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Biomedical research is being transformed through the application of information technologies that allow ever greater amounts of data to be shared on an unprecedented scale. However, the methods for involving participants have not kept pace with changes in research capability. In an era when information is shared digitally at the global level, mechanisms of informed consent remain static, paper-based and organised around national boundaries and legal frameworks. Dynamic consent (DC) is both a specific project and a wider concept that offers a new approach to consent; one designed to meet the needs of the twenty-first century research landscape. At the heart of DC is a personalised, digital communication interface that connects researchers and participants, placing participants at the heart of decision making. The interface facilitates two-way communication to stimulate a more engaged, informed and scientifically literate participant population where individuals can tailor and manage their own consent preferences. The technical architecture of DC includes components that can securely encrypt sensitive data and allow participant consent preferences to travel with their data and samples when they are shared with third parties. In addition to improving transparency and public trust, this system benefits researchers by streamlining recruitment and enabling more efficient participant recontact. DC has mainly been developed in biobanking contexts, but it also has potential application in other domains for a variety of purposes.

The dissemination of mobile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via horizontal gene transfer is a significant threat to public health globally. The flow of ARGs into and between pathogens, however, remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to develop strategies for managing the antibiotic resistance crisis. Therefore, we aim to identify genetic and ecological factors that are fundamental for successful horizontal ARG transfer. We used a phylogenetic method to identify instances of horizontal ARG transfer in ~1 million bacterial genomes. This data was then integrated with >20,000 metagenomes representing animal, human, soil, water, and wastewater microbiomes to develop random forest models that can reliably predict horizontal ARG transfer between bacteria. Our results suggest that genetic incompatibility, measured as nucleotide composition dissimilarity, negatively influences the likelihood of transfer of ARGs between evolutionarily divergent bacteria. Conversely, environmental co-occurrence increases the likelihood, especially in humans and wastewater, in which several environment-specific dissemination patterns are observed. This study provides data-driven ways to predict the spread of ARGs and provides insights into the mechanisms governing this evolutionary process. The dynamics of antimicrobial resistance gene transfer remain unclear. Here, by integrating bacterial genome and metagenome data with machine learning the authors show that genetic incompatibility is a main limiting factor, while co-occurrence of bacteria in the human microbiome and wastewater contributes to gene transfer.

Background Bacterial communities in humans, animals, and the external environment maintain a large collection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, few of these ARGs are well-characterized and thus established in existing resistance gene databases. In contrast, the remaining latent ARGs are typically unknown and overlooked in most sequencing-based studies. Our view of the resistome and its diversity is therefore incomplete, which hampers our ability to assess risk for promotion and spread of yet undiscovered resistance determinants. Results A reference database consisting of both established and latent ARGs (ARGs not present in current resistance gene repositories) was created. By analyzing more than 10,000 metagenomic samples, we showed that latent ARGs were more abundant and diverse than established ARGs in all studied environments, including the human- and animal-associated microbiomes. The pan-resistomes, i.e., all ARGs present in an environment, were heavily dominated by latent ARGs. In comparison, the core-resistome, i.e., ARGs that were commonly encountered, comprised both latent and established ARGs. We identified several latent ARGs shared between environments and/or present in human pathogens. Context analysis of these genes showed that they were located on mobile genetic elements, including conjugative elements. We, furthermore, identified that wastewater microbiomes had a surprisingly large pan- and core-resistome, which makes it a potentially high-risk environment for the mobilization and promotion of latent ARGs. Conclusions Our results show that latent ARGs are ubiquitously present in all environments and constitute a diverse reservoir from which new resistance determinants can be recruited to pathogens. Several latent ARGs already had high mobile potential and were present in human pathogens, suggesting that they may constitute emerging threats to human health. We conclude that the full resistome—including both latent and established ARGs—needs to be considered to properly assess the risks associated with antibiotic selection pressures. 5osJoaDX1hvXqrydXgmyjb Video Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been intensely researched for more than two decades. Electrolyte formulations are one of the bottlenecks to their successful commercialization, since these result in trade-offs between the photovoltaic performance and long-term performance stability. The corrosive nature of the redox shuttles in the electrolytes is an additional limitation for industrial-scale production of DSSCs, especially with low cost metallic electrodes. Numerous electrolyte formulations have been developed and tested in various DSSC configurations to address the aforementioned challenges. Here, we comprehensively review the progress on the development and application of electrolytes for DSSCs. We particularly focus on the improvements that have been made in different types of electrolytes, which result in enhanced photovoltaic performance and long-term device stability of DSSCs. Several recently introduced electrolyte materials are reviewed, and the role of electrolytes in different DSSC device designs is critically assessed. To sum up, we provide an overview of recent trends in research on electrolytes for DSSCs and highlight the advantages and limitations of recently reported novel electrolyte compositions for producing low-cost and industrially scalable solar cell technology.

A cold wind from the ocean The Gulf Stream plays a key role in the climate system by importing vast quantities of heat and salt into the North Atlantic, and the possibility of changes in this flow is one of the main uncertainties hampering predictions of future climate change. Since instrumental records cover only the past 50 years, our knowledge of Gulf Stream behaviour on long timescales relies largely on geological records of past changes. Now an analysis of sediment cores from the Florida Straits, where the Gulf Stream enters the North Atlantic, has been used to reconstruct a record of the past 1,000 years. The results suggest that the Gulf Stream was weakened during the Little Ice Age ( AD 1200–1850), a time of unusually cold conditions in the North Atlantic region, particularly Europe, implying that changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation had an impact on climate during historical times. Analysis of sediment cores from the Florida Straits is used to reconstruct changes in the Gulf Stream over the past 1,000 years. Results suggest that volume transport was lower during the Little Ice Age (AD ∼1200 to 1850) than at present, implying that a reduction in heat transport by the Gulf Stream contributed to cooling in the North Atlantic during this period. The Gulf Stream transports approximately 31 Sv (1 Sv = 10 6  m 3  s -1 ) of water 1 , 2 and 1.3 × 10 15  W of heat 3 into the North Atlantic ocean. The possibility of abrupt changes in Gulf Stream heat transport is one of the key uncertainties in predictions of climate change for the coming centuries. Given the limited length of the instrumental record, our knowledge of Gulf Stream behaviour on long timescales must rely heavily on information from geologic archives. Here we use foraminifera from a suite of high-resolution sediment cores in the Florida Straits to show that the cross-current density gradient and vertical current shear of the Gulf Stream were systematically lower during the Little Ice Age ( ad ∼1200 to 1850). We also estimate that Little Ice Age volume transport was ten per cent weaker than today’s. The timing of reduced flow is consistent with temperature minima in several palaeoclimate records 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , implying that diminished oceanic heat transport may have contributed to Little Ice Age cooling in the North Atlantic. The interval of low flow also coincides with anomalously high Gulf Stream surface salinity 10 , suggesting a tight linkage between the Atlantic Ocean circulation and hydrologic cycle during the past millennium.

Participant-centred initiatives use social media technologies to allow long-term interactive partnerships to be established between study participants and researchers. These varied initiatives improve research governance and quality and give participants greater knowledge of and control over how their data are used. Advances in computing technology and bioinformatics mean that medical research is increasingly characterized by large international consortia of researchers that are reliant on large data sets and biobanks. These trends raise a number of challenges for obtaining consent, protecting participant privacy concerns and maintaining public trust. Participant-centred initiatives (PCIs) use social media technologies to address these immediate concerns, but they also provide the basis for long-term interactive partnerships. Here, we give an overview of this rapidly moving field by providing an analysis of the different PCI approaches, as well as the benefits and challenges of implementing PCIs.

For its greenhouse effects, atmospheric CO 2 can critically influence the global climate on millennial and centennial timescales. Pleistocene atmospheric CO 2 variations must involve changes in ocean storage of carbon, but the mechanisms and pathways of carbon transfer between the oceanic and atmospheric reservoirs are poorly understood due, in part, to complications associated with interpretation of carbonate system proxy data. Here we employ a recently developed approach to reconstruct upper Atlantic air–sea CO 2 exchange signatures through the last deglaciation. Using this approach, proxy and model data each suggest that there was a net release of CO 2 via the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean during the early deglaciation, which probably contributed to the millennial-scale atmospheric CO 2 rise during Heinrich Stadial 1 at ~18.0–14.7 kyr ago. Moreover, our data reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism for the centennial-scale atmospheric CO 2 rise at the onset of the Bølling warming event around 14.7 kyr ago, namely, the expansion of Antarctic Intermediate Water, a water mass that is especially inefficient at sequestering atmospheric CO 2 . Our findings highlight the role of the Southern Ocean outgassing and intermediate water-mass production and volume variations in governing millennial- and centennial-timescale atmospheric CO 2 rises during the last deglaciation. Expansions of Antarctic Intermediate Water can help explain centennial-scale atmospheric CO 2 highs during the last deglaciation, according to a reconstruction of the marine carbonate system in the Southern Ocean.

The amount of radiocarbon-depleted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose dramatically during the last deglaciation. Estimates of the radiocarbon content of water at 2.7 km depth in the northeast Pacific Ocean over the past 24,000 years suggest that this water mass was not a significant source of this carbon. The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide during the last deglaciation may have been driven by the release of carbon from the abyssal ocean 1 , 2 . This mechanism would require a poorly ventilated deep Pacific Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum and enhanced exchange with the atmosphere during deglaciation. Here we use radiocarbon measurements of planktonic and benthic foraminiferal shells from a core collected at 2.7 km water depth in the northeast Pacific to estimate the ventilation age of deep waters using the projection age method. In contrast to the above scenario, we show that ventilation ages during the Last Glacial Maximum were similar to today. This suggests that this part of the Pacific was not an important reservoir of carbon during glacial times. During deglaciation, ventilation ages increased by ∼1,000 years, indicating a decrease in the ventilation rate, an increase in the surface water reservoir age in the Southern Ocean, or an influx of old carbon from another source. Despite the increased ventilation age during deglaciation, the deep northeast Pacific still had a higher 14 C/C ratio than intermediate waters near Baja California 3 . We therefore conclude that the deep northeast Pacific was apparently not old enough to be the source of deglacial radiocarbon anomalies found shallower in the water column.

Magma production at mid‐ocean ridges is driven by seafloor spreading and decompression melting of the upper mantle. In the special case of Iceland, mantle melting may have been amplified by ice sheet retreat during the last deglaciation, yielding anomalously high rates of subaerial volcanism. For the remainder of the global mid‐ocean ridge system, the ocean may play an analogous role, with lowering of sea level during glacial maxima producing greater magma flux to ridge crests. Here we show that the mantle decompression rate associated with changes in sea level is a substantial fraction of that from plate spreading. Modeled peaks in magma flux occur after sea level drops rapidly, including the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5/4 and 3/2 transitions. The minimum in simulated flux occurs during the mid‐Holocene, due to the rapid sea level rise at the MIS 2/1 boundary. The model results are highly sensitive to melt migration rate; rates of ∼1 m/yr produce small signals, while those >5 m/yr yield substantial anomalies. In the latter case, sea level‐driven magma flux varies by 15–100% relative to the long‐term average, with the largest effect occurring at slow‐spreading ridges. We suggest that sedimentary time series of hydrothermal particle flux, oceanic Os isotopic ratio, and oceanic radiocarbon may serve as proxies for magma‐flux variations at mid‐ocean ridges. Although well‐dated records are rare, preliminary data from the Pacific and Atlantic suggest hydrothermal metal flux was elevated during MIS 2 and 4, broadly consistent with our modeling results. Key Points Glacial‐interglacial changes in sea level should affect mantle melting at ridges The sea level influence should be greatest at slow ridges Hydrothermal proxies may be consistent with sea level effect