Abstract. We calculated the distributed surface mass and energy balance of Shallap Glacier, Cordillera Blanca, Peru (9° S, 77° W, 4700–5700 m a.s.l., ~ 7 km2), on hourly time steps for two years (September 2006–August 2008) using a process-based model and meteorological measurements as input. Model parameter combinations were optimized against 21 temporal readings of 20 stakes in the ablation zone of the glacier. Uncertainty caused by model input parameters and parameterization schemes was estimated using a leave-one out cross-validation scheme, which yields values of root mean square deviation (RMSD) of surface height change < 1 m (< 10% of the measured amplitude) for all stakes. With the best parameter combination (smallest RMSD) applied, the modeled annual surface mass balance of the glacier was −0.32 ± 0.4 m w.e. (water equivalent) for September 2006–August 2007 and 0.51 ± 0.56 m w.e. for September 2007–August 2008. While the mass balance above 5000 m was similar in both years (Δ 0.33 ± 0.68 m w.e.) due to similar annual sums of solid precipitation, a difference of 1.97 ± 0.68 m w.e. was calculated for the lower parts of the glacier. This difference is associated with more frequent occurrence of higher snow line altitudes during the first year, which was mainly caused by a higher fraction of liquid precipitation due to higher mean air temperatures. As the net shortwave budget was found to be the main source for ablation throughout the year at Shallap Glacier, lower surface albedo especially caused by lower solid precipitation amounts explains most of the difference in modeled ablation and mass balance between the two years.

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A new member of the family of garnets with fast lithium ion conduction has been found with the composition Li 7 La 3 Hf 2 O 12 . The anion arrangement corresponds to the oxygen framework in garnets, e.g., in Ca 3 Fe 2 Si 3 O 12 . Hafnium is coordinated octahedrally while the lanthanum environment can be described as a distorted cube. Lithium occupies a large number of positions with tetrahedral, trigonal planar, and metaprismatic coordination. Li 7 La 3 Hf 2 O 12 shows a lithium bulk ion conductivity of 2.4 × 10 −4 Ω −1 cm −1 at room temperature with an activation energy of 0.29 eV.

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Amyloid self-assembly is linked to numerous devastating cell-degenerative diseases. However, designing inhibitors of this pathogenic process remains a major challenge. Cross-interactions between amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) and islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), key polypeptides of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), have been suggested to link AD with T2D pathogenesis. Here, we show that constrained peptides designed to mimic the Aβ amyloid core (ACMs) are nanomolar cross-amyloid inhibitors of both IAPP and Aβ42 and effectively suppress reciprocal cross-seeding. Remarkably, ACMs act by co-assembling with IAPP or Aβ42 into amyloid fibril-resembling but non-toxic nanofibers and their highly ordered superstructures. Co-assembled nanofibers exhibit various potentially beneficial features including thermolability, proteolytic degradability, and effective cellular clearance which are reminiscent of labile/reversible functional amyloids. ACMs are thus promising leads for potent anti-amyloid drugs in both T2D and AD while the supramolecular nanofiber co-assemblies should inform the design of novel functional (hetero-)amyloid-based nanomaterials for biomedical/biotechnological applications.