This manuscript addresses a critical topic: navigating complexities of conducting clinical trials during a pandemic. Central to this discussion is engaging communities to ensure diverse participation. The manuscript elucidates deliberate strategies employed to recruit minority communities with poor social drivers of health for participation in COVID-19 trials. The paper adopts a descriptive approach, eschewing analysis of data-driven efficacy of these efforts, and instead provides a comprehensive account of strategies utilized. The Accelerate COVID-19 Treatment Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public–private partnership launched early in the COVID-19 pandemic to develop clinical trials to advance SARS-CoV-2 treatments. In this paper, ACTIV investigators share challenges in conducting research during an evolving pandemic and approaches selected to engage communities when traditional strategies were infeasible. Lessons from this experience include importance of community representatives’ involvement early in study design and implementation and integration of well-developed public outreach and communication strategies with trial launch. Centralization and coordination of outreach will allow for efficient use of resources and the sharing of best practices. Insights gleaned from the ACTIV program, as outlined in this paper, shed light on effective strategies for involving communities in treatment trials amidst rapidly evolving public health emergencies. This underscores critical importance of community engagement initiatives well in advance of the pandemic.

In a survey of infection prevention programs, leaders reported frequent clinical and infection prevention practice modifications to avoid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposure that exceeded national guidance. Future pandemic responses should emphasize balanced approaches to precautions, prioritize educational campaigns to manage safety concerns, and generate an evidence-base that can guide appropriate infection prevention practices.

We present a broadband radio study of the transient jets ejected from the black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535–571, which underwent a prolonged outburst beginning on 2017 September 2. We monitored MAXI J1535–571 with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) at frequencies from 119 to 186 MHz over six epochs from 2017 September 20 to 2017 October 14. The source was quasi-simultaneously observed over the frequency range 0.84–19 GHz by UTMOST (the Upgraded Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope) the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA). Using the LBA observations from 2017 September 23, we measured the source size to be $34\pm1$ mas. During the brightest radio flare on 2017 September 21, the source was detected down to 119 MHz by the MWA, and the radio spectrum indicates a turnover between 250 and 500 MHz, which is most likely due to synchrotron self-absorption (SSA). By fitting the radio spectrum with a SSA model and using the LBA size measurement, we determined various physical parameters of the jet knot (identified in ATCA data), including the jet opening angle ($\phi_{\rm op} = 4.5\pm1.2^{\circ}$) and the magnetic field strength ($B_{\rm s} = 104^{+80}_{-78}$ mG). Our fitted magnetic field strength agrees reasonably well with that inferred from the standard equipartition approach, suggesting the jet knot to be close to equipartition. Our study highlights the capabilities of the Australian suite of radio telescopes to jointly probe radio jets in black hole X-ray binaries via simultaneous observations over a broad frequency range, and with differing angular resolutions. This suite allows us to determine the physical properties of X-ray binary jets. Finally, our study emphasises the potential contributions that can be made by the low-frequency part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low) in the study of black hole X-ray binaries.

Social inequality is ubiquitous in contemporary human societies, and has deleterious social and ecological impacts. However, the factors that shape the emergence and maintenance of inequality remain widely debated. Here we conduct a global analysis of pathways to inequality by comparing 408 non-industrial societies in the anthropological record (described largely between 1860 and 1960) that vary in degree of inequality. We apply structural equation modelling to open-access environmental and ethnographic data and explore two alternative models varying in the links among factors proposed by prior literature, including environmental conditions, resource intensification, wealth transmission, population size and a well-documented form of inequality: social class hierarchies. We found support for a model in which the probability of social class hierarchies is associated directly with increases in population size, the propensity to use intensive agriculture and domesticated large mammals, unigeniture inheritance of real property and hereditary political succession. We suggest that influence of environmental variables on inequality is mediated by measures of resource intensification, which, in turn, may influence inequality directly or indirectly via effects on wealth transmission variables. Overall, we conclude that in our analysis a complex network of effects are associated with social class hierarchies.

With human influences driving populations of apex predators into decline, more information is required on how factors affect species at national and global scales. However, camera-trap studies are seldom executed at a broad spatial scale. We demonstrate how uniting fine-scale studies and utilizing camera-trap data of non-target species is an effective approach for broadscale assessments through a case study of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea. We collated camera-trap data from 25 protected and unprotected sites across South Africa into the largest detection/non-detection dataset collected on the brown hyaena, and investigated the influence of biological and anthropogenic factors on brown hyaena occupancy. Spatial autocorrelation had a significant effect on the data, and was corrected using a Bayesian Gibbs sampler. We show that brown hyaena occupancy is driven by specific co-occurring apex predator species and human disturbance. The relative abundance of spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta and people on foot had a negative effect on brown hyaena occupancy, whereas the relative abundance of leopards Panthera pardus and vehicles had a positive influence. We estimated that brown hyaenas occur across 66% of the surveyed camera-trap station sites. Occupancy varied geographically, with lower estimates in eastern and southern South Africa. Our findings suggest that brown hyaena conservation is dependent upon a multi-species approach focussed on implementing conservation policies that better facilitate coexistence between people and hyaenas. We also validate the conservation value of pooling fine-scale datasets and utilizing bycatch data to examine species trends at broad spatial scales.

A dramatically increased interest in dissemination and implementation (D&I) science, with relatively few training programs for D&I scientists, highlights the need for innovative ways to deliver educational materials, training, and resources. We described nine interactive, web-based D&I science resources appropriate for trainees and Clinical and Translational Science Awards. We used audience feedback and design thinking to develop resources iteratively. Primary target users are T3–T4 researchers, although T2 researchers can benefit from “designing for dissemination” resources. Workforce development resources were used in D&I science workshops, as stand-alone, self-directed resources, and for consultations and trainings. We assessed resource design (purpose, functionality), usage, user experience and engagement. Educational resources addressed included: D&I science basics, pragmatic trials, getting proposals funded, designing for dissemination, and D&I science theory selection. We reviewed the purpose, functionality, status, and usage of these interactive resources. All resources engaged users; provided interactive feedback for learners; and linked users to additional learning resources. Online resources can be valuable for preparing clinical and translational mentees for research consultations, as follow-up training activities, and as D&I workforce development resources. The resources described are publicly available and we encourage their use, further development, and evaluation by Clinical and Translational Science Awards and other programs.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Rodent models can be used to study neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), but the applicability of findings from the models to NAS in humans is not well understood. The objective of this study was to develop a rat model of norbuprenorphine-induced NAS and validate its translational value by comparing blood concentrations in the norbuprenorphine-treated pregnant rat to those previously reported in pregnant women undergoing buprenorphine treatment. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Pregnant Long-Evans rats were implanted with 14-day osmotic minipumps containing vehicle, morphine (positive control), or norbuprenorphine (0.3–3 mg/kg/d) on gestation day 9. Within 12 hours of delivery, pups were tested for spontaneous or precipitated opioid withdrawal by injecting them with saline (10 mL/kg, i.p.) or naltrexone (1 or 10 mg/kg, i.p), respectively, and observing them for well-validated neonatal withdrawal signs. Blood was sampled via indwelling jugular catheters from a subset of norbuprenorphine-treated dams on gestation day 8, 10, 13, 17, and 20. Norbuprenorphine concentrations in whole blood samples were quantified using LC/MS/MS. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Blood concentrations of norbuprenorphine in rats exposed to 1–3 mg/kg/d of norbuprenorphine were similar to levels previously reported in pregnant women undergoing buprenorphine treatment. Pups born to dams treated with these doses exhibited robust withdrawal signs. Blood concentrations of norbuprenorphine decreased across gestation, which is similar to previous reports in humans. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: These results suggest that dosing dams with 1–3 mg/kg/day norbuprenorphine produces maternal blood concentrations and withdrawal severity similar to those previously reported in humans. This provides evidence that, at these doses, this model is useful for testing hypotheses about norbuprenorphine that are applicable to NAS in humans.

The Arizona Department of Health Services identified unusually high levels of influenza activity and severe complications during the 2015–2016 influenza season leading to concerns about potential increased disease severity compared with prior seasons. We estimated state-level burden and severity to compare across three seasons using multiple data sources for community-level illness, hospitalisation and death. Severity ratios were calculated as the number of hospitalisations or deaths per community case. Community influenza-like illness rates, hospitalisation rates and mortality rates in 2015–2016 were higher than the previous two seasons. However, ratios of severe disease to community illness were similar. Arizona experienced overall increased disease burden in 2015–2016, but not increased severity compared with prior seasons. Timely estimates of state-specific burden and severity are potentially feasible and may provide important information during seemingly unusual influenza seasons or pandemic situations.

The shallow subsurface of Groningen, the Netherlands, is heterogeneous due to its formation in a Holocene tidal coastal setting on a periglacially and glacially inherited landscape with strong lateral variation in subsurface architecture. Soft sediments with low, small-strain shear wave velocities (V S30 around 200 m s−1) are known to amplify earthquake motions. Knowledge of the architecture and properties of the subsurface and the combined effect on the propagation of earthquake waves is imperative for the prediction of geohazards of ground shaking and liquefaction at the surface. In order to provide information for the seismic hazard and risk analysis, two geological models were constructed. The first is the ‘Geological model for Site response in Groningen’ (GSG model) and is based on the detailed 3D GeoTOP voxel model containing lithostratigraphy and lithoclass attributes. The GeoTOP model was combined with information from boreholes, cone penetration tests, regional digital geological and geohydrological models to cover the full range from the surface down to the base of the North Sea Supergroup (base Paleogene) at ~800 m depth. The GSG model consists of a microzonation based on geology and a stack of soil stratigraphy for each of the 140,000 grid cells (100 m × 100 m) to which properties (V S and parameters relevant for nonlinear soil behaviour) were assigned. The GSG model serves as input to the site response calculations that feed into the Ground Motion Model. The second model is the ‘Geological model for Liquefaction sensitivity in Groningen’ (GLG). Generally, loosely packed sands might be susceptible to liquefaction upon earthquake shaking. In order to delineate zones of loosely packed sand in the first 40 m below the surface, GeoTOP was combined with relative densities inferred from a large cone penetration test database. The marine Naaldwijk and Eem Formations have the highest proportion of loosely packed sand (31% and 38%, respectively) and thus are considered to be the most vulnerable to liquefaction; other units contain 5–17% loosely packed sand. The GLG model serves as one of the inputs for further research on the liquefaction potential in Groningen, such as the development of region-specific magnitude scaling factors (MSF) and depth–stress reduction relationships (r d).