Northeastern Switzerland Research Articles

Rapid detection of the source of a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak in Switzerland through routine interviewing of patients and whole-genome sequencing.

Listeriosis is a notifiable disease in Switzerland. In summer 2022, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health noticed an increase in reports of listeriosis cases, indicating a possible ongoing outbreak. Here we present the approaches applied for rapidly confirming the outbreak, detecting the underlying source of infection and the measures put in place to eliminate it and contain the outbreak. For close surveillance and early detection of outbreak situations with their possible sources, listeriosis patients in Switzerland are systematically interviewed about risk behaviours and foods consumed prior to the infection.Listeria monocytogenesisolates derived from patients in medical laboratories are sent to the National Reference Laboratory for Enteropathogenic Bacteria and Listeria, where they routinely undergo whole-genome sequencing. Interview and whole-genome sequencing data are continuously linked for comparison and analysis. In summer 2022, 20 patient-derivedL. monocytogenesserotype 4b sequence type 388 strains were found to belong to an outbreak cluster (≤10 different alleles between neighbouring isolates) based on core genome multilocus sequence typing analysis. Geographically, 18 of 20 outbreak cases occurred in northeastern Switzerland. The median age of patients was 77.4 years (range: 58.1-89.7), with both sexes equally affected. Rolling analysis of the interview data revealed smoked trout from a local producer as a suspected infection source, triggering an on-site investigation of the production facility and sampling of the suspected products by the responsible cantonal food inspection team on 15 July 2022. Seven of ten samples tested positive forL. monocytogenesand the respective cantonal authority ordered a ban on production and distribution as well as a product recall. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office released a nationwide public alert covering the smoked fish products concerned. Whole-genome sequencing analysis confirmed the interrelatedness of theL. monocytogenessmoked trout product isolates and the patient-derived isolates. Following the ban on production and distribution and the product recall, reporting of new outbreak-related cases rapidly dropped to zero. This listeriosis outbreak could be contained within a relatively short time thanks to identification of the source of contamination through the established combined approach of timely interviewing of every listeriosis patient or a representative and continuous molecular analysis of the patient- and food-derivedL. monocytogenesisolates. These findings highlight the effectiveness of this well-established, joint approach involving the federal and cantonal authorities and the research institutions mandated to contain listeriosis outbreaks in Switzerland.

Development of hybrid immunity during a period of high incidence of Omicron infections.

Seroprevalence and the proportion of people with neutralizing activity (functional immunity) against SARS-CoV-2 variants were high in early 2022. In this prospective, population- based, multi-region cohort study, we assessed the development of functional and hybrid immunity (induced by vaccination and infection) in the general population during this period of high incidence of infections with Omicron variants. We randomly selected and assessed individuals aged ≥16 years from the general population in southern (n = 739) and north-eastern (n = 964) Switzerland in March 2022. We assessed them again in June/July 2022, supplemented with a random sample from western (n = 850) Switzerland. We measured SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG antibodies and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies against three variants (ancestral strain, Delta, Omicron). Seroprevalence remained stable from March 2022 (97.6%, n = 1894) to June/July 2022 (98.4%, n = 2553). In June/July, the percentage of individuals with neutralizing capacity against ancestral strain was 94.2%, against Delta 90.8% and against Omicron 84.9%, and 50.6% developed hybrid immunity. Individuals with hybrid immunity had highest median levels of anti-spike IgG antibodies titres [4518 World Health Organization units per millilitre (WHO U/mL)] compared with those with only vaccine- (4304 WHO U/mL) or infection- (269 WHO U/mL) induced immunity, and highest neutralization capacity against ancestral strain (hybrid: 99.8%, vaccinated: 98%, infected: 47.5%), Delta (hybrid: 99%, vaccinated: 92.2%, infected: 38.7%) and Omicron (hybrid: 96.4%, vaccinated: 79.5%, infected: 47.5%). This first study on functional and hybrid immunity in the Swiss general population after Omicron waves showed that SARS-CoV-2 has become endemic. The high levels of antibodies and neutralization support the emerging recommendations of some countries where booster vaccinations are still strongly recommended for vulnerable persons but less so for the general population.

Record of a dense succession of drowning phases in the Alpstein mountains, northeastern Switzerland: Part II—the Lower Cretaceous Schrattenkalk Formation (late Barremian)

The Schrattenkalk Formation represents a complete succession of Lower Cretaceous shallow-water carbonate platform series cropping out in the Alpstein massif of north-eastern Switzerland. The Schrattenkalk Formation is traditionally divided into two sedimentary units, the “Lower” and the “Upper” Schrattenkalk, separated by the more marly Rawil Member. The “Lower” Schrattenkalk is habitually dated to the late Barremian, while the Rawil Member and the “Upper” Schrattenkalk are dated to the early Aptian. New field observations, however, call the lithostratigraphic dichotomy of the Schrattenkalk into question, as the neritic carbonates are disrupted by several key surfaces associated with karstic episodes and/or transgressive sediments, corresponding to ammonite-rich hemipelagic deposits on the distal shelf. A large number of ammonites were collected in the Drusberg Member as well as rare ammonites from the Schrattenkalk Formation. These ammonites as well as the neritic macrofauna from the Schrattenkalk Formation allow a precise dating of the onset of the Schrattenkalk Formation across the Alpstein massif and its successive phases of progradation. Three successive carbonate bodies and a fourth sedimentary intermediate rock body at the top of the Schrattenkalk platform are defined, based on new biostratigraphic data and updated interpretations of the sequence stratigraphy and geochemical data. The data shows a progressive onset of the Schrattenkalk carbonate platform along the studied transect, following a SE progradation over time. The oldest deposits refer to the upper Barremian T. vandenheckii Zone and the youngest carbonates to the uppermost Barremian M. sarasini Subzone. The new dating of the discontinuity surfaces and key-beds highlight three successive flooding events. The first drowning phase, which correlates with the "Sartousiana" event, dates from the middle late Barremian (upper T. vandenheckii—lower G. sartousiana Zone). The second phase, represented by the Rawil Member, is an incipient drowning, which seems to coincide with the latest Barremian Taxy event (usually reported to the I. giraudi and lowermost M. sarasini zones) according to rare ammonite discoveries. The final demise of the Schrattenkalk platform, situated close to the Barremian-Aptian boundary, is related to an exposure and consecutive drowning event.

Laser-guided lightning

Lightning discharges between charged clouds and the Earth’s surface are responsible for considerable damages and casualties. It is therefore important to develop better protection methods in addition to the traditional Franklin rod. Here we present the first demonstration that laser-induced filaments—formed in the sky by short and intense laser pulses—can guide lightning discharges over considerable distances. We believe that this experimental breakthrough will lead to progress in lightning protection and lightning physics. An experimental campaign was conducted on the Säntis mountain in north-eastern Switzerland during the summer of 2021 with a high-repetition-rate terawatt laser. The guiding of an upward negative lightning leader over a distance of 50 m was recorded by two separate high-speed cameras. The guiding of negative lightning leaders by laser filaments was corroborated in three other instances by very-high-frequency interferometric measurements, and the number of X-ray bursts detected during guided lightning events greatly increased. Although this research field has been very active for more than 20 years, this is the first field-result that experimentally demonstrates lightning guided by lasers. This work paves the way for new atmospheric applications of ultrashort lasers and represents an important step forward in the development of a laser based lightning protection for airports, launchpads or large infrastructures.

Record of a dense succession of drowning phases in the Alpstein mountains, north-eastern Switzerland: part I—the Lower Cretaceous Tierwis Formation (latest Hauterivian to latest Barremian)

In the Alpstein massif of north-eastern Switzerland, a complete succession of uppermost Hauterivian to uppermost Barremian condensed hemipelagic sediments crops out. This succession is known as Tierwis Formation, comprising in ascending order, the Altmann and Drusberg members. The sedimentary succession bears a number of fossiliferous glauconite- or phosphate-rich beds. A large number of newly discovered ammonites from these key beds and from several poorly explored levels of the Tierwis Formation allows for a new age calibration. The new dating as well as revised sequence stratigraphic interpretations and geochemistry contribute to a better understanding of the lithostratigraphic complexity of the Tierwis Formation and its spatio-temporal relationship with the Schrattenkalk Formation. The new lithostratigraphic observations, backed by ammonites, shows that the Altmann type-section and the Tierwis paratype-section do not cover the same stratigraphic interval because of dynamic sedimentation processes as erosion and sedimentation in submarine channels. We suggest that a phosphatic conglomerate in the Dursberg Member of middle late Barremian age corresponds to the Chopf Bed, which we recognised for the first time in the Alsptein massif. The Drusberg Member strongly thickens toward the southeast and progressively covers an upward extended stratigraphic range. Furthermore, the new dating of the key-surfaces and beds highlight a dense succession of drowning phases which occurred through the latest Hauterivian to late Barremian time interval. The latest Hauterivian onset of the glauconite-rich sedimentation of the Altmann Member is associated with a first major drowning phase, followed by the Faraoni oceanic anoxic event. The change of sedimentation to a rhythmic marl-limestone alternation of the Drusberg Member takes place over a polyzonal phosphatic conglomerate. This conglomerate coincides with a second major drowning phase and the onset of the Mid-Barremian Event, which is calibrated on the Tethyan ammonite biozonation.

Ethnographic Explorations of the Impacts of COVID-19 on Sociality and Spatiality in a Swiss Live Music Venue

The globally experienced suspension of cultural life brought about by the COVID-19 crisis has been duly acknowledged and discussed in a growing number of publications, reports and online seminars, most often in terms of the impact of COVID-19 on the music/culture industry. Despite the worsening pandemic situation in Switzerland and elsewhere during the autumn of 2020, I happened to be conducting field research in the city of St. Gallen (in north-eastern Switzerland) where the authorities opted for a “liberal” handling of the health crisis. As a result, the city’s live music venue “Palace”, where I was doing my fieldwork observations, remained open to the public as late as mid-December 2020, albeit with shortened opening hours and with a dancing ban. This allowed me to gain first-hand fieldwork experience during the pandemic’s significant constraints on social behaviour. The present article accordingly addresses the ethical dilemmas that I encountered when operating in this “grey zone” of field research, while also documenting the challenges and adjustments that the Palace venue had to undergo during pandemic times from the perspectives of producers, musicians and audiences alike. The article specifically focuses on understanding and analysing changes in the experience of the Palace’s sociality and spatiality under social distancing rules. Ultimately, this work provides a different angle on the existing body of music-cultural research, which largely focuses on the cancellations and transformations of music events into virtual gatherings.

Scleractinian corals from the Lower Cretaceous of the Alpstein area (Anthozoa; Vitznau Marl; lower Valanginian) and a preliminary comparison with contemporaneous coral assemblages

From the Vitznau Marl (lower Valanginian) at the locality Wart in northeastern Switzerland (Alpstein area), 18 species from 17 genera and 13 families are described, including the genera Actinaraea, Actinastrea, Adelocoenia, Aplosmilia, Axosmilia, Complexastrea, Cyathophora, Dermosmilia, Fungiastraea, Heterocoenia, Latiastrea, Montlivaltia, Placophyllia, Pleurophyllia, Stylophyllopsis, Thamnoseris, and specimens showing affinities to solitary stylophyllids. The corals from the Vitznau Marl were derived from a limestone–marl alternation that is fossiliferous and clay-rich at the base (Vitznau Marl), containing crinoids, bryozoans, and sparse reworked corals and sponges. The coral fauna is distinctly dominated by forms belonging to the category of lowest to no polyp integration (50%), followed by species of the cerioid-plocoid group (33%) and forms having the highest polyp integration (thamnasterioid; 17%). With regard to polypar size, the Wart fauna is dominated by corals having large-size (> 9 mm) polyps (= 39%), followed by corals having medium- (> 2.5‒9 mm; 33%) and small-size polyps (up to 2.5 mm; 28%). Based on morphological features, the fauna from the Vitznau Marl closely corresponds to coral assemblages that are subjected to near-chronic, moderate sediment-turbidity stress that is punctuated by high-stress events, and that are largely or entirely heterotrophic. No coral fabric was observed that would suggest a biohermal development. But in a very small number of places, structures are present which might be fragments of crusts of microbialites, pointing to the hypothesis that at least a few of the corals might have been a part of some kind of bioconstruction. At the species-level, the fauna of the Vitznau Marl shows either no or very little affinities to other Valanginian assemblages such as to the fauna of Hungary (4.3%), followed by the associations of Ukraine, Switzerland (non-Vitznau), Spain (SpII), and Bulgaria. At the genus-level, the Wart fauna shows low correspondence to the fauna of Spain (SpII) (14.5%), followed by the assemblages of Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. In addition to the Vitznau Marl corals, an account of all Valanginian coral faunas published before early 2021 is given, including their paleogeographic distribution, as well as their taxonomic and morphological characterization. For this preliminary study, a total of 206 coral species belonging to 97 genera found in the coral assemblages of the Valanginian were included. At both the genus- and the species-levels, colonial taxa are most abundant (colonial genera: 89%; colonial species 90%). The vast majority of the Valanginian genera already occurred in older strata. Only 11 genera (out of 97 = 11%) are newly recorded. The Valanginian faunas having the largest number of solitary taxa lived in both (sub-) paratropical to warm-temperate areas, and in arid regions. The coral faunas of the Valanginian are distinctly dominated by corals of well-established microstructural groups. Only 13% of the species from 24% of the genera belong to “modern” groups. Compared to the situation in the Berriasian which showed that 9% of the species and 17% of the genera belonged to modern microstructural groups, the occurrence of “modern” groups significantly increased during the Valanginian.

First record of the brachiopod Erymnaria in the Chruteren Member (Euthal Formation) from a new Palaeogene site in the Br\xfclisau Schuppenzone of northeastern Switzerland (Canton St. Gallen) with remarks on shell asymmetry

A small, smooth-shelled rhynchonellid brachiopod, Erymnaria Cooper, 1959 was discovered in a previously unknown locality in the so-called Brülisau Schuppenzone (imbricate zone) of the South Helvetic region of northeastern Switzerland. It is the first record of this genus in this region and in Switzerland in general. It is comparable to the type species of Erymnaria, E. polymorpha (Massalongo, 1850). Its specific identity is currently undetermined, and the species is referred to Erymnaria sp. 1. The main characteristic of Erymnaria sp.1 is its asymmetric shell. This prompted a comparison of E. sp. 1 with other known asymmetric brachiopods. Questions of asymmetry and variability within the same genus and with brachiopods in general are discussed. Another, larger brachiopod species found at the new site is tentatively named Erymnaria? sp. 2. The site can be assigned to the Chruteren Member (Euthal Formation) of Early Ypresian age, dated by large Foraminifera. Thus, the previous distribution area of the Chruteren Member can be extended.

Aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions during a Saharan dust event – A summertime case‐study from the Alps

AbstractChanges in the ambient aerosol concentration are known to affect the microphysical properties of clouds. Especially regarding precipitation formation, increasing aerosol concentrations are assumed to delay the precipitation onset, but may increase precipitation rates via convective invigoration and orographic spillover further downstream. In this study, we analyse the effect of increased aerosol concentrations on a heavy precipitation event observed in summer 2017 over northeastern Switzerland, an event which was considerably underestimated by the operational weather forecast model. Preceding the precipitation event, Saharan dust was advected towards the Alps, which could have contributed to increased precipitation rates north of the Alpine ridge. To investigate the potential impact of the increased ambient aerosol concentrations on surface precipitation, we perform a series of sensitivity simulations using the Consortium for Small‐scale Modeling (COSMO) model with different microphysical parametrizations and prognostic aerosol perturbations. The results show that the choice of the microphysical parametrization scheme in terms of a one‐ or two‐moment scheme has the relatively largest impact on surface precipitation rates. In the one‐moment scheme, surface precipitation is strongly reduced over the Alpine ridge and increased further downstream. Simulated changes in surface precipitation in response to aerosol perturbations remain smaller in contrast to the impact of the microphysics scheme. Elevated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations lead to increased cloud water and decreased cloud ice mass, especially in regions of high convective activity south of the Alps. These altered cloud properties indeed increase surface precipitation further downstream, but the simulated change is too small to explain the observed heavy precipitation event. Additional ice‐nucleating particles (INPs) increase cloud ice mass, but only trigger local changes in downstream surface precipitation. Thus, increased aerosol number concentrations during the Saharan dust outbreak are unlikely to have caused the heavy precipitation event in summer 2017.

Clinical outcomes of adults hospitalized for laboratory confirmed respiratory syncytial virus or influenza virus infection

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause severe disease in adults, but far less is known than for influenza. The aim of our study was to compare the disease course of RSV infections with influenza infections among hospitalized adults. We retrieved clinical data from an ongoing surveillance of adults hospitalized with RSV or influenza virus infection in two acute care hospitals in North-Eastern Switzerland during the winter seasons 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. Our main analysis compared the odds between RSV and influenza patients for admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) or in-hospital death within 7 days after admission. There were 548 patients, of whom 79 (14.4%) had an RSV and 469 (85.6%) an influenza virus infection. Both groups were similar with respect to age, sex, smoking status, nutritional state, and comorbidities. More RSV patients had an infiltrate on chest radiograph on admission (46.4% vs 29.9%, p = .007). The proportion of patients with RSV who died or were admitted to ICU within seven days after admission was 19.0% compared to 10.2% in influenza patients (p = .024). In multivariable analysis, a higher leukocyte count (adjusted OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.13, p = .013) and the presence of a pneumonic infiltrate (aOR 3.41, 95% CI 1.93-6.02) significantly increased the risk for experiencing the adverse primary outcome while the effect of the underlying viral pathogen became attenuated (aOR 1.18, 95% CI 0.58-2.41, p = .0.655). Our results suggest that RSV is responsible for clinical courses at least as severe as influenza in adults. This supports the need for better guidance on diagnostic strategies as well as on preventive and therapeutic measures for hospitalized adults with RSV infection.

Quantifying Multiple Erosion Events in the Distal Sector of the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin (North-Eastern Switzerland), by Combining Basin Thermal Modelling with Vitrinite Reflectance and Apatite Fission Track Data

This work quantifies the amount of erosion associated with the Cretaceous and Miocene erosional unconformities recognised in the distal part of the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), north-eastern Switzerland. To achieve this goal, the basin thermal modelling approach is applied, calibrated by two different sets of data collected in previous studies: vitrinite reflectance (%Ro) and the temperature estimated from apatite fission tracks (AFT) data modelling. The novelty of this approach is the possibility to constrain the timing and magnitude of multiple erosion events by integrating thermal modelling with thermochronologic data. Combining these two methods allows the erosional events to be separated which would not be possible using only irreversible paleothermometers, such as vitrinite reflectance data. Two scenarios were tested, based on the data of two published thermochronology studies. For the Cretaceous unconformity, similar results are obtained for the two scenarios, both indicating that the deposition and the subsequent complete erosion of Lower Cretaceous deposits, in the order of 500–1300 m, depending on the area, are necessary, in order to attain the temperatures estimated by the thermal history modelling of AFT data. Thus, a depositional hiatus for this period is not likely. For the Miocene-Quaternary unconformity, the magnitude of erosion calculated for the two scenarios differs by 300–1400 m, depending on the AFT data considered. The two scenarios lead to a different evaluation of the subsidence and uplift rate of the study area, thus to a different interpretation of the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of this distal sector of the NAFB.

Machine Learning Classification of Regional Swiss Yodel Styles Based on Their Melodic Attributes

A classification of wordless yodel melodies from five different regions in Switzerland was made. For our analysis, we used a total of 217 yodel tunes from five regions, which can be grouped into two larger regions, central and north-eastern Switzerland. The results show high accuracy of classification, therefore confirming the existence of regional differences in yodel melodies. The most salient features, such as rhythmic patterns or intervals, demonstrate some of the key differences in pairwise comparisons, which can be confirmed by a postanalysis survey of the relevant scores.

Insights into the Thermal History of North-Eastern Switzerland—Apatite Fission Track Dating of Deep Drill Core Samples from the Swiss Jura Mountains and the Swiss Molasse Basin

This work presents new apatite fission track LA–ICP–MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) data from Mid–Late Paleozoic rocks, which form the substratum of the Swiss Jura mountains (the Tabular Jura and the Jura fold-and-thrust belt) and the northern margin of the Swiss Molasse Basin. Samples were collected from cores of deep boreholes drilled in North Switzerland in the 1980s, which reached the crystalline basement. Our thermochronological data show that the region experienced a multi-cycle history of heating and cooling that we ascribe to burial and exhumation, respectively. Sedimentation in the Swiss Jura Mountains occurred continuously from Early Triassic to Early Cretaceous, leading to the deposition of maximum 2 km of sediments. Subsequently, less than 1 km of Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic sediments were slowly eroded during the Late Cretaceous, plausibly as a consequence of the northward migration of the forebulge of the neo-forming North Alpine Foreland Basin. Following this event, the whole region remained relatively stable throughout the Paleogene. Our data show that the Tabular Jura region resumed exhumation at low rates in early–middle Miocene times (≈20–15 Ma), whereas exhumation in the Jura fold-and-thrust belt probably re-started later, in the late Miocene (≈10–5 Ma). Erosional exhumation likely continues to the present day. Despite sampling limitations, our thermochronological data record discrete periods of slow cooling (rates of about 1°C/My), which might preclude models of elevated cooling (due to intense erosion) in the Jura Mountains during the Miocene. The denudation (≈1 km) of the Tabular Jura region and the Jura fold-and-thrust belt (≈500 m) has provided sediments to the Swiss Molasse Basin since at least 20 Ma. The southward migration of deformation in the Jura mountains suggests that the molasse basin started to uplift and exhume only after 5 Ma, as suggested also by previous authors. The data presented here show that the deformation of the whole region is occurring in an out-of-sequence trend, which is more likely associated with the reactivation of thrust faults beneath the foreland basin. This deformation trend suggests that tectonics is the most determinant factor controlling denudation and exhumation of the region, whereas the recently proposed “climate-induced exhumation” mechanism might play a secondary role.

Assessing site signal preservation in reference chronologies for dendro-provenancing.

Regional differences in tree growth can be used to approximate the geographical provenance of ring-width series (‘dendro-provenancing’). This method relies on cross-dated ring-width series (reference chronologies) that are thought to represent the radial growth signal of trees in a given region. Reference chronologies are often established from ring-width series of living tree populations. Frequently, they are too short to allow for investigating the provenance of historical wood. Thus, references are extended by ring-width series from buildings and art-historical objects that exhibit best matching growth patterns with the living tree references. Yet, series from other provenances may erroneously be included. Thereby the local or regional growth signal of the references is progressively contaminated, but this has received little attention to date. I investigate this contamination risk using a simulation approach that allows for generating pseudo site chronologies that preserve the relevant statistical properties of the real site chronologies. While the exact provenance of historical wood is unknown, for simulated ring-width series the provenance is unambiguous. Hence, pseudo reference chronologies may be established while monitoring the signal mixture. Specifically, 15 site chronologies of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) from northeastern Switzerland were used to generate 15 pseudo site growth signals that span 1000 years. The simulation demonstrates that quasi uncontaminated references can be established in ideal circumstances for the study area. However, the thresholds for the similarity in between-series correlation must be very high. Even then, contaminated pseudo references occurred in rare cases during the simulation. Yet, elevation-specific pseudo references were established with lower thresholds. Simulation currently offers the only approach for assessing the contamination risk of reference chronologies, and it allows for elucidating the conditions under which acceptable levels of contamination can be guaranteed. Therefore, the present approach paves the way towards a practical simulation tool for dendro-provenancing.

How does wood mobilization depend on marketing decisions? A country comparison based on choice experiments

There is no one-size-fits-all policy instrument to enhance wood mobilization. The success of implementing such policy measures can vary among countries and regions depending on the specific structural and institutional conditions as well as on behavioural aspects of the particular public and private decision makers. Forestry has a huge potential to contribute to a sustainable bio-economy by providing wood as a renewable resource. Making wood available to meet the future demand is one of the goals of forest policy and private initiatives. Understanding the market behaviour of forest owners and managers is important to identify effective and efficient policy instruments that enhance wood provisioning. We conducted a choice experiment at two study sites in south-eastern Germany (Upper Bavaria and Lower Franconia) and two in north-eastern Switzerland (Grisons and Aargau) to elicit foresters’ preferences for different supply channels, contract lengths, wood prices and duration of business relations. Our study site comparison identified regional differences and particularities, which should be taken into account when promoting wood mobilization. The success of policy instruments, such as the promotion of bundling organizations and long-term contracts, can vary depending on the specific structural and institutional conditions, like existing marketing channels, as well as on behavioural aspects of the particular public and private decision makers.

Extremeness of recent drought events in Switzerland: dependence on variable and return period choice

Abstract. The 2018 drought event had severe ecological, economic, and social impacts. How extreme was it in Switzerland? We addressed this question by looking at different types of drought, including meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, and groundwater drought, and at the two characteristics deficit and deficit duration. The analysis consisted of three main steps: (1) event identification using a threshold-level approach, (2) drought frequency analysis, and (3) comparison of the 2018 event to the severe 2003 and 2015 events. In Step 2 the variables precipitation, discharge, soil moisture, and low-flow storage were first considered separately in a univariate frequency analysis; pairs of variables were then investigated jointly in a bivariate frequency analysis using a copula model for expressing the dependence between the two variables under consideration. Our results show that the 2018 event was especially severe in north-eastern Switzerland in terms of soil moisture, with return periods locally exceeding 100 years. Slightly longer return periods were estimated when discharge and soil moisture deficits were considered together. The return period estimates depended on the region, variable, and return period considered. A single answer to the question of how extreme the 2018 drought event was in Switzerland is therefore not possible – rather, it depends on the processes one is interested in.

Sentential Negation in North-eastern Gallo-Romance dialects: insights from the Atlas Linguistique de la France

AbstractThis article argues that data from the Atlas Linguistique de la France (ALF, Edmont and Gilliéron, 1902–1910) can shed light on the fine-grained syntax of sentential negation in the Oïl dialects spoken in North Eastern France, Belgium and Switzerland. The Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in this area possess a larger variety of negative structures than those found in (Standard) French: in addition to ne…pas, ne can be followed by negations mie, pont or even appear alone. Although the dialects under study are highly endangered, I show how we can use syntactic data ‘hidden’ in the ALF to study their syntactic patterns. I present a quantitative study of variation in sentential negation in authentic transcriptions and French translations of the 22 negative data points in the ALF at 150 points in France, Belgium and Switzerland (N = 2989). I show that the pont form is significantly more frequent in negative constructions with ‘weak NPs’ (de phrases) and that there is a significant correlation between dropping of secondary negation and the ability of the secondary negation mie to be realized as an enclitic -m. This study supports Dagnac (2018)’s conclusion that the ALF is an invaluable tool for the study of syntactic microvariation in France.

Analysis of the frequency of oncogenic driver mutations and correlation with clinicopathological characteristics in patients with lung adenocarcinoma from Northeastern Switzerland

BackgroundMolecular testing of lung adenocarcinoma for oncogenic driver mutations has become standard in pathology practice. The aim of the study was to analyze the EGFR, KRAS, ALK, RET, ROS1, BRAF, ERBB2, MET and PIK3CA mutational status in a representative cohort of Swiss patients with lung adenocarcinoma and to correlate the mutational status with clinicopathological patient characteristics.MethodsAll patients who underwent molecular testing of newly diagnosed lung adenocarcinoma during a 4-year period (2014–2018) were included. Molecular analyses were performed with Sanger sequencing (n = 158) and next generation sequencing (n = 311). ALK, ROS1 and RET fusion gene analyses were also performed with fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry/immunocytochemistry. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from the medical records.ResultsOf 469 patients with informative EGFR mutation analyses, 90 (19.2%) had EGFR mutations. KRAS mutations were present in 33.9% of the patients, while 6.0% of patients showed ALK rearrangement. BRAF, ERBB2, MET and PIK3CA mutations and ROS1 and RET rearrangements were found in 2.6%, 1.9%, 1.9%, 1.5%, 1.7% and 0.8% of the patients, respectively. EGFR mutation was significantly associated with female gender and never smoking status. ALK translocations were more frequent in never smokers, while KRAS mutations were more commonly found in ever smokers. The association between KRAS mutational status and female gender was statistically significant only on multivariate analysis after adjusting for smoking.ConclusionThe EGFR mutation rate in the current study is among the higher previously reported mutation rates, while the frequencies of KRAS, BRAF, ERBB2 and PIK3CA mutations and ALK, ROS1 and RET rearrangements are similar to the results of previous reports. EGFR and KRAS mutations were significantly associated with gender and smoking. ALK rearrangements showed a significant association with smoking status alone.

Peter Andreas Hochuli (1946–2018)

Peter Andreas Hochuli (1946–2018)

Evaluating the key assumptions underlying dendro-provenancing: How to spruce it up with a scissor plot

The pairwise statistical comparison of ring-width series is the basic analysis of dendro-provenancing studies. It is assumed that statistical proximity indicates similar provenance, but this assumption often remains untested. Especially for small areas with high topographic complexity, it is unknown to what extent statistical proximity and geographical provenance are correlated.In this paper, dendro-provenancing is framed as a search for statistical Nearest Neighbors. The ‘k-Nearest Neighbors leave one-out cross-validation’ process (k-NN) is proposed as a method for validating dendro-provenancing approaches. Furthermore, it allows researchers to consistently compare and evaluate different proximity measures with respect to their suitability for dendro-provenancing. The validation process is demonstrated on a data set of 401 ring-width series of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) encompassing 15 sites along elevational gradients in north-eastern Switzerland. Moreover, a new type of plot, the so-called scissor plot, is introduced to visualize the k-NN validation process.Results indicate that dendro-provenancing depends heavily on differences in between sites high-frequency signal. Mean classification success for the relevant stages of the k-NN (CSR¯open)11CSR¯open is a figure for the classification success rate of a k-NN and is described in detail in the Methods section. ranged from 71.8% to 79.2% for the best performing measures. Classification errors occurred mainly between sites at elevations of 1000–1198 m a.s.l. At all other elevations and between different regions of the study area, only moderate differences in classification performance were detected. Thus, the results indicate that dendro-provenancing may be principally feasible even in a small region as studied here.