Tuesday, November 17, 2020

'Alarming' COVID-19 study shows 80% of respondents report significant symptoms of depression

Young adults across the US took part in loneliness study

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

Over 1,000 Americans aged 18-35 took part in the online anonymous questionnaire, which also asked the subjects to report on their anxiety and substance use.

The analysed findings, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, show that "alarming" levels of loneliness are associated with significant mental health issues, asapproximately 61% of respondents reporting moderate (45%) to severe (17%) anxiety.

Meanwhile, 30% of interviewees disclosed harmful levels of drinking. And, although only 22% of the respondents reported using drugs, 38% of these reported severe drug use.

Therefore, a response with mental health care provision is "imperative", lead author Professor Viviana Horigian, from the University of Miami, states.

"The convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the loneliness and addiction epidemics in the US is here to stay," she said.

"These young adults are the future of our nation's social fabric. They need to be given access to psychological help, coupled with the development and dissemination of brief online contact-based interventions that encourage healthy lifestyles.

"Addressing mental health and substance use problems in young adults, both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, is an imperative."

And co-author Renae Schmidt adds: "As we invest in developing the sense of cohesion and social connectedness in these generations, we can address social and physical resiliency in our communities at large.

"Students need sustaining online delivery of [relevant] coursework, increasing counseling services, and deploying outreach through telehealth services. For young adults not engaged in school, aggressive patient outreach by primary care physicians should be used to ensure screening and intervention, also via telehealth. Access to psychological help coupled with the development and dissemination of brief online contact-based interventions that encourage healthy lifestyles."

The online, 126-item, survey was carried out between April 22 and May 11. 1,008 participants took part, with the average age 28 and 86% being over 23.

Each symptom (loneliness, anxiety, depression, alcohol use, drug use) was measured against internationally recognized scoring systems.

To examine the associations between loneliness and the mental health conditions highlighted, the researchers used a model which looked at the direct effects of both loneliness and social connectedness on depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and drug use. They also looked at the indirect effects of loneliness and social connectedness on alcohol and drug use working through anxiety and depression. In addition, they characterized relationships in pre-COVID and post-COVID behaviors and psychosocial symptomatology.

The results show that most participants who reported an increase in feelings of loneliness also indicated an increase in drinking (58%), drug use (56%), anxiety (76%), and depression (78%), and a decrease in feelings of connectedness (58%).

Looking at general increases of mental health issues or substance use due to the pandemic, most issues were recorded by participants as rising, with their feelings of loneliness going up by 65%, lack of connectedness 53%, alcohol use 48%, drug use 44%, anxiety 62%, and depression 64%.

Overall, an "alarming" 49% of respondents reported a great degree of loneliness.

Most respondents (80%) reported drinking alcohol, with 30% revealing harmful and dependent levels of drinking. 19% of respondents reported binge drinking at least weekly and 44% reported binging at least monthly.

The team hopes that the results will now be used to guide intervention efforts.

"Social prescribing, which draws from and promotes usage of community resources, also shows promise of improving social and psychological wellbeing," Professor Horigian adds.

"This could be positioned to then encourage service to others, bringing social comfort and reward as a result of connecting with others in need.

"These efforts, and others, can help to alleviate the problems of loneliness and its manifestations; yet it may take an integrated, multi-faceted, and concerted approach, rooted, and supported by mental health prevention and wellbeing promotion boosted by workforce development and research on intervention development, to readdress these trajectories."

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Study shows geographic shift in U.S. social mobility

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

Dylan Connor's father worked as a house painter while his mother tended to their home and family, one that included six boys. Neither of his parents finished high school, but they built a future for their children that included their success. This may sound like a story made in America.

But Connor is from Ireland. He is now an assistant professor at Arizona State University's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning where he studies social mobility, the chances that children who are born into poverty can climb out of poverty as adults.

Social mobility differs considerably from country to country. The United States was once exceptional when it came to social mobility but is not anymore compared with other countries, like Canada, Ireland and Sweden. The landscape has shifted unevenly over the last century with some areas of the U.S. scoring high in social mobility and others scoring low, some persistently so. Connor's recent study on the subject paints a picture of what social mobility currently looks like in the U.S. and how it has shifted over the last century.

"Just within the last five or six years, we've realized that there is great variation within the U.S. in terms of how places provide opportunity," said Connor, co-author of the study.

His study, "The changing geography of social mobility in the United States," is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Michael Storper, distinguished professor of Regional and International Development in Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a co-author of the paper.

To find out what social mobility looks like, Connor and Storper built a data set consisting of 2 million children counted in the 1920 and 1940 censuses. The researchers followed them from childhood through adulthood tracking their social mobility, noting which geographical areas have improved, which areas have declined and what it is about those areas that determined their respective fates.

The researchers divided the country into six regions: Northeast, South, Midwest, West, northern plains and mountains, and southern plains and mountains.

They found that in the early 20th century, the industrial corridor in the Northeast and Midwest and the West provided the greatest opportunities for social mobility. But lately, the urban Midwest has not fared well.

"What we're seeing is that, in relative terms, the urban areas of the Midwest have gotten a lot worse," said Connor. "There's been a real collapse in the urban Midwest in terms of social mobility."

In contrast, Minnesota, Utah and the northern central plains have shown gains in social mobility. "The children growing up there seem to be doing relatively well, and that wasn't necessarily true in the past," said Connor. Previously, many of those children would have stayed and often worked in agriculture, but now the children growing up there are benefiting from their communities and schooling.

"One of the interesting things we noticed about kids growing up in the upper Midwest and the northern plains is that they're quite likely to move away," said Connor. "They're taking their skills to other labor markets and using them there. But kids growing up in poverty in the South seem to be less likely to do that."

The South has shown stubbornly low levels of social mobility over time." It's an interesting case, because the South actually gained a lot of jobs over the 20th century," said Connor. "A lot of manufacturing jobs have gone there, but upward mobility hasn't improved in the same way."

The study also shows that white children in the South fare worse than white kids elsewhere. That may be because in a more socially divided place, people are less willing to fund local schools or contribute to the communal good because they don't see themselves benefiting from it, said Connor.

In essence, what the study is showing is that a lot of change in social mobility is driven by changing economic fortunes over time, like the shift of jobs to different places. "The Midwest is a classic image of that," said Connor.

"You had an industrialized area, a lot of manufacturing jobs, but they're no longer there in the same numbers," explained Connor. "The jobs have moved abroad to countries like China or to the U.S. South and Southwest. So, a lot of the change in the landscape is about changing economic fundamentals, whereas the persistence of low social mobility in the South, for example, is also driven by forces that have even deeper roots, like racial inequality, and these forces can feed back on the family structures and schooling experiences of people who grow up there."

Connor's study shows that to improve social mobility, both job availability and community issues, like schooling, healthcare, and racial segregation must be addressed.

"Those issues have much more power in predicting social mobility than average incomes or the number of highly sophisticated jobs in a local labor market," he said. "We're never going to be in a position where economic opportunity is going to be spread evenly over the country. It's never been the case and it probably never will be. But I think that a healthy society is one that produces lots of geographical mobility and intergenerational social mobility."

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This work was supported by a Donald J. Treiman Research Fellowship through the California Center for Population Research at the University of California Los Angeles and a National University of Ireland Travelling Studentship.

Crossing international borders can be deadly for forced migrants

Study finds patterns across space and time in force migrant deaths

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Research News

IMAGE: COUNTRIES AND LOCATIONS OF FORCED MIGRANT MORTALITY PER YEAR (2014-2018). IMAGE IS FIGURE 1 FROM THE STUDY. view more
CREDIT: FIGURE BY D.POOLE, ET.AL.

Crossing international borders can be dangerous, if not deadly, for refugees and asylum seekers, who have been displaced by conflict or a humanitarian crisis. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, from January 2014 to December 2018, there were more than 16,300 forced migrant deaths. These deaths did not occur at random but occurred in clusters reflecting distinct patterns in space and time that can be addressed by humanitarian interventions, according to a Dartmouth-led research team. The results are published in BMJ Global Health.

In mapping the countries and locations where forced migrant deaths occurred, the researchers found that the deaths occurred in 12 spatial-temporal clusters, which were often located close to national borders, conflict intensities and/or along migration routes.

The team identified the top five locations of forced migrant deaths per year from 2014 to 2018. Deaths at sea topped the list each year, accounting for 26 to 54 percent across the five years for a total of over 5,800 deaths.

The data revealed just how dangerous crossing the U.S. - Mexico border can be. The U.S., specifically, the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border, is the only country that made the list for each of the five years with a total of over 1400 deaths. Mexico made the list for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018 with a total of over 800 deaths.

"The places where forced migrant deaths are occurring are not exactly making it into the news," explained co-author Danielle Poole, a Neukom fellow in the department of geography at Dartmouth. "In addition to the U.S. and Mexico, Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Uganda, and Malaysia also made the list of locations on land with the highest number of forced migrant deaths."

"If our findings were to be combined with a real-time analysis of migration patterns, this could provide insight into where clusters of forced migrant deaths may occur in the future," said Poole. Identifying some of the similarities, where forced migrant deaths are occurring in the meantime, allows us to monitor and better respond to migration areas that are especially hazardous," she added.

The results can be used to help inform immigration and humanitarian policies but also demonstrate the need for further research in this area. The forced migrant mortality rates demonstrate how during periods of conflict, there is a need on a global scale for humanitarian assistance such as search and rescue operations, which could help save lives and potentially reverse the death trends.

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Poole is available for comment at: Dani.Poole@Dartmouth.edu.

The study was co-authored by: Bethany Hedt-Gauthier at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Till Bärnighausen at Heidelberg University and the Africa Health Research Institute; and, Stéphanie Verguet and Marcia Castro at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Scientists discover a new mineral

It looks promising for producing batteries

ST. PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

For more than 40 years, Stanislav Filatov, Professor at St Petersburg University, together with colleagues from other research institutions in Russia, has been studying the mineralogy of scoria cones and lava flows of fumaroles in Kamchatka. They were formed after two major eruptions of Tolbachik Volcano - in 1975-1976 and 2012-2013. This territory is unique in its mineralogical diversity. In recent years, researchers have discovered dozens of new minerals here, many of which are one-of-a-kind in the world.

The recent find by the scientists from St Petersburg University, petrovite, Na10CaCu2(SO4)8, occurs as blue globular aggregates of tabular crystals with gaseous inclusions. 'The copper atom in the crystal structure of petrovite has an unusual and very rare coordination of seven oxygen atoms. Such coordination is characteristic of only a couple of compounds, as well as of saranchinaite, which was discovered by our colleagues from St Petersburg University - the research team of Professor Oleg Siidra,' said the project manager, Professor Stanislav Filatov.

The mineral consists of oxygen atoms, sodium sulphur and copper, which form a porous framework. The voids are connected to each other by channels through which relatively small sodium atoms can move. The scientists have therefore established that the structural type of petrovite is promising for ionic conductivity and can be used as a cathode material for sodium ion batteries.

'At present, the biggest problem for this use is the small amount of a transition metal - copper - in the crystal structure of the mineral. It might be solved by synthesising a compound with the same structure as petrovite in the laboratory,' said Stanislav Filatov.

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The study was conducted by a team of scientists from various research institutions from all over Russia. Mineralogical diagnostic assessment was carried out by Lidiya Vergasova, a senior research associate at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She is a great expert in the mineralogy of volcanic exhalations in Russia. Andrey Shablinskii, an associate of the Grebenshchikov Institute of Silicate Chemistry and a St Petersburg University graduate, studied the crystal structure of the new mineral type. He described it together with Sergey Krivovichev, Professor at St Petersburg University, Head of the Kola Science Centre, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Additionally, Andrey Shablinskii carried out an X-ray phase analysis and, together with Stanislav Filatov, head of the research team, Professor at St Petersburg University, identified the optical constants of the mineral. The chemical composition of the mineral was determined by Svetlana Moskaleva, a research associate at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Despite the fact that most of the recent discoveries of mineralogists and crystallographers of St Petersburg University are associated with the Kamchatka Peninsula, scientists discover many new minerals in the most unusual places. Among the finds in 2008-2017 there are samples from polar Yakutia, the Kola Peninsula (Kovdor deposit), Israel (the Negev Desert), Greece, Tanzania, South Africa, Jordan and many others. More information about these discoveries can be found at the virtual exhibition of the Mineralogical Museum of St Petersburg University on the IZI.Travel platform

Scientific journal launches new series on the biology of invasive plants

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Research News

IMAGE: GROUND WOODPECKER (GEOCOLAPTES OLIVACEUS) SITTING ON FIRE THORN (PYRACANTHA ANGUSTIFOLIA) NEAR THE TOWN OF CLARENS, FREE STATE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA. PHOTO: GRANT MARTIN view more
CREDIT: PHOTO: GRANT MARTIN

WESTMINSTER, Colorado - November 16 2020 - Today the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management (IPSM) announced the launch of a new series focused on the biology and ecology of invasive plants.

"Our goal is to assemble information that can serve as a trusted point of reference for key stakeholders," says Darren Kriticos of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, associate editor of IPSM and coeditor of the new series. "Each article will focus on an emerging threat and provide practical recommendations for how to intervene."

Maps will be included to highlight the potential for the featured weed to spread to new countries or new continents. The information is intended to serve as an alert for biosecurity managers, who can determine whether they need to take preventive measures.

The inaugural article in the new series focuses on the weedy shrub Pyrachantha augustifolia. Historically grown as a garden ornamental and hedge plant, pyracantha has become a global invader now prohibited in many countries.

Birds and small animals attracted to pyracantha's bright red berries have helped to spread the plant well outside its cultivated range. It can form dense, impenetrable thickets with sharp thorns that reduce the value of grazing lands and can harbor insects and diseases that damage crops.

Pyracantha is tolerant of cold, frost, strong winds and seasonally dry conditions. That means many habitats around the globe are at risk of invasion, including areas of Argentina, the United States and Central Europe. Pyracantha thrives in semi-arid regions where it can be difficult to manage cost-effectively using conventional methods. Researchers say biological controls may provide a safe, sustainable solution, especially in sensitive conservation settings and in "low input" production systems.

"In this age of globalization, there are numerous invasive plants like pyracantha that are spreading throughout the world," says David Clements, coeditor of the series and a professor at Trinity Western University. "Our new series is designed to look not only at the biology of invasive weeds, but also at the pathways they are most likely to use to invade new jurisdictions."

Scientists interesting in contributing articles to the new series are encouraged to send inquires to wssa@cambridge.org.

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To learn more about pyracantha and the risk it represents, you are invited to read "The Biology of Invasive Plants: Pyracantha angustifolia," which appears in Volume 13, Issue 3 of IPSM. The article is currently available Open Access.

About Invasive Plant Science and Management

Invasive Plant Science and Management is a journal of the Weed Science Society of America, a nonprofit scientific society focused on weeds and their impact on the environment. The publication focuses on invasive plant species. To learn more, visit http://www.wssa.net.

Tiny cave snail with muffin-top waistline rolls out of the dark in Laos

PENSOFT PUBLISHERS

Research News

IMAGE: THE NEW TRANSPARENT "MUFFIN-TOPPED " SNAIL, LAOENNEA RENOUARDI. view more
CREDIT: ESTÉE BOCHUD

A new species of tiny cave snail that glistens in the light and has a muffin-top-like bulge, was discovered by Marina Ferrand of the French Club Etude et Exploration des Gouffres et Carrie?res (EEGC), during the Phouhin Namno caving expedition in Tham Houey Yè cave in Laos in March 2019. The new species, Laoennea renouardi, is 1.80 mm tall and is named after the French caver, Louis Renouard, who explored and mapped the only two caves in Laos known to harbor this group of tiny snails. Only two species of Laoennea snail are known so far, L. carychioides and now, L. renouardi.

Caver and scientist, Dr. Adrienne Jochum, affiliated with the Natural History Museum BernUniversity of Bern (Switzerland), as well as the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum (Frankfurt, Germany) described the new species and its cave habitat together with co-authors: Estée Bochud, Natural History Museum Bern; Quentin Wackenheim, Laboratoire de Géographie Physique (Meudon, France) and Laboratoire Trajectoires (Nanterre, France); Marina Ferrand, EEGC; and Dr. Adrien Favre, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Subterranean Biology.

"The discovery and description of biodiversity before it disappears is a major priority for biologists worldwide. The caves in Laos are still largely underexplored and the snails known from them remain few in number," points out Dr. Jochum.

The fact that two species of tiny cave snails of the same group were found in two caves located in two independent karstic networks 3.4 km apart, caused the authors to question evolutionary processes in these underground hotspots of biodiversity. The authors hypothesise that the two caves might have been connected during the Quaternary, around 100-200 thousand years ago. In time, the river Yè might have formed a barrier, thus disconnecting the cave systems and separating the populations. As a result, the snails evolved into two different species.

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Original Source:

Jochum A, Bochud E, Favre A, Ferrand M, Wackenheim Q (2020) A new species of Laoennea microsnail (Stylommatophora, Diapheridae) from a cave in Laos. Subterranean Biology 36: 1-9.
https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.36.58977

New molecules derived from cannabidiol are designed with more potent antioxidants

UNIVERSITY OF CÓRDOBA

Research News

IMAGE: IMMUNOLOGY PROFESSOR EDUARDO MUÑOZ view more
CREDIT: UNIVERSIDAD DE CÓRDOBA

Nowadays, cannabidiol is a star component, not only in the world of cosmetics, but also in pharmaceutics and nutrition due to its antioxidant properties and its therapeutical potential. It is a natural molecule that comes from medicinal cannabis and that, despite being derived from it, is not a psychoactive compound, meaning that it has no effect upon the nervous system.

In spite of its successful sales, we still do not know how cannabidiol acts upon different skin cells in order to unleash its antioxidants. A collaborative partnership with the University of Cordoba and the University of Dundee demonstrated for the first time that cannabidiol induces the expression of heme oxygenase 1, an enzyme with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, in the main cells on the top layer of the skin, called keratinocytes. This is done by reducing or silencing the protein that suppresses it, known as BACH1.

"Once we described the whole working mechanism, we have continued our partnership, making modifications to the cannabidiol molecule in order to try to improve its properties that fight against skin diseases", explains Immunology Professor Eduardo Muñoz, who is in charge of the BIO-304 "Immunopharmacology and Molecular Virology" research group at the University of Cordoba.

Hence, the international research team designed new molecules that, besides inhibiting the BACH1 protein, activate the NRF2 protein. This protein controls the way that certain genes are expressed. These specific genes help to protect cells against oxidative stress such as HMOX1, the one that encodes heme oxygenase 1, but also many others that work independently from BACH1.

So, the newly designed molecules that are derived from cannabidiol have double antioxidant activity: on the one hand, they supress BACH1 and with it, they induce the expression of heme oxygenase 1 and on the other, they activate NRF2, which also induces the expression of heme oxygenase 1, in addition to other antioxidant genes. "When combining the inhibition of BACH1 with the activation of NRF2, the result is a very potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory response and better therapeutic effects", says Eduardo Muñoz.

This action mechanism is very interesting for skin disease treatments such as atopic dermatitis and epidermolysis bullosa, a very rare disease on which there is little research. What is more, this molecule has great potential to be used in cosmetics due to its antioxidant properties.

In addition to the University of Dundee in Scotland and the University of Cordoba, the companies Emerald Health Biotechnology, in the field of developing new medicine, and Innohealth Madrid (acquired by Evonik Industries AG), which specializes in dermo-cosmetics made from natural ingredients, have also collaborated on this research. Both companies were set up stemming from the BIO-304 research group at the University of Cordoba.

Based on these studies, the research team will continue to modify the molecules in order to improve their properties and, further down the road, perform studies on animal models in order to understand its therapeutical potential for skin diseases and other inflammatory diseases.

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Laura Casares, Juan Diego Unciti-Broceta, Maria Eugenia Prados, Diego Caprioglio, Daiana Mattotei, Maureen Higgins, Giovanni Apendino, Albena T. Dinkova-Kostov, Eduardo Muñoz*, Laureano de la Vega*. Isomeric O-methyl cannabidiolquinones with dual BACH1/NRF2 activity. Redox Biology.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101689.
* Equal contribution.

Laura Casares, Víctor García, Martín Garrido-Rodríguez, Estrella Millán, Juan A. Collado, Adela García-Martín, Jon Peñarando, Marco A. Calzado, Laureano de la Vega*, Eduardo Muñoz*. Cannabidiol induces antioxidant pathways in keratinocytes by targeting BACH1. Redox Biology,
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2019.101321.
* Equal contribution.

Actively speaking two languages protects against cognitive decline

Researchers conclude that regularly speaking two languages contributes to cognitive reserve and delays the onset of the symptoms associated with cognitive decline and dementia.

UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA - BARCELONA

Research News

In addition to enabling us to communicate with others, languages are our instrument for conveying our thoughts, identity, knowledge, and how we see and understand the world. Having a command of more than one enriches us and offers a doorway to other cultures, as discovered by a team of researchers led by scientists at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Using languages actively provides neurological benefits and protects us against cognitive decline associated with ageing.

In a study published in the journal Neuropsychologia, the researchers conclude that regularly speaking two languages -and having done so throughout one's life- contributes to cognitive reserve and delays the onset of the symptoms associated with cognitive decline and dementia.

"We have seen that the prevalence of dementia in countries where more than one language is spoken is 50% lower than in regions where the population uses only language to communicate", asserts researcher Marco Calabria, a member of the Speech Production and Bilingualism research group at UPF and of the Cognitive NeuroLab at the UOC, and professor of Health Sciences Studies, also at the UOC.

Previous work had already found that the use of two or more languages throughout life could be a key factor in increasing cognitive reserve and delaying the onset of dementia; also, that it entailed advantages of memory and executive functions.

"We wanted to find out about the mechanism whereby bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve with regard to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's, and if there were differences regarding the benefit it confers between the varying degrees of bilingualism, not only between monolingual and bilingual speakers", points out Calabria, who led the study.

Thus, and unlike other studies, the researchers defined a scale of bilingualism: from people who speak one language but are exposed, passively, to another, to individuals who have an excellent command of both and use them interchangeably in their daily lives. To construct this scale, they took several variables into account such as the age of acquisition of the second language, the use made of each, or whether they were used alternatively in the same context, among others.

The researchers focused on the population of Barcelona, where there is strong variability in the use of Catalan and Spanish, with some districts that are predominantly Catalan-speaking and others where Spanish is mainly spoken. "We wanted to make use of this variability and, instead of comparing monolingual and bilingual speakers, we looked at whether within Barcelona, where everyone is bilingual to varying degrees, there was a degree of bilingualism that presented neuroprotective benefits", Calabria explains.

Bilingualism and Alzheimer's

At four hospitals in the Barcelona and metropolitan area, they recruited 63 healthy individuals, 135 patients with mild cognitive impairment, such as memory loss, and 68 people with Alzheimer's, the most prevalent form of dementia. They recorded their proficiency in Catalan and Spanish using a questionnaire and established the degree of bilingualism of each subject. They then correlated this degree with the age at which the subjects' neurological diagnosis was made and the onset of symptoms.

To better understand the origin of the cognitive advantage, they asked the participants to perform various cognitive tasks, focusing primarily on the executive control system, since the previous studies had suggested that this was the source of the advantage. In all, participants performed five tasks over two sessions, including memory and cognitive control tests.

"We saw that people with a higher degree of bilingualism were given a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment later than people who were passively bilingual", states Calabria, for whom, probably, speaking two languages and often changing from one to the other is life-long brain training. According to the researcher, this linguistic gymnastics is related to other cognitive functions such as executive control, which is triggered when we perform several actions simultaneously, such as when driving, to help filter relevant information.

The brain's executive control system is related with the control system of the two languages: it must alternate them, make the brain focus on one and then on the other so as not to cause one language to intrude in the other when speaking.

"This system, in the context of neurodegenerative diseases, might offset the symptoms. So, when something does not work properly as a result of the disease, the brain has efficient alternative systems to solve it thanks to being bilingual", Calabria states, who then continues: "we have seen that the more you use two languages and the better language skills you have, the greater the neuroprotective advantage. Active bilingualism is, in fact, an important predictor of the delay in the onset of the symptoms of mild cognitive impairment, a preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease, because it contributes to cognitive reserve".

Now, the researchers wish to verify whether bilingualism is also beneficial for other diseases, such as Parkinson's or Huntington's disease.

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Reference work:

Marco Calabria, Mireia Hernández, Gabriele Cattaneo, Anna Suades, Mariona Serra, Montserrat Juncadella, Ramón Reñé, Isabel Sala, Alberto Lleó, Jordi Ortiz-Gil, Lidia Ugas, Asunción Ávila, Isabel Gómez Ruiz, César Ávila, Albert Costa (2020) "Active bilingualism delays the onset of mild cognitive impairment", Neuropsychologia, Vol. 146, 107528, ISSN 0028-3932,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107528

POST MODERN ALCHEMY

Novel glass materials made from organic and inorganic components

Researchers from Jena and Cambridge develop glass materials with novel combinations of properties

FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER-UNIVERSITAET JENA

Research News

IMAGE: DR COURTNEY CALAHOO FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF JENA PRESENTS ORGANIC GLASS (L.) AND INORGANIC GLASS (R.) - TWO STARTING MATERIALS FOR THE NEW COMPOSITE GLASS. view more
CREDIT: IMAGE: JENS MEYER/UNIVERSITY OF JENA

Cambridge/Jena (16.11.2020) Linkages between organic and inorganic materials are a common phenomenon in nature, e.g., in the construction of bones and skeletal structures. They often enable combinations of properties that could not be achieved with just one type of material. In technological material development, however, these so-called hybrid materials still represent a major challenge today.

A new class of hybrid glass materials

Researchers from the Universities of Jena (Germany) and Cambridge (GB) have now succeeded in creating a new class of hybrid glass materials that combine organic and inorganic components. To do this, the scientists use special material combinations in which chemical bonds between organometallic and inorganic glasses can be generated. They included materials composed of organometallic networks - so-called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) - which have recently been experiencing rapidly increasing research interest. This is primarily because their framework structures can be created in a targeted manner, from the length scale of individual molecules up to a few nanometers. This achieves a control of porosity which can be adapted to a large number of applications, both in terms of the size of the pores and their permeability, and in terms of the chemical properties prevailing on the pore surfaces. For example, separating membranes or storage devices for gases and liquids, supports for catalysts or new types of components for electrical energy storage devices can be designed.

"The chemical design of MOF materials follows a modular principle, according to which inorganic nodes are connected to one another via organic molecules to form a three-dimensional network. This results in an almost infinite variety of possible structures. A few of these structures can be converted into a glassy state by heat treatment. While crystalline MOF materials are typically synthesized in powder form, the liquid and glass states open up a wide range of processing options and potential shapes", explains Louis Longley from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Best of both worlds combined

"The combination of such MOF-derived glasses with classic inorganic glass materials could make it possible to combine the best of both worlds," says Courtney Calahoo, a senior scientist at the Chair of Glass Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. For example, composite glasses of this kind could lead to significantly improved mechanical properties by combining the impact and fracture toughness of plastics with the high hardness and rigidity of inorganic glasses. The decisive factor in ensuring that the materials involved are not simply mixed with one another is the creation of a contact area within which chemical bonds can form between the organometallic network and conventional glass. "Only in this way can really new properties be obtained, for example in electrical conductivity or mechanical resistance," explains Lothar Wondraczek, Professor of Glass Chemistry in Jena.

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Peel-off coating keeps desalination cleaner and greener

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (KAUST)

Research News

IMAGE: THE REMOVABLE POLYELECTROLYTE COATING PREVENTS BIOFOULING ON DESALINATION MEMBRANES AND AVOIDS THE NEED FOR HARMFUL CHEMICALS TO CLEAN SEAWATER DESALINATION SYSTEMS. view more
CREDIT: © 2020 KAUST; XAVIER PITA

A removable coating that can be used to clean desalination membranes has been developed by KAUST researchers. The nontoxic coating could provide a safer and more efficient alternative to harmful chemicals used to clean reverse osmosis systems for seawater desalination.

The reverse osmosis desalination process uses pressure to filter seawater through a semipermeable membrane to produce fresh drinking water. While the technique is more energy efficient than other desalination approaches, its performance can be hindered by the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms on the membrane surface.

"This biofilm creates a layer that does not allow water to pass as easily," says Maria Fernanda Nava-Ocampo, a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Johannes Vrouwenvelder. "One of the biggest problems of all the current methods to control biofouling is that they do not completely remove the biofilm from the membrane system, resulting in permanent fouling. This causes elevated energy consumption and disposal of control chemicals into the sea."

While other coatings are often made from harmful chemicals, the new polyelectrolyte coating avoids the need for toxic linkers to attach to the membrane. It can also be safely flushed out of the system with brine and increased flow, leaving the membrane surface clear of biofilm.

"The advantage of our coating is that it attaches to the surface by electrostatic interactions, so we don't have to use chemicals," says Nava-Ocampo. "We also don't have to pretreat the membrane in order to coat it. The membrane stays in the system and we just pass the coating through the same current flow used for desalination."

The team tested the coating they created using a membrane fouling simulator, a small device that mimics the conditions in reverse osmosis desalination plants. They circulated the coating through the system five times to establish layers on the surface of the membrane and added biodegradable nutrients to encourage the growth of biofilm.

After eight days, the researchers flushed the system with a strong flow of high-saline solution for 24 hours to remove the coating. The team compared the performance of the coated membrane with a noncoated control.

Using transmission electron microscopy, the researchers found that the coating remained stable in salty water, making it suitable for seawater desalination. By increasing the strength of the water flow and water salinity, the team was able to successfully remove the coating and the attached biofilm from the membrane.

After this cleaning process, the flow of liquid through the coated membrane was two-fold higher than the noncoated control.

"This showed that our technique has better cleaning potential," says Nava-Ocampo. "The next step is making it more efficient and durable at larger scales."

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