The First Large Absorption Survey in H i (FLASH) is a large-area radio survey for neutral hydrogen in and around galaxies in the intermediate redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.0, using the 21-cm H i absorption line as a probe of cold neutral gas. The survey uses the ASKAP radio telescope and will cover 24,000 deg2 of sky over the next five years. FLASH breaks new ground in two ways – it is the first large H i absorption survey to be carried out without any optical preselection of targets, and we use an automated Bayesian line-finding tool to search through large datasets and assign a statistical significance to potential line detections. Two Pilot Surveys, covering around 3000 deg2 of sky, were carried out in 2019-22 to test and verify the strategy for the full FLASH survey. The processed data products from these Pilot Surveys (spectral-line cubes, continuum images, and catalogues) are public and available online. In this paper, we describe the FLASH spectral-line and continuum data products and discuss the quality of the H i spectra and the completeness of our automated line search. Finally, we present a set of 30 new H i absorption lines that were robustly detected in the Pilot Surveys, almost doubling the number of known H i absorption systems at 0.4 < z < 1. The detected lines span a wide range in H i optical depth, including three lines with a peak optical depth τ > 1, and appear to be a mixture of intervening and associated systems. Interestingly, around two-thirds of the lines found in this untargeted sample are detected against sources with a peaked-spectrum radio continuum, which are only a minor (5-20%) fraction of the overall radio-source population. The detection rate for H i absorption lines in the Pilot Surveys (0.3 to 0.5 lines per 40 deg2 ASKAP field) is a factor of two below the expected value. One possible reason for this is the presence of a range of spectral-line artefacts in the Pilot Survey data that have now been mitigated and are not expected to recur in the full FLASH survey. A future paper in this series will discuss the host galaxies of the H i absorption systems identified here.

The stars of the Milky Way carry the chemical history of our Galaxy in their atmospheres as they journey through its vast expanse. Like barcodes, we can extract the chemical fingerprints of stars from high-resolution spectroscopy. The fourth data release (DR4) of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) Survey, based on a decade of observations, provides the chemical abundances of up to 32 elements for 917 588 stars that also have exquisite astrometric data from the Gaia satellite. For the first time, these elements include life-essential nitrogen to complement carbon, and oxygen as well as more measurements of rare-earth elements critical to modern-life electronics, offering unparalleled insights into the chemical composition of the Milky Way. For this release, we use neural networks to simultaneously fit stellar parameters and abundances across the whole wavelength range, leveraging synthetic grids computed with Spectroscopy Made Easy. These grids account for atomic line formation in non-local thermodynamic equilibrium for 14 elements. In a two-iteration process, we first fit stellar labels to all 1 085 520 spectra, then co-add repeated observations and refine these labels using astrometric data from Gaia and 2MASS photometry, improving the accuracy and precision of stellar parameters and abundances. Our validation thoroughly assesses the reliability of spectroscopic measurements and highlights key caveats. GALAH DR4 represents yet another milestone in Galactic archaeology, combining detailed chemical compositions from multiple nucleosynthetic channels with kinematic information and age estimates. The resulting dataset, covering nearly a million stars, opens new avenues for understanding not only the chemical and dynamical history of the Milky Way but also the broader questions of the origin of elements and the evolution of planets, stars, and galaxies.

A major subglacial lake, Lake Snow Eagle (LSE), was identified in East Antarctica by airborne geophysical surveys. LSE, contained within a subglacial canyon, likely hosts a valuable sediment record of the geological and glaciological changes of interior East Antarctica. Understanding past lake activity is crucial for interpreting this record. Here, we present the englacial radiostratigraphy in the LSE area mapped by airborne ice-penetrating radar, which reveals a localized high-amplitude variation in ice unit thickness that is estimated to be ∼12 ka old. Using an ice-flow model that simulates englacial stratigraphy, we investigate the origin of this feature and its relationship to changes in ice dynamical boundary conditions. Our results reveal that local snowfall redistribution initiated around the early Holocene is likely the primary cause, resulting from a short-wavelength (∼10 km) high-amplitude (∼20 m) ice surface slope variation caused by basal lubrication over a large subglacial lake. This finding indicates an increase in LSE water volume during the Holocene, illustrating the sensitivity in volume of a major topographically constrained subglacial lake across a single glacial cycle. This study demonstrates how englacial stratigraphy can provide valuable insight into subglacial hydrological changes before modern satellite observations, both for LSE and potentially at other locations.

Objectives/Goals: Second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) are used to treat mental disorders in youth but are linked metabolic syndrome (MetS). Most data on prescribing practices and risk factors are from short-term studies (6–12 months). We aim to characterize prescribing and identify clinical and genetic predictors of MetS using electronic health records (EHR). Methods/Study Population: EHR data were extracted from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) for patients aged ≤21 years prescribed SGAs from 7/1/2009 and 7/1/2024, identifying prescribing prevalence. Next steps are to create an SGA-MetS case–control dataset 8 weeks after an SGA prescription. A case will be defined by meeting 3 of 5 criteria: 1) BMI ≥95th percentile for age/sex; 2) fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL or use of anti-diabetics; 3) triglycerides ≥110 mg/dL; 4) HDL-C ≤40 mg/dL; 5) systolic/diastolic BP ≥90th percentile for age/sex or use of antihypertensives. The prevalence of SGA-MetS will be calculated by dividing SGA-MetS cases by total SGA users. Logistic regression will identify clinical predictors of MetS, and we will evaluate the association of polygenic risk scores (PRS) of BMI and type 2 diabetes with SGA-MetS risk. Results/Anticipated Results: Our preliminary analysis identified 30,076 patients who were prescribed SGAs (mean age 12 years, SD = 4; 58.8% female; n =  17685). Most self-identified as non-Hispanic (95%, n = 28,595) and of White race (76%; n =  22,935), with 18.5% self-identifying as Black or African American (n = 5,579). The most commonly prescribed SGAs were risperidone (n = 12,382, 41.1%), aripiprazole (n = 9,847, 32.7%), and quetiapine (n = 5,263, 17.5%), with much lower prescribing rates of other SGA known of their low risk of MetS (e.g., ziprasidone 5.5%, lurasidone 1.4%, paliperidone (n = 316, 1.1%), or others cariprazine (n = 72), asenapine (n = 43), brexipiprazole (n = 39), iloperidone (n = 24), and clozapine (n = 20). Discussion/Significance of Impact: Our analyses found that risperidone, quetiapine, and aripiprazole were the most prescribed SGA, with risperidone/quetiapine linked to a higher risk of MetS. We will present ongoing work identifying risk factors for SGA-MetS and examining the association with PRS. Our work has the potential to identify high-risk patients for personalized treatment.

Group A streptococcal or Streptococcus pyogenes infections have been increasing post-COVID-19 pandemic. We describe the epidemiology of S. pyogenes pharyngitis and invasive disease in Alberta, Canada 2018–2023. Positive pharyngitis specimens were identified from throat swabs collected from pharyngitis patients. Invasive S. pyogenes was defined as the isolation of S. pyogenes from a normally sterile site or severe skin infection. S. pyogenes isolates were emm typed. Pharyngitis and invasive disease displayed seasonal trends preceding the COVID-19 pandemic followed by a sharp decrease during COVID-19 intervention measures. After the lifting of interventions, rates of pharyngitis and invasive disease rose. There were 182 983 positive pharyngitis specimens between 2018 and 2023 for a positivity rate of 17.6%. The highest rates occurred in the 0–9 age group in 2023 (41.5%). Invasive disease increased in 2022–2023 driven by emm1 and 12 types. M1UK strain was the most frequent M1 type associated with invasive disease (59% of M1 isolates sequenced). Notably, out of 182 983 pharyngitis cases, there were 111 cases of invasive S. pyogenes detected for an invasive disease rate of 0.06%. This descriptive epidemiology of S. pyogenes pharyngitis and invasive S. pyogenes disease highlights the rapid increase in cases of S. pyogenes occurring in western Canada and illustrates the critical need for a vaccine.

Past hydrogeological processes and human impacts may exert substantial memory effects on today’s groundwater systems. Thorough characterization of such long-term processes is required for scientists and policymakers to predict the hydrogeological impacts of land management options. Especially in data-scarce areas, historical data are essential to unravel long-term hydrogeological processes, which could not be identified by short-term fieldwork or model simulations alone. However, historical data are often overlooked or only used as background information in most hydrogeological studies. We show that the combination of historical reports and quantitative data yields major insights in the hydrogeological system of Curaçao, a small semi-arid Caribbean island. Reconstructing the island’s groundwater conditions over the past 500 years revealed that deforestation and excessive abstraction has had a detrimental effect on the island’s groundwater reserves. Historical notes and data revealed major signs of seawater intrusion, especially during abstraction peaks in the island’s industrial era. Intrusion effects are still observed locally on the island today, but additional groundwater recharge by waste water has caused freshening elsewhere. We hypothesize that the observed aquifer replenishment locally enhances submarine groundwater discharge, flushing accumulated nutrients and pollutants towards Curaçao’s fringing coral reefs. We expect that this study’s insights motivate more hydrogeologists to use historical reports and data in future studies.

In the winter of 2022–2023, hundreds of the Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica) appeared dead in the coast of the Canary Islands, a rare event considering their cold-living habits, normally occupying the North Atlantic Ocean. In this work, investigation about the parasites present in the Atlantic puffins found in the biggest islands of the Archipelago was carried out from a population portion. Necropsies of 39 birds were made and, during the examination of the urinary tracts, helminths were found. Morphoanatomical analysis under microscope allowed to identify them into Renicola genus with high similarity to Renicola sloanei. After that, DNA was extracted and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene were amplificated by a polymerase chain reaction method followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The molecular results demonstrated that in fact R. sloanei was the helminth parasite present in the urinary tracts of the Atlantic puffins found in the Canary Islands.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect and safety of Cannabidiol (CBD) on behavioral and psychological symptoms in elderly with Vascular dementia (VD).

Methods: Double- blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving elderly patients with VD at the psychogeriatrics and vascular dementia outpatient clinic at Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto. The intervention evaluated was the use of CBD 300mg/day compared to placebo. The instruments used are: Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Clinical Global Impression Scale, Side Effects Scale, Mini- Mental State Examination, Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, Zarit Burden Inventory. The included participants were assessed at the beginning of the study (baseline assessment), in the first, second and fourth weeks after the start of the clinicaltrial.

Results: 30 participants were included. The mixed ANOVA with repeated measures showed that there is an effect of the interaction time and group (F (2.12; 59.43) = 4.02; p < 0.05; ηp2 = 0.13) on the total score of the brief scale psychiatric assessment and neuropsychiatric inventory (F (1.58; 44.31) = 3.61; p =0.05; ηp2 = 0.11). The mixed ANOVA of repeated measures showed no effect of the interaction of time and group for the mini-mental state examination, brief cognitive screening battery. Adverse effects were mild and transient, and similar to the placebo group.

Conclusions: In this study, cannabidiol reduced psychological and behavioral symptoms in patients with vascular dementia. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the findings. (F(1.58;44.31) = 3.61; p =0.05; ηp2 = 0.11). The mixed ANOVA of repeated measures showed no effect of the interaction of time and group for the mini-mental state examination, brief cognitive screening battery. Adverse effects were mild and transient, and similar to the placebo group.

Transgressive segregation refers to the phenomenon whereby the progeny of a diverse cross exhibit phenotypes that fall outside the range of the parents for a particular trait of interest. Segregants that exceed the parental values in life-history traits contributing to survival and reproduction may represent beneficial new allelic combinations that are fitter than respective parental genotypes. In this research, we use geographically disparate paraquat-resistant biotypes of horseweed (Canada fleabane) [Erigeron canadensis L.; syn.: Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist] to explore transgressive segregation in biomass accumulation and the inheritance of the paraquat resistance trait in this highly self-fertilizing species. Results of this research indicate that the paraquat resistance traits in E. canadensis biotypes originating in California, USA, and Ontario, Canada, were not conferred by single major gene mechanisms. Segregating generations from crosses among resistant and susceptible biotypes all displayed transgressive segregation in biomass accumulation in the absence of the original selective agent, paraquat. However, when challenged with a discriminating dose of paraquat, progeny from the crosses of susceptible × resistant and resistant × resistant biotypes displayed contrasting responses with those arising from the cross of two resistant biotypes no longer displaying transgressive segregation. These results support the prediction that transgressive segregation is frequently expressed in self-fertilizing lineages and is positively correlated with the genetic diversity of the parental genotypes. When exposed to a new environment, transgressive segregation was observed regardless of parental identity or history. However, if hybrid progenies were returned to the parental environment with exposure to paraquat, the identity of the fittest genotype (i.e., parent or segregant) depends on the history of directional selection in the parental lineages and the dose to which the hybrid progeny was exposed. It is only in the original selective environment that the impact of allelic fixation on transgressive segregation can be observed.

Selenium (Se) deficiency among populations in Ethiopia is consistent with low concentrations of Se in soil and crops that could be addressed partly by Se-enriched fertilisers. This study examines the disease burden of Se deficiency in Ethiopia and evaluates the cost-effectiveness of Se agronomic biofortification. A disability-adjusted life years (DALY) framework was used, considering goiter, anaemia, and cognitive dysfunction among children and women. The potential efficiency of Se agronomic biofortification was calculated from baseline crop composition and response to Se fertilisers based on an application of 10 g/ha Se fertiliser under optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. The calculated cost per DALY was compared against gross domestic product (GDP; below 1–3 times national GDP) to consider as a cost-effective intervention. The existing national food basket supplies a total of 28·2 µg of Se for adults and 11·3 µg of Se for children, where the risk of inadequate dietary Se reaches 99·1 %–100 %. Cereals account for 61 % of the dietary Se supply. Human Se deficiency contributes to 0·164 million DALYs among children and women. Hence, 52 %, 43 %, and 5 % of the DALYs lost are attributed to anaemia, goiter, and cognitive dysfunction, respectively. Application of Se fertilisers to soils could avert an estimated 21·2–67·1 %, 26·6–67·5 % and 19·9–66·1 % of DALY via maize, teff and wheat at a cost of US$129·6–226·0, US$149·6–209·1 and US$99·3–181·6, respectively. Soil Se fertilisation of cereals could therefore be a cost-effective strategy to help alleviate Se deficiency in Ethiopia, with precedents in Finland.