OBJECTIVES/GOALS: This study proposes a pragmatic approach for tracking institutional changes in research teamwork and productivity in real time using common institutional electronic databases such as eCV and grant management systems. Dissemination of this approach could provide a standard metric for comparing teamwork productivity across different programs. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This study tracks research teamwork and productivity using commonly available institutional electronic databases such as eCV and grant management systems. We tested several definitions of interdisciplinary collaborations based on number of collaborations and their fields of discipline. Publication characteristics were compared by faculty seniority and appointment type using non-parametric Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test (p RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Interdisciplinary grants constitute 24% of all grants but the trend has significantly increased over the last five years. Tenure track faculty collaborated with more organizations (3.5, SD 2.5 vs 2.3, SD 1.1, p DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides empirical evidence of the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration in research and identifies an important role that senior faculty may be playing in creating the culture of interdisciplinary teamwork. More research is needed to improve efficiency of interdisciplinary collaborations.

Clonal Mycobacterium mucogenicum isolates (determined by molecular typing) were recovered from 19 bronchoscopic specimens from 15 patients. None of these patients had evidence of mycobacterial infection. Laboratory culture materials and bronchoscopes were negative for Mycobacteria. This pseudo-outbreak was caused by contaminated ice used to provide bronchoscopic lavage. Control was achieved by transitioning to sterile ice.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The objective of this study is to assess differences in outcomes between African Americans (AAs) and whites along the HCV care cascade. Primary outcome was retention in the HCV care cascade, measured in two ways. For viral RNA confirmation, retention was a percentage of those having screened antibody reactive. For hepatic ultrasound, primary care, HCV specialty clinic, treatment initiation, and sustained viral load (SVR), retention was a percentage of those found chronically infected by positive RNA viral load. Secondary outcome was time to follow-up from antibody screening to each subsequent step in the care cascade. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A retrospective cohort study was performed. AA and white patients who tested HCV antibody reactive from March to October 2015 at the University Medical Center (UMC) Emergency Department in New Orleans, LA were included in this study. Outcomes were assessed using the HCV Continuum of Care model, delineating successive stages of care from identification to cure. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: A total of 728 patients screened HCV antibody reactive, including 446 AAs and 282 whites. AAs (53.5 years, SD 10.2) were disproportionately older than whites (46.7 years, SD 11.9) (p <0.001), more likely to be insured (89.2% vs 78.7%, p<0.001), had higher rates of Medicare (28.0% vs 12.1%, p<0.001), and less frequent history of intravenous drug use (IVDU) (32.3% vs 46.1%, p<0.001). For AAs, retention in the treatment cascade was 96.2% for viral RNA confirmation, 50.9% for hepatic ultrasound, 26.8% for primary care, 35.2% for HCV specialty clinic, 14.5% for treatment initiation, and 9.6% for sustained viral response (SVR). Among whites, retention in the treatment cascade was 96.8% for viral RNA confirmation, 37.8% for hepatic ultrasound, 16.1% for primary care, 23.3% for HCV specialty clinic, 8.8% for treatment initiation, and 7.8% for SVR. AAs had a higher likelihood of receiving a hepatic ultrasound (OR=1.70; CI=1.19-2.25; p<0.005), following up with primary care (OR = 1.91, CI=1.21-3.02, p<0.005), and attending the viral hepatitis specialty clinic (OR=1.79, CI=1.20-2.68, p<0.005), as compared to their white counterparts. After adjusting for age, insurance, and history of IVDU, AAs did not have a higher likelihood of receiving a hepatic ultrasound (aOR=1.09, CI=0.995-1.19) or seeking primary care (aOR=1.05, CI=0.98-1.14). AAs had attenuated odds of attending viral hepatitis specialty clinic (aOR=1.09, CI = 1.01-1.19). There was no statistically significant difference in follow-up time in the treatment cascade for AAs versus whites. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Race alone cannot explain differences in achievement along the care cascade. Significant differences in retention along the HCV care cascade appear to be related primarily to differences in age and insurance status. In our population, older AAs are disproportionately insured through Medicare, thereby expanding their access to health resources. Their white counterparts are younger and more uninsured, leading to decreased access to care and ability to attend HCV follow-up appointments. ED HCV screening programs are still in their infancy and have opportunities to improve their linkage to care rates. Additional interventions are needed to better connect patients screened positive in the ED to HCV specialist care, preserving equity across racial groups.

Informal (unpaid) care-givers of older people with dementia experience stress and isolation, causing physical and psychiatric morbidity. Comprehensive geriatric assessment clinics represent an important geriatrician-led model of dementia care. Our qualitative study examined the educational and support needs of care-givers of people diagnosed with dementia at a geriatric assessment clinic, resources used to address those needs and challenges experienced in doing so. We conducted structured thematic analysis of interviews with 18 informal care-givers. Participants’ narratives reflected four themes. First, care-givers sought information from varied sources, including the Alzheimer Society, the internet and clinic staff. Responsive behaviours, the expected progression of dementia and system navigation were topics of particular interest. Second, care-givers obtained assistance from public, for-profit and voluntary sources. Third, care-givers received little assistance. Two-thirds received fewer than four hours of help weekly from all sources combined, and none more than 15. Several received no assistance whatsoever. Publicly funded support workers’ tasks, and their timing, were often unhelpful. Finally, while numerous care-givers felt physical and emotional strain, and worried about how poor health impaired their care-giving, many hesitated to seek help. The needs of this unique population of informal care-givers can be met by improved home-care service flexibility, and access to trustworthy information about the expected progression of dementia and skills for managing behavioural and psychological symptoms.

Sediment cores from three lakes in the Upper Kolyma region, northeast Russia, provide the first well-dated continuous record of late Quaternary vegetation change from far southwestern Beringia. The oldest pollen zone, tentatively assigned to the Karginsk (mid-Wisconsinan) Interstade, indicates an Artemisia shrub tundra with Pinus pumila, Betula, and Alnus at mid- to low elevations. With the onset of the Sartan (late Wisconsinan) Stade, Pinus disappeared, probably indicating severely cold, dry winters and cool summers. As conditions deteriorated further, an Artemisia -Gramineae tundra developed. Selaginella rupestris and minor herb taxa indicate the presence of poor soils and disturbed ground. This herb tundra was replaced by a short-lived (< 1000 yr) Betula-Alnus shrub tundra followed by the rapid establishment of a Larix dahurica forest with a Betula exilis-ericales-lichen understory. Populus suaveolens and Chosenia may have formed limited hardwood gallery forests at this time. Modern vegetation associations probably developed during the early Holocene with the arrival of Pinus pumila ca. 9000 yr B.P. This shrub became important in the forest understory and, with B. exilis, formed a belt of shrub tundra beyond altitudinal treeline. Comparison of the Upper Kolyma and Alaskan pollen records indicates that important differences in vegetation types and timing of vegetation change occurred across Beringia during the late Quaternary.

Objectives: To investigate the use, challenges and opportunities associated with using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in studies with patients with rare lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), we conducted interviews with researchers and health technology assessment (HTA) experts, and developed the methods for a systematic review of the literature. The purpose of the review is to identify the psychometrically sound generic and disease-specific PROs used in studies with patients with five LSDs of interest: Fabry, Gaucher (Type I), Niemann-Pick (Type B) and Pompe diseases, and mucopolysaccharidosis (Types I and II).

Methods: Researchers and HTA experts who responded to an email invitation participated in a telephone interview. We used qualitative content analysis to analyze the anonymized transcripts. We conducted a comprehensive literature search for studies that used PROs to investigate burden of disease or to assess the impact of interventions across the five LSDs of interest.

Results: Interviews with seven researchers and six HTA experts representing eight countries revealed five themes. These were: (i) the importance of using psychometrically sound PROs in studies with rare diseases, (ii) the paucity of disease-specific PROs, (iii) the importance of having PRO data for economic analyses, (iv) practical and psychometric limitations of existing PROs, and (v) suggestions for new PROs. The systematic review has been completed.

Conclusions: The interviews highlight current challenges and opportunities experienced by researchers and HTA experts involved in work with rare LSDs. The ongoing systematic review will highlight the experience, opportunities, and limitations of PROs in LSDs and provide suggestions for future research.

Approximately half of the variation in wellbeing measures overlaps with variation in personality traits. Studies of non-human primate pedigrees and human twins suggest that this is due to common genetic influences. We tested whether personality polygenic scores for the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) domains and for item response theory (IRT) derived extraversion and neuroticism scores predict variance in wellbeing measures. Polygenic scores were based on published genome-wide association (GWA) results in over 17,000 individuals for the NEO-FFI and in over 63,000 for the IRT extraversion and neuroticism traits. The NEO-FFI polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction in 7 cohorts, positive affect in 12 cohorts, and general wellbeing in 1 cohort (maximal N = 46,508). Meta-analysis of these results showed no significant association between NEO-FFI personality polygenic scores and the wellbeing measures. IRT extraversion and neuroticism polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction and positive affect in almost 37,000 individuals from UK Biobank. Significant positive associations (effect sizes <0.05%) were observed between the extraversion polygenic score and wellbeing measures, and a negative association was observed between the polygenic neuroticism score and life satisfaction. Furthermore, using GWA data, genetic correlations of -0.49 and -0.55 were estimated between neuroticism with life satisfaction and positive affect, respectively. The moderate genetic correlation between neuroticism and wellbeing is in line with twin research showing that genetic influences on wellbeing are also shared with other independent personality domains.

Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis neurona are protozoan parasites with terrestrial definitive hosts, and both pathogens can cause fatal disease in a wide range of marine animals. Close monitoring of threatened southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) in California allowed for the diagnosis of dual transplacental transmission of T. gondii and S. neurona in a wild female otter that was chronically infected with both parasites. Congenital infection resulted in late-term abortion due to disseminated toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasma gondii and S. neurona DNA was amplified from placental tissue culture, as well as from fetal lung tissue. Molecular characterization of T. gondii revealed a Type X genotype in isolates derived from placenta and fetal brain, as well as in all tested fetal organs (brain, lung, spleen, liver and thymus). This report provides the first evidence for transplacental transmission of T. gondii in a chronically infected wild sea otter, and the first molecular and immunohistochemical confirmation of concurrent transplacental transmission of T. gondii and S. neurona in any species. Repeated fetal and/or neonatal losses in the sea otter dam also suggested that T. gondii has the potential to reduce fecundity in chronically infected marine mammals through parasite recrudescence and repeated fetal infection.

Falls among community-dwelling seniors constitute a major public health concern because of the potential morbidity and mortality associated with the fall. This study examined the informal care networks accessed by Canadian seniors who had visited the Emergency Department as a result of a fall, and considered the implications of the processes of asking for and receiving help on the senior's identity. Four themes were identified. The first was valuing independence. The remaining three themes concerned threats to the participants' identities linked to the need to ask for or receive help from family and friends. They were: becoming indebted, feeling devalued and becoming a burden to others. Seniors were noted to excuse family members from the expectation of helping because of work and family commitments, and illness. Participants described a mutually beneficial relationship with friends wherein both parties valued their independence and provided assistance to the other when needed. Their comments suggested that assistance was viewed as a good to be traded among peers. Our findings indicate that seniors value their independence and may not seek help even when it appears to be available, if asking threatens valued identities. Health and social care practitioners and policy makers responsible for planning and delivery of services should take this into account in order to ensure the best possible care for injured community-dwelling seniors.