UH OH

Variant B.1.1.7 of COVID-19 associated with a significantly higher mortality rate

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Research News

 

Variant B.1.1.7 of COVID-19 associated with a significantly higher mortality rate, research shows

The highly infectious variant of COVID-19 discovered in Kent, which swept across the UK last year before spreading worldwide, is between 30 and 100 per cent more deadly than previous strains, new analysis has shown.

A pivotal study, by epidemiologists from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol, has shown that the SARS-CoV-2 variant, B.1.1.7, is associated with a significantly higher mortality rate amongst adults diagnosed in the community compared to previously circulating strains.

The study compared death rates among people infected with the new variant and those infected with other strains.

It showed that the new variant led to 227 deaths in a sample of 54906 patients - compared to 141 amongst the same number of closely matched patients who had the previous strains.

With the new variant already detected in more than 50 countries worldwide, the analysis provides crucial information to governments and health officials to help prevent its spread.

The study is published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday, 10 March 2021.

Robert Challen, lead author of the study from the University of Exeter said: "In the community, death from COVID-19 is still a rare event, but the B.1.1.7 variant raises the risk. Coupled with its ability to spread rapidly this makes B.1.1.7 a threat that should be taken seriously."

The Kent variant, first detected in the UK in September 2020, has been identified as being significantly quicker and easier to spread, and was behind the introduction of new lockdown rules across the UK from January.

The study shows that the higher transmissibility of the Kent strain meant that more people who would have previously been considered low risk were hospitalised with the newer variant.

Having analysed data from 54609 matched pairs of patients of all age-groups and demographics, and differing only in strain detected, the team found that there were 227 deaths attributed to the new strain, compared to 141 attributable to earlier strains.

Leon Danon, senior author of the study from the University of Bristol said: "We focussed our analysis on cases that occurred between November 2020 and January 2021, when both the old variants and the new variant were present in the UK. This meant we were able to maximise the number of "matches" and reduce the impact of other biases. Subsequent analyses have confirmed our results.

"SARS-CoV-2 appears able to mutate quickly, and there is a real concern that other variants will arise with resistance to rapidly rolled out vaccines. Monitoring for new variants as they arise, measuring their characteristics and acting appropriately needs to be a key part of the public health response in the future."

Ellen Brooks-Pollock from the University of Bristol expanded: "It was fortunate the mutation happened in a part of the genome covered by routine testing. Future mutations could arise and spread unchecked".

###

Reflecting on your own capabilities boosts resilience

UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH

Research News

 

The unpredictable nature of life during the coronavirus pandemic is particularly challenging for many people. Not everyone can cope equally well with the uncertainty and loss of control. Research has shown that while a large segment of the population turns out to be resilient in times of stress and potentially traumatic events, others are less robust and develop stress-related illnesses. Events that some people experience as draining seem to be a source of motivation and creativity for others.

These differing degrees of resilience demonstrate that people recover from stressful events at different rates, with psychosocial factors such as positivity, optimism, the ability to self-regulate, social skills, problem-solving skills and social support playing a role. A team from the Department of Psychology and the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich teamed up with researchers from New York to investigate how people can strengthen their psychological resilience when facing adversity.

Importance of believing in your own power

"Self-efficacy is a key element of resilience," explains Birgit Kleim, professor of psychology at UZH and director of the study. "By self-efficacy, I mean the belief that we have the ability to influence things to at least a small degree, even if some things are unchangeable." A self-efficacious person is convinced that they can draw on their own powers to overcome difficult and challenging situations. It doesn't matter whether this is actually the case, as Kleim explains: "Without believing in your own capabilities, you wouldn't take on any challenges in the first place." Self-efficacious people have stronger problem-solving abilities and a higher level of persistence. They also show changes in brain activation in regions linked to emotional regulation.

How might it be possible, then, to boost people's self-efficacy so that they can harness its positive powers in the coronavirus era? For the resilience study, a team of researchers examined 75 people who were distressed by a negative emotional memory. Before recalling and reassessing this distressing memory, one group of subjects was instructed to vividly recall a positive event such as a beautiful experience in nature or a joyful encounter with others. The others were instructed to think of a time in which they felt they were particularly self-efficacious: situations such as having a successful conversation, passing a difficult exam or giving a presentation. In many cases, doing this exercise just once was already enough to achieve a positive effect.

Recalling autobiographical self-efficacy yields dramatic effects

"Recalling a specific instance of one's own self-efficacy proved to have a far greater impact than recalling a positive event," says Kleim. People who actively recalled their own self-efficacious behavior found it easier to reassess a negative situation and view it in a different light. They perceived the negative experience as less distressing than the subjects who were instructed to reflect on a positive memory unconnected to self-efficacy.

"Our study shows that recalling self-efficacious autobiographical events can be used as a tool both in everyday life and in clinical settings to boost personal resilience," explains the research team. It may be possible to strategically use memories of overcoming past challenges as a way of coping with crisis situations. This also applies to the coronavirus crisis, where these memories can be used to shield against the negative impacts of the pandemic.

###

 

Air pollutant reductions could enhance global warming without greenhouse gas cuts

Modeling predicts that loss of cooling effect attributed to sulfate aerosols will increase surface air temperature if air pollution and carbon dioxide are not simultaneously reduced

KYUSHU UNIVERSITY

Research News

    SHARE

 PRINT  E-MAIL

IMAGE: SIMULATIONS USING MIROC-SPRINTARS PREDICT ANNUAL MEAN DISTRIBUTION OF CHANGES IN SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE FOLLOWING REDUCTION OF SO2 EMISSIONS FROM FUEL SOURCES TO 10% OF THE CURRENT LEVEL UNDER PRESENT (LEFT)... view more 

CREDIT: TOSHIHIKO TAKEMURA, KYUSHU UNIVERSITY

As countries around the world race to mitigate global warming by limiting carbon dioxide emissions, an unlikely source could be making climate goals harder to achieve without even deeper cuts in greenhouse gas production: reductions in air pollution.

New modeling experiments from Kyushu University in Japan of the long-term effects of reductions in pollutants known as sulfate aerosols predicts further increases in surface air temperature at current and increased carbon dioxide levels because of the loss of an overall cooling effect caused by the light-scattering particles.

"Air pollution causes an estimated seven million premature deaths per year worldwide, so action is essential, especially in emerging and developing countries, which tend to be most affected," says Toshihiko Takemura, professor at Kyushu University's Research Institute for Applied Mechanics and author of the study.

"However, reductions in air pollutants must come hand in hand with reductions in greenhouse gases to avoid accelerating global warming."

To analyze how sulfate aerosols--small particles of sulfur-containing compounds often produced by burning fossil fuels or biomass--influence climate, Takemura used a combination of models known as MIROC-SPRINTARS.

MIROC is a general circulation model taking into account many key aspects of the atmosphere and oceans along with their interactions, while SPRINTARS, which is widely used by news outlets for air pollution forecasts, is capable of predicting the mixing of aerosols in the atmosphere.

Combining the two models allows for effects such as the scattering and absorption of light by aerosols and the interaction of aerosols with clouds to be included in the climate projection.

Looking at the immediate changes to the atmosphere in the case of reduced emission of SO2--a precursor of sulfate aerosols--from fuel sources, Takemura found that changes such as in light scattering and cloud formation by the sulfate aerosols lead to more energy overall entering the atmosphere, though the increase is similar regardless of whether the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is the same as present levels or doubled.

However, considering changes in the climate and surface temperatures over longer time scales showed that not only does the surface air temperature increase with a reduction in sulfate aerosols but this increase is even larger when carbon dioxide levels double.

"Although the fast response is similar for both situations, long-term changes caused by more slowly responding factors related to interactions with the oceans and subsequent changes, such as in clouds and precipitation, eventually leads to a bigger temperature increase," explains Takemura.

"Thus, global warming will accelerate unless increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are suppressed as air pollution control measures decrease sulfate aerosol concentrations, further emphasizing the urgency for reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," he concludes.

###

For more information about this research, see "Return to different climate states by reducing sulphate aerosols under future CO2 concentrations," Toshihiko Takemura, Scientific Reports (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78805-1

Fossil lamprey larvae overturn textbook assumptions on vertebrate origins

Study shows studies of the origin of vertebrates - including human - were based on incorrect assumptions since the late 1800s

UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND

    SHARE

IMAGE: 1.5 CM LONG PRISCOMYZON HATCHLING SHOWING BULGE OF YOLK SAC MATERIAL. PHOTO AT LEFT, ANNOTATED PHOTO AT CENTRE AND DRAWING AT RIGHT. FIGURE FROM PAPER. PICTURE CREDIT NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP.... view more 

CREDIT: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

The unprecedented discovery of an ancient lamprey growth series, published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature, is overturning long-held ideas as to what modern lampreys may tell us about the origin of vertebrates (all animals with a backbone such as goldfish, lizards, crows and people).

"Lampreys and modern hagfish are the only jawless fish alive that branched off from the family tree of vertebrates before they got jaws," says Dr Rob Gess from the Albany Museum in Makhanda, who discovered the ancient fossils. "This makes them very interesting for researchers attempting to understand the earliest stages of vertebrate history."

Until now, it was commonly believed that modern lampreys were swimming time capsules that could give unique insights into the biology and genome (DNA) of a truly ancient lineage.

This belief was supported by the discovery, published in Nature in 2006, of an exquisitely preserved lamprey fossil (Priscomyzon) at the 360-million-year-old Waterloo Farm black shales near Makhanda/Grahamstown, South Africa. The discovery was met with excitement worldwide as it was the oldest lamprey ever found, yet it appeared to have been essentially almost identical to modern adult lampreys. Modern lampreys are bizarre fish, eel-like in shape, that feed by latching onto other fish with a sucker around their mouth, securing their grip with circles of teeth and then drinking their victim's blood after rasping a hole with special teeth on their tongue. Therefore, adult lampreys are clearly successful, having arisen before the first four-legged-animals moved onto land and survived, with little change, ever since.

In many ways, modern lampreys indeed provide unique insights into their ancient ancestry. But new evidence shows that this is not the case when it comes to the juvenile larval stage.

Since the 19th century, biologists have treated the larvae/juveniles of modern lampreys as a relic of deep evolutionary ancestry. These blind, filter-feeding, worm-like larvae (ammocoetes) burrow in stream beds and filter water for minute food particles before slowly transforming into free-swimming, eyed, actively feeding adults. Crucially, this strange life history was thought to echo transformations some 500 million years ago, which gave rise to all fish lineages, including the one that ultimately led to humans. Hence, the last invertebrate ancestor of vertebrates is often portrayed as ammocoete-like, and the earliest vertebrate as being lamprey-like. But for this to be a reasonable model, both ammocoetes and lampreys would need to hark back to the dawn of our (vertebrate) history.

However, the new fossil discoveries contradict the conventional wisdom that our long chain of ancestors ever included a lamprey-larva-like fish. Painstaking excavation of shale samples from Waterloo Farm has revealed a growth series of Priscomyzon illustrating its development from hatchling to adult. Remarkably, the smallest preserved individuals, barely 15mm in length, still carried a yolk sac, signalling that these had only just hatched before entering the fossil record.

Of crucial importance: even the hatchlings were already sighted with large eyes and armed with a toothed sucker, much like the blood-sucking adult phase of modern lampreys, and completely unlike their modern larval counterparts. This drastically different structure of ancient lamprey infants provides evidence that modern lamprey larvae are not evolutionary relics. Instead, the modern filter-feeding phase is a more recent innovation that allowed lampreys to populate and thrive in rivers and lakes. A less complete (previously unpublished) partial growth series of three types of slightly younger lampreys from North America support the finding. Therefore, distant human ancestry seemingly did not include a lamprey-larva-like stage. Modern lampreys now appear to be a highly evolved side branch, which shared a common ancestor with us - probably a jawless fish enclosed in bony armour.

Truly a new entry for the textbooks.

CAPTION

This reconstruction of the Late Devonian estuarine lake at Waterloo Farm (near Makhanda, South Africa) captures the life history of a stem lamprey Priscomyzon riniensis. Three individuals representing different ontogenetic stages take a shelter in the meadow of charophyte algae Octochara crassa. Clockwise from right: a yolk-sac-carrying hatchling tucked in the charophyte; a juvenile attached to the substrate in the foreground, and an adult looming over the other individuals and showing its feeding apparatus. In the background, a school of the coelacanth Serenichthys kowiensis swim by.

CREDIT

Kristen Tietjen

CAPTION

Dr Robert Gess and Dr Tetsuto Miyashita discussing Priscomyzon specimens.

CREDIT

Todani Funyufunyu

Cereal side streams can be utilized as sources of protein and dietary fiber

UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Research News

 

Every year, the food industry generates substantial amounts of side streams, such as cereal brans. Instead of using them for food, they are primarily utilised as feed or in energy production.

"We are wasting high-quality protein and dietary fibre. Using brans in food production would improve resource sufficiency, and they would be viable for healthy diets," says Pia Silventoinen, who recently defended her doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, Finland.

However, the performance of plant-based ingredients, proteins in particular, is often poorer in food applications compared with their animal-derived counterparts. Silventoinen developed in her doctoral research project, carried out at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, techniques for producing protein-rich, nutritionally balanced and highly functional raw materials targeted for beverages and spoonable products from cereal side streams - wheat, rice and rye brans as well as barley endosperm fraction.

In her doctoral thesis, Silventoinen optimised sustainable and environmentally friendly dry separation techniques, including dry milling and air classification. They were used to produce protein- and dietary fibre-rich hybrid ingredients, functional properties of which exceeded those of the raw material side streams. Moreover, these properties could be further improved through enzymatic and ultrasound treatment.

"Enzyme-treated protein-rich rice bran fraction could be used as a raw material, for example, inspoonable food products which deliver protein to consumers. It also contains so high amount of dietary fibre that a nutritional claim 'source of fibre' could be displayed on the packaging. Similarly, ultrasound-treated barley protein ingredients could be applied in the production of plant-based milk substitutes," Silventoinen envisions.

###

https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/326182

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy

 

Researchers solve more of the mystery of Laos megalithic jars

'Plain of Jars' dates put at 1240 to 660 BCE

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Research News

 

IMAGE: DR SHEWAN AND COLLABORATORS PRESENT NEW RADIOCARBON RESULTS FOR SITE USE AND ALSO INTRODUCE GEOCHRONOLOGICAL DATA DETERMINING THE LIKELY QUARRY SOURCE FOR ONE OF THE LARGEST MEGALITHIC SITES. view more 

CREDIT: PLAIN OF JARS ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT

New research conducted at the UNESCO World Heritage listed 'Plain of Jars' in Laos has established the stone jars were likely placed in their final resting position from as early as 1240 to 660 BCE.

Sediment samples from beneath stone jars from two of the more than 120 recorded megalithic sites were obtained by a team led Dr Louise Shewan from the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Dougald O'Reilly from the Australian National University (ANU) and Dr Thonglith Luangkoth from the Lao Department of Heritage.

The samples were analysed using a technique called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to determine when sediment grains were last exposed to sunlight.

"With these new data and radiocarbon dates obtained for skeletal material and charcoal from other burial contexts, we now know that these sites have maintained enduring ritual significance from the period of their initial jar placement into historic times," Dr Shewan said.

The megalithic jar sites in Northern Laos comprise one to three-metre-tall carved stone jars, weighing up to 20 tonnes, dotted across the landscape, appearing alone or in groups of up to several hundred.

Dr Shewan and her team completed their most recent excavations in March 2020, revisiting Site 1 (Ban Hai Hin), and arriving back in Australia just before global pandemic international boarder closures.

Site 1 revealed more burials placed around the jars and confirmed earlier observations that the exotic boulders distributed across the site are markers for ceramic burial jars buried below.

Published today in PLOS One, Dr Shewan and collaborators present new radiocarbon results for site use and also introduce geochronological data determining the likely quarry source for one of the largest megalithic sites.

While geologists have used detrital zircon U-Pb dating for several decades, this methodology has recently been used to establish the provenance of ceramic and stone sources in archaeological contexts including Stonehenge.

Conducted at ANU by Associate Professor Richard Armstrong, the U-Pb zircon ages measured in jar samples from Site 1 were compared to potential source material, including a sandstone outcrop and an incomplete jar from a presumed quarry located some 8km away. The zircon age distributions revealed very similar provenance suggesting that this outcrop was the likely source of the material used for the creation of jars at the site.

"How the jars were moved from the quarry to the site, however, remains a mystery," Associate Professor O'Reilly said.

The next challenge for the researchers is to obtain further samples from other sites and from across the geographic expanse of this megalithic culture to understand more about these enigmatic sites and the period over which they were created.

Dr Shewan said this is not an especially easy task given the extensive unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination in the region where less than 10 per cent of the known jar sites have been cleared.

"We expect that this complex process will eventually help us share more insights into what is one of Southeast Asia's most mysterious archaeological cultures."

The full team of researchers includes La Trobe University, James Cook University, University of Gloucestershire and international collaborators from Laos, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

###

Framed by gender: Women artists erased from peak prices, sales at art auctions

MONASH UNIVERSITY

Research News

IMAGE: ARTWORK PRODUCED BY FEMALE ARTISTS COMPRISE LESS THAN 4 PER CENT OF ART AUCTION SALES, DESPITE A NEAR EQUAL SHARE OF WOMEN AND MEN PURSUING DEGREES IN FINE ARTS, NEW... view more 

CREDIT: MONASH UNIVERSITY

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. However, many women artists - and the stories their works tell - comprise less than 4 per cent of total art sold at auction and fail to attract high selling prices compared to male artists.

A world-first international study by researchers at Monash University, Maastricht University (The Netherlands) and Artnet Worldwide, based in New York City, found that a staggering 96.1 per cent (2,572,346) of all artworks sold at auctions worldwide between 2000 and 2017 are attributed to male artists.

However, work by female artists are on average 4.4 per cent more expensive after controlling for artwork and transaction characteristics. This factor contributes to higher barriers for women to enter the art market, researchers say.

Despite commanding a higher average price for their work, women artists are almost exclusively absent from the top echelons of the total value of art sold at auction. Forty-two men occupy the top 0.03 per cent of the market, where 40 per cent of the sales value is concentrated. Just one woman artist, Joan Mitchell, cracks the top 50.

Findings of this study were published in the Journal of Cultural Economics.

Dr Marina Gertsberg, Lecturer in Banking & Finance in the Monash Business School and co-author of the study, said even with a near equal share of women and men pursuing fine art degrees, women find it more difficult to turn that interest into saleable artwork.

"Women might feel discouraged by their market prospects at the very top, or they might experience discrimination by dealers and buyers who ascribe higher potential to men at the very top. Increasing the visibility of female artists and giving them the chance to compete early on in their careers is therefore most important in improving female representation," Dr Gertsberg said.

"There is currently some movement in this direction. Museums and galleries are increasing the share of female artists on display. This helps buyers to be acquainted with female art and gain more confidence in it."

At the same time, Dr Gertsberg says it is important not to segregate female and male artists.

"For example, 'women-only' exhibits do not allow the audience to compare artworks by males and females and pushes female art to a niche category. Women should be given the chance to compete side-by-side with men," she said.

"The fact that the auction prices are higher for artwork by women than artwork by men, after accounting for artwork style and other characteristics that affect prices, shows that women can compete in the market when given the chance."

This investigation considered the prices paid at auction for artworks created by male and female artists based on birth-identified sex, and how these prices have evolved over time.

Their dataset comprised almost the full population of global art auction transactions from 2000 to 2017, covering more than 1800 auction houses.

In the top echelon of the art market - for sales of greater than $1 million - artworks by male artists sell for 18.4 per cent more than those by female artists. The top 40 artists, consisting solely of men, represent 40 per cent of total market share. Artworks by female artists represent just 3-5 per cent of major permanent collections in the USA and Europe.

While there are about 110,938 male artists with work on display and up for auction at major galleries, there are only 5612 female artists present. The proportion of female artists is highest for contemporary art (9.3 per cent) and the least for artwork from the 'old masters' period (2.9 per cent).

Dr Gertsberg said the career trajectories of female and male artists are likely to diverge very early, and in order to formulate policy, it is important to identify when female artists encounter barriers that forces them to drop out of the profession.

"The fact that we observe higher median prices for female artists indicates that buyers perceive quality of artworks by female artists as overall better than the artworks of male artists. We would not expect this difference in quality if men and women faced the same difficulty in entering the market," Dr Gertsberg said.

"It might seem counterintuitive, but we would like to see the average price for artworks produced by women fall to the level of men. This would imply that the quality of male and female artists is similar and suggest that the playing field is truly equal."

###

This study was a collaboration involving Dr Marina Gertsberg (Monash Business School), Fabian Bocart (Artnet Worldwide Corporation) and Rachel Pownall (Maastricht University). To download a copy of the research paper, please visit https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-020-09403-2

 

People's trust levels predict willingness to engage in COVID-19 control behaviors

Survey across 23 countries finds trust in government, science, and other citizens predicts engagement

PLOS

Research News

 

Individuals' willingness to engage in COVID-19 control measures is associated with their trust in the government, other citizens, and in particular science, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Stefano Pagliaro of University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, and colleagues.

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 since December 2019 has posed a severe public health threat to people around the world. As vaccines are being rolled out, behavioral changes are also necessary to counter the spread of the virus. These actions include both prescribed behaviors such as wearing masks, social distancing, and quarantining, as well as discretionary prosocial behaviors like donating to charities and buying supplies for people in quarantine. The willingness of citizens to engage in such behaviors varies greatly.

In the new study, researchers examined factors that may account for these differences in behavior. They collected data on 6,948 people from 23 countries using an online survey in April and May of 2020. Participants provided sociodemographic information and details about their COVID-19 experiences, and answered questions about their moral principles, trust in their government, other citizens, and science and feelings on the importance of adhering to COVID-19 prevention measures.

The results revealed that the country in which people lived accounted for less than 10% of the variance in predicting engagement in prescribed and discretionary behaviors, and the publicized number of infections was not significantly related to individual intentions to engage in either type of behavior. Instead, behavior was largely predicted by individual differences in trust in their government, other citizens, and in particular science. Moreover, the more people endorsed moral principles of fairness and care, the more inclined they were to trust in science and the more likely they were to carry out both prescribed and discretionary behaviors related to COVID-19. Interestingly, factors such as age, gender, and education did not change the overall pattern of results. The authors conclude that communication strategies to encourage behaviors that limit the spread of COVID-19 should be tailored to the broader moral codes of given countries and subgroups of the population.

The authors add: "We considered individuals' intentions to comply with prescribed and discretionary behaviors to manage the spread of COVID-19 in 23 countries and examined the factors that might drive such behavioral intentions. We showed that the publicized statistics of the pandemic in terms of infections and deaths in each country does not represent the only, or even the most important antecedent of individual reactions, as a threat account of the health emergency would suggest. [...] Instead, considering psychological differences in terms of trust toward different agents - governments, citizens, and science - provide a more informative picture of individuals' reactions to COVID-19. " In particular, "[...] The present research further showed that trust in science represents a crucial factor in shaping individuals' behavior in response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

###

Citation: Pagliaro S, Sacchi S, Pacilli MG, Brambilla M, Lionetti F, Bettache K, et al. (2021) Trust predicts COVID-19 prescribed and discretionary behavioral intentions in 23 countries. PLoS ONE 16(3): e0248334. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248334

Funding: This research was supported by a "Covid-19 Grant" awarded from the European Association of Social Psychology to Stefano Pagliaro and by the Pomilio Blumm Communication Agency. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There are no restrictions on sharing of data and materials.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. This research was supported by a "Covid-19 Grant" awarded from the European Association of Social Psychology to Stefano Pagliaro and by the Pomilio Blumm Communication Agency. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248334

Healthy plant-based diet associated with lower stroke risk

HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Research News

 

Boston, MA - People who eat diets with higher amounts of healthy plant-based foods and lower amounts of less-healthy plant-based foods may reduce their risk of stroke compared to people with lower-quality diets, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They found that healthy plant-based diets--defined as rich in foods such as leafy greens, whole grains, and beans, and including lower levels of foods like refined grains, potatoes, and added sugars--may lower overall stroke risk by up to 10%.

"Our findings have important public health implications, suggesting that future nutrition policies to lower stroke risk should take the quality of food into consideration," said first author Megu Baden, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition.

The study will be published online March 10, 2021, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Evidence suggests that plant-based diets may lower the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other diseases; however, few studies have looked at whether these diets lower the risk of stroke, and their results have been inconsistent.

In this study, researchers analyzed health data from 209,508 women and men in the Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II, and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of their participation. They were followed for more than 25 years and completed diet questionnaires every two to four years.

Participants were scored on diet quality based on the healthfulness of the plant-based foods that they ate. People who ate a serving or less of meat or fish per month were classified as vegetarians.

The researchers found that a healthy plant-based diet--in addition to being linked with 10% lower overall stroke risk--was associated with a modest reduction in risk of ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, which occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked. There was no association found between a healthy plant-based diet and reduced risk of hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when an artery in the brain leaks blood or ruptures.

In a separate analysis, the researchers did not find any association between a vegetarian diet and lowered risk of stroke, although they noted that the number of study participants classified as vegetarians was small. The researchers suggested that this result--as well as inconsistent results in prior studies looking at plant-based diets and stroke risk--may in part be explained by a high proportion of low-quality plant-based foods in participants' diets.

"Many individuals have been increasing the amount of plant-based components in their diet," said Kathryn Rexrode, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-author of the paper. "These results show that higher intake of healthy plant-based foods may help reduce long-term stroke risk, and that it is still important to pay attention to diet quality of plant-based diets."

###

Other Harvard Chan School co-authors of the study included Zhilei Shan, Fenglei Wang, Yanping Li, JoAnn Manson, Eric Rimm, Walter Willett, and Frank Hu.

This research was funded by grants UM1 CA186107, U01 CA176726, U01 CA167552, R01 HL034594, R01 HL088521, and R01 HL35464 from the National Institutes of Health. Baden was supported by a fellowship from the Manpei Suzuki Diabetes Foundation. Hu was supported by grants HL60712, HL118264, and DK112940 from the National Institutes of Health.

"Quality of Plant-based Diet and Risk of Total, Ischemic, and Hemorrhagic Stroke," Megu Baden, Zhilei Shan, Fenglei Wang, Yanping Li, JoAnn E. Manson, Eric B. Rimm, Walter C. Willett, Frank B. Hu, Kathryn M. Rexrode, Neurology, online March 10, 2021, doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011713

Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives--not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health.

Soft contact lenses eyed as new solutions to monitor ocular diseases

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: NEW CONTACT LENS TECHNOLOGY TO HELP DIAGNOSE AND MONITOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS MAY SOON BE READY FOR CLINICAL TRIALS. THE TEAM ENABLED COMMERCIAL SOFT CONTACT LENSES TO BE A BIOINSTRUMENTATION TOOL... view more 

CREDIT: PURDUE UNIVERSITY/CHI HWAN LEE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - New contact lens technology to help diagnose and monitor medical conditions may soon be ready for clinical trials.

A team of researchers from Purdue University worked with biomedical, mechanical and chemical engineers, along with clinicians, to develop the novel technology. The team enabled commercial soft contact lenses to be a bioinstrumentation tool for unobtrusive monitoring of clinically important information associated with underlying ocular health conditions.

The team's work is published in Nature Communications. The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization helped secure a patent for the technology and it is available for licensing.

"This technology will be greatly beneficial to the painless diagnosis or early detection of many ocular diseases including glaucoma" said Chi Hwan Lee, the Leslie A. Geddes assistant professor of biomedical engineering and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue who is leading the development team. "Since the first conceptual invention by Leonardo da Vinci, there has been a great desire to utilize contact lenses for eye-wearable biomedical platforms."

Sensors or other electronics previously couldn't be used for commercial soft contact lenses because the fabrication technology required a rigid, planar surface incompatible with the soft, curved shape of a contact lens.

The team has paved a unique way that enables the seamless integration of ultrathin, stretchable biosensors with commercial soft contact lenses via wet adhesive bonding. The biosensors embedded on the soft contact lenses record electrophysiological retinal activity from the corneal surface of human eyes, without the need of topical anesthesia that has been required in current clinical settings for pain management and safety.

"This technology will allow doctors and scientists to better understand spontaneous retinal activity with significantly improved accuracy, reliability, and user comfort," said Pete Kollbaum, the Director of the Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research and an associate professor of optometry at Indiana University who is leading clinical trials.

###

The other members of the team are Bryan Boudouris, a professor of chemical engineering from Purdue, and Baoxing Xu, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia.

This work is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF CMMI-1928784 & 1928788) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR FA9550-19-1-0271). For more information about licensing opportunities, contact Patrick Finnerty of OTC at pwfinnery@prf.org.

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. The office recently moved into the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. In fiscal year 2020, the office reported 148 deals finalized with 225 technologies signed, 408 disclosures received and 180 issued U.S. patents. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today's toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.