Earth

Osaka, Japan - A research team led by Osaka University showed how multiple overlapping laser beams are better at accelerating electrons to incredibly fast speeds, as compared with a single laser. This method can lead to more powerful and efficient X-ray and ion generation for laboratory astrophysics, cancer therapy research, as well as a path toward controlled nuclear fusion.

High-energy density physics is a field of study that deals with conditions much closer the chaotic moments immediately following the Big Bang than those commonly encountered on Earth. However, being able to produce and control intense beams of light, or very fast-moving electrons, has many practical benefits. These include the ability to make very bright X-rays needed for visualizing ultrafast deformation of matter, or conducting experiments that mimic the cosmological conditions near the surface of a star.

However, it is often tricky to keep efficiently accelerating electron beams with intense laser beams because of complex interactions between the laser and electrons. Previously, very expensive optics or patterned targets were required to transfer laser energy to the electron beam energy. In a new study, researchers at Osaka University showed how splitting the laser beam into four coherent smaller beams, called beamlets, allows more energy to be transferred to electrons. This was accomplished by creating specific light interference patterns that keep the electrons on track.

"Just like overlapping ripples in pond can create complex wave structures, we can use four laser beamlets to precisely control the environment to best accelerate the electrons," explains first author Morace. They found that the simultaneous irradiation of multiple laser beams at a single point allows for highly efficient laser-driven particle acceleration. Using light interference patterns instead of physical targets allows for better control and increased energy transfer.

The team sees this as just the beginning of the new technique. "This research shows how new, high-performance lasers systems utilizing multi-beam coupling can be developed," says senior author Kodama. "This means that the method may soon appear in biology departments or fusion power plants."

The third tropical depression of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season didn't last long. NASA's Terra satellite provided an image of the system's remnant clouds on July 23, 2019.

Tropical Depression 3 formed on Monday, July 22 and dissipated by 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 24, 2019.  At that time, the National Hurricane Center or NHC issued the final advisory on the remnants of the depression as it dissipated near latitude 29.0 degrees north and longitude 80.0 degrees west. It was centered about 60 miles (100 km) east-southeast of Daytona Beach, Florida and about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of St. Augustine, Florida. The remnants were moving toward the north near 17 mph (28 kph).  Maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts.

Two hours after the final update from the NHC, the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of the remnants of Tropical Depression 3. The MODIS image showed the  elongated remnant clouds of Tropical Depression 3 on July 24, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. EDT off the east coast of Florida.

Scientists from the Skoltech Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials (CPQM) have developed a novel method to fine-tune the optoelectrical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) by applying an aerosolized dopant solution on their surface, thus opening up new avenues for SWCNT application in optoelectronics. The results of their study were published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

This year has witnessed the appearance on the market of foldable and bendable screens, bolstering the development of unique materials and paving the way for the next generation of products of virtually any shapes and sizes. Transparent conductive films (TCF) made using an advanced solution, SWCNT, are seen as the key element of flexible and transparent electronics. As opposed to the customary n-type transparent rigid conductors, such as tin-doped indium oxide or aluminum-doped zinc oxide, the flexible and stretchable SWCNT films have p-type (hole-type) conductivity. However poor control over SWCNT's electronic properties is the main hindrance for their broad industrial use. This is particularly true for optoelectronic applications, which often require efficient control over conductivity and Fermi levels, amongst other things.

Carbon nanotubes are commonly treated with a doping agent.

"SWCNT conductivity is enhanced using one of the three most common doping methods: drop-casting, spin-coating or dip-coating, which can significantly decrease the resistance of pristine SWCNT films (up to 15 times) but fail to ensure spatial uniformity and have poor scalability. This leads to non-uniform evaporation of the liquid solvent, resulting in a coffee-ring effect. Moreover, none of these techniques enable precise control over the Fermi level in the SWCNT films," explains Skoltech PhD student, Alexey Tsapenko.

Scientists from the Skoltech lab directed by Professor Albert Nasibulin developed a new approach ensuring uniform, controllable and easily reproducible aerosol doping of SWCNT. The performances obtained with the new method break new ground, prompting the replacement of the currently prevalent rigid transparent metal-oxide conductors by flexible and transparent electronics, and the creation of new applications based on highly conductive transparent films.

"Our method allows easy tuning of SWCNT film parameters thanks to time-controlled deposition of doping aerosol particles," adds Alexey.

The researchers involved in the project note that the new fine-tuning approach developed specifically for carbon nanotubes can be applied for electronic structures of other low-dimensional materials.

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible image of weakening Tropical Depression Dalila in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Suomi NPP passed over Dalila on July 24 and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument provided a visible image of the storm. The VIIRS image showed that strong convection and developing thunderstorms associated with the cyclone has continued to decrease in coverage this morning. Suomi NPP saw a limited area of strong thunderstorms where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius).  The National Hurricane Center said that there is still a broken band of convection over the southeastern portion of the circulation.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 24, the National Hurricane Center or NHC said the center of Tropical Depression Dalila was located near latitude 20.5 degrees north and longitude 119.0 degrees west. That's about 605 miles (975 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. The depression is moving toward the northwest near 7 mph (11 kph), and this motion is expected to continue today.  A turn toward the west-northwest is forecast to occur by Thursday, and that general motion should continue until the system dissipates in a few days. Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts.

The NHC noted that Dalila will be moving into an area where sea surface temperatures are too cold to maintain the tropical cyclone and into a dry and more stable airmass.  NHC said, "This should result in weakening, and the system is expected to degenerate into a remnant low within 24 hours."

Weakening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Dalila is expected to become a post-tropical remnant low tonight.

Shows for the first time that complex, mixed simultaneous emotions in adolescents could be assessed using an Analogue Emotion Scale

Potential to supplement traditional emotional assessments where emotions are complex and people 'may not have the words'

Next step: trials to test the findings in practice

When faced with emotional challenges or traumatic experiences, we may well have different, mixed feelings both at the same time and sequentially. In adolescence, when complex emotions are experienced as part of everyday life, the effect of challenge or trauma combined with difficulty expressing emotional complexity can exacerbate a given situation and limit the communication needed between young people and professionals.

New research published (23rd July 2019) in the Journal of Adolescence by a research team from the University of Chichester has, for the first time, examined types of reported simultaneous mixed emotion experiences in adolescents for conflicting, bipolar emotional pairs (eg: happy/sad) using an Analogue Emotion Scale (AES). This is a comparatively simple, flexible graph which can track mixed emotions over time and is especially useful where people cannot find the words to explain how they are feeling.

There is use of an AES to assess adult emotions, and growing use in the assessment of children, but to date there has been no research to support its use in assessments in adolescence - a period of life when, arguably, it would be of most benefit.

The study investigated 163 participants based at schools in the UK. They reported experiencing mixed emotions one after the other (sequentially) and simultaneously. They felt that others experienced mixed emotions sequentially, while they themselves experience more emotions in a highly simultaneous way. Their experience was different depending on the conflicting emotional pairings and age.

The study was led by Dr Esther Burkitt, Reader in Developmental Psychology at the University of Chichester. She said: "An AES could be a useful tool for professionals to assess the emotional state of an individual, especially in situations where they are upset or find it hard to verbalise how they feel. Ours is the first piece of research to investigate simple and simultaneous types of mixed emotions in adolescence using an AES."

She added: "Our findings show that there is potential for an AES to be an effective supplementary tool for professionals working with adolescents experiencing complex emotions at a difficult time. This is an important finding, given that background emotions can be complex and conflicting in adolescence even without the added complication of trauma and/or emotional challenge. Our next step will be the development of trials to see how our findings play out in practice."

One dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has comparable effectiveness to two or three doses for preventing cervical pre-cancer, according to a new study.

In a large national data linkage study published in Papillomavirus Research, researchers compared cervical screening outcomes for a quarter of a million Australian women who were eligible for vaccination under the national program.

Researchers found that in women who were vaccinated at a young age, when most had not yet been exposed to HPV, that receipt of even one dose of HPV vaccine lowered the chance of having a pre-cancerous lesion detected at cervical screening.

Lead author Julia Brotherton from the VCS Foundation and the University of Melbourne said this data adds to other evidence starting to emerge that one dose of HPV vaccine may eventually prove to be sufficient for protection.

"If one dose vaccination proves to be enough, it will really simplify our ability to protect more people against these cancer-causing viruses," Associate Professor Brotherton said.

"That could make a huge difference, especially in less well-resourced countries that currently have high rates of cervical cancer but can't currently afford vaccination or screening."

However, Associate Professor Brotherton emphasised that until the results of formal trials were in and recommendations changed, that young people should make sure that they complete the two-dose vaccination course currently in place for best protection.

"The HPV vaccine has proven itself to be both very safe and remarkably effective," Associate Professor Brotherton said.

"We are proud that Australia is contributing data from our world leading program to add to the evidence on this issue."

Vaccination is a key part of the World Health Organisation's recent call to work towards the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, together with HPV based screening, facilities for early diagnosis and treatment, and palliative care.

In Australia, HPV vaccination is routinely offered free of charge under the National Immunisation Program to both girls and boys in early high school at age 12-13 years, with free catch up available up to the age of 19 through local doctors and clinics.

As in Australia, most countries are only now beginning to be able to assess the vaccine's impact on screening outcomes from the vaccination of girls at the routine target age rather than in young women who were already sexually active prior to vaccination.

Recent data from Denmark and the US also support the possibility that one dose may be sufficient, but results of randomised trials are awaited before official recommendations are changed.

The data was analysed by a team of researchers from the VCS Foundation, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and cervical screening program managers from the ACT, NT, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.

Background notes:

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of viruses that are extremely common worldwide.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, of which at least 14 are cancer-causing.

HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual contact and most people are infected with HPV shortly after the onset of sexual activity.

Cervical cancer is caused by sexually acquired infection with certain types of HPV.

Two HPV types (16 and 18) cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers and pre-cancerous cervical lesions.

There is also evidence linking HPV with cancers of the anus, vulva, vagina, penis and oropharynx.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women living in less developed regions with an estimated 570 000 new cases (1) in 2018 (84 per cent of the new cases worldwide).

In 2018, approximately 311 000 women died from cervical cancer; more than 85 per cent of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

Comprehensive cervical cancer control includes primary prevention (vaccination against HPV), secondary prevention (screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions), tertiary prevention (diagnosis and treatment of invasive cervical cancer) and palliative care.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's possible that a lock of hair could one day aid in the diagnosis of depression and in efforts to monitor the effects of treatment, said the author of a new study examining cortisol levels in the hair of teens.

Researchers looked for potential relationships between the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the hair and adolescents' depression symptoms and found a surprising connection. Not only did high cortisol levels correspond to a higher likelihood of depression, but there was also a connection between low cortisol levels and mental health struggles.

Though many researchers have used cortisol measures in mental health studies in the last decade, few have looked at the stress hormone as a predictor of depression. Those who have found mixed results, so this new research adds important information, said Jodi Ford, lead author of the study and an associate professor of nursing at The Ohio State University. The paper was published online this month in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

In the clinical setting, a biomarker-based test for depression would be valuable, particularly in children and teens, she said.

"This study opens up a lot of future research questions and illustrates that the relationship between cortisol levels and depression isn't necessarily a linear one," Ford said.

"It may be that low cortisol is bad and high cortisol is bad and there's a middle level that is normal," she said. "It's hard to know why this is without more research, but it's possible that there's a blunting of the stress response in some people, lowering cortisol production or changing how it is processed. Maybe the body is not using cortisol in the way that it should in some cases."

Another important study finding: The adolescents who said they felt better supported at home had much lower levels of depressive symptoms.

"This study reinforces to parents that they matter in their adolescents' lives - that their support and involvement make a difference," said Ford, who also directs the Stress Science Lab in Ohio State's College of Nursing.

The research included 432 adolescents who were 11 to 17 years old and who are part of the larger ongoing Adolescent Health and Development in Context study, a longitudinal research project looking at the impact of social and other factors on health. That project is led by Christopher Browning, a sociology professor at Ohio State who is also a co-author of the cortisol and depression study.

For the cortisol study, the researchers measured depression with a nine-item questionnaire that the participants filled out. They were asked to rate their experience in a variety of areas, including how often they feel that their life has been a failure or that people have been unfriendly to them.

In most cases, the researchers examined a 3-centimeter hair sample - enough to assess cortisol levels for the previous three months.

After adjusting the results for a variety of potential factors that could contribute to depressive symptoms and to cortisol levels, the researchers found the surprising trend that both low and high cortisol had a statistically significant relationship to depression.

Nearly one in eight adolescents have experienced a major depressive episode, according to 2016 data, and the proportion of young people facing depression has steadily increased in the last decade. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents.

But children and teens can struggle to describe their symptoms, and parents and others can miss warning signs if they mistake serious mental health problems for the normal turbulence of puberty, Ford said.

"It'd be really ideal to have an objective measurement, because using subjective measures of stress is problematic, particularly with children and teens," she said.

Testing is simple, and relatively cheap (on the order of about $35), but it won't be something to consider for widespread use until researchers better understand what values are normal and what values are out of range and cause for concern, Ford said.

It's possible that cortisol testing could serve not just as a detection tool, but as a way to watch over time to see if therapy and medication are helping someone with depression, or if the mental illness is intensifying and putting the adolescent at risk of suicide, she said.

Next, Ford would like to conduct a longer, larger study looking at adolescent depression and cortisol levels over time.

July 24, 2019 (Arlington, VA) -- Below is a summary of a study published online today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. This article will be freely available for a limited time. SHEA members have full access to all ICHE articles through the online portal.

Title: Impact of Multiple Concurrent Central Lines on Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection Rates

Conclusions: Using the number of central lines as the denominator decreased CLABSI rates in ICUs by 25%. Presence of multiple concurrent central lines may be a marker of severity of illness. The risk of CLABSI per lumen of a central line is similar in ICUs compared to wards.

Background: The current methodology for calculating central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates, used for pay-for-performance measures, does not account for multiple concurrent central lines. This study compared CLABSI rates using standard National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) denominators to rates accounting for multiple concurrent central lines and determine the impact of multiple lines on mortality.

Higher mean temperatures as associated with climate change can have a severe impact on plants and animals by disrupting their mutually beneficial relationship: The pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris), for example, is very sensitive to rising temperatures by flowering earlier each year, whereas one of its major pollinators, a solitary bee species, does not quite keep pace by hatching earlier. In the worst case, this may cause the seed production of the plant to decrease and impair reproduction while requiring the bee to switch to other plants to forage on to compensate for the lack of food supply.

This is the key finding of a new study conducted by scientists from the University of Würzburg which has been published in the journal Plos One. Dr. Andrea Holzschuh from the Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III) and PhD student, Sandra Kehrberger, were in charge of the study.

The times of flowering and hatching must coincide

"We studied the impact of temperature on two solitary bee species that emerge in spring and on Pulsatilla vulgaris, one of the earliest flowering plants," Sandra Kehrberger describes their experiment. The scientists were particularly interested in how different temperatures in winter and spring affect the hatching time of the European orchard bee (Osmia cornuta) and of the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) as well as the onset of flowering in the pasque flower.

The phenological synchrony of the two events, hatching and flowering, is crucial in the life of both plant and bee: "For solitary bees, it is all about the correct timing of hatching in spring when the growing season starts since already a short period of time without flowering plants that provide food can have negative consequences for the bees' survival and the number of offspring," Andrea Holzschuh explains. But the timely onset of flowering is also essential for plant species that flower at the beginning of the growing season and rely on solitary pollinators. "A lack of pollinators can have serious consequences for the plants and their reproductive success," Sandra Kehrberger adds.

The pasque flower responds more quickly

For their study, the scientists placed bee cocoons on eleven grassland sites in the Würzburg area. On seven grasslands, they additionally studied the effect of temperature on the onset of flowering in the pasque flower. "Because the surface temperatures of the respective grasslands were different, we were able to investigate the impact of higher temperatures as an effect of climate change on the onset of flowering in Pulsatilla vulgaris and on the hatching of the mason bees," Kehrberger says.

The result was clear: As the temperatures increased, the pasque flower started to flower earlier. The emergence of the two solitary bee species lagged somewhat behind. This poses the risk that the first flowers of the pasque flower bloom in the absence of suitable pollinators. As a result, reduced viability and reproductive success could negatively affect the population size and even push a species to extinction in the long run. Climate change thus presents another risk for the native red-list species Pulsatilla vulgaris. However, this temporal mismatch can also endanger the solitary bees due to the reduced availability of nectar and pollen.

Climate change threatens native species

"Our research shows that climate change also threatens domestic plants and solitary bee species which are already under great pressure from habitat loss and intensive agriculture," Sandra Kehrberger concludes. The two scientists want to use their research results to demonstrate the scope of the threat. They hope that their findings will help to better estimate the possible consequences of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions and highlight the importance of limiting global warming to a minimum.

Exposure to black carbon particles is 81% higher among Mozambican women who use kerosene as the main source of energy for lighting compared to those who use electricity. This was the main finding of a study undertaken by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institute supported by "la Caixa", in collaboration with the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM) in Mozambique and the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA) in Barcelona.

The study, which has been published in the journal Environment International, recruited 202 women aged between 12 and 49 years living in Manhiça, a semi-rural region located 80 kilometres north of Maputo, Mozambique. During the study period, the women wore a portable device which recorded their personal exposure to black carbon (soot) 24 hours a day. In addition, all the participants answered a detailed questionnaire about their domestic habits and the characteristics of their homes. During the one-year study period, ambient levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon, and elemental carbon were measured once every three days in samples collected by a stationary sampling device installed in the CISM facilities.

Black carbon is one of the components of PM2.5 (particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 millionths of a metre), an air pollutant that is harmful to both human health and the planet. Black carbon from domestic combustion generates 25% of global anthropogenic PM2.5 emissions and 80% of those produced in Africa.

One striking finding was that personal levels of black carbon exposure among the women participating in this study were much higher than those observed in studies of adults and children living in European cities (a daily average of 15 μg/m3 compared to 2.8 μg/m3 in Europe).

In Europe, black carbon is used as a marker of traffic-related air pollution, but in rural areas and in middle- and low-income countries, it is a marker of domestic combustion.

It is estimated that 95% of Mozambique's population depends on unclean fuels for cooking and, due to the absence of electricity in large areas of the country, the use of portable kerosene lamps (or candeeiro de vidrio, as they are called in Portuguese) for domestic lighting is widespread. "The use of kerosene as an energy source in the home has been associated with tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections in children, low birth weight and neonatal mortality," explains ISGlobal researcher Ariadna Curto, the lead author of the study. "And it is women who bear the brunt of this effect because traditionally they carry the burden of all the domestic work."

In this study group, peak exposure to black carbon occurred, on average, between 6 and 7 in the afternoon--around sunset--and peak concentrations were 93% higher among the women who reported lighting their homes with kerosene lamps.

"Another significant finding was that women living with a partner had a 55% higher peak of exposure than single, widowed or divorced women. This difference can be attributed to the fact that the women in our study undertook all the domestic work in the household (almost all of the participants were housewives) and, consequently, the greater the number of people living in the home, the greater their personal exposure," explains Ariadna Curto.

The other factors, in addition to the type of lighting used, that were predictive of black carbon exposure were type of kitchen and ambient temperature. Black carbon exposure was 61% higher in the group of women who reported having a totally or partially enclosed kitchen than in those who had no kitchen or an outdoor kitchen. Another relevant factor is that in most of the participant households, the women used solid biomass fuels (wood and coal) for cooking, which further increased their exposure to black carbon.

Analysis of data on temperature revealed that average exposure to black carbon decreased by 24% for each 5° C increase in ambient temperature. "This difference is probably due to the fact that when the temperature rises, the women tend to cook outdoors (where the smoke is dispersed) and use less fuel to heat the house," explains Cathryn Tonne, ISGlobal researcher and last author of the study.

Finally, PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the maximum safe threshold specified by the WHO in 12% of the samples collected by the device installed in the CISM facilities to measure ambient pollution, with higher concentrations being observed mainly during the dry season. "Air quality in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to deteriorate further in the near future as a result of several factors, including an increase in vehicle ownership and industrial expansion. Studies like ours show that improving access to electricity or clean alternative lighting (solar lamps, for example) in populations currently dependent on inefficient household energy sources would have very positive effects on air quality and reduce negative health impacts," adds Cathryn Tonne.

Being a fussy eater is a problem for reef fish who seek refuge from climate change on deeper reefs. But, scientists discovered, the coral that these fussy fish eat can support them.

The study was led by Dr Chancey MacDonald at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University (JCU).

Dr MacDonald said it's increasingly difficult for species to deal with rapidly changing environments across the globe. He says while some species are likely to find refuges in marginal environments, survival may be difficult. Especially if they're fussy eaters.

"Some animals are likely to be pushed close to the borders of their environmental range, where living will be more difficult," Dr MacDonald said.

"On coral reefs this could mean deeper waters for fish, where you'd expect them to experience a reduced quantity and quality of their preferred foods," he said.

"However, we found that fish who are fussy about the corals they feed on can continue to thrive in deeper reef waters if their prey engage in a less 'precious' approach to what they themselves eat."

Although the corals some fish preferred to eat were sparse at depth, the team found the energy content of these corals remained constant, as they adapted their diet to rely less on sunlight and include more plankton.

Coral bleaching, large storms and other destructive events are increasing on tropical reefs.

"Shallow-water coral habitats are rapidly degrading," co-author Dr Tom Bridge, also from Coral CoE at JCU, said.

"And the deeper coral habitats, which may act as a refuge for some reef fish species, have less light available," Dr Bridge said.

"Corals mostly depend on light as an energy source to survive, which means there are less corals at depth."

Fish that eat coral, such as the Triangle and Eight-Band butterflyfish, can live on deeper reefs by either feeding more on their usual resource--or by adapting their diets.

Triangle butterflyfish are fussy eaters (dietary specialists). The Eight-band Butterflyfish are not fussy eaters (dietary generalists). The study compared the diets of the two from shallow to deep depths.

The researchers found that while overall feeding rates did not change with depth, the Triangle Butterflyfish--a dietary specialist--fed more selectively on their preferred corals, which are sparser at greater depths than in shallow waters.

In contrast, the dietary flexibility of the Eight-band Butterflyfish increased with depth as the amount of different coral types changed.

"These observations were compared with lab investigations of light-related changes in the energy content of corals," Dr MacDonald said.

"Surprisingly, the energy content of the corals that the Triangle butterflyfish preferred to feed on did not decline with depth as expected," he said.

"However, the pathways through which carbon passed from the corals to the fish did."

"Our results suggest that the expected declines in the quality of deeper corals as prey for fish are buffered by increased plankton intake by the corals via their polyps," co-author Prof Geoff Jones, also from Coral CoE at JCU, said.

"This means the corals adjust to the lack of light at depth, as they usually rely on energy from their internal photosynthetic zooxanthellae," Prof Jones said.

Dr MacDonald said the increase in plankton uptake was as much as 20 percent.

"This may be why we see healthy members of these fussy fish in both deep and shallow waters," he said.

"Climate change and other disturbances have increasing impacts on the habitats and compositions of coral reefs."

"Our study shines a light on the importance of the versatile relationship between species as they seek refuge on the edges of their environmental range--even if one species is fussier than another."

Washington, DC - July 23, 2019 - Global warming may have played a pivotal role in the emergence of Candida auris, according to a new study published in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. C. auris, which is often multi-drug resistant and is a serious public health threat, may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change.

"The argument that we are making based on comparison to other close relative fungi is that as the climate has gotten warmer, some of these organisms, including Candida auris, have adapted to the higher temperature, and as they adapt, they break through human's protective temperatures," said Arturo Casadevall, MD, PhD, Chair, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland. "Global warming may lead to new fungal diseases that we don't even know about right now."

C. auris emerged independently on three continents simultaneously, with each clade being genetically distinct. "What is unusual about Candida auris is that it appeared in three different continents at the same time, and the isolates from India, South Africa, and South America are not related. Something happened to allow this organism to bubble up and cause disease. We began to look into the possibility that it could be climate change," said Dr. Casadevall. "The reasons that fungal infections are so rare in humans is that most of the fungi in the environment cannot grow at the temperatures or our body." Mammalian resistance to invasive fungal diseases results from a combination of high basal temperatures that create a thermal restriction zone and advanced host defense mechanisms in the form of adaptive and innate immunity.

In the new study, the researchers compared the thermal susceptibility of C. auris to some of its close phylogenetic relatives. The researchers found that C. auris is capable of growing at higher temperatures than most of its closely related species, and the majority of the relatives were not tolerant for mammalian temperatures. Adaption to higher temperatures is one contributing cause for the emergence of C. auris, say the researchers.

"What this study suggests is this is the beginning of fungi adapting to higher temperatures, and we are going to have more and more problems as the century goes on," said Dr. Casadevall. "Global warming will lead to selection of fungal lineages that are more thermally tolerant, such that they can breach the mammalian thermal restriction zone."

Dr. Casadevall said that if better surveillance systems were in place, the rise of C. auris would have been detected earlier. "We need to make investments in better surveillance of fungal diseases. We are pretty good at surveilling influenza and diseases that cause diarrhea or are contagious, but fungal diseases are not usually contagious and therefore nobody has really bothered to document them well," said Dr. Casadevall. "If more fungi were to cross over, you really wouldn't know until somebody started reporting them in the literature."

Understanding the dynamics of cane toad dispersal is vital information for scientists helping native animals survive the spread of the poisonous invasive species.

Previous work into the reproduction of cane toads in northern Australia has documented low reproductive frequencies among females at the invasion front.

Now we know, at least in part, why.

"It turns out that male cane toads are more interested in dispersal than sex at the invasion front," said Professor Rick Shine, an emeritus professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who also holds a position at Macquarie University.

This lack of interest means that over a relatively short period in evolutionary terms (about 85 years), the testes of male cane toads are much smaller at the edge of the species' territory.

Writing today in Biology Letters of the Royal Society, Professor Shine and colleague Dr Chris Friesen from the University of Wollongong, describe how toad testes on the invasion front are about 30 percent smaller than those of male toads in the core of the species' range.

"A pioneer cane toad, out at the edge of the invasion, is boldly going where no toad has gone before - and as a result, he isn't likely to meet many other toads out there," Professor Shine said.

"So, when it comes time to breed, he will probably be the only male in the pond when a female comes along. Because his sperm won't have to compete with those of other males, the pioneer male can afford to invest a bit less in making sperm, and a bit more into travelling faster and farther, to stay at the invasion front."

The evolutionary pressures in areas long-settled by the species mean that competition to breed is much more intense. The study, which looked at 241 adult males from three sites (one in the core region and two on the expansion front), found that mass of the toad testes in core regions was about 30 percent higher as a proportion of total body mass.

Professor Shine said: "For a male cane toad in a long-colonised area, competition with the other boys is intense and there's no benefit to extensive travel. So, a male in such a population produces a lot more sperm, to better win the sperm wars that erupt as a female lays her eggs."

The cane toad was introduced into Australia's cane fields in 1935 in an attempt to control the native grey-backed cane beetle. Since then the species has spread across northern Australia where it has become a deadly threat to native predators, such as the monitor lizard and northern quoll.

Professor Shine and his research teams have been working to assist native animals survive the cane toad invasion. In 2016 he was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Science in recognition of his work.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Just as humans are usually left- or right-handed, other species sometimes prefer one appendage, or eye, over the other. A new study reveals that American robins that preferentially use one eye significantly more than the other when looking at their own clutch of eggs are also more likely to detect, and reject, a foreign egg placed in their nest by another bird species - or by a devious scientist.

The robins have no eye-preference when a decoy egg is a different color than their own eggs, the researchers found. But when a decoy egg mimics their own in color, they are better able to distinguish the foreign egg if they rely on one eye more than the other.

The new results are reported in the journal Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

The findings are important because American robins and other birds are often targeted by brood parasitic species, such as brown-headed cowbirds, that lay their eggs in other birds' nests. Some birds targeted by such parasites have learned to identify and reject the intruders' eggs, thus avoiding raising the chicks of another species while neglecting their own chicks' care.

Previous studies have shown that many vertebrate species prefer to use one eye over the other for particular tasks. This reflects specialization in the different hemispheres of the brain, scientists say.

For example, a study of the domestic chick found that individuals with a strong preference for one eye over the other are faster than others at detecting potential predators and are better able to distinguish between grain and pebbles. Other research reveals that domestic chicks, adult hens and Japanese quail are better at discriminating between familiar and unfamiliar individuals when they use their left eyes. Black-winged stilts use their right eyes most often when engaged in predatory pecking and their left eyes for looking at females. Australian green tree frogs tend to keep an eye on competitors - their left eye, specifically.

"We were interested in this phenomenon in the context of recognizing and rejecting brood parasites," said University of Illinois evolution, ecology and behavior professor Mark E. Hauber, who led the new research with graduate student Hanna Scharf. "We wanted to know, specifically, whether American robins, which are known to be adept at spotting and ejecting cowbird eggs, used one eye preferentially over the other."

The researchers followed 26 robin nests over two years. They mounted cameras on the nests to track how the birds behaved in response to a 3D-printed decoy egg placed in their nests. Some of the decoy eggs were painted blue like the robins' own eggs, and some were white, resembling the background color of cowbird eggs.

"We saw that robins looking at the white eggs had no preference for which eye they used," Scharf said. "But when they looked at the blue decoy eggs, the birds exhibited what we call 'eyedness,' preferring to look at the eggs with one of their eyes much more often than with the other. Some looked more with their right eye, some with their left. And those that were more biased in their eye use tended to be more successful at ejecting the foreign eggs we placed in their nest."

The findings suggest that robins - and perhaps other bird species that can identify and reject outsider eggs - have evolved specialized abilities in one hemisphere of the brain that help them avoid brood parasites, Hauber said.

MEXICO CITY, July 23, 2019 - Results of an open-label study of vaginal ring intended to be used for a month at a time found the majority of women wanted the ring being offered, with measures of adherence also indicating that women are willing to use it to protect themselves against HIV. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) who conducted the study, known as HOPE, reported their findings today at the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) in Mexico City.

The ring, which women can insert and replace themselves, slowly releases the antiretroviral (ARV) drug dapivirine into the vagina during the month it is used. The nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) developed the dapivirine ring and is seeking its regulatory approval.

The HOPE study (HIV Open-label Prevention Extension, or MTN-025) was designed to provide former participants of the ASPIRE (MTN-020) Phase III trial the opportunity to use to the dapivirine ring for one year while researchers collected additional information about its safety and how women would use the ring knowing that it was shown to reduce the risk of HIV in both ASPIRE and The Ring Study (IPM 027), a second Phase III trial that was led by IPM.

HOPE, which was conducted between July 2016 and October 2018, enrolled 1,456 women at 14 trial sites in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. To be eligible, women needed to be HIV-negative, not be pregnant or breastfeeding and agree to use contraception during the study.

Importantly, women who enrolled in HOPE could at any time choose not to use or to accept the ring being offered.

"We wanted women to know that the decision was theirs to make, and theirs alone," explained Jared Baeten, MD, PhD, professor of global health, medicine and epidemiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, who reported the final results of HOPE at IAS.

"As it turns out, most participants wanted the dapivirine ring - they accepted the ring being offered. And women in HOPE also appeared to use the ring more consistently than they did in ASPIRE," said Dr. Baeten, who is also co-principal investigator of the MTN and led the HOPE study with Thesla Palanee-Phillips, MMed Sci, PhD, MSc., of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Nyaradzo Mgodi, MBChB, MMed, of the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences in Harare.

At the start of HOPE, the majority of participants, or 92 percent, accepted the ring. And, overall, interest in the ring was high throughout the one-year study. At three months, 87 percent of participants accepted the ring being offered to them. Thereafter, when women started coming to the clinic quarterly as opposed to monthly, interest declined only slightly, with 83 percent of women wanting the ring at month six and 79 percent of women accepting the rings being offered at month nine. (At these quarterly visits, women were given the option of receiving three rings--one for each of the next three months.)

To calculate women's use of the ring, or adherence, researchers measured the amount of drug remaining in rings participants returned at each clinic visit. In HOPE, 90 percent of returned rings indicated use compared to 77 percent in ASPIRE. Residual drug levels cannot determine how long the ring was actually used - for the full month, for example, or just a few days - and therefore are not an exact indication of adherence.

As in ASPIRE, there were no safety concerns with use of the ring in HOPE, and compared to ASPIRE, women's HIV risk appeared to be lower.

HIV incidence was 2.7 percent in HOPE, meaning that for every 100 women followed during the one-year study there were 2.7 women who became newly infected. In addition to being offered the ring in HOPE, all women received HIV prevention counseling and services during participation. Of the 1,456 participants, 35 acquired HIV. Using a method of statistical modeling that draws from the placebo group in ASPIRE, the researchers estimated the HIV incidence would have been 4.4 percent had women not been able to take part in HOPE and be offered the ring, suggesting a 39 percent reduction in HIV risk.

Final results of a second open-label study called DREAM (IPM 032) for former Ring Study participants, which were reported last month at the South African AIDS Conference, also found higher uptake of the ring compared to the original Phase III study, and using a similar modeling technique, suggest women's HIV risk was reduced by 63 percent. Unlike in HOPE, DREAM only enrolled women who agreed to use the ring during the study.

Both research teams caution that without a true placebo group in either study, these results cannot be viewed with the same degree of confidence as those from the earlier Phase III trials in which women were randomized to use either the active ring or a placebo ring. Overall, however, the researchers were encouraged that, together, the HOPE and DREAM open-label studies suggest HIV incidence was reduced by about half with use of the dapivirine ring.

In the ASPIRE and The Ring Study Phase III trials, the results of which were reported at Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in 2016 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the ring was found to be well tolerated and reduced women's risk of acquiring HIV by about 30 percent overall (by 27 percent in ASPIRE and by 31 percent in The Ring Study). Higher levels of protection were seen in women who used the ring most regularly.

The dapivirine ring is currently under regulatory review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) through the Article 58 procedure, which allows the EMA, in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), to provide a scientific opinion on the ring's use in low- and middle-income countries. IPM also plans to submit applications to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year.

The monthly dapivirine ring could potentially represent a second biomedical option, in addition to oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), for women wanting to protect themselves against HIV. Oral PrEP, which involves taking a daily ARV pill called Truvada® every day, is now approved in many countries, including in Africa, and recommended by the WHO for anyone at substantial HIV risk. Oral PrEP is highly effective, but only with consistent use, and daily pill-taking can be challenging for some people or not desired. Likewise, using a monthly vaginal ring may not be for everyone either.

"Having both PrEP and the dapivirine ring would be a significant milestone for HIV prevention, because the more options the better. No one method is going to be right for all women, and no method will be nor can be effective if it's not used or not available in the first place," commented Dr. Baeten.

Globally, more than half of all people currently living with HIV are women, and in sub-Saharan Africa, women account for nearly 60 percent of adults with HIV, with unprotected vaginal sex the primary driver of the epidemic.

Rates of infection are especially high among young women. Indeed, in parts of Africa, it's estimated that 1,000 girls ages 15-24 are infected every day. And when women are pregnant or breastfeeding, their risk of acquiring HIV is two to four times greater than when they are not.

The MTN is conducting studies to address the needs of these populations of women to inform potential approval of the dapivirine ring for girls under age 18 and for women during pregnancy and breastfeeding in the future.

REACH (MTN-034) is an ongoing study evaluating both the ring and oral PrEP in girls ages 16-21 at sites in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Likewise, the DELIVER (MTN-042) and B-PROTECTED (MTN-042) studies are designed to assess the safety of the dapivirine ring and oral PrEP in pregnant and breastfeeding women. DELIVER and B-PROTECTED are expected to begin later this year at sites in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.