How to increase acceptance of an RSV vaccine? Explain the FDA’s vaccine approval process

Reports and Proceedings

ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

 

IMAGE: FIGURE SHOWS THE PERCENTAGE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD RECOMMEND VACCINATION AGAINST RSV TO A PREGNANT FAMILY MEMBER OR FRIEND. SOURCE: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER'S ASAPH SURVEY, MAY 30-JUNE 6, 2023. view more 

CREDIT: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER

PHILADELPHIA – A new study finds that people are more likely to recommend that a pregnant family member or friend get vaccinated to protect the infant from RSV illness if they are shown a chart outlining the rigorous process a vaccine undergoes to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The experiment was conducted by an Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) team as part of a May 31-June 6, 2023, nationally representative panel survey on RSV, vaccination, and maternal health. Researchers found that 57% of those in a group exposed to a flowchart of the FDA vaccine approval process (see Appendix 1) were very or somewhat likely to recommend the RSV vaccine to a pregnant family member or friend, compared with 40% of those in a control group not shown the chart. Those in a third group, informed about the risks of RSV, were also more likely (58%) to recommend the vaccine (see graphic).

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is the leading cause worldwide of lower respiratory tract infections in babies. Virtually all children get an RSV infection by the age of two. Though typically mild, the highly contagious RSV virus can cause serious illness, hospitalization, and even death among infants and the elderly.

The FDA has not yet approved an RSV vaccine for pregnant people. The FDA approved RSV vaccines by Pfizer and GSK for adults 60 and older and is considering the Pfizer vaccine for pregnant people, which would activate antibodies that would be passed on to the infants to protect them in their first six months. Separately, on Aug. 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended another form of preventive treatment against RSV, a monoclonal antibody injection for infants under eight months old and some older babies at risk of severe illness.

“Over the years the FDA and CDC have developed a sophisticated review system designed to protect the integrity of the data as well as the independence of the analysis on which the vaccination vetting and approval process relies,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and director of the survey. “The public would be well served if the press were to remind the public of this review process when a new vaccine is announced and vigilantly monitor it to ensure that it is doing its intended job well.”  

Survey and study data on RSV

The study is part of a new white paper from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania that looks at misconceptions about vaccination during pregnancy. “Reducing susceptibilities to misconceptions about vaccination during pregnancy: RSV” is the second in a series of Vaccine Communication and Fact-Checking Toolkit reports produced in partnership with Critica, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve public understanding and acceptance of scientific evidence and counteract health- and science-related misinformation.

The report contains survey data from the Annenberg Science and Public Health knowledge survey (ASAPH) of U.S. adults, first empaneled in April 2021 and conducted for APPC by the independent market research firm SSRS. The 11th wave of the panel, in which the experiment was embedded, was with 1,601 U.S. adults and fielded May 31-June 6, 2023. It has a margin of sampling error (MOE) of ± 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Correcting or contextualizing problematic claims about RSV or vaccination

The report “Reducing susceptibilities to misconceptions about vaccination during pregnancy: RSV” addresses ways to correct or contextualize misleading or false claims about maternal vaccination in general and vaccination against RSV among those who are pregnant in particular. These include misleading claims about the need for an RSV vaccine and unsupported claims about treatments that should be considered as options. Other examples include:

• Distortions about the safety of an RSV vaccine for pregnant individuals
• Distortions about vaccine ingredients
• Distortions about the effects of the RSV vaccine

Recommendations

The report makes a series of recommendations for public health officials and others who communicate with the public about health about ways to minimize public susceptibility to misinformation about RSV and vaccination, including:

• Visually represent the effects of RSV and offer clear and accurate information about the risks and benefits of vaccination compared with the likelihood of infection and its risks.
• The CDC should create a webpage that complements existing information on RSV but focuses on vaccination during pregnancy.
• Pre-emptively communicate about the changing nature of science by including caveats indicating that the guidance on RSV vaccination will be updated as more is learned about the vaccine.
• Increase public understanding of the FDA review process.

The report and the experiment

To read more about these findings and recommendations:

• Download the report here
• Download Appendix 1 with the experiment on RSV
• Read FactCheck.org’s Q&A on the RSV vaccines for older adults.
• Read FactCheck.org’s Q&A on the RSV maternal vaccine to protect infants
• Download the current version of the FDA vaccine approval chart from FactCheck.org

The experiment was designed by Patrick E. Jamieson, Ph.D., director of APPC’s Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, the data analyzed by research analyst Shawn Patterson, Ph.D., and the chart created by FactCheck.org’s managing editor, Lori Robertson.

Some of the research included in the report was conducted as part of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Design of an experiment to test the likelihood that survey respondents will recommend vaccination against RSV to a pregnant family member or friend. Conducted as part of an Annenberg Public Policy Center ASAPH nationally representative panel survey May 31-June 6, 2023.

CREDIT

Annenberg Public Policy Center 

The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication’s role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

Critica is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop and test new methods of advancing public acceptance of scientific evidence, counteracting scientific misinformation, and promoting the use of scientific evidence in public policymaking.

 

Wearables will transform health, but change brings challenges say researchers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

 

IMAGE: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CAPTURED BY SELF-REPORT QUESTIONNAIRE (TOP PANELS) VERSUS WEARABLE DEVICE (BOTTOM PANELS) IN TWO DIFFERENT SCENARIOS. FIGURE 1 IN GILL JMR, ET AL. BR J SPORTS MED AUGUST 2023 view more 

CREDIT: FIGURE 1 IN GILL JMR, ET AL. BR J SPORTS MED AUGUST 2023

In a series of three editorials published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the international team of scientists discuss issues facing the wearables field including lack of standardisation of devices and data, disconnects between research and industry and the impact of inequality in ownership.

Currently around a third of UK adults own a smartwatch or fitness tracker. A 2021 Australian-based survey reported 24 percent used fitness trackers and 23 percent used smartwatches.

Some use them to track their steps, others their sleep, but few understand the potential of these devices to transform our understanding of how everyday activity influences health.

“If you ask someone how much exercise they did today they will answer none if they missed the gym at lunchtime, but their fitness tracker may tell a very different story,” said Emmanuel Stamatakis, Professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Population Health at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, who co-led the editorial series.

“The device will pick up the short bursts of physical activity, for example when they run for the train or powerwalk to work.

“The use of wearable devices in research, paired with rapidly developing AI, allows us to unlock how these micropatterns of daily activity relate to a person’s risk of premature death, cardiovascular disease and even cancer.

“It’s an exciting time to be working in this area of research.”

“We now understand that the relationship between physical activity and health is much stronger than previous studies based on self-reported data suggested,” adds series co-lead Jason Gill, Professor of Cardiometabolic Health at the University of Glasgow.

“It is important to harness the capabilities of wearables as research tools because they have so much potential to inform guidelines for how much and what types of activity we recommend people undertake to improve their health, as well as providing new approaches to help support to people to become more active.”

But the field doesn’t come without its challenges – all exacerbated by the pace of this technology.

“The research cycle can be slow but that’s not an option here. We have to adapt and move quickly if we are going to make the most of the opportunities wearables present - or be prepared to miss the train, ” said Professor Stamatakis, who is also launching the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Australia this week.

Key challenges

Standardisation of data and devices
While individuals tracking their own activity use consumer devices like Fitbit or Garmin, most research studies use research-grade accelerometers due to their consistency and scientifically documented properties.  Consumer devices operate on proprietary algorithms that are “black boxes” to scientists. There is also a lot of variation between brands and models, frequent model updates, and strict corporate rules around data ownership and privacy.

The researchers suggest industry and academics will need to work together a lot more closely on consistency around capabilities and activity metrics for consumer wearables to become a valid source for research measurement and monitoring of health behaviours at a population level.

Barriers to use in health care

“There is immense potential for data from wearable devices to inform clinical decisions about risk, diagnosis and treatment. This is particularly relevant in cardiology because low physical activity increases risk of many heart diseases, while once disease develops it reduces the ability to be active,” said Professor Tim Chico from the University of Sheffield, lead author on the editorial on device-based measurement of physical activity in cardiovascular healthcare.

However, despite the hundreds of device models currently in use, very few are approved for clinical use by regulators. The authors write that incentives for manufacturers to obtain such expensive approvals are small compared with direct sales as “well-being tools.”

The range of measures and accuracy of devices is also a concern in this context, as is the need to have data available to health professionals at the point of decision-making. This raises other questions about the transfer of data from individuals’ devices to their medical records, security and privacy protection, as well as IT capabilities – particularly in less developed nations.

Regulatory frameworks have not adapted to the very fast pace of wearables and big data evolution. 

Inequity in ownership and use

Ninety-three percent of people in the UK and around 90 percent of Australians own a smartphone capable of counting steps which presents huge opportunities for public health.

Tracker and smartwatch use is also growing exponentially, however, there are distinct socioeconomic inequalities in ownership. This presents a problem for using consumer wearables to support positive behaviour change. While people in lower socioeconomic groups are at higher risk of lifestyle-related chronic disease and may have the most to gain from such behaviour change, the purchase of these devices could be well outside their means.

Opportunities

The researchers suggest that none of these challenges are insurmountable.

They argue that better integration of wearables in randomised controlled clinical trials and cohort studies is drastically needed. They suggest that regulators consider the approval of select devices as add-ons to standard care and that industry and academia work more closely together to maximise the potential of wearables for chronic disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment – with the ultimate goal of a happier and healthier population.

-ENDS-

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JOURNAL

British Journal of Sports Medicine

DOI

10.1136/bjsports-2023-106822 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

editorial

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023

COI STATEMENT

Professor Gill is Deputy Director for Physical Activity and Population Health at BJSM. Professor Stamatakis is funded by an Australian Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant. Professor Chico is supported by the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre. View the editorials for details regarding other authors. No funders had any input to the editorials.

 

Poor time management causes poor sleep for college students

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN TUSCALOOSA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A lack of time management skills, particularly in organization, can lead to poor sleep quality for college students according to research conducted at The University of Alabama. 

Dr. Adam Knowlden, associate professor of health science with the UA College of Human Environmental Sciences, investigated time management and how it influences sleep health in full-time college students in the areas of setting goals and priorities, mechanics of time management, and preference for organization. 

“College students tend to deal with lifestyle-related sleep problems,” said Knowlden. “For example, balancing academic and social obligations can be challenging for college students. Stress and anxiety also impact college students and we know that stress can impact the sleep quality college students receive by causing insomnia.”

According to Knowlden, more than 65% of college students describe their sleep quality as poor.

The study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Health Education, found the three factors associated with time management significantly influenced the overall sleep quality of college students. Knowlden reported that time management explained around 20% of the sleep quality outcomes measured. 

“Among the three factors, having a preference for organization was the most crucial factor influencing sleep quality,” said Knowlden. “This suggests that individuals who prioritize and maintain an organized environment tend to experience better sleep quality.”

Knowlden, who has also conducted sleep health studies related to body composition and stress, says time management strategies should be learned and implemented prior to the start of the school year. 

“We know that there is a tradition of college students staying up late, sometimes an entire 24 hours, to study or cram for exams,” said Knowlden. “This is a tell-tale sign of the need for more focus on time management. 

“However, until now, no study has looked specifically at time management to determine how much influence it has on the sleep of college students. We felt this was important to investigate because time management is something college students can work on improving.”

Knowlden recommends blocking out eight to nine hours of sleep and making it the most important appointment of the day. 

“We know that during sleep is when learning takes place,” said Knowlden. “You can think of your mind like a computer. When we sleep, our brain is getting rid of information it doesn’t need, and keeping information it does need. This is why students that prioritize sleep do better academically.”

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Health Education

DOI

10.1080/19325037.2023.2209617 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Time Management Behavior Structural Equation Model Predicts Global Sleep Quality in Traditional Entry University Students

 

Menstrual equity in the criminal legal system

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC./GENETIC ENGINEERING NEWS

 

IMAGE: JOURNAL DEDICATED TO THE DISEASES AND CONDITIONS THAT HOLD GREATER RISK FOR OR ARE MORE PREVALENT AMONG WOMEN, AS WELL AS DISEASES THAT PRESENT DIFFERENTLY IN WOMEN. view more 

CREDIT: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC PUBLISHERS

A new study has shown that among incarcerated women, many have to trade or barter to access menstrual hygiene products. The study, which examines menstrual equity, or the access to menstrual products and safe menstruating environments, in the criminal legal system, is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health. Click here to read the article now.

Patricia Kelly, PhD, from Thomas Jefferson University School of Nursing, and coauthors, found that 53.8% of women involved in the criminal legal system received less than five menstrual products at intake/initial processing. They further reported that 29.5% had to trade or barter menstrual hygiene products.

“Almost one-quarter (23.1%) suffered negative health consequences from prolonged use of products because of limited supply,” stated the investigators.

“As reported in this important study, the lack of access to menstrual products can have negative health consequences,” says Journal of Women’s Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA.

About the Journal

Journal of Women’s Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. Led by Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, the Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women’s healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women’s Health website. Journal of Women’s Health is the official journal of the Society for Women’s Health Research.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a global media company dedicated to creating, curating, and delivering impactful peer-reviewed research and authoritative content services to advance the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, specialized clinical medicine, and public health and policy. For complete information, please visit the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website.

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Women s Health

DOI

10.1089/jwh.2023.0085 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Menstrual Equity in the Criminal Legal System

 

Scientists spurred by a thirst to transform the field of phytoplankton forecasting

Virginia Tech researchers are working to develop the first automated, real-time system to forecast the toxic blooms that endanger drinking water.

Grant and Award Announcement

VIRGINIA TECH

 

IMAGE: CAYELAN CAREY (AT LEFT), UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT EVELYN TIPPER, AND LAB MANAGER ADRIENNE BREEF-PILZ TAKE WATER SAMPLES AT THE WESTERN VIRGINIA WATER AUTHORITY RESERVOIR. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN KEVERLINE.

Safe drinking water is threatened globally by the increased toxicity of phytoplankton — or microscopic algae — blooms.

The need for a better understanding of when and where the blooms will emerge spurred Virginia Tech researchers to start developing the first automated, real-time lake phytoplankton forecasting system. Working with the University of Florida, Virginia Tech faculty have been awarded a $2.2 million National Science Foundation grant as one of 12 projects funded by the foundation's new Using the Rules of Life to Address Societal Challenges program.

"The enormous opportunity to apply biological principles to solving the biggest problems of today is one we cannot take lightly," said Susan Marqusee, the foundation's assistant director for biological sciences. "These projects will use life to improve life, including for many underprivileged communities and groups."

Phytoplankton play a key role in sustaining life on Earth as the base of aquatic food webs and in producing oxygen. But increasing water temperatures and nutrient pollution are transforming the freshwater environments where phytoplankton live, causing large proliferations of phytoplankton, or blooms, in many lakes and reservoirs.

“Phytoplankton blooms are one example of an emergent behavior many species exhibit that can have ecosystem-scale, societally important consequences, yet are challenging to predict,” said Cayelan Carey, professor of biological sciences, who will serve as the lead principal investigator.

An affiliated faculty of Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Carey will lead four Virginia Tech researchers spanning three colleges and five departments and one researcher at the University of Florida in integrating cutting-edge lake ecosystem models and statistical software with cloud and edge computing  — processing data closer to where it's being generated — to create daily forecasts for the next 35 days. The forecasts will be provided to local water managers, who researchers will be working with in tandem.

“If managers had forecasts of phytoplankton blooms, they could preemptively act to mitigate water quality impairment (e.g., apply algaecides, adjust water treatment), thereby decreasing costs and improving drinking water safety,” said Carey, who also serves as the Roger Moore and Mojdeh Khatam-Moore Faculty Fellow in the College of Science.

The ripple effect

The project will first establish workshops with local water managers to evaluate drinking water risks with the broader impact coming through the deployment of the automated phytoplankton forecasting system at lakes across the country. This system will be developed at drinking water reservoirs in Roanoke in partnership with the Western Virginia Water Authority and will build on the partnership between Carey and the water authority, who have worked together since 2013. 

“Our customers directly benefit from our partnership with Virginia Tech,” said Sarah Baumgardner, director of public relations at the Western Virginia Water Authority. “This research currently informs the reservoir management and treatment decisions our operators make. Now we’re excited to take this research one step further to educate even more members of our community.”

In addition to building the forecasting system, a major goal of the project will expand established educational outreach programs, including

• Water science lessons for K-12 students at drinking water reservoirs.
• Teaching modules on forecasting and freshwater ecosystems for high school students and community college students in water/wastewater certificate programs.
• Expanded versions of  modules for four-year undergraduate STEM programs, which will be piloted and tested in Virginia Tech’s Computational Modeling and Data Analytics classes.

The grant also will support the development of workshops aimed at state and federal agency managers, as well as international lake scientists to ensure broad adoption. 

The team making waves

Each faculty member brings a unique perspective and approach to addressing the overarching goal of improving drinking water management in the face of global change.

• Quinn Thomas, associate professor and Data Science Faculty Fellow, Department of Biology in the College of Science and Department of Forest Resource and Environmental Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, Global Change Center affiliated faculty
• Madeline Schreiber, professor of hydrogeosciences and associate department head, Department of Geosciences, College of Science
• Ryan Calder, assistant professor of environmental health and policy, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Global Change Center affiliated faculty
• Robert Gramacy, professor of statistic, College of Science
• Mary Lofton, postdoctoral researcher; Department of Biological Sciences
• Renato Figueiredo, professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Florida

NASA’s ComPair Balloon Mission readies for flight

Business Announcement

NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

 

IMAGE: EXPLORE THIS INFOGRAPHIC TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COMPAIR AND SCIENTIFIC BALLOONING. view more 

CREDIT: NASA’S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

A team in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, is preparing to fly a balloon-borne science instrument called ComPair, which will test new technologies for detecting gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light.

ComPair is slated to fly early in NASA’s 2023 fall scientific balloon campaign, which opens on Thursday, Aug. 10, weather permitting.

“Lots of interesting science happens in the energy range that ComPair is designed to study,” said Nicholas Kirschner, a graduate student at George Washington University in Washington and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who works on the mission. “These gamma rays are hard to capture with existing methods, so we need to create and test new ones. ComPair's flight gets us one step closer to putting a similar detector in space.”

ComPair detects gamma rays with energies between 200,000 and 20 million electron volts. Visible light’s energy falls between 2 and 3 electron volts, for comparison.

Supernovae and powerful explosions called gamma-ray bursts shine the brightest in this energy range. It’s also where astronomers expect to see the strongest glow from the most massive and distant active galaxies, which are powered by monster black holes. Current missions don’t cover this range well, however, so future ComPair-inspired instruments could fill in important gaps in astronomers' knowledge.

Earth’s atmosphere filters out most of the high-energy radiation coming from space – which is good for humans but makes testing new gamma-ray technologies challenging. ComPair's solution is to fly to about 133,000 feet (40,000 meters) on a scientific balloon, which brings it above 99.5% of the atmosphere.

After building and testing ComPair at Goddard, the mission team shipped it to Fort Sumner. There, they unpacked, reassembled, and recalibrated the instrument.

ComPair will piggyback with another mission, called GRAPE (Gamma-Ray Polarimeter Experiment), led by the University of New Hampshire. After ComPair and GRAPE are on the gondola, the framework that will attach to the scientific balloon, the teams can prepare for launch.

ComPair gets its name from two methods it uses to study gamma rays: Compton scattering and pair production. In Compton scattering, light hits a particle, such as an electron, and transfers some energy to it. Pair production occurs when a gamma ray grazes the nucleus of an atom and converts into a pair of particles – an electron and its antimatter counterpart, a positron.

“Gamma rays are too high-energy for a traditional telescope to detect – the light flies right between the mirror’s atoms,” said Regina Caputo, ComPair project manager at Goddard. “Instead, our instrument uses layers of different kinds of elements and compounds stacked on top of each other. As gamma rays pass through the instrument, they interact with different layers depending on their energies.”

The instrument has four major components:

• A tracker containing 10 layers of silicon detectors that determines the position of incoming gamma rays.
• A high-resolution calorimeter made of cadmium, zinc, and telluride that precisely measures lower-energy Compton-scattered gamma rays and some converted into electron-positron pairs.
• A high-energy calorimeter made of cesium iodide that mostly measures electron-positron pairs as well as some Compton-scattered gamma rays.
• An anticoincidence detector that notes the entry of high-energy charged particles called cosmic rays.

“Cosmic rays are everywhere in the universe – large numbers collide with every part of Earth’s atmosphere every moment of every day. They also run into spacecraft, including gamma-ray missions” said Richard Woolf, a research physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington. “Because they’re charged, cosmic rays can trip gamma-ray detectors, including future ComPair-inspired ones. So, we need anticoincidence detectors to filter them out.”

ComPair is a collaboration among Goddard, NRL, Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

NASA’s scientific balloons offer frequent, low-cost access to near-space to conduct scientific investigations and technology maturation in fields such as astrophysics, heliophysics, and atmospheric research, as well as training for the next generation of leaders in engineering and science. To follow the missions in the 2023 Fort Sumner fall campaign, visit NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) website for real-time updates of a balloon’s altitude and GPS location during flight.

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency’s scientific balloon flight program with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide. Peraton, which operates CSBF in Texas, provides mission planning, engineering services, and field operations for NASA’s scientific balloon program. The CSBF team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons over some 40 years of operations. NASA’s balloons are fabricated by Aerostar. The NASA Scientific Balloon Program is funded by the NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Division.

NASA announces monthly themes to celebrate the Heliophysics Big Year

Business Announcement

NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

 

IMAGE: IN OCTOBER 2023, NASA IS LAUNCHING THE HELIOPHYSICS BIG YEAR – A GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF SOLAR SCIENCE AND THE SUN’S INFLUENCE ON EARTH, OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, AND BEYOND. view more 

CREDIT: NASA

This October, NASA is launching the Heliophysics Big Year ­– a global celebration of solar science and the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. Modeled after the “Big Year” concept from citizen scientists in the bird-watching community, the Heliophysics Big Year challenges everyone to get involved with fun Sun-related activities.

For each month from October 2023 to December 2024, the Heliophysics Big Year will celebrate under a theme, sharing opportunities to participate in many solar science events from watching eclipses to joining citizen science projects. During the Heliophysics Big Year, participation isn’t limited to science – NASA invites everyone to celebrate the Sun with activities including dance, fashion, sustainability, and more.

“We hope these themes will get everyone excited about participating in the Heliophysics Big Year, whether it’s watching an eclipse, creating art inspired by our Sun, or any of the many activities in between,” said Peg Luce, acting director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Here are the Heliophysics Big Year themes:

October 2023 – Annular Eclipse

The Heliophysics Big Year starts off with the Oct. 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse, which will pass over North America from the U.S. to Mexico. During an annular eclipse, the Moon is slightly too far away from Earth to completely block the Sun, creating a “ring of fire” effect in the sky.

November 2023 – Mission Fleet

This month will celebrate the NASA Heliophysics mission fleet including its newest member, the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE), set to launch during the month.

December 2023 – Citizen Science

Citizen science has enabled many heliophysics discoveries, including new types of auroras. This month will explore ongoing citizen science projects in heliophysics.

January 2024 – The Sun Touches Everything

From agriculture to economics, the Sun touches all parts of our lives. This month delves into all the ways we’re influenced by the Sun.

February 2024 – Fashion

Is there Sun in your wardrobe? See how the Sun sheds light on the fashion week catwalks during this month’s theme.

March 2024 – Experiencing the Sun

The Sun may be 93 million miles away, but we can still experience it from home, whether its watching eclipses, auroras, or observing its daily influence on our lives.

April 2024 – Total Solar Eclipse

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross much of the central and eastern United States. This eclipse will provide viewers a chance to see the Sun’s outer atmosphere – the corona – and it will be the last total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous U.S. until 2044. 

May 2024 – Visual Art

The Sun has been depicted in art for thousands of years. This month looks at ways artists around the world are portraying the Sun, from graphic illustrations to street art to ceramics.

June 2024 – Performance Art

The Sun also shows up in music and dance – two areas that will be celebrated this month.

July 2024 – Physical and Mental Health

How many steps would it take to walk to the Sun? This month explores connections between the Sun and our physical and mental health from solar-inspired sports teams to Sun-themed meditations.

August 2024 – Back to School

To close out the summer, this month’s activities are designed specially for kids of all ages.

September 2024 – Environment and Sustainability

The Sun is a powerful source of energy. This month takes a look at how solar power works and how heliophysics missions use it to power their science.

October 2024 – Solar Cycle and Solar Max

The Sun’s 12-year activity cycle will be nearing its maximum point during this month, which will include activities to explore the solar cycle.

November 2024 – Bonus Science

The Heliophysics Big Year isn’t over yet, and this month will explore unexpected heliophysics discoveries and connections to other scientific divisions.

December 2024 – Parker’s Perihelion

This month, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission – the first spacecraft to “touch” the Sun – will make its closest approach to the Sun and close out the Heliophysics Big Year.

By Mara Johnson-Groh
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

 

People’s everyday pleasures may improve cognitive arousal and performance

According to new research involving MINDWATCH, a groundbreaking brain-monitoring technology developed by Rose Faghih

Reports and Proceedings

NYU TANDON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Listening to music and drinking coffee are the sorts of everyday pleasures that can impact a person’s brain activity in ways that improve cognitive performance, including in tasks requiring concentration and memory.

That’s a finding of a new NYU Tandon School of Engineering study involving MINDWATCH, a groundbreaking brain-monitoring technology.

Developed over the past six years by NYU Tandon's Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Rose Faghih, MINDWATCH is an algorithm that analyzes a person's brain activity from data collected via any wearable device that can monitor electrodermal activity (EDA). This activity reflects changes in electrical conductance triggered by emotional stress, linked to sweat responses.

In this recent MINDWATCH study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, subjects wearing  skin-monitoring wristbands and brain monitoring headbands completed cognitive tests while listening to music, drinking coffee and sniffing perfumes reflecting their individual preferences. They also completed those tests without any of those stimulants. 

The MINDWATCH algorithm revealed that music and coffee measurably altered subjects’ brain arousal, essentially putting them in a physiological “state of mind” that could modulate their performance in the working memory tasks they were performing. 

Specifically, MINDWATCH determined the stimulants triggered increased “beta band” brain wave activity, a state associated with peak cognitive performance. Perfume had a modest positive effect as well, suggesting the need for further study. 

“The pandemic has impacted the mental well-being of many people across the globe and now more than ever, there is a need to seamlessly monitor the negative impact of everyday stressors on one's cognitive function,” said Faghih. “Right now MINDWATCH is still under development, but our eventual goal is that it will contribute to technology that could allow any person to monitor his or her own brain cognitive arousal in real time, detecting moments of acute stress or cognitive disengagement, for example. At those times, MINDWATCH could ‘nudge’ a person towards simple and safe interventions — perhaps listening to music  — so they could get themselves into a brain state in which they feel better and perform job or school tasks more successfully.”

The specific cognitive test used in this study — a working memory task, called the n-back test — involves presenting a sequence of stimuli (in this case, images or sounds) one by one and asking the subject to indicate whether the current stimulus matches the one presented "n" items back in the sequence. This study employed a 1-back test — the participant responded "yes" when the current stimulus is the same as the one presented one item back — and a more challenging 3-back test, asking the same for three items back.

Researchers tested three types of music - energetic and relaxing music familiar to the subject, as well as novel AI-generated music that reflected the subject’s tastes.  Consistent with prior MINDWATCH research, familiar energetic music delivered bigger performance gains — as measured by reaction times and correct answers — than relaxing music. While AI-generated music produced the biggest gains among all three, further research is needed to confirm those results.

Drinking coffee led to notable but less-pronounced performance gains than music, and perfume had the most modest gains.

Performance gains under all stimulations tended to be higher on the 3-back tests, suggesting interventions may have the most profound effect when “cognitive load” is higher.

Ongoing experimentation by the MINDWATCH team will confirm the efficacy of the technology’s ability to monitor brain activity consistently, and the general success of various interventions in modulating that brain activity. Determining a category of generally successful interventions does not mean that any individual person will find it works for them.

The research was performed as a part of Faghih’s National Science Foundation CAREER award on the Multimodal Intelligent Noninvasive brain state Decoder for Wearable AdapTive Closed-loop arcHitectures (MINDWATCH) project.  The study's diverse dataset is available to researchers, allowing additional research on the use of the safe interventions in this study to modulate brain cognitive states.

Faghih served as the senior author for this paper. Its first author is Hamid Fekri Azgomi, who earned his Ph.D. under Faghih and is now a postdoctoral scholar of neurological surgery at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.

 

About New York University Tandon School of Engineering

The NYU Tandon School of Engineering is home to a community of renowned faculty, undergraduate and graduate students united in a mission to understand and create technology that powers cities, enables worldwide communication, fights climate change, and builds healthier, safer, and more equitable real and digital worlds. The school’s culture centers on encouraging rigorous, interdisciplinary collaboration and research; fostering inclusivity, entrepreneurial thinking, and diverse perspectives; and creating innovative and accessible pathways for lifelong learning in STEM. NYU Tandon dates back to 1854, the founding year of both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. Located in the heart of Brooklyn, NYU Tandon is a vital part of New York University and its unparalleled global network. For more information, visit engineering.nyu.edu.

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-37829-z 

ARTICLE TITLE

Regulation of brain cognitive states through auditory, gustatory, and olfactory stimulation with wearable monitoring

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023