Background: Recent research has demonstrated that DBS sites in Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD) influencing cognition are functionally connected to the subiculum. However, the results are mixed, and it is unclear how or if DBS site-subiculum connectivity can be optimized to improve patient cognition. Methods: We studied how subiculum connectivity influenced cognitive outcomes in both PD (subthalamic nucleus) and AD (fornix) DBS patients (total n = 110). We first confirmed DBS site-subiculum connectivity had opposite cognitive effects in each disease. We next investigated patient factors underlying these opposing effects. Lastly, we related our findings back to clinical practice to guide DBS programming in PD and AD. Results: DBS site-subiculum connectivity correlated with cognitive improvement in AD but decline in PD. This was dependent upon hippocampal atrophy; such that higher subiculum connectivity was beneficial when the hippocampus was atrophic but deleterious when it was intact. Finally, we related our findings back to anatomy with cadaveric dissections and present how DBS stimulation can be optimized to improve patient cognition. Conclusions: DBS site-subiculum connectivity influences cognition but depends on patient factors. Thus, to optimize cognition based on patient factors, DBS electrodes can be programmed to stimulate subregions with higher or lower subiculum connectivity.

Background: Pain in a common symptom in adult-onset idiopathic dystonia (AOID). An appropriate tool to understand this symptom is needed to improve AOID patients’ care. We developed a rating instrument for pain in AOID and validated it in cervical dystonia (CD). Methods: Development and validation of the Pain in Dystonia Scale (PIDS) in three phases: 1. International experts and participants generated and evaluated the preliminary items for content validity; 2. The PIDS was drafted and revised, followed by cognitive interviews to ensure suitability for self-administration; and 3. the clinimetric properties of the final PIDS were assessed in 85 participants. Results: PIDS evaluates pain severity (by body part), functional impact and external modulating factors. It showed high test-retest reliability the total score (0.9, p<0.001), intraclass correlation coefficients higher than 0.7 for all items and high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.9). Convergent validity analysis revealed a strong correlation between the PIDS severity score and the TWSTRS pain subscale (0.8, p<0.001), the brief pain inventory short form (0.7, p<0.001) and impact of pain on daily functioning (0.7, p<0.001). Conclusions: The PIDS is the first specific questionnaire developed to evaluate pain in patients with AOID with high-level clinimetric properties in people with CD.

This case–control study of 25 cases with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia with vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥ 2 µg/mL and 391 controls (MIC < 2 µg/mL) characterized the clinical characteristics, treatments, and outcomes associated with elevated vancomycin MIC. Elevated vancomycin MIC was associated with baseline hemodialysis, prior MRSA colonization, and metastatic infection.

Stress has been linked with children’s socioemotional problems and lower language scores, particularly among children raised in socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances. Much of the work examining the relations among stress, language, and socioemotional functioning have relied on assessments of a single dimension of maternal stress. However, stress can stem from different sources, and people may appraise stressors differently. Taking a dimensional approach, this manuscript characterizes stress in multiple ways: as an overall composite; across the constructs of psychological appraisal vs. environmental stressors; and the independent contributions of a variety assessments. Data are from 548 mother–infant dyads (M = 13.14 months, SD = 2.11) who served as the control group for a poverty reduction clinical trial. Mothers completed questionnaires regarding the different types of stresses they may have experienced, as well as their children’s language and socioemotional development. Results indicate that, collectively, higher maternal report of stress is associated with lower reports of children’s socioemotional and language development. In addition, maternal psychological appraisals of stress were associated with both socioemotional and language development, whereas reports of environmental stressors were only associated with socioemotional development. Together, these findings suggest that maternal reports of stress are associated with lower maternal report of child development among low-income children.

Much of our current understanding about novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) comes from hospitalised patients. However, the spectrum of mild and subclinical disease has implications for population-level screening and control. Forty-nine participants were recruited from a group of 99 adults repatriated from a cruise ship with a high incidence of COVID-19. Respiratory and rectal swabs were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Sera were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and microneutralisation assay. Symptoms, viral shedding and antibody response were examined. Forty-five participants (92%) were considered cases based on either positive PCR or positive ELISA for immunoglobulin G. Forty-two percent of cases were asymptomatic. Only 15% of symptomatic cases reported fever. Serial respiratory and rectal swabs were positive for 10% and 5% of participants respectively about 3 weeks after median symptom onset. Cycle threshold values were high (range 31–45). Attempts to isolate live virus were unsuccessful. The presence of symptoms was not associated with demographics, comorbidities or antibody response. In closed settings, incidence of COVID-19 could be almost double that suggested by symptom-based screening. Serology may be useful in diagnosis of mild disease and in aiding public health investigations.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Our objective is to understand the influence of the features comprising metabolic syndrome (central obesity, raised fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, blood pressure, and decreased HDL cholesterol) on brain structure in men and women. With the understanding that MetS is a strong predictor of gray matter volume loss in specific brain regions, in this study we sought to quantify the influence of each of the metabolic syndrome biometric variables on the structures involved in the neural signature of metabolic syndrome. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We conducted multiple linear regression analyses on a cross-sectional sample of 800 individuals from the Genetics of Brian Structure (GOBS) image archive (352 men and 448 women). GOBS is an offshoot of the San Antonio Heart Study involving an extended pedigree of Mexican Americans from the greater San Antonio area. Its goal is to localize, identify, and characterize genes/quantitative trait loci associated with variations in brain structure and function (Winkler, 2010). The archive has continuously added participants from approximately 40 families since 2006. Neuroanatomic (T1-weighted MRI scans obtained on a Siemens 3T scanner and processed using FSL), neurocognitive, and biometric phenotypes have been obtained for each subject (including blood lipids). Linear regressions were run using SPSS and incorporated biometric and gray matter volume values obtained from 800 GOBS participants. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Linear regressions incorporating metabolic syndrome variables as dependent variables and gray matter volume from regions involved in the neural signature of metabolic syndrome as predictors show significant predictive patterns that are largely similar between men and women, with some differences. Another linear regression conducted with gray matter volume from the neural signature of metabolic syndrome as the dependent variable and metabolic syndrome variables as predictors show that waist circumference and triglycerides are the greatest predictors of gray matter volume loss in men, and fasting plasma glucose and waist circumference are the greatest predictors of gray matter volume loss in women. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Significant sex differences in the relationships between metabolic syndrome variables and gray matter volume changes between brain regions comprising the neural signature of metabolic syndrome were identified. waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, and triglycerides are the most reliable predictors of gray matter volume loss. The variance in gray matter volume of the neural signature of metabolic syndrome in men is more significantly explained by waist circumference and triglycerides (when accounting for age) and in women is more significantly explained by waist circumference and fasting plasma glucose (when accounting for age). A model of metabolic syndrome that emphasizes a risk of neurodegeneration should focus on waist circumference for both men and women and weigh the remaining variables accordingly by sex (triglycerides in men and fasting plasma glucose in women).

An endemic anthrocnose disease of northern jointvetch [Aeschynomene virginica (L.) B.S.P.] incited by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc. f. sp. aeschynomene was discovered in 1969 at Stuttgart, Arkansas. When grown on solid or in liquid media, the organism grew rapidly and sporulated abundantly. From 1970 through 1972 water sprays of the fungus spores at 2 to 15 million spores per milliliter in 94 to 374 L/ha controlled northern jointvetch grown in the growth chamber, greenhouse, and field. The fungus controlled plants ranging from 5 to 66 cm tall. The disease developed on northern jointvetch most rapidly at temperatures of 23 to 32 C and at relative humidities above 80%. An incubation period of 4 to 7 days and up to 5 weeks was usually required to kill the weeds. The fungus was specific for Aeschynomene species since it was very virulent on A. virginica and only slightly virulent on Indian jointvetch (A. indica L.). It did not affect rice (Oryza sativa L.), soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), or 12 other common field, forage, and vegetable crops or 15 common weeds.

Background: Optimal surgical management for flexion--distraction cervical spine injuries remains controversial with anterior, posterior, and circumferential fixation being accepted. Here, we examined risk factors for clinical and radiographic failure in patients with one segment cervical flexion-distraction injuries having undergone anterior surgical fixation. Methods: A retrospective review of 57 consecutive patients undergoing anterior fixation for cervical flexion-distraction injuries between 2008-2012 was performed. The primary outcome was the number of patients requiring additional surgical stabilization and/or radiographic failure. Data collected inlcuded age, gender, mechanism and level of injury, facet pattern injury, and vertebral endplate fracture. Results: Six patients failed clinically and/or radiographically (11%). Four patients (7%) required additional posterior fixation. Two patients identified met radiographic failure criteria, however had fused radiographically, were stable clinically, and no further treatment was pursued. Progressive kyphosis and translation correlated with need for revision (p<0.05 and p=0.02, respectively). No differences were identified for all other clinical and radiological factors assessed. Conclusions: This study supports the growing body of evidence for anterior fixation alone for flexion-distraction injuries. Findings suggest that measurements including segmental translation and kyphosis may predict radiographic failure and need for further surgical stabilization in some patients. Assessment for independent risk factors for anterior approach failure with a validated predictive scoring model should be considered.

Much research has examined Moffitt's developmental taxonomy, focusing almost exclusively on the distinction between life-course persistent and adolescence-limited offenders. Of interest, a handful of studies have identified a group of individuals whose early childhood years were marked by extensive antisocial behavior but who seemed to recover and desist (at least from severe offending) in adolescence and early adulthood. We use data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development to examine the adult adjustment outcomes of different groups of offenders, including a recoveries group, in late middle adulthood, offering the most comprehensive investigation of this particular group to date. Findings indicate that abstainers comprise the largest group of males followed by adolescence-limited offenders, recoveries, and life-course persistent offenders. Furthermore, the results reveal that a host of adult adjustment problems measured at ages 32 and 48 in a number of life-course domains are differentially distributed across these four offender groups. In addition, the recoveries and life-course persistent offenders often show the greatest number of adult adjustment problems relative to the adolescence-limited offenders and abstainers.

The bacterium Francisella tularensis causes the vector-borne zoonotic disease tularemia, and may infect a wide range of hosts including invertebrates, mammals and birds. Transmission to humans occurs through contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, or through arthropod vectors. Tularemia has a broad geographical distribution, and there is evidence which suggests local emergence or re-emergence of this disease in Europe. This review was developed to provide an update on the geographical distribution of F. tularensis in humans, wildlife, domestic animals and vector species, to identify potential public health hazards, and to characterize the epidemiology of tularemia in Europe. Information was collated on cases in humans, domestic animals and wildlife, and on reports of detection of the bacterium in arthropod vectors, from 38 European countries for the period 1992–2012. Multiple international databases on human and animal health were consulted, as well as published reports in the literature. Tularemia is a disease of complex epidemiology that is challenging to understand and therefore to control. Many aspects of this disease remain poorly understood. Better understanding is needed of the epidemiological role of animal hosts, potential vectors, mechanisms of maintenance in the different ecosystems, and routes of transmission of the disease.

Exoplanetary transit observations were carried out for the first time with all the three telescopes at the San Pedro Mártir National Astronomical Observatory in Baja California, Mexico.

We present preliminary results on WASP-39 and WASP-43, two Hot Jupiters known for the presence of a highly-inflated radius. Using the defocused photometry technique, we observed these systems, achieving photometric precision of ± 3–5mmag peak-to-valley. The preliminary fit of their lightcurves shows physical and orbital parameters consistent with published results.

This work attempts to optimize past research results on lead zirconate titanate (PZT) using the fabrication processes at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory so as to achieve a high degree of {001} texture and improved piezoelectric properties. A comparative study was performed between Ti/Pt and TiO2/Pt bottom electrodes. The results indicate that the use of a highly oriented {100} rutile phase TiO2 led to highly textured {111} Pt which in turn improved both the PTO and PZT orientations. PZT (52/48) and (45/55) thin films with and without PTO seed layers were deposited and examined via x-ray diffraction (XRD) methods as a function of annealing temperature. The seed layer provides significant improvement in the {100} orientation generally, and in the {001} subset of planes specifically, while suppressing the {111} orientation of the PZT. Improvements in the Lotgering factor (f) were observed from an existing Ti/Pt/PZT process (f = 0.66) to samples using the PTO seed layer deposited onto the improved Pt electrodes, TiO2/Pt/PTO/PZT (f = 0.96).