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Personal accounts of childhood maltreatment show a stronger association with psychiatric problems compared to legal proof that maltreatment occurred, according to a new study co-written by a King's College London researcher.

The findings indicate that clinical work that focusses on an individual's memories and thinking patterns around abuse and neglect could be more influential on mental health than previously thought.

Published in Nature Human Behaviour the study analysed data on nearly 1,200 people and showed than those who had been identified as victims of child maltreatment by official court records but did not recall the experience were at no greater risk of adult psychiatric disorders than those with neither objective nor subjective experiences of abuse or neglect.

However, court-documented victims of maltreatment who also recollected the experience were nearly twice as likely to have emotional disorders in adulthood, such as depression and anxiety. In addition, those who recollected the experience of child maltreatment but did not have court evidence were at a similarly higher risk of psychiatric disorders.

The results suggest that subjective experience of maltreatment as a child play a more important role in adult emotional disorders than the event itself.

The study was a collaboration between researchers from King's College London and City University of New York. Joint author, Professor Andrea Danese from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) King's College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said: 'This is the first study that has comprehensively investigated the relative contribution of objective and subjective experience of childhood maltreatment in the development of psychiatric disorders. We often think that objective and subjective experiences are one of the same, but we have found here that this is not quite true for childhood maltreatment - and that people's own accounts of their experience are very important for their risk of psychopathology.

'Our findings offer new hope that psychological treatments that address memories, cognitions and attitudes related to child maltreatment can help relieve the heavy mental health toll associated with this experience. This is a valuable insight at a time when there may be a rise in cases of child maltreatment due to restrictions to normal life and social care imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.'

Previous research has shown those who suffer childhood maltreatment are more likely to experience psychiatric symptoms as adults but, until now, it was unclear whether it was the personal experience of maltreatment or the objective record of its occurrence that was more important.

The research showed that there was only a partial overlap between the group of individuals identified through objective measures of maltreatment from official court records and the group identified through subjective measures from retrospective recall. Those with a combination of subjective reports and official records of childhood maltreatment had a 35% greater risk of experiencing any form of psychopathology compared to those with no measures of maltreatment at all. Those who identified themselves as victims of childhood maltreatment but with no official record of abuse or neglect had a 29% greater risk of any psychopathology. However, those who had official records of childhood maltreatment but no subjective reports of the experience appeared to be at no greater risk of developing any psychopathology.

The study analysed data from a unique sample in the US Midwest, consisting of 908 people who had been identified as victims of child abuse or neglect on official court records from 1967-1971, alongside a comparison group of 667 people who had been matched on age, sex, ethnicity and family social class but who had no official records of abuse or neglect. The participants were followed up about twenty years later at an average age of 28.7 years and were assessed for psychiatric problems and asked to provide their own accounts of abuse and neglect as children. At follow-up there remained a total of 1196 in the sample.

A major strength of the study was the use of objective measures of child abuse and neglect based on official records from juvenile and adult criminal courts, which were the basis for legal actions to protect children and prosecute perpetrators. Subjective measures of maltreatment were based on retrospective reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.

The study assessed a range of psychiatric disorders including depression, dysthymia, generalised anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), antisocial personal disorder, alcohol abuse and/or dependence, and drug abuse and/or dependence.

Further analysis into the different types of mental health problems showed that those with personal recall of childhood maltreatment were almost twice as likely to experience the emotional problems, such as depression and anxiety. They were also more than five times as likely to develop behavioural problems, such as antisocial personality, and also more likely to develop alcohol or substance abuse and/or dependence.

Professor Danese added: 'Traditionally, as researchers, we have been concerned about establishing whether abuse and neglect have occurred, or what neurological or physical damage these experiences may have caused to the victims. This is, of course, very important, but the reality may be less deterministic. The actual occurrence of the event may not be as important in the development of psychiatric disorders as how the victim has experienced and responded to the event or, more generally, how people think about their childhood experiences.'

The construction sector accounts for a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions, in Sweden and globally. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg studied the construction of an eight km stretch of road in detail and calculated how much emissions can be reduced now and until 2045, looking at everything from materials choice, production technology, supply chains and transport.

"We identified several low hanging fruits, and if we address those first, it will become easier and cheaper to make bigger emission reductions in the future," says Ida Karlsson, PhD student at Chalmers, and participant in the Mistra Carbon Exit project.

The researchers evaluated opportunities for reducing emissions in an eight kilometre stretch of the Swedish highway 44 between Lidköping and Källby, which was finished in 2019. It was one of the Swedish Transport Agency's first projects in which a complete climate calculation was made. All the materials and activities involved in its construction were calculated for their total climate impact -energy and materials used in the construction and what emissions these contribute to.

"We used the contractor Skanska's climate calculation as an input for breaking down emissions by materials and activities and then analysed how much they could be reduced. What materials are used? How are they produced? What alternatives are available, and how might those alternatives develop until 2045?" explains Ida Karlsson.

The climate calculation showed that the contractor was able to reduce emissions by 20 percent compared to the Swedish Transport Agency's reference values. But the researchers also demonstrated that emissions could be halved with technology already available today - and completely eliminated by the year 2045.

Ida Karlsson's research is part of the project Mistra Carbon Exit, which focuses on what are termed transformative solutions. These require both time and large investments and include, for example, production of steel, cement, concrete and asphalt without carbon dioxide emissions, as well as fossil-free or electric vehicles. Solutions are being developed and implemented, but climate-saving technologies and choices exist already today. Ida Karlsson wants to highlight four of these:

- Transport optimisation

- Recycling and reuse of excavation masses, asphalt and steel

- Material efficiency and design optimisation

- Replacement of cement clinker as a binder in concrete

"If you were to optimise the transportation of materials, excavation masses and waste, for example, large gains could be made. We could be better at transport logistics in Sweden. In addition to transporting materials and waste to and from a road construction site, many movements also take place within projects," she explains.

Roboticists at the University of California San Diego have developed an affordable, easy to use system to track the location of flexible surgical robots inside the human body. The system performs as well as current state of the art methods, but is much less expensive. Many current methods also require exposure to radiation, while this system does not.

The system was developed by Tania Morimoto, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, and mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Connor Watson. Their findings are published in the April 2020 issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

"Continuum medical robots work really well in highly constrained environments inside the body," Morimoto said. "They're inherently safer and more compliant than rigid tools. But it becomes a lot harder to track their location and their shape inside the body. And so if we are able track them more easily that would be a great benefit both to patients and surgeons."

The researchers embedded a magnet in the tip of a flexible robot that can be used in delicate places inside the body, such as arterial passages in the brain. "We worked with a growing robot, which is a robot made of a very thin nylon that we invert, almost like a sock, and pressurize with a fluid which causes the robot to grow," Watson said. Because the robot is soft and moves by growing, it has very little impact on its surroundings, making it ideal for use in medical settings.

The researchers then used existing magnet localization methods, which work very much like GPS, to develop a computer model that predicts the robot's location. GPS satellites ping smartphones and based on how long it takes for the signal to arrive, the GPS receiver in the smartphone can determine where the cell phone is. Similarly, researchers know how strong the magnetic field should be around the magnet embedded in the robot. They rely on four sensors that are carefully spaced around the area where the robot operates to measure the magnetic field strength. Based on how strong the field is, they are able to determine where the tip of the robot is.

The whole system, including the robot, magnets and magnet localization setup, costs around $100.

Morimoto and Watson went a step further. They then trained a neural network to learn the difference between what the sensors were reading and what the model said the sensors should be reading. As a result, they improved localization accuracy to track the tip of the robot.

"Ideally we are hoping that our localization tools can help improve these kinds of growing robot technologies. We want to push this research forward so that we can test our system in a clinical setting and eventually translate it into clinical use," Morimoto said.

The prospect of the widespread commercialization and application of flexible electronics has kept researchers worldwide searching for ingenious ways to enhance their performance and durability. From wearable smart devices to solar cells and health sensors, flexible electronics holds much promise in many engineering fields. Unfortunately, flexible devices are usually as fragile as they look; mechanical deformations, such as bending, can induce the formation and propagation of microscopic cracks that ultimately cause devices to fail.

In a recent study, a research team led by Professor Jae Eun Jang from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology found a method to greatly improve the durability of thin-film flexible electrodes and transistors, key components in electronics. The method is simple: take your standard flexible conducting film and fill it with micrometer-sized holes in a zigzag pattern.

The researchers actually drew inspiration from civil engineering, as Prof. Jang explains. "We happened to be passing by a construction site, when we saw steel plates with holes, often used in construction. We knew that these steel plates with holes are used to reduce stress. We thought that this method could also be a solution in the micrometer world and, based on this idea, we began conducting experiments." In the field of mechanics, the word "stress" refers to the forces that the particles of a material exert on each other. External forces increase the stress of a material and can induce the formation of cracks.

In regular thin-film flexible conductors, cracks form in random locations when bent. However, if the flexible conductor bears the array of micrometer-sized holes, the stress distribution of the material changes so that cracks only form at specific points near the edges of the holes and propagate over a short distance. This, as proved through simulations and experiments, allowed their flexible metal electrodes to endure thousands of bending motions. Professor Jang states: "Our devices were able to maintain conductivity up to 300,000 bending cycles, which means that they can be bent over 80 times a day for 10 years." What's more, compared with other methods for improving the durability of flexible electronic devices, the proposed approach is inexpensive and easy to adopt using equipment already employed in the display industry.

KAIST physicists described a route to design the energy-efficient generation, manipulation and detection of spin currents using nonmagnetic two-dimensional materials. The research team, led by Professor Sungjae Cho, observed highly efficient charge-to-spin interconversion via the gate-tunable Rashba-Edelstien effect (REE) in graphene heterostructures.

This research paves the way for the application of graphene as an active spintronic component for generating, controlling, and detecting spin current without ferromagnetic electrodes or magnetic fields.

Graphene is a promising spintronic component owing to its long spin diffusion length. However, its small spin-orbit coupling limits the potential of graphene in spintronic applications since graphene cannot be used to generate, control, or detect spin current.

"We successfully increased the spin-orbit coupling of graphene by stacking graphene on top of 2H-TaS2, which is one of the transition metal dichalcogenide materials with the largest spin-orbit coupling. Graphene now can be used to generate, control, and detect spin current," Professor Cho said.

The Rashba-Edelstein effect is a physical mechanism that enables charge current-to-spin current interconversion by spin-dependent band structure induced by the Rashba effect, a momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands in low-dimensional condensed matter systems.

Professor Cho's group demonstrated the gate-tunable Rashba-Edelstein effect in a multilayer graphene for the first time. The Rahsba-Edelstein effect allows the two-dimensional conduction electrons of graphene to be magnetized by an applied charge current and form a spin current. Furthermore, as the Fermi level of graphene, tuned by gate voltage, moves from the valence to conduction band, the spin current generated by graphene reversed its spin direction.

This spin reversal is useful in the design of low-power-consumption transistors utilizing spins in that it provides the carrier "On" state with spin up holes (or spin down electrons) and the "Off" state with zero net spin polarization at so called "charge neutrality point" where numbers of electrons and holes are equal.

"Our work is the first demonstration of charge-to-spin interconversion in a metallic TMD (transition-metal dichalcogenides) and graphene heterostructure with a spin polarization state controlled by a gate. We expect that the all-electrical spin-switching effect and the reversal of non-equilibrium spin polarization by the application of gate voltage is applicable for the energy-efficient generation and manipulation of spin currents using nonmagnetic van der Waals materials," explained Professor Cho.

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have developed a new and promising drug compound for the treatment of cancer that inhibits natural amino acids from entering cancer cells. Since amino acids are essential for the growth and division of cancer cells, the new LAT1 inhibitor makes it possible to inhibit their growth. The study was published in the journal Apoptosis.

Many research groups around the world are studying the transport of amino acids into cancer cells, and inhibiting that transport, as a potential treatment for cancer. Adjunct Professor Kristiina Huttunen's research group at the University of Eastern Finland has focused on the LAT1 transporter protein in particular. LAT1, or l-type amino acid transporter 1, is a membrane protein that transports large amino acids, and it has been found to be over-expressed in many cancer cells. This is why researchers believe that inhibiting the function of LAT1 could be useful in the treatment of various cancers. In breast and prostate cancer, expression of LAT1 has also been associated with a weaker prognosis of survival. Currently, an LAT1 inhibitor developed in Japan, JPH203, has proceeded to clinical trials.

Adjunct Professor Huttunen's research group has also developed a novel LAT1 inhibitor that was presented in 2016 in a study published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. In the newly published further studies in vitro, the LAT1 inhibitor in question was found to be hemocompatible, i.e. safe to be used in systemic circulation. In cancer cells, however, the LAT1 inhibitor induced programmed cell death, apoptosis. The best results were achieved by combining the LAT1 inhibitor with another drug compound, bestatin.

"We feel that using an LAT1 inhibitor alone isn't an effective approach to treating any cancer, since cancer cells always find an alternative way to take in amino acids or to get rid of drug compounds that have been designed to kill them. It is these various defence mechanisms that make many cancers resistant to drugs. This is why we believe that using a combination of several drug compounds is the most effective way to treat many cancers," Adjunct Professor Huttunen points out. Amino acids can also enter cells in the form of larger peptides that will be broken down to amino acids by enzymes. Bestatin, however, inhibits the function of these enzymes and, in doing so, also blocks one possible pathway via which amino acids can enter cells.

The study was also the first to show that temporary LAT1 inhibition does not have an effect on the amino acid composition of the brain. The LAT1 transporter protein is abundantly present in the brain and in the blood-brain barrier, as well as in neurons and glials, which are cells that support neurons. Adjunct Professor Huttunen's group has carried out extensive research into all of the above. It is thus highly probable that the effects of the LAT1 inhibitor would mainly be targeted at rapidly-dividing cancer cells, and that unfortunate side effects on the central nervous system could be avoided.

The study was carried out in collaboration with Dr Magdalena Markowicz-Piasecka at the Medical University of Lodz in Poland. Dr Markowicz-Piasecka used to work as a postdoctoral researcher in Adjunct Professor Huttunen's group, and she has continued her research on the LAT1 inhibitor in Poland, leading to the publication of these new results.

According to Adjunct Professor Huttunen, the LAT1 inhibitor developed at the University of Eastern Finland is an innovation that has potential for further development.

"Our LAT1 inhibitor is reminiscent of the JPH203 inhibitor that has proceeded to clinical trials. However, our inhibitor has a more permanent structure and it doesn't go through similar metabolic reactions that have been observed in JPH203, which could weaken its effect on cancer cells. Our inhibitor is also more selective in binding to LAT1, and not to other transporter proteins, unlike JPH203. This is why I believe that our compound, or any possible future structural derivatives of it, can better target cancer cells and be safer in clinical care."

Lung Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for an estimated 2.09 million new cases in 2018 according to WHO, which is also the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in China [1].

Immunotherapy has been recognized as one of the most significant breakthroughs in lung cancer therapy during the last decade. Immune-oncology (I-O) can be classified into three categories: (1) active immunity includes vaccines, cytokines, and checkpoint inhibitors; (2) passive immunity includes adoptive cell infusion and targeted monoclonal antibodies; (3) hybrid immunity are combined of active and passive methods. Among them, Immune checkpoints were considered as the most promising targets, whose existence helps to dampen or terminate immune activity to guard against autoimmunity and allow for self-tolerance in normal physiological conditions. However, these immune checkpoint pathways can be tricked and hijacked by tumors to evade the attack of immunity system. Checkpoint inhibitors can reactivate the antitumor immunity, delay tumor growth and lengthen the survival by blocking this pathway.

PD-1 is a member of CD28 family which is expressed in several kinds of immune cells, especially in activated CD8+T cells, CD4+T cells, and B cells in peripheral tissues[2].PD-1 has two binding ligands, PD-L1(B7-H1 or CD274) and PDL2(B7-DC or CD273). PD-L1 is expressed on activated T cells, B cells, macrophages, dendritic cells and cancer cells, and the expression of PD-L2 is limited, mainly in activated macrophages, dendritic cells and a small number of tumor cells. The binding of PD-1/PD-L1 suppresses the proliferation, ¬¬survival of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte, induces the apoptosis process of infiltrative T cells and reduces the production of cytokines [3, 4]. PD-L1 is expressed in 27% to 57% of NSCLC patients [5] .The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway plays a vital role in the immune escape of tumor cells [6, 7]. PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors block the inhibitory T-cell signaling, and reactivating the antitumor activity of CD8+ T cells [8]. Tumor cells escape the immune response through the upregulation of PD-L1 to inhibit the action of T cells. Basing on this background, many drugs targeting the PD-1 pathway are under development, and clinical trials of drugs for the PD-1 pathway have been conducted.

However, the proportion of patients who can benefit from ICIs is relatively small. For instance, only 20-25% of NSCLC patients showed a sustainable response to ICIs[9]. Therefore, the discovery and exploration of clinical or biological biomarkers for ICIs is urgent and meaningful. The aim of this approach is to find out the people who may benefit from checkpoint inhibitors and improve the whole cost-effectiveness. However, on account of the complexity of the relationship between tumor and immune-microenvironment, the factors affect the clinical effect of ICIs are multi-dimensional, such as PD1/PD-L1 expression, tumor mutation burden (TMB), Specific Gene Mutations and even Gut Microbiome, et al.

In this brightness and challenges, researchers describe the progress made so far, including the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in clinical practice in lung cancer, followed by their understanding of how biomarkers can be utilized to figure out the most likely beneficiary from ICIs. In conclusion, this article highlights the current clinical trials for the accumulation of knowledge of primary and acquired resistance to improve the clinical outcomes.

The latest screen-time related research from Dr. Pooja Tandon, a child health and development expert at Seattle Children's Research Institute, was inspired by her oldest son.

"When my son entered middle school, I learned that students in many middle and high schools were allowed to have their phones with them at all times," Tandon said. "I looked into this a bit more and found that even in schools where policies limited use during class, cell phones could still be used unrestricted during lunch and recess."

This struck Tandon, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, whose research focuses on promoting healthy active and outdoor play for children and teens.

"My fellow pediatricians and I follow guidelines that recommend children and teens enjoy two hours of age-appropriate recreational screen time a day," she said. "Yet, many children may be spending most of their waking hours in school with what could be unsupervised and unrestricted access to their phones."

First national snapshot of school cell phone policies

To better understand cell phone policies and practices at middle and high schools in the U.S., Tandon and her colleagues at the research institute's Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, conducted a survey of public schools serving grades 6-12.

The survey sent to over 1,100 school principals, representing a national sample of schools across the U.S., asked questions about the presence of a cell phone policy for students and staff and restrictions on phone use. Additional questions addressed consequences of policy violation, the use of cell phones for curricular activities and principals' attitudes toward cell phone policies.

The results of their survey now published in JAMA Open Network offer the first national snapshot of school cell phone policies. Of the 210 schools responding to the survey, 97% of middle schools and 91% of high schools reported having a cell phone policy for students. A notable percentage - 33% of middle schools and 69% of high schools - did not restrict phone use during lunch or recess.

"Schools have a unique opportunity to create predictable screen-free time for children," Tandon said. "Limiting phone use during the entire school day could significantly decrease their screen exposure."

Tandon thinks such an approach could lead to benefits in the classroom like improved focus and ability to learn. From a social standpoint, limiting phone use during lunch may promote more interaction between students and for children who have recess, increase physically active play.

Why screen-free schools make sense

The study also lays the foundation for future research in this understudied area to help guide recommendations for screen time in schools.

In the published paper, Tandon and her co-authors advise that just as schools are critical to helping children and teens meet guidelines for optimal physical activity and nutrition, they should support recommendations on screen time and media use.

"Just like schools are encouraged to help students achieve the recommended 60 minutes per day of physical activity, they have a role to play in helping children limit their screen time exposure," Tandon said.

Getting teacher and parent buy-in

While an overwhelming 90% of principals responding to the survey agreed that cell phone use policies should exist at both middle and high schools, Tandon recognizes that restricting cell phone use during the school day requires trade offs for schools and parents.

"We know that a lot of teachers use phones as part of their lessons, so it would be important to understand their attitudes toward student cell phone use too," she said. "Getting the support of the parent community can't be assumed either. Many parents want to be able to reach their children at school on their cell phones."

One argument she often hears from parents about limiting technology use and screen time in general is that children need to learn how to moderate consumption since screens and digital media are ubiquitous.

"I acknowledge that we need to teach our children to be responsible digital citizens and that teaching them to be responsible users isn't accomplished by blocking technology completely," Tandon said.

Tips for parents

With the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tandon acknowledges that screen time is likely up for everyone as phones and technology are helping many people stay connected.

She says in any case, it's helpful for families to have some parameters around cell phone use. Below, Tandon offers a few tips for parents when it comes to reducing their child or teen's cell phone use during the school day or when at home.

Make family cell phone rules: "Parents are generally encouraged to set limits around screen time," Tandon said. "Rules like no cell phone use in the car or during homework or meals are good ones to add to your family's list." Create "tech free" times for the whole family so parents can model this for their children.

Keep cell phones away: Even if it's not the policy at your child's school, encourage them to keep their cell phone away in their backpack or locker for the school day. They can then access it after school.

Explore parent controls: Especially for younger teens, consider parental controls (through phone settings or apps) around what content they can access to make sure it is age appropriate. Consider limiting access to social media.

Keep cell phones out of bedrooms: Place cell phones out of arms reach, especially at night. Set up an area for charging phones either in the parents' room or another common family area.

Make a plan: A family media use plan can help balance your families' on- and offline activities.

Understanding the genetic mutations and protein changes that take place in the progression of cancer is key to its treatment. Mutations in the gene TP53 and concomitant mutant p53 proteins in cancer cells have become notorious over the course of multiple studies of several different types of cancers. Yet so far, the mechanisms behind the role of these protein changes in propagating the disease has been poorly understood. Masanobu Oshima at Kanazawa University and his collaborators now report results that suggest just how these protein changes may lead to accelerated tumorigenesis and metastasis.

Previous studies of cancers in the lungs, intestines and pancreas, as well as colorectal cancer, had suggested that changes in p53 lead to invasive abilities and stem cell characteristics crucial for late-stage tumorigenesis. In addition to this "gain of function (GOF)" mutation, wild-type protein p53 is reduced in cancer cells through a "loss of heterozygosity" process, where instead of having two alleles for each gene corresponding to each parent, the gene has just one.

Oshima collaborated with researchers at Kanazawa University in Japan, Theragen Etex Bio Institute and Seoul National University in South Korea. They found that tumor cells that carry GOF mutant p53 and lost wild-type p53 are enriched in liver metastasis lesions, suggesting combination of p53 LOH and GOF mutations promotes metastasis (Fig. 1). In studies of single cells dissociated from each other, the researchers found that loss of heterozygosity was key to the cell's survival and proliferation, which has implications for metastasis. In addition, the structures formed were more complex and glandular.

Further studies suggested that the combination of gain of function mutations and loss of heterozygosity provided some protection against cell death. When injected in live mouse models the combination also accelerated tumorigenesis as well. The tumours formed had a fibrotic microenvironment, a signature of a poor prognosis for colorectal cancer.

Fibrotic structures are also linked with inflammation pathways. The researchers analysed the mutant proteins with the ingenuity pathway analysis software package, which provides integrated analysis of gene expression and other cell traits. The analysis indicated growth factor/MAPK and inflammatory pathways were indeed upregulated in cells with gain of function mutations and loss of heterozygosity. What is more trametinib treatment, (which inhibits a protein in the MAPK pathway) suppressed the cloning efficiency of these mutant cells. Ingenuity pathway analysis also revealed that stem cell pathways were up regulated in cells with gain of function mutations and loss of heterozygosity, as well as cells where both Trp53 alleles were disrupted (Fig. 2). In their report, the researchers suggest their findings "will contribute to the future development of therapeutic strategies against CRC [colorectal cancer] metastasis."

Heating accounts for over 50 per cent of final energy consumption. So reducing the emissions that result from heating buildings would make a huge difference to the climate. What strategies are being pursued to realise this potential in Germany and the UK? A study by researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) finds that both countries could do a lot more to mitigate climate change in the heating sector.

In recent years, energy transition policies have focussed on reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation. The heating sector has played only a minor role, despite the fact that thermal energy accounts for over half of final energy consumption - and electricity for only a quarter. Reducing carbon emissions in building heating would therefore be an important contribution to climate change mitigation. For a study published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science, a team of researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) analysed the transformative potential of German and British heating sector decarbonisation policies.

According to the authors, achieving emissions reductions in this sector depends not only on improving the efficiency of existing technologies. It requires a fundamental transformation of heating systems, including technological, social and institutional changes. Government policy plays a critical role in inducing this transformation process . Drawing on the concept of Transformative Environmental Policy (TEP) as an analytical framework, the authors assess the transformative ambition of government policy in the heating sector in both countries.

"As the two largest economies in Europe with broadly similar heating requirements, Germany and the UK lend themselves to a comparison of heating sector governance," explains Leonard Frank, the study's lead author. Both countries are also subject to the common framework of the European Energy Efficiency Directive, which places great emphasis on building heating.

Change of course hasn't happened yet

"Our analysis of both countries' policy strategies shows that neither government is coming close to unleashing all of the transformative potentials implied in the concept of TEP, which served as a benchmark for our assessment," explained Frank, who is currently based at the University of Freiburg. Neither country has sufficient instruments in place - laws, support programmes, or regulatory measures - that would allow it to systematically create and exploit windows of opportunity for investments in low-carbon heating infrastructure.

As Frank explains, although policy instruments for phasing out fossil fuels are, unlike zero-carbon building standards, largely inflexible, "such strategy elements are necessary to reorient actors away from established fossil-fuel technology."

Authors in favour of more strategic incentives

That's why the authors recommend that governments introduce a commitment to phasing out high-carbon heating, possibly coupled with building stock refurbishment targets. These measures need to be embedded in a sequence of planned policy interventions. This may make it possible to open up the current heat market and advance the transformation to a low-carbon heating sector in the process. "In the stimulus packages to aid economic recovery after the corona crisis, grants to cover the cost of installing heat pumps and carrying out energy refurbishments could add significant impetus to this process," says Rainer Quitzow, who led the study at the IASS.

Germany would do well to adopt the British approach of deploying instruments according to transition phases. In the UK, social innovations such as a systematic deployment of advisory services should be taken up in the strategy (it currently exists in only Scotland), possibly drawing on German experiences. In a similar vein, professional training should be geared towards decarbonisation as one element of a reorientation of the strategy.

Also in the UK, phase-out commitments for oil and gas heating need to be strengthened in order to achieve heating sector decarbonisation. Reinstating building stock refurbishment targets could be a step in this direction.

What happened yesterday and what will happen tomorrow are usually two different and quite independent matters. The past and the future of human life are not symmetric and therefore not reversible. In physics, this is different. The fundamental forces of nature in elementary particles, atoms and molecules are symmetric with respect to their development in time: Forwards or backwards makes no difference, scientists call this a time-reversal symmetry.

For decades this symmetry was also found in all superconductors. Superconductors are materials which can conduct electrical currents at low temperatures without energy dissipation. One of their major applications is the efficient generation of strong magnetic fields, for example in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnosis.

Approximately 99% of all known superconducting materials are time-reversal symmetric.

However, for some years, physicists have been discovering new superconductors which brake time-reversal symmetry. To explain these observations, the basic mechanism of superconductivity, which has been known for more than 75 years, had to be modified considerably. Only these novel superconductors are able to spontaneously generate constant internal magnetic fields. This can lead to new applications, for example in quantum computing devices.

An international research team led by Dr. Vadim Grinenko und Prof. Hans-Henning Klauss from the Institute of Solid State and Materials Physics at TU Dresden discovered this new magnetic state with broken time-reversal symmetry in iron-based superconductors. The synthesis of this versatile class of intermetallic compounds is comparatively simple. Therefore, these iron-based superconductors have an enormous potential for applications.

"In our study, we show that the iron-based superconductors discovered more than twelve years ago continue to reveal new quests for fundamental research as well as chances for new applications," states Prof. Hans-Henning Klauss.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Health apps have become a popular tool among teens and adults to track fitness, weight loss, sleep and even menstrual cycles - but are they appropriate for tweens?

Most parents say they have concerns about how health apps may impact children ages 8-12, according to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at Michigan Medicine. But despite concerns, most parents aren't against tweens using apps.

Two-thirds of parents of tweens worry about ads with inappropriate content targeting kids and three fourths agree that having children track what they eat may lead them to become too concerned about their weight or body image.

Still, just 19 % of parents say they wouldn't allow their child to use an app with games about health while 32% would say no to apps offering health tips or coaching and 38% would prohibit apps tracking health information. And most parents agree that using an app may help tweens develop healthy behaviors.

The nationally representative report is based on responses from 832 parents who had at least one child ages 8-12.

"Health apps are widely used among both adults and teens, but we don't have much information on tween use," says Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H. "There are many considerations for allowing younger children to use these apps, including privacy concerns, exposure to advertisements and the potential for children to become overly focused on food and weight."

"We found that parents had mixed opinions on health app use among tweens and recognized both the potential harms and benefits to their child's health."

Health apps include games that teach about health and devices that track health data, such as calories consumed or burned, exercise intensity, sleep and other health habits. Many apps allow users to set goals and give feedback on progress, as well as motivational messages or tips to improve health behaviors.

Nearly half of parents have used a health app themselves, but just 1 in 20 say their tween is using health apps, according to the report.

Despite laws designed to protect children's privacy online, research has also shown that many apps contain advertising, collect and share personal information without verifying the age of the user or gaining parent consent. Parents should read the fine print on privacy policies when helping their tween choose a health app, and use settings that restrict data sharing, Clark suggests.

Another top concern is that tweens would use apps designed for teens or young adults and that advertising - including content targeting older ages involving alcohol, sexual activity or other inappropriate content - could reach younger children.

"Tweens look up to older teens and often want to view content designed for an older age group. It's up to parents to look for information that indicate whether a health app is targeted specifically to younger children," Clark says.

"Before their children use health apps, parents should do their research to make sure the strategies used to promote healthy habits are evidence-based and that the app is age appropriate."

Before tweens begin using a health app that tracks food or calorie intake, experts also recommend parents and children have conversations about what the app is being used for. Parents might also consider using a similar health app for themselves as a way to maintain a dialogue about tracking health data.

"Research shows that eating disorders can begin during the tween years," Clark says. "Parents should encourage their tween to talk about why they're interested in tracking their food or calorie intake, and talk with them about healthy ways to use this information."

While the majority of parents also say they want input from their tween's health care provider on using health apps, only 3% have actually talked to a physician about it.

"Parents would like child health providers to engage tweens in a conversation about health apps," Clark says. "As experts, child health providers can help tweens set realistic health goals and emphasize the importance of a varied diet and regular exercise."

In a collaborative study in this month's issue of Engineering Structures, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Bergamo revealed the engineering techniques behind self-supporting masonry domes inherent to the Italian renaissance. Researchers analyzed how cupolas like the famous duomo, part of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, were built as self-supporting, without the use of shoring or forms typically required.

Sigrid Adriaenssens, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton, collaborated on the analysis with graduate student Vittorio Paris and Attilio Pizzigoni, professor engineering and applied sciences, both of the University of Bergamo. Their study is the first ever to quantitatively prove the physics at work in Italian renaissance domes and to explain the forces which allow such structures to have been built without formwork typically required, even for modern construction. Previously, there were only hypotheses in the field about how forces flowed through such edifices, and it was unknown how they were built without the use of temporary structures to hold them up during construction.

For Adriaenssens, the project advances two significant questions. "How can mankind construct such a large and beautiful structure without any formwork--mechanically, what's the innovation?" she asked. Secondly, "What can we learn?" Is there some "forgotten technology that we can use today?"

The detailed computer analysis accounts for the forces at work down to the individual brick, explaining how equilibrium is leveraged. The technique called discrete element modelling (DEM) analyzed the structure at several layers and stages of construction. A limit state analysis determined the overall equilibrium state, or stability, of the completed structure. Not only do these tests verify the mechanics of the structures, but they also make it possible to recreate the techniques for modern construction.

Applying their findings to modern construction, the researchers anticipate that this study could have practical applications for developing construction techniques deploying aerial drones and robots. Using these unmanned machines for construction would increase worker safety, as well as enhance construction speed and reduce building costs.

Another advantage of unearthing new building techniques from ancient sources is that it can yield environmental benefits. "The construction industry is one of the most wasteful ones, so that means if we don't change anything, there will be a lot more construction waste," said Adriaenssens, who is interested in using drone techniques for building very large span roofs that are self-supporting and require no shoring or formwork.

"Overall, this project speaks to an ancient narrative that tells of stones finding their equilibrium in the wonder of reason," said Pizzigoni, "from Brunelleschi's dome to the mechanical arms of modern-day robotics where technology is performative of spaces and its social use."

EAST LANSING, Mich. - What if doctors could not only diagnose a COVID-19 infection but identify which patients are at the greatest risk of death before any major complications arise? One Michigan State University scientist believes nanotechnology may be the answer.

In a new paper, Morteza Mahmoudi, assistant professor in the Department of Radiology Nanoscience and Nano Biomedical Engineering, MSU College of Human Medicine, proposed a point-of-care diagnostic platform that uses either nanoparticles or magnetic levitation to diagnose infection and assess future risk.

"Such technology would not only be useful in protecting health care centers from becoming overwhelmed, " Mahmoudi said, "but could also prevent severe shortages of health care resources, minimize death rates and improve management of future epidemics and pandemics."

The concept is based on the varying levels of infection and stages of disease which alter the composition of biological fluids such as tears, saliva, urine and plasma. Different infections and diseases create different patterns specific to the viral load and disease stage, somewhat akin to a fingerprint. Mahmoudi said that being able to identify and catalog those patterns would be key to any breakthrough in diagnostic technology.

To begin, a patient's biological fluid is introduced to a small collection of nanoparticles less than one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. The unique surface of the particle collects proteins, lipids and other molecules from the fluids in a pattern that Mahmoudi refers to as a biomolecular corona -- or crown.

"By analyzing the composition of the crowns at the surface of tiny particles together with statistical approaches, the platform may provide a 'fingerprint' pattern for patients who may be at a death risk after being infected by COVID-19," he said.

The key to these two novel diagnostic platforms is their simplicity, which allows for the deployment of on-site devices where patients are cared for. And because the necessary patient samples are easily obtainable bodily fluids, expert medical professionals would not be required to administer the test.

To make use of patterns identified as reliable 'fingerprints,' Mahmoudi suggested that the device house a suite of small sensor technologies -- such as an 'optoelectronic nose' -- capable of imaging the test results and producing a diagnosis. "The proposed platform could yield a sensitive, easy-to-use optical system to accurately identify COVID-19 infected patients at high risk of death."

Mahmoudi also proposed another technology based on a recent breakthrough in nanoparticle-based magnetic levitation -- MagLev for short. The innovative method suspends patient plasma samples in a solution of magnetic nanoparticles. Over time, distinct bands of proteins form, separating by density. Much like the protein crown, these uniquely shaped bands of proteins create distinct and reliable patterns useful for fingerprinting disease and stages of infection.

Mahmoudi found that "MagLev optic images of levitated proteins, subjected to machine-learning analysis, offer valuable information on the individual's health status." He is confident in the diagnostic capabilities of the technology for patients at high risk of death from COVID-19.

"Such nanotechnologies for early-stage identification of high-risk patients could prevent severe shortages of health care resources, minimize death rates and improve management of future epidemics and pandemics," Mahmoudi said.

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are the biggest consumers of energy in a building. For smart buildings, technologies have evolved to improve energy efficiency of HVAC systems, but faults often occur. Due to the complex nature of large-scale HVAC systems used in buildings, diagnosing these faults can be challenging.

A team of researchers led by Professor Marios Polycarpou, Director of the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, Cyprus, has developed a distributed sensor fault diagnosis algorithm, a sequence of well-defined computer-implementable instructions for detecting and isolating multiple sensor faults in large-scale HVAC systems in smart buildings. The team published their findings in IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica.

"The operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems in our homes, work spaces and public indoor spaces are based on the use of feedback measurements from sensing devices to make adjustments for maintaining a desired temperature. The presence of faulty measurements disorients the system and may create uncomfortable indoor conditions and/or significantly waste energy," said Professor Polycarpou.

This study presents an algorithmic approach that can be applied either on existing Building Management Systems or on plug-in Internet-of-Things (IoT) -- a system of physical computer devices that are interconnected via a network for collecting and sharing data -- to notify the building's users and operators about the presence of faulty measurements, as well as the location of any faulty sensors.

In this study, the authors model a large HVAC system consisting of 83 building zones as a network of smaller interconnected sub-systems, rather than using a global model that describes the HVAC system for the entire building. This simplified method not only makes the design of model-based fault diagnosis more feasible, but it is also scalable, allowing for other parts of the building to be incorporated into the network using a plug-and-play approach.

According to Polycarpou, the utilization of thermal models of the variation of temperature in HVAC equipment and building zones, in combination with the design of diagnostic algorithms implemented in a multi-agent framework -- a self-organized system consisting of several intelligent agents that interact with each other to solve complex problems that would be difficult for them to solve singularly -- enables the development of advanced methods for detecting and isolating sensor faults, "In this framework, a wireless smart sensor can communicate with its neighboring sensors to enhance the fault diagnostic process in terms of reliability, robustness, sensitivity, and scalability," Polycarpou explains.

"Our ultimate goal is to develop lifelong diagnostic systems for smart buildings, which are able to continuously monitor their operation over the lifetime of the buildings, to detect, diagnose and self-heal any faulty behavior, and to be able to learn from their prior experiences, as well as from the experiences of diagnostic systems from other smart buildings," said Polycarpou.