Air quality improved during India lockdown, study shows

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

Research News

 

IMAGE: STANDARDIZED (A) NIGHT-TIME MODIS LST AND (B) DAY-TIME MODIS LST ANOMALIES (°C) DURING 2020 (24TH MARCH-18TH MAY) AGAINST THE DEMI-DECADAL MEAN FOR THE YEARS 2015-19. THE HISTOGRAM SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF... view more 

CREDIT: ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

Research by scientists from University of Southampton (UK) and the Central University of Jharkhand (India) and has shown the first COVID-19 lockdown in India led to an improvement in air quality and a reduction in land surface temperature in major urban areas across the country.

The study found that travel and work restrictions imposed early in the pandemic resulted in a significant environmental improvement, due to an abrupt reduction in industrial activities and a major decrease in the use of land and air transport.

The international team used data from a range of Earth Observation sensors, including those from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-5p and NASA's MODIS sensors, to measure changes in surface temperature and atmospheric pollutants and aerosols. They concentrated on six major urban areas: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad - comparing data from the 2020 March to May lockdown with pre-pandemic years.

Their findings, published in the journal Environmental Research, provide a strong evidence base for potential environmental benefits through larger scale policy implementation.

The researchers revealed a significant reduction in Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), a greenhouse gas emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels, which equated to an average decrease of 12 percent throughout India and 31.5 percent over the six cities. There was a 40 percent reduction over the national capital, New Delhi. In India alone, about 16,000 premature deaths occur annually due to exposure to poor air quality.

The study also found Land Surface Temperature (LST) over major cities in India substantially declined in contrast with the previous five-year average (2015-2019) with day temperatures being up to 1°C cooler and those at night up to 2°C cooler.

Co- author Professor Jadu Dash, from University of Southampton, commented: "The lockdown provided a natural experiment to understand the coupling between urbanisation and local microclimate. We clearly observed that reduction in atmospheric pollutants (due to reduction in anthropogenic activity during lockdown) resulted in a decrease in local day and night-time temperature. This is an important finding to feed into the planning for sustainable urban development."

Along with surface temperature, the atmospheric fluxes at the surface and top of the atmosphere also significantly declined over major parts of India. The reduction of greenhouse gas concentration, higher atmospheric water vapour content and meteorological conditions played a complex role in the land and near-surface temperature reduction.

Commenting on the research, Dr Bikash Parida, from Central University of Jharkhand said: "Aerosol optical depth (AOD) and absorption AOD showed a significant reduction which could be connected with the reduction in the emission sources across India during the lockdown. The aerosol type sources, such as organic carbon (OC), black carbon (BC), mineral dust, and sea salt also reduced significantly. Moreover, in central India, increases in AOD were attributed to the supply of dust aerosols transported from the western Thar desert region."

Dr Gareth Roberts from the University of Southampton added: "Satellite instruments play a vital role in acquiring information on the Earth's environment in a timely manner. This study has illustrated the importance of Earth Observation data for monitoring changes in the atmospheric pollutants, which are significant health risk, and in highlighting the impact that anthropogenic activities have on regional air quality."

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 FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Bar-Ilan University researchers increase life expectancy in mice by an average of 30%

The mechanism through which the protein SIRT6 acts as a 'fountain of youth' allows old mice to conduct the same level of vigorous activity as their young counterparts, without becoming frail

BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: IN A PAPER RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF RESEARCHERS, LED BY BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY IN ISRAEL, REPORT THAT TRANSGENIC MICE EXPRESS HIGH LEVELS OF THE SIRT6 GENE... view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

Aging is associated with an overall decline in health and increased frailty, and is a major risk factor for multiple chronic diseases. Frailty syndrome, characterized by weakness, fatigue and low physical activity, affects more than 30% of the elderly population. Increasing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the aging process is a top priority to facilitate the development of interventions that will lead to the preservation of health and improvements on survival and lifespan.

Cumulative evidence suggests that diet and metabolism are key targetable regulators of healthy lifespan. Prof. Haim Cohen, Director of the Sagol Healthy Human Longevity Center at Bar-Ilan University, focuses much of his research on the SIRT6 protein that is involved in regulating many biological processes, such as aging, obesity, and insulin resistance.

In a study just published in the journal Nature Communications, an international team led by Cohen and his PhD student Asael Roichman -- together with Prof. Rafael de Cabo, of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, Prof. Manuel Serrani, of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, and Prof. Eyal Gottlieb from the Technion -- report that transgenic mice express high levels of the SIRT6 gene, and show that their life expectancy can be increased by an average of 30% in both males and females. Translated into human terms this means that a 90-year-old could live until nearly 120!

Furthermore, the mice exhibited significant improvement in overcoming a variety of age-related diseases, such as cancer and blood disorders. Beyond this, strikingly, they were able to conduct the same level of vigorous activity as young mice, and didn't become frail.

Next, through a variety of biochemical methods and metabolic analyses the researchers deciphered the mechanism through which SIRT6 acts as a type of "fountain of youth", facilitating healthy aging. They showed that older animals lose the ability to generate energy in the absence of external energy sources, such as a short fast. On the other hand, the engineered mice maintained an enhanced energy generation capacity from other storage, such as the breakdown of fats and lactic acid. By doing so, they created sugar utilized for energy in muscle and specifically in the brain. In fact SIRT6 activates a physical response that is identical to diets that increase longevity.

"This discovery, combined with our previous findings, shows that SIRT6 controls the rate of healthy aging," says Prof. Cohen, of Bar-Ilan University's Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences. "If we can determine how to activate it in humans, we will be able to prolong life, and this could have enormous health and economic implications." Today, Cohen's lab is developing methods for extending healthy life based on these findings.

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Tuberculosis in Irish prisons: New study recommends increased testing

TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

Research News

 

Investigators from Trinity College Dublin, the Irish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory, St James's Hospital, and the Department of Public Health HSE East believe tuberculosis (TB) care in Irish Prisons should be supported, considering the findings of their study which is published today (Tuesday, 1st June, 2021) in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

The study describes an investigation into a large outbreak of tuberculosis which occurred in an Irish prison in 2011. This resulted in 34 people contracting active TB from a single infectious case. The use of Whole Genome Sequencing enabled the investigators to track the course of onward transmission, and to link TB cases identified as recently as 2019 to the 2011 outbreak.

The outbreak resulted in litigation costs to the State of more than €5 million euro. The study found that in addition to the active TB cases, 50% of the prison staff tested as close contacts of cases may have developed Latent TB as a result of occupational exposure. This is an asymptomatic, non-infectious form of TB, which may progress to the active form of TB at a future date, in a small number of cases.

Professor Joe Keane, Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin and St James's Hospital Dublin, and co-senior author of the study said:

"This report shows that tuberculosis is an issue in our prisons and will be followed by a 'test and educate' programme- that will mitigate the risk in congregate settings."

Professor Tom Rogers, Clinical Microbiology, Trinity, and formerly Clinical Director, Irish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory (IMRL) based at St. James's Hospital, said:

" This report demonstrates the power of whole genome sequencing to enhance epidemiological investigations of TB outbreaks over prolonged periods of time. The IMRL has created a national database of TB genomes which will facilitate future public health investigations of TB in Ireland."

Dr Marcus Butler, vice-president, Irish Thoracic Society said:

"This study, along with recommendations from the CDC TB controllers association and a recent review of TB rates in prisons published by The Lancet Public Health, supports the need for improving early TB diagnosis and care in the Irish prison system, through a three-step approach:

1) A TB information and testing service in prisons

2) A Latent TB clinic at St James's Hospital Dublin

3) A National TB lead to oversee this as part of an integrated national TB control service

This integrated national service should comprise a national TB screening programme for high risk groups, investment in contact tracing and TB surveillance activities, and a TB education and awareness programme for healthcare professionals and the public."

Dr Mary O Meara, Specialist in Public Health Medicine , HSE East said:

"This report supports the need for augmenting the public health contact tracing response for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis."

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More information: A PDF version of the paper 'The largest prison outbreak of TB in Western Europe investigated using whole-genome sequencing' is available upon request to coshea9@tcd.ie

 

Precise data for improved coastline protection

First comprehensive measurements of sea level changes in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH (TUM)

Research News

 

Researchers working under the leadership of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have conducted the first precise and comprehensive measurements of sea level rises in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. A new method now makes it possible to determine sea level changes with millimeter accuracy even in coastal areas and in case of sea ice coverage. This is of vital importance for planning protective measures.

For the billions of people who live in coastal areas, rising sea levels driven by climate change can pose an existential threat. "To protect people and infrastructure - for example by building flood protection structures, securing ports or making dikes higher - we need reliable forecasts on sea level trends," explains Prof. Florian Seitz, the Director of the German Geodetic Research Institute at TUM. "However, this requires precise data with high spatial resolution. And until now, the required wide-area coverage was not available."

Especially near coastlines - where so many cities, ports, industry facilities and residential areas are located - the quality of data collected by the radar satellites orbiting the Earth for decades was compromised by high signal-to-noise ratios. The reason: Mountains, bays and offshore islands scatter the signals and distort the reflected echoes. Another problem is sea ice, which covers parts of the oceans in winter, and is impenetrable to radar.

In the Baltic Sea Level project (Baltic SEAL), a team of researchers at TUM worked with international partners to develop algorithms to process the measurement data from radar satellites to permit precise and high-resolution measurements of sea level changes even in coastal areas and beneath sea ice.

Penetrating ice and islands with radar

The researchers chose the Baltic Sea as the model region: "Data from this region are especially suitable for developing new methods because multiple factors make analysis difficult: The complex shape of the coastline, sea ice and wind. At the same time, there are plenty of local sea level measurements to corroborate the results," says project leader Dr. Marcello Passaro. "An analytical method that works in the Baltic Sea can be easily adapted to other regions."

To handle hundreds of millions of radar measurements taken between 1995 and 2019, the team developed a multi-stage process: In the first step, they calibrated the measurements from the various satellite missions so that they could be combined. With specially developed algorithms, they were then able to detect signals from the ice-covered sea water in the radar reflections produced along cracks and fissures. This made it possible to determine sea levels for the winter months. With new computational methods they also achieved better resolution of radar echoes close to land.

As a result, it is now possible to measure sea levels in coastal areas and compare the results with local tidal records. The processed data were then fitted to a fine grid with a resolution of 6 to 7 km using an algorithm developed by the team. The result: A highly precise data set covering the entire region.

The largest rises in sea levels are occurring in the Bay of Bothnia

The analysis of these data for the Baltic Sea shows the regional effects of the rise in sea levels over the past quarter century: The sea level has risen at an annual rate of 2 to 3 millimeters in the south, on the German and Danish coasts, as compared to 6 millimeters in the north-east, in the Bay of Bothnia. The cause of this large rise: Strong south-westerly winds that drive the waters to the north and eastward. This above-average increase in sea level does not pose a threat to coastal dwellers, however, because the land has been rising since the end of the last Ice Age - currently at an annual rate of up to 1 cm.

"Through the newly developed processes for analyzing and combining radar data, we are now in a position to arrive at precise and reliable conclusions on sea level changes in recent decades for other coastal regions as well," adds Dr. Denise Dettmering. The researcher has also created a comprehensive data set for the North Sea region: The sea level there is rising by 2.6 millimeters per year, and by 3.2 millimeters in the German Bight. Local trends can be determined using the data set and the user manual - both of which are freely accessible online. "With the data, researchers can verify their climate models, for example, and public authorities can plan suitable protective measures," says Dr. Seitz.

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Publications:

* Passaro M, Müller FL, Oelsmann J, Rautiainen L, Dettmering D, Hart-Davis MG, Abulaitijiang A, Andersen OB, Høyer JL, Madsen KS, Ringgaard IM, Särkkä J, Scarrott R, Schwatke C, Seitz F, Tuomi L, Restano M and Benveniste J: Absolute Baltic Sea Level Trends in the Satellite Altimetry Era: A Revisit. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:647607, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.647607

* Dettmering, D., Müller, F. L., Oelsmann, J., Passaro, M., Schwatke, C., Restano, M., Benveniste, J., Seitz, F.: NorthSEAL: A new Dataset of Sea Level Changes in the North Sea from Satellite Altimetry, Earth System Science Data [preprint], 2021. https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2021-103/

More information:

* The European Space Agency (ESA) provides funding for the development of monitoring programs for various parameters of the Earth system, in particular to measure and analyze essential climate variables (ECVs). The ECVs are key criteria describing changes in the Earth's climate. One of them is the sea level. In 2018 the ESA launched a regional study on the Baltic Sea region (Baltic+ Initiative), including aspects of the marine ecosystem. DGFI-TUM is leading the Baltic SEAL project. Other participants are the Technical University of Denmark's National Space Institute, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Danish Meteorological Institute and University College Cork in Ireland.

Is the U.S. Understating Climate Emissions from Meat and Dairy Production?

New Analysis Indicates Undercounting of Methane Emissions from North American Livestock

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Methane emissions from North American livestock may be routinely undercounted, a new analysis by researchers at New York University and Johns Hopkins University finds. The work also notes that in developing countries, where animal agriculture is becoming increasingly industrialized, methane emissions could rise more than expected.

These assessments are based on a review, appearing in the journal Environmental Research Letters, of eight existing studies.

Methane is a global warming gas even more powerful than CO2. Its amount and lifetime in the atmosphere are smaller than CO2, but quantities are still increasing. The United Nations has recently urged that reducing methane emissions is a highly effective way of rapidly reducing global warming.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports these emissions in a national greenhouse gas inventory every year using complex models. But, the researchers write, existing methods that the EPA and other international agencies use to estimate methane emissions from animals are not corroborated by measuring concentrations of the gas in the air.

This omission is significant.

Some previous studies have monitored methane directly in the air using tall towers, airplanes, and satellites, collected above and downwind of animal production facilities. The recent Environmental Research Letters analysis compiled and reviewed several of these atmospheric studies over North America through the last decade. These studies consistently found more methane than the EPA and other agencies expected coming from livestock, in amounts ranging from 39 percent to 90 percent higher than previously estimated.

"Back in 2013, we found that atmospheric methane emissions were higher from livestock and oil and gas producing regions than the EPA was reporting," says Scot Miller, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University and coauthor of the Environmental Research Letters paper. "Since then, the models and atmospheric measurements don't appear much closer to coming into agreement. It's increasingly likely that methane emissions from farmed animals could be higher in North America than is often being reported."

Methane comes from cows' and sheep's digestion, as well as from stockpiles of manure from all farmed animals. In the U.S. and Canada, animal production is nearly entirely divorced from other farming practices like crop production. Pigs and chickens are raised in crowded sheds and their manure is stored in large stockpiles. Dairy cows are crowded into milking parlors and produce more manure than some small cities.

These industrialized changes to rearing animals allow producers to use less feed like hay, corn, and soybeans, translating to fewer resources needed on farms. It was long assumed by the scientific community that this also translates into lower greenhouse gas emissions, too.

"North American meat and dairy producers often tout improvements in their efficiency, claiming that concentrated feeds and confinement have reduced greenhouse gas emissions greatly over the past few decades," observes Matthew Hayek, an assistant professor in NYU's Environmental Studies Department and a co-author of the paper. "Our findings throw those claims into doubt. Individual cows may be belching and emitting less, but that doesn't necessarily translate to entire herds and warehouses of confined animals, and their stockpiles of manure, emitting less."

These assessments have international importance as well, the authors note. Since re-entering the Paris Agreement in 2021, the U.S. is preparing to reduce emissions from all greenhouse gases, including those from animal agriculture.

"This research indicates a need to reexamine or improve reporting methods for methane, which are critical to tracking progress over time," Hayek says.

Other countries may have cause for concern in the future, too. For instance, throughout Asia, meat and dairy consumption is on the rise, and this production is becoming increasingly industrialized. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization previously predicted that East and Southeast Asia's animal emissions will peak around 2030 because U.S.-style technological efficiency in Asia could reduce emissions afterward.

The findings reported in Environmental Research Letters, however, indicate that emissions could actually continue to rise through the year 2050.

"This would further undermine international goals to limit global warming, surpassing 1.5° or 2° Celsius even more quickly than expected," Miller says.

The authors highlight the role of international agencies, development banks, and corporations in hastening the transition toward industrial animal agriculture production.

"This evidence suggests that the banks and government agencies who are funding intensive animal facilities' expansion might be accepting more climate risk than they realize," says Hayek. "Policymakers should consider methane emissions along with a gamut of other major environmental issues stemming from concentrated meat and dairy production, including water pollution and infectious animal-borne disease breakouts, to inform policies that guide food systems toward a better direction."

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac02ef

 

It's never too early to begin healthy eating habits

New randomized trial shows promoting healthy guidelines result

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Research News

 

June 1, 2021 -- Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil found that when health workers were trained to promote infant healthy feeding practices to pregnant women their children consumed less fats and carbohydrates at 3 years of age and had lower measures of body fat at the age of 6. The study is the first to show that the roots for obesity start in the first year of life, after mothers stop breastfeeding. The findings are published online in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.

"The first year after birth is a critical window for the establishment of habits that will influence health patterns throughout one's lifetime, said Caroline N. Sangalli, in the Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil, and first author. "The message worldwide is that to avoid obesity later in life you cannot start too early to help mothers feed their children well. And this study is proof of principle that it is possible to change a mother's behavior."

"Most surprising was that the mothers in our randomized trial offered ultra-processed foods, that are high in sugar and fat, as early as 6 months of age," said Ma?rcia Vitolo, Graduate Program in Pediatrics: Child and Adolescent Health Care, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil, and co-senior author. "This behavior can be explained by cultural influences and strong marketing of processed baby foods which continues globally".

The researchers conducted the randomized trial in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 31 centers that provide prenatal, infant, and other primary care services to low-income families. The intervention was based on births from May 2008 to February 2009 and consisted of a training program to increase the knowledge of primary healthcare workers centered on the 'Ten Steps for Healthy Feeding for Brazilian Children from Birth to Two Years of Age', the Brazilian dietary guideline.

All families were informed about complementary foods that should not be offered to children under 2 years of age (i.e., cookies, snacks, soft drinks and sweets) through posters in waiting rooms. Trained interviewers measured children's growth and other outcomes at ages 6 months, 12 months, 3 years and 6 years at subsequent home visits. Details about food types, amounts and preparation methods were also recorded.

Energy intake at all ages was lower in the intervention group compared to the control group with a statistically significant difference at age 3 years. Also, children from the intervention group at 3 years of age had lower consumption of carbohydrates and total fat than the control group and at 6 years of age had accumulated less body fat as measured by a smaller waist circumference and thinner skinfolds. "We found that the energy intake in both study groups was above the requirement across all age waves; however, the excess energy intake was less in the intervention group," observed Sangalli, who analyzed the study results with Dr. L.H. Lumey at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health with a grant from the Brazil government. "Although the disparity was slight at the onset, in the long term, the reduced intake of 92 kcal per day adds up to 33,000 kcal per year, and changes of this magnitude could explain changes in weight gain during childhood."

The findings were particularly striking with regard to calories from cookies and powder chocolate, important sources of carbohydrates and fats. During the health workers training, sugar, sweets, soft drinks, salty snacks, cookies and ultra-processed foods were emphasized as foods for mothers to avoid for their babies until 2 years of age.

The intervention group at 6 years of age had lower body fat on several measures but this difference was not reflected in BMI-scores, a less sensitive measure of adiposity. "However with the prevalence of overweight in the intervention group at 7 percent lower than the control group at 6 years, this does suggest a valuable public health impact - especially since estimates indicate that the reduction in 1 percent of obesity prevalence among children up to age 6 years would save $1.7 billion in medical costs," said Vitolo.

"Many individuals including Alice Waters, Jamie Oliver, and Michelle Obama have devoted efforts to improve school lunches and eating habits of school age children to aid in the fight against obesity," said Dr. Lumey, professor of Epidemiology and a co-senior author. "All these efforts are to be applauded and encouraged. What this study suggests is that we might have to think even earlier. Feeding practices early in life can already have a significant impact on the body size of pre-school children."

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Co-authors are Paula Leffa and Ju?lia Valmo?rbida, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The study was supported by Brazilian Ministry of Health, 577/200; Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, PPSUS/2006/1537-7; Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, 14/2013-47731/2013-8, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, R01AG066887.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the seventh largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master's and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit http://www.mailman.columbia.edu.

 

Junk food game helps people eat less and lose weight

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Research News

 

Using a brain-training app helps people eat less junk food and lose weight, new research suggests.

The Food Trainer (FoodT app) trains people to tap on images of healthy foods - but to stop when they see unhealthy snacks, creating an association between these foods and stopping.

The new study, by the universities of Exeter and Helsinki, found that playing the game about once a day for a month led to an average one-point reduction of junk food consumption on an eight-point scale (the scale ranges from four or more items per day, to one or zero items per month).

Overall, people who used the app more also reported larger changes in their food intake.

About half of the study's 1,234 participants followed the recommendation and played the game at least 10 times.

Across all participants, an average weight loss of half a kilogram (just over a pound) and a small increase in healthy food eaten was seen.

"As an example, someone who ate each junk food two to four times a week reduced this to once a week after using the app regularly for a month," said Professor Natalia Lawrence, of the University of Exeter.

"Overall, the findings are really encouraging. The app is free and it only takes about four minutes per day - so it's something people realistically can do - and our results suggest it is effective. "There's some evidence that the benefits were stronger for people who were more overweight.

"We would expect to see this, because the app targets mechanisms that lead people to become overweight, such as the strong urges to approach and consume tempting junk foods."

Dr Matthias Aulbach, of the University of Helsinki, added: "For anyone with unhealthy eating habits - perhaps developed during lockdown - FoodT might be helpful."

The study used FoodT usage data, and the app also periodically asks questions about how often users eat certain foods, along with other information such as their age and weight.

The findings suggest that using the app regularly was linked with bigger changes in eating habits.

"If you're trying to teach the brain something new, it's a good idea to space out the learning over multiple sessions," said Dr Aulbach.

"It may be helpful to do the training in different contexts - not just at home but at work and elsewhere, so the associations you learn don't just relate to one location.

"From our results it seems important that you do the training regularly and don't just stop. So keep it interesting and relevant for yourself so you won't get bored with it: personalise the app as far as possible and pick the foods that you find really hard to resist."

The researchers stress that their findings should be interpreted cautiously, because there was no control (comparison) group and other factors (such as the possibility that people who did more training were also separately more motivated to lose weight) could play a part in the results.

Leaving a review on Google Play, one app user wrote: "Really useful. Seems to work on different levels whether it's the green/red circle association of stop/go which psychologically makes you more aware, I'm not sure - but my cravings have reduced dramatically and I no longer eat in the evening mindlessly."

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Development of the app was made possible by donations to a crowdfunding campaign, and app users who consent for their data to be used - anonymously - have enabled this research and app improvements to be made.

For more information on the app, including videos on how to use it, visit http://www.exeter.ac.uk/foodt/

The study received funding from the Gyllenberg Foundation.

The paper, published in the journal Appetite, is entitled: "App-based food Go/No-Go training: user engagement and dietary intake in an opportunistic observational study."

 

Researchers discover how cells can survive in high salt concentrations

INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE (IRB BARCELONA)

Research News

 

IMAGE: IMAGE OF A CELL "RUPTURED " BY A FIRE-POLISHED MICROPIPETTE view more 

CREDIT: UPF - IRB BARCELONA

Cells have to constantly adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. A sudden increase in the environmental levels of an osmolyte, such as salt, causes cells to lose water and shrink. In a matter of seconds, they activate a mechanism that allows them to recover their initial water volume and avoid dying.

Finding out which genes are involved in surviving osmotic stress was the subject of a study led by the laboratories of Dr. Posas and Dr. de Nadal at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and Dr. Valverde at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), in collaboration with a group led by Dr. Moffat from the University of Toronto (Canada). wide-genome genetic screening, the scientists discovered the central role of a gene known as LRRC8A in cellular ability to survive osmotic shock.

This gene codes for a protein that forms channels in the membrane and that allow chloride ions to leave the cell. "Using a human epithelial cell model, as well as other human and mouse cell types, we have been able to demonstrate that this channel opens shortly after the cells are exposed to a high concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl)," explains Dr. De Nadal, who, together with Dr. Francesc Posas, heads the Cell Signalling laboratory at IRB Barcelona. The authors have also identified the molecular mechanism that causes this rapid opening. The chloride channel phosphorylates, which means a phosphate group is added to a specific amino acid in its sequence, thus activating the channel.

"This has been a very complex project, and it has taken us years to see the light," explains Dr. Miguel Ángel Valverde, head of UPF's Laboratory of Molecular Physiology. "We have also shown how vital it is for this channel to become activated and remove chloride in order to start the volume recovery process and for cells to survive over time," he adds.

The use of a violet dye that stains only living cells has allowed the researchers to observe that cell death increases by approximately 50% when the activity of this chloride channel is blocked with a particular compound.

A journey through time to answer old questions

In the '90s, various landmark scientific papers on cell volume regulation described the process by which cells regulate their volume to survive. It was known that the proteins responsible for volume recovery under salt stress require low intracellular concentrations in order to become activated, but it was not known how this occurred under such adverse conditions. With this discovery, the authors have answered a question posed by researchers years ago: how does chloride exit the cell to start the whole process? In the words of the paper's main co-author, Dr. Selma Serra (UPF): "Now we have the answer to that question. It is the LRRC8A channel that brings down the chloride levels in a cell. Until now we had a good understanding of the role played by this channel in cell adpatation to environments with very low salt concentrations. The big challenge was to find out how the same chloride channel could be crucial in the opposite mechanism. At the beginning of the project, it seemed to go against any kind of scientific logic that a channel used to shrink cells could also swell them."

Using electrophysiological and fluorescence microscopy techniques in living cells to ascertain intracellular chloride levels, the researchers have demonstrated the involvement of the LRRC8A chloride channel in responses to high-salt stimuli.

A major technical and conceptual challenge

Studying this process at the molecular level has posed a considerable challenge for the team involved in this project. Because it is very complicated to conduct in vivo studies of cells while they undergo osmotic shock and shrink. "Imagine you're looking at a juicy grape, and suddenly it looks like a raisin, that makes things very complicated for us," say the authors.

Another high-impact factor is that, under these stress conditions, the mechanism for activating the chloride channel is very different to what has been described so far in the literature. The article's lead co-author, Predrag Stojakovic, says, "It came as a big surprise to find out that the signalling pathways in response to stress, the MAP kinase, proteins we've been studying in the lab for months, are directly responsible for activating this channel". MAP kinases are a group of signalling proteins that add phosphate groups to other proteins, thus activating or deactivating them. Using molecular techniques, the authors have looked throughout the channel's protein to find the target sequence of these kinase proteins. "We have been able to identify the specific residue of the chloride channel that leads to activation under the control of the MAP kinase channel in response to stress," says doctoral student Stojakovic. Future implications

"This new piece of research opens up new possibilities for studying cell adaptation and survival salt stress. Certain organs of the body, such as the kidneys, are often exposed to high salt concentration, which can threaten their survival. Knowing what molecules control survival under these conditions could be very useful for understanding certain pathologies that entail volume recovery in response to salts," explains Dr. Posas.

In addition, discovering the role of this channel in these cell regulation processes is highly relevant in many pathologies involving proteins regulated by LRRC8A. This may be significant in situations such as certain kinds of arterial hypertension or cerebral ischemia.

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Alternatives to plastic straws: Which materials are suitable?

Communication No 016/2021 from the BfR of 27 May 2021

BFR FEDERAL INSTITUTE FOR RISK ASSESSMENT

Research News

 

Drinking straws are single use plastic products which will be subjected to a Europe-wide sales ban from 2021 onwards. This is stated in EU Directive 2019/904 from 5 June 2019. Consequently, alternative materials have to be established for the production of drinking straws as well as other frequently used products which predominantly were made of plastic so far.

As set out in the EU Framework Regulation for food contact material (Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004), objects that come into direct contact with food must be safe. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has appraised straw, silicone, metal, paper and paper-board, durum wheat, and glass for their suitability to replace plastic in the production of drinking straws.

If frequently used, drinking straws made of silicone, stainless steel or glass are, in the opinion of the BfR, an appropriate alternative to plastic straws. Silicone is suitable as a food contact material (FCM) provided that its manufacture is compliant with the specifications of BfR recommendation No. XV. Metals and alloys (e.g. stainless steel) are also appropriate as FCMs, provided that the specifications of the Council of Europe Resolution regarding metals and alloys are met. Glass is also suitable for food contact. However, there is the risk of breaking. As a result, fragments of glass can get into the food or drink and in case of swallowing dangerous injuries can occur. Meanwhile, there are drinking straws made from particularly durable glass.

In case of single use, durum wheat (e.g. raw macaroni noodles) is an appropriate material for drinking straws from a health perspective. However, the noodles may decompose, particularly in warm and hot drinks, or over a longer time period, and become useless as a result. Furthermore, they may modify the consistency and taste of the drink.

Straws made of paper and paperboard are only useful if substances are added which prevent the paper from softening. These compounds are also known as wet-strength aids. Certain residues of these products, especially chloropropanols, can migrate into food. If the specifications of BfR recommendation no. XXXVI are met, no health risks are currently noted with the use of drinking straws made of paper and paperboard.

There are no risk assessments at the moment regarding the use of drinking straws made out of straw. The BfR recommends that straw is not used for this purpose with regard to potential health risks resulting from bacteria, mycotoxins, or other unwanted substances.

Regardless of the material, drinking straws used more than once should be cleaned thoroughly every time before using. If thorough cleaning of the drinking straws cannot be guaranteed, the BfR recommends that such multiple-use drinking straws are not used for reasons of hygiene. Furthermore, they should not have any sharp edges and should also be replaced if there are any signs of material damage (signs of wear and tear).

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About the BfR

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is an scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in Germany. It advises the Federal Government and Federal Laender on questions of food, chemical and product safety. The BfR conducts its own research on topics that are closely linked to its assessment tasks.

This text version is a translation of the original German text which is the only legally binding version

 

Men make more extreme choices and decisions, find scientists

Revealed: Men and women do think and act differently

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Research News

 

This is the main finding of new research involving more than 50,000 participants in 97 samples, published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

The findings show that the more extreme choices and decisions of men can be both positive and negative.

"The question of whether men and women make systematically different choices and decisions is one on the most fundamental (and controversial) questions in psychological research," Associate Professor Stefan Volk from the University of Sydney Business School said.

"We found men were much more likely than women to be at the extreme ends of the behavioural spectrum, either acting very selfishly or very altruistically, very trusting or very distrusting, very fair or very unfair, very risky or very risk averse and were either very short-term or very long-term focused."

The findings could impact policies aimed at regulating extreme behaviours such as the recent GameStop trading frenzy after retail traders on Reddit heavily shorted the stock.

"Our research suggests policies aimed at reducing extreme behaviours should be more tailored towards men," said Dr Volk.

The researchers suggest the differences might have evolutionary roots, but there are also alternative explanations for the existence of what is often referred to as greater male variability.

"Parental investment theory explains that men, in contrast to women, invest less in parenting, are less selective in their partner choice and compete more for sexual partners," Associate Professor Volk explained.

"This evolutionary theorising suggests that men had to deviate from the average to stand out and be attractive to women to reproduce, while women were able to attract sexual partners without deviating from the average.

"Another explanation could be norms and expectations of acceptable gendered behaviour and that men's extreme behaviours are socially constructed and reinforced.

"This alternative theory suggests that the socially constructed patriarchy in many societies has managed to constrain women and the opportunity for them to display the same level of variability as men."

Associate Professor Stefan Volk, worked with an international team to examine sex differences in altruism, cooperation, trust, fairness and attitudes towards time and risk in economic decision-making. The researchers found systematic evidence for greater male variability.

He added these gender differences in variability are difficult to detect in research focused on gender differences in average behaviours. This is why they have been overlooked in most previous research, which traditionally focused on mean gender differences rather than the range of behaviours. But we need to look at differences in extreme behaviours to understand what might be driving those outliers.

The PNAS paper is the second in a series by Associate Professor Volk on greater male variability; the first was just published in the internationally leading psychological journal Psychological Science.

This earlier research involved two large-scale meta-analyses of economic decision-making studies and studies of organisational citizenship behaviour with more than 20,000 participants. While the researchers found no differences in the degree to which men and women behaved cooperatively on average, they did find strong evidence for greater male variability in cooperation.

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