Working outside the typical 9–5 in younger adulthood may be linked with worse health decades later

Employees with volatile work schedules early in their career had worse sleep and more depressive symptoms at age 50

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: 

THE HOURS YOU WORK EARLIER IN LIFE MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH WORSE HEALTH YEARS LATER.

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CREDIT: ARIVLEONE, PIXABAY, CC0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/PUBLICDOMAIN/ZERO/1.0/)

The hours you work earlier in life may be associated with worse health years later, according to a study published April 3, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Wen-Jui Han from New York University, US.

Studies have consistently shown that nonstandard work schedules—working outside the traditional nine-to-five workday—can negatively impact physical and mental health as well as social and family life. The current study uses a life-course approach to provide a longer-term perspective on how work schedule patterns throughout a person’s working life impact their health in middle age.

Han used data from The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (NLSY79), which includes data on more than 7,000 people in the US over 30 years, to see whether employment patterns in younger adulthood were associated with sleep, physical health, and mental health at age 50.

Han found that around a quarter of participants (26%) worked stable standard hours, with a further third (35%) working mostly standard hours. 17 percent initially worked standard hours in their 20s, later transitioning into volatile working patterns – a combination of evening, night, and variable hours. 12 percent initially worked standard hours and then switched to variable hours. A final ten percent were mostly not working over this period.

Compared to individuals who mostly worked during traditional daytime hours throughout their working career, those whose careers featured more volatile work schedules slept less, had lower sleep quality, and were more likely to report depressive symptoms at age 50. The most striking results were seen in those who had stable work hours in their 20s and then transitioned to more volatile work hours in their 30s. This effect size was significant and similar to that of being educated only to below high school level.

Han also found racial and gender-related trends. For example, Black Americans were more likely to have volatile work schedules associated with poorer health, highlighting how some groups may disproportionately shoulder the adverse consequences of such employment patterns.

Han suggests that volatile work schedules are associated with poor sleep, physical fatigue, and emotional exhaustion, which may make us vulnerable to an unhealthy life. The study also suggests that positive and negative impacts of work schedules on health can accumulate over one’s lifetime while highlighting how employment patterns can contribute to health inequities.

Han adds: “Work that is supposed to bring resources to help us sustain a decent life has now become a vulnerability to a healthy life due to the increasing precarity in our work arrangements in this increasingly unequal society. People with vulnerable social positions (e.g., females, Blacks, low-education) disproportionately shoulder these health consequences.”

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Author Interview: https://plos.io/4av5Elr

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300245

Citation: Han W-J (2024) How our longitudinal employment patterns might shape our health as we approach middle adulthood—US NLSY79 cohort. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0300245. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300245

Author Countries: USA

Funding: The author received no specific funding for this work.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0300245 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

How our longitudinal employment patterns might shape our health as we approach middle adulthood—US NLSY79 cohort

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Apr-2024

 

Air quality in schools: Shielding kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities from COVID

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER

During the pandemic, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) researchers, including those from the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), teamed up with the Mary Cariola Center to study ways to prevent COVID infection among children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a particularly vulnerable population. Together, they found that good airflow and filtration in schools may help these children and their teachers avoid COVID infections.

The COVID pandemic was a particularly difficult balancing act for children with IDDs and their families. The Mary Cariola Center, a special education school in Rochester, NY, serves more than 450 students ages 3-21 with severe IDDs and complex medical needs. Many of these children are at heightened risk for infection, but they may also struggle with protective measures, like masking and distancing. Many students rely on the Center for needed services and therapy, so it was imperative to keep these kids in school—and to make sure school was as safe as possible.

With an eye toward expanding the limited COVID prevention toolbox available to these children, URMC researchers and Mary Cariola Center administrators turned their attention toward airflow and filtration in the school.

“COVID, like flu and RSV, is primarily spread through the air,” said  Martin Zand, MD, PhD, dean’s professor of Medicine and senior associate dean for Clinical Research at URMC, who co-led the study. “The virus that causes COVID can circulate in the air for up to three hours, so the quicker you filter or circulate out that air, the better.”

Zand, who is also a co-director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at URMC, and colleagues from across the Medical Center measured levels of carbon dioxide, a gas we breathe out, in 100 rooms across three buildings on the Mary Cariola Center campus. While not a direct measure, carbon dioxide offers a relatively easy way to estimate ventilation: lower levels of carbon dioxide indicate better ventilation and air quality.

All 100 rooms, which varied in size and purpose—from small classrooms, therapy rooms, and offices to large activity rooms and gyms—stayed well below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s carbon dioxide limit. And only three rooms appeared to have lower ventilation (carbon dioxide levels over 2,000 parts per million) for two or more hours during the testing period, which lasted one to three days.

However, many rooms reached moderate carbon dioxide levels (1,001-2,000 parts per million), which are generally safe, but may indicate less-than-optimal airflow. According to the study, the number of COVID cases recorded among people who spent time in a given room was linked to the amount of time that room had moderate carbon dioxide levels (i.e. suboptimal ventilation).

The research team also found a link between COVID cases and air filtration. One building on the Mary Cariola campus has a relatively new ventilation system that can support high efficiency air filters, called MERV-13, that can capture more virus particles.  The other two buildings have older systems that aren’t strong enough to move air through the tighter, high-efficiency filters. These systems use more porous MERV-11 filters that may allow more virus particles to circulate through the buildings.

Researchers found classrooms that relied on the more porous air filters had higher numbers of total COVID cases. However, the study was not designed to test if infections were acquired in or outside of school.  

Since conducting the study, the Mary Cariola Center has been working on several fronts to improve ventilation in any areas of concern across their campus.  They have also pursued state funding and begun conversations with property owners to make overall improvements to the ventilation systems.

While this study, published in PLOS, focused on testing airflow and filtration, it was part of a larger project funded by the National Institutes of Health Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations program. That project, collaboratively led by Zand, John Foxe, PhD, director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience and co-director of the UR-IDDRC, and Stephen Dewhurst, PhD, vice dean for research at the University, brought COVID testing to students and staff in the Mary Cariola Center and helped catch cases early to prevent spreading.

“One thing that COVID taught us is that there isn’t one single magic solution that will prevent all infection from all viruses,” said Zand. “Rather, a combination of approaches is most effective, including masking, vaccination, ventilation, and air filtration.”

During the pandemic, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) researchers, including those from the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), teamed up with the Mary Cariola Center to study ways to prevent COVID infection among children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a particularly vulnerable population. Together, they found that good airflow and filtration in schools may help these children and their teachers avoid COVID infections.

The COVID pandemic was a particularly difficult balancing act for children with IDDs and their families. The Mary Cariola Center, a special education school in Rochester, NY, serves more than 450 students ages 3-21 with severe IDDs and complex medical needs. Many of these children are at heightened risk for infection, but they may also struggle with protective measures, like masking and distancing. Many students rely on the Center for needed services and therapy, so it was imperative to keep these kids in school—and to make sure school was as safe as possible.

With an eye toward expanding the limited COVID prevention toolbox available to these children, URMC researchers and Mary Cariola Center administrators turned their attention toward airflow and filtration in the school.

“COVID, like flu and RSV, is primarily spread through the air,” said  Martin Zand, MD, PhD, dean’s professor of Medicine and senior associate dean for Clinical Research at URMC, who co-led the study. “The virus that causes COVID can circulate in the air for up to three hours, so the quicker you filter or circulate out that air, the better.”

Zand, who is also a co-director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at URMC, and colleagues from across the Medical Center measured levels of carbon dioxide, a gas we breathe out, in 100 rooms across three buildings on the Mary Cariola Center campus. While not a direct measure, carbon dioxide offers a relatively easy way to estimate ventilation: lower levels of carbon dioxide indicate better ventilation and air quality.

All 100 rooms, which varied in size and purpose—from small classrooms, therapy rooms, and offices to large activity rooms and gyms—stayed well below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s carbon dioxide limit. And only three rooms appeared to have lower ventilation (carbon dioxide levels over 2,000 parts per million) for two or more hours during the testing period, which lasted one to three days.

However, many rooms reached moderate carbon dioxide levels (1,001-2,000 parts per million), which are generally safe, but may indicate less-than-optimal airflow. According to the study, the number of COVID cases recorded among people who spent time in a given room was linked to the amount of time that room had moderate carbon dioxide levels (i.e. suboptimal ventilation).

The research team also found a link between COVID cases and air filtration. One building on the Mary Cariola campus has a relatively new ventilation system that can support high efficiency air filters, called MERV-13, that can capture more virus particles.  The other two buildings have older systems that aren’t strong enough to move air through the tighter, high-efficiency filters. These systems use more porous MERV-11 filters that may allow more virus particles to circulate through the buildings.

Researchers found classrooms that relied on the more porous air filters had higher numbers of total COVID cases. However, the study was not designed to test if infections were acquired in or outside of school.  

Since conducting the study, the Mary Cariola Center has been working on several fronts to improve ventilation in any areas of concern across their campus.  They have also pursued state funding and begun conversations with property owners to make overall improvements to the ventilation systems.

While this study, published in PLOS, focused on testing airflow and filtration, it was part of a larger project funded by the National Institutes of Health Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations program. That project, collaboratively led by Zand, John Foxe, PhD, director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience and co-director of the UR-IDDRC, and Stephen Dewhurst, PhD, vice dean for research at the University, brought COVID testing to students and staff in the Mary Cariola Center and helped catch cases early to prevent spreading.

“One thing that COVID taught us is that there isn’t one single magic solution that will prevent all infection from all viruses,” said Zand. “Rather, a combination of approaches is most effective, including masking, vaccination, ventilation, and air filtration.”

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Ventilation during COVID-19 in a school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)”

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Apr-2024

 

JAX researchers make mice a more powerful tool to study a wide range of human diseases

A new protocol sets the stage for researchers to directly compare mouse and human cells, and readily incorporates genetic diversity into mouse-based research to more closely approximate human health conditions

JACKSON LABORATORY

 

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THE NEW PROTOCOL COAXES MOUSE STEM CELLS TO DEVELOP ACROSS MULTIPLE STRAINS OF MICE, NOT JUST STRAIN 129. THIS ENABLES RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY WHICH STRAIN BEST RESEMEBLES CELLS IN DIFFERENT HUMAN CONDITIONS.

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CREDIT: THE JACKSON LABORATORY

In humans, the exact same mutation in a specific gene can produce widely different outcomes. It’s a bit like adding the same amount of salt to different recipes—the effect on the finished dish can be quite different, depending on the mix of other ingredients. Now, researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have developed a powerful platform to study the reasons behind these varying mutation outcomes. The work, published today in Science Advances, not only provides new opportunities for uncovering targets for therapeutic interventions but also represents a significant step forward in addressing the critical need for studying human disease in the context of genetic diversity.

The platform, developed by JAX Professor Martin Pera, Ph.D. and Associate Research Scientist Daniel Cortes, Ph.D., and their colleagues, uses stem cells from eight different mouse strains to mimic the genetic diversity seen in humans. With the platform, they were able to investigate the effects of background genetics on the DYRK1A gene, long associated with autism, microcephaly, and intellectual disability in humans. The result: Chemically inhibiting the function of DYRK1A or knocking the gene out within the stem cells from the eight mouse strains led to markedly different effects in the growth and repair of neurons, providing molecular insights into what may confer resistance or vulnerability to the development of autism.

“If we studied one strain, we wouldn’t have seen this incredible degree of variation,” said Pera. “But by studying eight, we showed that stem cell models in a dish can accurately predict an individual’s sensitivity or resilience to disease-causing mutations, in this case an autism syndrome disorder. Careful comparison of sensitive and resilient mouse strains at the cellular level also enabled us to identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention.” 

To create the platform, Pera, Cortes and colleagues, including JAX Associate Professors Laura Reinholdt, Ph.D., and Kristen O’Connell, Ph.D., had to overcome a key obstacle. They found that only the stem cells from mouse strain 129S1/SvlmJ (129) could be coaxed into differentiating into neurons using commonly used protocols. The JAX team – and this is the innovation -- developed protocols that worked across all eight strains and, with modification, produced multiple neuron types with high efficiency.

In previous work, Pera also investigated DYRK1A in human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), derived from adult skin or blood cells that can be induced to become stem cells. These stem cells can then re-differentiate into any cells in the body given specific genetic instructions, a state known as pluripotency. The protocols developed for the mouse cell lines were effective in generating the same neuron types from multiple pluripotent human stem cell lines, validating the results obtained in the mouse cell platform. 

Further investigation revealed that one mouse strain, C57BL/6J (B6), most closely modeled the human iPSC response to low DYRK1A levels or inhibition during neural cell specification and expansion. The strains least affected were WSB/EiJ (WSB) and NZOHiLtJ (NZO). B6 and WSB also showed highly divergent responses to axonal injury. Comprehensive comparisons between strains highlighted the molecular mechanisms that define these differences, previously implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Finally, Pera's team worked with Zhong-Wei Zhang, Ph.D., at JAX to study live mice to see if the B6 susceptibility observed in the mouse stem cells was reflected in a living system. Or, rather, not living, as they found that even the loss of one copy of Dyrk1a resulted in no live offspring with a B6 background, while it did not affect survival in other backgrounds, including 129. Crossing B6 with 129 mice, however, resulted in live offspring with clinical features associated with DYRK1A mutations in humans, suggesting an effective mouse model for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Down syndrome, microcephaly, autism, and intellectual disability.

“This work illustrates the power of incorporating genetic diversity into disease models,” said Pera. “The use of stem cells in vitro allows us to directly compare mouse and humans, and to bridge results in a petri dish to those in a whole organism. The approach will have wide application in disease genetics and will enhance and accelerate precision disease modeling in the mouse.”

 

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adj9305 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

An in vitro neurogenetics platform for precision disease modeling in the mouse

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Apr-2024

 

'Smart swarms' of tiny robots inspired by natural herd mentality

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

In natural ecosystems, the herd mentality plays a major role – from schools of fish, to beehives to ant colonies. This collective behavior allows the whole to exceed the sum of its parts and better respond to threats and challenges. 

This behavior inspired researchers from The University of Texas at Austin, and for more than a year they've been working on creating "smart swarms" of microscopic robots. The researchers engineered social interactions among these tiny machines so that they can act as one coordinated group, performing tasks better than they would if they were moving as individuals or at random.

"All these groups, flocks of birds, schools of fish and others, each member of the group has this natural inclination to work in concert with its neighbor, and together they are smarter, stronger and more efficient than they would be on their own," said Yuebing Zheng, associate professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute. "We wanted to learn more about the mechanisms that make this happen and see if we can reproduce it."

Zheng and his team first showcased these innovations in a paper published in Advanced Materials last year. But they've taken things a step further in a new paper published recently in Science Advances.

In the new paper, Zheng and his team have given these swarms a new trait called adaptive time delay. This concept allows each microrobot within the swarm to adapt its motion to changes in local surroundings. By doing this, the swarm showed a significant increase in responsivity without decreasing its robustness – the ability to quickly respond to any environment change while maintaining the integrity of the swarm.

This finding builds on a novel optical feedback system – the ability to direct these microrobots in a collective way using controllable light patterns. This system was first unveiled in the researchers’ 2023 paper –  recently chosen as an "editor's choice" by Advanced Materials – and it facilitated the development of adaptive time delay for microrobots.

The adaptive time delay strategy offers potential for scalability and integration into larger machinery. This approach could significantly enhance the operational efficiency of autonomous drone fleets. Similarly, it could enable conveys of trucks and cars to autonomously navigate extensive highway journeys in unison, with improved responsiveness and increased robustness. The same way schools of fish can communicate and follow each other, so will these machines. As a result, there's no need for any kind of central control, which takes more data and energy to operate.

"Nanorobots, on an individual basis, are vulnerable to complex environments; they struggle to navigate effectively in challenging conditions such as bloodstreams or polluted waters," said Zhihan Chen, a Ph.D. student in Zheng's lab and co-author on the new paper. "This collective motion can help them better navigate a complicated environment and reach the target efficiently and avoid obstacles or threats."

Having proven this swarm mentality in the lab setting, the next step is to introduce more obstacles. These experiments were conducted in a static liquid solution. Up next, they'll try to repeat the behavior in flowing liquid. And then they'll move to replicate it inside an organism.

Once fully developed, these smart swarms could serve as advanced drug delivery forces, able to navigate the human body and elude its defenses to bring medicine to its target. Or, they could operate like iRobot robotic vacuums, but for contaminated water, collectively cleaning every bit of an area together.

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adk3914 

ARTICLE TITLE

Persistent and responsive collective motion with adaptive time delay

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Apr-2024

 

Better nutrition can lead to better brain health, GSA publication shows

THE GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

“Insights & Implications in Gerontology: The Vital Role of Nutrition in Brain Health,” a new publication from the Gerontological Society of America, explores nutritional choices that have been shown to improve cognition and decrease the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults.

Consumption of a healthful diet is a behavioral strategy that can help to prevent the development of dementia as people age, the publication says. It also reports on the roles of vitamins and minerals in nutrition and brain function and focuses on how to implement person-centered conversations about the impact of diet and nutrition on overall wellness, including brain health.

Using a person-centered approach that ties conversations about nutrition to patient goals is an effective strategy for starting conversations about diet and health, according to Kathryn Porter Starr, PhD, RDN from Duke University School of Medicine and Durham VA Medical Center, who served as one of the faculty who oversaw the publication’s development.

“Broaching the topic of diet and nutrition can be challenging. I start by asking patients what their goals are,” she said. “These goals could include physical goals such as maintaining muscle mass, cognitive goals such as preserving memory, as well as functional goals such as being able to travel or play with grandchildren. Linking information about nutrition to helping adults achieve their goals is an effective strategy for stimulating motivation to implement healthy changes.”

The Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, or MIND diet, is an example of a dietary pattern that is associated with improved cognition. This dietary pattern focuses on the consumption of vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables), nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, and extra virgin olive oil while limiting red meat, processed meats, butter and margarine, regular cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried foods. People who consume this dietary pattern have been found to be the equivalent of 7.5 years younger in terms of cognitive abilities. The publication includes more details about the MIND diet and other dietary patterns that support healthy nutrition.

Ideally, individuals are able to obtain all necessary nutrients from their diet. However, the risk for inadequate vitamin and mineral intake increases as people age, and some people may benefit from consumption of fortified foods and or dietary supplements to enhance their nutritional status.

“I would love for everybody to get all of their micronutrients from food,” Starr said. Unfortunately, for most older adults, it’s really challenging to do that due to physiological changes that occur with aging and certain disease states that affect absorption, so we often recommend a multivitamin.”

Other publication faculty include Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, PhD, RN, FASPEN, FAAN, FGSA from Drexel University; Sareen S. Gropper, PhD, RDN, LDN from Florida Atlantic University; and Roger A. Fielding, PhD from Tufts University School of Medicine. Support for “Insights & Implications in Gerontology: The Vital Role of Nutrition in Brain Health” was provided by Haleon.

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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,500+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure includes a nonpartisan public policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and GSA is also home to the National Center to Reframe Aging and the National Coordinating Center for the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research.

 

Dartmouth researchers map how the brain regulates emotions

Study identifies multiple emotion regulation systems, providing targets for therapy

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Ever want to scream during a particularly bad day, but then manage not to? Thank the human brain and how it regulates emotions, which can be critical for navigating everyday life. As we perceive events unfolding around us, the ability to be flexible and reframe a situation impacts not only how we feel, but also our behavior and decision-making.

In fact, some of the problems associated with mental health relate to individuals' inability to be flexible, such as when persistent negative thoughts make it hard to perceive a situation differently.

To help address such issues, a new Dartmouth-led study is among the first of its kind to separate activity relating to emotion generation from emotion regulation in the human brain. The findings are published in Nature Neuroscience.

"As a former biomedical engineer, it was exciting to identify some brain regions that are purely unique to regulating emotions," says lead author Ke Bo, a postdoctoral researcher in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab (CANlab) at Dartmouth. "Our results provide new insight into how emotion regulation works by identifying targets which could have clinical applications."

For example, the systems the researchers identified could be good targets for brain stimulation to enhance the regulation of emotion.

Using computational methods, the researchers examined two independent datasets of fMRI studies obtained earlier by co-author Peter Gianaros at the University of Pittsburgh. Participants' brain activity was recorded in an fMRI scanner as they viewed images that were likely to draw a negative reaction such as a bloody scene or scary- looking animals.

The participants were then asked to recontextualize the stimulus by generating new kinds of thoughts about an image to make it less aversive, before a neutral image was presented followed by another dislikable image. 

By examining the neural activity, researchers could identify the brain areas that are more active when emotions are regulated versus when emotions are generated.

The new study reveals that emotion regulation, also known in neuroscience as "reappraisal," involves particular areas of the anterior prefrontal cortex and other higher-level cortical hierarchies whose role in emotion regulation had not previously been isolated with this level of precision. These regions are involved in other high-level cognitive functions and are important for abstract thought and long-term representations of the future.

The more people are able to activate these emotion regulation-selective brain regions, the more resilient they are to experiencing something negative without letting it affect them personally. These findings build on other research linking these areas to better mental health and the ability to resist temptations and avoid drug addiction.

The results also demonstrated that the amygdala, which is known as the threat-related brain region responsible for negative emotion and has long been considered an ancient subcortical threat center, responds to aversive experiences the same way, whether people are using their thoughts to self-regulate down-regulate negative emotion or not. "It's really the cortex that is responsible for generating people's emotional responses, by changing the way we see and attach meaning to events in our environments," says Bo. 

The researchers were also interested in identifying the neurochemicals that interact with emotion regulation systems. Neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin shape how networks of neurons communicate and are targets for both illicit drugs and therapeutic treatments alike. Some neurotransmitters may be important for enabling the ability to self-regulate or "down-regulate." 

The team compared the emotion regulation brain maps from the two datasets to neurotransmitter binding maps from 36 other studies. The systems involved in regulating negative emotion overlapped with particular neurotransmitter systems.  

"Our results showed that receptors for cannabinoids, opioids, and serotonin, including 5H2A, were especially rich in areas that are involved in emotion regulation," says senior author Tor Wager, the Diana L. Taylor Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience and director of the Dartmouth Brain Imaging Center at Dartmouth. "When drugs that bind to these receptors are taken, they are preferentially affecting the emotion regulation system, which raises questions about their potential for long-term effects on our capacity to self-regulate." 

Serotonin is well-known for its role in depression, as the most widely used antidepressant drugs inhibit its reuptake in synapses, which transmit signals from one neuron to another. 

5H2A is the serotonin receptor most strongly affected by another exciting new type of treatment for mental health – psychedelic drugs. The study’s findings suggest that the effects of drugs on depression and other mental health disorders may work in part by altering how we think about life events and our ability to self-regulate. This may help explain why drugs, particularly psychedelics, are likely to be ineffective without the right kind of psychological support. The study could help improve therapeutic approaches by increasing our understanding of why and how psychological and pharmaceutical approaches need to be combined into integrated treatments.

"It's important to consider these types of connections that come from basic science," says Wager. "Understanding drug effects requires understanding the brain systems involved and what they're doing at a cognitive level."

Bo (Ke.Bo@dartmouth.edu) and Wager (Tor.D.Wager@dartmouth.edu) are available for comment. CANlab members Mijin Kwon, Guarini '24 and Michael Sun, a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth, and Thomas Kraynak at the University of Pittsburgh also contributed to the study.

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JOURNAL

Nature Neuroscience

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

A systems identification approach using Bayes factors to deconstruct the brain bases of emotion regulation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Apr-2024

 

“Tug of war” tactic enhances chemical separations for critical materials

Opposing teams of water-loving and oil-loving molecules separate metals called lanthanides that are important in developing clean energy technologies

DOE/US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

 

IMAGE: 

WATER-SOLUBLE AND OIL-SOLUBLE ORGANIC MOLECULES EFFECTIVELY SEPARATE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN THE LANTHANIDE SERIES OF THE PERIODIC TABLE.

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CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY OF ADAM MALIN (WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SANTA JANSONE-POPOVA AND ALEXANDER IVANOV), OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

The Science

The metals called lanthanides have valuable properties for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines and for many other applications. These elements include several critical materials. In nature, lanthanides are often found mixed together. Industry must separate them to take advantage of their individual properties. But conventional approaches to this separation are time consuming and costly and generate waste. Scientists have developed an efficient new method that can be tailored to select specific lanthanides. The technique combines two substances. One is water-loving and catches lighter lanthanides, while the other prefers oil and grabs heavier lanthanides.

The Impact

Blending an oil-loving and a water-loving compound together to pull specific valuable elements from a chemical mixture is feasible on an industrial scale. Scaled up, the process would allow for smaller equipment, less use of chemicals, and less waste production. This would make the new process more efficient and environmentally friendly than conventional methods.

Summary

The most challenging and expensive aspect of making pure rare earth materials — the 14 lanthanides as well as yttrium and scandium — for clean energy technologies is separating individual rare earth elements from one another. Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory combined two types of organic substances: one water loving, and the other oil loving. These organic substances have preferences for different rare earth elements. For instance, one interacts strongly with the lighter rare earth elements, while the other prefers the heavier ones.

The scientists tested this technique using two different liquids that do not mix — oil and water. In water, they dissolved the water-loving substance; in oil, they added the oil-loving one. They found that the two-substance approach helped separate the lightest and heaviest rare earth elements better than the one-substance method applied previously. They used various methods to study how these organic chemicals and rare earth elements interact. The outcome was valuable information about how the process works and insights concerning how the separation system could be further improved.



Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Separation Science program and Materials Chemistry program.

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JOURNAL

JACS Au

DOI

10.1021/jacsau.2c00671 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Size Selective Ligand Tug of War Strategy to Separate Rare Earth Elements

 

Recent contact with young children linked to trebling of risk of over-60s acquiring pneumonia-causing bacteria

Moreover, over 60s in daily contact with children were six times more likely to be colonised with Streptococcus pneumoniae than those who had no contact with children.

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

• Findings from US longitudinal household study add to ongoing US vaccination policy discussions by suggesting that pneumococcal vaccination in older adults is important even in populations where children are vaccinated at high rates.

New research being presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April) finds that pneumonia-causing bacteria are common in the over 60s and that contact with pre-school and young school-aged children appears to be the most important factor in the onward transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) to the over 60s.

Pneumococcus is the main bacterial pathogen involved in ear and sinus infection, but is also a major cause of more severe diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Pneumococcal infections mainly affect children under two and the elderly, and claim almost two million lives worldwide every year.

The US CDC estimates that pneumococci cause more than half of all cases of bacterial meningitis in the USA with around 2,000 cases of pneumococcal meningitis occurring each year. Over 150,000 hospitalisations from pneumococcal pneumonia occur every year in the USA, and pneumococci is also the most common bacterial cause of childhood pneumonia, especially in children under 5 years. In adults, pneumococci account for 10% to 30% of adult community-acquired pneumonia [1].

Since pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) were included in America’s childhood vaccination programme in 2000, invasive disease caused by vaccine-type strains in children has decreased by over 90%, an effect that has not been seen in older adults [2]. This suggests that pneumococci might be transmitted by age groups other than children.

Pneumococci commonly inhabit the respiratory tract of healthy persons and are transmitted via respiratory droplets. Rates of asymptomatic carriage vary—the CDC estimates that among school-age children, 20% to 60% may be colonised, while only 5% to 10% of adults without children are colonised [1].

Important questions remain about the sources of transmission of pneumococcus to older adults in the community. This information is vital for understanding the potential indirect effects of using PCVs in children and older adults.

“If substantial pneumococcal transmission occurs between adults, then vaccination of older adults could have the additional benefit of reducing transmission and potentially serious disease”, explains lead author Dr Anne Wyllie from the Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, USA.

To find out more about the importance of within-household transmission between adults aged 60 and older, and the risks associated with acquiring pneumococcus in the community, researchers conducted a longitudinal study in New Haven, Connecticut of household pairs (e.g. married couples) aged 60 and older without younger individuals living in the household.

Over the course of autumn/winter 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, a total of 183 adults (average age 70 years; 51% female; 85% White) living in 93 households were enrolled.

Researchers collected saliva samples and data from questionnaires about social behaviours and health from participants every 2 weeks over six visits (over a period of 10 weeks).

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to test saliva samples for the presence of pneumococcal DNA and the diversity of pneumococcal strains. Usually, testing for pneumococcus in adults is assessed using nasopharyngeal swabs – taken from far back inside the nostril. Previous work by the same author established that this is insufficient to capture carriage in adults so sampling saliva is more effective at detecting pneumococcus in adults.

The analyses found that overall, 52/1,088 (4.8%) samples tested positive for pneumococcus, with 28/183 (15%) individuals colonised on at least one sampling visit.

Several individuals tested positive for pneumococcus at multiple timepoints including two participants who were colonized throughout the 10-week sampling period. Two other adults tested positive at five of the six time points—one of whom reported daily contact with children aged 2-59 months and 5-9 years.

In 5/93 (5.4%) households, both members were carriers, though not necessarily at the same time point.

Pneumococcal carriage point prevalence (at any sampled time) was substantially (six times) higher among older adults who had contact with children daily/every few days (10%) compared to those who had no contact with children (1.6%).

For those participants who reported recent contact (within 2 weeks of sample collection): point prevalence was highest in those in contact with younger children, with those who reported recent contact with <5-year-olds and 5-9-year-olds having point prevalences of 14.8% and 14.1%, respectively; compared with those reporting contact with children aged 10 years and over that had a point prevalence of 8.3%. Looking in detail at the youngest children, the point prevalences were: for children up to age 1 year (14%), 1-2 years (11%) and 2-5 years (17%).

While the numbers were small, those who had contact with children daily or every few days had the highest prevalence (15.7% and 14.0%, respectively). Those who had contact once or twice a month or no contact had lower prevalence (4.5% and 1.8% respectively).

Recent (within 2 weeks of sample) contact with children aged under 10 years was associated with a significant (3-times) increase in acquisition rate compared with no contact. Likewise, those over-60s with contact with children daily or every few days had a 6-times higher risk of acquisition than those without contact with children.

“Our study found no clear evidence of adult-to-adult transmission even though there were households in which an individual was positive for pneumococcus across numerous sampling moments, and instances where both adults in the household carried pneumococcus around the same time”, says Dr Wyllie.

“Instead, we found that transmission was highest among older adults who had frequent contact with young children. This suggests that the main benefit of adult pneumococcal vaccination is to directly protect older adults who are exposed to children who may still carry and transmit some vaccine-type pneumococcal strains despite successful national childhood vaccination programmes.”

The authors note that the study period coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, so they were able to explore risk factors for pneumococcal carriage when strict transmission mitigation measures were in place and eased over time. Interestingly, carriage rates remained consistent across both study seasons, despite a return to community activities in the second season and an increased circulation of respiratory viruses in the local community.

The authors note that the findings are based on a small community-based study (with comparatively few carriers detected) in one region of the USA involving mostly White individuals with higher education which might limit the generalisability of the findings to people from other racial or ethnic groups and countries. They also note that while saliva is generally more sensitive for the detection of pneumococcal carriage in adults, it is still possible that the overall carriage prevalence may have been underestimated since they did not sample other sites in the upper airway.

 

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ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Apr-2024

COI STATEMENT

The study was conducted as a collaboration between Yale School of Public Health and Pfizer and funded by Pfizer. The study protocol was designed by the Yale researchers in consultation with Pfizer. The decision to publish was made by the Yale researchers in consultation with Pfizer. Some of the co-authors are Pfizer employees.

 

Study finds high amounts of silica exposure in previously deployed military veterans

NATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH

Since the conflicts that followed 9/11 in 2001, military veterans deployed to areas in Southwest Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa have been developing respiratory diseases caused by inhaling particulate matter linked to their deployment locations and job duties. New research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows levels of silica and other silicates are significantly higher in the lungs of those who have had past deployments compared to normal lung tissue.

“Using elemental analysis of lung tissue, we examined the content of different elements -- silica, titanium, lead and other metals in lung tissue samples from veterans who have deployed since 2001,” said Cecile Rose, MD, MPH, occupational pulmonologist at National Jewish Health and senior author of the published study. “This research gives us greater insight into hazardous military exposures. It is important for our service members, because when they come back from deployment with respiratory symptoms, their symptoms get taken seriously.”

Environmental dust storms, local polluting industries and military operations generate airborne hazards, not only in the line of duty, but also during leisure activities and sleep. Military operations frequently contribute to particulate matter burden due to sources such as exhaust from vehicles, aircraft, and heaters, along with smoke from fires, explosive blasts and burn pits. Some military personnel have jobs that expose them to potentially hazardous airborne vapors, such as dusts, gases or fumes.

For this study, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) worked with National Jewish Health investigators to test the lung tissue samples using sensitive tools.

“The sophisticated equipment and techniques used by USGS were essential to measure the amount and types of dusts that are retained in the lungs following deployment,” said National Jewish Health researcher Lauren Zell-Baran, PhD, MPH. “This was a cutting-edge approach combining the tools of geological science and pulmonary medicine to answer questions about what causes lung inflammation and disease.”

This study underscores the importance of controlling particulate exposures in military occupational settings, particularly dusts containing silica and silicates, to minimize risk for chronic respiratory diseases.

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 125 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of children and adults with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit the media resources page.

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

DOI

10.3390/ijerph21010091 

ARTICLE TITLE

Particle Morphology and Elemental Analysis of Lung Tissue from Post-9/11 Military Personnel with Biopsy-Proven Lung Disease