We present the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) survey conducted with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). EMU aims to deliver the touchstone radio atlas of the southern hemisphere. We introduce EMU and review its science drivers and key science goals, updated and tailored to the current ASKAP five-year survey plan. The development of the survey strategy and planned sky coverage is presented, along with the operational aspects of the survey and associated data analysis, together with a selection of diagnostics demonstrating the imaging quality and data characteristics. We give a general description of the value-added data pipeline and data products before concluding with a discussion of links to other surveys and projects and an outline of EMU’s legacy value.

The flow of a nematic liquid crystal in a Hele-Shaw cell with an electrically controlled viscous obstruction is investigated using both a theoretical model and physical experiments. The viscous obstruction is created by temporarily electrically altering the viscosity of the nematic in a region of the cell across which an electric field is applied. The theoretical model is validated experimentally for a circular cylindrical obstruction, demonstrating user-controlled flow manipulation of an anisotropic liquid within a heterogeneous single-phase microfluidic device.

Although food insecurity affects a significant proportion of young children in New Zealand (NZ)(1), evidence of its association with dietary intake and sociodemographic characteristics in this population is lacking. This study aims to assess the household food security status of young NZ children and its association with energy and nutrient intake and sociodemographic factors. This study included 289 caregiver and child (1-3 years old) dyads from the same household in either Auckland, Wellington, or Dunedin, NZ. Household food security status was determined using a validated and NZ-specific eight-item questionnaire(2). Usual dietary intake was determined from two 24-hour food recalls, using the multiple source method(3). The prevalence of inadequate nutrient intake was assessed using the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) cut-point method and full probability approach. Sociodemographic factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, ethnicity, caregiver education, employment status, household size and structure) were collected from questionnaires. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations with statistical significance set at p <0.05. Over 30% of participants had experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months. Of all eight indicator statements, “the variety of foods we are able to eat is limited by a lack of money,” had the highest proportion of participants responding “often” or “sometimes” (35.8%). Moderately food insecure children exhibited higher fat and saturated fat intakes, consuming 3.0 (0.2, 5.8) g/day more fat, and 2.0 (0.6, 3.5) g/day more saturated fat compared to food secure children (p<0.05). Severely food insecure children had lower g/kg/day protein intake compared to food secure children (p<0.05). In comparison to food secure children, moderately and severely food insecure children had lower fibre intake, consuming 1.6 (2.8, 0.3) g/day and 2.6 (4.0, 1.2) g/day less fibre, respectively. Severely food insecure children had the highest prevalence of inadequate calcium (7.0%) and vitamin C (9.3%) intakes, compared with food secure children [prevalence of inadequate intakes: calcium (2.3%) and vitamin C (2.8%)]. Household food insecurity was more common in those of Māori or Pacific ethnicity; living in areas of high deprivation; having a caregiver who was younger, not in paid employment, or had low educational attainment; living with ≥2 other children in the household; and living in a sole-parent household. Food insecure young NZ children consume a diet that exhibits lower nutritional quality in certain measures compared to their food-secure counterparts. Food insecurity was associated with various sociodemographic factors that are closely linked with poverty or low income. As such, there is an urgent need for poverty mitigation initiatives to safeguard vulnerable young children from the adverse consequences of food insecurity.

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and X-ray powder diffraction data on the tubular, hydrous aluminosilicate imogolite were found to be fully consistent with a previously proposed crystal structure consisting of a rolled-up, 6-coordinate Al-O(OH) sheet, bonded to isolated orthosilicate groups. The calculated 29Si chemical shift of this structure agreed with the observed shift within 3 ppm. Thermal dehydroxylation of the Al-O(OH) sheet produced predominantly NMR-transparent 5-coordinate Al, but a few 4- and 6-coordinate sites and some residual hydroxyl groups may also have formed, as shown by NMR spectroscopy. Changes in the 29Si NMR spectrum on dehydroxylation suggest a condensation of the orthosilicate groups, but steric considerations rule out bonding between adjacent silicons. To account for these observations, an alternative mechanism to orthosilicate condensation has been proposed, involving the fracture and unrolling of the tubes, followed by the condensation of fragments to form a layer structure. The layer structure has a calculated 29Si chemical shift of -95.6 ppm, in good agreement with the observed value of -93 ppm.

In recognition of an increasing number of high-consequence infectious disease events, a group of subject-matter experts identified core safety principles that can be applied across all donning and doffing protocols for personal protective equipment.

Ultra-processed plant-based foods, such as plant-based burgers, have gained in popularity. Particularly in the out-of-home (OOH) environment, evidence regarding their nutritional profile and environmental sustainability is still evolving. Plant-based burgers available at selected OOH sites were randomly sampled in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lisbon and London. Plant-based burgers (patty, bread and condiment) (n 41) were lab analysed for their energy, macronutrients, amino acids and minerals content per 100 g and serving and were compared with reference values. For the plant-based burgers, the median values per 100 g were 234 kcal, 20·8 g carbohydrates, 3·5 g dietary fibre and 12·0 g fat, including 0·08 g TFS and 2·2 g SFA. Protein content was 8·9 g/100 g, with low protein quality according to amino acid composition. Median Na content was 389 mg/100 g, equivalent to 1 g salt. Compared with references, the median serving provided 31% of energy intake based on a 2000 kcal per day and contributed to carbohydrates (17–28%), dietary fibre (42%), protein (40%), total fat (48%), SFA (26%) and Na (54%). One serving provided 15–23% of the reference values for Ca, K and Mg, while higher contributions were found for Zn, Mn, P and Fe (30–67%). The ultra-processed plant-based burgers provide protein, dietary fibre and essential minerals and contain relatively high levels of energy, Na and total fats. The amino acid composition indicated low protein quality. The multifaceted nutritional profile of plant-based burgers highlights the need for manufacturers to implement improvements to better support healthy dietary habits, including reducing energy, Na and total fats.

The Wisconsin high-temperature superconductor axisymmetric mirror experiment (WHAM) will be a high-field platform for prototyping technologies, validating interchange stabilization techniques and benchmarking numerical code performance, enabling the next step up to reactor parameters. A detailed overview of the experimental apparatus and its various subsystems is presented. WHAM will use electron cyclotron heating to ionize and build a dense target plasma for neutral beam injection of fast ions, stabilized by edge-biased sheared flow. At 25 keV injection energies, charge exchange dominates over impact ionization and limits the effectiveness of neutral beam injection fuelling. This paper outlines an iterative technique for self-consistently predicting the neutral beam driven anisotropic ion distribution and its role in the finite beta equilibrium. Beginning with recent work by Egedal et al. (Nucl. Fusion, vol. 62, no. 12, 2022, p. 126053) on the WHAM geometry, we detail how the FIDASIM code is used to model the charge exchange sources and sinks in the distribution function, and both are combined with an anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium solver method to self-consistently reach an equilibrium. We compare this with recent results using the CQL3D code adapted for the mirror geometry, which includes the high-harmonic fast wave heating of fast ions.

In March 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and Pennsylvania Department of Health initiated an investigation of an outbreak of Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) infections. Sixty infections were identified in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, Nevada and Ohio. The infections were linked to a no-rinse cleansing foam product (NRCFP), produced by Manufacturer A, used for skin care of patients in healthcare settings. FDA inspected Manufacturer A's production facility (manufacturing site of over-the-counter drugs and cosmetics), reviewed production records and collected product and environmental samples for analysis. FDA's inspection found poor manufacturing practices. Analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis confirmed a match between NRCFP samples and clinical isolates. Manufacturer A conducted extensive recalls, FDA issued a warning letter citing the manufacturer's inadequate manufacturing practices, and federal, state and local partners issued public communications to advise patients, pharmacies, other healthcare providers and healthcare facilities to stop using the recalled NRCFP. This investigation highlighted the importance of following appropriate manufacturing practices to minimize microbial contamination of cosmetic products, especially if intended for use in healthcare settings.

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) exhibit maternally driven fidelity to feeding grounds, and yet occasionally occupy new areas. Humpback whale sightings and mortalities in the New York Bight apex (NYBA) have been increasing over the last decade, providing an opportunity to study this phenomenon in an urban habitat. Whales in this area overlap with human activities, including busy shipping traffic leading into the Port of New York and New Jersey. The site fidelity, population composition and demographics of individual whales were analysed to better inform management in this high-risk area. Whale watching and other opportunistic data collections were used to identify 101 individual humpback whales in the NYBA from spring through autumn, 2012–2018. Although mean occurrence was low (2.5 days), mean occupancy was 37.6 days, and 31.3% of whales returned from one year to the next. Individuals compared with other regional and ocean-basin-wide photo-identification catalogues (N = 52) were primarily resighted at other sites along the US East Coast, including the Gulf of Maine feeding ground. Sightings of mother-calf pairs were rare in the NYBA, suggesting that maternally directed fidelity may not be responsible for the presence of young whales in this area. Other factors including shifts in prey species distribution or changes in population structure more broadly should be investigated.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: We aimed to determine if GLP-1 receptor agonists exert beneficial effects on surrogate measures of cardiovascular function independently of weight loss. Our objective was to compare the outcomes between GLP-1 receptor agonist treatment versus a similar drug without cardiovascular benefit versus weight loss through diet alone. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We enrolled 88 individuals with obesity (BMI ≥ 30kg/m2) and pre-diabetes and randomized them in a 2:1:1 ratio to 14 weeks of the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide, the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor sitagliptin, or hypocaloric diet. Sitagliptin blocks degradation of endogenous GLP-1 but does not cause weight loss or lower adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Treatment was double-blinded and placebo-controlled for drug, and unblinded for diet. Primary endpoints were flow-mediated dilation (FMD) to assess endothelial vasodilatory function, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) to assess endothelial fibrinolytic function. We used a general linear model for each outcome and included gender as a covariate for FMD. Baseline characteristics were similar. Mean age was 50, with 32% men and 13% black. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: At 14 weeks, diet and liraglutide caused weight loss (diet -4.3 ± 3.2 kg, P<0.01; liraglutide -2.7 ± 3.2, P<0.01), while sitagliptin did not (-0.7 ± 2.0, P=0.17). Diet did not improve FMD at 14 weeks compared to baseline (+0.9%, 95% CI [-1.5, 3.3], P=0.46). FMD tended to increase after liraglutide and sitagliptin but was not significant (liraglutide +1.2 [-0.3, 2.8], P=0.12; sitagliptin +1.6 [-0.6, 3.8], P=0.15). Given that liraglutide and sitagliptin work through the same GLP-1 pathway, we combined the liraglutide and sitagliptin groups for overall effect on FMD, which was significantly improved from baseline (+1.4 [0.1, 2.8], P=0.04). Diet and liraglutide improved PAI-1 at 14 weeks (diet -4.4U/mL, [-8.5, -0.2], P=0.04; liraglutide -3.4 [-6.0, -0.7], P=0.01), while sitagliptin did not (-1.4 [-5.1, 2.3], P=0.46). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Activation of the GLP-1 pathway by liraglutide or sitagliptin improves FMD independent of weight loss, while PAI-1 improvement is weight-loss dependent and is only seen after liraglutide or diet. Our study suggests the cardiovascular benefit of liraglutide may be due to combined improvements in endothelial vasodilatory and fibrinolytic function.

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common solid malignant pediatric brain neoplasm. Group 3 (G3) MB, particularly MYC amplified G3 MB, is the most aggressive subgroup with the highest frequency of children presenting with metastatic disease, and is associated with a poor prognosis. To further our understanding of the role of MSI1 in MYC amplified G3 MB, we performed an unbiased integrative analysis of eCLIP binding sites, with changes observed at the transcriptome, the translatome, and the proteome after shMSI1 inhibition. Methods: Primary human pediatric MBs, SU_MB002 and HD-MB03 were kind gifts from Dr. Yoon-Jae Cho (Harvard, MS) and Dr. Till Milde (Heidelberg) and cultured for in vitro and in vivo experiments. eCLIP, RNA-seq, Polysome-seq, and TMT-MS were completed as previously described. Results: MSI1 is overexpressed in G3 MB. shRNA Msi1 interference resulted in a reduction in tumour burden conferring a survival advantage to mice injected with shMSI1 G3MB cells. Robust ranked multiomic analysis (RRA) identified an unconventional gene set directly perturbed by MSI1 in G3 MB. Conclusions: Our robust unbiased integrative analysis revealed a distinct role for MSI1 in the maintenance of the stem cell state in G3 MB through post-transcriptional modification of multiple pathways including identification of unconventional targets such as HIPK1.