The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) offers powerful new capabilities for studying the polarised and magnetised Universe at radio wavelengths. In this paper, we introduce the Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe’s Magnetism (POSSUM), a groundbreaking survey with three primary objectives: (1) to create a comprehensive Faraday rotation measure (RM) grid of up to one million compact extragalactic sources across the southern $\sim50$% of the sky (20,630 deg$^2$); (2) to map the intrinsic polarisation and RM properties of a wide range of discrete extragalactic and Galactic objects over the same area; and (3) to contribute interferometric data with excellent surface brightness sensitivity, which can be combined with single-dish data to study the diffuse Galactic interstellar medium. Observations for the full POSSUM survey commenced in May 2023 and are expected to conclude by mid-2028. POSSUM will achieve an RM grid density of around 30–50 RMs per square degree with a median measurement uncertainty of $\sim$1 rad m$^{-2}$. The survey operates primarily over a frequency range of 800–1088 MHz, with an angular resolution of 20” and a typical RMS sensitivity in Stokes Q or U of 18 $\mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$. Additionally, the survey will be supplemented by similar observations covering 1296–1440 MHz over 38% of the sky. POSSUM will enable the discovery and detailed investigation of magnetised phenomena in a wide range of cosmic environments, including the intergalactic medium and cosmic web, galaxy clusters and groups, active galactic nuclei and radio galaxies, the Magellanic System and other nearby galaxies, galaxy halos and the circumgalactic medium, and the magnetic structure of the Milky Way across a very wide range of scales, as well as the interplay between these components. This paper reviews the current science case developed by the POSSUM Collaboration and provides an overview of POSSUM’s observations, data processing, outputs, and its complementarity with other radio and multi-wavelength surveys, including future work with the SKA.

Polar ring galaxies (PRGs) are a unique class of galaxies characterised by a ring of gas and stars orbiting nearly orthogonal to the main body. This study delves into the evolutionary trajectory of PRGs using the exemplary trio of NGC 3718, NGC 2685, and NGC 4262. We investigate the distinct features of PRGs by analysing their ring and host components to reveal their unique characteristics through spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. Using CIGALE, we performed SED fitting to independently analyse the ring and host spatially resolved regions, marking the first decomposed SED analysis for PRGs, which examines stellar populations using high-resolution observations from AstroSat UVIT at a resolved scale. The UV-optical surface profiles provide an initial idea that distinct patterns in the galaxies, with differences in FUV and NUV, suggest three distinct stages of ring evolution in the selected galaxies. The study of resolved-scale stellar regions reveals that the ring regions are generally younger than their host galaxies, with the age disparity progressively decreasing along the evolutionary sequence from NGC 3718 to NGC 4262. Star formation rates (SFR) also exhibit a consistent pattern, with higher SFR in the ring of NGC 3718 compared to the others, and a progressive decrease through NGC 2685 and NGC 4262. Finally, the representation of the galaxies in the HI gas fraction versus the NUV–$\text r$ plane supports the idea that they are in three different evolutionary stages of PRG evolution, with NGC 3718 in the initial stage, NGC 2685 in the intermediate stage, and NGC 4262 representing the final stage. This study concludes that PRGs undergo various evolutionary stages, as evidenced by the observed features in the ring and host components. NGC 3718, NGC 2685, and NGC 4262 represent different stages of this evolution, highlighting the dynamic nature of PRGs and emphasising the importance of studying their evolutionary processes to gain insights into galactic formation and evolution.

The present paper proposes a hierarchical, multi-unidimensional two-parameter logistic item response theory (2PL-MUIRT) model extended for a large number of groups. The proposed model was motivated by a large-scale integrative data analysis (IDA) study which combined data (N = 24,336) from 24 independent alcohol intervention studies. IDA projects face unique challenges that are different from those encountered in individual studies, such as the need to establish a common scoring metric across studies and to handle missingness in the pooled data. To address these challenges, we developed a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm for a hierarchical 2PL-MUIRT model for multiple groups in which not only were the item parameters and latent traits estimated, but the means and covariance structures for multiple dimensions were also estimated across different groups. Compared to a few existing MCMC algorithms for multidimensional IRT models that constrain the item parameters to facilitate estimation of the covariance matrix, we adapted an MCMC algorithm so that we could directly estimate the correlation matrix for the anchor group without any constraints on the item parameters. The feasibility of the MCMC algorithm and the validity of the basic calibration procedure were examined using a simulation study. Results showed that model parameters could be adequately recovered, and estimated latent trait scores closely approximated true latent trait scores. The algorithm was then applied to analyze real data (69 items across 20 studies for 22,608 participants). The posterior predictive model check showed that the model fit all items well, and the correlations between the MCMC scores and original scores were overall quite high. An additional simulation study demonstrated robustness of the MCMC procedures in the context of the high proportion of missingness in data. The Bayesian hierarchical IRT model using the MCMC algorithms developed in the current study has the potential to be widely implemented for IDA studies or multi-site studies, and can be further refined to meet more complicated needs in applied research.

Tophets are Phoenician and Punic sanctuaries where cremated infants and children were buried. Many studies focus on the potentially sacrificial nature of these sites, but this article takes a different approach. Combining osteological analysis with a consideration of the archaeological and wider cultural context, the authors explore the short life-courses and mortuary treatments of 12 individuals in the tophet at the Neo-Punic site of Zita, Tunisia. While osteological evidence suggests life at Zita was hard, and systemic health problems may have contributed to the deaths of these individuals, their mortuary rites were attended to with care and without concrete indication of sacrifice.

Background: Electrophysiological tests such as the tapping test are used to distinguish functional and organic tremors, in which patients with functional tremor commonly show entrainment and amplitude reduction (>50% decrease relative to baseline) of contralateral tremor during tapping. While these features are suggested to be specific to functional tremor, the tapping test in Parkinson’s disease (PD) tremor has not been tested. Methods: We evaluated 18 PD patients (2F, age 64.17±7.30 [mean±SD] years) with rest and postural tremors using surface electromyography and triaxial accelerometry. Patients were recorded while tapping at 1, 3 and 5 Hz with the contralateral arm at rest or outstretched. Tremor amplitude and frequency were calculated using power spectrum analysis from accelerometer recordings. Results: Reduction of rest tremor amplitude was observed in 3/18 patients during 1 and 3 Hz tapping. Reduction was seen in 3/16 and 1/16 patients with postural tremors at 1 and 3 Hz tapping, respectively. Frequency shifts (>1.5 Hz) were observed in 3/18 rest tremors and 6/16 postural tremors. Seven patients exhibited rest and/or postural tremor entrainment during 3 or 5 Hz tapping. Conclusions: Distractibility and entrainment can be found in PD tremor. The tapping test may not reliably distinguish between PD tremor and functional tremor.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: to investigate the potential impact of grandparental factors and multigenerational epigenetic inheritance on the development of ASD METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Our study recruited participants from the CHARGE (Child Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment) study, including grandparents, parents, and children. A questionnaire was used to gather information about the participants’ exposure to environmental factors. Saliva samples werecollected from 349 participants. Newborn dried blood spotsfrom probands and parents are still being collected from the California New born Registry. DNA was extracted from 349 saliva samples from 85 families and subjected to whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) to analyze DNA methylation. Sequence alignments and bioinformatic analyses will be performed using R packages called DMRichR and Comethyl. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Sequence alignments and bioinformatic analyses are ongoing, utilizing DMRichR to identify individual genomic loci associated with ASD in each of the three generations and Comethyl to compare correlation patterns between methylation marks and selected variables, including grand parental exposures. New born blood spot collections of parents and probands are ongoing and will be used to identify potential ASD epigenomic signatures that are tissue and life-stage independent. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This research will provide new insights into the increased prevalence and underlying etiology of ASD that should pave the way for future research in the field. DNA Methylation signatures can help create molecular biomarkers which can be used together with behavioral clinical tests for diagnosis of ASD.

X-Ray powder diffraction and thin section analyses indicate that marginal lacustrine mudstones of the Green River Formation in the south-central Uinta basin, Utah, contain abundant analcime. The analcime has a low Si/Al ratio (<2.31) and occurs as very fine grained disseminated crystals and, to a lesser extent, as coarser-grained pore-filling cement. Analcime-rich mudstones and associated sandstones, siltstones, and carbonates lack volcanic detritus and zeolites other than analcime, thus making it difficult to support the concept that the analcime formed from precursor zeolites derived from volcanic glass altered in saline, alkaline-lake water. Abundant dolomite, syneresis cracks, and the absence of freshwater pelecypods and gastropods suggest that the lake (Lake Uinta) was moderately saline and alkaline. The restricted illite-illite/smectite clay mineral suite in the analcime-rich mudstones suggests that detrital clays significantly altered in a moderately saline and alkaline environment, thereby providing a source of Si and Al for the formation of analcime.

Red mudstones contain twice as much analcime as green mudstones (14 vs. 7 wt. %). Green mudstones have a day mineral suite consisting of illite (44 wt. %), mixed-layer illite/smectite (35 wt. %), smectite (12 wt. %), and minor kaolinite (4 wt. %) and chlorite (5 wt. %), whereas red mudstones have a more restricted day mineral suite consisting ofillite (68 wt. %) and mixed-layer illite/smectite (26 wt. %) with very minor smectite, chlorite, and kaolinite. Periodic minor fluctuations in lake level probably exposed large areas of shallow lacustrine-interdistributary green mud. Evaporative pumping on the exposed mudflats concentrated the moderately saline and alkaline-lake water, thereby producing Na-rich brines that enhanced the formation of analcime by accelerating the alteration of detrital clays and, perhaps, other minerals. Oxidation of iron from altered iron-bearing minerals stained the analcime-rich mud red with iron hydroxide or oxide (perhaps hematite). The overall reaction from green to red mud (mudstones) was probably: detrital phyllosilicates + Na-brine + iron-bearing minerals + oxygen → analcime + iron hydroxide or iron oxide.

We present source detection and catalogue construction pipelines to build the first catalogue of radio galaxies from the 270 $\rm deg^2$ pilot survey of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU-PS) conducted with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope. The detection pipeline uses Gal-DINO computer vision networks (Gupta et al. 2024, PASA, 41, e001) to predict the categories of radio morphology and bounding boxes for radio sources, as well as their potential infrared host positions. The Gal-DINO network is trained and evaluated on approximately 5 000 visually inspected radio galaxies and their infrared hosts, encompassing both compact and extended radio morphologies. We find that the Intersection over Union (IoU) for the predicted and ground-truth bounding boxes is larger than 0.5 for 99% of the radio sources, and 98% of predicted host positions are within $3^{\prime \prime}$ of the ground-truth infrared host in the evaluation set. The catalogue construction pipeline uses the predictions of the trained network on the radio and infrared image cutouts based on the catalogue of radio components identified using the Selavy source finder algorithm. Confidence scores of the predictions are then used to prioritise Selavy components with higher scores and incorporate them first into the catalogue. This results in identifications for a total of 211 625 radio sources, with 201 211 classified as compact and unresolved. The remaining 10 414 are categorised as extended radio morphologies, including 582 FR-I, 5 602 FR-II, 1 494 FR-x (uncertain whether FR-I or FR-II), 2 375 R (single-peak resolved) radio galaxies, and 361 with peculiar and other rare morphologies. Each source in the catalogue includes a confidence score. We cross-match the radio sources in the catalogue with the infrared and optical catalogues, finding infrared cross-matches for 73% and photometric redshifts for 36% of the radio galaxies. The EMU-PS catalogue and the detection pipelines presented here will be used towards constructing catalogues for the main EMU survey covering the full southern sky.

To investigate the symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, their dynamics and their discriminatory power for the disease using longitudinally, prospectively collected information reported at the time of their occurrence. We have analysed data from a large phase 3 clinical UK COVID-19 vaccine trial. The alpha variant was the predominant strain. Participants were assessed for SARS-CoV-2 infection via nasal/throat PCR at recruitment, vaccination appointments, and when symptomatic. Statistical techniques were implemented to infer estimates representative of the UK population, accounting for multiple symptomatic episodes associated with one individual. An optimal diagnostic model for SARS-CoV-2 infection was derived. The 4-month prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 2.1%; increasing to 19.4% (16.0%–22.7%) in participants reporting loss of appetite and 31.9% (27.1%–36.8%) in those with anosmia/ageusia. The model identified anosmia and/or ageusia, fever, congestion, and cough to be significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Symptoms’ dynamics were vastly different in the two groups; after a slow start peaking later and lasting longer in PCR+ participants, whilst exhibiting a consistent decline in PCR- participants, with, on average, fewer than 3 days of symptoms reported. Anosmia/ageusia peaked late in confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (day 12), indicating a low discrimination power for early disease diagnosis.

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.

Avian endoparasites play important roles in conservation, biodiversity and host evolution. Currently, little is known about the epidemiology of intestinal helminths and protozoans infecting wild birds of Britain and Ireland. This study aimed to determine the rates of parasite prevalence, abundance and infection intensity in wild passerines. Fecal samples (n = 755) from 18 bird families were collected from 13 sites across England, Wales and Ireland from March 2020 to June 2021. A conventional sodium nitrate flotation method allowed morphological identification and abundance estimation of eggs/oocysts. Associations with host family and age were examined alongside spatiotemporal and ecological factors using Bayesian phylogenetically controlled models. Parasites were detected in 20.0% of samples, with corvids and finches having the highest prevalences and intensities, respectively. Syngamus (33%) and Isospora (32%) were the most prevalent genera observed. Parasite prevalence and abundance differed amongst avian families and seasons, while infection intensity varied between families and regions. Prevalence was affected by diet diversity, while abundance differed by host age and habitat diversity. Infection intensity was higher in birds using a wider range of habitats, and doubled in areas with feeders present. The elucidation of these patterns will increase the understanding of parasite fauna in British and Irish birds.

Seabirds are highly threatened, including by fisheries bycatch. Accurate understanding of offshore distribution of seabirds is crucial to address this threat. Tracking technologies revolutionised insights into seabird distributions but tracking data may contain a variety of biases. We tracked two threatened seabirds (Salvin’s Albatross Thalassarche salvini n = 60 and Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni n = 46) from their breeding colonies in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to their non-breeding grounds in South America, including Peru, while simultaneously completing seven surveys in Peruvian waters. We then used species distribution models to predict occurrence and distribution using either data source alone, and both data sources combined. Results showed seasonal differences between estimates of occurrence and distribution when using data sources independently. Combining data resulted in more balanced insights into occurrence and distributions, and reduced uncertainty. Most notably, both species were predicted to occur in Peruvian waters during all four annual quarters: the northern Humboldt upwelling system for Salvin’s Albatross and northern continental shelf waters for Black Petrels. Our results highlighted that relying on a single data source may introduce biases into distribution estimates. Our tracking data might have contained ontological and/or colony-related biases (e.g. only breeding adults from one colony were tracked), while our survey data might have contained spatiotemporal biases (e.g. surveys were limited to waters <200 nm from the coast). We recommend combining data sources wherever possible to refine predictions of species distributions, which ultimately will improve fisheries bycatch management through better spatiotemporal understanding of risks.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that the cerebellum is involved in cognitive functions. Theta burst stimulation (TBS), a modality of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), on the cerebellum can change its contribution to working memory. Therefore, we hypothesize that excitatory intermittent TBS (iTBS) on the cerebellum would improve performance on working memory tasks, whereas inhibitory continuous TBS (cTBS) would disrupt it. Methods: As this is an ongoing study, nine participants (6 women) took part in this study so far. TBS was applied on the cerebellum bilaterally. All subjects received iTBS, cTBS, and sham iTBS in three sessions in random order. After TBS in each session, participants performed three types of working memory tasks: letter 2-back, digit span forward (DSF), and digit span backward (DSB). Results: The preliminary results suggest that participants performed better in the sham condition in the letter 2-back and the DSB tasks compared to the iTBS and cTBS conditions, but the results did not reach statistical significance due to the small sample size. Conclusions: The preliminary results show that the cerebellar contribution to working memory may be disrupted by TBS. As we gain more statistical power by recruiting more participants, we hope to further demonstrate the effects of cerebellar TBS on working memory.

Iwasawa theory of elliptic curves over noncommutative $GL(2)$ extension has been a fruitful area of research. Over such a noncommutative p-adic Lie extension, there exists a structure theorem providing the structure of the dual Selmer groups for elliptic curves in terms of reflexive ideals in the Iwasawa algebra. The central object of this article is to study Iwasawa theory over the $PGL(2)$ extension and connect it with Iwasawa theory over the $GL(2)$ extension, deriving consequences to the structure theorem when the reflexive ideal is the augmentation ideal of the center. We also show how the dual Selmer group over the $GL(2)$ extension being torsion is related with that of the $PGL(2)$ extension.