Nanoscale observations simplify how scientists describe earthquake movement

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU

 

IMAGE: GRADUATE STUDENT BINXIN FU, LEFT, AND CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR ROSA ESPINOSA-MARZAL USED MICROSCOPIC-SCALE OBSERVATIONS TO SIMPLIFY HOW SCIENTISTS DESCRIBE MACROSCALE EARTHQUAKE MOVEMENT. view more 

CREDIT: MICHELLE HASSEL

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Using single calcite crystals with varying surface roughness allows engineers to simplify the complex physics that describes fault movement. In a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, researchers show how this simplification may lead to better earthquake prediction.

Scientists describe fault behavior using models based on observational studies that account for the frictional coefficients of rocks and minerals. These “rate-and-state” equations calculate the fault strength, which has implications for earthquake strength and frequency. However, applying these empirical models to earthquake prediction is not practical because of the number of unique variables to be considered for each fault, including the effect of water.

The study, led by civil and environmental engineering professor Rosa Espinosa- Marzal, looks at the relationship between friction and the surface roughness of calcite – one of the most common rock-forming minerals in Earth’s crust – to formulate a more theoretical approach to defining rate-and-state laws.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Our goal is to examine the nanoscale processes that may trigger fault movement,” said Binxin Fu, a CEE graduate student and the first author of the study. “The processes we investigate at the nanoscale are less complex than macroscale processes. Because of this, we aim to use microscopic observations to bridge the gap between the nanoscale and macroscale worlds to describe fault behavior using less complexity.”

The roughness of a mineral crystal depends primarily on its atomic structure. However, the researchers said the rocks in contact zones are scraped, dissolved and annealed as they rub past each other, also affecting their nanoscale texture.

To test how nanoscale mineral roughness can affect fault behavior, the team prepared atomically smooth and rough calcite crystals in dry and wet environments to simulate dry rocks and those containing pore water. Atomic force microscopy measured friction by dragging a tiny, pressure-mounted silicon tip across different crystal surfaces exposed to simulated fault zone conditions: wet surface and smooth calcite; wet surface and rough calcite; dry surface and smooth calcite; and dry surface with rough calcite.

“Friction can increase or decrease with sliding velocity depending on the mineral types and the environment,” Espinosa-Marzal said. “We found that in calcite, friction typically increases with sliding rate along rougher mineral surfaces – and even more in the presence of water. By using data from such a common mineral type and a limited number of contact scenarios, we reduce the analysis’s complexity and provide a fundamental understanding of the rate-and-state equations.”

The team compared its experimental results to studies from natural settings with calcite-containing rock at shallow crustal levels.

“Our results agree with a recent study showing that water lowers the fault strength compared with dry conditions,” Espinosa-Marzal said. ”Our findings are also consistent with another study showing that low–frequency earthquakes tend to occur along wet faults, suggesting that decreased friction – caused by water – may be a mechanism for slow earthquakes in some environments.”

This advance may help seismologists redefine rate-and-state laws to determine where stress is building up in the crust – and give clues to where and when future earthquakes may occur.

The team acknowledges that there are still many other factors to consider, including temperature and the influence of other common crustal minerals such as quartz and mica. The researchers plan to incorporate these variables into future models.

The National Science Foundation supported this study.

Espinosa-Marzal also is a professor of materials science and engineering, and affiliated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the U. of I.

Editor’s notes:

To reach Rosa Espinosa-Marzal, call 217-300-4380; email rosae@illinois.edu.

The paper “Velocity-weakening and -strengthening friction at single and multiasperity contacts with calcite single crystals” is available online and from the U. of I. News Bureau. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112505119

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2112505119 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Velocity-weakening and -strengthening friction at single and multiasperity contacts with calcite single crystals

Smells experienced in nature evoke positive wellbeing

Smells experienced in nature can make us feel relaxed, joyful, and healthy, according to new research led by the University of Kent’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE)

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Smells experienced in nature can make us feel relaxed, joyful, and healthy, according to new research led by the University of Kent’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE).

Smells were found to play an important role in delivering wellbeing benefits from interacting with nature, often with a strong link to people’s personal memories, and specific ecological characteristics and processes (e.g. fallen leaves rotting in the winter).

Nature is known to play an integral role in promoting human health and wellbeing, shown especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, previous research has been limited in investigating which attributes of nature (e.g. smells, sounds, colours) affect human wellbeing and why.

This study published by Ambio (A Journal of Environment and Society) examines the role of smell in influencing wellbeing through nature. Researchers found that smells affected multiple types of human wellbeing, with physical wellbeing noted most frequently, particularly in relation to relaxation, comfort and rejuvenation. Absence of smell was also perceived to improve physical wellbeing, providing a cleansing environment due to the removal of pollution and unwanted smells associated with urban areas, and therefore enabling relaxation. Relaxation reduces stress and lowers cortisol levels, which is often linked to a multitude of diseases, and so these findings could be particularly significant to public health professionals.

The research, carried out in woodland settings across four seasons, also found that smells evoked memories related to childhood activities. Many participants created meaningful connections with particular smells, rather than the woodland itself, and associated this with a memorable event. This, in turn, appeared to influence wellbeing by provoking emotional reactions to the memory.

The study was co-led by Dr Jessica Fisher, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at DICE. She said: ‘Nature is a multisensory experience and our research demonstrates the potential significance of smell for wellbeing.

‘The study provides findings that can inform the work of practitioners, public health specialists, policy-makers and landscape planners looking to improve wellbeing outcomes through nature. Small interventions could lead to public health benefits.’

The research paper titled ‘Nature, smells, and human wellbeing’ is published by Ambio. doi: 10.1007/s13280-022-01760-w

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JOURNAL

AMBIO

DOI

10.1007/s13280-022-01760-w 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Nature, smells, and human wellbeing

Out with a bang: Explosive neutron star merger captured for the first time in millimeter light

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

 

IMAGE: IN A FIRST FOR RADIO ASTRONOMY, SCIENTISTS HAVE DETECTED MILLIMETER-WAVELENGTH LIGHT FROM A SHORT-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURST. THIS ARTIST'S CONCEPTION SHOWS THE MERGER BETWEEN A NEUTRON STAR AND ANOTHER STAR (SEEN AS A DISK, LOWER LEFT) WHICH CAUSED AN EXPLOSION RESULTING IN THE SHORT-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURST, GRB 211106A (WHITE JET, MIDDLE), AND LEFT BEHIND WHAT SCIENTISTS NOW KNOW TO BE ONE OF THE MOST LUMINOUS AFTERGLOWS ON RECORD (SEMI-SPHERICAL SHOCK WAVE MID-RIGHT). WHILE DUST IN THE HOST GALAXY OBSCURED MOST OF THE VISIBLE LIGHT (SHOWN AS COLORS), MILLIMETER LIGHT FROM THE EVENT (DEPICTED IN GREEN) WAS ABLE TO ESCAPE AND REACH THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY (ALMA), GIVING SCIENTISTS AN UNPRECEDENTED VIEW OF THIS COSMIC EXPLOSION. FROM THE STUDY, THE TEAM CONFIRMED THAT GRB 211106A IS ONE OF THE MOST ENERGETIC SHORT-DURATION GRBS EVER OBSERVED. view more 

CREDIT: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. WEISS (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)— an international observatory co-operated by the US National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)— have for the first time recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star. The team also confirmed this flash of light to be one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed, leaving behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record. The results of the research will be published in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest and most energetic explosions in the Universe, capable of emitting more energy in a matter of seconds than our Sun will emit during its entire lifetime. GRB 211106A belongs to a GRB sub-class known as short-duration gamma-ray bursts. These explosions— which scientists believe are responsible for the creation of the heaviest elements in the Universe, such as platinum and gold— result from the catastrophic merger of binary star systems containing a neutron star. “These mergers occur because of gravitational wave radiation that removes energy from the orbit of the binary stars, causing the stars to spiral in toward each other,” said Tanmoy Laskar, who will soon commence work as an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah. “The resulting explosion is accompanied by jets moving at close to the speed of light. When one of these jets is pointed at Earth, we observe a short pulse of gamma-ray radiation or a short-duration GRB.”

A short-duration GRB usually lasts only a few tenths of a second. Scientists then look for an afterglow, an emission of light caused by the interaction of the jets with surrounding gas. Even still, they’re difficult to detect; only half-a-dozen short-duration GRBs have been detected at radio wavelengths, and until now none had been detected in millimeter wavelengths. Laskar, who led the research while an Excellence Fellow at Radboud University in The Netherlands, said that the difficulty is the immense distance to GRBs, and the technological capabilities of telescopes. “Short-duration GRB afterglows are very luminous and energetic. But these explosions take place in distant galaxies which means the light from them can be quite faint for our telescopes on Earth. Before ALMA, millimeter telescopes were not sensitive enough to detect these afterglows.”

At roughly 20 billion light-years from Earth, GRB 211106A is no exception. The light from this short-duration gamma-ray burst was so faint that while early X-ray observations with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory saw the explosion, the host galaxy was undetectable at that wavelength, and scientists weren’t able to determine exactly where the explosion was coming from. “Afterglow light is essential for figuring out which galaxy a burst comes from and for learning more about the burst itself. Initially, when only the X-ray counterpart had been discovered, astronomers thought that this burst might be coming from a nearby galaxy,” said Laskar, adding that a significant amount of dust in the area also obscured the object from detection in optical observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. 

Each wavelength added a new dimension to scientists’ understanding of the GRB, and millimeter, in particular, was critical to uncovering the truth about the burst. “The Hubble observations revealed an unchanging field of galaxies. ALMA’s unparalleled sensitivity allowed us to pinpoint the location of the GRB in that field with more precision, and it turned out to be in another faint galaxy, which is further away. That, in turn, means that this short-duration gamma-ray burst is even more powerful than we first thought, making it one of the most luminous and energetic on record,” said Laskar.

Wen-fai Fong, an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University added, “This short gamma-ray burst was the first time we tried to observe such an event with ALMA. Afterglows for short bursts are very difficult to come by, so it was spectacular to catch this event shining so bright. After many years of observing these bursts, this surprising discovery opens up a new area of study, as it motivates us to observe many more of these with ALMA, and other telescope arrays, in the future.” 

Joe Pesce, National Science Foundation Program Officer for NRAO/ALMA said, “These observations are fantastic on many levels. They provide more information to help us understand the enigmatic gamma-ray bursts (and neutron-star astrophysics in general), and they demonstrate how important and complementary multi-wavelength observations with space- and ground-based telescopes are in understanding astrophysical phenomena.”

And there’s plenty of work still to be done across multiple wavelengths, both with new GRBs and with GRB 211106A, which could uncover additional surprises about these bursts. “The study of short-duration GRBs requires the rapid coordination of telescopes around the world and in space, operating at all wavelengths,” said Edo Berger, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. “In the case of GRB 211106A, we used some of the most powerful telescopes available— ALMA, the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Hubble Space Telescope. With the now-operational James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and future 20-40 meter optical and radio telescopes such as the next generation VLA (ngVLA) we will be able to produce a complete picture of these cataclysmic events and study them at unprecedented distances.”

Laskar added, "With JWST, we can now take a spectrum of the host galaxy and easily know the distance, and in the future, we could also use JWST to capture infrared afterglows and study their chemical composition. With ngVLA, we will be able to study the geometric structure of the afterglows and the star-forming fuel found in their host environments in unprecedented detail. I am excited about these upcoming discoveries in our field.”

Resource

“The First Short GRB Millimeter Afterglow: The Wide-Angled Jet of the Extremely Energetic SGRB 211106A,” Laskar et al (2022), The Astrophysical Journal Letters

About NRAO

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

About ALMA

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

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JOURNAL

The Astrophysical Journal Letters

ARTICLE TITLE

The First Short GRB Millimeter Afterglow: The Wide-Angled Jet of the Extremely Energetic SGRB 211106A

Explosive neutron star merger captured for first time in millimeter light

Flash is one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

 

VIDEO: IN THE FIRST-EVER TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF A SHORT-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURST IN MILLIMETER-WAVELENGTH LIGHT, WE SEE GRB 21106A AS CAPTURED WITH THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY (ALMA). THE MILLIMETER LIGHT SEEN HERE PINPOINTS THE LOCATION OF THE EVENT TO A DISTANT HOST GALAXY IN IMAGES CAPTURED USING THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. THE EVOLUTION OF THE MILLIMETER LIGHT’S BRIGHTNESS PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE ENERGY AND GEOMETRY OF THE JETS PRODUCED IN THE EXPLOSION. view more 

CREDIT: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. LASKAR (UTAH), S. DAGNELLO (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

For the first time, scientists have recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star.

Led by Northwestern University and Radboud University in the Netherlands, the team also confirmed this flash as one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) ever observed, leaving behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record.

Astrophysicists made the discovery with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international observatory operated by the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). Located in the high-altitude Atacama Desert in Chile, the ALMA array comprises 66 radio telescopes, making it the largest radio telescope in the world.

“This short gamma-ray burst was the first time we tried to observe such an event with ALMA,” said Northwestern’s Wen-fai Fong, principal investigator of the ALMA program. “Afterglows for short bursts are very difficult to come by, so it was spectacular to catch this event shining so brightly. After many years observing these bursts, this surprising discovery opens up a new area of study, as it motivates us to observe many more of these with ALMA and other telescope arrays in the future.”

The research will be published in an upcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Fong is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a key member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics(CIERA). Northwestern coauthors include Alicia Rouco Escorial, Genevieve Schroeder, Jillian Rastinejad, Charles Kilpatrick, Kate Alexander and Anya Nugent.

Extreme energy

The brightest and most energetic explosions in the universe, GRBs are capable of emitting more energy in a matter of seconds than our sun will emit during its entire lifetime. In the new study, astrophysicists examined GRB 211106A, which belongs to a GRB subclass known as short-duration gamma ray bursts. Responsible for creating the heaviest elements in the universe, such as platinum and gold, these explosions result from a catastrophic merger of binary star systems containing at least one neutron star.

“These mergers are excellent sources of gravitational waves, making them premier multi-messenger cosmic sources that can be observed with gravitational waves and light,” Fong said. “While this GRB was out of the range of current gravitational wave observatories, we were still able to mobilize several observatories to capture its light in the millimeter, radio and X-ray wavelengths.”

“These mergers occur because of gravitational wave radiation that removes energy from the orbit of the binary stars, causing the stars to spiral in toward each other,” said the study’s lead author Tanmoy Laskar, an Excellence Fellow at Radboud University. “The resulting explosion is accompanied by jets moving at close to the speed of light. When one of these jets is pointed at Earth, we observe a short pulse of gamma-ray radiation or a short-duration GRB.”

The importance of millimeters

A short-duration GRB usually lasts only a few tenths of a second. After it fades, scientists look for an afterglow, an emission of light caused by the interaction of the jets with surrounding gas. Even still, short-duration GRBs are difficult to detect. Only half a dozen short-duration GRBs have been detected at radio wavelengths, and, until now, none had been detected in millimeter wavelengths. 

“Millimeter wavelengths can tell us about the density of the environment around the GRB,” said Schroeder, study coauthor and graduate student in Fong’s research group. “And, when combined with the X-rays, they can tell us about the true energy of the explosion. Because emission at millimeter wavelengths can be detected for a longer time than in X-rays, the millimeter emission also can be used to determine the width of the GRB jet.”

“What makes GRB 211106A so special is it’s not only the first short-duration GRB that we detected in this wavelength, but also, thanks to the millimeter and radio detection, we could measure the opening angle of the jet,” added Rouco Escorial, study coauthor and postdoctoral fellow in CIERA. “The millimeter and radio bands provided us with information we needed to measure the jet opening angle. This is essential to infer the real rates of short GRBs in our universe and to compare them with the rates of binary neutron star or neutron star and black hole mergers.”

Because GRB 211106A occurred when the universe was just 40% of its current age, the light was particularly faint. Although NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory detected the explosion with X-ray observations, the host galaxy was undetectable at that wavelength, leaving scientists unable to determine exactly where the explosion was coming from. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope detected optical and infrared light from the host galaxy, while ALMA detected millimeter light from the afterglow. Each wavelength added a new dimension to scientists’ understanding of the GRB, and millimeter, in particular, was critical to uncovering the truth about the burst. 

“The Hubble observations revealed an unchanging field of galaxies,” Laskar said. “ALMA’s unparalleled sensitivity allowed us to pinpoint the location of the GRB in that field with more precision, and it turned out to be in another faint galaxy, which is further away. That, in turn, means that this short-duration gamma-ray burst is even more powerful than we first thought, making it one of the most luminous and energetic on record.”

“ALMA shatters the playing field in terms of its capabilities at millimeter wavelengths and has enabled us to see the faint, dynamic universe in this type of light for the first time,” Fong said. “After a decade of observing short GRBs, it is truly amazing to witness the power of using these new technologies to unwrap surprise gifts from the universe.”

The study, “The first short GRB millimeter afterglow: The wide-angled jet of the extremely energetic SGRB 211106A,” was supported by the National Science Foundation (award numbers AST-1814782, AST-1909358 and AST-2047919), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and NASA (award numbers NNM11AA01A and GO1-22059X).

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JOURNAL

The Astrophysical Journal Letters

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Yale-developed technology restores cell, organ function in pigs after death

Peer-Reviewed Publication

YALE UNIVERSITY

New Haven, Conn. — Within minutes of the final heartbeat, a cascade of biochemical events triggered by a lack of blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients begins to destroy a body’s cells and organs. But a team of Yale scientists has found that massive and permanent cellular failure doesn’t have to happen so quickly. Using a new technology they developed that delivers a specially designed cell-protective fluid to organs and tissues, the researchers restored blood circulation and other cellular functions in pigs a full hour after their deaths, they report in the Aug. 3 edition of the journal Nature. The findings may help extend the health of human organs during surgery and expand availability of donor organs, the authors said. “All cells do not die immediately, there is a more protracted series of events,” said David Andrijevic, associate research scientist in neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine and co-lead author of the study. “It is a process in which you can intervene, stop, and restore some cellular function.” The research builds upon an earlier Yale-led project that restored circulation and certain cellular functions in the brain of a dead pig with technology dubbed BrainEx. Published in 2019, that study and the new one were led by the lab of Yale’s Nenad Sestan, the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neuroscience and professor of comparative medicine, genetics, and psychiatry.  “If we were able to restore certain cellular functions in the dead brain, an organ known to be most susceptible to ischemia [inadequate blood supply], we hypothesized that something similar could also be achieved in other vital transplantable organs,” Sestan said. In the new study — which involved senior author Sestan and colleagues Andrijevic, Zvonimir Vrselja, Taras Lysyy, and Shupei Zhang, all from Yale — the researchers applied a modified version of BrainEx called OrganEx to the whole pig. The technology consists of a perfusion device similar to heart-lung machines — which do the work of the heart and lungs during surgery — and an experimental fluid containing compounds that can promote cellular health and suppress inflammation throughout the pig’s body. Cardiac arrest was induced in anesthetized pigs, which were treated with OrganEx an hour after death. Six hours after treatment with OrganEx, the scientists found that certain key cellular functions were active in many areas of the pigs’ bodies — including in the heart, liver, and kidneys — and that some organ function had been restored. For instance, they found evidence of electrical activity in the heart, which retained the ability to contract. “We were also able to restore circulation throughout the body, which amazed us,” Sestan said. Normally when the heart stops beating, organs begin to swell, collapsing blood vessels and blocking circulation, he said. Yet circulation was restored and organs in the deceased pigs that received OrganEx treatment appeared functional at the level of cells and tissue. “Under the microscope, it was difficult to tell the difference between a healthy organ and one which had been treated with OrganEx technology after death,” Vrselja said. As in the 2019 experiment, the researchers also found that cellular activity in some areas of the brain had been restored, though no organized electrical activity that would indicate consciousness was detected during any part of the experiment. The team was especially surprised to observe involuntary and spontaneous muscular movements in the head and neck areas when they evaluated the treated animals, which remained anesthetized through the entire six-hour experiment. These movements indicate the preservation of some motor functions, Sestan said. The researchers stressed that additional studies are necessary to understand the apparently restored motor functions in the animals, and that rigorous ethical review from other scientists and bioethicists is required. The experimental protocols for the latest study were approved by Yale’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and guided by an external advisory and ethics committee. The OrganEx technology could eventually have several potential applications, the authors said. For instance, it could extend the life of organs in human patients and expand the availability of donor organs for transplant. It might also be able to help treat organs or tissue damaged by ischemia during heart attacks or strokes. “There are numerous potential applications of this exciting new technology,” said Stephen Latham, director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. “However, we need to maintain careful oversight of all future studies, particularly any that include perfusion of the brain.” The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute of Mental Health. This work was supported by the NIH grants MH117064, MH117064-01S1, R21DK128662, T32GM136651, F30HD106694, and Schmidt Futures.

 

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-022-05016-1 

ARTICLE TITLE

Cellular Recovery After Prolonged Warm Ischemia of the Whole Body

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Aug-2022

MAKE MEDICINE A TRADE/CRAFT

Primary care doctors would need more than 24 hours/day to provide recommended care

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICAL CENTER

Following national recommendation guidelines for preventive, chronic disease and acute care would take a primary care physician 26.7 hours per day to see an average number of patients, a new study finds.

That breaks down to 14.1 hours/day for preventive care, 7.2 hours/day for chronic disease care, 2.2 hours/day for acute care, and 3.2 hours/day for documentation and inbox management.

The research, conducted by the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, and Imperial College London, used a simulation study to compute time per patient based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

“There is this sort of disconnect between the care we’ve been trained to give and the constraints of a clinic workday,” said Justin Porter, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and lead author of the paper. “We have an ever-increasing set of guidelines, but clinic slots have not increased proportionately.”

The study also looked at physician time as part of a team, where nurses, physician assistants, counselors and others help to deliver recommended care.

It found that team-based care reduced the time a physician needed to deliver care to 9.3 hours/day, broken into 2.0 hours/day for preventive care, 3.6 hours/day for chronic disease care, 1.1 hours/day for acute care, and 2.6 hours/day for documentation and inbox management.

“Team-based care is a movement that has been around in medicine for a while and has gathered steam more recently,” said Porter. “Doctors do not give care in a vacuum. There are other extremely important members of the healthcare team that are working together and often independently to provide care for patients. This is a huge opportunity and partial solution to the time constraints currently faced in medical care.”

The study, “Revisiting the Time Needed to Provide Adult Primary Care,” is published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Adding to the evidence

This new study joins and builds on others that have found a discrepancy between guidelines and a physician’s time.

In 2003, a Duke University study estimated it would take a primary care physician 7.4 hours/day to provide preventive care for an average-sized patient population, while a 2005 study from Mount Sinai found it would take 8.6 hours/day. A complementary study from Duke in 2005 calculated an additional 10.6 hours/day to manage the Top 10 chronic diseases. Together, that indicates a doctor would need at least 18 hours/day to provide both preventive and chronic care.

The new study went one step further by including all types of care a primary care physician provides – preventive, acute, and chronic – as well as administrative tasks, and accounted for changes to the guidelines that have occurred since the earlier studies were published. It also used a different methodology, employing real patient data from an annual national survey to calculate its results. The earlier studies used hypothetical patient populations based on the U.S. population.

“When you're dealing with real people, you have more complexity to the data. A person may have multi-morbidity, or several chronic diseases at once,” said Porter. “That patient would be treated differently than a hypothetical, average patient. This leads to more comprehensive and precise calculations.”

The study’s data on team-based care also expanded the information available on time constraints for primary care physicians.

The researchers used the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model to develop the estimates for team-based care. The model allows physicians to focus on advanced care and brings in specialized medical professionals to take over other areas. Dietitians, for instance, would handle nutritional counseling for patients with diabetes or obesity, a time-intensive task. Overall, the researchers determined that 65% of primary care services could be handled by other team members.

More time, better care

Moving to a team-care model would require systemic changes to the way Americans pay for care. Currently, payment for many counseling services depends on patients having a qualifying disease. Yet the benefits of team-based care make the effort worth it, the researchers say.

The time pressure that physicians face has real consequences for the delivery of healthcare. According to the researchers, time constraints are a key factor in physician burnout, one of the drivers pushing medical students from the field.

For patients, the researchers say, time pressure helps explain why improvements in outcomes have not kept pace with advances made in the field. It plays a role in inequities in health care, with vulnerable populations typically receiving care at overburdened clinics. It also has an impact on patient satisfaction.

“If you do surveys with patients about what frustrates them about their medical care, you’ll frequently hear, 'My doctor doesn’t spend time with me’ or ‘My doctor doesn’t follow up,’” said Porter. “I think a lot of times this is interpreted as a lack of empathy, or a lack of willingness to care for a patient. But the reality – for the majority of doctors – is simply a lack of time.”

Additional authors include Neda Laiteerapong, MD, MS, University of Chicago; Cynthia Boyd, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; and M. Reza Skandari, PhD, Imperial College Business School, London.

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JOURNAL

Journal of General Internal Medicine

DOI

10.1007/s11606-022-07707-x 

ARTICLE TITLE

Revisiting the Time Needed to Provide Adult Primary Care

Children with rare genetic disorders more likely to be (MIS) diagnosed with developmental, behavioural and mental health problems

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

A major study of children with intellectual disabilities has highlighted the additional challenges that they often face, including a much-increased likelihood of being diagnosed as autistic, as well as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other mental health difficulties.

With the advent of rapid whole genome sequencing, children presenting with an intellectual disability or developmental delay are recommended to have their DNA sequenced to identify the underlying genetic cause.

To capitalise on this recent NHS development, researchers at the University of Cambridge, University College London and Cardiff University established IMAGINE ID, a national UK cohort study that aims to discover how genetic changes affect children and young people’s behaviour, in order to inform better care of families and children now and in the future.

Writing in The Lancet Psychiatry today, the researchers have published the results of an analysis of data from almost 2,800 young people with rare genomic variants – changes to their DNA – that are associated with intellectual disability.

Professor Lucy Raymond from the University of Cambridge, the study’s senior author, said: “Thanks to all the families that have taken part in our research, we’ve been able to conduct the largest study to date of the impact of rare genetic variants associated with intellectual disability. What we’ve found from parents is that these children are extremely likely to develop other neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions, which can present additional challenges both to the children and their families.”

All the participants were aged between four and 19 years. Just under three-quarters (74%) had an intellectual disability caused by a duplication or deletion of sections of DNA – a so-called copy number variant (CNV). The remaining young people had a disability caused by a single ‘spelling error’ in their DNA – a change in the A, C, G or T nucleotides – referred to as a single nucleotide variant (SNV).

Compared to the English national population, children in the study were almost 30 times as likely to have been diagnosed as autistic. In the general population, 1.2% of people are diagnosed with the condition compared to 36% of the study participants. Similarly, 22% of the study population were diagnosed with ADHD, compared to 1.6% of the general population, meaning that they were more than 13 times more likely to have the condition.

Around one in eight children (12%) had been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, in which children are uncooperative, defiant, and hostile toward others – a rate 4.4 times higher than in the general population.

One in ten (11%) had an anxiety disorder, a 1.5 times increased risk. Rates of childhood depression were significantly lower, at just 0.4% compared with 2.1% of the general population, but this may increase over the next few years as some mental health disorders do not start until later adolescence or early adult life. Almost all of the children (94%) were reported to have at least one significant physical health problem, including disturbed sleep (65%), motor or movement disorders (64%) or seizures (30%).

Dr Jeanne Wolstencroft from Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, said: “Routine genomic testing now allows parents to understand the genetic cause of intellectual disabilities in an increasing number of children but, because so many of these conditions are rare, we still lack information on the impact this has on their children’s future mental health.

“We already know that intellectual disabilities tend to be associated with an increased likelihood of neurodevelopmental conditions, as well as emotional and behavioural difficulties, but we found that where there is an identifiable genetic cause, the likelihood is amplified considerably. This suggests that these children should be provided with early assessment and help where appropriate.”

The team has also shown for the first time that children with intellectual disability caused by a genetic variant inherited from a family member, are more likely to come from a more deprived socioeconomic background. This suggests that some parents or family members with the same variant may also have unrecognised difficulties that placed them at a social and educational disadvantage. These children were more likely to be diagnosed with a neuropsychiatric condition and were also more likely to exhibit behavioural difficulties.

Professor David Skuse from Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, said: “We hope this work helps improve the targeting of assessments and interventions to support families at the earliest opportunity. We’d like to see better training for health care providers about the wider use and utility of genetic testing. We have identified its potential value in terms of prioritising children with mental health needs for child mental health services, who are currently hugely limited in the UK.”

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council (part of UK Research & Innovation) and the Medical Research Foundation. Additional support was provided by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Resource Centre and the NIHR GOSH BRC.

Reference
Wolstencroft, J et al. Neuropsychiatric risk in children with intellectual disability of genetic origin: IMAGINE - The UK National Cohort Study. Lancet Psychiatry; 4 Aug 2022; DOI: 10.1016/PIIS2215-0366(22)00207-3

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JOURNAL

The Lancet Psychiatry

DOI

10.1016/PIIS2215-0366(22)00207-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Neuropsychiatric risk in children with intellectual disability of genetic origin: IMAGINE - The UK National Cohort Study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-Aug-2022

Händel Animal Welfare Prize 2022 for the use of alternatives to animal experiments in research on tumors and barrier organs

DFG awards Michael Karl Melzer and the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R) / Award ceremony scheduled for 13 October in Münster

Grant and Award Announcement

DEUTSCHE FORSCHUNGSGEMEINSCHAFT

The physician Dr. Michael Karl Melzer of the University of Ulm and the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R), based at the Fraunhofer Translational Center Regenerative Therapies and the University of Würzburg, are to receive the Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize 2022 from DFG. Endowed with a total of €80,000, the prize is now being awarded for the ninth time to researchers who have brought about improvements in animal welfare in research based on the 3Rs principle. The three Rs stand for Replace, Reduce and Refine

While Michael Karl Melzer  is an early-career physician involved in both clinical work and scientific research, the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R) is made up of a long-established team of scientists, namely Dr. Antje Appelt-Menzel, Dr. Gudrun Dandekar, Dr. Florian Groeber-Becker, Dr. Christian Lotz, assistant professor Dr. Marco Metzger, Dr. Maria Steinke and Dr. Daniela Zdzieblo.

“As a result of Michael Karl Melzer’s research findings, the use of experimental mice can be significantly reduced and replaced at several levels in the future, particularly in cancer research. His method is impressive in its simplicity and in view of the resulting ease with which it can be transferred into practice,” said the chair of the DFG Senate Commission for Animal Protection and Experimentation, Professor Dr. Brigitte Vollmar, who is also a member of the Händel Animal Welfare Prize jury. “The scientists involved in the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R) have spent years involved in the development of several tissue models to replace animal experiments for use not just in research but also in the pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic industries. The team’s success is reflected in an impressive number of publications, patents and projects.”

Michael Karl Melzer impressed the jury with his proposal to reduce the consumption of so-called basement membrane matrix such as Matrigel by using pig bladder, which is not generally processed for the production of meat in Germany. Basement membrane matrices are used for research into embryonic development and tumour formation, for example. They are produced in mice by transplanting tumour cells. Melzer was able to show in his studies that both pancreatic organoids and pancreatic carcinoma organoids can grow very well on pig bladder. Previously it was necessary to transplant the carcinoma cells into experimental mice for this purpose. Melzer aims to primarily use his prize money to advance his research in these areas.

He studied medicine at the Technical University of Munich and obtained his doctorate there in 2020. Since 2019 he has worked as an assistant physician at the Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology at the University Hospital of Ulm. In addition to his clinical work, he has already published eight papers as a postdoc – an outstanding achievement given his career stage. Melzer is currently doing research into stem cell-based systems to better understand cancer development in the pancreas.

In its application, the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R) presented the development and application of six in vitro models of the barrier organs skin, cornea, intestine, blood-brain barrier and lung as well as solid tumours: these serve to implement the “replacement” element of the 3R concept. The models are already widely used in infection and cancer research, for example, as well as in the testing of cosmetics, food supplements and medical products such as drugs and vaccinations. With the prize money, the team will seek to establish a 3R network, initiate scientific meetings and sponsor small-scale projects.

For more than ten years, the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R) has been working on the highly complex modelling of disease processes and the testing of drug effects in ways which avoid animal experiments. One common underlying feature here is the goal of mimicking barrier functions of the body in vitro. The results achieved are of high technical quality and relevance to the application, as evidenced by a large number of publications in renowned international journals.

The prize winner and the prize-winning group were selected from among twelve applicants. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held on 13 October as part of an Animal Welfare Day, which is being organised by the University of Münster.

The Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize was instigated by its eponymous benefactress. Over a period of decades, Ursula M. Händel (1915-2011) from Düsseldorf engaged in a range of different activities to campaign for animal welfare. Among other things, she founded the Bonn Working Group for Animal Protection Law and was involved in the amendment of the Animal Protection Act. Händel provided the DFG with funds for the Animal Welfare Prize based on her deep commitment to animal welfare in science and research. The highest-endowed research prize of its kind in Germany, it is awarded every two years.

Information on the prize, Ursula M. Händel and the prize winners at:

www.dfg.de/haendel-preis

Programme contact at the DFG Head Office:

Dr. Paulin Wendler, Life Sciences 1, Tel. +49 228 885-3155, paulin.wendler@dfg.de

THINK Academia, the world’s first global initiative against bullying in the academic community

Business Announcement

CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS PVT. LTD.

Today Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a science communications and technology company, launched ‘THINK Academia’, an initiative that envisions a global academic culture that is free from all forms of bullying. THINK stands for Thoughtful, Humane, Inclusive, Nurturing, and Kind­— all the qualities that we believe are necessary to create a better, safer, and more welcoming work environment for researchers globally.

Commenting on this initiative, Abhishek Goel, CEO & Co-founder, CACTUS said, “The CACTUS Mental Health Survey was only the beginning of our quest to support researchers and the academic community. Over the past few years, a growing body of evidence has pointed to an alarming incidence of bullying within academia and academic institutions. To address this issue and bring it to the fore, CACTUS is launching the THINK Academia initiative. We believe that the vast majority of researchers are willing to declare their support for best practices and also fully inform themselves on what constitutes academic bullying. THINK Academia will work towards creating a better academia – one where bullying is no longer ignored.”

In 2020, the CACTUS Mental Health Survey – with over 13,000 responses from researchers globally –found that over one-third (37%) of survey respondents had experienced some form of bullying or discrimination at the workplace. Also, nearly 40% of respondents indicated that their organizations lacked stringent policies to avert or act against such hostile behaviours in the workplace. The data further showed that bullying is one of the major factors negatively affecting the mental health and wellbeing of researchers.

One of the main goals of THINK Academia is to spread awareness on what academic bullying looks like, including certain acts and behaviours that might be subtle, non-verbal, and invisible. We are encouraging researchers and academics to embody more positive behaviour, to lead with kindness and empathy in their interactions, and to be more mindful of their actions and behaviour. CACTUS is also urging academic institutions to create safer channels of communication and to implement policies that prioritize their people’s safety, health, and holistic wellbeing.

This initiative is calling several stakeholders within academia, including individual researchers and academics, universities, research institutions, academic societies, research-related organizations, and others, to sign the THINK Academia pledge and join us in our mission towards creating a global academic culture that is free from bullying.

To extend your support and get involved, sign the THINK Academia Pledge today – https://cactusglobal.com/think-academia
 

About Cactus Communications

Founded in 2002, Cactus Communications (cactusglobal.com) is a science communications and technology company. CACTUS solves problems for researchers, universities, publishers, academic societies, and life science organizations through innovative products and services developed under the brands Editage, Cactus Life Sciences, Researcher.Life, Impact Science, UNSILO, Paperpal and Cactus Labs. CACTUS has offices in Princeton, London, Aarhus, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and Mumbai; a global workforce of over 3,000 experts; and customers from over 190 countries. CACTUS is considered a pioneer in its workplace best practices and has been consistently ranked a great place to work over the last several years.