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FRANKFURT/AACHEN. Since the beginning of the pandemic, research groups have been working on methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 viruses in wastewater to be used to monitor the degree of COVID-19 transmission among the population. The idea is simple: since infected people shed SARS-CoV-2 viruses in their faeces, wastewater samples could give an indication of the infection numbers among all the residents connected to a wastewater treatment plant. Given sufficient sensitivity, these analyses could function as an early-warning system for authorities, allowing early detection of local case increases within the catchment area of a treatment plant.

A consortium of Frankfurt virologists, ecotoxicologists and evolution researchers, and water researchers from Aachen have now shown for the first time in Germany that SARS-CoV-2 genetic material can be detected in treatment plants using modern molecular methods. Analyses revealed 3 to 20 gene equivalents per millilitre of raw wastewater in all nine treatment plants tested during the first pandemic wave in April 2020. This concentration level was also measured in studies in the Netherlands and the USA.

The researchers were astonished that older retention samples from the years 2017 and 2018, before the outbreak of the pandemic, also delivered signals. Extensive method validation revealed that the gene primer erroneously registered not only SARS-CoV-2, but other non-disease causing coronaviruses in wastewater as well. The current method, developed specifically for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, has been confirmed through gene sequencing.

The method can be now employed for what is called wastewater-based epidemiology: the measured viral load of a treatment plant allows conclusions on the number of COVID-19 infected individuals in the catchment area. In the largest treatment plant, 1,037 acute cases were estimated in the catchment area for a viral load of 6 trillion (6 x 1012) gene equivalencies pro day; in smaller treatment plants with viral loads lower by two orders of magnitude, 36 cases were estimated.

The sensitivity is sufficient as an early warning system to indicate whether the action value of 50 incidents per 100,000 residents has been exceeded. Earlier hopes that the precision would be sufficient to determine the estimated number infected people not reported through laboratory diagnosis have not yet been fulfilled. However, the scientists believe that further improvements in the methods are possible.

In vitro cell tests have shown that the SARS-CoV-2 fragments verified in the wastewater are non-infectious. However, due to the high loads and low retention capacity of conventional treatment plants, the behaviour of SARS-CoV-2 in the water cycle should be investigated more deeply. The authors of the study are working on making their knowledge available for an application of the method soon, with the goal of achieving a close cooperation between health ministries, environmental ministries, treatment plant operators and professional associations.

As the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic approached, governments feared there would not be enough ventilators - machines that 'breathe' for patients when they cannot do so themselves - to help all those who needed one.

Now, researchers from King's College London and Imperial College London have developed a theoretical model for how one ventilator could be used to treat two patients. They say that, although splitting ventilators can be inherently dangerous, their model shows how some of the issues can be mitigated by using variable resistances and one-way valves.

Usually, ventilators are specifically programmed to each patient, as each patient requires individualised pressures and volumes of airflow. This new research, published in Royal Society Open Science, develops an approach by which one ventilator could in theory help two patients with varying lung problems at the same time - and that that the airflow (tidal volume) delivered to one patient could be manipulated independently of the other.

To do this, the researchers developed a theoretical model, based on an electrical circuit analogy, and used it to test various configurations for connecting a single ventilator to two patients. They found that providing tailored ventilation to different patients from one ventilator is theoretically possible when variable resistances and one-way valves are added into the inhalation and exhalation paths of the ventilator circuit.

The researchers say that the theoretical model could be used by other researchers to evaluate other potential solutions.

Study co-author Dr Peter Vincent of Imperial's Department of Aeronautics said: "Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the approach could potentially be useful in a range of other extreme scenarios, such as coping with acute disaster surge capacity limitations or in a military battle field context."

Co-author Dr Steven Williams, from King's College London's School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, said: "We show that our proposed modified splitter can help by allowing one particular ventilation parameter - tidal volume - to be adjusted."

The team point out that there are a range of significant issues associated with ventilator splitting, and that the practice is only ever to be considered in the most extreme circumstances because it poses serious risks. However, they say that should the need arise for split ventilation, then their method could be considered a 'last resort' solution.

Dr Vincent added: "Our team is now keen to get feedback from the international community and begin bench testing the approach."

The timeliness of mail delivery may affect access to medication for many middle-aged and older adults, according to a new analysis of data from a national poll of people aged 50 to 80.

Nearly one in four people in this age group said they receive at least one medication by mail, but that percentage rises to 29% when the poll results are limited to people who take at least one prescription medication. Nearly 17% of people in this group say they receive all their medications via mail.

In addition, 35% of those who receive medications by mail said that their insurance requires them to do so.

The data on the use of mail delivery for medications come from a poll taken in 2017 as part of the ongoing National Poll on Healthy Aging, but not previously published in poll reports. The poll did not ask if the mail delivery was through the United States Postal Service or a private package delivery service.

While deliveries of all kinds have been delayed during the months of the COVID-19 pandemic, USPS delays have been in the spotlight in recent weeks. Congressional hearings on this topic are now under way.

The National Poll on Healthy Aging is conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.

In addition to those who said their insurance required mail delivery, 53% said the delivery option saved money, and 42% cited convenience. Nearly 30% said they chose to use the mail for medications that they took on a long-term basis and didn't need to discuss with a pharmacy team member. And nearly 29% said their doctor's office automatically sent their prescriptions to a company that sends medications by mail.

As part of a 2017 poll on drug interactions, the IHPI team asked a national sample of 2,131 older adults about their medication use and source, and focused on the answers of the 76% who said they took at least one prescription medication.

The poll asked respondents about the reasons why they used mail delivery for at least one drug. Respondents could give more than one reason.

The raw data from the poll are available for anyone to access through the University of Michigan National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging. The data from the poll that asked about how people receive their medications are part of the data set located at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACDA/studies/37305/versions/V1 , along with information on how to cite the poll.

Poll data pertinent to COVID-19

The National Poll on Healthy Aging team recently published the first report on data from a poll taken in June 2020, allowing them to see how older adults are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first report, on use of telehealth, is available at https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/report/telehealth-use-among-older-adults-and-during-covid-19

In addition, the poll team compiled other data from pre-COVID-19 polls that might be useful in understanding how people over 50 might be affected by the pandemic: https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/impact-social-distancing-older-adults-past-findings-national-poll-offer-insights

A new study examines the effects of cancer and its treatment on the aging process. Investigators found that expression of a gene associated with aging is higher in young patients with cancer after treatment with chemotherapy and in young cancer survivors who are frail. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Previous research has shown that a protein called p16INK4a, which slows cell division, is produced at higher levels by cells as a person ages. Using expression of the gene that codes for p16INK4a as a marker of age, Andrew Smitherman, MD, MSc, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and his colleagues examined immune cells circulating in the blood of young adult survivors of childhood cancers and of children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer.

The team first analyzed cells from 60 survivors and compared them with cells from 29 age-matched individuals without a history of cancer. Expression of the gene that codes for p16INK4a was higher in survivors than in controls, representing a 25-year age acceleration. Nine survivors were frail, and they had a higher level of expression compared with survivors who were not frail, representing a 35-year age acceleration.

The researchers also found that in the nine children and adolescents in the study who had a new diagnosis of cancer, expression was higher after treatment with chemotherapy than before treatment.

"Higher expression of p16INK4a in peripheral blood lymphocytes has been described in older adults following chemotherapy, but prior to this study, not in young adult survivors," said Dr. Smitherman. "This study is important as we try to understand the biological mechanisms underlying the manifestations of early aging in this population."

Dr. Smitherman noted that elevated p16INK4a expression as a marker of aging may help identify cancer survivors at risk for developing frailty and functional disability. "Additionally, expression of p16INK4a may prove useful as a measure to study treatments aimed at mitigating the early aging effects of cancer treatment," he said.

Orlando, Fla - Though it's difficult to think about, what we would do in the event of a violent attack has probably crossed most of our minds, especially as the number and scope of these tragic events has risen in recent years. While we hope it's a situation we will never encounter, being prepared to help victims in the wake of tragedy can be extremely powerful. However, a new national survey by Orlando Health finds the majority of Americans are not confident that they could provide life-saving aid following a violent mass attack.

The survey found that although most Americans feel they could call 911 and about half could provide information to first responders, confidence drops when it comes to administering first aid (42%) or applying a tourniquet (41%).

"Most commonly, the first person to encounter a bleeding victim is another victim or bystander, and they can really be the difference between whether somebody lives or dies," said Joseph Ibrahim, MD, trauma medical director at the Level One Trauma Center at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC). "Hemorrhage is responsible for 35 percent of traumatic injury deaths before victims reach the hospital and having basic knowledge on how to control bleeding and care for a wound can save lives."

This critical role of everyday citizens became abundantly clear to Dr. Ibrahim and the trauma team after treating 44 victims of the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in 2016. That's why they partnered with Stop the Bleed to offer training sessions to schools, businesses and organizations that focus on three simple yet critical skills: Applying pressure, packing a wound and using a tourniquet.

"We try to answer any questions that would come in a trauma situation, like how long a tourniquet can be safely used, how to keep a victim calm and the signs of life-threatening bleeding," Dr. Ibrahim said. "Addressing these issues in a controlled setting and getting hands-on practice with lifelike mannequins helps someone apply what they've learned to a real-life situation."

It's training that Michael McLatchey sought out after helping a critically injured victim of a jet ski accident in the Florida Keys.

"I heard the crash and when I paddled over to the victim and pulled her out of the water, I could see that her leg was completely severed under her right knee and there was obviously a lot of bleeding," McLatchey said. "I had never experienced anything like that before, and I think my reaction to help was just human instinct. I tied a rope around her leg, but I had no idea if what I was doing was effective."

McLatchey wanted to be more prepared if he ever found himself in a position to help again, so not only did he seek out and participate in a Stop the Bleed session at Orlando Health, but he eventually became an instructor there as well. He also changed career paths and is now a medical student with plans to become a trauma surgeon.

"I didn't know that day on the water was going to change my life, but I will never forget the orange tourniquet the paramedics put on the victim's leg when we got her to shore. The bleeding stopped immediately and it saved her life," McLatchey said. "I wanted to be able to have that kind of impact, and I've been lucky enough now to train hundreds of people who also wanted to possess those same skills to save themselves, a family member or a stranger."

Dr. Ibrahim says the goal is that Stop the Bleed for traumatic injuries will become as well known as CPR for cardiac arrest or the Heimlich maneuver for choking. Some participants have already reported back that they have utilized what they've learned to help victims of car crashes and household accidents. He's hoping the program will continue to expand so more people across the country are prepared to help when it's needed most. For information on training sessions near you or to implement the program in your community, go to StopTheBleed.org or OrlandoHealth.com/StopTheBleed.

HOUSTON - (Aug. 24, 2020) - Researchers at Rice University's Brown School of Engineering are using data gathered before a deadly 2017 landslide in Greenland to show how deep learning may someday help predict seismic events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Seismic data collected before the massive landslide at a Greenland fjord shows the subtle signals of the impending event were there, but no human analyst could possibly have put the clues together in time to make a prediction. The resulting tsunami that devastated the village of Nuugaatsiaq killed four people and injured nine and washed 11 buildings into the sea.

A study lead by former Rice visiting scholar Léonard Seydoux, now an assistant professor at the University of Grenoble-Alpes, employs techniques developed by Rice engineers and co-authors Maarten de Hoop and Richard Baraniuk. Their open-access report in Nature Communications shows how deep learning methods can process the overwhelming amount of data provided by seismic tools fast enough to predict events.

De Hoop, who specializes in mathematical analysis of inverse problems and deep learning in connection with Rice's Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, said advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are well-suited to independently monitor large and growing amounts of seismic data. AI has the ability to identify clusters of events and detect background noise to make connections that human experts might not recognize due to biases in their models, not to mention sheer volume, he said.

Hours before the Nuugaatsiaq event, those small signals began to appear in data collected by a nearby seismic station. The researchers analyzed data from midnight on June 17, 2017, until one minute before the slide at 11:39 p.m. that released up to 51 million cubic meters of material.

The Rice algorithm revealed weak but repetitive rumblings -- undetectable in raw seismic records -- that began about nine hours before the event and accelerated over time, leading to the landslide.

"There was a precursor paper to this one by our co-author, Piero Poli at Grenoble, that studied the event without AI," de Hoop said. "They discovered something in the data they thought we should look at, and because the area is isolated from a lot of other noise and tectonic activity, it was the purest data we could work with to try our ideas."

De Hoop is continuing to test the algorithm to analyze volcanic activity in Costa Rica and is also involved with NASA's InSight lander, which delivered a seismic detector to the surface of Mars nearly two years ago.

Constant monitoring that delivers such warnings in real time will save lives, de Hoop said.

"People ask me if this study is significant -- and yes, it is a major step forward -- and then if we can predict earthquakes. We're not quite ready to do that, but this direction is, I think, one of the most promising at the moment."

When de Hoop joined Rice five years ago, he brought expertise in solving inverse problems that involve working backwards from data to find a cause. Baraniuk is a leading expert in machine learning and compressive sensing, which help extract useful data from sparse samples. Together, they're a formidable team.

"The most exciting thing about this work is not the current result, but the fact that the approach represents a new research direction for machine learning as applied to geophysics," Baraniuk said.

"I come from the mathematics of deep learning and Rich comes from signal processing, which are at opposite ends of the discipline," de Hoop said. "But here we meet in the middle. And now we have a tremendous opportunity for Rice to build upon its expertise as a hub for seismologists to gather and put these pieces together. There's just so much data now that it's becoming impossible to handle any other way."

De Hoop is helping to grow Rice's reputation for seismic expertise with the Simons Foundation Math+X Symposia, which have already featured events on space exploration and mitigating natural hazards like volcanoes and earthquakes. A third event, dates to be announced, will study deep learning applications for solar giants and exoplanets.

Reduced resilience of plant biomes in North America could be setting the stage for the kind of mass extinctions not seen since the retreat of glaciers and arrival of humans about 13,000 years ago, cautions a new study published August 20 in the journal Global Change Biology.

The warning comes from a study of 14,189 fossil pollen samples taken from 358 locations across the continent. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology used data from the samples to determine landscape resilience, including how long specific landscapes such as forests and grasslands existed - a factor known as residence time - and how well they rebounded following perturbations such as forest fires - a factor termed recovery.

"Our work indicates that landscapes today are once again exhibiting low resilience, foreboding potential extinctions to come," wrote authors Yue Wang, Benjamin Shipley, Daniel Lauer, Roseann Pineau and Jenny McGuire. "Conservation strategies focused on improving both landscape and ecosystem resilience by increasing local connectivity and targeting regions with high richness and diverse landforms can mitigate these extinction risks."

The research, supported by the National Science Foundation, is believed to be the first to quantify biome residence and recovery time over an extended period of time. The researchers studied 12 major plant biomes in North America over the past 20,000 years using pollen data from the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.

"We find that the retreat of North American glaciers destabilized ecosystems, causing large herbivores - including mammoths, horses and camels - to struggle for food supplies," said McGuire, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Biological Sciences and School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "That destabilization combined with the arrival of humans in North America to land a one-two punch that resulted in the extinction of large terrestrial mammals on the continent."

The researchers found that landscapes today are experiencing resilience lower than any seen since the end of the Pleistocene megafauna extinctions.

"Today, we see a similarly low landscape resilience, and we see a similar one-two punch: humans are expanding our footprint and climates are changing rapidly," said Wang, a postdoctoral researcher who led the study. "Though we know that strategies exist to mitigate some of these effects, our findings serve as a dire warning about the vulnerability of natural systems to extinction."

By studying the mix of plants represented by pollen samples, the researchers found that over the past 20,000 years, forests persisted for longer than grassland habitats - averaging 700 years versus about 360 years, though they also took much longer to re-establish after being perturbed - averaging 360 years versus 260 years. "These findings were somewhat surprising," said McGuire. "We had expected biomes to persist much longer, perhaps for thousands of years rather than hundreds."

The research also found that forests and grasslands transition quickly when temperatures are changing fast, and that they recover most rapidly if the ecosystem contains high plant biodiversity. Yet not all biomes recover; the study found that only 64% regain their original biome type through a process that can take up to three centuries. Arctic systems were least likely to recover, the study found.

Landscape resilience, the ability of habitats to persist or quickly rebound in response to disturbances, have helped maintain terrestrial biodiversity during periods of climactic and environmental changes, the researchers noted.

"Identifying the tempo and mode of landscape transitions and the drivers of landscape resilience is critical to maintaining natural systems and preserving biodiversity given today's rapid climate and land use changes," the authors wrote. "However, resilient landscapes are difficult to recognize on short time scales, as perturbations are challenging to quantify and ecosystem transitions are rare."

Contrary to prevailing ecological theory, the researchers found that pollen richness - indicating diversity of species - did not necessarily correlate with residence time. Ecological theory suggests that biodiversity increases ecosystem resilience by improving "functional redundancy," allowing a system to maintain stability even if a single or several species are lost. "But species richness does not necessarily reflect functional redundancy, and as a result may not be correlated with ecosystem stability," the researchers wrote.

The study used pollen data from five forest types--forest?tundra, conifer/hardwood, boreal forest, deciduous forest, and coastal forest, five shrub/herb biome types--Arctic vegetation, desert, mountain vegetation, prairies, and Mediterranean vegetation, and two no?analog biome types--spruce parkland and mixed parkland.

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database contains fossil pollen and spores that are ubiquitous in lake and mire sediments. Collected through core sampling, the samples represent a wide diversity of plant taxa and cover an extended period of time.

Though the effects of climate change and human environmental impacts don't bode well for the future of North American plant biomes, there are ways to address it, Wang said. "We know that strategies exist to mitigate some of these effects, such as prioritizing biodiverse regions that can rebound quickly and increasing the connectivity between natural habitats so that species can move in response to warming."

Dr. Polina Ermolaeva, Associate Professor of the Department of General and Ethnic Sociology of Kazan Federal University, has been studying various social and environmental features of sports mega-events for Russian cities from 2013, when she secured a grant on analyzing the social consequences of the 2013 Summer Universiade for Kazan and 2014 Olympic Games for Sochi. She has authored several publications on the legacy of sports mega-events for post-Soviet cities.

Alex Lind, a postdoctoral student at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography at Martin-Luther-University in Germany, tackled this topic in his PhD thesis on FIFA World Cup in a comparative perspective. He is an organizer of the international conference '2018 FIFA World Cup as the opportunity and driver for the regional development in Kaliningrad and Kazan' that was held Kaliningrad on 27-29 November 2018.

The paper reflects on the way that the 2018 FIFA World Cup Sustainability Strategy was implemented for Russian host cities through case studies of the cities of Kazan and Kaliningrad. The co-authors argue that sports mega-events may be rationalized through the so-called performative framework as "simulacrums"-- declared actions that are substitutes for and imitations of the social, economic, and environmental changes required to host mega-events, as opposed to meeting the real needs of the local host communities. The imitative practices arise due to the limited time frames and lack of strategic planning of the host cities' governance or other reasons.

The study showed that Kazan managed to develop into a national sports center in a decade by hosting various international events. For example, the metro and bicycle routes have been expanded and the public vehicle fleet modernized to promote environmentally friendly mobility in the city and to prevent a traffic collapse in the course of its dynamic development. The will to implement further sustainability measures is also reflected in a more detailed topic of waste separation, which after a test phase was to be implemented throughout the city in 2019.

While Kazan has already hosted numerous international (mega) events, the World Cup was Kaliningrad's first event of such magnitude. In contrast to Kazan, Kaliningrad is still in the beginning phase with regard to the topic of waste separation and treatment, so that a holistic concept is unlikely to be implemented before 2020.

Contrasted with the positive outlook from FIFA officials on the Sustainability legacies for Russia's World Cup host cities (though there is no post-event complex assessment), and based on the research, the authors came to a conclusion that most of the sustainable practices were imitative by nature to meet FIFA's requirements for the host cities, but did not serve as a sustainability legacy for their own citizens. For example, the inconvenience of bike paths for the everyday use of citizens in Kaliningrad; the urgent planting of greenery, the majority of which disappeared shortly after the event; the introduction of rubbish bins in Kazan but not the implementation of a massive recycling awareness campaign. These examples show that the mechanical applications of "best" international practices and building the infrastructure alone, without investment in environmental awareness and educational campaigns, the introduction of financial stimuli suitable for the Russian sociocultural context, and the necessary normative regulations, can lead to temporary and symbolic results. In our opinion, the gap between the rapid urban regeneration, infrastructural and institutional innovations, and slow adaptations of citizens' values and practices to the new changes, make Russian post-Soviet cities unique cases and at the same time common to other world cities for future analysis.

Despite the critical discourse, it is crucial to highlight that sports mega-events for post-socialist Russia are drivers for fruitful urban regeneration to comply with international standards. In post-industrial countries, the environmental infrastructure and institutional practices that have been forming for decades and are now taken for granted are pushing toward rapid development in Russian cities within a couple of years. Furthermore, the civic society that started to develop in the former Soviet Union, still needs more time to institutionalize and to change people's perception and the behavior of different actors, including those who are responsible for decision-making.

The research thus seeks to generate a better understanding of the role of FIFA and sports mega-events for creating sustainability legacies in host countries, the problems, and the need for more effective policies in the context of post-Soviet Russia. In the study, much attention is paid to bring the results of the sustainability policies to the key stakeholders and involve them in the decision-making process.

The authors would like to mention certain limitations associated with the current study that could be acknowledged and overcome in future research on the topic. First of all, the case-study approach with only two cases in the sample does not provide for a reliable generalization of the results for other Russian cities that hosted the FIFA World Cup. Second, the use of different methods employed in each case can potentially cause biases and does not allow to compare cases across similar variables inherent in survey and semi-structured interview designs. Due to the social-environmental focus of the study, we did not cover other topics inherent in Sustainability Strategy, such as human rights, labor rights on stadium construction sites, anti-discrimination, accessibility, tobacco-free events, and social development.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound, negative impact on nine out of ten people with experience of eating disorders, a new study from Northumbria University, Newcastle, reveals.

According to Beat, the UK's eating disorder charity, approximately 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder. Until now, little was known about the impact of the pandemic on this population.

While it is evident that the COVID-19 outbreak is having a significant effect on the global population, research carried out by academics from Northumbria's Department of Psychology shows that the pandemic raises additional, unique challenges for individuals with eating disorders.

The study comes after calls from the scientific community to investigate the mental health consequences of the pandemic for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and those with serious mental health conditions, including those with lived experience of eating disorders.

In addition to raising awareness of the impact of the pandemic for those affected by eating disorders, the results have the potential to influence future health service provisions, guidance and policies. The paper will be published in the Journal of Eating Disorders online on Monday 24 August.

Exploring the impact on wellbeing

During the early stages of the UK pandemic lockdown, Dr Dawn Branley-Bell and Dr Catherine Talbot surveyed individuals across the country who are currently experiencing, or in recovery from, an eating disorder.

The results suggest that disruptions to daily life as a result of lockdown and social distancing may have a detrimental impact on an individual's wellbeing, with almost nine out of ten (87%) of participants reporting that their symptoms had worsened as a result of the pandemic. Over 30% stated that their symptoms were much worse.

Findings indicate detrimental impacts on psychological wellbeing including decreased feelings of control, increased feelings of social isolation, increased rumination about disordered eating, and low feelings of social support.

Through analysis of participants' responses, researchers found that the negative effects may be due to changes to individuals: regular routine, living situation, time spent with friends and family, access to treatment, engagement in physical activity, relationship with food and use of technology.

Crucial findings

One of the major challenges faced by those surveyed was a reduction in healthcare service provision or discrepancies in access to healthcare services. Some reported being prematurely discharged from inpatient units, having treatment suspended or continuing to stay on a waiting list for treatment, and receiving limited post-diagnostic support.

A reduction in service provision caused some participants to report feeling like a "burden", an "inconvenience", and "forgotten" by the government and NHS.

Beat, a national charity for people with eating disorders with over 25 years' experience of working with sufferers and their loved ones, has seen an 81% increase in contact across all Helpline channels. This includes a 125% rise in social media contact and a 115% surge in online group attendance.

Tom Quinn, Beat's Director of External Affairs, said: "We have seen first-hand the devastating impact the pandemic has had on those suffering from or vulnerable to eating disorders and their loved ones. More and more people are reaching out to our Helpline services, and we are prepared to support anyone in need at this time."

The research team warns that the consequences of not being able to access professional eating disorder treatment during the pandemic could be severe, causing some peoples' conditions to become much worse and, in some cases, could prove fatal.

Media coverage and social media posts were also cited as a source of anxiety due to the general population's preoccupation with food, weight gain and exercise.

Although some positive aspects of technology use were identified, those surveyed repeatedly highlighted the emphasis upon eating and exercise that has become a dominant theme across social media during the pandemic and the associated lockdown.

Academics stressed that while positive messages about diet and exercise can be beneficial for the majority of the population, it is important for healthcare and government to acknowledge that these can also be triggering or upsetting for vulnerable populations.

Critical action required

Recommendations on how these issues can be addressed via further developments within healthcare, research, governance and policy were also outlined in the study. Dr Branley-Bell and Dr Talbot explain that this could benefit those experiencing eating disorders and also mental health issues more broadly.

Dr Dawn Branley-Bell, Research Associate, says: "Our findings highlight that we must not underestimate the longevity of the impact of the pandemic. Individuals with experience of eating disorders will likely experience a long-term effect on their symptoms and recovery. It is important that this is recognised by healthcare services, and beyond, in order to offer the necessary resources to support this vulnerable population now and on an on-going basis."

An automatic, electronic alert on general practitioners' (GPs) computer screens can help to prevent excessive prescribing of short-acting asthma reliever medication, according to research presented at the 'virtual' European Respiratory Society International Congress. [1]

The alert pops up when GPs open the medical records for a patient who has been issued with three prescriptions for short-acting reliever inhalers, such as salbutamol, within a three-month period. It suggests the patient should have an asthma review to assess symptoms and improve asthma control. Short-acting beta2-agonists (SABAs), usually described as blue inhalers, afford short-term relief of asthma symptoms by expanding the airways, but do not deal with the underlying inflammatory cause.

"Excessive use of reliever inhalers such as salbutamol is an indicator of poorly controlled asthma and a risk factor for asthma attacks. It has also been implicated in asthma-related deaths. Yet, despite national and international asthma guidelines, excessive prescribing of short-acting beta2-agonists persists," said Dr Shauna McKibben, an honorary research fellow at the Institute of Population Health Sciences Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), UK, and clinical nurse specialist in asthma and allergy at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, who led the research. "This research aimed to identify and target excessive SABA prescribing using an electronic alert in GPs' computer systems to identify at-risk patients, change prescribing behaviour and improve asthma management."

The study of 18,244 asthma patients in 132 general practices in north-east London found a 6% reduction in the excessive prescribing of reliever inhalers in the 12 months following the alert first appearing on patients' records. In addition, three months after the alert, asthma reviews increased by 12%, within six months after the alert, repeat prescribing of SABAs reduced by 5% and asthma exacerbations requiring treatment with oral steroids reduced by 8%.

The alert to identify excessive SABA prescribing was introduced in 2015 on GPs' computer systems that used EMIS clinical software. At the time of the research EMIS was used by almost all general practices in north-east London, and 56% of English practices used it by 2017 [2].

Dr McKibben analysed data on SABA prescribing for patients in all practices in the north-east London boroughs of City and Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham between 2015 and 2016. She compared these with excessive SABA prescribing between 2013 to 2014, before the alert was introduced.

She said: "The most important finding is the small but potentially clinically significant reduction in SABA prescribing in the 12 months after the alert. This, combined with the other results, suggests that the alert prompts a review of patients who may have poor asthma control. An asthma review facilitates the assessment of SABA use and is an important opportunity to improve asthma management."

Dr McKibben also asked a sample of GPs, receptionists and nurses in general practice about their thoughts on the alert.

"The alert was viewed as a catalyst for asthma review; however, the provision of timely review was challenging and response to the alert was dependent on local practice resources and clinical priorities," she said.

A limitation of the research was that the alert assumed that only one SABA inhaler was issued per prescription, when often two at a time may be issued. "Therefore, excessive SABA prescribing and the subsequent reduction in prescribing following the alert may be underestimated," said Dr McKibben.

She continued: "Excessive SABA use is only one indicator for poor asthma control but the risks are not well understood by patients and are often overlooked by healthcare professionals. Further research into the development and robust evaluation of tools to support primary care staff in the management of people with asthma is essential to improve asthma control and reduce hospital admissions."

The study's findings are now being used to support and inform the REAL-HEALTH Respiratory initiative, a Barts Charity funded three-year programme with the clinical effectiveness group at QMUL. The initiative provides general practices with EMIS IT tools to support the identification of patients with high-risk asthma. This includes an electronic alert for excessive SABA prescribing and an asthma prescribing tool to identify patients with poor asthma control who may be at risk of hospital admission.

Daiana Stolz, who was not involved in the research, is the European Respiratory Society Education Council Chair and Professor of Respiratory Medicine and a leading physician at the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland. She said: "This study shows how a relatively simple intervention, an electronic alert popping up on GPs' computers when they open a patient's records, can prompt a review of asthma medication and can lead to a reduction in excessive prescribing of short-acting asthma relievers and better asthma control. However, the fact that general practices often struggled to provide a timely asthma review in a period before the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests that far more resources need to be made available to primary care, particularly in this pandemic period."

Azobenzene-containing plastic film is a peculiar material; its surface can change shape when exposed to light, making it a valuable component in modern technologies/devices like TV screens and solar cells. Scientists now show that only a thin, topmost layer of the light-dependent azobenzene-containing plastic film needs to be light-sensitive, rather than the entire film, opening up new ways to potentially reduce production costs and revolutionize its use.

So far, it had been widely accepted that the light-sensitive nature of this material extends throughout the whole film, but scientists did not understand what was causing the shape-shifting movement. A group of scientists led by Dr Takahiro Seki of Nagoya University, Japan, set out to figure out exactly how this happens; they have published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.

They cite a well-studied phenomenon called Marangoni flow as their inspiration: owing to this phenomenon, differences in "surface tension" (the property by which the particles in the outermost layer of liquids are always attracted inwards, creating a boundary for the liquid) cause many soft, plastic films to move in a peculiar pattern. The most famous example of this phenomenon is the formation of "wine legs" or droplets of liquid evaporating and streaking down the surfaces of wine glasses.

They decided to test whether ultraviolet light triggered changes in the surface tension of azobenzene plastic film, and whether those changes resulted in the film moving. They chose to first cover azobenzene film with a very thin top layer that was light-sensitive, then exposed this film to UV radiation. Next, they did the same with film that was covered in a top layer unresponsive to light. To their excitement, the scientists found surface structural changes in the film with a light-sensitive top layer, but not in the film with a "light-insensitive" top layer. "This is the first time anyone has demonstrated that only the light responsiveness of a very thin 'nanometer' level layer is needed for azobenzene-containing film to alter its surface morphology under UV," said Dr Seki.

An important observation of this study is that the movement of the material isn't dependent on "light polarization," or the direction in which light waves travel. If it were, that would suggest that there is another force on the molecular level affecting the whole film. Instead, Dr Seki concludes that it is probably the changes in chemical structure at the surface induced by the UV radiation that changes surface tension, inducing movement to the top of the film.

Describing the wider ramifications of their results, Dr Seki states: "We are only at the cusp of developing this discovery onto an industrial scale, but you can imagine how needing only a very small amount of light-sensitive material can reduce costs. Many optical devices like photocopiers, printers, and monitors depend on the light-based surface change in azobenzene polymer film. Based on our findings, azobenzene film can also act as an "actuator" (that part in a device that moves other parts) in nanomachinery."

These newly discovered properties have vast implications, from improving the economics of production and lowering material prices, to advancing the field of nanotechnology itself.

The brain plays a major role in controlling our blood glucose levels. In type 2 diabetics this glucose metabolism brain control is often dysfunctional. Genetic components for this phenomenon have so far remained elusive. A group of scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) have now shown in the Journal of Clinical Investigations that in men a genetic variant of the gene DUSP8 can increase the risk for type 2 diabetes by impairing our brain response to the hormone insulin.

Insulin is a pancreatic hormone that controls our blood sugar levels. Insulin not only stimulates the uptake of glucose from blood into peripheral tissues, it also acts on the brain, specifically the hypothalamus, to control glucose and energy metabolism. In obese subjects, insulin loses some of its activity due to the activation of inflammatory signaling and a subsequent impairment of the cellular response downstream to the insulin receptor. This phenomenon, termed insulin resistance, is a major hallmark in the development of type 2 diabetes, but to date not yet fully understood. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified DUSP8 as type 2 diabetes risk gene. Now, scientists have investigated how the protein Dusp8 (dual-specificity phosphatase 8), which is encoded by the DUSP8 gene, regulates glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

Genetic variant of the DUSP8 gene increases risk of type 2 diabetes

"Carriers of a genetic variant of the gene DUSP8 were shown to have a moderately increased risk for type 2 diabetes, but the functional importance of Dusp8 for the etiology of the disease remained unknown," explains Dr. Sonja C. Schriever, lead author of the study. "By combining cellular models, Dusp8 loss- and gain-of-function mice and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of humans with genetic variants in the gene DUSP8, we now exposed a specific role of the protein Dusp8 as a gatekeeper for systemic glucose tolerance and hypothalamic insulin sensitivity," adds colleague and senior author Prof. Dr. Paul Pfluger. Within the framework of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), both scientists formed a team of biologists, epidemiologists and clinicians that was able to unravel the molecular mechanisms that link Dusp8 with the development of type 2 diabetes.

Protein Dusp8 has regulatory effects on hypothalamic insulin sensitivity

The protein Dusp8 has a regulatory effect on inflammatory processes in the hypothalamus and on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. It seems to protect the organism against hyper-activation of inflammatory signaling and impaired insulin sensitivity in the hypothalamus. The scientists could show that the deletion of the Dusp8 gene in male but not in female mice increased hypothalamic inflammation, impaired HPA axis feedback and increased basal stress hormone levels, which all together aggravated the insulin sensitivity. The sex-specific role of murine Dusp8 was consistent with fMRI data in human volunteers that revealed reduced hypothalamic insulin sensitivity in male but not female carriers of the DUSP8 type 2 diabetes risk variant.

"Unraveling the multi-systemic processes that drive the impaired hypothalamic insulin sensitivity in the mouse models was an important step to understand the mechanistic underpinnings of the type 2 diabetes risk gene DUSP8", concludes Schriever. In future studies, the researchers want to investigate the effect of central insulin action and the DUSP8 type 2 diabetes risk variant on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in human subjects with or without T2D.

Hokkaido University scientists have shown that Interleukin-34 is a prognostic marker and drug target for Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women across the world, affecting 28.9% . Depending on the combination of cell receptor molecules present on the surface of the cancer cells, breast cancer is classified into one of three types: Luminal A, Luminal B and HER2+. The receptors determine which hormone the cancer is dependent on for survival, and thus indicate which drugs can be used to treat the cancer. A fourth type of breast cancer, Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), does not have any of these three receptors. This type of cancer does not respond to standard treatments and the prognosis is generally poorer than for other types of breast cancer.

A team of scientists from the Institute for Genetic Medicine (IGM) at Hokkaido University have established a link between a molecule called interleukin-34 (IL-34) and Triple Negative Breast Cancer, and have shown that IL-34 can be used to assess prognosis of TNBC patients. Their findings were published in the specialist journal Breast Cancer.

Interleukin-34 (IL-34) is a cytokine, a type of molecule that transmits signals between cells and is responsible for fighting disease. IL-34 is known to associate well with poor outcomes in lung cancer and liver cancer, among others. For this reason, the scientists decided to determine the relationship between IL-34 and TNBC.

Data from 1083 breast cancer patients was obtained from The Human Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and was statistically analyzed. The scientists investigated the correlation between IL-34 and each type of cancer. They discovered that TNBC is associated with high levels of IL-34. When they looked into the effect of IL-34 on prognosis, they found that the prognosis for TNBC patients with high IL-34 levels was poor.

To demonstrate that this relationship could be replicated in the lab, experiments were carried out in mice models. The scientists compared the growth and development of two cell lines that were identical except for the levels of IL-34 expressed: one cell line expressed high levels of IL-34 while the other expressed low levels. In cell culture, there was no difference observed between the cell lines; however, once introduced into mice, the cells that expressed high levels of IL-34 caused rapid tumor growth. They discovered that IL-34 promotes creation of a favourable environment for the growth of tumors by protecting them from anti-tumor macrophages.

The group that conducted this study was led by Professor Ken-ichiro Seino, head of the Division of Immunology, IGM. "Currently, chemotherapy is the only reliable means of treating TNBC," he says, "but it frequently develops resistance to chemotherapy. Our findings show that IL-34 is an attractive molecular target for targeted cancer therapy."

A viscous biopaste that is easy to process, solidifies quickly and is suitable for producing even complex structures using the 3D printing process has been developed by a research team headed by Prof. Dr. Marie-Pierre Laborie from the Chair of Forest Biomaterials at the University of Freiburg. The wood-based biodegradable synthetic could potentially be used in lightweight construction, amongst other things. The scientists have published their initial results in the journals Applied Bio Materials and Biomacromolecules.

Lignin strengthens the cell walls of plants and causes them to turn woody (lignify) - a mechanism that helps plants to protect themselves against wind or pests. It is a waste product from paper manufacture and largely incinerated to produce bioenergy. "This is why we're researching into alternative possibilities for making better use of this raw material in future," says Laborie. As a result the team started to reexamine a combination of materials which was already investigated in the 1980s by an American research team. In this system, liquid crystals based on cellulose, the main component of plant cell walls, ensure not only the strength but also the good flow properties of the biopaste. The other component, lignin, can 'stick together' the microstructure in the process of creating the biosynthetic, as Robert Gleuwitz discovered in his doctoral thesis. Its orientation subsequently determines the characteristics of the biosynthetic: for instance, it can respond more rigidly or more flexibly, depending on the direction from which the force comes.

Further research work will however be necessary until industrial application is possible, for example as a composite in lightweight construction. Until now the team has used exceptionally pure lignin which is produced in a pilot biorefinery at the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (CBP) in Leuna - whether the waste product from the paper industry can also be directly processed still has to be researched. As Lisa Ebers shows in her doctoral thesis, the characteristics of the biosynthetic can also be varied in many ways, for instance by chemically processing or varying the components: Trials to date have used lignin from beech trees - if it is obtained from other plants it will have slightly different material characteristics such as different liquid crystals, even though they are all based on cellulose. The optimal quantity ratios also differ depending on the planned application. In addition, the researchers will soon be testing an entirely different possible use: the quality of soil can be analyzed with the help of the bio-based material. This takes place by studying the degradability of lignin and cellulose in various types of soil.

The results arose from a research project by the Sustainability Center Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Society. The research and 3D printing trials took place in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Friedrich and Dr. Gopakumar Sivasankarapillai at the Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF) of the University of Freiburg and with Dr. Gilberto Siqueira in the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.

If and how babies recall what they have learned depends on their mood: what they've learned when feeling calm is inaccessible when they're acitive and vice versa. This was shown in a study conducted by developmental psychologists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) with 96 children aged nine months. They published their report in the journal Child Development from 19. August 2020.

One minute happy, next minute sad

The mood of infants is unpredictable: they may be playing happily one moment and be completely inconsolable the next. "Surprisingly, it hadn't yet been understood whether these changes in mood affect learning and memory in babies," says Professor Sabine Seehagen, Head of the Developmental Psychology research group at RUB. Studies with adults have shown that moods affect thinking. We remember experiences that we had in a certain mood, especially when we are in the same mood again.

In order to find out whether this phenomenon, which is known as state-dependent memory, also exists in babies, the researchers studied 96 children aged nine months. In the first step, the babies either performed quiet activities with their parent, such as looking at picture books, or they went wild by hopping around; then, they watched an experimenter performing actions with a hand puppet, thus learning how to do this. "The aspect that interested us was whether or not the children were able to imitate the observed actions a quarter of an hour later," as Sabine Seehagen outlines the experiment. Just before the test started, some of the babies were put into the same state as when they were learning, while others were put into a different mood by playing the opposite games.

Access to memory content blocked

The infants who had been in a different mood when learning than when recalling what they'd learned could not imitate the actions with the puppet: the memory performance was two and a half times higher if they were in the same mood when learning and when recalling what they'd learned. "This shows that fluctuations in internal state at this age can prevent access to memory content," points out Seehagen.

The researchers assume that this may be an explanation for the fact that adults can't remember any experiences of their early childhood. And parents may thus understand why their children can remember some things and can't remember others: some things that a child learned in a quiet mood may no longer be accessible when the child is upset. "In this study we only looked at one age group," says Sabine Seehagen. "Further research will be necessary to explore how the relation between mood and memory develops with increasing age."