New targeting opportunities discovered against canine distemper virus

Researchers at the University of Bern and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences have for the first time determined the structure of the canine distemper virus "docking protein" and depicted it at molecular level.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BERN

 

IMAGE: PROF. DR. DIMITRIOS FOTIADS, INSTITUTE OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE, FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF BERN view more 

CREDIT: © COURTESY OF DIMITRIOS FOTIADIS

The highly contagious canine distemper virus is dangerous to dogs and wild life animals. It is also closely related to the equally highly contagious measles virus. Researchers at the University of Bern and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences have now for the first time determined the structure of the canine distemper virus "docking protein" and depicted it at molecular level. This lays the ground to develop novel therapies for a better management of the diseases induced by CDV and related viruses, such as the measles virus.

Measles virus and canine distemper virus (CDV) belong to the genus Morbillivirus. Both infectious pathogens are highly contagious RNA viruses surrounded by an envelope on which their "docking proteins" protrude - similar to the spike protein in coronavirus. Both viruses induce respiratory infections as well as deadly encephalitis, although high incidence of brain infections is unique to CDV. Despite the availability of an efficient vaccine, measles still kills more than 100,000 people each year. Canine distemper virus, for its part, causes large epidemics, especially in wild life animals, including endangered species such as certain tiger species. There is also a high risk of spillover to other animal species - in countries associated with suboptimal vaccine coverage, the virus can severely affect dogs.

No antiviral drug currently approved

For measles, antivirals would act as an attractive complement to vaccination campaigns. And for CDV, antiviral drugs may support disease management in susceptible endangered species that are in captivity, e.g., Pandas. However, no antiviral morbillivirus drug is currently approved. To develop effective antiviral drugs, a better understanding of the structure of the measles and canine distemper viruses and the mechanisms that allow them to enter human and animal cells is needed. Researchers led by Dimitrios Fotiadis of the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (IBMM) of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern and Philippe Plattet of the Division of Neurological Sciences of the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern have now succeeded for the first time in determining the structure of the "docking protein" of the canine distemper virus and depicting it at molecular level. These findings make it possible to develop "tailor-made" active substances against the "docking protein" that prevent the virus from entering host cells. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA.

Targeted blocking of the "docking protein”

The mechanism by which measles and canine distemper viruses enter cells relies on two proteins on the viral envelope: a "docking protein" (also called H-protein) and a "fusion protein" (F-protein). Based on previous research, it is assumed that upon interaction with a host cell receptor, the H-protein transmits a signal that will activate the F-protein. This results in a fusion of the viral envelope with the host cell membrane. In this process, a so-called fusion pore is formed, which enables the injection of the viral genome into the host cell. Now, the team led by Dimitrios Fotiadis and Philippe Plattet, together with researchers from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), have been able to determine the structure of this H-protein for the first time using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and map it at molecular level. In cryo-electron microscopy, biological samples are imaged at cryogenic temperatures (around -180 °C) and magnified by 100,000 times. This revealed that the protein is characterized by three main domains (heads, neck and stalk) that form a "Y." "The fact that we were able to determine the structure represents a big leap forward. This now allows us to understand how the different subdomains spatially organize with each other - and provides us with a valuable blueprint to develop next-generation antiviral drugs that block the 'docking protein'", says Dimitrios Fotiadis.

Novel therapeutic approaches

"Simultaneously blocking the cell entry process in distemper and measles virus with several different neutralizing molecules is a promising antiviral strategy", explains Philippe Plattet. Currently, researchers from the Plattet and Fotiadis consortium and the University of Marseille have successfully identified antibodies that neutralize CDV in a highly effective manner. In further research, the recently established cryo-EM platform at the University of Bern will provide useful services: structural studies for CDV and related viruses can now be extended and accelerated, for example to determine the structures of the H-proteins of measles and distemper viruses when bound to neutralizing antibodies. "Thanks to the viral structures determined by cryo-EM, we can develop and improve antiviral drugs using so-called structure-based drug design", says Fotiadis.

This study was funded by a Sinergia from the Swiss National Science Foundation, a funding apparatus to promote collaborative and interdisciplinary breakthrough research.

Publication details: David Kalbermatter, Jean-Marc Jeckelmann, Marianne Wyss, Neeta Shrestha, Dimanthi Pliatsika, Rainer Riedl, Thomas Lemmin, Philippe Plattet and Dimitrios Fotiadis: Structure and supramolecular organization of the canine distemper virus attachment glycoprotein. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, January 30, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208866120 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2208866120

The Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (IBMM) of the Faculty of Medicine. Research at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (IBMM) of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern focuses on the structure, function and pharmacology of membrane proteins such as transporters, ion channels and membrane receptors. A strong emphasis is put on the roles of these membrane proteins in human disease. At the IBMM, chemical synthesis, chemical biology/analytics are combined with electrophysiology, structural biology and computational biology. Both, human ex vivo and genetically modified mouse models serve to study specific membrane proteins in various diseases such as cancer, cardiac disorder, preeclampsia and neuropsychiatric disorders. Further information

The Division of Neurological Sciences of the Vetsuisse Faculty Researchers at the Division of Neurological Sciences study the pathogenesis of neuroinfectious and allergic diseases in animals, contribute to the surveillance of neurological diseases and develop new therapeutic strategies. Further information

Cryo-electron microscopy at the University of Bern The newly established cryo-EM platform at the University of Bern plays a special role in the present study. Recent developments in cryo-EM have moved molecular biology and biochemistry into a new era and made the visualization of molecular complexes and machineries possible. This method was acknowledged and honored in the year 2017 by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. At the University of Bern, various groups work with cryo-EM, including at the IBMM or the Institute of Anatomy.

Side view of the "docking protein" of the canine distemper virus. Colored in red, blue, yellow and green are the large four heads and the connecting neck domain of the viral protein. The stalk is colored in gray. The H protein is anchored in the viral membrane. In light pink, sugar molecules are displayed, which help the virus to camouflage from the immune system.

PD Dr. Jean-Marc Jeckelmann, co-author of the study, taking images with the new cryo-electron microscope (the blue illuminated device in the background).

CREDIT

© IBMM / University of Bern

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2208866120 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Structure and supramolecular organization of the canine distemper virus attachment glycoprotein

Equine-facilitated therapy improved the functioning of patients with low back pain

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND

Patients with chronic low back pain may benefit from equine-facilitated therapy (EFT), a new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. During a 12-week intervention, the perceived amount of pain decreased, and the ability of daily functioning improved among EFT participants. The findings were published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

The study set out to evaluate the impact of EFT on perceived physical performance, level of pain, pain acceptance, depression and anxiety, and quality of life. The study was conducted in Finland, and it involved a total of 22 men and women suffering from low back pain.

The 12-week intervention showed that EFT can be used to improve people’s daily functioning. Statistically significant improvement was observed in domains pertaining to sleep, reaching and bending forward, and standing for a long period of time.

By gradually increasing the exercise load, it was also possible to reduce patients’ perceived amount of pain, increase their participation in social activities, and improve their psychological well-being. During a six-month follow-up, only two of the chronic pain patients returned to the clinic due to pain.

In the follow-up interviews, patients highlighted the perceived physical, psychological and social effects of EFT, showing that the intervention had a comprehensive impact on their rehabilitation.

Statistically significant quantitative improvement was observed for mental health: during the intervention, patients’ social functioning improved and their depression decreased – something that was also highlighted in the interviews: “The created group effect was a positive experience.” 

“Chronic back pain is a multidimensional experience involving not only physical pain but also learned thinking patterns and emotional reactions. Traditionally, physical therapy has been recommended for the rehabilitation of patients with chronic pain, as physical exercise has been found to be the most effective way to treat spinal pain. Hippocrates already recommended using equine movement as a form of physical and psychological rehabilitation for people, but the exact reason behind the rehabilitative effect has remained unknown thus far,” says Doctoral Researcher Sanna Mattila-Rautiainen of the University of Eastern Finland.

The gait of a horse encourages the right kind of lumbar movement

Equine-facilitated therapy brought relief to patients with chronic pain who had been incapable for work for several years.

“Patients with chronic pain tend to avoid the sensation of pain that comes from moving the affected part of their body. However, when sitting on a moving horse, a person with low back pain will end up moving to the gait of the horse, which encourages the right kind of lumbar movement,” Mattila-Rautiainen says.

In the intervention, sitting on a horse to 100 walk-like movements per minute was found beneficial:
“The movement felt good - the horse moved me correctly.”
“There is no other way to exercise like this.”

Incorrect movement maintains a vicious circle of pain and affects people’s physical, psychological and social well-being. The compatibility of the patient with the horse’s movements, along with a suitable exercise load, played a key role in the intervention. The exercise load was gradually increased, within the limits of pain. Patients’ opinions were also heard regarding the choice of their horse and equipment.

In Finland, equine-facilitated therapy is a form of medical rehabilitation that has been subsidised by the country’s Social Insurance Institution since 2019. In the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders, however, equine-facilitated therapy is less well established. Mattila-Rautiainen has more than 20 years of experience in using EFT in the rehabilitation of patients with back pain, working in close collaboration with regional social welfare and healthcare authorities in the Kainuu region, Finland.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

DOI

10.3389/fvets.2023.1085768 

ARTICLE TITLE

The impact on physical performance, pain and psychological wellbeing of chronic low back pain patients during 12-weeks of equine- facilitated therapy intervention

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Mar-2023

Machine learning helps researchers separate compostable from conventional plastic waste with ‘very high’ accuracy

Scientists develop classification models allowing for reliable, automated sorting of plastic types

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRONTIERS

Disposable plastics are everywhere: Food containers, coffee cups, plastic bags. Some of these plastics, called compostable plastics, can be engineered to biodegrade under controlled conditions. However, they often look identical to conventional plastics, get recycled incorrectly and, as a result, contaminate plastic waste streams and reduce recycling efficiency. Similarly, recyclable plastics are often mistaken for compostable ones, resulting in polluted compost.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have published a paper in Frontiers in Sustainability in which they used machine learning to automatically sort different types of compostable and biodegradable plastics and differentiate them from conventional plastics.

“The accuracy is very high and allows the technique to be feasibly used in industrial recycling and composting facilities in the future,” said Prof Mark Miodownik, corresponding author of the study.

Up to perfect accuracy

The researchers worked with different types of plastics measuring between 50mm by 50mm and 5mm by 5mm. Conventional plastic samples included PP and PET, often used for food containers and drinking bottles, as well as LDPE, used, among other things, for plastic bags and packaging. Compostable plastic samples included PLA and PBAT, used for cup lids, tea bags, and magazine wraps; as well as palm-leaf and sugarcane, both biomass-derived materials used to produce packaging. The samples were divided into a training set, used to build classification models, and a testing set, used to check accuracy.

Results showed high success rates: The model achieved perfect accuracy for all materials when the samples measured more than 10mm by 10mm. For sugarcane-derived or palm-leaf-based materials measuring 10mm by 10mm or less, however, the misclassification rate was 20% and 40%, respectively.

Looking at pieces measuring 5mm by 5mm, some materials were identified more reliably than others: For LDPE and PBAT pieces the misclassification rate was 20%; and both biomass-derived materials were misidentified at rates of 60% (sugarcane) and 80% (palm-leaf). The model was, however, able to identify PLA, PP and PET pieces without error, regardless of sample measurements.

Beyond the visible

“Currently, most compostable plastics are treated as a contaminant in the recycling of conventional plastics, reducing their value. Trommel and density sorting are applied to screen compost and reduce the presence of other materials. However, the level of contaminants from the current screening process is unacceptably high,” explained Miodownik. “The advantages of compostable packaging are only realized when they are industrially composted and do not enter the environment or pollute other waste streams or the soil.”

To improve accuracy, a team of scientists including Nutcha Teneepanichskul, Prof Helen Hailes and Miodownik from UCL’s Plastic Waste Innovation Hub tested different types of conventional, compostable, and biodegradable plastics, using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) for classification model development. HSI is an imaging technique that detects the invisible chemical signature of different materials while scanning them, producing a pixel-by-pixel chemical description of a sample. AI models were used to interpret these descriptions and make a material identification.

Plastic mismanagement in recycling and industrial composting processes is high, making reliable sorting mechanisms essential. “Currently, the speed of identification is too low for implementation at industrial scale,” Miodownik pointed out. However, “we can and will improve it since automatic sorting is a key technology to make compostable plastics a sustainable alternative to recycling.”

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Sustainability

DOI

10.3389/frsus.2023.1125954 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Imaging analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Machine learning helps researchers separate compostable from conventional plastic waste with ‘very high’ accuracy

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Mar-2023

[Press Release] SMART researchers develop the world's first microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SINGAPORE-MIT ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (SMART)

 

IMAGE: ILLUSTRATION OF A SILK MICRONEEDLE ARRAY ON A DIME COIN view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO CREDIT: SINGAPORE-MIT ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (SMART)

SMART researchers develop the world's first microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants

• It is the first time that polymeric silk microneedles have been used to deliver agrochemicals to a wide variety of plants
• Silk microneedles are a powerful tool which is utilised in medical applications for humans, and now they can be used for efficient drug delivery to plants that will be useful for plant science research and precision agriculture
• The novel technique is minimally invasive and is a sustainable and precise practice which will contribute to the sustainability of agriculture and food security.

Singapore, 14 March 2023 - Researchers from the Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) of Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, and their collaborators from Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed the first-ever microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants. The method can be used to precisely deliver controlled amounts of agrochemicals to specific plant tissues for research purposes. When applied in the field, it could be used in precision agriculture to improve crop quality and disease management. 

Increasing environmental conditions caused by climate change, an ever-growing human population, scarcity of arable land, and limited resources are pressuring the agriculture industry to adopt more sustainable and precise practices that foster more efficient use of resources  (e.g. water, fertilisers, and pesticides) and mitigation of environmental impacts. Developing delivery systems that efficiently deploy agrochemicals such as micronutrients, pesticides, and antibiotics in crops will help ensure high productivity and high produce quality while minimising the waste of resources is crucial. 

However, current and standard practices for agrochemical application in plants, such as foliar spray, are inefficient due to off-target application, quick run-off in the rain, and actives’ rapid degradation. These practices also cause significant detrimental environmental side effects, such as water and soil contamination, biodiversity loss and degraded ecosystems; and public health concerns, such as respiratory problems, chemical exposure and food contamination.

The novel silk-based microneedles technique developed by SMART circumvents these limitations by deploying and targeting a known amount of payload directly into a plant’s deep tissues, which will lead to higher efficacy of plant growth and help with disease management. The technique is minimally invasive as it delivers the compound without causing long-term damage to the plants and is environmentally sustainable. It minimises resource wastage and mitigates the adverse side effects caused by agrochemical contamination of the environment. Additionally, it will help foster precise agricultural practices and provide new tools to study plants and design crop traits, helping to ensure food security. 

Described in a paper titled “Drug Delivery in Plants Using Silk Microneedles”, published in the January 2023 issue of Advanced Materials, the research studies the first-ever polymeric microneedles used to deliver small compounds to a wide variety of plants and the plant response to biomaterial injection. Through gene expression analysis, the researchers could closely examine the reactions to drug delivery following microneedle injection. Minimal scar and callus formation were observed, suggesting minimal injection-induced wounding to the plant. The proof-of-concept provided in this study opens the door to plant microneedles’ application in plant biology and agriculture, enabling new means to regulate plant physiology and study metabolisms via efficient and effective delivery of payloads.

The study optimised the design of microneedles to target the systemic transport system in Arabidopsis (mouse-ear cress), the chosen model plant. Gibberellic acid (GA3), a widely used plant growth regulator in agriculture, was selected for the delivery. The researchers found that delivering GA3 through microneedles was more effective in promoting growth than traditional methods (such as foliar spray). They then confirmed the effectiveness using genetic methods and demonstrated that the technique is applicable to various plant species, including vegetables, cereals, soybean and rice. 

Professor Benedetto Marelli, co-corresponding author of the paper, Principal Investigator at DiSTAP, and Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT, shared, “The technique saves resources as compared to current methods of agrochemical delivery, which suffer from wastage. During the application, the microneedles break through the tissue barriers and release compounds directly inside the plants, avoiding agrochemical losses. The technique also allows for precise control of the amounts of the agrochemical used, ensuring high-tech precision agriculture and crop growth to optimise yield.”

“The first-of-its-kind technique is revolutionary for the agriculture industry. It also minimises resource wastage and environmental contamination. In the future, with automated microneedle application as a possibility, the technique may be used in high-tech outdoor and indoor farms for precise agrochemical delivery and disease management,” added Dr Yunteng Cao, the first author of the paper and Postdoctoral Associate of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. 

“This work also highlights the importance of using genetic tools to study plant responses to biomaterials. Analysing these responses at the genetic level offers a comprehensive understanding of these responses, thereby serving as a guide for the development of future biomaterials that can be used across the AgriFood industry,” said Sally Koh, the co-first author of this work and PhD candidate from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and TLL. 

The future seems promising as Professor Daisuke Urano, co-corresponding author of the paper, TLL Principal Investigator and NUS Adjunct Assistant Professor elaborated, “Our research has validated the use of silk-based microneedles for agrochemical application, and we look forward to further developing the technique and microneedle design into a scalable model for manufacturing and commercialisation. At the same time, we are also actively investigating potential applications that could have a significant impact on society.”

The study of drug delivery in plants using silk microneedles expanded upon previous research supervised by Prof. Benedetto Marelli at MIT. The original idea was conceived by SMART and MIT: Prof. Marelli, Prof. Nam-Hai Chua, Co-Lead Principal Investigator at DiSTAP and Dr Yunteng Cao. Researchers from TLL and NUS, Prof. Urano Daisuke and Sally Koh, joined the study to contribute biological perspectives.  The research is carried out by SMART and supported by NRF under its Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

  

SMART DiSTAP infographic_ SMART researchers develop the world's first microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants.pptx

CREDIT

Photo Credit: Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)

JOURNAL

Advanced Materials

DOI

10.1002/adma.202205794 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Drug Delivery in Plants Using Silk Microneedles

California schools are not immune to political attacks

California study finds political conflict pervasive and growing – with troubling impact for learning and a diverse democracy

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

 

IMAGE: JOSEPH KAHNE view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

A new analysis by researchers at UCLA and UC Riverside shows that even in Blue state California, political attacks on public schools are pervasive and growing, hindering learning and the role schools play in a diverse democracy. Political division and community-level conflict is negatively impacting student interactions, and many California students are experiencing hostility and intolerance in school. Troublingly, the research finds high levels of hostile comments toward LGBTQ students, and racist remarks targeting Latino, and in particular, African American students.

“The surprise here is not that California is different, it is that our public schools are experiencing similar levels of political attacks and conflict with what we have seen across the nation,” said John Rogers, director of the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access and co- author of the research. “About two-thirds of schools in the state are experiencing some level of political conflict, mirroring what we have seen in other states. The level of conflict impacting schools would seem to reflect the intensive and pervasive nature of what is happening nationally.”

The research brief, “Educating for a Diverse Democracy in California,” draws upon a representative survey of 150 California high school principals conducted in 2022 examining the chilling effect of political conflict in the nation’s schools.  The analysis compares the experiences of schools in ‘Blue’ congressional districts where less than 45% of the 2020 vote was for Donald Trump, to schools in ‘Purple’ California communities where the vote for Donald Trump was between 45% and 54.9%.

“Principals leading California high schools in Purple communities were far more likely than those leading schools in Blue communities to report that community conflict occurred frequently over issues such as those impacting LGBTQ students, teaching about race and racism, and efforts to limit access to books, ” said Joseph Kahne, co-director of the Civic Engagement Research Group at UC Riverside and co-author of the research.  “And unfortunately, political conflict over highly charged educational issues is on the rise. More than four in ten California principals said that the amount of community level conflict  was more than prior to the pandemic.”

Key findings of the California Analysis include (Partial list):

Political conflict is pervasive and growing, particularly in Purple communities

Almost two-thirds (65%) of California principals surveyed reported substantial local political conflict over hot button educational issues. Principals leading California high schools in Purple communities were far more likely than those in Blue communities to report that community conflict occurred frequently. For example, Principals in Purple communities were 2.5 times as likely as principals in Blue communities (28% to 12%) to report frequent community conflict related to LGBTQ issues.

Political division and community-level conflict is shaping student interactions

More than two-thirds ( 71% ) of California principals report that students made demeaning or hateful remarks to liberal or conservative classmates. Principals in Purple communities were more than twice as likely as principals in Blue communities to say that this problem occurred frequently. Ninety-three percent of California high school principals in Purple communities reported that “the level of political division and incivility” at their schools had increased since the beginning of the pandemic.

Many California students experience hostility and intolerance in school

Forty-two percent of California principals said the incidence of intolerance between students had grown since before the pandemic. In Purple communities, 64% of principals reported that the level of intolerance had increased.

More than three-quarters (78%) of California principals reported that their students had made hostile or demeaning remarks to LGBTQ classmates.  Half (50%) of California principals reported racist statements directed at Latinx students and two-thirds (66%) reported such remarks had been made about African American students.

“The findings regarding derogatory or hostile remarks toward American-American students are particularly striking,” Rogers said.  “The two-thirds of California principals identifying such incidents is identical to reporting across the nation, even though African Americans make up 5% of the k-12 population in the state, compared to 15% nationally.  Moving forward, we need to redouble our commitment to ensuring that all California students feel safe and respected in our public schools.” 

While the community conflict and student hostility playing out in California public schools reflects patterns across the nation, the researchers also contend that there are some hopeful signs that some schools in California are reacting differently.  Nationally, in the face of conflict, many schools in purple communities stepped back from effort to educate for a diverse democracy.  In California, many schools in both Blue and Purple communities continue to speak out on the importance  of LGBTQ rights, as well as to support teaching about the literature and history of people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.

“While these efforts offer a glimmer of hope, the research finding make clear that  California’s schools are not immune to the conflicts occurring in school communities across the nation,” said Kahne.  “Make no mistake, our schools under political attack as are the values associated with a diverse democracy.”

“This is an existential moment for our public schools,” concludes Rogers.  “Our hope is that educators, policymakers and the members of our communities will come together to forge a vision for a shared future–one that embraces the values of a diverse democracy.

In addition to data analysis of the survey findings, the research brief, “Educating for a Diverse Democracy in California,” offers suggestions on steps educators and community members can take protect learning and democracy in public schools. The full research brief and suggestions can be found at https://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/educating-for-a-diverse-democracy-california/

 

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Educating for a Diverse Democracy: The Growing Challenges of Political Conflict and Hostile Behavior

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Mar-2023

Test for spiking to reduce psychological distress – new study

University of Bath Press Release

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

More should be done to help victims of suspected spiking attacks process the psychological trauma of the event by testing patients who arrive in hospital intoxicated by drink or drunks, say the authors of a new study.    

Over recent years there has been a marked increase in personal accounts of spiking incidents across the UK. Analysis from YouGov last year in 2022 found that one in ten women (10%) and one in twenty men (5%) said they have had their drink spiked. This has coincided with an increase in spiking attacks by injection – a new phenomenon which has gained widespread media attention.    

Despite campaigning efforts to increase testing for suspected victims of spiking, a new evidence review authored by emergency medicine doctors and clinical psychologists highlights that this is rarely the reality for patients arriving at hospital. If they are intoxicated, the focus is how to get them sober, not to understand how they become intoxicated in the first place. 

The review authors from the University of Bath and UWE Bristol recognise that treating patients symptomatically is the medical priority. Yet they argue that it means many patients leave hospital once sober, without having been tested and without certainty about what might, or might not, have happened.  

This lack of clarity over how or whether they have been spiked adds to the psychological distress of the traumatic event, they say. Writing in the Emergency Medicine Journal, they suggest that the absence of diagnostic certainty can result in victims blaming themselves with feelings of guilt, shame, and fear, exacerbating the psychological toll of such incidents.  

Senior author and emergency doctor, Dr Tom Roberts based at UWE Bristol explained: “Currently we see that patients are being encouraged to attend healthcare if they believe they could have been spiked, but there is a real mismatch between their expectations and the reality on the ground where testing is typically very hard to come by.  

“Doctors’ priority must be on dealing with patients’ symptoms and ensuring they are medically well. But there is a finite window for testing, and too often patients are discharged from hospital after a period of observation, but with many questions over what may or may not have happened. We believe we could do more to understand if and how testing could have a positive impact of patients. 

Co-author and clinical psychologist at the University of Bath, Dr Jo Daniels added: “Through our review we observe that without appropriate testing, victims of spiking are likely to blame themselves for whatever unwanted or unpleasant consequences can arise from spiking – and they may do so in error without a coherent understanding of the circumstances. 

“Knowing more about what happened in instances where victims have been spiked can help them to process the event and reduce feelings of self-blame which may persist and add to the psychological toll of a distressing event. Equally important though is to know when you have not been spiked, which increased testing could reveal.” 

The three broad categories of drugs commonly used for spiking are alcohol, ‘date rape drugs’ (e.g., benzodiazepines) and ‘party drugs’ (e.g., MDMA). Drug and alcohol testing can be carried out by both blood and urine tests. For the best results, blood tests should be sent to toxicology within 24 hours.  

Their paper ‘Drink and injection spiking: how to approach an increase in presentations’ a practice review is published in the Emergency Medicine Journal https://emj.bmj.com/content/early/2023/02/13/emermed-2022-212612 .  

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JOURNAL

Emergency Medicine Journal

DOI

10.1136/emermed-2022-212612 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Drink and injection spiking: how to approach an increase in presentations?

Understanding the reproductive strategy in the endangered Chinese sturgeon

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KEAI COMMUNICATIONS CO., LTD.

 

IMAGE: THE PICTURES OF CHINESE STURGEON ARE CITED FROM THE MANUAL OF SPECIES IDENTIFICATION FOR CULTURED STURGEONS IN CHINA view more 

CREDIT: THE AUTHORS

The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is the largest anadromous fish in the Yangtze River and is considered a critically endangered species with only one spawning ground. Additionally, it has failed to spawn in recent years (2013, 2015, and 2017-2022), pushing the species to the brink of extinction.

In conservation ecology, understanding the reproductive strategies of endangered species is critical as it directly affects their population performance under changing environmental conditions. In the case of the Chinese surgeon, however, the species' mating system, breeding interval and reproductive success remain largely unknown.

To that end, a team of researchers in China conducted kinship analyses using molecular DNA data from 216 wild juveniles collected over nine years (2006−2013, 2015). They found that the Chinese sturgeon is a polygynandry species, with some parents contributing up to eight half-sibling juvenile genotypes.

“Furthermore, despite their spawning ground being limited to a small area, genetic diversity remained relatively high, with observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.698 to 0.787, expected heterozygosity from 0.763 to 0.787, and haplotype diversity from 0.440 to 0.520,” explains Dan Yu, lead author of the study.

The researchers also found that inbreeding coefficients in each year-class ranged from 1 to 9%, indicating low to modest detrimental effects on offspring.

“Parental inference analysis revealed that this species has a breeding interval of between two to six years, allowing it to feed, accumulate nutrition in the ocean, and then migrate back to the Yangtze River for iteroparous reproduction,” adds Yu.

During the study period, the annual effective number of breeders in the Yangtze River ranged from 14−161, with a 62.1% decrease observed in the 2011−2014 year-classes. “This sharp decline in population likely contributed to the recent reproduction failure; however, the ratios of effective to census population size were all larger than 0.20 after the 2010 year-class, indicating relatively even reproductive success,” shares Huanzhang Liu, corresponding author of the study.

Based on their findings, the researchers suggest a three-pronged approach to protect this critically endangered species; restocking parent fish to increase the reproductive stock size, optimizing the discharge of the Three Gorges Dam to reduce unsuitable hydrological conditions, and rehabilitating spawning ground habitats.

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Contact the corresponding author: Dan Yu, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China, yudan@ihb.ac.cn

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 100 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

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JOURNAL

Water Biology and Security

DOI

10.1016/j.watbs.2023.100134 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Novel insights into the reproductive strategies of wild Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) populations based on the kinship analysis

Building an understanding of quantum turbulence from the ground up

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AALTO UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: THE RESEARCHERS USED A UNIQUE ROTATING CRYOSTAT HOUSED IN THE AALTO UNIVERSITY CAMPUS. view more 

CREDIT: MIKKO RASKINEN/AALTO UNIVERSITY.

Most people only encounter turbulence as an unpleasant feature of air travel, but it’s also a notoriously complex problem for physicists and engineers. The same forces that rattle planes are swirling in a glass of water and even in the whorl of subatomic particles. Because turbulence involves interactions across a range of distances and timescales, the process is too complicated to be solved through calculation or computational modelling – there’s simply too much information involved.

Scientists have attempted to tackle the issue by studying the turbulence that occurs in superfluids, which is formed by tiny identical whirls called quantized vortices. A key question is how turbulence happens on the quantum scale and how is it linked to turbulence at larger scales. 

Researchers at Aalto University have brought that goal closer with a new study of quantum wave turbulence. Their findings, published in Nature Physics, demonstrate a new understanding of how wave-like motion transfers energy from macroscopic to microscopic length scales, and their results confirm a theoretical prediction about how the energy is dissipated at small scales.

How energy disappears

The team of researchers, led by Senior Scientist Vladimir Eltsov, studied turbulence in the Helium-3 isotope in a unique, rotating ultra-low temperature refrigerator in the Low Temperature Laboratory at Aalto.  They found that at microscopic scales so-called Kelvin waves act on individual vortices by continually pushing energy to smaller and smaller scales – ultimately leading to the scale at which dissipation of energy takes place.

‘The question of how energy disappears from quantized vortices at ultra-low temperatures has been crucial in the study of quantum turbulence. Our experimental set-up is the first time that the theoretical model of Kelvin waves transferring energy to the dissipative length scales has been demonstrated in the real world,’ says Jere Mäkinen, the lead author of the study and a Postdoctoral Researcher at Aalto.

Planes, trains and automobiles

In the future, an improved understanding of turbulence beginning on the quantum level could allow for  improved engineering in domains where the flow and behaviour of fluids and gases like water and air is a key question.

‘Our research with the basic building blocks of turbulence might help point the way to a better understanding of interactions between different length scales in turbulence. Understanding that in classical fluids will help us do things like improve the aerodynamics of vehicles, predict the weather with better accuracy, or control water flow in pipes. There is a huge number of potential real-world uses for understanding macroscopic turbulence,’ Mäkinen says.

For now, Eltsov, Mäkinen, and others plan to go where the science takes them. Right now, their goal is to manipulate a single quantized vortex using nano-scale devices submerged in superfluids.

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JOURNAL

Nature Physics

DOI

10.1038/s41567-023-01966-z 

ARTICLE TITLE

Rotating quantum wave turbulence

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