We describe the fabrication and operation of a gas puff-injected coaxial plasma gun (CPG) using high-power solid-state switching. Understanding the topological details of the plasma formation and sheath rundown phase are critical for in-space propulsion testing and applications to plasma jet magneto-inertial fusion, for which this CPG is designed. The construction of the CPG electrodes is detailed and used to define the boundary conditions (BCs) for two-dimensional axisymmetric resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) modelling. To the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first application of the open-source modelling framework of OpenMHD (e.g. Zenitani & Miyoshi 2011 Phys. Plasmas vol. 18, 022105) to an experimental system with physical BCs. Real-time diagnostics of the gas puff injection, plasma sheath ionisation and bulk plasma propagation were synchronised to and referenced against the digital gate signal provided to the custom solid-state switching array. The array is configured to enable reliable and repeatable CPG discharges at 4 kV and 7.7 kA with global shutter camera images taken at digital delay increments throughout the plasma evolution. By tuning the initial conditions (ICs) of OpenMHD modelling, the initial density, velocity and magnetic field profiles, the imaged dynamics could be replicated to a significant degree. While the operation of the CPG deviates from the classic one-dimensional snowplough model, quantifying the multi-dimensional role of blow-by during the rundown phase was the primary result of the resistive MHD modelling. Understanding the plasma profiles through the definition of the ICs will be useful for informing the future placement of diagnostics and enforcing the interaction of the bulk plasma properties with an external magnetic field.

Previous studies of national culture and prosocial behaviors have been limited to Hofstede’s five traditional culture dimensions. We introduce the fairly new and less studied cultural dimension of indulgence versus restraint (IVR) as a predictor of prosocial behaviors. We tested the effect of IVR on prosocial behavior over Hofstede’s previously studied dimensions. We also tested the moderating effect of government effectiveness on the relationship between indulgence and prosocial behavior. We crossed data for cultural dimensions from Hofstede with data from the world-giving index for prosocial behavior and data for government effectiveness from the World Bank. In total, eighty-seven countries entered our model. Indulgence predicted volunteering above the other researched cultural dimensions. It did not predict helping a stranger or donating. Among the cultural dimensions, only uncertainty avoidance was also significant in the prediction of volunteering. Uncertainty avoidance was the only cultural dimension that predicted donating. Individualism was not significant in the prediction of prosocial behaviors. Long-term orientation was the only cultural dimension that predicted helping a stranger (but not volunteering and donating) over other researched cultural dimensions. We found that government effectiveness is a boundary condition to the link between indulgent cultures and two prosocial behaviors (donating and helping a stranger but not for volunteering). Our results indicate that only in countries with high government effectiveness does indulgence predict prosocial behaviors, and not in cultures with low government effectiveness.

Background: Wastewater-based epidemiology has demonstrated effectiveness in monitoring trends of viral infections at the city, state, and national levels. It captures data independent of testing intensity, providing a comprehensive biological sample of pathogens excreted in all secretions, that is unaffected by individual testing behaviors. Traditional healthcare-associated infection surveillance relies on case-based approaches, which can be resource-intensive, prone to misclassification, and may miss patients who are colonized. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of implementing wastewater-based epidemiology in an acute care hospital for monitoring pathogens relevant to infection prevention and control. Methods: In this pilot study, we deployed a Teledyne ISCO 5800™ wastewater autosampler to collect weekly composite 1000 mL samples (15 mL every 151 minutes) from the final Stanford Hospital outflow point before wastewater merged with the community system. Wastewater samples were processed within 48 hours of collection. The solid phase was separated via centrifugation, followed by nucleic acid extraction employing silica-based purification techniques optimized for efficient inhibitor removal. Droplet digital PCR was conducted targeting pathogens previously validated by the WastewaterSCAN program (https://www.wastewaterscan.org/en/pathogens). We compared hospital wastewater nucleic acid concentrations with the number of positive tests/cultures at Stanford Hospital during the same period and with Wastewaterscan community wastewater data. Results: We collected three weekly composite samples: Jun 20–26, Jul 10–17, and Jul 18–25. Challenges included the location of the final outflow, and the autosampler’s size (132 x 74 x 84 cm and 88.5 kg). The outflow point was situated in a high-traffic area for patients and staff, requiring barricades to ensure safety and prevent interference with sampling equipment. In terms of interpreting results, viral nucleic acid concentrations (e.g., influenza, SARS-CoV-2) appeared to parallel the number of clinical cases and were similar to community wastewater trends (Figure 1). Most antimicrobial resistance genes, including vanA (Figure 2) and carbapenemase genes (KPC, NDM, OXA-48, VIM) (Figure 3), showed limited alignment with clinical cases; however, mecA exhibited some alignment (Figure 2). Hospital wastewater had higher resistance gene concentrations than community wastewater from San Mateo County (Figure 4). Conclusion: Continuous collection of hospital wastewater proved challenging, mainly from logistical issues such as equipment size and access limitations. Clinical respiratory virus trends appeared to be reflected in wastewater data. However, trends for antimicrobial resistance genes may be influenced by additional factors, such as the number of colonized patients, bacterial load in the hospital sewage system, hospital antimicrobial use, and antibiotic residues in wastewater.

Introduction: Enterococci are the third most common healthcare-associated pathogen, with 30% of isolates resistant to vancomycin (VRE). Resistance is often conferred by the vanA gene cluster on transposon Tn1546 and is frequently plasmid-borne. The suspected role of person-to-person transmission prompted the recommendation for VRE isolation precautions in 1995. However, quasi-experimental studies in hospitals discontinuing these precautions found no significant increases in VRE infections or bacterial clone spread using short-read whole genome sequencing (WGS). We used long-read WGS to analyze vanA plasmid transmission dynamics after discontinuing isolation precautions for VRE at Stanford University Hospital. Methods: This study was conducted at Stanford University Hospital, an 800-bed quaternary referral and transplant center. Routine contact precautions for VRE were discontinued on October 1, 2021. Blood culture Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium isolates collected during 2021 (prior to and following discontinuation) were included, along with additional isolates retrieved from January–October 2023. Bacterial whole genome sequencing with long-read nanopore technology was performed. Custom analyses were performed on the assembled genomes. Patient data were collected retrospectively. Results: We retrieved 105 blood culture isolates (36.2%) from the isolation period (January–October 2021) and 185 isolates (63.8%) from the no isolation period (October–December 2021, January–October 2023), representing 202 unique patients. Patient characteristics and microbiological findings are shown in Table 1. Only 4.3% (7/171) of E. faecalis and 70.5% (84/119) of E. faecium isolates were vancomycin-resistant. Long-read WGS revealed no clustering between the isolation and no isolation periods. (Figure 1A and B); however, a dominant E. faecium ST117 cluster was seen, while E. faecalis showed greater diversity (Figure 1C). There were only four pairs of putative transmissions Conclusion: The discontinuation of contact isolation precautions at Stanford Hospital did not result in an increase in genetically related Enterococci or genetically related vanA plasmids among patients with Enterococcal bacteremia.

European societies are increasingly grappling with the often violent and deceitful circumstances through which now-treasured artefacts made their way from their colonies to museums in the metropole. This article shows this emerging norm of colonial heritage restitution by describing key norm components and assessing the norm’s current strength. Moreover, the article analyses the norm’s implementation in two European states to better understand how and why states implement the colonial heritage restitution norm. The comparison shows that Belgium and the United Kingdom have implemented the norm differently and incompletely: while both states have seen extensive discourse surrounding colonial heritage restitution as a moral duty to right past wrongs among civil society and museums, domestic legal changes and museum policies have varied due to different institutional contexts and government positions on heritage restitution. The paper attests to the critical role of national governments’ norm support for explaining divergent implementation, while other domestic actors such as museums and civil society groups are advocating for heritage restitution. The paper contributes to emerging research on museums as norm entrepreneurs in International Relations and transitional justice in established democracies.

Concentration in animal-based protein industries in the United States continues to garner the interest of policymakers, researchers, and consumers alike. We assess the impacts of industry concentration on animal productivity and downstream prices in the US broiler chicken industry between 1991 and 2019. We compile a dataset that matches annual, plant-level information on ownership and sales for all poultry processing facilities in the United States with market-level wholesale composite prices and bird yields. Consolidation over the last three decades has greatly contributed to industry concentration, leading to higher wholesale composite broiler prices (16.3%) and gains in animal productivity (2.4%).

The emergence of computer-based assessments has made response times, in addition to response accuracies, available as a source of information about test takers’ latent abilities. The development of substantively meaningful accounts of the cognitive process underlying item responses is critical to establishing the validity of psychometric tests. However, existing substantive theories such as the diffusion model have been slow to gain traction due to their unwieldy functional form and regular violations of model assumptions in psychometric contexts. In the present work, we develop an attention-based diffusion model based on process assumptions that are appropriate for psychometric applications. This model is straightforward to analyse using Gibbs sampling and can be readily extended. We demonstrate our model’s good computational and statistical properties in a comparison with two well-established psychometric models.

Increasing rates of dementia in First Nations populations require culturally grounded approaches to dementia diagnosis and care. To respond to the need for a culturally appropriate cognitive assessment tool, a national team of health services researchers and community partners, guided by a Nakoda Advisory Group, aimed to adapt the Canadian Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool for a Nakoda First Nation in Carry the Kettle First Nation, Saskatchewan, Canada. The adaptation of the CICA for a Nakoda First Nation community resulted in a slightly modified version of the CICA signalling that the CICA requires minimal adaptation to be used in different First Nations contexts.

We examined the effect of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), procalcitonin testing and rapid blood-culture identification on hospital mortality in a prospective quality improvement project in critically ill septic adults. Secondarily, we have reported antimicrobial guideline concordance, acceptance of ASP interventions, and antimicrobial and health-resource utilization.

In this study, an appropriate visual scoring system for foot-pad dermatitis was validated, considering the histologically measured depth of the inflammation zone and the histopathological grade (no lesion, mild lesion, ulcer). The aim being to evaluate whether the visual, macroscopic scoring of foot-pad dermatitis can represent the histological, microscopic findings. Two hundred Ross 308 broiler chicken feet (birds aged 39-42 fattening days) were collected at a slaughterhouse and scored macroscopically according to a modified version of the Welfare Quality® Assessment Protocol for Poultry. Afterwards, 200 histological slides (one per foot) were prepared, the extent of the inflammation measured and all slides scored by veterinarian pathologists using Michel et al's modified scheme. The statistical relationship between microscopic and macroscopic score and depth of inflammation were estimated via regression models. Increasing macroscopic score was found to be linked with an increase in microscopic score and the depth of inflammation. In particular, feet without lesions and feet with ulcers were identifiable using the macroscopic score. Macroscopic scoring of foot-pad dermatitis can mirror histological findings once certain limitations are taken into account (superficial lesions were not clearly identifiable). Foot-pad dermatitis is considered a useful indicator of animal welfare and our findings suggest that visual, macroscopic scoring could be a practicable assessment tool.

The gut microbiota plays crucial roles in maintaining the health and homeostasis of its host throughout lifespan, including through its ability to impact brain function and regulate behaviour during ageing. Studies have shown that there are disparate rates of biologic ageing despite equivalencies in chronologic age, including in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, which suggests that environmental factors may play an important role in determining health outcomes in ageing. Recent evidence demonstrates that the gut microbiota may be a potential novel target to ameliorate symptoms of brain ageing and promote healthy cognition. This review highlights the current knowledge around the relationships between the gut microbiota and host brain ageing, including potential contributions to age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, we assess key areas for which gut microbiota-based strategies may present as opportunities for intervention.

To this point, nineteenth-century Bombay – including its urban development, economy and population – has most often been analysed in relation to the city's position within British imperial, and overseas maritime, networks. In contrast, this article calls into question established scholarly definitions of ‘colonial’ and ‘princely’ spaces in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century India, through an in-depth examination of Bombay's socio-economic ties with wider Indian networks. It focuses on connections that stretched across colonial borders and into the princely states, suggesting that both the city's economy and its business elite were rooted in cross-border Indian capital networks. It further highlights the contributions of Indian princes, their states and populations to the development of urban culture in Bombay.