Prenatal adversity has been linked to later psychopathology. Yet, research on cumulative prenatal adversity, as well as its interaction with offspring genotype, on brain and behavioral development is scarce. With this study, we aimed to address this gap. In Finnish mother–infant dyads, we investigated the association of a cumulative prenatal adversity sum score (PRE-AS) with (a) child emotional and behavioral problems assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 4 and 5 years (N = 1568, 45.3% female), (b) infant amygdalar and hippocampal volumes (subsample N = 122), and (c) its moderation by a hippocampal-specific coexpression polygenic risk score based on the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) gene. We found that higher PRE-AS was linked to greater child emotional and behavioral problems at both time points, with partly stronger associations in boys than in girls. Higher PRE-AS was associated with larger bilateral infant amygdalar volumes in girls compared to boys, while no associations were found for hippocampal volumes. Further, hyperactivity/inattention in 4-year-old girls was related to both genotype and PRE-AS, the latter partially mediated by right amygdalar volumes as preliminary evidence suggests. Our study is the first to demonstrate a dose-dependent sexually dimorphic relationship between cumulative prenatal adversity and infant amygdalar volumes.

Evolution of cold dry snow and firn plays important roles in glaciology; however, the physical formulation of a densification law is still an active research topic. We forced eight firn-densification models and one seasonal-snow model in six different experiments by imposing step changes in temperature and accumulation-rate boundary conditions; all of the boundary conditions were chosen to simulate firn densification in cold, dry environments. While the intended application of the participating models varies, they are describing the same physical system and should in principle yield the same solutions. The firn models all produce plausible depth-density profiles, but the model outputs in both steady state and transient modes differ for quantities that are of interest in ice core and altimetry research. These differences demonstrate that firn-densification models are incorrectly or incompletely representing physical processes. We quantitatively characterize the differences among the results from the various models. For example, we find depth-integrated porosity is unlikely to be inferred with confidence from a firn model to better than 2 m in steady state at a specific site with known accumulation rate and temperature. Firn Model Intercomparison Experiment can provide a benchmark of results for future models, provide a basis to quantify model uncertainties and guide future directions of firn-densification modeling.

The UK was one of few European countries to document a substantial wave of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in summer 2009. The First Few Hundred (FF100) project ran from April–June 2009 gathering information on early laboratory-confirmed cases across the UK. In total, 392 confirmed cases were followed up. Children were predominantly affected (median age 15 years, IQR 10–27). Symptoms were mild and similar to seasonal influenza, with the exception of diarrhoea, which was reported by 27%. Eleven per cent of all cases had an underlying medical condition, similar to the general population. The majority (92%) were treated with antiviral drugs with 12% reporting adverse effects, mainly nausea and other gastrointestinal complaints. Duration of illness was significantly shorter when antivirals were given within 48 h of onset (median 5 vs. 9 days, P=0·01). No patients died, although 14 were hospitalized, of whom three required mechanical ventilation. The FF100 identified key clinical and epidemiological characteristics of infection with this novel virus in near real-time.

Confusion still surrounds the identify and even the common name of the causal agent of frosty pod rot of cocoa, nearly 70 years after its placement in the genus Monilia, and over 20 years since its transfer to the new genus Moniliophthora, which was erected to accommodate what was considered to be a basidiomycete anamorph. Based on molecular and cytological evidence, we confirm that the fungus belongs in the Basidiomycotina and is closely related to the witches' broom pathogen of cocoa, Crinipellis perniciosa (Tricholomataceae: Agaricales). However, the only known reproductive stage in the life-cycle does not, in fact, represent the anamorph since meiosis occurs during sporogenesis and germination. The meiospore is interpreted to be a radically modified basidium, which performs a sexual, dispersal and resting function. The genus Moniliophthora, therefore, can no longer be maintained and must be reduced to synonymy with Crinipellis. The new combination, Crinipellis roreri, is proposed.

The occurrence of disease outbreaks associated with the genus Sorosporella on grasshoppers and locusts (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) in Africa is reported. Infected hosts, representing ten genera within five acridoid subfamilies, are characterized by red, thick-walled chlamydospores which completely fill the cadaver. On selective media, the chlamydospores, up to seven-years-old, germinated to produce a Syngliocladium anamorph which is considered to be undescribed. The new species Syngliocladium acridiorum is described and two varieties are delimited: var. acridiorum, on various grasshopper and locust genera from the Sahelian region of West Africa; and, var. madagascariensis, on the Madagascan migratory locust. The ecology of these insect-fungal associations is discussed. Sorosporella is treated as a synonym of Syngliocladium.

Torrubiella hemipterigena and its anamorph, Verticillium hemipterigenum, are re-described from collections made on leafhoppers in Thailand. A new species, Verticillium pseudohemipterigenum, collected on scale insects on bamboo in Trinidad and Surinam, is proposed. Based on these collections, the taxonomic status of the genera Verticillium and Hirsutella is discussed.