sign for receptor activation and internalization. Conclusions Microglia-driven cerebral spreading inflammation following SAH contributes to secondary brain injury. Two microglia-focused treatment strategies, (i) inflammatory preconditioning with LPS and (ii) pharmacological deactivation with PLX3397, led to significant reduction of neuronal cell death. Increased internalization of inflammation-driving TLR4 after preconditioning leaves less receptor molecules on the cell surface, providing a probable explanation for significantly reduced microglia activation. Our findings support microglia-focused treatment strategies to overcome secondary brain injury after SAH. Delayed inflammation onset provides a valuable clinical window of opportunity.

Abstract USP9X is an X-chromosome gene that escapes X-inactivation. Loss or compromised function of USP9X leads to neurodevelopmental disorders in males and females. While males are impacted primarily by hemizygous partial loss-of-function missense variants, in females de novo heterozygous complete loss-of-function mutations predominate, and give rise to the clinically recognisable USP9X-female syndrome. Here we provide evidence of the contribution of USP9X missense and small in-frame deletion variants in USP9X-female syndrome also. We scrutinise the pathogenicity of eleven such variants, ten of which were novel. Combined application of variant prediction algorithms, protein structure modelling, and assessment under clinically relevant guidelines universally support their pathogenicity. The core phenotype of this cohort overlapped with previous descriptions of USP9X-female syndrome, but exposed heightened variability. Aggregate phenotypic information of 35 currently known females with predicted pathogenic variation in USP9X reaffirms the clinically recognisable USP9X-female syndrome, and highlights major differences when compared to USP9X-male associated neurodevelopmental disorders.

Glacier changes are a vivid example of how environmental systems react to a changing climate. Distributed surface mass balance models, which translate the meteorological conditions on glaciers into local melting rates, help to attribute and detect glacier mass and volume responses to changes in the climate drivers. A well-calibrated model is a suitable test bed for sensitivity, detection, and attribution analyses for many scientific applications and often serves as a tool for quantifying the inherent uncertainties. Here, we present the open-source COupled Snowpack and Ice surface energy and mass balance model in PYthon (COSIPY), which provides a flexible and user-friendly framework for modeling distributed snow and glacier mass changes. The model has a modular structure so that the exchange of routines or parameterizations of physical processes is possible with little effort for the user. The framework consists of a computational kernel, which forms the runtime environment and takes care of the initialization, the input–output routines, and the parallelization, as well as the grid and data structures. This structure offers maximum flexibility without having to worry about the internal numerical flow. The adaptive subsurface scheme allows an efficient and fast calculation of the otherwise computationally demanding fundamental equations. The surface energy balance scheme uses established standard parameterizations for radiation as well as for the energy exchange between atmosphere and surface. The schemes are coupled by solving both surface energy balance and subsurface fluxes iteratively such that consistent surface skin temperature is returned at the interface. COSIPY uses a one-dimensional approach limited to the vertical fluxes of energy and matter but neglects any lateral processes. Accordingly, the model can be easily set up in parallel computational environments for calculating both energy balance and climatic surface mass balance of glacier surfaces based on flexible horizontal grids and with varying temporal resolution. The model is made available on a freely accessible site and can be used for non-profit purposes. Scientists are encouraged to actively participate in the extension and improvement of the model code.

Determining molecular clustering in Photoactivated Localization Microscopy (PALM) experiments requires knowledge of the blinking properties of the fluorophore to prevent overcounting artefacts. Here the authors develop an experimental and analytical framework to determine the blinking parameters of fluorophores and incorporate this information into cluster analysis.

The global biodiversity decline might conceal complex local and group-specific trends. Here the authors report a quantitative synthesis of longterm biodiversity trends across Europe, showing how, despite overall increase in biodiversity metric and stability in abundance, trends differ between regions, ecosystem types, and taxa.

Antarctica is well known to be highly susceptible to atmospheric and oceanic warming. However, due to the lack of long-term and in situ meteorological observations, little is known about the magnitude of the warming and the meteorological conditions in the intersection region between the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). Here we present new stable water isotope data (δ18O, δD, d excess) and accumulation rates from firn cores in the Union Glacier (UG) region, located in the Ellsworth Mountains at the northern edge of the WAIS. The firn core stable oxygen isotopes and the d excess exhibit no statistically significant trend for the period 1980–2014, suggesting that regional changes in near-surface air temperature and moisture source variability have been small during the last 35 years. Backward trajectory modelling revealed the Weddell Sea sector, Coats Land and Dronning Maud Land (DML) to be the main moisture source regions for the study site throughout the year. We found that mean annual δ18O (δD) values in the UG region are negatively correlated with sea ice concentrations (SICs) in the northern Weddell Sea but not influenced by large-scale modes of climate variability such as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Only mean annual d-excess values show a weak positive correlation with the SAM. On average annual snow accumulation in the UG region amounts to 0.245 m w.e. a−1 in 1980–2014 and has slightly decreased during this period. It is only weakly related to sea ice conditions in the Weddell Sea sector and not correlated with SAM and ENSO. We conclude that neither the rapid warming nor the large increases in snow accumulation observed on the AP and in West Antarctica during the last decades have extended inland to the Ellsworth Mountains. Hence, the UG region, although located at the northern edge of the WAIS and relatively close to the AP, exhibits rather stable climate characteristics similar to those observed in East Antarctica.