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Numbers of European bison (Bison bonasus) reintroduction programmes are increasing across Europe. Investigating potential health risks related to translocations is crucial for the long-term success of such programmes. Parasitological analyses play a central role in monitoring the health status and assessing disease transmission risks during the translocation of European bison herds. This study monitored the endoparasite fauna of both a newly relocated European bison herd (n = 7 animals), and of the neighbouring suckler cow herd (n = 25 animals), over the course of one year. The aim of the study was to compare the parasite populations of these two closely related ruminant species kept under similar management conditions, and to assess the risk of parasite transmission by shared grazing areas. From April 2023 to March 2024, faecal samples from both herds were analysed monthly, using direct detection methods such as sedimentation, combined sedimentation-flotation, Baermann funnel, McMaster, and copro-antigen tests (total n = 72 samples). A total of seven helminth groups and four protozoan genera were thereby identified, with a richer parasite diversity in the bison samples. Eggs of Trichuris spp., Nematodirus spp., Moniezia spp., and cysts of Giardia sp. were exclusively shed by the European bison. On the other hand, cysts of Buxtonella sp. were only found in cattle samples. Paramphistomidae eggs and Cryptosporidium spp. were significantly more frequently detected in cattle samples. Both, the suckler cow and the European bison herd, showed constant infection with gastrointestinal strongylids, but the faecal egg counts were tenfold higher in the bison. Infections with Eimeria spp., Strongyloides spp., and Dicrocoelium dendriticum were detected in both species, and no lungworm larvae were detected in either species. Further investigations should include identification of the parasites to species level, and the parasitological monitoring in the two herds should be continued to assess if the observed differences persist or disappear over time.

Ongoing climate change is increasingly affecting forest ecosystems. European beech, the naturally dominant tree species of Central Europe, has suffered in recent dry years. Due to its frost sensitivity and conservative spring leaf out behavior, it is also less able to profit from generally prolonged growing seasons due to climate warming, compared to other species. Its potential to maintain its competitiveness depends on its capacity to adapt to the changing environmental conditions; otherwise, the species might lose its dominance and face shifts in its distribution range. Generally, the capacity to adapt by selection depends on phenotypic variation of traits and their heritability in a population or species. Here, we aimed to quantify heritability of a set of relevant phenological and physiological traits. Based on 961 half-sib seedlings, originating from mother trees with early, intermediate, and late leaf out from a natural forest stand in north-east Germany, we measured spring (leaf out date) and autumn (leaf senescence) phenology as well as the frost tolerance of buds in late winter and of leaves in spring. Narrow-sense heritabilities were calculated by animal models and half-sib analysis. The European beech seedlings revealed a medium heritability in spring phenology (h 2: 0.48 and 0.57 for two consecutive years) and autumn leaf senescence (h 2: 0.35). The physiological traits leaf and bud frost tolerance had a low heritability (h 2: 0.13; h 2: 0.12, respectively). This demonstrates a considerable capacity to adapt spring and autumn phenology if the selective pressure increases. The possibility of a paralleled adaptive evolution of frost tolerance, however, remains questionable.

Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease with increasing incidence in Europe, driven by international travel and climate-related expansion of Aedes mosquito habitats. Data on imported dengue in Central Europe remain limited. The aim of this study was to characterize clinical and epidemiological features of imported dengue infections in Austria and identify factors associated with dengue warning signs. A retrospective, single-centre observational study conducted from January 2013 to October 2024. We retrospectively analyzed 175 adults with confirmed travel-associated dengue treated in Vienna, Austria. Demographics, travel history, symptoms, laboratory values, and clinical outcomes were extracted from electronic records. WHO criteria were applied to classify dengue severity. Most infections were acquired in Southeast Asia (72.6%), particularly Thailand. Common symptoms were fever (97.1%), fatigue (97.1%), arthralgia (59.4%), and rash (53.8%). Dengue warning signs were observed in 16% of cases and associated with significantly prolonged leukopenia (p = 0.003), increased hospitalization rates (50.0% vs. 23.8%, p = 0.005), and higher frequencies of vomiting, abdominal pain, mucosal bleeding, and petechiae at first medical contact. Women reported rash, arthralgia, and retro-orbital pain more frequently, while men showed lower platelet counts. No cases of severe dengue or deaths occurred. Dengue should be considered in febrile returning travellers, particularly from Southeast Asia. The presence of warning signs predicts more complicated disease courses and should prompt closer clinical monitoring. These findings underscore the importance of awareness and preparedness for dengue in non-endemic European settings.

This study aimed to evaluate the preparedness of diabetes educators (DEs) to support the use of MiniMed™ 780G in clinical practice, identifying knowledge gaps, onboarding barriers, success factors, and regional variations to inform a standardized training pathway for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) care. A cross-sectional, multiregional survey was conducted among 82 DEs from Africa, the Arabian Peninsula (Gulf States), Central and Eastern Europe, Türkiye, and Central Asia (June-July 2025). The questionnaire, adapted from a validated Delphi-derived tool, assessed knowledge and confidence, training challenges, success factors, educational needs, and professional development. Responses were collected using Likert scales, multiple-choice, and free-text fields. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, with graphics generated in Excel. Item-level missing data were handled by listwise deletion; all 82 participants completed the survey (100% response rate). A 23-question survey was shared with 82 DEs from four regions to assess their knowledge and confidence with MiniMed™ 780G, training challenges, success factors, educational needs, and educational pathways. Most DEs reported high confidence in key MiniMed™ 780G topics; however, confidence in managing high-fat/protein meals was lower (56.1%), highlighting the need for targeted education. Key professional development drivers included mentorship (24.9%) and strong educator networks (21.0%), with accreditation priorities emphasizing international certification bodies (25.6%) and continuing education (20.3%). Common challenges included managing patient expectations (33.6%), explaining SmartGuard™ (20.4%), lack of structured materials (17.1%), troubleshooting alarms (12.5%), and teaching device settings (11.8%). Specialist healthcare professionals are competent in the use of advanced diabetes technologies; however, standardized, personalized, and patient-centered educational programs are essential to fully realize their potential and ensure high-quality care for individuals with T1DM.

The nemoral biome encompasses some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in Europe, yet it has been extensively transformed by human activity. The capacity of secondary forests that have developed on sites of clear-cut broadleaved forests to sustain ground beetle diversity remains insufficiently studied. Ground beetles were sampled using pitfall traps during May-July in 21 post-logging forest stands across six administrative regions of Central Russia. A total of 90 ground beetle species were recorded. The superdominant species in most habitats were Carabus cancellatus Ill. and Pterostichus melanarius Ill. The median species richness per sampling plot was 17, and the median activity density was 33.6 individuals per 100 trap-days. The similarity of ground beetle assemblages, in terms of both species composition and community structure, is determined primarily by habitat characteristics rather than by the spatial proximity of sampling sites. The most robust predictor of both species composition and community structure was the percentage cover of Corylus avellana. A large proportion of exposed soil within forest stands is associated with a higher activity density of mixophytophagous stratohortobionts, predominantly Harpalus rufipes L. As the distance from large forest tracts increased, the activity density of large walking epigeobiont zoophages declined. Overall, the species structure of ground beetle assemblages was only weakly predictable.

Background and Objectives: Faricimab, the first bispecific antibody targeting VEGF-A and angiopoietin-2, has demonstrated durable efficacy in pivotal phase 3 trials for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). Real-world data on treatment-na&#xef;ve patients managed with fixed-interval maintenance protocols, particularly from South-Eastern Europe, remain limited. This pilot study evaluated 24-month outcomes of intravitreal faricimab in treatment-na&#xef;ve nAMD and DME, using a standardized four-injection loading phase followed by fixed every-16-week (Q16W) maintenance. Materials and Methods: This study conducted a retrospective, observational, single-center pilot cohort study of 20 consecutive treatment-na&#xef;ve eyes (9 nAMD, 11 DME). All patients received four monthly loading injections followed by a fixed every-16-week (Q16W) maintenance schedule, supplemented by discretionary additional injections for residual or recurrent disease activity (215 injections total; mean 10.75 &#xb1; 0.79 per patient; range 9-12). Primary outcomes were changes in central foveal thickness (CFT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; Snellen lines with ETDRS letter equivalents) at months 4 and 24. Prespecified secondary analyses included bootstrap 95% confidence intervals, a linear mixed-effects model with a time &#xd7; disease-group interaction, Bayesian credible intervals with weakly informative priors, false-discovery-rate (FDR) correction, and a minimum detectable effect-size analysis. Results: All 20 eyes completed 24-month follow-up. In nAMD, mean CFT decreased by 186.9 &#xb1; 71.9 &#xb5;m (35.9%; bootstrap 95% CI 148.1-236.0; p < 0.001; d = 2.60), and BCVA improved by 3.89 &#xb1; 0.78 Snellen lines (~19 ETDRS letters; 95% CI 3.44-4.33; p < 0.001; d = 4.97). In DME, CFT decreased by 197.7 &#xb1; 65.7 &#xb5;m (39.3%; 95% CI 162.5-237.3; p < 0.001; d = 3.01), and BCVA improved by 4.55 &#xb1; 1.04 lines (~23 ETDRS letters; 95% CI 4.00-5.09; p < 0.001; d = 4.39). All 20 eyes (100%) achieved &#x2265; 3 Snellen lines gain and &#x2265;20% CFT reduction; 80% reached final BCVA &#x2265; 7 lines. A linear mixed-effects model showed a significant time effect (p < 0.001) but no time &#xd7; group interaction (CFT p = 0.84; BCVA p = 0.51), indicating concordant trajectories across diseases. Bayesian analysis with weakly informative priors yielded posterior P(|d| > 0.8) &#x2265; 0.99 for all primary outcomes. After FDR correction, all pre-specified primary comparisons remained significant. The minimum detectable effect size with the realized sample sizes (Cohen's d &#x2248; 0.66 combined, 1.07 nAMD, 0.94 DME at 80% power) was substantially below all observed effect sizes. No ocular or systemic adverse events were recorded. Conclusions: In this small, single-center, treatment-na&#xef;ve pilot cohort, a fixed Q16W faricimab maintenance schedule with discretionary additional injections was associated with durable anatomical and functional improvements over 24 months in both nAMD and DME, with no adverse events recorded across 215 injections. Given the limited sample, these findings should be regarded as hypothesis-generating. The high responder rates likely reflect the cohort's substantial baseline visual impairment (mean baseline BCVA ~20/120-20/200), which provides greater absolute capacity for measurable gain than in higher-acuity registration trial populations. These pilot data support fixed-interval faricimab as a logistically feasible candidate strategy in resource-constrained settings and should be confirmed in larger multicenter cohorts using standardized ETDRS acuity assessment.

We analyzed global and regional trends from 1990 to 2021, examined the impact of the Human Development Index (HDI), and compared spatial clusters in 1990 and 2021. Alcohol-related cirrhosis is a major cause of liver-related mortality, but long-term patterns remain incompletely understood. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) for alcohol-related cirrhosis were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study for 1990-2021. Temporal trends were evaluated using joinpoint regression. Differences by country development status (more vs. less developed using an HDI 0.700 cutoff) were assessed with multilevel longitudinal modeling. Spatial clustering was identified with Local Moran's I. Globally, the ASMR of alcohol-related cirrhosis declined from 5.40 to 4.08 per 100,000 between 1990 and 2021, a 24% reduction, with larger relative declines observed in females than in males. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) in ASMR was -0.89%, with the steepest decline in North Africa and the Middle East and an increase in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Multilevel analysis over 1990-2021 showed faster yearly declines in ASMR in more developed countries compared with less developed ones. Spatial analysis revealed a shift of hotspots from Latin America and Africa in 1990 to Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2021. Global alcohol-related cirrhosis mortality has declined but remains uneven, rising in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia and falling faster in more developed countries. Further progress needs targeted alcohol control and stronger health systems, especially in less-developed and hotspot regions where high-burden countries cluster.

Non-segmental vitiligo (NSV) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease with wide clinical variability in lesion appearance, location, and disease activity. The impact of vitiligo on the patient is also complex, with clinical, treatment, and inter- and intrapersonal factors shaping the patient's perception of disease severity. Given the complexity of clinical and patient burden, there remains a critical gap in understanding how healthcare professionals integrate these factors into clinical severity assessments and how such assessments inform treatment and management decisions. Describe how healthcare providers (HCPs) across six countries assess NSV severity and how it informs treatment and management of NSV. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 HCPs (61 dermatologists and 4 nurse practitioners) in the United States (US) and Europe. The interviews covered classifying disease severity and approaches to treating NSV. Interviews were thematically analyzed using a content analysis. HCPs reported variable definitions of vitiligo severity, often relying on patient-reported QOL, extent of lesions, and lesion location, among other factors. Treatment goals consisted of disease stabilization, repigmentation, and improving QOL. Topical corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors, systemic steroids, topical JAK inhibitors, and phototherapy are regularly used to treat NSV, but with regional differences. Treatment selection is driven disease progression, extent of lesions, and patient burden. However, HCPs noted challenges with current treatments, including access and adherence barriers, safety risks, and a lack of long-term options with durable response. Definitions of treatment success and failure varied across regions, but included repigmentation and positive impact on QOL. The heterogeneity of NSV shapes HCP assessments of disease severity, treatment decision-making, and evaluations of treatment success. In the absence of standardized disease severity criteria, definitions varied across countries. Although existing treatments can be effective, barriers related to safety, access, and durability limit long-term use. Across countries, HCPs emphasized QOL impacts as central to severity assessment, goal setting, and treatment success, underscoring the need for clinical frameworks that integrate the patient experience and shared decision-making in all aspects of NSV care.

Adoptive immunotherapies have emerged as a promising strategy in the treatment of hematological malignancies. To date, seven chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell products have obtained market authorization in Europe for B-cell malignancies, where they have revolutionized treatment for eligible patients. In addition, natural killer (NK) cells and &#x3b3;&#x3b4; T cells are of particular interest for cell-based therapies due to their strong intrinsic cytotoxicity and favorable safety profile. Addressing challenges facing the clinical translation of NK cell therapies was one of the issues discussed in the NK & ILC Symposium that took place in Freiburg, Germany from March 11 to 13, 2026, as the annual meeting of the NK & ILC study group of the German Society for Immunology (DGfI). Topics ranging from basic immunological research to technological innovations and clinical trial results were discussed during the 3-day conference, spanning over 40 presentations and 100 posters. A highlight of the conference was a workshop featuring short presentations and a panel discussion that focused specifically on the current challenges and future prospects of the clinical implementation of NK cell therapies; the findings of this workshop are summarized in this opinion paper.

Public debt is widely assumed to constrain social spending by shrinking fiscal space, yet empirical evidence from advanced economies shows little consistent association between debt levels and public health expenditure. This study revisits the debt-health nexus by distinguishing between two analytically separate fiscal constraints: long-term solvency, captured by public debt stock, and short-term liquidity, captured by debt service obligations. Using an unbalanced panel of 26 OECD European countries from 2000 to 2022, the analysis combines data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the OECD and employs a dynamic panel framework estimated with bias-corrected least squares dummy variable methods. The empirical strategy explicitly separates stock and flow effects, controls for total government expenditure to identify compositional crowding-out, and tests whether fiscal constraints vary across macroeconomic conditions. The results indicate that public debt stock does not exert a robust negative effect on health expenditure, suggesting a form of "stock neutrality" in mature welfare states. By contrast, interest payments are associated with significantly lower public health expenditure, even conditional on total government expenditure, indicating compositional crowding-out. Moreover, this liquidity-based crowding-out is shaped by macro-fiscal context, with its strength varying across periods of fiscal stress and more stable economic conditions. These findings highlight the importance of debt-service costs, rather than debt accumulation per se, as a key fiscal mechanism shaping health system financing in advanced economies.

The Mongol Empire's Western Expedition stands as the most impactful historical event shaping the historical trajectory of the Eurasian continent in the second millennium. However, the climatic spatiotemporal patterns during the Mongol Empire's Western Expedition have remained inadequately elucidated. Here, we reconstruct changes in summer water balance on the East European Plain between 943 and 2019 CE. Integrating tree-ring hydroclimatic sequences from Central Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia, we comprehensively delineate the climatic backdrop along the empire's western expansion route, demonstrating the pivotal role of climate in driving the Mongol Empire's expansion. We find that the persistent arid grassland environment along the main routes of the Mongol Empire's westward expansion (1227-1241 CE) provided climatic advantages for their expansion, enhancing the military effectiveness of Mongol cavalry and driving the rapid conquest of the Eurasian continent. We identify the summer North Atlantic Oscillation as a primary driver of East European Plain hydroclimatic variability and highlight increased drought risk under future warming scenarios. By integrating long-term climate variability with sociohistorical dynamics, this study proposes a framework for understanding the mechanisms underpinning climate-human interactions.

Recent changes in European sewage sludge disposal address organic contaminant concerns, but risk continental-scale resource depletion. As the first methodology of its kind, a prediction model for central European sewage sludge compositions is developed from 730 data points, enabling resource quantification coupled with geographic distribution assessment. Limited sewage sludge constituent knowledge stems from undisclosed treatments, variable influent properties, and data confidentiality. These limitations were addressed by a review comprising 1908 literature sources and supplementary datasets. Thirty physicochemical parameters were quantified, and 7 factors were developed to contextualize UWWTPs within surficial-geological, pedological, and technological frameworks for data analysis. Linear regression (LR), random forest (RF), and XGBoost (XGB) were compared using robustness-enhanced preprocessing (IQR&#x202f;+&#x202f;Huber; &#x223c;80% data retained), with performance evaluated against a mean baseline and transferability assessed via leave-one-country-out (LOCO) validation. Models outperform baselines for selected trace elements (SnO2, CoO, CdO, Cu2O, PbO, Sb2O3), and Sulfur, while most organic and mineral constituents remain near baseline, indicating dominant process control. LOCO results demonstrate European-scale transferability for selected constituents (CoO, CdO, Cu2O, K2O, P2O5, ash content). Surface-data-driven models cannot resolve point sources; however, removing influential outliers improves model stability and the reliability of large-scale resource recovery estimates, particularly when combining linear and non-linear approaches. Despite limitations due to missing plant-specific process data, this framework provides a scalable proxy for regional assessments. Future improvements should integrate broader compositional datasets and detailed operational variables to better link geographic drivers with treatment processes and enable more reliable identification of material streams within European sewage sludges.

The small cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) is a globally distributed agricultural pest that has successfully colonized most continents through natural and human-mediated dispersal. This study investigates the global genetic diversity and phylogeographic structure of Pieris rapae using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences. A total of 1,133 sequences from five continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania) were analyzed to assess haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity, population structure, and evolutionary relationships. Across the dataset, 117 haplotypes were identified, with overall high haplotype diversity (Hd&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.8635) and moderate nucleotide diversity (&#x3c0;&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.00610). Europe exhibited the highest genetic diversity, while North America showed low haplotype diversity but comparatively high nucleotide divergence, suggesting multiple introduction events. Minimum spanning network analysis revealed a star-like pattern with several widely shared central haplotypes, indicating recent expansion and extensive dispersal. Phylogenetic analysis identified two major mitochondrial clades, with North American haplotypes distributed across both clades. AMOVA results showed that most genetic variation occurred within populations (71.62%), although significant differentiation existed among continents (FST&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.28385, p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.05). Pairwise FST and gene flow estimates indicated restricted intercontinental gene exchange, while the Mantel test showed no significant isolation by distance. Overall, the results suggest a complex invasion history shaped by historical introductions, demographic expansion, and human-mediated dispersal.

Asthma is a major chronic respiratory disease with substantial health and economic consequences worldwide; however, there is little evidence for the long-term macroeconomic effects of asthma across countries. We aimed to estimate the global economic burden attributable to asthma from 2025 to 2050 across 154 countries and territories. We estimated the long-term economic burden of asthma using a health-augmented macroeconomic model covering 154 countries and territories from 2025 to 2050. Projected labour losses were captured through reductions in the workforce due to premature death and reduced labour force participation due to disability. Physical capital accumulation was affected by asthma-related medical spending, which reduces savings and investment, measured as asthma-attributable health expenditure. In the model, this spending reduced disposable income and savings, thereby lowering investment and slowing capital accumulation over time FINDINGS: Between 2025 and 2050, our model predicted that asthma would incur costs of approximately US$863 billion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 615-1396; 2024 US$), corresponding to an annual gross domestic product (GDP) decline of 0&#xb7;036% (0&#xb7;026-0&#xb7;058). The projected economic burden differed markedly across the 154 countries. The USA bore the largest burden (US$471 billion [371-655]), followed by the UK (US$45 billion [28-84]) and China (US$44 billion [27-81]). Across income groups, high-income countries accounted for the greatest absolute losses (US$712 billion [525-1105]) and highest proportional GDP losses (0&#xb7;054% [0&#xb7;039-0&#xb7;083]), whereas low-income countries incurred absolute losses of US$5 billion (2-11). In low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), labour-related losses accounted for a larger share of total costs and declines in disease burden were slower. Our findings suggest that asthma imposes a substantial and uneven macroeconomic burden across countries, with differences by income level and region. Productivity reductions dominate in LMICs, whereas physical capital-related effects are more important in high-income settings. Improving asthma prevention and control could yield economic gain. Noncommunicable Chronic Diseases-National Science and Technology Major Project; Non-profit Central Research Institute Fund of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; European Commission Horizon Europe.

Despite widespread vaccination efforts, pertussis remains a significant global public health concern, particularly among children. This study aimed to assess the burden and temporal trends of pertussis globally, regionally, and nationally by age, sex, and socio-demographic index (SDI) among children aged 0-14 years from 1990 to 2021, which is critical for informing targeted prevention strategies. We analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 on pertussis incidence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), mortality, and years lived with disability. The estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were calculated to quantify temporal trends. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to identify the points at which significant changes in the trend occurred. To update the temporal trend analyses beyond 2021, we also incorporated the most recent pertussis estimates for relevant countries and territories from the GBD 2023 dataset. Globally, approximately 19.9 million new cases of pertussis were recorded among children aged 0-14 years (age-standardized incidence rate 1,022.1 per 100,000 population) and 11.9 million DALYs (age-standardized DALY rate 608.7 per 100,000 population) in 2019. The age-standardized incidence of pertussis decreased by an EAPC of 1.7 from 1990 to 2009 and by 1.3 from 2010 to 2019, and declined further by 2021, probably due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 control measures. However, this overall downward trend masked considerable regional variation. Between 2010 and 2019, 11 out of 21 GBD regions experienced rising incidence, particularly in Tropical Latin America, Central Europe, and Central Latin America. Among high-SDI countries, pertussis incidence increased substantially in Cyprus (EAPC 17.62) and Finland (EAPC 19.66) from 2011 to 2019. In 2019, infants under 1 year old exhibited the highest pertussis incidence, and girls consistently had higher rates than boys across all age groups. In 2023, the highest age-standardized incidence was observed in the United States Virgin Islands among high SDI countries (1,597.5 per 100,000 population) and in Bosnia and Herzegovina among high-middle SDI countries (1,074.3 per 100,000 population). Although the age-standardized incidence and DALYs of pertussis have declined among children aged 0-14 since 1990, the disease has resurged in about half of the regions worldwide. Pertussis-related incidence and DALYs were higher in infants under 1 year old and girls. Maternal vaccination, continuous surveillance, and tailored public health interventions should be targeted toward vulnerable populations to prevent pertussis resurgence.

Storm Eunice was a severe windstorm that impacted Central Europe in February 2022. The meteorology and synoptic dynamics of Eunice have been studied in depth in several studies examining features of the storm such as its sting jet. The contribution of climate change to the storm dynamics and severity was examined in previous work, which found that in counterfactual weather forecasts-given an identical initial synoptic setup-climate change had measurably increased the severity of the storm. Here we move beyond meteorological attribution and quantify the role of climate change in the insured losses incurred during Eunice in, to the best of our knowledge, the first impact attribution of its kind for a European windstorm event. We combine the same counterfactual weather forecasts with three loss models, including two state-of-the-art commercial models, finding that the increases in meteorological severity do translate through to significant increases in estimated loss. We estimate a conditional increase in insured loss of nearly &#x20ac;2 bn between pre-industrial and present-day climates. Of particular note is the existence of several members within the forecast ensembles whose losses are far greater than what unfolded in reality. This includes one realisation, simulated in a warmer 'future' climate, in which the estimated loss could reach over 10x the realised loss during Eunice. The plausible existence of such a catastrophic loss is of considerable relevance to a wide variety of stakeholders across adaptation planning and the financial sector. We suggest that our results practically demonstrate not only the utility of counterfactual weather forecasts in quantifying impacts attributable to climate change, but also the value of academic-private partnerships in which the two sectors are able to bring different areas of expertise.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into modern dental practice, particularly in diagnostics, radiographic analysis, treatment planning, and practice management. Despite the rapid advancement of AI-based technologies, evidence regarding dentists' attitudes toward AI in Central and Eastern Europe remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate Polish dentists' attitudes toward artificial intelligence in contemporary dental practice and to investigate differences in AI acceptance according to sex, age group, and dental specialty. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online questionnaire-based study was conducted among licensed dentists practicing in Poland. An anonymous questionnaire comprising 15 attitude statements rated on a five-point Likert scale was distributed through professional social media groups. The survey assessed attitudes toward the use of AI in clinical, diagnostic, and administrative aspects of dentistry. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistica 16.0. Group comparisons were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: A total of 183 completed questionnaires were included in the analysis. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was high (Cronbach's &#x3b1; = 0.900). The overall acceptance of AI was moderate (mean score: 3.18 &#xb1; 0.73). The highest levels of agreement were observed for the perceived potential of AI to improve dental practice management (mean = 4.05) and for general openness toward AI implementation in dentistry (mean = 4.05). Respondents also expressed a high willingness to use AI for generating clinical documentation (mean = 3.69). In contrast, the lowest acceptance was observed for statements suggesting that AI could replace dentists (mean: 1.36). Within the study sample, men demonstrated significantly higher overall AI acceptance than women (p < 0.001). Significant differences were also observed between age groups and dental specialties. Orthodontists demonstrated the highest AI acceptance among the surveyed specialties; however, these findings should be interpreted as exploratory because of unequal subgroup sizes. After FDR correction, significant differences between age groups remained only for selected questionnaire items. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this convenience sample, the findings suggest that Polish dentists generally perceive artificial intelligence as a supportive tool rather than a replacement for clinicians. Acceptance was greatest for administrative and organizational applications of AI, whereas autonomous clinical decision-making received substantially lower support. These findings suggest that the successful implementation of AI in dentistry should prioritize assistive technologies that enhance clinical workflows while preserving the central role of the dentist in patient care.