Culture

Researchers led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have discovered a link between cognitive decline and a faster rate of bone loss, and found that cognitive decline over five years increased future fracture risk in women. The association between cognitive decline and bone loss was weaker in men.

The study of individuals aged 65 and older was carried out over 16 years and has revealed a potential new approach to help identify older people who may be at risk of fracture.

"Bone loss and cognitive decline are major public health issues, but both are 'silent diseases' that can go undetected and untreated for long periods, often until the conditions are severely progressed," says Professor Jacqueline Center, Head of the Clinical Studies and Epidemiology lab at Garvan, endocrinologist at St Vincent's Hospital and senior author of the findings published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

"Our study has revealed a link between the two in women, which suggests that cognition should be monitored together with bone health, as a decline in one could mean a decline in the other. These findings may help refine best practice guidelines of how cognition and bone health are monitored in older age, to ensure appropriate treatment can be more effectively administered."

New insights on major public health issues

Around the world, 200 million people are affected by osteoporosis and more than 35 million by dementia - numbers which are expected to double over the next two decades due to a global increase in life expectancy.

"Cognitive decline and bone loss both result in increased disability, loss of independence and an increased risk of mortality. There is some evidence that older individuals with dementia have a higher risk of hip fractures, but whether the decline of both bone and cognitive health are linked over time has not been studied," says Dr Dana Bliuc from the Garvan Institute, who is first author of the paper.

"We set out to understand the long-term association, with our study the first to investigate both cognitive and bone health data over more than 15 years."

The team used data from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos), which documented skeletal health in people living in the community since 1995. The researchers looked at cognitive and bone health measurements of 1741 women and 620 men aged 65 years and older, who had no symptoms of cognitive decline at the beginning of the study.

Linking cognition and bone health

"After adjusting for all other variables, we observed a significant link between a decline in cognitive health and bone loss in women. This association was weaker and not statistically significant in men," says Dr Bliuc.

"Interestingly, we also saw that cognitive decline over the first five years was associated with a 1.7-fold increase in future fracture risk in women in the subsequent 10 years. This was independent of the level of bone loss," adds Dr Bliuc.

"While this study could not identify a causal link - whether a decline in cognitive function leads to a decline in bone loss, or vice versa - it suggests that cognitive decline should be monitored along with bone health, as a decline in one may signal the need for increased vigilance in the other," says Professor Center.

The researchers add that the link could potentially be mediated by a third factor, such as estrogen deficiency, which affects women after menopause and has been independently associated with both bone loss and cognitive decline. This research also opens the door for additional studies into what the link between these two common conditions may be.

"What our study highlights is that cognitive health is potentially an important factor for providing more information to individuals and their health professionals on fracture risk, and ultimately improve health outcomes for our older population," says Professor Center.

WASHINGTON (July 21, 2021) - Twenty-nine percent of Americans are taking more supplements today than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the percentage of U.S. supplement-takers to 76%, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Samueli Foundation. Nearly two-thirds of those who increased supplement use (65%) cited a desire to enhance their overall immunity (57%) or protection from COVID-19 (36%) as reasons for the increase. Other common reasons for increasing supplement use were to take their health into their own hands (42%), improve their sleep (41%), and improve their mental health (34%).

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a catalyst for increased supplement use," said Wayne Jonas, MD, executive director of Integrative Health Programs at Samueli Foundation. "Supplements--when used under the guidance of health care professionals--can be beneficial for one's health. Unfortunately, however, many people are unaware of the risks and safety issues associated with their use."

More than half of Americans taking supplements (52%) mistakenly believe that most dietary supplements available for purchase have been declared safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration, according to the June 2021 online survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults. Nearly one-third of supplement-takers (32%) believe that if a supplement could be dangerous, it would not be allowed to be sold in the U.S.

"Contrary to what many believe, the FDA does not regulate supplements. In fact, many supplements are not identified as dangerous until after people are negatively affected by them," said Jonas. "There are benefits to one's health from supplements, but also risks, so I encourage anyone who is taking a supplement or thinking of taking one to discuss it with your health care provider first."

Fewer than half of Americans who use supplements (47%) say they consulted with their health care provider before use, despite national guidelines that strongly recommend doing so. Further, 46% of Americans currently taking prescription medications say they have not discussed with their health provider the potential interactions that supplements could have with their prescriptions. But the desire to speak to their physicians is there.

Four in five Americans said they would feel comfortable sharing which supplements they take with their health care provider (81%) and say it is important to tell their health care provider whether or not they are taking supplements (80%). They also identified various barriers to discussing supplements with their health care providers:

-41% of those currently taking supplements said that it hasn't occurred to them to discuss their supplement use with their health care provider, including half of those ages 18-34 (49%).

-35% of all Americans said they don't think their health care provider is interested in whether or not they are taking supplements.

-32% of Americans don't think their health care provider knows enough about supplements to advise them properly.

-26% of those currently taking supplements are worried that their health care provider will judge them based on the supplements they are taking.

"As more people begin taking supplements, we need to be sure that they have the information needed to make informed and healthy decisions," said Jonas. "My obligation, as a physician, is to help patients understand which supplements can play a safe and effective part of their overall health and well-being goals. The good news is that patients are willing to discuss this topic, but it is up to providers to ask."

Other findings from the survey showed further differences based on race and ethnicity:

-86% of White (non-Hispanic) Americans said they would be comfortable sharing which supplements they take with their health care provider, compared to only 67% of Hispanics and 75% of Blacks.

-Black (49%) and Hispanic (50%) supplement users were more likely than Whites (36%) to say that it hasn't occurred to them to discuss their supplement use with their health care provider.

-More than 1 in 3 Hispanic adults (35%) said they worry that their health care provider will judge them based on the supplements they take, and 46% said they don't think their health care provider is interested (compared to 31% of White (non-Hispanic) adults).

Oncotarget published "Genomic clustering analysis identifies molecular subtypes of thymic epithelial tumors independent of World Health Organization histologic type" which reported that genomic information from 102 evaluable TETs from The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and from the IU-TAB-1 cell line underwent clustering analysis to identify molecular subtypes of TETs.

Six novel molecular subtypes of TETs from the TCGA were identified, and there was no association with WHO histologic subtype.

The IU-TAB-1 cell line clustered into the TH4 molecular subtype and in vitro testing of candidate therapeutics was performed.

Sensitivity to nelfinavir was due to the IU-TAB-1 cell line's gain-of function mutation in PIK3CA and amplification of genes observed from array comparative genomic hybridization, including AURKA, ERBB2, KIT, PDGFRA and PDGFB, that are known upregulate AKT, while resistance to everolimus was primarily driven by upregulation of downstream signaling of KIT, PDGFRA and PDGFB in the presence of mTORC1 inhibition.

The Oncotarget authors present a novel molecular classification of TETs independent of WHO histologic subtype, which may be used for preclinical validation studies of potential candidate therapeutics of interest for this rare disease.

Dr. Sukhmani K. Padda from The Stanford University School of Medicine/Stanford Cancer Institute said, "Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are rare tumors that represent a wide spectrum of disease from the indolent thymoma to the more aggressive thymic carcinoma."

Thymoma subtypes include A, AB, B1, B2, B3, and other rare categories; in addition, there are TET subtypes of thymic carcinoma and thymic neuroendocrine tumor.

There have been several molecular analyses performed on TETs, with the The Cancer Genome Atlas reporting on a comprehensive multi-omic analysis of 117 TETs.

Despite the advancement in molecular diagnostics, the molecular aberrations and molecular subtypes discovered from the TCGA have not yet affected therapeutic decisions.

These Oncotarget results may reflect the unselected patient population enrolled in these studies, including no selection for WHO histologic subtype or molecular aberrations.

The goals were to identify novel molecular subtypes of TETs and examine their association with WHO histologic subtypes, and to present a proof-of-concept approach of preclinical validation of candidate therapeutics in a molecularly classified cell line for potential further clinical investigation in this rare disease.

The Padda Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Output that preclinical models for TETs are limited to a handful of cell lines and clinical trials are limited to single-arm phase II studies.

This computational analysis involves data available from tests used routinely in the clinical setting such as targeted next generation sequencing assays, including gene mutations, copy number variations, and chromosomal aberrations.

In this study, computational analysis of the TCGA dataset reveals an updated molecular classification of TETs and identifies 6 unique molecular subtypes; importantly, these subtypes are independent of WHO histologic subtypes.

Only the IU-TAB-1 cell line underwent clustering analysis and was used for preclinical testing of candidate therapeutics for one of the six identified molecular subtypes from the TCGA. Although the IU-TAB-1 cell line reflects the predominant histotype of type AB thymoma from the TCGA dataset and has been extensively characterized by both whole exome sequencing and aCGH, its inherent limitations include generation from an early stage tumor and representation of a histotype that portends a better prognosis and less metastatic potential.

Therefore, future work should involve further genomic characterization and clustering analyses of TETs, particularly from metastatic tumors, and generation of diverse TET cell lines to evaluate whether this proof-of-concept approach of preclinical candidate therapeutic testing in molecularly classified cell lines is promising for clinical translation in patients with this rare disease.

New research from Bocconi University in Milan highlights that, contrary to received wisdom, connections to organized crime harm a company's financial performance and increase by 25.5% its likelihood to go bust.

Using a novel dataset from AISI, the Italian Internal Intelligence and Security agency, Bocconi professors Antonio Marra, Donato Masciandaro, and Nicola Pecchiari in a paper co-authored with Pietro Bianchi (Florida International University) published online in The Accounting Review, identify 1,840 criminally connected firms headquartered in Italy's Lombardy region.

Lombardy, the Northern Italian region around Milan, is not one of the regions where organized crime traditionally emerged. However, it accounts for 25% of the Italian GDP and it has recently become a central target of organized crime's economic activities.

The authors identify directors and shareholders undergoing investigations for crimes attributable to criminal organizations (eg. mafia-type associations, false invoices, usury and smuggling) from 2006 - 2013. A firm with a director undergoing investigation is deemed connected from the time of the director's appointment.

With this data, they provide the first large-scale evidence of the effects of mafia connections on company performance and show that contrary to popular belief, such connections drain firm resources. As the authors noted in an interview, "if the unintentional effect of the literature on the Mafia entrepreneurship has been to create a sort of mystique around the concept of the criminal businessmen, our results are definitely against such a mystique."

Notably, they find that while connected firms may report higher sales and have lower labor costs, they exhibit 15.6% lower return on assets than unconnected firms. The authors attribute this surprisingly lower profitability to money laundering, where funds are moved in and out of cash-intensive businesses and among company headquarters in different jurisdictions, to make the funds' criminal origins harder to trace. This can be done through false invoices which inflate costs, thus lowering profitability.

They also find that connected firms have 8.4% higher levels of debt. The firms suspiciously used more bank loans at far lower interest rates despite being less profitable, indicating the presence of fictitious loans. And with 5.9% lower cash holdings, these firms face liquidity constraints due to their resource-draining criminal connections. Being connected also allows firms to sell their inventory faster through coercion, bribery, and converting their sales to cash. Quantitatively this implies a 4.02% shorter operating cycle (ie. firms convert current assets to cash and pay current liabilities faster). Strikingly, being connected increases the firm's probability of default - filing for bankruptcy, insolvency or liquidation - by 25.5%.

The authors validate their findings by using a 2011 amendment to Italy's Anti-Money Laundering regulation, which lowered the limit for cash-based transactions and improved auditing. Limitations on cash transactions and ability to use false invoices made connected firms more similar to their unconnected counterparts in terms of sale revenues and costs of goods sold, thus corroborating their findings on the negative effects of Mafia connections.

New University of Otago research has been examining how alpine-based hedgehogs hibernate from a different perspective - their backs.

Dr Nick Foster from the Department of Zoology has been involved with the Te Manahuna Aoraki project and has been attaching small transmitting 'backpacks' onto hedgehogs in the Mackenzie Basin's alpine zones. The mammals are considered pests in New Zealand for the damage they cause to native insects and wildlife throughout the country.

The goal of this study, which has just been published in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology, was to find out whether hedgehogs, which can be found up to 2000 metres in summer, travel to lower elevations when winter threatens.

"We thought that hedgehogs could be making short distance movements downhill, which would extend their foraging and breeding season and avoid the harsh winter conditions of the high alpine zone," Dr Foster says.

However instead of moving to lower and warmer areas, Foster found hedgehogs stayed put and hibernated in the colder areas in the elevated alpine areas, which are up to 1800 metres above sea level. Some of the females were found rearing young, too.

"They entered hibernation in the same areas they used in the summer, and while we only tracked a small sample of females, they all did the same thing," he says.

"This is pretty convincing evidence that hedgehogs aren't just visitors in these zones: they're residents."

While imagining a hedgehog with a backpack going on an adventure is a cute idea, Dr Foster says the mammals need to be seen as harmful to our environment.

"When we think of predators, we think of stoats, possums and rats. In dryland environments, hedgehogs and feral cats are among the worst."

At the centre of the research are the GPS transmitters that were fixed onto the back of the hedgehogs as they hibernated.

While a little prickly to handle and quite thin on the ground in the alpine zone, Foster says hedgehogs are very easy animals to work with.

"You can attach a transmitter directly to their spines. There is no collar, no contact with the skin, and there is no feeling in their spines, which are a similar material to our fingernails. Spines regrow after they are clipped and devices fall off as they naturally shed.

"Hedgehogs carry devices well, too. This is a species that piles on fat every year to hibernate, so their bodies can deal with fluctuations in weight."

Dr Foster says the devices had to be up to the task.

"It's very cold in that area, and there's a lot of wear and tear. However, once we got started it was pretty smooth going."

He says there are some important conclusions that can be drawn from this relatively simple study.

"Finding that hedgehogs persist in alpine zones means that if we want to remove hedgehogs from areas, we have to factor in populations living high in the mountains. Otherwise they'll be around forever and act as a source of reinvasion for lower areas."

On a positive note, once removed, it may be some time for hedgehog populations to spread up to these areas again.

"This is good news for our strategy of using mountain ranges to keep them out."

The future of Samoa's electricity system could go green, a University of Otago study has shown.

Pacific Island nations are particularly susceptible to climate change and face high costs and energy security issues from imported fossil fuels.

For these reasons many Pacific Island nations have developed ambitious 100 per cent renewable energy targets. However, they have not been subject to rigorous peer-reviewed studies to help develop these targets and pathways for achieving them in the same way as more developed countries.

To meet this need, Otago Energy Science and Technology Masters student Tupuivao Vaiaso mapped future scenarios for Samoa's electricity system by carefully balancing renewable supply and electricity demand.

The study, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, shows high proportions (above 90 per cent) of renewable generation coupled with battery or pumped hydro energy storage is technically feasible, and economically viable - it would cost far less than current electricity production.

A special combination of characteristics makes this possible: great solar resources with very little seasonal variation; little variation in demand due to constant seasonal conditions; and high electricity prices from the current use of diesel.

However, the results also show there is a significant trade-off between percentage of renewable supply and affordability. To counter this, Mr Vaiaso says targets should be set just below 100 per cent for it to be economically attractive and/or biomass options (like the recent biomass gasification plant) could potentially be considered for the last few percent.

Co-author Associate Professor Michael Jack, Director of the Energy Management programme in the Department of Physics, says the study shows an affordable pathway to achieve renewable energy targets which is important as cutting emissions must be achieved in a way that does not increase energy hardship.

"These results have important implications for energy policy directions for Samoa and are directly applicable to many other countries in the Pacific," he says.

He believes the study also suggests Pacific Island nations are an important option for the growing trend in international sustainable finance.

"The high price of electricity means that renewable options are much more economically attractive than many other countries. These are essentially low hanging fruit that provide multiple benefits and, I imagine, would be attractive to these funding bodies."

WASHINGTON - A peer-reviewed study by the Environmental Working Group recommends stringent health-based exposure standards for both children and adults for radiofrequency radiation emitted from wireless devices. EWG's children's guideline is the first of its kind and fills a gap left by federal regulators.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Health, relies on the methodology developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to assess human health risks arising from toxic chemical exposures. EWG scientists have applied the same methods to radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices, including cellphones and tablets.

EWG recommends the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, adjust its woefully outdated health standards for wireless radiation, last revised a quarter-century ago, well before wireless devices became ubiquitous, heavily used appliances synonymous with modern life. The recommendation draws on data from a landmark 2018 study from the National Toxicology Program, or NTP, one of the largest long-term studies on the health effects of radiofrequency radiation exposure.

EWG's new guidelines, the first developed in the U.S. to focus on children's health, recommend that children's exposure overall be 200 to 400 lower than the whole-body exposure limit set by the FCC in 1996.

The EWG recommended limit for so-called whole-body Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR, for children is 0.2 to 0.4 milliwatts per kilogram, or mW/kg. For adults, EWG recommends a whole-body SAR limit of 2 to 4 mW/kg, which is 20 to 40 times lower than the federal limit.

The FCC has not set a separate standard for children. Its standards for radiofrequency radiation set a maximum SAR of 0.08 watts per kilogram, or W/kg, for whole-body exposure and an SAR for localized spatial peak - the highest exposure level for a specific part of the body, such as the brain - of 1.6 W/kg for the general population.

The NTP studies examined the health effects of 2G and 3G wireless radiation and found there is "clear evidence" of a link between exposure to radiofrequency radiation and heart tumors in laboratory animals. Similar results were reported by a team of Italian scientists from the Ramazzini Institute.

Cellphone radiation was classified a "possible carcinogen" in 2011 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, a conclusion based on human epidemiological studies that found an increased risk of glioma, a malignant brain cancer, associated with cellphone use.

EWG scientists say that more research is needed on the health impacts of the latest generation of communication technologies, such as 5G. In the meantime, EWG's recommendation for strict, lower exposure limits for all radiofrequency sources, especially for children.

When the FCC established its radiofrequency radiation limits, following the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, relatively few Americans, and likely no children, owned and used cellphones.

Much has changed since the federal limits were set, including technology and how these devices are used. A survey completed by the nonprofit Common Sense Media in March 2020, just before the start of the Covid-19 spread in the U.S., found that 46 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds, and 67 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds, had their own mobile devices, such as a tablet or smartphone.

With remote learning, a necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic, phones, tablets and other wireless devices became a part of life for young children, tweens and teens nationwide.

"The FCC must consider the latest scientific research, which shows that radiation from these devices can affect health, especially for children," said Uloma Uche, Ph.D., EWG environmental health science fellow and lead author of the study.

"It has been 25 years since the FCC set its limits for radiofrequency radiation. With multiple sources of radiofrequency radiation in the everyday environment, including Wi-Fi, wireless devices and cell towers, protecting children's health from wireless radiation exposures should be a priority for the FCC," she added.

"We have grave concerns over the outdated approach the federal government has relied on to study the health effects of cellphone radiation and set its current safety limit and advice for consumers," said EWG President Ken Cook. "Government guidelines are a quarter-century old and were established at a time when wireless devices were not a constant feature of the lives of nearly every American, including children."

Reviewing 5G and other aspects of wireless technology should be the focus of public health agencies, noted Cook. "It is long past time the federal government made exposure to 5G wireless devices safe. We strongly believe those exposures deserve far more investigation and scientific rigor than has been applied to date."

"The evidence shows that children absorb more radiofrequency radiation than adults, and the developing body of a child is more vulnerable to such effects," said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., EWG's vice president for science investigations and co-author of the study.

"More research on the safety and sustainability of wireless technology is essential," added Naidenko. "Meanwhile, there are simple steps everyone can take to protect their health, such as keeping wireless devices farther from their bodies."

There are a number of easy, precautionary steps consumers can take until the government conducts the rigorous scientific assessment the issue deserves, which should have occurred years ago.

"Based on our review of the health risks and the inadequacy of current standards to protect children, while the science evolves, it is perfectly reasonable for parents to consider minimizing or eliminating radiofrequency radiation sources at home by relying more on wired internet access, and to urge schools to take comparable steps to reduce classroom and campus exposure," said Cook.

Other health-protective tips for consumers who want to reduce radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices include using a headset or speaker, texting instead of talking, and limiting the time children spend on smart phones.

Find all of EWG's tips to reduce exposure to wireless radiation here.

EWG's recommendation for limits for radiofrequency radiation exposure is its latest effort to advance the public dialogue about science-based standards that protect public health.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found that acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 resembles sepsis-caused kidney injury, and the immune response triggered by the infection plays a pivotal role.

The findings, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, also suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction -- a loss of function in cellular energy production -- is commonly found in kidney injury related to COVID-19. More than one-third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients report acute kidney injury, and sudden kidney failure is a risk factor for in-hospital mortality, according to studies published last year.

"These findings suggest that COVID-19 can induce a robust immune response in patients that contributes to the kidney injury, and kidney-supportive treatments should be initiated early for these patients," says Mariam Alexander, M.D., a renal pathologist at Mayo Clinic and the study's lead author. "Our data point to mitochondrial injury as a potential target for therapies, some of which recently have been developed and tested in preclinical models."

Severe COVID-19 disease is known to be associated with a systemic inflammatory response, as well as inflammation in the heart and lungs. Little research is available about immune response in the kidneys, and molecular studies on the renal pathology of COVID-19 patients have been limited.

"To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth study investigating the molecular and cellular changes seen in COVID-19-related kidney injury," says Dr. Alexander.

The Mayo Clinic study evaluated the kidneys of 17 adults who died from COVID-19 and had an autopsy performed at Mayo between April 2020 and October 2020. Researchers described the pathological spectrum of the kidney injury related to COVID-19 and characterized its molecular profile, compared with sepsis-associated injury.

The morphological and molecular profile of severe COVID-19 renal injury resembles sepsis renal injury, including microvascular dysfunction, inflammation and metabolic reprogramming, the study finds.

"The acute kidney injury seen in COVID-19 is likely secondary to activation of the immune system, similar to what is observed in patients with sepsis," Dr. Alexander says. "COVID-19 kidneys are inflamed and show an increased rate of cell death and notably more mitochondrial injury, compared to kidneys with injury not related to COVID-19." Mitochondria are cell structures that generate much of the chemical energy needed for proper cell function.

Of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital ICUs, 76% have acute kidney injury. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with secondary acute kidney injury have a nearly 50% risk of death, compared with 8% among those without kidney injury, according to data published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

The 17 patients in the Mayo Clinic study had a median age of 78 years, and 15 were male. Most had been hospitalized more than five days before death, and 53% reported hypertension as a comorbidity. Other leading comorbidities included diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"The complex integrated imaging and molecular tests used in this study pave the way to perform similar molecular analyses in different disease conditions to study immune-mediated renal injuries in both native and transplant settings," says Timucin Taner, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, immunologist and senior author. "We currently have several projects using this approach, with the goal being to identify the underlying mechanisms of different diseases, so we can help physicians treat these conditions more effectively."

ITHACA, N.Y. - Small-scale. Short-lived. All digital. Out of public view. That's how a new form of collective worker resistance is unfolding in China's app-based food delivery economy, new Cornell University research finds.

Though highly fragmented and not always successful, "mini-strikes" by small groups of food couriers - conducted via WeChat - reflect a new form of leverage, suggest Chuxuan "Victoria" Liu and Eli Friedman, associate professor in the ILR School.

Food couriers are able to maintain complete physical invisibility, and each individual worker can 'strike' from anywhere, they write.

The scholars interviewed couriers, in-person and online, who delivered food for Ele.me, an Alibaba-owned company that controlled nearly half the nation's food-delivery market.

Platform-based delivery work has grown exponentially over the past decade. In 2020, Ele.me and Meituan, a slightly larger competitor, together had more than 8 million registered food-delivery couriers, the result of rapid growth achieved in part through exploitative working conditions, according to the researchers.

Friedman said scholars have wondered whether high levels of worker dissatisfaction seen in manufacturing would appear in this new sector. Their research determined it has - if you know where to look.

In addition to crowd sourced freelance couriers who work individually, Ele.me relies on a network of subcontractors that operate "stations" within city districts to provide restaurants with more reliable delivery services.

Like the workers themselves, the app rewards or punishes stations financially based on metrics including numbers of deliveries, worker attendance, on-time performance and customer ratings. That pressure on stations creates bargaining power for couriers who may choose to stay offline during peak lunch and dinner times.

"Simply by refusing to login to the system," they wrote, "a handful of couriers can cause considerable damage to the station's statistics."

Significantly, the government is either unable to monitor such small-scale labor resistance or tolerates it, since it causes minimal social disruption and appears apolitical.

"We've seen in the last few years that any kind of collective, coordinated action in China - for all kinds of activists - is really dangerous," Friedman said. "This refines our understanding of the way public protest can work in light of that new, highly repressive environment, and the role digital media can play in fomenting that kind of action, even on a small scale."

Strikes by food couriers are distinctive for their very small numbers, short duration and concealed nature, the authors wrote, revealing "one of the ways that labor unrest has evolved alongside shifting political, economic and technological conditions."

Newborns at risk for Type 1 diabetes because they were given antibiotics may have their gut microorganisms restored with a maternal fecal transplant, according to a Rutgers study.

The study, which involved genetic analysis of mice, appears in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

The findings suggest that newborns at risk for Type 1 diabetes because their microbiome - the trillions of beneficial microorganisms in and on our bodies - were disturbed can have the condition reversed by transplanting fecal microbiota from their mother into their gastrointestinal tract after the antibiotic course has been completed.

Type 1 diabetes is the most common autoimmune disease in childhood.

"Our previous work has shown that exposing young animals to antibiotics perturbs the microbiome, which may change age-associated immunity and organ-specific inflammation, increasing risk of immune-mediated diseases," said co-author Martin Blaser, director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers.

The study compared mice that were exposed to antibiotics between days 5 and 10 of life and given a transplant of maternal microbiota up to a week later, and those that were not. The researchers found that the mice given the transplant had their microbiome partially restored and their diabetes risk brought back to the baseline level.

"The mice that were exposed to antibiotics had the expression of indicator genes in their intestinal wall that were either too high or too low, but the transplant brought that back almost to the original levels and restored metabolic pathways," said co-author Xue-Song Zhang, an assistant research professor at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers. "We were able to identify groups of genes that returned to normal after the transplant as if the mice had never received the antibiotics."

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2021 -- Surpassing the biological limitations of the brain and using one's mind to interact with and control external electronic devices may sound like the distant cyborg future, but it could come sooner than we think.

Researchers from Imperial College London conducted a review of modern commercial brain-computer interface (BCI) devices, and they discuss the primary technological limitations and humanitarian concerns of these devices in APL Bioengineering, from AIP Publishing.

The most promising method to achieve real-world BCI applications is through electroencephalography (EEG), a method of monitoring the brain noninvasively through its electrical activity. EEG-based BCIs, or eBCIs, will require a number of technological advances prior to widespread use, but more importantly, they will raise a variety of social, ethical, and legal concerns.

Though it is difficult to understand exactly what a user experiences when operating an external device with an eBCI, a few things are certain. For one, eBCIs can communicate both ways. This allows a person to control electronics, which is particularly useful for medical patients that need help controlling wheelchairs, for example, but also potentially changes the way the brain functions.

"For some of these patients, these devices become such an integrated part of themselves that they refuse to have them removed at the end of the clinical trial," said Rylie Green, one of the authors. "It has become increasingly evident that neurotechnologies have the potential to profoundly shape our own human experience and sense of self."

Aside from these potentially bleak mental and physiological side effects, intellectual property concerns are also an issue and may allow private companies that develop eBCI technologies to own users' neural data.

"This is particularly worrisome, since neural data is often considered to be the most intimate and private information that could be associated with any given user," said Roberto Portillo-Lara, another author. "This is mainly because, apart from its diagnostic value, EEG data could be used to infer emotional and cognitive states, which would provide unparalleled insight into user intentions, preferences, and emotions."

As the availability of these platforms increases past medical treatment, disparities in access to these technologies may exacerbate existing social inequalities. For example, eBCIs can be used for cognitive enhancement and cause extreme imbalances in academic or professional successes and educational advancements.

"This bleak panorama brings forth an interesting dilemma about the role of policymakers in BCI commercialization," Green said. "Should regulatory bodies intervene to prevent misuse and unequal access to neurotech? Should society follow instead the path taken by previous innovations, such as the internet or the smartphone, which originally targeted niche markets but are now commercialized on a global scale?"

She calls on global policymakers, neuroscientists, manufacturers, and potential users of these technologies to begin having these conversations early and collaborate to produce answers to these difficult moral questions.

"Despite the potential risks, the ability to integrate the sophistication of the human mind with the capabilities of modern technology constitutes an unprecedented scientific achievement, which is beginning to challenge our own preconceptions of what it is to be human," Green said.

PHILADELPHIA -- (July 20, 2021) -- Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is an RNA processing mechanism that regulates gene expression by generating different ends on RNA transcripts of the same gene. Though it affects more than half of human genes, the significance of APA was poorly understood. Now a new study by The Wistar Institute describes an important function of APA in allowing certain mRNAs to reach specific sites of protein synthesis and reveals that length, sequence and structural properties can determine the destination (and fate) of mRNAs within the cell. These findings, published online in the journal Cell Reports, shed light on the consequences of APA that may represent a paradigm shift in the mRNA metabolism field.

The laboratory of Bin Tian, Ph.D., professor and co-leader of the Gene Expression & Regulation Program at The Wistar Institute Cancer Center and senior author on the study, was among the first to discover the widespread occurence of APA using genomic and bioinformatic approaches.

Following gene transcription, messenger RNAs are chemically modified to become mature RNA molecules that can leave the nucleus and perform their functions. One of these modifications is polyadenylation, which prevents RNA degradation and favors its translation into protein.

Through APA, a gene can be polyadenylated at multiple sites, resulting in mRNAs with different coding sequences and/or regulatory regions (3'untranslated regions or 3'UTRs), called isoforms. Transcripts encoding the same protein can have different fates in the cell because of distinct 3'UTRs, which harbor regulatory elements for mRNA metabolism. This dramatically increases the complexity of our genome, so that fewer genes are needed to encode all the proteins a cell needs.

Tian and colleagues employed functional genomics methods to analyze the distribution of the APA isoforms in mouse cells. Bioinformatic analysis and machine learning approaches revealed that APA, via modulation of mRNA 3'UTRs, impacts the connection between mRNAs and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a network of tubes that build, package and transport proteins.

They named this mechanism translation-independent ER association (TiERA) and found that some mRNAs possess specific sequences and structures that determine their potential to undergo APA and ultimately associate with the ER.

"When mRNAs leave the nucleus and move to the cytoplasm, they need to be properly directed to reach the appropriate site of protein translation," said Tian. "The cytoplasm is a huge space for an RNA molecule: For comparison, imagine entering a baseball stadium and needing directions to reach your seat."

The team found that mRNAs with higher TiERA tend to encode for signaling proteins,which help cells communicate with each other by sending, receiving and processing signals in response to changes in the environment.

They propose that APA renders this process more efficient by anchoring certain mRNA isoforms with the ER in specific cellular locations where important signaling events happen.

"According to our model, the ER would serve as a scaffold to keep proteins 'on hand' where they are most needed," said Tian. "This would provide a platform for signaling events to happen effectively at the right place in the cell."

What The Study Did: Credit reports were analyzed to estimate the amount of medical debt in collections nationally and by geographic region and income group and its association with Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Authors: Neale Mahoney, Ph.D., of Stanford University in Stanford, California, is the corresponding author.

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(doi:10.1001/jama.2021.8694)

Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

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For more than 20 years, Makoto Miyata from Osaka City University has been studying the gliding motility of the parasitic bacterium Mycoplasma mobile (M. mobile). It is a mechanism consisting of an external "grabbing" structure and internal "motor" - the motor having yet to be clarified on a molecular level. In collaboration with Osaka University and Kanazawa University, his research team used electron microscopy and high-speed atomic force microscopy (high-speed AFM) to reveal that the bacteria's molecular motor consists of two ATP synthase-like complexes, suggesting an unexpected evolution of the protein. Their findings were published in mBio.

Based on genetic information, researchers have suggested that the molecular motor of M. mobile evolved from a protein that synthesizes ATP, called ATP synthase, although this had yet to be confirmed. ATP is an important substance generated in the mitochondria that provides energy that a molecular motor uses for the movement of nearly all living things, including M. mobile gliding.

"It was recently hypothesized that M. mobile, unlike respiration systems in mitochondria, converts ATP energy into a gliding force with a rotary class of ATP synthase," said Makoto Miyata. "To our surprise, we discovered the motor of M. mobile to be a chain of two ATP synthases-like molecules, housed within a complex cylindrical structure," he continued - something that has never been seen before.

The discovery started with the team extracting a cell from M. mobile and isolating its protein units. Using negative-staining electron microscopy, they discovered a twin motor where each motor is structurally similar to ATP synthase. However, the clarification has not stopped here. "We need to see this dimeric ATP synthase chain in action," stated Noriyuki Kodera of Kanazawa University, "to understand how it facilitates M. mobile's gliding movement." Using the state-of-the-art technology high-speed AFM, pioneered at the Nano Life Science Institute of Kanazawa University, the team plans to confirm the rotary nature of the molecular motor during ATP hydrolysis. As the architecture of the gliding motor is like ATP synthase, "it is possible the chains share a common evolutionary origin," stated Takuma Toyonaga, a research fellow at Osaka City University.

Toyonaga continued, "This discovery of an ATP synthase created a breakthrough in our understanding of the evolution of cells and protein and has brought us closer to understanding the operating principles of motility, which is expected to serve as a basis for the development of nanoscale devices and pharmaceuticals."

In the largest study of its kind, an investigation by UC San Francisco has found no evidence that moderate coffee consumption can cause cardiac arrhythmia.

In fact, each additional daily cup of coffee consumed among several hundred thousand individuals was associated with a 3 percent lower risk of any arrhythmia occurring, including atrial fibrillation, premature ventricular contractions, or other common heart conditions, the researchers report. The study included a four-year follow up.

The paper is published July 19, 2021, in JAMA Internal Medicine.

"Coffee is the primary source of caffeine for most people, and it has a reputation for causing or exacerbating arrhythmias," said senior and corresponding author Gregory Marcus, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UCSF.

"But we found no evidence that caffeine consumption leads to a greater risk of arrhythmias," said Marcus, who specializes in the treatment of arrhythmias. "Our population-based study provides reassurance that common prohibitions against caffeine to reduce arrhythmia risk are likely unwarranted."

While some professional societies suggest avoiding caffeinated products to lower the risk for arrhythmia, this connection has not been consistently demonstrated - indeed, coffee consumption may have anti-inflammatory benefits and is associated with reduced risks of some illnesses including cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson disease.

In the new study, UCSF scientists explored whether habitual coffee intake was associated with a risk of arrhythmia, and whether genetic variants that affect caffeine metabolism could modify that association. Their investigation was conducted via the community-based UK Biobank, a prospective study of participants in England's National Health Services.

Some 386,258 coffee drinkers took part in the coffee research, with an average mean age of 56 years; slightly more than half were female. It was an unprecedented sample size for this type of inquiry.

In addition to a conventional analysis examining self-reported coffee consumption as a predictor of future arrhythmias, the investigators employed a technique called "Mendelian Randomization," leveraging genetic data to infer causal relationships. As those with the genetic variants associated with faster caffeine metabolism drank more coffee, this analysis provided a method to test the caffeine-arrhythmia relationship in a way that did not rely on participant self-report and should have been immune to much of the confounding inherent to most observational studies.

With a mean four-year follow up, data were adjusted for demographic characteristics, health and lifestyle habits.

Ultimately, approximately 4 percent of the sample developed an arrhythmia. No evidence of a heightened risk of arrhythmias was observed among those genetically predisposed to metabolize caffeine differently. The researchers said that higher amounts of coffee were actually associated with a 3 percent reduced risk of developing an arrhythmia.

The authors noted limitations including the self-reporting nature of the study, and that detailed information on the type of coffee - such as espresso or not - was unavailable.

"Only a randomized clinical trial can definitively demonstrate clear effects of coffee or caffeine consumption," said Marcus. "But our study found no evidence that consuming caffeinated beverages increased the risk of arrhythmia. Coffee's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may play a role, and some properties of caffeine could be protective against some arrhythmias."