In this study, we use aerial photographs, satellite imagery and field observations to quantify changes in the area, terminus length, snowline elevation and surface elevation of eight glaciers in the Alexandra Fiord region, eastern Ellesmere Island, between 1959 and 2019. Comparisons to written and pictorial descriptions from the British Arctic Expedition extend the record of change in terminus position and surface elevation to 1875 for Twin Glacier. Glacier area at Alexandra Fiord decreased by a total of 15.77 ± 0.65 km2 (11.77 ± 0.49%) between 1959 and 2019, the mean end of summer snowline increased in elevation by 360 ± 84 m (8 ± 2 m a−1) between 1974 and 2019, and the glaciers thinned at an average rate of 0.60 ± 0.06 m a−1 between 2001 and 2018. Annual rates of terminus retreat were ~3–5 times higher over the period 1974–2019 compared to 1875–1974, and rates of thinning were ~2–3 times higher over 2001–18 compared to 1875–2001. Our results are consistent with rates of change determined for other glaciers of similar size on Ellesmere Island, and with accelerated rates of ice loss coincident with regional increases in air temperature of ~1.5°C since the early 1980s.

Among 353 healthcare personnel in a longitudinal cohort in four hospitals in Atlanta, GA (May-June 2020), 23 (6.5%) had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Spending >50% of a typical shift at bedside (OR 3.4, 95% CI: 1.2–10.5) and Black race (OR 8.4, 95% CI: 2.7–27.4) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity.

Mass gatherings and high-density activities, such as sporting events, conventions, and theme parks, are consistently included among highest-risk activities given the increased potential for widespread coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. A more balanced risk management approach is required because absolute suppression of risk is unrealistic in all facets of life. Contact tracing remains a limiting factor in achieving such a balance. The use of Bluetooth or pairing devices is proposed to address this challenge. This simple approach, when applied in a manner that satisfies privacy and trust concerns, would allow high-risk encounters to be quickly identified, namely those where participants have spent 15 minutes or more within 6 ft of each other per current guidelines. If an attendee later tests positive for COVID-19 and tracing is required, the event organizer can provide a limited list of potential close contacts rather than an exhaustive list of all attendees. Contact tracers can, therefore, limit efforts to this concise group rather than needing to contact thousands of people or conduct mass media communications. Such a system, if institutionalized, supports risk assurance and safety measures for businesses by demonstrating a commitment to staff, customer protection, and ensuring high-risk encounters are logged, reinforcing longer-term societal pandemic resilience.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Severe malarial anemia due to Plasmodium falciparum is often accompanied by thrombocytopenia. Treatment includes transfusion of whole blood, which contains erythrocytes, platelets, and other blood components. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of whole blood transfusion on survival in children with severe falciparum malaria and to examine the potential interaction of thrombocytopenia with malaria mortality and transfusion response. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We analyzed a retrospective cohort of 842 hospitalized children in Zambia with severe malarial anemia (703 transfused, 139 not transfused due to stock-out or other reason). Severe malarial anemia was defined as a positive rapid diagnostic test or blood smear in combination with an admission hemoglobin concentration ≤5 g/dL. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Mortality was 13% (94/703) in the transfused group and 24% (34/139) in the non-transfused group. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates stratified by transfusion status and thrombocytopenia (150,000/μL threshold) showed increased mortality in children with thrombocytopenia who did not undergo transfusion, with no differences in mortality among the other transfused and non-transfused groups (log-rank test P = 0.0001). Effect modification analysis by Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for age, sex, hemoglobin concentration, blood group type, and eosinophilia showed a significant interaction between platelet count and transfusion status (P = 0.028). Children with thrombocytopenia who were transfused and died had little or no post-transfusion increase in platelets, in contrast to those who survived. Freshness of transfused whole blood, construed from expiration dates, correlated with greater platelet recovery and improved survival. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The role of platelets in malaria pathophysiology is complex and incompletely understood; prior studies describe preferential binding of platelets to parasitized erythrocytes and direct parasitocidal activity, whereas others detailed deleterious effects in malaria involving the central nervous system vasculature. These findings point to a potential clinical role for platelet-directed transfusion strategies to improve survival in children with severe falciparum malaria, which should be further assessed in randomized interventional studies.

Our multi-component photometric decomposition of the largest galaxy sample to date with dynamically-measured black hole masses nearly doubles the number of such galaxies. We have discovered substantially modified scaling relations between the black hole mass and the host galaxy properties, including the spheroid (bulge) stellar mass, the total galaxy stellar mass, and the central stellar velocity dispersion. These refinements partly arose because we were able to explore the scaling relations for various sub-populations of galaxies built by different physical processes, as traced by the presence of a disk, early-type versus late-type galaxies, or a Sérsic versus core-Sérsic spheroid light profile. The new relations appear fundamentally linked with the evolutionary paths followed by galaxies, and they have ramifications for simulations and formation theories involving both quenching and accretion.

In Baby-Led Weaning (BLW), infants are offered foods they can pick up and feed themselves from the start of complementary feeding. Infants who are fully BLW are not spoonfed at all by their parents, feeding themselves all their foods instead. The Baby-Led Introduction to SolidS (BLISS) study was a randomised controlled trial of the effect of a modified version of BLW5 on infant growth, iron status, and risk of choking, and provides an opportunity to investigate parents’ experiences of using a baby-led approach to infant feeding. Complementary feeding methods are usually chosen by parents, so it is important to ascertain whether parents find a baby-led method of introducing solids acceptable if they are assigned to follow it. This is both to determine whether it would be feasible to randomise them to follow BLW in future randomised controlled trials and because, if beneficial effects of BLW are shown, policy makers need to know whether parents would find it acceptable to follow BLW. The aim of this analysis was to determine the acceptability to parents of a baby-led approach to complementary feeding when their infant was 7 to 12 months of age. In total, 206 participants were randomised to Control (n = 101) or BLISS (n = 105) groups in the third trimester of pregnancy. When the infants were 7, 8, 9, and 12 months of age, questionnaires were administered to determine parents’ happiness and frustration with their feeding method, and attitudes regarding its convenience, mess, and expense. Food cost was estimated using supermarket prices linked to a 3-day weighed diet record collected at 7 months of age. Both groups reported high levels of happiness and convenience, but also reported finding complementary feeding very frustrating. There were two significant differences between the groups – the BLISS group reported less messiness, and were more likely to perceive their method as expensive. The actual food cost per day was not statistically significantly different between the two groups (NZ$1.70 for BLISS, NZ$1.90 for Controls). In conclusion, parents did not find a baby-led approach to introducing solids any less acceptable than control parents found standard infant feeding. It is, therefore, feasible to run studies where parents are randomised to follow a baby-led approach to complementary feeding and, should health advantages to BLW be identified, parents are likely to find BLW acceptable to follow.