Mountains Made in Switzerland: Facts and Concerns in Nineteenth-Century Cartography

Cultural history has investigated the appropriation of mountain wilderness in considerable detail, without however systematically including the contributions of science and technology in the process. This paper suggests a way of filling this gap. It argues that cartography was instrumental in giving mountains their modern shape. In the course of the nineteenth century, mountains arguably gained a new factual existence at the intersection of new aesthetic, scientific, economic, and political concerns with landscape. Taking the case of Swiss cartography, the paper shows how mapmakers strived to represent this matter of concern in ever more perfect ways, culminating in the three-dimensional rendering of mountains as plaster reliefs. The paper concludes with the observation that this transformation is to a certain extent irreversible. The mountains made in Switzerland in the nineteenth century are probably here to sta

The roots of the millennium development goals: a framework for studying the history of global statistics

Global comparative statistics have become a major mode of international political communication. One prominent case in point is the Millennium Development Goals as defined by the United Nations in 2000. The article contributes to a critical discussion of their functioning by designing a framework for the study of global statistics. Historians of statistics have so far largely focused on the national level and posited a strong connection between calculating social instances and governing collectives. The category of the nation was one of the foremost effects of statistics, and numbers have helped in strengthening national institutions. But what about the international realm in which the Millennium Development Goals are located? The leading question of this article is to what extent a co-construction of statistics and political institutions can also be found in the analysis of global statistics. The focus lies on statistical practices in East Africa in the epoch of late imperial rule and during decolonization. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is of special interest. Statistical knowledge was surprisingly incomplete and became a major issue only with the formation of new states and new international organizations post-1945. Statistical knowledge as represented in the Millennium Development Goals works through a radical reduction of complexity and necessarily renders a biased image of the world. In contrast to the national level, on the international level no single center of calculation emerged with the growing power of statistics. (author's abstract

Developing and testing a Corona VaccinE tRiAL pLatform (COVERALL) to study Covid-19 vaccine response in immunocompromised patients

BACKGROUND The rapid course of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic calls for fast implementation of clinical trials to assess the effects of new treatment and prophylactic interventions. Building trial platforms embedded in existing data infrastructures is an ideal way to address such questions within well-defined subpopulations. METHODS We developed a trial platform building on the infrastructure of two established national cohort studies: the Swiss human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Cohort Study (SHCS) and Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS). In a pilot trial, termed Corona VaccinE tRiAL pLatform (COVERALL), we assessed the vaccine efficacy of the first two licensed SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in Switzerland and the functionality of the trial platform. RESULTS Using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), we developed a trial platform integrating the infrastructure of the SHCS and STCS. An algorithm identifying eligible patients, as well as baseline data transfer ensured a fast inclusion procedure for eligible patients. We implemented convenient re-directions between the different data entry systems to ensure intuitive data entry for the participating study personnel. The trial platform, including a randomization algorithm ensuring balance among different subgroups, was continuously adapted to changing guidelines concerning vaccination policies. We were able to randomize and vaccinate the first trial participant the same day we received ethics approval. Time to enroll and randomize our target sample size of 380 patients was 22 days. CONCLUSION Taking the best of each system, we were able to flag eligible patients, transfer patient information automatically, randomize and enroll the patients in an easy workflow, decreasing the administrative burden usually associated with a trial of this size

Episodic diamond growth beneath the Kaapvaal Craton at Jwaneng Mine, Botswana

Important implications for the interior workings of the Earth can be drawn by studying diamonds and their inclusions. To better understand the timing and number of diamond forming events beneath the NW margin of the Kaapvaal Craton, a comprehensive reassessment of Jwaneng’s diamond populations has been undertaken. We report new inclusion abundance data from the visual examination of ~130,000 diamonds that validate the predominance of an eclogitic diamond suite (up to 88%) with on average 5% inclusion-bearing diamonds (with inclusions >10 μm in size). From this population, polished plates from 79 diamonds of eclogitic and peridotitic paragenesis have been studied with cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) traverses. The majority (80%) record major changes in N concentration and aggregation states, as well as sharp boundaries in the CL images of individual plates that are interpreted to demarcate discrete diamond growth events. In addition, bulk FTIR data have been acquired for 373 unpolished diamonds. Silicate inclusions sampled from distinct growth zones define 2 compositional groups of omphacites and pyrope-almandines associated with different N contents in their diamond hosts. These findings reinforce previous observations that at Jwaneng at least seven individual diamond forming events can be identified – 3 peridotitic and 4 eclogitic. The results demonstrate that detailed examination of diamond plates by CL imaging and FTIR traverses is necessary to unveil the complex history recorded in diamonds

Highly variable upper and abyssal overturning cells in the South Atlantic

The Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) is a primary mechanism driving oceanic heat redistribution on Earth, thereby affecting Earth’s climate and weather. However, the full-depth structure and variability of the MOC are still poorly understood, particularly in the South Atlantic. This study presents unique multiyear records of the oceanic volume transport of both the upper (~3100 meters) overturning cells based on daily moored measurements in the South Atlantic at 34.5°S. The vertical structure of the time-mean flows is consistent with the limited historical observations. Both the upper and abyssal cells exhibit a high degree of variability relative to the temporal means at time scales, ranging from a few days to a few weeks. Observed variations in the abyssal flow appear to be largely independent of the flow in the overlying upper cell. No meaningful trends are detected in either cell.Fil: Kersalé, Marion. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados Unidos. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Meinen, Christopher S.. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Perez, Renellys C.. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Le Hénaff, Matthieu. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados Unidos. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Valla, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval. Departamento Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Lamont, Tarron. University of Cape Town; SudáfricaFil: Sato, Olga T.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Dong, Shenfu. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Terre, T.. University of Brest; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: van Caspel, M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Chidichimo, María Paz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval. Departamento Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: van den Berg, Marcel Alexander. Department of Environmental Affairs; SudáfricaFil: Speich, Sabrina. University Of Cape Town; SudáfricaFil: Piola, Alberto Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ecole Normale Superieure. Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique; Francia. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval. Departamento Oceanografía; Argentina. Instituto Franco-Argentino sobre Estudios del Clima y sus Impactos; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Edmo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. American University Of Sharjah.; Emiratos Árabes UnidosFil: Ansorge, Isabelle. University of Cape Town; SudáfricaFil: Volkov, Denis L.. University of Miami; Estados Unidos. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Lumpkin, Rick. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Garzoli, S. L.. University of Miami; Estados Unidos. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados Unido