CAN YOU SAY; LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE 

Hybrid cars are twice as vulnerable to supply chain issues as gas-powered models

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

The global computer chip shortage has hit car manufacturers especially hard, indicating the importance of supply chain resilience. Yet, for hybrid electric vehicles, it isn’t clear how their production could be impacted by fluctuating supplies and high prices. To get a grasp of these vulnerabilities compared to those for gas-powered models, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology conducted a thorough analysis, finding that hybrid models have twice the vulnerability to supply chain disruptions. 

Supply chain weaknesses were brought to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for industries relying on electronics, as the flow of raw materials slowed or sometimes stopped. On top of that, shifting consumer values and tougher environmental regulations have resulted in more people buying hybrid vehicles. The batteries in these cars require rare metals that, depending on their supplies, can have volatile and unpredictable prices. But there are other scarce elements and materials that may be used in smaller amounts in hybrid models versus conventional gas vehicles, raising the question of how these vehicles really compare with regard to supply chain vulnerabilities. Although previous studies reported lists of the elements used in conventional cars’ parts, similar information on the parts used in hybrid vehicles is lacking. So, Randolph Kirchain and colleagues wanted to develop a comprehensive comparison of the elements and compounds that go into all the parts in gas-powered, self-charging hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, calculating each of the three vehicles’ materials cost vulnerability.

The researchers collected information on the compounds in the more than 350,000 parts used to build seven vehicles from the same manufacturer with different levels of electrification, including four sedans and three sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Then, they calculated the amount of the 76 chemical elements present, as well as a few other materials, in each car type. To develop a monetary metric for vulnerability, the team considered the weight of each component, along with its average price and price volatility between 1998 and 2015. The results showed that self-charging hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles have twice the raw material cost risks, which equates to an increase of $1 billion for a fleet of a million sedans and SUVs, compared to conventional models. The largest contributors to the increase in cost risks were battery-related elements, such as cobalt, nickel, graphite and neodymium; however, changes to the exhaust and transmission systems in hybrid vehicles reduced the impact of palladium and aluminum, respectively. The researchers suggest that as manufacturers ramp up electric vehicle production to meet demand, they can reduce raw material cost risks with long-term supplier contracts, substitute some materials or recycle others.

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The authors acknowledge funding from Ford Motor Company.

The abstract that accompanies this paper can be viewed here.

For more of the latest research news, register for our upcoming meeting, ACS Fall 2021. Journalists and public information officers are encouraged to apply for complimentary press registration by emailing us at newsroom@acs.org.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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JOURNAL

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.1c00970

ARTICLE TITLE

Characterizing the Changes in Material Use due to Vehicle Electrification

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Jul-2021

 

Making progress in developing probiotic beverages without animal protein

An INRS team is working on a plant-based fermented drink high in protein and probiotics.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE - INR

 

IMAGE: INRS PROFESSOR MONIQUE LACROIX IS AN EXPERT IN SCIENCES, APPLIED TO FOOD. view more 

CREDIT: CHRISTIAN FLEURY

Most products enriched with probiotics and protein are made with dairy products. However, consumer demand for plant protein is growing. The nutritional value of these proteins must therefore be improved to be comparable to that of animal proteins.

A team led by Professor Monique Lacroix at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has demonstrated that fermenting drinks fortified with pea and rice proteins yields the same quality of protein as casein, an animal protein found in milk. The findings were published in the Journal of Food Science.

Increasing protein intake

Using plant proteins poses some challenges. For one thing, plant proteins are deficient in certain essential amino acids necessary for the body’s proper functioning. Since the body itself doesn’t produce these amino acids, they must come from food. The combination of pea and rice proteins helped counterbalance essential amino acid deficiencies through complementarity.

That said, plant proteins are also harder to digest. “They often are non soluble in water and under globular. That means our digestive enzymes have more difficulty breaking them down. Animal proteins, on the other hand, usually take the form of elongated fibres that are easily processed by digestive enzymes,” said Professor Lacroix.

But when pea and rice proteins are added before the fermentation stage during production of a fermented beverage, they can be predigested by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). This allows the production of peptides (protein fragments) resulting from the breakdown of proteins during fermentation, thereby facilitating their absorption during digestion.

The study, carried out in collaboration with Bio-K+, used a specific formulation containing the bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, L. casei LBC80R and L. rhamnosus CLR2. These LAB, whose probiotic functions have been scientifically proven and licensed by Health Canada, were used in this study to produce the fermented drink enriched with pea and rice proteins.

###

About the study

The article Protein quality of a probiotic beverage enriched with pea and rice protein, by Johanne Manus, Mathieu Millette, Chaima Dridi, Stéphane Salmieri, Blanca R. Aguilar Uscanga and Monique Lacroix, was published in the Journal of Food Science. The study received financial support from the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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.

Source :

Audrey-Maude Vézina

Service des communications de l’INRS

418 254-2156

audrey-maude.vezina@inrs.ca

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JOURNAL

Journal of Food Science

DOI

10.1111/1750-3841.15838

ARTICLE TITLE

Protein quality of a probiotic beverage enriched with pea and rice protein

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jul-2021

 

Wearing a mask – for yourself or for others?

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF KONSTANZ

Protecting one's own health is generally an important motive for voluntarily wearing a face mask during the pandemic. However, for younger people the desire to protect others plays a decisive role in their decision to wear a mask. These are the conclusions of a study recently published in PLOS ONE by an interdisciplinary team of economists as well as behavioural and health scientists from Germany and Switzerland, based on a survey of employees from two Swiss hospitals. The findings of the study suggest that public health campaigns would benefit from targeted communication strategies – both in the context of wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Study among health care workers
In the face of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide have either recommended or mandated wearing face masks in public areas, at least temporarily. Although scientific findings confirm that wearing face masks saves lives during the pandemic, public support for this measure as well as the willingness to wear masks differ widely.

To investigate what motivates people to voluntarily wear a mask, the economists and behavioural researchers Dr Ankush Asri, Dr Viola Asri, Dr Baiba Renerte and Professor Urs Fischbacher from the University of Konstanz, in collaboration with co-authors from the health sector, conducted a survey among 840 employees of two Swiss hospitals. In addition to questions on mask-wearing behaviour, participants were also asked to self-assess their risk behaviour and altruism.

In the early stages of the pandemic, healthcare workers were a suitable group for this study because they had good access to masks, were used to wearing them and were well informed about the coronavirus. "The uniformity of such practical factors, which can also influence the decision to wear a mask, allowed us to focus on exploring other possible motivations among the respondents," explains Dr Baiba Renerte.

Self-protection as the main motivation
The survey was carried out in June and July 2020, after the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections had abated in Switzerland. The regions in which the two hospitals are located had different infection rates during the first wave of the pandemic – one had higher and the other lower case rates. Nevertheless, the same provisions had been set out in both regions at the time of the survey: While at work, it was mandatory for hospital staff to wear a face mask, while wearing a mask in public spaces was largely voluntary.

"Our surveys show that self-protection is generally an important motivation for wearing masks," reports Dr Ankush Asri. The results indeed confirm that more people who describe themselves as risk-averse voluntarily wear a protective mask than those who describe themselves as risk-takers. In both regions, the results were the same, regardless of how much each region was affected by the first wave of the pandemic.

Different motives in different age groups
In a more detailed analysis of the survey data, which additionally distinguished between employees under and above 45 years of age, the researchers found another important motivation. Among those under 45 from the more affected region, there was a correlation between self-rated altruism and mask-wearing behaviour: A higher percentage of younger employees who described themselves as altruistic said they voluntarily wear masks, compared to those who considered themselves to be less altruistic.

"We interpret this correlation such that the central motivation to wear masks for older staff is to avoid getting infected, because they are more at risk for a severe infection. Younger employees, on the other hand, may be less concerned about infecting themselves than about infecting someone at higher risk," Dr Viola Asri offers a possible explanation for the observation.

Differences in motivations between population groups, such as those measured here, could be relevant for information campaigns aimed at recommending health-related behaviours to the general public – whether in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic or in other situations. Consequently, they should be taken into account, where known, in order to achieve the greatest possible impact, the authors conclude.

Key Facts:

• Original publication: Ankush Asri, Viola Asri, Baiba Renerte, Franziska Föllmi-Heusi, Joerg D. Leuppi, Juergen Muser, Reto Nüesch, Dominik Schuler, Urs Fischbacher (2021) Wearing a mask – for yourself or for others? Behavioral correlates of mask wearing among COVID-19 frontline workers. PLOS ONE; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253621
• Surveys at two Swiss hospitals on voluntarily wearing face masks
• Findings of the survey: Protecting one's own health is generally an important motive for voluntarily wearing a face mask. For younger people, the desire to protect others also plays a decisive role
• Recommendations of the researchers: For the best possible effect, the content of public health campaigns should be tailored to different population groups

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- uni.kn/en

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0253621

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Wearing a mask—For yourself or for others? Behavioral correlates of mask wearing among COVID-19 frontline workers

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-Jul-2021

 THEY HAD ME AT'BEER'

On eternal imbalance

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ETH ZURICH

If you put a bottle of beer in a big bathtub full of ice-​cold water, it won’t be long before you can enjoy a cold beer. Physicists discovered how this works more than a hundred years ago. Heat exchange takes place through the glass bottle until equilibrium is reached.

However, there are other systems, especially quantum systems, that don’t find equilibrium. They resemble a hypothetical beer bottle in a bath of ice-​cold water that doesn’t always and inevitably cool to the temperature of the bath water, but rather reaches different states depending on its own initial temperature. Until now, such systems have puzzled physicists. But Nicolò Defenu, a postdoc at the ETH Zurich Institute for Theoretical Physics, has now found a way to elegantly explain this behaviour.

A more distant influence

Specifically, we are talking about systems in which the individual building blocks influence not only their immediate neighbours, but also objects further away. One example would be a galaxy: the gravitational force of their individual stars and planetary systems acts not only on the neighbouring celestial bodies, but far beyond that – albeit ever more weakly – on the other components of the galaxy.

Defenu’s approach begins by simplifying the problem to a world with a single dimension. In it, there is a single quantum particle that can reside only in very specific locations along a line. This world resembles a board game like Ludo, where a little token hops from square to square. Suppose there is a game die whose sides are all marked “one” or “minus one”, and suppose the player whose token it is now rolls the die over and over again in succession. The token will hop to a neighbouring square, and from there it will either hop back or else on to the next square. And so on.

The question is, What happens if the player rolls the die an infinite number of times? If there are only a few squares in the game, the token will return to its starting point every now and then. However, it is impossible to predict exactly where it will be at any given time because the throws of the die are unknown.

Back to square one

It’s a similar situation with particles that are subject to the laws of quantum mechanics: there’s no way to know exactly where they are at any given time. However, it is possible to establish their whereabouts using probability distributions. Each distribution results from a different superposition of the probabilities for the individual locations and corresponds to a particular energy state of the particle. It turns out that the number of stable energy states coincides with the number of degrees of freedom of the system and thus corresponds exactly to the number of allowed locations. The important point is that all the stable probability distributions are non-​zero at the starting point. So at some point, the token returns to its starting square.

The more squares there are, the less often the token will return to its starting point; eventually, with an infinite number of possible squares, it will never return. For the quantum particle, this means there are an infinite number of ways in which the probabilities of the individual locations can be combined to form distributions. Thus, it can no longer occupy only certain discrete energy states, but all possible ones in a continuous spectrum.

None of this is new knowledge. There are, however, variants of the game or physical systems where the die can also contain numbers larger than one and smaller than minus one, i.e. the steps allowed per move can be larger – to be precise, even infinitely large. This fundamentally changes the situation, as Defenu has now been able to show: in these systems, the energy spectrum always remains discrete, even when there are infinite squares. This means that from time to time, the particle will return to its starting point.

Peculiar phenomena

This new theory explains what scientists have already observed many times in experiments: systems in which long-​range interactions occur do not reach a stable equilibrium, but rather a meta-​stable state in which they always return to their initial position. In the case of galaxies, this is one reason they develop spiral arms rather than being uniform clouds. The density of stars is higher inside these arms than outside.

An example of quantum systems that can be described with Defenu’s theory are ions, which are charged atoms trapped in electric fields. Using such ion traps to build quantum computers is currently one of the largest research projects worldwide. However, for these computers to really deliver a step change in terms of computational power, they will need a very large number of simultaneously trapped ions – and that is exactly the point at which the new theory becomes interesting. “In systems with a hundred or more ions, you would see peculiar effects that we can now explain,” says Defenu, who is a member of ETH Professor Gian Michele Graf’s group. His colleagues in experimental physics are getting closer every day to the goal of being able to realise such formations. And once they’ve got there, it might be worth their while to have a cold beer with Defenu.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2101785118

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Metastability and discrete spectrum of long-range systems

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Jul-2021

 

Common weed could spell bellyache for gluten intolerant

Peer-Reviewed Publication

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

New research has identified proteins in a common weed which could play havoc for Australian farmers growing gluten-free crops, such as millet, buckwheat and sorghum, and people suffering from gluten intolerance.

The gluten-like proteins found in ryegrass could be mixing with crops commonly used as gluten-free products or wheat replacements and causing a reaction among people with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance.

The work, led by Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, identified the proteins in 10 cultivars of ryegrass (Lolium species), a costly and invasive family of weeds commonly found in Australian cereal crops.

Dr Sophia Escobar-Correas, a researcher based at ECU and CSIRO said the team identified 19 proteins found in ryegrass which had similar properties to gluten proteins.

“We have developed a method to detect these ryegrass proteins that allows us to distinguish them from other grains,” she said.

“While these proteins aren’t strictly defined as gluten, they have the potential to trigger reactions for people who are coeliac and those with a gluten intolerance.”

This fundamental research helps understand whether ryegrass might be a problem so science can start to determine the impact it might – or might not – be having and devise solutions that give the best outcomes if it is.

Dr Escobar-Correas said the next step is to undertake clinical studies to investigate whether these proteins trigger a coeliac response.

“If these proteins cause a reaction for people with gluten intolerance, then it’s important that we develop tests to detect their presence in food products which are otherwise gluten-free,” she said.

A burgeoning market

Professor Michelle Colgrave from ECU and CSIRO was a co-author on the research and said it has identified an important potential challenge for gluten-free products

“In 2019, the global market for gluten-free foods was worth around $6.3 billion and its growth shows no sign of slowing,” she said.

“This research will help give consumers and producers confidence that products labelled as gluten-free are free from other proteins which may trigger reactions resulting from agricultural co-mingling.”

Top class weed

The WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development defines a close relative of the species studied in this project, annual ryegrass as one of the most serious and costly weeds across Southern Australia.

Several cultivars of ryegrass are used as feed for livestock and is commonly used as a turf for sports pitches, particularly winter sports, and is famously the grass of choice for tennis courts at Wimbledon.

‘Perennial ryegrass contains gluten-like proteins that could contaminate cereal crops’ has been published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition and can be accessed on the journal’s webpage.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI

10.3389/fnut.2021.708122

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Perennial ryegrass contains gluten-like proteins that could contaminate cereal crops

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Jul-2021

 DUH OH IT'S SMOKE IT'S PARTICULATE

Second-hand marijuana smoke exposure associated with respiratory infections in children

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SPRINGER

Children whose parents regularly smoke or vape marijuana may experience viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold, more frequently than those whose parents do not smoke, according to a study published in the journal Pediatric Research.

Researchers from Wake Forest School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado, USA surveyed 1,491 parents and caregivers who lived in Colorado, a US state where recreational and medicinal use of marijuana is legal. The researchers found that parents who regularly smoked or vaped marijuana reported that their children experienced more viral respiratory infections in the year prior to the survey, compared to children whose parents did not smoke tobacco or marijuana. Parents who smoked or vaped marijuana reported that their children had not experienced other conditions often related to second-hand tobacco smoke exposure, such as ear infections and asthma attacks, more frequently nor that they had visited a hospital emergency department more often in the previous year, compared to children whose parents did not smoke.

Adam Johnson, the corresponding author said: "The negative impact that exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke can have on children's health has been extensively studied but the impact of second-hand marijuana smoke on young children is unclear. Our findings identify the potential for increased respiratory infections in children exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke. This could have significant healthcare implications as more states in the USA move towards legalising recreational marijuana use."

Of the parents and caregivers who participated in the survey, 78 (5.2%) reported regularly smoking or vaping only marijuana, 214 (14.3%) reported regularly smoking only tobacco and 80 (5.4%) reported regularly smoking both marijuana and tobacco. The researchers found that those who only smoked marijuana tended to be younger, educated to a higher level, less likely to identify as Hispanic, and have a higher income than those who did not smoke or who only smoked tobacco. Parents and caregivers who smoked both marijuana and tobacco tended to be younger and were less likely to identify as Hispanic than non-smokers. They also had lower income and education levels than non-smokers, compared to those who only smoked marijuana and those who only smoked tobacco.

Adam Johnson said: "Our findings highlight the prevalence of marijuana use among parents and caregivers and indicate which children may be more likely to be exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke in a US state where recreational and medicinal marijuana use is legal. These findings could be used to help target and shape public health messaging aimed at parents and caregivers in order to raise awareness of the potential negative impacts that second-hand marijuana smoke exposure can have on children's health."

To examine the impact of second-hand marijuana smoke exposure on children, the authors surveyed parents and caregivers who all attended the pediatric emergency department at Children's Hospital Colorado with a child younger than 12 years old, between 2015 and 2017. Parents and caregivers reported the frequency and location of their marijuana or tobacco use and how often in the past year their child had been taken to an emergency department or had been affected by asthma attacks, ear infections or viral respiratory infections, such as a common cold or bronchiolitis.

The authors caution that the observational nature of the study does not allow for conclusions about a causal relationship between second-hand marijuana smoke exposure and the frequency of viral respiratory infections. Additionally, as the authors surveyed a small number of parents and caregivers in one US state where marijuana use is legal, their findings may not be generalizable to all children living in areas where marijuana use is legal or those living in areas where marijuana use is illegal. Future research could assess the impact that parent and caregiver use of other types of marijuana products, such as those taken orally or applied to the skin, may have on children.

Notes to editor:

1. Association between secondhand marijuana smoke and respiratory infections in children

Johnson et al.

Pediatric Research 2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41390-021-01641-0

For an embargoed copy of the research article please contact Deborah Kendall-Cheeseman at Springer Nature.

1. After the embargo ends, the full paper will be available at: http://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-021-01641-0

2. Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article.

3. Pediatric Research publishes original translational research papers, invited reviews, and commentaries on the etiologies and treatment of diseases of children and disorders of development, extending from basic science to epidemiology and quality improvement.

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JOURNAL

Pediatric Research

DOI

10.1038/s41390-021-01641-0

 

Fruit compound may have potential to prevent and treat Parkinson's disease

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

 

IMAGE: AN ILLUSTRATION OF PARIS WITH THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF FARNESYLTRANSFERASE, THE ENZYME THAT ENABLES FARNESYLATION. view more 

CREDIT: JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have added to evidence that the compound farnesol, found naturally in herbs, and berries and other fruits, prevents and reverses brain damage linked to Parkinson's disease in mouse studies.

The compound, used in flavorings and perfume-making, can prevent the loss of neurons that produce dopamine in the brains of mice by deactivating PARIS, a key protein involved in the disease's progression. Loss of such neurons affects movement and cognition, leading to hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease such as tremors, muscle rigidity, confusion and dementia. Farnesol's ability to block PARIS, say the researchers, could guide development of new Parkinson's disease interventions that specifically target this protein.

"Our experiments showed that farnesol both significantly prevented the loss of dopamine neurons and reversed behavioral deficits in mice, indicating its promise as a potential drug treatment to prevent Parkinson's disease," says Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering and professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Results of the new study, published July 28, in Science Translational Medicine, detail how the researchers identified farnesol's potential by screening a large library of drugs to find those that inhibited PARIS.

In the brains of people with Parkinson's disease, a buildup of PARIS slows down the manufacture of the protective protein PGC-1alpha. The protein shields brain cells from damaging reactive oxygen molecules that accumulate in the brain. Without PGC-1alpha, dopamine neurons die off, leading to the cognitive and physical changes associated with Parkinson's disease.

To study whether farnesol could protect brains from the effects of PARIS accumulation, the researchers fed mice either a farnesol-supplemented diet or a regular mouse diet for one week. Then, the researchers administered pre-formed fibrils of the protein alpha-synuclein, which is associated with the effects of Parkinson's disease in the brain.

The researchers found that the mice fed the farnesol diet performed better on a strength and coordination test designed to detect advancement of Parkinson's disease symptoms. On average, the mice performed 100% better than mice injected with alpha-synuclein, but fed a regular diet.

When the researchers later studied brain tissue of mice in the two groups, they found that the mice fed a farnesol-supplemented diet had twice as many healthy dopamine neurons than mice not fed the farnesol-enriched diet. The farnesol-fed mice also had approximately 55% more of the protective protein PGC-1alpha in their brains than the untreated mice.

In chemical experiments, the researchers confirmed that farnesol binds to PARIS, changing the protein's shape so that it can no longer interfere with PGC-1alpha production.

While farnesol is naturally produced, synthetic versions are used in commerce, and the amounts people get through diet is unclear. The researchers caution that safe doses of farnesol for humans have not yet been determined, and that only carefully controlled clinical trials can do so.

Though more research is needed, Dawson and his team hope farnesol can someday be used to create treatments that prevent or reverse brain damage caused by Parkinson's disease.

###

Other researchers involved in this study include Areum Jo, Yunjong Lee, Rin Khang, Hojin Kang, Sangwoo Ham, Ji-Yeong Lee, Hanna Kim, Hyein Kim, Hyojung Kim and Joo-Ho Shin of the Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Suwon, South Korea; Tae-In Kam, Sung-Ung Kang, Stewart Keifert, Senthilkumar Karuppagounder, Hyejin ParkShih-Ching Chou, Sungtaek Oh, Haisong Jiang, Sheila Pirooznia, George Umanah, Xiaobo Mao, Manoj Kumar, Han Seok Ko, Yun-Il Lee, Shaida Andrabi, Chan Hyun Na and Valina Dawson of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Deborah Swing and Lino Tessarollo of the Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation; Ho Chul Kang of the Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea; Byoung Dae Lee of the Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea; Jin Whan Cho of the Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea and Sun Ha Paek of the Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.

This work was supported by grants from the JPB Foundation, the Cure Parkinson's Trust, the Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia and Parkinson Foundation, the Adrienne Helis Malvin Medical Research Foundation, the Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute.

Patents related to this work include US9274128B2, entitled Transcriptional Repression Leading to Parkinson's Disease, and WO2017161155A1, Methods for Preventing or Treating Parkinson's Disease by the Farnesylation of PARIS.

Additional funder: Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute

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JOURNAL

Science Translational Medicine

Man's new best friend: 

What cats can

teach us about human genetics and precision medicine

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CELL PRESS

Although cats have lived alongside humans for millennia, it remains a dogs' world. This bias has historically bled into science as well. It's time for cats to get their day, argues veterinary medicine expert Leslie Lyons (@LyonsLab) in a Forum published July 28 in the journal Trends in Genetics. Cats, she says, have the potential to be a valuable model organism for geneticists, as the feline genome is ordered similarly to humans.

"Using cats in research is really overlooked, since people don't realize the advantages," says Lyons, of the Department of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery at the University of Missouri. "The dog or mouse genome have rearranged chromosomes that are quite different than humans, but the domestic cat has genes that are about the same size as humans, as well as a genome that, like humans, is very organized and conserved."

Lyons writes that cats could be an asset for helping researchers better understand our genetic "dark matter." Although making up 95% of our DNA, it has long been considered filler information of little to no consequences, yet approximately 10% of the noncoding regions within the dark matter of the genome are conserved across mammals, suggesting that it has an important, misunderstood role. Cats have been found to have genetic diseases related to dysfunction of their genetic dark matter, making them a potential model organism for this type of research.

"As we discover that perhaps animals have more similar spacing between genes and the genes are in the same order, maybe that will help us to decipher what's going on with humans," Lyons says. "Working with a primate is on the expensive side, but a cat's affordability and docile nature make them one of the most feasible animals to work with to understand the human genome."

Another reason why cats could enlighten the human genome is that we have the technology to clone cats and make transgenic cats. The first cat clone, Cc, short for CopyCat, was generated in 2001. Her cell donor was a typical calico cat with black, orange, and white fur, but Cc didn't turn out to have any orange on her coat, defying Mendel's laws and other basic genetic principles. This was a clue that something was happening in Cc's genes that researchers are just now beginning to understand.

Cats could also play a role in precision medicine for genetic diseases, in which instead of treating the symptoms, researchers fix the actual gene and what the gene does. For example, certain breeds of cats are prone to the genetic illness polycystic kidney disease, which also afflicts humans. Lyons writes that if we could treat this disease with precision medicine in cats, we could apply those learnings to us.

"So, if you and your cat walk in the vet's door and there is not a trauma, there is not a feeding problem, there might be a genetic problem with the cat. Vets could sequence the genes and potentially more quickly find the cause of what's going on and then develop a treatment that is more appropriate than just treating the symptoms," Lyons says. "We can provide a more tailored healthcare program for our pets, and more funding would put all the different pieces into place."

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Trends in Genetics, Lyons, L.: "Cats - telomere to telomere and nose to tail" https://www.cell.com/trends/genetics/fulltext/S0168-9525(21)00142-6

Trends in Genetics (@TrendsGenetics), published by Cell Press, is a monthly review journal that provides researchers and students with high-quality, novel reviews, commentaries, and discussions and, above all, fosters an appreciation for the advances being made on all fronts of genetic research. Visit: http://www.cell.com/trends/genetics. To receive Cell Press media alerts please contact press@cell.com.

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JOURNAL

Trends in Genetics

DOI

10.1016/j.tig.2021.06.001

 BAD NEWS FOR THOSE HELD IN PRIVATE PRISONS

Hearts from donors who used illicit drugs or overdosed safe for transplant, cuts wait time

Circulation: Heart Failure and Journal of the American Heart Association Report

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

DALLAS, July 28, 2021 -- Survival rates after a heart transplant are unaffected if the organ donor had used illicit drugs or died due to an overdose, a fact that is increasing the availability of hearts due to the rise in drug overdose deaths in the U.S., according to two new unrelated research studies published today in two of the American Heart Association's scientific journals.

During a heart transplant, the patient's failing heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a recently deceased donor. The most common reasons for a heart transplant are that one or both ventricles of the heart aren't functioning properly or severe heart failure is present. In 2019, the United States recorded the highest number of heart transplants, with 3,552 transplantations performed. As of March 11, 2020, 3,661 people were on the waiting list for a heart transplant, and 52 people were on the waiting list for a heart and lung transplant, according to the American Heart Association's 2021 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update.

Data made available in 2019 found "no downside" to transplanting hearts from people who had used illicit drugs, and the practice has become routine, according to Howard Eisen, M.D., chair of the American Heart Association's Heart Failure and Transplantation Committee of the Clinical Cardiology Council, who was not involved in either study.

"This research confirms previous data that these hearts - once considered high risk - are safe," Eisen said. "These findings should encourage institutions who are not routinely using hearts from drug users to do so. It will reduce the waiting time and the number of deaths among people on the heart transplant waitlist."

The first study, "Intoxicated Donors and Heart Transplant Outcomes: Long Term Safety," reviewed data from 2007- 2017 and is published today in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

Tragically, the opioid epidemic has led to an increase in potential heart donations, however, many of these hearts go unused due to the concern that the donor's illicit drug use may decrease the chances of survival among heart-transplant recipients, explained lead study author David A. Baran, M.D., system director for advanced heart failure and transplantation at Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

In the largest study to-date examining illicit drug use of heart transplant donors, and the only analysis to examine the toxicology data of donors obtained at hospital admission, Baran and colleagues reviewed nationwide information from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database. They considered illicit drug use of donors in a comparison of survival after heart transplant for more than 23,000 adult, heart transplant recipients between January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2017. UNOS maintains a registry of all organ transplant activity in the United States and documents information about donors and recipients, including illicit drug use of the organ donors.

In this analysis, the average age of the heart donors was 32, and the average age of heart transplant recipients was 53. Using information from hospital urine tests before the donors died, the researchers identified the type and number of illicit drugs the donors had used, including opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates, amphetamines, phencyclidine (PCP) and others. Researchers noted that alcohol use appeared to decline over the decade of the analysis period, while all other drug use increased.

Baran and colleagues found that the percentage of transplant recipients who survived was comparable between transplant recipients who received a heart from a donor who used any illicit drugs and those whose donors did not use drugs. For example, the percentage of surviving heart transplant patients whose donors used opioids and those whose donors did not was about 90% after one year; about 77% at five years and roughly 60% at 10 years. The findings were comparable for other types of illicit drugs, even among heart donors who tested positive for multiple--five or more--illicit drugs.

"We thought that illicit drugs like cocaine or methamphetamine, which can lead to heart attacks, would prove to be dangerous," Baran said. "However, we were wrong. We should not reject a heart from a donor just because they used one or more illicit drugs."

The main limitation is that the study included only those hearts that were accepted for transplantation. Other limitations include the medical administration of opioids in the hospital could be misleading, the possibility of errors when information was entered into the database and the lack of a central laboratory to confirm the results submitted by local laboratories.

Co-authors are Justin Lansinger, B.A.; Ashleigh Long, M.D., Ph.D.; John M. Herre, M.D.; Amin Yehya, M.D.; Edward J. Sawey, M.D.; Amit P. Badiye, M.D.; Wayne Old, M.D.; Jack Copeland, M.D.; Kelly Stelling, R.N.; and Hannah Copeland, M.D. The study received no external funding.

The second study, "National Trends in Heart Donor Utilization Rates: Are We Efficiently Transplanting More Hearts?" compared data from 2003-2007 to 2013-2017. The article published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers from Wisconsin suggest that broader acceptance of hearts from donors who died due to a drug overdose or donors who had hepatitis C could alleviate the strain on the current waitlist for a heart transplant.

"We hope that patients who are awaiting transplants are encouraged to accept hearts from donors who had hepatitis C or who died due to a drug overdose, if their health care team finds the donor heart to be an appropriate match," said lead study author Ravi Dhingra, M.D., M.P.H., medical director of the heart failure and transplant program and associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dhingra and colleagues explored if the donor pool should include people who have died due to a drug overdose or who had hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a viral liver infection that spreads through contact with contaminated blood, such as from shared needles; from mother to infant during pregnancy and delivery; or due to an organ transplant from someone infected with hepatitis C. Because the infection can be treated with the advent of new, direct-acting, antiviral medications, hepatitis C is much more manageable, leading to an increase in availability of organs from donors who had hepatitis C.

They noted that physicians are required to obtain separate consents from patients regarding acceptance of hepatitis C-donor organs and prior authorization from health insurance carriers to cover the cost of hepatitis C medications, if needed by the transplant recipient.

"About 20% of patients on the heart-transplant waiting list die while waiting to receive a transplant or become too sick to remain good transplant candidates," Dhingra said.

Dhingra and colleagues accessed the UNOS database to compare the number of donor hearts accepted or declined for transplant from 1995 through 2018. They compared heart transplant recipients' survival from donors who died from a drug overdose or had hepatitis C to survival from donors who had not died of a drug overdose or had hepatitis C.

Compared to organ heart donors from 2003-2007, donors in 2013-2017 were older, weighed more, were more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes and to have used illicit drugs, which increases the risk for hepatitis C. However, compared to 2003-2007, the risk of death among transplant recipients in 2013-2017 was 15% lower one month after the heart transplant and 21 percent lower one year later.

The study reviewed major additional risk factors among transplant recipients that could have affected survival after the heart transplant, although it could not prove cause and effect between donor or recipient characteristics and post-transplant survival.

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Co-authors are Naga Dharmavaram, M.D.; Timothy Hess, Ph.D.; Heather Jaeger, R.N.; Jason Smith, M.D.; Joshua Hermsen, M.D.; and David Murray, M.D. The study was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Additional Resources:

Multimedia is available on the right column of release link: https://newsroom.heart.org/news/hearts-from-donors-who-used-illicit-drugs-or-overdosed-safe-for-transplant-cuts-wait-time?preview=247ee8fc7b1a0945623c2bb5125fa3bd

After July 28, 2021, view the Baran manuscript and the Dhingra manuscript online.

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