OPIUM HAS ONLY BEEN AROUND FOR FIVE HUNDRED YEARS

At least 80% of opioid overdoses aren’t fatal, WVU researchers want to know how they affect the brain

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: SCIENTISTS STILL KNOW LITTLE ABOUT HOW OPIOID OVERDOSES AFFECT THE BRAIN AND COGNITION. WVU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RESEARCHERS ERIN WINSTANLEY AND JAMES MAHONEY PERFORMED A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF JOURNAL ARTICLES THAT TACKLE THE TOPIC. THEY FOUND THAT WHILE EVIDENCE EXISTS TO SUPPORT A LINK BETWEEN OVERDOSE, COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND BRAIN ABNORMALITIES, MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED IN THIS AREA. view more 

CREDIT: WVU PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/AIRA BURKHART

An opioid overdose isn’t a death sentence. In fact, estimates indicate that in the United States, only 4% to 18% of opioid overdoses that are treated in a hospital or pre-hospital setting—such as an ambulance or someone’s home—actually kill the patient. But there’s a lot that scientists still don’t know about what nonfatal overdoses do to the brain.

To better understand the topic, Erin Winstanley and James Mahoney—researchers with the West Virginia University School of Medicine and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute—reviewed 79 studies of neurocognitive impairments and brain abnormalities associated with nonfatal opioid overdoses in humans. The studies all had limitations, a sign that more precise research is needed in this area. Yet despite the studies’ shortcomings, their findings still suggested that brain abnormalities and cognitive impairments are linked to overdose.

“I think there’s probably a host of morbidities associated with experiencing a nonfatal opioid-related overdose that’s largely neglected in the published literature and—to a certain extent—from a public health standpoint,” said Winstanley, an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and the Department of Neuroscience. “We should first focus on saving lives. That’s definitely the appropriate step. But we probably should start paying attention to some of these other issues, too. Given the proportion of people who have experienced a nonfatal overdose, the number of deaths is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Their findings appear in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Winstanley, Mahoney and their colleagues—Felipe Castillo and Sandra Comer of Columbia University—performed a systematic review of journal articles published between 1973 and 2020.

Overall, the studies lacked the level of detail and consistency that would have made many direct comparisons and inferences possible.

For instance, fewer than half of the studies reported toxicology results confirming an opioid overdose. Only 27.8% reported results of neuropsychological testing, and only 64.6% reported magnetic resonance imaging—or MRI—results of the brain.

The team discovered that all of the studies were at risk of one form of bias or another. Some studies, for example, failed to measure participants’ intellectual functioning, consider whether they had received prompt overdose treatment or reported whether they were using anything besides opioids.

“Independent of overdose, addiction research is complicated in general because of all these numerous confounding variables,” said Mahoney, an associate professor and clinical neuropsychologist in the WVU Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and the Department of Neuroscience. “There are often medical and psychiatric comorbidities and several other factors that may be impacting the cognition of these individuals. On top of that, co-occurring substance use in addition to opioids is more the norm than the exception.”

The overdose itself complicates matters further. How long was the individual’s brain deprived of oxygen? Did they receive adequate treatment in time? How long post-overdose was neuroimaging or cognitive testing done? All of these variables—and many others—can influence a study’s results.

“Also, there are so many different measurements that are used to test cognitive functioning, making it even more difficult to compare findings across the literature,” Mahoney said.

Despite these inconsistencies, the studies provided evidence that an opioid overdose has the potential to change how someone’s brain appears or behaves. In turn, those changes could influence someone’s attention span, memory, executive function or other higher-order thinking skills.

“This news is quite positive in the sense that if we can start to do early identification and screening for neurocognitive deficits—whether they’re associated with overdose or not—we might actually have the right kind of rehabilitation therapy for them, including some promising new treatments for cognitive deficits,” Winstanley said.

That’s important because neurocognitive deficits make poor treatment outcomes more likely for people who want to stop using opioids or other substances.

“If we are able to target those at a higher risk of cognitive impairment—perhaps those who have had five or six overdoses—and individualize their treatment plans to address those deficits as early in the treatment process as possible, we may be able to improve their outcomes, given what is known about cognition and treatment dropout,” Mahoney said.

To gain more insight into those deficits and how they can be addressed, Winstanley, Mahoney and their colleagues at WVU and Columbia University have begun a new project. They’re comparing the cognition of two groups of people with opioid use disorder: those with a past history of overdose and those without any overdose history.

The researchers have had all participants complete the same comprehensive battery of neurocognitive tests. As they gather and analyze the data, the researchers will take into account characteristics such as the participants’ age, education level and intellectual functioning; how long they have been using substances; and which substances they have used.

In addition, the team has used functional MRI to form images of some of the participants’ brains to provide insight into how the brain is actually working as they completed working-memory tasks.

“While the neurocognitive testing lets us know how these individuals are actually performing on various thinking tasks, the fMRI data will also give us a sense neuroanatomically of how the brain is functioning, how the various brain networks are engaged and how different areas of the brain are interacting with one another,” Mahoney said. “We will have the opportunity to gain better insight into what factors other than their opioid use and overdose—such as the co-occurring use of other substances—may be impacting these brain networks.”

Insights into how opioid use, overdose and other variables affect the brain could lead to novel neuromodulation treatments, including ones that Mahoney is now exploring.

Neuromodulation involves altering the activity of specific brain areas and networks through the application of electrical pulses, a magnetic field, of other forms of stimulation.

In 2019, Mahoney was part of a team of scientists from RNI and WVU Medicine that launched the world’s first Food and Drug Administration–approved clinical trial of deep brain stimulation to treat opioid use disorder. 

He’s also investigating the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation—another form of neuromodulation—to fight addiction, as well as low-intensity focused ultrasound, which has been studied for several disorders but is in the infancy of exploration as a potential treatment for substance use disorder. 

“By helping to rewire those areas of the brain that are involved in craving and cognition, such as disinhibition, decision making, attention and higher-order executive functions, we can hopefully improve cognitive functioning, which would subsequently improve treatment outcomes,” he said. “It’s unrealistic to think that neuromodulation will simply ‘fix’ addiction, but when used in combination with the standard of care—comprehensive behavioral treatment with medication for opioid use disorder—we will hopefully be able to provide another strategy to help people achieve abstinence.”

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871621003331?via%3Dihub

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JOURNAL

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108838 

ARTICLE TITLE

Neurocognitive impairments and brain abnormalities resulting from opioid-related overdoses: A systematic review

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Sep-2021

 POSTMODERN ASIAN ALCHEMY

The flower clock: How a small protein helps flowers to develop right and on time

Researchers from Nara Institute of Science and Technology and Nanjing University find that KNUCKLES, a small multi-functional protein, supports the correct timing of floral development for the proper formation of flower reproductive organs

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NARA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: THE IMAGE SHOWS AN EARLY STAGE FLOWER OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA. USING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY, SHANG ERLEI ET AL. FOUND THAT KNUCKLES (KNU), ENCODING A C2H2-TYPE ZINC FINGER REPRESSOR, EXPRESSES IN FLORAL MERISTEM (SHOWN IN RED) FROM FLORAL STAGE 6 AND OVERLAPS WITH THE STEM CELL MARKER GENE CLVTAVA3 (CLV3) EXPRESSING CELLS (SHOWN IN GREEN). FURTHER, KNU DIRECTLY REPRESSED CLV3 AND MEDIATES A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR THE TIMELY CONTROLLED FLORAL MERISTEM DETERMINACY. view more 

CREDIT: BO SUN

Ikoma, Japan – How flowers form properly within a limited time frame has been a mystery, at least until now. Researchers from Japan and China have discovered how a multi-tasking protein helps flowers to develop as expected.

In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., researchers from Nanjing University and Nara Institute of Science and Technology have revealed that a small protein plays multiple roles to ensure that floral reproductive organs are formed properly within a short space of time.

Flowers develop from floral meristems, which differentiate to produce the sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. The proper development of these floral organs depends on meristem development being completed within a certain time period. In the early stages of flower development, stem cells provide the cell source for floral organ formation. In floral meristems, stem cell activities are maintained via a feedback loop between WUSCHEL (WUS), a gene that identifies floral stem cells, and CLAVATA3 (CLV3), a stem cell marker gene that is activated and sustained by WUS.

“A small protein called KNUCKLES (KNU) represses WUS directly, which leads to the completion of floral stem cell activity at the right time,” says lead author Erlei Shang of the study. “What isn’t fully understood is how the robust floral stem cell activity finishes within a limited time period to ensure carpel development.”

“The team’s research revealed that in Arabidopsis thaliana, KNU can completely deactivate the robust floral meristems at a particular floral stage, thanks to the multiple functions that KNU carries out via its position-specific roles,” says senior author Toshiro Ito.

KNU both represses and silences WUS, and directly represses CLV3 and CLV1 (a gene that encodes a receptor for the CLV3 peptide). Consequently, KNU eliminates the CLV3-WUS feedback loop via transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms (i.e., those that do not involve changes in the underlying DNA sequences). Additionally, KNU interacts physically with the WUS protein, which inhibits WUS from sustaining CLV3, disrupting interactions that are required for the maintenance of floral meristems.

“Our results reveal a regulatory pathway where KNU plays a key role in supporting the completion of floral meristem development within a short time window, and ensures that flower reproductive organs are properly formed,” says corresponding author Bo Sun.

The results of this research will be useful for genetic studies of food crop species such as rice, tomatoes, and maize. An understanding of the floral meristem termination mechanism discovered in this study will benefit crop yields for food production globally.

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Resource

Title: Robust control of floral meristem determinacy by position-specific multifunctions of KNUCKLES

Authors: Erlei Shang, Xin Wang, Tinghan Li, Fengfei Guo, Toshiro Ito & Bo Sun

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.

Information about Ito's lab can be found at the following website: https://bsw3.naist.jp/eng/courses/courses112.html

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2102826118 

ARTICLE TITLE

Robust control of floral meristem determinacy by position-specific multifunctions of KNUCKLES

CHOP researchers find bystander CPR with rescue breathing leads to better outcomes in pediatric cardiac arrest

Study shows that in infants experiencing cardiac arrest, bystander CPR using only chest compression has similar outcomes to not using CPR at all

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

 

IMAGE: MARYAM Y. NAIM, MD, MSCE, A PEDIATRIC CARDIAC INTENSIVE CARE PHYSICIAN IN THE DIVISION OF CARDIAC CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA AND FIRST AUTHOR OF THE STUDY view more 

CREDIT: CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia, August 30, 2021—When children and adolescents go into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting, CPR with rescue breathing – rather than CPR using only chest compressions – leads to better outcomes, according to a new study by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The findings, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, support the use of bystander CPR with rescue breathing in children experiencing cardiac arrest. 

“At the moment, most lay people are trained in compression-only CPR because that is the standard of care in adults,” said Maryam Y. Naim, MD, MSCE, a pediatric cardiac intensive care physician in the Division of Cardiac Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and first author of the study. “However, children are not simply small adults, and our study shows there is a tremendous need for education in all communities about the benefits of CPR with rescue breathing in the pediatric population. For infants in particular, our study shows that CPR with rescue breathing is the only type of CPR that is associated with good neurological outcomes; infants who received compression-only CPR had similar outcomes to infants who did not receive bystander CPR.”

Fewer than 10% of children who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting survive. The rates of survival improve when a bystander performs CPR, but prior to this study, the frequency and type of bystander CPR in out-of-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest in different age groups was unknown. In adults, compression-only CPR has been shown to be as effective as CPR with rescue breathing, so since 2010, the American Heart Association (AHA) and European Resuscitation Council (ERC) have recommended compression-only CPR for bystanders who witness an adult in cardiac arrest. However, the researchers suspected this form of CPR might be less effective in children, as pediatric cardiac arrest most often stems from breathing problems.

To better understand the frequency, type, and outcomes of bystander CPR for children, the researchers analyzed 10,429 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests between 2013 and 2019 in patients between 0 and 18 years of age. The data for the study was derived from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) database, a registry maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine, which includes an overall catchment area of nearly 145 million people in 28 states across the United States. 

The researchers found that less than half (46.5%) of those who experienced pediatric cardiac arrest outside of the hospital received bystander CPR. Of those who did receive CPR, the majority (55.6%) received compression-only CPR. Those children who received CPR with rescue breathing were nearly 1.5 times as likely to have better neurological outcomes than those who received compression-only CPR. In children and adolescents, both types of CPR had better neurological outcomes than no CPR at all, but to the researchers’ surprise, infants receiving compression-only CPR had essentially the same outcomes as infants who received no CPR.   

Additionally, the researchers examined the changes in rates and types of CPR over the six-year study period and found that although the rates of bystander CPR did not change, the proportion of compression-only CPR increased, with no change in neurologically favorable survival.

“While public health efforts to teach compression-only CPR have benefited adults who have cardiac arrests, children have likely been disadvantaged by these efforts. The results of this study have important implications on bystander CPR education and training, which should continue to emphasize rescue breathing CPR for children – and especially infants –in cardiac arrest and teach lay rescuers how to perform this type of CPR,” Naim said. 

Naim et al. “Compression-only versus Rescue-breathing Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests,” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, online August 30, 2021, DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.06.042

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About Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children’s Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 595-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu 

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of the American College of Cardiology

DOI

10.1016/j.jacc.2021.06.042 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Compression-only versus Rescue-breathing Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Aug-2021

Mouth-to-mouth bystander CPR preferable method for pediatric cardiac arrest

Compression-only CPR still recommended for adults

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY

Rescue breathing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) had superior neurological outcomes compared with compression-only CPR or no CPR at all in infants, children and adolescents, according to a new analysis published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Over 5,000 Americans under the age of 18 experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) each year. CPR is a life-saving emergency technique used to help a person whose breathing or heart may have stopped. National and statewide efforts focus on teaching compression-only CPR (CO-CPR) to improve the likelihood of bystander CPR. While current guidelines recommend CO-CPR for adults with OHCA, children more commonly experience OHCA caused by asphyxiation for which CO-CPR may be less effective, leading to worse neurological outcomes compared to rescue breathing CPR (RB-CPR).

Data for this study came from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) database, an established collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, which includes data from 145 million people in 28 states across the United States. A total of 10,429 pediatric cases were pulled from January 2013 to December 2019. Age groups included infants (less than one year of age), children (one to 11 years) and adolescents (12 to 18 years). Bystander CPR was defined as being administered by a family member, layperson, or a layperson with medical training.

Pediatric CPR was most commonly performed due to cardiac problems (44.4% of cases), respiratory problems (32.8%), drowning (8.8%), drug overdose (1.8%), electrocution or exsanguination (both at 0.2%) or other medical causes (11.9%). Cardiac arrests were more common in infants, males, and white and Black children compared to children of other races/ethnicities. Family members or laypersons were most likely to perform CO-CPR, whereas laypersons with medical training were more likely to perform RB-CPR.

In analyzing the data, the researchers found that OHCAs with RB-CPR and CO-CPR independently had better neurological outcomes compared with no CPR performed at all. However, compared with CO-CPR, RB-CPR was associated with higher odds of favorable neurological outcomes for infants, children and adolescents. The analysis found RB-CPR was also associated with higher odds of overall survival compared with CO-CPR.

Compared with children and adolescents, infants were found to have different outcomes when it came to CO-CPR and RB-CPR. The researchers found RB-CPR resulted in better outcomes than CO-CPR for all pediatric age groups. However, the researchers also found performing CO-CPR was better than no CPR in children and adolescents, but not infants; neurologically favorable survival in infants was only observed with RB-CPR. The researchers concluded that RB-CPR should continue to be the recommended form of CPR for infants.

“One of the most important findings of our investigation is that compression-only CPR is currently the most commonly performed type of CPR for pediatric cardiac arrest in the United States,” said Maryam Y. Naim, MD, MSCE, a pediatric cardiac intensive care physician in the division of cardiac critical care medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and lead author of the study. “Current public health campaigns focus on teaching compression-only CPR, and while this has improved outcomes in adults, it is possible this had disadvantaged children, particularly infants who did not show a benefit in outcome with compression-only CPR. Bystander CPR education should continue to emphasize rescue breathing CPR for those under 18, especially infants, and teach lay rescuers how to perform rescue breathing CPR.”

“This new study adds important data to the limited published literature on this topic,” said Gene Yong-Kwang Ong, MBBS, consultant in the department of pediatric emergency medicine in Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Singapore, and author of the accompanying editorial comment. “Given that infants were consistently reported to suffer the worst clinical outcomes, and with this finding that bystander rescue breathing CPR could improve neurologically favorable survival, it behooves us to look into this in a timely manner. There needs to be important discussions in light of this data.”

This study has several limitations, including utilizing observational data, and a lack of data on dispatcher instruction, the quality of CPR and training of the lay rescuer. In addition, the type of bystander CPR included in CARES registry was not available for all arrests. The researchers recommend the findings to be validated in larger studies.

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The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its 54,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org.

The ACC’s family of JACC Journals rank among the top cardiovascular journals in the world for scientific impact. The flagship journal, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) — and family of specialty journals consisting of JACC: Advances, JACC: Asia, JACC: Basic to Translational Science, JACC: CardioOncology, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, JACC: Case Reports, JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and JACC: Heart Failure — pride themselves on publishing the top peer-reviewed research on all aspects of cardiovascular disease. Learn more at JACC.org.

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of the American College of Cardiology

DOI

10.1016/j.jacc.2021.06.042 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Compression-Only Versus Rescue-Breathing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation After Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Sep-2021

Reliable oxygenation conceivable with new design for portable concentrators

Simulation-based optimization determines most favorable design for oxygen concentrators

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

As health workers around the world provide care to those infected with SARS-CoV-2 and its many variants, the shortages in medical oxygen continue to deeply impact hospitals already stretched thin. While portable oxygen concentrators have provided some relief to many with respiratory distress, these machines sometimes do not generate enough medical oxygen to meet the fluctuating demands of a patient with worsening symptoms, requiring them to be rehospitalized.

Anticipating the increased need for better oxygen concentrators as the fight against COVID-19 rages on, researchers at Texas A&M University have laid a computational framework to design the most optimal concentrator to filter ambient air and produce oxygen that can scale with patient demand.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant stress to our medical and emergency facilities and a surge of people requiring medical attention, and hospitals have a limited number of ventilation equipment,” said Dr. Faruque Hasan, associate professor and the ​Kim McDivitt ’88 and Phillip McDivitt ’87 Endowed Faculty Fellow in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering. “But we could prevent some cases of hospitalization if we designed a more advanced, compact and portable oxygen concentrator that has flexible operating conditions to deliver as much oxygen as the patient requires.”

The researchers noted that oxygen concentrators based on their design would also help those suffering from other respiratory conditions, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and asthma. 

A description of the study appeared online in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Unlike oxygen tanks that provide patients with a continuous supply of pure oxygen, portable oxygen concentrators remove nitrogen from ambient air. The stripping away of nitrogen is due to a process called adsorption, whereby certain species of air molecules get trapped on the surface of solids. Among the many options available for adsorbents, naturally or synthetically made materials known as zeolites act like sieves, holding on to the nitrogen while allowing oxygen to pass through. 

But despite their overall advantages, oxygen concentrators are often designed with fixed specifications, thereby limiting their use in meeting oxygen demands caused by a change in a patient’s medical condition or activity. For example, a patient’s oxygen needs could vary both in terms of flow rate and purity, and current oxygen concentrators cannot be used for several different patients within the same hospital setting who require very different ventilation. 

“In the ideal case, we need a system that can rapidly switch between different operating regimes for on-demand oxygen production while fulfilling different product specifications,” said Dr. Akhil Arora, former graduate student in Hasan’s laboratory and lead author on the study.

To enhance the design of current medical oxygen concentrators, Arora first selected three types of zeolites — LiX, LiLSX and 5A — for his analysis. Next, he ran a physics-based simulation that modeled different properties of the zeolites along with characteristics of the oxygen concentrator, including the size of the adsorption chamber and the different stages within the adsorption process.

Then, using a high-performance computing cluster at Texas A&M, he varied all these inputs of the simulation simultaneously to arrive at the most optimal operating range that would yield a compact, easy-to-transport and high-performance medical oxygen concentrator. In particular, he found that the LiLSX performed better than LiX and 5A zeolites, producing 90% pure oxygen at a high rate. In addition, researchers found the LiLSX-based system could be used to generate different levels of oxygen purity and flow rates.

The experts said their study is also a first step in creating portable cyber-physical systems for home use that can change oxygen supply depending on the patient’s needs. So, if a patient requires more oxygen as symptoms worsen, built-in algorithms could analyze data from oxygen sensors to predict if more ventilation is needed, relay that information to off-site physicians who can then use their judgement to remotely change settings on the medical oxygen concentrator. 

“Right now, medical professionals are needed to administer oxygen based on the condition of the patient, so at-home monitoring is not possible,” said Hasan. “We hope to design a more cost- effective, flexible, controllable medical oxygen concentrator that can provide a personalized oxygen supply at home.”

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JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-021-93796-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

News article

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Flexible oxygen concentrators for medical applications

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Jul-2021

Phillips to study moral justification to foster human-machine trust

Grant and Award Announcement

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

Elizabeth K. Phillips, Assistant Professor, Psychology, and her collaborators are set to begin a project in which they will investigate the rehabilitating role of justifications in human-autonomous agent interactions.  

All human communities, groups, and teams have norms that influence and regulate behavior, so autonomous agents that join these communities must know and follow the norms of their community. But even if we succeed in giving autonomous agents such norm competence, we are faced with a significant challenge: Norms can conflict with each other. Often, the only way to resolve conflicts between norms is by deciding to uphold one norm—the more important one—and to violate the other, less important norm.  This means that whenever an agent (human or machine) resolves a norm conflict, it must commit a norm violation.

When an agent must violate a norm in order to resolve a norm conflict, a justification explains why the agent acted in this way and why anybody who shares the community's norms should act in this way. Justifications clarify that the violation of one norm was socially and morally justified because it upheld the other, more important norm. 

Via a series of experiments, the researchers will demonstrate that, after resolving a norm conflict and committing a norm violation, an autonomous agent that justifies its actions-similar to a human who does so-will reduce the moral disapproval and repair the loss of trust that normally result from norm violations.

As for the importance of the project, Phillips said, "For autonomous agents like robots to act as members of well-functioning human communities, they will need to know, be responsive to, and prioritize the norms of those communities. This work seeks to create norm-aware agents that can be resilient to instances in which the agent will inevitably need to violate one norm to uphold a more important one---prioritizing safety over efficiency for instance---by giving agents the ability to justify their decision-making to human counterparts."

Phillips is set to receive $300,517 from the U.S. Department of the Air Force for this project. Funding will begin in September 2021 and will end in late August 2024.

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About George Mason University

George Mason University is Virginia's largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 38,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at http://www.gmu.edu.

 'Charging room' system powers lights, phones, laptops without wires

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

In a move that could one day free the world's countertops from their snarl of charging cords, researchers at the University of Michigan and University of Tokyo have developed a system to safely deliver electricity over the air, potentially turning entire buildings into wireless charging zones. 

Detailed in a new study published in Nature Electronics, the technology can deliver 50 watts of power using magnetic fields.

 

Study author Alanson Sample, U-M professor of computer science and engineering, says that in addition to untethering phones and laptops, the technology could also power implanted medical devices and open new possibilities for mobile robotics in homes and manufacturing facilities. The team is also working on implementing the system in spaces that are smaller than room-size, for example a toolbox that charges tools placed inside it.

 

"This really ups the power of the ubiquitous computing world—you could put a computer in anything without ever having to worry about charging or plugging in," Sample said. "There are a lot of clinical applications as well; today's heart implants, for example, require a wire that runs from the pump through the body to an external power supply. This could eliminate that, reducing the risk of infection and improving patients' quality of life."

 

The team, led by researchers at the University of Tokyo, demonstrated the technology in a purpose-built aluminum test room measuring approximately 10 feet by 10 feet. They wirelessly powered lamps, fans and cell phones that could draw current from anywhere in the room regardless of the placement of people and furniture.

 

The system is a major improvement over previous attempts at wireless charging systems, which used potentially harmful microwave radiation or required devices to be placed on dedicated charging pads, the researchers say. Instead, it uses a conductive surface on room walls and a conductive pole to generate magnetic fields.

 

 

Devices harness the magnetic field with wire coils, which can be integrated into electronics like cell phones. The researchers say the system could easily be scaled up to larger structures like factories or warehouses while still meeting existing safety guidelines for exposure to electromagnetic fields.

 

"Something like this would be easiest to implement in new construction, but I think retrofits will be possible as well," said Takuya Sasatani, a researcher at the University of Tokyo and the corresponding author on the study. "Some commercial buildings, for example, already have metal support poles, and it should be possible to spray a conductive surface onto walls, perhaps similar to how textured ceilings are done."

 

A key to making the system work, Sample said, was building a resonant structure that could deliver a room-size magnetic field while confining harmful electric fields, which can heat biological tissues. 

 

The team's solution used devices called lumped capacitors. Placed in wall cavities, they generate a magnetic field that resonates through the room, while trapping electric fields inside the capacitors themselves. This overcomes a limitation of previous wireless power systems, which are limited to either delivering large amounts of power over a few millimeters or very small amounts of power over long distances. 

 

A second hurdle was how to generate a magnetic field that reaches every corner of the room—magnetic fields tend to travel in circular patterns, creating dead spots in a square room. In addition, receivers need to align with the field in a specific way to draw power.

 

"Drawing power over the air with a coil is a lot like catching butterflies with a net," Sample said. "The trick is to have as many butterflies as possible swirling around the room in as many directions as possible. That way, you'll catch butterflies no matter where your net is or which way it's pointed."

 

To make that happen, the system generates two separate, 3D magnetic fields. One travels in a circle around the room's central pole, while the other swirls in the corners, travelling between adjacent walls. This approach eliminates dead spots, enabling devices to draw power from anywhere in the space.

 

Tests with anatomical dummies showed that the system could deliver at least 50 watts of power to any location in the room without exceeding FCC guidelines for electromagnetic energy exposure. Sample said it's likely, however, that it will be possible to deliver higher levels of power with further refinement of the system.

 

The researchers note that implementation of the system in commercial or residential settings is likely years away. They're currently working to test the system in a building on U-M's campus. They'll implement it as both a retrofit and new construction in a series of rooms that use standard construction techniques, with a completion date set for this fall.

 

The team also includes Yoshihiro Kawahara, professor of electrical engineering and information systems at the University of Tokyo. The research was supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Images

Study abstract: Room-scale magnetoquasistatic wireless power transfer using a cavity-based multimode resonator

 

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JOURNAL

Nature Electronics

High-power wireless vehicle charging technology licensed by HEVO

Business Announcement

DOE/OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

 

IMAGE: ORNL HAS LICENSED ITS HIGH-POWERED WIRELESS VEHICLE CHARGING TECHNOLOGY TO HEVO, INCLUDING THE LAB’S UNIQUE, COMPACT POLYPHASE ELECTROMAGNETIC COILS THAT PROVIDE THE HIGHEST SURFACE POWER DENSITY AVAILABLE. view more 

CREDIT: CARLOS JONES, OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY/U.S. DEPT. OF ENERGY

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has licensed its wireless charging technology for electric vehicles to Brooklyn-based HEVO. The system provides the world’s highest power levels in the smallest package and could one day enable electric vehicles to be charged as they are driven at highway speeds. 

HEVO intends to work with ORNL to continue development of this critical technology to increase power levels and efficiency of existing charging techniques.

“Highly efficient wireless charging is a breakthrough technology that can alleviate EV range anxiety and facilitate the U.S. effort to decarbonize the transportation sector,” said Xin Sun, associate laboratory director for energy science and technology at ORNL. “We are excited to see another one of our technologies move into the private sector where it can create new green jobs and support the nation’s clean energy goals.”

The license covers ORNL’s unique polyphase electromagnetic coil that delivers the highest surface power density available, 1.5 megawatts (1,500 kilowatts) per square meter — eight to 10 times higher than currently available technology. This surface power density supports higher power levels in a thinner, lighter coil, resolving the issue of adding range-sapping weight to electric vehicles.

The license also includes ORNL’s Oak Ridge Converter, which eliminates one of the power conversion stages needed for wireless power transfer, resulting in more compact and less costly stationary infrastructure.

The ORNL technology enables very fast hands-free charging and even in-motion charging so vehicles could be reenergized as they’re driven at interstate speeds over specially equipped roadways.

Under the license, HEVO will work with ORNL to further develop the technology, including making it ready for commercial manufacturing.

In a recent announcement supporting deployment to the marketplace, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm unveiled a DOE Technology Commercialization Fund award in which HEVO and ORNL will co-develop and demonstrate a 300-kW wireless charging system based on the ORNL converter and associated power electronics.

“EV charging must be simple, seamless and safe in order to accelerate mass adoption and prepare for an autonomous future,” said Jeremy McCool, HEVO founder and CEO. “Our collaboration with ORNL utilizes HEVO’s strength in designing, developing and commercializing wireless charging technology and software as the first and only company in the world that is compliant with both SAE and UL safety and performance standards.”

“Together, we are developing the fastest and most universal wireless charging platform in the world,” McCool added. “From only one device mounted on the vehicle, a driver will now have the advantage of wirelessly charging at all levels up to 300-kilowatts, powering their home through a vehicle-to-grid interface, and even charging while driving at highway speeds with grid-to-battery efficiency of 90-96.5%. All of this functionality is built into a vehicle-side package the size of a medium pizza box and the ready-made capability to charge electric vehicles without a human behind the steering wheel.”

DOE has set a goal to develop hands-free, automated wireless electric vehicle charging that is at least as fast as conventional refueling as it seeks to decarbonize the nation’s transportation sector. High-power charging also encourages buy-in by consumers concerned about driving range and the availability of charging infrastructure. In wireless charging, EV batteries are energized when vehicles are parked over a charging pad or driven over specially outfitted roadways while power is transferred across an air gap between magnetic coils embedded in the ground and installed on the car.

CAPTION

ORNL has licensed its high-powered wireless vehicle charging technology to HEVO, including the Oak Ridge Converter, which reduces the size and increases the efficiency of grid-to-vehicle power transfer infrastructure.

CREDIT

Carlos Jones, Oak Ridge National Laboratory/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Resolving range, infrastructure challenges

Enabling very high power levels is essential for practical charging.

Most of today’s commercially available light-duty EVs have battery packs rated anywhere from 30 kWh to 60 kWh, and most of the higher end, longer range electric vehicles come with 100 kWh battery packs. Reaching a 15-20 minute charge time for a 100-kWh battery pack requires a 300-kW charging system. Targeting an even faster 5-10-minute charge time means power must be scaled up to half a megawatt or more. Heavy-duty vehicles like electric semitrucks would require battery packs with several hundred kWh energy storage capacity, which would require megawatt-level charging, ORNL researchers noted.

“Opening up new parts of the transportation sector to electrification is a key benefit of this technology,” said Burak Ozpineci, section head for Vehicle and Mobility Systems Research at ORNL. “It’s not just about charging your vehicle really fast. It’s also about being able to convert to electricity long-haul trucks, which burn a significant portion of the vehicle fuel used in this country.”

The dynamic charging system being developed at ORNL likewise supports electrification of heavy-duty trucks. “Right now, those big trucks would require massive battery packs that add significant weight and cost to the vehicle,” said Veda Galigekere, who leads ORNL’s Electric Drives Research Group. “But with dynamic wireless charging on interstates, for instance, you can reduce the onboard battery capacity needed while alleviating range anxiety.”

The Oak Ridge Converter will be part of the TCF project and is included in the HEVO licensing agreement. It directly converts 60-hertz AC power from the grid to high-frequency AC without taking an intermediary conversion to DC power. The converter design reduces the weight, volume and size of stationary, grid-side infrastructure by as much as 50%.

“That means you could park another vehicle in the space saved in a city garage, for instance, and we would need less construction to embed charging pads under roadways or parking spots,” noted Omer Onar, leader of the ORNL Vehicle Power Electronics Research Group. ORNL also actively works on shielding technologies to ensure system safety and reduce interference with other vehicle components.

“With ORNL’s advancements, wireless charging is becoming more feasible, practical, and safe,” Onar said.

“The world of automotive is going to change faster in this decade than it has in the past century, and we need a step change in EV charging to unlock the full potential of this burgeoning multi-trillion-dollar industry,” said McCool. “We believe this is the leapfrog technology that will change people’s way of living and doing business across the globe. HEVO is excited to be at the forefront of this movement.”

The ORNL research and development team also includes Erdem Asa, Gui-Jia Su and Mostak Mohammad. The work was supported by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office and the ORNL Laboratory-Directed Research and Development program. Researchers used capabilities of the Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center and the DOE-designated National Transportation Research Center user facility at ORNL.

For ORNL licensing information, visit www.ornl.gov/partnerships.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.