Coastal wetlands are hotspots of carbon sequestration, and their conservation and restoration can help to mitigate climate change. However, there remains uncertainty on when and where coastal wetland restoration can most effectively act as natural climate solutions (NCS). Here, we synthesize current understanding to illustrate the requirements for coastal wetland restoration to benefit climate, and discuss potential paths forward that address key uncertainties impeding implementation. To be effective as NCS, coastal wetland restoration projects will accrue climate cooling benefits that would not occur without management action (additionality), will be implementable (feasibility) and will persist over management-relevant timeframes (permanence). Several issues add uncertainty to understanding if these minimum requirements are met. First, coastal wetlands serve as both a landscape source and sink of carbon for other habitats, increasing uncertainty in additionality. Second, coastal wetlands can potentially migrate outside of project footprints as they respond to sea-level rise, increasing uncertainty in permanence. To address these first two issues, a system-wide approach may be necessary, rather than basing cooling benefits only on changes that occur within project boundaries. Third, the need for NCS to function over management-relevant decadal timescales means methane responses may be necessary to include in coastal wetland restoration planning and monitoring. Finally, there is uncertainty on how much data are required to justify restoration action. We summarize the minimum data required to make a binary decision on whether there is a net cooling benefit from a management action, noting that these data are more readily available than the data required to quantify the magnitude of cooling benefits for carbon crediting purposes. By reducing uncertainty, coastal wetland restoration can be implemented at the scale required to significantly contribute to addressing the current climate crisis.

Bullying research has shown repeatedly that victims of bullying have an increased risk for later internalizing problems and bullies have an increased risk for later externalizing problems. Bullying involvement is often, either explicitly or implicitly, presented as part of a causal mechanism for maladjustment. However, genetic vulnerability may confound the reported associations. This study examined to what extent genetic vulnerability can account for the reported associations between bullying involvement (age 11-14) and later internalizing and externalizing problems (age 16), using data from the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (n = 1604). Because polygenic scores capture only a fraction of the total genetic effect, they were extrapolated to the size of single-nucleotide polymorphism and twin heritability estimates to examine genetic confounding while controlling for (hypothetical) polygenic scores that fully capture the genetic effect. Genetic vulnerability for internalizing and externalizing problems confounded, respectively, the association between bullying victimization and later internalizing problems, and the association between bullying perpetration and later externalizing problems. As such, this study showcases a method that can be broadly used to assess the magnitude of genetic confounding. Caution is, however, warranted in interpreting particularly the less straightforward extrapolations of polygenic scores to the size of twin heritability estimates.

Many adolescents start using tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis. Genetic vulnerability, parent characteristics in young adolescence, and interaction (GxE) and correlation (rGE) between these factors could contribute to the development of substance use. Using prospective data from the TRacking Adolescent Individuals’ Lives Survey (TRAILS; N = 1,645), we model latent parent characteristics in young adolescence to predict young adult substance use. Polygenic scores (PGS) are created based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for smoking, alcohol use, and cannabis use. Using structural equation modeling we model the direct, GxE, and rGE effects of parent factors and PGS on young adult smoking, alcohol use, and cannabis initiation. The PGS, parental involvement, parental substance use, and parent–child relationship quality predicted smoking. There was GxE such that the PGS amplified the effect of parental substance use on smoking. There was rGE between all parent factors and the smoking PGS. Alcohol use was not predicted by genetic or parent factors, nor by interplay. Cannabis initiation was predicted by the PGS and parental substance use, but there was no GxE or rGE. Genetic risk and parent factors are important predictors of substance use and show GxE and rGE in smoking. These findings can act as a starting point for identifying people at risk.

BASF Corp. has developed p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) inhibitor–resistant cotton and soybean that will allow growers to use isoxaflutole in future weed management programs. In 2019 and 2020, a multi-state non-crop research project was conducted to examine weed control following isoxaflutole applied preemergence alone and with several tank-mix partners at high and low labeled rates. At 28 d after treatment (DAT), Palmer amaranth was controlled ≥95% at six of seven locations with isoxaflutole plus the high rate of diuron or fluridone. These same combinations provided the greatest control 42 DAT at four of seven locations. Where large crabgrass was present, isoxaflutole plus the high rate of diuron, fluridone, pendimethalin, or S-metolachlor or isoxaflutole plus the low rate of fluometuron controlled large crabgrass ≥95% in two of three locations 28 DAT. In two of three locations, isoxaflutole plus the high rate of pendimethalin or S-metolachlor improved large crabgrass control 42 DAT when compared to isoxaflutole alone. At 21 DAT, morningglory was controlled ≥95% at all locations with isoxaflutole plus the high rate of diuron and at three of four locations with isoxaflutole plus the high rate of fluometuron. At 42 DAT at all locations, isoxaflutole plus diuron or fluridone and isoxaflutole plus the high rate of fluometuron improved morningglory control compared to isoxaflutole alone. These results suggest that isoxaflutole applied preemergence alone or in tank mixture is efficacious on a number of cross-spectrum annual weeds in cotton, and extended weed control may be achieved when isoxaflutole is tank-mixed with several soil-residual herbicides.

Sea turtles are long-lived migratory species that are sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. Their condition reflects that of marine ecosystems and can serve as an indicator for environmental monitoring. However, evaluating body condition parameters, as a proxy for health, is challenging and often overlooked. The purpose of this study was to validate a straightforward method for assessing the body condition of nesting loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), and to investigate whether body condition was correlated with epibiont loading. To achieve this, 60 nesting loggerhead sea turtles were sampled and categorized into five body conditions ranging from very poor to very good. Injuries, skin deformities and plastron shape were used for this classification. Epibionts were collected from the same turtles and identified, with species richness, diversity, community structure and barnacle loading compared among body conditions. Epibiont communities were correlated with body condition as both species richness and abundance increased with a decline in turtle body condition. Barnacle epibionts showed great variation among different body conditions, having significantly higher numbers on turtles in poor condition. All parameters in this study showed similar distinctive relationships with body condition of loggerhead turtles from poor to very good body condition. The body condition index used in this study can be applied readily and, along with barnacle counts, can provide basic baseline information on turtle health.

Twin studies have found that ~50% of variance in electrocardiogram (ECG) traits can be explained by genetic factors. However, genetic variants identified through genome-wide association studies explain less than 10% of the total trait variability. Some have argued that the equal environment assumption for the classical twin model might be invalid, resulting in inflated narrow-sense heritability (h2) estimates, thus explaining part of the ‘missing h2’. Genomic relatedness restricted maximum likelihood (GREML) estimation overcomes this issue. This method uses both family data and genome-wide coverage of common SNPs to determine the degree of relatedness between individuals to estimate both h2 explained by common SNPs and total h2. The aim of the current study is to characterize more reliably than previously possible ECG trait h2 using GREML estimation, and to compare these outcomes to those of the classical twin model. We analyzed ECG traits (heart rate, PR interval, QRS duration, RV5+SV1, QTc interval, Sokolow-Lyon product, and Cornell product) in up to 3,133 twins from the TwinsUK cohort and derived h2 estimates by both methods. GREML yielded h2 estimates between 47% and 68%. Classical twin modeling provided similar h2 estimates, except for the Cornell product, for which the best fit included no genetic factors. We found no evidence that the classical twin model leads to inflated h2 estimates. Therefore, our study confirms the validity of the equal environment assumption for monozygotic and dizygotic twins and supports the robust basis for future studies exploring genetic variants responsible for the variance of ECG traits.

Motorcycle helmet laws are perceived to infringe upon individual rights even though they reduce mortality and health care costs. We describe proposed helmet legislation that protects individual rights and provides incentives for helmet use through a differential motorcycle registration fee that requires higher fees for those who wish to ride without a helmet.

Approximately half of the variation in wellbeing measures overlaps with variation in personality traits. Studies of non-human primate pedigrees and human twins suggest that this is due to common genetic influences. We tested whether personality polygenic scores for the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) domains and for item response theory (IRT) derived extraversion and neuroticism scores predict variance in wellbeing measures. Polygenic scores were based on published genome-wide association (GWA) results in over 17,000 individuals for the NEO-FFI and in over 63,000 for the IRT extraversion and neuroticism traits. The NEO-FFI polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction in 7 cohorts, positive affect in 12 cohorts, and general wellbeing in 1 cohort (maximal N = 46,508). Meta-analysis of these results showed no significant association between NEO-FFI personality polygenic scores and the wellbeing measures. IRT extraversion and neuroticism polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction and positive affect in almost 37,000 individuals from UK Biobank. Significant positive associations (effect sizes <0.05%) were observed between the extraversion polygenic score and wellbeing measures, and a negative association was observed between the polygenic neuroticism score and life satisfaction. Furthermore, using GWA data, genetic correlations of -0.49 and -0.55 were estimated between neuroticism with life satisfaction and positive affect, respectively. The moderate genetic correlation between neuroticism and wellbeing is in line with twin research showing that genetic influences on wellbeing are also shared with other independent personality domains.

With modern techniques, neutron-capture cross sections can be determined with uncertainties of a few percent. However, Maxwellian averaged cross sections calculated from such data require a correction (because low-lying excited states are thermally populated in the hot stellar photon bath) which has to be determined by theoretical calculations. These calculations can be improved with information from indirect measurements, in particular by the inelastic scattering cross section. For low-lying levels, the inelastically scattered neutrons are difficult to separate from the dominant elastic channel. This problem is best solved by means of pulsed, monoenergetic neutron beams. For this reason, a pulsed beam of 30 keV neutrons with an energy spread of 7 to 9 keV FWHM and a width from 10 to 15 ns has been produced at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe using the 7Li(p, n)7Be reaction directly at the reaction threshold. With this neutron beam the inelastic scattering cross section of the first excited level at 9.75 keV in 187Os was determined with a relative uncertainty of 6%. The use of monoenergetic neutron beams has been further pursued at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig, including the 3H(p, n)3He reaction for producing neutrons with an energy of 64 keV.

The growing recognition of care fragmentation is causing many countries to explore new approaches to healthcare delivery that can bridge the boundaries between professions, providers and institutions and so better support the rising number of people with chronic health problems. This paper examines the role of the regulatory, funding and organisational context for the development and implementation of approaches to chronic care, using examples from Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. We find that the three countries have implemented a range of policies and approaches to achieve better coordination within and across the primary and secondary care interface and so better meet the needs of patients with chronic conditions. This has involved changes to the regulatory framework to support more coordinated approaches to care (Austria, Germany), coupled with financial incentives (Austria, Germany) or changes in payment systems (the Netherlands). What is common to the three countries is the comparative ‘novelty’ of policies and approaches aimed at fostering coordinated care; however, the evidence of their impact remains unclear.

The carrier concentration and electronic transport properties in Bi2-xSbxTe3 alloy can be tuned by varying the Bi to Sb ratio, for high thermoelectric figure of merit. The concentration of intrinsic antisite defects in these alloys is also known to change with Bi to Sb ratio. Here we report the thermoelectric figure of merit of Sn doped Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloy. Different atomic percentages of Sn was substituted at Bi/Sb site in Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloy, synthesized by planetary ball milling. The electrical conductivity decreases with increasing Sn doping but for higher Sn content the electrical conductivity increases compared to undoped alloy. The Seebeck coefficient changes in accordance to electrical conductivity, resulting in small decrease in power factor for highest Sn doping. The lattice thermal conductivity shows a systematic decrease, with increasing Sn concentration resulting in a significant thermal conductivity reduction. Hence an increase in thermoelectric figure of merit could be achieved for the highest Sn (3at%) doping in Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloy as compared to undoped alloy.

Metal nanoinclusions inside the bulk thermoelectric matrix have the potential to increase the power factor and reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. We have synthesized Bi2-xTe3+x (x=0, 0.05)compositions, to achieve better tenability in Seebeck and electrical conductivity. In this matrix phase, different volume fractions of Bi metal nanoinclusions were incorporated and its effect on thermoelectric properties is discussed. Ag metal nanoinclusions were incorporated into Bi2Te3(2:3) composition, and its effect on power factor is discussed here.

The blood culture records during the 6-year period 1984–9 were reviewed to compare the performance of the BACTEC aerobic (6B) and aerobic-hypertonic (8B) media for the recovery of Candida spp. and Torulopsis glabrata from blood. There were 137 positive blood culture sets that contained both a 6B and an 8B bottle. Sixty-eight different yeasts were recovered from 65 patients including 35 Candida albicans, 19 C. tropicalis, 6 C. parapsilosis, 4 C. krusei, 1 C. pseudotropicalis and 3 Torulopsis glabrata. The 8B medium detected 120 of the positive cultures (87·6%) and was the only positive medium in 35 (25·6%) sets, while the 6B medium detected 102 positive cultures (74·4%) and was the only positive medium in 17 (12·4%) sets (P < 0·04). For those sets in which both bottles were positive, radiometric detection occurred first in the 8B bottle in 39 sets and first in the 6B bottle in 11 sets (P < 0·001). The superior performance of the 8B bottle was not related to the administration of amphotericin B. Cultures of stock strains of C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis in 6B and 8B media with and without added blood confirmed the finding that 8B was substantially superior to 6B for the detection of candidaemia. It is concluded that an 8B bottle should be included in the blood culture set whenever candidaemia is suspected.