Looking beyond the numbers to see pandemic's effect on nursing home residents

REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE

 VIDEO: REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE RESEARCH SCIENTIST KATHLEEN UNROE, M.D. DISCUSSES PANDEMIC'S EFFECT ON NURSING HOME RESIDENTS. view more 

CREDIT: REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE

INDIANAPOLIS -- Nursing homes throughout the United States have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic with many perceptions and misperceptions but little documentation about what has happened on a day-by -day basis to residents in these facilities. A study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine research scientists is one of the first to describe and identify patterns in the course of COVID-19 in the typically frail individuals who reside in nursing homes.

Much has been written about number of deaths, vaccine uptake and other topics related to the impact of COVID on nursing homes, yet prior to the Regenstrief-IU School of Medicine study, there has been little known about how the disease has clinically affected individuals residing in nursing homes. A full understanding of the disease burden and trajectories of COVID-19 in nursing home residents - those who died and those who survived COVID - will aid medical and public health professionals immediately, will help them prepare for outbreaks of variants and may inform efforts to confront outbreaks of other diseases.

"When the COVID outbreak occurred, we [physicians who care for nursing home residents] didn't know, because we weren't armed with knowledge or clinical experience, what to expect - who would do well and who wouldn't," said Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Kathleen Unroe, M.D., senior author of the study. "This is a population that by their very need to reside in a nursing home, has complex medical conditions and is at high risk. And it's a different population than younger adults. For example, some older adults may not experience fever in response to infection; persons with dementia may be unable to report symptoms."

The researchers studied the electronic medical records (EMRs) of 74 nursing home residents infected with COVID of whom half were women, 57 percent were Caucasian and 43 percent were African American. One third (25) died; with 23 of the deaths considered related to COVID-19 infection. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (81 percent) followed by dementia (51 percent), diabetes (50 percent) and non-dementia mental illness (43 percent). The most common symptoms were fever, hypoxia (low oxygen level in the blood), anorexia, and fatigue/malaise. None reported headaches. The duration of symptoms was extended, with an average of more than three weeks.

The 74 nursing home residents with COVID-19 infection appeared to fall into four disease trajectory categories:

• minimal to no symptoms (17)

• residents who survived but experienced significant symptoms (32),

• residents who died after a rapidly progressive course (less than seven days) (5)

• residents who died after a prolonged course with significant symptom burden (20)

"For many of nursing home residents who survive COVID-19, the duration of symptoms is long and arduous; most will survive the disease but may not get back to baseline," said Dr. Unroe. "The effect of COVID on nursing home residents goes beyond the mortality numbers we saw."

CAPTION

A study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine research scientists is one of the first to describe and identify patterns in the course of COVID-19 in the typically frail individuals who reside in nursing homes. Previously, little was known about how the disease has clinically affected individuals residing in nursing homes.

CREDIT

Regenstrief Institute

In addition to Dr. Unroe, authors of "COVID-19 Disease Trajectories Among Nursing Home Residents," published online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, are corresponding author Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist and IU School of Medicine faculty member Jennifer Carnahan, M.D., MPH, MA, and IU School of Medicine student Lauren Albert. Additional co-authors are Kristi M Lieb M.D.; Kamal Wagle M.D., MPH; Ellen Kaehr M.D., all of IU School of Medicine and Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging (K23AG062797) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (1E1CMS331488).

About Regenstrief Institute

Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its research scientists are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe.

Sam Regenstrief, a nationally successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute's research mission.

About IU School of Medicine

IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the U.S. and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban

Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, M.S.

In addition to being a research scientist at Regenstrief Institute, Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, is an associate professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and a practicing geriatrician.

Jennifer Carnahan, M.D., MPH, M.A.

In addition to her role as a research scientist at Regenstrief, Jennifer Carnahan, M.D., MPH, M.A., is an assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.

 

UK Government's latest pandemic plan recklessly exposes millions to effects of mass infection

Strategy of infection over vaccination is 'unethical and unscientific' warn experts

BMJ

Research News

The UK government's latest pandemic plan involves recklessly exposing millions of people to the acute and long-term effects of mass infection, warn experts in The BMJ today.

A strategy that chooses mass infection in the young now over vaccination in order to achieve greater population immunity to protect the vulnerable in winter, is "unethical and unscientific" say Dr Deepti Gurdasani and colleagues.

Instead of allowing infections to rise, they urge the government to take urgent actions to inform and protect the public and prepare for autumn.

These include outlining a long-term strategy for pandemic control, keeping basic measures such as masks and physical distancing until cases return to low levels, investing in workplaces, schools and public transport to make them safer, and providing the means for extensive testing and support for people to isolate.

The prime minister's argument that it is better to accept mass infection now than to postpone until winter, when 'the virus has an advantage' is deeply flawed and misleading, they write. Instead, this strategy will place around 48% of the population (children included) who are not yet fully vaccinated, including the clinically vulnerable and those with compromised immune systems, at unacceptable risk.

This approach is already putting intense pressure on struggling healthcare services and will lead to many avoidable deaths and long-term illness, they add. It also provides a fertile environment for selection of escape variants which could have huge consequences for the UK and countries globally.

They point out that more than 1,000 scientists have already signed a letter to the Lancet setting out why allowing mass infection this summer is a 'dangerous and unethical experiment'. The British Medical Association, Directors of Public Health, SAGE, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the Royal College of Nursing and NHS leaders have all highlighted the dangers inherent in allowing mass infection.

Opening the UK up further is billed as "freedom day," but for too many people, removing mandated measures such as wearing masks and physical distancing restrict, rather than enable, freedom.

This, they say, is unlikely to bolster public confidence and engagement in economic activity. And if the government strategy leads us into yet another lockdown, they warn that this could have an even more devastating impact on the economy.

What's more, the public overwhelmingly supports sensible public health measures such as masking indoors. "This begs the question why dangerous public health decisions that are neither in the public interest, or in line with public sentiment, have been made in the midst of a raging pandemic," they write.

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Externally peer reviewed? No

Evidence type: Opinion

Subject: UK government pandemic plan

 

Life-saving snake venom

Researchers create reptile-derived 'super glue' that stops bleeding in seconds using visible light

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO

Research News

Indiana Jones hates snakes. And he's certainly not alone. The fear of snakes is so common it even has its own name: ophidiophobia.

Kibret Mequanint doesn't particularly like the slithery reptiles either (he actually hates them too) but the Western University bioengineer and his international collaborators have found a novel use for snake venom: a body tissue 'super glue' that can stop life-threatening bleeding in seconds.

Over the past 20 years, Mequanint has developed a number of biomaterials-based medical devices and therapeutic technologies - some of which are either licensed to medical companies or are in the advanced stage of preclinical testing.

His latest collaborative research discovery is based on a blood clotting enzyme called reptilase or batroxobin found in the venom of lancehead snakes (Bothrops atrox), which are amongst the most poisonous snakes in South America.

Taking advantage of this clotting property, Mequanint and the international research team designed a body tissue adhesive that incorporates the special enzyme into a modified gelatin that can be packaged into a small tube for easy, and potentially life-saving, application.

"During trauma, injury and emergency bleeding, this 'super glue' can be applied by simply squeezing the tube and shining a visible light, such as a laser pointer, over it for few seconds. Even a smartphone flashlight will do the job," said Mequanint, a Western engineering professor.

Compared to clinical fibrin glue, considered the industry gold standard for clinical and field surgeons, the new tissue sealant has 10 times the adhesive strength to resist detachment or washout due to bleeding. The blood clotting time is also much shorter, cutting it in half from 90 seconds for fibrin glue to 45 seconds for the new snake venom 'super glue.'

This new biotechnology translates to less blood loss and more life-saving. The super-sealant was tested in models for deep skin cuts, ruptured aortae, and severely injured livers - all considered as major bleeding situations.

"We envision that this tissue 'super glue' will be used in saving lives on the battlefield, or other accidental traumas like car crashes," said Mequanint. "The applicator easily fits in first aid kits too."

In addition, the new snake venom 'super glue' can be used for suture-free, surgical wound closures.

Snake extract-laden hemostatic bioadhesive gel cross-linked by visible light was published today in the journal Science Advances. For the discovery, Mequanint collaborated with bioengineers, scientists and medical practitioners at the University of Manitoba and Army Medical University in Chongqing, China.

"The next phase of study which is underway is to translate the tissue 'super glue' discovery to the clinic," said Mequanint.

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Fossil rodent teeth add North American twist to Caribbean mammals' origin story

FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Research News

IMAGE: TWO TEETH DISCOVERED IN PUERTO RICO PROVIDE THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF A CARIBBEAN RODENT WITH NORTH AMERICAN ROOTS. RESEARCHERS NAMED THE NEW GENUS AND SPECIES CARIBEOMYS MERZERAUDI. THIS ARTIST'S RECONSTRUCTION... view more 

CREDIT: JORGE VELEZ-JUARBE

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Two fossil teeth from a distant relative of North American gophers have scientists rethinking how some mammals reached the Caribbean Islands.

The teeth, excavated in northwest Puerto Rico, belong to a previously unknown rodent genus and species, now named Caribeomys merzeraudi. About the size of a mouse, C. merzeraudi is the Caribbean's smallest known rodent and one of the region's oldest, dating back about 29 million years.

It also represents the first discovery of a Caribbean rodent from a North American lineage, a finding that complicates an idea that has persisted since Darwin - that land-dwelling mammals colonized the islands from South America. The presence of C. merzeraudi in Puerto Rico suggests a second possibility: Some species may have rafted from North America.

The tiny rodent joins two other types of animals, an extinct rhinoceros-like species and bizarre, venomous shrews known as Solenodons, as the only known examples of Caribbean land-dwelling mammals with North American roots.

"This discovery demonstrates that overwater dispersal from North America was also a potential pathway to the Caribbean," said study co-author Jorge Velez-Juarbe, associate curator of mammalogy at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. "This challenges what we thought we knew about the origins of Antillean terrestrial mammals."

While Caribbean ecotourism brochures generally don't feature splashy images of rats, the islands were once home to a rich representation of rodents, including spiny rats, chinchillas, rice rats and hutias - all descendants of South and Central American forebears.

Fossil and molecular evidence suggest these rodents arrived in the islands in multiple waves over time, though how they got there - whether by scurrying over an ancient land bridge, island-hopping or rafting - has been hotly contested. The paucity of fossils from the early years of the Caribbean Islands further obscures the picture of the region's past biodiversity.

Caribeomys merzeraudi's teeth were so unusual that researchers initially struggled to discern what kind of animal they had come from, said study co-author Lazaro Vinola Lopez, a doctoral student in vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

"We didn't know what it was for several months," he said. "We wondered whether this could be some other rodent from the Caribbean or even some kind of strange fish. It was so puzzling because they're not similar to anything else we had found in that region."

The team eventually pinpointed several tooth characteristics that are hallmarks of rodents known as geomorphs, a group that includes kangaroo rats, pocket mice and gophers. Caribeomys merzeraudi is the first geomorph found outside North America.

An exceptionally thick layer of tooth enamel, among other features, sets C. merzeraudi apart from its relatives and could indicate these rodents belonged to a distinct West Indian branch that evolved in isolation over several million years, Vinola Lopez said.

Scientists found the teeth while screen-washing sediment collected from a river outcrop in San Sebastian, a site that has yielded fossil sharks and rays, fish, turtles, a gharial, sea cows and the oldest known frog in the Caribbean, a coqui. In 2019, the team excavated fossil evidence of two large chinchillas, which likely grew up to 30 pounds. These South American rodents once shared Puerto Rico with the humble C. merzeraudi, which weighed less than a quarter pound.

Today, hutias, bats and Solenodons are the "last survivors of what was once a much more diverse group of Caribbean mammals" that included sloths and primates, Velez-Juarbe said.

Discovering C. merzeraudi opens up the tantalizing possibility that Caribbean mammals with North American origins may not be as exceptional as previously thought, Vinola Lopez said. But there's only one way to find out: "Go back to the locality and see what else we can find."

CAPTION

The advanced state of wear on this Caribeomys merzeraudi fossil molar, seen from above in this CT image, leads researchers to believe it came from an old adult.

CREDIT

The Palaeontological Association

Laurent Marivaux of the University of Montpellier was the study's lead author. Other co-authors are Pierre-Henri Fabre of the University of Montpellier and the Natural History Museum; Francois Pujos of the Argentine Institute of Nivology, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA); Hernan Santos-Merca, Eduardo Cruz, Alexandra Grajales Perez and James Padilla of the University of Puerto Rico; Kevin Velez-Rosado of the University of Michigan; and Jean-Jacques Cornee, Melody Philippon, Philippe Munch and Pierre-Olivier Antoine of the University of Montpellier.

CAPTION

Jorge Velez-Juarbe discovered a fossil site in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, with fellow undergraduate students in 2006. Excavations have produced fossils from sharks and rays, fish, turtles, a gharial, sea cows and the oldest known frog and rodents in the Caribbean. From top, the paleontologists pictured here are Lazaro Vinola Lopez, Jorge Velez-Juarbe, Francois Pujos and Laurent Marivaux.

CREDIT

Pierre-Olivier Antoine

 

Modified yeast inhibits fungal growth in plants

External application could reduce agricultural reliance on fungicides

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

Research 

About 70-80% of crop losses due to microbial diseases are caused by fungi. Fungicides are key weapons in agriculture's arsenal, but they pose environmental risks. Over time, fungi also develop a resistance to fungicides, leading growers on an endless quest for new and improved ways to combat fungal diseases.

The latest development takes advantage of a natural plant defense against fungus. In a paper published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, engineers and plant pathologists at UC Riverside describe a way to engineer a protein that blocks fungi from breaking down cell walls, as well as a way to produce this protein in quantity for external application as a natural fungicide. The work could lead to a new way of controlling plant disease that reduces reliance on conventional fungicides.

To gain entrance into plant tissues, fungi produce enzymes that use catalytic reactions to break down tough cell walls. Among these are polygalacturonases, or PGs, but plants are not helpless against this attack. Plants produce proteins called PG-inhibiting proteins, or PGIPs, that slow catalysis.

A group of UC Riverside researchers located the segment of DNA that tells the plant how to make PGIPs in common green beans. They inserted complete and partial segments into the genomes of baker's yeast to make the yeast produce PGIPs. The team used yeast instead of plants because yeast has no PGIPs of its own to muddy the experiment and grows quicker than plants.

After confirming the yeast was replicating with the new DNA, the researchers introduced it to cultures of Botrytis cinerea, a fungus that causes gray mold rot in peaches and other crops; and Aspergillus niger, which causes black mold on grapes and other fruits and vegetables.

Yeast that had both the complete and partial DNA segments that coded for PGIP production successfully retarded fungal growth. The result indicates the yeast was producing enough PGIPs to make the method a potential candidate for large-scale production.

"These results reaffirm the potential of using PGIPs as exogenous applied agents to inhibit fungal infection," said Yanran Li, a Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering, who worked on the project with plant pathologist Alexander Putman in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology. "PGIPs only inhibit the infection process but are likely not fatal to any fungi. Therefore, the application of this natural plant protein-derived peptide to crops will likely have minimal impact on plant-microbe ecology."

Li also said that PGIPs probably biodegrade into naturally occurring amino acids, meaning fewer potential effects for consumers and the environment when compared with synthetic small molecule fungicides.

"The generation of transgenic plants is time-consuming and the application of such transgenic crops in agricultural industry requires a long approval period. On the other hand, the engineered PGIPs that are derived from natural proteins are applicable as a fast-track product for FDA approval, if they can be utilized exogenously in a manner similar to a fungicide," Li said.

By tweaking the yeast a slightly different way, the researchers were able to make it exude PGIPs for external application. Previous studies have shown freeze drying naturally occurring microbes on apples, then reconstituting them in a solution and spraying them on crops, greatly reduces fungal disease and loss during shipping. The authors suggest that PGIP-expressing yeast could be used the same way. They caution, however, that because plants also form beneficial relationships with some fungi, future research needs to ensure plants only repel harmful fungi.

Li will continue to engineer PGIPs for enhanced efficiency and broader spectrum against various pathogenic fungi. Meanwhile, Li and Putman will keep evaluating the potential of using engineered PGIPs to suppress fungi-induced pre-harvest and post-harvest disease.

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Li and Putman were joined in the research by doctoral student Tiffany Chiu and plant pathologist Anita Behari, both of whom are at UC Riverside, and Justin Chartron, who was a professor at UC Riverside when the research was conducted. The paper, "Exploring the potential of engineering polygalacturonase?inhibiting protein as an ecological, friendly, and nontoxic pest control agent," is available here. The work was supported by LG Chem Ltd. and the Frank G. and Janice B. Delfino Agricultural Technology Research Initiative and partially supported by the National Institutes of Health.

 

A new avenue for fighting drug-resistant bacteria

Targeting an RNA sequence in pathogenic bacteria could make them more sensitive to antibiotics

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE - INRS

Research News

 

IMAGE: INRS PROFESSOR CHARLES DOZOIS, SPECIALIST IN MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY AND THE IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIAL GENES AFFECTING HUMANS, POULTRY AND PIGS. view more 

CREDIT: CHRISTIAN FLEURY (INRS)

A small regulatory RNA found in many problematic bacteria, including Escherichia coli, appears to be responsible for managing the response of these bacteria to environmental stresses. Professor Charles Dozois from Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and doctoral student Hicham Bessaiah see a promising avenue for more effective treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their results have been published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

In conducting their work, the researchers and their team observed that the elimination of this regulatory RNA sequence had an effect on urinary tract infections related to E. coli. These infections are among the world's most common, especially in women, but they are sometimes hard to treat due to antibiotic resistance.

E. coli is normally found in the intestinal flora, but when it migrates to the bladder, the conditions there are completely different. The bacteria have to withstand the environmental stressors in order to cause a bladder infection. "Without the regulatory RNA, the bacteria is more sensitive to changes in the environment and loses its infectious capacity," explained the doctoral student.

Inhibiting the RNA sequence

The idea is to block the RNA and make the bacteria less infectious, especially in the case of chronic infection, which can lead to increased resistance to treatment. If the bacteria are less resistant to stress, it will be more vulnerable to the host's immune response. Regulation of the systems that make it virulent will also be disrupted.

"People with recurrent urinary tract infections take antibiotics regularly. This leads to resistance and limits treatment options, which is why it's important to find alternatives," explained Professor Dozois.

The relationship between virulence and stress isn't unique to urinary tract infections. The regulatory RNA sequence studied by the researchers is also found in a number of other major pathogenic bacteria. Given that the RNA seems to impact multiple functions, the research group is working to better understand the mechanisms of regulation before pursuing additional research on antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

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About the study

The article "The RyfA small RNA regulates oxidative and osmotic stress responses and virulence in uropathogenic Escherichia coli" by Hicham Bessaiah, Pravil Pokharel, Hamza Loucif, Merve Kulbay, Charles Sasseville, Hajer Habouria, Sébastien Houle, Jacques Bernier, Éric Massé, Julien Van Grevenynghe, and Charles M. Dozois was published in PLOS Pathogens. The research group received financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Swine and Poultry Infectious Diseases Research Centre (CRIPA) funded by Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologies (FRQNT).

About INRS

INRS is a university dedicated exclusively to graduate level research and training. Since its creation in 1969, INRS has played an active role in Québec's economic, social, and cultural development and is ranked first for research intensity in Québec and in Canada. INRS is made up of four interdisciplinary research and training centres in Québec City, Montréal, Laval, and Varennes, with expertise in strategic sectors: Eau Terre Environnement, Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, Urbanisation Culture Société, and Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie. The INRS community includes more than 1,500 students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty members, and staff.

 

Emotion, cooperation and locomotion crucial from an early age

Researchers at the UNIGE have found that emotion knowledge, cooperative social behavior and locomotor activity are three key skills for promoting numerical learning in children aged 3 to 6

UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE

Research News

IMAGE: CONTENT OF ITEM 1 OF THE SECOND PART OF THE EMOTION AWARENESS TASK. THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS: LEFT: THIS BOY HAS JUST RECEIVED A PRESENT FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. RIGHT:... view more 

CREDIT: © UNIGE

What are the fundamental skills that young children need to develop at the start of school for future academic success? While a large body of research shows strong links between cognitive skills (attention, memory, etc.) and academic skills on the one hand, and emotional skills on the other, in students from primary school to university, few studies have explored these links in children aged 3 to 6 in a school context. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and Valais University of Teacher Education, Switzerland (HEP-VS), in collaboration with teachers from Savoie in France and their pedagogical advisor, examined the links between emotion knowledge, cooperation, locomotor activity and numerical skills in 706 pupils aged 3 to 6. The results, to be read in the journal Scientific Reports, show for the first time that emotion knowledge, cooperative social behaviour and locomotor activity are interrelated and associated with numerical skills. These results are in line with the political and scientific consensus on the importance of social-emotional skills in early schooling and suggest that locomotor activity should be added to these fundamental skills.

A growing number of studies are examining the fundamental abilities that prepare children for school and that are particularly crucial for their future academic success. "Among these abilities, 'emotion knowledge' contributes significantly and is a long-term predictor of social behaviour and academic success", says Edouard Gentaz, professor in the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPSE) of the UNIGE and the last author of this study. On the other hand, few studies have examined the links between socio-emotional and academic skills in preschool children. "To fill this gap, we joined forces with the HEP-VS and a team of teachers from Savoie in France and their pedagogical advisor to examine how emotion knowledge, social behaviour and locomotor activity are associated and linked to the numerical skills in 706 pupils aged between 3 and 6 years old", continues the Geneva-based researcher. Unlike most research that generally examines school results through reading tests, this study focuses on numerical learning, the performance of which is less correlated with parents' socio-economic level than language skills.

Original tests adapted to the preschool age and educational context

To examine the links between the four variables studied, age-appropriate tests were developed in close collaboration with 33 volunteer teachers, who participated in an interactive workshop in which they were trained to set up, perform and evaluate the different tests in a standardised manner. Thus, emotion knowledge was assessed through two emotion comprehension tasks. The first measured the recognition of the primary emotions of anger, fear, joy and sadness as well as a neutral facial expression and the second measured the understanding of the external causes underlying these emotions in others. This second task was subdivided into two different subtasks: the teacher successively presented the student with five drawing scenarios illustrated by a picture of a character with a blank face facing a particular situation (e.g., 'This boy has just received a present for his birthday') and then asked the student to indicate, among five illustrations of facial expressions, the one that corresponded to what the character felt in each situation, first by pointing to it (non-verbal responses) and then by naming it. The assessment of mathematical skills included three numerical tests. For example, the first test sought to assess whether students understood that the cardinal of a collection does not change when the spatial arrangement or nature of its elements is modified: the teacher placed a photograph in front of the student showing four collections of objects (two of which were composed of the same number of elements) and asked the student to indicate which collection contained the largest number of objects, which contained the fewest, and which two collections contained the same number.

Working closely with the teachers and their advisor, the psychologists developed observation grids to assess the locomotor activity and social behaviour of the pupils. For locomotor activity, the grid created made it possible to rate the children's performance on an agility course consisting of various installations on the ground and in the air. As for social behaviour, the grid developed made it possible to evaluate the children's reactions and attitudes during the practice of two different team games (one with a ball and the other without) observed by the teachers.

Key skills to promote numerical learning

The results of this study reveal that emotion knowledge, locomotor activity and social behaviour are interdependent and associated with pupils' numerical skills from the age of 3 to 6 years. "Indeed, specific statistical analyses (regression and mediation) show that high scores on tests assessing emotion knowledge, locomotor activity and social behaviour predict better mathematical performance in these students", notes Thalia Cavadini, researcher in the Department of Psychology at FAPSE and first author of the study. "Thus, our results are in line with the scientific consensus on the importance of social-emotional skills at the beginning of schooling and suggest that locomotor activity should be added to these fundamental skills", she concludes. Furthermore, this study is the first to show that emotional, social and locomotor skills promote school learning in toddlers.

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Study: Incarcerated people placed in solitary confinement differ significantly from others in prison population

CRIME AND JUSTICE RESEARCH ALLIANCE

Research News

Concern has grown about prison systems' use of extended solitary confinement as a way to manage violent and disruptive incarcerated people. A new study identified groups that are more likely to be placed in extended solitary management (ESM). The study found that individuals sent to ESM differed considerably from the rest of the prison population in terms of mental health, education, language, race/ethnicity, and age.

The study, by researchers at Florida State University and the University of Cincinnati, appears in Justice Quarterly, a publication of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

"Many states and the federal prison system rely on long-term solitary confinement as a management tool, so it is important to shed light on the placements and disparities in this form of incarceration," according to Daniel P. Mears, professor of criminology at Florida State University, who led the study.

Prisoners have been placed in solitary confinement for more than 200 years. But in recent decades--especially with the rise of "supermax" prisons in the 1980s--correctional facilities have increased their reliance on the practice, with less focus on rehabilitation and more on control and punishment. Recent decades have also seen the rise of "restrictive housing" of incarcerated people, which includes confinement used for punishment or protection, and can limit privileges significantly.

ESM stands at the center of debates about solitary confinement: Critics argue that it is inhumane, unconstitutional, and harmful, especially to individuals with mental health disorders, while proponents say it is necessary for prison safety and order. Research on ESM is limited.

In this study, researchers used administrative records from the Florida Department of Corrections for approximately 192,000 individuals who entered or were released between 2007 and 2015. In this prison system, one of the largest in the United States, ESM typically entails a minimum stay of six months and up to 23 hours per day in isolation in a separate facility.

The study sought to identify disparities along a broad range of characteristics, including those related to demographics (e.g., age at admission, gender, race/ethnicity), mental health, substance abuse, education, language (i.e., English language proficiency), and prior criminal records (e.g., prior admissions, offense, time served). It also looked at disparities in placement, including multiple, early, and longer-duration placements.

Several patterns emerged from the study:

• The profile of the population sent to ESM differed substantially from that of the rest of the admission-and-release population: Those sent to ESM were much more likely to be adolescents or young adults, males were more likely than females to be sent to ESM, and Blacks comprised 63 percent of the ESM population but just 43 percent of the overall prison population.
• Mental health disparities were also pronounced: Individuals who spent time in a mental health unit or required outpatient care with medication were more likely to be placed in ESM early in their incarceration and have longer stays.
• Other disparities appeared: Education among the ESM population was 1.6 grade levels lower than that for the prison population as a whole. Non-English speakers had a lower likelihood of an ESM stay than English speakers after controlling for age, sex, and other factors. Hispanics were more likely than others to be placed in ESM within six months of admission to prison. And stays of a year or longer in ESM were less likely among Hispanics and more likely among males and individuals with no prior prison admissions.
• Early, repeated, and longer-duration placement in ESM was not the norm: 11 percent of all ESM incarceration stays entailed two or more ESM placements, 21 percent entailed an ESM placement within six months of admission, and 27 percent spent a year or more in ESM. There were relatively few differences in the profiles of these three groups.

"A focus on disparities in ESM placements is important for advancing research and policy," notes Jennifer M. Brown, a post-doctoral research fellow at Florida State University, who coauthored the study. "We need to understand more about the factors that contribute to placements. For example, some groups may engage in more violent or disruptive behavior, which could create the disparities. It also is possible that prison system practices may disadvantage certain groups or contribute to conditions that increase problematic behavior among those groups. In addition, it is possible that some groups may benefit more or be harmed more by ESM."

The authors point to a few limitations of their study, including that it focused on one state and one time period, so studies of other states and longer time periods might differ. In addition, the study did not include individuals who served more than eight years, which likely excluded inmates serving sentences for extremely violent crimes. Finally, the study relied on administrative records, which are not always accurate in capturing information such as individuals' mental health or organizational factors that might contribute to placements.

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The research was supported by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in the study were those of the authors and did not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice or the Florida Department of Corrections.

 

Kelp for corn? Illinois scientists demystify natural products for crops

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Research News

IMAGE: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS SCIENTISTS, INCLUDING CONNOR SIBLE (PICTURED), ARE MAKING IT EASIER FOR FARMERS TO CHOOSE BIOSTIMULANT PRODUCTS TO BOOST CORN PRODUCTION WITH A NEW ARTICLE BREAKING DOWN COMPOSITION, MECHANISMS,... view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

URBANA, Ill. - Corn growers can choose from a wide array of products to make the most of their crop, but the latest could bring seaweed extract to a field near you. The marine product is just one class in a growing market of crop biostimulants marketed for corn.

Biostimulants benefit crops and soil, but the dizzying array of products has farmers confused, according to Fred Below, corn and soybean researcher at the University of Illinois.

"Farmers hear the term 'plant biostimulant' and think they all do the same thing, and can be used in the same way at the same time. But that's not the case. There's huge confusion over what these products do, and when and how they should be used," says Below, professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois.

To quell the confusion, Below, along with doctoral student Connor Sible and research specialist Juliann Seebauer, categorized available biostimulant products into eight classes based on their modes of action. Their review, which includes summaries of product composition, mechanisms, efficacy, and application considerations, is published in the journal Agronomy.

Generally, plant biostimulants enhance natural processes in plants or soil that, in turn, boost crop quality and yield through enhanced nutrient uptake, nutrient efficiency, or stress tolerance.

According to the researchers' classification system, half of the products are live microorganisms, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, phosphorus-solubilizing microbes, or other beneficial microbes. The other half are chemistries or chemical byproducts from "formerly living" organisms, as Sible puts it. These include seaweed extracts, humic and fulvic acids, concentrated enzymes, and biochar.

It's not always completely clear how or why biostimulants work the way they do, but Sible and Below say there's a time and a place for each. It's up to the grower to consider which biostimulant fits their goal.

"When we talk to growers, that's the first thing we say. What is the problem you're having, and what is it you're trying to accomplish? Then we can suggest which product from this or that biostimulant category might be your best bet," Below says.

Sible adds, "Sometimes farmers will try these products because the sales pitch sounds good, but they won't get the response they want in the field. So they'll walk away from all biostimulants. Those kinds of poor outcomes could be prevented with more information. That's why we felt this was important. We're actively researching these products to help growers understand what they are and how they work, so they can select the right one for their production system."

Many of the products target nutrient management, with an eye toward reducing or replacing application of synthetic fertilizers. For example, soybean growers are familiar with nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, but Sible says new technologies, including gene editing, are enabling these microbes to thrive in the corn root zone as well.

"We see in our research that these products can help you be more efficient with your fertilizer," he says. "It's all about better management and stewardship of nutrients. If we can add something to our fertilizer plan to make that happen, it's a win-win."

Plant biostimulants aren't new. Specialty growers have applied nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mycorrhizal fungus, seaweed extracts, and similar products for years. But as start-up companies have scaled up production or partnered with big seed and fertilizer companies, they've started eyeing the row crop market.

"All the big companies have partnerships in the biological world now, because it's viewed as part of sustainability or regenerative ag. Some of these products purport to have soil health benefits, and that's all the rage," Below says.

Sible adds that some of the big seed companies are already coating seeds with live inoculants to give seedlings a solid start. "A lot of growers are actually using biostimulants without necessarily knowing it."

Seed coatings are only one method of application. Below says including biostimulant application with standard management practices, such as in-furrow application at seeding or during an herbicide or fungicide pass, provides a free ride for the products.

"When biostimulants can go in with practices that are already being done, that makes their application cost-effective," he says.

Sible notes the average cost of biostimulants is $8 to $12 per acre, but some of the microbial products push $20 to $25. Despite the expense, Below says a lot of farmers are willing to invest this year.

"Commodity prices are really quite high right now, so farmers might be thinking, 'Why don't I try something I normally wouldn't try?' We just want to have them try something that has a greater likelihood to be worthwhile," he says.

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The article, "Plant biostimulants: A categorical review, their implications for row crop production, and relation to soil health indicators," is published in Agronomy [DOI: 10.3390/agronomy11071297]. Partial funding was provided by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The Department of Crop Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.

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

Climate regulation changed with the proliferation of marine animals and terrestrial plants

Geoscientific study traces carbon-silicon cycle over three billion years on the basis of lithium isotope levels

JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITAET MAINZ

Research News

IMAGE: BORIANA KALDERON-ASAEL COLLECTING 450-MILLION-YEAR-OLD ROCK SAMPLES IN PENNSYLVANIA, USA view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO/©: ASHLEIGH HOOD

Earth's climate was relatively stable for a long period of time. For three billion years, temperatures were mostly warm and carbon dioxide levels high - until a shift occurred about 400 million years ago. A new study suggests that the change at this time was accompanied by a fundamental alteration to the carbon-silicon cycle. "This transformation of what was a consistent status quo in the Precambrian era into the more unstable climate we see today was likely due to the emergence and spread of new life forms," said Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann, a geoscientist at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Together with researchers from Yale University, notably Boriana Kalderon-Asael and Professor Noah Planavsky, he has traced the long-term evolution of the carbon-silicon cycle with the help of lithium isotopes in marine sediments. This cycle is regarded as a key mechanism controlling the Earth's climate, as it regulates carbon dioxide levels and, with it, temperature. The researchers' findings have been published recently in Nature.

The carbon-silicon cycle is the key regulator of climate

The carbon-silicon cycle has kept Earth's climate stable over long periods of time, despite extensive variations in solar luminosity, in atmospheric oxygen concentrations, and the makeup of the Earth's crust. Such a stable climate created the conditions for long-term colonization of the Earth by life and allowed initially simple and later complex life forms to develop over billions of years. The carbon-silicon cycle contributes to this by regulating the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Silicate rock is transformed into carbonate rock as a result of weathering and sedimentation, and carbonate rock is transformed back into silicate rock by, among other things, volcanism. When silicate rock is converted to carbonate rock, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, while the reverse process releases carbon dioxide once again. "We consider this to be the main mechanism by which Earth's climate is stabilized over the long term," explained Pogge von Strandmann.

To trace long-term carbon-silicon cycles back in time and gain a better understanding of the precise relationships governing Earth's climate, the research team studied the ratio of lithium isotopes in marine carbonates. Lithium is present only in silicate rocks and their silicate and carbonate weathering products. The research team analyzed more than 600 samples deposited as sediments in shallow primeval marine waters and obtained from more than 100 different rock strata from around the world, including from Canada, Africa and China. "We used these samples to create a new database covering the past three billion years," Pogge von Strandmann pointed out.

These data show that the ratio of lithium-7 to lithium-6 isotopes in the oceans was low from three billion years ago to 400 million years ago, and then suddenly increased. It was precisely at this time that land plants evolved, while simultaneously marine animals with skeletons composed of silicon, such as sponges and radiolarians, spread throughout the oceans. "Both played a role, but as yet we do not know exactly how the processes are coupled," Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann added.

The displacement of 'clay factories' to the land influences the carbon-silicon cycle

Research findings suggest that there was a massive change to the extent of the formation of clay, a secondary silicate rock composed of very fine particles, in the Earth's past - possibly due to an increase in clay formation on land and a decrease in the oceans. Clay formation is a crucial component of the carbon-silicon cycle and it influences the ratio of lithium isotopes. On land it is caused by the extensive weathering of silicate rocks, but in the oceans a range of different processes is involved. Increased continental clay formation is thought to have lowered carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In contrast, oceanic clay formation, known as "reverse weathering", releases CO2, so its decline will similarly have lowered atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

According to the authors of the Nature paper, this suggests that the mode of climate regulation on Earth as well as the primary location where that process occurs has changed dramatically through time: "The shift from a Precambrian Earth state to the modern state can probably be attributed to major biological innovations - the radiation of sponges, radiolarians, diatoms and land plants." The result of this modification of climate regulation has been apparent ever since in the form of the frequent alternation between cold glacial periods on the one hand and warmer periods on the other. However, this climate instability, in turn, helps to accelerate evolution.

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