The extent to which gender neutral and gendered nouns impact differently upon native French speakers’ gender representations was examined through a yes-no forced choice task. Swiss (Experiment 1) and Québec (Experiment 2) French-speaking participants were presented with word pairs composed of a gendered first name (e.g., Thomas) and a role (e.g., doctor), and tasked to indicate whether they believed that [first name] could be one of the [role]. Roles varied according to gender stereotypicality (feminine, masculine, non-stereotyped), and were either in a plural masculine (interpretable as generic) or gender neutral (epicenes and group nouns) form. The results indicated that the use of gender neutral forms of roles avoided a strong male bias found for the masculine forms, and that both gender neutral and masculine forms used equal cognitive resources. Further, stereotype effects associated with both gender-neutral and grammatically masculine forms were quite small (<1%). These results were highly reliable across both Swiss French and Québec speakers. Our study suggests that gender neutral forms are strong alternatives to the use of the masculine form as default value.

Background:Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast that is transmitted in healthcare facilities and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Environmental contamination is suspected to play an important role in transmission but additional information is needed to inform environmental cleaning recommendations to prevent spread. Methods: We conducted a multiregional (Chicago, IL; Irvine, CA) prospective study of environmental contamination associated with C. auris colonization of patients and residents of 4 long-term care facilities and 1 acute-care hospital. Participants were identified by screening or clinical cultures. Samples were collected from participants’ body sites (eg, nares, axillae, inguinal creases, palms and fingertips, and perianal skin) and their environment before room cleaning. Daily room cleaning and disinfection by facility environmental service workers was followed by targeted cleaning of high-touch surfaces by research staff using hydrogen peroxide wipes (see EPA-approved product for C. auris, List P). Samples were collected immediately after cleaning from high-touch surfaces and repeated at 4-hour intervals up to 12 hours. A pilot phase (n = 12 patients) was conducted to identify the value of testing specific high-touch surfaces to assess environmental contamination. High-yield surfaces were included in the full evaluation phase (n = 20 patients) (Fig. 1). Samples were submitted for semiquantitative culture of C. auris and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacterales (ESBLs), and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Times to room surface contamination with C. auris and other MDROs after effective cleaning were analyzed. Results:Candida auris colonization was most frequently detected in the nares (72%) and palms and fingertips (72%). Cocolonization of body sites with other MDROs was common (Fig. 2). Surfaces located close to the patient were commonly recontaminated with C. auris by 4 hours after cleaning, including the overbed table (24%), bed handrail (24%), and TV remote or call button (19%). Environmental cocontamination was more common with resistant gram-positive organisms (MRSA and, VRE) than resistant gram-negative organisms (Fig. 3). C. auris was rarely detected on surfaces located outside a patient’s room (1 of 120 swabs; <1%). Conclusions: Environmental surfaces near C. auris–colonized patients were rapidly recontaminated after cleaning and disinfection. Cocolonization of skin and environment with other MDROs was common, with resistant gram-positive organisms predominating over gram-negative organisms on environmental surfaces. Limitations include lack of organism sequencing or typing to confirm environmental contamination was from the room resident. Rapid recontamination of environmental surfaces after manual cleaning and disinfection suggests that alternate mitigation strategies should be evaluated.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

ABSTRACT IMPACT: This study identifies potential areas for community and clinical interventions to improve eye and vision health. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The ‘All Eyes on Us’ study sought to understand perceptions of and barriers to eye and vision care, of residents over the age of 40 in the Broadway/Slavic Village neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio. The goal of this study was to identify potential areas for community and clinical interventions to improve eye health. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Residents of the Broadway/Slavic Village neighborhood, an ethnically diverse, low socioeconomic status, neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio were recruited from, and with the assistance of, University Settlement, a nonprofit that has been providing services to the neighborhood since 1926. The project’s Community Advisory Board assisted with the development of a semi-structured interview guide over the course of three meetings. Sixty interviews were completed, 30 with self-identified European Americans and 30 with self-identified African-Americans, all over the age of 40. Two research team members coded the interview transcripts and a thematic analysis was conducted. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Participants identified barriers to obtaining eye and vision care for themselves as well as perceived barriers for others, including transportation, cost, insurance status, clinic locations, lack of education around eye and vision care, fear, forgetfulness, and priority management. To encourage people to go to the eye doctor more often, participants mentioned strategies related to access issues including lowering the cost of exams, operating on a sliding scale, improving insurance coverage, transportation services, and having mobile units that deployed to specific neighborhoods or senior centers. Additionally, participants suggested education and increasing awareness about the importance of eye and vision care. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Participants in this study identified that accessibility to and awareness about eye health and eye care is an issue. Interventions to address both access issues such as location, cost, and insurance as well as those that increase education could increase engagement with eye and vision care.

Previous genetic association studies have failed to identify loci robustly associated with sepsis, and there have been no published genetic association studies or polygenic risk score analyses of patients with septic shock, despite evidence suggesting genetic factors may be involved. We systematically collected genotype and clinical outcome data in the context of a randomized controlled trial from patients with septic shock to enrich the presence of disease-associated genetic variants. We performed genomewide association studies of susceptibility and mortality in septic shock using 493 patients with septic shock and 2442 population controls, and polygenic risk score analysis to assess genetic overlap between septic shock risk/mortality with clinically relevant traits. One variant, rs9489328, located in AL589740.1 noncoding RNA, was significantly associated with septic shock (p = 1.05 × 10–10); however, it is likely a false-positive. We were unable to replicate variants previously reported to be associated (p < 1.00 × 10–6 in previous scans) with susceptibility to and mortality from sepsis. Polygenic risk scores for hematocrit and granulocyte count were negatively associated with 28-day mortality (p = 3.04 × 10–3; p = 2.29 × 10–3), and scores for C-reactive protein levels were positively associated with susceptibility to septic shock (p = 1.44 × 10–3). Results suggest that common variants of large effect do not influence septic shock susceptibility, mortality and resolution; however, genetic predispositions to clinically relevant traits are significantly associated with increased susceptibility and mortality in septic individuals.

Agricultural service providers often work closely with producers, and are well positioned to include weather and climate change information in the services they provide. By doing so, they can help producers reduce risks due to climate variability and change. A national survey of United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) field staff (n = 4621) was conducted in 2016. The survey was designed to assess FSA employees’ use of climate and weather-related data and explore their perspectives on climate change, attitudes toward adaptation and concerns regarding climate- and weather-driven risks. Two structural equation models were developed to explore relationships between these factors, and to predict respondents’ willingness to integrate climate and weather data into their professional services in the future. The two models were compared with assess the relative influence of respondents’ current use of weather and climate information. Findings suggest that respondents’ perceptions of weather-related risk in combination with their personal observations of weather variability help predict whether an individual intends to use weather and climate information in the future. Importantly, climate change belief is not a significant predictor of this intention; however, the belief that producers will have to adapt to climate change in order to remain viable is. Surprisingly, whether or not an individual currently uses weather and climate information is not a good predictor of whether they intend to in the future. This suggests that there are opportunities to increase employee exposure and proficiency with weather and climate information to meet the needs of American farmers by helping them to reduce risk.

To illuminate which features of an unpredictable environment early in life best forecast adolescent and adult functioning, data from two longitudinal studies were examined. After decomposing a composite unpredictability construct found to predict later development, results of both studies revealed that paternal transitions predicted outcomes more consistently and strongly than did residential or occupational changes across the first 5 years of a child's life. These results derive from analyses of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which included diverse families from 10 different sites in the United States, and from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, whose participants came from one site, were disproportionately economically disadvantaged, and were enrolled 15 years earlier than the NICHD Study sample. The finding that results from both studies are consistent with evolutionary, life history thinking regarding the importance of males in children's lives makes this general, cross-study replication noteworthy.

The population growth of endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) is not consistent with species recovery goals, and the impact of parasite infection on whooping crane populations is largely unknown. Disease ecology and epidemiology research of endangered species is often hindered by limited ability to conduct invasive sampling on the target taxa. Accordingly, we hypothesized that sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) would be a useful surrogate species to investigate the health impacts of Haemosporida infection in whooping cranes. Our goal was to compare the prevalence and diversity of Haemosporida infection between whooping cranes and sandhill cranes. We detected an overall infection prevalence of 83·6% (n = 61) in whooping cranes and 59·6% (n = 47) and 63·6 (n = 22) in two sympatric sandhill crane populations captured in Texas. Prevalence was significantly lower in allopatric sandhill cranes captured in New Mexico (12·1%, n = 33). Haemoproteus antigonis was the most abundant haemoparasite in cranes, present in 57·4% of whooping cranes and 39·2% of sandhill cranes; Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon were present at significantly lower levels. The high prevalence of Haemosporida in whooping cranes and sympatric sandhill cranes, with shared parasite lineages between the two species, supports sandhill cranes as a surrogate species for understanding health threats to endangered whooping cranes.

The World Health Organization announced in November 2014 at the fourth international meeting on ‘the control of neglected zoonotic diseases – from advocacy to action’, that intervention tools for eliminating Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis (TSTC) are in place. The aim of this work was to elucidate theoretical outcomes of various control options suggested for TSTC elimination in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over a 4-year period. Our current knowledge regarding T. solium epidemiology and control primarily builds on studies from Latin America. A simple transmission model – built on data from Latin America – has been used to predict the effect of various interventions such as mass treatment of humans, vaccination and treatment of pigs, and health education of communities, potentially leading to change in bad practices and reducing transmission risks. Based on simulations of the transmission model, even a 4-year integrated One Health approach fails to eliminate TSTC from a small community and in all simulations, the prevalence of human taeniosis and porcine cysticercosis start to rise as soon as the programmes end. Our current knowledge regarding transmission and burden of TSTC in SSA is scarce and while claiming to be tool ready, the selection of diagnostic and surveillance tools, as well as the algorithms and stepwise approaches for control and elimination of TSTC remain major challenges.