№ 107. Додаткове свідчення Миколи Чехівського від 27 вересня 1929 р.

In the headwater catchments of the main Asian rivers, glaciohydrological models are a useful tool to anticipate impacts of climatic changes. However, the reliability of their projections strongly depends on the quality and quantity of data that are available for parameter estimation, model calibration and validation, as well as on the accuracy of climate change projections. In this study the physically oriented, glaciohydrological model TOPKAPI-ETH is used to simulate future changes in snow, glacier, and runoff from the Hunza River Basin in northern Pakistan. Three key sources of model uncertainty in future runoff projections are compared: model parameters, climate projections, and natural climate variability. A novel approach, applicable also to ungauged catchments, is used to determine which model parameters and model components significantly affect the overall model uncertainty. We show that the model is capable of reproducing streamflow and glacier mass balances, but that all analyzed sources of uncertainty significantly affect the reliability of future projections, and that their effect is variable in time and in space. The effect of parametric uncertainty often exceeds the impact of climate uncertainty and natural climate variability, especially in heavily glacierized subcatchments. The results of the uncertainty analysis allow detailed recommendations on network design and the timing and location of field measurements, which could efficiently help to reduce model uncertainty in the future

Pharmaceutical Cost-Sharing Systems and Savings for Health Care Systems from Parallel Trade

This paper analyzes the consequences of parallel trade on health care systems in a two-country model with a vertical distributor relationship. In particular, two cost-sharing systems - coinsurance and indemnity insurance - are compared with respect to changes in copayments and public health expenditure. Under both cost-sharing systems, parallel trade generates a price-decreasing competition effect in the destination country and a price-increasing double marginalization effect in the source country. In the destination country, copayments for patients decrease to a larger extent under indemnity insurance, whereas reductions of public health expenditure occur only under coinsurance. In the source country, copayments increase less under coinsurance, whereas health expenditure is reduced more under indemnity insurance. This illustrates that a harmonization of health care systems would not make sense

Using ultra-high resolution methodologies to imaging active submarine faults: The STRENGTH 2023 cruise in the Alboran sea

8th International Colloquium on Historical Earthquakes, Palaeo- Macroseismology and Seismotectonics, Past earthquakes and advances in seismology for informed risk decision-making, 17-20 September 2023, Lixouri, Kefalonia Island, Greece.-- 4 pages, 2 figuresGreat earthquakes and the possibility to generate destructive tsunamis are geohazards of key societal concern, as they may impact world economies, disturb submarine structures and affect coastal areas with the associated risk for local populations (Bilham, 2010). We still have in our mind catastrophic episodes, such as the giant events of the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami in 2004 in the Indian Ocean of magnitude (Mw) 8.7, and the Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami in 2011 in the northwest of Japan, of magnitude (Mw) 9.0-9.1. Nevertheless, seismic events of moderate to large magnitude (Mw 6-7.3) in areas of low to moderate tectonic deformation, and with long recurrence intervals, such as the Alboran Sea in the Western Mediterranean, might also have a significant effect. Accordingly, during the last decades there has been an expansion of paleoseismology to marine areas, both on-fault and off-fault investigations (Pantosti et al., 2011; Perea et al., 2021a). [...]This research was supported by the grant STRENGTH (PID2019-104668RB-I00) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. This project acknowledges the „Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence‟ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), the grant UNrIDDLE (2018-T1/AMB-11039) “Atracción de Talento Investigador” call 2018 funded by Comunidad de Madrid and the Ocean Facilities Exchange Group (OFEG) for allowing us to use the AUV “AsterX” from IFREMERPeer reviewe

Accessory gland as a site for prothoracicotropic hormone controlled ecdysone synthesis in adult male insects

Insect steroid hormones (ecdysteroids) are important for female reproduction in many insect species and are required for the initiation and coordination of vital developmental processes. Ecdysteroids are also important for adult male physiology and behavior, but their exact function and site of synthesis remains unclear, although previous studies suggest that the reproductive system may be their source. We have examined expression profiles of the ecdysteroidogenic Halloween genes, during development and in adults of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Genes required for the biosynthesis of ecdysone (E), the precursor of the molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), are expressed in the tubular accessory glands (TAGs) of adult males. In contrast, expression of the gene encoding the enzyme mediating 20E synthesis was detected in the ovaries of females. Further, Spookiest (Spot), an enzyme presumably required for endowing tissues with competence to produce ecdysteroids, is male specific and predominantly expressed in the TAGs. We also show that prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH), a regulator of E synthesis during larval development, regulates ecdysteroid levels in the adult stage in Drosophila melanogaster and the gene for its receptor Torso seems to be expressed specifically in the accessory glands of males. The composite results suggest strongly that the accessory glands of adult male insects are the main source of E, but not 20E. The finding of a possible male-specific source of E raises the possibility that E and 20E have sex-specific roles analogous to the vertebrate sex steroids, where males produce primarily testosterone, the precursor of estradiol. Furthermore this study provides the first evidence that PTTH regulates ecdysteroid synthesis in the adult stage and could explain the original finding that some adult insects are a rich source of PTTH

Spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant through Europe in the summer of 2020.

Following its emergence in late 2019, the spread of SARS-CoV-21,2 has been tracked by phylogenetic analysis of viral genome sequences in unprecedented detail3–5. Although the virus spread globally in early 2020 before borders closed, intercontinental travel has since been greatly reduced. However, travel within Europe resumed in the summer of 2020. Here we report on a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1), that was identified in Spain in early summer 2020 and subsequently spread across Europe. We find no evidence that this variant has increased transmissibility, but instead demonstrate how rising incidence in Spain, resumption of travel, and lack of effective screening and containment may explain the variant’s success. Despite travel restrictions, we estimate that 20E (EU1) was introduced hundreds of times to European countries by summertime travellers, which is likely to have undermined local efforts to minimize infection with SARS-CoV-2. Our results illustrate how a variant can rapidly become dominant even in the absence of a substantial transmission advantage in favourable epidemiological settings. Genomic surveillance is critical for understanding how travel can affect transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and thus for informing future containment strategies as travel resumes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Changes in glaciers in the Swiss Alps and impact on basin hydrology: Current state of the art and future research

Switzerland is one of the countries with some of the longest and best glaciological data sets. Its glaciers and their changes in response to climate have been extensively investigated, and the number and quality of related studies are notable. However, a comprehensive review of glacier changes and their impact on the hydrology of glacierised catchments for Switzerland is missing and we use the opportunity provided by the EU-FP7 ACQWA project to review the current state of knowledge about past changes and future projections. We examine the type of models that have been applied to infer glacier evolution and identify knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future research in addition to those indicated in previous publications. Common characteristics in long-term series of projected future glacier runoff are an initial peak followed by a decline, associated with shifts in seasonality, earlier melt onset and reduced summer runoff. However, the quantitative predictions are difficult to compare, as studies differ in terms of model structure, calibration strategies, input data, temporal and spatial resolution as well as future scenarios used for impact studies. We identify two sources of uncertainties among those emerging from recent research, and use simulations over four glaciers to: i) quantify the importance of the correct extrapolation of air temperature, and ii) point at the key role played by debris cover in modulating glacier response