Culture

In our body, unnecessary cells are removed by regulated cell death. Understanding of the mechanism underlying regulated cell death is critical for the development of therapies for many diseases. Professor Nakano's research group has demonstrated that Mind bomb-2 (MIB2), a ubiquitin ligase, binds to and directly ubiquitinates the cell death suppressor protein cFLIP (Cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein). cFLIP is encoded by CFLAR gene; alternative splicing results in two forms, the long form (cFLIPL) and the short form (cFLIPs). cFLIPL plays a dominant role in suppression of cell death. In MIB2-deficient cells, cFLIPL ubiquitination was attenuated, but its degradation was rather decreased, indicating that MIB2-mediated ubiquitination does not promote cFLIPL degradation. Intriguingly, TNF-induced apoptosis was enhanced in MIB2-deficient cells. Taken together, these results show that MIB2-mediated ubiquitination is necessary for cFLIPL to inhibit cell death. cFLIPL has previously been shown to associate with caspase 8 and inhibit apoptosis. Ubiquitination of cFLIPL by MIB2 may alter the higher-order structure of the complex containing caspase 8, preventing it from forming a large complex, thereby preventing caspase 8 association (Fig. 1).

"The protein cFLIPL has been known to play a central role in the regulation of cell death. We screened hundreds of ubiquitin ligases for the ones that interact with cFLIP protein, and found MIB2. MIB2 has been known to be involved in the Notch signaling pathway," Dr. nakabayashi, lead author of the study said. "Here we found a new role for this ubiquitin ligase. Our study has revealed for the first time that MIB2 is a ubiquitin ligase that acts on cFLIPL, and cFLIPL ubiquitination by MIB2 is essential for the cFLIP's function in suppressing cell death signaling. This research encourages future development of cell death-promoting drugs targeting the interaction between MIB2 and cFLIPL."

"Abnormalities in cell death regulation have been observed in various diseases, including cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Our study suggests that if we can pharmacologically inhibit cFLIP ubiquitination, we may be able to induce cell death more efficiently in cancer cells," said Prof. Nakano, senior author of the study.

January 27, 2021 - For many of us, as we get older the skin on our face begins to sag and we seem to lose volume around our eyes, cheeks and chin. Is gravity taking its toll in our later years or do we lose fat over the course of several years that many of us associate with youth, vibrancy and energy? Understanding the cause is paramount to how plastic surgeons treat the signs of facial aging.

The traditional theory is sagging: the facial soft tissues simply yield to the effects of gravity over time. And while the idea that weakening ligaments in the midface could result in soft tissue descent still has merit, more recent studies point in another direction. Perhaps the real culprit behind facial aging is the loss of fat - both near the surface of the skin and in deeper areas.

In a new study featured in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), Aaron Morgan, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin and his colleagues studied 19 patients who underwent computed tomography (CT) scans of the head on two occasions at least a decade apart. Although the patients weren't undergoing facelift surgery or any other cosmetic procedure, scans proved useful for measuring changes in fat deposits in the midface - the area between the eyes and mouth - over time. The patients averaged about 46 years at the time of their initial scan and 57 years at follow-up.

While the findings varied among patients, the results showed "definite and measurable loss of midface fat volume." The total volume of facial fat decreased from about 46.50 cc (cubic centimeters) at the initial scan to 40.8 cc at the follow-up scan: a reduction of about 12.2 percent.

However, the amount of reduction wasn't the same at all levels. Fat volume in the superficial compartment, just under the skin, decreased by an average of 11.3 percent. That compared to an average 18.4 percent reduction in the deep facial fat compartment.

The findings provide direct evidence to support the "volume loss" theory of facial aging - and may help in understanding some of the specific issues that lead patients to seek facial rejuvenation. "In particular, we think that deep facial fat loss removes support from the overlying fat," Dr. Morgan explains. "That causes deepening of the nasolabial fold, which runs from the nose to the mouth. Meanwhile, fat loss closer to the surface makes the cheeks appear deflated."

Variations in fat volume loss can also explain aging-related hollowing around the eyes and heaviness of the jowls. "The upper face has less fat to begin with, so fat loss is more apparent," said Dr. Morgan. "In contrast, the cheek or buccal area has relatively little fat loss, so that area appears fuller as changes occur in other areas of the midface."

This study could help plastic surgeons identify techniques to replace or reposition the midface fat in a more "physiologic" way. "We think that our findings will help plastic surgeons design more natural approaches to facial rejuvenation, with the aim of re-creating the facial fat distribution of youth," said Dr. Morgan. "This proves there is volume depletion and not just laxity of tissues with aging. So, volume replacement should be used in addition to surgical procedures to attempt to recreate the youthful face."

Speaking is something that comes across as an effortless process, almost working by itself. Our brain, however, has a lot of work to do when we construct a sentence. "In addition, languages differ in myriad ways and this also means that there are differences in how we plan what we want to say in different languages," says Balthasar Bickel, senior author of the study and a professor at the University of Zurich.

And if some languages seem easier, it is because they make fewer distinctions in their grammar. While English always uses the (e.g., in "The tree is tall" and "Snow covers the tree"), German makes a distinction between der (subject) and den (object) (e.g., in "Der Baum ist groß" and "Schnee bedeckt den Baum").

Analysing the brain just before speech

In order to do this, researchers at the University of Zurich, in collaboration with international colleagues, measured the brain activity of Hindi speakers while they described different images. This is the first time that the brain processes during the planning of sentences before speaking have been studied with high temporal resolution. "Until now, similar methods have only been used for planning single words, but not for complete sentences," explains Sebastian Sauppe, lead author of the study.

An ending with many possibilities

Researchers have discovered that although a language may seem "easier" to us at first glance, it actually requires more work from our neurons. They found that having fewer grammatical distinctions makes planning particularly demanding for the brain and requires more neural activity. The likely reason for this is that having fewer distinctions means keeping more choices open for speakers for how to continue a sentence.

"This has, however, a crucial advantage for speakers: languages with fewer distinctions allow speakers to commit to the whole sentence only late in the planning process", adds Sebastian Sauppe. This finding contributes to explaining why languages with fewer distinctions in their grammar are found more often among the world's languages, which had been shown by an earlier study of the same research group.

The research is part of the NCCR Evolving Language, a new national research centre which has set itself the goal of unraveling the biological underpinnings of language, its evolutionary past and the challenges imposed by novel technologies.

New York - The results of the Peoples' Climate Vote, the world's biggest ever survey of public opinion on climate change are published today. Covering 50 countries with over half of the world's population, the survey includes over half a million people under the age of 18, a key constituency on climate change that is typically unable to vote yet in regular elections. 

Detailed results broken down by age, gender, and education level will be shared with governments around the world by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which organized the innovative poll with the University of Oxford. In many participating countries, it is the first time that large-scale polling of public opinion has ever been conducted on the topic of climate change. 2021 is a pivotal year for countries' climate action commitments, with a key round of negotiations set to take place at the UN Climate Summit in November in Glasgow, UK. 

In the survey, respondents were asked if climate change was a global emergency and whether they supported eighteen key climate policies across six action areas: economy, energy, transport, food & farms, nature and protecting people.  

Results show that people often want broad climate policies beyond the current state of play. For example, in eight of the ten survey countries with the highest emissions from the power sector, majorities backed more renewable energy. In four out of the five countries with the highest emissions from land-use change and enough data on policy preferences, there was majority support for conserving forests and land. Nine out of ten of the countries with the most urbanized populations backed more use of clean electric cars and buses, or bicycles.

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said: "The results of the survey clearly illustrate that urgent climate action has broad support amongst people around the globe, across nationalities, age, gender and education level. But more than that, the poll reveals how people want their policymakers to tackle the crisis. From climate-friendly farming to protecting nature and investing in a green recovery from COVID-19, the survey brings the voice of the people to the forefront of the climate debate. It signals ways in which countries can move forward with public support as we work together to tackle this enormous challenge."

The innovative survey was distributed across mobile gaming networks in order to include hard-to-reach audiences in traditional polling, like youth under the age of 18. Polling experts at the University of Oxford weighted the huge sample to make it representative of the age, gender, and education population profiles of the countries in the survey, resulting in small margins of error of +/- 2%.

Policies had wide-ranging support, with the most popular being conserving forests and land (54% public support), more solar, wind and renewable power (53%), adopting climate-friendly farming techniques (52%) and investing more in green businesses and jobs (50%).

Prof. Stephen Fisher, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, said: “The survey - the biggest ever survey of public opinion on climate change - has shown us that mobile gaming networks can not only reach a lot of people, they can engage different kinds of people in a diverse group of countries. The Peoples’ Climate Vote has delivered a treasure trove of data on public opinion that we’ve never seen before. Recognition of the climate emergency is much more widespread than previously thought. We’ve also found that most people clearly want a strong and wide-raging policy response.”

The survey shows a direct link between a person’s level of education and their desire for climate action. There was very high recognition of the climate emergency among those who had attended university or college in all countries, from lower-income countries such as Bhutan (82%) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (82%), to wealthy countries like France (87%) and Japan (82%).

Notes to Editors:

The percentage of a population estimated to support a particular policy does not indicate that those who did not are against the same policy, since not endorsing a policy could also be due to indifference to it.
The country results present what people think who are physically in a particular country. They are not representative of what nationals of a particular country think. So for example, they are representative not of what French people think, but of people in France.

The United States Department of Agriculture identifies a group of "big eight" foods that causes 90% of food allergies. Among these foods are wheat and peanuts.

Sachin Rustgi, a member of the Crop Science Society of America, studies how we can use breeding to develop less allergenic varieties of these foods. Rustgi recently presented his research at the virtual 2020 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting.

Allergic reactions caused by wheat and peanuts can be prevented by avoiding these foods, of course. "While that sounds simple, it is difficult in practice," says Rustgi.

Avoiding wheat and peanuts means losing out on healthy food options. These two foods are nutritional powerhouses.

Wheat is a great source of energy, fiber, and vitamins. Peanuts provide proteins, good fats, vitamins and minerals.

"People with food allergies can try hard to avoid the foods, but accidental exposure to an allergen is also possible," says Rustgi. Allergen exposure can lead to hospitalization, especially for people with peanut allergies.

"For others, avoiding wheat and peanuts is not easy due to geographical, cultural, or economic reasons," explains Rustgi.

Rustgi and his colleagues are using plant breeding and genetic engineering to develop less allergenic varieties of wheat and peanuts. Their goal is to increase food options for people with allergies.

For wheat, researchers focus on a group of proteins, called gluten.

The gluten in bread flour makes dough elastic. Gluten also contributes to the chewy texture of bread.

But gluten can cause an immune reaction for individuals with Celiac disease. In addition, others experience non-celiac gluten sensitivity, leading to a variety of adverse symptoms.

Researchers have been trying to breed varieties of wheat with lower gluten content. The challenge, in part, lies in the complicated nature of gluten genetics. The information needed to make gluten is embedded in the DNA in wheat cells.

But gluten isn't a single protein - it's a group of many different proteins. The instructions cells needed to make the individual gluten proteins are contained within different genes.

In wheat, these gluten genes are distributed all over a cell's DNA. Since so many portions of the DNA play a role in creating gluten, it is difficult for plant breeders to breed wheat varieties with lower gluten levels.

"When we started this research, a major question was whether it would be possible to work on a characteristic controlled by so many genes," says Rustgi.

For peanuts, the situation is similar. Peanuts contain 16 different proteins recognized as allergens.

"Not all peanut proteins are equally allergenic," says Rustgi. Four proteins trigger an allergic reaction in more than half of peanut sensitive individuals.

Like the gluten genes in wheat, the peanut allergen genes are spread throughout the peanut DNA.

"Affecting this many targets is not an easy task, even with current technology," says Rustgi.

Rustgi and the research team are testing many varieties of wheat and peanuts to find ones that are naturally less allergenic than others.

These low-allergenic varieties can be bred with crop varieties that have desirable traits, such as high yields or pest resistance. The goal is to develop low-allergenic wheat that can be grown commercially.

In addition to traditional breeding efforts, Rustgi is also using genetic engineering to reduce allergenic proteins in wheat and peanuts.

For example, a technology called CRISPR allows scientists to make very precise changes to a cell's DNA.

Rustgi is using CRISPR to target gluten genes in wheat. Recent improvements in CRISPR technology allow researchers to target many genes at once.

Genes targeted by CRISPR are changed or mutated. This means that cells can no longer 'read' these genes to make the specific proteins.

"Disrupting the gluten genes in wheat could yield wheat with significantly lower levels of gluten. A similar approach would work in peanuts," says Rustgi.

Other approaches include understanding how gluten production is regulated in wheat cells. As it turns out, one protein serves as a 'master regulator' for many gluten genes.

That's important because disrupting this master regulator could lead to reduced amounts of gluten in wheat. Targeting a single gene is much easier than trying to disrupt the several gluten genes.

"Wheat and peanuts are the major sources of proteins to many, especially those living in resource-deprived conditions," says Rustgi. "Finding affordable ways to make wheat and peanuts available for all is very important."

Developing wheat and peanuts with reduced allergen levels is a key step toward this goal.

"These crops will also reduce accidental exposure to allergens," says Rustgi. "Also, they would limit the severity of reactions if exposure did happen."

Stopping the spread of COVID-19 is difficult enough. It's even more complicated and confusing when information and resources provided by governments are largely inaccessible to a variety of disabled populations. A newly-published global survey of national health authority websites in nearly 200 countries has directly quantified COVID-19 information accessibility.

The survey, published on January 27, 2021 in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, was conducted by researchers and medical professionals from Bar-Ilan University's Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, the Galilee Medical Center and Tel Aviv University.

The researchers utilized universal accessibility criteria written by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), to determine what percentage of national health authority websites fully implemented accessibility principles of the WAI, a global organization seeking to improve website accessibility. With the rise in smartphone use as a primary method of gaining Internet access, the researchers also tested the "mobile-friendliness" of the government websites.

Surprisingly, only a few of the countries examined fully adhered to the WAI guidelines. These included Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Poland, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In contrast, websites from the majority of the 189 countries surveyed continue to contain accessibility errors that present significant barriers to people with disabilities. Additionally, many countries also had mobile websites which were not accessible for people with disabilities. The results show that 89% of countries have websites which do not conform to internationally recognized accessibility guidelines.

The data revealed by the scientists show that most national health authority websites contain errors that may make site navigation difficult for people with disabilities. As a result, not everyone has equal access to government health websites and, therefore, information to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"If we want to defeat this pandemic, we can't ignore billions of people with disabilities," says Dr. Amiel Dror, of Bar-Ilan University's Azrieli Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Otolaryngology at the Galilee Medical Center, the corresponding author of the survey. "As a clinician-scientist, I see the disparities and barriers that our patients are faced with daily; this has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot expect adherence to the rules of mask wearing, hygiene and social distancing in the fight against the pandemic if information is not accessible to everyone. This pandemic has highlighted the need for accessible, timely information to every person in the world, regardless of mental or functional disabilities. In the absence of narrated accessible information to people with disabilities, we are unable to call ourselves a truly inclusive society."

Prof. Karen Avraham, who was involved in the research, says: "This work highlights the importance of intense dialogue between clinicians and researchers to improve the quality of life and access to critical information during emergency situations, such as the one we are facing with this life-threatening pandemic."

"I hope that in parallel to the intensive laboratory studies undertaken, we can promote the legacy of raising awareness for inclusiveness principles to be implemented in the community, country, and globally," says Dr. Eyal Sela, Head of the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the Galilee Medical Center and a member of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, who was involved in the research.

The researchers urge that the growth and expansion of the Internet must be accompanied by an equal development of sophisticated accessibility technologies, which would expand the usability of the web to individuals with disabilities. The current COVID-19 pandemic highlights just how important unhindered access to government websites is during a global health crisis. "Pandemic preparedness initiatives in every healthcare system must include awareness provisions for people with disabilities," says Dr. Dror. "It must be included in the DNA of humanity."

The disproportionately high Covid-19 infection rates observed in Black Americans could be linked to their daily commuting patterns, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

The research found that increased exposure to other ethnic groups, for example as a result of an individual's job or use of public transport, can result in the emergence of an "infection gap" in the population, such as the abnormally high incidence of Covid-19 recorded in Black Americans.

In some areas of the US Covid-19 incidence in Black Americans can be up to three to five times higher than would be expected based on population data. Previous studies have highlighted socio-economic factors including lower income and poorer access to healthcare facilities could play a role in this infection gap but these factors alone cannot completely explain the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black Americans.

In the study, researchers from Queen Mary University of London considered the impact of residential segregation, whereby different ethnic groups tend to live in the areas where the majority of people are from the same background, as well other forms of segregation individuals might experience due to their daily activities, such as commuting. To do this, they examined the relationship between 'diffusion segregation', which measures the probability for a given group of people to come into contact with groups of other ethnicities, and weekly Covid-19 incidence during the early phases of the pandemic.

The research team analysed US census data collated from over 130 metropolitan areas to create two types of geographical networks. Adjacency graphs were used to map connections between bordering census areas and commuting graphs instead showed daily commuting flows across the US.

They then simulated random walks over those graphs, as a way to explore different paths among census tracts and determine how long it would take for a person starting from a given census tract to encounter individuals from any another ethnic group for the first time. Using this approach the researchers showed that those areas where Black Americans were more exposed to other ethnicities, as well as the regions where they were more internally clustered, also observed a higher infection gap i.e. a larger impact of Covid-19 infections on this ethnic group.

When mobility was later restricted due to lockdown measures the researchers found that public transport usage instead strongly correlated with the infection gap observed in different US regions.

Aleix Bassolas, Postdoctoral Research Assistant at Queen Mary, said: "The study suggests that taking into account daily commuting patterns of a social or ethnic group can be enough to explain most of the differential incidence of Covid-19 in African American communities during the first epidemic wave last year."

"For us it was surprising that quite a simple model, was able to show such a consistently high level of association between social segregation and the excessive incidence of Covid-19 observed in African Americans," added Sandro Sousa, author of the study and PhD student at Queen Mary.

The researchers analysed the impact of several other socio-economic factors on the disproportionately high infection and death rates observed in Black Americans. They found that when looking at infection rates, diffusion segregation alone could explain the observed infection gap relatively well. However, other socio-economic factors, such as life expectancy or access to healthcare services, became more important when understanding the disproportionately high death rates due to Covid-19 in this ethnic group.

Dr Vincenzo Nicosia, Lecturer in Networks and Data Analysis, at Queen Mary said: "Our results confirm that knowing where people have to commute to, rather than where they live, is potentially much more important to curb the spread of a non-airborne disease. Policy makers need to take into account specific mobility patterns and needs, as well as differences in the mobility and commuting habits of different ethnic and social groups, when deciding on the most effective non-pharmaceutical countermeasures against Covid-19 and similar non-airborne diseases."

"We believe this type of analysis could be applied to other countries, such as the UK, however this is dependent on having access to more detailed activity and commuting data, which isn't readily available in all countries."

Black children have significantly higher rates of shellfish and fish allergies than white children, confirming that race plays an important role in how children are affected by food allergies, researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found. Results of the study were published in the February issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

"Food allergy is a common condition in the U.S., and we know from our previous research that there are important differences between African-American and white children with food allergy, but there is so much we need to know to be able to help our patients from minority groups," said Dr. Mahboobeh Mahdavinia, who is lead author of the study and chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the Medical Center.

The large, multicenter national trial, called Food Allergy Management and Outcomes Related to White and African American Racial Differences (FORWARD), aimed to carefully investigate disparities between Black and white children in food allergy outcomes.

"In this current paper, our goal was to understand whether children from different races are allergic to similar foods, or if there is a difference based on their racial background," Mahdavinia said.

Food allergy is major public health concern, affecting 8% of children in the United States, with an estimated economic burden of $24.8 billion annually. In people with food allergies, a tiny amount of food can trigger signs and symptoms such as hives, breathing and digestive problems or anaphylaxis (a severe, potentially fatal allergic reaction).

"It has been well documented that the prevalence of food allergy has been increasing in children in the U.S., but little data and research exists about its frequency, severity and outcomes among minority races and ethnicities," Mahdavinia said.

She and her colleagues conducted a large study of children ranging in age from birth to 12 years old who were diagnosed with food allergy and were seen in allergy/immunology clinics at four urban tertiary care centers in the U.S., which included Rush University Medical Center, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Children's National Hospital, located in Washington, DC. The study included 664 children and was composed of 36 percent Black and 64 percent non-Hispanic white children.

Cockroach exposure may lead to shellfish allergy

The study found that the Black children were more likely to have an allergy to shellfish and fin fish, plus higher odds of having a wheat allergy, compared to the non-Hispanic white children. Researchers suspect that shellfish allergy may occur from inhaling tropomyosin, the protein of two common household allergens, dust mite and cockroach, which share 80% of amino acid sequencing with shellfish.

Cockroach exposure may be the mechanism by which children develop a shellfish allergy, because higher levels of cockroach allergen have been found in lower socioeconomic, inner-city neighborhoods where many Black children live. Tropomyosin, which regulates muscle contraction and relaxation, also has been found in fin fish.

While scientists are still trying to figure out the exact mechanism of the allergy, the findings provide further insight into the importance of reducing Black children's exposure to cockroaches.

"This information can help us care for not only a child's food allergy, but all of their allergic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis," said Susan Fox, PA-C, MMS, who is a co-author of the study and an allergy and immunology physician assistant at Rush University Medical Center.

In this study, the Black children with food allergies were more likely to have asthma. The study showed that children with a shellfish allergy were more likely to have more severe asthma, while other food allergens were not associated with a diagnosis of asthma.

"A major concern is that there is a higher prevalence of asthma in African-American children with food allergies when compared with white children with food allergies. Approximately 70% of fatal food anaphylaxis is accompanied by asthma. African-American children are at a two- to threefold risk of fatal anaphylaxis compared to white children," Mahdavinia said. "By knowing this information, it can identify are most at risk patients.

"We need to conduct further research to identify food allergies and food sensitivities among all races and ethnicities so we can develop culturally-sensitive and effective educational programs to improve food allergy outcomes for all children," Mahdavinia added.

A recent study of drugged driving, by a team of University of Cincinnati researchers, shows that a sizable percentage of individuals reported the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs while operating behind the wheel.

"We need to focus our efforts on drugged driving, in addition to drunk driving, because drugged driving causes such a high level of fatalities, says Andrew Yockey, a doctoral student in UC's College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services and researcher at the UC Center for Prevention Science.

Yockey is lead author on the study "Drugged driving among U.S. adults: Results from the 2016-2018 national survey on drug use and health" -- published in the Journal of Safety Research.

"Even though less people are driving, drugs are increasing in availability and are being found in more reports of drugged driving in the U.S.," says Yockey.

The study found that while 8.52% of adults reported driving under the influence of alcohol, compared to 4.49% who drove under the influence of marijuana, a sizable number of adults used both marijuana and other drugs while under the influence of alcohol.

The most commonly reported drugs used while drugged driving are marijuana and opioids, with nearly one in five individuals reporting the use of marijuana while driving a vehicle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additionally, the study states:

Sexual minorities drove under the influence of alcohol more often than heterosexuals, and a sizable percentage also used marijuana and other drugs including inhalants (70.34%), cocaine (68.9%) and hallucinogens (63.7%) while driving.

Multiracial individuals had heightened involvement in driving under the influence of marijuana.

Males were significantly more likely than females to engage in drugged driving.

The research looked at sample data in the United States, the most recent available at the time of the study collected from the National Survey Drug Use and Health Survey; researchers say that current estimates are trending the same, despite fewer people driving during the pandemic.

According to the most current data from the National Institutes of Health, in 2016, among people killed in driving accidents that year, 43.6% of drivers who were drug tested and had positive results: 50.5% were positive for two or more drugs and 40.7% were positive for alcohol.

The UC study is the first of its kind to examine drugged driving over multiple years among adults in the U.S., says Yockey and the study's co-authors: Keith King, the center's director, and co-director Rebecca Vidourek, both professors at UC's School of Human Services.

As legalization of marijuana and other drugs becomes more prevalent, King says, "There is serious concern as to how legalization will affect driving behaviors among adults," adding that more research is needed to specifically evaluate the impact of legalization; particularly among those found to be most vulnerable such as sexual minorities.

While the team utilizes research to identify the risk factors, their efforts also concentrate on education, preferably at an early age, and identifying prevention strategies that are culturally relevant.

For example, Vidourek says that some cultures and communities are less likely to view marijuana as a drug and potentially harmful substance, which may affect its use while driving. "Identifying messages and strategies that are culturally relevant is imperative," she says.

"We need to be vigilant because the trends are increasing," says Yockey.

As the climate warms and Arctic sea ice retreats, research vessels and commercial ships are sailing into the Arctic Ocean more and more, but the accuracy and sensitivity of regional weather and marine forecasts for these hazardous waters still lag well behind those of their lower-latitude counterparts, with significant differences between regional models. Direct measurements of atmospheric conditions, such as cloud cover and solar radiation, can help to evaluate and improve these models.

In a new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a research team led by the National Institute of Polar Research in Tachikawa, Japan tackled this problem using data collected by the ice-strengthened Japanese Research Vessel Mirai in 2014.

"We conducted stationary point observations with comprehensive observing instruments over the ice-free Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean in September 2014, a period of transition from the melting season to the freezing season. This approach provided an ideal opportunity to examine model representations of clouds, solar radiation, and the surface heat budget during this period," says first author and leader of the cruise, Jun Inoue, who proposed the strategic operation setup used in this study.

Six state-of-the-art regional climate models (with nine different model runs) were selected for investigation using these observational data, with the aim of examining interactions between clouds and radiation, as well as the sea surface energy budget. Most of the models adequately captured near-surface meteorological parameters, but some targets for further improvement were identified. One notable finding was that most of the models tended to fail to capture the vertical structure of clouds over the Arctic Ocean, especially unstable low-level stratification.

"We found extensive differences between models in the partitioning between ice clouds and liquid clouds, which resulted in large discrepancies in the sea surface heat budget. What this reveals about the models is that most of their cloud microphysics schemes should be improved based on the observation that supercooled liquid clouds are maintained even in low-temperature environments below -20°C," says Inoue.

Accurate atmospheric and coupled air-ice-sea climate models are indispensable for understanding the evolution of the Arctic region as global climate change progresses. The findings of this study based on measurements taken over the ice-free Arctic Ocean will help to improve these models and the forecasts they produce. Additional research expeditions into the Arctic to collect observational data will further advance these ongoing efforts.

ATLANTA - JANUARY 26, 2021 - A new study shows 4 in 10 cancer deaths are attributable to cigarette smoking in parts of the South region and Appalachia. For this study, appearing in Cancer Causes & Control, Farhad Islami, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the American Cancer Society examined the proportion of cancer deaths from 2013 to 2017 attributed to cigarette smoking in 152 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas (MMSAs).

Data show the proportion of cancer deaths attributable to cigarette smoking was greater in men than in women in all evaluated MMSAs. In both sexes combined, the proportion of smoking-related cancer deaths ranged from 8.8% in Logan (Utah-Idaho) to 35.7% in Lexington-Fayette (Kentucky). Despite this wide variation, at least 20% of all cancer deaths were attributable to cigarette smoking in 147 out of 152 evaluated MMSAs. Most MMSAs with the highest proportions were in the South region and Appalachia.

"This information is important to inform and help evaluate state and local-level tobacco control policies such as state, city- or county-level tobacco taxes and smoke-free air laws, investments in tobacco prevention and increasing access to smoking cessation resources," said Dr. Islami.

Data also indicate the variations in total cigarette tax rates and other tobacco control initiatives are likely to have contributed to variations in smoking-related cancer deaths within the same regions. For example, the high total excise tax in New York City ($1.50 per pack in addition to the New York state tax of $4.35 per pack) may have contributed to the lower proportion of smoking-related cancer deaths in New York-Jersey City-White Plains metropolitan division compared to other evaluated MMSAs in New York state and the Northeast region.

"Broad and equitable implementation and enforcement of proven tobacco control intervention at all government levels could avert many cancer deaths across the United States," the authors conclude.

For mice, the earliest social memories can form at three days old and last into adulthood, scientists report on January 26 in the journal Cell Reports. They show that mouse pups prefer their mothers to unfamiliar mouse mothers as newborns and remember them after up to 100 days apart--although they prefer unfamiliar mouse mothers as adults.

"I'm really interested in studying the development of social memory," says first author Blake J. Laham of Princeton University, "which is the memory we have for other individuals including certain facts and features about them." These early memories can form long-lasting social connections that set the stage for social interactions later in life. To understand how and when social memories first develop, Laham turned to mouse pups' memory of their mothers.

With closed eyes and ears, three-day-old mice are pink, hairless, and a tad translucent, just enough to see the white milk in their bellies. Although pups at this age have poor motor skills, they had no problem recognizing their caregivers, likely using scent. Because there is a possibility that animals may recognize their biological mother based purely on genetic factors, Laham and colleagues placed the pups in their study under "foster care" with a different mouse mother, known as the caregiving mother, at birth.

When Laham put the pups between the caregiving mother and an unrelated mouse mother (novel mother), the animals flailed their tiny bodies, rotating themselves to the mother that raised them. They spent more time pointing their nose towards their caregivers, a sign of recognition and preference.

The authors found that these memories for their foster mothers lasted into adulthood, with mice retaining the ability to recognize their mothers even after being separated for over 100 days. However, "there's this really fascinating behavioral transition once the animal is weaned," says Laham. "When the animal is no longer dependent on the caregiving mother, the animal prefers investigating novel mothers." Laham suggested that adult mice might have more interest in investigating if an unknown mouse is a threat or a potential mate.

To identify what these memories of their mothers look like in the mouse brain, the researchers examined a region associated with social memory called CA2 in the hippocampus. They found that mouse pups showed more biological markers related to neuronal activity in the brain region after exposure to their caregiving mothers. On the contrary, adults expressed more of those markers after exposure to novel mothers, suggesting that CA2 played role in the behavioral flip.

They also found that temporarily shutting down neuronal activity in the CA2 region in both mouse pups and adults impaired their ability to distinguish their caregivers from novel mothers. The next step for Laham and his colleagues is to investigate how neighboring brain regions contribute to this phenomenon.

"Our life is composed of memories--but at the end of the day, all of our memories that mean so much to us, that motivate us, that fill us with joy or fear, are just neurons communicating with each other. That's fascinating to me," says Laham.

Representatives from a network of women deans, chairs and distinguished faculty in biomedical engineering are calling upon the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies to address disparities in allocating support to Black researchers. The group made the call to action in the Jan. 26, 2021, issue of the journal Cell.

In examining the racial inequities and injustices that prevent Black faculty from equitably contributing to science and achieving their full potential, insufficient federal funding for research by Black scientists rose to the top as a key issue.

According to studies of National Institutes of Health research funding allocations, Black applicant award rates have stood at about 55 percent of that of white principal investigators of similar academic achievement. Despite internal reviews of the reasons behind this disparity, and promises to do better, the funding gap continues.

Efforts have been made to improve the educational pipeline to encourage Black students to prepare for and enter careers as researchers and college and university faculty. But once they have faculty positions, lack of research funding can derail their careers. Many universities review faculty members' ability to support their research as part of decisions on tenure and promotions. In this way, NIH and other agencies' funding disparities can jeopardize the careers of Black scientists. Without adequate research funding, these scientists can become discouraged and leave their professions.

This means that fewer Black scientists remain to serve as role models and mentors for the next generation. It also means that many research questions vital to society are not being asked, because the perspectives, creativity, and knowledge of a diverse population of scientists are not being tapped. The public is also less likely to see the faces or hear the voices of Black scientific experts speaking on important issues.

The authors of the paper made several recommendations on how research funding disparities can be eliminated. Among the steps funding agencies might take are:

Explicitly state that racism persists in the United States research enterprise and that it must be expelled

Develop federal funding institute policies to immediately achieve racial funding equity

Incorporate diversity into research proposal scoring criteria, prioritize research teams that exemplify diversity, and diversify proposal review panels

Train funding agency leadership and staff, and grant reviewers and recipients, to recognize and stop racism

"Scientific colleagues, let us each use our voices and actions to now overcome our profession's racism and serve as antiracist agents of change," the Cell article authors wrote.

The authors also suggested ways individual scientists and universities, colleges and institutes can act to bring about social justice. These recommendations include recognizing how they might be unintentionally contributing to systemic racism in their academic roles. Academia, they noted, must move forward from statements of solidarity to transformative organizational changes

In closing, the authors look also to the private sector, such as foundations, professional societies, philanthropists as well as to industrial leaders whose companies depend on scientific innovation, to help offset racial disparities in research funding. The biotech company Genentech is held up as an example of leadership in reducing racial disparities in science, with its creation of a research funding awards program for Black scientists.

Together, private and public sectors can enhance the creativity and innovation of science and advance the greater good of society by funding innovative ideas and robust talents of Black scientists.

WASHINGTON, January 26, 2021 -- As the pandemic has continued to spread globally, studies indicate the COVID-19 virus may be contained in aerosols that can be generated and spread through breathing, coughing, sneezing, or talking by infected individuals. Researchers are increasingly focused on developing tools and methods to assist in decontaminating surfaces and spaces.

While scientists have previously explored the use of electromagnetic energy to deactivate flu virus in bulk fluids, less work has been done to understand the role of nonionizing radiation, such as microwaves, in reducing the infectivity of viral pathogens in aerosols. The tools required to both safely contain contaminated aerosol streams and expose these aerosols to controlled, well-characterized microwave doses have not been readily available.

In Review of Scientific Instruments, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory report development of a set of experimental tools capable of presenting electromagnetic waves to an aerosol mixture of biological media and virus with the capability to vary power, energy, and frequency of the electromagnetic exposure. The researchers seek to better characterize the threshold levels of microwave energy needed to inactivate aerosolized viral particles and, thus, reduce their ability to spread infection.

"In this way, we believe our experimental design is capable of a fundamental investigation of a wide variety of inactivation mechanisms. This range of capability is especially important given the range of potential interaction mechanisms found in the literature," said co-author John Luginsland.

The key portions of each system fit within standard biosafety cabinets, ensuring multiple layer containment of pathogens. Additionally, the systems are designed to prevent release of microwave radiation into the laboratory environment, which, at elevated levels, could potentially interfere with diagnostic equipment and other electronics.

During initial experiments, the AFRL researchers are exposing a human-safe coronavirus surrogate, bovine coronavirus, to a range of microwave waveforms at frequencies ranging from 2.8 GHz to 7.5 GHz.

"The bovine coronavirus is similar in size and configuration to human coronavirus but is safe to humans," said co-author Brad Hoff.

If exposure to microwaves is demonstrated to be sufficiently effective in reducing infectivity, experimental efforts could then proceed to use aerosols containing COVID-19 coronavirus or other human-infecting pathogens.

"If shown to be effective, the use of microwaves may enable the potential for rapid decontamination not currently addressed by ultraviolet light or chemical cleaning for highly cluttered areas, while potentially operating at levels safely compatible with human occupancy," said Hoff.

Exposure to antibiotics in the first days of life is thought to affect various physiological aspects of neonatal development. A new study, led by Bar-Ilan University's Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, reveals that antibiotic treatment within 14 days of birth is associated with reduced weight and height in boys - but not girls -- up to the age of six.

By contrast, the study showed significantly higher body mass index (BMI) in both boys and girls following antibiotic use after the neonatal period, and within the first six years of life.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications on January 26, 2021, may be the result of changes in the development of the gut microbiome.

The impact of neonatal antibiotic exposure was investigated in a cohort of 12,422 children born between 2008-2010 at the Turku University Hospital in Turku, Finland. The babies had no genetic abnormalities or significant chronic disorders affecting growth and did not need long-term antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics had been administered within the first 14 days of life to 1,151 (9.3%) of the neonates in the study.

The authors found that boys exposed to antibiotic treatment exhibited significantly lower weight as compared to non-exposed children throughout the first six years. They also exhibited significantly lower height and BMI between the ages of two and six. This observation was replicated in a German cohort.

Further, antibiotic exposure during the first days of life was found to be associated with disturbances in the gut microbiome up until the age of two. Infants exposed to neonatal antibiotics exhibited significantly lower gut microbiome richness as compared to non-exposed infants at the age of one month. Interestingly, at the age of six months, the infants treated with antibiotics reached the bacterial richness level of a control group of infants, and at the ages of 12 and 24 months, the antibiotic-treated subjects gained significantly higher levels of bacterial richness as compared to the control subjects.

In additional experiments led by PhD student Atara Uzan, the researchers demonstrated that germ-free male mice who were given the gut microbiome of antibiotic-exposed infants also displayed growth failure. These findings suggest a potential link between neonatal antibiotic exposure and impaired childhood growth, which may be a result of alterations caused by antibiotics in the composition of the gut microbiome.

"Antibiotics are vitally important and life-saving medications in newborn infants. Our results suggest that their use may also have unwanted long-term consequences which need to be considered," said Prof. Omry Koren, of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, who led the study together with Prof. Samuli Rautava, of the University of Turku and University of Helsinki.

Follow up research will aim to investigate other potential adverse outcomes related to neonatal antibiotic exposure.