Culture

Teachers play a key role in supporting children's development in early childhood education classrooms such as Head Start. Research shows significant associations between teachers' depressive symptoms and their students' social and emotional development. However, little research has focused on the associations between teachers' depressive symptoms and academic outcomes of preschoolers from low-income families. Specifically, one important pathway that has not been examined is whether teacher depressive symptoms have implications for the quality of family-teacher relationships. This in turn could affect how supportive parents are of their children's learning.

A new study examined both direct and indirect pathways by which preschool teachers' depressive symptoms could influence preschool children's early mathematical skills. The study showed that teachers' depressive symptoms were significantly associated with children's math achievement in Head Start programs. In addition, the linkage was through the quality of the teachers' relationships with the families, which in turn affected young children's motivation, engagement, and persistence in learning (called their approaches to learning).

The findings were published in a Child Development article, written by researchers at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, Johns Hopkins University, The Ohio State University, and the Community Action Project (CAP) Tulsa.

"The results indicate that alleviating Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms could support positive family-teacher relationships, as well as gains in children's approaches to learning and thereby their mathematical skills," said Shinyoung Jeon, senior research and policy associate at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Early Childhood Education Institute. "More research is needed to understand the best mechanisms through which to reduce Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms, and more investment is needed in support of teachers' mental well-being. Interventions that pair support for teachers' psychological wellbeing along with emphasis on building high-quality family-teacher relationships, may benefit children's learning and development."

The study used data from the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014 (FACES 2014). FACES 2014 used multiple methods to collect comprehensive information on Head Start children, families, teachers, classroom quality and programs through direct child assessments, teacher surveys, parent surveys, classroom observation and director surveys. The study included a sample of 1,547 children from 212 classroom in 113 centers at 59 Head Start programs in the United States. Children in the present study were 49% female and featured a diverse range of ethnicities, 27% White, 24% Black, 41% Hispanic/Latino, and 8% others.

The study focused on the following measures gathered through teacher report, parent report, and direct assessments of the children:

Teacher depressive symptoms: Teacher responses to statements (such as "I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing," and "I felt that everything I did was an effort").

Family-teacher relationships: Teacher reports of knowledge about families (such as, "I know their cultures and values"), practices involving working together families regarding their children ("How often are you able to set goals with parents for their child") and fostering attitude about engagement with the children (such as, "I encourage parents to make decisions about their children's education and care") were rated.

Approaches to learning: Teacher reports about children's motivation, attention, organization, persistence, and independence in learning (such as "How often in the past month did he or she show eagerness to learn new things").

Math skills: Direct assessments conducted with the children focusing on students' measuring, analyzing, and solving practical problems related to numbers and operations in mathematics, as well as understandings of relative size, ordinal numbers, pattern matching, number recognition and children's ability to count, recognize shapes, add, and solve word problems.

Covariates: Data provided by a parental survey on child gender (boy vs. girl), age in months (at time of spring data collection), returning status (newly enrolled vs. enrolled in a previous year in Head Start), English proficiency, child race, maternal education level and income-to-poverty ratio.

The findings showed that teachers with higher levels of depressive symptoms reported more negative relationships with families. While the association between them was not linked to children's math gains, there was evidence that family-teacher relationships are indirectly linked to math skills through children's approach to learning. Poorer family-teacher relationships were associated with lower gains for children in approaches to learning, which was important to how much they progressed in terms of their math skills.

"Since we focused on Head Start children from low-income families, our study adds to the existing literature by identifying possible associations between a teacher's mental wellbeing and children's academic achievement that function via the quality of the teacher-parent relationship," said Lieny Jeon, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. "The study findings support Head Start's strong emphasis on family partnerships as a way to enhance Head Start children's learning behaviors and their subsequent effects on academic achievement."

The authors acknowledge that the findings do not imply causal inferences given potential unobserved variables and selection bias. The authors also recognize that the data included teacher self-reported depressive symptoms collected at a single time point which is not necessarily an indicator of clinically diagnosed depression or the teacher's depressive state throughout the school year. Finally, three of the key variables of focus in this study, teacher's depressive symptoms, family-teacher relationships, and children's approaches to learning were all measured via self-report from the teacher. Future work could be strengthened by using different rather than the same respondent for these key measures.

An herbicide widely used in agriculture, forestry and other applications can cause deleterious effects on the reproductive health of a common perennial plant found in forests in British Columbia, Canada. Researchers reported in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science that glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) deformed various reproductive parts on prickly rose (Rosa acicularis) a year after the chemicals were first applied in both field sites and experimental plots.

The study is one of the first to look at the effects of GBH on the reproductive morphology of a prevalent perennial plant in a commercial forestry operation. The herbicide is commonly used to control plants that could compete with conifers that are grown to be harvested in areas known as 'cutblocks'. Glyphosate has been used since the 1970s but has come under increased scrutiny in recent years over concerns about carcinogenic effects on human health.

Investigators from the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) collected and analyzed samples of prickly rose reproductive parts from three cutblocks, as well as from greenhouse-grown wild plants, and compared them against untreated plants from similar sources.

The results were striking: Pollen viability of plants treated with glyphosate dropped by an average of 66% compared to the controls a year after the initial application. More than 30% of anthers, the part of the stamen that contains the pollen, failed to split open (a process known as dehiscence), condemning these flowers to functional infertility. In addition, researchers found traces of GBH on plant flowers two full years after the herbicide was first sprayed.

"The changes to plants have been documented in the past, in agricultural plants, so it is not surprising to find them in forests," said Dr. Lisa J. Wood, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at UNBC. "What is important is the timeline. To continue to find these effects one to two years after herbicide applications, in new parts of growing plants, is noteworthy."

For centuries, indigenous people used prickly wild rose as both food and medicine, particularly the reproductive parts. R. acicularis is also an important plant ecologically, in part, because it provides food for pollinators. Honeybees, for example, are attracted to particular colors displayed by the flowers.

Wood and lead author Alexandra Golt, a graduate student at UNBC, observed color changes in flower petals and anthers of treated plants. Such abnormalities in coloration could affect the interaction between flowers and pollinators.

Wood said a follow-up study will investigate whether coloration changes in the GHB-treated flowers make them less or more attractive to pollinators. The researchers will also test pollinator insects and hummingbird feces to check if glyphosate residue is present.

"This will tell us if pollinators are taking up residues from the plants they feed on," she explained. "We will also research other plants to see if the changes we observed in the wild rose are also found in other flowers."

Wood said that while past research shows glyphosate is not acutely toxic to most organisms at the levels applied commercially in Canada, scientists don't know a lot about the chronic implications of glyphosate use or how it changes the dynamics of the natural environment - such as the interactions between species or the available food quality.

"The more we learn the better, and research can always be used to better inform management," Wood noted. "Herbicide practices may change, if the research shows that this is in the public's best interest."

Antidepressants can help humans emerge from the darkness of depression. Expose crayfish to antidepressants, and they too become more outgoing -- but that might not be such a positive thing for these freshwater crustaceans, according to a new study led by scientists with the University of Florida.

"Low levels of antidepressants are found in many water bodies," said A.J. Reisinger, lead author of the study and an assistant professor in the UF/IFAS soil and water sciences department. "Because they live in the water, animals like crayfish are regularly exposed to trace amounts of these drugs. We wanted to know how that might be affecting them," he said.

Antidepressants can get into the environment through improper disposal of medications, Reisinger said. In addition, people taking antidepressants excrete trace amounts when they use the bathroom, and those traces can get into the environment through reclaimed water or leaky septic systems.

The researchers found that crayfish exposed to low levels of antidepressant medication behaved more "boldly," emerging from hiding more quickly and spending more time searching for food.

"Crayfish exposed to the antidepressant came out into the open, emerging from their shelter, more quickly than crayfish not exposed to the antidepressant. This change in behavior could put them at greater risk of being eaten by a predator," said Lindsey Reisinger, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor in the UF/IFAS fisheries and aquatic sciences program.

"Crayfish eat algae, dead plants and really anything else at the bottom of streams and ponds. They play an important role in these aquatic environments. If they are getting eaten more often, that can have a ripple effect in those ecosystems," Lindsey Reisinger added.

In their study, conducted while A.J. Reisinger was a postdoctoral researcher at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the scientists wanted to understand how crayfish respond to low levels of antidepressants in aquatic environments.

"Our study is the first to look at how crayfish respond when exposed to antidepressants at levels typically found in the streams and ponds where they live," A.J. Reisinger said.

The researchers achieved this by recreating crayfish's natural environment in the lab, where they could control the amount of antidepressant in the water and easily observe crayfish behavior.

Crayfish were placed in artificial streams that simulated their natural environment. Some crayfish were exposed to environmentally realistic levels of antidepressant in the water for a few weeks, while a control group was not exposed. The researchers used a common type of antidepressant called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI.

To test how antidepressant exposure changed crayfish behavior, researchers used something called a Y-maze. This maze has a short entrance that branches into two lanes, like the letter Y.

At the start of the experiment, the researchers placed each crayfish in a container that acted as a shelter, and that shelter was placed at the entrance to the maze.

When researchers opened the shelter, they timed how long it took for the crayfish to emerge. If the crayfish emerged, they had the choice of the two lanes in the Y-maze. One lane emitted chemical cues for food, while the other emitted cues that signaled the presence of another crayfish. The researchers recorded which direction the crayfish chose and how long they spent out of the shelter.

Compared to the control group, crayfish exposed to antidepressants emerged from their shelters earlier and spent more time in pursuit of food. They tended to avoid the crayfish side of the maze, a sign that the levels of antidepressants used in study didn't increase their aggression.

"The study also found that crayfish altered levels of algae and organic matter within the artificial streams, with potential effects on energy and nutrient cycling in those ecosystems," A.J. Reisinger said. "It is likely that the altered crayfish behavior would lead to further impacts on stream ecosystem functions over a longer time period as crayfish continue to behave differently due to the SSRIs. This is something we'd like to explore in future studies."

The study, co-authored with Erinn Richmond of Monash University and Emma Rosi of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, is published in the journal Ecosphere.

Wondering how you can reduce the levels of antidepressants and other pharmaceuticals in water bodies? There are steps people can take, A.J. Reisinger said.

"The answer is not for people to stop using medications prescribed by their doctor. One big way consumers can prevent pharmaceuticals from entering our water bodies is to dispose of medications properly," he said.

Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to a number of serious health conditions, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame.

Scientists tested more than 200 cosmetics including concealers, foundations, eye and eyebrow products and various lip products. According to the study, 56 percent of foundations and eye products, 48 percent of lip products and 47 percent of mascaras tested were found to contain high levels of fluorine, which is an indicator of PFAS use in the product. The study was recently published in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

"These results are particularly concerning when you consider the risk of exposure to the consumer combined with the size and scale of a multibillion-dollar industry that provides these products to millions of consumers daily," Graham Peaslee, professor of physics at Notre Dame and principal investigator of the study, said. "There's the individual risk -- these are products that are applied around the eyes and mouth with the potential for absorption through the skin or at the tear duct, as well as possible inhalation or ingestion. PFAS is a persistent chemical -- when it gets into the bloodstream, it stays there and accumulates. There's also the additional risk of environmental contamination associated with the manufacture and disposal of these products, which could affect many more people."

Previously found in nonstick cookware, treated fabrics, fast food wrappers and, most recently, the personal protective equipment used by firefighters across the country, PFAS are known as "forever chemicals," because the chemical compounds don't naturally degrade -- which means they end up contaminating groundwater for decades after their release into the environment. Use of PFAS in foam fire suppressants has been linked to contaminated drinking water systems, prompting the Department of Defense to switch to environmentally safer alternatives, for example.

Studies have linked certain PFAS to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, hypertension, thyroid disease, low birth weight and immunotoxicity in children.

Peaslee and the research team tested products purchased at retail locations in the United States as well as products purchased online in Canada. The study found high levels of fluorine in liquid lipsticks, waterproof mascaras and foundations often advertised as "long-lasting" and "wear-resistant." Peaslee said this not entirely surprising, given PFAS are often used for their water resistance and film-forming properties.

What is more concerning is that 29 products with high fluorine concentrations were tested further and found to contain between four and 13 specific PFAS, only one of these items tested listed PFAS as an ingredient on the product label.

"This is a red flag," Peaslee said. "Our measurements indicate widespread use of PFAS in these products -- but it's important to note that the full extent of use of fluorinated chemicals in cosmetics is hard to estimate due to lack of strict labeling requirements in both countries."

Peaslee's novel method of detecting PFAS in a wide variety of materials has helped reduce the use of "forever chemicals" in consumer and industrial products.

Following a study from his lab in 2017, fast food chains that discovered their wrappers contained PFAS switched to alternative options. Peaslee continues to receive samples of firefighter turnout gear from fire departments around the world to test for PFAS, and his research has spurred conversations within the firefighter community to eliminate use of "forever chemicals" in various articles of personal protective equipment.

A new therapy prompts immune defense cells to swallow misshapen proteins, amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles, whose buildup is known to kill nearby brain cells as part of Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the investigation showed that elderly monkeys had up to 59 percent fewer plaque deposits in their brains after treatment with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN), compared with untreated animals. These amyloid beta plaques are protein fragments that clump together and clog the junctions between nerve cells (neurons).

Brains of treated animals also had a drop in levels of toxic tau. This nerve fiber protein can destroy neighboring tissue when disease-related changes to its chemical structure causes it to catch on other cells.

"Our findings illustrate that this therapy is an effective way of manipulating the immune system to slow neurodegeneration," says Akash Patel, MS, an assistant research scientist in the Center for Cognitive Neurology at NYU Langone Health.

The investigators say the treatment led to cognitive benefits as well. When presented with a series of puzzles, elderly monkeys given the drug performed similarly to young adult animals and much better than those in their age group that had remained untreated. The treated monkeys also learned new puzzle-solving skills faster than their untreated peers.

According to researchers, past treatment efforts targeting the immune system failed because the drugs overstimulated the system, causing dangerous levels of inflammation which can kill brain cells.

"Our new treatment avoids the pitfalls of earlier attempts because it is delivered in cycles, giving the immune system a chance to rest between doses," says study co-senior author Thomas Wisniewski, MD. He notes that no additional inflammation was seen in the treated monkeys. Wisniewski is the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman Professor in the Department of Neurology and director of the Center for Cognitive Neurology at NYU Langone.

Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and has no known cure. Drug therapies designed to slow or manage the symptoms have failed, says Wisniewski, also director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at NYU Langone. A growing body of evidence has implicated the immune system, the set of cells and proteins that defend the body from invading bacteria and viruses, as a contributor to Alzheimer's disease. A subset of immune cells, those within the innate immune system, swallow and clear away debris and toxins from bodily tissues along with invading microbes. Studies have shown that these immune custodians become sluggish as a person ages and fail to clear toxins that cause neurodegeneration.

The new investigation, publishing as a cover article June 15 in the journal Brain, is the first to target the innate immune system with a potential therapy for the disorder in monkeys, according to Wisniewski. The CpG ODN drugs are part of a class of innate immune regulators that quicken these worn out immune custodians. He says the research team is also the first to use the "pulsing" drug administration technique to avoid excess inflammation, the immune-driven responses like swelling and pain that result from the homing in by immune cells on sites of injury or infection. While necessary to immune defenses and healing, too much inflammation contributes to many disease mechanisms.

For the investigation, the research team studied 15 female squirrel monkeys between 17 and 19 years old. Eight received a single dose of the drug once a month for two years while the rest were instead given a saline solution. The researchers observed the behavior of the two groups and compared brain tissue and blood samples for plaque deposits, tau protein levels, and evidence of inflammation.

Wisniewski notes that as they age, virtually all squirrel monkeys naturally develop a form of neurodegeneration that mimics Alzheimer's disease in humans, which makes them ideal for studying the disease.

"The similarities in aging between the animals studied and our own species give us hope that this therapy will work in human patients as well," says study co-senior author Henrieta Scholtzova, MD, PhD.

Scholtzova, an associate professor in the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone, cautions that the researchers only evaluated elderly monkeys who already showed significant signs of neurodegeneration. Further testing on younger animals, she notes, would allow them to assess the effectiveness of the treatment in earlier stages of the disease.

Scholtzova says the team next plans to begin testing CpG ODN therapy on human patients with mild cognitive impairments or in early stages of dementia. They also intend to study this treatment in related neurodegenerative illnesses.

What The Study Did: Focus groups were conducted with teenagers to examine their responses to exposure to online and media-based vicarious racism and to explore coping strategies that may be used to combat negative emotions.

Authors: Nia Heard-Garris, M.D., M.Sc., of Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, is the corresponding author.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13522)

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

Nearly one in four teachers may leave their job by the end of the current (2020-'21) school year, compared with one in six who were likely to leave prior to the pandemic, according to a new RAND Corporation survey. Teachers who identified as Black or African American were particularly likely to consider leaving.

U.S. public-school teachers surveyed in January and February 2021 reported they are almost twice as likely to experience frequent job-related stress as the general employed adult population and almost three times as likely to experience depressive symptoms as the general adult population.

These results suggest potential immediate and long-term threats to the teacher supply.

"Teacher stress was a concern prior to the pandemic and may have only become worse. The experiences of teachers who were considering leaving at the time of our survey were similar in many ways to those of teachers who left the profession because of the pandemic," said Elizabeth Steiner, lead author of the report and a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. "This raises the concern that more teachers may decide to quit this year than in past years if nothing is done to address challenging working conditions and support teacher well-being."

Stressful working conditions included a mismatch between actual and preferred mode of instruction, lack of administrator and technical support, frequent technical issues with remote teaching, and lack of implementation of COVID-19 safety measures. Stressors relating to mode of instruction and health were ranked most highly by teachers surveyed.

About a third of teachers were responsible for the care and learning support of their own children while teaching. These stressful working conditions were even more prevalent among teachers who were likely to quit after the onset of the pandemic, but not before.

"Given that some pandemic-era stressors, such as remote teaching, might be here to stay, we think district and school leaders can support teachers' well-being by understanding current working conditions and their need for a more supportive and flexible work environment," said Ashley Woo, coauthor and an assistant policy researcher at RAND.

The report recommends schools implement COVID-19 mitigation measures in a way that allows teachers to focus on instruction and offset worries about their health. Schools and districts should consider systematically collecting data about the mental health and well-being needs of teachers to understand the sources of teacher distress in their school communities while also working together to design and implement mental health and wellness supports. Helping teachers access childcare could go a long way to alleviating stress and promoting teacher retention, as would developing clear policies for remote teaching and adopting technology standards for remote teaching equipment.

Washington, D.C. - June 15, 2021 - Viral genome sequencing of wastewater can provide an early warning system of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants that is independent of investigations of identified clinical cases, according to a new study published in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. In the study, researchers describe the detection and quantification of variant B.1.1.7, first identified in southeast England, in sewage samples from London, United Kingdom before widespread transmission of this variant was obvious from clinical cases.

"Wastewater sampling and environmental surveillance gives you a quick and accurate picture of what is happening with the coronavirus in the human population. Most people infected but not showing symptoms are not getting tested for the virus. Wastewater sampling gives you information on all people, including asymptomatic individuals, so it better reflects the circulation of the virus among humans," said study principal investigator Javier Martin, Ph.D., a biologist in the Division of Virology, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, South Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom "Environmental sampling and viral genome sequencing provide a less biased picture of virus circulating patterns among humans, how different variants predominate with time and how changes in strain predominance occurs."

In the new study, to evaluate the value of environmental surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 detection, researchers analyzed sewage samples collected in London between January 14, 2020 and January 26, 2021 for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. They had to distinguish the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal from the billions of bacteria and viruses people excrete every day. "When we received a sample, we concentrated it using standard methods, and then we used PCR amplification and next generation sequencing targeting different regions of the genome to detect different genetic signatures characteristic of the different known variants," said Dr. Martin.

The researchers first detected variant B.1.1.7 in a sample from early November 2020, a few weeks before it was first noticed through clinical surveillance, and found that the frequency of B.1.1.7 mutations detected in sewage rapidly increased to >95% in January 2021, in accordance with increasing SARS-CoV-2 infections associated with B.1.1.7 viruses.

"Here, we show how environmental surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 can be used to help us understand virus transmission patterns and provide an early warning of variants becoming prevalent in the population," said Dr. Martin. "We will continue monitoring for the different variants focusing on those with potential high transmissibility and/or immune-evading properties. Our results contribute to a better epidemic control and future changes in vaccine design if necessary."

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2021 -- Alzheimer's disease is predominant in elderly people, but the way age-related changes to lipid composition affect the regulation of biological processes is still not well understood. Links between lipid imbalance and disease have been established, in which lipid changes increase the formation of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

This imbalance inspired researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark to explore the role of lipids comprising the cellular membranes of brain cells.

In Biointerphases, by AIP Publishing, the researchers report on the significant role lipids may play in regulating C99, a protein within the amyloid pathway, and disease progression. Lipids have been mostly overlooked from a therapeutic standpoint, likely because their influence in biological function is not yet fully understood.

Toxic amyloid plaques are formed within the brain when a series of enzymes cleave the protein APP, which sits within the neuronal cell membrane, to form C99, which in turn is cleaved to release the amyloid-beta peptide that can form plaques.

Both C99 and APP are able to protect themselves from cleavage by forming homodimers, a protein composed of two polypeptide chains that are identical. The interaction between C99 molecules is regulated by lipids that make up the membrane in which the protein sits.

"We showed that a change in the cholesterol content of the neuronal cell membrane can change how the C99 dimerizes," said Amanda Dyrholm Stange, one of the authors. "Our work suggests age-related changes to cholesterol content in the membrane weakens the C99-C99 interaction, which consequently decreases the 'protective' effect of the dimerization process, leading to the hypothesis of why more toxic amyloid-beta peptides are released in the elderly."

Therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease currently "have a very high failure rate, with no therapeutics developed for a very long period of time, so a novel strategy is desperately needed," said co-author Nils Anton Berlund. "Attempting to modulate the composition of the lipid membrane would be an entirely new class of Alzheimer's disease therapeutics but also immensely challenging without side effects."

The researchers postulate shifting the strategy away from targeting proteins to instead targeting the lipid concentration of membranes may be worthwhile.

"We hope our work will lead the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sector to choose lipid modulation as a means for targeting in drug development, because these changes in lipid composition are linked not just to Alzheimer's but a large host of diseases -- from diabetes to cardiovascular disease," said co-author Birgit Schiøtt. "We also hope it will lead to more research and funding toward understanding the fundamental science behind the possible regulatory roles of lipids."

Exposure to the rhinovirus, the most frequent cause of the common cold, can protect against infection by the virus which causes COVID-19, Yale researchers have found.

In a new study, the researchers found that the common respiratory virus jump-starts the activity of interferon-stimulated genes, early-response molecules in the immune system which can halt replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within airway tissues infected with the cold.

Triggering these defenses early in the course of COVID-19 infection holds promise to prevent or treat the infection, said Ellen Foxman, assistant professor of laboratory medicine and immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study. One way to do this is by treating patients with interferons, an immune system protein which is also available as a drug.

"But it all depends upon the timing," Foxman said.

The results were published June 15th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Previous work showed that at the later stages of COVID-19, high interferon levels correlate with worse disease and may fuel overactive immune responses. But recent genetic studies show that interferon-stimulated genes can also be protective in cases of COVID-19 infection.

Foxman's lab wanted to study this defense system early in the course of COVID-19 infection.

Since earlier studies by Foxman's lab showed that common cold viruses may protect against influenza, they decided to study whether rhinoviruses would have the same beneficial impact against the COVID-19 virus. For the study, her team infected lab-grown human airway tissue with SARS-CoV-2 and found that for the first three days, viral load in the tissue doubled about every six hours. However, replication of the COVID-19 virus was completely stopped in tissue which had been exposed to rhinovirus. If antiviral defenses were blocked, the SARS-CoV-2 could replicate in airway tissue previously exposed to rhinovirus.

The same defenses slowed down SARS-CoV-2 infection even without rhinovirus, but only if the infectious dose was low, suggesting that the viral load at the time of exposure makes a difference in whether the body can effectively fight the infection.

The researchers also studied nasal swab samples from patients diagnosed close to the start of infection. They found evidence of rapid growth of SARS-CoV-2 in the first few days of infection, followed by activation of the body's defenses. According to their findings, the virus typically increased rapidly for the first few days of infection, before host defenses kicked in, doubling about every six hours as seen in the lab; in some patients the virus grew even faster.

"There appears to be a viral sweet spot at the beginning of COVID-19, during which the virus replicates exponentially before it triggers a strong defense response," Foxman said.

Interferon treatment holds promise but it could be tricky, she said, because it would be mostly effective in the days immediately after infection, when many people exhibit no symptoms. In theory, interferon treatment could be used prophylactically in people at high risk who have been in close contact with others diagnosed with COVID-19. Trials of interferon in COVID-19 are underway, and so far show a possible benefit early in infection, but not when given later.

These findings may help explain why at times of year when colds are common, rates of infections with other viruses such as influenza tend to be lower, Foxman said. There are concerns that as social distancing measures ease, common cold and flu viruses -- which have been dormant over the past year -- will come back in greater force. Interference among respiratory viruses could be a mitigating factor, creating an "upper limit" on the degree to which respiratory viruses co-circulate, she said.

"There are hidden interactions between viruses that we don't quite understand, and these findings are a piece of the puzzle we are just now looking at," Foxman said.

Researchers from University of Texas at Dallas and Emory University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the issue of encroachment in the hotel industry.

The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Can Encroachment Benefit Hotel Franchisees?" and is authored by TI Tongil Kim and Sandy Jap.

For decades, the issue of encroachment, or adding an outlet in proximity to existing outlets, has been contentious. A new outlet increases competition for customers, causing concerns for franchisors and franchisees that the existing outlet's sales will be cannibalized. Franchising is a key means for growth and market expansion for many companies. These organizations account for as much as $890 billion or 50% of all retail sales across 75 industries in the US (approximately 3% of the US gross domestic product). Therefore, encroachment is a big issue.

A new study in the Journal of Marketing suggests that cannibalization does not always have to be the case. Using five years of hotel sales data, an experiment, and a series of simulations, the research team finds that adding a new outlet in markets with few same brand outlets can modestly benefit existing locations. Specifically, the researchers find that revenues can increase an average of 1.7% (a 2.3% improvement in profits) - in other words, a sunny side to an issue that has historically dissolved in conflict.

Importantly, this positive impact does not happen when the new outlet is a different franchise brand. In other words, brands matter. Kim adds that "We also find that younger brands, cross-brands (e.g., Hyatt Place and Hyatt House), and brand bookings through online travel agencies also benefit from having more versus fewer locations." Customers appreciate and value additional outlets of a brand (up to a point) as well as when the brands are new or when they share a moniker with other franchise locations of the same brand. Customers also value multiple same brand options when booking through websites like Expedia or Kayak.

This means that when looking to expand, franchisors should prioritize markets with few same brand outlets, newer brands in their portfolio, cross brands, and online travel agency sales channels. These potentially represent win-win options in the conflict over encroachment.

Most of the work around network expansion has focused on the legalities of this process, codes of conduct, expectations, and compliance and monitoring practices. This research suggests that there may be alternate ways of tackling this thorny problem.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Research by Oregon State University suggests a pair of compounds originating from hops can help thwart a dangerous buildup of fat in the liver known as hepatic steatosis.

The findings, published today in eLife, are important because the condition affects roughly one-fourth of people in the United States and Europe. While heavy drinking is often associated with liver problems, people with little or no history of alcohol use comprise that 25%, which is why their illness is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD.

Resistance to insulin, the hormone that helps control blood sugar levels, is a risk factor for NAFLD, as are obesity, a high-fat diet and elevated levels of fat in the blood. The liver helps the body process nutrients and also acts as a filter for the circulatory system, and too much fat in the liver can lead to inflammation and liver failure.

In a mouse-model study, Oregon State researchers led by Adrian Gombart showed that the compounds xanthohumol and tetrahydroxanthohumol, abbreviated to XN and TXN, can mitigate diet-induced accumulation of fat in the liver.

XN is a prenylated flavonoid produced by hops, the plant that gives beer its flavor and color, and TXN is a hydrogenated derivative of XN.

In the study, 60 mice were randomly assigned to one of five groups - low-fat diet, high-fat diet, high-fat diet supplemented by XN, high-fat diet supplemented by more XN, and high-fat diet supplemented by TXN.

The scientists found that TXN helped put the brakes on the weight gain associated with a high-fat diet and also helped stabilize blood sugar levels, both factors in thwarting the buildup of fat in the liver.

"We demonstrated that TXN was very effective in suppressing the development and progression of hepatic steatosis caused by diet," said Gombart, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the OSU College of Science and a principal investigator at the Linus Pauling Institute. "TXN appeared to be more effective than XN perhaps because significantly higher levels of TXN are able to accumulate in the liver, but XN can slow progression of the condition as well, at the higher dose."

The mechanism behind the compounds' effectiveness involves PPARγ, a nuclear receptor protein - one that regulates gene expression. PPARγ controls glucose metabolism and the storage of fatty acids, and the genes it activates stimulate the creation of fat cells from stem cells.

XN and TXN act as "antagonists" for PPARγ - they bind to the protein without sending it into action, unlike a PPARγ agonist, which would activate it as well as bind to it. The upshot of antagonism in this case is less fat collecting in the liver.

"Activated PPAR? in liver stimulates storage of lipids and our data suggest that XN and TXN block activation and greatly reduce expression of the genes the promote lipid storage in the liver," Gombart elaborated. "These findings are consistent with studies that show weaker PPARγ agonists are more effective at treating hepatic steatosis than strong agonists. In other words, lower PPARγ activation in the liver may be beneficial."

TXN was better at accumulating in the liver than XN, which may explain why it was more effective in reducing lipids, but the difference in tissue accumulation is not fully understood.

"It may be because XN is metabolized by the host and its gut microbiota more than TXN is, but additional studies are needed to figure that out," Gombart said. "Also, while XN and TXN are effective preventative approaches in rodents, future studies need to determine if the compounds can treat existing obesity in humans. But our findings suggest antagonism of PPARγ in the liver is a logical approach to prevent and treat diet-induced liver steatosis and related metabolic disorders, and they support further development of XN and TXN as low-cost therapeutic compounds."

INDIANAPOLIS - Much needs to be accomplished during the short time a primary care physician sees a patient. A new study from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Regenstrief Institute and IUPUI researchers reports that electronic health records (EHRs) are not rising to the challenges faced by primary care physicians because EHRs have not been designed or tailored to their specific needs. The study, a review and analysis of research on the topic conducted from 2012 to 2020, recommends implementing a human factor approach for the design or redesign of EHR user interfaces.

"The human mind can do many things well. Digesting vast amounts of patient information while multitasking in time-constrained situations exposes a limitation. EHR technology should be able to complement or enhance physicians' abilities in these scenarios," said Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist April Savoy, PhD, who led the new study. "But current EHRs are overloading primary care physicians with information in disparate files and folders rather than presenting comprehensive, actionable data in a context that gives meaning.

"Technology needs to adapt to humans' needs, abilities, and limitations in healthcare delivery as it has in other domains. You can get the most advanced technology available - the fastest car, the smartest cell phone -- but if it is not useful or if usability fails, users should not be forced to change their approach or work. The technology should be redesigned. Similarly, EHRs should be redesigned to improve situation awareness for busy primary care physicians and support their tasks including reviewing patient information, care coordination, and shared decision-making."

Dr. Savoy is a health services researcher and human factors engineer. She notes that it can be easier for consumers to search online and order a pair of shoes in a desired size, color and style, than for primary care clinicians to order a specialty consult or medication refill. When interacting with EHRs, primary care physicians are typically faced with numerous impediments. For example, they are forced to navigate through multiple systems and tabs to find information, increasing redundancy and decreasing efficiency. EHRs' lack of desired features ranges from advanced features such as interoperability to simple features such as auto-save, which are often default capabilities or added conveniences for online shopping.

She adds that EHRs have been tailored for specialists, operating rooms and hospitals but there has been a lack of attention, tailoring and design to fit the specific needs of the primary care physician whose effective decision-making is grounded in perception and comprehension of a patient's dynamic situation. For example, a primary care physician's decision to deprescribe (or stop) a medication could be informed by one measure or trends of patient's blood pressure or cholesterol levels and other medications taken over a month. This type of information has implications for the patient's future health trajectory.

"Electronic health records' support for primary care physicians' situation awareness: Metanarrative review" is published online ahead of print in Human Factors, the Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Authors, in addition to Dr. Savoy, are Himalaya Patel, PhD; Daniel R. Murphy, M.D., MBA; Ashley N.D. Meyer, PhD; Jennifer Herout, PhD; Hardeep Singh, M.D., MPH, all with the VA. The study was funded by the Human Factors Engineering Directorate in the Office of Health Informatics, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

To understand the extent to which EHRs support primary care physicians, the authors reviewed and analyzed studies describing EHR workflow misalignments, usability issues and communication challenges. Significant difficulties were reported related to obtaining clinical information from EHRs. Lab results and care plans were often incomplete, untimely or irrelevant. The study also included review of common clinical decisions and tasks related to care management of adult patients that are typically not supported by clinical decision support tools such as whether to start palliative care, predicting quality of life and recovery time, and tracking progress toward patients' stated goals.

The authors conducted a metanarrative analysis which is more inclusive and open ended than a metanalysis. They found that primary care physicians' experiences using EHRs often included redundant interaction and information overload, which they note could be remediated by incorporating user-centered design principles into future EHR design, development and evaluation.

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have developed new technology that allows people to see clearly in the dark, revolutionising night-vision.

The first-of-its-kind thin film, described in a new article published in Advanced Photonics, is ultra-compact and one day could work on standard glasses.

The researchers say the new prototype tech, based on nanoscale crystals, could be used for defence, as well as making it safer to drive at night and walking home after dark.

The team also say the work of police and security guards - who regularly employ night vision - will be easier and safer, reducing chronic neck injuries from currently bulk night-vision devices.

"We have made the invisible visible," lead researcher Dr Rocio Camacho Morales said.

"Our technology is able to transform infrared light, normally invisible to the human eye, and turn this into images people can clearly see - even at distance.

"We've made a very thin film, consisting of nanometre-scale crystals, hundreds of times thinner than a human hair, that can be directly applied to glasses and acts as a filter, allowing you to see in the darkness of the night."

The technology is extremely lightweight, cheap and easy to mass produce, making them accessible to everyday users.

Currently, high-end infrared imaging tech requires cryogenic freezing to work and are costly to produce. This new tech works at room temperatures.

Dragomir Neshev, Director of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) and ANU Professor in Physics, said the new tech used meta-surfaces, or thin films, to manipulate light in new ways.

"This is the first time anywhere in the world that infrared light has been successfully transformed into visible images in an ultra-thin screen," Professor Neshev said.

"It's a really exciting development and one that we know will change the landscape for night vision forever."

The new tech has been developed by an international team of researchers from TMOS, ANU, Nottingham Trent University, UNSW and European partners.

Mohsen Rahmani, the Leader of the Advanced Optics and Photonics Lab in Nottingham Trent University's School of Science and Technology, led the development of the nanoscale crystal films.

"We previously demonstrated the potential of individual nanoscale crystals, but to exploit them in our everyday life we had to overcome enormous challenges to arrange the crystals in an array fashion," he said.

"While this is the first proof-of-concept experiment, we are actively working to further advance the technology."

Rising numbers of liver cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has led experts at Flinders University to call for more programs, including mobile liver clinics and ultrasound in rural and remote Australia.

The Australian study just published in international Lancet journal EClinicalMedicine reveals the survival difference was largely accounted for by factors other than Indigenous status - including rurality, comorbidity burden and lack of curative therapy.

The study of liver cancer, or Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), included 229 Indigenous and 3587 non-Indigenous HCC cases in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

"The major finding was important differences in cofactors for HCC between Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients, with Indigenous patients more frequently having multiple cofactors for HCC such as hepatitis B, diabetes and alcohol misuse," says Flinders University Professor Alan Wigg, who led the investigation.

While cancer care is difficult to deliver to remote Australia, he says HCC is preventable with surveillance.

"What is needed is a culturally appropriate model of care that in rural communities that screens for liver disease and identifies at risk patients," says Professor Wigg, who also is Head of Hepatology and Liver Transplant Medicine Unit at the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network in South Australia.

"At-risk patients need regular six-monthly high-quality liver ultrasound surveillance, which supports a model of care involving mobile liver clinics using fibro-scans and liver ultrasound."

This latest research confirms both the incidence and mortality are about 2.6 fold higher in Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous Australians.

Liver disease and HCC is the sixth most common cause of death and HCC is the second most common cause of cancer death in Indigenous Australians.

Other important associations with HCC in Indigenous Australians included a higher comorbidity burden, lower socioeconomic status, younger age at onset, higher proportion of females and poorer five-year survival rates.

"Our study shows the majority of HCC cases in Indigenous Australians occurred in patients living outside of metropolitan areas, to help address the problem of liver disease and HCC and to design effective interventions to reduce the morbidity and mortality from these diseases," says co-author Professor Patricia Valery, who leads the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute's Cancer and Chronic Disease research group.

"This suggests that lower access to care may be contributing to poorer survival in these patients.

"The study findings highlight that there is still more work to do on interventions to reduce Indigenous mortality from liver disease and HCC," she says.