This manuscript addresses a critical topic: navigating complexities of conducting clinical trials during a pandemic. Central to this discussion is engaging communities to ensure diverse participation. The manuscript elucidates deliberate strategies employed to recruit minority communities with poor social drivers of health for participation in COVID-19 trials. The paper adopts a descriptive approach, eschewing analysis of data-driven efficacy of these efforts, and instead provides a comprehensive account of strategies utilized. The Accelerate COVID-19 Treatment Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public–private partnership launched early in the COVID-19 pandemic to develop clinical trials to advance SARS-CoV-2 treatments. In this paper, ACTIV investigators share challenges in conducting research during an evolving pandemic and approaches selected to engage communities when traditional strategies were infeasible. Lessons from this experience include importance of community representatives’ involvement early in study design and implementation and integration of well-developed public outreach and communication strategies with trial launch. Centralization and coordination of outreach will allow for efficient use of resources and the sharing of best practices. Insights gleaned from the ACTIV program, as outlined in this paper, shed light on effective strategies for involving communities in treatment trials amidst rapidly evolving public health emergencies. This underscores critical importance of community engagement initiatives well in advance of the pandemic.

In 2022, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b became enzootic and caused mass mortality in Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis and other seabird species across north-western Europe. We present data on the characteristics of the spread of the virus between and within breeding colonies and the number of dead adult Sandwich Terns recorded at breeding sites throughout north-western Europe. Within two months of the first reported mortalities, 20,531 adult Sandwich Terns were found dead, which is >17% of the total north-western European breeding population. This is probably an under-representation of total mortality, as many carcasses are likely to have gone unnoticed and unreported. Within affected colonies, almost all chicks died. After the peak of the outbreak, in a colony established by late breeders, 25.7% of tested adults showed immunity to HPAI subtype H5. Removal of carcasses was associated with lower levels of mortality at affected colonies. More research on the sources and modes of transmission, incubation times, effective containment, and immunity is urgently needed to combat this major threat for colonial seabirds.

In the course of an artificially triggered avalanche, a particle tracking procedure is combined with supplementary measurements, including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning, terrestrial laser scanning and Doppler radar measurements. Specifically, an intertial measurement unit is mounted inside a rigid sphere, which is placed in the avalanche track. The sphere is entrained by the moving snow, recording translational accelerations, angular velocities and the flux density of Earth's magnetic field. Based on the recorded data, we present a threefold analysis: (i) a qualitative data interpretation, identifying different particle motion phases which are associated with corresponding flow regimes, (ii) a quantitative time integration algorithm, determining the corresponding particle trajectory and associated velocities on the basis of standard sensor calibration, and (iii) an improved quantitative evaluation relying on a novel in situ sensor calibration technique, which is motivated by the limitations of the given dataset. The final results, i.e. the evolution of the angular orientation of the sensor unit, translational and rotational velocities and estimates of the sensor trajectory, are assessed with respect to their reliability and relevance for avalanche dynamics as well as for future design of experiments.

Understanding the dynamics of snow avalanches is crucial for predicting their destructive potential and mobility. To gain insight into avalanche dynamics at a particle level, the AvaNode in-flow sensor system was developed. These synthetic particles, equipped with advanced and affordable sensors such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS), travel with the avalanche flow. This study focuses on assessing the feasibility of the in-flow measurement systems. The experiments were conducted during the winter seasons of 2021–2023, both in static snow cover and dynamic avalanche conditions of medium-sized events. Radar measurements were used in conjunction with the particle trajectories and velocities to understand the behaviour of the entire avalanche flow. The dynamic avalanche experiments allowed to identify three distinct particle flow states: (I) initial rapid acceleration, (II) a steady state flow with the highest velocities (9–17 ms−1), and (III) a longer deceleration state accompanied by the largest measured rotation rates. The particles tend to travel towards the tail of the avalanche and reach lower velocities compared to the frontal approach velocities deduced from radar measurements (ranging between 23–28 ms−1). The presented data give a first insight in avalanche particle measurements.

Sociodemographic information, such as a speaker’s regional origin, is intimately related to the judgments and social evaluations that listeners assign to that speaker. This association between linguistic form and social information can also lead to linguistic profiling, a harmful form of discrimination. The present study examines the geographic classifications and social attitudes attributed to ten phonetic variants used within regional varieties of Iberian (i.e., European) Spanish. We are specifically interested in understanding listeners’ geographical classifications and language attitudes held toward Andalusian Spanish, which is a less privileged regional variety spoken in Spain’s southern region, as compared to north-central Peninsular Spanish (NCPS). The results of an online survey show that 165 listeners were fairly consistent when geographically classifying Andalusian-sounding stimuli as originating from the south of Spain. Importantly, the respondents also attributed less favorable social meaning to the Andalusian-sounding stimuli in comparison to the NCPS-sounding stimuli. We link the findings to broader themes in sociolinguistics, such as language-based discrimination, linguistic insecurity, and the social motivations of language change.

A series of ${\left\hbox[ {{{\left\hbox( {{\rm{SnSe}}} \right\hbox)}_{1 \hbox+ \delta }}} \right\hbox]_m}{\left\hbox[ {{\rm{TiS}}{{\rm{e}}_2}} \right\hbox]_2}$ heterostructure thin films built up from repeating units of m bilayers of SnSe and two layers of TiSe2 were synthesized from designed precursors. The electronic structure of the films was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for samples with m = 1, 2, 3, and 7 and compared to binary samples of TiSe2 and SnSe. The observed binding energies of core levels and valence bands of the heterostructures are largely independent of m. For the SnSe layers, we can observe a rigid band shift in the heterostructures compared to the binary, which can be explained by electron transfer from SnSe to TiSe2. The electronic structure of the TiSe2 layers shows a more complicated behavior, as a small shift can be observed in the valence band and Se3d spectra, but the Ti2p core level remains at a constant energy. Complementary UV photoemission spectroscopy measurements confirm a charge transfer mechanism where the SnSe layers donate electrons into empty Ti3d states at the Fermi energy.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of air stable cobalt and nickel complexes based on tridentate enaminones N,N-(4,4,4-trifluorobut-1-en-3-on)-dimethylethyldiamine (Htfb-dmeda) and N,N-(4,4,4-trifluorobut-1-en-3-on)-dimethylpropyldiamine (Htfb-dmpda) successfully produced metallic cobalt and nickel thin films. Detailed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies on the binding interaction of the first precursor monolayer with the surface functional groups elucidated the chemisorption behavior of the new precursor systems. A reactive remote hydrogen plasma was used as the co-reactant to activate the precursor decomposition yielding metal hydroxide intermediates. Subsequent hydrogen plasma etching of as-deposited films resulted in phase-pure metallic films through a recrystallization process, verified by surface and sub-surface XPS. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses revealed pinhole-free films, with low surface roughness (0.2 ± 0.06 nm root mean square, RMS) for both, cobalt and nickel thin films. Herein, the competitive role of hydrogen as etchant and reactant was demonstrated as prolonged plasma exposure time periods resulted in the formation of metal hydrides. This is mostly due to the catalytic dissociation of molecular hydrogen on transition metal surfaces, which already occurs upon low energy input.

In this review article, we discuss selected developments regarding the role of the equation of state in simulations of core-collapse supernovae. There are no first-principle calculations of the state of matter under supernova conditions since a wide range of conditions is covered, in terms of density, temperature, and isospin asymmetry. Instead, model equation of state are commonly employed in supernova studies. These can be divided into regimes with intrinsically different degrees of freedom: heavy nuclei at low temperatures, inhomogeneous nuclear matter where light and heavy nuclei coexist together with unbound nucleons, and the transition to homogeneous matter at high densities and temperatures. In this article, we discuss each of these phases with particular view on their role in supernova simulations.

The fourteenth amendment to the US Constitution, adopted in 1868, provides in relevant part: ‘All persons born or naturalised in the United States … are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.’ A similar passage in the Treaty of European Union (TEU or Maastricht), Article 8 (now Article 17(1)), declared: ‘Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union.’

A new continuum approach to snowdrift modelling is introduced. In addition, numerical studies are carried out to identify the influence of time-varying wind conditions on snowdrift simulations. We compare the snowdrift patterns at Grimming mountain, Austria, derived using a time-averaged wind field and a time-varying wind field obtained from the numerical weather prediction model INCA. The results show significant differences in the deposition patterns and snow depth even after a 6 hour drift period. Using time-averaged boundary conditions leads to an underprediction of the resulting snow depth caused by averaging the wind speed, which lets gusts of wind disappear while snow transport is a non-linear function of the wind speed. Using numerical weather prediction models for snowdrift simulation therefore provides enhanced knowledge of the snow depth for local avalanche warning services.

Tracer injections into a subglacial channel at Unteraargletscher, Switzerland, were repeated at intervals of about 2 hours over two diurnal discharge cycles in August and September 2000. Records of dye concentration reveal a pronounced hysteresis in the velocity–dispersion relationship, thereby indicating alterations in the drainage system. Theoretical considerations for Röthlisberger channels suggest an evolution of the conduit cross-section in response to a diurnally varying discharge. We studied the relation between conduit cross-section and tracer dispersion with numerical tracer experiments. The velocity field for steady flow through a given conduit geometry is calculated using a commercial flow solver. Tracer transport is represented by a scalar volume which is advected by the velocity field. Experiments were conducted for several scenarios by varying flow velocity, conduit geometry and conduit roughness. Results show only a weak dependence of dispersion on conduit size. In contrast, changes in roughness of the conduit walls reveal a strong effect on tracer dispersion. Therefore, to explain the observed hysteresis in the velocity–dispersion relationship, we suggest that the evolution of a subglacial flow path might involve changes in roughness.

From 1999 to 2001 a 724 m deep ice core was drilled on Akademii Nauk ice cap, Severnaya Zemlya, to gain high-resolution proxy data from the central Russian Arctic. Despite strong summertime meltwater percolation, this ice core provides valuable information on the regional climate and environmental history. We present data of stable water isotopes, melt-layer content and major ions from the uppermost 57 m of this core, covering the period 1883–1998. Dating was achieved by counting seasonal isotopic cycles and using reference horizons. Multi-annual δ18O values reflect Eurasian sub-Arctic and Arctic surface air-temperature variations. We found strong correlations to instrumental temperature data from some stations (e.g. r = 0.62 for Vardø, northern Norway). The δ18O values show pronounced 20th-century temperature changes, with a strong rise about 1920 and the absolute temperature maximum in the 1930s. A recent decrease in the deuterium-excess time series indicates an increasing role of the Kara Sea as a regional moisture source. From the multi-annual ion variations we deduced decreasing sea-salt aerosol trends in the 20th century, as reflected by sodium and chloride, whereas sulphate and nitrate are strongly affected by anthropogenic pollution.

Snow avalanche simulation software is a commonly used tool for hazard estimation and mitigation planning. In this study a depth-averaged flow model, combining a simple entrainment and friction relation, is implemented in the software SamosAT. Computational results strongly depend on the simulation input, in particular on the employed model parameters. A long-standing problem is to quantify the influence of these parameters on the simulation results. We present a new multivariate optimization approach for avalanche simulation in three-dimensional terrain. The method takes into account the entire physically relevant range of the two friction parameters (Coulomb friction, turbulent drag) and one entrainment parameter. These three flow model parameters are scrutinized with respect to six optimization variables (runout, matched and exceeded affected area, maximum velocity, average deposition depth and mass growth). The approach is applied to a documented extreme avalanche event, recorded in St Anton, Austria. The final results provide adjusted parameter distributions optimizing the simulation–observation correspondence. At the same time, the degree of parameter–variable correspondence is determined. We show that the specification of optimal values for certain model parameters is near-impossible, if corresponding optimization variables are neglected or unavailable.