Healthcare facilities in the U.S. are well positioned to assist with measles control by timely identification and isolation of suspected or confirmed cases and, as measles is nationally notifiable, by informing local health departments about both suspected and confirmed cases. However, responding to measles cases in acute healthcare settings presents unique challenges, is disruptive, and requires an intense outlay of resources before, during, and afterward primarily due to exposure investigations. We describe our measles preparedness efforts to improve identification of measles cases, facilitate appropriate isolation, reduce exposures, and provide timely post-exposure prophylaxis.

We provide an assessment of the Infinity Two Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP) baseline plasma physics design. Infinity Two is a four-field period, aspect ratio A = 10, quasi-isodynamic stellarator with improved confinement appealing to a max-J approach, elevated plasma density and high magnetic fields (⟨B⟩ = 9 T). At the envisioned operating point [800 MW deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion], the configuration has robust magnetic surfaces based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium calculations and is stable to both local and global MHD instabilities. The configuration has excellent confinement properties with small neoclassical transport and low bootstrap current (|Ibootstrap| ∼ 2 kA). Calculations of collisional alpha particle confinement in a DT FPP scenario show small energy losses to the first wall (< 1.5%) and stable energetic particle/Alfvén eigenmodes at high ion density. Low turbulent transport is produced using a combination of density profile control consistent with pellet fueling and reduced stiffness to turbulent transport via three-dimensional shaping. Transport simulations with the T3D-GX-SFINCS code suite with self-consistent turbulent and neoclassical transport predict that the Pfus = 800 MW operating point is attainable with high fusion gain (Q = 40) at volume-averaged electron densities ne ≈ 2×1020 m−3, below the Sudo density limit. Additional transport calculations show that an ignited (Q = ∞) solution is available at slightly higher density (2.2×1020 m−3) with Pfus = 1.5 GW. The magnetic configuration is defined by a magnetic coil set with sufficient room for an island divertor, shielding and blanket solutions with tritium breeding ratios (TBR) above unity. An optimistic estimate for the gas-cooled solid breeder designed Helium Cooled Pebble Bed is TBR ∼ 1.3. Infinity Two satisfies the physics requirements of a stellarator fusion pilot plant.

In this work, we present a detailed assessment of fusion-born alpha-particle confinement, their wall loads, and stability of Alfvén eigenmodes driven by these energetic particles in the Infinity Two Fusion Pilot Plant Baseline Plasma Design, a 4-field-period quasiisodynamic stellarator to operate in deuterium-tritium fusion conditions. Using the Monte-Carlo codes SIMPLE, ASCOT5, and KORC-T, we study the collisionless and collisional dynamics of guiding-center and full-orbit alpha-particles in the core plasma. We find that core energy losses to the wall are less than 4%. Our simulations shows that peak power loads on the wall of this configuration are around 2.5 MW/m2 and are spatially localized, toroidally, and poloidaly in the vicinity of x-points of the magnetic island chain n/m = 4/5 outside the plasma volume. Also, an exploratory analysis using various simplified walls shows that shaping and distance of the wall from the plasma volume can help reduce peak power loads. Our stability assessment of Alfvén eigenmodes using the STELLGAP and FAR3d codes shows the absence of unstable modes driven by alpha-particles in Infinity Two due to the relatively low alpha-particle beta at the envisioned 800 MW operating scenario.

Transport characteristics and predicted confinement are shown for the Infinity Two fusion pilot plant baseline plasma physics design, a high field stellarator concept developed using modern optimization techniques. Transport predictions are made using high fidelity nonlinear gyrokinetic turbulence simulations along with drift kinetic neoclassical simulations. A pellet fueled scenario is proposed that enables supporting an edge density gradient to substantially reduce ion temperature gradient turbulence. Trapped electron mode turbulence is minimized through the quasi-isodynamic configuration that has been optimized with max-J. A baseline operating point with deuterium-tritium fusion power of Pfus,DT = 800 MW with high fusion gain Qfus = 40 is demonstrated, respecting the Sudo density limit and magnetohydrodynamic stability limits. Additional higher power operating points are also predicted, including a fully ignited (Qfus = ∞) case with Pfus,DT = 1.5 GW. Pellet ablation calculations indicate it is plausible to fuel and sustain the desired density profile. Impurity transport calculations indicate turbulent fluxes dominate neoclassical fluxes deep into the core, and it is predicted that impurity peaking will be smaller than assumed in the transport simulations. A path to access large radiation fraction needed to satisfy exhaust requirements while sustaining core performance is also discussed.

The magneto-hydrodynamic equilibrium and stability properties of the Infinity Two Fusion Pilot Plant baseline plasma physics design are presented. The configuration is a four field period, aspect ratio A = 10 quasi-isodynamic stellarator optimized for excellent confinement at elevated density and high magnetic field B = 9 T. Magnetic surfaces exist in the plasma core in vacuum and retain good equilibrium surface integrity from vacuum to an operational β = 1.6%, the ratio of the volume average of the plasma and magnetic pressures, corresponding to 800 MW Deuterium-Tritium fusion operation. Neoclassical calculations show that a selfconsistent bootstrap current on the order of ∼ 1 kA slightly increases the rotational transform profile by less than 0.001. The configuration has a magnetic well across its entire radius. From vacuum to the operating point, the configuration exhibits good ballooning stability characteristics, exhibits good Mercier stability across most of its minor radius, and it is stable against global low-n MHD instabilities up to β = 3.2%.

Each day a venous catheter is retained poses unnecessary safety risks. In a retrospective evaluation of central/peripheral lines in nursing home residents receiving antibiotics, 80% were retained beyond antibiotic treatment end and nearly one third were retained longer than a week. Interventions for timely catheter removal are urgently needed.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a disabling condition affecting children, adolescents, and adults worldwide. A high proportion of patients do not respond to one or more pharmacological treatments and are said to have treatment-resistant or difficult-to-treat depression. Inadequate response to current treatments could be due to medication nonadherence, inter-individual variability in treatment response, misdiagnosis, diminished confidence in treatment after many trials, or lack of selectivity. Demonstrating an adequate response in the clinical trial setting is also challenging. Patients with depression may experience non-specific treatment effects when receiving placebo in clinical trials, which may contribute to inadequate response. Studies have attempted to reduce the placebo response rates using adaptive designs such as sequential parallel comparison design. Despite some of these innovations in study design, there remains an unmet need to develop more targeted therapeutics, possibly through precision psychiatry-based approaches to reduce the number of treatment failures and improve remission rates. Examples of precision psychiatry approaches include pharmacogenetic testing, neuroimaging, and machine learning. These approaches have identified neural circuit biotypes of MDD that may improve precision if they can be feasibly bridged to real-world clinical practice. Clinical biomarkers that can effectively predict response to treatment based on individual phenotypes are needed. This review examines why current treatment approaches for MDD often fail and discusses potential benefits and challenges of a more targeted approach, and suggested approaches for clinical studies, which may improve remission rates and reduce the risk of relapse, leading to better functioning in patients with depression.

Redweed is a tropical, erect branched herb, and one of the predominant broadleaf weeds affecting upland crops in the Onattukara Sandy Plains of Kerala, India. Experiments were conducted in a screenhouse in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, to determine the effects of seed burial depth and seed scarification on emergence indices and growth attributes of redweed. Scarification stimulated emergence and resulted in greater values for emergence indices and seedling parameters. The seedling emergence of redweed was influenced by seed burial depth. Shallow seed burial (2 cm) of scarified and non-scarified seeds resulted in greater seedling length (70 cm and 58 cm, respectively), seedling biomass (0.72 g and 0.48 g, respectively), emergence percentage (60% and 32%, respectively), and greater values for other emergence indices. As the depth of seed burial increased from 2 cm, emergence and seedling biomass decreased, exhibiting lower values for the emergence indices. Correlation and regression studies revealed that seed burial depth of scarified and non-scarified seeds greater than 2 cm had a negative effect on seedling emergence and biomass of redweed. Weed biology studies indicated that redweed displayed notable consistency in its phenological traits, regardless of the location where the seeds were collected, as little ecotype variability was observed. Emergence occurred in 6 d, 50% flowering in 44 d, capsule formation in 56 d, and maturity in 76 d. On average, a single plant produced 277 seeds and had a 100-seed weight of 0.31 g. A stale seedbed with shallow tillage or deep plowing to a depth of 10 cm before sowing can be adopted to reduce the infestation of redweed.

This study aimed to explore the genetic variability present in tamarind fruits. A survey and collection of twenty-nine tamarind accessions from the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh was conducted, focusing on morphological traits, biochemical properties, and mineral content. The analysis revealed significant variation in fruit characteristics, including pod weight (91.1–528.3 g), pod length (4.11–15.39 cm), pulp weight (32.88–275.68 g), number of seeds (26–237), seed weight (23.14–214.08 g), pulp percentage (26.43–52.18%), vitamin C content (54.5–92 mg/100 g), phenolic content (51.53–296.4 mg GAE/g fw), flavonoid content (75.91–280.88 mg QE/ 100 g fw), acidity (5.3–12.60%), reducing sugars (24.67–68.29%), total sugars (24.89–78.87%), calcium (0.15–1.28%), and iron content (26.6–125.7 ppm) across different accessions. Based on the overall evaluation, five accessions B21, B26, B15, B25, and B7 with the best combination of desirable fruit traits, were identified as the most promising. Additionally, five sweet accessions with acidity levels below 6% were identified (B26, B21, B15, B12, B11). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied, identifying five principal components that accounted for 86.73% of the total variability. Correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between pod weight and pulp weight (r = 0.93), shell weight (r = 0.70), number of seeds (r = 0.89), and seed weight (r = 0.89). The biplot of PC1 and PC2 illustrated the distribution of accessions across all four quadrants, with B27, B8, B26, B29, B14, B18, and B13 displaying distinct differences from one another.

Drip irrigation and mulching were tested to minimize unproductive water loss through evaporation and weed interference. A field experiment was conducted during spring season of 2020 and 2021 in split plot design with three replications. The study includes six treatment combinations of drip irrigation methods (surface drip and subsurface drip irrigation) and mulching (black plastic, paddy straw and no mulch) along with one conventional furrow irrigation without mulching (as control) in main plots. Four weed control treatments (atrazine 1000 g a.i./ha as pre-emergence, two hand weedings at 30 and 60 days after sowing [DAS], weed free and weedy for whole crop growth period) were kept in the subplots. The combination of drip irrigation and mulches significantly enhanced leaf area index and crop biomass at 60 DAS than furrow irrigation. Integration of subsurface drip irrigation with plastic mulching resulted in the lowest weed density and biomass among main plots. Drip irrigation coupled with plastic and straw mulching resulted in 86 and 50% reduction in weed density and biomass, respectively, as compared to no mulching. Integration of subsurface drip with paddy straw mulch and black plastic mulch resulted in 17.1 and 15.5% higher maize grain yield, respectively, as compared to furrow irrigation. The highest irrigation water productivity (3.58 kg/m3) was observed in combination of subsurface drip and paddy straw mulch followed by combination of subsurface drip and black plastic mulch (3.51 kg/m3). Overall, straw mulching in drip irrigation system proved economical in terms of maize productivity.

A knowledge, attitudes and control practices (KAP)-based study on ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBD) and resistance development in ticks was conducted in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh covering 200 livestock owners using a questionnaire. Based on our scoring criteria, results indicated only 25% (19.16–31.60) respondents possessing basic knowledge of TTBDs while 75% (68.40–80.84) respondents were not aware of TBDs. Due to lack of proper awareness of TTBDs, about 1.28 times more respondents (OR 95% CI 0.42–3.86) were having heavy tick infestations in their animals. However, about 36.5% (29.82–43.58) respondents showed a favourable attitude towards the adoption of different tick control practices; consequently, their animals showed low-level infestation. Amongst various feeding systems for animals, a mixed type of feeding system was mostly adopted by 57.5% respondents followed by manger system (37.5%) while grazing was the least adopted method (5%). Results indicated that the grazing animals were 6 times (OR 95% CI 2.93–12.28) more susceptible to ticks and possessed heavy tick infestation. Resistance status of collected tick isolates of Rhipicephalus microplus and Hyalomma anatolicum was assessed and revealed that both tick species were found resistant to deltamethrin. The goals of this study were to assess some of the underlying causes of ticks and TBD in livestock in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh state using the KAP survey and resistance characterization of ticks.

This study investigates the impact of environmental factors and genotype-by-environment interactions (GEI) on the expression of maydis leaf blight (MLB) resistance in a diverse maize germplasm comprising 359 genotypes. Extensive field trials were conducted, involving artificial inoculations and disease scoring across two locations over two years. Using genotype and genotype–environment (GGE) biplot analysis based on the site regression model (SREG), we identified stable MLB-resistant 10 donors with consistent genotypic responses. These inbred lines, which consistently exhibited disease scores of ⩽3 across locations, are recommended as potential parents for breeding MLB-resistant varieties. Furthermore, the identification of a non-crossover interaction and high correlations among testing locations allowed us to define a single mega-environment for the initial screening of MLB resistance in a large set of maize germplasm. This study suggests that initial screenings can be efficiently conducted in one representative location, with validation of resistant lines at multiple sites during advanced breeding stages. This approach optimizes the use of land, labour and resources in MLB resistance testing.