OBJECTIVES/GOALS: A stroke can impair neural communication between sensory and motor pathways thus compromising walking function. Paired associative stimulation (PAS) is a useful assay of sensorimotor integration (SMI) with limited use post-stroke. The objective of this study will be to determine lower extremity PAS effectiveness and reliability post-stroke. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This study will use a pre-post, cross-sectional design. Ten healthy controls and 10 individuals with chronic stroke (>6 months) will be recruited. PAS protocols will be individualized to account for between-subject variability in sensorimotor signaling by first measuring cortical sensory signaling using electroencephalography. Post-stroke participants will then receive PAS targeting the paretic tibialis anterior muscle; healthy controls will receive PAS targeting the non-dominant TA. Changes in cortically derived muscle responses will be characterized by absolute motor-evoked potential amplitude (MEPAmp) change, elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation, over two sessions separated by >24 hours. Clinical measures of sensorimotor function and walking ability will also be performed. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: By individualizing PAS protocols, we expect to see significant increases in MEPAmp pre to post PAS, determined using paired t-tests. We also anticipate reliable PAS-induced increases in MEPAmp, which will be assessed using two reliability statistics: intraclass correlation coefficient and coefficients of variation of method error. Lastly, the increases in MEPAmp will be correlated with measures of sensorimotor function and walking ability, anticipating that greater increases in MEPAmp will be related to better walking ability and sensorimotor functioning. Correlations will be assessed via a Pearson’s correlation. A preset alpha = 0.05 will be used to determine significant findings. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The importance of this study is that establishing individualized PAS protocols could potentially provide a reliable and clinically relevant measure of SMI. Understanding post-stroke lower extremity SMI is necessary for furthering targeted and personalized interventions to combat walking deficits.

In recent years, poor farm animal welfare (FAW) has been a continual focus of public criticism and, in many European countries, large segments of society have repeatedly demanded higher FAW standards. In spite of these demands, there are hardly any products from pure animal welfare programmes (AWPs) on the market. Given this background, farmers are a very important stakeholder group for the successful implementation of such programmes, but little is known about their attitudes towards the introduction of AWPs. For this study, 657 conventional farmers in Germany were questioned about FAW and AWPs via an online survey. Three clusters (farmer groups) were identified with respect to their attitudes towards AWPs and, based on these clusters, various target groups were determined for participation in AWPs. Cluster A (the ‘sceptical animal welfare opponents’) (n = 204) is characterised by strong opposition to AWPs and higher welfare standards in livestock husbandry. Farmers in this cluster will probably not take part in AWPs, especially because they do not consider AWPs profitable. Cluster B (the ‘undecided’) (n = 229) have diverse attitudes towards AWPs. As they do not reject the enhancement of animal welfare standards, these farmers may someday become willing to participate in AWPs. Cluster C, (the ‘marketconscious animal welfare friends’) (n = 224) have the most positive attitudes of the sample towards AWPs. However, even these farmers have diverse attitudes towards the monetary effects of AWP. Overall, they constitute the most important potential target group for AWPs as they indicate the highest willingness to take part in these programmes. The empirical results have important managerial implications and provide a starting point for the design of tailor-made strategies to increase the market penetration of AWPs.

There has been an increased demand by some sections of society for higher farm animal welfare standards. In response, a number of programmes marketing products of animal origin, produced under higher animal welfare standards, have been established on the market in recent years. However, the market segments for products from so-called animal welfare programmes (AWPs) have remained small. Farmers are considered an important stakeholder group for higher market shares of more animal welfare-friendly products. Farmers’ decision to adapt their production to the requirements of AWPs is multi-dimensional, but always linked to financial incentives. Since little is known about the financial attractiveness of higher animal welfare standards in livestock farming, this study investigates the perceived economic success of 579 conventional farmers keeping livestock on their farms. The survey data were analysed using propensity score matching to assess the average effect of participation in AWPs on a farm's perceived profitability, liquidity and stability from the farmer's point of view. No significant effect was found of participation in AWPs on the economic success of farmers. The implications of this result are two-fold. On the one hand, it suggests that it is of particular importance to create further financial incentives to encourage farmers to take part in these programmes. On the other, it shows that farmers’ concerns that the required costly and highly specific investments will pay off are unfounded, as farmers participating in AWPs rate their own financial situation as equivalent to that of their colleagues not participating in AWPs.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) incur up to $10 billion annually due to their excessive morbidity. SSI prevention bundles have had variable success in colorectal surgery. For example, at the University of Wisconsin Hospital, a 505-bed regional referral center, SSI rates have remained high despite the introduction of a 14-element SSI prevention bundle in 2016. To aid in the implementation of this complex bundle, the hospital started Strike Teams in 2019. We have described the impact of Strike Teams on colorectal SSI rates in our tertiary-care hospital. Methods: A Strike Team with key stakeholders from colorectal surgery (ie, surgeon, OR director, nurses, surgical technicians), anesthesia, pharmacy, infection prevention, and infectious disease was formed, supported by the hospital’s executive leadership. The Strike Team met monthly throughout 2019 to review each SSI case, discussed barriers to adherence for the SSI prevention bundle elements with implementation difficulties (Table 1), and proposed actionable feedback to increase adherence. The latter was disseminated to frontline clinicians by the teams’ surgical leaders during everyday clinical practice. The Strike Team was paused in 2020 due to resource reallocation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Monthly and quarterly SSI surveillance was conducted according to CDC guidance. Results: Colorectal SSI rates before, after, and during Strike Team activity are shown in Fig. 1. Adherence rates to the bundle elements targeted by the Strike Team are shown in Fig. 2. Conclusions: Adherence to the preferred antibiotic prophylaxis increased, although adherence to other bundle elements of focus did not change significantly. SSI rates decreased below our expectation while the Strike Team was active in our hospital, although SSI reduction was not sustained. Further research should study the effectiveness of Strike Teams as a long-term implementation strategy for SSI prevention in colorectal surgery.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

For many, declining biodiversity represents an emotionally and psychologically distant ‘cost’ – similar to how a number of people perceive climate change. Using an expectancy-value theory framework, we showed participants photographs that visibly illustrated the threat of biodiversity loss. Specifically, we tested a combination of preregistered and exploratory hypotheses through an online experiment (n = 843) to understand whether viewing photographs of plants and animals (with and without captions) bolstered people’s valuing of biodiversity and willingness to donate to a nature-focused charity relative to a control group. Participants who viewed photographs (without captions) valued biodiversity more and donated more to the nature-focused charity; those who viewed photographs with captions showed similar though more muted (non-statistically significant) effects. Follow-up mediation analyses on the photographs-only participants suggested that the photographs may have catalysed negative emotions that increased valuing of biodiversity and, in turn, increased donations. This study provides preregistered evidence that thoughtfully selected photographs boost people’s valuing of biodiversity and exploratory evidence that the pathway through which that might occur is more likely via negative emotions than through reduced psychological distance. Educators, conservationists, journalists and others may find these results informative as they develop strategies for addressing the acute problem of biodiversity loss.

Of 10 surgeons interviewed in a descriptive qualitative study, 6 believed that surgical site infections are inevitable. Bundle adherence was felt to be more likely with strong evidence-based measures developed by surgical leaders. The intrinsic desire to excel was viewed as the main adherence motivator, rather than “pay-for-performance” models.

Surgical site infection (SSI) prevention requires multiple interventions packaged into “bundles.” The implementation of all bundle elements is key to the bundle’s efficacy. A human-factors engineering approach can be used to identify key barriers and facilitators to implementing elements and develop recommendations for bundle implementation within the clinical work system.

An experiment was initiated to study the effects of rubber benthic barriers vs. aggressive cutting on the invasive aquatic emergent plant, yellow flag iris. Treatments were compared against a control at two locations within British Columbia, Canada (Vaseux Lake and Dutch Lake). Yellow flag iris response was significantly different between the two sites, but biologically the results were identical: the benthic barrier killed yellow flag iris rhizomes within 70 d of treatment. Over the extent of the research, at Vaseux Lake the effect of aggressive cutting was no different from the control, while aggressive cutting was statistically no different than the benthic barrier at Dutch Lake. Vegetation regrowth approximately 200 d after the benthic barriers were removed was not detected at either location. These results indicate that rubber benthic barriers may be an effective treatment for yellow flag iris and maybe suitable for other, similar species.