Prisons are susceptible to outbreaks. Control measures focusing on isolation and cohorting negatively affect wellbeing. We present an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a large male prison in Wales, UK, October 2020 to April 2021, and discuss control measures.

We gathered case-information, including demographics, staff-residence postcode, resident cell number, work areas/dates, test results, staff interview dates/notes and resident prison-transfer dates. Epidemiological curves were mapped by prison location. Control measures included isolation (exclusion from work or cell-isolation), cohorting (new admissions and work-area groups), asymptomatic testing (case-finding), removal of communal dining and movement restrictions. Facemask use and enhanced hygiene were already in place. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and interviews determined the genetic relationship between cases plausibility of transmission.

Of 453 cases, 53% (n = 242) were staff, most aged 25–34 years (11.5% females, 27.15% males) and symptomatic (64%). Crude attack-rate was higher in staff (29%, 95% CI 26–64%) than in residents (12%, 95% CI 9–15%).

Whole-genome sequencing can help differentiate multiple introductions from person-to-person transmission in prisons. It should be introduced alongside asymptomatic testing as soon as possible to control prison outbreaks. Timely epidemiological investigation, including data visualisation, allowed dynamic risk assessment and proportionate control measures, minimising the reduction in resident welfare.

Understanding place-based contributors to health requires geographically and culturally diverse study populations, but sharing location data is a significant challenge to multisite studies. Here, we describe a standardized and reproducible method to perform geospatial analyses for multisite studies. Using census tract-level information, we created software for geocoding and geospatial data linkage that was distributed to a consortium of birth cohorts located throughout the USA. Individual sites performed geospatial linkages and returned tract-level information for 8810 children to a central site for analyses. Our generalizable approach demonstrates the feasibility of geospatial analyses across study sites to promote collaborative translational research.

We describe 14 yr of public data from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), an ongoing project that is producing precise measurements of pulse times of arrival from 26 millisecond pulsars using the 64-m Parkes radio telescope with a cadence of approximately 3 weeks in three observing bands. A comprehensive description of the pulsar observing systems employed at the telescope since 2004 is provided, including the calibration methodology and an analysis of the stability of system components. We attempt to provide full accounting of the reduction from the raw measured Stokes parameters to pulse times of arrival to aid third parties in reproducing our results. This conversion is encapsulated in a processing pipeline designed to track provenance. Our data products include pulse times of arrival for each of the pulsars along with an initial set of pulsar parameters and noise models. The calibrated pulse profiles and timing template profiles are also available. These data represent almost 21 000 h of recorded data spanning over 14 yr. After accounting for processes that induce time-correlated noise, 22 of the pulsars have weighted root-mean-square timing residuals of $<\!\!1\,\mu\text{s}$ in at least one radio band. The data should allow end users to quickly undertake their own gravitational wave analyses, for example, without having to understand the intricacies of pulsar polarisation calibration or attain a mastery of radio frequency interference mitigation as is required when analysing raw data files.

We read with interest the recent editorial, “The Hennepin Ketamine Study,” by Dr. Samuel Stratton commenting on the research ethics, methodology, and the current public controversy surrounding this study.1 As researchers and investigators of this study, we strongly agree that prospective clinical research in the prehospital environment is necessary to advance the science of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and emergency medicine. We also agree that accomplishing this is challenging as the prehospital environment often encounters patient populations who cannot provide meaningful informed consent due to their emergent conditions. To ensure that fellow emergency medicine researchers understand the facts of our work so they may plan future studies, and to address some of the questions and concerns in Dr. Stratton’s editorial, the lay press, and in social media,2 we would like to call attention to some inaccuracies in Dr. Stratton’s editorial, and to the lay media stories on which it appears to be based.

Ho JD, Cole JB, Klein LR, Olives TD, Driver BE, Moore JC, Nystrom PC, Arens AM, Simpson NS, Hick JL, Chavez RA, Lynch WL, Miner JR. The Hennepin Ketamine Study investigators’ reply. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2019;34(2):111–113

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: We aimed to develop an assay to measure new protein synthesis after Antisense Oligonucleotide treatment, which we hypothesized to be the earliest biochemical identification of RNA-targeting therapy efficacy. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We treated 2 transgenic animal models expressing proteins implicated in neurodegenerative disease: human tau protein (hTau) and human superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1), with ASO against these mRNA transcripts. Animals received isotope-labeled 13C6-Leucine via drinking water to label newly synthesized proteins. We assayed target protein synthesis and concentration after ASO treatment to determine the earliest identification of ASO target engagement. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: hTau ASO treatment in transgenic mice lowered hTau protein concentration 23 days post-treatment in cortex (95% CI: 0.05%–64.0% reduction). In the same tissue, we observed lowering of hTau protein synthesis as early as 13 days (95% CI: 29.4%–123%). In hSOD1 transgenic rats, we observed lowering of 13C6-leucine-labeled hSOD1 in the cerebrospinal fluid 30 days after ASO treatment compared with inactive ASO control (95% CI: 12.0%–48.4%). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: In progressive neurodegenerative diseases, it is crucial to develop measurements that identify treatment efficacy early to improve patient outcomes. These data support the use of stable isotope labeling of amino acids to measure new protein synthesis as an early pharmacodynamics measurement for therapies that target RNA and inhibit the translation of proteins.

Mental health support in Sierra Leone is sparse, and qualitative research into the feasibility of implementing psychological interventions is equally underdeveloped. Following the 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust were commissioned to develop a psychological intervention that UK clinicians could train national staff with minimal psychological experience to deliver to their peers. Following the completion of the stepped care, group-based cognitive–behavioural therapy intervention, qualitative interviews were conducted with the national team to identify key barriers and enablers to implementation of and engagement with this intervention. This article describes the key themes that came out of those interviews, and discusses the implications of these findings for future clinical teams.

A previously unresearched Early Bronze Age dagger-grave found in 1989 at Racton, West Sussex, is profiled here through a range of studies. The dagger, the only grave accompaniment, is of the ‘transitional’ Ferry Fryston type, this example being of bronze rather than copper. Bayesian analysis of relevant radiocarbon dates is used to refine the chronology of the earliest bronze in Britain. While the Ferry Fryston type was current in the earlier half of the twenty-second century bc, the first butt-riveted bronze daggers did not emerge until the second half. The Racton dagger is also distinguished by its elaborate rivet-studded hilt, an insular innovation with few parallels.

The excavated skeleton was that of a senior male, buried according to the appropriate rites of the time. Isotopic profiling shows an animal-protein rich diet that is typical for the period, but also the likelihood that he was brought up in a region of older silicate sedimentary rocks well to the west or north west of Racton. He had suffered injury at or close to the time of death; a slice through the distal end of his left humerus would have been caused by a fine-edged blade, probably a dagger. Death as a result of combat-contested leadership is explored in the light of other injuries documented among Early Bronze Age burials. Codified elite-level combat could help to explain the apparent incongruity between the limited efficacy of early dagger forms and their evident weapon-status.

Several chemicals were evaluated for their potential use in selectively killing cocklebur (Xanthium pensylvanicum Wallr.) seed in cocklebur-cottonseed (Gossypium hirsutum L.) mixtures. Reduction in cocklebur embryo viability from 64 to 100%, without injury to cottonseed, resulted from soaking seed in: (a) 20% ethyl or methyl acetate and 80% water for 3 to 15 min; (b) 35% methanol, 15% glacial acetic acid, and 50% water for 3 to 15 min; or (c) 50% methanol or ethanol, 20% glacial acetic acid, and 30% water for 15 to 30 sec. Evaluations of injury were based on tetrazolium tests, standard germination, germination in soil, and seedling dry weight.

Solution pH from 6.0 to 8.0 did not affect the germination of Italian ryegrass, ‘Pensacola bahiagrass,’ or common bermudagrass grown in petri dishes in growth chambers. Seeding intervals following metsulfuron methyl application varied from species to species and between soil types. Greenhouse studies indicated that in an Okolona silty clay, common bermudagrass should not be planted until 12 wk after metsulfuron methyl application. Italian ryegrass showed no metsulfuron methyl injury at the 6-wk sampling date when no lime was added, indicating reseeding was feasible at this time; however, a 12-wk time interval was not sufficient when lime was applied. Pensacola bahiagrass was injured when reseeded at 12 wk, regardless of liming rate. In a Prentiss fine sandy loam soil, common bermudagrass could be reseeded 12 wk after application when no lime was added, but not when lime was added. Italian ryegrass and Pensacola bahiagrass should not be reseeded for at least 12 wk, regardless of lime rate. Field experiments, where metsulfuron methyl was applied to the field and seeding was carried out in the greenhouse, indicated on the Okolona silty clay that common bermudagrass reseeding could occur at all liming rates after 3 wk, and Italian ryegrass and Pensacola bahiagrass after 6 wk. In the Prentiss fine sandy loam, common bermudagrass reseeding could occur at 3 wk, regardless of lime rate. Italian ryegrass emergence was not affected when reseeded immediately after metsulfuron methyl application, but height was reduced for longer periods, and increased lime rate lengthened this interval. Pensacola bahiagrass reseeding was feasible at 3 wk.

Analysis for total carbohydrate content was made on oven dried bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] dallisgrass (Paspalum dilatatum Poir.) and smutgrass [Sporobolus poiretii (R. & S.) Hitchc.] storage tissue collected at 2, 4, 6, or 36 weeks after fall treatment and at 2, 4, or 6 weeks after fall and spring treatment with three herbicides at varying rates. Those species that survived either fall or fall and spring herbicide application exhibited an initial reduction in carbohydrate content, but it returned to a level comparable to that in the untreated plants in most instances within 6 weeks after treatment. Atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine] at 4.48 and 8.96 kg/ha and bromacil (5-bromo-3-sec-butyl-6-methyluracil) at 2.24 and 4.48 kg/ha resulted in carbohydrate reduction in bermudagrass and dallisgrass for no more than 6 weeks except where both fall and spring treatments were used. Smutgrass was controlled with these two herbicides within 2 weeks so that not enough live tissue was available for analysis. There was no carbohydrate reduction in bermudagrass with the 2.24, 4.48, or 8.96 kg/ha rates of MSMA (monosodium methanearsonate) beyond 2 weeks following treatment. The carbohydrate content of smutgrass was reduced up to 6 weeks after treatment with MSMA, and dallisgrass was controlled at all rates so that no carbohydrate analysis could be made.

Angle/action based distribution function (DF) models can be optimised based on how well they reproduce observations thus revealing the current matter distribution in the Milky Way. Gaia data combined with data from other surveys, e.g. the RAVE/TGAS sample, and its full selection function will greatly improve their accuracy.

Green manure crops must produce high biomass to supply biological N, increase organic matter and control weeds. The objectives of our study were to assess above-ground biomass productivity and weed suppression of clover (Trifolium spp.) green manures in an organic soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]-winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-corn (Zea mays L.) rotation in eastern Nebraska in three cycles (2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14). Treatments were green manure species [red clover (T. pratense L.) and white clover (T. repens L.)] undersown into winter wheat in March and green manure mowing regime (one late summer mowing or no mowing). We measured wheat productivity and grain protein at wheat harvest, and clover and weed above-ground biomass as dry matter (DM) at wheat harvest, 35 days after wheat harvest, in October and in April before clover termination. Winter wheat grain yields and grain protein were not affected by undersown clovers. DM was higher for red than for white clover at most sampling times. Red clover produced between 0.4 and 5.5 Mg ha−1 in the fall and 0.4–5.2 Mg ha−1 in the spring. White clover produced between 0.1 and 2.5 Mg ha−1 in the fall and 0.2–3.1 Mg ha−1 in the spring. Weed DM was lower under red clover than under white clover at most sampling times. In the spring, weed DM ranged from 0.0 to 0.6 Mg ha−1 under red clover and from 0.0 to 3.1 Mg ha−1 under white clover. Mowing did not consistently affect clover or weed DM. For organic growers in eastern Nebraska, red clover undersown into winter wheat can be a productive green manure with good weed suppression potential.

We studied neuroinflammation in individuals with late-life, depression, as a risk factor for dementia, using [11C]PK11195 positron emission tomography (PET). Five older participants with major depression and 13 controls underwent PET and multimodal 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with blood taken to measure C-reactive protein (CRP). We found significantly higher CRP levels in those with late-life depression and raised [11C]PK11195 binding compared with controls in brain regions associated with depression, including subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and significant hippocampal subfield atrophy in cornu ammonis 1 and subiculum. Our findings suggest neuroinflammation requires further investigation in late-life depression, both as a possible aetiological factor and a potential therapeutic target.

This work provides new insights into human responses to and perceptions of sea-level rise at a time when the landscapes of north-west Europe were radically changing. These issues are investigated through a case study focused on the Channel Islands. We report on the excavation of two sites, Canal du Squez in Jersey and Lihou (GU582) in Guernsey, and the study of museum collections across the Channel Islands. We argue that people were drawn to this area as a result of the dynamic environmental processes occurring and the opportunities these created. The evidence suggests that the area was a particular focus during the Middle Mesolithic, when Guernsey and Alderney were already islands and while Jersey was a peninsula of northern France. Insularisation does not appear to have created a barrier to occupation during either the Middle or Final Mesolithic, indicating the appearance of lifeways increasingly focused on maritime voyaging and marine resources from the second half of the 9th millennium BC onwards.

This paper examines the relationship between the presence of symmetry and the Acheulean biface within a predominantly British Lower Palaeolithic context. There has been a long-standing notion within Palaeolithic studies that Acheulean handaxes are symmetrical and become increasingly so as time progress as a reflection of increasing hominin cognitive and behavioural complexity. Specifically, the presence of symmetry within Acheulean handaxes is often seen as one of the first examples of material culture being used to mediate social relationships. However, this notion has never been satisfactorily tested against a large data set. This paper seeks to address the issue by conducting an analysis of some 2680 bifaces across a chronological and geographical span. The results from the sample presented here are that symmetrical bifaces do not appear to have a particularly strong presence in any assemblage and do not appear to increase as time progress. These results have significant implications for modern researchers assessing the cognitive and behavioural complexities of Acheulean hominins.