YOU BETTER HOPE NO RECESSION

Can cosmic inflation be ruled out?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

 

IMAGE: COSMIC INFLATION IS A POPULAR SCENARIO FOR THE EARLIEST PHASE IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE view more 

CREDIT: A. IJJAS, P.J. STEINHARDT AND A. LOEB (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, FEBRUARY 2017)

Astrophysicists say that cosmic inflation – a point in the Universe’s infancy when space-time expanded exponentially, and what physicists really refer to when they talk about the ‘Big Bang’ – can in principle be ruled out in an assumption-free way.

The astrophysicists, from the University of Cambridge, the University of Trento, and Harvard University, say that there is a clear, unambiguous signal in the cosmos which could eliminate inflation as a possibility. Their paper, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, argues that this signal – known as the cosmic graviton background (CGB) – can feasibly be detected, although it will be a massive technical and scientific challenge.

“Inflation was theorised to explain various fine-tuning challenges of the so-called hot Big Bang model,” said the paper’s first author Dr Sunny Vagnozzi, from Cambridge’s Kavli Institute for Cosmology, and is now based at the University of Trento. “It also explains the origin of structure in our Universe as a result of quantum fluctuations.

“However, the large flexibility displayed by possible models for cosmic inflation which span an unlimited landscape of cosmological outcomes raises concerns that cosmic inflation is not falsifiable, even if individual inflationary models can be ruled out. Is it possible in principle to test cosmic inflation in a model-independent way?”

Some scientists raised concerns about cosmic inflation in 2013, when the Planck satellite released its first measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the universe's oldest light.

“When the results from the Planck satellite were announced, they were held up as a confirmation of cosmic inflation,” said Professor Avi Loeb from Harvard University, Vagnozzi’s co-author on the current paper. “However, some of us argued that the results might be showing just the opposite.”

Along with Anna Ijjas and Paul Steinhardt, Loeb was one of those who argued that results from Planck showed that inflation posed more puzzles than it solved, and that it was time to consider new ideas about the beginnings of the universe, which, for instance. may have begun not with a bang but with a bounce from a previously contracting cosmos.

The maps of the CMB released by Planck represent the earliest time in the universe we can ‘see’, 100 million years before the first stars formed. We cannot see farther.

“The actual edge of the observable universe is at the distance that any signal could have travelled at the speed-of-light limit over the 13.8 billion years that elapsed since the birth of the Universe,” said Loeb. “As a result of the expansion of the universe, this edge is currently located 46.5 billion light years away. The spherical volume within this boundary is like an archaeological dig centred on us: the deeper we probe into it, the earlier is the layer of cosmic history that we uncover, all the way back to the Big Bang which represents our ultimate horizon. What lies beyond the horizon is unknown.”

In could be possible to dig even further into the universe’s beginnings by studying near-weightless particles known as neutrinos, which are the most abundant particles that have mass in the universe. The Universe allows neutrinos to travel freely without scattering from approximately a second after the Big Bang, when the temperature was ten billion degrees. “The present-day universe must be filled with relic neutrinos from that time,” said Vagnozzi.

Vagnozzi and Loeb say we can go even further back, however, by tracing gravitons, particles which mediate the force of gravity.

“The Universe was transparent to gravitons all the way back to the earliest instant traced by known physics, the Planck time: 10 to the power of -43 seconds, when the temperature was the highest conceivable: 10 to the power of 32 degrees,” said Loeb. “A proper understanding of what came before that requires a predictive theory of quantum gravity, which we do not possess.”

Vagnozzi and Loeb say that once the Universe allowed gravitons to travel freely without scattering, a relic background of thermal gravitational radiation with a temperature of slightly less than one degree above absolute zero should have been generated: the cosmic graviton background (CGB).

However, the Big Bang theory does not allow for the existence of the CGB, as it suggests that the exponential inflation of the newborn universe diluted relics such as the CGB to a point that they are undetectable. This can be turned into a test: if the CGB were detected, clearly this would rule out cosmic inflation, which does not allow for its existence.

Vagnozzi and Loeb argue that such a test is possible, and the CGB could in principle be detected in future. The CGB adds to the cosmic radiation budget, which otherwise includes microwave and neutrino backgrounds. It therefore affects the cosmic expansion rate of the early Universe at a level that is detectable by next-generation cosmological probes, which could provide the first indirect detection of the CGB.

However, to claim a definitive detection of the CGB, the ‘smoking gun’ would be the detection of a background of high-frequency gravitational waves peaking at frequencies around 100 GHz. This would be very hard to detect, and would require tremendous technological advances in gyrotron and superconducting magnets technology. Nevertheless, say the researchers, this signal may be within our reach in future.

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JOURNAL

The Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/ac9b0e 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Challenge of Ruling Out Inflation via the Primordial Graviton Background

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Nov-2022

Keeping Omicron infection risk low requires room ventilation rates 50 times greater

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

 

IMAGE: FIGURE SHOWING THAT THE RISK OF INFECTION FOR A GIVEN RATE OF VENTILATION (CUBIC METERS OF AIRFLOW INTO A ROOM OR BUILDING PER HOUR) HAS SHARPLY INCREASED AS NEW SARS-COV-2 VARIANTS HAVE EMERGED. view more 

CREDIT: BUILDING SIMULATION, TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

With SARS-CoV-2 variants continuing to evolve, building scientists and air quality specialists have assessed the ventilation rates of rooms required to keep the risk of infection under one percent, concluding that Omicron and its sublineages require ventilation some 50 times greater than the virus did when humanity first encountered it in the spring of 2020.

 

The researchers reported their findings in a paper published in the journal Building Simulation on October 19.

 

Vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 have delivered a scientific miracle, radically reducing the mortality and illness associated with the disease. But, as the World Health Organization warned in its July 2022 update on the pandemic, sublineages of the Omicron variant of concern continue to evolve and the overall global risk of infection from SARS-CoV-2 variants remains very high.

 

It is in this context that the researchers aimed to assess how the risk of airborne transmission of the virus in confined spaces has changed from the ancestral strain that emerged in 2020 to the three descendent strains that have dominated at various times over the course of the pandemic: Alpha, Delta, and, currently, Omicron.

 

Despite the manifest benefits of vaccination, the researchers suspected that the risk of airborne transmission in confined spaces might be higher, and so the corresponding precautions regarding ventilation needed to be re-appraised.

 

The researchers obtained the quantum generation rate value, or ‘q’ of three SARS-CoV-2 variants (Alpha, Delta, and Omicron). The word quantum in this case has nothing to do with quantum physics, but refers instead to the minimum dose of virus particles (‘virions’) necessary to cause an infection. And the quantum generation rate describes how many quanta are produced per hour by an infectious person.

 

The q value has steadily increased over time (contributing to increased transmissibility). The ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain had a q value of 14–48 quanta (or doses) per hour. The researchers calculated that the Alpha variant had a q of 89–165 quanta (or doses) per hour; the Delta variant had a q of 312–935 quanta per hour; and the Omicron variant has a q of 725–2,345 quanta per hour.

 

The researchers then plugged these q values into what is called the Wells-Riley equation—a simplified, fast calculation that estimates how likely an individual is likely to become infected from airborne transmissible diseases at different rates of ventilation in a room or building.

 

The ventilation rate is defined as the rate at which fresh air flows into a room or building, measured in cubic meters per hour.

 

Wells-Riley assumes that the greater the q and lower the ventilation rate, the greater the risk of infection for a given period of time. Thus increasing the period of time spent in that room or building increases the risk further. All buildings are different and so many additional variables will alter the real-world q value, but the Wells-Riley equation offers a usable, raw estimation for the average building.

 

The number that pops out from the calculation tells you what ventilation rate keeps the risk of infection below one percent for a given q value per hour.

 

The Wells-Riley calculation for the ancestral strain of the virus produced suggested that for an individual to have under one percent chance of being infected, the room or building had to enjoy a ventilation rate of 100–350 cubic meters per hour if the individual was in there for 15 minutes, and 1200–4000 cubic meters per hour if in there for three hours.

 

The researchers found that for all three variants of concern, ventilation rates had to increase substantially to ensure an infection probability of under one percent.

 

For Alpha, this meant ventilation rates of 650–1,200 cubic meters per hour for 15 minutes of exposure, and 8,000–14,000 cubic meters per hour for three hours of exposure.

 

For Delta, the rate jumped up further still, to 2,200–6,800 cubic meters per hour for 15 minutes, and 26,000–80,000 cubic meters for three hours.

 

For the Omicron variant (not distinguishing between sublineages), the ventilation rate hit 5,400–17,000 cubic meters per hour for 15 minutes and 64,000–250,000 cubic meters per hour for three hours.

 

“Without any additional measures, this means the Alpha variant requires a ventilation rate some four times aggressive than the ancestral strain,” said Bin Zhao, professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, “while the Delta and Omicron variants require ventilation rates roughly 20 times and 50 times greater. This is difficult to meet for actual building engineering.”

 

However, the good news is that if both the infected person and the susceptible person are wearing N95 masks, the ventilation rate required to keep the risk of infection to under one percent decreases to about one hundredth of these reported values.

 

The researchers also found that air purifiers were ineffective in reducing transmission when used in scenarios without N95 masks.

 

This means that preventing prolonged exposure time in confined spaces remains critical in reducing the risk of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

 

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About Building Simulation

 

Building Simulation: An International Journal publishes original, high quality, peer-reviewed research papers and review articles dealing with modeling and simulation of buildings including their systems. The goal is to promote the field of building science and technology to such a level that modeling will eventually be used in every aspect of building construction as a routine instead of an exception. Of particular interest are papers that reflect recent developments and applications of modeling tools and their impact on advances of building science and technology.

 

About Tsinghua University Press

 

Established in 1980, belonging to Tsinghua University, Tsinghua University Press (TUP) is a leading comprehensive higher education and professional publisher in China. Committed to building a top-level global cultural brand, after 41 years of development, TUP has established an outstanding managerial system and enterprise structure, and delivered multimedia and multi-dimensional publications covering books, audio, video, electronic products, journals and digital publications. In addition, TUP actively carries out its strategic transformation from educational publishing to content development and service for teaching & learning and was named First-class National Publisher for achieving remarkable results.

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JOURNAL

Building Simulation

DOI

10.1007/s12273-022-0952-6 

ARTICLE TITLE

Association between the infection probability of COVID-19 and ventilation rates: An update for SARS-CoV-2 variants

Invasive fruit fly may pose threat to forest ecosystems

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENSOFT PUBLISHERS

 

IMAGE: THE LARVAE OF THE INVASIVE SPOTTED WING DROSOPHILA DEVELOP IN FRUITS OF MANY FOREST SPECIES SUCH AS BRAMBLES. ITS OCCURRENCE RESULT IN A FAST DECAY OF THE FRUITS. view more 

CREDIT: PROF. MARTIN M. GOSSNER

The invasive spotted wing drosophila (SWD), introduced from South-East Asia, is a well-known fruit crop pest. It lays its eggs by destroying the mechanical protection of the fruit’s skin, providing an entry point for further infestation. Egg deposition and inoculated microbes then accelerate decay, and as a result the fruit rots and becomes inedible. While this small fly is known to cause massive economic damage in agriculture, little is known about its ecological impact on more natural ecosystems such as forests.

A recent study by Swiss scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and the Ökobüro Biotopia, published in the scientific journal NeoBiota, concluded that the SWD competes strongly with other fruit-eating species and that its presence could have far-reaching consequences for ecosystems.

The research team assessed the use of potential host plants at 64 sites in forests from mid-June to mid-October 2020 by checking a total of 12,000 fruits for SWD egg deposits. To determine if SWD attacks trigger fruit decay, they also recorded symptoms of fruit decay after egg deposition. In addition, they monitored the fruit fly (drosophilid) fauna in the area, assuming that the SWD would outnumber and possibly outcompete other fruit-eating insects.

The authors found egg deposits on the fruits of 31 of the 39 fruit-bearing forest plant species they studied, with 18 species showing an attack rate of more than 50%. Furthermore, more than 50% of the affected plant species showed severe symptoms of decay after egg deposition. The egg depositions may alter the attractiveness of fruits, because they change their chemical composition and visual cues, such as colour, shape and reflective patterns, which in turn might lead seed dispersers such as birds to consume less fruits.

Given the large number of infested fruits, significant ecological impacts can be expected. “Rapid decay of fruits attacked by the spotted wing drosophila results in a loss of fruit available for other species competing for this resource, and may disrupt seed-dispersal mutualisms due to reduced consumption of fruit by dispersers such as birds,” says Prof. Martin M. Gossner, entomologist at the WSL. “If the fly reproduces in large numbers, both seed dispersers and plants could suffer.”

The authors further found that SWD were strongly represented and dominant in trap catches, and showed that the more abundant SWD were, the less abundant native drosophilids were. This suggests additional negative impacts of the invasive species on native communities.

With ongoing climate change, these potentially severe ecological impacts might be amplified in temperate forests, as higher average and winter temperatures will most likely lead to shorter generation times and lower winter mortality, which will eventually further increase the pressure on forest fruits and the competitiveness of the SWD over native drosophilids, the authors note.

  

The male of the invasive spotted wing drosophila can be easily identified by the dark spots on the wings.

The females of the invasive spotted wing drosophila has an enlarged, serrated ovipositor to attack undamaged fruits, which gives it a competitive advantage over native fruit flies.

CREDIT

Prof. Martin M. Gossner

Original source:
Bühlmann I, Gossner MM (2022) Invasive Drosophila suzukii outnumbers native controphics and causes substantial damage to fruits of forest plants. NeoBiota 77: 39-77. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.77.87319

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JOURNAL

NeoBiota

DOI

10.3897/neobiota.77.87319 

ARTICLE TITLE

Invasive Drosophila suzukii outnumbers native controphics and causes substantial damage to fruits of forest plants

 

Advances in thermoelectric power generation possible with various ‘metal chalcogenide’ materials, recent review shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

 

IMAGE: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THERMOELECTRIC MATERIALS INCLUDE ELEMENTAL METALS, METAL CHALCOGENIDES, AND INTENTIONALLY ADDED IMPURITIES THAT ENHANCE THE CHARGE DENSITY AND ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHARACTERISTICS. view more 

CREDIT: NANO RESEARCH ENERGY, TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

Scientists on the forefront of the rapidly growing field of thermoelectric power generation have found that metals and metalloid compounds built upon antimony, lead, copper, tin, and bismuth hold the potential to aid in developing more efficient energy recapture materials and devices – a critical area of need as the global scientific community seeks ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A research team led by Professor Lawrence Wu in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at City University of Hong published a review examining recent studies that have sought to discover more efficient and effective thermoelectric materials.

The review was published on October 21  in Nano Research Energy.

The studies included in the research team’s review focused specifically on studies that conducted experiments with substituting different metal compounds called chalcogenides, which are common across the renewable energy sector and found in applications such as photovoltaic cells, batteries, sensors, and fuel cells, to name a few. Such compounds have in common that they all tend to function as a catalyst among two or more forms of energy.

Though thermoelectric materials have been known to exist since the late 1800’s, the idea of harnessing their ability to recapture heat energy as electrical current wasn’t more intensely studied until the mid-20th century, when the scientific community began to explore space and needed ways of powering satellites and other space vehicles for long periods.

The review notes that about 90 percent of energy consumed by human activities is generated by thermal processes and eventually dissipates as heat, illustrating the vast opportunity inherent to developing better ways of capturing waste heat at factories, power plants, from vehicles, and even building exteriors in hot climates.

“Energy generation is likely to be the foremost scientific challenge in years to come. The adverse effect of fossil fuels on the environment is driving research to explore alternative energy sources,” Wu said. “Studies have demonstrated that renewables can offer a promising strategy to curb the problem, among which thermoelectric technology stands tall.”

Wu and his team examined studies on a technique within thermoelectric material development called isovalent substitution, which refers to the mechanism of substituting a host atom with an impurity atom when the impurity atom possesses the same valence number as the host atom. “This technique has opened up a new approach that leads to higher charge density and electron mobility across these novel materials,” Wu said. “The goal is to recapture as much energy as possible in the form of an electric charge, and these thermoelectric materials – particularly one we examined based on the elements bismuth and cerium – fit that bill.”

Other metal chalcogenides built on lead, gallium, copper, germanium, and tin demonstrated performance characteristics that rivaled each other, depending on temperature, pressure, and type of isovalent substitution. Bismuth-tellurium and a bismuth-antimony-tellurium compound stood out as the top thermoelectric material the team found among the studies reviewed.

“In conclusion, the system of isovalent substitution is an effective technique of doping to enhance the thermoelectric material performance,” Wu said. “What this tells us is that there is still a vast about of untapped potential for developing materials that will increase the efficiency and range of electric vehicles, help governments and industry cut down on fossil fuel use, and even pave the way for sustaining future human colonies on the moon and on Mars, where energy production and storage alternatives to solar will be necessary. We plan to continue monitoring new developments in the field of thermoelectric generation.”

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About Nano Research Energy 

Nano Research Energy is launched by Tsinghua University Press, aiming at being an international, open-access and interdisciplinary journal. We will publish research on cutting-edge advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnology for energy. It is dedicated to exploring various aspects of energy-related research that utilizes nanomaterials and nanotechnology, including but not limited to energy generation, conversion, storage, conservation, clean energy, etc. Nano Research Energy will publish four types of manuscripts, that is, Communications, Research Articles, Reviews, and Perspectives in an open-access form.

 

About SciOpen 

SciOpen is a professional open access resource for discovery of scientific and technical content published by the Tsinghua University Press and its publishing partners, providing the scholarly publishing community with innovative technology and market-leading capabilities. SciOpen provides end-to-end services across manuscript submission, peer review, content hosting, analytics, and identity management and expert advice to ensure each journal’s development by offering a range of options across all functions as Journal Layout, Production Services, Editorial Services, Marketing and Promotions, Online Functionality, etc. By digitalizing the publishing process, SciOpen widens the reach, deepens the impact, and accelerates the exchange of ideas.

JOURNAL

Nano Research Energy

DOI

10.26599/NRE.2022.9120034 

ARTICLE TITLE

Isovalent substitution in metal chalcogenide materials for improving thermoelectric power generation – A critical review

First autonomous car in Luxembourgish traffic

Business Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF LUXEMBOURG

 

IMAGE: PROF. RAPHAËL FRANK AND THE CAR view more 

CREDIT: CHRISTIAN WILMES

The University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) demonstrated its autonomous car in live traffic on Kirchberg today, Thursday 3 November 2022. This represents the first time a single-family autonomous car has joined the flow of traffic in Luxembourg with members of the public as passengers.

This autonomous car is the test platform for navigation technologies and high definition (HD) maps being researched at SnT’s 360Lab. The demonstration is the culmination of five years of research work by the 360Lab team, led by Prof. Raphaël Frank. The 360Lab is the first thematic research laboratory focusing on smart mobility in the country, and it serves as an umbrella to conduct strategic and collaborative research in the broader area of mobility innovation.

The 360Lab’s research is crucial to the future of autonomous driving in Luxembourg as it is developing HD maps of the region, which provide information that road signs and markings traditionally give to drivers as they navigate to their destination. HD maps are the basis for autonomous navigation. These are exponentially more detailed than standard definition (SD) maps, commonly used by traditional navigation services’ found in cars and mobile devices. The map for the demo was completed in partnership with a San Francisco based start-up, Civil Maps, specialised in providing HD maps for automated mobility.

Beyond the technical research, there are also many logistics involved in researching autonomous navigation. As part of their research, the team needed to gain authorisation for the single-family car to drive on Luxembourgish roads, trailblazing the regulatory path for autonomous driving in the country.

“Autonomous driving holds the potential to create a mobility ecosystem that is both safer and more sustainable. Full autonomy will be a paradigm shift in mobility, improving traffic and reducing congestion by reducing the number of vehicles,” says Prof. Raphaël Frank. “Our mission is to have a research platform where we demonstrate the technology of autonomous mobility that we can use for research and education. Today’s demo achieves this goal as it is the first-time members of the public get to experience the functionality of the car first-hand.”

UNH research shows COVID-19 lockdown did not lead to quieter offshore ocean

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

DURHAM, N.H.—Life on land may have quieted down during the height of the pandemic, but far offshore the Atlantic Ocean was just as active as ever according to a new study from the University of New Hampshire. Researchers found that there was no significant change in the continental shelf’s underwater soundscape during the year 2020— a surprising contrast to earlier reports of quieter coastal waters during that same timeframe.

“It’s fascinating that oceans are so dynamic and variable; different regions really have different personalities based on the natural and human interactions that happen within those waters,” said Jennifer Miksis-Olds, research professor and director of UNH’s Center for Acoustic Research and Education.

In the study, recently published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Express Letters, researchers focused on seven offshore sites geographically spanning the Outer Continental Shelf from Virginia to Florida—places where hydrophones had been placed on the seabed in 2017 and then retrieved in 2021 as part of UNH’s Atlantic Deepwater Ecosystem Observatory Network. The data indicated that although the sound produced from commercial shipping vessels decreased, there was an increase in sound from other vessels, like fishing boats and pleasure crafts. The net result: no major difference in the underwater soundscape approximately 45-280 miles from the shoreline.

“Having that long-term time series was really critical because it allowed for direct comparison of years of data before COVID-19 hit,” said Miksis-Olds. “Acoustic measurements in the deep ocean are more scarce than in coastal waters, so this research provides another perspective on how the deep oceans were impacted—or not—by COVID-19.”

Researchers acknowledge that the findings are in direct contrast to other studies focused on waters closer to the shoreline but say that’s why it’s important to examine different aspects of the ocean environment before drawing any conclusions.

The research was supported by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in partnership with the Office of Naval Research and NOAA.

The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. A Carnegie Classification R1 institution, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and received $260 million in competitive external funding in FY21 to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.

Flint water crisis affected timing of pediatric lead testing but not quantity, study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

LAWRENCE, KANSAS – The word “plumber” comes from the Latin word for the metal “lead.”

But lead coupled with pipes that transport drinking water makes a terrible combination … and one which resulted in the Flint water crisis, among other similar public health hazards.

“Lead is a neurotoxicant that builds up in the body over long-term exposure, with children especially vulnerable to its negative effects,” said David Slusky, a professor of economics at the University of Kansas.

“Too often, parents and care providers do not learn of such an exposure until a child receives a lead test showing elevated levels of lead in blood. Early-in-life lead testing together with remediation of potential lead contaminations allows early detection of exposure and prevents further harm.”

Slusky’s new article titled “Blood Lead Testing in Flint Before and After Water Contamination” reveals how, despite a highly publicized lead advisory, children in Flint, Michigan, who were enrolled in Medicaid received lead tests earlier but the proportion of Medicaid-eligible children who were tested did not change. His research advocates focusing on primary prevention to reduce lead exposure. It appears in Pediatrics.

Such exposure can introduce cardiovascular problems, high blood pressure and developmental impairment affecting sexual maturity and the nervous system. Evidence suggests eliminating lead pipes would yield benefits for generations.

Co-written by Derek Jenkins of Rice University, Daniel Grossman of West Virginia University and Shooshan Danagoulian of Wayne State University, Slusky’s study uses the complete set of Medicaid claims data for individuals born in Michigan between 2013 and 2015, linked to their birth record data containing maternal census block of residence during pregnancy. The data allowed the researchers to identify children who did not have any lead test claims. The resulting data set tracked 206,001 children.

“While the particular circumstances of this study are specific to Michigan, lead is present in homes across the nation, especially in older homes and cities with older infrastructure,” said Slusky, who also has an appointment in the Department of Population Health in the KU School of Medicine.

He explained that at the time of the Flint water crisis, an investigation found approximately 3,000 localities across the U.S. with lead poisoning rates more than double those in Flint. Although the benefits of lead testing are universal (and required for those enrolled in most Medicaid programs at ages 12 and 24 months), compliance is low. Nearly half of children on Medicaid have not received a test by age 13 months.

However, once news of the crisis broke, parents in Flint were galvanized into action. The percentage of children on Medicaid receiving a lead test in the months after September 2015 jumped from a baseline of about 3% to about 5% after the announcement by Flint officials, and to a high of about 13% when former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency in January 2016.

“What surprised us most was that these higher rates of testing did not persist after these announcements,” Slusky said. “It’s really hard to make long-term changes in behavior. All the changes we measure came from kids getting their first lead test earlier, and not kids getting a test who wouldn’t have otherwise received it.”

A KU faculty member since 2015, Slusky specializes in health economics and labor economics. He has written extensively on this current subject, including the pieces “Impacts of Lead Exposure on Health, Fertility and Education” and “The Impact of the Flint Water Crisis on Fertility.”

Is it inevitable that we will witness another lead-related crisis like the one in Flint?

“We already have,” Slusky said, citing Newark, New Jersey, in 2016 and Jackson, Mississippi, this year.

“While the $15 billion in the 2021 infrastructure bill to replace lead service lines will help, it is probably not enough to replace all the lines in the country. Nor will it address other sources of lead in the home such as traces of old lead paint," he said. “Focusing on prevention and mitigation of lead outbreaks can therefore make a big difference in reducing both the scale of future crises and the level of harm to exposed children.”

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JOURNAL

PEDIATRICS

DOI

10.1542/peds.2022-056541 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

Blood Lead Testing in Flint Before and After Water Contamination

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Nov-2022

A major clinical trial shows how to reduce the risk of stomach bleeding occasionally caused by regular aspirin use

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham found that the risk of stomach bleeding caused by using aspirin long-term, can be reduced with a short course of antibiotics, potentially improving the safety of aspirin when used to prevent heart attacks, strokes and possibly some cancers.

The results of the .HEAT (Helicobacter pylori Eradication Aspirin) trial, which was led by Professor Chris Hawkey from the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine and Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Technology Assessment programme, are published in The Lancet.

Aspirin in low doses is a very useful preventative drug in people at high risk of strokes or heart attacks. However, on rare occasions, it can provoke internal ulcer bleeding.

By thinning the blood, aspirin makes ulcers in the stomach bleed. These ulcers may be caused by a particular type of bacteria, helicobacter pylori.  

The STAR (Simple Trials for Academic Research) team from the University of Nottingham investigated whether a short course of antibiotics to remove these bacteria would reduce the risk of bleeding in aspirin users.

The .HEAT (Helicobacter pylori Eradication Aspirin) Trial was  a very large trial conducted in 1,208 UK general practices. It was a real-life study which used clinical data routinely stored in GP and hospital records, instead of bringing patients back for follow up trial visits. 

The team wrote to 188,875 patients who were taking aspirin and 30,166 volunteered and took part in the study. Those who tested positive for H. pylori were randomised to receive antibiotics or placebos (dummy tablets) and were followed for up to 7 years. 

Over the first two and a half years, those who had antibiotic treatment were less likely to be admitted to hospital because of ulcer bleeding than those who had dummy tablets (6 versus 17). Protection occurred rapidly: with those who received placebos (dummy treatment), the first hospitalisation for ulcer bleeding occurred after 6 days, compared to 525 days following antibiotic treatment. 

Over a longer time period, protection appeared to wane. However, the overall rate of hospitalisation for ulcer bleeding was lower than expected and this in line with other evidence that ulcer disease is on the decline. Risks for people already on aspirin are low. Risks are higher when people first start aspirin, when searching for H. pylori and treating it is probably worthwhile.

Professor Chris Hawkey said: “Aspirin has many benefits in terms of reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people at increased risk. There is also evidence that it is able to slow down certain cancers. The .HEAT trial is the largest UK-based study of its kind, and we are pleased that the findings have shown that ulcer bleeding can be significantly reduced following a one-week course of antibiotics. The long-term implications of the results are encouraging in terms of safe prescribing”

The results of the trial will be presented at the UEG (United European Gastroenterology) scientific meeting in Vienna where it has won a 10,000 Euro top abstract prize. The STAR team intend to use the prize to sponsor a competition to support a collaboration with a research team that would like to take advantage of STAR methodology.

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JOURNAL

The Lancet

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Helicobacter pylori eradication for primary prevention of peptic ulcer bleeding in older patients prescribed aspirin in primary care (HEAT): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Nov-2022

Mars's crust more complex, evolved than previously thought

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS LED BY VALERIE PAYRÉ, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, HAVE FOUND THE EARLY CRUST ON MARS IS MORE COMPLEX IN ORIGIN THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. THE RESEARCHERS LOCATED NINE LOCATIONS IN MARS'S SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE (SEE IMAGE, ABOVE) THAT WERE RICH IN A MINERAL CALLED FELDSPAR. FELDSPAR IS ASSOCIATED WITH A TERRAIN THAT HAS MORE THAN A SIMPLY VOLCANIC ORIGIN. THE FINDING MAY MEAN MARS'S FORMATION MAY BE SIMILAR TO EARTH'S PLANETARY BEGINNINGS." view more 

CREDIT: VALERIE PAYRÉ, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Early crust on Mars may be more complex than previously thought—and it may even be similar to our own planet’s original crust.

The Martian surface is uniformly basaltic, a product of billions of years of volcanism and flowing lava on the surface that eventually cooled. Because Mars did not undergo full-scale surface remodeling like the shifting of continents on Earth, scientists had thought Mars’ crustal history was a relatively simple tale.

But in a new study, researchers found locations in the Red Planet’s southern hemisphere with greater concentrations of silicon, a chemical element, than what would be expected in a purely basaltic setting. The silica concentration had been exposed by space rocks that slammed into Mars, excavating material that was embedded miles below the surface, and revealing a hidden past.

“There is more silica in the composition that makes the rocks not basalt, but what we call more evolved in composition,” says Valerie Payré, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Iowa and the study’s corresponding author. “That tells us how the crust formed on Mars is definitely more complex than what we knew. So, it’s more about understanding that process, and especially what it means for how Earth’s crust first formed.”

Scientists believe Mars formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Exactly how the Red Planet came into being is a mystery, but there are theories. One idea is that Mars formed via a titanic collision of rocks in space that, with its intense heat, spawned an entirely liquefied state, also known as a magma ocean. The magma ocean gradually cooled, the theory goes, yielding a crust, like a layer of skin, that would be singularly basaltic.

Another theory is that the magma ocean was not all-encompassing, and that parts of the first crust on Mars had a different origin, one that would show silica concentrations different from basaltic.

Payré and her research partners analyzed data gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the planet’s southern hemisphere, which previous research had indicated was the oldest region. The researchers found nine locations—such as craters and fractures in the terrain—that were rich in feldspar, a mineral associated with lava flows that are more silicic than basaltic.

“This was the first clue,” Payré says. “It is because the terrains are feldspar-rich that we explored the silica concentrations there.”

Feldspar had been found previously in other regions on Mars, but further analysis showed the chemical composition in those areas was more basaltic. That did not deter the researchers, who turned to another instrument, called THEMIS, which can detect silica concentrations through infrared wavelength reflections from the Martian surface. With data from THEMIS, the team determined the terrain at their chosen locations was more silicic than basaltic.

Adding further credence to their observations, meteorites such as Erg Chech 002, discovered in the Sahara and dating roughly to the birth of the solar system, show similar silicic and other mineral compositions that the team observed in the nine locations on Mars.

The researchers also dated the crust to about 4.2 billion years, which would make it the oldest crust found on Mars to date.

Payré says she was mildly surprised at the discovery.

“There have been rovers on the surface that have observed rocks that were more silicic than basaltic,” she says. “So, there were ideas that the crust could be more silicic. But we never knew, and we still don’t know, how the early crust was formed, or how old it is, so it’s kind of a mystery still.”

While Mars’ crustal origin remains shrouded, Earth’s crustal history is even less clear, as any vestiges of our planet’s original crust have been long erased due to the shifting of continental plates for billions of years. Still, the finding may offer insights into Earth’s origins.

“We don’t know our planet’s crust from the beginning; we don’t even know when life first appeared,” Payré says. “Many think the two could be related. So, understanding what the crust was like a long time ago could help us understand the whole evolution of our planet.”

Payré conducted the research as a postdoctoral researcher at Northern Arizona University. She joined the UI in August.

The study, “An evolved early crust exposed on Mars revealed through spectroscopy,” was published online Nov. 4 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Contributing authors are Mark Salvatore and Christopher Edwards from Northern Arizona.

NASA funded the research, through the Mars Science Laboratory Participating Scientist Program and the Mars Odyssey THEMIS project.

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JOURNAL

Geophysical Research Letters

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

An evolved early crust exposed on Mars revealed through spectroscopy

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-Nov-2022