New report ‘braids’ Indigenous and Western knowledge for forest adaptation strategies against climate change

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

 

IMAGE: 

THE TOP AND BOTTOM IMAGES BOTH SHOW THE SAME VISTA OF THE STAFFORD CREEK DRAINAGE IN WASHINGTON’S WENATCHEE NATIONAL FOREST. THE TOP IMAGE, TAKEN IN 1934, SHOWS A MIXED-CONIFER FOREST CONSISTING OF PATCHES OF OPEN AND CLOSED CANOPY. THE BOTTOM IMAGE, TAKEN IN 2013, SHOWS A MORE DENSE, UNIFORM FOREST, WHICH DEVELOPED OVER 80 YEARS OF FIRE EXCLUSION MANAGEMENT.

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CREDIT: NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION/JOHN MARSHALL

Link to release: 

https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/04/10/forest-report/

Link to related coverage:

 https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/indigenous-knowledge-western-science-braided-recommendations-land-managers

 

FROM: James Urton

University of Washington

206-543-2580

jurton@uw.edu 

(Note: researcher contact information at end)

 

For Immediate Release

April 10, 2024

There are 154 national forests in the United States, covering nearly 300,000 square miles of forests, woodlands, shrublands, wetlands, meadows and prairies. These lands are increasingly recognized as vital for supporting a broad diversity of plant and animal life; for water and nutrient cycling; and for the human communities that depend on forests and find cultural and spiritual significance within them. Forests could also be potential bulwarks against climate change. But, increasingly severe droughts and wildfires, invasive species, and large insect outbreaks — all intensified by climate change — are straining many national forests and surrounding lands.

A report by a team of 40 experts outlines a new approach to forest stewardship that “braids together” Indigenous knowledge and Western science to conserve and restore more resilient forestlands. Published March 25, the report provides foundational material to inform future work on climate-smart adaptive management practices for USDA Forest Service land managers.

“Our forests are in grave danger in the face of climate change,” said Cristina Eisenberg, an associate dean of forestry at Oregon State University. “By braiding together Indigenous knowledge with Western science, we can view the problems with what is known as ‘Two-Eyed Seeing,’ to develop a path forward that makes our forests more resilient to the threats they are facing. That is what this report is working to accomplish.”

Eisenberg co-led the report team with Susan Prichard, a fire ecologist in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington.

“Climate change is stressing these forests even as they are considered for their potential role in slowing rates of climate change,” said Prichard. “We want this report to provide not just guidance, but also hope — hope in the practical measures we can take now to promote resiliency and help forests thrive.”

Initiated by interest from the Forest Service on Indigenous knowledge and Western science, the report stems from direction to protect old and mature forests outlined in Executive Order 14072, signed by President Joe Biden in April 2022. These types of forests, some hundreds of years old, are often dominated by larger trees, with fewer seedlings and saplings. Some management practices over the past century have made many of these forests vulnerable to drought, fire, insects and other stressors, all of which will likely increase with climate change.

The executive order included guidance on strengthening relationships with tribal governments and emphasized the importance of Indigenous knowledge, a theme highlighted repeatedly in the new report. This knowledge includes the time-tested practices of Indigenous stewardship that for millennia shaped forest structure and species composition. Following European colonization, these practices were sharply curtailed by genocide, displacement, and forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples. Western scientists increasingly recognize that Indigenous stewardship practices built and maintained forests that were more resilient and ecologically diverse than today.

Many Indigenous cultures, for example, used a practice called intentional burning — also known as cultural burning — which decreased forest density, promoted healthy understory growth, and hosted a broad diversity of plant and animal life. These practices over time yielded “mosaics” of forests made up of diverse patches of trees varying in age, density, and overstory and understory composition. These “mosaic” forests are less prone to the types of large, severe wildfires that have burned swathes of North American forests this century, according to Prichard.

Other members of the core leadership team for the report are Paul Hessburg, a senior research ecologist with the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Michael Paul Nelson, a professor and director of the Center for the Future of Forests and Society at OSU.

“Two powerful ideas we heard from our Indigenous colleagues in developing this are those of reciprocity and the seven generations principle. Collectively, the writing team agrees that we can frame a more sustainable land ethic with these ideas," said Hessburg. “These perspectives guided our recommendations, which suggest taking from the land and giving back in equal measure, and proactively stewarding these lands with seven generations in mind.” 

Report co-authors come from tribal nations, universities, U.S. Forest Service research stations, consulting groups, Natural Resources Canada, Parks Canada, and Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

“Our report is deeper than changes in policy and management — it proposes a fundamental change in the worldview guiding our current practices,” said Nelson. “Our writing team’s cultural, geographic and disciplinary diversity allows for guidance on a shift in paradigms around how we approach forest stewardship in the face of climate change.”

The report may also inform Forest Service work on the proposed national forest land plan amendment intended to steward and conserve old-growth forest conditions.

“We are very interested in understanding how Indigenous knowledge can be used in combination with western science to improve our management of all forest conditions including old growth,” said Forest Service Deputy Chief Chris French. “This report is a big step in improving our understanding of how to do that.”

The report is available for download here, along with an interactive map highlighting more than 50 examples of forest adaptation strategies. It was funded by the U.S. Forest Service, the Resources Legacy Fund, the 444S Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Wilburforce Foundation.

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For more information, contact Prichard at sprich@uw.edu, Hessburg at paul.hessburg@usda.gov, Eisenberg at Cristina.Eisenberg@oregonstate.edu, and the Forest Service press office at sm.fs.pressoffice@usda.gov.

 

Related coverage:

https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/indigenous-knowledge-western-science-braided-recommendations-land-managers

The top and bottom images both show Bethel Ridge in Washington state. The top image, taken in 1936, shows a mosaic forest. The darkest grey tones are mature, moist, mixed-conifer forests. In the bottom image, taken in 2012, the forest has become more uniform and dense following decades without fire.

CREDIT

National Archives and Records Administration/John Marshall

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Braiding Indigenous and Western Knowledge for Climate-Adapted Forests: An Ecocultural State of Science Report

 

Researchers discovered the secret of how termites build their giant nests

The new study reveals that it is humidity to guide the insects in the task.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

IMT SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED STUDIES LUCCA

 

IMAGE: 

A TERMITE NEST IN ITS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT (A MOUND OF COPTOTERMES LACTEUS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA).

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CREDIT: ANDREA PERNA

Termites are the architects of the natural world. The nests that they build can reach metres of height, with complex and elaborate structures, galleries that ensure efficient communication and that automatically ventilate the nest interior in a way that would make the envy of human engineers. How can thousands or millions of insects coordinate their work to build solid and functional nests for the colony?

A new study coordinated by Andrea Perna, professor in complex systems at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, and published in the journal eLife, has now identified the unique mechanism used by termites to accomplish such extraordinary task.

For carrying their laboratory experiment on termites of the species Coptotermes gestroi (originally from South Asia, but which has spread to the east coast of the United States), the researchers created small arenas with artificial structures of different height and shape by using wet clay. They then collected small populations of termites from a larger colony and quantified their building behaviour in response to these structures by video-tracking the activity of all termites in the population, while simultaneously characterizing the changes in the 3D structure. In this way, it was possible to test various hypotheses to discover the coordination mechanism used for building nests.

In the case of ants, which – besides termites – are the other major group of insects capable of building large and intricate structures for example, it is believed that ants impregnate the building material with a pheromone, a chemical substance that attracts other ants to the building site and ‘tells them’ where to build. In this way, the action of one worker ant triggers the activity of other ants in a self-amplifying process.

If termites, like ants, also relied on pheromones to guide their building activity, then they shouldn’t show a preference for depositing their pellets of building material at any particular location, because there weren’t any pheromones in the artificial arenas prepared by the experimenters. But this was not the case: while pellet collections happened everywhere in the arena, the depositions were all localized at the top of already existing structures. Perhaps they might be able to assess the elevation of small pillars and heterogeneities in the ground, and in this way they would keep adding building material on top of already existing structures. But this was not the case either: in fact, termites deposited their building pellets with equal probability on both short and tall pillars.

Another hypothesis was that termites might be able to sense the curvature of the building substrate, since some previous modelling had shown that constantly adding pellets at the locations of highest curvature is sufficient to produce very complex structures that resemble the termite nests of some species. “In our simulations, we observed that small heterogeneities of the surface have higher curvature than the flat surrounding substrate and so they are expanded to form a pillar, the pointed extremities of pillars in turn attract further depositions of building material and continue to grow until they split or merge with another pillar, and so on; very complex structures can be formed with this simple rule,” says Giulio Facchini, first author of the study and researcher at the CNRS Institut Matière et Systèmes Complexes in Paris, France. In fact, when the termites were confronted with the artificial stimuli provided in the experiments, they always preferred to build at the locations of highest curvature, adding pellets at the top of the pillars (independently of their height), and when a small wall stimulus was provided, they most often kept adding pellets at the two corners of the wall, the two points where the curvature reaches its maximum.

The problem is: how could termites so reliably sense the curvature of the structures that they were building? The researchers had a clue that water evaporation and humidity could have to do with it. “Termites are very sensitive to humidity concentrations: unlike most other insects, they have a thin exoskeleton and soft skin, meaning that even a prolonged exposure to humidity levels below 70 percent can be lethal to them,” explains Perna. “It is not too surprising that they can sense these gradients of humidity and respond to them with their behaviour”.

But how to prove it? “We found a solution that was described as a ‘very ingenious low tech solution’: by one of the anonymous reviewers of the journal eLife: we prepared experimental arenas identical to those used with termites, but this time impregnating the clay with a saline solution of sodium bicarbonate. As the water from the saline solution evaporated, it left behind tiny crystals of salt, whose growth marked the regions of highest evaporation: these were the tips of the pillars, the corners of the walls: exactly the same regions that termites had selected for their building activity!” explains Facchini.

"What really surprised us was to discover that termites use such a simple solution to a very complex problem,” Perna comments. “In our experiments, nest complexity emerges from just one simple mechanism: termites only need to add pellets of material depending on the local humidity, but the pellets that they add in turn change all the pattern of evaporation and humidity, inducing other termites to build at a different location, and so on, until very complex structures are produced”.

The termites (Coptotermes gestroi) have spontaneously built a few pillars in the experimental arena.

CREDIT

Giulio Facchini

Construction work in progress [VIDEO] | 

Termites have almost finished to build an arched structure. The red lights are the light beam used by the 3D scanner to quantify construction progress. 

The termites in the experiment [VIDEO] 

A small group of Coptotermes gestroi termites add clay pellets to the tops of artificial pillars placed by the experimenters.

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JOURNAL

eLife

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Substrate evaporation drives collective construction in termites

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Apr-2024

GEROTOLOGICAL MENTAL HEALTH

Weight training improves symptoms of anxiety and depression in old people, study confirms

Brazilian researchers analyzed more than 200 articles on the subject and identified the types of training most indicated for these cases. Their findings are reported in the journal Psychiatry Research

FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO

Weight training can help reduce body fat and increase muscle strength and mass in older people, contributing to functional autonomy and avoidance of falls and injury. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that it can also benefit the mental health of older people, especially those who suffer from anxiety and depression.

These benefits were confirmed by a study reported in the journal Psychiatry Research. The study involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 200 articles on the subject. The analysis was conducted by Paolo Cunha, a postdoctoral fellow with a scholarship from FAPESP at the Albert Einstein Jewish-Brazilian Institute of Education and Research (IIEPAE) in São Paulo, Brazil. 

“Resistance training has been shown to be one of the most effective non-pharmacological strategies for healthy aging. It promotes countless health benefits, including improvements to mental health,” Cunha said.

The findings of the study are highly promising, he continued. Besides improvements to symptoms of anxiety and depression in the general population, weight training appears to have a more significant effect on people with a confirmed diagnosis of anxiety or depression disorder.

“Epidemiological studies have shown that the decrease in muscle strength and mass that occurs naturally as we age may be associated with an increase in mental health problems, given the existence of various physiological mechanisms that bring about functional and structural changes and that are controlled by the brain,” Cunha said.

Another important mental health benefit, he added, is that when weight training is done in a group, it contributes to more social interaction among those involved.

Recommended exercises

The investigation also pointed to the best ways of structuring one’s training to improve mental health. “How the training is done appears to influence the results achieved. The information obtained so far suggests that older people should ideally do weight training exercises three times a week, with three sets of each exercise and sessions that are not too long – six exercises would seem to be sufficient. Do less, but do it well: a short set produces better results. This is meaningful information, as we lack guidelines with specific recommendations for resistance training that focuses on mental health parameters,” Cunha said.

While there are many possible ways to prescribe resistance training programs designed to improve the health, autonomy and quality of life for older people, most result directly or indirectly in improvements to symptoms of anxiety and depression, regardless of the intensity and volume of the exercises involved, according to Edilson Cyrino, last author of the article and principal investigator for the study. He is a professor at the State University of Londrina (UEL) and coordinates the Active Aging Longitudinal Study, a project begun in 2012 to analyze the impact of resistance training on parameters relating to the health of older women.

Another point observed by the researchers was that the use of training machines and free weights appears to be more beneficial for mental health than exercises that involve elastic bands or calisthenics (using the weight of the person’s body), for example. 

“We don’t have statistics comparing the two kinds of training, but the analysis showed that resistance training with weights and other gear is more effective in terms of improving the mental health of older people, largely because the intensity and volume of the exercises can be more precisely controlled,” Cunha explained.

In the article, the researchers note that despite the incontestable mental health benefits of weight training, important gaps remain and should be filled by further studies. “Generally speaking, most studies have involved a small number of volunteers, which hinders an understanding of how the phenomenon occurs and the main mechanisms that explain it. This research field has expanded in recent years and has ample room for more advances,” Cunha said.

Cunha is currently conducting a project in partnership with the Research Group on Clinical Intervention and Cardiovascular Disease (GEPICARDIO) at the Albert Einstein Jewish Brazilian Hospital (HIAE) to analyze the impact of long periods of sedentarism on vascular and cognitive functions in older people.

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.

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JOURNAL

Psychiatry Research

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115746 

ARTICLE TITLE

Can resistance training improve mental health outcomes in older adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Improving dementia care in nursing homes: Learning from the pandemic years

REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE

INDIANAPOLIS – No one associated with nursing homes – as residents or their families, friends, staff or administrators – is unaware of the massive impact of the pandemic on these facilities which provide essential services to a growing number of older adults, many living with cognitive impairment.

In “Learning from the experience of dementia care for nursing home residents during the pandemic,” an editorial published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine researcher-clinician Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, M.S., and University of Utah College of Nursing faculty member Gail Towsley, PhD, NHA, focus on the continual need to integrate quality dementia-specific care into nursing homes.

“Nursing home leaders [during the pandemic] had to balance competing demands including pressures to off-load hospitals by admitting new patients, as well as responsibilities to protect staff and established residents. The constant assessment of risks versus benefits often resulted in trade-offs between safety (or at least, what was believed at the time provided safety) and quality of life,” the editorial notes.

The authors highlight the uncertainties and stressors faced by extended care providers and those for whom they care, focusing on challenges including resident social isolation, staff recruitment, training and retention as well as the troublesome conflict between best practice infection control and best practice dementia care.

“A majority of people who receive care in nursing homes have cognitive impairment,” said Dr. Unroe. “High-quality care for people with cognitive impairment, including people with a diagnosis of dementia, should be person-centered, which requires knowing a person's goals for their care and their treatment preferences and making sure that those goals and preferences are documented and then met, including for those with limited ability or even no ability to participate in these discussions anymore.

“People in nursing homes are, by the nature of living in a nursing home, often isolated from their community, their prior neighborhoods and contacts as well as their families,” she added. “We need to take extra steps to make sure that we maintain these important connections, making it as easy as possible for people to come and participate in life in the nursing home and for people to be able to leave the facility and participate in life in their neighborhoods and with their families.”

According to Dr. Unroe, the pandemic highlighted:

• Need for dementia care specific staff training
• Value of telehealth communication
• Importance of expansion of family’s role in nursing home care

In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued “The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality,” which noted “the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing home residents and staff has renewed attention to the long-standing weaknesses that impede the provision of high-quality nursing home care.” The report calls for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and states to improve oversight of nursing homes to avoid a repeat of failures that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlighting the importance of exploration of opportunities to “coalesce around solutions” to solve persistent challenges in nursing home settings, Drs. Unroe and Towsley conclude, “While the pandemic included lessons we wish we did not have to experience, we have an opportunity to shift our practices and re-focus on high quality dementia care.”

Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, M.S. 

In addition to being a research scientist with the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute, Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, M.S., is an associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and a practicing geriatrician. Dr. Unroe is the founder and an executive officer of Probari, a healthcare start-up supporting nursing home care.

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JOURNAL

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

DOI

10.1111/jgs.18771 

ARTICLE TITLE

Learning from the experience of dementia care for nursing home residents during the pandemic

Brain stimulation treatment may improve depression, anxiety in older adults

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

A noninvasive brain stimulation treatment improved depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in a new University of Florida-led study.

Improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms were greatest among patients who reported higher symptom levels before treatment. Among participants who experienced moderate to severe state anxiety — or anxiety associated with stressful situations or events — the treatment benefits persisted at a one-year followup.

The findings, published in the journal Brain Stimulation, suggest the treatment, known as transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, holds promise as a noninvasive, drug-free option to treat depression and anxiety symptoms, which affect 1 in 4 older adults.

“Depression and anxiety can impact our overall mental health, cognitive function and ability to function independently as we age,” said the study’s senior author Adam Woods, Ph.D., the associate dean for research and a professor of clinical and health psychology at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions and co-director of UF’s Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory Clinical Translational Research. “Often, front-line treatments involve medication and/or therapy, which can both be effective. However, there is also a pressing need for accessible and noninvasive options that can be deployed in people who are either nonresponsive to pharmaceutical treatment, unable to access or participate in clinic-based intensive treatment programs, or for a variety of other reasons.”

Treatment benefits in the UF-led study were seen among participants with subclinical depression and anxiety, meaning their symptoms may not meet the criteria for diagnosis. Yet, even subclinical depression and anxiety can be associated with cognitive decline in older adults, the researchers say. 

The tDCS treatment is delivered by a safe and weak electrical current passed through electrodes placed on a person’s head. Researchers targeted the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with cognition and emotion regulation.

The new study was conducted as part of the National Institute on Aging-funded Augmenting Clinical Training in Older Adults Study, the largest study of its kind with older adults participating at UF and University of Arizona study sites. Nearly 400 older adults were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 12 weeks of tDCS paired with cognitive training designed to improve working memory and processing speed, or 12 weeks of cognitive training paired with a placebo version of tDCS.

Investigators also collected a wealth of data from cognitive, functional and neuroimaging tests as well as self-report measures of psychological symptoms, including depression and anxiety.

After controlling for factors such as prescription drugs that may impact depression and anxiety symptoms, the study team found that participants who received the tDCS treatment had significant improvements in mild depression and moderate to severe state anxiety, compared with the group that did not receive tDCS.

“Extensive research has demonstrated the efficacy of active stimulation to this area of the brain in reducing psychological symptoms in individuals with diagnosed psychiatric disorders,” said Hanna Hausman, the study’s lead author and a UF PHHP clinical psychology Ph.D. student in neuropsychology. “It was an unexpected yet welcome surprise to witness similar effects in our sample of older adults without significant psychiatric histories, especially on a large scale. Demonstrating this therapeutic effect is important because even subclinical depression and anxiety symptoms in older adults are associated with adverse outcomes.”

Next steps for this research should include a phase 3 randomized clinical trial designed to assess the effect of tDCS and cognitive training on anxiety among a large and diverse group of older adults, the investigators say. The Korea Food and Drug Administration has approved tDCS as an at-home treatment for depression for adults in South Korea, and with additional study, it could become an accessible and easy-to-use treatment in the U.S. once sufficient evidence is available for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

“tDCS treatment is cost-effective, portable and can be seamlessly integrated with existing mental health therapies or used as a standalone intervention,” Hausman said. “Its potential for at-home self-administration would further expand accessibility and reduce personnel costs, making it a promising intervention for individuals who may experience barriers accessing face-to-face clinical care.”

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JOURNAL

Brain Stimulation

DOI

10.1016/j.brs.2024.02.021 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

tDCS reduces depression and state anxiety symptoms in older adults from the augmenting cognitive training in older adults study (ACT)

U$A

UH College of Pharmacy researcher examines trends in rising cost of medicine

Diabetic medications most expensive, fastest rise in price

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

 

IMAGE: 

TYLER VARISCO, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHARMACEUTICAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AND POLICY AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG MISUSE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, HAS PUBLISHED NEW RESEARCH ABOUT THE SOARING COST OF DIABETES MEDICATIONS.

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CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Newly published research from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy reveals an alarming trend in diabetic medication expenditures. While pharmaceutical spending in the U.S. has long been recognized as higher than in other affluent nations, diabetic medications, including insulin, are now at the forefront of this surge in prescription drug costs. 

From 2011 to 2020, total annual prescription medication expenditures rose from $341.49 to $473.12 billion per year with metabolic agents being the costliest category. Among the metabolic agents, antidiabetic agents were the most expensive therapeutic area, with an increasing trend observed from $27.15 to $89.17 billion over the same period.   

“Despite observed trends in medication expenditures, very little effort has been made to understand how those trends vary by therapeutic class,” reports Tyler Varisco, assistant professor of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy and assistant director of the Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research Center in the journal Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. Varisco and Whanhui Chi, a second-year doctoral student in Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, conducted a cross-sectional analysis to identify determinants of increasing medicine expenditures in the U.S. between 2011 and 2020. 

Varisco used prescription medication expenditures from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey to calculate total annual medication expenditures  by payer categories (Out-of-pocket, Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE/Veterans Administration/CHAMPVA (TVAC), Other Government Sources, Private Insurance, and Other Sources). 

Spending by Medicare ($38.23 billion) and Medicaid ($8.68 billion) accounted for almost half of all U.S. spending on metabolic agents in 2020. 

Varisco also found the growth in prescription drug expenditures in the U.S. can be ascribed to several different factors such as population demographics, changes in technology and healthcare practice. For example, total Medicare enrollment was found to be 48,892,758 in 2011, which later reached 62,840,267 in 2020. 

“In light of these developments, research is needed to substantiate concerns that trends in the cost of care are outpacing patients’ ability to pay,” Varisco said. “Continuing analysis is needed to help policymakers and other key stakeholders understand how changes in practice, policy, and drug marketing converge to impact total market expenditures.” 

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JOURNAL

Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy

ARTICLE TITLE

Why the increase? Examining the rise in prescription medication expenditures in the United States between 2011 and 2020

 

On the way to a complete seafloor map

GEOMAR and Seabed 2030 sign Memorandum of Understanding in Barcelona

HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR OCEAN RESEARCH KIEL (GEOMAR)

 Joint press release of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and GEBCO Seabed 2030 –

At least twice in the last 20 years, nuclear submarines have collided with previously unknown underwater mountains called seamounts. The reason: they were not on any nautical charts. Just last year, a study discovered 19,000 new, previously unknown seamounts. There are now around 43,000 known seamounts over 1,000 metres high. But most of them have never been mapped.

Mapping the topographic shape of the seafloor is called bathymetry (from the Greek words bathýs deep and métron measure). And there are still many gaps in the bathymetric maps of the world's oceans. The example above dramatically illustrates the need for accurate underwater maps. But it is also essential for understanding ocean circulation and climate models, for assessing geohazards such as submarine slides on oceanic island flanks, for exploring seabed resources, and for marine spatial planning, including the delineation of marine protected areas.

Only about 25% of the seafloor has been mapped using ship-borne echosounders, which is the only method capable of producing high-resolution (10m) seafloor maps. Another survey method is satellite altimetry, which infers seafloor topography from satellite measurements of deviations in the sea surface. This provides global coverage, but with a much lower resolution of several kilometres, allowing only large-scale structures to be identified. As Professor Dr Lars Rüpke, head of the Seafloor Modeling Group at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, explains, “ship-based echosounder surveys remain indispensable” for more detailed seafloor mapping. Currently the group is campaigning for a closer integration of underway data with urgent research questions. Rüpke: “For example, data collected during transits by German research vessels can be used to systematically map seamounts.”

“Our vision is to have a complete and freely accessible map of the entire seafloor," says Dr Rüpke. "We share this vision with the many researchers from all over the world who are involved in the Seabed 2030 project". As part of the United Nations Conference on the Decade of the Ocean, which starts today in Barcelona, GEOMAR and Seabed 2030 have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to improve seabed mapping.

Professor Dr Katja Matthes, Director of GEOMAR: “The international availability of collected data is the basis for successful cooperation and a decisive step towards a global map of the seafloor. The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding with Seabed 2030 shows the enormous potential to jointly pursue the goal of the UN Decade of the Oceans ‘to protect and sustainably use the oceans and marine resources for sustainable development’. The international networking of GEOMAR's expertise with the global Seabed 2030 initiative is a further milestone in international marine research.”

Jamie McMichael-Phillips, Director of Seabed 2030 stated: “I am absolutely delighted that we have partnered with GEOMAR, a world leading institution in marine research. Our MoU reinforces the strong links with their extensive science team and the combined GEOMAR/German research fleet which has global reach. This will undoubtedly strengthen the SB2030 global ocean mapping community, driving us forward in supporting the GEBCO mission.”

 

About Seabed 2030:

Seabed 2030 is a joint project of GEBCO and the Nippon Foundation, launched at the 2017 UN Ocean Conference in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, which aims to conserve the oceans and marine resources for sustainable use. At that time, only about six per cent of the seabed had been mapped with sufficient accuracy. By 2030, all available information on the seabed is to be collected and integrated into a seamless digital map of the world's oceans. To do this, Seabed 2030 brings together a global community of marine cartographers, hydrographers and other researchers, as well as industry and the public. Governments, organisations and individuals around the world are invited to join this common mission for the global seabed by the end of the decade.

About GEOMAR:

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel is one of the world's leading marine research institutions. GEOMAR investigates the global ocean from the seafloor to the atmosphere, covering a unique spectrum of physical, chemical, biological and geological processes in the ocean. Since last year, the new Seafloor Morphology working group at GEOMAR combines expertise in seafloor mapping and geological research based on bathymetric observations. The group investigates the processes that shape the seafloor and the role its morphology plays in the ocean system. It uses data from expeditions as well as ocean observations, rock analysis, modelling and data science.

About “Underway” Research Data

As part of the EU AtlantOS project, GEOMAR started systematically mapping the seafloor along the transit routes of large German research vessels in international waters in 2015. Since 2019, this new approach has been continued in Germany as part of the research data project “Underway” of the German Marine Research Alliance (DAM). GEOMAR has a coordinating role in this project. The data will be made available internationally according to the FAIR principles.