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Seed germination responses to light influence the timing of weed emergence and management outcomes. We evaluated (1) variation in light-dependent germination among germplasm sources, (2) the relationship between primary dormancy and far-red light–enforced germination inhibition, and (3) the role of seed size in light-dependent dormancy. Between 2022 and 2025, germination of 70 kochia [Bassia scoparia (L.) A. J. Scott] populations and 49 common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) accessions was evaluated under three light environments—dark, red, and far red—for both freshly harvested and stored seed. Bassia scoparia germination did not differ among light environments (ANOVA, P = 0.67), indicating weak photoblastic regulation at the species level. In contrast, C. album exhibited pronounced differences in light-dependent germination among accessions (P < 0.0001). Accessions with greater primary dormancy, defined as the difference between germination of freshly harvested and stored seed, exhibited stronger far-red-enforced germination inhibition, indicating coordinated regulation of dormancy depth and light sensitivity. Seed weight was not strongly associated with primary dormancy (Spearman’s ρ = 0.057, P = 0.11) or far-red suppression (ρ = 0.50, P = 0.06). These results indicate that variation in light-dependent dormancy and germination in C. album is governed primarily by genetic and physiological regulation of light perception rather than by seed size.
In this paper, we reconsider the relationship between continuity and change in archaeology by arguing that material continuities do not necessarily imply conservatism or resistance to change but function as precondition for transformation. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of thought as a ‘play of forms’, we conceptualize architecture as an active medium of sense-making, through which societies reframe novelty within familiar epistemic traditions. We examine two case studies: proliferation of compound coresidential enclosures (CCE) in the Central Andes and adoption of the vihara in Angkorian Cambodia. Though often interpreted as ruptures or external impositions, both forms drew upon existing religious and political traditions, making new social projects legible. Over time, these architectures reorganized social relations and became central to emerging formations: Andean ayllus and Khmer Theravada Buddhism. By reframing continuity as a resource for sense-making rather than conservatism, we argue that transformation emerges through creative reworking of tradition, situating thought-in-action at the core of historical change.
The UNDRR Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities is a known tool that was developed for local governments to evaluate their resilience to disasters. In this review, we examine the case where a modified version of the scorecard was used to assess resiliency to nuclear disasters, and the potential for further modification of the scorecard to better assess specific stressors on a healthcare system.
Methods:
Utilizing a modified Delphi approach with nuclear and radiation experts from the US and Israel, the UNDRR Scorecard was modified to assess resiliency to a nuclear disaster. Once modified, the scorecard was distributed to local government officials, nuclear and radiation specialists, and public health and healthcare personnel utilizing Qualtrics software. A post-scorecard survey was provided for feedback on how the scorecard could further be improved and refined to achieve its stated objective. Small changes were made after consideration of the feedback from the same committee of experts that initially modified the scorecard.
Results:
Early results have identified strengths and weaknesses within local governments and health systems that can be used to strengthen the response to a nuclear disaster. Most recently, the scorecard was used at a workshop for nuclear safety in Montgomery, Alabama, and received positive feedback. Modifications continue to be made from post-survey feedback after approval of the expert committee.
Conclusion:
The scorecard has been a useful tool in defining the baseline preparedness and estimating the resilience of local governments and health systems to disasters. In Montgomery, Alabama, the scorecard helped identify important action items for the community to focus on to improve their community’s resilience to nuclear disasters. This case in modification of the UNDRR utilizing this approach shows promise that, with a structured approach, the UNDRR disaster resilience scorecard can be modified to further improve a community’s resilience to specific disasters.
Documentary linguistics is new and distinctive enough that some linguists and other participants in academic reviews may be uncertain about how to assess its outputs. We recommend specific strategies for assessing documentary linguistic scholarship in academic review contexts, based on a brief description of the field for the benefit of colleagues in other areas.
From the fifth century onward, the creation of monumental ‘Big’ Buddhas (dafo 大佛), carved from living rock, became a significant cultural and religious phenomenon across Asia. This paper takes the Sichuan Basin as a case study, given its high concentration of rock-carved religious (RCR) sites. Notably, the number of monumental Buddha sculptures in the region increased significantly between 700 and 1200 ce. This paper examines the extent to which the construction of these Big Buddhas represents the appropriation of Buddhist RCR sites by non-local political and religious elites as a form of social control, and it is herein proposed that these social and religious elites commissioned and maintained such projects to reinforce authority and integrate local religious practices into institutional Buddhism. Since the construction of Big Buddhas required vast resources, labour and coordination, this paper examines those Big Buddhas which were left unfinished in order to understand the criteria for both success and failure, while also considering how these sculptures, as acts of social appropriation, mediated between the mundane and the divine, the imperial periphery and the centre, functioning as both spiritual symbols and political instruments.
To provide an up-to-date review of existing and current literature in the field of radiological and nuclear disasters to support the needs of research applications for health care and public health preparedness and response.
Methods
A systematic literature search using 4 databases to identify articles which included a multitude of topics relevant to preparedness for nuclear and radiological disasters. One hundred articles that met inclusion criteria were summarized into 7 themes addressing medical and health care preparedness for nuclear and radiological events.
Results
The review generated evidence supporting and defining various measures health care and government entities can take to improve nuclear and radiological disaster readiness and responsiveness in health systems. Strengthening preventive measures and policies, prehospital and hospital mechanisms, training and education, regional collaboration, communication, and infrastructure support were the main gaps identified.
Conclusions
An overarching concern regarding the inadequacies of the modern health care system’s radiological disaster preparedness was a clear-cut conclusion from the literature. The major challenges and proposed solutions for public safety to the growing threat of radiologic disasters were identified.
Production efficiency of pasture-based livestock production systems is primarily driven by the level of pasture utilisation, and, as such, regular monitoring of herbage mass (HM) provides essential information to assist on-farm decision making. Unfortunately, this practice is seldom carried out on commercial farms, likely due to the time commitment required across the entire grass-growing season. Recent studies have shown, however, that even moderately inaccurate HM data can improve the system-side profitability compared to enterprises with no data, warranting further investigations into the trade-off between the accuracy and cost associated with HM measurements. Using a weekly multi-paddock dataset from the North Wyke Farm Platform research site in Devon, UK, this study evaluated the technical validity and labour-saving potential of a simplified ‘pasture walk’ protocol for rising plate meters, under which only data along the diagonal transect – rather than the industry-standard W-shaped pathways – of the paddock are collected. Across 234 temporal-paddock combinations, the mean absolute difference in HM estimates between diagonal and W-transects was 106 kg DM/ha, a scale far too small to alter sward or animal management. The presented statistical analysis, together with a supplementary spatial simulation experiment, supported the generality of the findings across the full grass-growing season. With a 51.2% reduction in labour time (1.2 min/ha rather than 2.5 min/ha) across paddocks of various sizes and shapes, the proposed method is likely to facilitate uptake of evidence-based grazing management amongst farmers who currently do not quantify HM at all.
Electronic Health Record (EHR) data are critical for advancing translational research and AI technologies. The ENACT network offers access to structured EHR data across 57 CTSA hubs. However, substantial information is contained in clinical narratives, requiring natural language processing (NLP) for research. The ENACT NLP Working Group was formed to make NLP-derived clinical information accessible and queryable across the network.
Methods:
We established the ENACT NLP Working Group with 13 sites selected based on criteria including clinical notes access, IT infrastructure, NLP expertise, and institutional support. We divided sites into five focus groups targeting clinical tasks within disease contexts. Each focus group consisted of two development sites and two validation sites. We extended the ENACT ontology to standardize NLP-derived data and conducted multisite evaluations using the Open Health Natural Language Processing (OHNLP) Toolkit.
Results:
The working group achieved 100% site retention and deployed NLP infrastructure across all sites. We developed and validated NLP algorithms for rare disease phenotyping, social determinants of health, opioid use disorder, sleep phenotyping, and delirium phenotyping. Performance varied across sites (F1 scores 0.53–0.96), highlighting data heterogeneity impacts. We extended the ENACT common data model and ontology to incorporate NLP-derived data while maintaining Shared Health Research Informatics NEtwork (SHRINE) compatibility.
Conclusion:
This demonstrates feasibility of deploying NLP infrastructure across large, federated networks. The focus group approach proved more practical than general-purpose approaches. Key lessons include the challenge of data heterogeneity and importance of collaborative governance. This work also provides a foundation that other networks can build on to implement NLP capabilities for translational research.
First minted by polities in north-central Myanmar as early as the fourth century AD, silver coins bearing Rising Sun and Srivatsa motifs have been found in numerous archaeological contexts across Southeast Asia from Vietnam to Bangladesh. Strong standardisation in the design of these coins highlights patterns of trade and cultural interaction across this region that are otherwise underexplored. Here, the authors draw on a dataset of 245 coins from museums in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, identifying die links that support trade routes between widely disparate areas, and illuminating the utility of die studies in counteracting the illicit trafficking of antiquities.
Single ventricle patients undergoing comprehensive stage II palliation have higher incidence of severe acute kidney injury compared to the bidirectional Glenn palliation; however, the optimal method for early detection remains unknown. Several urinary biomarkers are increased in other patient populations with postoperative kidney injury. We explored the kinetics of these biomarkers in this high-risk population.
We conducted prospective, observational study of 20 patients with single ventricle physiology who underwent second stage palliation (July 2019–December 2021). Acute kidney injury was defined by Kidney Diseases Improving Global Guidelines, based on peak serum creatinine value and urine output. Urine samples were collected pre-operatively and at 1-, 6-, and 24-hours post-surgery. Urinary biomarkers neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, interleukin-18, liver fatty acid-binding protein, kidney injury molecule-1, and cystatin C were quantified by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, normalised to urinary creatinine, and shown as median [interquartile range].
Four patients (50%) undergoing comprehensive stage II and 1 patient (8%) undergoing bidirectional Glenn palliation developed stage ≥ 2 acute kidney injury. Comprehensive stage II compared to bidirectional Glenn group had higher median neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (1769 [1309–1961] versus 91[18–1120] ng/mg) and liver fatty acid-binding protein (12,836 [5016–19798] versus 1272 [220–5172] ng/mg) that peaked 1-hour post-surgery. Kidney injury molecule-1 was significantly greater at 1-, 6-, and 24-hours (greatest) post-surgery in comprehensive stage II than bidirectional Glenn (24h: 11[9–23]) versus 2 [1–6] ng/mg).
Elevated urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, liver fatty acid-binding protein, and kidney injury molecule-1 may be useful biomarkers for early detection of acute kidney injury in children following comprehensive stage II palliation.
Pulmonary artery capacitance is a relatively novel measurement associated with adverse outcomes in pulmonary arterial hypertension. We sought to determine if preoperative indexed pulmonary artery capacitance was related to outcomes in paediatric heart transplant recipients, describe the changes in indexed pulmonary artery capacitance after transplantation, and compare its discriminatory ability to predict outcomes as compared to conventional predictors.
Methods:
This was a retrospective study of paediatric patients who underwent heart transplant at our centre from July 2014 to May 2022. Variables from preoperative and postoperative clinical, catheterisation, and echo evaluations were recorded. The primary composite outcome measure included postoperative mortality, postoperative length of stay in the top quartile, and/or evidence of end organ dysfunction.
Results:
Of the 23 patients included in the analysis, 11 met the composite outcome. There was no statistical difference between indexed pulmonary artery capacitance values in patients who met the composite outcome [1.8 ml/mmHg/m2 (interquartile 0.8, 2.4)] and those who did not [1.4 (interquartile 0.9, 1.7)], p = 0.17. There were no significant signs of post-operative right heart failure in either group. There was no significant difference between pre-transplant and post-transplant indexed pulmonary artery capacitance or indexed pulmonary vascular resistance.
Conclusions:
Preoperative pulmonary artery capacitance was not associated with our composite outcome in paediatric heart transplant recipients. It did not appear to be additive to pulmonary vascular resistance in paediatric heart transplant patients. Pulmonary vascular disease did not appear to drive outcomes in this group.
Multicenter clinical trials are essential for evaluating interventions but often face significant challenges in study design, site coordination, participant recruitment, and regulatory compliance. To address these issues, the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences established the Trial Innovation Network (TIN). The TIN offers a scientific consultation process, providing access to clinical trial and disease experts who provide input and recommendations throughout the trial’s duration, at no cost to investigators. This approach aims to improve trial design, accelerate implementation, foster interdisciplinary teamwork, and spur innovations that enhance multicenter trial quality and efficiency. The TIN leverages resources of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program, complementing local capabilities at the investigator’s institution. The Initial Consultation process focuses on the study’s scientific premise, design, site development, recruitment and retention strategies, funding feasibility, and other support areas. As of 6/1/2024, the TIN has provided 431 Initial Consultations to increase efficiency and accelerate trial implementation by delivering customized support and tailored recommendations. Across a range of clinical trials, the TIN has developed standardized, streamlined, and adaptable processes. We describe these processes, provide operational metrics, and include a set of lessons learned for consideration by other trial support and innovation networks.
Recent changes to US research funding are having far-reaching consequences that imperil the integrity of science and the provision of care to vulnerable populations. Resisting these changes, the BJPsych Portfolio reaffirms its commitment to publishing mental science and advancing psychiatric knowledge that improves the mental health of one and all.
We have some good news, and we have some bad news.
First the good news. A little common sense is breaking out both within and about Japan. Within Japan, an election seems almost certain for the month of May. Comfy in his captain's chair, Prime Minister Aso is at present testing his 19% level of public support and – with helpful advice from Mr. “structural reform” Takenaka Heizo – is hoping to ride out the storm and his legal tenure. Japanese constitutional law requires that an election be called by September, and both Aso and Takenaka apparently believe that by then there will be some kind of recovery of the economy both globally and within Japan. They also seem to be betting that Aso's YEN 2 trillion cash payout to residents (about YEN 12,000 per taxpayer) will boost support, even though upwards of 70 percent of poll respondents apparently see it as wasteful (which it is).
Housing is an environmental social determinant of health that is linked to mortality and clinical outcomes. We developed a lexicon of housing-related concepts and rule-based natural language processing methods for identifying these housing-related concepts within clinical text. We piloted our methods on several test cohorts: a synthetic cohort generated by ChatGPT for initial infrastructure testing, a cohort with substance use disorders (SUD), and a cohort diagnosed with problems related to housing and economic circumstances (HEC). Our methods successfully identified housing concepts in our ChatGPT notes (recall = 1.0, precision = 1.0), our SUD population (recall = 0.9798, precision = 0.9898), and our HEC population (recall = N/A, precision = 0.9160).
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Empowering the Participant Voice (EPV) is a 6-CTSA Rockefeller-led collaboration to developcustom REDCap infrastructure to collect participant feedback using the validated Research Participant Perception Survey (RPPS), demonstrate its value in use cases, and disseminate it for broad adoption. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The EPV team developed data and survey implementation standards, and specifications for the dashboard and multi-lingual RPPS/REDCap project XML file. The VUMC built a custom At-a-Glance Dashboard external module that displays Top Box scores (percent best answer), with conditional formatting to aid analysis, and response/completion rates. Results populate site dashboards, and aggregate to a multi-site dashboard for benchmarking. Results can be filtered by participant/study characteristics. Sites developed individual use cases, leveraging local infrastructure, initiatives and stakeholder input. Infrastructure and guides were designed for dissemination through public websites. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Five sites sent 23,797surveys via email, patient portal or SMS. 4,133 (19%) participants diverse in age, race, and ethnicity, returned responses. Sites analyzed their data and acted on selected findings, improving recruitment, communication and feeling valued. Aggregate scores for feeling listened to and respected were hight (>90%%); scores for feeling prepared by the consent process were lower (57-77%) and require action. Some groups experiences were better than others. Sites differed significantly in some scores. Dissemination of EPV is underway. Infrastructure and guides are downloadable free of charge, with advice from the EPV team. In 2023, a sixth site began piloting a lower literacy survey version and syncing data to the consortium dashboard. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The EPV RPPS/REDCap infrastructure enabled sites to collect participant feedback, identify actionable findings and benchmark with peers. Stakeholders and collaborators designed and tested local initiatives to increase responses and diversity, address disparities, and discover better practices.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Parental SES may influence the trajectory of students applying to orthopaedic surgery residency, perpetuating opportunistic disparities. Thus, we sought to examine the relationship between parental occupation/education and applicant match rate, education financing, and medical school background. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) documented parental occupation and education levels of 10,697 orthopedics applicants from 2011 to 2021. Parental occupations were categorized into physician vs non-physician, healthcare vs non-healthcare, working class vs non-working class, and STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine) vs non-STEMM. Parental education levels spanned from no college degree to doctorate degrees and were used as a proxy for SES. Outcomes analyzed included match success, premedical and medical school debt, total educational debt, scholarships, and representation from top 40 research medical schools as determined by NIH funding. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Physician parent applicants (20.1%) had better match rates (75.5% vs. 73.5%), lower debts, lesser scholarships, and higher top 40 school representation. Healthcare parent applicants (37.0%) had similar match rates, less debt and scholarships. Working class parent applicants (6.0%) had more debt and scholarships. STEMM parent applicants (48.6%) had higher match rates, lesser debts and scholarships, and higher top 40 representation. Applicants with parents without college degrees had lower match rates (68.6% vs 74.5%), more debt and scholarships. Doctorate parent applicants had better match success (75.9% vs 72.9%), lesser debts, and higher top 40 school representation (34.9% vs 29.6%). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Parental SES was associated with substantial variation in applicant financial burden and educational pedigree. Notably, applicants with parents lacking degrees had lower match rates, underscoring the need for supportive strategies to ensure equitable opportunities for aspiring orthopaedic surgeons.
Empowering the Participant Voice (EPV) is an NCATS-funded six-CTSA collaboration to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate a low-cost infrastructure for collecting timely feedback from research participants, fostering trust, and providing data for improving clinical translational research. EPV leverages the validated Research Participant Perception Survey (RPPS) and the popular REDCap electronic data-capture platform. This report describes the development of infrastructure designed to overcome identified institutional barriers to routinely collecting participant feedback using RPPS and demonstration use cases. Sites engaged local stakeholders iteratively, incorporating feedback about anticipated value and potential concerns into project design. The team defined common standards and operations, developed software, and produced a detailed planning and implementation Guide. By May 2023, 2,575 participants diverse in age, race, ethnicity, and sex had responded to approximately 13,850 survey invitations (18.6%); 29% of responses included free-text comments. EPV infrastructure enabled sites to routinely access local and multi-site research participant experience data on an interactive analytics dashboard. The EPV learning collaborative continues to test initiatives to improve survey reach and optimize infrastructure and process. Broad uptake of EPV will expand the evidence base, enable hypothesis generation, and drive research-on-research locally and nationally to enhance the clinical research enterprise.
Extant studies of special education teacher wellbeing often focus on negative aspects, such as stress, burnout and the consequent attrition from teaching, the latter occurring with increasing frequency in the field of special education. In this article, the authors use the OECD teacher wellbeing framework to conceptualise special education teacher wellbeing as a positive multidimensional construct, making the case for uncoupling special education teacher wellbeing from mainstream teacher wellbeing given the almost paradigmatic difference in roles, responsibilities, and educational context within Australian schools. The (limited) literature reveals numerous possibilities for supporting and promoting special education teacher wellbeing with salient wellbeing-promoting factors, such as teacher self-efficacy, connectedness, professional development, and class structure. Further empirical studies harnessing these factors will help improve working conditions and the wellbeing of special education teachers.