Cophinforma spp. are gall-inducing fungi that can infect the highly invasive Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi, in its introduced range in southern Florida, USA. A classical biological control agent, the thrips Pseudophilothrips ichini (Hood), has been released to mitigate the invasive potential of S. terebinthifolia. We investigated the synergistic potential of thrips feeding damage and gall formation on S. terebinthifolia management program success. A group of potted S. terebinthifolia saplings was inoculated with Cophinforma. Galled, symptomatic and ungalled, asymptomatic saplings were then paired in laboratory cages for a two-choice test with 40 P. ichini adults. Galled and ungalled plants were assessed for dead stem tips and necrotic stem tissue, with and without thrips present. Larval F1 thrips were also counted on each plant. Thrips feeding damage significantly increased the number of dead tips and extent of stem necrosis. Regardless of thrips presence, stem tip mortality and extent of necrosis were not significantly different between galled and ungalled plant pairs. Additionally, the maximum number of F1 larvae counted on stems did not differ between those on galled versus ungalled plants. Gall growth on heavily thrips-damaged plants nearly stopped while galls continued to grow on plants with little thrips damage. While our results suggest the Cophinforma galls do not impact damage potential or plant preference from P. ichini, more work is needed to understand other factors that may contribute to at least additive impacts on S. terebinthifolia in the field, such as more advanced stages of the fungal infection on mature plants and prolonged thrips feeding damage.

Stem galls and witch’s broom–like growths are locally abundant on the highly invasive Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) at field sites in southern Florida where a thrips biological control agent (Pseudophilothrips ichini) is being released to reduce the invasive potential of the plant. Galls have also been observed on potted plants in nursery stock grown to feed laboratory colonies of the agent. Herein, our objective was to isolate and identify the causal agent of the galls and assess its ability to induce galls in naive plants. We obtained stem galls from both field- and nursery-grown plants, aseptically isolated a fungus in acidic potato dextrose agar, and purified fungal colonies. Stems of potted naive saplings were wound-inoculated with purified hyphal fragments from the purified colonies, which readily induced galls like those observed in the field and nursery. Simultaneous molecular analysis of the fungal DNA obtained from the galls of field and nursery plants, experimentally induced galls, and fungal colony isolates identified this gall-inducing fungus as Cophinforma sp.. We demonstrated that this Cophinforma sp. can infect S. terebinthifolia stems via mechanical wounds and induce visibly discernible stem galls in saplings within 3 mo. This will serve as a model for galled plant production for assessing the impacts of the gall-inducing fungus on S. terebinthifolia, with potential for further study to investigate interactions between the thrips and this naturalized fungus, which may synergistically and/or additively enhance S. terebinthifolia management efficacy.

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.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The goals of this evaluation were 1) to describe the pilot grant application cycle and processes at NC TraCS, 2) to illustrate the impact of pilot grants on extramural grant funding, and 3) to provide a framework for other institutions to utilize for the evaluation of pilot grant programs. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: From 2009-2019 the NC TraCS pilot program funded 925 projects, varying from $2,000 to $100,000. Pilot grants are available to any researcher affiliated with the university as well as partner institutions and community stakeholders. For this evaluation we analyzed data on pilot applicants (demographics, type of pilot, funding status, resubmissions, etc.) and outcomes (extramural funding, publications, etc.) yielded from funded pilots. In addition to summary statistics, we also calculated return on investment (ROI) for the program as a whole and by specific grant type. We will use bibliometric network analysis to assess productivity, citation impact, and scope of collaboration. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: There have been 2,777 submitted proposals with an acceptance rate of 33.3%. Unfunded proposals can resubmit, 61.8% of resubmitted applications are successfully funded, and 29.6% of funded applications are resubmissions. The $2,000 awards accounted for 43.4% of all grants awarded but only accounted for 6.4% of all pilot funds awarded. Success of proposals was proportional to the number of applications from each academic unit. 60.8% of funded applicants were affiliated with the School of Medicine and account for 65.3% of all funding awarded from 2009-2019. Additionally, we plan on analyzing return on investment rates to illustrate the impact of pilot awards on future research funding. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Pilot grants can lead to subsequent extramural grants, publications, and successful translation of research into practice. This evaluation will assist our institution in understanding the impact of pilot grants and will provide a road map for other institutions evaluating their own programs.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by preoccupation with a defect in appearance. Concepts of beauty play a particularly crucial role in humans' mental and social life, and may have specific psychobiologic and evolutionary underpinnings. In particular, there is a growing literature on the neurocircuitry underpinning the body schema, body image and facial expression processing, and aesthetic and symmetry judgments. Speculatively, disruptions in cognitive-affective processes relevant to judgments about physical beauty lead to BDD.

We summarise the construction of geometric cycles and their use in describing the Kasparov K-homology of a CW-complex X. When Kasparov K-homology is twisted by a degree three element of the Čech cohomology of X then there is a corresponding construction of twisted geometric cycles for the case where X is a smooth manifold however the method that was employed does not apply in the case of CW-complexes. In this article we propose a new approach to the construction of twisted geometric cycles for CW-complexes motivated by the study of D-branes in string theory.

Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) provides indices of insulin secretion (β) and insulin resistance (R) derived from fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting plasma insulin (FPI) levels. However, these indices could not account for a significant heritability of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (h2 = 0.75, P < 0.01) in a group of 214 female twins. This result is consistent with a misclassification between effects due to insulin secretion and resistance in the HOMA indices. We report here evidence of such misclassification in the HOMA indices and describe a minor modification to the model which corrects it. Direct measures of insulin resistance (euglycaemic clamp) and secretion (i.v. glucose bolus) were obtained in 43 non-diabetic subjects. Heritability was estimated by statistical modelling of genetic and environmental influences in data from 214 non-diabetic female subjects. Modified HOMA (HOMA′) indices were obtained from β′ = (Ln(FPI)–c)/FPG and R′ = (Ln(FPI)–c)* FPG where c is a constant derived from regression analysis of Ln(FPI) vs FPG. Indices from both models correlated with the direct measures similarly (r = 0.63 (R), 0.49 (R′), 0.45 (β), 0.39 (β′), all P < 0.01). Directly measured insulin resistance and secretion were not significantly correlated (r = 0.13, P = 0.21). However, unmodified HOMA- and R were strongly related (r = 0.78, P < 0.0001 vs 0.13) demonstrating substantial misclassification. The relationship between β′ and R′ (r = 0.13) was not different from that between the two direct measures and significant heritability of β′ (h2 = 0.68, P < 0.01) and R′ (h2 = 0.59, P < 0.05) was evident in the twin data. The proposed modification to HOMA significantly reduces misclassification and reveals separate components of insulin resistance and insulin secretion in the heritability of FPG. Twin Research (2000) 3, 148–151.

Given the largely prefrontostriatal neuropathogenesis of HIV-associated neurobehavioral deficits, it is often presumed that HIV infection leads to greater impairment on letter versus category fluency. A meta-analysis of the HIV verbal fluency literature was conducted (k = 37, n = 7110) to assess this hypothesis and revealed generally small effect sizes for both letter and category fluency, which increased in magnitude with advancing HIV disease severity. Across all studies, the mean effect size of category fluency was slightly larger than that of letter fluency. However, the discrepancy between category and letter fluency dissipated in a more conservative analysis of only those studies that included both tests. Thus, HIV-associated impairments in letter and category fluency are of similar magnitude, suggesting that mild word generation deficits are evident in HIV, regardless of whether traditional letter or semantic cues are used to guide the word search and retrieval process (JINS, 2007, 13, 183–189.)

The focus of this paper is the electrical characterization of coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines that are printed onto nonwoven textile substrates using conductive inks, to determine their suitability for wide-band applications, e.g. digital signaling. The conductive ink line characterization tests included the defining of DC and Time-Domain Reflectometry metrics. The transmission line test samples were screen printed onto two different types of nonwoven textile substrates using two different conductive inks, i.e. inks with different viscosities. Tests showed that the variations in the continuity of the transmission lines varied, giving rise to geometrical variations in the CPW structure; and in the characterization of the same.

In the study presented here, we successfully demonstrated that high quality ITO films could be obtained on plastic substrates using Excimer laser crystallization. ITO films were first deposited at 10 °C on PEN substrates by DC magnetron sputtering, and then irradiated using a homogenized pulsed XeCl excimer laser beam (308 nm, 35 ns pulse duration) in a vacuum chamber. It was possible to reliably attain Type I ITO films with sheet resistances down to 35 Ω/΢, combined with 80 % optical transmittance in visible range. Well defined 2 μm lines could be obtained using simple HCl etchant at room temperature. We also developed Type II ITO films with a sheet resistance of 15 Ω/΢ and an optical transmittance of 80 % by means of laser annealing on plastic substrates, although these materials were found inferior to Type I in etching properties.

Single wall carbon nanotubes have aroused a great deal of interest because of their unique combination of electrical, physical and mechanical properties. However, the widespread use of SWNTs in composites and electronic devices is limited because of the difficulty of dispersing and processing these materials. This paper describes a method for depositing and aligning SWNTs from a dispersed solution onto a substrate under the influence of an electric field. Results indicate that SWNTs can be aligned in bulk in the direction of electric field lines, and that individual SWNT ropes may be deposited between two electrodes. The extent and type of deposition depends upon the electrode geometry and processing time. Electrical alignment of SWNTs is an enabling technology allowing manipulation of nanomaterials using standard processing. It could eventually lead to a wide range of products, such as nanocomposites with aligned fillers and nanoelectronic devices.