Removing turf-grass saves water. But will it increase urban heat?

New study examines impacts of three desert landscaping strategies on urban irrigation and air temperatures

DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Las Vegas -  (Sept. 14, 2022) – As Las Vegas and other Southwestern cities look for ways to reduce water use during a historic drought, the removal of grass lawns and other areas of “nonfunctional turf” has been recommended by the Southern Nevada Water Authority and written into Nevada state law with AB356. But, will this change from turf-grass to other landscaping types result in other unintended climate impacts in urban areas, such as increased air or surface temperatures?

In a new study in the journal Hydrology, a team of scientists from DRI, Arizona State University (ASU), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), examined the irrigation water requirements of three common types of urban landscapes. Then, they compared air temperature, surface temperature, and wind speed around the three sites to learn how differences in landscape types impact their surrounding environment.  

The three landscape types analyzed in the study were a “mesic” tree and turf-grass landscape with water-intensive plants; a “xeric” landscape consisting primarily of desert plants on drip irrigation; and an intermediate “oasis” landscape type with a mix of high-and low water use plants. The sites were located around buildings in an experimental study area at ASU in Phoenix.

As expected, the mesic (tree and turf-grass) landscape showed the highest water consumption rate. However, the mesic site also had the lowest surface and air temperatures, both in the daytime and nighttime, thus creating better conditions for outdoor thermal comfort.

The site with xeric (desert) landscaping had the lowest irrigation water requirement but the highest temperatures. Air temperatures in the xeric landscape plot averaged 3oC (5.4oF) higher than in the other two landscape types.

The oasis landscape, with a mix of high- and low-water use plants, provided the best of both worlds – lower irrigation water requirements than the mesic site but more daytime cooling than the xeric landscape. 

“The simple take-home message from what we learned was that xeric (desert) landscaping is not the best long-term solution and neither is mesic (tree-turf),” said the study’s lead author Rubab Saher, Ph.D., Maki postdoctoral research associate at DRI. “An ‘oasis’ style landscape, which contains trees like Acacia or ghost gum, and shrubs like dwarf poinciana, requiring light irrigation, are the best solution, because it conserves water but also contributes to cooling through the evapotranspiration of the plants.”

The study also examined the role of buildings and open sky to understand the effect of shade on the landscape. They found that shade in the narrow space between buildings created shade of comparable temperature to that under a tree in a mesic landscape and are interested in doing follow-up studies to learn more about the impact of building orientation on maximizing summer shade.

“I became interested in this topic because urban irrigation and water efficient landscaping are really important issues in the Western U.S., but haven’t been studied very thoroughly,” said Saher. “People have been applying methods for calculating irrigation from agricultural fields, but urban areas are very different landscapes, and the ways that homeowners irrigate are very unpredictable.”

The authors hope that their findings are helpful to homeowners, city planners, or anyone trying to help conserve water but prevent warming temperatures in arid urban regions.

“Removing turf grass from the landscape is an excellent approach for saving water, but if we remove all the turf grass, the temperature will go up,” Saher said. “For every acre of turf grass removed, we also need to plant native and/or rainfed trees to make arid cities livable in the long run.”

More information: 

The full study, Assessing the Microclimate Effects and Irrigation Water Requirements of Mesic, Oasis, and Xeric Landscapes, is available from Hydrology: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/9/6/104

This study was made possible with funding from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and DRI’s Maki Postdoctoral fellowship. Study authors included Rubab Saher (DRI), Ariane Middel (ASU), Haroon Stephen (UNLV), and Sajjad Ahmad (UNLV).

 

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About DRI

The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied environmental research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students who work alongside them, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge on topics ranging from humans’ impact on the environment to the environment’s impact on humans. DRI’s impactful science and inspiring solutions support Nevada’s diverse economy, provide science-based educational opportunities, and inform policymakers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Las Vegas and Reno, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.

 

About ASU

Arizona State University, ranked No. 1 “Most Innovative School” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for seven years in succession, has forged the model for a New American University by operating on the principles that learning is a personal and lifelong journey for everyone, and that people thrive on experience and discovery that cannot be bound by traditional academic disciplines. Through innovation and a commitment to educational access, ASU has drawn pioneering researchers to its faculty even as it expands opportunities for qualified students.

 

About UNLV:

UNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution of more than 30,000 students and nearly 4,000 faculty and staff that has earned the nation’s highest recognition for both research and community engagement from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. UNLV offers a broad range of respected academic programs and is committed to recruiting and retaining top students and faculty, educating the region's diverse population and workforce, driving economic activity, and creating an academic health center for Southern Nevada. Learn more at unlv.edu.

Medical videos on YouTube often provide incomplete information

For patients seeking resources on implantable cardioverter defibrillators, study shows videos with the lowest quality information are the most popular

Meeting Announcement

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY

Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) information on YouTube is of low and highly-variable quality, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Quality Summit 2022. As more patients turn to the internet for medical education, the study identified an opportunity for medical institutions to help patients by understanding what information they are getting online and how institutions can improve online resources in the future.

“Patients are likely seeking out information about their medical conditions and procedures online primarily due to convenience and familiarity with the internet, particularly YouTube,” said Thomas Lee, MD, resident physician at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the study’s lead author. “Most people only have limited time to talk to a clinician about an ICD placement, so it would make sense that they would take to the internet to learn more about it. While we can’t stop our patients from getting information online, nor would we want to curtail their access to information about their conditions, it is important that the medical community work to ensure higher quality information that provides a full picture of a treatment or procedure is available.”

According to the researchers, internet behavior data suggest that 80% of individuals search online for health information, with 56% searching for information on medical treatments or procedures. A recent Health Information National Trends Survey estimated 40% of Americans viewed YouTube videos regarding health and medical information in 2020.

In this study, researchers performed a YouTube search using the term “Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator,” before excluding lecture-styled videos, surgical and/or operating room videos, non-English language videos without subtitles, videos with irrelevant content, videos without audio or subtitles, and duplicates. Of the first 75 videos identified, 25 were excluded. The remaining 50 were categorized by uploader type: academic institution (29), medical device company (13) or independent uploader (8).

Video quality was assessed using modified DISCERN criteria (range: 0-25), which was developed to help patients judge information regarding treatment options and is used in patient-education literature to assess overall quality, bias and reliability of content. Using prior studies, the qualitative score cut-offs were: very poor (<9), poor (9-13), average (14-17), good (18-21) and excellent (22-25). Video quality was also assessed by an electrophysiologist-reviewed Novel Content Score (range: 0-10), which was designed to represent the information an electrophysiologist would present to a patient considering an ICD procedure. Similar qualitative score cut-offs were included: very poor (0-2.5), poor (2.6-40), average (4.1-6.0), good (6.1-8.0) and excellent (8.1-10). The researchers assessed video popularity through secondary outcomes, including views, likes, duration, days since upload and comments.

Overall, the videos assessed were found to be of poor quality and highly variable across both scoring systems. The average modified DISCERN score was 12.58 and the average Novel Content Score was 3.68. The researchers found videos uploaded by medical device companies had significantly lower modified DISCERN scores compared to academic institutions and independent uploaders. Earlier search result position had a significant positive correlation with the Novel Content Score, but not with the modified DISCERN score. There was also a significant positive correlation between video duration and both scoring criteria. None of the metrics of video popularity were found to correlate with video quality.

According to the researchers, the study demonstrates an opportunity for medical institutions to help patients by implementing new strategies to improve video content, quality and visibility as more patients seek online resources for patient education. For example, researchers found a majority of the videos failed to mention inappropriate shock as a possible outcome for ICDs.

“It’s so important that patients have access to high quality information because of how challenging it can be to interact with medical professionals. Oftentimes a patient will have to wait weeks or even months before they can confidently have their questions answered,” Lee said. “The issue is that on YouTube so much of the informative videos seem like they're high quality because of a hospital setting or doctor narrating, but in reality, the video fails to convey the complete picture of an ICD placement.”

The ACC Quality Summit 2022 is being held in Los Angeles on September 14-16, 2022, and aims to help cardiovascular professionals improve patient care while implementing best practices. To register as media, contact Katie Glenn at kglenn@acc.org.

The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its more than 56,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org. 

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UW researchers develop a reactor that can destroy 'forever chemicals'

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

 

IMAGE: IGOR NOVOSSELOV view more 

CREDIT: IGOR NOVOSSELOV/UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

"Forever chemicals," named for their ability to persist in water and soil, are a class of molecules that are ever-present in our daily lives, including food packaging and household cleaning products. Because these chemicals don't break down, they end up in our water and food, and they can lead to health effects, such as cancer or decreased fertility.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed to give two of the most common forever chemicals, known as PFOA and PFOS, a "superfund" designation, which would make it easier for the EPA to track them and plan cleanup measures.

Cleanups would obviously be more effective if the forever chemicals could be destroyed in the process, and many researchers have been studying how to break them down. Now a team of researchers at the University of Washington has a new way to destroy both PFOA and PFOS. The researchers created a reactor that can completely break down hard-to-destroy chemicals using "supercritical water," which is formed at high temperature and pressure. This technology could help treat industrial waste, destroy concentrated forever chemicals that already exist in the environment and deal with old stocks, such as the forever chemicals in fire-fighting foam.

The team published these findings on Sept. 7 in Chemical Engineering Journal.

UW News spoke with senior author Igor Novosselov, a UW research associate professor of mechanical engineering, to learn about the details. 

What is supercritical water and how can it destroy these molecules?

Igor Novosselov: Our reactor basically heats water very fast, but it heats water differently than when you boil it for pasta. Typically, hen you raise the temperature, water boils and turns to steam. From there, the water and steam do not get hotter than 100 degrees Celsius (212 F).

But if you compress water, you can shift that equilibrium and get that boiling point at much hotter temperatures. If you increase the pressure, the boiling temperature increases. At one point, the water will not transition from liquid to vapor. Instead, you'll hit a critical point where water will reach a different state of matter, called the supercritical phase. Here water is not a liquid or a gas. It's something between, and the lines are kind of fuzzy there. It's something like a plasma where the water molecules become like ionized particles. These partially dissociated molecules bounce around at high temperatures and high speeds. It is a very corrosive and chemically aggressive environment in which organic molecules cannot survive.

Chemicals that survive forever in normal water, such as PFOS and PFOA, can be broken down in supercritical water at a very high rate. If we get the conditions right, these recalcitrant molecules can be completely destroyed, leaving no intermediate products and yielding only harmless substances, such as carbon dioxide, water and fluoride salts, which are often added to municipal water and toothpaste.

How did you get started designing this reactor?

IN: We originally designed it to break down chemical warfare agents, which are also really hard to destroy. It took us five years to make the reactor. There were significant questions such as, how do we keep things at that pressure? Inside the reactor, the pressure is 200 times higher than at sea level. Another question we had was: How do we ensure that the reactor ignites and operates at a designated temperature in continuous mode? It became an engineering project, but after all, we're engineers.

How does the reactor work?

IN: The whole thing is inside a thick stainless steel pipe about a foot long and an inch in diameter. We can vary the temperature inside to figure out how hot we need to go to completely destroy a chemical. Some chemicals require 400 C (752 F), some 650 C (1202 F).

At the top of the reactor, we continuously inject pilot fuel, air and the chemical we want to destroy, for example: PFOS, into the supercritical water. The fuel provides the necessary heat for the mixture to remain supercritical, and the PFOS rapidly mixes with this aggressive media. Overall the reaction time is less than a minute. At the bottom of the reactor, the mixture is cooled down to yield both liquid and gas discharge. We can analyze what's in both the liquid and the gas phases to measure whether we've destroyed the chemical.

University of Washington researchers have created a reactor that can completely break down hard-to-destroy chemicals. Shown here are two reactors before they are assembled.

CREDIT

Igor Novosselov/University of Washington

What did you find?

IN: We did the same experiment with PFOS and PFOA, because both are regulated by the EPA. We saw that PFOA goes away at mild supercritical conditions (around 400 degrees C, or 750 F), but PFOS doesn't. It took until we reached 610 degrees C (1130 F) to see the destruction of PFOS. At that temperature, PFOS and all intermediates were destroyed — in a matter of 30 seconds.

At lower temperatures, PFOS experiments showed the formation of a variety of intermediate molecules, including PFOA. Some of these breakdown products came out in the liquid phase, which means they could be present in wastewater at manufacturing sites that use forever chemicals. But other intermediates are coming out in the gas phase, which is problematic because gas emissions are not typically regulated. These molecules contain the element fluorine, and we know these types of gases contribute to greenhouse effects. Right now, we don't have a way to monitor the gas pollution in real-time, and we do not know how much we would produce or even their exact chemical composition.

What's next for this project?

IN: We have a few next steps. We've been using the reactor to see how well it destroys other forever chemicals besides PFOS and PFOA. We're also assessing how well this technology could work for real-world scenarios. You probably cannot treat the whole ocean like this, for example. But we could possibly use this to treat existing problems, such as forever chemical waste at manufacturing sites.

Forever chemical contamination is a big problem, and it will not go away. We are excited to work on it and collaborate with regulators and leading groups in academia and industry to find the solution.

Novosselov is also a faculty researcher with the UW Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute and the UW Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems. Additional co-authors on the paper are Jianna Li, who completed this research as a visiting UW doctoral student in mechanical engineering, Conrad Austin, a UW research scientist in the mechanical engineering department; Stuart Moore, a UW mechanical engineering doctoral student; and Brian Pinkard, a UW affiliate assistant professor of mechanical engineering. This research was funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the U.S. Army Research Office, and a Technology Commercialization grant by the Washington Research Foundation. The research team applied for a patent on the reactor design and operation: PCT/US21/56832. 

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For more information, contact Novosselov at ivn@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: HDTRA1-17-1-0001, CB10397

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JOURNAL

Chemical Engineering Journal

DOI

10.1016/j.cej.2022.139063 

ARTICLE TITLE

PFOS destruction in a continuous supercritical water oxidation reactor

Cacao: Multiple interactions in its cultivation

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG

 

IMAGE: A BIRD FOUND IN CACAO AGROFORESTS IN NORTHERN PERU, THE GROOVE BILLED ANI. BIRDS, WHEN OCCURRING IN CACAO AGROFORESTS TOGETHER WITH BATS, ENSURED CACAO YIELDS IN THE STUDY REGION. THEIR PRESENCE INCREASED YIELD BY 114%, COMPARED TO THEIR ABSENCE. view more 

CREDIT: JUSTINE VANSYNGHEL / UNIVERSITÄT WÜRZBURG

It's not possible to grow cacao without insects - that's logical. After all, they ensure that the flowers are pollinated and that the valuable cacao fruits, a sought-after material for the food industry, develop. Studies in Indonesia had shown in the past that birds and bats also contribute to increasing crop yields. However, a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows now how large this contribution is.

The study is the result of new findings from scientists from the universities of Würzburg, Göttingen and Vienna and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. The biologists responsible for the study are Justine Vansynghel, researcher at the Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), and Carolina Ocampo-Ariza, researcher at the Agroecology Department at the University of Göttingen.

Sometimes pest, sometimes pest controller

"Animals such as birds, bats and insects, but also rodents, are important for cacao agroforestry," Justine Vansynghel explains. On the one hand, they can increase yields, for example by pollinating the plants or acting as "biological pest control agents." On the other hand, they can reduce yields, for example when squirrels steal the valuable seeds and prefer to eat them themselves.

It was known that various animal species affect cacao cultivation and crop yield. "Until now, however, it was not clear how the individual contributions of all these animals interact and how other factors, such as the proximity of the cultivated area to a forest or its level of shading, can influence these contributions," Carolina Ocampo-Ariza says. As part of their study, which has now been published, the two researchers therefore quantified the animals' combined contributions to crop yield and explored how distance to the forest and shading affect productivity.

A small cacao fruit, recently developed after the flower had been pollinated. Without flying insect having access to flowers, almost no fruit set takes place.

CREDIT

Justine Vansynghel / Universität Würzburg)

Cacao fruit, of which the peel is chewed on by a squirrel, and the seeds removed from the fruit. Squirrels seem to be attracted by the sweet pulp around the cacao seeds and usually predated cacao seeds when fruits are nearly ripe enough to harvest.

CREDIT

Justine Vansynghel / Universität Würzburg

The key findings of their study are:

• The level of cacao fruit set depends not only on flying insects that visit the cacao flowers. Birds and bats also have a positive effect on fruit set
• If birds and bats have access to the cacao plants, this more than doubles the yield.
• Ants also contributed positively to cacao yield, but only on farms located near forests.
• The existence of squirrels is unpleasant from the cacao farmer's point of view. Because they eat the seeds of cacao trees, they reduce crop yield. However, "the benefits of biodiversity outweigh the losses caused by squirrels and other rodents," say the biologists.
• And last: When cacao trees grow in the shade of other plants and flying insects are able to visit cacao flowers, it also increases fruit set and thus - ideally - yield.

Why does yield increase with the presence of birds and bats? The authors have a theory about that: "It could be that there are more spiders and ants when insectivores like birds and bats are absent," they say. If the diet of spiders and ants includes important pollinators, their absence could provoke lower fruit set. In addition, birds and bats could also be directly involved in controlling pests if they eat them themselves. However, further research is needed to confirm these theories, the biologists say.

Why ants increase cacao yields when the cultivated area is near forests is also not clear. "Presumably, the proximity of forests exerts an influence on which ant species settle in cacao-growing areas," Vansynghel says. That's because some species are known to benefit cacao plants.

New impetus for organic cacao farming

Cacao trees are originally native to South America. In that region, they grow in the undergrowth of tropical rainforests. In so-called agroforestry systems, attempts are being made to copy these conditions: There, the cacao tree is usually planted in the shade of larger trees. In the project, the research team studied a total of 24 such systems in northern and southern Peru. The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) funded the project.

According to the scientists involved, the results of the study, which has now been published, contribute to a better understanding of the processes associated with wildlife-friendly agriculture. Based on these findings, they say, it is possible to change cultivation strategies in such a way that the existence of different animal species is not only accepted, but ideally even encouraged. After all, this could help improve the yields of organic cacao in its region of origin.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2022.1309 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Quantifying services and disservices provided by insects and vertebrates in cacao agroforestry landscapes.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Sep-2022

Major new tipping points initiative launched at conference

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Efforts to activate "positive tipping points" to tackle the climate crisis have been boosted by a £1 million (US$1.15m) grant from the Bezos Earth Fund.

A team – led by the University of Exeter and including Systemiq and the Systems Change Lab – will use the funding to "improve the assessment, forecasting and activation of positive tipping points" and produce a first "state of tipping points" report.

The new initiative is launched as experts meet in Exeter for a major tipping points conference.

A tipping point occurs when a small change sparks a rapid, often irreversible transformation – and positive tipping points could transform human societies to protect the planet.

Exeter researchers have helped to highlight the threat of climate tipping points – with a recent study showing five could be triggered at current levels of global warming – so the need for positive tipping points is increasingly urgent.

"Positive tipping points in socio-economic systems must be found and triggered to radically accelerate the decarbonisation of the global economy, to limit the risk from highly damaging tipping points in the climate system," said Professor Tim Lenton, Director of Exeter's Global Systems Institute.

"To do this, we need to improve assessment of positive tipping point opportunities.

"In particular, if ‘early indicators’ can be found that reveal a sector is close to a positive tipping point, this would provide an opportunity for policymakers to give it one last push and for investors to quickly reallocate funds – knowing they would get disproportionate returns on their efforts and investments."

"The Bezos Earth Fund is committed to creating transformative systems change across sectors and identifying positive tipping points is a critical piece of the puzzle," said Kelly Levin, Chief of Science, Data and Systems Change at the Bezos Earth Fund and Founding Director of the Systems Change Lab.

"We hope this first-of-its-kind assessment will provide critical information to tackle the climate crisis. The goal is to identify key tipping points across the roughly 50 transitions that are needed in this decisive decade."

Positive tipping points have already occurred in some sectors and locations.

For example, rapidly declining battery costs and policy support are combining to "tip" the global car market. In 2021, pure battery electric vehicles began their S-curve upswing with market shares jumping to 6% and 13% in Europe and China respectively, two of the largest car markets in the world.

Also, cost declines of wind and solar enabled by supportive policy environments mean that they are now the cheapest form of generation in the vast majority of countries. As result, of all new generation capacity added in 2021 globally, wind and solar took 71% share and other renewables (e.g., hydro, geothermal) provided another 10%.

Promising areas for more positive tipping points exist across emissions sectors, including: solar/wind plus storage becoming cheaper than coal/gas as battery prices decline; large customer segments becoming favourable to plant-based diets; solutions to drastically reduce fugitive methane taking off as tracking and certification take hold; heat pumps becoming economically and practically competitive with gas boilers.

IPCC-like assessment

The project will be run by Professor Lenton, Dr Andy Richards, Dr Jesse Abrams, Dr Chris Boulton, Dr Josh Buxton and Dr Tom Powell, all from the University of Exeter, collaborating with system change company Systemiq, the Systems Change Lab (a Bezos Earth Fund and World Resources Institute initiative), and Simon Sharpe, Director of Economics for UNFCCC Climate Champions.

The team will produce a comprehensive report on both positive tipping points and the risks posed by climate tipping points.

This will reflect the structure of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, which are divided into three "working groups" covering different aspects of climate change.

Systemiq will lead on producing an updated analysis ahead of COP27, building on its findings from the Paris Effect reports (2020, 2021) which highlighted that positive tipping points could be achieved before 2030 in sectors representing 90% of emissions.

"At Systemiq we focus intently on accelerating positive tipping points that can deliver outsized returns in terms of climate impact and build a resilient economy,” said Mark Meldrum, lead author of Systemiq’s Paris Effect reports.

"Understanding how to engineer positive tipping points should help us to zero-in our collective efforts in slowing climate change.

"We hope that this analysis will shed light on where the biggest opportunities lie, and highlight critical gaps in knowledge where more research would prove valuable."

To find out more about the conference, visit: https://global-tipping-points.org/

New approach to correct systematic errors in bottle data of ocean temperature

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE OF ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

 

IMAGE: ANNUAL NUMBER OF OCEAN PROFILE OBSERVATIONS FOR DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS. view more 

CREDIT: LIJING CHENG

In the 20th century, oceanographers mainly used two different ocean-water samplers to determine the essential physical properties of seawater: Nansen bottle, made of metal with thermometers attached to record the temperature and pressure of the sample site, and the electronic temperature profiler, or CTD--an acronym for conductivity, temperature and depth.

Though a high degree of consistency between the Nansen cast and CTD data was confirmed on general, a systematic sample depth overestimation was detected for Nansen cast temperature profiles.

Recently, Lijing Cheng and Viktor Gouretski from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Tim Boyer from the National Centers for Environmental Information, for the first time, described the results of the global inter-comparison between the collocated Nansen cast and CTD temperature profiles.

The study was published in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.

The origin of this depth bias is related to the method of sample depth estimation. For CTD profiles, sample depth is estimated from the high precision pressure sensor, whereas the sample depth for a considerable part of Nansen cast profiles is given by the length of the wire put out.

"The shape of the wire in the water is not known and the wire usually deviates from the vertical position, so that temperature is actually measured at a shallower level compared to the target sample depth," said Viktor Gouretski.

"Correcting Nansen cast sample depth has a significant impact on the estimates of the warming rate of the World Ocean," said Lijing. "We hope this correction method can help achieve better understanding of ocean warming."

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology

DOI

10.1175/JTECH-D-22-0004.1 

Past history of abuse leads to worse menopause symptoms

New study finds that history of psychosocial stressors from childhood through pregnancy is associated with worse menopause symptoms and poorer well-being almost 2 decades later

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE NORTH AMERICAN MENOPAUSE SOCIETY (NAMS)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 14, 2022)—Adversity occurring early in a woman’s life will likely continue taking its toll physically and mentally years after those stressors have been removed. A new study suggests that a history of psychosocial stressors (physical or sexual abuse or financial instability) can lead to worse menopause symptoms and poorer well-being almost 2 decades later. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Menopause is often accompanied by a number of symptoms that adversely affect a woman’s quality of life, including hot flashes, sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms, and sexual dysfunction. However, not all women’s menopause experiences are the same, with some women having much more severe issues. There are many reasons for the differences. In this newest study involving nearly 700 women, researchers sought to connect a history of psychosocial stressors from childhood through pregnancy with worse menopause symptoms.

Although previous studies had attempted to demonstrate the long-term adverse effects of various forms of abuse, many of them were small or focused more on current abuse. This study specifically focused on the history of stressors as reported at the time of pregnancy and their connection with a woman’s health during midlife 15 to 20 years later.

Within this study group, a history of physical abuse was reported by 37.3% of the participants who also reported worse menopause symptoms and worse general health, as well as greater depressive symptoms. Another 7.7% reported a history of sexual abuse, which was also associated with worse symptoms during the menopause transition, as well as worse general health. However, there was no documented correlation with depressive symptoms. A history of financial instability was associated with worse menopause symptoms, worse general health, and greater depressive symptoms. There was no association, however, between psychosocial stressors and generalized anxiety symptoms assessed at midlife.

Based on study results, the researchers concluded that psychosocial stressors were associated with worse menopause symptoms and well-being decades after the initial report. These results highlight the long-lasting influence of adverse experiences on women's physical and mental health and emphasize the importance of past history of psychosocial stressors when considering the health of women in midlife.

Study results are published in the article “Longitudinal associations of psychosocial stressors with menopausal symptoms and well-being among women in midlife.”

“This study provides additional evidence to support the link between adversity earlier in life with worse menopause symptoms and poorer well-being in midlife women. Additional study is needed to better understand the effect of cumulative exposure to chronic and repeated stress on the health of women in midlife and beyond,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, NAMS medical director.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

Founded in 1989, The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) is North America’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the health and quality of life of all women during midlife and beyond through an understanding of menopause and healthy aging. Its multidisciplinary membership of 2,000 leaders in the field—including clinical and basic science experts from medicine, nursing, sociology, psychology, nutrition, anthropology, epidemiology, pharmacy, and education—makes NAMS uniquely qualified to serve as the definitive resource for health professionals and the public for accurate, unbiased information about menopause and healthy aging. To learn more about NAMS, visit www.menopause.org.

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JOURNAL

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000002056 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Longitudinal associations of psychosocial stressors with menopausal symptoms and well-being among women in midlife

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Sep-2022

CBD shows health benefits in estrogen-deficient mice that model postmenopause

Rutgers study shows cannabidiol may be a possible treatment for postmenopausal women

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

A Rutgers study points to cannabidiol (CBD), a major component of hemp and medical marijuana used to treat conditions such as chronic pain, inflammation, migraines, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases, depression, and anxiety, as a possible treatment for postmenopausal women, whose ovaries no longer make estrogen.

In a study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology, scientists reported that when estrogen-deficient mice were fed CBD, a non-intoxicating compound extracted from hemp, they showed marked improvement in several areas. Their bloodstreams more readily disposed of glucose, and they burned more energy. In addition, their bone density improved, they had less inflammation in gut and bone tissues and they possessed higher levels of beneficial gut bacteria.

“This preclinical study is the first to suggest the therapeutic potential of CBD for alleviating symptoms of estrogen deficiency,” said Diana Roopchand, an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science of the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) and senior author on the study. “There is much anecdotal evidence of CBD’s health benefits for menopausal and postmenopausal women, but our study is the first to investigate some of the claims in an established preclinical model of postmenopause.”

Women spend about one third of their lifetime in the postmenopausal stage, defined as one year after the final menstruation, which occurs around age 51 among US women. In human females, the steep decline in estrogen levels after menopause can often lead to a host of health concerns, including weight gain, cardiometabolic disease, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal disorders and cognitive decline. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) exists as one of very few treatment options, but the risks and benefits of HRT is variable and depends on age, individual health status, dose and type of HRT. Notably, clinical studies indicate that HRT use in women over 60 leads to greater risk of heart disease, stroke, blood clots and cancer.

“Other therapeutic options with fewer safety concerns are needed for prevention of chronic disease in this underserved demographic,” Roopchand said.

Over 18 weeks, researchers fed the estrogen-deficient mice a steady diet of either tiny, CBD-laced peanut butter balls or peanut butter balls without CBD. The untreated estrogen-deficient mice developed symptoms that resembled those of postmenopausal human females, such as metabolic dysfunction, evidence of inflammation, lower bone density, and lower levels of beneficial gut bacteria. However, in mice that ingested CBD, these conditions were significantly improved.

“CBD is already being used by many women to deal with symptoms of menopause and postmenopause,” Roopchand said. “This study provides preclinical evidence to support further investigation of CBD as a therapeutic for postmenopause-related disorders.”

Other Rutgers scientists involved in the study were several members of the Roopchand laboratory including doctoral students Ke Sui, Kevin Tveter and Yue Wu; Rocio Duran, laboratory technician; undergraduate students Fiona Bawagan, Savannah Martinez, Zehra Jaffri and Avery MacDonell; as well as Sue Shapses, a professor of nutritional sciences at SEBS; and Patricia Buckendahl, a senior research scientist at the Rutgers Molecular Imaging Center.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Pharmacology

DOI

10.3389/fphar.2022.90066