We focus on the design of an institutional device aimed to foster coordination through communication. We explore whether the social psychology theory of commitment, implemented via a truth-telling oath, can reduce coordination failure. Using a classic coordination game, we ask all players to sign voluntarily a truth-telling oath before playing the game with cheap talk communication. Three results emerge with commitment under oath: (1) coordination increased by nearly 50%; (2) senders’ messages were significantly more truthful and actions more efficient, and (3) receivers’ trust of messages increased.

In the context of the ongoing biodiversity crisis, understanding forest ecosystems, their tree species composition, and especially the successional stages of their development is crucial. They collectively shape the biodiversity within forests and thereby influence the ecosystem services that forests provide, yet this information is not readily available on a large scale. Remote sensing techniques offer promising solutions for obtaining area-wide information on tree species composition and their successional stages. While optical data are often freely available in appropriate quality over large scales, obtaining light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, which provide valuable information about forest structure, is more challenging. LiDAR data are mostly acquired by public authorities across several years and therefore heterogeneous in quality. This study aims to assess if heterogeneous LiDAR data can support area-wide modeling of forest successional stages at the tree species group level. Different combinations of spectral satellite data (Sentinel-2) and heterogeneous airborne LiDAR data, collected by the federal government of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, were utilized to model up to three different successional stages of seven tree species groups. When incorporating heterogeneous LiDAR data into random forest models with spatial variable selection and spatial cross-validation, significant accuracy improvements of up to 0.23 were observed. This study shows the potential of not dismissing initially seemingly unusable heterogeneous LiDAR data for ecological studies. We advocate for a thorough examination to determine its usefulness for model enhancement. A practical application of this approach is demonstrated, in the context of mapping successional stages of tree species groups at a regional level.

There is increasing evidence that resilience in youth may have a neurobiological basis. However, the existing literature lacks a consistent way of operationalizing resilience, often relying on arbitrary judgments or narrow definitions (e.g., not developing PTSD) to classify individuals as resilient. Therefore, this study used data-driven, continuous resilience scores based on adversity and psychopathology to investigate associations between resilience and brain structure in youth. Structural MRI data from 298 youth aged 9–18 years (Mage = 13.51; 51% female) who participated in the European multisite FemNAT-CD study were preprocessed using SPM12 and analyzed using voxel-based morphometry. Resilience scores were derived by regressing data on adversity exposure against current/lifetime psychopathology and quantifying each individual’s distance from the regression line. General linear models tested for associations between resilience and gray matter volume (GMV) and examined whether associations between resilience and GMV differed by sex. Resilience was positively correlated with GMV in the right inferior frontal and medial frontal gyri. Sex-by-resilience interactions were observed in the middle temporal and middle frontal gyri. These findings demonstrate that resilience in youth is associated with volume in brain regions implicated in executive functioning, emotion regulation, and attention. Our results also provide evidence for sex differences in the neurobiology of resilience.

While innovation in waste treatment processes continue to advance, plastics are still often put aside in comparison to other materials. It is especially the case for WEEE-plastics: as they are included in complex equipment, their recovery is disregarded, in aid of critical metals and rare earths. The recycling of plastics is hindered by the low re-integration rate of these materials, due to concerns around their quality and their availability. Ecodesign of EEE thus seems to be a robust solution. This paper details two approaches to assess product design, by respectively evaluating the product recyclability and the implementation of predefined ecodesign guidelines. Based on these methods, the construction of a quality standard for recycled plastics in France is presented. The definition of the quality includes mechanical properties, but chemical, logistics, and regulatory aspects are also at stake. Eventually, ecodesign indexes and indicators are selected, and a method for their formal construction is proposed. The goal of this study is to provide ways to assess the overall quality and usability of recycled plastics, along with design for circularity methods to integrate them in new manufactured products.

Following the two earthquakes that occurred in Turkey on February 6, 2023 with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5, causing over 50,000 deaths and 100,000 injuries, France proposed to deploy, via the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM), the French Civil Protection Field Hospital (ESCRIM [Élément de Sécurité Civile Rapide d’Intervention Médicale]): the French World Health Organization (WHO)-classified Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Level 2 (EMT2).

After the acceptance from Turkey on February 8, a disaster assessment team (DAT) was sent on February 10, 2023. It was decided, with local health authorities (LHA), to set up the field hospital in Gölbaşi, Adiyaman Province where the State Hospital was closed due to a structural risk.

Arriving in Gölbaşi on February 13 at 2:00am in -12°C (10°F) temperatures, the detachment had no choice but to begin setting up the base of operation (BoO). At dawn, the cold was so intense that one doctor suffered from frostbite. Once the BoO was installed, the team set up the hospital tents. From 11:00am, the sun melted the snow and the ground became very muddy. The objective being to open the hospital as soon as possible, installation of the hospital continued, and it opened on February 14 at 12:00pm/noon, less than 36 hours after on-site arrival.

This article describes the mechanics of setting up an EMT-2 in a cold climate, the many problems encountered, and the solutions imagined and proposed.

We report on the generation and delivery of 10.2 PW peak power laser pulses, using the High Power Laser System at the Extreme Laser Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics facility. In this work we demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, the compression and propagation of full energy, full aperture, laser pulses that reach a power level of more than 10 PW.

Nowadays, the world is shifting towards a more sustainable way of life, and product designers have an important part in this change. They have to eco(re)design their products to make them environmentally conscious throughout their lifecycle, and especially at their end-of-life (EoL). However, one can observe that synergy between product designers and recycling-chains stakeholders is lacking, mainly due to their weak communication. While many design-for-EoL approaches coexist in the literature, design from EoL must also be taken into account to fully develop a circular economy.

RE-CYCLING is an innovative design approach that supports both design for and from EoL. This paper focuses on the recycling EoL-option and the validation of the associated indicators. To validate the design-for-recycling indicators, the recyclability of three smartphones is assessed. It is expected that indicators provide a similar score as none of them was designed to be recycled; results comply with expectations. In parallel, the convenience of using recycled materials in smartphones is analysed to validate our design-from-recycling indicators. It is found that the proposed indicators can indeed support designers integrating recycled materials in products.

We evaluated the impact of a restriction of procalcitonin measurements on antibiotic use, length of stay, mortality, and cost in a Swiss tertiary-care hospital using interrupted time-series analysis. There was no significant change in level or slope for rates of antibiotic consumption, and costs decreased considerably, by ~54,488 CHF (US$55,714) per month.

Accurate real-time simulations and forecasting of phase-revolved ocean surface waves require nonlinear effects, both geometrical and kinematic, to be accurately represented. For this purpose, wave models based on a Lagrangian steepness expansion have proved particularly efficient, as compared to those based on Eulerian expansions, as they feature higher-order nonlinearities at a reduced numerical cost. However, while they can accurately model the instantaneous nonlinear wave shape, Lagrangian models developed to date cannot accurately predict the time evolution of even simple periodic waves. Here, we propose a novel and simple method to perform a Lagrangian expansion of surface waves to second order in wave steepness, based on the dynamical system relating particle locations and the Eulerian velocity field. We show that a simple redefinition of reference particles allows us to correct the time evolution of surface waves, through a modified nonlinear dispersion relationship. The resulting expressions of free surface particle locations can then be made numerically efficient by only retaining the most significant contributions to second-order terms, i.e. Stokes drift and mean vertical level. This results in a hybrid model, referred to as the ‘improved choppy wave model’ (ICWM) (with respect to Nouguier et al.’s J. Geophys. Res., vol. 114, 2009, p. C09012), whose performance is numerically assessed for long-crested waves, both periodic and irregular. To do so, ICWM results are compared to those of models based on a high-order spectral method and classical second-order Lagrangian expansions. For irregular waves, two generic types of narrow- and broad-banded wave spectra are considered, for which ICWM is shown to significantly improve wave forecast accuracy as compared to other Lagrangian models; hence, ICWM is well suited to providing accurate and efficient short-term ocean wave forecast (e.g. over a few peak periods). This aspect will be the object of future work.

Noonan syndrome and related disorders are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous conditions caused by mutations in genes of the RAS/MAPK pathway. Noonan syndrome causes multiple congenital anomalies, which are frequently accompanied by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We report here a Tunisian patient with a severe phenotype of Noonan syndrome including neonatal HCM, facial dysmorphism, severe failure to thrive, cutaneous abnormalities, pectus excavatum and severe stunted growth, who died in her eighth month of life. Using whole exome sequencing, we identified a de novo mutation in exon 7 of the RAF1 gene: c.776C > A (p.Ser259Tyr). This mutation affects a highly conserved serine residue, a main mediator of Raf-1 inhibition via phosphorylation. To our knowledge the c.776C > A mutation has been previously reported in only one case with prenatally diagnosed Noonan syndrome. Our study further supports the striking correlation of RAF1 mutations with HCM and highlights the clinical severity of Noonan syndrome associated with a RAF1 p.Ser259Tyr mutation.

This paper illustrates the different possibilities given by additive manufacturing technologies for the creation of passive microwave hardware. The paper more specifically highlights a prototyping scheme where the 3D-printed plastic parts can be used as initial proofs of concept before considering more advanced 3D-printed parts (metal parts, for instance). First, a characterization campaign has been made on common plastics used by a 3D printer using the fused deposition modeling and material jetting (Polyjet©) technologies. The impact of the manufacturing strategy (high-speed or high-accuracy) on the part roughness, as well as on the dielectric material permittivity and loss tangent, has been specifically studied at 10 and 16 GHz. Based on a specifically optimized and deeply explained characterization method, the conductivity of a coating based on silver paint has also been characterized on such plastic parts at 10 and 40 GHz. These plastic materials and coating have been used for the creation of quasi-elliptic and tuning-free bandpass filters centered at 6 and 12 GHz and compared with a similar filter made of stainless steel by selective laser melting. Finally, a compact rectangular TE10 to circular TE01 mode converter also undergoes one prototyping step out of plastic before moving to an advanced part made out of stainless steel. This mode converter, which is made in a single part, is designed to operate from 28 to 36 GHz as a tuning-free final demonstrator.

This paper presents performances achieved with InAlGaN/GaN HEMTs with 0.15 µm gate length on SiC substrate. Technology Computer Aided Design simulations were used to optimize the heterostructure. Special attention was paid to the design of the buffer structure. I-V measurements with DC and pulsed bias voltages were performed. CW measurements at millimeter waves were also carried out and are detailed in the following sections. The technology, optimized for power applications up to 45 GHz, demonstrates a current gain cut-off frequency FT of 70 GHz and a maximum available gain cut-off frequency FMAG of 140 GHz. CW Load-pull power measurements at 30 GHz enable to achieve a maximum PAE of 41% associated with an output power density of 3.5 W/mm when biased at VDS = 20 V. These devices, with an improved buffer structure show, reduced recovery time in pulsed operating conditions. These improved characteristics should have a positive impact for pulsed or modulated signal applications.

Within the framework of core-drilling through the permafrost of the active rock glacier Murtèl–Corvatsch in the Swiss Alps, subfossil stem remains of seven different bryophyte species were found at a depth of 6 m below surface and about 3 m below the permafrost table in samples from massive ice. The composition of the moss species points to the former growth of the recovered mosses in the nearest surroundings of the drill site. A total of 127 pollen and spores captured by the mosses and representing 23 taxa were determined. The local vegetation during deposition time must be characterized as a moss-rich alpine grassland meadow rich in Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae, comparable to today’s flora present around the study site. For l4C analysis, accelerator mass spectrometry had to be used due to the small sample mass (about 0.5 mg Carbon content). The mean conventional 14C age of 2250 ± 100 years (1σ variability) corresponds to ranges in the calibrated calendar age of 470–170 BC and 800 BC to AD 0 at statistical probabilities of 68% and 95%, respectively. This result is compared with the present-day flow field as determined by high-precision photogrammetry and with information about the thickness, vertical structure and flow of the permafrost from borehole measurements. Total age of the rock glacier as a landform is on the order of 104 years; the development of the rock glacier most probably started around the onset of the Holocene, when the area it now occupies became definitely deglaciated. The bulk of the ice/rock mixture within the creeping permafrost must be several thousand years old. Characteristic average values are estimated for (1) surface velocities through time (cm a-1), (2) long-term ice and sediment accretion rates (mm a-1) on the debris cone from which the rock glacier develops, (3) retreat rates (1–2 mm a-1) of the cliff which supplies the debris to the debris cone and rock glacier, and (4) ice content of the creeping ice/rock mixture (50–90% by volume). The pronounced supersaturation of the permafrost explains the steady-state creep mode of the rock glacier.

Euclid is a Europe-led cosmology space mission dedicated to a visible and near infrared survey of the entire extra-galactic sky. Its purpose is to deepen our knowledge of the dark content of our Universe. After an overview of the Euclid mission and science, this contribution describes how the community is getting organized to face the data analysis challenges, both in software development and in operational data processing matters. It ends with a more specific account of some of the main contributions of the Swiss Science Data Center (SDC-CH).

The evidence Gowdy & Krall (G&K) provide is more consistent with a biological markets explanation of human ultrasociality than a group selection explanation. Specifically, large-scale societies provide a better biological market for cooperation than do small-scale societies, allowing individuals to increase their fitness. Importantly, many of the quality-of-life costs G&K discuss (e.g., patriarchy) are not fitness costs.