White kidney bean extract (WKBE) is a nutraceutical often advocated as an anti-obesity agent. The main proposed mechanism for these effects is alpha-amylase inhibition, thereby slowing carbohydrate digestion and absorption. Thus, it is possible that WKBE could impact the gut microbiota and modulate gut health. We investigated the effects of supplementing 20 healthy adults with WKBE for 1 week in a randomised, placebo-controlled crossover trial on the composition of the gut microbiota, gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation (faecal calprotectin), GI symptoms, and stool habits. We conducted in vitro experiments and used a gut model system to explore potential inhibition of alpha-amylase. We gained qualitative insight into participant experiences of using WKBE via focus groups. WKBE supplementation decreased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and increased that of Firmicutes, however, there were no significant differences in post-intervention gut microbiota measurements between the WKBE and control. There were no significant effects on GI inflammation or symptoms related to constipation, or stool consistency or frequency. Our in vitro and gut model system analyses showed no effects of WKBE on alpha-amylase activity. Our findings suggest that WKBE may modulate the gut microbiota in healthy adults, however, the underlying mechanism is unlikely due to active site inhibition of alpha-amylase.

Over the past 20 years, collaboration has become an essential aspect of archaeological practice in North America. In paying increased attention to the voices of descendant and local communities, archaeologists have become aware of the persistent injustices these often marginalized groups face. Building on growing calls for a responsive and engaged cultural heritage praxis, this forum article brings together a group of Native and non-Native scholars working at the nexus of history, ethnography, archaeology, and law in order to grapple with the role of archaeology in advancing social justice. Contributors to this article touch on a diverse range of critical issues facing Indigenous communities in the United States, including heritage law, decolonization, foodways, community-based participatory research, and pedagogy. Uniting these commentaries is a shared emphasis on research practices that promote Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. In drawing these case studies together, we articulate a sovereignty-based model of social justice that facilitates Indigenous control over cultural heritage in ways that address their contemporary needs and goals.

Participant recruitment for research is a persistent bottleneck that can be improved by leveraging electronic health records (EHRs). Despite emerging evidence for various EHR-driven approaches, guidance for those attempting to select and use such approaches is limited. The national Recruitment Innovation Center established the EHR Recruitment Consult Resource (ERCR) service line to support multisite studies through implementation of EHR-driven recruitment strategies. As the ERCR, we evolved a guide through 17 consultations over 3 years with multisite studies recruiting in diverse biomedical research domains. We assessed literature and engaged domain experts to identify five key EHR-driven recruitment strategies: direct to patient messages, candidate lists for mailings/calls, direct to research alerts, point of care alerts, and participant registries. Differentiating factors were grouped into factors of study population, study protocol and recruitment workflows, and recruitment site capabilities. The decision matrix indicates acceptable or preferred strategies based on the differentiating factors. Across the ERCR consultations, candidate lists for mailing or calls were most common, participant registries were least frequently recommended, and for some studies no EHR-driven recruitment was recommended. Comparative effectiveness research is needed to refine further evidence for these and potentially new strategies to come.

Phylogenetic analyses can be used to resolve taxonomic uncertainties and reconstruct a species’ evolutionary history. This can be combined with ecological data to predict missing life history traits which are important for creation of conservation management strategies. We investigated the evolutionary and life history of the ‘Critically Endangered’ Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi by estimating its phylogenetic placement and using this new phylogeny to test the accuracy of phylogenetic comparative methods for estimating both documented and unknown life history traits. We extracted DNA from two Grenada Dove samples and obtained sequences from three mitochondrial markers: Cytochrome oxidase I (COI), NADH dehydrogenase 2 (ND2) and Cytochrome b (Cyt b); and one nuclear marker: β-Fibrinogen intron 7 (β-FIB). We present the first genetic data obtained for the Grenada Dove. Our data identify the Grey-Chested Dove Leptotila cassinii as the species which shares both a most recent common ancestor, with an estimated divergence of approximately 2.53 million years ago, and the smallest genetic distance (P = 0.0303) with the Grenada Dove. Life history trait values for the Grenada Dove predicted from our analyses using phylogenetic imputation are: clutch size = 2 (± 0.09) eggs; clutches per year = 1.4 (± 0.81); incubation time = 14.2 (± 0.75) days; hatching weight = 3.8 g (± 1.05) and single imputation: fledging age (genus median) = 15.5 days, longevity (genus median) = 8.6 years. This study contributes novel information regarding evolutionary history and life history characteristics to inform long-term conservation actions for a ‘Critically Endangered’ species.

For tribes whose preservation values and mitigation strategies for managing cultural heritage are built on an ethic of avoidance and minimal disturbance, geophysical technologies can be key components of the research design. These technologies, most notably ground-penetrating radar, have been used with great success in identifying and evaluating the depth, extent, and composition of some of those resources for heritage research and management purposes, easing tensions when working with sensitive ancestral places. Additionally, research in archaeological geophysics has shifted from feature finding in order to excavate targets of interest to the recognition that geophysical survey can provide data and interpretations for whole sites and landscapes complementary to or beyond that of excavation, especially regarding the intactness and sensitivity of cultural heritage sites. This use of geophysics as a primary method for research rather than a precursor to archaeological research has empowered tribes with another tool to advocate for low-impact investigation of ancestral sites and landscapes that position tribes as pro-science. Geophysical technologies provide scientifically rigorous yet minimally impactful strategies for investigating heritage while satisfying the requirements of academic and compliance archaeology in ways that can also be culturally appropriate for a much broader spectrum of tribal cultural heritage under consideration.

Since the advent of molecular taxonomy, numerous lichen-forming fungi with homoiomerous thalli initially classified in the family Collemataceae Zenker have been transferred to other families, highlighting the extent of morphological convergence within Lecanoromycetes O. E. Erikss. & Winka. While the higher level classification of these fungi might be clarified by such transfers, numerous specific and generic classifications remain to be addressed. We examined the relationships within the broadly circumscribed genus Arctomia Th. Fr., which has been the recipient of several transfers from Collemataceae. We demonstrated that Arctomia insignis (P. M. Jørg. & Tønsberg) Ertz does not belong to Arctomia s. str. but forms a strong monophyletic group with Gabura fascicularis (L.) P. M. Jørg. We also confirmed that Arctomia borbonica Magain & Sérus. and the closely related Arctomia insignis represent two species. We formally transferred A. insignis and A. borbonica to the genus Gabura Adans. and introduced two new combinations: Gabura insignis and Gabura borbonica. We reported Gabura insignis from Europe (Scotland and Ireland) for the first time. While material from Europe and North America is genetically almost identical, specimens from Madagascar, South Africa and Reunion Island belong to three distinct phylogenetic lineages, all of which are present in the latter area and may represent distinct species. In its current circumscription, the genus Gabura may contain up to six species, whereas Arctomia s. str. includes only two species (A. delicatula Th. Fr. and A. teretiuscula P. M. Jørg.). The Gabura insignis group is shown to have an unexpectedly large, subcosmopolitan distribution. With the extended sampling from Arctomiaceae Th. Fr., the placement of Steinera sorediata P. James & Henssen in the genus Steinera Zahlbr. is confirmed and the presence of a new Steinera species from Chile is highlighted.

We present the case of a 17-year-old boy with a cardiac venous malformation. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges of such tumours and demonstrates the potential efficacy of a watch-and-wait management approach.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: To create a searchable public registry of all Quality Improvement (QI) projects. To incentivize the medical professionals at UF Health to initiate quality improvement projects by reducing startup burden and providing a path to publishing results. To reduce the review effort performed by the internal review board on projects that are quality improvement Versus research. To foster publication of completed quality improvement projects. To assist the UF Health Sebastian Ferrero Office of Clinical Quality & Patient Safety in managing quality improvement across the hospital system. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This project used a variant of the spiral software development model and principles from the ADDIE instructional design process for the creation of a registry that is web based. To understand the current registration process and management of quality projects in the UF Health system a needs assessment was performed with the UF Health Sebastian Ferrero Office of Clinical Quality & Patient Safety to gather project requirements. Biweekly meetings were held between the Quality Improvement office and the Clinical and Translational Science – Informatics and Technology teams during the entire project. Our primary goal was to collect just enough information to answer the basic questions of who is doing which QI project, what department are they from, what are the most basic details about the type of project and who is involved. We also wanted to create incentive in the user group to try to find an existing project to join or to commit the details of their proposed new project to a data registry for others to find to reduce the amount of duplicate QI projects. We created a series of design templates for further customization and feature discovery. We then proceed with the development of the registry using a Python web development framework called Django, which is a technology that powers Pinterest and the Washington Post Web sites. The application is broken down into 2 main components (i) data input, where information is collected from clinical staff, Nurses, Pharmacists, Residents, and Doctors on what quality improvement projects they intend to complete and (ii) project registry, where completed or “registered” projects can be viewed and searched publicly. The registry consists of a quality investigator profile that lists contact information, expertise, and areas of interest. A dashboard allows for the creation and review of quality improvement projects. A search function enables certain quality project details to be publicly accessible to encourage collaboration. We developed the Registry Matching Algorithm which is based on the Jaccard similarity coefficient that uses quality project features to find similar quality projects. The algorithm allows for quality investigators to find existing or previous quality improvement projects to encourage collaboration and to reduce repeat projects. We also developed the QIPR Approver Algorithm that guides the investigator through a series of questions that allows an appropriate quality project to get approved to start without the need for human intervention. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: A product of this project is an open source software package that is freely available on GitHub for distribution to other health systems under the Apache 2.0 open source license. Adoption of the Quality Improvement Project Registry and promotion of it to the intended audience are important factors for the success of this registry. Thanks goes to the UW-Madison and their QI/Program Evaluation Self-Certification Tool (https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3lVeNuKe8FhKc73) used as example and inspiration for this project. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: This registry was created to help understand the impact of improved management of quality projects in a hospital system. The ultimate result will be to reduce time to approve quality improvement projects, increase collaboration across the UF Health Hospital system, reduce redundancy of quality improvement projects and translate more projects into publications.

We provide a qualitative analysis of a system of nonlinear differential equations that model the spread of alcoholism through a population. Alcoholism is viewed as an infectious disease and the model treats it within a sir framework. The model exhibits two generic types of steady-state diagram. The first of these is qualitatively the same as the steady-state diagram in the standard sir model. The second exhibits a backwards transcritical bifurcation. As a consequence of this, there is a region of bistability in which a population of problem drinkers can be sustained, even when the reproduction number is less than one. We obtain a succinct formula for this scenario when the transition between these two cases occurs.

The methods used to teach weed identification at 20 U.S. universities were obtained for comparison through a telephone survey in December, 1986, and January, 1987. Weed identification is taught as a portion (30%) of the laboratory section in introductory weed science courses. Only five have a separate weed identification course. Field trips frequently are used to teach weed identification. Students must learn from 50 to 125 weed species with some seedling identification. Pressed plant collections of approximately 50 weed species normally are required. Most instructors strongly suggest using live plants and repetition for long-term learning.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of three computerized neurocognitive assessment tools (CNTs; i.e., ANAM, DANA, and ImPACT) for assessing mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in patients recruited through a level I trauma center emergency department (ED). Methods: mTBI (n=94) and matched trauma control (n=80) subjects recruited from a level I trauma center emergency department completed symptom and neurocognitive assessments within 72 hr of injury and at 15 and 45 days post-injury. Concussion symptoms were also assessed via phone at 8 days post-injury. Results: CNTs did not differentiate between groups at any time point (e.g., M 72-hr Cohen’s d=−.16, .02, and .00 for ANAM, DANA, and ImPACT, respectively; negative values reflect greater impairment in the mTBI group). Roughly a quarter of stability coefficients were over .70 across measures and test–retest intervals in controls. In contrast, concussion symptom score differentiated mTBI vs. control groups acutely), with this effect size diminished over time (72-hr and day 8, 15, and 45 Cohen’s d=−.78, −.60, −.49, and −.35, respectively). Conclusions: The CNTs evaluated, developed and widely used to assess sport-related concussion, did not yield significant differences between patients with mTBI versus other injuries. Symptom scores better differentiated groups than CNTs, with effect sizes weaker than those reported in sport-related concussion studies. Nonspecific injury factors, and other characteristics common in ED settings, likely affect CNT performance across trauma patients as a whole and thereby diminish the validity of CNTs for assessing mTBI in this patient population. (JINS, 2017, 23, 293–303)

The present study investigates the photobiont diversity of the boreal felt lichen, Erioderma pedicellatum. Previously sampled genetic data from Newfoundland were reanalyzed and new sequence data (16S rDNA, rbcLX) of the boreal felt lichen from Alaska (USA), Kamchatka (Russia), and North Trøndelag (Norway) were generated. The highest genetic diversity of the photobiont is found in Alaska and Kamchatka, indicating that these may be the primary sources of the species in the Northern Hemisphere. In Newfoundland, the photobiont of E. pedicellatum was screened on leaves of the symbiotic liverwort Frullania asagrayana and it was found to occur on trees where no other lichens were present, demonstrating that the geographical distribution, and possibly also the ecological requirement of the photobiont of E. pedicellatum, is wider than that of the lichen phenotype. Finally, a postulated association between the occurrence of the vegetatively reproducing Coccocarpia palmicola and the occurrence of the compatible photobiont of E. pedicellatum on the same tree could not be established.

We describe bright microwave events that were first detected with the Parkes 64-m telescope at 8.4 or 22 GHz from six active-chromosphere stars. In some flares spectral data were obtained over a large frequency range from simultaneous measurements with the Parkes reflector (8.4 or 22 GHz), the Tidbinbilla interferometer (8.4 and 2.29 GHz), the Fleurs synthesis telescope (1.42 GHz) and the Molonglo Observatory synthesis telescope (0.843 GHz). Data on circular polarization were obtained from the Parkes observations at 8.4 GHz.

The stars were in a wide variety of evolutionary states, ranging from a single pre-main-sequence star (HD 36705), two RS CVn binaries (HD 127535, HD 128171), an Algol (HD 132742) and two apparently single K giants (HD 32918 and HD 196818). Their high brightness temperatures, positive spectral indices and low polarization are consistent with optically thick gyrosynchrotron emission from mildly relativistic electrons with average energies 0.5 to 3 MeV gyrating in inhomogeneous magnetic fields of 5 to 100 G.

We present an overview of the survey for radio emission from active stars that has been in progress for the last six years using the observatories at Fleurs, Molonglo, Parkes and Tidbinbilla. The role of complementary optical observations at the Anglo-Australian Observatory, Mount Burnett, Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories and Mount Tamborine are also outlined. We describe the different types of star that have been included in our survey and discuss some of the problems in making the radio observations.