Distinguishing between Stomylotrema bijugum and S. vicarium is challenging due to their phenotypic plasticity. In this study, adult specimens were recovered from 9 host species in the Mexican tropical lowlands. To explore the morphological differences, 32 morphological characteristics were evaluated in 54 specimens. Linear discriminant analysis provided enough evidence to differentiate the 2 species. Additionally, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed for each species. The PCA of S. bijugum revealed 3 groups separately corresponding to specimens from the 3 hosts, suggesting host-induced phenotypic plasticity, whereas the PCA of S. vicarium revealed that the specimens from 3 host species were clustered together, indicating morphometric homogeneity. To confirm the morphological differences between the 2 species of Stomylotrema, we sequenced 2 molecular markers: the D1–D3 domains of the large subunit (LSU) from nuclear DNA and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (Nad1) from mitochondrial DNA. Sequences of the LSU were aligned and compared with the LSU sequences of other congeneric species available in GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses supported the monophyly of Stomylotrema, with 2 main subclades that corresponded to S. bijugum and S. vicarium. A haplotype network was predicted with 25 Nad1 sequences, revealing the presence of 2 clusters representing the 2 species separated from each other by 98 substitutions. The current studies on S. bijugum and S. vicarium revealed new hosts and geographical regions in the Americas, suggesting that both species addressed in the current study can complete their life cycle in the Neotropical region of Mexico.

Distinguishing early domesticates from their wild progenitors presents a significant obstacle for understanding human-mediated effects in the past. The origin of dogs is particularly controversial because potential early dog remains often lack corroborating evidence that can provide secure links between proposed dog remains and human activity. The Tumat Puppies, two permafrost-preserved Late Pleistocene canids, have been hypothesized to have been littermates and early domesticates due to a physical association with putatively butchered mammoth bones. Through a combination of osteometry, stable isotope analysis, plant macrofossil analysis, and genomic and metagenomic analyses, this study exploits the unique properties of the naturally mummified Tumat Puppies to examine their familial relationship and to determine whether dietary information links them to human activities. The multifaceted analysis reveals that the 14,965–14,046 cal yr BP Tumat Puppies were littermates who inhabited a dry and relatively mild environment with heterogeneous vegetation and consumed a diverse diet, including woolly rhinoceros in their final days. However, because there is no evidence of mammoth consumption, these data do not establish a link between the canids and ancient humans.

With the rapid expansion of the Infection Prevention Control/Healthcare Epidemiology (IPC/HE) fields over recent decades, the pivotal roles of IPC/HE in hospital regulation, quality improvement, patient safety, and healthcare finances have become increasingly apparent. Consequently, the demand for effective IPC/HE leaders has surged.1,2 Training in IPC/HE is essential for all infectious diseases (ID) fellows (both adult and pediatric), including those planning a career in hospital epidemiology as well as those planning to focus on general ID, transplant, HIV, etc. ID fellows, however, have historically felt ill-prepared in IPC/HE. Joiner et al’s survey highlighted this gap, revealing that only half of respondents felt adequately trained in infection control, despite half of them participating in infection control in their practice.3 IPC/HE fellow education is not currently standardized, and most IPC/HE training is led by individual mentors and healthcare facilities.

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 cestode Gerbillitaenia psammomi (Cyclophyllidea: Catenotaeniidae: Skrjabinotaeniinae) was found parasitizing fat sand rats (Psammomys obesus) in the south of Tunisia. The species was found previously in P. obesus from Egypt and in Meriones shawi from Morocco. The present finding constitutes the first record of the species in Tunisia. In the present study, G. psammomi was morphologically characterized using light microscopy and compared to previous records of the species. The main differentiating morphological features of G. psammomi with respect to other skrjabinotaenines of North African Gerbillinae murids are, in particular, the shape of strobila, size of suckers, number of testes, absence of an antero-poral ovarian lobe, length of the central uterine stem, and number of primary uterine branches. Negative density-dependent growth (crowding effect) has also been reported. Molecular analysis based on 28S rDNA was performed for G. psammomi and for Skrjabinotaenia oranensis. Thus, both species are grouped in a clade with other species of the subfamily Skrjabinotaeniinae and are clearly separated from the clade that includes species of the subfamily Catenotaeniinae. The molecular study confirmed the previously postulated synonymy of Meggittina numida with S. oranensis.

Objectives/Goals: Second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) are used to treat mental disorders in youth but are linked metabolic syndrome (MetS). Most data on prescribing practices and risk factors are from short-term studies (6–12 months). We aim to characterize prescribing and identify clinical and genetic predictors of MetS using electronic health records (EHR). Methods/Study Population: EHR data were extracted from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) for patients aged ≤21 years prescribed SGAs from 7/1/2009 and 7/1/2024, identifying prescribing prevalence. Next steps are to create an SGA-MetS case–control dataset 8 weeks after an SGA prescription. A case will be defined by meeting 3 of 5 criteria: 1) BMI ≥95th percentile for age/sex; 2) fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL or use of anti-diabetics; 3) triglycerides ≥110 mg/dL; 4) HDL-C ≤40 mg/dL; 5) systolic/diastolic BP ≥90th percentile for age/sex or use of antihypertensives. The prevalence of SGA-MetS will be calculated by dividing SGA-MetS cases by total SGA users. Logistic regression will identify clinical predictors of MetS, and we will evaluate the association of polygenic risk scores (PRS) of BMI and type 2 diabetes with SGA-MetS risk. Results/Anticipated Results: Our preliminary analysis identified 30,076 patients who were prescribed SGAs (mean age 12 years, SD = 4; 58.8% female; n =  17685). Most self-identified as non-Hispanic (95%, n = 28,595) and of White race (76%; n =  22,935), with 18.5% self-identifying as Black or African American (n = 5,579). The most commonly prescribed SGAs were risperidone (n = 12,382, 41.1%), aripiprazole (n = 9,847, 32.7%), and quetiapine (n = 5,263, 17.5%), with much lower prescribing rates of other SGA known of their low risk of MetS (e.g., ziprasidone 5.5%, lurasidone 1.4%, paliperidone (n = 316, 1.1%), or others cariprazine (n = 72), asenapine (n = 43), brexipiprazole (n = 39), iloperidone (n = 24), and clozapine (n = 20). Discussion/Significance of Impact: Our analyses found that risperidone, quetiapine, and aripiprazole were the most prescribed SGA, with risperidone/quetiapine linked to a higher risk of MetS. We will present ongoing work identifying risk factors for SGA-MetS and examining the association with PRS. Our work has the potential to identify high-risk patients for personalized treatment.

Understanding the mechanisms behind the remote triggering of landslides by seismic waves at micro-strain amplitude is essential for quantifying seismic hazards. Granular materials provide a relevant model system to investigate landslides within the unjamming transition framework, from solid to liquid states. Furthermore, recent laboratory experiments have revealed that ultrasound-induced granular avalanches can be related to a reduction in the interparticle friction through shear acoustic lubrication of the contacts. However, investigating slip at the scale of grain contacts within an optically opaque granular medium remains a challenging issue. Here, we propose an original coupling model and numerically investigate two-dimensional dense granular flows triggered by basal acoustic waves. We model the triggering dynamics at two separated time scales – one for grain motion (milliseconds) and the other for ultrasound (10 ${\rm \mu} {\rm s}$) – relying on the computation of vibrational modes with a discrete element method through the reduction of the local friction. We show that ultrasound predominantly propagates through the strong-force chains, while the ultrasound-induced decrease of interparticle friction occurs in the weak contact forces perpendicular to the strong-force chains. This interparticle friction reduction initiates local rearrangements at the grain scale that eventually lead to a continuous flow through a percolation process at the macroscopic scale – with a delay depending on the proximity to the failure. Consistent with experiments, we show that ultrasound-induced flow appears more uniform in space than pure gravity-driven flow, indicating the role of an effective temperature by ultrasonic vibration.

Vaccines have revolutionised the field of medicine, eradicating and controlling many diseases. Recent pandemic vaccine successes have highlighted the accelerated pace of vaccine development and deployment. Leveraging this momentum, attention has shifted to cancer vaccines and personalised cancer vaccines, aimed at targeting individual tumour-specific abnormalities. The UK, now regarded for its vaccine capabilities, is an ideal nation for pioneering cancer vaccine trials. This article convened experts to share insights and approaches to navigate the challenges of cancer vaccine development with personalised or precision cancer vaccines, as well as fixed vaccines. Emphasising partnership and proactive strategies, this article outlines the ambition to harness national and local system capabilities in the UK; to work in collaboration with potential pharmaceutic partners; and to seize the opportunity to deliver the pace for rapid advances in cancer vaccine technology.

Tightly focused proton beams generated from helical coil targets have been shown to be highly collimated across small distances, and display characteristic spectral bunching. We show, for the first time, proton spectra from such targets at high resolution via a Thomson parabola spectrometer. The proton spectral peaks reach energies above 50 MeV, with cutoffs approaching 70 MeV and particle numbers greater than 10${}^{10}$. The spectral bunch width has also been measured as low as approximately 8.5 MeV (17% energy spread). The proton beam pointing and divergence measured at metre-scale distances are found to be stable with the average pointing stability below 10 mrad, and average half-angle beam divergences of approximately 6 mrad. Evidence of the influence of the final turn of the coil on beam pointing over long distances is also presented, corroborated by particle tracing simulations, indicating the scope for further improvement and control of the beam pointing with modifying target parameters.

A Bayesian procedure is given for estimation in unrestricted common factor analysis. A choice of the form of the prior distribution is justified. It is shown empirically that the procedure achieves its objective of avoiding inadmissible estimates of unique variances, and is reasonably insensitive to certain variations in the shape of the prior distribution.

Past hydrogeological processes and human impacts may exert substantial memory effects on today’s groundwater systems. Thorough characterization of such long-term processes is required for scientists and policymakers to predict the hydrogeological impacts of land management options. Especially in data-scarce areas, historical data are essential to unravel long-term hydrogeological processes, which could not be identified by short-term fieldwork or model simulations alone. However, historical data are often overlooked or only used as background information in most hydrogeological studies. We show that the combination of historical reports and quantitative data yields major insights in the hydrogeological system of Curaçao, a small semi-arid Caribbean island. Reconstructing the island’s groundwater conditions over the past 500 years revealed that deforestation and excessive abstraction has had a detrimental effect on the island’s groundwater reserves. Historical notes and data revealed major signs of seawater intrusion, especially during abstraction peaks in the island’s industrial era. Intrusion effects are still observed locally on the island today, but additional groundwater recharge by waste water has caused freshening elsewhere. We hypothesize that the observed aquifer replenishment locally enhances submarine groundwater discharge, flushing accumulated nutrients and pollutants towards Curaçao’s fringing coral reefs. We expect that this study’s insights motivate more hydrogeologists to use historical reports and data in future studies.

In the winter of 2022–2023, hundreds of the Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica) appeared dead in the coast of the Canary Islands, a rare event considering their cold-living habits, normally occupying the North Atlantic Ocean. In this work, investigation about the parasites present in the Atlantic puffins found in the biggest islands of the Archipelago was carried out from a population portion. Necropsies of 39 birds were made and, during the examination of the urinary tracts, helminths were found. Morphoanatomical analysis under microscope allowed to identify them into Renicola genus with high similarity to Renicola sloanei. After that, DNA was extracted and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene were amplificated by a polymerase chain reaction method followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The molecular results demonstrated that in fact R. sloanei was the helminth parasite present in the urinary tracts of the Atlantic puffins found in the Canary Islands.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a tropical disease that can be fatal if acute and untreated. Diagnosis is difficult, the treatment is toxic and prophylactic vaccines do not exist. Leishmania parasites express hundreds of proteins and several of them are relevant for the host's immune system. In this context, in the present study, 10 specific T-cell epitopes from 5 parasite proteins, which were identified by antibodies in VL patients’ sera, were selected and used to construct a gene codifying the new chimeric protein called rCHI. The rCHI vaccine was developed and thoroughly evaluated for its potential effectiveness against Leishmania infantum infection. We used monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) and polymeric micelles (Mic) as adjuvant and/or delivery system. The results demonstrated that both rCHI/MPLA and rCHI/Mic significantly stimulate an antileishmanial Th1-type cellular response, with higher production of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-12 and nitrite in vaccinated animals, and this response was sustained after challenge. In addition, these mice significantly reduced the parasitism in internal organs and increased the production of IgG2a isotype antibodies. In vivo and in vitro toxicity showed that rCHI is safe for the mammalians, and the recombinant protein also induced in vitro lymphoproliferative response and production of Th1-type cytokines by human cells, which were collected from healthy subjects and treated VL patients. These data suggest rCHI plus MPLA or micelles could be considered as a vaccine candidate against VL.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect and safety of Cannabidiol (CBD) on behavioral and psychological symptoms in elderly with Vascular dementia (VD).

Methods: Double- blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving elderly patients with VD at the psychogeriatrics and vascular dementia outpatient clinic at Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto. The intervention evaluated was the use of CBD 300mg/day compared to placebo. The instruments used are: Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Clinical Global Impression Scale, Side Effects Scale, Mini- Mental State Examination, Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, Zarit Burden Inventory. The included participants were assessed at the beginning of the study (baseline assessment), in the first, second and fourth weeks after the start of the clinicaltrial.

Results: 30 participants were included. The mixed ANOVA with repeated measures showed that there is an effect of the interaction time and group (F (2.12; 59.43) = 4.02; p < 0.05; ηp2 = 0.13) on the total score of the brief scale psychiatric assessment and neuropsychiatric inventory (F (1.58; 44.31) = 3.61; p =0.05; ηp2 = 0.11). The mixed ANOVA of repeated measures showed no effect of the interaction of time and group for the mini-mental state examination, brief cognitive screening battery. Adverse effects were mild and transient, and similar to the placebo group.

Conclusions: In this study, cannabidiol reduced psychological and behavioral symptoms in patients with vascular dementia. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the findings. (F(1.58;44.31) = 3.61; p =0.05; ηp2 = 0.11). The mixed ANOVA of repeated measures showed no effect of the interaction of time and group for the mini-mental state examination, brief cognitive screening battery. Adverse effects were mild and transient, and similar to the placebo group.

Objectives: Despite the increasing number of people with dementia (PWD), detection remains low worldwide. In Brazil, PWD is expected to triple by 2050, and diagnosis can be challenging, contributing to high and growing rates of underdiagnosis. At the moment, there is no national estimate of the under detection or characteristics of its distribution according to gender, age and region. We aimed to estimate the proportion of PWD not diagnosed in relation to the estimated number of PWD.

Methods: The number of diagnosed individuals were estimated based on national records of the prescription of anticholinesterases drugs (AChE) in 2022 for the treatment of mild and moderate stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) held by the Unified Health System (SUS). Data were obtained from ftp://ftp.datasus.gov.br and drugs were dispensed according to the national clinical protocol. Studies from the national literature were consulted to estimate: (i) the number of people currently diagnosed with mild and moderate AD; (ii) the proportion of those who obtain AChE from SUS; (iii) the proportion of those who do not take AChE; and (iv) the proportion of AD related to other dementias. We assumed that the under-detection rate of AD would be similar to other dementias and 70% of the diagnosed AD individuals obtain AChE from SUS.

Results: More than 80% of the PWD 60+ are undetected (88.7%, 95% CI = 88.6–88.7). The poorest regions had higher rates (94.6% 95%, CI = 94.5–94.6) than the richest (84.8%, 95% CI = 84.7–84.8). Men had higher rates (89.8%, 95% CI = 89.7–89.9) than women (87.4%, 95% CI = 87.4–87.5). The youngest age group (60-64) had the highest rate (94.6%, 95% CI = 94.5–94.7) which decreased until 85–89 (84.3%, 95% CI = 84.2–84.4), before increasing again to 91.1% (95% CI = 91.0–91.2) among 90+.

Conclusions: Dementia under detection in Brazil is among the highest in the world. Fast populational aging and the highest rates among the youngest individuals are of concern as it may be related to late diagnosis. Gender and regional disparities also need to be considered when developing health policies.