Culture

Physical fitness and social connection can be difficult to maintain in old age. But new research published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) may promote exercise, improve quality of life and deepen familial ties between grandparents and grandchildren.

In a study at the Kibbutzim College and University of Haifa in Israel, sixteen dance movement therapists met with their grandmothers for three free-form dance sessions. The goal was to determine how these sessions would affect each group, and whether intergenerational bonds might strengthen as a result. The study also wanted to examine a potential low-cost method to treat issues commonly faced by an aging population, such as depressed mood and limited mobility.

"The increase of the proportion of elderly in the population, along with the increase in the age group of adult grandchildren necessitates creativity and innovation in providing diverse resources and support," says author Dr. Einat Shuper Engelhard.

Shuper Engelhard analyzed taped videos of the sessions, personal diaries, and semi-structured interviews between granddaughters and grandmothers to analyze the effect of DMT. She found that for grandmothers, dancing promoted positive feelings and improved mood. For granddaughters, dancing shifted their perspective of aging and allowed them to process their grandparent's eventual death. Both groups expressed gratitude and felt their bond was stronger after the sessions.

Dance was chosen as a unique and versatile intervention since it can improve muscle strength, balance, and endurance, prevent anxiety and depression, and aid with dementia -- all issues commonly faced among the elderly population. It also offers a model for low-cost and accessible community support.

Each of the three sessions was conducted one week apart and took place in the grandmother's home for just 10 to 15 minutes. Granddaughters were nervous at first over their ability to provide a meaningful experience, but were instructed to mirror their grandmother's movements, encourage their abilities, and give them space to rest when needed.

Shuper Engelhard says that familiarity was key to the intervention's success. The sessions "promoted physical activity even when the body was fatigued and weak," Shuper Engelhard says. "This emphasizes the significance of the close and familiar relationship as a means to promote new experiences (which can occasionally seem impossible) for the older person."

The study was limited in its scope as only 32 individuals participated (16 grandmother-granddaughter pairs) and, while the study was open to grandchildren of all genders, all participants were female. Moreover, all granddaughters in this study were dance/movement therapists by design, but Shuper Engelhard would like to see the research replicated in other populations.
With an activity as simple and accessible as free-form dancing, aging populations can improve their physical and mental health and also connect with their loved ones.

The archaeological record is littered with feces, a potential goldmine for insights into ancient health and diet, parasite evolution, and the ecology and evolution of the microbiome. The main problem for researchers is determining whose feces is under examination. A recent study published in the journal PeerJ, led by Maxime Borry and Christina Warinner of Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), presents "CoproID: a reliable method of inferring sources of paleofeces."

Machine learning enables reliable classification

After thousands of years, the source of a particular piece of feces can be difficult to determine. Distinguishing human and dog feces is particularly difficult: they are similar in size and shape, occur at the same archaeological sites, and have similar compositions. In addition, dogs were on the menu for many ancient societies, and our canine friends have a tendency to scavenge on human feces, thus making simple genetic tests problematic, as such analyses can return DNA from both species.

In order to access the insights contained within paleofeces, the researchers developed coproID (coprolite identification). The method combines analysis of ancient host DNA with a machine learning software trained on the microbiomes within modern feces. Applying coproID to both newly sequenced and previously published datasets, the team of researchers from the MPI-SHH, Harvard University, and the University of Oklahoma were able to reliably predict the sources of ancient feces, showing that a combination of host DNA and the distinct colonies of microbes living inside humans and dogs allow their feces to be accurately distinguished.

Classification capability provides insights into digestive health

"One unexpected finding of our study is the realization that the archaeological record is full of dog poop," says Professor Christina Warinner, senior author of the study. But Warinner also expects coproID to have broader applications, especially in the fields of forensics, ecology, and microbiome sciences.

The ability to accurately identify the source of archaeological feces enables the direct investigation of changes in the structure and function of the human gut microbiome throughout time, which researchers hope will provide insights into food intolerances and a host of other issues in human health. "Identifying human coprolites should be the first step for ancient human microbiome analysis," says the study's first author, Maxime Borry.

"With additional data about the gut metagenomes of non-Westernized rural dogs, we'll be better able to classify even more ancient dog feces as in fact being canine, as opposed to 'uncertain,'" Borry adds. As the catalog of human and dog microbiome data grows, coproID will continue to improve its classifications and better aid researchers that encounter paleofeces in a range of geographic and historical contexts.

New research to be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)* shows that it is safe to give antibiotics to mothers after umbilical cord clamping in Caesarean section, rather than before, to avoid exposure of the newborn baby to these drugs. The study is by Dr Rami Sommerstein, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues from Swissnoso, the Swiss National Centre for Infection Control.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends** administration of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) in Caesarean section prior to incision to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs), including endometritis, one of the most common types of these infections. However, SAP may disrupt the baby's developing gastrointestinal microbiome if given before umbilical cord clamping. The authors thus studied whether giving antibiotics before or after clamping of the umbilical cord had any effect on the rate of SSIs in the mothers.

The current practice to give antimicrobial prophylaxis before incision was introduced in around 2012, after various evidence was published, and this was when many obstetricians switched to 'before incision' practice. WHO then published guidance in 2015. However, not all hospitals switched to the new practice (in Switzerland or other countries). As a result, it is possible to compare the outcomes of women who were given the antibiotics before incision with those given antibiotics after.

The study used data from the Swissnoso national SSI surveillance system, from 2009 to 2018. The study included mothers from 178 hospitals. The researchers included all Caesarean section patients that were given the SAP agents cefuroxime, cefazolin, amoxicillin/clavulanate or ceftriaxone, either within 60 minutes before incision or after clamping. Data from 30-day post-discharge follow-up was available in 89% of cases, allowing the researchers to assess the association between SAP administration relative to incision and clamping and the SSI rate, using computer models. The data was then adjusted for patient characteristics, procedural variables, and health-care system factors.

A total of 55,901 patients met the criteria: SAP was administered before incision in 26,405 patients (47.2%) and after clamping in 29,496 patients (52.8%). Overall, 846 SSIs were documented, of which 379 (1.6%) occurred before incision and 449 (1.7%) after clamping, with no statistically significant difference between the two methods, proving them to be equally safe. Supplementary and subgroup analyses supported these main results.

The authors conclude: "The results of this large prospective study provide strong evidence that the risk of surgical site infection for the mother in Caesarean section is not increased if antibiotic prophylaxis is given after umbilical cord clamping, compared to before incision. Given the latest research on the potentially detrimental effects of early-life antimicrobial exposure, guidance regarding optimal SAP timing should be re-evaluated."

New research due to be presented at this year's European Congress on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)* has revealed the presence of disease-causing E. coli in recreational waters, including from beaches rated excellent under EU criteria. The study is led by Prof. Dearbháile Morris and Dr. Louise O'Connor at the School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland.

E. coli are part of the normal gut flora of humans and animals, but not all E. coli are exactly the same. Some E. coli can produce toxins that can cause serious infection in humans. Shiga -toxigenic E. coli (STEC) are pathogenic E. coli that can cause severe intestinal infection and potentially renal failure and death. Ireland has had the highest incidence rate for human infection with STEC among EU member states for many years, reporting 10 times the EU average in 2017 (see link below for European data). This research looked at recreational waters for the presence of STEC.

Seawater, river and lake samples were collected around Ireland between December 2018 and October 2019 and examined for genetic markers of STEC. Of the 75 samples tested, 49 (65%) were positive for the presence of STEC genetic markers, including 29/52 (56%) seawater samples, 14/15 (93%) river samples and 6/8 (75%) lake samples.

Professor Morris says: "To our knowledge this is the first investigation of recreational waters across Ireland for the presence of STEC. There was a high occurrence of genetic markers for STEC in the samples tested, highlighting the need for further investigation to establish the scale of the problem, not only in Ireland but globally."

She adds: "It is worth noting that all of the bathing waters tested were designated as of good or excellent quality based on current EU bathing water quality monitoring criteria. Bathing water quality is assessed based on estimating the total number of E. coli in a 100ml sample over a defined time-period (May to September). Bathing waters in Europe and elsewhere are not routinely monitored for the presence of STEC. This study highlights the limitations of only assessing the total number of E. coli present as an indicator of water quality without taking into consideration the potential pathogenicity of some variants."

Elderly patients who are hospitalised with pneumonia are twice as likely to die as those hospitalised with hip fractures - yet many elderly people fail to accurately assess their risk of pneumonia, concludes research due to be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).* The study is by Dr Leslie Grammatico-Guillon, University of Tours, France, and colleagues.

Pneumonia is a common lung infection that can be life-threatening, especially in elderly people. Despite these concerns, elderly people mostly fail to accurately gauge their own pneumonia risk, leading to inadequate prevention efforts, especially low uptake of existing vaccines. The mismatch between the high risk of disease and death from pneumonia and low awareness of its potential severity represent a driver of unhealthy ageing.

On the contrary, breaking a hip (and the risk of any type of fall) is widely recognised as a major concern for the elderly. To change this trivialisation of pneumonia in the elderly and help increase vaccination uptake, the authors compared 2-year outcomes for elderly patients aged 80 years and over after hospitalisation for acute respiratory infection (which covered all pneumonias, ARI) or hip fracture (HF).

A 2009-15 population-based cohort study was performed in one French region (Centre-Val de Loire, 2.5 million inhabitants), which is served by one university hospital, one regional hospital and 37 general and private hospitals, using medico-administrative data collected from the French national hospital discharge database. All patients are assigned a unique identification number, allowing the same individual to be followed over time. The researchers defined cases of patients aged 80 years or over hospitalised for ARI or HF using standard diagnostic criteria. The main outcome was the 2-year mortality of the two patient groups. Statistical modelling was used to calculate the overall survival and the relative mortality risks of ARI versus HF.

A total of 16,917 patients aged 80 years and over hospitalised for ARI (n=12,159) or HF (n=4,758) were included. The data showed that patients hospitalised for ARI had more comorbidities and a 3.3-fold greater unadjusted in-hospital mortality (17.9% mortality for respiratory infection and 5.4% for hip fracture). After adjusting for comorbid conditions and frailty score (as well as age and sex), the overall risk of death at two years for elderly patients hospitalised for ARI was 80% higher than those hospitalised with HF.

The authors conclude: "We hope that placing the consequences of pneumonia in relation to the consequences of a hip fracture may provide useful perspective for discussions of pneumonia and its prevention with aging populations. The population, but also their caregivers and clinical practitioners, should be more aware of the risk from this disease. Better recognition will improve the prevention of pneumonia by increasing uptake of vaccines, such as influenza and pneumococcus."

The World Institute of Kimchi (hereinafter "WiKim") (Acting Director Dr. Choi, Hak-Jong) announced that it had identified the origin source of lactic acid bacteria involved in the fermentation of kimchi and the characteristics of the fermentation process depending on the strains of lactic acid bacteria.

Kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented vegetable food, is fermented by lactic acid bacteria derived from raw ingredients, such as kimchi cabbage, garlic, ginger, and red pepper. Lactic acid bacteria produce various metabolites during fermentation in response to the type of ingredients and storage temperature, and the metabolites determine the flavor and quality of kimchi.

Controlling complicated fermentation processes involving microorganisms present in kimchi is still a scientific and industrial challenge. Although the raw ingredients for kimchi have been recognized as one of the important environmental factors influencing the fermentation of kimchi, only a few studies have been conducted regarding the origin source of lactic acid bacteria responsible for kimchi fermentation and the different fermentation characteristics depending on the species of lactic acid bacteria.

WiKim's Microbiology and Functionality Research Group led by Dr. Roh, Seong Woon analyzed the origin source of lactic acid bacteria that directly affect the fermentation of kimchi through multi-omics analysis after selectively sterilizing four ingredients for kimchi, namely kimchi cabbage, garlic, ginger, and red pepper.

* Multi-omics is a holistic and integrated analysis of various data sets created at different molecular levels, such as genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolites, ipidomes, etc. This study accompanied metataxonomic and meta-metabolomic analysis.

According to the analysis, the fermentation was carried out by lactic acid bacteria indigenous to kimchi cabbage and garlic, not by microorganisms derived from ginger and red pepper, among the raw materials for kimchi.

Kimchi fermented by kimchi cabbage-derived microorganisms showed that the strains of in the genus Leuconostoc, Weissella, and Lactobacillus formed dominant communities. On the other hand, in case of kimchi fermented by microorganisms from garlic, the strains of in the Leuconostoc and Weissella, were dominant. These lactic acid bacteria were also confirmed to produce metabolites, such as mannitol and lactic acid.

Furthermore, the research group succeeded in isolating three major fermentative microbes involved in kimchi fermentation, which are specific to the ingredients: Leuconostoc gelidum, Weissella koreensis, and Lactobacillus sakei. It confirmed that kimchi was fermented differently depending on the species of lactic acid bacteria aforementioned by introducing them into sterilized kimchi.

In conclusion, this study identified the origin source of lactic acid bacteria, the determinants of the fermentation of kimchi, and the fermentation characteristics by bacteria derived from each ingredient. Therefore, these results will be utilized as scientific data for the production of standardized kimchi.

WiKim's Acting Director Dr. Choi, Hak-Jong remarked, "We've successfully figured out scientific grounds for the fermentation of kimchi by tracing the origin source of lactic acid bacteria involved in the fermentation. This will surely give us an opportunity to strengthen the status of South Korea as the origin of kimchi."

The information of the territory provided by the laser technology from an airplane can be combined with data collected in mountain lakes with an inflatable boat and a small echo sounder to obtain three-dimensional maps. The system has been successfully tested by two geologists at the Truchillas glacial lake in Spain.

Scientists studying mountain lakes, often located in remote areas that are difficult to access, are faced with the problem of climbing with heavy and costly equipment. Helicopters are often essential.

But now, geologists Javier Fernández-Lozano, from the University of León (Spain), and Rodrigo Andrés-Bercianos, from the León Technology Park, have presented a very simple, low-cost methodology for obtaining high-resolution three-dimensional models of lake bottoms.

It only requires a 250-gram echo sounder and the so-called LiDAR detection data, which are collected from an airplane with laser technology. In the case of Spain, they are provided free of charge through the National Aerial Orthophotography Plan.

The new technique has been successfully implemented in the Truchillas Lake, of glacial origin, a natural monument of the Castile and León region located in the southwest of the province of León, and the results have been published in Quaternary International.

"With a 7-kg inflatable boat we have made several transects across the lake to take the measurements with the echo sounder," explains Fernández-Lozano. "Then, using a software, the point cloud obtained was combined with LiDAR data, which allowed us to generate the topographic and bathymetric (depth) 3D model in high-resolution."

According to the authors, these digital models help to better study and monitor high mountain lake ecosystems, as well as to manage them more effectively within a protected area. Their detailed analysis makes it possible, for example, to assess the impacts of tourism and natural degradation as a result of erosion or other geological processes.

In the case of Lake Truchillas, the 3D map has allowed us to find out that the lake basin is older than we thought. Its origin is linked to a fault system that is responsible for the abrupt topography of the area, where glacial activity subsequently closed the basin and formed this lake with a maximum depth of 13.3 metres.

"The combined use of the portable bathymetric sonar and airborne laser technology will make it possible to study high mountain lakes in an integrated way, even if they are located in remote places anywhere in the world, as well as help to improve conservation and management plans for natural areas," concludes Fernández-Lozano.

Thousands of cancer patients in the UK have had their treatment stopped or delayed because of COVID-19, and with pressures mounting on the health service, Cancer Research UK calls for widespread testing to prevent unnecessary cancer deaths.*

The global pandemic has caused enormous disruption to cancer services across the country including delays to cancer treatment, screening and diagnosis, and profound decreases in patients being urgently referred to hospital with suspected cancer symptoms.**

In some cases, already overstretched NHS staff are being directed away from cancer care, towards caring for COVID-19 patients. And in other cases, where a cancer patient might have a weakened immune system as a result of cancer treatment, it may not be safe for them to go to hospital.

The NHS is working tirelessly and has been forced to make difficult decisions during an unprecedented time. They have committed to prioritising cancer care, but Cancer Research UK is concerned that the NHS will not be able to cope with the large backlog of cancer care needed as services reopen, unless steps are taken to plan for the future, including COVID-19 testing.

The NHS in England is developing 'COVID-free' centres and hospitals which will be the key to ensuring that the most urgent cancer patients can receive their treatment quickly, but this will only be possible with widescale and frequent testing of NHS staff and patients.

Although some patients are being tested for COVID-19, testing in some areas is reserved for those who are seriously ill. The concern is that a number of people with the virus may be infectious to others before they show symptoms, so for a hospital to be truly safe to treat cancer patients, we need rapid testing available for all staff and patients, whether showing symptoms of COVID-19 or not, occurring on a routine and repetitive basis.

NHS staff testing for COVID-19 has been boosted by repurposing the Francis Crick Institute's laboratory facilities as a testing facility, to help combat the spread of infection and allow healthcare workers to perform lifesaving duties while remaining safe. The institute, as well as other locations around the country, could accept even more samples for testing, to contribute towards the national COVID screening effort.

Sarah Woolnough, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy and information, said: "The pandemic has left cancer diagnosis and treatment in a precarious position, and one of the ways that the NHS is adapting to ensure patients are receiving vital testing and care is through 'COVID-19 free' centres or hospitals. But this won't be possible without the appropriate testing of all staff and patients.

"Already, Cancer Research UK has helped to increase testing capacity through the Francis Crick Institute. We want to continue to contribute towards the national effort to beat COVID-19, so that cancer patients can receive the care that they need during this difficult time."

Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "This pandemic is having a major impact on patients suffering from cancer and the direction it's heading is really concerning. Delays to diagnosis and treatment could mean that some cancers will become inoperable. But it's not too late to turn this around. Cancer patients shouldn't need to wait for the pandemic to pass before getting the treatment they need.

"We can create a safe environment for both staff and cancer patients now that testing efforts are escalating quickly. Staff in hospitals around the country are working extremely hard and with more testing of staff and patients - with and without symptoms - we will have hospitals and centres relatively free from COVID-19 where patients can be treated safely, and post-operative complications can be minimised."

The sudden stop of capital flow of a country means, according to experts, a bottleneck to its foreign finance, that is to say, the bankruptcy of the country, as it leads to the contraction of international capital flows and the purchase and sale of foreign assets.

Early detection -which is key to the adequacy of the macroeconomic policies of a country against the risk derived from such stops of capital flows- has been previously studied. However, researchers of the UMA have taken a step forward by designing a new and more accurate prediction model, based on a sample of 103 countries, including emerging (73) and developed (30) countries, that were analysed for the period 1960-2016, thanks to the World Bank database.

"This event has significant negative effects on the global economy, as it has been proved that it leads to a drop in GDP growth, causes significant drops in production and employment, and gives rise to serious financial crises, hence, the importance of predicting it", explains researcher M. Belén Salas, main author of this study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

'Sudden stops of capital flows' is the new global prediction model proposed by this research team of the UMA; an analysis of some economic parameters of these countries using decision trees, an innovative method never used before in this type of work.

Economic variables for decision-making

The result is a model for emerging countries, another for developed countries and one last model at a global level -thus far it has only been developed for emerging countries- that identify which economic factors have a direct connection to the stop of capital flows with the aim of predicting it, even one year in advance, and, therefore, being able to prevent it.

Thus, the researcher asserts that some of the more explanatory variables to predict the 'Sudden Stop' event in developed countries are the country's real interest rate, the monetary aggregate growth (M2), the rate of return of the stock market, the VIX index (an indicator that measures the volatility of the US stock market), the GDP growth (gross domestic product), the central government debt to GDP or the domestic credit to GDP.

"Hence, developed countries must be alert to the behaviour of these variables, since high real interest rates, public debt to GDP, M2 growth, the level of domestic credit and the volatility index are all linked to a higher probability of a sudden stop of capital flow", says Salas, who adds that a higher GDP growth and performance of the stock index are negatively related to the possibility of this event.

A new model that can be used as a reference for setting the macroeconomic policy of a country, as it provides tools to be considered to achieve financial stability. It has been designed by the Foreign Trade Expert M. Belén Salas, with the participation of the researcher David Alaminos and Professors Manuel Ángel Fernández and Francisco López Valverde from the Faculty of Economy and the School of Computer Science Engineering of the UMA, respectively.

Bryophytes, phylogenetically placed between algae and pteridophytes, are divided into three classes, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. Bryophytes are a source of traditional medicines throughout the world. Bryophyte phytochemistry is a fascinating research niche as some compounds - such as secondary metabolites - from these sources have been found to have bioactive properties. Liverworts and other bryophytes have yielded a rich array of secondary metabolites. Many of these compounds are characterized by unprecedented structures, and some have not been found in any other plants, fungi, or marine organisms. Among the bryophytes, the chemical constituents of liverworts and their biological activity have been studied in the most detail. In this article, Agnieszka Ludwiczuk (Medical University of Lublin, Poland) and Yoshinori Asakawa (Tokushima Bunri University, Japan) review the chemistry of the liverworts, mosses, and hornworts. The researchers highlight medicinal properties of different compounds such as the neuroprotective activity of dimeric herbertane-type sesquiterpenoids, mastigophorenes and secoaromadendrane-type sesquiterpenoids, marchantin-type cyclic bisbibenzyls with muscle-relaxant activity, or ent-longipinane-type sesquiterpenoids with acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, among others.

In 2019, the global population without access to electricity dipped below 1 billion for the first time. This progress has however been uneven, both across and within different regions. A new IIASA study shows that to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern electricity services by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa, the pace of electrification must more than triple.

The bulk of improvements in global access to electricity between 2014 and 2019 were observed in Central and Southern Asia and a few areas of Africa. Nearly two thirds of those still without access to electricity - about 570 million people - are in sub-Saharan Africa, where there are around 30 countries with electrification levels below 50%, making the region a global hotspot of energy poverty. Even in areas that are formally electrified, power consumption and supply reliability are largely inadequate.

According to the authors of the study published in the journal One Earth, 520 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will remain without access to electricity by 2030 if the electrification rollout in the coming decade keeps the same pace observed in the 2014 to 2019 period, and regional populations grow according to the most recent UN estimates. This would mean that to fulfil Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 7.1.1 - which aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services for all by 2030 - progress must ramp-up immediately for the coming decade. On average, this implies that almost 75 million people need to gain access to electricity every year until 2030, compared to the average 22 million people that received access per year for the 2014 to 2019 period.

The researchers highlight that the datasets needed to address this challenge, are not always readily available, as generating them calls for costly and large-scale household surveys, which might not be feasible for all nations to do frequently - or even at all in some cases. In addition, aggregated national statistics are unable to assess the degree of sub-national inequality that characterizes energy access and its quality, or the increasing pressure driven by population growth and migration. To fill this gap, the researchers built on previous efforts to exploit satellite information. Satellite data can be an important complement to other sources of data, and is a cheap, rapidly updated resource to improve the tracking of energy poverty, and in particular, progress towards SDG7.

Previous applications of satellite data have shown that combining nighttime lights and human settlement data can be used to track the rollout of electrification, map power transmission and distribution infrastructure, and measure economic development and inequality. The main limitation of this approach is that nighttime lights was considered mostly to determine whether residents of an area have access to electricity or not. It did not further explore the intensity of the light detected to derive and validate proxy measures of electricity access quality.

"The key question we wanted to address was whether satellite data of nighttime lights have potential to support institutions tracking electricity access, by complementing and validating a variety of household derived information. In particular, we introduce a low-cost geospatial indicator that can be updated easily and in near-real-time. Another important objective was to form a clearer picture of the inequality in the recent progress in electricity access, both at country-level and sub-nationally. The most innovative part of our work, however, concerns the ability to link electricity use to satellite-measured luminosity to define tiers of access based on the World Bank Multi-Tier Framework and enable estimating energy poverty, even where electricity infrastructure is available," explains lead author Giacomo Falchetta, a researcher in the Future Energy Program at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) in Italy.

The underlying trends analyzed in the paper reveal that additional dimensions and dynamics such as urban and rural areas changing at different rates, in both electrification rollout and demographic terms, must be considered. Electrification has moved faster in rural than in urban areas in relative terms, and yet the bulk of progress took place in urban settlements. Among those with access to electricity, there is a vast distribution across access quality tiers. For instance, in some countries with strong recent electricity access growth, the estimated final use remains very limited among newly electrified households. This is consistent with the findings of previous studies showing very low electricity consumption by newly connected customers. This could be ascribed to limited appliance uptake and use among the poor.

Challenges with extending central grid infrastructure to remote regions has resulted in an increasing market penetration of decentralized energy solutions that are forecast to be the least-cost option to bring electricity to households currently without access in many locations across sub-Saharan Africa. Care is required in the sizing of such distributed solutions because if under-scaled, they may be insufficient to meet growing demand from different sectors and thus exacerbate inequalities, while an over-sizing could make the system economically unsustainable for both users and the companies managing the infrastructure.

Finally, as sub-Saharan Africa is already witnessing rapid urbanization, the analysis suggests that providing secure, sustainable access even to urban centers with relatively high population densities may be increasingly challenging. Infrastructure expansion in slums is particularly tricky due to the geographical configuration of such areas, legal, regulatory and market risks for investors, and the ability of the poor to afford electricity.

The authors say that taken together, these results raise questions over the effectiveness of electrification plans and programs and suggest the need to critically evaluate the success of electrification programs beyond their role in boosting national electricity access statistics. It also implies that large gaps in unmet demand might remain both across and within countries, even under a scenario of universal electrification by 2030.

"Policies aiming to achieve the SDG7 target of universal electricity access need to facilitate longer-term planning and provide for a decent level of electricity service to all beyond just connections. This requires planning for infrastructure expansion that is commensurate and scalable to subsequent demand growth as incomes rise. Acknowledging the significant geographical dimension to electricity access, puts remote regions at a distinct disadvantage. At the same time though, high grid-connection charges, along with other barriers, can limit the expansion of access, even for households under reach of existing national grids. Overcoming these barriers requires smart payment schemes and innovative business models," concludes study coauthor and Acting IIASA Transitions to New Technologies Program Director, Shonali Pachauri.

What effects do global warming and the formation of fine particles have on each other? Since the entire atmosphere cannot be heated for experimental purposes, a part of it is put in a chamber and investigated there. Now, a standard procedure has been drawn up for analysing fine particles in experimental chambers.

To better understand the mechanisms associated with fine particle formation, atmospheric events can be experimentally studied in relatively large containers known as experimental chambers. In these chambers, atmospheric conditions, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, gases and particles are altered in a controlled manner.

Now, the conditions of the experimental chamber and methods used have been standardised in a research project headed by the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) of the University of Helsinki. From now on, dozens of research groups conducting chamber measurements will adhere to the protocol established in the study published in the distinguished Nature Protocols journal.

Global warming also affected by fine particles

What happens when the temperature of the Earth rises? What happens to clouds, their reflectance, and the formation of fine particles?

Fine particles in the atmosphere have an essential impact on global warming. For example, there are no clouds without particles: clouds need a seed from which they are formed, a core around which humidity starts to condense. Additionally, cloud colour and reflectance depend on the fine particles contained in the cloud.

Currently available equipment can be used to monitor how fine particles are formed from atmospheric gases, right from the very first phase, at the level of nanometre-sized molecular clusters. How do they form, and how do they disappear? Of particular interest in the formation of particles is how fast the formation and growth of molecular clusters is, and how many particles there are in the end.

The standard established in the study determines how chamber measurements should be conducted and how the speed of particle formation and growth is calculated, margins of error included. After the adoption of the standard method, different chamber measurements can be easily compared.

Simulating the past and future

Atmospheric particles originate partly from human activity, partly from nature. Today, some 10 to 50% of the gases and particles, or aerosols, in the atmosphere are produced by human activity.

Chamber measurements can simulate not only future conditions but also those that prevailed centuries or millennia ago on Earth. For example, they can be used to simulate the state of the air and clouds in the preindustrial period or before the human era.

Studying the formation and effect of nanoparticles helps us better understand vast global phenomena impacting the lives of us all, such as climate change.

The number of children infected with the coronavirus is far more extensive than what is currently reported -- a hidden detail that could vastly underestimate the demand on health care systems and pediatric intensive care units (PICUs).

A new study published in the "Journal of Public Health Management and Practice" from the University of South Florida (USF) and the Women's Institute for Independent Social Enquiry (WiiSE), estimates that for each child who requires intensive care for COVID-19, there are 2,381 children infected with the virus. This calculation follows a report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention regarding its clinical study of over 2,100 children in China with COVID-19.

According to the North American registry, Virtual PICU Systems, 74 children in the U.S. were admitted to PICUs between March 18 and April 6, signaling an additional 176,190 children were likely infected during this timeframe. Children younger than 2 accounted for 30 percent of the cases, 24 percent were ages 2 to 11 and 46 percent of the PICU cases were children between ages 12 and 17. Researchers say that if as many as 25 percent of the U.S. population becomes infected with the coronavirus before the end of 2020, 50,000 children with severe illness will need to be hospitalized, with 5,400 of them critically ill and requiring mechanical ventilation. Clinical reports indicate the average length of stay for pediatric COVID-19 is 14 days. According to a national survey aimed to evaluate the U.S. pediatric critical care capacity and published in "Critical Care Medicine," there are approximately 5,100 PICU beds in the U.S.

"Although the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is lower in pediatric cases than adults, hospitals should be prepared and have the proper equipment and staffing levels to deal with a potential influx of younger patients," said author Jason Salemi, associate professor of epidemiology in the USF College of Public Health. "Government officials and policy makers should understand the likelihood of capacity challenges, which underscores the importance of effective mitigation strategies such as frequent and thorough handwashing and persisted social distancing measures."

Pediatric coronavirus is highly complex, as many hospitals are prohibiting visitors in order to implement social distancing and quarantine protocols. A caretaker may also be infected, which would require logistical and infection control accommodations that place an additional strain on hospital resources. Upon hospital discharge, young children may be unable to independently comply with home infection control and self-isolation recommendations.

Researchers point out the infection rate will be much higher for children in low-income families with parents in blue-collar and service jobs, which preclude the option of working from home. There's also an increased risk to children who live in urban public housing projects due to the close proximity of housing units and small communal recreation and commons areas.

Diseases with a genetic cause could, in theory, be treated by supplying a correct version of the faulty gene. However, in practice, delivering new genetic material to human cells is difficult. A promising method for the delivery of such genes involves the use of DNA/lipid complexes (lipoplexes). Scientists at the University of Groningen have now used advanced simulations to investigate how these lipoplexes deliver DNA fragments into cells. The results, which were published in the journal eLife on 16 April, can be used to improve their efficiency.

The idea behind gene therapy is very simple: if a disease is caused by a particular version of a single gene, it could be cured by replacing this gene. For example, in cystic fibrosis, a mutation in the gene that codes for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein causes the disease. Replacing it in mucosal cells with a copy that does not carry the mutation could reverse this.

Lipoplexes

However, our bodies are very good at destroying foreign DNA, so delivering a new gene inside a cell is difficult. Viruses are very good at delivering genetic material into cells, but they can also trigger the body's defences, creating an immune response that can make the patient sick and that in rare cases has even proved lethal. That is why scientists are now experimenting with lipid-based complexes, which are similar to cell membranes.

'These lipoplexes are taken up by cells in a structure called an endosome,' explains Bart Bruininks, a PhD student in the group of Siewert-Jan Marrink, Professor of Molecular Dynamics at the University of Groningen. Bruininks is the first author on the eLife paper. 'The problem is that endosomes digest material, so the DNA needs to escape quickly,' he explains. The lipoplex can fuse with the endosome membrane, allowing the DNA to enter the cell. 'This should happen as efficiently as possible to prevent degradation. That is why we want to know exactly how the lipoplex and the endosome membrane interact.'

Water channels

Studying this interaction through experiments is difficult. That is why Bruininks and his colleagues decided to simulate the interaction. 'Our group already has extensive experience in simulating membrane fusion.' Using a coarse grain molecular dynamics simulation, the fusion process between the lipoplex and the endosome membrane was visualized, as well as the subsequent escape of the DNA. 'These were very complex state-of-the-art simulations,' says Bruininks.

The lipoplex contains tiny water channels that contain the DNA. The lipids of the lipoplex fuse with the endosome's membrane. 'The lipids form a stalk-like connection and when both layers are fused, a pore opens up that connects the water channels to the cell's interior, allowing the DNA to escape,' says Bruininks. 'This picture of how the process works at the molecular level helps us to understand how to optimize it.' He predicts that poly-unsaturated fatty acids will speed up the fusion, allowing the DNA to escape into the cell's cytoplasm more quickly. 'This prediction could now be tested in the lab.'

Simple Science Summary

Some diseases that are caused by an error in a gene could be cured by inserting a properly functioning gene into the cells. However, placing new genes inside human cells is difficult. Viruses are efficient in shuttling genes into cells, but they can cause a dangerous immune response. That is why scientists are interested in using liposome complexes (lipoplexes), which are similar to cell membranes, as gene carriers. Scientists at the University of Groningen have now used advanced computer simulations to investigate how lipoplexes enter the cell and how they release the genes that they carry into the cells. The results will help them to optimize this process.

LAWRENCE, KANSAS -- David Slusky keeps hearing the same comments from other parents who are isolating with young children.

"They're telling their kids, 'Please don't do gymnastics on the stairs because this is not the week I want to take you to the hospital!' Many of us are trying to both avoid getting COVID-19 and anything that might send us to the hospital," said Slusky, associate professor of economics at the University of Kansas.

He believes Americans have now been reminded how dangerous this situation is ... even without a pandemic exacerbating matters.

"Because errors can happen or infections or complications, you don't want to be in a hospital unless you really need to be in one," he said. "I'm not recommending people set up ICUs in their garage. But if you have a condition where you can see a primary care provider and not go to the ER, that's ideal."

That's also the contention of his latest paper, "Office Visits Preventing Emergency Room Visits: Evidence from the Flint Water Switch," distributed by the Institute of Labor Economics.

Co-written with Shooshan Danagoulian and Daniel Grossman, the research looks at the infamous case of Flint, Michigan. In 2015, the city issued an advisory alerting residents to increased lead in drinking water after its water source was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The result was thousands of children exposed to potentially toxic levels of lead, along with exposing a governmental conspiracy that led to 15 criminal indictments.

Slusky's analysis suggests that children were more likely to receive care from the same clinic following lead tests. Establishing such care reduced the likelihood parents would take them to emergency rooms for conditions treatable in an office setting.

"This is not only a paper about Flint," Slusky said.

"This is also a paper about overuse of the emergency room, and specifically overuse of the emergency room in a low-income population. These people are often the least medically connected, with the least time and least education to manage these kinds of complex problems."

His team used an algorithm created by New York University physicians that takes hospital discharges and categorizes them broadly into four categories: unpreventable emergencies, preventable emergencies, conditions requiring office visits and conditions that will resolve themselves.

"We use that to think about the number of avoidable visits happening in this diagnosis," he said.

In Flint, building a relationship with a primary care physician proved vital to the decision of whether parents would take their children to the ER for something that might be noncritical (such as high fever or diarrhea).

He said, "In a town where the emergency manager and governor misled you, the only person who took you seriously that your kid might be sick was your physician. So maybe you'll go to the doctor more now."

The connection between primary care and emergency care -- especially for those with low incomes -- is particularly relevant to the current pandemic.

"Ideally, we don't want individuals who don't need to be there in the emergency room, especially to keep them from infecting others or getting infected themselves. As we increase testing capacity and try to test more of the population and get them back to work, an established and stronger relationship with a primary care provider is crucial," he said.

A KU faculty member since 2015, Slusky specializes in the economics of infrastructure, environment and insurance. Much of his research has addressed the dilemma of lowering health care spending while raising health.

"Right now we're not getting great stuff and we're spending a lot. Giving people health insurance doesn't actually save money, though it is a very good way to get them healthy. So part of this is changing what we care about. And part of it is giving people a broader menu of options, so you can call a nurse at two o'clock in the morning instead of just heading to the ER."

Ultimately, Slusky believes the Flint study can help the health care industry examine a variety of different policies so that parents can determine the best way - both medically and financially -- to help their sick children.

"We need to save our emergency resources for when we actually need them," he said. "And we need to ensure people are aware of and comfortable with other options so they only use emergency resources when needed."