Culture

A new study lead by GSI scientists and international colleagues investigates black-hole formation in neutron star mergers. Computer simulations show that the properties of dense nuclear matter play a crucial role, which directly links the astrophysical merger event to heavy-ion collision experiments at GSI and FAIR. These properties will be studied more precisely at the future FAIR facility. The results have now been published in Physical Review Letters. With the award of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for the theoretical description of black holes and for the discovery of a supermassive object at the center of our galaxy the topic currently also receives a lot of attention.

But under which conditions does a black hole actually form? This is the central question of a study lead by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt within an international collaboration. Using computer simulations, the scientists focus on a particular process to form black holes namely the merging of two neutron stars (simulation movie).

Neutron stars consists of highly compressed dense matter. The mass of one and a half solar masses is squeezed to the size of just a few kilometers. This corresponds to similar or even higher densities than in the inner of atomic nuclei. If two neutron stars merge, the matter is additionally compressed during the collision. This brings the merger remnant on the brink to collapse to a black hole. Black holes are the most compact objects in the universe, even light cannot escape, so these objects cannot be observed directly.

"The critical parameter is the total mass of the neutron stars. If it exceeds a certain threshold the collapse to a black hole is inevitable" summarizes Dr. Andreas Bauswein from the GSI theory department. However, the exact threshold mass depends on the properties of highly dense nuclear matter. In detail these properties of high-density matter are still not completely understood, which is why research labs like GSI collide atomic nuclei - like a neutron star merger but on a much smaller scale. In fact, the heavy-ion collisions lead to very similar conditions as mergers of neutron stars. Based on theoretical developments and physical heavy-ion experiments, it is possible to compute certain models of neutron star matter, so-call equations of state.

Employing numerous of these equations of state, the new study calculated the threshold mass for black-hole formation. If neutron star matter or nuclear matter, respectively, is easily compressible - if the equation of state is "soft" - already the merger a relatively light neutron stars leads to the formation of a black hole. If nuclear matter is "stiffer" and less compressible, the remnant is stabilized against the so-called gravitational collapse and a massive rotating neutron star remnant forms from the collision. Hence, the threshold mass for collapse itself informs about properties of high-density matter. The new study revealed furthermore that the threshold to collapse may even clarify whether during the collision nucleon dissolve into their constituents, the quarks.

"We are very excited about this results because we expect that future observations can reveal the threshold mass" adds Professor Nikolaos Stergioulas of the department of physics of the Aristotle University Thessaloniki in Greece. Just a few years ago a neutron star merger was observed for the first time by measuring gravitational waves from the collision. Telescopes also found the "electromagnetic counterpart" and detected light from the merger event. If a black hole is directly formed during the collision, the optical emission of the merger is pretty dim. Thus, the observational data indicates if a black hole was created. At the same time the gravitational-wave signal carries information about the total mass of the system. The more massive the stars the stronger is the gravitational-wave signal, which thus allows determining the threshold mass.

While gravitational-wave detectors and telescopes wait for the next neutron star mergers, the course is being set in Darmstadt for knowledge that is even more detailed. The new accelerator facility FAIR, currently under construction at GSI, will create conditions, which are even more similar to those in neutron star mergers. Finally, only the combination of astronomical observations, computer simulations and heavy-ion experiments can settle the questions about the fundamental building blocks of matter and their properties, and, by this, they will also clarify how the collapse to a black hole occurs.

Stress and overload in the workplace are increasing worldwide and are often considered a cause of burnout. Indeed, a new study shows that work stress and burnout are mutually reinforcing. However, contrary to popular belief, burnout has a much greater impact on work stress than vice versa. "This means that the more severe a person's burnout becomes, the more stressed they will feel at work, such as being under time pressure, for example," said Professor Christian Dormann of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Employees suffering from burnout should be timely provided with adequate support in order to break the vicious circle between work stress and burnout.

Symptoms of burnout include exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced performance. "The most important burnout symptom is the feeling of total exhaustion - to the extent that it cannot be remedied by normal recovery phases of an evening, a weekend, or even a vacation," said Dormann. "To protect themselves from further exhaustion, some try to build a psychological distance to their work, that is, they alienate themselves from their work as well as the people associated with it and become more cynical," added Dr. Christina Guthier. She conducted the study as part of her doctoral thesis in Dormann's research group and was awarded with the dissertation prize of the Alfred Teves Foundation in 2020. The study has recently been published in Psychological Bulletin.

For the joint publication with Professor Christian Dormann and Professor Manuel Völkle of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Christina Guthier evaluated 48 longitudinal studies of burnout and work stress comprising 26,319 participants. The average age in the initial survey was about 42 years, 44 percent of the respondents were men. The longitudinal studies from 1986 to 2019 came from various countries, including predominantly European countries as well as Israel, the USA, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, China, and Taiwan.

Stopping the downward spiral and reducing the effect of burnout on work stress

The results challenge, or at least relativize, the common perception that work stress is the driving force behind burnout. "Burnout can be triggered by a work situation, but that is not always the case," Dormann pointed out. Once burnout begins, it develops only very gradually, building up slowly over time. Ultimately it leads to work being increasingly perceived as stressful: The amount of work is too much, time is too short, and work stress is too great. "When exhausted, the ability to cope with stress usually decreases. As a result, even smaller tasks can be perceived as significantly more strenuous," explained Guthier, the first author of the article. "We expected an effect of burnout on work stress; the strength of the effect was very surprising," she noted. The effect of burnout on perceived work stress can be somewhat mitigated if employees have more control over their own work and receive support from colleagues or superiors.

According to Dormann, a new research area is emerging on the basis of this unique data because the strong boomerang effect of burnout on work stress has not yet been investigated. Key questions that need to be addressed are: how can the effects of burnout on perceived work stress be reduced and how can the development of this vicious circle be prevented? Dormann and Guthier suggest that the place to start is with management behavior. Employees should have the opportunity to give feedback on their work stress at any time and be appreciated. Last but not least, proper recovery could also help to stop the downward spiral.

Heart attacks strike suddenly and have a range of different triggers. Researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) were able to uncover a further underlying cause. Studying arterial deposits (plaque) in patients with acute coronary syndrome, the researchers found that, in some patients, these were characterized by activated immune cells which, as a result of altered flow conditions within the vessel, had accumulated on the interior arterial wall, causing damage to the arterial lining. The researchers' report on this novel immune system-mediated pathophysiological mechanism has been published in the European Heart Journal*.

Acute coronary syndrome (also known as heart attack) is a life-threatening condition which is characterized by impaired blood flow to the heart and is caused by a blockage or narrowing of the coronary arteries. Arterial deposits (known as plaque) represent a major contributing factor, as they can give rise to blood clots, which can detach and block the coronary arteries. What triggers the formation of blood clots - and thus the subsequent heart attack - remains to be fully elucidated. For a long time, researchers had thought that these blood clots were exclusively caused by damage to the fibrous cap, a connective tissue layer which surrounds the deposit and whose rupture results in the release of debris. More recent data, however, suggest that blood clots can also originate from plaques whose fibrous cap remains intact. For the first time, researchers from Charité's Department of Cardiology on Campus Benjamin Franklin and from DZHK have shown the manner in which this type of 'plaque erosion' can help trigger heart attack.

As part of the OPTICO-ACS study program, the research teams - led by study lead Prof. Dr. David M. Leistner and Head of Department Prof. Dr. Ulf Landmesser - investigated a total of 170 patients with acute coronary syndrome. The researchers found that, in approximately 25 percent of patients, the acute coronary syndrome had been caused by plaque erosion rather than plaque rupture. "Our study is the first to elucidate the manner in which plaque erosion can trigger heart attack. Areas of plaque erosion were characterized by the presence of special, activated immune cells known as T-lymphocytes. Altered arterial blood flow enables these cells to accumulate in the coronary artery wall, causing damage to the inner lining," says first author Prof. Leistner.

Using special high-resolution imaging technology known as optical coherence tomography (OCT), the researchers were able to visualize the heart attack-causing plaques for classification into the 'plaque rupture' and 'plaque erosion' trigger categories. Using an aspiration catheter, the researchers then removed the blood clots for analysis. They also collected blood samples, which were tested for immune cells and markers of inflammation. Blood clot analysis revealed altered immune cell ratios in approximately one quarter of blood clots, namely those which had originated from sites of plaque erosion. These showed increased levels of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes and their effector molecules, a finding which suggests an inflammatory response that causes damage to endothelial cells in the arterial wall. In these patients, the culprit blood clots were also found near sites of arterial branching, an environment which is known to create altered blood flow patterns. Prof. Leistner adds: "In the hope of reinforcing our patient-based observations - and in keeping with our translational approach - we also used cell culture experiments, which enabled us to confirm our findings."

What this means is that heart attacks can have different pathophysiological causes. One of the key features of this newly described mechanism is a misguided adaptive immune response. Summing up the significance of the research, Prof. Landmesser (also BIH Professor) says: "Given that the use of immunomodulation has proven to be both safe and effective within cardiovascular medicine, this certainly holds great promise in terms of research into more personalized treatments for different forms of acute coronary syndrome which may even be able to prevent clinical complications." In pursuit of the ability to influence the immune system in a targeted manner, the researchers plan to conduct a more detailed study of the precise role of the T-lymphocytes involved and how they accumulate inside blood vessels.

There was no significant difference with regard to vitamin B12, which was present in approximately the same amount in the blood of both groups. Since vitamin B12 is taken up almost exclusively by animal food, the supply of participants following a vegan diet could be due to the intake via dietary supplements. "This study makes it possible to compare a vegan diet with a mixed diet with regard to a variety vitamins and trace elements," says BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. "Both diets investigated revealed a lack of iodine. However, the shortage is clearly more distinct in the vegan variant."

n the RBVD study, the BfR research team analysed blood and urine samples and evaluated lifestyle questionnaires and dietary protocols. Of those participating (18 women and men respectively per group aged 30-60 years), almost all those following a vegan diet and one third following a mixed diet took different food supplements.

The study results were particularly noteworthy with regard to the trace element iodine. Iodine excretion measured in urine samples provides information on how well the body is supplied with the trace element. The majority of the participants had a deficiency. The deficiency was significantly more pronounced among vegans - in one third of them, the level was below 20 micrograms per litre (μg/L), the limit defined by the World Health Organization (WHO); anything below this represents a serious shortage. A vegan diet has, however, also shown health benefits, such as a higher fibre intake and lower cholesterol levels. For both diets, about 10% of participants had an iron deficiency.

In the Europe-wide FIThydro project, TalTech researchers worked with industry partners to study existing hydroelectric power plants. Together with researchers across Europe, they developed new assessment methods and technologies with the goal of making hydropower more fish-friendly and environmentally sustainable.

Hydropower is one of the most important and widely used renewable energy sources. The big advantage: it is far less weather-dependent than wind power and solar energy. However, the use of hydropower plants also involves major interventions in the environment, including the damming of rivers, changes in aquatic habitats, and fish mortality through turbines, spillways or screens.

Reducing these negative ecological effects is one of the objectives of the European Water Framework Directive. However, older hydropower plants in particular often fail to meet these new requirements and need to be retrofitted before their certification can be renewed. The decision on economically viable measures for implementing these changes have to be made individually for every hydropower plant, "It is important to tailor existing solutions to the site-specific factors of each plant," explains Prof. Peter Rutschmann from the Technical University of Munich and coordinator of the FIThydro project.

Studying hydropower plants across Europe

In the four-year EU project FIThydro (Fishfriendly Innovation Technologies for Hydropower), a work group made up of 26 European research institutions and companies studied the effects of hydropower plants on ecosystems and in particular fish at 17 test sites in eight countries. "It was important to us that the test sites reflect the diverse geographical, hydromorphological and climate conditions so that our results would be applicable to a wide range of hydropower plants in Europe," explains Prof. Rutschmann.

"Electronic fish" measure turbine passage

There are also gaps in the existing knowledge on effective upstream and downstream fish migration measures - such as which fish ladders are suitable for which species or which conditions are ideal for fish to find them. During downstream migration, fish can swim through the hydropower turbines and, apart from the risk of injury from the turbine blades, are exposed to enormous pressure changes. "With these sensors, we can test the extreme conditions fish and other aquatic life experience passing through turbines. This can help to reduce the number of live fish experiments needed, and provide operators with new insights into how they can make their facilities more fish-friendly" explains Dr. Jeffrey Tuhtan, who leads the sensor team at TalTech.

To compare the sensors with the experience of live fish, colleagues from INBO Belgium together with TalTech investigated the multispecies risk of injury and mortality during downstream passage through a large Archimedes hydrodynamic screw for bream (Abramis brama), eel (Anguilla anguilla), and roach (Rutilus rutilus) in conjunction with passive sensors that record the pressure, acceleration, and rate of rotation. "Our work came up with several new ways to assess downstream passage for fish and sensors including the times and durations of impact events, the kinetic energies of translation and rotation, and the pressure gradient" said Dr. Ine Pauwels from INBO. The team found that the screws were not always fish-friendly and proposed concrete ways to improve the situation for both operators and fish.

Decision making tools for hydropower operators

Along with the risk analysis and assessment of hydropower plants, the second part of the project explored possible measures to retrofit hydropower plant - as well as decision making tools for hydropower operators and planners. "These decisions are highly complex," says Prof. Rutschmann. "The hydropower plant and the site-specific conditions play a role. But it is also necessary to comply with regulatory standards on the national and EU level. And for the operators it is of course important for the measures to be effective and cost-efficient."

Open-access online tools

One of the main results of the project is the FIThydro Decision Support System that can be used when planning and assessing hydropower plants. The user can enter data on the type of the power plant, its location, the fish populations present in the waterways and other characteristics. Taking into account environmental policy requirements and international regulatory guidelines, the software then analyses the data to calculate the level of environmental risk and the fish population hazard and recommends mitigation measures.

A wiki has also been created in the project. "There are different practices in every country, but the knowledge exchange is not yet where it should be," says Prof. Rutschmann. "For example, people are often unaware of measures that have been tried out and found to be efficient elsewhere. We hope that the wiki will support the networking of knowledge."

The study was initiated in 2018 by three researchers who have an established interest in Indigenous issues - Daria Khanolainen, Elena Semenova (both working at Kazan Federal University), and Yulia Nesterova (who at the time was completing her PhD at the University of Hong Kong). Yulia, who is now a research fellow at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, has conducted extensive research in a number of countries across the world (for example, Brazil, Ethiopia, Taiwan) focusing her work on the rights, education, and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples. Daria and Elena invited Yulia to join the project that would critically evaluate education offered to Indigenous peoples in the Republics of Karelia and Mari El (two Russian regions). The project is still ongoing, and more articles are expected to come out in the nearest future.

Ten Karelian and ten Mari people volunteered to participate in in-depth semi-structured interviews. As a result, the study identified a number of elements that can help to better understand Indigenous education in Russia. The findings show that while Mari participants had formal and informal educational opportunities to learn about their culture, identity, history, traditions, and to transmit the language than Karelian participants, both groups' education about their Indigenous roots and related matters was fragmented and unsystematic, both at home and in school. While some Mari and Karelian people sought opportunities to learn about their respective groups, the majority felt relieved that they did not have to address, discuss and reveal, what was at the time, a stigmatised and shamed Indigenous identity that led to discrimination. As children, many chose to abandon their roots, cultures, and languages to assimilate into the dominant society in order not to stand out. Now, however, many reportedly value and embrace their cultures, identities, and languages, and wish for more educational opportunities to strengthen and promote those. The participants believe in the importance of incorporating Indigenous material in the school curricular to encourage and support children's learning about their roots, histories, and cultures. They also believe that such education should be extended to include majority population so that they could understand Indigenous cultures and the need to protect them.

Based on the findings, researchers have come up with a list of recommendations that would support the development of education systems and educational opportunities in the Republic of Mari El and the Republic of Karelia in accordance with the wishes and needs of their Indigenous communities. The main recommendation is to ensure that Indigenous people themselves are owners of educational and learning programs that aim to support their learning and language revival. This way, policymakers can ensure that programmes are context-specific, address the issue at hand, and there is community buy-in.

Researchers plan to extend their project by developing a survey based on their qualitative findings. They also consider the possibility of expanding the project to include other Indigenous groups that live in Russia and partner with researchers in other countries to conduct cross-country analysis of Indigenous education.

CABI scientists have mapped the potential global spread of the devastating papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus), highlighting new areas in Africa, Asia and the Americas into which this pest could potentially invade.

The papaya mealybug, which is native to Mexico and Central America, can have severe impacts upon livelihoods and food security. In Ghana, for example, infestations led to a 65% yield loss which reduced export earnings and resulted in the loss of 1,700 jobs.

Using location data received through collaborations with Kerala Agricultural University, India; the National Rice Research Institute, India; the Bangladesh Agricultural University; University of Queensland, Australia; the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA); Fujan Agriculture and Forestry University in China and CSIRO, researchers were able to model the potential distribution of this pest, taking into account environmental conditions, and the distribution of suitable host crops and irrigation patterns.

The researchers, led by CABI's Dr Elizabeth Finch, believe the polyphagous insect pest, which affects over 200 plants including economically important crops such as papaya, cassava and avocado, could spread to areas such as the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Cameroon, Zambia, Madagascar and western Ethiopia which are environmentally suitable and have suitable crop hosts.

In the Americas, the research, published in the journal Pest Management Science, suggests papaya mealybug could extend into El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama - although the scientists believe it could already be in these locations but its presence is yet to be confirmed.

Whilst papaya mealybug is already present in Florida, where it is under successful control as a result of the release of endoparasitoid wasp species - Acerophagus papayae, Anagyrus loecki, Anagyrus californicus - suitable conditions for this pest are also present in the southern tip of Texas.

Conditions are likely to be too cold in the rest of the USA for permanent papaya mealybug populations, however the research showed that seasonal populations could survive in California, along the Pacific coastline and in the central and eastern states of the USA during the warmer summer months.

In Asia, the areas with suitable conditions were more expansive than the areas with known populations of papaya mealybug, suggesting the potential for further expansion of papaya mealybug specifically in India, Southeast Asia and the southern regions of the Guangxi and Guangdong provinces of southern China.

However, in Australasia the risk is low as only a small amount of fragmented land along the north-eastern side of Queensland, from the very northern tip of Queensland to Bundaberg, is climatically suitable. This is due to heat stress from the high temperatures on the continent.

Similarly, in Europe - though due to cold rather than heat stress - widespread distribution of papaya mealybug is not expected, with only a very small area of land surrounding Seville in Spain and around Sicily in Italy having suitable conditions for resident populations.

Dr Finch said, "This pest has been so successful due to its quick development and prolific reproductive capacity. It has the potential to spread to new areas and rapidly reach high numbers unless suitable phytosanitary or control methods are implemented.

"Information about the papaya mealybug's potential distribution is important as it can highlight key areas susceptible to invasion, giving an early warning to decision makers, allowing them to put into place phytosanitary measures to prevent or slow the invasion of the pest into their jurisdiction."

Dr Finch added, "In areas where the papaya mealybug has become established and reached a high enough population density, the use of parasitoids - such as Acerophagus papayae and Anagyrus loecki - remains an effective potential control method.

"Further ecological niche modelling of these parasitoid species is recommended to anticipate their survival, fitness and ultimate biological control impact in areas into which papaya mealybug could potentially expand and become established."

For the first time, new research conducted by SISSA and by the University of Roma Tre identifies narrative markers of gambling addiction and paves the way to innovative approaches for therapy and prevention.

How do people affected by pathological gambling tell their story? What information can we extract from their narratives? For the first time, a study conducted by SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati and by the University of Roma Tre has analysed in detail the words and linguistic constructions used by people suffering from gambling. The researchers identified several characteristic elements of their emotional and cognitive state in the different stages of the disorder. The study, published in Addictive disorders and their treatment, opens up new scenarios for the development of recovery and prevention paths based on linguistic skills.

Sharing personal experiences with friends or relatives, through storytelling, is an exercise that many of us do every day. Yet personal narratives are by no means a trivial process. They help us to order and give meaning to our story, allowing us to integrate the different aspects of our psychic experience, of the different times - past, present and future - in which our mind lives.

The words that an individual uses when they narrate a fact or describe an inner condition reflect their psychological states and represent their particular cognitive and emotional style, personality traits, as well as any symptoms of psychological disorders they may suffer from. That is why the story of self is also an important access route to emotional and cognitive processes used in research and therapeutic contexts.

For the first time, a group of researchers of SISSA and of the University of Roma Tre analysed the narratives of patients suffering from gambling addiction in order to identify the most common problems and provide possible innovative treatments.

In particular, the scholars interviewed 30 individuals suffering from a gambling disorder and undergoing therapy in public services in the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The interviews, done in a semi-structured form, dealt with various aspects of their experience with gambling, from the compulsive trait, to the attempts to control desire, from addiction triggers to those useful for achieving abstinence and regaining control.

The investigators went on to analyse the words used by the patients with LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count), the most widely used software for computational linguistic studies. "We identified different linguistic markers of the emotional and cognitive problems of gamblers, which vary in the different phases of the addiction," says Stefano Canali, researcher at the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of SISSA and at the Cosmic Lab of the University of Roma Tre, responsible for the study. "The most evident among all is the total absence of words and sentences referring to the future. This is probably both an indication and a cause of the difficulty gamblers have in thinking about the effects of impulsive and risky behaviour on their future."

Another narrative marker identified by the study was the contemporary use of expressions in first person and in passive form to talk about their relationship with gambling. "It is as if the subject feels as being an 'agent' and responsible for the gambling behaviour and, at the same time, as being 'acted upon', dragged by desire and automatism. This narrative contradiction is a clear indication of a fragmented self," states Canali. "Lastly, these indicators are accompanied by an extreme difficulty to describe emotional experiences connected with the desire to gamble and the loss of control. This narrative deficit seems to improve with the therapeutic route."

"This is a pilot study which has allowed us to show the importance of language analysis in understanding the psychological functions involved in addictions," Canali concludes. "Clinically speaking, narrative markers can be a new support tool in the therapeutic process, as well as a possible means to recognise individuals at risk. Furthermore, they pave the way for the use of techniques to strengthen narrative skills as complementary strategies in the treatment of addictions, similar to those which are being tested for example with patients suffering from autism."

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus RNA genome structure was studied in detail by researchers from the University of Groningen, the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, and Leiden University. The RNA structures are potential targets for the development of drugs against the virus. The results were published on 10 November as 'Breakthrough paper' in the journal Nucleic Acid Research.

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses have been around throughout the history of mankind. Over the past 18 years, many deaths worldwide have occurred because of severe acute respiratory syndromes caused by coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS. This, together with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has already taken more than a million lives, demonstrates the urgent need for new ways of combating coronavirus infections.

Genome structure

COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a beta coronavirus with a linear single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome. Similar to those in other RNA viruses, the SARS-CoV-2 RNA structures are expected to play a crucial role in how the coronavirus replicates in human cells. Despite this importance, only a handful of functionally relevant coronavirus structural RNA elements have been studied to date. Therefore, researchers from the IIMCB (Poland), together with scientists from the University of Groningen and Leiden University (both in the Netherlands), performed an extensive characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome structure using various advanced techniques.

The study, coordinated by Dr Danny Incarnato from the University of Groningen, involved RNA structure probing to obtain single-base resolution secondary structure maps of the full SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus genome both in vitro and in living infected cells. Subsequently, the team identified at least 87 regions in the SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequence that appear to form well-defined compact structures. Of these, at least 10% are under strong evolutionary selection pressure among coronaviruses, suggesting functional relevance. Importantly, this is the first time that the structure of the entire coronavirus RNA (one of the longest viral RNAs with approximately 30,000 nucleotides) was determined.

Drug

'We first identified the structures in vitro, and subsequently confirmed their presence in the RNA of viruses inside cells,' explains Incarnato. 'This means that our results are very robust.' Also, pockets were identified in some RNA structures that could be targeted by small molecules to hamper the function of the viral RNA. 'Furthermore, a number of the structures are conserved between different coronaviruses, meaning that a successful drug targeting SARS-CoV-2 could also be effective against future new virus strains .'

The scientists also identified parts of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA that are intrinsically unstructured. 'These could be targeted by antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics,' explains Incarnato. Adding short nucleic acid strands that can bind to these viral RNA sections would create double-stranded regions, which are naturally targeted by enzymes inside human cells.

Weak spots

In conclusion, this collaborative research establishes a firm foundation for future work aimed at developing potential small-molecule drugs for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections and possibly also infections by other coronaviruses. 'This work would not have been possible without the collaboration between the Netherlands and Poland,' says Janusz Bujnicki, head of the Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Protein Engineering at the IIMCB in Warsaw. 'Together, we invented a new way of searching for potential weak spots in large viral RNAs. Collectively, our work lays the foundation for the development of innovative RNA-targeted therapeutic strategies to fight SARS-CoV-2 infections.'

The article describing the results of these analyses has been published in Nucleic Acids Research and reviewers who evaluated the manuscript nominated it for featured status as a 'breakthrough paper'.

Reference: Ilaria Manfredonia, Chandran Nithin, Almudena Ponce-Salvatierra, Pritha Ghosh, Tomasz K. Wirecki, Tycho Marinus, Natacha S. Ogando, Eric J. Snider, Martijn J. van Hemert, Janusz M. Bujnicki, Danny Incarnato: Genome-wide mapping of therapeutically-relevant SARS-CoV-2 RNA structures. Nucleic Acids Research, 10 November 2020

Relapse in people with bipolar disorder can be predicted accurately by their tendency towards having pessimistic beliefs, according to a study published today in eLife.

The results could provide an urgently needed tool for doctors to predict upcoming relapse and provide timely treatment.

Bipolar disorder is characterised by successive periods of elation (mania) and depression, interspersed with asymptomatic phases, called euthymia. People who have shorter periods of asymptomatic euthymia are more likely to suffer disability, unemployment, hospitalisation and increased suicidal feelings. However, predicting relapses using existing clinical diagnostic tools or demographic information has proven largely ineffective in bipolar disorder.

"It is already known that people with depression tend to give negative information more weight than positive information, leading to pessimistic views that may make symptoms worse," explains lead author Paolo Ossola, Research Fellow at the Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Italy. "We wanted to test the idea that, before symptomatic relapse occurs in bipolar disorder, patients show a specific pattern in the way they update their beliefs according to new information, and this pattern makes them more vulnerable to relapse."

The team carried out a belief update task with 36 people with bipolar disorder and then monitored them every two months for five years to see when they developed symptoms of a relapse. In the belief update task, patients were given information about 40 adverse life events, such as robbery or credit card fraud. They were asked to estimate how likely they thought the event was to happen to them.

Next, they were given information on the real probability of the event happening. In some cases, they received bad news (for example, a higher chance of a robbery than they thought) and in some cases, good news (for example, they were less likely to be a victim of card fraud than they thought). In a second later session they were asked again to estimate their own likelihood of encountering the event. The difference between how much they updated their beliefs in response to good or bad news (called the belief update bias) was then compared with how soon they had a relapse.

The analysis showed that people who had a greater change in their beliefs in response to positive information, and were more likely to take an optimistic view, had a longer time period before the next onset of symptoms. However, the task did not predict whether the next episode was likely to be mania or depression.

When tested against other clinical features, such as age, history of psychotic symptoms, and duration of illness, only belief update bias was strongly linked to more time spent in the eurythmic phase, and taking antidepressants was linked with a shorter time spent in eurythmia.

"Our findings show that the extent to which bipolar patients updated their beliefs in response to positive information, compared with negative information, was predictive of when they would relapse," concludes senior author Tali Sharot, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, UK. "The way patients update their beliefs could be introduced in future as a risk prediction tool for bipolar disorder, allowing patients and clinicians to step up vigilance to recognise symptoms and intervene where necessary."

Researchers have discovered a new "hidden" gene in SARS-CoV-2--the virus that causes COVID-19--that may have contributed to its unique biology and pandemic potential. In a virus that only has about 15 genes in total, knowing more about this and other overlapping genes--or "genes within genes"--could have a significant impact on how we combat the virus. The new gene is described today in the journal eLife.

"Overlapping genes may be one of an arsenal of ways in which coronaviruses have evolved to replicate efficiently, thwart host immunity, or get themselves transmitted," said lead author Chase Nelson, a postdoctoral researcher at Academia Sinica in Taiwan and a visiting scientist at the American Museum of Natural History. "Knowing that overlapping genes exist and how they function may reveal new avenues for coronavirus control, for example through antiviral drugs."

The research team identified ORF3d, a new overlapping gene in SARS-CoV-2 that has the potential to encode a protein that is longer than expected by chance alone. They found that this gene is also present in a previously discovered pangolin coronavirus, perhaps reflecting repeated loss or gain of this gene during the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses. In addition, ORF3d has been independently identified and shown to elicit a strong antibody response in COVID-19 patients, demonstrating that the new gene's protein is manufactured during human infection.

"We don't yet know its function or if there's clinical significance," Nelson said. "But we predict this gene is relatively unlikely to be detected by a T-cell response, in contrast to the antibody response. And maybe that has something to do with how the gene was able to arise."

At first glance, genes can seem like written language in that they are made of strings of letters (in RNA viruses, the nucleotides A, U, G, and C) that convey information. But while the units of language (words) are discrete and non-overlapping, genes can be overlapping and multifunctional, with information cryptically encoded depending on where you start "reading." Overlapping genes are hard to spot, and most scientific computer programs are not designed to find them. However, they are common in viruses. This is partly because RNA viruses have a high mutation rate, so they tend to keep their gene count low to prevent a large number of mutations. As a result, viruses have evolved a sort of data compression system in which one letter in its genome can contribute to two or even three different genes.

"Missing overlapping genes puts us in peril of overlooking important aspects of viral biology," said Nelson. "In terms of genome size, SARS-CoV-2 and its relatives are among the longest RNA viruses that exist. They are thus perhaps more prone to 'genomic trickery' than other RNA viruses."

Prior to the pandemic, while working at the Museum as a Gerstner Scholar in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Nelson developed a computer program that screens genomes for patterns of genetic change that are unique to overlapping genes. For this study, Nelson teamed up with colleagues from institutions including the Technical University of Munich and the University of California, Berkeley, to apply this software and other methods to the wealth of new sequence data available for SARS-CoV-2. The group is hopeful that other scientists will investigate the gene they discovered in the lab to define its function and possibly determine what role it might have played in the emergence of the pandemic virus.

Charlottesville, VA (November 10, 2020). It's 2020, and as much as we wish it weren't so, sexual harassment is still with us. One need only look at social media or a steady stream of court cases: most recently, the #MeToo movement has cast a light on sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment isn't defined by social status, wealth, or educational experience. It affects both women and men. Sexual harassment can be found in the workplace, at social activities, and even in the home. It is also found in the medical specialties.

Do neurosurgeons face sexual harassment in their profession? Yes. We've known this for some time from anecdotal evidence. What we did not know, until now, is the depth and breadth of sexual harassment in this field.

At the behest of the One Neurosurgery Summit, which represents the major neurosurgical organizations in North America, a survey on this matter was developed and disseminated to members of the neurosurgical community. The results of this survey have been published in a new article in the Journal of Neurosurgery: "Toward an understanding of sexual harassment in neurosurgery" by Deborah L. Benzil, MD, and colleagues. "While the results of this study are distressing, having the information will allow us to start some important conversations and continue forward progress!" the lead author has remarked.

Broadly speaking, the survey was designed to elicit the following information: 1) respondents' perceived attitudes about systemic issues in neurosurgery that permit sexual harassment; 2) the prevalence and severity of sexual harassment in the field; and 3) populations at highest risk of experiencing sexual harassment and those most likely to perpetuate it.

The survey was performed using the SurveyMonkey platform, and all responses were collected confidentially and anonymously. To capture respondents from all levels of neurosurgery, emailed invitations were sent to active and resident members of the Society of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), as well as to transitional, emeritus, and inactive members of the CNS. The emails were sent to 5166 persons; 622 (12%) completed the entire survey.

Twenty percent of the survey respondents were female, and this represents a greater percentage than that of women actively engaged in neurosurgery: 19% of residents and 8% of practicing neurosurgeons are female. Looking back over their neurosurgical careers, 62% of respondents reported that they had witnessed sexual harassment and 55% reported that the harassment had been directed against them.

Sexual harassment was demonstrated across several behaviors: "the telling of explicit or offensive jokes (49%) ... unwelcome flirtations (22%), inappropriate physical contact (16%), discussion about sex/personal life (18%), and inappropriate comments about the body (15%). Although rare, rape was reported by 2 individuals (

Of persons who had been subjected to sexual harassment, 78% experienced it during training, 49% during post-residency employment, and 17% while attending national professional or educational meetings. Disappointingly, 37% reported that they had experienced sexual harassment more than 10 times.
One would like to believe that over the years such occurrences have become less frequent. Unfortunately, the authors tell us, "there was a fairly even distribution between less than 1 year and more than 10 years ago."

Fewer than one-third of respondents reported that they had addressed incidents of sexual harassment when they occurred, and 85% reported barriers to reporting incidents, such as fear of retaliation or retribution, negative impact on future careers, loss of reputation, and associated stress.

Given the predominance of men in the neurosurgical community, it is not surprising that men were identified far more often as perpetrators of the harassment (72%).
Female neurosurgeons were more likely to report having witnessed or experienced harassment, but it does affect both women and men. People in positions of power (such as chairs, faculty members, or supervisors) (86%) were most often identified as the persons responsible for the harassment.

"Male dominance, a strong hierarchical structure, and a permissive environment" are associated with the risk of sexual harassment in institutions. Based on the responses to the survey, all three can be found in neurosurgery, despite the fact that the profession has made great strides in the last decade to attract and retain more women. One effect of sexual harassment is that it can deter talented people from following their professional goals. The authors worry that such an atmosphere can lead to female neurosurgeons experiencing burnout and having less involvement in the profession. As Dr. Benzil has commented, "We want the best and brightest to enter and succeed in neurosurgery. The data about sexual harassment suggests we still have work to do."

To counteract the negative behaviors revealed by the survey, the authors suggest a change in the culture of the neurosurgical profession, "starting with an improved awareness of unconscious bias in medical school and reaching every level of organized neurosurgery and leadership." Some practical steps are proposed, such as a profession-wide zero tolerance statement with regard to sexual harassment, fair and transparent mechanisms of reporting its occurrences, establishment of best practices for social events, and greater diversity in speakers, honored guests, and scientific panels.

This paper offers detailed tables showing responses to the survey questions broken down by age or gender, and abundant demographic information on the respondents.
Supplemental online materials include the questionnaire itself as well as written responses by respondents on incidents of sexual harassment that they have faced. These personal accounts are well worth reading.

When asked about the article, Dr. Benzil responded, "Unfortunately, many of us knew how serious this problem was within neurosurgery, but we needed to make all aware of the depth and breadth of it. With this data in hand, we can build on the positive steps neurosurgery has made, face the problem and find effective solutions."

The article is accompanied by an editorial by Drs. Doug Kondziolka and Linda Liau, who discuss some findings of the survey and steps to address and overcome sexual harassment in the neurosurgical community.

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies are no longer hypothetical, yet there are fundamental aspects of the technology that remain unaddressed by both ethicists and policy-makers. Two new papers address these issues by outlining the outstanding ethical issues, offering guidance for addressing those issues, and offering particular insight into the field of BCI tech for cognitive enhancement.

"BCI technologies are devices that detect brain signals conveying intention and translates them into executable output by a computer," says Allen Coin, a graduate student at North Carolina State University and lead author of both papers. "BCI technologies can also provide feedback to the user, reflecting whether he or she attained a goal or completed a desired action."

"BCI devices can be non-invasive devices that users wear, or they can be invasive devices, which are surgically implanted," says Veljko Dubljevi?, an assistant professor in NC State's Science, Technology & Society program and co-author of both papers. "The invasive devices are more efficient, since they can read signals directly from the brain. However, they also raise more ethical concerns.

"For example, invasive BCI technologies carry more associated risks such as surgery, infection, and glial scarring - and invasive BCI devices would be more difficult to replace as technology improves."

Many BCI devices, such as cochlear implants, are already in use. And this field of technology has garnered increased attention due to a company called Neuralink, which is focused on building what it calls a brain-machine interface.

"Neuralink highlights the immediacy of these ethical questions," Dubljevi? says. "We can't put the questions off any more. We need to address them now."

And Dubljevi? would know.

He, Coin and NC State undergraduate Megan Mulder recently published a comprehensive review of the research literature that addresses ethical considerations of BCI. A previous review had been done as recently as 2016, but almost as much research had been done on the ethics of BCI since 2016 as had been done before 2016.

One of the key take-aways from the analysis is that there are two areas that ethicists have not adequately addressed and that should be prioritized for future work: physical effects of BCI and psychological effects.

"On the physical side, there's been little analysis by ethicists of the potential long-term health effects of BCI on users," Coin says. "There's also been inadequate discussion of ethical considerations related to the use of animals in testing invasive BCI technologies. These are, after all, surgical operations."

On the psychological side, researchers found reason for concern - but a lack of ethical analysis. For example, one study evaluated the use of invasive BCI to give patients with epilepsy advanced warning of seizures. While some people adjusted well to the technology, others reported experiencing radical psychological distress.

"This is an issue that must be addressed," Dubljevi? says. "We also need to assess questions on the extent to which users feel the BCI is an empowering extension of their minds, as opposed to challenging their sense of self. These are big questions, not afterthoughts."

"Another thing our review really drove home is that the ethical analysis of BCI has been done by ethicists who are writing almost exclusively for other ethicists," Coin says. "As a result, little of the work is framed in a way that is directly relevant - or even accessible - to policy makers and the public."

The researchers also laid out a constructive framework for guiding future research on the ethics of BCI. At its core is one overarching question: "What would be the most legitimate public policies for regulating the development and use of various BCI neurotechnologies by healthy adults in a reasonably just, though not perfect, democratic society?"

"That question is long, technical, and steeped in scholarship of ethics and policy of new technology, but it's critical to guiding the development of BCIs," Dubljevi? says.

In a separate paper, Coin and Dubljevi? explored issues related to authenticity and machine-augmented intelligence. In this context, authenticity refers to the extent to which an individual feels that their abilities and accomplishments are their own, even if those abilities are augmented by BCI technologies, or their accomplishments were made with the assistance of BCI technologies.

"And machine-augmented intelligence refers to BCI technologies that enhance cognition - which are not yet on the market," Dubljevi? says. "However, they are clearly a goal of BCI developers, including Neuralink."

In this paper, the researchers were focused on the fact that there have been very few concerns about authenticity in the context of cognitive enhancement BCI technologies, despite the fact that these concerns have come up repeatedly in regard to other cognitive enhancement tools - such as drugs that can improve concentration.

In other words, if ethicists care about whether people on "smart drugs" have "earned" their test scores, why don't they have similar concerns about BCIs?

The answer appears to be twofold.

First of all, the majority of the proposed cognitive enhancement BCI devices are therapeutic in nature.

"When a patient receives a cochlear implant, that's a BCI that helps them hear," Coin says. "Nobody questions whether that patient's hearing is authentic. Similarly, cognitive enhancement BCI devices are often presented as similarly therapeutic tools, helping patients overcome a challenge.

"However, we are now hearing more about the potential for BCI devices to enhance cognition in ways that go beyond therapeutic applications, yet there is still limited debate about their authenticity," Coin says. "We think that this is because these BCI technologies are generally envisioned as being implants, which means the device would effectively be a permanent - or semi-permanent - change, or even an extension, to a person's mind. These aren't drugs that wear off. They're there to stay."

"Ultimately, these two papers get at some of the big questions that we need to address as a society about BCI technologies," Dubljevi? says. "The technologies are coming whether we're ready or not. How will we regulate them? Who will have access to them? How can they be used? We need to start thinking about those questions now."

Amsterdam, NL, November 10, 2020 - Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits do not always keep individuals with disabilities out of poverty. To support these individuals' efforts to lift themselves out of poverty, the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) Project was piloted in Kentucky and Minnesota. It showed that individuals who engaged in a vocational rehabilitation services intervention were able to earn increased income above SGA-level earnings. The authors recommend expanding the project to other US state agencies.

In a special issue of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation Guest Editors Susan Foley, PhD, Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA, and Purvi Sevak, PhD, Mathematica, Princeton, NJ, USA, have assembled seven insightful reports on the SGA Project from early design through completion of randomized controlled trials in two states. Stephen Wooderson and John Connelly of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) were invited to author a paper about how vocational rehabilitation agency leaders view and value participation in research. Two additional papers report on recent related research.

The relationship between earnings and SSDI benefits receipt has been a major issue in the United States since the program began in 1956. One metric used to determine if a person is unable to engage in work is termed "substantial gainful activity," a monthly dollar amount calculated by the Social Security Administration. State vocational rehabilitation agencies provide employment services to people with disabilities including those receiving SSDI.

"We are in another economic downturn. It is not easy to predict what will happen and how this will affect people with disabilities, but if past is prologue, the next few years may see more applicants to poverty and disability insurance programs," explained Dr. Foley and Dr. Sevak. "During the coronavirus pandemic, vocational rehabilitation agencies are again innovating to consider more remote and virtual ways of connecting, expanding dual customer approaches to serve businesses and workers as clients, and looking for more tools to put in a practitioner's toolbox. Finding solutions to help people return to work and find work that can provide economic stability will be an important role for state vocational rehabilitation agencies."

The Rehabilitation Services Administration funded the SGA Project to identify vocational rehabilitation agency practices that lead to improved earnings for SSDI clients upon completion of vocational rehabilitation. It awarded a cooperative agreement to the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Mathematica Policy Research.

Working with more than 100 practitioners representing over 20 vocational rehabilitation agencies, the design phase of the SGA Project identified high performing agencies and key practices that might contribute to that performance with the ultimate goal of designing an effective intervention.

The testing phase of the project tested an intervention designed to improve earnings outcomes of SSDI beneficiaries who were clients of Kentucky and Minnesota state vocational rehabilitation agencies. Mathematica Policy Research assessed service, employment, and earnings outcomes, while ICI interviewed and followed SSDI clients who participated to understand why people seek work, what influences their choices about earnings levels, and how vocational rehabilitation services played a role in their decisions.

Frank Martin, PhD, and Purvi Sevak, PhD, both from Mathematica, Princeton, NJ, USA, review the implementation and impacts of the SGA Project demonstration in Kentucky, They describe the SGA Project model components, the implementation experience in Kentucky, and the impact of the innovations on vocational rehabilitation service and employment outcomes. Although results from the present study showed that participants did not consistently receive all components of the innovations, the innovations led to a 17 percentage point increase in clients with a signed individualized plan for employment (IPE) within 30 days of application, an 8 percentage point increase in closures with competitive employment, and a nearly 6 percentage point increase in the number of clients with earnings at or above the SGA level. The SGA earnings threshold for non-blind SSDI beneficiaries was $1,090 at the start of the testing phase in 2015 and $1,170 at the end of the testing phase in 2017.

A noteworthy aspect of the project was that it emphasized financial counseling, which required the hiring of work incentive coordinators, who were trained and certified to provide a much richer set of early and ongoing financial counseling. "Kentucky's successful implementation of an office-level random assignment design permitted a rigorous test of the SGA Project innovations," noted the authors. "Early, positive impacts on key outcomes suggest other agencies might use this approach to rigorously assess the effectiveness of new services and programs and for a broader set of vocational rehabilitation clients."

Key findings from the SGA Project include:

Delivering services at a faster pace is feasible. The number of days to signed individual plan for employment (IPE) was reduced; the number of clients with a signed IPE within 30 days of their application increased by 17 percentage points. Quicker access to and progress through services allow people to maintain momentum in their search for work.

SGA Project innovations can increase competitive employment. A combination of rapid client engagement, a faster pace of vocational rehabilitation services, financial and benefits planning, job placement services, and a coordinated team approach led to an 8 percentage point increase in employment and a 5.7 percentage point increase in the rate of SGA-level earnings for SSDI beneficiaries, potentially helping them on their path to higher income and financial independence.

People with disabilities are able to return to work after receiving SSDI benefits. Researchers found that having a team of trusted individuals to provide accurate information, counsel clients, and help identify the types of jobs clients would like to do in their local labor market was a successful strategy.

Partnerships between state vocational rehabilitation agencies and researchers in universities and private organizations are increasing knowledge about what will work to help people with disabilities advance economic opportunities.

Randomized controlled trials of public vocational rehabilitation services, the gold standard to find out what works, while admittedly challenging to implement, are possible.

Research that vocational rehabilitation agencies value and can use have a likelihood of improving outcomes for clients.

Writing about the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR), John Connelly, JD, and Stephen Wooderson, MS, both from CSAVR, Rockville, MD, USA, present the case for why researcher-vocational rehabilitation partnerships are an important strategy for innovation and provide suggestions for strengthening those partnerships.

CSAVR launched its Vision 2020 goals with an express interest in innovation. The CSAVR is a membership organization of the chief administrators of the 78 public vocational rehabilitation agencies. The Council's members and their agency staff assist some 1.2 million persons with disabilities to become or remain productive members of the workforce, as well as provide support to their business customers with such issues as recruitment and the provision of reasonable accommodations.

The authors describe CSAVR's investment in research and provide data from a survey of state vocational rehabilitation agencies on research participation. "Researchers can increase state vocational rehabilitation agency participation in their projects by involving the agency in study design, minimizing the time and resource burden on the agency, and demonstrating that the proposed research will yield products that benefit customers and improve staff competency," they commented. "Vocational rehabilitation agencies are motivated to engage in research that will clearly add value and improve operations with minimal burden. It is hoped that greater agency participation in research will yield better data to guide agencies in the future."

The Guest Editors point to some of the challenges encountered during the project. Access to work incentives counseling, finding high paying jobs through job placement services, and team communication across large geographic areas can create barriers to services for people receiving SSDI. Another challenge noted was that vocational rehabilitation staff may be skeptical in adopting the SGA model. "Because the pacing innovation was a major shift from their usual, more deliberate approach, some counselors initially resisted adopting the faster approach," they commented.

Dr. Foley and Dr. Sevak suggest that the rapid engagement coordinated team approach studied by the SGA Project is another tool in the toolbox to attain goals. "We are finding more and more practices that are showing promise. Team approaches, rapid response, and dual customer strategies that match talent to opportunity are evolving. Every worker gets a job, every job gets a worker," they concluded.

Viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C evade or disrupt the immune system to create persistent infections. These viruses remain a serious health threat, but researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have discovered how an enzyme that regulates several cellular processes might be a key target to preventing viruses from disarming the human immune response.

"There is very little research on how the sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2) enzyme affects the immune responses to viral infections," said senior author Bumsuk Hahm, PhD, associate professor of surgery and molecular microbiology and immunology. "We hypothesized that this enzyme suppresses the T cells that fight infections and allows viruses to persist."

Hahm and his team tested their hypothesis by infecting mice with the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, a common rodent-borne virus. Mice in the study that received an oral therapy that briefly inhibited the SphK2 enzyme experienced a robust immune response and an accelerated destruction of the virus.

"SphK2 is shown to regulate immune cell responses during a viral infection, and inhibition of this enzyme is effective in clearing a persistent viral infection," Hahm said. "We believe targeting SphK2 may provide a promising route for developing a drug to elicit protective immunity against viral infections that have a devastating impact on human health."

Another key finding from the study demonstrated that SphK2 plays a role in preventing the immune system from attacking the kidneys during an infection. Hahm's team found SphK2 deficient mice died within two weeks of infection from kidney failure. All showed evidence of immune cell infiltration in the kidneys.

Hahm's team also discovered SphK2 inhibition may also treat some types of cancer by promoting activation of the immune system. Other clinical trials are already exploring the idea that SphK2 inhibition can slow cancer cell growth by directly blocking cancer cell proliferation.

"Our study suggests that SphK2 can be targeted for restoring T cell immunity to circumvent an immune suppressive environment," Hahm said. "This finding may be applicable to cancer studies as well as other diseases caused by immune disruption."