Culture

A group of researchers in the Department of Financial Economics II (Company Economics and Marketing) of the UPV/EHU's Faculty of Economics and Business has conducted a study that seeks to identify the factors driving the pro-environmental behaviour of university students; the aim is to be able to increase the effectiveness of university and Government interventions and policies in favour of the environment. "We thought it would be interesting to study the university community because they are the ones who will be leading the future apart from being a reference for other communities," said Azucena Vicente-Molina, the department's head and a co-author of the work.

The pro-environmental behaviour analysed includes daily activities (use of public transport for environmental reasons) and others traditionally related to the domestic sphere (pro-environmental purchasing and recycling). On the basis of a sample of 1,089 students drawn from all the UPV/EHU's centres on the Bizkaia campus (quota samplings), the gender effect was analysed through its influence on a range of variables that seem to determine pro-environmental behaviour. The variables analysed were pro-environmental attitude, motivation (altruist or selfish), the individual's perception regarding the effectiveness of his/her pro-environmental behaviour, and knowledge pertaining to environmental matters, differentiating between objective knowledge (what a person knows about the subject) and subjective knowledge (what a person thinks they know), and the type of course they are on (Sciences, Engineering and Social Sciences).

Educational programmes adapted to the motivations of each gender

The information was analysed bearing in mind firstly the sample as a whole, and secondly, when it was divided into two groups in terms of gender. The overall analysis revealed that "it is the altruist motivations and environmental knowledge believed to be held that are the factors exerting the greatest influence on the pro-environmental behaviour of the students as a whole," said the researcher. Having said that, she warns that "given the fact that the results indicate that the level of objective knowledge of the university community is lower than the level of subjective knowledge, they may well be making incorrect decisions with respect to environmental protection". She went on to add that "this risk is greater in the case of girls because they are more inclined towards developing pro-environmental behaviour, but especially because their actual level of knowledge on these matters is lower than that of the boys".

Yet the comparison of the results divided by gender suggests that the variables as a whole affecting pro-environmental behaviour vary in terms of gender, and that the level of intensity that each factor exerts on this behaviour is also different. "Motivation, subjective knowledge and perceived effectiveness affect both genders, but they have less weight in the boys than in the girls. Yet objective knowledge is a factor that determines the pro-environmental behaviour of the female group but not the male group and yet the factor that exerts the greatest influence on them, i.e. attitude, does not affect the girls," explains Azucena Vicente.

These results have practical implications for future education programmes and will allow the pro-environmental behaviour of the university community "as future decision-makers and references for other communities, which they are, to be better understood", she said. "Yet if such programmes are to be effective, they will need to stress the characteristics and factors that exert the most influence on the pro-environmental behaviour of each gender".

[Abstract]

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) generated a real-time signal of an accurate time scale by combining an optical lattice clock and a hydrogen maser. The signal generated in this optical-microwave hybrid system continued for half a year without interruption. The resultant "one-second" was more accurate than that of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on that date, and the time deviated by 0.8 ns in half a year relative to TT(BIPM), where TT(BIPM) is the most accurate time scale post-processed by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures(BIPM). This demonstration proves the capability to keep time with respect to the future optical definition of the second, which may be realized in next ten years. This achievement was published in an open-access journal Scientific Reports, on March 9, 2018.

[Background]

National standard times are maintained to be synchronized to UTC. Since the cesium hyperfine transition defines the length of the "one-second", maintaining accurate Cs clocks is straightforward to keep time. Optical clocks, on the other hand, made rapid progress recently and reached much less systematic uncertainty than that of microwave standards. Nevertheless, nobody has so far generated a real-time signal of a time scale using optical clocks because it is still difficult to operate an optical clock continuously for one month or longer.

[Achievements]

Researchers in NICT Space-Time Standards Laboratory including atomic physicists and time-composing experts, demonstrated a novel time scale generation, "optical-microwave hybrid time scale", which combines an optical lattice clock with a hydrogen maser (HM). The Strontium-87 lattice clock is sparsely operated for three hours once a week. This operation calibrates the frequency of the HM, and furthermore the measurements in the latest 25 days allow them to predict how the HM ticking rate will change. Then, they can in advance set the adjustment of HM frequency in the following week to compensate the predicted frequency drift.

The resultant time scale was compared with two so-called "paper clocks", UTC and TT(BIPM). UTC is often monitored by the state-of-the-art Cs fountain frequency standards which are operated by national metrology institutes, and the result of the monitoring is reported to BIPM. Once a year in January, BIPM incorporates the result of these calibrations and further makes corrections to past UTC. This is TT(BIPM) and is the most accurate "paper clock". As shown in Fig. 2, the time difference of the optical time scale against UTC expanded to 8 ns in five months, but that against TT(BIPM) remained in less than 1 ns. These results indicate that the optical time scale is more accurate than UTC and is at least comparable to TT(BIPM) in terms of accuracy and stability. UTC and TT(BIPM) are numerical products computed in deferred time by the cooperation of more than 400 atomic clocks and state-of-the-art Cs fountains all over the world. On the other hand, the signal generated in NICT is a real signal which indeed ticked every second during the six months.

"We serve the society by providing time endlessly without interruptions. The optical-microwave hybrid method demonstrated here brings the benefit of optical frequency standards to time keeping." Tetsuya Ido, director of NICT Space-Time Standards Laboratory said.

Another thing to note is the impact on the future redefinition of the SI second, toward which the community of time and frequency metrology has recently started the discussion. The hybrid method succeeded in evaluating the one-month mean frequency of UTC for all six months, and the results were consistent with other evaluations reported from the state-of-the-art Cs fountains. The capability of calibrating UTC on the basis of optical clocks is one of the prerequisites for the future redefinition.

[Future Prospects]

NICT generates Japan Standard Time (JST). NICT aims to apply this hybrid method to the JST generation system step by step. The next step would be establishing a redundancy of optical frequency references. Another optical lattice clock or single-ion clocks will work. They may utilize those in other laboratories by connecting to them by an optical fiber network or satellite-based frequency transfer.

Tetsuya says, "Highly precise optical clocks are expected to be geodetic sensors to detect the variation of gravitational environment. Such applications demand a reference that remains unchanged. Highly accurate and stable national time scale may play this role that is available in 24h/7d as an infrastructure."

Up to one in five people may show signs of a synaesthesia-like phenomenon in which they 'hear' silent flashes or movement, according to a new study from City, University of London.

While the effect is barely known to science, the researchers found that this 'visually-evoked auditory response' (vEAR) is far more common than other types of synaesthesia - such when certain sounds elicit a specific colour - with flashing lights and motion evoking vivid sounds.

The survival of this association may also explain other links between sound and vision, such as why we like to listen to music synchronised with flashing lights or dance.

The effect also provides a good way to learn about what's happening in the brain in people with synaesthesia, with vEAR's high prevalence making it easier to investigate the mechanisms behind such cross-sensory perception. The study is published in the journal Cortex.

While other typical synaesthesias are estimated to have an overall prevalence of 4.4 per cent, the vEAR effect has recently gained some prominence on social media following the rise of 'noisy GIFs', and in particular the 'thudding pylon' GIF which received thousands of retweets.

Its prevalence may be greater than other types because auditory and visual events are much more highly correlated in nature when compared to other types of synaesthesia associated with colour and visual forms.

To further investigate the prevalence of the phenomenon, the researchers carried out the first large-scale online study of this barely-known effect, and recruited 4,128 participants to answer a survey, with 1,058 of these also answering additional trait-related questions.

The survey included 24 silent video clips which depicted meaningful versus abstract subjects engagement in slow, fast, smooth or sudden movements. This included a ballet dancer performing a pirouette and a hammer hitting a nail. The survey also included additional multiple choice questions asking about demographics, experience of vEAR and other traits.

As well as noting the significantly higher prevalence of the vEAR, with 21% of the 4,128 completing respondents saying that they had previously experienced vEAR, the researchers also found that even meaningless abstract visual stimuli can evoke vivid sounds.

It was seen that correspondents who had answered 'yes' to experiencing vEAR were specifically sensitive to the pure motion energy present in videos such as swirling or patterns that were not predictive of sounds. The researchers also saw that vEAR was associated with phenomena such as tinnitus and also musical imagery. This suggests that physiological factors such as raised cortical excitability in the brain might jointly explain these phenomena.

Speaking about the research, Dr Elliot Freeman, author of the study and a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at City, University of London, said:

"Some people hear what they see. Car indicator lights, flashing neon shop signs, and people's movements as they walk may all trigger an auditory sensation.

"Ours is the first large-scale survey of this ability. We found that as many as 21% of people may experience forms of this phenomenon, which makes it considerably more prevalent than other synaesthesias.

"We think that these sensations may sometimes reflect leakage of information from visual parts of the brain into areas that are more usually devoted to hearing. In extreme forms of this crosstalk, any abstract visual motion or flashing may be sufficient to trigger the sensation of hearing sounds."

Dr Christopher Fassnidge, who completed his PhD at City and is the first author on the paper, said:

"This is an exciting insight into the different ways some of us perceive the world around us. The high prevalence of this phenomenon may make it easier for us to study and better understand the underlying mechanisms in the brain behind such synaesthetic effects. Our findings allow us to begin to build a picture of the types of people who may have this Visual Ear."

The platypus is the ultimate evolutionary mashup of birds, reptiles and mammals. The iconic, egg-laying, venom producing, duck-billed platypus first had its genome sequenced in 2008, revealing its unique genetic makeup and its divergence from the rest of the mammals around 160 million years ago.

Now, a greater effort to understand its ecological and population history has been made possible by the first, whole-scale genome sequencing efforts of 57 platypuses across Eastern Australia and Tasmania.

The work was led by researchers at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford and the Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, and published in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

They were able to establish a platypus family history and kinship in a level of detail not previously sampled.

"We have described the first population-scale, whole-genome sequencing study of the platypus," said Dr. Peter Donnelly from Oxford. "Our analyses provide insights into the population structure and levels of diversity in this species not previously possible and estimate the relatedness between individuals."

"For example, we found that more than half of our samples had a least a third-degree relative amongst the other individuals sampled from the same river. Additionally, there were 26 pairs of second- or third-degree relatives, in all cases from the same river or creek, or closely connected waterways, involving 28 of our 57 samples."

The research team was also able to estimate vital evolutionary forces at work including platypus mutation rates, divergence times, and population sizes throughout its history.

Dr. Hilary Martin, one of the lead authors of the study also from the University of Oxford said: "We estimated the de novo mutation rate in the platypus, the first estimate in a non-placental mammal."

They found it to be middle of the road for mammals, lower than humans and chimpanzees but higher than laboratory bred mice.

"The relative ordering of the point estimates is consistent with the observation that mutation rates in mammals are negatively correlated with body mass and generation time," Dr. Martin said.

The study also estimated that the platypus population most likely last shared a common ancestor nearly 1 million years ago.

Dr. Jaime Gongora, from the University of Sydney, said the deepest branch on the population tree separated three separate groups: the samples from Tasmania (an island to the south of Australia that separated from the mainland around 12,000 years ago); those from north Queensland (in the far north); and the remaining samples, which are from central Queensland and New South Wales.

"We think it is most likely that there were three ancestral populations (Tasmania, North Queensland and North New South Wales/Central Queensland) which all coalesced around the same time, about 800KYA," said Dr. Gongora.

"The central Queensland samples likely shared an ancestral population with the North New South Wales samples about 300KYA. This implies that there has been extensive population structure in platypus samples across Australia over a long time period."

Dr. Donnelly commented: "Interestingly, the divergence times we have estimated predate the earliest fossil evidence for platypus."

"This finding does not necessarily contradict fossil evidence but suggests that the modern platypus extends back to the Early to Middle Pliocene. This could be consistent with it having evolved from the giant platypus species, O. tharalkooschild," Dr. Donnelly said.

In addition, researchers found evidence of past population bottlenecks, particularly in North Queensland around 10,000 years ago, and identified modern populations (especially near the Carnarvon River) that would be aided by conservation efforts.

The Queensland bottleneck likely reflects the historical and current isolation and paucity of suitable habitat for platypus between North (Australian Wet Tropics) and Central Queensland, known as the 'Burdekin gap' (named for the Burdekin River).

Dr. Gongora concludes: "This hot and dry area is currently climatically unsuitable for platypus and has long acted as a barrier to genetic exchange."

With the new genome data in hand, future studies will continue to explore the population history and unique biology of the platypus. And given concerns about the impact of climate change, disease, and other factors on platypus populations, their better window into past responses of platypus populations may help to improve conservations efforts.

Addressing the global teacher gap of 69 million should be the number one priority for education policymakers the world over, a new international study has warned.

The shortage of teachers is the biggest threat to the international goal of providing quality teaching to all children according to the study led by Prof Kwame Akyeampong, Professor of International Education and Development at the University of Sussex.

Prof Akyeampong said: "The global teaching shortage crisis disproportionately impacts children from poor and marginalised backgrounds because they live in communities that do not attract trained and effective teachers. This situation is made worse because, globally, demand for trained teachers exceeds supply".

The study, which surveyed experienced teachers from 44 countries, was launched at the Global Education and Skills Forum 2018 in Dubai on Saturday. Other speakers at the forum included Hollywood actor Charlize Theron, Olympic athlete Mo Farah, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, former UK Chancellor George Osborne, ex-US Vice-President Al Gore and former French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

The study argues that many governments are not doing enough to attract and support teachers to deliver quality education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

It recommends employers place as much value on a teacher's interpersonal skills as their academic qualifications in order to raise the level of education for disadvantaged students.

Furthermore, it recommends that governments use interviews when recruiting to teacher education programmes far more widely than is done currently to establish a candidates' interpersonal skills and qualities, and commitment to meet the learning needs of all children, irrespective of their social, ethnic, and economic background.

The study says while doing so will inevitably make teacher recruitment more time consuming and resource intensive, the trade-off is considerable in increased teacher motivation and retention, leading to improved learning outcomes for students and in particular the most disadvantaged.

It also recommends teachers be backed up by specialist psychosocial support to free up curriculum time to allow them to focus on the learning needs of their students.

Prof Akyeampong said: "Costs should not be used as an excuse not to invest in recruiting, training and resourcing teachers to meet the learning needs of millions of disadvantaged children, because not doing so will cost even more in terms of loss in a country's talent pool for social and economic development. Investing in teachers is investing in development."

Well-publicised teacher concerns in the UK are also found around the globe by the study, with calls for higher teacher pay and more funding made by teachers in the US, Kenya, Mozambique, Portugal, Australia, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone.

The most common complaints from teachers were around a lack of funding, resources, and insufficient learning facilities, as well as a heavy workload and a lack of time to invest in supporting children to learn.

The study calls for a broader conception of teacher quality and student learning beyond what is typically found in policy papers, moving beyond skills that can be easily measured.

It also recommends increased practical training that reflects the real-life scenarios that teachers encounter on a daily basis in the classroom and freedom from the hegemony of standardised tests to allow students to express their learning in more creative ways and to explore their own interests.

Prof Akyeampong said: "The study has shown that concerns about a learning crisis that mostly affects disadvantaged children is shared by teachers around the globe. The world's governments need to act now with greater investment to increase the supply of well-trained teachers."

ITHACA, N.Y. - Although scientists warn that urgent action is needed to stop climate change, public engagement continues to lag. Many social scientists say people are hesitant to act on climate change because, especially in Western industrialized countries like the U.S., it feels like such a distant threat.

New research from a Cornell University communication professor upends that conventional thinking.

Jonathon Schuldt, assistant professor of communication, says it is possible to make faraway climate impacts feel closer. But that doesn't automatically inspire the American public to express greater support for policies that address it. The paper appeared in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

The research offers a more complex, alternative view of current assumptions in climate change communication. The conventional thinking is based on a theory in social psychology based on psychological distance. It says we generally think about things that are physically close to us in much more concrete and vivid ways compared with things that are far away.

"Normally, reducing psychological distance is talked about like a panacea for climate change engagement. 'Just talk about local impacts; just make it feel closer and then people will do something,'" Schuldt said. "We're saying, well, maybe that's overly simplistic.

"Our findings suggest it's possible to make faraway climate impacts feel closer to people, but that it's wishful thinking to assume that's automatically going to translate into greater policy support."

The researchers had U.S.-based participants watch a video about climate change occurring in the Republic of the Maldives, a chain of 26 low-lying atolls in the Indian Ocean and one of the world's most vulnerable countries when it comes to climate change. "In fact, some models predict it is at significant risk of being completely submerged due to sea level rise within a century," Schuldt noted.

The participants then looked at an online map, similar to a Google Map, designed to make the distance separating their location in Ithaca, New York, and the Maldives seem relatively short (just a few scrolls of the mouse in one condition of the experiment) or relatively long (additional scrolls in the other condition).

Participants were then asked to judge the distance separating the U.S. and the Maldives. Participants who viewed the smaller map judged the two countries as closer compared to those who viewed the large map. "This suggests we were able to make the Maldives feel a little bit closer than it normally does," Schuldt said. "And that people's feelings of distance, to the same climate impacts, can be affected by something as simple as the size of the map they're using."

Then the participants described the video in their own words. Half of the participants in the small map condition described the video in concrete ways, compared with only 35 percent in the large map condition - suggesting that how people thought about the climate impacts matched their relative feelings of closeness to the Maldives.

Last, the participants took a standard measure of policy support for climate change, answering questions such as, "How much do you favor reducing carbon dioxide as a pollutant?" In the end, the participants' support for climate change policies was the same, whether they were in the small or large map condition. "We found no difference - no difference at all," Schuldt said.

This is not the final word on this topic, he cautioned. The researchers used a common measure of policy support, but it's certainly not the only one. "Just because we didn't find an effect in our measure doesn't mean that we won't find an effect with another."

Working with light and genetically engineered bacteria, researchers from Stanford University are able to shape the growth of bacterial communities. From polka dots to stripes to circuits, they can render intricate designs overnight. The technique, described in the Mar. 19 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, can achieve biofilms grown at a resolution of 25 micrometers, which is about one-tenth the size of a grain of table salt.

"Most of the bacteria on Earth live in biofilm communities and biofilms are very relevant in disease in health - plaque on our teeth or catheter-based bacterial infection, for example," said Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, assistant professor of bioengineering and senior author of the paper. "Understanding how biofilms function is an important question on many levels."

The group said the technique could clarify how biofilms grow and lead to the development of novel biomaterials or synthetic microbial communities that could be implemented in small devices or systems, such as microfluidic chips or biofilm-based circuits.

Biofilm lithography

The group's technique relies on E. coli bacteria they have genetically engineered to secrete a sticky protein in response to a particular wavelength of blue light. When they shine the appropriate wavelength light in the desired pattern on a culture dish of modified bacteria, the bacteria stick to the lit areas, forming a biofilm in the shape of the pattern. The researchers call their technique biofilm lithography for its similarity to lithography used in making electronic circuits.

Other techniques for patterning bacterial communities exist, including depositing them with an inkjet printer or pre-patterning the culture surface with chemicals that bias bacterial growth in specific areas. However, biofilm lithography has the benefit of speed, simplicity, higher resolution and compatibility with a variety of surface environments including closed microfluidic devices, the researchers said.

The intricate designs made possible with biofilm lithography could help in exploring the dynamics of bacterial communities.

"Biofilms exist in a social environment with other bacteria," said Xiaofan Jin, a graduate student in bioengineering and lead author of the paper. "Interactions between these bacteria are often dictated by where they grow relative to each other and this could be a great tool for specifying exactly when and where in a bacterial community certain species can live."

While testing biofilm lithography, the researchers already happened upon a new insight. They had assumed that cells swimming in and out of illuminated regions would result in blurry patterns, but the designs turned out surprisingly sharp. These crisp images led the group to conclude that many of the bacteria must already be weakly bound to the culture surface. Rather than cruising around the dish, it appears that bacteria are continuously jumping on and off the surface.

"In the literature, there are different models of how certain bacterial species form biofilms," explained Riedel-Kruse. "We argue, at least with this species, that we provided additional evidence for that one hypothesis."

Silicon inspiration

By coincidence, the 25 micrometer resolution the researchers achieved with biofilms is similar to the first silicon photolithography, which contributed to the widespread success of silicon semiconductors. Similarly, the researchers see many versatile and impactful applications for their bacterial designs.

"We're hoping this tool can be applied toward further understanding bacterial communities, both natural and synthetic," said Jin. "We also see potential in having these communities do useful things, such as metabolic biosynthesis or distributed biocomputation. It may even be possible to create novel biomaterials such as conductive biofilm circuits."

The researchers are currently taking steps to grow multiple strains of bacteria simultaneously through biofilm lithography to make multi-species communities. In particular, they hope to understand how bacteria in a biofilm may share antibiotic resistance - a question with significant clinical implications, as biofilms are well-known for being stubborn against antibiotic treatment.

Groundbreaking discoveries regarding the onset of cholera are paving the way for a future, fast-acting antidote for cholera epidemics, according to research published in the journals PLOS Pathogens and ACS Infectious Disease.

"This is not about a vaccine but rather a drinkable protection that can be distributed during an ongoing cholera epidemic to reduce its spread, a drink that blocks the cholera toxin so that it doesn't reach the intestinal mucous membrane, where all the chaos otherwise gets under way," says Ulf Yrlid, associate professor of immunology at Sahlgrenska Academy, Sweden.

Those responsible for the studies are Ulf Yrlid along with colleagues in Gothenburg and a research team at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. To some extent, their discoveries run counter to earlier notions about the life-threatening disease.

Cholera is caused by a toxin released by bacteria, cholera toxin, which binds to the intestinal wall, causing massive fluid loss through diarrhea. The binding has long been believed to be dependent on a specific receptor in the intestine, GM1.

Current research shows, however, that mice that completely lack GM1 also get diarrhea after drinking water containing cholera toxin. In addition, fluid loss could be prevented in human intestinal tissue exposed to cholera toxin by adding molecules that block binding to completely different receptors than GM1.

"The big takeaway for us is that we have shown that it's not quite as simple as people have maintained for decades. GM1 is indeed a very powerful receptor in this context, but unlike the other receptors, there is very little of it in the human intestine," says Ulf Yrlid.

According to the researchers, the results also offer the possibility of producing a drinkable antidote that can put both GM1 and other receptors out of play. This could complement other emergency initiatives in areas where sufficient vaccination protection is lacking.

"The problem with vaccines is that they work less well in developing countries due to malnutrition and poor health, especially when it comes to small children. This is not unique for cholera vaccine, but applies to the entire field of vaccination," says Ulf Yrlid.

"If we could use molecules that bind effectively to the cholera toxin and thereby prevent the toxin from attaching to the intestine, we could then immediately reduce the spreading in an affected area, even if people are not vaccinated or don't have sufficient protection. One advantage of the molecules we modify is they are sugar molecules that already are pre

sent in breast milk to a great extent and therefore are safe to drink," he concludes.

The numbers of missed hospital outpatient appointments increases following the clock change in the spring, researchers have shown.

In a study, led by the University of York and Lancaster University, researchers revealed that patients are five per cent more likely to miss an appointment in the week after the clocks go forward compared with the previous week.

Psychologists analysed over two million appointments in Scotland from 2005 to 2010 before, during and after the spring and autumn clock changes.

Researchers found that the rate of missed appointments increases significantly after the clocks go forward an hour. The next change occurs on 25 March 2018.

NHS figures show that there were eight million missed appointments in 2016/17.

Each hospital outpatient appointment costs £120, so missed appointments represent a significant financial issue for the NHS and have a negative impact on patient care.

Dr Rob Jenkins, from the University of York's Department of Psychology, said: "It might be the case that the increase in missed appointments following the spring clock change might be due to people losing an hour of sleep and having worse sleep quality.

"It may also be the case that people arrive early for appointments after the autumn clock change and late after the clocks go forward in spring."

The research also showed that the effect wears off after a week.

Dr David Ellis, from Lancaster University, said: "Missed appointments represent a significant financial issue for healthcare systems and have an adverse impact on patient care.

"Even small reductions in missed appointments could have a large impact on reducing these costs along with the health risks to patients."

The researchers suggest that potential solutions include sending additional reminders to patients as the spring clock change approaches, or scheduling more appointments in the week prior to the spring clock change.

ST. LOUIS -- In a recent paper published in Cell Reports, Saint Louis University researchers have uncovered new answers about why cells rapidly age in children with a rare and fatal disease. The data points to cellular replication stress and a mistaken innate immune response as culprits, and the team found success in the laboratory in blocking these processes with vitamin D.

Susana Gonzalo, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at SLU, and her lab examined human and animal cells connected to a rare disease called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS).

HGPS is caused by the random mutation of a single gene that causes children to age rapidly. Children with the condition develop many of the typical changes and illness associated with aging, including hair loss, aging skin, joint abnormalities, and bone loss. The disease causes atherosclerosis -- fatty deposits that clog arteries -- and patients with the illness die from cardiovascular complications such as stroke or myocardial infarction in their teens.

Thanks to genetic mapping, scientists now know that HGPS is caused by a mutation in the LMNA gene, which encodes for lamin A protein. Lamin A serves as a scaffold that keeps the cell's nucleus organized and in shape. The shortened, mutated version of this protein is called progerin, and it causes the nucleus and cell to become unstable, leading to premature aging of the cells.

"Those with progeria have a mutation in their DNA that codes for these proteins," Gonzalo said. "The presence of progerin makes a mess in the nucleus."

This is a problem because the nucleus houses our DNA. Cell health and reproduction are closely tied to our genome integrity -- the ability of a cell to faithfully transmit its DNA information on to new cells. Mistakes or obstacles in the replication of our DNA cause breaks and mutations, which are linked to both cancer and aging.

Research in Gonzalo's lab revealed that replication stress is a key cause of the underlying DNA damage accumulation found in the cells of those with HGPS. Replication stress occurs when the machinery that replicates DNA encounters obstacles along the way that makes replication to stall until the obstacle is removed.

Normally, our cells have in place a number of strategies to address these obstacles and then successfully continue with DNA replication. In the case of those with HGPS, however, Gonzalo found that progerin causes these strategies to falter. Replication stress can derail a cell's ability to reproduce.

Gonzalo and her team discovered two new mechanisms by which progerin causes damage. First, progerin induces the stalling of the replication machinery, and at the same impedes the proper protection of the newly replicated DNA. This results in DNA being preyed upon by nucleases, which degrade the newly synthesized DNA with the consequent loss of genetic material.

They also found another way that progerin causes cell toxicity.

Scientists know that DNA damage and replication stress not only underlie the genomic instability that drives aging and cancer, but that they also contribute to activate inflammatory responses.

"When DNA fragments leak outside the nucleus into the cytoplasm, the cell recognizes that material as something foreign," Gonzalo said. "This activates a series of immune responses. In particular, a signaling cascade known as the interferon response is activated when the cell thinks it senses a viral or bacterial infection that needs to be fought.

"We found that this is happening in progeria cells, and it is contributing to cellular decline."

After demonstrating that progerin elicits replication stress and nuclease-mediated degradation of newly replicated DNA, and that it activates an interferon pathway, the team wanted to see if they could reverse these problems. They found that when they used compounds, including vitamin D, to reduce replication stress and interferon response, cellular fitness improved.

"When we block this pathway with vitamin D, it rejuvenates the cells," Gonzalo said. "The immune response is activated by progerin and then it is brought back down by vitamin D.

"We saw that vitamin D reduces significantly the toxicity of progerin in cells from HGPS kids."

Gonzalo hopes that her research not only will help in the eventual development of new therapies for those with HGPS, but that it also will explain many of the processes that underlie normal human aging.

ANN ARBOR--Patients at risk for HIV need to be linked to services--such as mental health and syringe exchange programs--that will help them stay in care, adhere to medication and avoid reinfection, a new University of Michigan study suggests.

The study highlights the crucial role of providers of social and public health services in helping patients to access lifesaving HIV services, said Rogério Meireles Pinto, associate professor and associate dean for research in the School of Social Work and the study's lead author.

Before 2012, providers had been encouraged and trained to link patients to behavioral interventions to help patients modify their behaviors and protect themselves against HIV transmission and infection. A shift in policy (from targeting anyone at risk to those at highest risk, called "High Impact Prevention") made these interventions less available (they were discontinued).

The new policy dictated that providers should get as many people to access HIV testing as possible and to link them to HIV primary care in order to receive antiretroviral medication that can keep patients alive and thriving.

"It took some time for providers to make the switch in priorities and also to begin to trust that making referrals to other providers in other service agencies would not lead to loss of patients," Pinto said.

Pinto and colleagues used data from nearly 380 providers--which include social workers, health educators and patient navigators--from 36 agencies in New York City in 2013-2014. The agencies provided medical services such as HIV testing and care, and/or psychosocial assistance, including HIV counseling, substance misuse treatment and housing services.

The study's key finding is that providers whose organizations offer HIV prevention behavioral interventions are more likely to link patients to HIV testing and HIV primary care.

It's important that providers "guide clients through the health care system to increase retention in care by using intensive contact in the first six months of care," said Pinto, who is an expert at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation.

The study also factored the race of the providers, which consisted of many who identified as Hispanic or African-American. Nonwhite providers were less likely to link clients to certain services, perhaps due to racial disparities in levels of trust in how these high-impact services were launched without strong community participation, Pinto said.

Mothers with babies living in households with food insecurity -- inadequate or unpredictable access to food because of financial issues -- are less likely to breastfeed exclusively to the recommended 6 months, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"We found that women who are struggling to make ends meet stop breastfeeding their infants much sooner than other women," says Dr. Valerie Tarasuk, Public Health Ontario and the University of Toronto. "We have long known that food insecurity is bad for health, but this study reveals its negative impact at the very beginning of life."

Researchers looked at data on 10 450 women who participated in the Canadian Community Health Survey (between 2005 and 2014) and who had given birth a year before or within the year of their participation. Of the total, 17% lived in households with food insecurity, with 5.5% marginally food insecure, 8.6% moderately food insecure and 2.9% severely food insecure. Most women initiated breastfeeding and vitamin D supplementation (between 86% of severely food-secure to 91.6% of food-secure households), although the duration of exclusive breastfeeding varied by food-security status.

"Our findings raise serious questions about the adequacy of existing supports for mothers vulnerable to food insecurity," write the authors.

Stopping exclusive breastfeeding can be problematic because infants and babies may miss out on the physical and emotional benefits, but formula-feeding is an additional financial burden for families.

"Given the importance of breastfeeding for health, our findings point to the need for more effective interventions to support vulnerable women and address food insecurity among Canadian families," says Dr. Tarasuk.

In a related commentary http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.180167, Drs. Meta van den Heuvel and Catherine Birken, from The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto, write, "In contrast to the US, where the Women, Infants and Children program provides food supplementation to infants and children, there is no national feeding program for infants and children in Canada. When Canadian mothers who report food insecurity require nutritional supplementation for their infants, they are left to rely on local food banks to obtain formula."

The study was conducted by researchers at Public Health Ontario, the University of Toronto and Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. It was funded by a Programmatic Grant in Health and Health Equity from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

"Relation between household food insecurity and breastfeeding in Canada" is published March 19, 2018.

Interest rate hikes by central banks can impact on the mental health of people in debt, a new study led by University of Stirling experts has found.

Central banks around the world use interest rates to control how much people and businesses spend or invest, in order to maintain a low-inflation, stable economy.

However, research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, shows that changing interest rates to meet economic objectives can have consequences for mental health.

Researchers from the universities of Stirling and Nottingham conducted a study involving more than 15,000 people in the UK. They found that when interest rates increased, those who were heavily indebted experienced an increased likelihood of mental health difficulty. They did not find any effect on savers.

Lead researcher Dr Christopher Boyce, a behavioural scientist at Stirling Management School, said their research - which is the first to explore whether central bank interest rate changes directly influence mental health - has important implications for economic and social policy.

"Central banks have the task of maintaining economic stability, but it is important for central bankers to recognise that by manipulating economy-wide interest rates, there are likely to be serious consequences for some people's mental health," he said.

The researchers found that for each 1% increase in interest rates, there was a 2.6% increase in the incidence of mental health issues experienced by those heavily in debt. UK-wide, researchers estimated each percentage point increase would result in 20,000 additional cases of mental health difficulty - at an overall cost to society of £156 million.

They called for more support for those in debt and for banks to consider the impact of their decisions.

"Our research has potentially important policy implications," said Dr Boyce. "Whilst it is important to avoid high unemployment and instability - which in themselves can be detrimental to mental health - central bankers need to understand that the tools they use to maintain economic stability can also have direct consequences to mental health.

"Low interest rates encourage the uptake of debt, potentially creating unsustainable debt levels and putting many at risk when there are future interest rate rises. When this happens, we need to ensure those in debt receive adequate support.

"One way to improve the economy, as others have argued, while at the same time reducing the mental health risk for individuals, would be to give people money in the form of a debt jubilee."

When considering taxing sugar-sweetened beverages in Canada, policy-makers should look at lessons learned from tobacco taxation, especially how taxation could increase inequalities and stigma, argues an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

"Proponents of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages are quick to emphasize positive aspects of a tobacco tax; however, a thorough comparison analysis reveals other lessons about exacerbation of inequity and stigma, including racial stigma, in already-marginalized populations," writes Natalie Riediger, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, with Andrea Bombak, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

The authors look at the issues around taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages through a social justice lens.

"Many public health policies can have unintended consequences for some groups and it is important to consider this when implementing new policies," they write.

People of low socioeconomic status and Aboriginal populations in Canada consume more sugar-sweetened beverages than the general population and have higher rates of obesity and diabetes.

"For taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages to be effective as a measure of population health, it must affect consumption in these populations."

The authors suggest that taxing only certain sugar-sweetened beverages, namely soft drinks, may heighten stigma around obesity and further isolate marginalized people. Sweetened coffee drinks, which are mainly consumed in areas where people of higher socioeconomic status live or work, are not being recommended for taxation, despite their increasing consumption.

"A sweetened beverage tax aimed only at regular soft drinks may carry classist and racist overtones that could exacerbate stigma directed at already-marginalized groups," write the authors. "In other words, economically advantaged people may continue to drink their frappuccino, untaxed, while less wealthy people are taxed for their cola, despite similar added sugar content."

Taxing soda could also affect relations with Aboriginal peoples who live on reserves where there are long-term water advisories because of unsafe supply. Many people in these situations rely on soft drinks for hydration.

The authors urge involvement of Aboriginal peoples in developing taxation policies around sugar-sweetened beverages.

"Sugar-sweetened beverages as the new tobacco: examining a proposed tax policy through a Canadian social justice lens" is published March 19, 2018.

CHICAGO--Mothers who overeat during the period when they are breastfeeding may have children who are at increased risk of becoming obese and going through early puberty, a new study of mice suggests. Early puberty may lead to increased risk of diabetes or reproductive problems later in life, according to the research, which will be presented Sunday, March 18 at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society's 100th annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

"Formula feeding is well known to increase the risk of obesity in children. Our findings suggest, however, that when breastfeeding mothers do not eat a moderate and healthy diet, there can also be increased risks of various health problems in the offspring, including obesity, diabetes, advanced puberty and reduced fertility," said lead researcher Mengjie Wang, M.D., M.S., a graduate research assistant at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences in Toledo, Ohio. "This idea must be tested in humans to know whether it applies to our species."

Wang noted that all over the world, puberty is starting earlier than it did in the past. "Childhood obesity, a common health issue, is one of the risk factors for early puberty," she said. "Previous evidence from animals has revealed that post-weaning overeating advances the timing of puberty, but we lack knowledge of how nutrition before weaning influences metabolism and reproduction."

To determine how excess body weight alters the timing of puberty, Wang gave mice a high-fat-diet from the date they gave birth and started breastfeeding until they weaned their pups. A second group of new mother mice was given a regular diet for the same amount of time.

Wang found that overfeeding the mothers during breastfeeding can cause obesity in the pups and significantly advance the start of their puberty. "These results show that the breast-feeding phase is a critical window that influences when puberty happens," Wang said.

Fertility tests of the mice in adulthood showed that those whose mothers had been fed a high-fat diet while breastfeeding had decreased litter size, longer duration from mating to date of birth and impaired pregnancy rate in both female and male mice. The researchers also found these mice suffered from glucose intolerance and insulin insensitivity--signs of an increased risk of developing diabetes during adulthood.

"Our results reinforce the findings of previous studies that childhood obesity causes advanced puberty and metabolic disorders in adulthood," Wang said. "Correct treatment and follow-up are both important for patients with early puberty. Patients with early puberty should be aware that other health problems may arise after they become adults."