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  • Colourful primates don’t have better colour vision, study finds

    Colourful primates don’t have better colour vision, study finds

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    BYLINE: Laura Thomas

    Newswise — Primate species with better colour vision are not more likely to have red skin or fur colouration, as previously thought.

    The findings, published this week in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, suggest that red skin and/or red-orange fur may be beneficial for use in social communication even in primate species that don’t have particularly good colour vision.

    It’s long been assumed that primates’ colourful skin and fur is linked to their enhanced colour vision,  and the results may have implications for understanding why these traits exist in different species.

    Lead author Robert MacDonald from the University of Bristol explained: “There is a profusion of colour in the animal kingdom – think of the striking feathers of a bird of paradise, or the array of vivid hues on display in a coral reef.

    “Mammals, though, don’t tend to be so colourful, and are usually quite muted shades of black, brown, or grey.

    “Primates such as monkeys, apes and lemurs are the exception to this. Several primate species have really vibrant coloration, in particular bright red skin on the face or anogenital region which can change intensity to signal things like fertility or rank in the dominance hierarchy, or red-orange fur.

    “Primates also happen to have unusually good colour vision in comparison to other mammals; while all other mammals are red-green colourblind, meaning red and green appear as the same colour to them, some primates (including humans) can differentiate between shades of red and green. This enhanced colour visual system is generally thought to have evolved in order to more easily spot ripe red fruit or nutritious young red leaves among foliage, but it also makes it easier to spot the vibrant red colours that some primates exhibit.”

    Primates are known to use their red colour traits for communication with other members of their species, for example in signalling information about fertility or rank in the social hierarchy. It seems intuitive that having a better colour visual system that allows these traits to stand out more might have facilitated the evolution of these traits in the first place – it would make sense for a species with better colour vision to evolve to be more colourful to take advantage of this ability.

    The team set out to definitively investigate whether the evolution of enhanced colour visual system in some primates that allows the differentiation of red from green has facilitated the evolution of red colour traits.

    Using photographs, the researchers categorised each species of primate in terms of having or not having particular colourful traits (e.g. red skin on the genital region or face, red-orange fur on different parts of the body). They then compared this colour information with each species’ colour visual ability, taking into account the primate family tree, as well as a few other factors which might also influence coloration or colour visual ability such as whether they’re nocturnal or diurnal and the size of the social group they live in. The aim was to find out whether species that have better colour vision are more likely to have red colouration, after controlling for other potential influencing factors.

    Robert explained: “The fact that we didn’t find that species with better colour vision are more likely to be colourful contradicts some long-held assumptions about the origins of the striking variation in colour we see within primates, and means we might have to take a closer look about what colourful red skin or fur is being used for in individual species. It shows that despite the large amount of work that has gone into investigating primate colouration in recent years, we still don’t fully understand the pressures that have shaped the evolution of colour in our own closest relatives.”

     

    Paper:

    ‘Primate coloration and colour vision: a comparative approach’ by Rob MacDonald et al in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

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    University of Bristol

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  • Tall buildings could be built quicker if damping models were correct, study finds

    Tall buildings could be built quicker if damping models were correct, study finds

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    BYLINE: Laura Thomas

    Newswise — Multi-storey buildings are assembled over cautiously to withstand wind strengths, researchers have found.

    This is because there are several difficulties in estimating damping – the method of removing energy in order to control vibratory motion like noise and mechanical oscillation, accurately in high-rise buildings

    The findings, published today in the journal Structures, addresses the draw back and were compiled by a team at the University of Bristol who studied the damping and natural frequency characteristics of a 150 m tall building in London (UK) obtained from the full-scale wind-induced responses using a minimal monitoring system.

    In general, the response of a structure subjected to dynamic loading is strongly affected by its damping.

    Some mathematical damping models have been developed and used for convenience, though they cannot accurately describe the physical process behind them. In fact, the lack of universally accepted principles to predict the damping factors in complex systems has led to the use of predominantly empirical models which cannot be generalised accurately to all types of buildings. As one of the objectives, this research intends to address this drawback by studying the damping

    Lead author Daniel Gonzalez-Fernandez from Bristol’s School of Civil, Aerospace, and Design Engineering explained: “After evaluating the identified modal parameters in relation to a series of factors, including time, amplitude, wind speed and wind direction, the dominant effects were found to be amplitude and time in the case of natural frequencies and amplitude in the case of damping ratios.

    “The changes in the identified natural frequencies, with the monitoring time and response amplitudes, are attributed to the mass increase under the increasing occupancy and large-amplitude structural softening, respectively.

    “The identified trends between the measured total damping and wind speed for different relative wind directions indicate that the amplitude of the lateral building motion, rather than aerodynamic wind characteristics, primarily influence the observed variation in the modal damping.”

    The team used a set of three accelerometers and an ultrasonic anemometer to measure the wind-induced vibrations and associated wind conditions on top of the structure over a period of one year since it was first constructed.

    The natural frequencies and damping ratios were identified from the estimated acceleration Power Spectral Densities and correlated with the wind data. Several environmental parameters were investigated, including the magnitude and the relative directions of the wind with respect to the building motion. A finite element model of the tower was also employed to support the experimental observations.

     Wind effects are a primary concern in the design of tall buildings. In this context, significant uncertainty can be attributed to important phenomena such as damping and its sources. Additionally, given the complexity of these systems, the underlying predictive models require validation. This is where the in-situ measured modal characteristics, such as the natural frequencies and modal damping, provide an essential resource for model updating.

    Daniel said: “For tall buildings, occupant comfort is directly related to wind-induced sway, which can interfere with the occupants’ daily activities and general well-being. In addition, these insights might be applied in future to improve the design and mitigate the negative effects of the vibrations on the structures to enhance their performances, increase their lifespans and reduce failure risk.

    “Understanding these issues has become more critical in recent years since there is a trend for tall buildings to become more slender and hence more sensitive to wind-induced vibrations.”

     

    Paper:

    ‘Identification of varying modal parameters of a tall building from the full-scale wind-induced responses’ by Daniel Gonzalez-Fernandez et al in Structures.

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    University of Bristol

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  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California State University, Bakersfield and Livermore Lab Foundation sign MOU to advance clean energy

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California State University, Bakersfield and Livermore Lab Foundation sign MOU to advance clean energy

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    Newswise — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) and the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) have signed an agreement to collaborate on advanced and clean-energy technologies, research opportunities and community partnerships that have the potential to shape the future of energy in the state and bring high-quality jobs to the region.

    The memorandum of understanding (MOU) will build on the region’s position as an energy pioneer and innovator as well as CSUB’s new Energy Innovation Building, funded in the 2022-2023 California budget and set to break ground next year. 

    In addition to the clean-energy focus, LLNL, CSUB and LLF will collaborate in decarbonization science, materials and advanced manufacturing, hydrogen technologies, energy storage, critical materials, STEM-student engagement and public outreach programs. The collaboration also will benefit the region through student fellowships, an innovation lab, future convenings and potential trips to the Lab by community stakeholders. “This collaboration builds upon Bakersfield’s strong academic commitment to educate the next generation of STEM leaders,” said LLNL Director Kim Budil. “It will also advance energy technologies and community engagement as a collaborative effort in the region. We’re pleased to help support Kern County’s energy transition with this agreement.” 

    “This expression of common cause and collaboration to advance climate resiliency and a new era in energy represents an unprecedented opportunity for CSUB and our entire region,” said CSUB President Lynnette Zelezny. “The pre-eminent climate and energy scientists in the nation will have a home base at CSUB, and the discoveries made here will cultivate a new generation of researchers. I want to thank Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Livermore Lab Foundation for their partnership and belief in the promise of our region to lead.” 

    The memo of understanding builds upon the Lab’s and Foundation’s commitment to Kern County that began in 2020 when the Laboratory published its “Getting to Neutral” report. Kern County was identified as an important focus area to help California achieve its ambitious climate and net-neutrality goals because of the region’s potential for carbon storage. 

    The report cited Kern’s oil fields as strong candidates for carbon storage sites, while also supporting the creation and scale up of carbon-negative technologies and clean technology jobs to further the county’s strong commitment to energy innovation. 

    Other work activities identified in the MOU include the exchange of researchers between LLNL and CSUB facilities, faculty sabbaticals, post-doctoral internships and the possibility of joint publications, joint grant proposals, lectures, symposiums and strategic meetings. 

    In collaboration with both LLNL and LLF, the exchange could also include undergraduate internships and fellowships. Two CSUB students were recently selected by the Foundation to serve as inaugural carbon fellows at LLNL this summer– with research projects specific to carbon removal and net neutrality. In addition, the MOU highlights the creation of STEM programs and the development of community benefit plans as well as science and equity-based community engagement in the greater Kern County region.  

    In 2019, LLNL launched the Laboratory of Energy Applications for the Future (LEAF), a center designed to deliver solutions that enhance energy security, infrastructure reliability and climate resilience. The goal is to deploy Laboratory solutions and developments to external stakeholders in industry, academia and government. The center is advancing technologies, including architected and solid-state batteries, supercapacitors, capacitive water deionization, carbon capture and conversion, solar cells, biomaterials for sorbents and catalysts and hydrogen production and storage. 

    The MOU also opens the door for CSUB to create a laboratory with objectives like those of LLNL’s LEAF lab. CSUB students, as well as industry innovators would have the facilities and mentoring to work closely on projects in carbon management, geological carbon removal and storage, new and advanced materials and energy storage and transport, working closely with LLNL experts. 

    “Kern County has a tremendous opportunity to play a critical role in strengthening the STEM workforce pipeline and create good-paying jobs.  The Livermore Lab Foundation is delighted to support CSU Bakersfield on that journey as part of this unique triad agreement,” said Sally Allen, LLF’s executive director. 

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    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

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  • Social Media May Be Used to Combat COVID Vaccine Hesitancy in Nigeria

    Social Media May Be Used to Combat COVID Vaccine Hesitancy in Nigeria

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    Newswise — WASHINGTON (Sept 15, 2023)–A social media campaign launched in 2022 helped encourage some Nigerians to roll up their sleeves for a COVID vaccine, according to a study published today in PLOS ONE. 

    “Our research suggests that a social media campaign can reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase the vaccination rates in Nigeria and possibly other low-income countries,” said Doug Evans, the lead author of the paper and a professor of prevention and community health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

    The COVID pandemic has been a challenge for public health officials in Nigeria and other low and middle income countries where misinformation and hesitancy about the safety of the vaccines has slowed uptake of the protective shots. Evans and his colleagues designed and executed a large-scale social media campaign and launched it in six Nigerian states. The team compared Nigerian vaccination rates over a ten month period in states where the campaign ran to those in control states.

    The team concluded that the campaign produced measurable and meaningful positive effects on social norms around vaccination and vaccination status. The team also noted that the use of a social media campaign, and social media based data collection, may prove to be an important innovation that has great potential in future public health research.

    Evans says the study findings may also apply in the United States or other settings. “A social media campaign based on an influencer model could be used to combat vaccine hesitancy in the  U.S. and anywhere there is high social media usage,” he says.

    The paper, “Outcomes of a social media campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria,” was published Sept. 15 in the journal PLOS ONE. The research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    -GW-

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    George Washington University

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  • Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in Antarctic sea ice algae

    Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in Antarctic sea ice algae

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    Newswise — In the frigid waters surrounding Antarctica, an unusual seasonal cycle occurs. During winter, from March to October, the sun barely rises. As seawater freezes it rejects salts, creating pockets of extra-salty brine where microbes live in winter. In summer, the sea ice melts under constant daylight, producing warmer, fresher water at the surface. 

    This remote ecosystem is home to much of the Southern Ocean’s photosynthetic life. A new University of Washington study provides the first measurements of how sea-ice algae and other single-celled life adjust to these seasonal rhythms, offering clues to what might happen as this environment shifts under climate change. 

    The study, published Sept. 15 in the International Society for Microbial Ecology’s ISME Journal, contains some of the first measurements of how sea-ice microbes respond to changing conditions. 

    “We know very little about how sea-ice microbes respond to changes in salinity and temperature,” said lead author Hannah Dawson, a UW postdoctoral researcher who did the work while pursuing her doctorate in oceanography at the UW. “And until now we knew almost nothing about the molecules they produce and use in chemical reactions to stay alive, which are important for supporting higher organisms in the ecosystem as well as for climate impacts, like carbon storage and cloud formation.” 

    The polar oceans play an important role in global ocean currents and in supporting marine ecosystems. Microbes form the base of the food web, supporting larger life forms. 

    “Polar oceans make up a significant portion of the world’s oceans, and these are very productive waters,” said senior author Jodi Young, a UW assistant professor of oceanography. “These waters support big swarms of krill, the whales that come to feed on those krill, and either polar bears or penguins. And the start of that whole ecosystem are these single-celled microscopic algae. We just know so little about them.” 

    The tiny organisms are also important for the climate, since they quietly perform photosynthesis and soak up carbon from the atmosphere. Polar algae are especially good at producing sulfur-containing molecules that give beaches their distinctive smell and, when lofted into the air in sea spray, promote formation of clouds that can reduce penetration of solar rays. 

    Antarctic sea ice, though long stable, is at an all-time record low this year. 

    In other oceans, satellite instruments can capture dramatic seasonal phytoplankton blooms from space — but that isn’t possible for microbes hidden under sea ice. And Antarctic waters are particularly challenging to visit, leaving researchers with almost no measurements in winter. 

    In late 2018, Dawson and co-author Susan Rundell traveled to Palmer Station, a U.S. research station on the West Antarctic Peninsula. They used a small boat to sample seawater and sea ice at the same nearby sites every three days. 

    Back on shore, the two graduate students performed 10-day experiments in tanks to see which microbes grew as temperature and salinity were adjusted to mimic sea-ice formation and melt. They also shipped samples back to Seattle for more complex measurements of the samples’ genetics and metabolites, the small organic molecules produced by the cell. 

    Results revealed how single-celled algae deal with their fluctuating environments. As temperatures drop, the cells produce cryoprotectants, similar to antifreeze, to prevent their cellular fluid from crystallizing. Many of the most common cryoprotectant molecules were the same across different microbial lifeforms. 

    As salinity changes, to avoid either bursting in freshening waters or becoming desiccated like raisins in salty conditions, the cells change the concentration of salt-like organic molecules. Many such molecules serve a dual role as cryoprotectants, to balance conditions inside and outside the cell to maintain water balance. 

    The results show that under short-term temperature and salinity changes, community structure in each sample remained stable while adjusting the production of protective molecules. Different microbe species showed consistent responses to changing conditions. This should simplify modeling future responses to climate change, Young said. 

    Results also hint that the production of omega-3 fatty acids may decline in lower-salinity environments. This would be bad news for consumers of krill oil supplements, and for the marine ecosystem that relies on those algae-derived nutrients. Future research now underway by the UW group aims to confirm that result — especially with the prospect of increasing freshwater input from melting sea ice and glaciers. 

    “We’re interested in how these sea-ice algae contend with changes in temperature, salinity and light under normal conditions,” Dawson said. “But then we also have climate change, which is completely remodeling the landscape in terms of when sea ice is forming, how much sea ice forms, how long it stays before it melts, as well as the quantity of freshwater input from glaciers. So we’re both trying to capture what’s happening now, and also asking how that can inform what might happen in the future.”

    The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Other co-authors are Anitra Ingalls, Jody Deming, Joshua Sacks and Laura Carlson at the UW; Natalia Erazo, Elizabeth Connors and Jeff Bowman at Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and Veronica Mierzejewski at Arizona State University.

     

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    University of Washington

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  • A Fourth of U.S. Health Visits Now Delivered by Non-Physicians

    A Fourth of U.S. Health Visits Now Delivered by Non-Physicians

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     At a glance

    • From 2013 to 2019 the share of U.S. health care visits delivered by non-physicians such as nurse practitioners or physician assistants increased from 14 to 26 percent.
    • This rapid shift requires caregivers, medical educators, and policymakers to understand and manage this growing segment of the health care workforce.

    Newswise — The proportion of health care visits delivered by nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the US is increasing rapidly and now accounts for a quarter of all healthcare visits, according to a study published Sept. 14 in the BMJ.

    The analysis, led by researchers from the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, highlights the rising importance of this rapidly growing segment of the U.S. health care system.

    The research is the first nationally representative study of the share of health care delivered by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, collectively known as advanced practice providers. It is also the first study to look at care delivered across different clinical conditions. The researchers analyzed 276 million visits from a nationally representative sample of Medicare insured patients.

    Study co-authors Ateev Mehrotra, professor of health care policy at HMS, and Sadiq Patel, a former NIH postdoctoral fellow at HMS, spoke with HMNews about the increasingly important role these providers play in our health care system.

    Harvard Medicine News: How did we get to the point where a quarter of all medical visits are conducted by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, not by physicians?

    Mehrotra: The roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistants were created in the mid 1960s to address what were already identified at that time as physician shortages. We looked specifically at the years from 2013 to 2019, when the proportion of all traditional health care visits delivered by nurse practitioners and physician assistants increased from 14 to 25.6 percent. 

    That’s the average, but it varied across different conditions. Forty-seven percent of respiratory infection visits and 31 percent of visits for anxiety disorders were conducted by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, but it was only 13 percent for eye disorders and 20 percent for hypertension.

    HMNews: What’s driving this recent growth? 

    Mehrotra: The short answer is supply and demand. The U.S. has fewer physicians per capita than most of our peer nations. Who is going to provide that care? The number of nurse practitioners and physician assistants has grown more quickly than the number of physicians. And this trend will only continue as we move forward.  

    The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that between 2019 and 2031 the number of nurse practitioners in the U.S. will increase by 80 percent and the number of physician assistants by nearly 50 percent. In contrast, the growth rate for physicians over the next decade or so is estimated at less than 5 percent.

    HMNews: Are there some patients who are more likely to see nurse practitioners or physician assistants than others?

    Patel: Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are very widespread: Among all patients with at least one visit in 2019, 42 percent had one or more nurse practitioner or physician assistant visits. But there were some groups more likely to see nurse practitioners and physician assistants. The likelihood was greatest among patients who were lower income, rural residents, and people with disabilities.

    That’s another reason it’s so important to get this right. We’ve known that these groups often have greater difficulty accessing care, and nurse practitioners and physician assistants are critical to providing this access.

    HMNews: When people are sick, they usually think about “going to the doctor.” Is this change worrying? Is there a difference in quality or cost between the care delivered by nurses and physician assistants versus the care delivered by physicians?

    Mehrotra: First of all, it’s very important to emphasize that it’s not really a question of one or the other. Almost all these practitioners work in teams that include physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants working together.

    Most of the research agrees that all three professions can do a good job delivering care in most settings, especially primary care. And it turns out that there is not a significant difference in spending. But there are clinical conditions that might be better suited to one profession or another.

    Patel: One of the things that we wanted to do with this study was to start looking at the specific types of care these allied professionals were most likely to deliver.

    HMNews: What did you learn?

    Patel: As Ateev mentioned, patients were less likely to see a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant for an eye disorder, and more likely to see them for a respiratory infection. That seems like a reasonable allocation of resources, given the relative complexity of the clinical conditions. 

    The high use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants for anxiety disorders is another interesting example. There simply aren’t enough psychiatrists to treat all the people who need care for mental health conditions. But the good news is that there are highly effective evidence-based treatments that can help a lot of people with depression and anxiety that do not require a physician to deliver.

    Mehrotra: Hopefully one benefit that will follow from this research is that we will be able to identify the services that allied health professionals can deliver and provide the training and support services they need to take care of their patients, like proactively planning for remote supervision in more complex psychiatric services or specialist consults by telemedicine.

    HMNews: Any predictions on how these changes will shape health care going forward?

    Mehrotra: The increase in care delivery by nurse practitioners and physician assistants represents a massive change. We need more research on how to best structure teams of clinicians — nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians — so that they can work together to provide the most effective care possible. If we are thoughtful about how we move forward as those changes continue to happen, that’s millions of opportunities to do it better. I hope we take advantage of that opportunity.

    This interview was edited for length and clarity.

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    Harvard Medical School

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  • Overdose deaths from fentanyl laced stimulants have risen 50-fold since 2010

    Overdose deaths from fentanyl laced stimulants have risen 50-fold since 2010

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    EMBARGOED FOR USE UNTIL:

    12:01 a.m. (EDT) on Sept. 14, 2023

     

    Newswise — Overdose deaths from fentanyl laced stimulants have risen 50-fold since 2010

     

    The trend marks the fourth wave in the US overdose crisis, which began with prescription opioid deaths in the early 2000s and has since continued with other drugs

    New UCLA-led research has found that the proportion of US overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has increased more than 50-fold since 2010, from 0.6% (235 deaths) in 2010 to 32.3% (34,429 deaths) in 2021. 

    By 2021, stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine had become the most common drug class found in fentanyl-involved overdoses in every US state.  This rise in fentanyl/stimulant fatalities constitutes the ‘fourth wave’ in the US’s long-running opioid overdose crisis –the death toll of which continues to rise precipitously. 

    “We’re now seeing that the use of fentanyl together with stimulants is rapidly becoming the dominant force in the US overdose crisis,” said lead author Joseph Friedman, an addition researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Fentanyl has ushered in a polysubstance overdose crisis, meaning that people are mixing fentanyl with other drugs, like stimulants, but also countless other synthetic substances. This poses many health risks and new challenges for healthcare providers. We have data and medical expertise about treating opioid use disorders, but comparatively little experience with the combination of opioids and stimulants together, or opioids mixed with other drugs. This makes it hard to stabilize people medically who are withdrawing from polysubstance use.”

    The findings will be published in the peer-reviewed journal Addiction.

    The analysis illustrates how the US opioid crisis began with an increase in deaths from prescription opioids (wave 1) in the early 2000s and heroin (wave 2) in 2010.  Around 2013, an increase in fentanyl overdoses signalled the third wave.  The fourth wave – fentanyl overdoses with stimulants – began in 2015 and continues to grow.

    Further complicating matters is that people consuming multiple substances may also be at increased risk of overdose, and many substances being mixed with fentanyl are not responsive to naloxone, the antidote to an opioid overdose.  

    The authors also found that fentanyl/stimulant overdose deaths disproportionately affect racial/ethnic minority communities in the US, including Black and African American people and Native American people. For instance, in 2021, the prevalence of stimulant involvement in fentanyl overdose deaths was 73% among 65 to 74-year-old Non-Hispanic Black or African American women living in the western US and 69% among 55 to 65-year-old Black or African American men living in the same area.  The rate among the general US population in 2021 was 49%.

    There are also geographical patterns to fentanyl/stimulant use.  In the northeast US, fentanyl tends to be combined with cocaine; in the southern and western US, it appears most commonly with methamphetamine. 

    “We suspect this pattern reflects the rising availability of, and preference for, low-cost, high-purity methamphetamine throughout the US, and the fact that the Northeast has a well-entrenched pattern of illicit cocaine use that has so far resisted the complete takeover by methamphetamine seen elsewhere in the country,” Friedman said.

    The study was funded by the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program (National Institute of General Medical Sciences training grant GM008042) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (K01DA050771). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

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  • Ahead of UN General Assembly, pharmaceutical industry underscores need for pandemic preparedness plans to support innovation and equity

    Ahead of UN General Assembly, pharmaceutical industry underscores need for pandemic preparedness plans to support innovation and equity

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    • Global pharmaceutical industry trade body calls for pandemic preparedness plans to protect what worked well in response to COVID-19 pandemic and ensure equity in the roll out of vaccines and treatments.  

    • Industry underlines that future plans must ensure science and innovation can again deliver at record speed and scale. It is critical to ensure scientists continue to have unhindered access to pathogen data and supporting voluntary technology transfer. 

    • Pharmaceutical industry urges support for its proposals to ensure equitable access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics in lower income countries for future pandemics. 

    Newswise — 13 SEPTEMBER 2023, GENEVA – Ahead of discussions at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78), the trade association representing the innovative pharmaceutical industry, the IFPMA, has warned that current pandemic preparedness plans should not undermine what worked well in response to COVID-19 and must support both “innovation and equity.” 

    The UNGA will see world leaders consider a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response as one of three health-focused high-level meetings. IFPMA has called for current plans to be strengthened to support the development of vaccines and treatments that will be needed for the next pandemic, alongside practical measures to ensure there is equity in access to medical countermeasures in lower-income countries.  

    Pharmaceutical industry commitment to innovate to address future pandemics   

    Effective vaccines and treatments were critical in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent research estimates that if effective vaccines are rolled out 100 days after the discovery of a new pathogen, the likelihood of a pandemic as deadly as COVID-19 taking place in the next decade drops from 27.5% to 8.1%.   

    The pharmaceutical industry has committed to play an active role in plans to prevent and prepare for future pandemics, and is a partner to the 100 Days Mission, which sets the ambition to deliver safe and effective vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics within 100 days of a pandemic threat being identified.  

    Seven leading pharmaceutical companies have also established The INTREPID Alliance, working to accelerate progress in the discovery and development of new antiviral treatments for future pandemics. The Alliance seeks to have 25 antiviral therapies for respiratory viral diseases with pandemic potential ready for Phase II/III clinical trials by 2026.  

    Placing innovation at the heart of future pandemic preparedness  

    However, progress will require coordinated action by industry, governments, and multilateral organizations. This will include putting in place the right incentives to support the pipeline of vaccines and treatments that will be needed to respond to future pandemics; ensuring scientists have rapid and unhindered access to pathogens and their genetic information; and the ability for companies to partner on a voluntary basis to rapidly scale up production.   

    IFPMA calls for these measures to be integrated into pandemic preparedness plans, including in the pandemic preparedness Political Declaration being considered by the UN General Assembly, alongside the focus on ensuring greater equity of access.   

    To rapidly scale-up production and deliver vaccines and treatments to at risk groups in the most affected regions, alongside wider measures, the industry has underlined the importance of sustainably boosting local capabilities in underserved regions and the need to support voluntary collaborations between companies, necessary to rapidly scale up production. Almost 450 voluntary collaborations are in place to support the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Pharmaceutical companies continue to extend their manufacturing and supply chain footprint via partnerships and investments in such regions. 

     

    Delivering equitable access to medical countermeasures in future pandemics 

    IFPMA has reiterated that future pandemic plans must also tackle the inequity we saw in the roll out of vaccines and treatments in response to COVID-19.  

    Last year, the industry published plans to address this in the Berlin Declaration, proposing a commitment by pharmaceutical companies to reserve an allocation of real-time production of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics for priority populations in lower-income countries. The plans were endorsed by the Developing Countries Vaccines Manufacturing Network and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. 

    The Berlin Declaration is designed to provide a concrete solution to avoid a small number of countries securing the majority of supply of vaccines and treatments in the early months of a pandemic. 

    Alongside this, the industry has repeated that governments of countries that host manufacturing facilities need to commit to facilitating the export and import of raw materials and finished products to prevent trade restrictions hampering equitable rollout as we saw in response to COVID-19.   

    Thomas Cueni, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations said:  

    “When the next pandemic hits, the success of our response will depend on how well we prepared and worked together in this moment between pandemics.  

    “The collective challenge facing us is to deliver innovation and equity: how to incentivize the research needed to develop the vaccines and treatments we will need, and how we make sure there is equitable access to these medical countermeasures across the globe when we have them.   

    “A new Political Declaration presents an opportunity to get all stakeholders around the table and get this right, but it is critical that we don’t undermine what worked well in response to COVID19 and instead strengthen the innovation ecosystem that underpins the development of new medicines and vaccines for when we need them most.” 

     

    Notes to editors 

    • The UNGA will see world leaders gather to consider political declarations on three important global health security priorities – pandemic preparedness, ending tuberculosis, and delivering universal healthcare coverage.  

    • The innovative pharmaceutical industry set out a vision for equitable access to medicines and vaccines in future pandemics in the Berlin Declaration. The Declaration includes the commitment to reserve an allocation of real-time production of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics for priority populations in lower income countries and take measures to make them available and affordable. 

    • Following the publication of the Berlin Declaration, IFPMA also published five priorities for future pandemic preparedness and response, which set out action needed in the following areas: sustaining a thriving innovation ecosystem; building equitable access early on into pandemic responses; fostering sustainable manufacturing globally; removing barriers to trade; and ensuring greater country readiness. 

    • The 100 Days Mission was put forward by the UK during its G20 presidency in 2021. It aims to have safe and effective vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics within 100 days of an epidemic or pandemic threat being identified. IFPMA and the pharmaceutical industry continue to be a supporter of the 100 Days Mission. 

    • The INTREPID Alliance is a group of seven pharmaceutical companies who are working to accelerate progress in the discovery and development of new antiviral treatments for future pandemics and in support of the 100 Days Mission. The Alliance seeks to have 25 antiviral therapies for viral diseases with pandemic potential ready for Phase II/III clinical trials by 2026. 

       

    About the IFPMA  

    The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) represents over 90 innovative pharmaceutical companies and associations around the world. Our industry’s almost three million employees discover, develop, and deliver medicines and vaccines that advance global health. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help the global health community improve the lives of people everywhere. For more information, visit ifpma.org. 

     

     

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    International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations

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  • The Sweet Physics of Saltwater Taffy

    The Sweet Physics of Saltwater Taffy

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    Newswise — WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2023 – American beach town boardwalks often boast numerous storefronts advertising saltwater taffies. The candy calls to mind summer vacations, a rainbow assortment of colors and flavors, and a sweetness that sticks to the roof of your mouth.

    But when San To Chan received saltwater taffy to celebrate their thesis defense, their first question was not of the flavor but of the physics. When measuring how the taffy responded to applied forces, Chan and their colleagues found taffy occupies the intriguing middle ground between solid and liquid material.

    That experience inspired the researchers from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to investigate how the ingredients and confectioning process contribute to the rheology of saltwater taffy. They published their results in the AIP Publishing journal Physics of Fluids.

    “Taffy is a viscoelastic material — it has properties between a viscous liquid and an elastic solid,” said author San To Chan. “Comparing the deformation behavior of commercial taffy to those of different lab-made sugar syrups and lab-made taffies allowed us to identify the most important taffy ingredient (and material structure) that governs taffy rheology.”

    Despite the name, the candy contains no saltwater. Conventionally, taffies are made with table sugar, water, oil, and corn syrup. Additional flavoring and food coloring provide a tasty and eye-catching effect. The mixture is boiled until it reaches a desired state, then cooled. 

    Once cool, the taffy is pulled by hand or machine for several minutes. The stretching and folding aerates and emulsifies the candy, incorporating small air bubbles and breaking down larger oil droplets. 

    “Taffy is composed of oil droplets and air bubbles of various sizes dispersed in a viscoelastic matrix (sugar syrup),” Chan said. “In some sense, oil droplets and air bubbles are like rubber balls. When deformed in the taffy, they tend to return to their original, spherical shape because of surface tension. In other words, emulsification and aeration make taffy more elastic, hence, chewier.”

    The researchers found that air bubbles and oil droplets are the primary factors determining the rheological properties of taffy. Emulsifiers such as lecithin can promote the formation of smaller droplets and prevent them from recombining, leading to a chewier, longer-lasting product.

    Armed with more information on how to whip up the desired candy, the researchers hope confectioners can develop new concoctions with novel textures and flavors while helping to maintain the traditional artisanship involved in confectionery. 

    There may be another incentive to study the sweet, sticky stuff. 

    “Because of the larger amount of soy lecithin compared to commercial taffy, the lab-made taffy has a strong soy milk-like flavor, which I like,” said Chan.

    ###

    The article, “The rheology of saltwater taffy,” is authored by San To Chan, Simon James Haward, Eliot Fried, and Gareth H. McKinley. It will appear in Physics of Fluids on Sept. 12, 2023 (DOI: 10.1063/5.0163715). After that date, it can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0163715.

    ###

    ABOUT THE JOURNAL

    Physics of Fluids is devoted to the publication of original theoretical, computational, and experimental contributions to the dynamics of gases, liquids, and complex fluids. See https://pubs.aip.org/aip/pof.

    ###

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    American Institute of Physics (AIP)

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  • Intensity-modulated radiation therapy provides long-term benefits to patients with locally advanced lung cancer

    Intensity-modulated radiation therapy provides long-term benefits to patients with locally advanced lung cancer

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    Newswise — SINGAPORE ― Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) should be the preferred choice when treating patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as it reduces radiation exposure to the heart and lungs, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  

    Results from a long-term secondary analysis of the NRG Oncology-RTOG 0617 Phase III study, with a median follow-up of 5.2 years, revealed that patients receiving IMRT had a more than two-fold reduction in severe lung inflammation (pneumonitis) compared to those who received 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), 3.5% versus 8.2%.  

    The findings were presented today at the at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer by Stephen Chun, M.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology.  

    “IMRT spared more normal tissue than 3D-CRT, which translated into a clinically meaningful benefit to patients,” Chun said. “Despite historical concerns of IMRT generating a low-dose radiation bath to a large area of normal lung tissue, we found no excess cancers, increased adverse events or survival detriment over the long term related to this approach.” 

    For decades, 3D-CRT has been the standard of care for locally advanced lung cancer when surgery is not an option. However, it is less precise than IMRT, which sculpts and molds radiation beams to tumor targets, reducing radiation exposure to certain organs.  

    The NRG Oncology-RTOG 0617 study enrolled 482 NSCLC patients from 2007 to 2011 and compared a high dose of radiation (74 Gy) to a standard dose (60 Gy). All patients underwent concurrent chemotherapy (carboplatin/paclitaxel, with or without cetuximab) and either 3D-CRT (53%) or IMRT (47%). 

    Although patients treated with both techniques had similar survival rates, closer inspection of the data demonstrated a correlation between survival and radiation exposure to the heart. IMRT treatment plans achieved significantly lower cardiac radiation doses.  

    Both the 3D-CRT and IMRT groups had similar rates of new cancer development over time. Scientists also saw no evidence that age impacted survival, meaning that age is no reason to exclude elderly patients from curative-intent chemoradiation for locally advanced NSCLC.  

    “The data from our study makes a compelling argument that we should use IMRT for locally advanced lung cancer. As a randomized clinical trial comparing 3D-CRT and IMRT is unlikely to be performed, this study represents the strongest prospective evidence we will ever have in support of IMRT,” Chun said. 

    This trial was funded by the National Cancer Institute (R50CA275822, U10CA21661, U10CA180868, and U10CA180822), Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Company. Chun reports financial relationships with Curio Science, Norton Healthcare, AstraZeneca, Binaytara Foundation, Henry Ford Health, Hong Kong Precision Oncology, ViewRay, the American Board of Radiology and the Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology. A full list of collaborating authors can be found with the abstract here.  

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    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • Rubber plumbing seals can leak additives into drinking water, study says

    Rubber plumbing seals can leak additives into drinking water, study says

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    Newswise — As drinking water flows through pipes and into a glass, it runs against the rubber seals inside some plumbing devices. These parts contain additives that contribute to their flexibility and durability, but these potentially harmful compounds can leak into drinking water, according to a small-scale study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The authors report that the released compounds, which are typically linked to tire pollution, also transformed into other unwanted byproducts.

    To enhance rubber’s strength and durability, manufacturers typically mix in additives. Scientists have shown that tire dust can transport these substances, such as 1,3 diphenylguanidine (DPG) and N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N’-phenyl-1,4-benzenediamine (6PPD), into waterways. DPG and 6PPD have also been detected in drinking water samples, though it’s unclear how the compounds got there. In previous research, Shane Snyder and Mauricius Marques dos Santos found that these rubber additives can react with disinfectants in simulated drinking water. Their lab tests generated a variety of chlorinated compounds, some of which could damage DNA. Now, the team wanted to assess whether real-world rubber plumbing fixtures can release DPG and 6PPD and form chlorinated byproducts in drinking water samples.

    In this pilot study, the team collected tap water from 20 buildings and detected polymer additives at parts per trillion levels in every sample. The researchers explain that these compounds are not currently regulated, but the measured levels are potentially concerning, based on their previous study’s results from human cell bioassays. And the samples from faucets with aerators contained the highest total amounts. All of the samples contained DPG and one of its chlorinated byproducts, whereas 6PPD and two other chlorine-containing compounds were each found in fewer than five samples. This is the first report of chlorinated DPG byproducts in drinking water, according to the researchers.

    To see if these compounds could have come from plumbing fixtures, the team tested rubber O-rings and gaskets from seven commercial devices, including faucet aerators and connection seals. In the experiment, the rings sat in water with or without chlorinated disinfectants for up to two weeks. Most of the seals, except for the silicone-based ones, released DPG and 6PPD additives. Additionally, plumbing pieces sitting in disinfectant-treated water generated chlorinated forms of DPG in amounts that were consistent with those observed in the drinking water samples. Because some of the rubber plumbing seals released DPG and 6PPD, the researchers say that drinking water, as well as tire pollution, could be a route of human exposure to these compounds.

    The authors acknowledge funding from the Merlion programme; the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs; the Nanyang Technological University; the National Research Foundation of Singapore; and the Public Utilities Board, Singapore’s National Water Agency.

    The paper’s abstract will be available on Sept. 6 at 8 a.m. Eastern time here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00446

    The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

    To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact [email protected].

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    American Chemical Society (ACS)

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  • Study: Race, Ethnicity May Play a Role in Cause of Liver Cancer

    Study: Race, Ethnicity May Play a Role in Cause of Liver Cancer

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    Newswise — MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL SEPT. 5, 2023 AT 8 P.M. ET) – A new analysis of liver cancer has identified racial and ethnic differences and emerging trends for this highly fatal disease. The study,  conducted by researchers with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and collaborating organizations, also identified potential targeted interventions to improve control and prevention. 

    Their extensive review, published Sept. 6 in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, examined 14,420 confirmed cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, diagnosed between 2010 and 2018. Data was culled from Florida’s statewide cancer registry and two other public sources.

    By the Numbers

    According to statistics from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HCC accounts for almost 80 percent of all liver cancers. About 25,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, and its incidence has increased 48% since 2000. The disease is highly fatal, with a five-year survival rate of only 18%.

    Despite these numbers, however, most studies looking at the extent and demographic breakdown of the disease have been limited in scope, resulting in a clear knowledge gap.

    “To date, studies examining the burden of this cancer have been hospital-based, failing to consider the underlying population at risk, thereby limiting epidemiological information,” explained Paulo Pinheiro, MD, PhD, a Sylvester cancer epidemiologist and the study’s corresponding author. “Hospital studies are subject to selection bias due to referral and health insurance patterns, which tend to limit the overall impact on marginalized populations.”

    Pinheiro, who is also a professor of epidemiology, noted that liver cancer disproportionately affects people of low socioeconomic status, as well as immigrants, veterans and incarcerated populations, which are difficult to capture in clinical studies because they have limited access to healthcare.

    “Consequently, we need truly inclusive population data to establish causes and patterns for this disease, especially if we are to develop effective prevention and control efforts for those most vulnerable,” he said.

    Pinheiro and colleagues sought to overcome potential biases by using data from three independent, population-based sources: Florida’s cancer registry; its public health agency; and its hospitals’ discharge records. The researchers deployed novel linkages among these data sources to estimate incidence and trends by cause.

    Additionally, they leveraged the vast diversity of Florida’s population to focus on patterns in detailed racial-ethnic groups, such as Central Americans, Cubans, Dominicans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and South Americans, instead of Hispanic/Latino only, and African American, Haitian and West Indian instead of just Non-Hispanic Black.

    Previous studies done by Pinheiro and collaborators at Sylvester and researchers elsewhere have shown that 90% of all liver cancers are caused by hepatitis B or hepatitis C viral infections, fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease. However, many of those studies had limitations or did not dig deeper into the most common causes specific to racial-ethnic groups.

    For this study, the researchers expanded on past findings by including more years of data – nine in this study versus only two (2014-15) previously – and conducting a far more comprehensive analysis of the data, adding linkages for chronic viral hepatitis biomarkers, performing trend assessments and refining subgroups for Black, Hispanic and Asian populations.

    Results

    Key findings from the study included:

    • Race and birthplace affect causes of liver cancer, with clear differences for various groups.
    • Differences in liver-cancer causes reflect the socioeconomic factors associated with each racial-ethnic group.
    • Black, Asian and Hispanic populations have marked differences by subgroup – Cubans, Haitians, Chinese, Japanese, for example – and social factors, which influence major causes of liver cancer.
    • For men and women combined in 2018, hepatitis C infection and fatty-liver disease accounted for 36% and 35% of all liver cancers, respectively.

    Additionally, the research revealed some unexpected findings, including:

    • A three-fold difference in rates between Puerto Rican and Cuban men – with Puerto Rican men being higher – proof that grouping all Hispanics together can obscure major differences across ethnicity.
    • Filipinos have higher rates of fatty liver-related cancer, similar to Hispanics.
    • Liver cancer from hepatitis B infections is not only the leading cause among Asians, but also Haitian-born Black men.
    • Liver cancer causes that are increasing – fatty liver and alcohol-related – are both more prevalent among Hispanics.
    • Conversely, causes that are declining – primarily Hepatitis C – are more prevalent in U.S.-born populations, like Whites and Blacks.

    The researchers also noted that declines in liver cancer from hepatitis C since 2015 are likely due to the advent of direct-acting antivirals, while increasing incidence of liver cancer from fatty liver disease reflect rising rates of obesity and diabetes in the general population.

    Next Steps

    “Moving forward, we need to reinforce the importance of screening all adults in Florida – and nationwide – for hepatitis C and B viral infections, especially if they are in a high-risk group identified by the study,” Pinheiro said. “There is a cure for hep C and an effective control for hep B.”

    Colleague and co-author Patricia D. Jones, MD, a Sylvester liver-cancer specialist, agreed.  “Cancer Control efforts should begin by expanding screening programs to the most vulnerable groups noted in the study,” she said. “Similar efforts are critically needed to disseminate educational materials informed by this granular data to the healthcare providers who care for these vulnerable groups.”

    Pinheiro, who has been studying liver cancer for many years, noted that its epidemiology by demographics is quite complex and, until now, often puzzling. “With this study, we have shined some light on this deadly disease.”

    # # #

    Contributing Authors

    The complete list of authors is included with the manuscript.

     

    Conflicts of Interest

    The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

     

    Funding

    This research was supported by the Bankhead Coley Research Program of the state of Florida. Supplemental funding was provided by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

     

    DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2023.08.016

    # # #

    MEDIA CONTACT:
    Sandy Van
    [email protected]
    808.206.4576

     

     

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    Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

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  • Pioneering research sheds surprising new light on evolution of plant kingdom

    Pioneering research sheds surprising new light on evolution of plant kingdom

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    Newswise — A new study has uncovered intriguing insights into the evolution of plant biology, effectively rewriting the history of how they evolved over the past billion years.

    The research, published today in Nature Plants, shows plants have gradually developed their range of anatomical designs throughout the passage of time, punctuated by episodic bursts of innovation to overcome and adapt to environmental challenges.

    Such findings overturn the long-held belief that, much like animals, the fundamental range of plant types evolved in a big burst of sudden change early in their evolutionary history.

    Co-lead author Philip Donoghue, Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol, said: “Although plants are extraordinarily diverse in their design and organisation, they share a common ancestor which originated at sea more than a billion years ago.

    “We wanted to test whether they really evolved with a big bang early on in their history or whether their evolution was a slower and more continual process. Surprisingly, the results revealed plant evolution was a bit of a mix, with long periods of gradual change interrupted by short bursts of large-scale innovation, overcoming the challenges of living on dry land.”

    To test this theory the team of scientists analysed the similarities and differences of 248 groups of plants, ranging from single-celled pond scum and seaweed to land plants including everything from mosses and ferns, to pines, conifers and flowering plants. They also looked at 160 extinct groups known only from the fossil record, including species from the Devonian Rhynie Chert which lived more than 400 million years ago.

    More than a 130,000 observations were generated by breaking down plant designs into their components and recording those present or absent in each of the main groups, living and fossil. Computerised statistical techniques measured the overall similarities and differences between groups and how they have varied over time.

    The scientists also tried to work out what led to these evolutionary innovations, like the introduction of spores, seeds, roots, leaves, pollen and flowers.   

    Co-lead author Dr James Clark, Research Associate in Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: “We found changes in plant anatomical design occur in association with events in which the entire cellular genetic make-up was doubled. This has happened many times in plant evolutionary history, as a result of errors in the genome-copying process, creating duplicate copies of genes that are free to mutate and evolve new functions.”

    But the major pulses of plant anatomical evolution were found to be associated with the challenge of living and reproducing in increasingly dry environments, connected to the progressive emergence of plants from sea on to land.

    Co-lead author Dr Sandy Hetherington’s fascination with the evolution of land plants began as a budding geologist at the University of Bristol and now continues in his work at the University of Edinburgh.

    He said: “Overall the pattern of episodic pulses in the evolution of plant anatomical designs matches that seen in other multi-cellular kingdoms of complex life, like animals and fungi. This suggests it is a general pattern and blueprint for complex multicellular life from its inception.”

    Paper

    ‘Evolution of phenotypic disparity in the plant kingdom’ by James W. Clark et al in Nature Plants

    Notes to editors

    Professor Philip Donoghue, Dr James Clark and Dr Sandy Hetherington are available for interview and advance copies of the embargoed paper can be requested. Please contact Victoria Tagg, Media & PR Manager (Research) at the University of Bristol: [email protected]

    Images

    https://fluff.bris.ac.uk/fluff/u2/oc20541/_mcB3ejZQJjOMTnnuN0oqgELk/

    Caption: The moss, Polytrichum commune, which is one of the closest living relatives of the ancestral land plant

    Credit: Silvia Pressel, The Natural History Museum

    https://fluff.bris.ac.uk/fluff/u3/oc20541/y_2cDGSW92fm1yF6LDdirgELg/

    Caption: The evolution of plant anatomical variety. Each dot represents a living or fossil species and the connecting lines reflect their evolutionary relationships, branching from a universal ancestor (bottom left) to the most recently evolved group, the flowering plants (bottom right).

    Credit: James Clark and colleagues, University of Bristol, UK

    https://fluff.bris.ac.uk/fluff/u3/oc20541/QllcweUjKzmlC4sFggkdVwELV/

    Caption: A diverse community of land plants, ranging from mosses to flowering species, grow together in boggy stream in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland.

    Credit: Sandy Hetherington, The University of Edinburgh, UK

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    University of Bristol

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  • Study could help explain why certain brain tumors don’t respond well to immunotherapy

    Study could help explain why certain brain tumors don’t respond well to immunotherapy

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    BYLINE: Denise Heady

    Newswise — A study led by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center sheds new light on why tumors that have spread to the brain from other parts of the body respond to immunotherapy while glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that originates in the brain, does not.

    In people with tumors that originated in other parts of the body but spread to the brain, treatment with a type of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint blockade appears to elicit a significant increase in both active and exhausted T cells — signs that the T cells have been triggered to fight the cancer. The reason the same thing doesn’t occur in people with glioblastoma is that anti-tumor immune responses are best initiated in draining lymph nodes outside of the brain, and that process does not occur very effectively in glioblastoma cases.

    To date, immunotherapy has not been effective in treating glioblastoma, but it has been shown to slow or even eradicate other types of cancer, such as melanoma, which frequently metastasizes to the brain.

    The new research, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could help improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy for people with brain tumors and it could suggest new paths in the effort to help develop more effective therapies.

    “If we’re going to try to develop new therapies for solid tumors, like glioblastoma, which are not typically responsive, we need to understand the tumor types that are responsive, and learn the mechanisms by which that happens,” said the study’s senior author, Robert Prins, a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

    The researchers studied the immune cells obtained from nine people with metastatic brain tumors who had been treated with immune checkpoint blockade — which works by harnessing the body’s immune system to destroy cancer cells — and compared their observations with immune cells taken from 19 patients with brain metastases that not been treated with immunotherapy.

    They used a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing to examine the genetic material in both sets of samples, and then compared the data to previously published analyses of 25 recurrent glioblastoma tumors to better understand the effect the immunotherapy had on T cells.

    “We really were trying to figure out which immune cells are changing in the more responsive tumors in order to better explain the higher response rate to the treatment,” said the study’s co-first author, Lu Sun, a project scientist in the Geffen School of Medicine’s neurosurgery department. “No study has comprehensively examined the differential effect of immune checkpoint blockade treatment on these two types of brain tumors before.”

    In the tumors that had spread to the brain, the researchers saw that the T cells had specific characteristics associated with fighting tumors entering the brain, most likely due to a more effective priming step that occurs outside of the brain.

    Before traveling to the brain, T cells are first activated in the lymph nodes. During this process, a type of immune cells called dendritic cells share information about the tumor to T cells so they can better attack the tumor. This priming process, however, doesn’t work very effectively when doctors attempt to use immune checkpoint blockade for treating glioblastoma.

    The researchers also found that a specific subgroup of those exhausted T cells was associated with longer overall survival in people whose cancer had metastasized to the brain.

    “We found quite a significant difference between the two types of brain tumors and how they respond to immunotherapies,” said study author Dr. Won Kim, surgical director of UCLA Health’s brain metastasis program and a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center. “There was a tremendous number of T cell lymphocytes that were found within brain metastases following immunotherapy, and while the number of T cell lymphocytes also increased in glioblastoma patients, it wasn’t anywhere near the same extent.”

    Prins, who is also a researcher at the Jonsson Cancer Center, said that finding “suggests that enhancing the activation and presentation of T cells by dendritic cells could be a potential treatment strategy.”

    In future studies, the researchers plan to analyze data from a larger, more uniform group of people who were diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to the brain.

    The study’s other co-first author is Jenny Kienzler, who was a UCLA fellow in neurosurgery when the research was conducted. Other UCLA authors are Jeremy Reynoso, Alexander Lee, Eileen Shiuan, Shanpeng Li, Jiyoon Kim, Lizhong Ding, Amber Monteleone, Geoffrey Owens, Dr. Richard Everson, David Nathanson, Dr. Timothy Cloughesy, Gang Li, Dr. Linda Liau and Willy Hugo.

    The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health Specialized Programs of Research Excellence in Brain Cancer, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Science, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Brain Tumor Funder’s Collaborative and Cancer Research Institute.

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    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

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  • LJI scientists harness ‘helper’ T cells to treat tumors

    LJI scientists harness ‘helper’ T cells to treat tumors

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    Newswise — LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists are on the hunt for a unique set of mutations, called “neoantigens,” that let the immune system distinguish tumor cells from normal cells. Their goal is to help the immune system react to neoantigens and target tumor cells for destruction.

    This area of research has led to life-saving antibody therapeutics, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, which rely on antibodies to help immune cells kill tumors. Unfortunately, antibody-based cancer immunotherapies don’t work for all patients.

    At La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Professor Stephen Schoenberger, Ph.D., and his colleagues are looking beyond antibodies. Schoenberger’s lab leads pioneering research into how the immune system’s CD4+ “helper” T cells detect neoantigens.

    Now Schoenberger and his colleagues have published a pair of studies that show how we might harness CD4+ T cells while boosting the cancer-fighting power of CD8+ “killer” T cells. In fact, the researchers demonstrate a new kind of vaccine design that recruits both types of T cells to destroy large tumors.

    “Therapeutic cancer vaccines can work,” says Schoenberger, who serves as a member of the LJI Center for Cancer Immunotherapy. “But they should leverage the natural synergy of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.”

    Researchers help CD4+ T cells detect tumors

    As Schoenberger points out, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells already work together when fighting viruses and bacteria. “Why not learn from the immune system’s natural way of keeping us protected and turn that against cancer?” he says.

    In a paper published recently in Nature Immunology, Schoenberger worked closely with LJI Professor Bjoern Peters, Ph.D,. to demonstrate the essential role of CD4+ T cells in recognizing tumor cells. Their strategy depends on an innovative way to predict which tumor neoantigens will spark a strong CD4+ T cell response. 

    As Schoenberger explains, tumor cells arise from normal cells in the body. This means the body has a harder time recognizing tumor cells as dangerous. Other threats, such as viruses, tend to carry around very un-human looking peptide sequences. “With prompting from CD4+ T cells, immune cells called dendritic cells can capture these peptide sequences and show them to CD8+ T cells—sending the immune system into red alert. “CD8+ T cells execute the tumor,” says Schoenberger, “but they require the cooperation of CD4+ T cells to do so efficiently.”

    But tumor cells share most of their peptide sequences with normal cells, and are therefore harder for the immune system to “see.” To get around this problem, Schoenberger and Peters have devised computational tools to identify the genetic mutations and specific peptides that serve as neoantigens to distinguish tumor cells from their neighbors.

    The Nature Immunology study shows that CD4+ T cells that recognize a single target mutation can  drive a diverse CD8+ T cell response that eradicates large established tumors . The researchers tested T cells recognizing this target mutation for “avidity,” which is how strongly their antigen receptors bind to the neoantigen. Their surprising results showed that neoantigen-specific CD4+ T cells can mediate their effect across a range of affinities.

    “This is brand new because no one has ever studied the neoantigen-specific CD4+ repertoire at the level of T cell receptors,” says Schoenberger.

    The researchers also found that the most effective responses happened when the transferred CD4+ T cells were induced to develop into stem cell memory-like CD4+ T cells. This type of T cell are endowed with special properties of longevity and the ability to generate powerful effector cells. As Schoenberger’s research spans the lab to the clinic, these findings will be translated to clinical trials in the near future.

    New vaccine brings T cells together

    In a second study, published recently in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Schoenberger and his colleagues showed how a new vaccine strategy can induce CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells to work together to destroy large, aggressive tumors in a mouse model.

    For the study, Schoenberger collaborated with Joseph Dolina, Ph.D., a senior scientist at Pfizer Inc., and former member of the Schoenberger Lab (Pfizer has no financial disclosures to this specific study).

    The team began with an aggressive squamous cell tumor that contained a low number of mutations, as many human cancers do. The researchers identified 270 mutations that make this tumor stand out from normal cells, and they performed in-depth studies on 39 of these mutations. They narrowed that group down to five mutations that were recognized by the natural anti-tumor T cell response—with some mutations targeted by CD4+ T cells and others by CD8+ T cells. Remarkably, only mutations targeted by both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were capable of triggering protective or therapeutic responses against the tumor.

    “These neoantigens had to be physically linked to mediate therapy,” says Schoenberger. “We could make large tumors go away so long as the vaccine activated both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells via the same antigen-presenting cell.”

    Going forward, Schoenberger plans to work with his clinical colleagues at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to study whether this type of linked vaccine is effective in human patients. He hopes a future clinical trial can give hope to patients with especially aggressive tumors.

    “The other message here is that we think we can greatly increase the number of patients who could benefit from checkpoint blockade immunotherapy if we combine it with a personalized cancer vaccine,” says Schoenberger.

    Additional authors of the Nature Immunology study, “Neoantigen-specific stem cell memory-like CD4+ T cells mediate CD8+ T cell-dependent immunotherapy of MHC class II-negative solid tumors,” include Spencer E. Brightman (first author), Angelica Becker, Rukman R. Thota, Martin S. Naradikian, Leila Chihab, Karla Soria Zavala, Ryan Q. Griswold, Joseph S. Dolina, Ezra E. W. Cohen and Aaron M. Miller.

    This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant UO1 DE028227), the San Diego Center for Precision Immunotherapy, and the Sandor and Rebecca Shapery Family.

    Nature Immunology DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-023-01543-9

    Additional authors of the Journal of Clinical Investigation study, “Linked CD4+/CD8+ T cell neoantigen vaccination overcomes immune checkpoint blockade resistance and enables tumor regression,” include Joey Lee, Spencer E. Brightman, Sara McArdle, Samantha M. Hall, Rukman R. Thota, Karla S. Zavala, Manasa Lanka, Ashmitaa Logandha Ramamoorthy Premlal, Jason A. Greenbaum, Ezra E.W. Cohen and Bjoern Peters.

    This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants U01 DE028227, P30CA23100, S10 RR027366 and S10 OD016262), the San Diego Center for Precision Immunotherapy, and the Sandor and Rebecca Shapery Family.

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  • Analysis Reveals Factors Associated With Patients With Sepsis Who Require Mechanical Ventilation

    Analysis Reveals Factors Associated With Patients With Sepsis Who Require Mechanical Ventilation

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    Newswise — An analysis of 10 years of health data showed that risk factors for needing mechanical ventilation changed for patients with newly diagnosed sepsis as more time passed after onset. 

    In the study, 13.5% of patients with a new diagnosis of sepsis required initiation of mechanical ventilation. More than half of these patients required mechanical ventilation within the first 24 hours after sepsis onset, while initiation of mechanical ventilation occurred after 24 hours in 47.4% of patients.

    “Factors Associated With Initiation of Mechanical Ventilation in Patients With Sepsis: Retrospective Observational Study” examined 10 years of data from the University of Michigan Medical Center electronic health data warehouse. The analysis included adult patients with sepsis who were not receiving mechanical ventilation at sepsis onset. The study is published in American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC).

    Co-author Robert Freundlich, MD, MS, MSCI, is an associate professor, department of anesthesiology, and chief of the anesthesiology informatics research division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee. The research was conducted during his research fellowship in critical care at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

    “Requiring mechanical ventilation is often a pivotal point for patients with sepsis, and their risk of respiratory failure may vary with time,” he said. “Identifying patients at high risk and implementing targeted interventions in a timely manner has the potential to significantly improve outcomes.”

    A total of 35,020 patients met sepsis criteria, and 28,747 patients were eligible for inclusion after exclusion criteria were applied. The dataset spanned July 10, 2009, to Sept. 7, 2019.

    Of all eligible patients, 3,891 (13.5%) required mechanical ventilation within 30 days after sepsis onset. Of these, 2,046 (52.6%) required mechanical ventilation within 24 hours of diagnosis. Mechanical ventilation was subsequently initiated for 441 (11.3%) patients from one to two days after sepsis onset, and for 312 (8.0%) patients from two to three days following diagnosis. The remaining 1,092 (28.1%) experienced late respiratory failure or required mechanical ventilation three to 30 days after diagnosis.

    Patients requiring mechanical ventilation had higher baseline illness severity and a higher prevalence of 27 of the 35 comorbidities on the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, which measures overall severity of comorbidities.

    They also had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (21%) than patients who did not require mechanical ventilation (7%). Further analysis revealed that of the patients who received mechanical ventilation before but not after sepsis onset, only 35 (4% of 822) died prior to hospital discharge.

    Factors that were independently associated with an increased likelihood that mechanical ventilation would be needed included race, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and congestive heart failure. Risks decreased with time for the SOFA score and congestive heart failure and varied with time for four comorbidities and three culture results.

    The researchers recommend future proactive studies focus on the effects of fluid resuscitation and other processes of care on the need for mechanical ventilation in this patient population. The use of noninvasive ventilation and high-flow nasal cannula may also impact the need for intubation and mechanical ventilation and should be evaluated.

    To access the article and full-text PDF, visit the AJCC website at www.ajcconline.org.

    About the American Journal of Critical Care: The American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC), a bimonthly scientific journal published by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, provides leading-edge clinical research that focuses on evidence-based-practice applications. Established in 1992, the award-winning journal includes clinical and research studies, case reports, editorials and commentaries. AJCC enjoys a circulation of about 130,000 acute and critical care nurses and can be accessed at www.ajcconline.org.

    About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with about 130,000 members and nearly 200 chapters in the United States.

    American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; twitter.com/aacnme

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  • New study shows promising evidence for sickle cell gene therapy

    New study shows promising evidence for sickle cell gene therapy

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    New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that stem cell gene therapy may offer a promising, curative treatment for the painful, inherited blood disorder sickle cell disease (SCD).

    The findings from a new clinical trial, published August 31, add to the body of evidence supporting gene therapy as a treatment for sickle cell disease, which primarily impacts people of color.

    About 100,000 Americans have sickle cell disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition, which can cause a lifetime of pain, health complications and expenses, affects one in 365 Black babies born in the U.S. and one in 16,300 Hispanic babies.

    Until recently, the only treatment options have been intensive bone marrow transplants from siblings or matched donors. But other curative therapies are now on the horizon. The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital was one of three sites to enroll patients in the clinical trial, which tested a stem cell gene therapy to treat sickle cell disease.

    As part of the trial, researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit specific genes in stem cells — the building blocks of blood cells — taken from each patient. The edits increased the cells’ production of fetal hemoglobin (HbF), a protein that can replace unhealthy, sickled hemoglobin in the blood and protect against the complications of sickle cell disease. The patients then received their own edited cells as therapeutic infusions.

    The therapy was the second for this disease to use CRISPR-Cas9 technology and the first to target a new genetic area and use cryopreserved stem cells with the hope of increasing access to such a treatment. Other gene therapy studies for SCD have used lentiviruses — a type of virus often modified and used for gene editing which remain in the cell long-term. No foreign material remains in stem cells edited with CRISPR-Cas9.

    Trial participants who received the CRISPR-edited stem cells reported a decrease in vaso-occlusive events, a painful phenomenon that occurs when sickled red blood cells accumulate and cause a blockage.

    “The biggest take-home message is that there are now more potentially curative therapies for sickle cell disease than ever before that lie outside of using someone else’s stem cells, which can bring a host of other complications,” said James LaBelle, MD, PhD, director of the Pediatric Stem Cell and Cellular Therapy Program at UChicago Medicine and Comer Children’s Hospital and senior author of the study. “Especially in the last 10 years, we’ve learned about what to do and what not to do when treating these patients. There’s been a great deal of effort towards offering patients different types of transplants with decreased toxicities, and now gene therapy rounds out the set of available treatments, so every patient with sickle cell disease can get some sort of curative therapy if needed. At UChicago Medicine, we’ve built infrastructure to support new approaches to sickle cell disease treatment and to bring additional gene therapies for other diseases.”

    As the scientific community continues to refine and expand the applications of gene therapy, the potential for curative treatments for diseases like sickle cell disease is becoming more of a transformative reality. The journey is ongoing, with the need for long-term follow-up and further research, but this study provides an encouraging glimpse into a future of effective genetic interventions.

    In the larger context of therapeutic development, LaBelle stressed the importance of the study’s contribution to the growing body of evidence supporting the viability of gene therapy as a treatment for sickle cell disease. Two other gene therapies for the disease are awaiting FDA approval this year.

    “The data from this trial supports bringing on similar gene therapies for sickle cell disease and for other bone marrow-derived diseases. If we didn’t have this data, those wouldn’t move forward,” he said.

    The study, “CRISPR-Cas9 Editing of the HBG1/HBG2 Promoters to Treat Sickle Cell Disease,” was published in NEJM in August 2023. Co-authors include Radhika Peddinti, along with researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy. The authors also acknowledged research coordinator Christopher Omahen and Amittha Wickrema, director of UChicago’s cell processing facility.

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  • Can Taking Statins After a Bleeding Stroke Lower Risk of Another Stroke?

    Can Taking Statins After a Bleeding Stroke Lower Risk of Another Stroke?

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    EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2023

    Newswise — MINNEAPOLIS – People who have had a stroke called an intracerebral hemorrhage who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may have a lower risk of having another stroke, especially ischemic stroke, compared to people who also had an intracerebral hemorrhage but were not taking statins, according to a new study published in the August 30, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

    Intracerebral hemorrhage is caused by bleeding in the brain. Ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain and is the most common type of stroke.

    “Previous research has had mixed results on the risk of stroke in people who are taking statins and have already had a bleeding stroke, so we evaluated this further,” said study author David Gaist, MD, PhD, of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “We looked at whether use of statins after a bleeding stroke is associated with the risk of any additional stroke, including both those caused by bleeding and by blood clots. We found that those who used statins had a lower risk of stroke, notably ischemic stroke, while there was no change in the risk of bleeding stroke.”

    For the study, researchers looked at health records in Denmark and identified 15,151 people who had a first bleeding stroke.

    People were followed from 30 days after their first bleeding stroke until the first occurrence of another stroke, death, or the end of follow-up, which on average lasted 3.3 years. Researchers used prescription data to determine information on statin use.

    Researchers then compared 1,959 people who had another stroke to 7,400 people who did not have another stroke who were similar in age, sex and other factors. Of those who had another stroke, 757 people, or 39%, took statins compared to 3,044 people, or 41%, of those who did not have a second stroke.

    After adjusting for factors like high blood pressure, diabetes and alcohol use, statin use was associated with a 12% lower risk of another stroke.

    Then they compared 1,073 people who had an ischemic stroke to 4,035 people who did not have another stroke. Of those who had an ischemic stroke, 427 people, or 40%, took statins compared to 1687 people, or 42%, of those who did not have another stroke.

    After adjusting for similar factors, statin use was associated with a 21% lower risk of an ischemic stroke after the initial bleeding stroke.

    They also compared 984 people who had another bleeding stroke to 3,755 people who did not have another stroke. Of those who had a recurrent bleeding stroke, 385 people, or 39%, took statins compared to 1,532 people, or 41%, of those who did not have another stroke.

    After adjustments, researchers did not find a link between statin use and recurrent bleeding stroke.

    “The results of our study are good news for people taking statins who have had a bleeding stroke,” Gaist added. “While we did find a lower risk of having another stroke, it is important to note that when looking at the data more closely, that lower risk was for ischemic stroke. Still, we found no increased risk for bleeding stroke. More studies are needed to confirm our findings.”

    A limitation of the study was that it only included the Danish population, which is primarily people of European ancestry, and may not be generalizable to people from other populations.

    The study was supported by Novo Nordisk Foundation.

    Learn more about stroke at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  

    When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience.

    The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

    For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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  • Produce Prescription Programs Yield Positive Health Benefits for Participants, Study Finds

    Produce Prescription Programs Yield Positive Health Benefits for Participants, Study Finds

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    Newswise — Around the country, non-profits and local governments are testing the idea of food as medicine through “produce prescription programs”—with promising results, according to researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

    By prescribing free, healthy foods similar to how doctors prescribe medications, clinicians and policy makers hope to remove financial barriers to accessing fruits and vegetables to individuals with diet-related illness. Specifically, produce prescriptions offer vouchers, debit cards, or loyalty cards to access free or discounted produce at grocery retail and farmer’s markets and typically enroll food-insecure households. A Tufts-led pooled analysis of nine such programs found these programs were associated with positive benefits, from halving food insecurity to lowering blood pressure. The study, which is the largest known evaluation of these programs to date, was published August 29 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

    The researchers analyzed surveys and medical records from over 1,800 children and 2,000 adults who had been identified as low-income and at risk for cardiometabolic diseases. Study participants had been enrolled in produce prescription programs operating across 22 sites in 12 U.S. states from 2014 to 2020. Each program was operated by Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit that works to address disparities in diet-related disease and enhance nutrition equity by making fruits and vegetables more accessible and affordable to low-income community members through systems change.

    The data showed an increase in fruit and vegetable intake (by about a serving per day among adults) as well as improved clinical biomarkers of cardiometabolic health for adults. For example, diabetic patients saw a 0.3 percentage point drop in hemoglobin A1C, an indicator for average blood sugar levels in the previous three months, and a decrease in body mass index by 0.4 kg/m2 among those with overweight or obesity. In patients with hypertension, blood pressure also dropped by 5-to-8 millimeters of mercury. The improvement for these clinical biomarkers of cardiometabolic health were greater among participants with uncontrolled diabetes, obesity, or stage 2 hypertension.  

    The study also revealed improvements in fruit and vegetable intake, food security, and self-reported health status among child participants. While body mass index was not noticeably reduced in children, the researchers say these benefits reflect critical measures for their development, long-term health and well-being.

    “We were excited to see the results, which showed that participants who receive this incentive consume more fruits and vegetables, yielding clinically relevant outcomes,” says senior study author Fang Fang Zhang, a nutritional epidemiologist and Neely Family Professor at the Friedman School. “We need larger-scale implementation of these programs, which may play a role in improving care, in particular for lower-income adults with obesity, diabetes, or hypertension.”

    The records reviewed were from patients who were enrolled in the nine produce prescription programs for an average of six months, usually after being referred by their physician. Most participants received a voucher or card that could be redeemed at selected grocery stores and/or farmers’ markets. Prescriptions covered an average of $43 per household per month in adult programs, and $112 per household per month in programs for children.

    “Our findings provide important new evidence from a diverse set of programs for meaningful benefits of produce prescriptions, highlighting the need for clinical, policy, and healthcare payer and providers’ efforts to implement produce prescription programs,” says Zhang.

    “There is much we still need to learn about which programs are likely to be effective, how long they should operate, what happens to patient health outcomes when they end and more,” says first author Kurt Hager, who completed the work as a doctoral student at the Friedman School and is now an instructor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. “The future of Food is Medicine will likely see pilots and expansion occurring alongside ongoing evaluations that will continually improve the quality of services provided.”

    Researchers across institutions have been conducting analyses of these and similar programs, with most finding net positive benefits for patients, but differences in the extent of those gains and how the programs were implemented. Such studies can help to guide the implementation of the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, which, among other things, calls for expanded produce prescription programs for people enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, Veterans Affairs, and the Indian Health Service.

    “This research is a step in the right direction and in alignment with the comprehensive National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health,” says Alison Brown, a registered dietician and program director in the Prevention and Population Science Program in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. “However, more rigorous ‘food is medicine’ studies are needed to add to our scientific knowledge and inform evidence-based policies.”

    Further research will help to fill some existing information gaps. While the observed gains for participants were clinically and statistically meaningful, the new study lacked a control group, which means the benefits could be attributed to other factors. Some of the programs were also in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have impacted their efficacy, as participants were less likely to redeem their vouchers.

    Research reported in this article was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, and by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute under award R01HL115189. Complete information on authors, funders, and conflicts of interest is available in the published paper. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

     

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  • Mount Sinai Researchers Find Asian Americans to Have Significantly Higher Exposure to “Toxic Forever” Chemicals

    Mount Sinai Researchers Find Asian Americans to Have Significantly Higher Exposure to “Toxic Forever” Chemicals

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    Newswise — New York, NY (August 24, 2023) — Asian Americans have significantly higher exposure than other ethnic or racial groups to PFAS, a family of thousands of synthetic chemicals also known as “toxic forever” chemicals, Mount Sinai-led researchers report.

    People frequently encounter PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in everyday life, and these exposures carry potentially adverse health impacts, according to the study published in Environmental Science and Technology, in the special issue “Data Science for Advancing Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology.”

    The scientists estimated a person’s total exposure burden to PFAS and accounted for the exposure heterogeneity (for example, different diets and behaviors) of different groups of people that could expose them to different sets of PFAS. They found that Asian Americans had a significantly high PFAS exposure than all other U.S. ethnic or racial groups, and that the median exposure score for Asian Americans was 89 percent higher than for non-Hispanic whites.

    This is the first time that researchers accounted for complex exposure sources of different groups of people to calculate a person’s exposure burden to PFAS. To achieve this, they used advanced psychometric and data science methods called mixture item response theory. The researchers analyzed human biomonitoring data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a representative sample of the U.S. population.

    This research suggests that biomonitoring and risk assessment should consider an exposure metric that takes into consideration the fact that different groups of people are exposed to many different sources and patterns of PFAS. Based on these findings, these researches believe that exposure sources, such as dietary sources and occupational exposure, may underlie the disparities in exposure burden. This will be an important topic of future work, as it is difficult to trace exposure sources to PFAS because they are so ubiquitous.

    “We found that if we used a customized burden scoring approach, we could uncover some disparities in PFAS exposure burden across population sub-groups,” said Shelley Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “These disparities are hidden if we use a one-size-fits-all approach to quantifying everyone’s exposure burden. In order to advance precision environmental health, we need to optimally and equitably quantify exposure burden to PFAS mixtures, to ensure that our exposure burden metric used are fair and informative for all people.”

    PFAS pollution is a major health concern, and nearly all Americans have detectable levels of PFAS chemicals in their blood. PFAS are ubiquitous, and are used in products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. The Biden administration has allocated $9 billion to PFAS clean-up, and in March 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first enforceable federal standards to regulate PFAS contamination in public drinking water.

    In the future, Dr. Liu’s team plans to incorporate toxicity information on each PFAS chemical into exposure burden scoring, to further evaluate disparities in toxicity-informed exposure burden in vulnerable groups and population subgroups.

    The research was funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) R03ES033374 and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) K25HD104918.

     

    About the Mount Sinai Health System

    Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

    Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals, receiving high “Honor Roll” status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

    For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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