Amount Of Input Research Articles

A digital-twin for rapid simulation of modular Direct Air Capture systems

There has been tremendous recent interest in Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems. A key part of any DAC system are the multiple air intake units. In particular, the arrangement of such units for optimal capture and sequestration is critical. Accordingly, this work develops an easy to use model for a modular unit system, where an approximate flow field is computed for each unit and the aggregate flow field is developed by summing the fields from each unit. This allows for a modular framework that can be used for rapid simulation and design of an overall DAC system. The rapid rate at which these simulations can be completed enables the ability to explore inverse problems seeking to determine which parameter combinations can deliver the maximum sequestration of tracer plume particles for the minimum amount of energy input. In order to cast the objective mathematically, we set up an inverse as a Machine Learning Algorithm (MLA); specifically a Genetic MLA (G-MLA) variant, which is well-suited for nonconvex optimization. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the framework.

Preparation of eggshell-based materials and their adsorption performance on Fe(III) in water*

Abstract If there is too much trivalent iron in the body, it will disrupt the balance of osmotic pressure inside the body, and its heavy metal properties will denature proteins. Therefore, effective management of industrial pollution source wastewater is very important for environmental protection and human’s health. Calcium carbonate particles have a good ability to adsorb trivalent iron in wastewater. The aim is to prepare porous calcium carbonate by a template method using eggshell powder, hydrochloric acid, sodium stearate, and anhydrous sodium carbonate solution as the raw materials and research the adsorption properties of porous calcium carbonate to trivalent iron. Porous calcium carbonate was prepared by a template method using eggshell powder, hydrochloric acid, sodium stearate, and anhydrous sodium carbonate solution as the raw materials. The morphology and adsorptive properties of Fe (III) of the porous calcium carbonate were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV-visible spectrophotometer (UV). The best value was found between different temperatures, time, and pH. The results verified that the maximum amount of adsorption was obtained when calcination was 400°C, pH was 5, time was 60 min, and the input amount was 20 mg. The adsorption of porous calcium carbonate to Fe (III) is chemical and has a better adsorption effect.

Penguin-Driven Dissemination and High Enrichment of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Lake Sediments across Antarctica.

Numerous penguins can propagate pathogens with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) into Antarctica. However, the effects of penguin dissemination on the lake ARGs still have received little attention via guano deposition. Here, we have profiled ARGs in ornithogenic sediments subject to penguin guano (OLS) and nonornithogenic sediments (NOLS) from 16 lakes across Antarctica. A total of 191 ARGs were detected in all sediment samples, with a much higher abundance and diversity in OLS than in NOLS. Surprisingly, highly diverse and abundant ARGs were found in the OLS with a detection frequency of >40% and an absolute abundance of (2.34 × 109)-(4.98 × 109) copies g-1, comparable to those in coastal estuarine sediments and pig farms. The strong correlations of identified resistance genes with penguin guano input amount, environmental factors, mobile genetic elements, and bacterial community, in conjunction with network and redundancy analyses, all indicated that penguins were responsible for the dissemination and high enrichment of ARGs in lake sediments via the guano deposition, which might greatly outweigh local human-activity effects. Our results revealed that ARGs could be carried into lakes across the Antarctica through penguin migration, food chains, and guano deposition, which were closely connected with the widespread pollution of ARGs at the global scale.

Modeling of solar radiation and sub-canopy light regime on forest inventory plots of mixed conifer and deciduous temperate forests using point clouds from personal laser scanning

Solar radiation is a major driver of forest ecosystems and affects the hydrological cycle and energy balance. The vitality of trees strongly depends on the amount of light input to individual trees, and successful forest regeneration demands a certain level of solar radiation. Therefore, characterization of the light regime inside a plant canopy (i.e., quantification and timing of light penetration) is of particular importance. Because these parameters greatly depend on the 3D structure of the forest canopy, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems provide suitable technology for solving this task. In this study, an algorithm was developed to estimate the amount of potential solar radiation reaching the forest floor from a point cloud collected in a temperate mixed forest located in Lanzenkirchen (Lower Austria) using terrestrial LiDAR. The path length through the canopy was calculated for 40 forest inventory plots as the distance between the first and last canopy hit along a sun ray, that is, for each day during the vegetation period at an hourly resolution. This distance was easily derived from the z-coordinates of the point cloud after transforming the latter into a coordinate system in which the z-axis ran parallel to the sun rays. Applying Beer’s law, the amount of solar radiation on the forest floor was expressed as a function of the solar radiation above the canopy and the path length through the canopy. To validate the results, we used two sets of reference data: (1) hemispherical photographs taken at the same plots, using a camera on a self-levelling mount, which were processed with the HemiView software, and (2) data from a Solariscope survey. Both the Solariscope and HemiView software calculate below-canopy radiation as a percentage of above-canopy radiation, joining direct and diffuse radiation (Total Site Factor, TSF). The TSF values obtained from our modeling procedure were consistent with the Solariscope (R²=0.61) and HemiView (R²=0.71) results for the entire growing season. Because modern LiDAR-based forest inventories provide all the necessary data for our light modeling approach (the point cloud, the geographical position, and a record of the occurring tree species) without additional requirements, together with the easy applicability of the algorithm, this tool is a promising asset for ecological and silvicultural activities.

Stabilization of lead (Pb)- and arsenic (As)-contaminated soil using pen shells (Atrina pectinata).

Pen shells (PS), a type of shellfish, are abundantly consumed, and their inedible shell residues are often discarded near the coast without consideration of reutilization. This study sought to investigate the use of natural pen shells (NPS) and calcined pen shells (CPS) to stabilize Pb and As-contaminated soil. During the investigation, NPS and CPS were applied to the contaminated soil in amounts ranging from 1 to 10 wt% and cured for 28days. After the curing process, the mineral phase was examined through X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analysis. The XRD and SEM-EDX results revealed the presence of riversideite and ettringite, which contribute to Pb and As stabilization in the CPS-treated soil. The leachability of Pb and As in the treated soil was further examined with three types of chemical extraction methods. Extraction results using 0.1M HCl displayed a notable pH fluctuation in the extractant due to the residual amendments (NPS and CPS). The fluctuation resulted in a strong correlation of leached Pb and As with the pH of the extractant, which might hinder an accurate assessment of stabilization. In order to minimize the effect of pH, an EDTA-NH4OAc extraction was employed, suggesting its potential as a suitable assessment method. EDTA-NH4OAc extraction showed a higher effectiveness of CPS than NPS at 10 wt% of input amounts. In the SBET extraction, that uses a strongly acidic solution, a higher As leachability was observed by increasing the addition of CPS, which implied a CPS-related chemical fixation mechanism. The comparison of various extraction methods showed a higher CPS effectiveness as compared to NPS. However, it was recommended that CPS-treated soil required caution in strongly acidic conditions, especially for arsenic. This study explores the applicability of PS, which has not been investigated as an amendment for Pb and As-contaminated soil previously. Furthermore, this study revealed that utilization of various extraction methods is beneficial for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the role of CaCO3-based amendment in Pb and As-contaminated soil.

Hybrid analysis of radiative corrections to neutron decay with current algebra and effective field theory

We introduce a useful framework for high-precision studies of the neutron beta decay by merging the current algebra description and the fixed-order effective field theory calculation of the electroweak radiative corrections to the neutron axial form factor. We discuss the advantages of this hybrid method and show that it only requires a minimal amount of lattice QCD inputs to achieve a 10−4 theory accuracy for the Standard Model prediction of the neutron lifetime and the axial-to-vector coupling ratio λ, both important to the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.

Enhanced plant litter impacts nematode communities and carbon use efficiency in a mixed forest

Abstract Rising temperatures and higher atmospheric CO2 levels can potentially increase plant photosynthesis and boost forest productivity, thereby spurring litter inputs to soils on a global scale. Understanding the feedback loops between increased litter inputs and soil biota activity will allow for better prediction of organic matter and carbon (C) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Nematodes represent the full spectrum of trophic groups within the soil biota. Accordingly, we studied the link between nematode metabolic activities and plant litter input. For this, different litter input levels were manipulated in a temperate forest, including control zones without litter, natural litter input zones and zones with double, triple and quadruple amounts of natural litter input. Soil top layers (0–10 cm) were then collected to study the responses of nematode communities. Increased litter input positively influenced the abundance and diversity of nematodes, except for plant‐parasitic species. Higher litter input levels led to an enhancement in the ratio of bacterivores to the total of bacterivores and fungivores. More litter increased the K/r strategist ratio among bacterivores and the corresponding nematode metabolic footprints. More litter also stimulated nematode production and respiration components and improved the carbon use efficiency of bacterivores. Moreover, structural equation modelling revealed the crucial role of bacterivores in influencing soil organic C under increased litter input. In conclusion, our study shows that increased plant above‐ground litter input modifies the taxonomic and functional communities of soil nematodes, ultimately regulating carbon cycling in forest soils. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

A single-sample workflow for joint metabolomic and proteomic analysis of clinical specimens

Understanding the interplay of the proteome and the metabolome helps to understand cellular regulation and response. To enable robust inferences from such multi-omics analyses, we introduced and evaluated a workflow for combined proteome and metabolome analysis starting from a single sample. Specifically, we integrated established and individually optimized protocols for metabolomic and proteomic profiling (EtOH/MTBE and autoSP3, respectively) into a unified workflow (termed MTBE-SP3), and took advantage of the fact that the protein residue of the metabolomic sample can be used as a direct input for proteome analysis. We particularly evaluated the performance of proteome analysis in MTBE-SP3, and demonstrated equivalence of proteome profiles irrespective of prior metabolite extraction. In addition, MTBE-SP3 combines the advantages of EtOH/MTBE and autoSP3 for semi-automated metabolite extraction and fully automated proteome sample preparation, respectively, thus advancing standardization and scalability for large-scale studies. We showed that MTBE-SP3 can be applied to various biological matrices (FFPE tissue, fresh-frozen tissue, plasma, serum and cells) to enable implementation in a variety of clinical settings. To demonstrate applicability, we applied MTBE-SP3 and autoSP3 to a lung adenocarcinoma cohort showing consistent proteomic alterations between tumour and non-tumour adjacent tissue independent of the method used. Integration with metabolomic data obtained from the same samples revealed mitochondrial dysfunction in tumour tissue through deregulation of OGDH, SDH family enzymes and PKM. In summary, MTBE-SP3 enables the facile and reliable parallel measurement of proteins and metabolites obtained from the same sample, benefiting from reduced sample variation and input amount. This workflow is particularly applicable for studies with limited sample availability and offers the potential to enhance the integration of metabolomic and proteomic datasets.Graphical

Evaluation of the Efficiency of Long-Term Care Services in OECD Countries by DEA Method

Objective: This research aims to measure the efficiency of health services by using health indicators of OECD countries, to determine inefficiencies of countries that are not at the efficient border, to calculate idle use, and to determine super-efficiency values of countries at active borders. Methods: In the research, DEA was conducted using an input-oriented CCR model to measure the performance of the OECD countries in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. In the research, three input and two output variables were used. R Studio package programs were used for the analysis of research data. Results: It is seen that the productivity average of 15 countries is 0.81. 5 out of 16 countries have been identified as active. Finally, it has been determined that Hungary, with a super-efficiency value of 17.18, can still be on an efficient border even if it increases its input amounts 16 times. Conclusion: A notable observation is that some OECD countries with developed economies allocate substantial resources to long-term care services, and their capacities are at sufficiently high levels. It is recommended that low-productivity countries should reduce the idle use of input resources to increase their productivity.

Deep tillage combined with straw biochar return increases rice yield by improving nitrogen availability and root distribution in the subsoil

ContextAfter over 20 years of practicing shallow rotary tillage combined with straw direct return in the middle and lower Yangtze regions of China, the yield potential has gradually disappeared, and new alternative tillage practices are required to continuously increase rice yield. ObjectiveThis paper investigates the yield effect and mechanism of deep tillage combined with straw return through two consecutive years of a field experiment. MethodsThree tillage depths (shallow tillage 6–7 cm, ST; medium tillage 12–14 cm, MT; and deep tillage 25–28 cm, DT) plus three straw management methods (no straw return, NR; straw direct return, SR; and straw biochar return based on the same amount of carbon input as SR, BR) were set up as experiment treatments. The aboveground and belowground growth traits of rice and soil nitrogen (N) status were determined. ResultsCompared with ST and MT, the DT enlarged rice root distribution and increased soil N content in the middle and lower soil layers (7–28 cm) and decreased the root–shoot ratio at the flowering stage, which was conducive to absorbing more soil nutrients from the subsoil and allocating more photosynthetic products to the aboveground parts and grain. The MT and DT increased spike number and rice yield compared with ST. Compared with NR, both SR and BR increased soil total and available N contents, and the remaining soil available N content at the harvest stage of BR was lower than that of SR. Straw return (SR and BR) improved rice yield by increasing spike number and kernels per spike, and the effect of BR on increasing rice yield was greater than that of SR. ConclusionsThe DT combined with BR increased root distribution and N content in the subsoil, promoted the utilization of subsoil's nutrients, and increased rice yield. It is therefore a promising tillage practice for achieving high rice yields.

Comparing Different Methods That Measure Bilingual Children’s Language Environment: A Closer Look at Audio Recordings and Questionnaires

The quantity of language input is a relevant predictor of children’s language development and is frequently used as a variable in child bilingualism research. Studies use various methods to measure bilingual language input quantity, but it is currently unknown what the optimal method is. We investigated the bilingual language input estimates of 31 Turkish–Dutch and 21 Polish–Dutch 3- to 5-year-old bilingual children, obtained via the questionnaire for Quantifying Bilingual Experience (Q-BEx) and day-long audio recordings made with Language Environment Analysis (LENA), and proposed a combined method that could overcome several shortcomings of the individual methods. The three methods are compared to each other in their correlation strength with receptive and expressive vocabulary scores. Each individual method correlated significantly with vocabulary scores, regardless of modality or language. Contrary to our hypothesis, the combined method did not correlate stronger with vocabulary outcomes than the Q-BEx and LENA individually did. The latter two did not differ significantly from each other in their correlational strength with vocabulary outcomes. These findings show that both the Q-BEx, LENA, and combined method can be deemed reliable to measure bilingual language input quantity. Future studies can make more informed decisions about their methodology in children’s bilingualism research.

EXPLORING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PROFILE CHARACTERISTICS AND AWARENESS ON RBK SERVICES ALONG WITH SUGGESTIONS GIVEN BY FARMERS

Rythu Bharosa Kendras also called as Farmer Assurance Centres are the one stop solutions introduced by government of Andhra Pradesh in 2020 aiming comprehensive support to farmers. RBKs have not only brought all services to farmers' doorsteps but have also integrated the latest digital technology. The present study was conducted with a sample size of 120 farmers in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. The main aim for conducting study was to find the awareness level of farmers on all the services provided by these centres. The study findings depicted that a significant portion 76.66 per cent of farmers are having medium level awareness which is followed by 14.17 per cent at low level and 9.17 per cent with high-level of awareness. The correlation coefficient indicated that factors like education level and interaction with extension agencies, the frequency and purpose of visits, mass media exposure, social participation, achievement motivation, and innovative proneness exhibited a strongly significant correlation with awareness level. Alongside farmers provided suggestions for fair distribution of adequate quantity of inputs, providing market for wide crop varieties, to improve access to organic inputs, improving the competency of village agriculture assistants by necessary trainings and timely disposal of rythu bharosa income.

The effects of thinning on carbon and nutrient fluxes input into forest floor via litterfall in black pine afforestation sites.

As a component of the biogeochemical cycle, litterfall contributes carbon and nutrients to forest ecosystems by transferring organic material to mineral soil. Litterfall therefore serves as an important indicator for soil fertility and ecosystem health. This study aimed to determine the impact of different levels of thinning (light, moderate, and heavy) on litterfall quantity (needles, branches, bark, cones, and miscellaneous parts) and on the amount of carbon and nutrients entering the ecosystem in black pine afforestation areas. Three levels of low thinning, namely light, moderate, and heavy thinning (15%, 25%, and 35% of breast height area, respectively), were applied as treatments. Additionally, a control plot was included in the experiment. Litterfall samples were collected four times per year (once per season) from 12 treatment plots for three years. In the laboratory, dry weight measurements and analyses of carbon and macro-micro nutrient elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Na, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mn) were performed on litterfall samples taken from the field. Differences between treatments in terms of litterfall and the amount of carbon and nutrient elements entering the ecosystem were evaluated through variance analysis and the Duncan test. According to the findings, the quantity of litterfall input into the forest floor was highest in the control treatment, at 6,543kgha-1year-1 and lowest in the heavy treatment, at 4,378kgha-1year-1, showing a significant variation in litterfall quantity. The input of C to the soil ranged between 2,233kgha-1year-1 and 3,347kgha-1year-1 depending on thinning treatment. Although thinning treatment reduced C input to the soil, there was no significant difference among treatments. This also applied to nutrient elements such as N, P, K, Mg, and S. Needles constituted the majority of litterfall components (60%) and had the highest C density among all components, at 51.2%. The weighted carbon ratio for litterfall was calculated at 50.8%. Considering carbon-focused planning, performing moderate thinning interventions in the study area or similar pine-afforested areas may be a suitable option for maintaining the sustainability and health of the forest.

Accelerated Bridge Construction Case: A Novel Low-Carbon and Assembled Composite Bridge Scheme

Modern bridge construction towards a higher degree of low carbonization and assembly has been the general trend, while developing and broadening the low-carbon and assembled-oriented Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) technology can better realize the trade-offs between construction quality, efficiency, cost and sustainability. In the current mainstream ABC technologies such as precast-assembled concrete bridge and assembled steel bridge schemes, it is difficult to achieve an excellent balance between the above multicriterion trade-offs. To this end, this paper proposes a novel low-carbon and assembled composite bridge scheme as an innovative case of ABC technology based on a 26.7 km-length urban viaduct project in China with urgent environmental protection and assembly demands. Construction sustainability, the comprehensive economy and low-carbon performance are well balanced by the collaborative application of new steel–concrete composite structures, the rapid assembly interface design and low-carbon material technologies. The proposed scheme has been applied to a completed real-scale bridge, and the whole construction process only experienced 105 days of effective time, accompanied with slight environmental interference and construction noise and a small amount of labor and equipment input. In addition, the safety of the bridge, the rationality of the design concept and the calculation method have been verified by the static and dynamic loading tests of the real-scale bridge.

PATH-08. PRE-OPERATIVE TUMOUR CLASSIFICATION USING NANOPORE SEQUENCING OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

Abstract BACKGROUND The introduction of tumour classification by analysis of DNA methylation has changed the landscape of paediatric neuro-oncology. With the launch of Oxford Nanopore sequencing, generation of sequencing data is possible in real-time, including information on base-modifications. Diverse classification tools for tumour tissue have been developed recently. While this is an important step towards optimization of surgical treatment, pre-operative knowledge on tumour entity would further facilitate surgical planning. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of liquid biopsy for rapid pre-operative tumour classification. METHODS CSF samples from patients with pre-operative extra-ventricular drain (EVD) (n = 5) as well as samples obtained via Ommaya reservoirs in cases of suspected recurrence (n = 3) were analysed. Additionally, samples from non-tumour patients (epilepsy, inflammation) who had lumbar puncture were available as controls. Samples were sequenced on MinIon devices (Oxford Nanopore) and subsequently classified with previously published tumour tissue classification pipelines (NanoDx, crossNN, Sturgeon). RESULTS Even though CSF derived from EVD has been stored on room temperature for up to 72 hours before processing, cfDNA isolation was possible with the advantage of higher CSF input amounts. DNA fragments showed a distribution characteristic for cell-free DNA, with a maximum peak at 170bp. The amount of total input DNA ranged from 0.35ng to 12ng, with higher input amounts generating more sequencing data but not resulting in better classification. Classification by sturgeon and crossNN/nanoDx using CSF derived cfDNA was possible in exemplary cases, such as a medulloblastoma patient with a new inoperable lesion, where CSF analysis resulted in medulloblastoma Group 4 within the first hour of sequencing. In total, 38% of samples were correctly classified. CONCLUSION Liquid biopsy as a method to pre-operatively classify tumours and thereby enable risk-adjusted surgery is feasible. Ongoing efforts focus on optimisation of ctDNA based tumour classification by extension of the cohort.

New York state, regional and county level nitrogen and phosphorus balances for harvested cropland

New York (NY) state is one of five states that collectively produce >50% of the annual milk supply within the United States. The local environment allows farmers to integrate crop and livestock systems, facilitating cycling of manure nutrients back to cropland. Thus, dairy provides NY with benefits, opportunities, and challenges in terms of environmental sustainability, climate resiliency, and a circular agricultural economy. Improved balancing of crop nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) needs and supply with manure and fertilizer, is key for a circular agricultural economy. The objectives of this study were to calculate and evaluate (1) regional and county level N and P balances of harvested cropland; and (2) contribution of manure to a circular agricultural economy for NY. Nutrient balances were calculated for 2017 (most recent Census year) as the difference in the amount of nutrient input through purchased fertilizer and recoverable manure, and the amount removed in harvested crops. Atmospheric N deposition and legume N fixation, and manure nutrient losses during collection, transfer, storage, and treatment were estimated too. The 2017 P balance was 10 kg P ha−1 (9 lb. P ac−1). The N balance was between 39 kg N ha−1 (35 lb. N ac−1) and 95 kg N ha−1 (85 lb. N ac−1), depending on the proportion of legume cropland assumed to receive manure. Redistribution and application of manure to meet P-removal on non-legume cropland only leaves a surplus of 3 kg P ha−1 (3 lb. P ac−1). Applying surplus manure to legume and non-legume cropland results in a slight, state-level, P deficit. In both scenarios, the large N deficit that cannot be met through legume N fixation alone indicates purchased fertilizer is required. These results show NY’s ability to capitalize on the value of manure without excessive risk to the environment. Greater circularity of agricultural production in NY will need to consider benefits and trade-offs of applying manure to legume cropland. As milk production increases in the state, implementation of advanced manure treatment, storage, and manure application and livestock feeding practices will be needed to increase the circularity and sustainability of the agricultural sector in NY.

Managerial myopia and corporate innovation strategy

We investigate the consequences of managerial myopia on both the quantity of innovation input and the quality of innovation outputs in China. Managerial myopia not only leads to a reduction in R&D investment but also results in a deterioration in the outputs, captured by the decrease in those substantive innovations and the degradation of patents’ knowledge breadth. Encouragingly, effective corporate governance mechanisms tend to mitigate the adverse effects of managerial myopia on innovation, but external pressures from stock market and product market may prompt myopic management to hastily engage in R&D efforts, but with further deterioration in innovation quality.

Analysis of energy input-output in direct seeded and transplantation cultivation of rice under different irrigation systems

Energy input-output assessment for crop production processes is becoming increasingly important due to increased energy demand. This study explored the energy consumption for puddled transplanted (PTR), un-puddled transplanted (UPTR), and direct-seeded rice (DSR) cultivation methods under sprinkler, flood and drip irrigation systems in Golestan province, Iran, during 2019 and 2020. The energy of inputs and outputs were calculated using energy equivalents. Then, using input energy values, the global warming potential (GWP) was determined based on the equivalent of carbon dioxide (CO2). According to the results, the highest amount of yield was obtained for permanent flood irrigation with PTR. The results of mean comparison of cultivation method showed that the highest and lowest amounts of energy input were obtained for PTR (32418 MJ/ha) and UPTR (28175 MJ/ha), respectively. Also, the amounts of indices of energy use efficiency (EUE), energy productivity (EP) and net energy (NE) in DSR were lower than transplanted treatments. The results of mean comparison showed that the lowest amount of GWP was related to UPTR. The results of this study showed that drip irrigation with UPTR cultivation (due to less energy input and a yield close to PTR) can be a technology to save water and energy.

Sentence repetition task for European Portuguese: results from a study with monolingual and Portuguese-German bilingual children

ABSTRACT The Sentence Repetition Task (SRT) is an assessment tool for children’s language abilities, which has been used in various languages and speaker types. The present study adapted the LITMUS-SRT to European Portuguese (EP) and applied it to 43 monolingual and 25 bilingual heritage speakers of EP with German as societal language (aged 6 to 10 years), in order to evaluate their knowledge of various syntactic properties, which differ in their level of complexity. Additionally, it also assessed the effect of language experience variables—that is, richness of the heritage language (HL) input and cumulative amount of HL exposure—on the performance of the bilingual children in the task. Results demonstrate that group (monolingual vs. bilingual), the children’s age and the level of complexity (with three levels) predict children’s accuracy scores. Furthermore, it is particularly in the highest levels of complexity that the bilingual children show more variation and more protracted development, with clitics and subjunctives being the most challenging linguistic properties. As for the role of the input-related variables, richness of the HL input, but not cumulative amount of exposure, emerged as a significant predictor of the bilingual children’s accuracy.

A highly sensitive, low input, and automated assay for molecular residual disease detection (MRD) using whole-genome sequencing (WGS).

3060 Background: Molecular residual disease (MRD) detection using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for solid tumors requires a highly sensitive and specific assay that can overcome the limitation of low abundance circulating-tumor DNA (ctDNA) in a standard blood draw with fast sample-to-answer turn-around time (TAT). Here we describe the development and analytical performance of Illumina’s TruSight Oncology MRD WGS assay (TSO MRD, for research use only), for detecting MRD using tumor-informed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of cfDNA extracted from plasma samples across multiple cancer types. Methods: The TSO MRD assay was built using Illumina’s best-in-class WGS library preparation, informatics and sequencing technologies. The assay is composed of two major steps, fingerprinting and ctDNA detection. At the fingerprinting step, the DNA from tumor tissue and matched normal samples is analyzed through WGS to generate a sample specific somatic variant list. At the ctDNA detection step, the cfDNA extracted from plasma is analyzed through shallow WGS and the presence of ctDNA is detected using the tumor specific fingerprint as an input in the MRD analysis pipeline. The plasma extraction and WGS library preparation workflows are fully automated for high-throughput sample processing with minimum hands-on time and touch points. Results: Testing of commercial MRD reference materials and ctDNA-positive samples serially diluted into normal cfDNA background demonstrated a limit of detection of down to 0.001% VAF or 10 parts per million (PPM) in multiple cancer types. Testing of a panel of normal plasma samples from healthy individuals assessed against 20 sets of fingerprints from multiple cancer types demonstrated an analytical specificity of 99.7%. Testing of ctDNA samples with multiple operators, instruments and library prep start days demonstrated high reproducibility in MRD detection. The ctDNA testing works at an optimal input amount of 5 ng and a minimum input amount down to 2 ng, which yields a high sample success rate from one standard 10 ml of blood draw. The TAT of the fingerprinting and the ctDNA detection steps is 5-7 days, respectively. Conclusions: The TSO MRD assay demonstrated high analytical sensitivity and specificity in detecting the presence of ctDNA from low input plasma samples with automated workflow and fast TAT. This assay enables a single streamlined solid tumor MRD platform for multiple cancer types.