New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk

Innovative spinal stimulation therapy helps children with paralysis from acute flaccid myelitis improve mobility, according to research from Kennedy Krieger Institute

Kennedy Krieger Institute

 

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Example of patient participating in TSS research stury

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Credit: Kennedy Krieger Institute

BALTIMORE, November 12, 2024— Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI) have made a remarkable advancement in treating children with Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a rare but severe neurological condition that causes sudden paralysis.

A new study, published in the journal Children, demonstrates that a combination of Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation (TSS) and movement training can help children with AFM improve their ability to walk. TSS is a non-invasive therapy where electrical current is applied through pads placed on the skin to the spine. It amplifies the volume on signals traveling from the brain through the spinal cord, facilitating muscle activation and restoring motor function.

The study involved four children with spinal cord injuries caused by AFM. Over a series of 22 therapy sessions, the patients received TSS while moving on a treadmill as part of their body weight was supported by a harness system. The results were promising—three children showed improvements in walking distance, and two had measurable gains in posture, speed, and overall walking function.

Rebecca Martin, OTR/L, OTD, CPAM, Manager of Clinical Education and Training at ICSCI and primary investigator of the study, says the research shows TSS is a safe, effective intervention that offers a new path for rehabilitation and improved quality of life.

“It’s encouraging to witness the transformations in these children,” said Martin. “TSS is revolutionizing the field of neurorehabilitation, providing a safe alternative to the aggressive surgeries often required for young patients.”

AFM typically follows a viral infection and inflames the spinal cord, leaving children with long-term paralysis in their diaphragm, arms and/or legs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AFM affects approximately one in 1 million children in the United States each year. Because it is so rare, it is often challenging for researchers to gather large sample sizes necessary for comprehensive studies. The research at Kennedy Krieger offers hope to families who often have limited options.

“This treatment is giving families a long-awaited solution when they previously had no answers,” said Martin. “Now our goal is to continue refining this approach and make it more widely available to these rare patients across the country.”

ICSCI at Kennedy Krieger is working to develop therapies that restore function for children living with complex neurological conditions. Click here to learn more about additional research and studies underway at the center.

Patient Standing and Smiling While Participating in TSS Study

Patient Participating in TSS/AFM Study

Credit

Kennedy Krieger Institute

 

About Kennedy Krieger Institute 
Kennedy Krieger Institute, an internationally known, non-profit organization located in the greater Baltimore/Washington, D.C. region, transforms the lives of more than 27,000 individuals a year through inpatient and outpatient medical, behavioral health and wellness therapies, home and community services, school-based programs, training and education for professionals and advocacy. Kennedy Krieger provides a wide range of services for children, adolescents and adults with diseases, disorders or injuries that impact the nervous system, ranging from mild to severe. The Institute is home to a team of investigators who contribute to the understanding of how disorders develop, while at the same time pioneer new interventions and methods of early diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Visit www.kennedykrieger.org/ for more information about Kennedy Krieger.

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Journal

Children

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation Enables Recovery of Walking in Children with Acute Flaccid Myelitis

 

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers find community health workers play critical role in coordinating asthma care across home, school and community

Study found statistically significant benefit when health workers made efforts to coordinate asthma care between homes, schools and primary care providers

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

While great strides have been made to ensure children have access to proper asthma care in their home and community, linking those environments to the care that children receive while in school has been a challenge. In a new study, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) demonstrate that community health workers can play a critical role in integrating all environments where children encounter asthma triggers, and care coordination provided by these workers may be a cost-effective way to achieve that. The findings were recently published by JAMA Pediatrics.

There are persistent and concerning disparities in rates of asthma among American children. Black children, for example, have a hospitalization rate three times higher, and a death rate seven times higher, than their white counterparts. However, asthma symptoms can vary for children at different times of the day in different environments. While they may be able to control symptoms at home, children may encounter triggers at school like mice or dusty shelves that can exacerbate their symptoms.

Prior studies have confirmed the impact that community health workers – specially trained lay people who work with local hospital systems and community organizations in both rural and urban communities – can help improve asthma control to close gaps with evidence-based interventions. However, linking the care among different settings – homes, schools, primary care offices and surrounding communities – and coordinating appropriate care across those environments has been a major challenge. To garner a clearer picture of effectiveness, researchers implemented a randomized clinical trial design to properly assess the impact of  community health workers.

“Children are in various environments during the day, and we have to think about a holistic and connected approach to reducing asthma across all environments a child may encounter,” said Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD, Medical Director of the Community Asthma Prevention Program (CAPP) and Chief Health Equity Officer of the Center for Health Equity at CHOP. “We want to make sure there is evidence-based asthma care, including increased adherence and availability of controller medication, wherever children may be and that everyone is taking steps to make every environment a healthier one.”

This study was a hybrid effectiveness and implementation trial that randomized 36 total Philadelphia area schools with participant-level randomization into clinic-based community health worker intervention. The intervention took place in CHOP primary care offices, homes and 36 public and charter schools in West Philadelphia between May 2018 and June 2022. Children, aged 5 through 13, with uncontrolled asthma were recruited from local primary care practices and were followed for up to 12 months

Asthma management, trigger remediation, and care coordination took place in school, home and primary care settings. The Yes We Can Children’s Asthma Program, Open Airways for Schools Plus and school-based asthma therapy were implemented.

In total, 626 study participants were analyzed, with 96% of them self-identifying as Black and 98% as non-Hispanic. All groups had statistically significant improvements in asthma control from baseline to 12 months. The study experienced interruptions during the pandemic. However, an analysis from the pre-pandemic interval demonstrated that children in the combined home-clinic-school intervention had a statistically significant improvement in asthma control scores compared with the control group.

“This study demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of community health workers connecting these environments to make care more accessible for kids, and future work will make sure that everyone has a seat at the table when making decisions concerning asthma prevention,” Bryant-Stephens said.

This study was supported by grants U01HL138687 and K23HL136842 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Bryant-Stephens et al, “Community Health Workers Linking Clinics and Schools and Asthma Control: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA Pediatr. Online October 21, 2024. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3967.

About Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia:  

A non-profit, charitable organization, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, the hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. The institution has a well-established history of providing advanced pediatric care close to home through its CHOP Care Network, which includes more than 50 primary care practices, specialty care and surgical centers, urgent care centers, and community hospital alliances throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as the Middleman Family Pavilion and its dedicated pediatric emergency department in King of Prussia. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit https://www.chop.edu. 

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Journal

JAMA Pediatrics

DOI

10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3967 

Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Community Health Workers Linking Clinics and Schools and Asthma Control

 

A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse

Despite increased attention to the opioid crisis, trauma and intimate partner violence continue to be neglected as contributors to opioid use disorder. A new digital toolkit aims to change that.

Medical University of South Carolina

 

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Dr. Tanya Saraiya (left) and Dr. Amber Jarnecke (right) of the Medical University of South Carolina were awarded grant funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the link between opioid use, post-traumatic stress disorder, and intimate partner violence.

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Credit: Medical University of South Carolina. Photograph by Julie Taylor.

The opioid crisis has left an estimated 2.5 million people 18 and older in the U.S. with opioid use disorder, or OUD. Despite increased attention to the heavy toll taken by OUD, key risk factors such as intimate partner violence (IPV) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often overlooked. Both increase the risk of OUD and complicate recovery efforts.

A team of MUSC researchers led by clinical psychologists Amber Jarnecke, Ph.D., and Tanya Saraiya, Ph.D., both of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, secured critical funding of up to $5 million expected over six years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to address the overlooked link between IPV, PTSD and OUD, which is known to contribute to higher treatment dropout rates and poorer outcomes for OUD treatment.

“People who experience PTSD may use substances like opioids to cope, and similarly, people who experience IPV may numb the pain with opioids,” said Saraiya. “In some cases, partners use opioids together, and one may encourage – or even force – the other to participate. This dynamic can quickly create a complex and overwhelming storm of IPV, opioid use and PTSD.”

Jarnecke and Saraiya are developing and implementing a digital toolkit to screen patients being treated for OUD for IPV and PTSD and point them to the necessary resources and support for long-lasting recovery.

Such a toolkit is badly needed in South Carolina, which has a very high rate of IPV.

“The state has consistently ranked in the top 10 states for intimate partner violence for the past 20 years,” noted Saraiya.

In 2021, there were 68 IPV-related homicides in South Carolina, 69% of which were committed using a firearm, according to the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

As the researchers develop the toolkit, they are assembling a community advisory board of IPV survivors, family members and clinicians from across South Carolina to guide them and ensure that they meet the needs of all stakeholders. The toolkit will prioritize patient safety, providing clinicians guidance on creating a safety plan for patients, when needed, which identifies their personal safety network and connects them with local domestic violence centers and shelters. As part of the plan, patients are asked to identify “safe spaces” away from where firearms are stored and are advised to move to those safe areas before violence escalates. Patients are also encouraged to lock away knives and guns if at all possible. In addition to protecting patients, the toolkit must also be simple enough to fit into regular screenings without overwhelming clinicians.

When finished, the digital toolkit will include a series of questionnaires to identify co-occurring PTSD and other mental health conditions as well as IPV risk and its severity. It will also provide clinicians with recommended ways to follow up with their patients based on their screening results, including providing suggestions for evidence-based treatments. Finally, it will provide a list of local resources to facilitate referrals. Before being rolled out, the toolkit will be beta-tested by clinicians and patients.

After beta testing, the toolkit will be tested in a large randomized clinical trial in three substance use treatment centers across South Carolina, including the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs at MUSC in Charleston, Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County and Shoreline Behavioral Health Services in Conway.

Patients receiving treatment for OUD will be asked to enroll in the study and will be screened for IPV, PTSD and other mental health conditions through measures in the digital toolkit. Clinicians will discuss which treatment options are best for patients based on their screening results and available local resources. After the initial screening, enrolled patients will complete toolkit questionnaires regularly to track whether they have followed up on the treatment recommendations for PTSD and IPV and if doing so has made them more likely to stick to their OUD treatments.

Once the trial is completed, Jarnecke and Saraiya plan to make the toolkit available to other states and to tailor it to address other substance use disorders. They also intend to adapt it for use in other countries and raise awareness about IPV to promote advocacy and policy reform.

“We’re hoping that the sheer number of positive screens for IPV and PTSD in patients with OUD detected through our toolkit might help to inform more policy and advocacy work,” said Jarnecke. “If we want to make headway against the opioid crisis, it is important that we provide adequate resources for family and relationship health.”

# # #

Research reported in this press release is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R61DA061371. The content in the underlying article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. 

 UK

Specific long term condition combinations have major role in NHS ‘winter pressures’

Cardiovascular disease, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes quartet linked to 11-fold higher hospital admission risk. Kidney disease + cardiovascular disease + dementia + osteoarthritis linked to 24-fold higher death risk

BMJ Group

Specific combinations of long term conditions have a major role in the additional pressures the NHS faces every winter, because they are associated with significantly higher risks of  hospital admissions and death, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine.

 

The risk of hospital admission was 11 times higher among those with the quartet of cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes than it was among those without any of these long term conditions, the findings show.

And people with kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and osteoarthritis were 24 times more likely to die as those who didn’t have these conditions.

Winter pressures are prompted by the worsening of health issues as a result of colder weather, seasonal viruses, increased isolation and loneliness, plus systems level difficulties caused by higher bed occupancy and staff absences, explain the researchers. These additional pressures usually cover the period from December 1 to March 31.

The number of people in England with 2 or more long term conditions is projected to include almost 70% of the population by 2035. And while previously published research has established the increased health service demand related to multiple long term conditions during the winter, it’s not clear exactly which combinations might be the most critical, say the researchers. 

To try and find out, they reviewed routinely collected and linked primary and secondary care health data for adults in England, during the winter pressures period of 2021-22, to identify the reasons for hospital admission. This period coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic when health and social care services were substantially disrupted.

Complete data were available for 48.3 million people, just over half of whom were women (51%). Their average age was 49, and 81% of them were White.

The researchers selected 59 long term conditions which were categorised into 19 groups, based on feedback from clinicians, patients, and policy-makers.

During the study period, 4,710,675 hospital admissions and 176,895 deaths were recorded. Overall, nearly 20 million people (40.5%) had no long term conditions; 13.5 million (28%)  had one; and nearly a third (15 million; 31%) had 2 or more.

Analysis of the data showed that particular combinations of long term conditions were associated with heightened risks of hospital admission and death.

After factoring in age, sex, ethnicity, and area based socioeconomic deprivation, people with cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes were 11 times more likely to be admitted to hospital during the winter than those who didn’t have this combination.

Similarly, this risk was nearly 10 times higher for those with cancer, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and osteoarthritis, and those with cancer, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Among the 10 combinations that contributed to the highest rates of hospital admissions, cardiovascular disease featured in all but 1, chronic kidney disease in 8, and cancer in 6.

Analysis of the deaths linked to particular combinations of long term conditions showed that people with cardiovascular disease and dementia were nearly 15 times more likely to die than those with neither of these conditions.

And those with the combination of kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and osteoarthritis were more than 24 times more likely to do so.

Cardiovascular disease featured in all 10 of the riskiest combinations, while chronic kidney disease featured in 7 of them. 

Cardiovascular disease plus dementia also featured in all of the top 5 riskiest combinations, and this duo was associated with a substantially higher rate of death than many 3, 4, and 5 long term condition combinations.

This is an observational study, precluding firm conclusions to be drawn about causal factors. And the researchers acknowledge various limitations to their findings, including the lack of information about the length or severity of illness or frailty among those with long term conditions. 

But they point out: “Current policy and clinical guidance consider the risk of hospital admission and death for multiple long term conditions during the winter season as one homogenous condition,” when this is clearly not the case. 

And they suggest that the findings could help inform more targeted planning for winter pressures, enabling resources to be allocated where they are needed the most. 

“Multimorbidity patterns are a major determinant of hospital admission and mortality during winter,” agree Dr Jonathan Batty and colleagues of the University of Leeds, in a linked editorial.

“In the broader context of winter pressures and increasing multimorbidity, [the study] underscores the need for methods that can identify individuals at high risk of preventable hospital admission and mortality, and strategies to mitigate the risk observed for those people with the most adverse combinations of long term conditions,” they conclude.

 

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Journal

BMJ Medicine

DOI

10.1136/bmjmed-2024-001016 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Combinations of multiple long term conditions and risk of hospital admission or death during winter 2021-22 in England: population based cohort study

Article Publication Date

12-Nov-2024

COI Statement

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/ and declare: support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for the submitted work; KK, CLG, FZ, and SS are supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands (ARC EM), NIHR Global Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions, the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and the British Heart Foundation Centre for Excellence; KK and HDM are supported by the Cross NIHR Collaboration for Multiple Long Term Conditions; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

 

Making an impact. Research studies a new side of helmet safety: faceguard failures

Team of Clemson professors, students patents test to make sports helmets safer

Clemson University

There is a large window-lined laboratory in the back of one of Clemson University’s most storied buildings, Newman Hall, filled with machines that look like they were extracted straight from Dr. Jekyll’s lab. On one wall a contraption made of pullies and wires attached to the ceiling waits to drop objects and measure the impact; in the middle of the room, a giant metal base shakes a pallet of boxes in perpetuity; on the other side of the room sits what looks like a gigantic nut cracker big enough to squish a small car –  but the most Medieval-looking area is the bay on the east side of the room full of machines designed to smack heads.

This is the Clemson Headgear Impact Performance (CHIP) Lab, where John DesJardins, a bioengineering professor, and Greg Batt, a food, nutrition, and packaging sciences associate professor, have spent nearly a decade working on a better way to test the strength of sports helmet faceguards.

The performance of faceguards and how it affects a helmet’s performance is woefully understudied, says DesJardins, and that’s why he and Batt created the CHIP Lab.

“The facemask connects to the helmet, and that connection is poorly studied,” he explained during a tour of the CHIP Lab on a quiet summer day on campus. “How does the rigidity of the mask affect the impact that you receive? When it gets hit, it spreads out; when it does that, it makes the helmet on your head wider, so it goes flying off. It completely changes the dynamics of the helmet. There are a lot of unknowns, and that’s why we decided to step in and bring those problems into the academic world.”

DesJardins says the project initially started with a call from Clemson graduate Jay Elmore ‘98, owner of Green Gridiron in Pendleton, the premier facemask reconditioner for top-level programs in the NFL, CFL, XFL, NCAA, semi-pro, high school and youth organizations.

“He had this machine in his facility in Pendleton and was having trouble on the engineering side keeping it up to date, doing the testing, and finding somebody qualified to operate it who was affordable enough to keep him in business,” explains DesJardins. “He said, ‘Please, take it!’ and donated the machine to us in exchange for us doing free testing for a couple of years. Ever since then, he’s been handing us boxes and boxes of facemasks.”

Batt says the CHIP Lab tests well over a 1000 masks a year as an ongoing testing service.

“Masks are made to protect from eye injuries, nose injuries, fingers coming through the mask and so on,” says Batt, noting there are about a dozen labs nationally that do this kind of testing, but the CHIP Lab is unique. “Students run the show here. They do all the testing and collect the data, and they come from a wide range of degree fields: bioengineering, packaging science, a couple of mechanical engineers, and we even have a physics major right now.”

When asked how often facemasks fail, Batt said it’s more often than one might think.

“That is an excellent question. We get some of that information from the equipment manager here for Clemson Football, Nick Yarid. He gives us his damaged masks. We might have a dozen and a half from a spring practice that don’t pass his test.”

“A good team will replace all of their masks every year just so they don’t have to worry about a potential miss, but that creates waste,” says DesJardins. “Also, many masks are over-manufactured. We’re looking at that as well. Why would you want to wear something heavier when you can wear something lighter and reduce waste?”

The original machine Elmore donated is a mean-looking device that drops a weighted human mannequin head attached to a guillotine-like blade onto a metal plate.

“It’s old-school and very low-tech,” says DesJardins. “And it’s a destructive test, which is the unfortunate aspect of it. The accelerometers measure the impact, which is not supposed to reach a certain threshold, and the facemask is not supposed to deform or intrude into the face area enough to bash your nose in or something. This test is designed to allow us to understand that, but we determined it’s really antiquated.”

DesJardins and Batt decided to invent a better, non-destructive way to get the same data.

They solicited for grant money and got a pneumatic impact ram that can smack fake heads in a much more realistic way.

“The NFL has impact standards for all the different orientations of the head and different speeds and for different player positions,” says DesJardins, picking up one of the plastic and metal heads used in the machine. “This weighs as much as a human head – about 12 pounds. You can rotate the head and the neck to different positions and angles, and there are accelerometers that measure the impact.”

DesJardins points to a large barrel attached by hinges to one side of the machine, “And just to make it super fun, you can rotate this sucker up, and it shoots hockey pucks!”

Using data gathered from whacking thousands of facemasks with the new ram, Batt and Desjardins teamed up with then-Ph.D. student Alex Bina ’22, now the director of applied science for the Clemson University Football Program, and invented a novel testing method that can put pressure on a facemask with precision and measure its strength without destroying it. They patented the technique in 2022.

“We thought, ‘What are you trying to get out of this test?’” says DesJardins. “Really, it’s taking a facemask and finding out how strong and stiff it is. We came up with a new method: a compression test that squishes it down just a little bit – about five millimeters – to determine its strength. You don’t need to bash helmets and facemasks in, which is not cheap.”

CURF, who is the technology transfer and innovation office for Clemson, filed for and received the patent (US Patent# 11,357,281). CURF also recently awarded DesJardins and Batt a Technology Maturation Grant to make a benchtop testing machine that they can market.

“Those are fancy words for, ‘You thought of it, now you have to make it,” laughs DesJardins.

The hope is the long-term influence of the data collected from their invention will make sports safer for everyone, from kids in pee-wee football to professional football and hockey players.

“Clemson University prides itself on supporting Translational Research, and the CHIP Lab embodies such a commitment,” says Bina. “I consider myself blessed because not many graduate students get to work on a multidisciplinary project at the interface between academia and industry. Combining principles of packaging science and bioengineering with industry need and technology transfer support via CURF, Dr. DesJardins and Dr. Batt allowed me to squeeze the most out of my education while developing innovative life-changing technology for a sport we all love.”

And they’re not stopping with facemasks. Batt and DesJardins already have plans to expand their research below the neck and into chest protection for athletes.

“We just received a grant to study commotio cordis, a rare disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the area directly over the heart at a critical instant during the cycle of a heartbeat,” says Batt. “Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin famously collapsed from it during a Monday Night Football game in 2023.”

DesJardins says they just acquired a new instrumented torso that can record the impact force on the chest.

“Chest protection seems to be an important thing, to say the least, so we’re going to take that on next.”
 

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Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

 

New Digital Dome launches in Joburg

University of the Witwatersrand

 

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The  Wits Anglo Digital Dome

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Credit: Wits University

The Wits Anglo American Digital Dome - a place of infinite possibilities - will forever change how South Africans teach, research, and engage with science, technology, business, sport, the humanities and the arts, in a multidisciplinary facility.

The new Wits Anglo Digital Dome offers a 360° immersive experience for visitors of all ages, with a variety of shows for young and old. It will also serve as a modern teaching venue and a collaborative research space where scientists and students can visualise their work – be it in big data, astrophysics, the digital arts, artificial medicine, microbiology, or precision medicine.

The new Digital Dome will open to the public in February 2025. Visit the website at https://digitaldome.wits.ac.za/

[For the media: Download the media pack]

First completed in 1960, the old Planetarium was the first full sized Planetarium in Africa. The new Digital Dome is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, made possible through an investment of R90 million from  Anglo American and Wits University.

"For the past 64 years, the Planetarium has entertained, inspired and educated millions of visitors from Gauteng and beyond,” says Professor Zeblon Vilakazi (FRS), Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University. “Personally, I visited the old Planetarium in 1981 at the height of apartheid. It left a huge and indelible mark on me, and I believe that it played a key role in igniting a scientific spark that led to me becoming a nuclear physicist. Through the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, we hope to continue inspiring people from various disciplines including those working in climate modelling, artificial intelligence and the digital arts."

The development of Johannesburg is intrinsically intertwined with the origins and growth of Wits, Anglo American, and mining.

Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American says: “At Anglo American, we see investment in tertiary education as vital for advancing knowledge, driving innovation, and boosting economic growth. Universities are hubs of research and development, producing skilled professionals who tackle global challenges and push technological and scientific boundaries. Infrastructure like the Digital Dome enable this progress, providing students with specialised skills, enhancing job prospects and earning potential while contributing to broader societal and economic transformation.”

He adds: “It is inspiring to witness the power of partnerships, which is even more invigorating through this initiative. We have a long history with Wits and Johannesburg, and we are proud of the efforts made to rebuild the City. The new Wits Anglo American Digital Dome is a demonstration of our legacy and continued commitment not only to this institution but to the nation as a whole. This new space is designed to inspire and ignite interest in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines for generations to come.”

What’s new?

The original Zeiss projector has been replaced by 10 brand new digital projectors to render an 8k full dome resolution. Each projector has its own image generator, which is controlled by a master computer. The sound in the Digital Dome has also been upgraded to an 8.2 audio system. The refurbished facility includes the new digital projection and sound systems and auditorium seating, with the possible future creation of a Science and Technology Exploratorium. A new north wing expansion houses operational offices, exhibition areas, and specialised spaces for Digital Dome show planning and design.

“We have created a high-tech 360 immersive experience," says Dr Moumita Aich, the Head of the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome. “Visitors, students and researchers will enjoy an immersive experience and will feel as if they are part of the shows - whether they are gliding through the middle of the International Space Station or following a herd of wildebeest through the migrations in the Serengeti. These shows aim to entertain people of all ages, with different interests, using the latest technology – the possibilities are infinite.”

When does it open to the public?

The Wits Anglo American Digital Dome will enter a pilot phase from November to the end of January 2025 and is expected to open its doors to the broader public in February 2025. The first shows to be viewed in the Digital Dome include a set of six full dome shows, donated by the American Museum of National History.

In lieu of gifts for attendees of the launch event, Wits and Anglo American will make funds available that will allow access to learners from selected quintile 1 – 3 schools to attend shows at no cost at the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome in 2025.

And what’s next?

Wits is home to talented scholars, and it is important for Africans to develop our own content, within our own context. Phase 3 of the project entails building a wing which will house studios and look towards developing content locally in conjunction with the Wits School of Arts, Digital Arts, the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, and other partners. It will also link to Wits’ new AI Institute that will be launched on 19 November in the Digital Dome.

 The Wits Anglo Digital Dome

Wits Anglo American Digital Dome front night sky

Wits Anglo American Digital Dome 

Credit

Wits University

 

An advance toward inhalable mRNA medications, vaccines

American Chemical Society

Most people don’t enjoy getting shots for treatments or vaccines. So, researchers are working to create more medicines, such as those made from messenger RNA (mRNA), that can be sprayed and inhaled. A study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports steps toward making inhalable mRNA medicines a possibility. Researchers outline their improved lipid-polymer nanoparticle for holding mRNA that is stable when nebulized and successfully delivers aerosols (liquid droplets) in mice’s lungs.

mRNA medicines encode proteins that could treat or prevent a variety of illnesses, including lung diseases. However, these proteins are delicate and can’t enter cells by themselves. To get intact mRNA inside lung cells, tiny fatty spheres (known as lipid nanoparticles) can be used like suitcases to store and transport the components until they reach their final destination. However, early versions of fatty spheres for mRNA delivery won’t work for inhalable medications because the nanoparticles clump together or increase in size when sprayed into the air. To try to address this problem, previous researchers attached a polymer, such as polyethylene glycol, onto one of the particle’s fatty components, but this didn’t stabilize the resulting lipid nanoparticles enough.

Now, Daniel Anderson, Allen Jiang, Sushil Lathwal and colleagues have hypothesized that a different type of polymer, one with repeating units of positively and negatively charged components called a zwitterionic polymer, could create mRNA-containing lipid nanoparticles that can withstand nebulization (turning a liquid into a mist). The researchers synthesized a variety of lipid nanoparticles out of four ingredients: a phospholipid, cholesterol, an ionizable lipid, and lipids of different lengths attached to zwitterionic polymers of various lengths. Initial tests indicated that many of the resulting lipid nanoparticles efficiently held mRNA and didn’t change size during misting or after being misted.

Then in animal trials, the researchers determined that a lower-cholesterol version of the lipid nanoparticles with zwitterionic polymers was the optimal formulation for aerosol delivery. When transporting an mRNA encoding a luminescent protein, this nanoparticle produced the highest luminescence within the animals’ lungs and a uniform protein expression in the tissues, thereby demonstrating that it had the best ability to deliver inhaled mRNA. Mice given three airborne doses of the optimal nanoparticle over a 2-week period maintained consistent luminescent protein production without experiencing measurable inflammation in the lungs. The delivery method even worked in mice with a thick layer of mucus lining their airways, which was meant to model the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis. Taken together, the researchers say this set of results demonstrates the successful airborne delivery of mRNA using zwitterionic polymers in lipid nanoparticles. As a next step, they plan to conduct tests in larger animals.

The authors acknowledge funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Sanofi (formerly Translate Bio), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute.

The authors have filed a patent on this technology. Some authors are founders of oRNA Therapeutics and Moderna, biotechnology companies that produce RNA and mRNA medicines, respectively.

The paper’s abstract will be available on Nov. 13 at 8 a.m. Eastern time here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.4c11347

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Journal

Journal of the American Chemical Society

DOI

10.1021/jacs.4c11347 

Article Title

Zwitterionic Polymer-Functionalized Lipid Nanoparticles for the Nebulized Delivery of mRNA

Article Publication Date

13-Nov-2024