Disordered eating (DE) is associated with elevated cardiometabolic risk (CMR) factors, yet little is known about this association in non-Western countries. We examined the association between DE characteristics and CMR and tested the potential mediating role of BMI. This cross-sectional study included 2005 Chinese women (aged 18–50 years) from the 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Loss of control, restraint, shape concern and weight concern were assessed using selected questions from the SCOFF questionnaire and the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire. Eight CMR were measured by trained staff. Generalised linear models examined associations between DE characteristics with CMR accounting for dependencies between individuals in the same household. We tested whether BMI potentially mediated significant associations using structural equation modelling. Shape concern was associated with systolic blood pressure (β (95 % CI) 0·06 (0·01, 0·10)), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (0·07 (95 % CI 0·03, 0·11)) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (–0·08 (95 % CI –0·12, −0·04)). Weight concern was associated with DBP (0·06 (95 % CI 0·02, 0·10)), triglyceride (0·06 (95 % CI 0·02, 0·10)) and HDL-cholesterol (–0·10 (95 % CI –0·14, −0·07)). Higher scores on DE characteristics were associated with higher BMI, and higher BMI was further associated with lower HDL-cholesterol and higher other CMR. In summary, we observed significant associations between shape and weight concerns with some CMR in Chinese women, and these associations were potentially partially mediated by BMI. Our findings suggest that prevention and intervention strategies focusing on addressing DE could potentially help reduce the burden of CMR in China, possibly through controlling BMI.

Background: A key efficacy indicator in generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) treatment is improvement in MG-ADL score. Minimal symptom expression (MSE, MG-ADL total score of 0 or 1) is explored as a novel proposed treatment target in gMG in the phase 3 study of intravenous efgartigimod, ADAPT, and its open-label extension, ADAPT+. Methods: Post hoc analyses of acetylcholine receptor antibody positive participants in ADAPT (n=129) and ADAPT+ (n=111) were performed. Results: In ADAPT, 44.6% receiving efgartigimod achieved MSE vs 10.9% of participants given placebo. Despite less frequent assessment during ADAPT+, 40.5% of participants achieved MSE. Eighty-one percent of participants treated with efgartigimod who achieved MSE in ADAPT also achieved MSE during ADAPT+; 23% who had not achieved MSE in ADAPT did in ADAPT+. Achieving MSE was associated with substantial improvements in QMG, MGC, MG-QoL15r, and EQ-5D-5L mean scores of 11.4, 16.0, 12.4, and 0.3 points, respectively, from baseline to best score (across all visits). These drastic improvements resulted in quality of life (QoL) comparable to that of healthy populations. MSE achievement also resulted in sustained improvements in these disease-specific and QoL measures. Conclusions: Participants who achieved MSE showed substantial and consistent improvements across multiple disease measures and experienced QoL comparable to that of healthy populations.

A new crinoid fauna has been discovered in the Upper Ordovician (Katian) Martinsburg Formation at a small shale quarry, locally known as the ‘Shale Bank,’ on the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, NY. The assemblage, which is from a relatively low energy, offshore mud-bottom environment, includes four identified species, including a new species of glyptocrinid camerate, Pycnocrinus mohonkensis n. sp., described herein. Crinoid taxa in order of increasing branch density in the assemblage include (1) the dicyclic inadunate Merocrinus curtus with irregularly isotomous and heterotomous, non-pinnulate arms and a stout cylindrical column exceeding 700 mm; (2) the disparids Cincinnaticrinus varibrachialus, with heterotomous non pinnulate arms, and Ectenocrinus simplex, with extensively branched ramulate arms and meric columns of 460–500 mm; and (3) the camerate Pycnocrinus mohonkensis n. sp., with uniserial pinnulate arms and a somewhat shorter column. Some cylindrical stems with nodose and holomeric columnals are thought to belong to unknown camerate crinoids with pinnulate arms. Filtration theory is used to model food capture in the Martinsburg crinoids. Surprisingly, even densely pinnulate camerates were able to survive in this setting, suggesting that ambient currents attained velocities exceeding 25 cm/sec even in this offshore setting. Similar assemblages were widespread in eastern Laurentia during the Late Ordovician.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/23ca31e8-f572-4520-ba1d-891e3abb950d

A clinical decision support system, EvalMpox, was developed to apply person under investigation (PUI) criteria for patients presenting with rash and to recommend testing for PUIs. Of 668 patients evaluated, an EvalMpox recommendation for testing had a positive predictive value of 35% and a negative predictive value of 99% for a positive mpox test.

The crystal structure of bannisterite, a modulated, mica-like mineral species, of general composition Ca0.5(K,Na)0.5(Mn,Fe,Mg,Zn)10(Si,Al)16O38(OH)8·nH2O, has been solved and refined for specimens from Franklin Furnace, New Jersey (FF), and Broken Hill, Australia (BH). The crystals are mono-clinic in space group A2/a, with (for FF) a = 22.265(1) Å, b = 16.368(1) Å, c = 24.668(2) Å, β = 94.285(5)°; and (for BH) a = 22.286(1) Å, b = 16.386(1) Å, c = 24.575(2) Å, β = 94.355(7)°; Z = 8. Refinement with anisotropic thermal factors reached Rw = 0.034 (FF) and 0.039 (BH). Like stilpnomelane and ganophyllite, bannisterite has a modified 2:1 trioctahedral layer structure in which some of the tetrahedra are inverted towards the interlayer region and linked to inverted tetrahedra in the opposite layer. The octahedral sheet is strongly corrugated along b. The tetrahedral sheet consists of 5-, 6-, and 7-fold rings, and bond distance calculations indicate that Al is concentrated into two of the four inverted tetrahedra. The interlayer Ca, K, and H2O species are highly disordered, as indicated by anomalously large temperature factors and partial occupancies. Localized differences in the Al/Si arrangements in the inverted tetrahedra induce disorder among the interlayer cations.

Research articles in the clinical and translational science literature commonly use quantitative data to inform evaluation of interventions, learn about the etiology of disease, or develop methods for diagnostic testing or risk prediction of future events. The peer review process must evaluate the methodology used therein, including use of quantitative statistical methods. In this manuscript, we provide guidance for peer reviewers tasked with assessing quantitative methodology, intended to complement guidelines and recommendations that exist for manuscript authors. We describe components of clinical and translational science research manuscripts that require assessment including study design and hypothesis evaluation, sampling and data acquisition, interventions (for studies that include an intervention), measurement of data, statistical analysis methods, presentation of the study results, and interpretation of the study results. For each component, we describe what reviewers should look for and assess; how reviewers should provide helpful comments for fixable errors or omissions; and how reviewers should communicate uncorrectable and irreparable errors. We then discuss the critical concepts of transparency and acceptance/revision guidelines when communicating with responsible journal editors.

This project surveyed Veterans’ COVID-19 vaccination beliefs and status. 1,080 (30.8%) Veterans responded. Factors associated with being unvaccinated, identified using binomial logistic regression, included negative feelings about vaccines (OR = 3.88, 95%CI = 1.52, 9.90) and logistical difficulties such as finding transportation (OR = 1.95, 95%CI = 1.01, 3.45). This highlights the need for education about and access to vaccination.

Background: The CDC recommends routine use of contact precautions for patients infected or colonized with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). There is variability in implementation of and adherence to this recommendation, which we hypothesized may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In September 2022, we emailed an 8-question survey to Emerging Infections Network (EIN) physician members with infection prevention and hospital epidemiology responsibilities. The survey asked about the respondent’s primary hospital’s recommendations on transmission-based precautions, adjunctive measures to reduce MDRO transmission, and changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sent 2 reminder emails over a 1-month period. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the data and to compare results to a similar EIN survey (n = 336) administered in 2014 (Russell D, et al. doi:10.1017/ice.2015.246). Results: Of 708 EIN members, 283 (40%) responded to the survey, and 201 were involved in infection prevention. Most respondents were adult infectious diseases physicians (n = 228, 80%) with at least 15 years of experience (n = 174, 63%). Respondents were well distributed among community, academic, and nonuniversity teaching facilities (Table 1). Most respondents reported that their facility routinely used CP for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, 66%) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE, 69%), compared to 93% and 92% respectively, in the 2014 survey. Nearly all (>90%) reported using contact precautions for Candida auris, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp, but there was variability in the use of contact precautions for carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing gram-negative organisms. In 2014, 81% reported that their hospital performed active surveillance testing for MRSA, and in 2022 this rate fell to 54% (Table 2). The duration of contact precautions varied by MDRO (Table 3). Compared to 2014, in 2022 facilities were less likely to use contact precautions indefinitely for MRSA (18% vs 6%) and VRE (31% vs 11%). Also, 180 facilities (90%) performed chlorhexidine bathing in at least some inpatients and 106 facilities (53%) used ultraviolet light or hydrogen peroxide vapor disinfection at discharge in some rooms. Furthermore, 89 facilities (44%) reported institutional changes to contact precautions policies after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that remain in place. Conclusions: Use of contact precautions for patients with MDROs is heterogenous, and policies vary based on the organism. Although most hospitals still routinely use contact precautions for MRSA and VRE, this practice has declined substantially since 2014. Changes in contact-precaution policies may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and more specifically, contemporary public health guidance is needed to define who requires contact precautions and for what duration.

Disclosures: None

Initial specimen diversion devices (ISDDs) are a potential solution for reducing blood-culture contamination rates. We report the implementation of an ISDD associated with a sustained reduction in blood-culture contamination rates for >18 months after implementation. We did not observe a clinically significant reduction in inpatient vancomycin usage.