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Global shortages of critical equipment and supplies induced by COVID-19 forced countries to rapidly build and ramp up their indigenous testing and production capacities. However, the many ways in which institutional and organizational change occurred has not been sufficiently captured. Building domestic capacity requires the leveraging and repurposing of existing domestic scientific and technological capabilities, coupled with intensified global outreach to new and existing partners and suppliers. Using the framework of institutional variety, this paper looks at two facets of the UK's COVID emergency industrial response: (1) building its laboratory testing capabilities and (2) for increasing production of personal protective equipment; assessing the institutional capacities and relations that were leveraged in this regard. It uses these findings together with observations of 'innovation processes under emergency conditions' and the potential uses of a 'critical equipment policy' to sharpen some of the recommendations made in the UK's post-COVID Research and Development Roadmap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is often characterized through the use of sea surface temperature (SST) departures from their climatological values, as in the Niño-3.4 index. However, this approach is problematic in a changing climate when the climatology itself is varying. To address this issue, van Oldenborgh et al. proposed a relative Niño-3.4 SST index, which subtracts the tropical mean SST anomaly from the Niño-3.4 index and multiplies by a scaling factor. We extend their work by providing a simplified calculation procedure for the scaling factor, and confirm that the relative index demonstrates reduced sensitivity to climate change and multidecadal variability. In particular, we show in three observational SST datasets that the relative index provides a more consistent classification of historical El Niño and La Niña oceanic conditions that is more robust across climatological periods compared to the nonrelative index. Forecast skill of the relative Niño-3.4 index in the North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) and ACCESS-S2 is slightly reduced for targets during the first half of the year because subtracting the tropical mean removes a source of additional skill. For targets in the second half of the year, the relative and nonrelative indices are equally skillful. Observed ENSO teleconnections in 200-hPa geopotential height and precipitation during key seasons are sharper and explain more variability over Australia and the contiguous United States when computed with the relative index. Overall, the relative Niño-3.4 index provides a more robust option for real-time monitoring and forecasting ENSO in a changing climate. Significance Statement: The goal of this study is to further explore a relative sea surface temperature index for monitoring and prediction of El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Sea surface temperature indices are typically computed as a difference from a 30-yr climatological average, and El Niño and La Niña events occur when values exceed a certain threshold. This method is suitable when the climate is stationary. However, because of climate change and other lower-frequency variations, historical El Niño and La Niña events are reclassified depending on which climatological period is selected. A relative index is investigated to ameliorate this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cities throughout the United States, residential property markets have grown concentrated. Corporate real estate companies, also known as institutional investors, have swallowed up an inordinate percentage of homes for sale, effectively boxing out individual Americans who desire to own a home. Property ownership concentration, however, is not a new problem in the United States. In fact, Hawaii faced this precise problem after achieving statehood: nearly half of all state land was owned by a mere seventy-two individuals. The Hawaiian legislature identified this defective market and passed the Land Reform Act of 1967 to correct it. The Act allowed the government to utilize its eminent domain power to condemn certain property owned by that small group of property owners. In effect, the Act allowed for a forced transfer of fee simple ownership from the owner to the tenants on that land. Because the Act involved a forced transfer of private property from one private citizen to another, some landowners sought to invalidate the Act on Fifth Amendment grounds in Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court validated the Act's takings scheme, affirming the constitutionality of its forced transfer of fee simple ownership. Based on Midkiff and subsequent Supreme Court takings cases, this Note posits that states experiencing concentrated homeownership markets as a result of institutional investors' market presence may consider enacting legislation modeled off Hawaii's Act to dilute the market and provide individual Americans a feasible path to homeownership once again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellites provide a useful way of estimating rainfall where the availability of in situ data is low but their indirect nature of estimation means there can be substantial biases. Consequently, the assimilation of in situ data is an important step in improving the accuracy of the satellite rainfall analysis. The effectiveness of this step varies with gauge density, and this study investigated the effectiveness of statistical interpolation (SI), also known as optimal interpolation (OI), on a monthly time scale when gauge density is extremely low using Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a study region. The topography of the region presented an additional challenge to the algorithm. An open-source implementation of SI was developed on Python 3 and confirmed to be consistent with an existing implementation, addressing a lack of open-source implementation for this classical algorithm. The effectiveness of the analysis produced by this algorithm was then compared to the pure satellite analysis over PNG from 2001 to 2014. When performance over the entire study domain was considered, the improvement from using SI was close to imperceptible because of the small number of stations available for assimilation and the small radius of influence of each station (imposed by the topography present in the domain). However, there was still value in using OI as performance around each of the stations was noticeably improved, with the error consistently being reduced along with a general increase in the correlation metric. Furthermore, in an operational context, the use of OI provides an important function of ensuring consistency between in situ data and the gridded analysis. Significance Statement: The blending of satellite and gauge rainfall data through a process known as statistical interpolation (SI) is known to be capable of producing a more accurate dataset that facilitates better estimation of rainfall. However, the performance of this algorithm over a domain such as Papua New Guinea, where gauge density is extremely low, is not often explored. This study reveals that, although an improvement over the entire Papua New Guinea domain was slight, the algorithm is still valuable as there was a consistent improvement around the stations. Additionally, an adaptable and open-source version of the algorithm is provided, allowing users to blend their own satellite and gauge data and create better geospatial datasets for their own purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mimics of protein secondary and tertiary structure offer rationally‐designed inhibitors of biomolecular interactions. β‐Sheet mimics have a storied history in bioorganic chemistry and are typically designed with synthetic or natural turn segments. We hypothesized that replacement of terminal inter‐β‐strand hydrogen bonds with hydrogen bond surrogates (HBS) may lead to conformationally‐defined macrocyclic β‐sheets without the requirement for natural or synthetic β‐turns, thereby providing a minimal mimic of a protein β‐sheet. To access turn‐less antiparallel β‐sheet mimics, we developed a facile solid phase synthesis protocol. We surveyed a dataset of protein β‐sheets for naturally observed interstrand side chain interactions. This bioinformatics survey highlighted an over‐abundance of aromatic–aromatic, cation‐π and ionic interactions in β‐sheets. In correspondence with natural β‐sheets, we find that minimal HBS mimics show robust β‐sheet formation when specific amino acid residue pairings are incorporated. In isolated β‐sheets, aromatic interactions endow superior conformational stability over ionic or cation‐π interactions. Circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopies, along with high‐resolution X‐ray crystallography, support our design principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Net effects of implementation of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) pneumonia panel (PNP) on antimicrobial stewardship are thus far unknown. This retrospective study evaluated the real-world impact of the PNP on time to antibiotic de-escalation in critically ill patients treated for pneumonia at an academic medical center. Methods This retrospective, quasi-experimental study included adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients with respiratory culture results from 1 May to 15 August 2019 (pre-PNP group) and adult ICU patients with PNP results from 1 May to 15 August 2020 (PNP group) at Nebraska Medical Center. Patients were excluded for the following reasons: any preceding positive coronavirus disease 2019 PCR test, lack of antibiotic receipt, or non–respiratory tract infection indications for antibiotics. The primary outcome was time to discontinuation of anti–methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) therapy. Secondary outcomes included time to discontinuation of antipseudomonal therapy, frequency of early discontinuation for atypical coverage, and overall duration (in days) of antibiotic therapy for pneumonia. Results Sixty-six patients in the pre-PNP group and 58 in the PNP group were included. There were significant differences in patient characteristics between groups. The median time to anti-MRSA agent discontinuation was 49.1 hours in the pre-PNP and 41.8 hours in the PNP group (P =.28). The median time to discontinuation of antipseudomonal agents was 134.4 hours in the pre-PNP versus 98.1 hours in the PNP group (P =.47). Other outcomes were numerically but not significantly improved in our sample. Conclusions This early look at implementation of a multiplex PNP did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in antibiotic use but lays the groundwork to further evaluate a significant real-world impact on antibiotic de-escalation in ICU patients treated for pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The El Nino of 2015/16 was among the strongest El Nino events observed since 1950 and took place almost two decades after the previous major event in 1997/98. Here, [...]

The Gulf of Cádiz is a tectonically active continental margin with over sixty mud volcanoes (MV) documented, some associated with active methane (CH4) seepage. However, the role of prokaryotes in influencing this CH4 release is largely unknown. In two expeditions (MSM1-3 and JC10) seven Gulf of Cádiz MVs (Porto, Bonjardim, Carlos Ribeiro, Captain Arutyunov, Darwin, Meknes, and Mercator) were analyzed for microbial diversity, geochemistry, and methanogenic activity, plus substrate amended slurries also measured potential methanogenesis and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Prokaryotic populations and activities were variable in these MV sediments reflecting the geochemical heterogeneity within and between them. There were also marked differences between many MV and their reference sites. Overall direct cell numbers below the SMTZ (0.2-0.5 mbsf) were much lower than the general global depth distribution and equivalent to cell numbers from below 100 mbsf. Methanogenesis from methyl compounds, especially methylamine, were much higher than the usually dominant substrates H2/CO2 or acetate. Also, CH4 production occurred in 50% of methylated substrate slurries and only methylotrophic CH4 production occurred at all seven MV sites. These slurries were dominated by Methanococcoides methanogens (resulting in pure cultures), and prokaryotes found in other MV sediments. AOM occurred in some slurries, particularly, those from Captain Arutyunov, Mercator and Carlos Ribeiro MVs. Archaeal diversity at MV sites showed the presence of both methanogens and ANME (Methanosarcinales, Methanococcoides, and ANME-1) related sequences, and bacterial diversity was higher than archaeal diversity, dominated by members of the Atribacterota, Chloroflexota, Pseudomonadota, Planctomycetota, Bacillota, and Ca. "Aminicenantes." Further work is essential to determine the full contribution of Gulf of Cádiz mud volcanoes to the global methane and carbon cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with mental illness have a higher prevalence of co-occurring physical health conditions and poor health behaviors, leading a mortality gap of up to 16 years, compared with the general population. Nurses working in mental health settings play an important role in addressing factors influencing sub-optimal physical health. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to identify nurse-led physical health interventions and align interventions to eight recognized physical healthcare priority areas (i.e. Equally Well in Victoria Framework). A systematic search strategy was used to identify relevant literature. Data extraction included alignment to the Equally Well priority areas, research design, and indication of co-design (meaningful and collaborative involvement of consumers and significant others) and recovery-oriented practice (focusing on needs and goals of a consumer's recovery journey). All included papers (n = 74) were aligned to at least one of eight Equally Well priority areas. Papers were predominately quantitative (n = 64, 86%), with the remainder mixed methods (n = 9, 9%) or qualitative (n = 4, 5%). Most papers were aligned to improving metabolic health and support to quit smoking. One study focused on nurse-led intervention designed to reduce falls. Recovery-oriented practice was evident in six papers. No paper described evidence of co-design. A research gap was identified for nurse-led intervention to reduce falls and improve dental/oral care. Relative to mental healthcare policy, there is a need for future nurse-led physical health research to be co-designed and include recovery-oriented practice. Evaluation and description of future nurse-led physical interventions should seek to report perspectives of key stakeholders as these remain relatively unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]