Disease ecologist investigates ‘stealthy’ pathogen in Iraq

$3 million Department of Defense grant supports study of brucellosis, a highly infectious disease of humans and livestock

Grant and Award Announcement

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JEFF FOSTER OF NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY’S PATHOGEN AND MICROBIOME INSTITUTE RECENTLY LAUNCHED A NEW EFFORT TO STUDY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN HUMANS AND LIVESTOCK IN IRAQ. view more 

CREDIT: NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

Funded through a $3 million grant awarded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, associate professor Jeff Foster of Northern Arizona University’s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute recently launched a new effort to study one of the most important infectious diseases in humans and livestock in Iraq.

Although the disease was eradicated long ago in the U.S., Canada and parts of Western Europe, brucellosis—caused by the highly infectious bacteria Brucella—remains among the leading communicable diseases worldwide, infecting an estimated 500,000 people and millions of animals each year, including cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and camels. As in many other developing regions, the disease poses a substantial public health burden In the Middle East, resulting in long-term illness in humans and significant economic loss in livestock production.

“The disease is highly prevalent in Iraq and across the region, where animals are extremely valuable to farmers and local economies,” Foster said. “Although livestock can be cured, it takes weeks and sometimes months of antibiotic treatment, which is not economically feasible. The animals become infertile because of the disease, causing a devastating loss of production. Farmers can’t afford to slaughter animals with brucellosis. It causes problems when they try to sell meat and dairy products that have Brucella—and then it puts people at risk for infection.”

Because the disease is widespread, difficult to effectively control, and highly infectious, some Brucella are  classified as Category B bioterrorism agents by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Foster believes brucellosis poses a more significant risk than all the other diseases on the bioterrorism list combined, including anthrax, plague and tularemia, simply because it is so common worldwide.

Team will work with collaborators across Iraq

Foster, whose research focuses on pathogen evolution and disease ecology in wildlife, chiefly bats and birds, is the principal investigator on the three-year project, “Phylogeography of Brucellosis in Iraq.” He will collaborate with Talima Pearson, associate research professor in NAU’s Department of Biological Sciences, and an Iraqi graduate student from the University of Kufa who will join the team at NAU’s Flagstaff campus.

Other collaborators at the University of Kufa as well as Anna Gibson and Jason Farlow from contractor SciLore LLC will work with veterinarians and physicians at select farms, clinics and health agencies in country, collecting samples and conducting genomic sequencing. The DNA testing will help the scientists understand how infected livestock transmit the disease to people and to each other and how to control the disease in both human and animal populations.

“I'm really excited for this work in Iraq,” Foster said. “One of the keys to a successful project is finding really good collaborators to work with. That's what happened here. I'm excited by the disease, I'm excited by the Iraqi and U.S. collaborators. It’s a really important disease, and it's worth this type of investment by the government. One of DTRA’s goals is to help researchers in countries like Iraq by providing training and assist with research on infectious diseases—mostly focusing on the scary ones like brucellosis,” Foster said.

The team will train researchers on the latest techniques in microbiological and epidemiological research, biosafety and genomic analyses as well as tracking the pathogen, which Foster calls a ‘stealthy’ pathogen. “It's a pretty cool bug,” he said. “There are particular cells in the body that attack pathogens, and in the case of Brucella, it gets inside the cells that are sent to attack it, so other immune cells can't find it.”

Approach based on ‘One Health’ concept

The team hypothesizes that the incidence of brucellosis in Iraq is underreported. They also believe that the strains of the pathogen are genetically heterogeneous, but with distinct, detectable lineages. By sequencing Brucella DNA, they will utilize genomic epidemiology to better understand its prevalence, risk factors, genetic diversity, geographic distribution and transmission.

“Our approach is framed by the ‘One Health’ concept to monitor and control public health threats,” Foster said. “One Health is the idea that human health is inextricably linked to animal health and environmental health, and that we can't treat humans in isolation because our health is interconnected to the health of our animals and the environment. COVID-19 is a great example. We now think of it as a human disease, but it actually originated in wildlife. And if we better understood how the disease was circulating in animals and the environment, we may have known a lot more about how it could potentially affect humans.”

To understand One Health connections among humans, animals and their shared environment, the researchers will use high-resolution genetic subtyping of Brucella samples collected from human and animal populations, including nomadic populations, as well as dairy products from commercial and private farms in Iraq. Their overall objective is to strengthen biosurveillance of brucellosis in human and animal populations in Iraq.

“Ultimately,” Foster said, “we want to develop interdisciplinary in-country epidemiological capacity within Iraq that is self-sustaining.”

Foster is also working on another study of brucellosis in Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, and will use a very similar approach with this project in Iraq, building on the findings of his previous research.

About Northern Arizona University

Founded in 1899, Northern Arizona University is a higher-research institution providing exceptional educational opportunities and outcomes in Arizona and beyond. NAU delivers a student-centered experience to its nearly 30,000 students in Flagstaff, statewide and online through rigorous academic programs in a supportive, inclusive and diverse environment. As a community-engaged engine of opportunity, NAU powers social impact and economic mobility for the students and communities it serves. The university's longstanding history of educating and partnering with diverse students and communities throughout Arizona is enhanced by its recent designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Dedicated, world-renowned faculty and staff help ensure students achieve academic excellence, experience personal growth, have meaningful research and experiential learning opportunities and are positioned for personal and professional success. Located on the Colorado Plateau, in one of the highest-ranked college towns in the country, the NAU Flagstaff Mountain Campus is truly a jewel of the Southwest.

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Atmospheric scientists study under-researched role of clouds in regulating Earth’s temperature

Yunsoo Choi uses data from TRACER, a meteorological experiment in Houston

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

 

IMAGE: RESEARCH BY YUNSOO CHOI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, COULD BE USED BY CLIMATE SCIENTISTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF CLOUDS ON THE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

When you look up at the sky and examine the color and shape of the clouds, you can likely judge whether rain is on the way. Not only do clouds release showers, snow, hail and other kinds of precipitation, but they also hold crucial information to better understand the earth’s climate.

University of Houston Associate Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Yunsoo Choi is studying the interaction between clouds and aerosols, the tiny particles that comprise clouds, and how cloud formation and location in the atmosphere maintains the earth’s temperature. Choi was awarded a $550,728 grant from the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to fund his and his graduate students’ work over the next three years.

“Clouds cover about 70% of the earth’s surface,” said Choi, a faculty member in the UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “They are one of the most essential components of the global climate system because of their regulation of surface precipitation and the atmosphere's radiation balance.”

Radiation balance is the difference between the amount of solar radiation absorbed by earth and the amount released by earth back to space. Different types of clouds can have varying radiative impacts. For example, a large, convective cloud stacked high in the sky may reflect a good amount of sunlight back to space, whereas a shallow, thin cloud in the troposphere may not.

Choi and his group will further investigate how aerosols form these clouds. He explains aerosols can be inorganic, made up of sulfates, nitrates or ammonium, or they can be organic components like black carbon and soil particles.

Aerosols are chemically complicated. Water vapor condenses on their surface and forms cloud condensing nuclei, which are essentially the seeds that grow clouds.

“The formation of cloud droplets typically cannot occur without aerosols,” said Choi’s atmospheric science doctoral student Ali Mousavinezhad. “Clouds strongly affect the Earth's energy balance by trapping heat near the surface and reflecting solar radiation back to space.”

Their method includes data from Department of Energy-funded Atmospheric Radiation Measurement’s TRacking Aerosol Convection Interaction ExpeRiment involving UH researchers. The experiment seeks to answer the question of whether pollution makes thunderstorms more severe by gathering data from storms in the Houston area.

Choi’s method also includes utilizing data from an aerosol-cloud interaction targeted modeling system.

“For me, the most interesting aspect of this project is the combination of a modeling system with the dataset from an ongoing campaign, happening right here in our backyard,” said Arman Pouyaei, an atmospheric science doctoral student in Choi’s group. “The idea is to use this dataset in a novel technical approach. We hope to learn important lessons about the capabilities of current modeling frameworks in representing the impacts of aerosols on cloud formation and climate change.”

Through the team’s novel technical approaches, they hope to share information on clouds to climate scientists.

“Climate change is primarily discussed in terms of greenhouse gases,” said Mousavinezhad. “By the end of this project, we will gain a deeper understanding of how aerosols as air pollutants influence cloud formation and our planet's climate, which I am very excited about."

New laser-based instrument designed to boost hydrogen research

Advance could lead to more environmentally friendly rocket fuels

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OPTICA

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS DEVELOPED AN ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT THAT USES AN ULTRAFAST LASER FOR PRECISE TEMPERATURE AND CONCENTRATION MEASUREMENTS OF HYDROGEN. THEY USED IT TO STUDY THE HYDROGEN FLAME SHOWN HERE. view more 

CREDIT: ALEXIS BOHLIN, LULEÅ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed an analytical instrument that uses an ultrafast laser for precise temperature and concentration measurements of hydrogen. Their new approach could help advance the study of greener hydrogen-based fuels for use in spacecraft and airplanes.

“This instrument will provide powerful capabilities to probe dynamical processes such as diffusion, mixing, energy transfer and chemical reactions,” said research team leader Alexis Bohlin from Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. “Understanding these processes is fundamental to developing more environmentally friendly propulsion engines.”

In the Optica Publishing Group journal Optics Express, Bohlin and colleagues from Delft University of Technology and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, both in the Netherlands, describe their new coherent Raman spectroscopy instrument for studying hydrogen. It was made possible due to a setup that converts broadband light from a laser with short (femtosecond) pulses into extremely short supercontinuum pulses, which contain a wide range of wavelengths.

The researchers demonstrated that this supercontinuum generation could be performed behind the same type of thick optical window found on high-pressure chambers used to study a hydrogen-based engine. This is important because other methods for generating ultrabroadband excitation don’t work when these types of optical windows are present.

“Hydrogen-rich fuel, when made from renewable resources, could have a huge impact on reducing emissions and make a significant contribution to alleviating anthropogenic climate change,” said Bohlin. “Our new method could be used to study these fuels under conditions that closely resemble those in rocket and aerospace engines.”

The researchers developed a way to perform supercontinuum generation behind the same type of thick optical window found on high-pressure chambers used to study a hydrogen-based engine. Other methods for generating ultrabroadband excitation don’t work when these types of optical windows are present.

CREDIT

Alexis Bohlin, Luleå University of Technology

Getting light in

There is much interest in developing aerospace engines that run on renewable hydrogen-rich fuels. In addition to their sustainability appeal, these fuels have among the highest achievable specific impulse—a measure of how efficiently the chemical reaction in an engine creates thrust. However, it has been very challenging to make hydrogen-based chemical propulsion systems reliable. This is because the increased reactivity of hydrogen-rich fuels substantially changes the fuel mixture combustion properties, which increases the flame temperature and decreases ignition delay times. Also, combustion in rocket engines is generally very challenging to control because of the extremely high pressures and high temperatures encountered when traveling to space.

“The advancement of technology for sustainable launch and aerospace propulsion systems relies on a coherent interplay between experiments and modeling,” said Bohlin. “However, several challenges still exist in terms of producing reliable quantitative data for validating the models.”

One of the hurdles is that the experiments are usually run in an enclosed space with limited transmission of optical signals in-and-out through optical windows. This window can cause the supercontinuum pulses needed for coherent Raman spectroscopy to become stretched out as they go through the glass. To overcome this problem, the researchers developed a way to transmit femtosecond pulsed laser through a thick optical window and then used a process called laser induced filamentation to transform it into supercontinuum pulses that remain coherent on the other side.

For the new technique, the researchers developed a way to transmit a femtosecond pulsed laser through a thick optical window and then used a process called laser induced filamentation to expand it into a supercontinuum pulse that remains coherent. The range wavelengths in the expanded pulse is pictured.

CREDIT

Alexis Bohlin, Luleå University of Technology

Studying a hydrogen flame

To demonstrate the new instrument, the researchers set up a femtosecond laser beam with the ideal properties for supercontinuum generation. They then used it to perform coherent Raman spectroscopy by exciting hydrogen molecules and measuring their rotational transitions. They were able to demonstrate robust measurements of hydrogen gas over a wide range of temperatures and concentrations and also analyzed a hydrogen/air diffusion flame similar to what would be seen when a hydrogen-rich fuel is burned.

The researchers are now using their instrument to perform a detailed analysis in a turbulent hydrogen flame in hopes of making new discoveries about the combustion process. With a goal of adopting the method for research and testing of rocket engines, the scientists are exploring the limitations of the technique and would like to test it with hydrogen flames in an enclosed slightly pressurized housing.

Paper: F. Mazza, A. Stutvoet, L. Castellanos, D. Kliukin, A. Bohlin, “Coherent Raman spectroscopy on hydrogen with in-situ generation, in-situ use, and in-situ referencing of the ultrabroadband excitation,” Opt. Express, 30, 20, 35232-35245 (2022).

DOI: 10.1364/OE.456817.

About Optics Express

Optics Express reports on scientific and technology innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics. The bi-weekly journal provides rapid publication of original, peer-reviewed papers. It is published by Optica Publishing Group and led by Editor-in-Chief James Leger of the University of Minnesota, USA. Optics Express is an open-access journal and is available at no cost to readers online.  For more information, visit Optics Express.

About Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA)

Optica Publishing Group is a division of Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide. It publishes the largest collection of peer-reviewed content in optics and photonics, including 18 prestigious journals, the society’s flagship member magazine, and papers from more than 835 conferences, including 6,500+ associated videos. With over 400,000 journal articles, conference papers and videos to search, discover and access, Optica Publishing Group represents the full range of research in the field from around the globe.

Hydrogen flame analysis (VIDEO)

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JOURNAL

Optics Express

DOI

10.1364/OE.456817 

ARTICLE TITLE

Coherent Raman spectroscopy on hydrogen with in-situ generation, in-situ use, and in-situ referencing of the ultrabroadband excitation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Sep-2022

The blood stem cell research that could change medicine of the future

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

 

IMAGE: THE MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE THAT EMULATED AN EMBRYO'S HEARTBEAT AND BLOOD CIRCULATION. THE CELL SEEDING CHANNELS ARE INDICATED BY RED FOOD DYE, WHILE THE HEART VENTRICULAR CONTRACTION CONTROL CHANNELS AND CIRCULATION VALVE CONTROL CHANNELS ARE INDICATED BY BLUE AND GREEN FOOD DYE RESPECTIVELY. view more 

CREDIT: JINGJING LI, UNSW SYDNEY

Biomedical engineers and medical researchers at UNSW Sydney have independently made discoveries about embryonic blood stem cell creation that could one day eliminate the need for blood stem cell  donors.

The achievements are part of a move in regenerative medicine towards the use of ‘induced pluripotent stem cells’ to treat disease, where stem cells are reverse engineered from adult tissue cells rather than using live human or animal embryos.

But while we have known about induced pluripotent stem cells since 2006, scientists still have plenty to learn about how cell differentiation in the human body can be mimicked artificially and safely in the lab for the purposes of delivering targeted medical treatment.

Two studies have emerged from UNSW researchers in this area that shine new light on not only how the precursors to blood stem cells occur in animals and humans, but how they may be induced artificially.

In a study published today in Cell Reports, researchers from UNSW School of Biomedical Engineering demonstrated how a simulation of an embryo’s beating heart using a microfluidic device in the lab led to the development of human blood stem cell ‘precursors’, which are stem cells on the verge of becoming blood stem cells.

And in an article published in Nature Cell Biology recently, researchers from UNSW Medicine & Health revealed the identity of cells in mice embryos responsible for blood stem cell creation.

Both studies are significant steps towards an understanding of how, when, where and which cells are involved in the creation of blood stem cells. In the future, this knowledge could be used to help cancer patients, among others, who have undergone high doses of radio- and chemotherapy, to replenish their depleted blood stem cells.

Emulating the heart

In the study detailed in Cell Reports, lead author Dr Jingjing Li and fellow researchers described how a 3cm x 3cm microfluidic system pumped blood stem cells produced from an embryonic stem cell line to mimic an embryo’s beating heart and conditions of blood circulation.

She said that in the last few decades, biomedical engineers have been trying to make blood stem cells in  laboratory dishes to solve the problem of donor blood stem cell shortages. But no one has yet been able to achieve it.

“Part of the problem is that we still don’t fully understand all the processes going on in the microenvironment during embryonic development that leads to the creation of blood stem cells at about day 32 in the embryonic development,” Dr Li said.

“So we made a device mimicking the heart beating and the blood circulation and an orbital shaking system which causes shear stress – or friction – of the blood cells as they move through the device or around in a dish.”

These systems promoted the development of precursor blood stem cells which can differentiate into various blood components – white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets and others. They were excited to see this same process – known as haematopoiesis – replicated in the device.

Study co-author Associate Professor Robert Nordon said he was amazed that not only did the device create blood stem cell precursors that went on to produce differentiated blood cells, but it also created the tissue cells of the embryonic heart environment that is crucial to this process.

“The thing that just wows me about this is that blood stem cells, when they form in the embryo, form in the wall of the main vessel called the aorta. And they basically pop out of this aorta and go into the circulation, and then go to the liver and form what's called definitive haematopoiesis, or definitive blood formation.

“Getting an aorta to form and then the cells actually emerging from that aorta into the circulation, that is the crucial step required for generating these cells.”

“What we've shown is that we can generate a cell that can form all the different types of blood cells. We've also shown that it is very closely related to the cells lining the aorta – so we know its origin is correct – and that it proliferates,” A/Prof. Nordon said.

The researchers are cautiously optimistic about their achievement in emulating embryonic heart conditions with a mechanical device. They hope it could be a step towards solving challenges limiting regenerative medical treatments today: donor blood stem cell shortages, rejection of donor tissue cells, and the ethical issues surrounding the use of IVF embryos.

“Blood stem cells used in transplantation require donors with the same tissue-type as the patient,” A/Prof. Nordon said.

“Manufacture of blood stem cells from pluripotent stem cell lines would solve this problem without the need for tissue-matched donors providing a plentiful supply to treat blood cancers or genetic disease.”

Dr Li added: “We are working on up-scaling manufacture of these cells using bioreactors.”

Mystery solved

Meanwhile, and working independently of Dr Li and A/Prof. Nordon, UNSW Medicine & Health’s Professor John Pimanda and Dr Vashe Chandrakanthan were doing their own research into how blood stem cells are created in embryos.

In their study of mice, the researchers looked for the mechanism that is used naturally in mammals to make blood stem cells from the cells that line blood vessels, known as endothelial cells.

“It was already known that this process takes place in mammalian embryos where endothelial cells that line the aorta change into blood cells during haematopoiesis,” Prof. Pimanda said.

“But the identity of the cells that regulate this process had up until now been a mystery.”

In their paper, Prof. Pimanda and Dr Chandrakanthan described how they solved this puzzle by identifying  the cells in the embryo that can convert both embryonic and adult endothelial cells into blood cells. The cells – known as ‘Mesp1-derived PDGFRA+ stromal cells’ -- reside underneath the aorta, and only surround the aorta in a very narrow window during embryonic development.

Dr Chandrakanthan said that knowing the identity of these cells provides medical researchers with clues on how mammalian adult endothelial cells could be triggered to create blood stem cells – something they are normally unable to do.

“Our research showed that when endothelial cells from the embryo or the adult are mixed with ‘Mesp1 derived PDGFRA+ stromal cells’ – they start making blood stem cells,” he said.

While more research is needed before this can be translated into clinical practice – including confirming the results in human cells – the discovery could provide a potential new tool to generate engraftable haematopoietic cells.

“Using your own cells to generate blood stem cells could eliminate the need for donor blood transfusions or stem cell transplantation. Unlocking mechanisms used by Nature brings us a step closer to achieving this goal,” Prof. Pimanda said.

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JOURNAL

Cell Reports

DOI

10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111339 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Human embryos

ARTICLE TITLE

Mimicry of embryonic circulation enhances the hoxa hemogenic niche and human blood development

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Sep-2022

COI STATEMENT

The laboratories of R.E.N, A.G.E, E.G.S and E.S.N. receive research funding from CSL Ltd.

Decarbonizing the energy system by 2050 could save trillions, says new Oxford study

New study shows a fast transition to clean energy is cheaper than slow or no transition. Idea that going green will be expensive is ‘just wrong’ . Achieving a net zero carbon energy system by around 2050 is possible and profitable

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

 

• New study shows a fast transition to clean energy is cheaper than slow or no transition 

• Idea that going green will be expensive is ‘just wrong’ 

• Green technology costs have fallen significantly over the last decade, and are likely to continue falling 

• Achieving a net zero carbon energy system by around 2050 is possible and profitable 

 

Transitioning to a decarbonised energy system by around 2050 is expected to save the world at least $12 trillion, compared to continuing our current levels of fossil fuel use, according to a peer-reviewed study by Oxford University researchers, published in the journal Joule today. 

The research shows a win-win-win scenario, in which rapidly transitioning to clean energy results in lower energy system costs than a fossil fuel system, while providing more energy to the global economy, and expanding energy access to more people around the world.  

The study’s ‘Fast Transition’ scenario shows a realistic possible future for a fossil-free energy system by around 2050, providing 55% more energy services globally than today by ramping up solar, wind, batteries, electric vehicles, and clean fuels such as green hydrogen (made from renewable electricity). 

Lead author Dr Rupert Way, postdoctoral researcher at Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, says, ‘Past models, predicting high costs for transitioning to zero carbon energy, have deterred companies from investing, and made governments nervous about setting policies that will accelerate the energy transition and cut reliance on fossil fuels. But clean energy costs have fallen sharply over the last decade, much faster than those models expected.

‘Our latest research shows scaling up key green technologies will continue to drive their costs down - and the faster we go, the more we will save. Accelerating the transition to renewable energy is now the best bet not just for the planet, but for energy costs too.’ 

The researchers analysed thousands of transition cost scenarios produced by major energy models and used data on: 45 years of solar energy costs, 37 years of wind energy costs and 25 years for battery storage. They found the real cost of solar energy dropped twice as fast as the most ambitious projections in these models, revealing that, over the last 20 years, previous models badly overestimated the future costs of key clean energy technologies versus reality. 

‘There is a pervasive misconception that switching to clean, green energy will be painful, costly and mean sacrifices for us all – but that’s just wrong,’ says Professor Doyne Farmer, who leads the team that conducted the study at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School.  

‘Renewable costs have been trending down for decades. They are already cheaper than fossil fuels in many situations and, our research shows, they will become cheaper than fossil fuels across almost all applications in the years to come. And, if we accelerate the transition, they will become cheaper faster. Completely replacing fossil fuels with clean energy by 2050 will save us trillions.’ 

The study showed the costs for key storage technologies, such as batteries and hydrogen electrolysis, are also likely to fall dramatically. Meanwhile, the costs of nuclear have consistently increased over the last five decades, making it highly unlikely to be cost competitive with plunging renewable and storage costs. 

Professor Farmer adds, ‘The world is facing a simultaneous inflation crisis, national security crisis, and climate crisis, all caused by our dependence on high cost, insecure, polluting, fossil fuels with volatile prices. This study shows ambitious policies to accelerate dramatically the transition to a clean energy future as quickly as possible are, not only, urgently needed for climate reasons, but can save the world trillions in future energy costs, giving us a cleaner, cheaper, more energy secure future.’ 

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the costs of fossil energy have skyrocketed, causing inflation around the world. This study, conducted before the current crisis, takes account of such fluctuations using over a century’s worth of fossil fuel price data. The current energy crisis underscores the study’s findings and demonstrates the risks of continuing to rely on expensive, insecure, fossil fuels. The research confirms the response to the crisis should include accelerating the transition to low cost, clean energy as soon as possible, as this will bring benefits both for the economy and the planet. 

The research is a collaboration between the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, the Oxford Martin Programme on the Post-Carbon Transition and the Smith School of Enterprise & Environment at the University of Oxford, and SoDa Labs at Monash University. 

 

The full paper, ‘Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition’ will be published in Joule on 13 September 2022. at https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(22)00410-X 

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JOURNAL

Joule

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Sep-2022

Disclaimer: A

 Shallow-water mining is not a sustainable alternative to deep-water mining, scientists argue

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CELL PRESS

 

IMAGE: OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENTLY KNOWN MAIN MARINE MINERAL RESOURCES view more 

CREDIT: TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION/KAIKKONEN ET AL.

Shallow-water mining projects are already underway in Namibia and Indonesia, and projects have been proposed in Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden, but the effects of these projects haven’t been fully investigated. Scientists publishing on September 13 in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution argue that shallow-water mining needs more rigorous environmental evaluation before it can be declared safe and sustainable.

The mining, which takes place at depths less than 200 meters, has been touted as less destructive than terrestrial mining and less risky than mining in poorly understood deep-water ecosystems, but the authors cast doubt on this assertion. “Claims of reduced environmental impacts of shallow-water mining are not backed by credible evaluations but by hopes and assumptions that support a pro-mining narrative,” write the authors.

Extracting valuable materials such as gold, cobalt, copper, and phosphorites from the shallow-water ocean floor requires dredging large amounts of sediment. Removing this sediment, which takes thousands of years to accumulate, means removing the organisms that call it home. The authors caution that this removal of habitat and inhabitants will result in biodiversity loss.

 “In the absence of impartial comparisons of the ecological effects of different types of mining practices, there are no environmental or socioeconomic justifications in favor of shallow-water mining,” write the authors.

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Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Kaikkonen & Virtanen, “Shallow-water mining undermines global sustainability goals” https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(22)00196-3

Trends in Ecology & Evolution (@Trends_Ecol_Evo), published by Cell Press, is a monthly review journal that contains polished, concise, and readable reviews and opinion pieces in all areas of ecology and evolutionary science. It aims to keep scientists informed of new developments and ideas across the full range of ecology and evolutionary biology—from the pure to the applied, and from molecular to global. Visit http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution. To receive Cell Press media alerts, please contact press@cell.com.

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JOURNAL

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1016/j.tree.2022.08.001 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Shallow-water mining undermines global sustainability goals

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Sep-2022

Cutting coal has huge health benefits – but environmental justice issues remain

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

A new study drawing on data from Texas and surrounding states finds that the most common strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation also produce enough health benefits to completely offset the cost of these “decarbonization” efforts. However, the study found that while Black and low-income communities also benefit, they still face higher levels of air pollution and related health effects.

“Other researchers have also examined health benefits associated with decarbonization,” says Jeremiah Johnson, an associate professor of environmental engineering at North Carolina State University and co-author of a paper on the work. “We wanted to expand on that work in two ways.

“First, we wanted to look at issues related to environmental justice and equity. Second, we wanted to look closely at how health benefits associated with decarbonization can inform operational decisions in the power sector. If we can determine which specific plants are having the greatest impact on human health, and when, then power systems can modify power generation at those plants to reduce human health impacts.”

“In terms of environmental justice, it is well established that some people suffer more from the effects of air pollution than others, and we wanted to explore whether decarbonization efforts might make things better or worse for the communities who suffer the most,” says Qian Luo, a Ph.D. student at NC State and first author of the paper.

The researchers evaluated the impacts of six decarbonization strategies. Three of the strategies involved using different power generation methods to replace coal-fired power plants: solar power, wind power and natural gas. Two of the strategies involved implementing “carbon taxes” at different levels – effectively increasing the costs of electricity generation based on the amount of carbon dioxide that power plants emit. The sixth strategy involved requiring power plant operators to include the economic costs of health effects caused by emissions in their decision-making. The carbon tax and health damages strategies would significantly increase the expense of coal power, indirectly encouraging a shift to power generation that produces fewer emissions.

The researchers drew on power generation data from across Texas, as well as health data from Texas and other states affected by air emissions from Texas’s power plants. The data was fed into an integrated suite of new and existing computational models to better understand the health effects of the various decarbonization strategies at the local level.

“We were able to assess health impacts at the census tract level, which is fairly granular – each tract represents between 1,200 and 8,000 people,” Luo says. “Specifically, we drew on established studies to determine the extent to which air pollution was contributing to mortality numbers in each tract.”

By calculating the number of deaths associated with the relevant air pollution, the researchers were able to determine the monetized benefits of reducing that air pollution. This was done using the “value of a statistical life,” which is used by the federal government to perform cost-benefit analyses.

The researchers found that all six decarbonization strategies reduced adverse health effects from air pollution more than enough to offset the cost of implementing the strategy.

However, while there were health benefits across the board, some areas still suffered from more air pollution than others. These areas tended to be low-income areas or neighborhoods with large Black populations.

“While there are health benefits under every decarbonization scenario – which is good – there is still a significant environmental justice gap,” says Fernando Garcia-Menendez, co-author of the paper and an assistant professor of environmental engineering at NC State. “For example, the gap between Black neighborhoods and other neighborhoods either stays the same or gets worse. In other words, while Black neighborhoods benefit from decarbonization, they don’t benefit as much as other neighborhoods. And the same holds true for low-income neighborhoods across all races.”

The findings were also sufficiently precise, pointing to specific emissions from specific plants at specific times, to inform operation decisions that could reduce human health impacts even if the plants are not taken completely offline.

“The take-away message here is very simple: reducing coal power generation has significant, immediate health benefits,” Johnson says. “And all of the techniques under consideration for reducing coal power generation produce meaningful benefits.”

The paper, “Diverse Pathways for Power Sector Decarbonization in Texas Yield Health Cobenefits but Fail to Alleviate Air Pollution Exposure Inequities,” is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The paper was co-authored by Brenna Copeland, a former undergraduate at NC State.

The work was done with support from the National Science Foundation, under grant number 1934276, and from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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JOURNAL

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.2c00881 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Diverse Pathways for Power Sector Decarbonization in Texas Yield Health Cobenefits but Fail to Alleviate Air Pollution Exposure Inequities

Women’s mental well-being more sensitive to exercise than men’s during different stages of pandemic

High exercise frequency often resulted in high levels of mental distress in women

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Women’s mental health was more likely to be affected by physical exercise frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic than men’s, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Lina Begdache, assistant professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University, researches the impact of dietary and lifestyle factors on mental health. In a recent study, her team determined the relationship between the different stages of the pandemic, time of week and exercise frequency on mental distress, with notable differences in men and women. 

Survey data completed by 2,370 individuals were analyzed. The survey consisted of 41 variables related to demographics, education, dietary behaviors, diet, sleeping, physical exercise pattern and frequency as well as mental health status. Moreover, the pandemic was categorized into three separate stages: before, during and late COVID-19, with “during” representing the lockdown period and “late” representing the easing of restrictions.

Researchers found that during the pandemic, a period with high levels of stress, women required exercise in moderation to achieve mental well-being. This contrasts with men, where frequent exercise was advantageous. 

“Exercise is a form of stress on the body. However, it is considered a eustress [moderate or normal stress]because it is typically associated with positive attributes,” said Begdache. “When it is overdone, the positive effect of the exercise is gone, which becomes a distress. It is known that the levels of the stress hormone (cortisol) secretion in response to high exercise intensity are different among men and women.”

Begdache’s study suggests that women must adjust their exercise routines during times of unease to ensure that they maintain mental stability and remain in high spirits.

“Women are more likely to report experiencing stress than men, which suggests their lower tolerance to stress,” said Begdache. “Therefore, high exercise frequency may add to their stress level and negatively impact their mental well-being.”

The researchers also found that exercise frequency modulates mental health based on time of the week. Men’s mental health was more likely to suffer during weekends, whereas women’s mental health tended to deteriorate on weekdays. This could be attributed to the need to balance responsibilities as a mother with their childrens’ homeschooling and in the workplace. 

Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the total absence of exercise was correlated with mental distress in both men and women. With easing of COVID restrictions, upping exercise frequency improved mental well-being. Since weight gain was an issue during the lockdown, increasing exercise frequency fueled the desire to focus on weight loss, as it provided more structure to people’s lives. 

Also contributing to this research were Zeynep Ertem, Binghamton University assistant professor of systems science and industrial engineering, and Anseh Danesharasteh, a graduate student at Binghamton University. 

The paper, “The Impact of the Different Stages of COVID-19, Time of the Week and Exercise Frequency on Mental Distress in Men and Women,” was published in Nutrients.

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JOURNAL

Nutrients

ARTICLE TITLE

The Impact of the Different Stages of COVID-19, Time of the Week and Exercise Frequency on Mental Distress in Men and Women