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Nodosauridae is a group of thyreophoran dinosaurs characterized by a collar of prominent osteoderms. In comparison to its sister group, the often club-tailed ankylosaurids, a different lifestyle of nodosaurids could be assumed based on their neuroanatomy and weaponry, e.g., regarding applied defensive strategies. The holotype of the nodosaurid Struthiosaurus austriacus consists of a single partial braincase from the Late Cretaceous of Austria. Since neuroanatomy is considered to be associated with ecological tendencies, we created digital models of the braincase based on micro-CT data. The cranial endocast of S. austriacus generally resembles those of its relatives. A network of vascular canals surrounding the brain cavity further supports special thermoregulatory adaptations within Ankylosauria. The horizontal orientation of the lateral semicircular canal independently confirms previous appraisals of head posture for S. austriacus and, hence, strengthens the usage of the LSC as proxy for habitual head posture in fossil tetrapods. The short anterior and angular lateral semicircular canals, combined with the relatively shortest dinosaurian cochlear duct known so far and the lack of a floccular recess suggest a rather inert lifestyle without the necessity of sophisticated senses for equilibrium and hearing in S. austriacus . These observations agree with an animal that adapted to a comparatively inactive lifestyle with limited social interactions.

The Pasterze is Austria's largest glacier, and it is experiencing rapid downwasting and retreat. A mosaic of complex sedimentary deposits has been produced in recent years which have not hitherto been studied, yet provide excellent lessons into the facies distribution expected from a dying valley glacier. In this paper, a new glaciological–geomorphological–geological map is presented for the glacier in July 2021. Freshly exposed (since 2018) tills and flutes constitute a subglacial sediment–landform assemblage. An ice‐marginal sediment–landform assemblage comprises meltwater streams, a delta system and proglacial lake terrace deposits. The supraglacial assemblage, meanwhile, includes fossil englacial channel deposits revealed by ablation, together with debris bands, rockfall deposits and supraglacial channel deposits. Collectively, these sediment–landform assemblages constitute the building blocks of a dying glacier landsystem. The rapid retreat of Alpine valley glaciers is a well known phenomenon, and the distribution of sedimentary facies in front of them is highly complex. Here, we characterise the sediment‐landform assemblage at the margin of the Pasterze Glacier, Austria, revealing newly discovered flutes near the ice margin, and consider a highly complex delta system partly deposited on top of dead ice.

The expansion of ice masses across southern Africa during the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age has been known for 150 years, including the distribution of upland areas in controlling the configuration of glaciation. In Namibia, increasing attention has focussed on long and deep palaeovalley networks in the Kaokoland region in the north, but comparatively little work has been attempted in the topographically subdued plains of the south, in the Aranos and Karasburg basins. The desert terrain of the Aranos area exposes diamictites of the Dwyka Group discontinuously over about 300 km, extending further south to the Karasburg area at the Namibian‐South African border along the Orange River. Whilst examined at a stratigraphic level, the nature of the contact between the Dwyka glacial rocks and underlying lithologies has not been systematically investigated. This paper presents the results from fieldwork in austral winter 2019, in which a highly varying basal contact is described that records the processes of growth, flow and expansion of ice masses across this part of Gondwana. At the basin margins, subglacially produced unconformities exhibit classic glacially striated pavements on indurated bedrock. In comparison, the basal subglacial unconformity in the more basinward regions is characterised by soft‐sediment striated surfaces and deformation. In the Aranos Basin, soft‐sediment shear zones originated in the subglacial environment. This type of subglacial unconformity developed over well‐differentiated, unconsolidated, siliciclastic materials. Where ice advanced over more poorly sorted material or cannibalised pre‐existing diamictites, ‘boulder‐pavements’ recognised as single clast‐thick boulder‐dominated intervals formed. Importantly, these boulder‐pavements are enriched in clasts, which were facetted and striated in‐situ by overriding ice. By integrating measurements of striation orientations, fold vergence and palaeocurrent information, former ice flow pathways can potentially be reconstructed over a wide area. Namibia has an outstanding record of the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age, including thick diamictites with dramaic facies changes. The relationship between these diamictites and underlying strata has not been fully investigated until present, and reveals such processes as meltwater, sediment deformation and scouring at work in the subglacial environment. A good understanding of these processes and products is vital to accurate palaeo‐ice sheet reconstructions.

The modern relief of Southern Africa is characterised by stepped plateaus bordered by escarpments. This morphology is thought to result from stepwise uplift and ensuing continental-scale erosion of the region as it rode over Africa’s mantle ‘superplume’ following the break-up of Gondwana, i.e. since the mid-Mesozoic. We demonstrate in this contribution that this modern morphology of Southern Africa is in fact largely inherited from glacial erosion associated to the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) that occurred between 370 and 260 Myr ago, during which Gondwana – which included Southern Africa – was covered in thick ice masses. Southern Africa hosts vast (up to 106 km²) and thick (up to 5 km) sedimentary basins ranging from the Carboniferous, represented by glaciogenic sediments tied to the LPIA, to the Jurassic-Cretaceous. These basins are separated by intervening regions largely underlain by Archean to Paleoproterozoic cratonic areas that correspond to paleohighlands that preserve much of the morphology that existed when sedimentary basins formed, and particularly glacial landforms. In this contribution, we review published field and remote data and provide new large-scale interpretation of the geomorphology of these paleohighlands of Southern Africa. Our foremost finding is that over Southern Africa, vast surfaces, tens to hundreds of thousands km² (71.000–360.000 km²) are exhumed glacial landscapes tied to the LPIA. These glacial landscapes manifest in the form of cm-scale striated pavements, m-scale fields of roches moutonnées, whalebacks and crag-and-tails, narrow gorges cut into high-standing mountain ranges, and km-scale planation surfaces and large U-shaped valleys, overdeepenings, fjords and troughs up to 200 km in length. Many modern savannahs and desertic landscapes of Southern Africa are therefore relict glacial landscapes and relief ca. 300 Myr old. These exhumed glacial relief moreover exerts a strong control on the modern-day aspect of the geomorphology of Southern Africa as (1) some escarpments that delineate high-standing plateaux from valleys and coastal plains are inherited glacial relief in which glacial valleys are carved, (2) some hill or mountain ranges already existed by LPIA times and were likely modelled by glacial erosion, and (3) the drainage network of many of the main rivers of Southern Africa is funnelled through ancient glacial valleys. This remarkable preservation allowed us to reconstruct the paleogeography of Southern Africa in the aftermath of the LPIA, consisting of highlands over which ice masses nucleated and from which they flowed through the escarpments and toward lowlands that now correspond to sedimentary basins. Our findings therefore indicate that glacial landforms and relief of continental-scale can survive over tens to hundreds of million years. This preservation and modern exposure of the glacial paleolandscapes were achieved through burial under piles of Karoo sediments and lavas over ca. 120 to 170 million years and a subsequent exhumation since the middle Mesozoic owing to the uplift of Southern Africa. Owing to strong erodibility contrasts between resistant Precambrian bedrock and softer sedimentary infill, the glacial landscapes have been exhumed and rejuvenated. We therefore emphasise the need of considering the legacy of glacial erosion processes and the resulting presence of glacial landscapes when assessing the post-Gondwana-breakup evolution of Southern African topography and its resulting modern-day aspect, as well as inferences about climate changes and tectonic processes. Finally, we explore the potential pre-LPIA origin for some of the landscapes. In the Kaoko region of northern Namibia, the escarpments into which glacial valleys are carved may correspond to a reminiscence of the Kaoko Pan-African Belt, whose crustal structures were either reactivated or where relief persisted since then. In South Africa, the escarpment bordering the paleohighland corresponds to crustal-scale faults that might have been reactivated during LPIA by subsidence processes. These inherited morphological or crustal features may have been re-exploited and enhanced by glacial erosion during the LPIA, as it is the case for some Quaternary glacial morphology.

Efficient fibre-based long-distance quantum communication via quantum repeaters relies on deterministic single-photon sources at telecom wavelengths, potentially exploiting the existing world-wide infrastructures. For upscaling the experimental complexity in quantum networking, two-photon interference (TPI) of remote non-classical emitters in the low-loss telecom bands is of utmost importance. Several experiments have been conducted regarding TPI of distinct emitters, for example, using trapped atoms1, ions2, nitrogen vacancy centres3,4, silicon vacancy centres5, organic molecules6 and semiconductor quantum dots7,8. However, the spectral range was far from the highly desirable telecom C-band. Here, we exploit quantum frequency conversion to realize TPI at 1,550 nm with single photons stemming from two remote quantum dots. We thereby prove quantum frequency conversion9–11 as a bridging technology and a precise and stable mechanism to erase the frequency difference between independent emitters. On resonance, a TPI visibility of 29  ± 3% has been observed, limited only by the spectral diffusion processes of the individual quantum dots12,13. The local fibre network used covers several rooms between two floors of the building. Even the addition of up to 2 km of fibre channel shows no influence on the TPI visibility, proving the photon wavepacket distortion to be negligible. Our studies pave the way to establish long-distance entanglement distribution between remote solid-state emitters including interfaces with various quantum hybrid systems14–16.

Objective: To determine the influence of brief strategic family therapy (BSFT) on salivary cortisol, anger, and health-related quality of life (QoL) in adolescent boys with bullying behaviour. Method: We selected a sample of 72 boys demonstrating bullying behaviour from the general population and treated 36 with BSFT for 12 weeks. The other 36 boys formed the control group. Primary outcome measures were salivary cortisol concentration 15 to 30 minutes after awakening and changes on the subscales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and the Health Survey (SF-36). Results: After 12 weeks' treatment, we observed a significant reduction in bullying behaviour in the BSFT group (P = 0.017) and in the mean values (according to the intent-to-treat principle) for salivary cortisol concentration (P < 0.001). The BSFT group also showed significantly greater change on the STAXI subscales State-Anger (P < 0.001), Trait-Anger (P < 0.001), Anger-Out (P < 0.001), and Anger-Control (P < 0.001). Treatment with BSFT also resulted in significant improvement on the SF-36 subscales for Vitality (P < 0.001), Social Functioning (P < 0.001), Role-Emotional (P < 0.001), and Mental Health (P < 0.001). Conclusions: BSFT effectively influenced bullying behaviour, salivary cortisol concentration, anger, and health-related QoL in adolescent bullying boys.

Background: Many girls bully others. They are conspicuous because of their risk-taking behavior, increased anger, problematic interpersonal relationships and poor quality of life. Our aim was to determine the efficacy of brief strategic family therapy (BSFT) for bullying-related behavior, anger reduction, improvement of interpersonal relationships, and improvement of health-related quality of life in girls who bully, and to find out whether their expressive aggression correlates with their distinctive psychological features. Methods: 40 bullying girls were recruited from the general population: 20 were randomly selected for 3 months of BSFT. Follow-up took place 12 months after the therapy had ended. The results of treatment were examined using the Adolescents’ Risk-taking Behavior Scale (ARBS), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-D), and the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Results: In comparison with the control group (CG) (according to the intent-to-treat principle), bullying behavior in the BSFT group was reduced (BSFT-G from n = 20 to n = 6; CG from n = 20 to n = 18, p = 0.05) and statistically significant changes in all risk-taking behaviors (ARBS), on most STAXI, IIP-D, and SF-36 scales were observed after BSFT. The reduction in expressive aggression (Anger-Out scale of the STAXI) correlated with the reduction on several scales of the ARBS, IIP-D, and SF-36. Follow-up a year later showed relatively stable events. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that bullying girls suffer from psychological and social problems which may be reduced by the use of BSFT. Expressive aggression in girls appears to correlate with several types of risk-taking behavior and interpersonal problems, as well as with health-related quality of life.

Efficient fiber-based long-distance quantum communication via quantum repeaters relies on deterministic single-photon sources at telecom wavelengths, with the potential to exploit the existing world-wide infrastructures. For upscaling the experimental complexity in quantum networking, two-photon interference (TPI) of remote non-classical emitters in the low-loss telecom bands is of utmost importance. With respect to TPI of distinct emitters, several experiments have been conducted, e.g., using trapped atoms [Beugnon2006], ions [Maunz2007], NV-centers [Bernien2012, Sipahigil2012], SiV-centers [Sipahigil2014], organic molecules [Lettow2010] and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) [Patel2010, Flagg2010, He2013b, Gold2014, Giesz2015, Thoma2017, Reindl2017, Zopf2017]; however, the spectral range was far from the highly desirable telecom C-band. Here, we report on TPI at 1550 nm between down-converted single photons from remote QDs [Michler2017Book], demonstrating quantum frequency conversion [Zaske2012, Ates2012, Kambs2016] as precise and stable mechanism to erase the frequency difference between independent emitters. On resonance, a TPI-visibility of (29+-3)% has been observed, being only limited by spectral diffusion processes of the individual QDs [Robinson2000, Kuhlmann2015]. Up to 2-km of additional fiber channel has been introduced in both or individual signal paths with no influence on TPI-visibility, proving negligible photon wave-packet distortion. The present experiment is conducted within a local fiber network covering several rooms between two floors of the building. Our studies pave the way to establish long-distance entanglement distribution between remote solid-state emitters including interfaces with various quantum hybrid systems [DeGreve2012,Maring2017,Bock2017,Maring2018].

Quantum frequency conversion (QFC), a nonlinear optical process in which the frequency of a quantum light field is altered while conserving its non-classical correlations, was first demonstrated 20 years ago. Meanwhile, it is considered an essential tool for the implementation of quantum repeaters since it allows for interfacing quantum memories with telecom-wavelength photons as quantum information carriers. Here we demonstrate efficient (>30%) QFC of visible single photons (711 nm) emitted by a quantum dot (QD) to a telecom wavelength (1,313 nm). Analysis of the first and second-order coherence before and after wavelength conversion clearly proves that important properties, such as the coherence time and photon antibunching, are fully conserved during the frequency translation process. Our findings underline the great potential of single photon sources on demand in combination with QFC as a promising technique for quantum repeater schemes.

Most soil parent materials were rocks at some time in their history. The minerals in rocks may contribute to soil fertility and other soil properties long after the original rock is gone. Consequently, it is a valuable skill to be able to identify broad categories of rock. This lesson will discuss igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and the minerals found in them. The lesson will also provide opportunities for students to identify rocks based on given characteristics.