Biogeochemical analyses of organisms’ tissues provide direct proxies for diets, behaviors, and environmental interactions that have proven invaluable for studies of extant and extinct species. Applying these to Cretaceous ecosystems has at times produced anomalous results, however, as dinosaurs preserve unusually positive stable carbon isotope compositions relative to extant C3-feeding vertebrates. This has been hypothesized to be a unique property of dinosaur dietary physiology, with potential significance for our interpretations of their paleobiology. We test that hypothesis through multi-taxic stable carbon isotope analyses of a spatiotemporally constrained locality in the Late Cretaceous of Canada, and compare the results to a modern near-analogue environment in Louisiana. The stable carbon isotope anomaly is present in all sampled fossil vertebrates, dinosaur or not. This suggests another more widespread factor is responsible. Examinations of diagenetic effects suggest that, where present, they are insufficient to explain the isotope anomaly. The isotope anomaly is therefore not primarily the result of a unique dietary physiology of dinosaurs, but rather a mix of factors impacting all taxa, such as environmental and/or source-diet differences. Our study underscores the importance of multi-taxic samples from spatiotemporally constrained localities in testing hypotheses of extinct organisms and ecosystems, and in the use of modern data to “ground truth” when evaluating analogue versus non-analogue conditions in greenhouse paleoecosystems.

Se is an essential trace element associated with animal growth and antioxidant and metabolic processes. However, whether Se, especially organic Se with higher bioavailability, can alleviate the adverse effects of low salinity stress on marine economic crustacean species has not been investigated. Accordingly, juvenile Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) were reared in two culture conditions (low and standard salinity) fed diets supplemented with increasing levels of l-selenomethionine (0·41, 0·84 and 1·14 mg/kg Se) for 56 d, resulting in four treatments: 0·41 mg/kg under standard seawater (salinity 31) and 0·41, 0·84 and 1·14 mg/kg Se under low salinity (salinity 3). The diet containing 0·84 mg/kg Se significantly improved the survival and weight gain of shrimp under low salinity stress and enhanced the antioxidant capacity of the hepatopancreas. The increased numbers of B and R cells may be a passive change in hepatopancreas histology in the 1·14 mg/kg Se group. Transcriptomic analysis found that l-selenomethionine was involved in the regulatory pathways of energy metabolism, retinol metabolism and steroid hormones. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 0·84 mg/kg Se (twice the recommended level) effectively alleviated the effects of low salinity stress on L. vannamei by regulating antioxidant capacity, hormone regulation and energy metabolism.

Many data-driven patient risk stratification models have not been evaluated prospectively. We performed and compared the prospective and retrospective evaluations of 2 Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) risk-prediction models at 2 large academic health centers, and we discuss the models’ robustness to data-set shifts.

The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.

In this prospective, longitudinal study, we examined the risk factors for severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among a cohort of chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients and healthcare personnel (HCPs) over a 6-month period. The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HD patients and HCPs was consistently associated with a household member having SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) has emerged out of the quantitative approach to psychiatric nosology. This approach identifies psychopathology constructs based on patterns of co-variation among signs and symptoms. The initial HiTOP model, which was published in 2017, is based on a large literature that spans decades of research. HiTOP is a living model that undergoes revision as new data become available. Here we discuss advantages and practical considerations of using this system in psychiatric practice and research. We especially highlight limitations of HiTOP and ongoing efforts to address them. We describe differences and similarities between HiTOP and existing diagnostic systems. Next, we review the types of evidence that informed development of HiTOP, including populations in which it has been studied and data on its validity. The paper also describes how HiTOP can facilitate research on genetic and environmental causes of psychopathology as well as the search for neurobiologic mechanisms and novel treatments. Furthermore, we consider implications for public health programs and prevention of mental disorders. We also review data on clinical utility and illustrate clinical application of HiTOP. Importantly, the model is based on measures and practices that are already used widely in clinical settings. HiTOP offers a way to organize and formalize these techniques. This model already can contribute to progress in psychiatry and complement traditional nosologies. Moreover, HiTOP seeks to facilitate research on linkages between phenotypes and biological processes, which may enable construction of a system that encompasses both biomarkers and precise clinical description.

Cap-shaped skeletal fossils are the earliest undisputed body fossils of mollusks appearing in the basal Cambrian. A study on the morphometry of cap-shaped fossils from the Nanjiang area (North Sichuan, China) is undertaken to understand the origin and evolution of the early mollusks. The distribution of these fossil cap-shaped mollusks indicates a stepwise increase in their diversity during the early Cambrian. Maikhanella Zhegallo in Voronin et al., 1982 co-occuring with the spinose sclerites of siphogonuchitids, is regarded as the earliest scleritized mollusk. It is followed by other maikhanellids, e.g., Purella Missarzhevsky, 1974 and Yunnanopleura Yu, 1987, which co-occur with the earliest univalved helcionellids, e.g., Igorella Missarzhevsky in Rozanov et al., 1969. Cluster analysis of their morphometric characteristics shows that the Maikhanella group is similar to the Purella and Yunnanopleura groups, but is less comparable with univalved helcionellids. The maikhanellids are interpreted as representatives of the stem group Aculifera, although it remains uncertain if one or two larger cap-shaped shell plates were present on the elongate slug-like body, comparable to those of Halkieria Poulsen, 1967 or Orthrozanclus Conway Morris and Caron, 2007. Maikhanellids are characterized by the prominent protrusions or scales on the cap-shaped shell plates arranged in a concentric pattern around the shell apex. Evolutionarily, the protrusions or scales are reduced in younger strata, whereas subsequently a typically concentric ornament developed, the cap-shaped shell plates developed higher profiles, and the apical region became increasingly bare of scales. Meanwhile, the cap-shaped shell plates gradually evolved into a helcionellid-like appearance with an anteroposteriorly inclined apex. The morphological evolution of the earliest sclerotized mollusks reflects biotic evolution and environmental adaption among the stem-group mollusks during the early Cambrian.

Flutter suppression is an important measure to improve fatigue life and enhance the performance of aircraft in modern aircraft design. In order to design more effective controllers for flutter suppression with high efficiency, an efficient reduced-order framework for active/passive hybrid flutter suppression is proposed. The traditional CFD-based ROMs have been successfully applied to active flutter suppression with high accuracy and efficiency. But, when a structure modification is made such as in aeroelastic tailoring and aeroelastic structural optimisation, the structural model should be updated, and the expensive, time-consuming CFD-based ROMs have to be reconstructed; such a process is impractical for passive flutter suppression. To overcome the realistic challenge, an efficient reduced-order framework for active/passive hybrid flutter suppression is proposed by extending an efficient aeroelastic CFD-based POD/ROM which we have developed. The proposed framework is demonstrated and evaluated using an improved AGARD 445.6 wing model. The results show that the proposed framework can accurately predict the aeroelastic response for active/passive hybrid flutter suppression with high efficiency. It provides a powerful tool for active/passive hybrid flutter suppression, and therefore, is ideally suited to design more effective controllers, and may have the potential to reduce the overall cost of aircraft design.

The incidence of scarlet fever has increased dramatically in recent years in Chongqing, China, but there has no effective method to forecast it. This study aimed to develop a forecasting model of the incidence of scarlet fever using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model. Monthly scarlet fever data between 2011 and 2019 in Chongqing, China were retrieved from the Notifiable Infectious Disease Surveillance System. From 2011 to 2019, a total of 5073 scarlet fever cases were reported in Chongqing, the male-to-female ratio was 1.44:1, children aged 3–9 years old accounted for 81.86% of the cases, while 42.70 and 42.58% of the reported cases were students and kindergarten children, respectively. The data from 2011 to 2018 were used to fit a SARIMA model and data in 2019 were used to validate the model. The normalised Bayesian information criterion (BIC), the coefficient of determination (R2) and the root mean squared error (RMSE) were used to evaluate the goodness-of-fit of the fitted model. The optimal SARIMA model was identified as (3, 1, 3) (3, 1, 0)12. The RMSE and mean absolute per cent error (MAPE) were used to assess the accuracy of the model. The RMSE and MAPE of the predicted values were 19.40 and 0.25 respectively, indicating that the predicted values matched the observed values reasonably well. Taken together, the SARIMA model could be employed to forecast scarlet fever incidence trend, providing support for scarlet fever control and prevention.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Early clinical case reports have described incidental epileptiform changes during electrophysiological monitoring. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of all existing investigations of epileptiform activity during sevoflurane use in pediatric anesthesia. The heterogenous EEG data will be analyzed in a meta analysis METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A targeted, PICO-based clinical question was crafted and registered a priori on PROSPERO on 3/19/21. Under the guidance of a librarian from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a boolean search string was generated to search articles and gray literature for terms such as pediatric, sevoflurane and electroencephalogram in PubMed, OVID, Cochrane, Google Scholar, etc. We utilized the software platform tool COVIDENCE to manage our review. 495 references were imported for initial screening. 56 English-language, full-text studies were included for further review. The final 13 references were included in data extraction and Newcastle-Ottawa bias assessment. The characteristics of the studies and their primary outcomes were collected in tabular form. Strategies for data synthesis were discussed weekly. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Epileptiform changes reported in the literature during pediatric sevoflurane anesthesia ranged from 0 - 95%. EEG data were acquired using a variety of recording systems with variable number of leads and heterogeneous outcomes reported. The periods of anesthesia monitoring were also heterogeneous. Characteristics of the studies are presented in Table 1. 495 references were imported for screening with 13 final references for data extraction. EEG abnormalities were reported in 204/649 (31.4%) subjects ranging in age from neonate to 18 years; the majority of studies utilized less than 16 channels of (10/13, 76.9%) (Table 1). There was variability in sevoflurane dosing, premedication (e.g., midzolam, hydroxyzine), and periods of anesthesia monitored. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: There was heterogeneity noted across reviewed literature including study design, phases of anesthesia, ventilation methods, number of EEG leads recorded and adjuvant anesthetics administered. Nevertheless, this review rigorously classified epileptiform activity during Sevoflurane thereby influencing modern anesthesia.

The groundbreaking, viewpoint theory of Merker et al. explains several properties of the conscious field, including why the observer cannot directly apprehend itself. We propose that viewpoint theory might also provide a progressive, constitutive marker of consciousness and shed light on why most of the contents of consciousness are encapsulated.

The simulations and assessment of transient performance of gas turbine engines during the conceptual and preliminary design stage may be conducted ignoring heat soakage and tip clearance variations due to lack of detailed geometrical and structural information. As a result, problems with transient performance stability may not be revealed correctly, and corresponding design iterations would be necessary and costly when those problems are revealed at a detailed design stage. To make an engine design more cost and time effective, it has become important to require better transient performance simulations during the conceptual and preliminary design stage considering all key impact factors such as fuel control schedule, rotor dynamics, inter-component volume effect as well as heat soakage and tip clearance variation effects. In this research, a novel transient performance simulation approach with generically simplified heat soakage and tip clearance models for major gas path components of gas turbine engines including compressors, turbines and combustors has been developed to support more realistic transient performance simulations of gas turbine engines at conceptual and preliminary design stages. Such heat soakage and tip clearance models only require thermodynamic design parameters as input, which is normally available during such design stages. The models have been implemented into in-house transient performance simulation software and applied to a model twin-spool turbojet engine to test their effectiveness. Comparisons between transient performance simulated with and without the heat soakage and tip clearance effects demonstrate that the results are promising. Although the introduced heat soakage and tip clearance models may not be as accurate as that using detailed component geometrical information, it is able to include the major heat soakage and tip clearance effects and make the transient performance simulations and analysis more realistic during conceptual and preliminary engine design stage.

This paper presents results from a design neurocognition study on the effect of gender on EEG frequency band power when performing constrained and open design. We used electroencephalography to measure the brain activity of 84 professional designers. We investigated differences in frequency power associated with gender of 38 female and 46 male designers, while performing two prototypical design tasks. The aim of the study was to explore whether gender moderates brain activity while performing a constrained versus an open design task. Neurophysiological results for aggregate activations across genders and between tasks indicate a main effect of gender for theta, alpha 2, and beta 1 frequency bands. Females show higher theta, alpha 2, and beta 1, namely in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right occipitotemporal cortex, secondary visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex in both tasks. Females show higher beta bands than males, in areas of the left prefrontal cortex, in the constrained design. While in the open design, females showed higher theta, alpha, and beta 2 in the left prefrontal cortex and secondary visual cortex for all frequency bands. Results within gender between tasks indicate higher theta and alpha in the prefrontal cortex in the constrained design for both genders. Whilst for open design, results indicate higher theta and alpha 1 in the right hemisphere and higher alpha 2 and beta bands across hemispheres for both genders. Results within gender reveal common brain areas and frequency bands in distinguishing constrained from open design.