Acritarch biostratigraphic and δ13C chemostratigraphic data from the Krol A Formation in the Solan area (Lesser Himalaya, northern India) are integrated to aid inter-basinal correlation of early–middle Ediacaran strata. We identified a prominent negative δ13C excursion (likely equivalent to EN2 in the lower Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China), over a dozen species of acanthomorphs (including two new species—Cavaspina tiwariae Xiao n. sp., Dictyotidium grazhdankinii Xiao n. sp.), and numerous other microfossils from an interval in the Krol A Formation. Most microfossil taxa from the Krol A and the underlying Infra-Krol formations are also present in the Doushantuo Formation. Infra-Krol acanthomorphs support a correlation with the earliest Doushantuo biozone: the Appendisphaera grandis-Weissiella grandistella-Tianzhushania spinosa Assemblage Zone. Krol A microfossils indicate a correlation with the second or (more likely, when δ13C data are considered) the third biozone in the lower Doushantuo Formation (i.e., the Tanarium tuberosum-Schizofusa zangwenlongii or Tanarium conoideum-Cavaspina basiconica Assemblage Zone). The association of acanthomorphs with EN2 in the Krol Formation fills a critical gap in South China where chert nodules, and thus acanthomorphs, are rare in the EN2 interval. Like many other Ediacaran acanthomorphs assemblages, Krol A and Doushantuo acanthomorphs are distributed in low paleolatitudes, and they may represent a distinct paleobiogeographic province in east Gondwana. The Indian data affirm the stratigraphic significance of acanthomorphs and δ13C, clarify key issues of lower Ediacaran bio- and chemostratigraphic correlation, and strengthen the basis for the study of Ediacaran eukaryote evolution and paleobiogeography.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/5289fdb2-0e49-4b3b-880f-f5b21acab371.

The cosmic evolution of the chemical elements from the Big Bang to the present time is driven by nuclear fusion reactions inside stars and stellar explosions. A cycle of matter recurrently re-processes metal-enriched stellar ejecta into the next generation of stars. The study of cosmic nucleosynthesis and this matter cycle requires the understanding of the physics of nuclear reactions, of the conditions at which the nuclear reactions are activated inside the stars and stellar explosions, of the stellar ejection mechanisms through winds and explosions, and of the transport of the ejecta towards the next cycle, from hot plasma to cold, star-forming gas. Due to the long timescales of stellar evolution, and because of the infrequent occurrence of stellar explosions, observational studies are challenging, as they have biases in time and space as well as different sensitivities related to the various astronomical methods. Here, we describe in detail the astrophysical and nuclear-physical processes involved in creating two radioactive isotopes useful in such studies, $^{26}\mathrm{Al}$ and $^{60}\mathrm{Fe}$ . Due to their radioactive lifetime of the order of a million years, these isotopes are suitable to characterise simultaneously the processes of nuclear fusion reactions and of interstellar transport. We describe and discuss the nuclear reactions involved in the production and destruction of $^{26}\mathrm{Al}$ and $^{60}\mathrm{Fe}$ , the key characteristics of the stellar sites of their nucleosynthesis and their interstellar journey after ejection from the nucleosynthesis sites. This allows us to connect the theoretical astrophysical aspects to the variety of astronomical messengers presented here, from stardust and cosmic-ray composition measurements, through observation of $\gamma$ rays produced by radioactivity, to material deposited in deep-sea ocean crusts and to the inferred composition of the first solids that have formed in the Solar System. We show that considering measurements of the isotopic ratio of $^{26}\mathrm{Al}$ to $^{60}\mathrm{Fe}$ eliminate some of the unknowns when interpreting astronomical results, and discuss the lessons learned from these two isotopes on cosmic chemical evolution. This review paper has emerged from an ISSI-BJ Team project in 2017–2019, bringing together nuclear physicists, astronomers, and astrophysicists in this inter-disciplinary discussion.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths by 2030. Though many other cancers have seen improvements in patient survival rates, patients diagnosed with PDAC have a 5-year survival rate of only ~9%. A major contributor to decreased survival is late-stage diagnosis of the disease. New methods of early detection are urgently needed. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are secreted from cells of all tissue types into the circulation. EVs play important roles in a variety of diseases. They have shown to promote cancer progression and they are being studied as potential biomarkers for disease diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to perform qualitative and quantitative characterization of small-molecule profiles of EVs derived from various pancreatic cancer (PC) and normal pancreas cell lines, to provide proof-of-concept for evaluating the efficacy of leveraging EVs as potential biomarkers of PDAC. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: EVs were isolated from the conditioned media of six PC and two normal pancreas cell lines using differential ultracentrifugation with filtration. EV enrichment was validated using quantitative ELISA, immunoblot and transmission electron microscopy. Targeted liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and untargeted (UPLC-QTOF-MS) metabolomics were used to analyze the biochemical composition of EVs. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The biochemical profile of PC EVs was found to be significantly different from the profiles of normal cell EVs. Interestingly, amino acids were downregulated in PC EVs as compared to normal cell EVs. However, PC EVs were enriched in lactate and malate. PC EVs also had significant upregulation in other small molecules such as xanthosine, guanosine diphosphate and nicotinamide. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our results indicate that the biochemical characterization of EVs using metabolomics has the potential to yield biomarkers which can delineate cancer cell-derived EVs from normal cell-derived EVs. Further work will test the clinical significance of these findings by similar analyses of plasma of PDAC patients. Furthermore, these profiles may be detectable before progression of the disease to late-stage PDAC, leading to the development of assays for earlier diagnosis in patients.

Introduction: Vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy is a common emergency department (ED) presentation, with many of these episodes resulting in poor obstetrical outcome. These outcomes have been extensively studied, but there have been few evaluations of what variables are associated predictors. This study aimed to identify predictors of less than optimal obstetrical outcomes for women who present to the ED with early pregnancy bleeding. Methods: A regional centre health records review included pregnant females who presented to the ED with vaginal bleeding at <20 weeks gestation. This study investigated differences in presenting features between groups with subsequent optimal outcomes (OO; defined as a full-term live birth >37 weeks) and less than optimal outcomes (LOO; defined as a miscarriage, stillbirth or pre-term live birth). Predictor variables included: maternal age, gestational age at presentation, number of return ED visits, socioeconomic status (SES), gravida-para-abortus status, Rh status, Hgb level and presence of cramping. Rates and results of point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) and ultrasound (US) by radiology were also considered. Results: Records for 422 patients from Jan 2017 to Nov 2018 were screened and 180 patients were included. Overall, 58.3% of study participants had a LOO. The only strong predictor of outcome was seeing an Intra-Uterine Pregnancy (IUP) with Fetal Heart Beat (FHB) on US; OO rate 74.3% (95% CI 59.8-88.7; p < 0.01). Cramping (with bleeding) trended towards a higher rate of LOO (62.7%, 95% CI 54.2-71.1; p = 0.07). SES was not a reliable predictor of LOO, with similar clinical outcome rates above and below the poverty line (57.5% [95% CI 46.7-68.3] vs 59% [95% CI 49.3-68.6] LOO). For anemic patients, the non-live birth rate was 100%, but the number with this variable was small (n = 5). Return visits (58.3%, 95% CI 42.2-74.4), previous abortion (58.8%, 95% CI 49.7-67.8), no living children (60.2%, 95% CI 50.7-69.6) and past pregnancy (55.9%, 95% CI 46.6-65.1) were not associated with higher rates of LOO. Conclusion: Identification of a live IUP, anemia, and cramping have potential as predictors of obstetrical outcome in early pregnancy bleeding. This information may provide better guidance for clinical practice and investigations in the emergency department and the predictive value of these variables support more appropriate counseling to this patient population.

Introduction: Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) is being increasingly utilized during cardiac arrests for prognosis. Following the publication of recent studies, the goal of this study was to systematically review and analyze the literature to evaluate the accuracy of PoCUS in predicting return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival to hospital admission (SHA), and survival to hospital discharge (SHD) in adult patients with non-traumatic, non- shockable out- of-hospital or emergency department cardiac arrest. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was completed. A search of Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization Registry was completed from 1974 until August 24th 2018. Adult randomized controlled trials and observational studies were included. The QUADAS-2 tool was applied by two independent reviewers. Data analysis was completed according to PRISMA guidelines and with a random effects model for the meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using I-squared statistics. Results: Ten studies (1,485 participants) were included. Cardiac activity on PoCUS had a pooled sensitivity of 59.9% (95% confidence interval 36.5%-79.4%) and specificity of 91.5% (80.8%-96.5%) for ROSC; 74.7% (58.3%-86.2%) and 80.5% (71.7%-87.4%) for SHA; and 69.4% (45.5%-86.0%) and 74.6% (59.8%-85.3%) for SHD. The sensitivity of cardiac activity on PoCUS for predicting ROSC was 24.7%(6.8%-59.4%) in the asystole subgroup compared with 77% (59.4%-88.5%) within the PEA subgroup. Cardiac activity on PoCUS, compared to an absence had an odd ratio of 15.9 (5.9-42.5) for ROSC, 9.8 (4.9-19.4) for SHA and 5.7 (2.1-15.6) for SHD. Positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 6.65 (3.16-14.0) and negative LR was 0.27 (0.12-0.61) for ROSC. Conclusion: Cardiac activity on PoCUS was associated with improved odds for ROSC, SHA, and SHD among adults with non-traumatic asystole and PEA. We report lower sensitivity and higher negative likelihood ratio, but with greater heterogeneity compared to previous systematic reviews. PoCUS may provide valuable information in the management of non-traumatic PEA or asystole, but should not be viewed as the sole predictor in determining outcomes in these patients.

We observed pediatric S. aureus hospitalizations decreased 36% from 26.3 to 16.8 infections per 1,000 admissions from 2009 to 2016, with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) decreasing by 52% and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus decreasing by 17%, among 39 pediatric hospitals. Similar decreases were observed for days of therapy of anti-MRSA antibiotics.

Introduction: Electrocardiographic (ECG) rhythms are used during resuscitation (ACLS) to guide resuscitation, and often to determine futility. Survival rates to hospital discharge have been reported to be higher for patients with PEA than asystole in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This study examines how well the initial ECG cardiac rhythm represents actual cardiac activity as determined by point of care ultrasound (PoCUS). Methods: A database review was completed for patients arriving to a tertiary ED in asystole or PEA arrest, from 2010 to 2014. Patients under 19y or with a previous DNR were excluded. Patients were grouped into those with cardiac activity (PEA) and asystole on ECG; as well as whether cardiac activity was seen on PoCUS during the arrest. Data was analyzed for visualized cardiac activity on PoCUS. Results: 186 patients met the study criteria. Those with asystole on ECG were more likely to have no cardiac activity than those with PEA (Odds 7.21 for initial PoCUS; 5.45 for any PoCUS). The sensitivity of ECG rhythm was 80.49% and 82.12%, specificity was 77.91% and 54.28%, positive predictive value was 94.28% and 88.57%, and negative predictive value was 30.43% and 41.30% for cardiac activity on initial PoCUS and on any PoCUS respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios for ECG were 3.47 and 0.25 for activity on initial PoCUS. The positive and negative likelihood ratios for activity on any PoCUS were 1.78 and 0.33. Conclusion: Our results suggest that although most patients with asystole on ECG demonstrate no cardiac activity, a small number actually had activity on PoCUS. This supports the use of PoCUS during cardiac arrest, in addition to ECG, to identify patients with ongoing mechanical cardiac activity.

Introduction: The decision as to whether to end resuscitation for pre-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) patients in the field or in the emergency department (ED) is commonly made based upon standard criteria. We studied the reliability of several easily determined criteria as predictors of resuscitation outcomes in a population of adults in CA transported to the ED. Methods: A retrospective database and chart analysis was completed for patients arriving to a tertiary ED in cardiac arrest, between 2010 and 2014. Patients were excluded if aged under 19. Multiple data were abstracted from charts using a standardized form. Regression analysis was used to compare criteria that predicted return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to hospital admission (SHA). Results: 264 patients met the study inclusion criteria. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of ROSC and SHA. The criteria that emerged as significant predictors for ROSC included; longer ED resuscitation time (Odds ratio 1.11 (1.06- 1.18)), witnessed arrest (Odds ratio 9.43 (2.58- 53.0)) and having an initial cardiac rhythm of Pulseless Electrical Activity (Odds Ratio 3.23 (1.07-9.811)) over Asystole. Receiving point of care ultrasound (PoCUS; Odds ratio 0.22 (0.07-0.69)); and having an initial cardiac rhythm of Pulseless Electrical Activity (Odds Ratio 4.10 (1.43-11.88)) were the significant predictors for SHA. Longer times for ED resuscitation was close to reaching significance for predicting SHA Conclusion: Our results suggest that both fixed and adaptable factors, including increasing resuscitation time, and PoCUS use in the ED were important independent predictors of successful resuscitation. Several commonly used criteria were unreliable predictors.

A number of complex systems arising in diverse disciplines may have certain quantitative features that are surprisingly similar which are classified under the paradigm of “universality”. The non-extensive Tsallis stastical mechanics and Lévy flight patterns provide a novel basis for analyzing non-equilibrium complex systems that may exhibit long-range correlations. The present work studies the scope of employing non-extensive Gutenberg-Richter (G-R) type law for the magnitude distribution of energy of solar wind, in order to investigate the existence of a universal behavior as well as to compute the relations of degree of non-extensivity and Lévy statistics in solar wind turbulence with heliographic distance during different solar cycles.

Superposed epoch analysis (SPEA) is commonly used to determine some basic structure in a collection of geophysical time series. The present study tries to analyze ionospheric Joule heating response at high latitudes, to the prevailing solar wind and IMF conditions on the basis of SPEA. Major geomagnetic storms (CME driven) over three consecutive solar cycles (SC 22, 23 and 24) have been selected. Ascending phase, solar maximum, and declining phase are investigated separately, for each solar cycle, to find out crucial controlling parameters for the generation of high-latitude ionospheric Joule heating. SPEA results show that, IMF parameters such as IMF By, IMF Bz, IMF clock angle and solar wind parameters such as dynamic pressure and proton density influence Joule heating production rate significantly. Meanwhile, the relentlessness of the other parameters such as IMFBt and solar wind bulk speed show that they have poor impact on Joule heating.

Probably, the long-term monitoring of the solar atmosphere started in Italy with the first telescopic observations of the Sun made by Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century. His recorded observations and science results, as well as the work carried out by other following outstanding Italian astronomers inspired the start of institutional programs of regular solar observations at the Arcetri, Catania, and Rome Observatories.

These programs have accumulated daily images of the solar photosphere and chromosphere taken at various spectral bands over a time span larger than 80 years. In the last two decades, regular solar observations were continued with digital cameras only at the Catania and Rome Observatories, which are now part of the INAF National Institute for Astrophysics. At the two sites, daily solar images are taken at the photospheric G-band, Blue (λ = 409.4 nm), and Red (λ = 606.9 nm) continua spectral ranges and at the chromospheric Ca II K and Hα lines, with a 2″ spatial resolution.

Solar observation in Italy, which benefits from over 2500 hours of yearly sunshine, currently aims at the operational monitoring of solar activity and long-term variability and at the continuation of the historical series as well. Existing instruments will be soon enriched by the SAMM double channel telescope equipped with magneto-optical filters that will enable the tomography of the solar atmosphere with simultaneous observations at the K I 769.9 nm and Na I D 589.0 nm lines. In this contribution, we present the available observations and outline their scientific relevance.

We have used the Coronagraphic and Heliospheric Imaging data from Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) to observe a prominence which is erupted on June 7th 2011. This prominence is subjected to the morphological evolution of MRT instability from the lower solar corona upto the inter-planetary space. The unstable structures are converted into the bunch of localized plasma spikes due to the turbulent mixing, and propagate in the inter-planetary space upto 1 A.U.

Forecasting the solar activity is of great importance not only for its effect on the climate of the Earth but also on the telecommunications, power lines, space missions and satellite safety. In the present work, machine learning using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) called Nonlinear Autoregressive Network (NAR) with Exogenous Inputs (NARX) have been applied for the prediction of future evolution of the present sunspot cycle. NARX network is able to combine the performance of ANN algorithm with nonlinear autoregressive method to handle problems such as finding dependencies among solar indices and prediction of solar cycle evolution.

Active sun is characterized by compelling short-lived flash of solar eruption like solar flare, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), high-speed solar winds and solar energetic particles along with colossal release of energy and mass. This paper proposes a new method to evaluate solar wind parameters and geomagnetic indices based on wavelet analysis during the solar flares. The crucial role of IMF-Bz (interplanetary magnetic field) is examined for the two solar flares events. The key result obtained from our study is substantial dependence of solar flare intensity on IMF-Bz together with solar wind velocity. We also observed the duration of solar flares and their effect on ionospheric and ground based parameters.

With the rapid development of telescopes, both temporal cadence and the spatial resolution of observations are increasing. This in turn generates vast amount of data, which can be efficiently searched only with automated detections in order to derive the features of interest in the observations. A number of automated detection methods and algorithms have been developed for solar activities, based on the image processing and machine learning techniques. In this paper, after briefly reviewing some automated detection methods, we describe our efficient and versatile automated detection method for solar filaments. It is able not only to recognize filaments, determine the features such as the position, area, spine, and other relevant parameters, but also to trace the daily evolution of the filaments. It is applied to process the full disk Hα data observed in nearly three solar cycles, and some statistic results are presented.

Solar wind kinetic energy gets transferred into the Earth’s magnetosphere as a result of dynamo action between magnetosphere and solar wind. Energy is then dissipated among various dissipation channels in the MI system. In the present study, energetics of 59 intense geomagnetic storms are analyzed for the period between 1986 and 2015, which covers the three consecutive solar cycles SC 22, 23 and 24. The average solar wind energy impinging the MI system is estimated using Epsilon parameter, the coupling function. Moreover, the relative importance of different energy sinks in the MI system are quantified and is found that more than 60% of solar wind energy is dissipated in the form of ionospheric Joule heating.

We re-examined solar polar magnetic fields, using ground based synoptic photospheric magnetograms, during solar cycle 24. IThe signed polar magnetic fields showed an unusual hemispheric asymmetry in the polar field reversal process with a single unambigous reversal in the Southern hemisphere around late 2013 while the polar reversal in the Northern hemisphere started earlier around June 2012, but was completed only by the end of 2014. The examination of the unsigned polar magnetic fields in cycle 24 showed a continuing decline of fields in the Northern hemisphere whereas in the Southern hemisphere, it had partially recovered. However, the overall declining trend in solar polar fields, which began in the mid-1990’s, is still in progress. The continued decline seen in solar photospheric fields raises thequestion of whether we are heading towards a Grand or Maunder like solar minimum.

Temporal oscillations of F2 layer critical frequency are direct outcome of solar EUV variability. The hourly data of F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) during solar cycle 23 over eight ionosonde stations which falls within same longitudinal span are evaluated using Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) to estimate the ionospheric variations. The quasi triennial, annual, semiannual, 27 day and diurnal variations of foF2 are clearly evident in the wavelet power spectra of all the stations. Quasi triennial oscillations which show a clear latitudinal dependence is more evident in southern stations. A strong quasi biennial oscillation (QBO) is also noticed in higher latitudes which was not observable in equatorial latitude. The present study reveals that the semiannual variations are more obvious over the annual variation in the equatorial and low latitude stations while the annual variations are prominent in higher latitudes.

Hemispheric asymmetry is one of the significant parameters related to the action of solar dynamo. Comparison of hemispheric activities during various phases are found out for solar cycles 12 to 23. Asymmetry of solar activity shows extremum values during the cycles 14 and 19. Lowest and highest levels of north-south asymmetry are mainly observed during minimum and maximum phases respectively of solar cycles. A change of phase is found to be existing between the asymmetries at solar maxima and the whole cycle, after solar cycle 15 and 18. Also, for cycles 17-19, the behaviour of the asymmetry is observed to be peculiar and different from that of the other cycles. Periodic behaviour of north-south asymmetry mainly occurs in 8.8 years and noticed very high during the cycles 18-22.