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Elite athletes are high-performance outliers within their specific sports. Even though science seeks to understand the nature of expertise and elite performance, much knowledge remains compartmentalized within subdisciplines. Despite this multidimensionality being acknowledged, an interdisciplinary approach to understanding elite athletes is still rare. This paper synthesizes insights across scientific domains in order to describe the population and individual characteristics of elite athletes. We analyzed diagnostic data from approximately 300 German squad athletes across eight different sports (e.g., gymnastics, volleyball, ice hockey, 3 × 3 basketball etc., age female = 18.95 ± 4.84 years, age male = 19.32 ± 4.19 years) with expertise values ranging from 2 ( low expertise ) to 16 ( high expertise ). Data covered muscular strength, lower-body dynamics, muscle-power genetics, blood micronutrients, basic cognitive function, mental health, social support, and training conditions. Results of logistic regressions identified basic cognitive function ( B =  0.89) and well-balanced blood micronutrients ( B =  1.22) as critical factors distinguishing elite athletes. Additionally, multiple linear regressions suggested that lower-body dynamics (ß = 0.72) is related to increasing expertise values. We examined interactions between determinants of elite performance, and found that social support is positively associated with mental health and training conditions, whereas muscular strength correlates with lower-body dynamics. Focusing on top elite athletes in contrast to semi-elite athletes, we found higher within-group similarities in basic cognitive function and blood micronutrients. Findings indicate the need for a systemic, individualized, and comprehensive model using individual-based profiles.

The model representation of dry intrusions (DIs) and the marine boundary layer (MBL) is analyzed in the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecasting System (IFS). For this purpose, a DI classification at the Azores is combined with observation, short‐term background forecast and analysis data from the IFS data assimilation system. The background exhibits a cold bias in the descending DI, which is possibly related to a cold bias in the MBL below through vertical mixing. At the surface, simulated wind speeds are underestimated and directions are veered compared to the observations. The errors are reduced in the analysis except for near‐surface wind and humidity biases. We hypothesize that these biases are connected through underestimated surface latent heat fluxes. Such persistent biases potentially influence local weather and midlatitude weather evolution as cyclones are supplied with moisture from the cold sector influenced by DIs. Plain Language Summary The representation of descending dry intrusion airstreams and the marine boundary layer at the Azores is investigated in a global numerical weather prediction model. Specifically, radiosonde observations are compared with short‐term forecast and analysis data to identify biases. The diagnosed underestimated temperature, specific humidity, and wind speed in the lower troposphere are important as they can influence the evolution of mid‐latitude weather. Key Points Forecast and analysis errors within dry intrusions (DIs) above the Azores are studied using data assimilation (DA) output DIs and the boundary layer beneath exhibit a cold bias and near‐surface wind and humidity underestimation Low‐level wind speed and humidity biases are not reduced through DA with possible implications for midlatitude weather

The preconditioning of major sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) is investigated with two long time series using reanalysis (ERA‐40) and model (MAECHAM5/MPI‐OM) data. Applying planetary wave analysis, we distinguish between wavenumber‐1 and wavenumber‐2 major SSWs based on the wave activity of zonal wavenumbers 1 and 2 during the prewarming phase. For this analysis an objective criterion to identify and classify the preconditioning of major SSWs is developed. Major SSWs are found to occur with a frequency of six and seven events per decade in the reanalysis and in the model, respectively, thus highlighting the ability of MAECHAM5/MPI‐OM to simulate the frequency of major SSWs realistically. However, from these events only one quarter are wavenumber‐2 major warmings, representing a low (∼0.25) wavenumber‐2 to wavenumber‐1 major SSW ratio. Composite analyses for both data sets reveal that the two warming types have different dynamics; while wavenumber‐1 major warmings are preceded only by an enhanced activity of the zonal wavenumber‐1, wavenumber‐2 events are either characterized by only the amplification of zonal wavenumber‐2 or by both zonal wavenumber‐1 and zonal wavenumber‐2, albeit at different time intervals. The role of tropospheric blocking events influencing these two categories of major SSWs is evaluated in the next step. Here, the composite analyses of both reanalysis and model data reveal that blocking events in the Euro‐Atlantic sector mostly lead to the development of wavenumber‐1 major warmings. The blocking–wavenumber‐2 major warming connection can only be statistical reliable analyzed with the model time series, demonstrating that blocking events in the Pacific region mostly precede wavenumber‐2 major SSWs. Key Points Analysis of the preconditioning of major SSWs by different planetary waves Planetary wave dynamics of wavenumber‐1 and wavenumber‐2 major SSWs Influence of tropospheric blockings on wavenumber‐1 and wavenumber‐2 major SSWs

Observations and simple theoretical arguments suggest that the Northern Hemisphere (NH) stratospheric polar vortex is stronger in winters following major volcanic eruptions. However, recent studies show that climate models forced by prescribed volcanic aerosol fields fail to reproduce this effect. We investigate the impact of volcanic aerosol forcing on stratospheric dynamics, including the strength of the NH polar vortex, in ensemble simulations with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model. The model is forced by four different prescribed forcing sets representing the radiative properties of stratospheric aerosol following the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo: two forcing sets are based on observations, and are commonly used in climate model simulations, and two forcing sets are constructed based on coupled aerosol–climate model simulations. For all forcings, we find that simulated temperature and zonal wind anomalies in the NH high latitudes are not directly impacted by anomalous volcanic aerosol heating. Instead, high-latitude effects result from enhancements in stratospheric residual circulation, which in turn result, at least in part, from enhanced stratospheric wave activity. High-latitude effects are therefore much less robust than would be expected if they were the direct result of aerosol heating. Both observation-based forcing sets result in insignificant changes in vortex strength. For the model-based forcing sets, the vortex response is found to be sensitive to the structure of the forcing, with one forcing set leading to significant strengthening of the polar vortex in rough agreement with observation-based expectations. Differences in the dynamical response to the forcing sets imply that reproducing the polar vortex responses to past eruptions, or predicting the response to future eruptions, depends on accurate representation of the space–time structure of the volcanic aerosol forcing.

Simulations of tropical volcanic eruptions using a general circulation model with coupled aerosol microphysics are used to assess the influence of season of eruption on the aerosol evolution and radiative impacts at the Earth's surface. This analysis is presented for eruptions with SO2 injection magnitudes of 17 and 700 Tg, the former consistent with estimates of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption, the later a near-\"super eruption\". For each eruption magnitude, simulations are performed with eruptions at 15° N, at four equally spaced times of year. Sensitivity to eruption season of aerosol optical depth (AOD), clear-sky and all-sky shortwave (SW) radiative flux is quantified by first integrating each field for four years after the eruption, then calculating for each cumulative field the absolute or percent difference between the maximum and minimum response from the four eruption seasons. Eruption season has a significant influence on AOD and clear-sky SW radiative flux anomalies for both eruption magnitudes. The sensitivity to eruption season for both fields is generally weak in the tropics, but increases in the mid- and high latitudes, reaching maximum values of ~75 %. Global mean AOD and clear-sky SW anomalies show sensitivity to eruption season on the order of 15–20 %, which results from differences in aerosol effective radius for the different eruption seasons. Smallest aerosol size and largest cumulative impact result from a January eruption for Pinatubo-magnitude eruption, and from a July eruption for the near-super eruption. In contrast to AOD and clear-sky SW anomalies, all-sky SW anomalies are found to be insensitive to season of eruption for the Pinatubo-magnitude eruption experiment, due to the reflection of solar radiation by clouds in the mid- to high latitudes. However, differences in all-sky SW anomalies between eruptions in different seasons are significant for the larger eruption magnitude, and the ~15 % sensitivity to eruption season of the global mean all-sky SW anomalies is comparable to the sensitivity of global mean AOD and clear-sky SW anomalies. Our estimates of sensitivity to eruption season are larger than previously reported estimates: implications regarding volcanic AOD timeseries reconstructions and their use in climate models are discussed.

Epidemiological studies reveal better cognitive function in physically active individuals. Possible mediators for this effect are neurotrophins, which are up-regulated through physical exercise and induce neuronal growth and synaptogenesis in the animal model. Here we cross-sectionally assessed 75 healthy older individuals for levels of physical activity, aerobic fitness, and memory encoding, as well as neurotrophin levels and cerebral gray matter volume. We found that physical activity, but not cardiovascular fitness, was associated with better memory encoding after controlling for age, sex, education, depression, alcohol consumption, and smoking. Higher levels of physical activity were associated with higher levels of the neurotrophin granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and increased cerebral gray matter volume in prefrontal and cingulate cortex as assessed by magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometry. While mediating factors will need to be further elucidated, these findings indicate that even low-level physical activity exerts beneficial effects on memory functions in older individuals.

Background:Biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are effective in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with an inadequate response to conventional synthetic DMARD (csDMARD) therapy1. Sarilumab, an interleukin 6 receptor inhibitor (IL-6Ri), has demonstrated treatment effectiveness in RA in routine care in the USA2 and elsewhere3, but few data are available for long-term use in such a setting.Objectives:This study aimed to assess the effectiveness, safety and, patient-reported outcomes of sarilumab in daily clinical practice in patients with RA over a prolonged observation period.Methods:This prospective, non-interventional, multi-center, open label, single-arm study (PROSARA) was conducted from March 2018 to February 2023 at 78 sites in Germany. Adult patients with moderate to severe RA, with prior RA therapy and treated for the first time with sarilumab (mono or combination therapy) (150 mg/ 200 mg Q2W) were enrolled. Clinical effectiveness of sarilumab was assessed at 12 and 24 months using clinical disease activity index (CDAI), simplified disease activity index (SDAI), disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28) based on both C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (DAS28CRP/ESR), and health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI) score. Influence of prior RA treatment on effectiveness was determined using logistic regression. Safety was assessed by frequency of adverse event (AE), serious AE (SAE), adverse drug reaction (ADR), AE/SAE leading to study drug withdrawal. All analyses for patients (baseline, effectiveness, and safety population) initiating sarilumab close to baseline (BL) (±14 days) were presented to ensure a meaningful interpretation due to potential deviation in the start of sarilumab from the date of BL visit.Results:A total of 584 patients (76.9% female, mean±SD age: 58.6 ± 11.5 years, median time since diagnosis: 91 months [~7.6 years; IQR: 39–187]) were included in the BL and safety population, of whom 541 patients had at least 1 BL and 1 corresponding post-BL effectiveness assessment documented. The safety analysis population included patients who were administered ≥1 dose of study medication. At BL, 54.5% of patients started sarilumab as monotherapy, while 30.7% received sarilumab in combination with csDMARD, (mainly methotrexate, 89.9%), data for the remaining patients unknown. Disease activity showed a clinically relevant improvement in all assessed parameters (Table 1). At 24 months, the majority of patients were in DAS28 remission (DAS28CRP; 61.4% and DAS28ESR; 72.4%), whereas 28.4% and 28.0% of patients were in CDAI and SDAI remission, respectively. DAS28 remission was not significantly associated with prior RA treatment (except for DAS28CRP remission for TNFi). Mean improvement of 0.3 points was observed in the HAQ-DI score after 12 and 24 months of therapy onset (Table 1). About 47.6% of the patients discontinued the study prematurely due to lack (27.5%) or loss (20.5%) of effectiveness or intolerance (24.9%). SAEs (175) were reported in 104 patients of the safety population (Table 2). Most frequent SAEs were musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders (3.9%), surgical and medical procedures (2.6%), and infections and infestations (2.4%). Most frequent serious ADRs were musculoskeletal and connective tissue (1.4%) and blood and lymphatic system disorders (0.7%). There was one death, not related to study drug.Conclusion:In daily clinical practice in Germany, sarilumab showed sustained improvement in various effectiveness parameters in RA and sarilumab was well tolerated with no new safety signals. These data are consistent with results of similar clinical trials with sarilumab in patients with RA.REFERENCES:[1] Bonek K, et al. Cells. 2021;10(2):323[2] Curtis JR, et al. Rheumatol Ther. 2023;10(4):1055–1072[3] Kameda H, et al. Mod Rheumatol. 2023Acknowledgements:The non-interventional study PROSARA was funded by Sanofi Deutschland GmbH and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Medical writing support for this abstract was provided by Sambuddha Das, PhD., of Sanofi.Disclosure of Interests:Eugen Feist Reports grants and personal fees from Sanofi during the conduct of the study; grants and personal fees from Roche, Abbvie, BMS, Lilly outside the submitted work, Peer Malte Aries Reports personal fees from Abbvie, Biogen, Berlin Chemie, Celgene, GSK, Hexal, Mylan, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Janssen, Medac, Sanofi, Silke Zinke Reports personal fees from Abbvie, GSK, UCB, Lilly, Janssen, Sanofi, Klaus Krüger Reports personal fees from Sanofi, Christian Barrionuevo Is employee of Sanofi Deutschland GmbH.

Background:Achieving clinical remission is the primary target for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment. The SELECT clinical trial program has proven upadacitinib (UPA), a selective Janus kinase inhibitor, to be an effective and safe treatment for rheumatoid arthritis[1-6]. The UPwArds study was designed to provide a deeper understanding of UPA’s real-world effectiveness in daily clinical practice. This post-hoc analysis investigates whether UPA treatment benefits patients by achieving clinical remission and to which extent remission impacts patient-reported outcomes (PROs), reflecting the patient’s perspective on RA.Objectives:First, to evaluate the effectiveness of UPA regarding the achievement of Clinical Disease Activity Index remission (CDAI) after 6 months of treatment. Second, to investigate whether the results of PROs conveying essential information differ regarding CDAI remission status.Methods:UPwArds was a post-marketing observational study involving adults with moderate-to-severe RA, characterized by a swollen joint count of 3 or more, with inadequate response to at least one other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). This analysis examines if patients reaching CDAI-remission (CDAI ≤ 2.8) after 6 months of UPA treatment also differ in PROs reflecting crucial symptom domains from the patient’s perspective from those not in remission. The chosen PROs were: pain and fatigue on a numerical rating scale (NRS, 0-10), the Patient-Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) reflecting depressive symptoms, the Funktionsfragebogen Hannover (converted into internationally used Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI))[7] assessing physical function, and the duration of morning stiffness. Data were analyzed as observed without imputation of missing values.Results:The population for this post-hoc analysis included 516 patients with baseline data and at least one dose of upadacitinib. In total, 76.4% of patients were female and had a corresponding mean disease duration of 9.0 years; 105 of 430 remaining patients (24.4%) achieved CDAI-remission at 6 months, with comparable baseline CDAI scores for those patients, achieving remission, and those who were not in remission at 6 months (23.7 and 24.9). Patients in CDAI remission showed significant improvements in pain and fatigue compared to those not in remission (Figure 1a and b), which was also confirmed for categorized improvements (Table 1). Mean score improvements for PHQ-9 and the duration of morning stiffness were not different when compared between the two patient groups (Figure 1c and e). MCIDs for the PHQ-9 and the HAQ-DI showed similar improvements independent from remission status (Table 1). However, mean HAQ-DI improvements were greater for patients in remission whose month-6 absolute scores were better throughout all PROs compared to patients not achieving remission (Figure 1). Safety data for UPA during UPwArds have been previously reported[8].Conclusion:In RA patients having previously failed at least one other DMARD treatment, approximately 1 in 4 patients achieved CDAI remission with UPA treatment at month 6. Patients achieving remission were more likely to experience greater improvements in pain, fatigue, and physical function compared to those not in remission.REFERENCES:[1] Smolen JS, et al. Lancet 2019;393:2303–11;[2] Burmester GR, et al. Lancet 2018;391:2503–12;[3] Genovese MC, et al. Lancet 2018;391:2513–24;[4] van Vollenhoven R, et al. Arthritis Rheumatol 2020;72:1607–20;[5] Fleischmann R, et al. Arthritis Rheumatol 2019;71:1788–800;[6] Rubbert-Roth A, et al. N Engl J Med 2020;383:1511–21;[7] Lautenschläger J et al. Z. Rheumatol. 1997;56(3):144-55[8] Witte T, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2023;82:718-719 (https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2023-eular.1202)Figure 1.Mean baseline and month-6 scores stratified by CDAI remission at month 6Acknowledgements:AbbVie funded this study, contributed to its design, participated in data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and in writing, review, and approval of the abstract. AbbVie and the authors thank all study investigators for their contributions and all patients that participated in this study. No honoraria or payments were made for authorship. Statistical analysis support was provided by StatConsult, which was funded by AbbVie. Medical writing support was provided by Dr. Matthias Englbrecht and was funded by AbbVie.Disclosure of Interests:Torsten Witte Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Chugai, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Mylan, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, Uta Kiltz Consultant of: AbbVie, Biocad, Eli Lilly and Company, Grünenthal, Hexal, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Fresenius, GSK, Hexal, Novartis, and Pfizer, Florian Haas Consultant of: AbbVie, Celgene, Novartis, and Pfizer, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi Genzyme, Elke Riechers Consultant of: AbbVie, Chugai, Novartis, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Chugai, Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, Daniela Adolf Employee of StatConsult, Ulrich Prothmann Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, Glaxo Smith Kline, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, SOBI, and UCB, Kirsten Famulla Employee of AbbVie and may own stock or options, Alexander Rössler Employee of AbbVie and may own stock or options, Konrad Götz Employee of AbbVie and may own stock or options, Klaus Krüger Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Biogen, BMS, Celltrion, Gilead, Hexal, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB.

Due to developments recently termed as ‘audit,’ ‘evaluation,’ or ‘metric society,’ universities have become subject to ratings and rankings and researchers are evaluated according to standardized quantitative indicators such as their publication output and their personal citation scores. Yet, this development is not only based on the rise of new public management and ideas on ‘the return on public or private investment.’ It has also profited from ongoing technological developments. Due to a massive increase in digital publishing corresponding with the growing availability of related data bibliometric infrastructures for evaluating science are continuously becoming more differentiated and elaborate. They allow for new ways of using bibliometric data through various easily applicable tools. Furthermore, they also produce new quantities of data due to new possibilities in following the digital traces of scientific publications. In this article, I discuss this development as quantification 2.0. The rise of digital infrastructures for publishing, indexing, and managing scientific publications has not only made bibliometric data become a valuable source for performance assessment. It has triggered an unprecedented growth in bibliometric data production turning freely accessible data about scientific work into edited databases and producing competition for its users. The production of bibliometric data has thus become decoupled from their application. Bibliometric data have turned into a self-serving end while their providers are constantly seeking for new tools to make use of them.

This special section of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics gives an overview of scientific results, collected during a West Pacific ship expedition in October 2009 with the Research Vessel (R/V) Sonne. The cruise focussed on chemical interactions between the ocean surface and the atmosphere above the tropical West Pacific and was planned within the national research project TransBrom (www.geomar.de/~transbrom). TransBrom aimed to particularly investigate very short lived bromine compounds in the ocean and their transport to and relevance for the stratosphere. For this purpose, chemical and biological parameters were analysed in the ocean and in the atmosphere, accompanied by a high frequency of meteorological measurements, to derive new insights into the multidisciplinary research field. This introduction paper presents the scientific goals and the meteorological and oceanographic background. The main research findings of the TransBrom Sonne expedition are highlighted.