Early Portion Research Articles

843. Targeted HIV Testing for Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 causes a severe respiratory illness known as COVID-19. Treatment options in the early portion of the COVID-19 pandemic included the use of antiretroviral agents i.e. protease inhibitors (PIs) such as lopinavir (LPV) that had been shown to have activity against the main proteases of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro but with very limited clinical data. Prior to the use of PIs, HIV testing would be indicated to ensure that patients who were not previously diagnosed with HIV would start appropriate HIV treatment. In this unique situation, HIV testing would be utilized not based on traditional HIV risk factors.MethodsWe performed a retrospective search from a specific systems database of patients admitted to Yale-New Haven Health System (YNHHS) with a diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. We identified a subset of patients who were HIV tested. Most were done prior to initiating PI treatment. Demographics, comorbidity scores and specific underlying conditions were also tabulated. We performed Kruskal Wallis and Chi-Squared analysis to test for significance between HIV- and HIV+ patients.ResultsThe total no. of patients admitted to the YNHHS with COVID-19 infection between the period from January 6, 2020 to January 6, 2021 was 5776. A cohort 964 (16.7%) patients were screened for HIV. Much of the testing occurred in the early COVID periods (Figure 1) when PIs were considered as part of the treatment algorithm. Sixty-seven (0.07%) patients tested HIV+ with 3 (0.003%) being newly diagnosed (Fig 2). Compared to HIV- patients, HIV+ were more likely to be identified as Black, with higher mean Elixhauser Comorbidity scores and significant associations with conditions such as hypertension, pulmonary disease, complicated diabetes, liver disease, renal failure and depression (Table 1). These co-morbidities have been correlated with higher risk of hospitalization for people living with HIV (PWH).Figure 2. COVID Admission and HIV Status The graph represents HIV testing results over the entire study period.Table 1. Demographics and Comorbidites Represents demographics and comorbidities of HIV- & HIV+ patientsFigure 1. COVID Admissions and HIV Testing COVID admissions over time and the performance of HIV testingConclusionThis is one of the first reports on targeted HIV testing for patients not using identifiable traditional HIV risk factors who were admitted to a large healthcare system for COVID19 infections. The percentage of newly HIV diagnosed patients from this cohort was considered to be < known HIV infection rates for our population. The majority of PWH were already established in care prior to their COVID19 diagnosis.Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Atlantic tropical cyclones downscaled from climate reanalyses show increasing activity over past 150 years

Historical records of Atlantic hurricane activity, extending back to 1851, show increasing activity over time, but much or all of this trend has been attributed to lack of observations in the early portion of the record. Here we use a tropical cyclone downscaling model driven by three global climate analyses that are based mostly on sea surface temperature and surface pressure data. The results support earlier statistically-based inferences that storms were undercounted in the 19th century, but in contrast to earlier work, show increasing tropical cyclone activity through the period, interrupted by a prominent hurricane drought in the 1970s and 80 s that we attribute to anthropogenic aerosols. In agreement with earlier work, we show that most of the variability of North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity over the last century was directly related to regional rather than global climate change. Most metrics of tropical cyclones downscaled over all the tropics show weak and/or insignificant trends over the last century, illustrating the special nature of North Atlantic tropical cyclone climatology.

Impacts of bunk management on steer performance and ruminal hydrogen sulfide concentrations in steers fed modified distillers grains with solubles.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the impacts of bunk management on dry matter intake (DMI), growth performance, carcass characteristic, and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations in beef steers fed modified distillers grains with solubles (MDGS; DM basis). In Experiment 1, 139 steers (440.4 ± 31.0 kg) were randomly assigned to one of 16 pens with pen randomly assigned to one of two treatments: 1) Control (CON, bunks managed to be devoid of feed prior to feeding), or 2) Over-fed (OVF, bunks managed to have minimum of 2.54 cm of feed remaining each morning) during adaptation. Following adaptation all steers in Experiment 1 were transitioned to CON bunks and followed to finishing. In Experiment 2, 126 steers (445.4 ± 40.63 kg) were randomly assigned to one of 16 pens. Treatments in Experiment 2 were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial and include the two bunk management strategies utilized in Experiment 1 (OVF or CON) and either 25% MDGS or 50% MDGS (DM basis). Ruminal H2S was measured via rumenocentesis during dietary adaptation. There were no differences (P ≥ 0.13) observed in either experiment for growth performance due to bunk management. In Experiment 1, OVF steers had greater (P = 0.001) DMI during adaptation; however, overall DMI was not different (P = 0.14) between treatments. In Experiment 2, DMI (d 0 to 104) tended to decrease (P = 0.09) with greater MDGS inclusion. Hot carcass weight, ribeye area, marbling score, and quality grade were not affected (P ≥ 0.48) by either bunk management or MDGS inclusion. In Experiment 2, back fat (1.30 vs. 1.17 ± 0.042 cm) and yield grade (3.2 vs. 3.0 ± 0.11) were greater (P = 0.03) for CON steers compared with OVF but were not affected (P = 0.59) by MDGS inclusion. In Experiment 1, H2S tended (P = 0.07) to be greater in steers on OVF compared with CON. In Experiment 2, bunk management strategy did not impact (P = 0.82) H2S concentrations. There was a MDGS inclusion × day interaction for H2S with steers fed 50% MDGS having greater (P < 0.01) H2S concentrations compared with steers fed 25% MDGS on d 28 and 35. Bunk management strategy during adaptation did not impact growth performance but did reduce intake in Experiment 1. Yield grade decreased when OVF bunk management was applied throughout Experiment 2. Response of H2S concentrations in the rumen were variable and likely influenced by inconsistencies in bunk management and resulting DMI during the early portions of the feedlot study.

Association of partial systemic exposure and abuse potential for opioid analgesics with abuse deterrence labeling claims supporting product-specific guidance.

BackgroundOver the past decade, U.S. FDA has approved 10 opioid analgesics in abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs). ADFs are intended to reduce abuse of a prescription opioid through manipulation of the product to use one or more routes of abuse. Although it is critically needed for evaluation of the abuse deterrent properties of an opioid product, the relationship between systemic exposure and likelihood of abuse of the opioid has not been fully characterized. To fill the current knowledge gap, we have evaluated the association of subjective measures predictive of abuse potential (e.g., scores of “drug liking,” “take drug again”), which are referred to as ‘pharmacodynamic (PD)’ responses for measuring abuse potential, with systemic exposure of the opioid using the data from all the clinical abuse potential trials submitted to FDA in support of the approval of innovator ADFs.MethodsExtensive pharmacokinetic (PK) and subjective response data from 11 clinical abuse potential trials in recreational opioid users following oral and nasal administration of intact and manipulated oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine products from the FDA internal database were utilized for the present analysis. This retrospective study used data collected from January 11th, 2010 until March 25th, 2015. The potential relationship between PK metrics, especially those for early exposure measures, and the subjective measures of drug liking and take drug again as PD metrics of abuse potential were explored using linear and logistic regression analyses. Heterogeneity analysis was conducted to assess study-to-study variation and multi-level logistic regression analysis was used to affirm the identified PK-PD relationship based on pooled data.FindingsFollowing oral and nasal administration of intact and manipulated opioids, the maximum visual analogue scale (VAS) for Drug Liking was generally achieved no later than the time to peak plasma drug concentration. Both heterogeneity analysis and multi-level logistic regression indicated insignificant inter study variability for the evaluated PK-PD relationships. Duration of Drug Liking response (i.e., VAS ≥ 65) lasted for 2 to 4 h after drug administration. The early portion of the systemic area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), e.g., partial AUCs in the first 3 h and 4 h were found to be associated with abuse potential measures including maximum Drug Liking VAS and maximum Taking Drug Again VAS. Neither a formulation factor (e.g., immediate-release vs. extended-release, intact vs. manipulated) nor a route of administration was identified as a significant factor together with early partial AUCs to predict the probability of maximum Drug Liking or maximum Take Drug Again responses being greater than or equal to 65.InterpretationOur assessment indicates that the measure of early systemic drug exposure of opioids is the best predictor of the abuse potential response in recreational opioid users following oral or nasal administration of a single dose of an intact or manipulated abuse deterrent opioids. Our findings support FDA's recommendation of comparative PK studies with early partial AUCs as a supportive PK metric for the assessment of abuse deterrent properties of generic opioid drug products in the general and product-specific guidance's of ADFs.FundingThe study was partially funded by Fiscal Year 2017 Critical Path of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Could the new coronavirus have infected humans prior November 2019?

The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is believed to originate in China from where it spread to other parts of the world. The first cluster of diseased individuals was reported in China as early as in December 2019. It has also been well established that the virus stroke Italy later in January or in February 2020, hence distinctly after the outbreak in China. The work by Apolone et al. published in the Italian Medical Journal in November 2020 and retracted upon expression of concern on 22 March 2021, however propose that the virus could have stroke people already in September 2019, possibly following even earlier outbreak in China. By fitting an early part of the epidemic curve with the exponential and extrapolating it backwards, we could estimate the day-zero of the epidemic and calculated its confidence intervals in Italy and China. We also calculated how probable it is that Italy encountered the virus prior 1 January 2020. We determined an early portion of the epidemic curve representing unhindered exponential growth which fit the exponential model with high determination >0.97 in both countries. We conservatively suggest that the day-zero in China and Italy was 8 December 2019 (95% CI: 3 Dec., 20 Dec.) and 22 January 2020 (95% CI: 16 Jan., 29 Jan.), respectively. Given the uncertainty of the very early data in China and adjusting hence our model to fit the exponentially behaved data only, we can even admit that the pandemic originated through November 2019 (95% CI: 31 Oct., 22 Dec.). With high confidence (p <0.01) China encountered the virus prior Italy. We generally view any pre-pandemic presence of the virus in humans before November 2019 as very unlikely. The later established dynamics of the epidemics data suggests that the country of the origin was China.

Auditory Feedback Is Used for Adaptation and Compensation in Speech Timing.

Purpose Real-time altered feedback has demonstrated a key role for auditory feedback in both online feedback control and in updating feedforward control for future utterances. The aim of this study was to examine adaptation in response to temporal perturbation using real-time perturbation of ongoing speech. Method Twenty native English speakers with no reported history of speech or hearing disorders participated in this study. The study consisted of four word blocks, using the phrases "a capper," "a gapper," "a sapper," and "a zapper" (due to issues with the implementation of perturbation, "gapper" was excluded from analysis). In each block, participants completed a baseline phase (30 trials of veridical feedback), a ramp phase (feedback perturbation increasing to maximum over 30 trials), a hold phase (60 trials with perturbation held at maximum), and a washout phase (30 trials, feedback abruptly returned to veridical feedback). Word-initial consonant targets (voice onset time for /k, g/ and fricative duration for /s, z/) were lengthened, and the following stressed vowel (/æ/) was shortened. Results Overall, speakers did not adapt the production of their consonants but did lengthen their vowel production in response to shortening. Vowel lengthening showed continued aftereffects during the early portion of the washout phase. Although speakers did not adapt absolute consonant durations, consonant duration was reduced as a proportion of the total syllable duration. This is consistent with previous research that suggests that speakers attend to proportional durations rather than absolute durations. Conclusion These results indicate that speakers actively monitor proportional durations and update the temporal dynamics of planning units extending beyond a single segment.

Natal origin and age-specific egress of Pacific bluefin tuna from coastal nurseries revealed with geochemical markers

Geochemical chronologies were constructed from otoliths of adult Pacific bluefin tuna (PBT) to investigate the timing of age-specific egress of juveniles from coastal nurseries in the East China Sea or Sea of Japan to offshore waters of the Pacific Ocean. Element:Ca chronologies were developed for otolith Li, Mg, Mn, Zn, Sr, and Ba, and our assessment focused on the section of the otolith corresponding to the age-0 to age-1 + interval. Next, we applied a common time-series approach to geochemical profiles to identify divergences presumably linked to inshore-offshore migrations. Conspicuous geochemical shifts were detected during the juvenile interval for Mg:Ca, Mn:Ca, and Sr:Ca that were indicative of coastal-offshore transitions or egress generally occurring for individuals approximately 4–6 mo. old, with later departures (6 mo. or older) linked to overwintering being more limited. Changepoints in otolith Ba:Ca profiles were most common in the early age-1 period (ca. 12–16 mo.) and appear associated with entry into upwelling areas such as the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem following trans-Pacific migrations. Natal origin of PBT was also predicted using the early life portion of geochemical profile in relation to a baseline sample comprised of age-0 PBT from the two primary spawning areas in the East China Sea and Sea of Japan. Mixed-stock analysis indicated that the majority (66%) of adult PBT in our sample originated from the East China Sea, but individuals of Sea of Japan origin were also detected in the Ryukyu Archipelago.

Egg lipid and thiamine vary between early and late spawning lake sturgeon

Nutritional deficiency associated with reduced thiamine (vitamin B1) and reduced natural reproduction of salmonid species in the Great Lake Region is well established. The negative relationship between egg thiamine and lipid concentration to post-hatch larval growth and survival in teleost species, coupled with the limited research of egg thiamine in Acipenseriform species of conservation concern, including lake sturgeon, indicates that study of thiamine concentrations lake sturgeon eggs is warranted. Eggs were collected from females (N = 12) during the early and late portion of the spawning run in 2007 in a wild population from Black Lake, MI. Concentrations of thiamine, lipid and fatty acid concentration were measured along with female biological information (body size and egg size) and characteristics of larvae at hatch. Significant differences in egg thiamine concentrations were observed between early- and late-spawning females (mean ± SD: 2.36 nmol·g−1 ± 1.09 vs. 0.73 ± 0.25 nmol·g−1, W = 0.05, p < .01). No significant relationships were observed between female body size or egg size and egg lipid or thiamine concentration. Differences in lipid and thiamine concentrations were not predictive of larval body size or yolk sac volume at hatch. Total and phosphorylated thiamine were correlated with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, suggesting that dietary items were likely partially responsible for provisioning of essential compounds. Given the negative effects of low egg thiamine concentration on larval survival in other fish species globally, results indicate that further research in areas of nutrient acquisition and thiamine effects on larval survival, natural recruitment, and hatchery feeding strategies is warranted for lake sturgeon.

Effects of Environmental and Mechanical Variations on Particle Size Distribution of Albuterol HFA Inhalers.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how factors (ambient temperature, shaking the inhaler before use, suspension of the inhaler in water, and the variation over the lifetime of the inhaler) affect the particle-size distributions from albuterol HFA inhalers. We used a laser particle-size analyzer to measure the percentage of particles in the 1- to 5-μm range (fine-particle fraction) serially 2,500 times per second to obtain a window of useful measurements with each inhaler actuation. We compared the inhaler performance results as follows: cold versus hot, full versus partial versus empty inhaler actuations, shaken versus unshaken, and inhaler characteristics after water submersion. The effect of temperature was as follows: fine-particle fraction was 14.4% at 5°C, 37.9% at 24 - 25°C, and 38.1% at 45°C. The fine-particle fraction at the start, middle, end, and past the end of the inhaler's rated lifetime were 37.9, 26.3, 27.9, and 22.0%, respectively. Shaking the inhaler did not improve the inhaler's fine-particle fraction. Submerging the inhaler reduced the fine-particle fraction to 14.3% without purging and to 20.5% with purging compared with the 42.1% for the control inhaler, which was not submerged. Temperature made a difference, with cold inhalers producing a lower fine-particle fraction. The early portion of the inhaler had a better fine-particle fraction than the middle and end of the inhaler's lifespan. We could not demonstrate that shaking the inhaler had a significant effect on the fine-particle fraction. Submerging the inhaler in water significantly reduced the fine-particle fraction.

Review: Head and Eye Movements and Gaze Tracking in Baseball Batting.

After a 30-year gap, several studies on head and eye movements and gaze tracking in baseball batting have been performed in the last decade. These baseball studies may lead to training protocols for batting. Here we review these studies and compare the tracking behaviors with those in other sports.Baseball batters are often instructed to "keep your eye on the ball." Until recently, the evidence regarding whether batters follow this instruction and if there are benefits to following this instruction was limited. Baseball batting studies demonstrate that batters tend to move the head more than the eyes in the direction of the ball at least until a saccade occurs. Foveal gaze tracking is often maintained on the ball through the early portion of the pitch, so it can be said that baseball batters do keep the eyes on the ball. While batters place gaze at or near the point of bat-ball contact, the way this is accomplished varies. In some studies, foveal gaze tracking continues late in the pitch trajectory, whereas in other studies, anticipatory saccades occur. The relative advantages of these discrepant gaze strategies on perceptual processing and motor planning speed and accuracy are discussed, and other variables that may influence anticipatory saccades including the predictability of the pitch and the level of batter expertise are described. Further studies involving larger groups with different levels of expertise under game conditions are required to determine which gaze tracking strategies are most beneficial for baseball batting.

Learning to deal with delayed outcomes: EEG oscillatory and slow potentials during the prefeedback interval.

It is well established that the stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) decreases in amplitude as a task is mastered, a phenomenon generally attributed to the reduction in anticipatory attention as feedback becomes less needed. Typically, the experiments supporting this assumption have used relatively short delays (<3s). However, we found in a previous study that this decline in amplitude, although present during the 2.5-s prefeedback delay of a patterned key-pressing task, was absent with an 8-s delay. We reexamined this finding using a 6-s delay and found that the SPN diminished at frontal sites as participants learned a sequence of four keypress durations, but that this modulation was limited to the early half of the delay (maximum at 2s). Decline of lateralized sensorimotor theta activity across trials was also limited to early portions of the delay. These findings suggest that processes other than anticipatory attention to feedback may be more relevant for explaining SPN diminution. Such processes could include adjustment and maintenance of action-outcome expectancies (e.g., forward models) during the prefeedback interval.

568 Ethical Challenges in the Pregnant Burn Patient

Abstract Introduction Classically, ethics in pregnancy have revolved around abortion. However, there are numerous issues that require attention including the fetus as a patient, the mother’s autonomy and medical treatment of the pregnant patient amongst others. These are further complicated when the pregnant patient has sustained a traumatic or burn injury. Although there are numerous case reports of managing the pregnant burn patient, there is a paucity of literature that focuses on the ethical challenges in the pregnant patient. Methods We report the case of an 18-year-old engaged female who sustained 60% total body surface area full-thickness burns. She was found to be 6 weeks pregnant with a viable fetus on ultrasound. The pregnancy was not planned, but desired. During the early portion of the hospitalization, she was found to lack capacity for both complex medical decision making and assigning of a surrogate decision maker. Furthermore, her mother only intermittently had custody of the patient when she was a minor, complicating whether she would be the best surrogate decision maker. Medical treatments that would significantly decrease morbidity and mortality would have had a negative impact on the viability of the fetus. Morning sickness compromised the nutrition care of the patient. Ethical issues that arose included capacity for complex medical decision making, the mother’s autonomy, surrogate decision making and whether a surrogate decision maker can make decisions regarding the fetus, the fetus as a patient, and medical interventions of the pregnant patient. Later on in the hospitalization, the patient was refusing many aspects of her care, raising the issue of paternalism in the burn center. Results The patient was later deemed to have capacity for assigning a surrogate decision maker, but not for complex medical decision making. She assigned her fiancée as the surrogate decision maker, although he initially refused. Medical treatments that would significantly decrease morbidly and mortality were instituted even though some were “contraindicated” in pregnancy. A gastrostomy tube was placed through burnt tissue for direct enteral access even though the patient was alert, oriented, and could tolerate oral intake in order to enhance her nutritional status. The burn center adopted a practice of “benevolent parentalism” as a means to overcome the patient’s resistance of medical care and treatments. Conclusions Pregnancy in the burn patient represents a deeply ethically challenging situation which have not been discussed in previous case reports. Ethical guidelines for the management of the pregnant burn patient should be established. Guidelines for surrogate decision making must be followed. In addition, the concept of “benevolent parentalism” must be elucidated and should replace the notion that burn centers are paternalistic.

Simplified protocol for whole-body Patlak parametric imaging with 18 F-FDG PET/CT: Feasibility and error analysis.

Parametric imaging using the Patlak model has been shown to provide improved lesion detectability and specificity. The Patlak model requires both tissue time-activity curves (TACs) after equilibrium and knowledge of the input function from the start of injection. Therefore, the conventional dynamic scanning protocol typically starts from the radiotracer injection all the way to equilibrium. In this paper, we propose the use of hybrid population-based and model-based input function estimation and evaluate its use for whole-body Patlak analysis, in order to reduce the total scan time and simplify clinical Patlak parametric imaging protocols. Possible quantitative errors caused by the simplified scanning protocol were also analyzed both theoretically and with the use of clinical data. Clinical data from 24 patients referred for tumor staging were included in this study. The patients underwent a whole-body dynamic PET study, 20min after FDG injection (0.13mCi/kg). The proposed whole-body scanning protocol includes 6 passes with 4-5 bed positions, depending on the size of the patient, with 2min for each bed position. An input function from the literature was selected as the shape of the population-based input function. The descending aorta from the corresponding CT image was segmented and applied on the reconstructed dynamic PET images to acquire an image-based input function, which was later fitted using an exponential model. Due to the late scan time, only the later portion of the input function was available, which was used to scale the population-based input function. The hybrid input function was used to derive the whole-body Patlak images. Assuming a given error in the population-based input function, its influence on the final Patlak images were also derived theoretically and verified using the clinical data sets. Finally, the image quality of the reconstructed Patlak slope image was evaluated by an experienced radiologist in four different aspects: image artifacts, image noise, lesion sharpness, and lesion detectability. It was found that errors in the population-based input function only affect the absolute scale of the Patlak slope image. The induced error is proportional to the percentage area-under-curve (AUC) error in the input function. These findings were also confirmed by numerical analysis. The predicted global scale was in good agreement with results from both image-based Patlak and direct Patlak approach. The fractions of the AUC from the early portion population-based input function were also found to be around 18% of the total AUC of the input function, further limiting the propagation of quantitation error from population-based input function to the final Patlak slope image. The reconstructed Patlak images were also found by the radiologist to provide excellent confidence in lesion detection tasks. We have proposed a simplified whole-body scanning protocol that utilizes both population-based input function and model-based input function. The error from the population-based function was found to only affect the global scale and the overall quantitative impact can be predicted using our proposed formulas.

The controllability of aversive and neutral pictures: an event-related potential study

Control over physically aversive stimuli may reduce stress, arousal and physiological responses to these stimuli. Nonetheless, avoidance of emotionally aversive stimuli/excessive attempts to control negative emotion might alternatively increase the salience of these stimuli. Here, we used a novel paradigm to examine the effect of controllability on the processing of aversive and neutral pictures (using the late positive potential, LPP) and response uncertainty (using the post-imperative negative variation, PINV). Participants (n = 48) were told that they could press a button to terminate the presentation of an aversive or neutral picture, but this was only true during some blocks of the experiment and not others. Results showed that the LPP was larger for control compared to no control blocks and that this was driven by larger LPPs to aversive pictures during the first control block, but only for participants who had started the task in a no control block. Therefore, knowing that aversive stimuli might not always be controllable (i.e., a prior experience of uncontrollability) appears to increase the motivational salience of these stimuli once control becomes possible. In addition, uncontrollability increased both the early and late PINV, and the late PINV was larger for the second compared to the first control block. As such, the current study provides the first evidence that the PINV can be elicited using aversive and neutral pictures and suggests functional differentiation between the early and late portions of the PINV. Results support the utility of this novel paradigm for examining control over emotional stimuli.

High strain rate elasto‐plasticity identification using the image‐based inertial impact (IBII) test part 1: Error quantification

AbstractCurrent high strain rate testing procedures generally rely on the split Hopkinson bar (SHB). In order to gain accurate material data with this technique, it is necessary to assume the test sample is in a state of quasi‐static equilibrium so that inertial effects can be neglected. During the early portion of an SHB test, it is difficult to satisfy this assumption making it challenging to investigate the elastic–plastic transition for metals. With the development of ultra‐high speed imaging technology, the image‐based inertial impact (IBII) test has emerged as an alternative to the SHB. This technique uses full‐field measurements coupled with the virtual fields method to identify material properties without requiring the assumption of quasi‐static equilibrium.The purpose of this work is to develop the IBII method for the identification of elasto‐plasticity in metals. In this paper (part 1), the focus is on using synthetic image deformation simulations to analyse identification errors for two plasticity models, a simple linear hardening model and a modified Voce model. Additionally, two types of virtual fields are investigated, a simple rigid body virtual field and the recently developed sensitivity‐based virtual fields. The results of these simulations are then used to select optimal processing parameters for the experimental data analysed in part 2.

Semantic transparency modulates the processing of emotion words during Chinese reading: Evidence from eye movements

How the emotionality and transparency of target word affect processing has been long-studied in cognitive psychology, yet less is known about their joint effects during natural reading. The current study is the first to use eye-tracking methodology to orthogonally investigate semantic transparency and emotional valence effects for compound words in natural Chinese reading. Eye movements were monitored while participants read sentences with positive or negative and transparent or opaque two-character compound words. The experiment found a processing advantage for transparent words over opaque words when participants re-read earlier portions of the sentences, which indicated more difficult in integrating opaque words with preceding context relative to transparent words. However, our findings provided no robust evidence for comparable valence effects in the eye movements during Chinese reading, and no parafoveal-on-foveal effects were found. In conclusion, the current study indicates transparency might affect semantic integration of the target word with sentence context.

The earliest recorded fossil pelican, recovered from the late Eocene of Wadi Al-Hitan, Egypt

ABSTRACT The Paleogene record of pelicans (Pelecanidae) is represented at present by a single early Oligocene specimen from southeastern France. Here we describe a new pelecanid from the early Priabonian portion of the Birket Qarun Formation within the Wadi Al-Hitan World Heritage Site in Egypt. This specimen, a nearly complete right tibiotarsus, is the first definitive pelecanid recovered from Eocene strata. The tibiotarsus is remarkably similar to those of known Pelecanus species, but sufficiently different to warrant designation as the new genus and species Eopelecanus aegyptiacus. This represents the oldest pelican described to date and extends the pelecanid fossil record by ca. 6 million years.

A simple model for the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections on a national level.

This study aimed to identify an appropriate simple mathematical model to fit the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases at the national level for the early portion of the pandemic, before significant public health interventions could be enacted. The total number of cases for the COVID-19 epidemic over time in 28 countries was analysed and fit to several simple rate models. The resulting model parameters were used to extrapolate projections for more recent data. While the Gompertz growth model (mean R2 = 0.998) best fit the current data, uncertainties in the eventual case limit introduced significant model errors. However, the quadratic rate model (mean R2 = 0.992) fit the current data best for 25 (89%) countries as determined by R2 values of the remaining models. Projection to the future using the simple quadratic model accurately forecast the number of future total number of cases 50% of the time up to 10 days in advance. Extrapolation to the future with the simple exponential model significantly overpredicted the total number of future cases. These results demonstrate that accurate future predictions of the case load in a given country can be made using this very simple model.

Investigating close binary supermassive black holes at high angular resolution

Gravitational waves (GW) in the nano-Hz domain are expected to be radiated by close-binaries of supermassive black holes (CB-SMBHs; components bound in a Keplerian binary at mutual distance less than ~ 0.1 pc), which are relicts of galaxy mergers and anticipated to be measured via the Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) technique. The challenge of present CB-SMBH investigations is that their signatures are elusive and not easily disentangled from a single SMBH. PTAs will typically have a glimpse of an early portion of the binary inspiral to catch the frequency evolution of the binary only with sufficiently high mass and initially high eccentricity. Thus, we have to make use of electromagnetic observations to determine orbital parameters of CB-SMBHs and test nano-Hz GW properties. The 2D reverberation mapping (RM) is a powerful tool for probing kinematics and geometry of ionized gas in the SMBHs (single or binary) vicinity, yet it can lose information due to projection on the line of sight of the observer. Nevertheless, spectroastrometry with AMBER, GRAVITY, and successors can provide an independent measurement of the emitting region's size, geometry, and kinematics. These two techniques combined can resolve CB-SMBHs. In this review, we focus on RM and spectroastrometry observational signatures of CB-SMBHs with non-zero eccentricity from recent simulations with particular attention to recent developments and open issues.

Aerosol and Gas Phase Concentrations from an Adapted Annular Denuder System in a Broiler Housing Facility

HighlightsAn adapted annular denuder system (ADS) was implemented in a broiler facility to measure secondary aerosols.Results show that secondary aerosols were not always associated with ammonium or ammonia.Chloride aerosols were significant in comparison to other species and were present at consistent concentrations.This study concludes that the chloride source was the feed in the feeding pans.Abstract. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is present in animal housing facilities from both primary and secondary sources. Measuring secondary aerosols in harsh environments with high gas and particulate concentrations, such as poultry housing facilities, is an ongoing challenge. This study presents the results from the implementation of an adapted annular denuder system (ADS) used to measure secondary PM2.5 from inside a broiler facility in Ontario, Canada. Results from this work show that secondary aerosols formed the majority of total PM2.5 during the early portion of the growth cycle. It was further determined that the ion balance between ammonium and anions was not consistent, leading to the conclusion that a significant portion of the aerosol species are associated with a previously unidentified source that is not necessarily due to secondary reactions. Keywords: Ammonia, Annular denuder system, Particulate matter, Poultry, Secondary aerosols.