OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Theater has always served as a means of reflecting and understanding the human condition. Participatory theater further offers the option for viewers to participate in and thus additionally benefit from the performance itself. We use Playback Theater for outreach and research, eliciting information to guide research, education, and engagement. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Playback Theater is a type of improvisation that involves audience members recounting personal experiences which are then enacted by a theater troupe. Playback has evolved to include storytelling as a means of expressing and understanding difficult life experiences such as violence, bullying, incarceration, disaster, illness, etc. While not intended as therapy, it has been found to provoke insight and catharsis when used by trained practitioners. We are conducting Playback theater with LGBTQ+ and African American women to elucidate health disparities related to HIV/AIDS. Black/African Americans accounted for 42.1% of cases in 2019, and African American females are 15 times more likely to develop AIDS than white females. We hope to elucidate barriers to screening and treatment to inform early intervention. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In community engagement, we employ a variety of strategies involving storytelling, since this simple act fosters multiple positive outcomes. For example, by talking about their experiences participants might find clarity about a difficult experience, facilitating coping or healing, or even letting go. By sharing their stories, others (clinicians, researchers, other patients, or the public) can learn what it is like to go through a particular illness or event. This knowledge can be used to allay patient fears or help researchers or clinicians to develop programming that better responds to needs. This novel approach to knowledge sharing also allows communication that may not otherwise be possible. Discussions about sensitive topics are enabled, often leading to shared understanding and potential solutions. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Through Playback Theater, we hope to identify and thus be able to address barriers to early screening and treatment for African American women and the LGBTQ+ population. We are also planning an event with children with cancer and their families to better understand their experiences and needs in both the clinical and familial settings.

The Neotropics have vast river catchments with untapped hydroelectric potential, but there are multiple expected negative impacts of dams, including those on local food security and livelihoods. Yet, monitoring of dam effects on subsistence is rare, particularly during initial implementation. Our study assessed changes in human fish consumption near the Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon during the period 2012–2021, which covers construction, operation and a severe El Niño-induced drought. Over time, fish became less common and were consumed in smaller amounts, even though fewer people shared meals. The largest changes occurred between 2013 and 2016 (post-construction but prior to full operation), resulting in a downward trend in fish consumption, particularly during the drought season. Adding more fish species to the diet did not increase consumption per person. These changes in fish consumption suggest that they stem from environmental impacts of the project (e.g., reduced river level), despite secondary effects from climatic events. These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive assessments of the social and ecological impacts of large infrastructure projects in the Amazon, along with sustainable and equitable management strategies to ensure food security and meet the needs of local communities.

Desde la antigüedad, los artefactos de pizarra fueron utilizados por sociedades asentadas en diversos puntos del continente americano; su uso abarcó diferentes temporalidades y múltiples formas.

En el caso particular de Teotihuacán, ubicado en el centro de México, los artefactos en cuestión se reportan dentro y fuera de esta ciudad, depositados como ofrenda y asociados directamente al fuego, al agua y al inframundo. Aunque la pizarra fue una materia prima con una presencia constante en Teotihuacán, sólo se reconoce cuando aparece asociada a los espejos, cuando presenta diseños iconográficos, o con evidencia de decoración. Al respecto, en este texto señalamos la importancia de la pizarra en Teotihuacán, su cronología y contexto. De acuerdo con los resultados de los análisis tipológicos, geológicos y de caracterización, proponemos el aprovechamiento de diversas materias primas dentro de un mismo yacimiento, así como la identificación de las áreas de extracción de la pizarra utilizada por los teotihuacanos a través del tiempo.

Estos datos nos permiten inferir las funciones rituales, simbólicas y jerárquicas de esta materia prima dentro de la metrópoli teotihuacana.

The maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus, the fourth largest canid, is categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. The objectives of this study were to update information on the occurrence of this species in Argentina, compare the current distribution to that previously described for 1988–2008, and indicate the areas in which the species is exposed to particular hazards. We created a database that included 1,051 new records of C. brachyurus for 2009-2021, in addition to records for 1988–2008 that had not been reported previously. We calculated the area of occupancy of the species in Argentina to be 500,000 km2. Most of the new records of C. brachyurus are in the Chaco Seco, Espinal and Pampas ecoregions. Our findings indicate a current area of occupancy 61% higher than that calculated from records for 1988–2008. However the location and frequency of reported threats and the intense environmental transformation that characterizes the areas for which we obtained new records suggest counterintuitive implications for the conservation of the species because of increased human–wildlife interactions. Our study reveals the need for systematic research to improve the understanding of the ecological processes that affect the maned wolf in Argentina, and will aid in the development of conservation strategies for the species.

This work reports by the first time a method to control the geometry of Ga2O3 films nanocrystallites at 350 °C. The formation of controlled shaped nano-crystallites of γ-Ga2O3 from amorphous Ga2O3 films grown by RF-Sputtering at room temperature driven by nano-layers of group IB metals (Cu, Ag or Au) is studied. The reported results can be explained by the role of subsurface metal nano-layers and the non-equilibrium nature of the sputtering processes. To study the effects on the surface structure and their optical properties arrays of amorphous-Ga2O3/IB-metal/amorphous-Ga2O3 were annealed in dry N2 atmosphere at 350 °C by 50, 100 and 150 min. The experimental results can be explained by the evolution of the amorphous character of the films amorphous films towards the nanocrystalline γ-Ga2O3 phase driven by the metal nano-layer seed nature. As the annealing time was increased the transition from amorphous-Ga2O3 to the nanocrystalline γ-Ga2O3 phase was detected by X-ray diffraction analysis. The transition to the nanocrystalline γ-Ga2O3 is demonstrated by the formation of octahedral, triangle and ball shape nanocrystallites with sizes of ∼5 to 50 nm according to FE-SEM analysis. The influence of the metal nano-layer is clearly seen by the shift of the plasmon frequency resonance produced by the Ga2O3/IB-metal/Ga2O3 arrays in the region from 400 to 600 nm caused by the modification of the interface Ga2O3/IB-metal produced by the applied annealing stages.

We determined the molecular epidemiology of Bordetella pertussis isolates to evaluate its potential impact on pertussis reemergence in a population of Mexico. Symptomatic and asymptomatic cases were included. Pertussis infection was confirmed by culture and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Selected B. pertussis isolates were further analysed; i.e. clonality was analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and ptxP-ptxA, prn, fim2 and fim3 typing was performed by PCR and sequencing. Out of 11 864 analysed samples, 687 (5.8%) were positive for pertussis, with 244 (36%) confirmed by both culture and PCR whereas 115 (17%) were positive only by culture and 328 (48%) were positive only by PCR. One predominant clone (clone A, n = 62/113; 55%) and three major subtypes (A1, A2 and A3) were identified by PFGE. All 113 selected isolates had the allelic combination ptxP3-ptxA1. The predominant clone A and the three major subtypes (A1, A2 and A3) corresponded to the emerging genotypes ptxP3-ptxA1-prn2-fim2-1-fim3-2 and ptxP3-ptxA1-prn2-fim2-1-fim3-1. In conclusion, the presence of an endemic clone and three predominant subtypes belonging to the genotypes ptxP3-ptxA1-prn2-fim2-1-fim3-2 and ptxP3-ptxA1-prn2-fim2-1-fim3-1 were detected. This finding supports the global spread/expansion reported for these outbreaks associated genotypes.

A study on locally available composts in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland was conducted to investigate the potential of these non-chemical based tools to increase soil health in orchards afflicted by apple replant disease (ARD). A total of 26 different composts (six to seven per country) were chosen for the study. Composts were divided into ten types according to the waste materials used as substrates in the composting process. Growth reduction is the main symptom associated with replant disease; therefore compost performance was evaluated based on the growth responses of apple rootstock plantlets in compost-amended soils in pots. These greenhouse trials were performed in one research station per country, located in an intensive apple-growing area, and soil was taken from an apple orchard affected by replanting disease. Plant growth response was measured as shoot elongation at the end of each greenhouse trial, and results showed increases in growth compared with the respective controls of 2–26% in 20 out of 26 composts evaluated. The heterogeneous nature of the composts most likely attributed to the finding that similar compost types originating from the different countries had varying effects on plant growth. Overall, no significant changes in chemical and biological properties were observed in amended soils as compared with non-amended controls. The high soil resilience was in part expected given the good organic matter content in the original soils (>2%). The bacterial communities of the composts were investigated using the COMPOCHIP microarray, and analyses showed that differences in plant growth response were mainly attributed to the microbial changes introduced into the soil through composts rather than to changes in soil chemical and biological parameters. However, the bacterial communities of composts appeared to be more influenced by geographical origin than by compost type. The results have shown that soil amendment with composts generated from locally produced wastes have the potential to reduce the effects of ARD, although the effects appear to be both compost and soil specific.

The in vitro larvicidal and in vivo anthelmintic effects of Oxalis tetraphylla hydroalcoholic extract (HE), against Haemonchus contortus in experimentally infected lambs, were assessed. We used a microtitration plate method, comprising the following two stages. Stage 1: 20 μl of water containing 200 sheathed H. contortus infective larvae (ShHcl) were deposited in every well of three series; then, the series 2 and 3 wells were treated with 80 μl 1% ivermectin and O. tetraphylla HE at 20 mg/ml, respectively. Stage 2: the same procedure was performed replacing the ShHcl with exsheathed larvae (ExShHcl). Evaluations were performed after 24 and 48 h. The total numbers of dead and live larvae were counted. A second experiment evaluated the reduction in nematode egg populations in the faeces of lambs treated orally with the O. tetraphylla HE. The 27 lambs used were divided into Groups 1, 2 and 3 (n = 9), which were administered water (positive control), levamisole 1 m (7.5 mg/kg body weight (BW), as a unique dose) and O. tetraphylla HE (20 mg/kg BW), respectively. The plant HE was administered daily for 8 days. The in vitro assay showed 80.9% and 86.5% larval mortality of ShHcl after 24 and 48 h, respectively, while the corresponding mortality values for ExShHcl were 97 and 99%, respectively. The in vivo assay showed variability in the eggs/gram of faeces (epg) values; however, at the end of the trial, the average reduction in the epg values of the O. tetraphylla HE group was 45.6% (P < 0.05). Oxalis tetraphylla HE contains compounds that belong to the flavonol group with anthelmintic activity.

The fragmentation of jaguar Panthera onca populations as a result of habitat loss is considered to be one of the main challenges for the conservation of the species. Corridors have been proposed as a means of maintaining connectivity and the long-term viability of jaguar populations. The corridor that connects the jaguar conservation units of Calakmul and Laguna de Terminos in Mexico has been considered to be a link for the movement of individuals between these units but its functionality had yet to be verified. During 2012–2014 we divided the corridor into four sections, where we used camera traps to verify the corridor's functionality. We obtained 106 photographs of jaguars, proving the presence of jaguars (including resident jaguars and females) in three of the corridor sections. We did not record any individuals in more than one section of the corridor. The presence of several resident jaguars and females throughout the corridor suggests that portions of the corridor should be incorporated into the Calakmul and Laguna de Terminos jaguar conservation units. Nevertheless, to confirm that the corridor is fully functional it is necessary to obtain evidence of movement of jaguars among the various sections of the corridor. Our results suggest that the area should be included in regional conservation strategies.

It has been previously shown that Lactobacillus plantarum CRL 2130 is able to produce riboflavin in soyamilk. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of this riboflavin-bio-enriched soyamilk to revert and/or prevent the nutritional deficiency of riboflavin using different animal models. When used to supplement the diets of previously depleted animals, it was shown that the growth, riboflavin status and morphology of the small intestines reverted to normal parameters and were similar to animals supplemented with commercial riboflavin. In the prevention model, the same tendency was observed, where animals that received soyamilk fermented with L. plantarum CRL 2130 did not show signs of riboflavin deficiency. This new bio-fortified soya-based product could be used as part of normal diets to provide a more natural alternative to mandatory fortification with riboflavin for the prevention of its deficiency.