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Leaf-level gas exchange data support the mechanistic understanding of plant fluxes of carbon and water. These fluxes inform our understanding of ecosystem function, are an important constraint on parameterization of terrestrial biosphere models, are necessary to understand the response of plants to global environmental change, and are integral to efforts to improve crop production. Collection of these data using gas analyzers can be both technically challenging and time consuming, and individual studies generally focus on a small range of species, restricted time periods, or limited geographic regions. The high value of these data is exemplified by the many publications that reuse and synthesize gas exchange data, however the lack of metadata and data reporting conventions make full and efficient use of these data difficult. Here we propose a reporting format for leaf-level gas exchange data and metadata to provide guidance to data contributors on how to store data in repositories to maximize their discoverability, facilitate their efficient reuse, and add value to individual datasets. For data users, the reporting format will better allow data repositories to optimize data search and extraction, and more readily integrate similar data into harmonized synthesis products. The reporting format specifies data table variable naming and unit conventions, as well as metadata characterizing experimental conditions and protocols. For common data types that were the focus of this initial version of the reporting format, i.e., survey measurements, dark respiration, carbon dioxide and light response curves, and parameters derived from those measurements, we took a further step of defining required additional data and metadata that would maximize the potential reuse of those data types. To aid data contributors and the development of data ingest tools by data repositories we provided a translation table comparing the outputs of common gas exchange instruments. Extensive consultation with data collectors, data users, instrument manufacturers, and data scientists was undertaken in order to ensure that the reporting format met community needs. The reporting format presented here is intended to form a foundation for future development that will incorporate additional data types and variables as gas exchange systems and measurement approaches advance in the future. The reporting format is published in the U.S. Department of Energy's ESS-DIVE data repository, with documentation and future development efforts being maintained in a version control system.

Background: The present analysis aimed to assess the mediating role of psychosocial and behavioural factors in socio-economic inequalities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among children and adolescents., Methods: Cross-sectional data was drawn from the randomly selected SEROCoV-KIDS cohort study in Geneva, Switzerland. Associations of socio-economic conditions (parents' highest education, household financial situation) with HRQoL, psychosocial (parent-child relationship, school difficulties, friends, extracurricular activities) and behavioural factors (screen time, physical activity, green spaces time, sleep duration), along with associations of psychosocial and behavioural factors with HRQoL, were evaluated with generalized estimating equations. Counterfactual mediation analyses were conducted to test pathways linking socio-economic conditions to HRQoL., Results: Of 965 children and 816 adolescents, those with disadvantaged financial circumstances were more likely to have a poor HRQoL (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]: 3.80; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.96-7.36 and aOR: 3.66; 95%CI: 2.06-6.52, respectively). Psychosocial characteristics mediated 25% (95%CI: 5-70%) and 40% (95%CI: 18-63%) of financial disparities in HRQoL among children and adolescents, respectively. Health behaviours were weakly patterned by socio-economic conditions and did not contribute to financial differences in HRQoL., Conclusions: These findings provide empirical evidence for mechanisms explaining socio-economic disparities in child HRQoL and could inform interventions aimed to tackle health inequalities., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Pediatric Cardiac Quality of Life Inventory (PCQLI) is a disease-specific pediatric cardiac health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument that is reliable, valid, and generalizable. We aim to demonstrate PCQLI responsiveness in children undergoing arrhythmia ablation, heart transplantation, and valve surgery before and after cardiac intervention., Methods: Pediatric cardiac patients 8-18 years of age from 11 centers undergoing arrhythmia ablation, heart transplantation, or valve surgery were enrolled. Patient and parent-proxy PCQLI Total, Disease Impact and Psychosocial Impact subscale scores were assessed pre- and 3-12 months follow-up. Patient clinical status was assessed by a clinician post-procedure and dichotomized into markedly improved/improved and no change/worse/much worse. Paired t-tests examined change over time., Results: We included 195 patient/parent-proxies: 12.6 ± 3.0 years of age; median follow-up time 6.7 (IQR = 5.3-8.2) months; procedural groups - 79 (41%) ablation, 28 (14%) heart transplantation, 88 (45%) valve surgery; clinical status - 164 (84%) markedly improved/improved, 31 (16%) no change/worse/much worse. PCQLI patient and parent-proxies Total scores increased (p ≤ 0.013) in each intervention group. All PCQLI scores were higher (p < 0.001) in the markedly improved/improved group and there were no clinically significant differences in the PCQLI scores in the no difference/worse/much worse group., Conclusion: The PCQLI is responsive in the pediatric cardiac population. Patients with improved clinical status and their parent-proxies reported increased HRQOL after the procedure. Patients with no improvement in clinical status and their parent-proxies reported no change in HRQOL. PCQLI may be used as a patient-reported outcome measure for longitudinal follow-up and interventional trials to assess HRQOL impact from patient and parent-proxy perspectives., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background: Mental health deteriorated in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but improved relatively quickly as restrictions were eased, suggesting overall resilience. However, longer-term follow-up of mental health in the general population is scarce., Methods: We examined mental health trajectories in 5624 adults (58 % women; aged 18-97 years) from the Specchio-COVID19 cohort, using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale-2 and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, administered each month from February to June 2021, and in Spring 2022 and 2023., Results: Depressive and anxiety symptoms declined during a pandemic wave from February to May 2021 (β = -0.06 [-0.07, -0.06]; -0.06 [-0.07, -0.05]), and remained lower at longer-term follow-up than at the start of the wave. Loneliness also declined over time, with the greatest decline during the pandemic wave (β = -0.25 [-0.26, -0.24]). Many higher-risk groups, including socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, those with a chronic condition, and those living alone had poorer mental health levels throughout the study period. Women and younger individuals had a faster improvement in mental health during the pandemic wave. Loneliness trajectories were associated with mental health trajectories throughout the study period., Limitations: We cannot definitively conclude that the observed changes in mental health were due to experiences of the pandemic., Conclusions: While there was a need for additional mental health support during stricter policy responses to COVID-19, overall, mental health improved relatively soon after measures were eased. Nevertheless, the persistence of mental health disparities highlights the need for further efforts from the government and healthcare practitioners to support vulnerable groups beyond the pandemic., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Pandemic-related life changes may have had a deleterious impact on suicidal behaviours. Early detection of suicidal ideation and identification of subgroups at increased risk could help prevent suicide, one of the leading causes of death among adolescents worldwide. Here, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for suicidal ideation in adolescents using a population-based sample from Switzerland, two years into the pandemic., Methods: Between December 2021 and June 2022, adolescents aged 14 to 17 years already enrolled in a population-based cohort study (State of Geneva, Switzerland) were asked about suicidal ideation over the previous year. In addition to a regression model, we conducted a network analysis of exposures which identified direct and indirect risk factors for suicidal ideation (i.e. those connected through intermediate risk factors) using mixed graphical models., Results: Among 492 adolescents, 14.4% (95% CI: 11.5-17.8) declared having experienced suicidal ideation over the previous year. Using network analysis, we found that high psychological distress, low self-esteem, identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, suffering from bullying, extensive screen time and a severe COVID-19 pandemic impact were major risk factors for suicidal ideation, with parent-adolescent relationship having the highest centrality strength in the network., Conclusion: Our results show that a significant proportion of adolescents experience suicidal ideation, yet these rates are comparable with pre-pandemic results. Providing psychological support is fundamental, with a focus on improving parent-adolescent relationships.

Forest disturbances increase the proportion of fast-growing tree species compared to slow-growing ones. To understand their relative capacity for carbon uptake and their vulnerability to climate change, and to represent those differences in Earth system models, it is necessary to characterise the physiological differences in their leaf-level control of water use efficiency and carbon assimilation. We used wood density as a proxy for the fast-slow growth spectrum and tested the assumption that trees with a low wood density (LWD) have a lower water-use efficiency than trees with a high wood density (HWD). We selected 5 LWD tree species and 5 HWD tree species growing in the same location in an Amazonian tropical forest and measured in situ steady-state gas exchange on top-of-canopy leaves with parallel sampling and measurement of leaf mass area and leaf nitrogen content. We found that LWD species invested more nitrogen in photosynthetic capacity than HWD species, had higher photosynthetic rates and higher stomatal conductance. However, contrary to expectations, we showed that the stomatal control of the balance between transpiration and carbon assimilation was similar in LWD and HWD species and that they had the same dark respiration rates., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Vegetative transpiration (E) and photosynthetic carbon assimilation (A) are known to be seasonally dynamic, with changes in their ratio determining the marginal water use efficiency (WUE). Despite an understanding that stomata play a mechanistic role in regulating WUE, it is still unclear how stomatal and nonstomatal processes influence change in WUE over the course of the growing season. As a result, limited understanding of the primary physiological drivers of seasonal dynamics of canopy WUE remains one of the largest uncertainties in earth system model projections of carbon and water exchange in temperate deciduous forest ecosystems. We investigated seasonal patterns in leaf-level physiological, hydraulic, and anatomical properties, including the seasonal progress of the stomatal slope parameter (g 1 ; inversely proportional to WUE) and the maximum carboxylation rate (V cmax ). V cmax and g 1 were seasonally variable; however, their patterns were not temporally synchronized. g 1 generally showed an increasing trend until late in the season, while V cmax peaked during the midsummer months. Seasonal progression of V cmax was primarily driven by changes in leaf structural, and anatomical characteristics, while seasonal changes in g 1 were most strongly related to changes in V cmax and leaf hydraulics. Using a seasonally variable V cmax and g 1 to parameterize a canopy-scale gas exchange model increased seasonally aggregated A and E by 3% and 16%, respectively., (© 2023 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2023 New Phytologist Foundation This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)

Background: Children and adolescents are highly vulnerable to the impact of sustained stressors during developmentally sensitive times. We investigated how demographic characteristics intersect with socioeconomic dimensions to shape the social patterning of quality of life and mental health in children and adolescents, two years into the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: We used data from the prospective SEROCoV-KIDS cohort study of children and adolescents living in Geneva (Switzerland, 2022). We conducted an intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy by nesting participants within 48 social strata defined by intersecting sex, age, immigrant background, parental education and financial hardship in Bayesian multilevel logistic models for poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL, measured with PedsQL) and mental health difficulties (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire)., Results: Among participants aged 2-17 years, 240/2096 (11.5%, 95%CI 10.1-12.9) had poor HRQoL and 105/2135 (4.9%, 95%CI 4.0-5.9) had mental health difficulties. The predicted proportion of poor HRQoL ranged from 3.4% for 6-11 years old Swiss girls with highly educated parents and no financial hardship to 34.6% for 12-17 years old non-Swiss girls with highly educated parents and financial hardship. Intersectional strata involving adolescents and financial hardship showed substantially worse HRQoL than their counterparts. Between-stratum variations in the predicted frequency of mental health difficulties were limited (range 4.4%-6.5%)., Conclusions: We found considerable differences in adverse outcomes across social strata. Our results suggest that, post-pandemic, interventions to address social inequities in HRQoL should focus on specific intersectional strata involving adolescents and families experiencing financial hardship, while those aiming to improve mental health should target all children and adolescents., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: KMPB is a member of the Advisory Boards for pneumococcal vaccine and varicella vaccine at MSD. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) include the representation of vertical gradients in leaf traits associated with modeling photosynthesis, respiration, and stomatal conductance. However, model assumptions associated with these gradients have not been tested in complex tropical forest canopies. We compared TBM representation of the vertical gradients of key leaf traits with measurements made in a tropical forest in Panama and then quantified the impact of the observed gradients on simulated canopy-scale CO 2 and water fluxes. Comparison between observed and TBM trait gradients showed divergence that impacted canopy-scale simulations of water vapor and CO 2 exchange. Notably, the ratio between the dark respiration rate and the maximum carboxylation rate was lower near the ground than at the top-of-canopy, leaf-level water-use efficiency was markedly higher at the top-of-canopy, and the decrease in maximum carboxylation rate from the top-of-canopy to the ground was less than TBM assumptions. The representation of the gradients of leaf traits in TBMs is typically derived from measurements made within-individual plants, or, for some traits, assumed constant due to a lack of experimental data. Our work shows that these assumptions are not representative of the trait gradients observed in species-rich, complex tropical forests., (© 2023 The Authors New Phytologist © 2023 New Phytologist Foundation This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)