New study of comets provides insight into chemical composition of early solar system

Data from 25 comets were compiled to test predictions of solar system formation and evolution

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

New Study of Comets Provides Insight into Chemical Composition of Early Solar System

Data from 25 comets were compiled to test predictions of solar system formation and evolution.

ORLANDO, Nov. 4, 2022 – A new study from the University of Central Florida has found strong support that the outgassing of molecules from comets could be the result of the composition from the beginning of our solar system.

The results were published today in The Planetary Science Journal.

The study was led by Olga Harrington Pinto, a doctoral candidate in UCF’s Department of Physics, part of the College of Sciences.

Measuring the ratio of certain molecules present after outgassing from comets can provide insights to the chemical composition of early solar systems and physical processing of comets after they formed, Harrington Pinto says. Outgassing is when comets, which are small bodies of dust, rock, and ice in the solar system, warm and start to release gases.

As part of her dissertation research, Harrington Pinto compiled the amounts of water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide gases from 25 comets to test predictions of solar system formation and evolution.

This enabled almost twice as much comet carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide data to be studied. The measurements came from a variety of scientific publications. She carefully combined data obtained with different telescopes and different research teams when the measurements were simultaneous, and she could confirm that the data were all well-calibrated.

“One of the most interesting results is that comets very far from sun with orbits in the Oort cloud that have never, or only rarely, orbited near the sun, were seen to produce more CO2 than CO in their coma, whereas comets that have made many more trips close to the Sun behave the opposite,” Harrington Pinto says. “This had never been seen conclusively before.”

“Interestingly, the data are consistent with predictions that comets that have been hanging out very far from the sun in the Oort cloud may have been bombarded by cosmic rays on their surface so much that it created a CO-depleted outer layer,” Harrington Pinto says. "Then after their first or second trip close to the sun, this processed outer layer is blasted off by the sun revealing a much more pristine comet composition which releases much more CO.”

The researcher says the next step for the work is to analyze the first centaur observations that her team made with the James Webb Space Telescope to directly measure the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide and compare the results with this study.

Work on this project was partially funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division for Astronomical Sciences and the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program through the NSF Cybertraining Grant, the Brinson Foundation, and the Moore Foundation.

Harrington Pinto received her Master of Science in physics from the University of South Florida. She worked on this study with Maria Womack, a courtesy professor at UCF; Yanga R. Fernandez, a professor at UCF; and James Bauer, a professor at University of Maryland.

Writer: Beatriz Nina Ribeiro Oliveira, UCF Office of Research

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JOURNAL

The Planetary Science Journal

DOI

10.3847/PSJ/ac960d 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

ARTICLE TITLE

New Study of Comets Provides Insight into Chemical Composition of Early Solar System

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-Nov-2022

CDC data suggests attitudes are shifting about the HPV vaccine: Utah vaccine rates among teens increased more than 16%

Reports and Proceedings

HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE

 

IMAGE: JONAH KEPKA RECEIVES HIS HPV VACCINE view more 

CREDIT: DEANNA KEPKA PHD, MPH

When life should have been ripe with possibilities, Mandy Murry instead faced a devastating diagnosis. Murry was diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was 22. She had her cervix and uterus removed to treat it. Her doctor believes the cancer was caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

“I was expected to have that ‘happily ever after’ story of having my own kids,” says Murry, age 41, who grew up in Utah and now lives in North Carolina. “I was not prepared for the depth of healing I needed after the surgery. Without a uterus, I felt ‘less than.’ I did not feel worthy of happiness. I did not choose HPV. It was given to me due to unforeseen circumstances. The vaccine did not exist when I was young so this could have been prevented.”

HPV is a group of more than 200 related viruses, of which 40 are spread through direct sexual contact. It is the most common sexually transmitted infection and causes nearly all cervical cancers, in addition to five other kinds of cancer: vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile, and oropharyngeal (cancers of the throat and mouth). HPV vaccines, given as a series of shots, protect against HPV infection and cancer.

Typically ranked among the lowest in the United States for adolescents adequately immunized against HPV, Utah saw a 16.4% increase in this vaccine for young men and women ages 13-17 since 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The state jumped in rank from 44th to 20th in the nation among first-dose HPV vaccinations.

“It’s the highest increase I’ve ever seen in our state,” says Deanna Kepka, PhD, MPH, researcher at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah and director of the Intermountain West HPV Vaccination Coalition, a group of health care specialists and community members who have been working since 2012 to improve HPV vaccination rates. Kepka suggests this shows a shift in attitude about the HPV vaccine, including acknowledgment that people may have more than one sexual partner. “We’re moving in the right direction. The truth is, life happens. A large portion of marriages end in divorce, no matter what a person’s religious affiliation. It’s best to protect kids from the unexpected.”

More young men are getting the HPV vaccine in Utah, with a 19.7% increase since 2021, according to the CDC. The agency also found throat cancer has surpassed cervical cancer as the most common HPV-related cancer, underscoring the importance of both young men and young women getting vaccinated.

The CDC recommends all children and adults ages 9 through 26 years be vaccinated against HPV; though the HPV vaccine is most effective in early adolescence between ages 9-12, according to the American Cancer Society. “Kids mount a stronger immune response,” says Kaila Christini, MsPH, MS, program manager with the Kepka Group. “They’re likely to have better protection if they’ve had the vaccine at a young age.”

Murry recommends all parents get their teens vaccinated for HPV. “You never know what will happen in life. The vaccine is not a license to have sexual activity. It can literally keep you from getting cancer,” she says.

Shay Bilinski, senior director of cancer support strategic partnerships with the American Cancer Society, says, “There is still more work to do. Getting your child vaccinated for HPV is the gift of cancer prevention. Don’t hesitate to give that gift.”

HPV vaccination is covered by most private insurance plans. The Utah Vaccines for Children Program provides vaccines at no cost or low-cost for children through 18 years of age who are enrolled in Medicaid, CHIP, uninsured, or underinsured.

Kepka and her team’s cancer prevention work to serve underserved, rural, and frontier communities through community collaboration is an essential part of this effort. Her research and community outreach are supported by Huntsman Cancer Foundation. 

About Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the U is the official cancer center of Utah and the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West. The campus includes a state-of-the-art cancer specialty hospital and two buildings dedicated to cancer research. Huntsman Cancer Institute provides patient care, cancer screening, and education at community clinics and affiliate hospitals throughout the Mountain West. It is consistently recognized among the best cancer hospitals in the country by U.S. News and World Report. The region’s first proton therapy center opened in 2021 and a major hospital expansion is underway. Huntsman Cancer Institute is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment for staff, students, patients, and communities. Advancing cancer research discoveries and treatments to meet the needs of patients who live far away from a major medical center is a unique focus. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than at any other cancer center, including genes responsible for breast, ovarian, colon, head and neck cancers, and melanoma. Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman.

UTA professor’s aim: robots to assist with everyday tasks

Computer scientist developing robots to help people with disabilities lead more independent lives

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

 

IMAGE: FILLIA MAKEON view more 

CREDIT: UT ARLINGTON

A University of Texas at Arlington computer science researcher is developing a robotic system that helps people with spinal cord injuries perform everyday tasks, and she’s involving members of the UTA Movin’ Mavs wheelchair basketball team in the effort.

Fillia Makedon, a distinguished professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received a $218,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering (DARE) program. The project, “Collaborative Research: DARE: A Personalized Assistive Robotic System that Assesses Cognitive Fatigue in Persons with Paralysis,” represents a collaboration with Santa Clara University Professor Maria Kyrarini, who received a similar-sized grant to find their research.

“Assistive robots can play a significant role in assisting persons with disabilities at home, improving independence and everyday quality of life,” Makedon said. “For example, a robot may assist an individual with motor impairments to perform a task such as preparing lunch or getting ready for a meeting or work. That would be a huge plus for elderly people who need some assistance but aren’t ready or willing to move into a full-fledged assisted living facility.”

Makedon’s goal is to design a personalized assistive robotic system, which she has named Intelligent Robotic Cooperation for Safe Assistance (iRCSA), that can recognize, assess and respond to a person’s cognitive fatigue level during tasks such as cooking. To do these human-robot collaboration (HRC) tasks, Makedon and her team will develop a multi-sensory system that collects physiological data like facial expressions from the human teammate during an HRC task. The system then applies advanced machine learning/deep learning methods to automatically assess the individual’s cognitive fatigue.

“Based on the cognitive fatigue assessment, the iRCSA system will adapt the robot’s behavior in order to provide personalized support,” Makedon said. “We will develop human-robot collaboration scenarios where a person suffering from a spinal cord injury and a robot can cooperate easily to perform daily tasks. 

“For the design, development, and evaluation of iRCSA, we will follow the participatory action research approach by involving in the system design students suffering from spinal cord injury. UTA’s Movin Mavs basketball team will participate in the project from its early phase. Their valuable insight and feedback will be crucial to ensuring the acceptability and usability of the proposed system.”

Hong Jiang, Wendell H. Nedderman Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, said Makedon’s project could greatly aid people with spinal cord injuries or mobility difficulties.

“Collecting and using data that could immediately be used to help people has the opportunity to be life-changing,” Jiang said. “This grant supplies that important link between data analysis and helping people.”

Makedon, who joined UT Arlington in 2006, has received many NSF grants for research projects in the areas of human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, pervasive computing, machine learning, computational multimedia, disability computing and cognitive computing.

She currently directs the Heracleia Human-Centered Computing Laboratory, which applies advanced artificial intelligence methods to develop technologies for human behavior monitoring, risk assessment and rehabilitation. She is member of several journal editorial boards and chair of the international conference PETRA. She currently supervises a large team of doctoral students, several research undergraduates and master’s students.  

NJIT experts in augmented reality help train caretakers for the elderly

Augmented reality and artificial intelligence can merge to help healthcare students

Grant and Award Announcement

NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: THE RESEARCH LOOKS TO PROVIDE VISUAL AND AUDIO REALISM, ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS, AND REALISTIC ATTITUDE AND INTELLIGENCE. view more 

CREDIT: NJIT

With the world's population of geriatric patients increasing faster than enough caretakers can be trained for the difficult job, NJIT Assistant Professor of Informatics Salam Daher thinks augmented reality technology may help close the gap.

Daher and her students are prototyping a digital model of an older person which is aware of its feelings and environment. Existing models only cover physical aspects, so it's opening new ground to have a patient simulator that teaches caretakers about the emotional and psychological aspects of their daily work.

This could attract more people to the field. People who are studying to become certified nurse assistants will interact with the patient through virtual reality or projections. The patient will be controlled initially by teachers and eventually through artificial intelligence.

For training purposes and patient outcomes, "One day, 30 or 40 years from now, I might be on the other end of it so I better do a good job now," Daher said. "We want to do training that improves communications, empathy and perceptions. We want to create a proof of concept for this type of training, and use it to investigate if it makes a difference."

The project will also be significant for pushing the limits of augmented reality. Daher said their software will cause the virtual patient to remember conversations or take actions such as turning off a television when a nursing student enters the room — "It's a new class of virtual agents … They may make comments that give the illusion that they're aware of you or the environment around them, as opposed to this is canned or unaware of what's going on."

She's the right person for the job, as an award-winning specialist in healthcare simulation who previously developed mock patients using digital assistants, interactive video and physical models. Her latest work is funded by a $110,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Her co-principal investigator is Distinguished Professor Julie Ancis. Collaborators include the University of Delaware and University of Central Florida.

Behind the scenes, Daher's team is developing their software in Unity, which is popular for applications such as mobile phone games. Latency could be a technical challenge, because realism would suffer if patients respond too slowly. Inherent limitations of artificial intelligence could also be problematic, especially if caretakers go off-script. Considering that humans often have misunderstandings with each other, asking software to understand body language, humor or nuance is a tall order, she noted.

Kimia Naeiji, a senior information technology major from Westfield, is working on the 3D modeling. She grew up wanting to become a dentist before discovering her passion for software, and said she is happy to have found a way to combine her interests in healthcare and technology. She also came to understand the importance of elderly care when her grandmother had a stroke.

Naeiji uses software called Maya to build her model. "It's pretty interesting. I learned a lot about 3D characters. I learned a lot about bones, joints and how I can make a character look realistic," she said.

The character is female but does not yet have a name. "We definitely have to give it a name. When it goes to the VR and doctors and nurses talk to this person, they have to call it something. I am currently working on the texture. I will also improve the rigging and gestures."

Words matter in food freshness, safety messaging

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ITHACA, N.Y. – Changing the wording about expiration dates on perishable food items – which is currently unregulated and widely variable – could help reduce food waste, according to a new Cornell University-led study.

A survey of consumers found that certain wording – “best by,” as opposed to “best if used by,” for example – had the potential to reduce food waste, but that results varied depending on the type of food in question. Predictably, the more perishable a food item, the greater the likelihood of discarding it. 

This work has implications for both policy proposals regarding date labels and the market impacts of reducing food waste.

“Some consumers might do a sniff test to see if food is still good, while others might just look at the date label and throw it away,” said Brad Rickard, professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and senior author of “Date Labels, Food Waste and Supply Chain Implications,” which published in the European Review of Agricultural Economics.

“And the truth is, with very few exceptions, these date labels that are used in the United States are not regulated,” Rickard said. “And they’re not food safety dates; they’re just food quality dates.”

Co-authors were Shuay-Tsyr Ho, assistant professor of agricultural economics at National Taiwan University; Florine Livat, associate professor of economics at the Kedge Business School in Talence, France, and a former visiting scholar at Dyson; and Abigail Okrent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. 

Rickard and his colleagues found that the words “use” or “use by” seemed to speak more directly to the perceived food safety implications of consuming food past the date listed on the package, and could therefore lead to an increase in food waste. The wording “best by” seemed to refer solely to food quality beyond a certain date and led to less waste.

The motivation for this work, Rickard said, stems from the “wild west” landscape of food date labels which is expected to be driven, in part, by manufacturers’ desire to sell more product. Nearly a year ago, the Food Date Labeling Act was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in an effort to reduce the discarding of safe food.

“You go into the yogurt section at the grocery store,” he said, “and you see many different labels – some say ‘use by,’ some say ‘best by,’ some say ‘best if used by’ or ‘fresh by,’ ‘sell by.’ And there are no rules about this.”

In the survey, the researchers asked participants to rate, on a 1-5 scale (5 being extremely likely) their likelihood of discarding 15 different food and beverage items that were one day past the stated date code. In the first section of the survey, the question included only the expiration date code (i.e. date/month/year); the second section repeated this exercise but with both a date code and a date label that included one of 10 different wording variations. 

Four of the date label variations followed those that have been widely adopted in the U.S.: “Best if used by”; “Best by”; “Use by”; and “Sell by.” The other six featured a date label and a biosensor, a visual indication of food quality. Biosensors – which detect microbe growth and change colors accordingly – are popular in some European markets, but are not as common in the U.S.; for the survey, the researchers chose biosensors with the colors green (fresh), blue (less fresh) and purple (past fresh).

The 15 food items selected for the survey – including bread, cookies, chicken, packaged salad greens and canned soup – all typically use date labels. Survey results showed an increase in discard intentions with the “Use by” and the “Best if used by” date label, inferring that food with these date labels were more often discarded and replaced.

Rickard also said the novelty of the biosensor technology resonated with the U.S. survey participants, and when it was presented to participants as green (fresh), it led to substantially lower discard rates.

One of the unintended consequences of a more uniform approach to date labels, the researchers note, is a potential increase in food waste depending on the wording of the label, as well as an increase in the re-purchasing of perishable items high in protein, fat and cholesterol. 

“If you tell all food manufacturers that all their ‘best by’ dates are now going to ‘best if used by’ dates, that might actually increase food waste,” Rickard said. 

This research was supported by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, as well as through the USDA Hatch Project NYC. 

For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.

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JOURNAL

European Review of Agricultural Economics

DOI

10.1093/erae/jbac021 

ARTICLE TITLE

Date labels, food waste and supply chain implications

Endocrine Society condemns Florida ban on gender-affirming care

Anti-science rule threatens to harm transgender and gender-diverse minors; sets dangerous precedent for all health care decisions

Reports and Proceedings

THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY

WASHINGTON—The Endocrine Society rebukes the Florida Board of Medicine’s decision to ban gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse teenagers.

We call on the Florida Board of Medicine to reverse the ban and allow physicians to provide evidence-based care and protect the lives of minors.

The Florida ban is blatantly discriminatory and contradicts medical evidence followed by the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Pediatric Endocrine Society and other mainstream medical organizations.

When an individual’s gender identity is not respected and they cannot access medical care, it can result in higher psychological problem scores and can raise the person’s risk of committing suicide or other acts of self-harm. Research has found denying access to puberty-delaying medication and/or hormone therapy raises the risk of suicidal ideation and self-harm.

According to the Endocrine Society’s globally recognized evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines, only reversible treatments to delay puberty are recommended for adolescents.  Puberty-delaying medication is safe, reversible, and the conservative approach that gives teenagers and their families more time to explore their options. The same treatment has been used for decades to treat precocious puberty.

Teenagers who continue to demonstrate gender incongruence and who demonstrate the ability to provide informed consent can be offered gender-affirming hormone therapy, which is partially reversible. The Florida Medicaid ban prevents teenagers from accessing these important treatment options.

Medical evidence, not politics, should inform treatment decisions. The Endocrine Society submitted comments earlier this year during the abbreviated public comment period on the Board’s guidance on “treating gender dysphoria for children and adolescents, yet the Florida Board of Health opted to rely on controversial research that is not recognized by the mainstream medical community in crafting its ban on gender-affirming care. Consequently, the state blocked transgender residents from receiving gender-affirming care through Medicaid coverage.

Twenty states have proposed legislation to limit access to care during the 2022 legislative session, according to Freedom for All Americans. The Endocrine Society is alarmed that misinformation about medical care recommended for transgender and gender-diverse adolescents is fueling efforts to limit access to gender-affirming care. The move by the Florida Board of Health to ban gender-affirming care based on a political agenda rather than on science sets a dangerous precedent for all health care decisions.

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Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.

Long-term exposure to air pollution may increase kidney disease risk

Reports and Proceedings

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEPHROLOGY

Highlights

• Among adults with normal kidney function, exposure to higher concentrations of components of air pollution was linked with higher risks of later developing chronic kidney disease.
• Compared with individuals with high genetic risk of developing kidney disease, those with high air pollution exposure and low genetic risk faced a higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease.  
• Results from the study will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2022 November 3–November 6.

Orlando (November 4, 2022) — Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to chronic kidney disease (CKD). New research assessed the interaction of air pollution and genetic factors on the development of CKD. The research will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2022 November 3–November 6.

Investigators analyzed data from 350,994 participants without CKD at baseline in the UK Biobank. Exposure to higher concentrations of components of air pollution was linked with higher risks of developing CKD. Compared with individuals with high genetic risk of developing CKD, those with high air pollution exposure and low genetic risk faced a higher risk of developing CKD.

“Long-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of CKD, especially in those with low genetic risk,” the authors wrote.

Study: “Air pollution, genetic factors, and the risk of incident chronic kidney disease: a prospective study of polygenic risk score analysis in the UK Biobank”

ASN Kidney Week 2022, the largest nephrology meeting of its kind, will provide a forum for nephrologists and other kidney health professionals to discuss the latest findings in research and engage in educational sessions related to advances in the care of patients with kidney diseases and related disorders.
Since 1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge, and advocating for the highest quality care for patients. ASN has more than 20,000 members representing 132 countries. For more information, visit www.asn-online.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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Fluoride use was consequence of flawed nutritional guidelines, researcher says

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

 

IMAGE: DR. PHILIPPE HUJOEL view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Prominent organizations including the World Health Organization and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have dismissed low-carbohydrate diets that prevent tooth decay in favor of recommending high-carbohydrate diets which rely on fluoride and food fortification to mitigate dental damage and nutritional shortcomings, a University of Washington researcher says.

In a recent article published in MDPI’s Nutrients journal, Dr. Philippe Hujoel of the UW School of Dentistry says that not only these organizations but other major professional and health associations reversed earlier positions and began recommending high-carbohydrate diets over the course of decades in the last century. Specifically, he cites the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Dental Association (ADA).

These groups, he says, ignored scientific evidence weakening their claim that the only adverse health effect to a high-carbohydrate diet was dental cavities. Organizations such as the World Health Organization and the USDA then recommended increased use of fluoride to combat the risk of tooth decay.

In the meantime, Dr. Hujoel says, some scientists provided compelling evidence that low-carbohydrate diets were at least as beneficial to health as high-carbohydrate diets. Low-carbohydrate diets help prevent tooth decay and make fluoride – which has no tangible health benefits other than preventing cavities – largely unnecessary, he says.

Dr. Hujoel’s study traces this development toward fluoride-supplemented high-carbohydrate dietary guidelines back to the mid-twentieth century, when leaders like Emory W. Morris, a dentist and president of the Kellogg Foundation – an arm of a major cereal maker – became the first chairman of the ADA’s Council on Dental Health in 1942.

Morris suggested that the issue of dental decay be solved with fluoride rather than sticking to the existing recommendation of a low-carbohydrate diet. He had a conflict of interest in this decision, as cereals are carbohydrates and do increase tooth decay risk.

Furthermore, to make its recommendations, the ADA’s council had to reverse its position on several key points, Dr. Hujoel says:

• The safety of topically applied fluoride
• The role of deficiencies in bone health nutrients as a cause of tooth decay, changed from “established fact” to an explicit dismissal
• The need to teach dental patients “that a reduction in the carbohydrate intake is necessary,” changing to a recommendation of a “well-balanced” diet, which became increasingly associated with high-carbohydrate nutritional guidelines

Dr. Hujoel’s study also explores the private interests involved when the ADA took the first significant steps toward endorsing the current fluoride-supplemented high-carbohydrate nutritional guidelines, most of which have been maintained for decades.

High-carbohydrate diets undermine dental health because these foods’ residue in the mouth break down into sugars, which feed the Streptococcus mutans bacteria which are also present. In turn, the bacteria produce lactic acid, which attacks tooth enamel, leading to decay. Fluoride fortifies the enamel.

 

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JOURNAL

Nutrients

DOI

10.3390/nu14204263 

Oldest planetary debris in our galaxy found from new study

Astronomers led by the University of Warwick have identified the oldest star in our galaxy that is accreting debris from orbiting planetesimals, making it one of the oldest rocky and icy planetary systems discovered in the Milky Way.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

 

IMAGE: CAPTION: ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF THE OLD WHITE DWARFS WDJ2147-4035 AND WDJ1922+0233 SURROUNDED BY ORBITING PLANETARY DEBRIS, WHICH WILL ACCRETE ONTO THE STARS AND POLLUTE THEIR ATMOSPHERES. WDJ2147-4035 IS EXTREMELY RED AND DIM, WHILE WDJ1922+0233 IS UNUSUALLY BLUE. CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK/DR MARK GARLICK view more 

CREDIT: CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK/DR MARK GARLICK

• New study led by University of Warwick puts an age to faint white dwarf star of over ten billion years
• Engulfed remains of recently orbiting planetesimals make this the oldest dead star with an evolved planetary system
• Provides insight into the formation and evolution of asteroids, icy moons and Earth-like rocky planets in the early history of the universe

 

Astronomers led by the University of Warwick have identified the oldest star in our galaxy that is accreting debris from orbiting planetesimals, making it one of the oldest rocky and icy planetary systems discovered in the Milky Way.

Their findings are published today (5 November) in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, which conclude that a faint white dwarf located 90 light years from Earth, as well as the remains of its orbiting planetary system, are over ten billion years old.

The fate of most stars, including those like our Sun, is to become a white dwarf. A white dwarf is a star that has burnt up all of its fuel and shed its outer layers and is now undergoing a process of shrinking and cooling. During this process, any orbiting planets will be disrupted and in some cases destroyed, with their debris left to accrete onto the surface of the white dwarf.

For this study the team of astronomers, led by the University of Warwick, modelled two unusual white dwarfs that were detected by the space observatory GAIA of the European Space Agency. Both stars are polluted by planetary debris, with one of them being found to be unusually blue, while the other is the faintest and reddest found to date in the local galactic neighbourhood - the team subjected both to further analysis.

Using spectroscopic and photometric data from GAIA, the Dark Energy Survey and the X-Shooter instrument at the European Southern Observatory to work out how long it has been cooling for, the astronomers found that the ‘red’ star WDJ2147-4035 is around 10.7 billion years old, of which 10.2 billion years has been spent cooling as a white dwarf.

Spectroscopy involves analysing the light from the star at different wavelengths, which can detect when elements in the star’s atmosphere are absorbing light at different colours and helps determine what elements those are and how much is present. By analysing the spectrum from WDJ2147-4035, the team found the presence of the metals sodium, lithium, potassium and tentatively detected carbon accreting onto the star – making this the oldest metal-polluted white dwarf discovered so far.

The second ‘blue’ star WDJ1922+0233 is only slightly younger than WDJ2147-4035 and was polluted by planetary debris of a similar composition to the Earth’s continental crust. The science team concluded that the blue colour of WDJ1922+0233, despite its cool surface temperature, is caused by its unusual mixed helium-hydrogen atmosphere.

The debris found in the otherwise nearly pure-helium and high-gravity atmosphere of the red star WDJ2147-4035 are from an old planetary system that survived the evolution of the star into a white dwarf, leading the astronomers to conclude that this is the oldest planetary system around a white dwarf discovered in the Milky Way.

Lead author Abbigail Elms, a PhD student in the University of Warwick Department of Physics, said: “These metal-polluted stars show that Earth isn’t unique, there are other planetary systems out there with planetary bodies similar to the Earth. 97% of all stars will become a white dwarf and they’re so ubiquitous around the universe that they are very important to understand, especially these extremely cool ones. Formed from the oldest stars in our galaxy, cool white dwarfs provide information on the formation and evolution of planetary systems around the oldest stars in the Milky Way.”

“We’re finding the oldest stellar remnants in the Milky Way that are polluted by once Earth-like planets. It’s amazing to think that this happened on the scale of ten billion years, and that those planets died way before the Earth was even formed.”

Astronomers can also use the star’s spectra to determine how quickly those metals are sinking into the star’s core, which allows them to look back in time and determine how abundant each of those metals were in the original planetary body. By comparing those abundances to astronomical bodies and planetary material found in our own solar system, we can guess at what those planets would have been like before the star died and became a white dwarf – but in the case of WDJ2147-4035, that has proven challenging.

Abbigail explains: “The red star WDJ2147-4035 is a mystery as the accreted planetary debris are very lithium and potassium rich and unlike anything known in our own solar system. This is a very interesting white dwarf as its ultra-cool surface temperature, the metals polluting it, its old age, and the fact that it is magnetic, makes it extremely rare.

Professor Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay of the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick said: “When these old stars formed more than 10 billion years ago, the universe was less metal-rich than it is now, since metals are formed in evolved stars and gigantic stellar explosions. The two observed white dwarfs provide an exciting window into planetary formation in a metal poor and gas-rich environment that was different to the conditions when the solar system was formed.”

• ‘Spectral analysis of ultra-cool white dwarfs polluted by planetary debris’ is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
• This research received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the Leverhulme Trust Grant and the UK STFC consolidated grant.

 

Ends

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DOI

10.1093/mnras/stac2908 

New VR system lets you share sights on the move without causing VR sickness

Segway riders share sensation of movement with remote users in real-time

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOKYO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A MODIFIED WHEELCHAIR UNIT RECREATES THE ACCELERATION OF A SEGWAY FOR A REMOTE USER, REDUCING VR SICKNESS. view more 

CREDIT: TOKYO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have engineered a virtual reality (VR) remote collaboration system which lets users on Segways share not only what they see but also the feeling of acceleration as they move. Riders equipped with cameras and accelerometers can feedback their sensations to a remote user on a modified wheelchair wearing a VR headset. User surveys showed significant reduction in VR sickness, promising a better experience for remote collaboration activities.

Click here to watch the video

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtzqiLhlyXY

Virtual reality (VR) technology is making rapid headway, letting users experience and share an immersive, 3D environment. In the field of remote work, one of the major advances it offers is a chance for workers in different locations to share what they see and hear in real-time. An example is users on personal mobility devices in large warehouse facilities, factories, and construction sites. Riders can cover large areas with ease while highlighting issues in real-time to a remote co-worker. However, one major drawback can ruin the whole experience: VR sickness. VR sickness is a type of motion sickness which comes from users seeing “motion” through their headsets without actually moving. Symptoms include headaches, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. The problem is particularly acute for the example above, when the person sharing the experience is moving about.

To get around this issue, researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University led by Assistant Professor Vibol Yem have created a system which lets users share not only what they see, but the sensation of movement as well. They focused on Segways as a common, widely available personal mobility vehicle, mounting two 3D cameras and a set of accelerometers to measure not only visual cues but detailed information on the acceleration of the vehicle. This was fed back via the internet to a remote user wearing a VR headset on a modified wheelchair, with separate motors attached to the wheels. As the user on the Segway accelerated, so did the wheelchair, allowing remote users to not only see the same scenery, but feel the same acceleration. Of course, the wheelchair wasn’t allowed to move the same distances as the Segway; it was gently returned to its original position when the Segway was not accelerating.

The team put their device to the test by asking volunteers to become remote users and rate their experience. There was a reduction in VR sickness of 54% when the sensations of movement were added, with excellent ratings for the user experience. They also noticed subtleties in how the information should be fed back. For example, users found it best when around 60% of the acceleration suggested by the visual cues was fed back to the wheels, largely due to the sensitivity of the vestibular system (how we sense balance, orientation and motion) compared to our vision.

Though improvements are still needed, the team’s system promises exciting new possibilities for remote collaboration, freeing remote users from a major drawback of VR technology.

This work was supported by the Local-5GProject at Tokyo Metropolitan University, MIC/SCOPE # 191603003 and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 18H04118.

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JOURNAL

Advanced Robotics

DOI

10.1080/01691864.2022.2129033 

ARTICLE TITLE

Vehicle-ride sensation sharing system with stereoscopic 3D visual perception and vibro-vestibular feedback for immersive remote collaboration

Can your phone tell if a bridge is in good shape?

A new study suggests mobile data collected while traveling over bridges could help evaluate their integrity.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Want to know if the Golden Gate Bridge is holding up well? There could be an app for that.

A new study involving MIT researchers shows that mobile phones placed in vehicles, equipped with special software, can collect useful structural integrity data while crossing bridges. In so doing, they could become a less expensive alternative to sets of sensors attached to bridges themselves.

“The core finding is that information about structural health of bridges can be extracted from smartphone-collected accelerometer data,” says Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Sensable City Laboratory and co-author of a new paper summarizing the study’s findings.

The research was conducted, in part, on the Golden Gate Bridge itself. The study showed that mobile devices can capture the same kind of information about bridge vibrations that stationary sensors compile. The researchers also estimate that, depending on the age of a road bridge, mobile-device monitoring could add from 15 percent to 30 percent more years to the structure’s lifespan.

“These results suggest that massive and inexpensive datasets collected by smartphones could play an important role in monitoring the health of existing transportation infrastructure,” the authors write in their new paper.

The study, “Crowdsourcing Bridge Vital Signs with Smartphone Vehicle Trips,” is being published in Nature Communications Engineering.

The authors are Thomas J. Matarazzo, an assistant professor of civil and mechanical engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point; Daniel Kondor, a postdoc at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna; Sebastiano Milardo, a researcher at the Senseable City Lab; Soheil S. Eshkevari, a senior research scientist at DiDi Labs and a former member of Senseable City Lab; Paolo Santi, principal research scientist at the Senseable City Lab and research director at the Italian National Research Council; Shamim N. Pakzad, a professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Lehigh University; Markus J. Buehler, the Jerry McAfee Professor in Engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering and of mechanical engineering at MIT; and Ratti, who is also professor of the practice in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Bridges naturally vibrate, and to study the essential “modal frequencies” of those vibrations in many directions, engineers typically place sensors, such as accelerometers, on bridges themselves. Changes in the modal frequencies over time may indicate changes in a bridge’s structural integrity.

To conduct the study, the researchers developed an Android-based mobile phone application to collect accelerometer data when the devices were placed in vehicles passing over the bridge. They could then see how well those data matched up with data record by sensors on bridges themselves, to see if the mobile-phone method worked.

“In our work, we designed a methodology for extracting modal vibration frequencies from noisy data collected from smartphones,” Santi says. “As data from multiple trips over a bridge are recorded, noise generated by engine, suspension and traffic vibrations, [and] asphalt, tend to cancel out, while the underlying dominant frequencies emerge.”

In the case of the Golden Gate Bridge, the researchers drove over the bridge 102 times with their devices running, and the team used 72 trips by Uber drivers with activated phones as well. The team then compared the resulting data to that from a group of 240 sensors that had been placed on the Golden Gate Bridge for three months.

The outcome was that the data from the phones converged with that from the bridge’s sensors; for 10 particular types of low-frequency vibrations engineers measure on the bridge, there was a close match, and in five cases, there was no discrepancy between the methods at all.

“We were able to show that many of these frequencies correspond very accurately to the prominent modal frequencies of the bridge,” Santi says.  

However, only 1 percent of all bridges in the U.S. are suspension bridges. About 41 percent are much smaller concrete span bridges. So, the researchers also examined how well their method would fare in that setting.

To do so, they studied a bridge in Ciampino, Italy, comparing 280 vehicle trips over the bridge to six sensors that had been placed on the bridge for seven months. Here, the researchers were also encouraged by the findings, though they found up to a 2.3 percent divergence between methods for certain modal frequencies over all 280 trips, and a 5.5 percent divergence over a smaller sample. That suggests a larger volume of trips could yield more useful data.

“Our initial results suggest that only a [modest amount] of trips over the span of a few weeks are sufficient to obtain useful information about bridge modal frequencies,” Santi says.

Looking at the method as a whole, Buehler observes, “Vibrational signatures are emerging as a powerful tool to assess properties of large and complex systems, ranging from viral properties of pathogens to structural integrity of bridges as shown in this study. It’s a universal signal found widely in the natural and built environment that we’re just now beginning to explore as a diagnostic and generative tool in engineering.”

As Ratti acknowledges, there are ways to refine and expand the research, including accounting for the effects of the smartphone mount in the vehicle, the influence of the vehicle type on the data, and more.

“We still have work to do, but we believe that our approach could be scaled up easily — all the way to the level of an entire country,” Ratti says. “It might not reach the accuracy that one can get using fixed sensors installed on a bridge, but it could become a very interesting early-warning system. Small anomalies could then suggest when to carry out further analyses.”

The researchers received support from Anas S.p.A., Allianz, Brose, Cisco, Dover Corporation, Ford, the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, the Fraunhofer Institute, the former Kuwait-MIT Center for Natural Resources and the Environment, Lab Campus, RATP, Singapore–MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), SNCF Gares & Connexions, UBER, and the U.S. Department of Defense High-Performance Computing Modernization Program.

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Written by Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office

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JOURNAL

Communications Engineering

ARTICLE TITLE

"Crowdsourcing Bridge Vital Signs with Smartphone Vehicle Trips"