NATO chief: Proof shows there's no doubt Russia poisoned Navalny

GERMANY AND NATO

HAVE NOT SHOWN CIVIL SOCIETY ANY PROOF

THEY SIMPLY ASSURE US THEY HAVE PROOF

Kremlin denies poisoning Alexei Navalny; OPCW 'gravely concerned'

The Kremlin is seen in Moscow, Russia. A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said Thursday denied culpability for the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny. 

File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Kremlin said Thursday there's no reason to blame the Russian government for the poisoning of prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is now hospitalized in Germany.

German authorities said Wednesday Navalny had been poisoned with a nerve agent in the Novichok-class group, similar to the one that nearly killed a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain two years ago. The Novichok poison was developed decades ago by the former Soviet Union.

Navalny became sick on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on Aug. 20. Two days later, at the urging of his family and political team, he was taken to Berlin for treatment. He remained unconscious Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday rejected calls for an explanation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported.

RELATED Russian doctors OK opposition leader Alexei Navalny's move to Germany

"I would choose words carefully when speaking about accusations against the Russian state because there are no accusations at the moment and there is no reason to accuse the Russian state," Peskov said. "We aren't inclined to accept any accusations in this regard."

Peskov questioned why Moscow would want to poison Navalny, a vocal opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I cannot answer ... who could benefit from that person's poisoning," he said. "As a matter of fact, I don't think that anyone could stand to gain from that if one just takes a sober look at things.

BECAUSE NAVALNY IS A PUTIN PATSY WHO HAS ENDED BEING USEFUL AS BELARUS CONFLICT BREWS NEXT DOOR. PUTIN USED HIM AS A LURE FOR MOSCOW SHOPPER PROTESTERS

RELATED Russians vote to allow Putin to rule until 2036

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Thursday any use of toxins like Novichok would be considered the use of a banned chemical weapon.

"Such an allegation is a matter of grave concern," OPCW Director-general Fernando Arias said in a statement. "State Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention deem the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances as reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community."

Arias said the OPCW is following developments in the Navalny case and is ready to "engage" with and assist any parties that ask for it.

Novichok was the poison used in an attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his adult daughter in Salisbury, Britain, in 2018. The two eventually recovered and the poisoning was largely believed to have been ordered by the Kremlin.

The European Council on Thursday condemned the assassination attempt "in the strongest words possible," describing the Novichok chemical used as a military-grade nerve agent.

"The use of chemical weapons is completely unacceptable under any circumstances, constitutes a serious breach of international law and international human rights standards," Josep Borrell, the high representative of the EU, said in a statement. "The European Union calls for a joint international response and reserves the right to take appropriate actions, including through restrictive measures."

As the poisoning occurred on Russian soil, the Kremlin must investigate the crime, Borrell said, calling for the probe to be transparent with the aim of bringing those responsible to justice.

"Impunity must not and will not be tolerated," he said. "The European Union calls upon the Russian Federation to fully cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to ensure an impartial international investigation."

Merkel said Wednesday that Navalny was "the victim of a crime intended to silence him," and that she felt a need to "take a clear stance" against the poisoning.

Russian lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi suggested that Navalny was exposed to the poison in Germany.

"Once they have found something linked with Novichok, most likely, he was exposed to it in this clinic," he told TASS. "A nurse or a doctor could have done that if they really wanted to somehow expose Navalny to a toxic agent. I am sure this is what really happened."

Kids' 'green' time reduces adverse effects of 'screen' time on behavior, learning



Studies show screen time can adversely affect behavior and learning in children, but the effects can be balanced with increased time outdoors. Photo by Andi Graf/Pixabay

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- More time spent outdoors -- and less in front of a screen -- leads to improved mental health in children and adolescents, according to an analysis of existing research published Friday by the journal PLOS ONE.

Based on data from 186 previously published studies, researchers determined that young people who spent more time on handheld games and devices, television and computers were more likely to have behavior and emotional problems and display symptoms of aggression and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

The young people also were more likely to have learning or social difficulties.

Conversely, children who spent more time outdoors and who had increased access to "green" spaces for play and learning were less likely to have these undesirable traits.

"Overall, the studies showed that high levels of screen time were associated with poorer psychological well-being, while more green time was associated with better psychological well-being," co-author Tassia Oswald told UPI.

"While a lot more work needs to be done in this field to help us understand why this is the case, it is important that [technology] doesn't become the only thing young people do in their leisure time," said Oswald, a doctoral student in public health at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

The prevalence of mental health illness among children and adolescents is increasing globally, according to Oswald and her colleagues.

In the United States, roughly 7%, or 4.5 million, of children ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with a behavioral problem, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

On average, American children and adolescents spent between four and six hours per day watching or uses devices with screens, and may be exposed to violence and misleading or inaccurate information, among other potentially problematic content, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

A separate study of 1,239 8- to 9-year-olds in Melbourne, Australia, published earlier this week by PLOS ONE, found that watching two or more hours of television per day at that age was associated with lower reading performance compared to peers two years later.

RELATED Kids spend more time on smartphones, tablets than parents realize

In addition, using a computer for more than one hour per day was linked to a similar reduction in their ability to understand and work with numbers.

However, no links were found between the use of video games and academic performance, the analysis showed.

Preliminary evidence suggests that green time potentially could limit the effects of high screen time, meaning nature may be an under-utilized public health resource to promote youth psychological well-being in a high-tech era, according to Oswald and her colleagues.

RELATED Less screen time, more play may reduce autism-like symptoms as kids age

"Monitoring screen time can be difficult for parents -- especially at the moment when many children have transitioned to online learning due to COVID-19 lockdowns," Oswald said.

"Trying to encourage a balance of activities is good -- so if a child spends an hour on a video game, encourage them to get outside for an hour."

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Researchers redesign the face mask to improve comfort and protection

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Research News

 

IMAGE: GEORGIA TECH PROFESSOR SUNDARESAN JAYARAMAN AND PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST SUNGMEE PARK WEAR PROTOTYPES OF THEIR REDESIGNED FACE MASK. view more 

CREDIT: CHRISTOPHER MOORE, GEORGIA TECH

Imagine a reusable face mask that protects wearers and those around them from SARS-CoV-2, is comfortable enough to wear all day, and stays in place without frequent adjustment. Based on decades of experience with filtration and textile materials, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have designed a new mask intended to do just that -- and are providing the plans so individuals and manufacturers can make it.

The modular Georgia Tech mask combines a barrier filtration material with a stretchable fabric to hold it in place. Prototypes made for testing use hook and eye fasteners on the back of the head to keep the masks on, and include a pocket for an optional filter to increase protection. After 20 washings, the prototypes have not shrunk or lost their shape.

"If we want to reopen the economy and ask people to go back to work, we need a mask that is both comfortable and effective," said Sundaresan Jayaraman, the Kolon Professor in Georgia Tech's School of Materials Science and Engineering. "We have taken a science-based approach to designing a better mask, and we are very passionate about getting this out so people can use it to help protect themselves and others from harm."

The fundamental flaw in existing reusable cloth masks is that they -- unlike N95 respirators, which are fitted for individual users -- leak air around the edges, bypassing their filtration mechanism. That potentially allows virus particles, both large droplets and smaller aerosols, to enter the air breathed in by users, and allows particles from infected persons to exit the mask.

The leakage problem shows up in complaints about eyeglasses fogging up as exhaled breath leaks around the nose, making people less likely to wear them. The fit problem can also be seen in constant adjustments made by wearers, who could potentially contaminate themselves whenever they touch the masks after touching other surfaces.

Details of a redesigned face mask developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology are modeled on this mannequin.

To address the leakage challenge, Jayaraman and principal research scientist Sungmee Park created a two-part mask that fastens behind the head like many N95 respirators. The front part -- the barrier component -- contains the filtration material and is contoured to fit tightly while allowing space ahead of the nose and mouth to avoid breathing restrictions and permit unrestricted speech. Made from the kind of moisture-wicking material used in athletic clothing, it includes a pocket into which a filter can be inserted to increase the filtration efficiency and thereby increase protection. The washable fabric filter is made of a blend of Spandex and polyester.

The second part of the mask is fashioned from stretchable material. The stretchable part, which has holes for the ears to help position the mask, holds the front portion in place and fastens with conventional hook and eyelet hardware, a mechanism that has been used in clothing for centuries.

"We want people to be able to get the mask in the right place every time," Jayaraman said. "If you don't position it correctly and easily, you are going to have to keep fiddling with it. We see that all the time on television with people adjusting their masks and letting them drop below their noses."

Beyond controlling air leakage, designing a better mask involves a tradeoff between filtration effectiveness and how well users can breathe. If a mask makes breathing too difficult, users will simply not use it, reducing compliance with masking requirements.

Many existing mask designs attempt to increase filtration effectiveness by boosting the number of layers, but that may not be as helpful as it might seem, Park said. "We tested 16 layers of handkerchief material, and as we increased the layers, we measured increased breathing resistance," she said. "While the breathing resistance went up, the filtration did not improve as much as we would have expected."

"Good filtration efficiency is not enough by itself," said Jayaraman. "The combination of fit, filtration efficiency, and staying in the right place make for a good mask."

Georgia Tech professor Sundaresan Jayaraman with prototypes of the redesigned face mask

The stretchable part of the mask is made from knitted fabric -- a Spandex/Lyocell blend -- to allow for stretching around the head and under the chin. The researchers used a woven elastic band sewn with pleats to cover the top of the nose.

The researchers made their mask prototypes from synthetic materials instead of cotton. Though cotton is a natural material, it absorbs moisture and holds it on the face, reducing breathability, and potentially creating a "petri dish" for the growth of microbes.

"Masks have become an essential accessory in our wardrobe and add a social dimension to how we feel about wearing them," Park said. So, the materials chosen for the mask come in a variety of colors and designs. "Integrating form and function is key to having a mask that protects individuals while making them look good and feel less self-conscious," Jayaraman said.

The work of Jayaraman and Park didn't begin with the Covid-19 pandemic. They received funding 10 years ago from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study face masks during the avian influenza outbreak. Since then Jayaraman has been part of several National Academy of Medicine initiatives to develop recommendations for improved respiratory protection.

Covid-19 dramatically increased the importance of using face masks because of the role played by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic exposure from persons who don't know they are infected, Jayaraman said. While the proportion of aerosol contributions to transmission is still under study, they likely increase the importance of formfitting masks that don't leak.

Jayaraman and Park have published their recommendations in The Journal of The Textile Institute, and will make the specifications and patterns for their mask available to individuals and manufacturers. The necessary materials can be obtained from retail fabric stores, and the instructions describe how to measure for customizing the masks.

"There is so much misinformation about what face masks can do and cannot do," Jayaraman said. "Being scientists and engineers, we want to put out information backed by science that can help our community reduce the harm from SARS-CoV-2."

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CITATION: Sungmee Park and Sundaresan Jayaraman, "From containment to harm reduction from SARS-CoV-2: a fabric mask for enhanced effectiveness, comfort, and compliance." (The Journal of The Textile Institute, 2020) https://doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2020.1805971

TEAM BUILDING IS BS

Personal success more appreciated than team dominance in sports, business

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

ITHACA, N.Y. - People enjoy witnessing extraordinary individuals - from athletes to CEOs -extend long runs of dominance in their fields, but they aren't as interested in seeing similar streaks of success by teams or groups, according to new research from Cornell University.

"Individual success inspires awe in a way that team success does not," said co-author Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell. "[Individual success] makes us hopeful that human potential isn't as limited as thought it was. If that height is reached by a team, its cause is seen as more diffuse and isn't as exciting."

In a new study, Gilovich and lead author Jesse Walker conducted nine studies involving 2,625 Americans. In one study, they examined people's view on the success of Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who won the 100-meter dash in the last three Olympics. Bolt was also a member of a team that won the gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at those same Olympic games.

Many more people reported they would prefer to see Bolt win the gold medal in the individual event in the next Olympics than in the relay event, results showed.

The preference for seeing individual streaks doesn't just apply to famous athletes in familiar sports. Studies showed people supported individual runs of dominance over team dominance in the British Quizzing Championship and in the best closure rates on homicide cases in U.S. police departments.

This preference has implications in the business world, as well. In one study, participants read about electronic components manufacturer AVnet, one of the 350 largest companies in America.

Participants who read that AVnet's success could be attributed to its CEO thought the company should command a greater share of the market than did the participants who were told the company's success was tied to a group of executives.

Other studies by the researchers looked at why people feel differently about individual versus team winning streaks. They found that people attributed individual streaks of success to the people themselves, while team success was attributed to situational factors.

"We're now looking at how this effect might influence people's reactions to economic inequality and policies designed to alleviate it," Gilovich said. "Are people less troubled by evidence of inequality expressed as big gaps between individuals than expressed as big gaps between groups?"

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For more information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.

 

Drone survey reveals large earthwork at ancestral Wichita site in Kansas

Results show possible council circle at what may be Etzanoa near Wichita

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Research News

 

IMAGE: LEFT: DRONE-ACQUIRED ORTHOIMAGE OF THE SITE SHOWING MAJOR FEATURES DISCUSSED IN THE PAPER. RIGHT: THERMAL IMAGES MOSAIC COLLECTED FROM 11:15 PM-12:15 AM. (IMAGES FROM FIGURE 6 OF THE STUDY).... view more 

CREDIT: IMAGES BY JESSE CASANA, ELISE JAKOBY LAUGIER, AND AUSTIN CHAD HILL.

A Dartmouth-led study using multisensor drones has revealed a large circular earthwork at what may be Etzanoa, an archaeological site near Wichita, Kansas. Archaeologists speculate that the site was visited by a Spanish expedition, led by Juan de Oñate, a controversial conquistador, in 1601. The earthwork may be the remains of a so-called "council circle," as it is similar to several other circular earthworks in the region, according to the study's findings published in American Antiquity.

"Our findings demonstrate that undiscovered monumental earthworks may still exist in the Great Plains. You just need a different archeological approach to recognize them," explained lead author, Jesse J. Casana, a professor and chair of the department of anthropology at Dartmouth. "Our results are promising in suggesting that there may be many other impressive archaeological features that have not yet been documented, if we look hard enough," he added.

Archaeological features have various thermal effects. After the ground cools at nighttime, things below the ground cool and emit heat at different rates, enabling researchers to identify features based on thermal infrared radiation. The researchers obtained thermal and multispectral imagery of the site using drones.

The 18-hectare area of the site where the drone survey was conducted is currently home to a ranch property in the lower Walnut River valley, which has been used as a pasture. Topographically, the area is flat with no visible archaeological features. Yet, imagery shows that underground there is an ancient, circular shaped ditch measuring 50 meters wide and approximately 2 meters thick that has been infilled. As the soil erodes, it fills up the ditch with a different type of soil than was there before, and therefore retains water differently giving it unique thermal properties. The water retention levels also impact vegetation. Using near-infrared imagery, the researchers were able to identify areas that had been infilled because grass growth was more vigorous. As the study reports, the results provide evidence for what may have been a "single, sprawling population center" back in its day.

Aerial view of the site. Image is from Figure 3 of the study.

To confirm that the findings were not an anomaly, the team collected a time series of aerial and satellite images of the area from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. They found that the circular feature was "faintly visible in June 2015 and July 2017 but not in June 2012 or February 2017."

The debate is widespread as to what council circles were used for, whether they were astronomical in nature or made for ceremonial, political and/or defense purposes. Casana added, "While we may never know what the council circles were used for or their significance, new archaeological methods allow us to see that people made these earthworks."

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Casana is available for comment at: jesse.j.casana@dartmouth.edu. The study was co-authored by Elise Jakoby Laugier, a Dartmouth graduate student; Austin Chad Hill, a Dartmouth post-doc at the time of the study; and Donald Blakeslee, a professor of archaeology at Wichita State University.

 

Radiology research funding has increased -- still no association with citation rate

While AJR articles were more frequently unfunded, and Radiology articles were more often funded, citation rate was not different between funded vs. unfunded; moreover, funding was not significantly associated with citations

AMERICAN ROENTGEN RAY SOCIETY

Research News 

IMAGE: NOTE--EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE INDICATED, DATA ARE NUMBER (%) OF RESEARCH ARTICLES. ASIGNIFICANCE LOST AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR MULTIPLE TESTING USING FALSE-POSITIVE RATE CONTROL. BSTATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. CAPPLIES TO RADIOLOGY AND EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY ARTICLES ONLY.... view more 

CREDIT: AMERICAN ROENTGEN RAY SOCIETY (ARRS), AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ROENTGENOLOGY (AJR)

Leesburg, VA, September 3, 2020--According to ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), nearly half (47.7%) of the research articles published in major radiology journals declared funding--a proportion that has increased from 17% of articles in 1994 and 26.9% published between 2001 and 2010.

"Most funded articles received support from federal sponsors or nonprofit foundations, whereas only a minority of funded articles were supported by private industry," explained first author Rayan H.M. Alkhawtani from the department of radiology, nuclear medicine, and molecular imaging at University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands.

And as Alkhawtani et al. concluded, "funding was not associated with a higher citation rate."

The Dutch team included a total of 600 consecutive original research articles published between January and October 2016 in three large journals: AJR, Radiology, and European Radiology. Using linear regression analysis to ascertain the association between research funding and citation rate, adjustments were made for the following seven factors:

• journal,
• continent of origin of first author,
• subspecialty,
• study findings included in article title,
• number of authors,
• immediate open access publication,
• time since publication online.

Finding that funding was declared in 286 of 600 (47.7%) included articles, the authors of this AJR "Original Research" article identified the six most significant funding sources:

• federal sponsorship (29.4%),
• nonprofit foundation (16.4%),
• both federal sponsorship and nonprofit foundation (16.1%),
• private industry (10.1%),
• intramural institutional research funding (9.8%),
• other combinations of funding sources (18.2%).

"Articles with first authors whose continent of origin was Europe (p < 0.001), vascular and interventional radiology articles (p < 0.001), and articles published in AJR (p < 0.001) were significantly more frequently unfunded than funded," Alkhawtani and colleagues noted.

Meanwhile, the team noted that articles published in Radiology were significantly more frequently funded (p < 0.001).

Ultimately, citation rate was not significantly different between funded and unfunded articles (p = 0.166), and in the adjusted linear regression analysis, funding was not significantly associated with citation rate (β coefficient, ?0.31; 95% CI, ?3.27 to 2.66; p = 0.838).

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Founded in 1900, the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is the first and oldest radiological society in North America, dedicated to the advancement of medicine through the profession of radiology and its allied sciences. An international forum for progress in medical imaging since the discovery of the x-ray, ARRS maintains its mission of improving health through a community committed to advancing knowledge and skills with an annual scientific meeting, monthly publication of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), quarterly issues of InPractice magazine, AJR Live Webinars and Podcasts, topical symposia, print and online educational materials, as well as awarding scholarships via The Roentgen Fund®

 

Texas A&M researchers develop treatment for canine ocular condition using turmeric

A College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and College of Pharmacy team believes the medication may also translate to the treatment of cataracts and uveitis in humans

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: DR. ERIN SCOTT AND HER COLLEAGUES PRODUCED A THERAPEUTIC DERIVED FROM TURMERIC TO TREAT OCULAR INFLAMMATION IN DOGS. view more 

CREDIT: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

Researchers at Texas A&M University have produced a therapeutic derived from turmeric, a spice long-praised for its natural anti-inflammatory properties, that shows promise in decreasing ocular inflammation in dogs suffering from uveitis, an inflammation of the eye that leads to pain and reduced vision.

Uveitis -- a common condition in dogs, humans, and other species -- can have many causes, often occurring secondary to infectious diseases cancer, and autoimmune diseases; it also is found in patients with longstanding cataracts and after operations correcting cataracts.

"Uncontrolled inflammation inside the eye, also known as uveitis, is a leading cause of complications after cataract surgery in dogs. The management of postoperative ocular inflammation is a major challenge observed in both human and veterinary ophthalmology," said Dr. Erin Scott, an assistant professor at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

In a recent paper published in Science Advances, Scott and her colleagues at the Texas A&M University College of Pharmacy tested the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, a compound found in turmeric, and discovered that when processed to a special nanoparticle formulation to boost absorption, the natural compound is safe and effective at managing uveitis without any known side effects.

Oral medications currently used to treat uveitis must be adequately absorbed into the blood stream for their medicinal effects to be effective. This requires the medication to successfully pass through the intestinal barrier -- the physical barrier between the gut and the rest of the body via the circulatory system -- which limits the absorption of many drugs.

Drug delivery to the eye presents additional challenges because of the blood-ocular barrier -- the physical barrier between blood vessels and tissues of the eye -- which tightly controls what substances can pass into the eye.

Therefore, researchers must find ways to bypass such barriers to improve drug availability within the body.

Scott and her colleagues' research implemented a novel formulation of curcumin that improved transport of the substance across both intestinal and ocular barriers. By adding nanoparticle molecules that interact with receptors on a ubiquitous transmembrane carrier protein, known as the transferrin receptor, curcumin is able to hitch a ride across crucial barriers, improving absorption of the substance and reducing ocular inflammation.

Curcumin is especially attractive as a candidate for management of uveitis because it has no known side effects.

"Current treatments include a combination of systemic and topical anti-inflammatory medications, either in the form of steroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)," Scott said. "While both these medications are effective in the treatment of uveitis, they can cause unwanted side effects, such as vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ulcers, negatively impact kidney and liver function, and increase glucose levels in diabetic patients."

Scott and her colleagues hope to start a clinical trial in the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital using this new medication in the near future and are optimistic that the utility of their findings may benefit populations beyond dogs.

"This medication may translate to the treatment of cataracts and uveitis in humans," she said. "By studying animal patients with naturally occurring eye diseases, our findings may accelerate the development of medications to benefit both animals and humans."

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The potential of green infrastructure in mitigating flood impacts: Focused on the mobility of low income and minority comunities

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: COURTNEY CROSSON AND UA ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS FACILITATE A MAPPING ACTIVITY TO IDENTIFY CURRENT FLOODING CHALLENGES AT A NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY EUGENE LEE

Short-term flooding from extreme storm events poses a serious transportation challenge in U.S. cities. This problem--which is anticipated to grow over the next century with our global climate crisis--is often hardest on vulnerable populations, including low-income and minority neighborhoods. The latest report from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), led by Courtney Crosson of University of Arizona (UA), advances national research methods for assessing flood vulnerability and prioritizing transportation improvement investments to ensure that no community is left stranded when the next flood occurs.

Crosson and fellow researchers Daoqin Tong (Arizona State University) and Yinan Zhang (UA) conducted a flood vulnerability assessment of the City of Tucson, Arizona's multi-modal transportation system in low-income and minority neighborhoods. They identified priority locations for Tucson to invest in improvements to mitigate urban transportation system flooding, and are now working with city and regional agencies to implement those findings. This project also serves as a proof of concept to advance national research methods aimed at reducing the mobility impacts of chronic flooding.

Download the final report: https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/NITC-SS-1262_Urban_Transportation_System_Flood_Vulnerability_Assessment_FZOGs2O.pdf

EFFECTIVE USE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS

Green infrastructure is a growing urban trend where stormwater is managed by expanding permeable areas of natural vegetation throughout a city. This approach to water management is intended to protect, restore, or mimic the natural water cycle. Crosson's research team found that building comprehensive neighborhood-scale green infrastructure in the right-of-way is effective at increasing multi-modal access in moderate flooding conditions.

This green infrastructure solution did not address the mobility issues that result from extreme flooding. Rather than municipalities selecting areas that have the highest volumes of flooding or the highest volume of resident complaints, funds for green infrastructure should be invested in low-income neighborhoods subject to moderate flooding in order to achieve the greatest improvement of multimodal access.

Of the areas studied, 93% were part of census tracts with median household incomes below the Tucson average. Researchers intentionally focused on low-income neighborhoods, since too often people living in those areas are hardest hit by the impacts of natural disasters. Previous research in this area has focused heavily on the vulnerability of the transportation infrastructure alone, largely ignoring the people in the communities. A NITC project funded in 2020 will develop a new methodology that incorporates community socioeconomic vulnerability in the evaluation of transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities for cities and regions facing hazards.

RESEARCH METHOD FOR ASSESSING FLOOD VULNERABILITY IN TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

Stage One - Estimate Flood Conditions in Low-Income Neighborhoods: Researchers estimated flood conditions for a 5-year, 1-hour storm event (meaning a flood from a rainstorm lasting one hour, of a size that occurs roughly every five years) using FLO-2D flood modeling software and a digital elevation model constructed using LiDAR data. This hydrological analysis was performed both at the city-scale and at a 20-foot grid resolution.

Stage Two - Identify Multimodal Transportation Priorities: The team then analyzed neighborhood transportation vulnerability. Using the results from their flood model, they looked at overall transportation system performance across three modes (driving, bicycling and transit). Data from the most recent 10 years of vehicular counts, bicycle counts, and bus stop ridership were used to identify the top ten priority locations for flood mitigation, based where usage was highest for each of the three modes.

Stage Three - Perform Green Infrastructure Scenario Analyses: Lastly, they took those top ten sites for each of the three modes of transportation and performed thirty green infrastructure scenario analyses. They wanted to see the change in transportation network accessibility after the same flood conditions, but with comprehensive neighborhood-scale green infrastructure in place. To do this, they used ArcGIS Hydrology Analysis to find the "pour points," or places where water flows out of the area. Then they altered their model to include roadside basins (following design standards from NACTO and Pima County) to control this flow.

Based on these model results, researchers identified five key green infrastructure design performance priorities.

FIVE KEY DESIGN PRIORITIES FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE TO MAXIMIZE MULTIMODAL ACCESSIBILITY

These five principles can be used by transportation planners and engineers, hydrologists, flood managers, and urban designers when approaching and evaluating project sites and investments to maximize the impact on increased multimodal accessibility.

Prioritize Upstream Mitigation - Across the thirty scenarios, the priority segments with the greatest improved transportation access were in areas that had substantial upstream mitigation. This suggests that green infrastructure should not only be implemented directly adjacent to priority transit locations, but also (and sometimes more importantly) implemented upstream of the priority segment.

Prioritize Moderate Flooding - Across the thirty scenarios, the greatest impacts on improved transportation access were in areas that received moderate flooding, in comparison to areas of extreme flooding. Often municipalities and transportation agencies are motivated to place green infrastructure installations in rights-of-way adjacent to areas where there are the greatest flooding concerns and highest volume of resident complaints. But to help with extreme flooding, larger implementations (such as underground stormwater piping or large basins) would need to be implemented in concert with smaller investments. When budget is limited to neighborhood-scale investments, in order to visibly show an impact on reducing flooding and increasing accessibility to the multimodal network, moderately flooded sites are the best candidates.

Prioritize Network Gains - When selecting project sites, it is critical to consider the network gains that can be accomplished by concentrating the green infrastructure within an area. By addressing the flooding issue in one street or sidewalk segment, other downstream flooding concerns may be helped as well.

Prioritize Large Right-of-Way Areas - Across the thirty sites and segments, the largest impacts often occurred when there was a substantial amount of right-of-way available for implementation of green infrastructure. Taken into consideration with the other design principles, the area (and corresponding volume) of the available right-of-way can make a large difference in total flood reduction success.

Prioritize Pedestrian Travel Locations - The greatest impacts of green infrastructure on accessibility were in pedestrian access to bus stops. The width of these designated areas to mitigate were smaller in the pedestrian cases compared to bicycle and vehicle cases. Acting as a buffer between road and pedestrian walking areas, the green infrastructure most successfully supported greater access.

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

The research expects direct outcomes on future planning decisions made by the City of Tucson Department of Transportation, Tucson Water, Planning & Development Services, and Pima County Regional Flood Control District (RFCD). The NITC researchers on this project have met with the Director of Tucson Department of Transportation and RFCD, and the leadership of both agencies have expressed great interest in the research findings for upcoming decision-making around the allocation of green infrastructure funds for roadway flooding mitigation.

This research can serve as a proof of concept for a larger, long-term project to advance national research methods to reduce the impact of chronic flooding on the multi-modal transportation network. Future research should assess impact across time durations (rather than simple peak event calculations) and work to optimize green infrastructure implementation across multiple benefits for multiple modes of transportation (rather than individual modes).

By systematically prioritizing these projects in the right-of-way, cities can move toward increased transportation network accessibility and expanded equity.

This research was funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, with additional support from Pima County Flood Control and Tucson Water.

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of seven U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers. NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. We pursue our theme -- improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities -- through research, education and technology transfer.

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Do big tadpoles turn into big frogs? It's complicated, study finds

According to the first research study addressing evolutionary rates of larval and adult life stages at a large scale, the two life stages do not evolve completely independently of each other, as was previously thought.

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Research News

 

IMAGE: AN ADULT FEMALE REED FROG FROM CAMEROON. IN THIS AFRICAN FAMILY, ADULT AND TADPOLE BODY SIZES ARE CLOSELY RELATED AMONG SPECIES, SO THAT SPECIES WITH LARGER ADULTS HAVE LARGER TADPOLES... view more 

CREDIT: JOHN J. WIENS/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

If you have any children in your life, imagine for a moment that they don't look anything like their parents, they don't eat anything humans normally eat, and they're active only while adults sleep.

While that might sound like an idea from a work of surreal fiction, it's actually the norm rather than the exception in the animal kingdom. Most animals go through what biologists call a complex life cycle, starting as larvae that often have little, if anything, in common with their parents.

To become adults, they have to go through a process known as metamorphosis, which is one of nature's most remarkable feats. During this process, the larval bodies of many animal species undergo dramatic changes that turn them into adults that have little, if any resemblance with their juvenile stage. Butterflies may be the most familiar example of this. Yet, despite complex lifecycles being widespread, surprisingly little is known about how they evolve, specifically the extent to which evolution in one life stage impacts the others.

To better understand the evolutionary consequences of a complex life cycle across a large group of related species, University of Arizona biologists studied another familiar example: frogs and their tadpoles.

Tung Phung, Joao C. S. Nascimento and John J. Wiens of the UArizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology took a closer look at the evolution of body size across 542 frog species belonging to 42 families, most of which have a tadpole stage. The study, which was co-authored by Alexander Novarro of The Nature Conservancy, is published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"We wanted to know, do large frogs have large tadpoles and small frogs small tadpoles, or are the sizes between the two decoupled?'" Wiens said, alluding to a prevailing hypothesis in evolutionary biology that states that larvae and adults should evolve rather independently, especially in species in which the two life stages have very different lifestyles.

If larval and adult stages evolve completely independently of each other, there should be little correlation between larval size and adult size among species. In other words, big frogs could have little tadpoles, and big tadpoles could become small frogs, with no relationship between the size of frogs and tadpoles.

The team scoured the scientific literature for data on the sizes of tadpoles and adult frogs for each species, assembled an evolutionary tree among the species, and applied statistical analytical tools.

The team discovered that while there is a striking amount of variability among frog families, the association is not completely random. Across frogs as a group, larval and adult body sizes are significantly and positively related.

"It's not just 'anything goes,'" Wiens said. "We included almost every family of frogs that has a tadpole stage, and we did find there is constraint. In some cases, it's really strong; adult size strongly predicts larval size in many of the families we looked at."

An adult sabinal frog from Mexico, with its tadpoles.

In other families included in the study, the researchers found the relationship to be much more variable. For example, in the spadefoot toad (Scaphiopodidae) family, species with large adults have small tadpoles and species with small adults have large tadpoles.

There was also variation in the relative size of adults and tadpoles among families. For example, the paradox frog, Pseudis paradoxa, is a species with normal-sized adults that develop from giant tadpoles that are three to four times bigger than the adult. On the other end of the spectrum are some giant South American toads, whose tadpoles are about a tenth the size of the adult.

"Overall, the size of tadpoles relative to adults changes widely across frogs, but why, we don't know," Wiens said.

The tiny, thumbnail-sized tadpoles of the cane toad grow into adults that are among the largest amphibians, requiring both hands to pick one up, according to John Wiens, who took this photo in Costa Rica.

The authors also compared the rates of evolution in body sizes between tadpoles and adults. These were found to be clearly decoupled. For example, in glass frogs, the tadpole stage runs a broad gamut of sizes, indicating it has been evolving very quickly, while the adults vary much less in size. Other groups, such as the true toads, have fast evolutionary rates in both stages, while yet others, such as the African bullfrogs, show the opposite pattern, with adults evolving fast and tadpoles changing slowly.

Once tadpoles, which are confined to water, morph into frogs that spend most of their time hopping around on land, their bodies undergo an extreme makeover: The tissues that make up their powerful tail, used to propel them underwater, are recycled into other tissues; appendages begin sprouting beginning with the legs, then the arms, and they lose their feeding apparatus. This feeding system usually consists of a big beak, bordered by five or more rows of tiny teeth, which themselves are surrounded by a ring of short, fleshy tentacles. Inside, a filter system uses streams of slime to extract food from the water. Some tadpoles seem to use the teeth and beak to scrape algae off of rocks. Others suck up decaying organic matter from the bottoms of their freshwater habitats. But some tadpoles are carnivorous and may even be cannibalistic.

"Their feeding mechanism is so weird that people still don't know exactly how it works or even what most tadpoles eat," Wiens said. "In adult frogs, the mouthparts are completely different, so they have to take this whole system down and rebuild during metamorphosis."

While the huge variability in tadpole size relative to adults makes frogs especially interesting to Wiens and his research team, he said another reason for choosing frogs for this study was their status as endangered animals that are highly beneficial to the natural environment.

Of the more than 7,200 frog species that have been described, most live in the tropics, and many have been disappearing at an alarming rate, Wiens said. This is worrisome as they play critical roles in ecosystems across the globe - for example, acting as a natural pest control.

"Many of them eat insects that destroy crops, so they are really useful that way," he said.

While the current study is limited to amphibians, it does open up questions for other groups of animals, said the paper's first author, Tung Phung, a first-year doctoral student in Wiens' lab who did most of the work while still an undergraduate.

"Our study is the first to address evolutionary rates of larval and adult life stages at a large scale," he said.

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Quality over quantity in recovering language after stroke

New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research has found that intensive therapy is not necessarily best when it comes to treating the loss of language and communication in early recovery after a stroke

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

Research News 

IMAGE: ECU RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND THAT INTENSIVE THERAPY IS NOT NECESSARILY BEST FOR TREATING THE LOSS OF LANGUAGE AFTER STROKE. view more 

CREDIT: EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research has found that intensive therapy is not necessarily best when it comes to treating the loss of language and communication in early recovery after a stroke.

Published today in the International Journal of Stroke, the research found that unlike physical and motor skill rehabilitation, recovering lost language caused by a condition known as aphasia after stroke is a marathon, not a sprint. It also showed that early intervention is crucial.

Lead author, Associate Professor Erin Godecke from ECU's School of Medical and Health Sciences, said the findings have important implications for the treatment of aphasia because they mean service delivery options are likely to change.

"Previously people with aphasia got the majority of their therapy in the first 6-8 weeks after stroke," Professor Godecke said.

"Our research shows that there is no benefit to this. It is likely that the same therapy could be spread over a longer period to enhance recovery, rather than getting a burst at the start and very little over the next months or years," she said.

Aphasia is a neurological disorder affecting spoken language, comprehension, reading and writing. It affects one third of around 17 million people worldwide who experience stroke each year and is treated with speech therapy.

Early care is vital, but not intensity

Professor Godecke said aphasia therapy and early intervention are vitally important for recovery outcomes after stroke. However, increasing the intensity of the treatment doesn't equate to better results.

"We found that when we provided early aphasia therapy people had a massive increase in their ability to communicate at 12 and 26 weeks after their stroke. They could talk better and had less difficulty finding and using the right words.

"Importantly though, we also found that if we provided around 10 hours of therapy per week versus nearly 23 hours a week the results weren't any different. We didn't see any harm, but we didn't see any benefit," Professor Godecke said.

Language recovery is different to motor recovery

Professor Godecke said the way people recover motor skills after a stroke is different to how they regain language.

"We tend to believe that more intensive is always better. However, we're beginning to see data emerge to show us that language recovery might behave a little differently to motor recovery functions such as walking, moving your arm or sitting up," she said.

"We don't need quite as intensive a regimen for language as we do for walking recovery. We might need the same amount of treatment, just spread over a longer period."

Professor Godecke said the difficulty level, or intensity, of the aphasia therapy needs to be tailored to what the person can tolerate.

"Because language is a higher order function and it involves more thinking time and cognitive skill, having breaks between sessions may help consolidate learning," Professor Godecke said.

"It's akin to running on a treadmill - you can only run on the treadmill if you can walk.

"There's no benefit having someone run at full speed when you can have them run at a moderate pace, get the learning they need, retain it for longer and build on it," she said.

VERSE study a world first

The Very Early Rehabilitation for Speech (VERSE) study at ECU is the first international aphasia trial. The study aimed to determine whether intensive aphasia therapy, beginning within 14 days after stroke, improved communication recovery compared to usual care.

Researchers recruited 246 participants with aphasia after stroke from 17 acute-care hospitals across Australia and New Zealand. Participants either received the usual level of aphasia therapy, or one of two higher intensity regimens.

The ECU study found early intensive aphasia therapy did not improve communication recovery within 12 weeks post stroke compared to usual care.

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The study 'A Randomised Control Trial of intensive aphasia therapy after acute stroke: The Very Early Rehabilitation for SpEech (VERSE) study' will be published in The International Journal of Stroke.

I HAD A STROKE TWO WEEKS AGO

I DID NOT SUFFER 

PERMANENT SPEECH APHASIA 

HOWEVER I HAVE PHYSICAL THERAPY

FOR MY HAND AND WALKING