Researchers tag first Mediterranean shortfin mako shark

By tagging the young mako shark, the Virginia Tech and College of Natural Resources and Environment researchers gained behavioral insights to help prevent the decline of the sharks in the region

Virginia Tech

 

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The research team successfully tagged a Mako shark for the first time in the region as part of another research project. 

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Credit: Photo courtesy of Francesco Ferretti.

Virginia Tech researchers successfully tagged a young shortfin mako shark in the Mediterranean during the summer of 2023, the first time that this has been done in the region.

These sharks are critically endangered not only in the Mediterranean but also globally.

The research team tagged the mako shark during a research expedition for the white shark in the region.

“During that research trip, we encountered a young shortfin mako shark by happenstance,” said Brendan Shea, a Ph.D. student in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. “We placed an electronic tag on it, which provides valuable information about its movements, helping us understand how to better conserve the population.”

The tag the team used is called a pop-off archival tag. It collects and stores data on water temperature, depth, and ambient light levels. This data helps the researchers estimate the shark's location and understand its movements. The tag detaches after a set period or if the shark dives too deep – more than 1,800 meters – and then transmits the data back to a satellite.

“These tags give us valuable information about where these animals travel,” Shea said. “This makes conserving them easier. We need to do more tagging, but this is a great starting point.”

The research, carried out as part of the White Shark Chase initiative led by Francesco Ferretti at Virginia Tech, was published recently in Frontiers in Marine Science.  

This collaborative effort included Jeremy Jenrette of Virginia Tech's Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Chiara Gambardella of the Polytechnic University of Marche, Gambardella and Stefano Moro of Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Khaled Echwikhi of the High Institute of Applied Biology of Medenine at University of Gabes, Robert Schallert and Barbara Block of Stanford University, Schallert of Tag-a-Giant, and Taylor Chapple of Oregon State University’s Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station.

Funding was provided by The Explorers Club, Discovery Channel, Sharkproject, the Bertarelli Foundation, the Augmentum platform, and individual donors.

The young mako shark traveled more than 750 miles in 54 days, even though it was likely only 1 or 2 years old. This means that protecting nursery areas might not be enough because these young sharks travel so far.   

“Sharks play a crucial role in the health of our oceans,” Shea said. “A healthy ocean supports various human activities, so understanding and conserving shark populations benefits everyone. Understanding the three-dimensional movement of sharks helps us know how they connect different habitats and their role in the ecosystem. This data also informs us about the depths they occupy, which is vital for conservation efforts.”   

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Journal

Frontiers in Marine Science

Article Publication Date

9-Dec-2024

 

Tourism leads the pack in growing carbon emissions

University of Queensland

A University of Queensland-led study shows greenhouse gas emissions from tourism have been growing more than 2 times faster than those from the rest of the global economy.

Associate Professor Ya-Yen Sun from UQ’s Business School said rapid expansion in travel demand has meant carbon from tourism activities accounts for 9% of the world's total emissions.

“Without urgent interventions in the global tourism industry, we anticipate annual increases in emissions of 3 to 4% meaning they will double every 20 years,” Dr Sun said.

“This does not comply with the Paris Agreement which requires the sector to reduce its emissions by more than 10% annually.

“The major drivers behind the increasing emissions are slow technology improvements and a rapid growth in demand.”

The study involved researchers from UQ, Griffith University, the University of Sydney and Linnaeus University (Sweden), and tracked international and domestic travel for 175 countries.

It found tourism’s global carbon footprint increased from 3.7 gigatonnes (Gt) to 5.2 Gt between 2009 and 2019. The most net emissions were reported in aviation, utilities and private vehicle use for travel.

The emissions growth rate for tourism was 3.5% per annum during the decade while global emissions increased by 1.5% per annum from 50.9 Gt to 59.1 Gt.

The United States, China, and India dominated the list and were responsible for 60% of the total increase in tourism emissions across the study period.

Australia ranked in the top 20 countries that together contributed three quarters of the total tourism carbon footprint in 2019.

"The biggest carbon challenge in tourism is air travel," Dr Sun said.

"Reducing long-haul flights is one of the recommendations we’ve put forward to help the industry lower its emissions, along with targeted measures such as carbon dioxide taxes, carbon budgets, and alternative fuel obligations.

"Cutting back on marketing long-haul travel and identifying a national growth threshold would also help rein in the rapid expansion of emissions.

“At a local level, tourism operators could look to renewable electricity for accommodation, food and recreational activities and switch to electric vehicles for transport.

“In Australia, if businesses select an electricity plan based on renewables rather than coal, they’ll be reducing their emissions.”

Dr Sun has presented the research findings at a session on Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan.

Research collaborators include Dr Futu Faturay, Professor Manfred Lenzen, Professor Stefan Gössling and Professor James Higham.

The research is published in Nature Communications.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-024-54582-7 

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions

Article Publication Date

10-Dec-2024

 

Ultraprocessed foods account for more than half of calories consumed at home

U.S. home consumption of ultraprocessed foods increasing at faster pace than consumption outside the home

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

A new analysis led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that more than half of calories consumed at home by adults in the U.S. come from ultraprocessed foods.

Ultraprocessed foods contain substances with little or no nutritional value, such as colorings, emulsifiers, artificial flavors, and sweeteners. Examples cover a wide range of products, from chips and hot dogs to prepackaged meals. Researchers have long understood that a substantial proportion of the U.S. diet comes from ultraprocessed foods but it was not clearly understood where those calories were consumed.

Consuming high amounts of ultraprocessed food has been linked to chronic health conditions—cardiovascular disease, obesity, colorectal cancer, among others. The new findings suggest additional measures are needed to promote healthier alternatives for preparing meals at home. 

The study was published online December 5 in the Journal of Nutrition. 

“The perception can be that ‘junk food’ and ultraprocessed foods are equivalent,” says Julia Wolfson, PhD, MPP, associate professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health and the study’s lead author. “Yet ultraprocessed foods encompass many more products than just junk food or fast food, including most of the foods in the grocery store. The proliferation and ubiquity of ultraprocessed foods on grocery store shelves is changing what we are eating when we make meals at home.” 

For their analysis, the researchers used data from the 2003–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative annual survey of more than 34,000 adults over 20 years of age.

On two separate days, NHANES participants were asked about the foods they had eaten in the past 24 hours and where they had consumed the food—at home or away from home. Using the Nova Food Group Classification—a well-established framework for grouping foods by level of processing—foods were assigned to one of four categories: 1) unprocessed or minimally processed, 2) processed culinary ingredient, 3) processed, 4) ultraprocessed. 

The researchers compared ultraprocessed to minimally processed food intake. Foods with artificial ingredients and colors, including many fast foods and prepacked meals available at grocery stores, were categorized as ultraprocessed foods. Fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods, including frozen and dried foods without additional salt or other ingredients, were considered minimally processed foods. 

Overall, ultraprocessed foods comprised more than half of all calories consumed at home, rising from 51% in 2003 to 54% in 2018. The researchers found only minor differences in trends of ultraprocessed food intake at home by sex, age, race/ethnicity, income, and education over the study period. Ultraprocessed food intake at home was slightly lower than 50% in some years from 2003 to 2018 for two groups: Hispanics and higher-income households. The proportion of at-home calories from ultraprocessed foods never fell below 49% for the high-income group or 47% among Hispanics.

About one-third of all calories came from eating foods away from home. For those with less than a high school degree, away-from-home consumption of ultraprocessed foods rose nearly eight percentage points, from 59.2% in 2003 to 67.1% in 2018 of all away-from-home calories consumed in 2018. That proportion hovered around 60% for individuals with a high school degree or more. 

Overall, the proportion of total calories from minimally processed foods fell nearly five percentage points from 33.2% in 2003 to 28.5% in 2018, and minimally processed food intake declined both at home and away from home for most groups. These results, the authors say, speak to the many challenges of procuring and preparing minimally processed, scratch ingredients such as fresh vegetables, meat, and fish. Ultraprocessed foods tend to be easier and faster to prepare, and often are less expensive and more shelf stable than scratch ingredients.

“We need strategies to help people choose less processed foods and avoid unhealthy ultraprocessed foods for foods purchased for both at-home and away-from-home consumption,” adds Wolfson. “Additionally, strong nutrition labels warning of high ultraprocessed food content may be warranted.”

The authors note that the study has limitations, including possible reporting bias—people may underreport eating foods that they believe are not good for them. The authors also note that the study period occurred before the pandemic and does not reflect changes in at-home food consumption during this period.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases(#K01DK119166) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01 HL153178 and T32 HL007024). 

“Trends in Adults’ Intake of Un-processed/Minimally Processed, and Ultra-processed foods at Home and Away from Home in the United States from 2003–2018” was written by Julia A. Wolfson, Anna Claire Tucker, Cindy W. Leung, Casey M. Rebholz, Vanessa Garcia-Larsen, Euridice Martinez-Steele.

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Journal

Journal of Nutrition

Ultra-processed foods may drive colorectal cancer risk, USF-TGH study finds

Chronic inflammation, fueled by poor dietary choices, plays a vital role in the growth and progression of colorectal cancer

University of South Florida

 

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Dr. Timothy Yeatman and Ganesh Halade in the lab analyzing tumors.

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Credit: USF

Media Contact:
John Dudley
(814) 490-3290 (cell)
jjdudley@usf.edu

EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL TUESDAY, DEC. 10, AT 10 A.M. ET

TAMPA, Fla. (Embargoed until Dec. 10, 2024) – Colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, may be fueled by the food on our plates. Researchers at the University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute have uncovered a potential link between the Western diet – dominated by ultra-processed foods and unhealthy oils – and the chronic inflammation that drives tumor growth.

The researchers, through a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, have already made major advancements in the understanding of colorectal cancer. The project’s first study examines how processed foods are likely hindering the body’s natural healing processes. Their findings will publish online in Gut, a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 10 a.m. ET, and the embargo will lift at that time.

“It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have increased inflammation in their bodies,” said Dr. Timothy Yeatman, a renowned physician-scientist and professor of surgery in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and associate center director for Translational Research and Innovation at the TGH Cancer Institute. “We now see this inflammation in the colon tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won’t heal – if your body is living off of daily ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow.”

According to Yeatman, the findings emphasize the urgent need to reevaluate the components of the Western diet, which typically consists of excessive consumption of added sugars, saturated fats, ultra-processed foods, chemicals and inflammatory seed oils. In previous studies, the USF Health Heart Institute found an imbalanced diet not only impacts colorectal cancer, but also plays a role in other diseases, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions.

“Our bodies are designed to actively resolve inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds derived from the healthy fats, like avocados, that we consume,” said Ganesh Halade, associate professor in the USF Health Heart Institute and a member of the Cancer Biology Program at TGH Cancer Institute. “Bioactive lipids are very small molecules derived from the foods that we eat and, if the molecules are coming from processed food products, they directly imbalance the immune system and drive chronic inflammation.”

While the molecules are difficult to detect, Halade used a highly sensitive analytical technique to identify trace amounts of lipids in 162 tumor samples from patients at Tampa General Hospital. The tumors were frozen within 30 minutes of removal and transported to his lab via USF and TGH Cancer Institute's Biobank, in collaboration with USF Health Colorectal Surgery and the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at TGH Cancer Institute.

Inside the tumors, the team observed an excess number of molecules that promote inflammation and a shortage of those that help resolve it and promote healing. These findings pave the way for a new, natural approach -- resolution medicine -- which focuses on restoring balance in the patient’s diet to treat colorectal cancer more effectively.

“A human’s immune system can be extremely powerful and drastically impact the tumor microenvironment, which is great if harnessed correctly for health and wellness,” Yeatman said. “But not if it’s suppressed by inflammatory lipids from processed foods.”

Resolution medicine would focus on reversing inflammation using healthy, unprocessed foods rich with omega-3 fatty acids and derivatives of fish oil called “specialized pro-resolving mediators,” to restore the body’s healing mechanisms along with balanced sleep and exercise.

“This has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment, moving beyond drugs to harness natural healing processes,” Yeatman said. “It’s a vital step toward addressing chronic inflammation and preventing diseases before they start.”

Early trials using specialized derivatives of fish oil have shown promise in addressing inflammation at its root cause. The trials are underway at TGH Cancer Institute and the team will continue studying resolution medicine and its impact on patient treatment and disease prevention.

Examples of healthy, unprocessed foods: crab, salmon, halibut, spinach, brussels sprouts, seaweed, algae and grass-fed, pasture-raised meats, etc.

Examples of ultra-processed foods: ice cream, sausages, chips, mass-produced bread, breakfast cereals, doughnuts, carbonated drinks, instant soups, some alcoholic drinks, etc.

This research was performed in collaboration with national and international partners at Moffitt Cancer Center, Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Merck Research Laboratories in Boston, Florida Digestive Health Specialists in Bradenton and Hokkaido University in Japan.

PHOTOS Ganesh Halade and Timothy Yeat [IMAGE] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

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About the University of South Florida

The University of South Florida, a high-impact research university dedicated to student success and committed to community engagement, generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. Across campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health, USF serves approximately 50,000 students who represent nearly 150 different countries. U.S. News & World Report has ranked USF as one of the nation’s top 50 public universities for six consecutive years and, for the second straight year, as the best value university in Florida. In 2023, USF became the first public university in Florida in nearly 40 years to be invited to join the Association of American Universities, a group of the leading 3% of universities in the United States and Canada. With an all-time high of $692 million in research funding in 2023 and a ranking as a top 15 public university for producing new U.S. patents, USF is a leader in solving global problems and improving lives. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at  www.usf.edu

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Journal

Gut

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Integration of lipidomics with targeted, single cell, and spatial transcriptomics defines an unresolved pro-inflammatory state in colon cancer

Article Publication Date

10-Dec-2024

 

Americans are uninformed about and under vaccinated for HPV

Research shows that HPV accounts for 70% of all throat cancers, but only one-third of the public is aware that HPV causes throat cancer

University of Southern California - Health Sciences

 

image: 

Daniel Kwon, MD, is a head and neck surgeon with the USC Head and Neck Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC and the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and lead author of a study on public awareness of the link between HPV and throat cancer. 

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Credit: Ricardo Carrasco III

LOS ANGELES — The human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection, accounts for 70% of all throat cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute. While commonly associated with cervical cancer, throat cancer is now the most common type of HPV-related cancer. 

However, the majority of American adults are unaware that HPV can cause throat cancer and are not taking advantage of the one proven method for prevention — the HPV vaccine.  

These are the conclusions of two recent studies from the USC Head and Neck Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC and the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, that examined public knowledge of the link between HPV and throat cancer and HPV vaccination rates among adults, respectively.  

The research suggests that less than one-third of Americans associate HPV with throat cancer and less than 7% of adults eligible for the vaccine have completed the full course of the HPV vaccine, which is three doses for adults.  

“This data is very worrisome because knowledge is the first step toward disease prevention,” said Daniel Kwon, MD, a head and neck surgeon with Keck Medicine and lead author of a study examining trends in HPV vaccination rates for adults. “The public is missing crucial information about the link between throat cancer and HPV, as well as the fact that vaccines may prevent HPV-related throat cancer.”  

The need for greater HPV-related throat cancer awareness  

Each year, some 43 million Americans are infected with HPV, and most sexually active adults will contract HPV at some time in their lives. Most HPV infections are asymptomatic and resolve on their own. However, in some cases, the infection can lead to cancer, including throat cancer.  

In 2006, an HPV vaccine was made available to females ages 9-26, then expanded to males ages 9-26 in 2009. In 2018, the vaccine was expanded to adults ages 27-45. While HPV vaccination for this older group may provide less benefit because most have already been exposed to HPV, there still may be benefits of vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).   

To determine public awareness of HPV-related throat cancer, Dr. Kwon and fellow researchers compared data between the 2018 and 2020 iterations of the National Cancer Institute Health Information National Trends Survey, which tracks Americans’ knowledge about cancer and health information related to cancer.  

They focused on adults ages 27 to 45, who were newly eligible for the vaccine in 2018, to see how much of an impact the expansion of eligibility had on knowledge of HPV and throat cancer.  

Study authors compared data from 3,504 adults in the 2018 survey with data from 3,865 adults in the 2020 survey assessing people's knowledge of HPV, the vaccine, the link between HPV and throat cancer and changes in awareness between 2018 and 2020.  

While they found that most respondents were aware of HPV in both years studied, they were disappointed to discover that knowledge of the connection between HPV and throat cancer remained poor. In 2018, 27% of respondents reported they were aware of the link between HPV and throat cancer; in 2020, that number barely moved upward to 29.5%.  

“These results are particularly disheartening because since the vaccine eligibility was expanded in 2018, health advocates have issued many guidelines and recommendations about HPV and throat cancer,” said Kwon. “Clearly, more efforts are needed to educate the public about this risk.”  

Cervical cancer used to be the most widespread HPV-related cancer, but cervical cancer rates have declined through concerted efforts of the health care industry, according to Kwon. “HPV-related cervical cancer cases have decreased in large part due to successful HPV awareness campaigns targeting women,” he said. He also notes that women get screenings for cervical cancer through regular Pap smears, but there is no screening available for throat cancer.  

He emphasized the need for more education about the risk of HPV and throat cancer in men, as throat cancer affects men at a higher rate than women, he added. 

Investigating HPV vaccination rates 

In a second study, researchers from the USC Head and Neck Center examined HPV vaccination rates among a nationally representative cohort of more than 26,000 adults ages 30-44 who completed questions on HPV vaccination from 2018-2022 through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, a nationwide telephone survey conducted by the CDC. 

The authors discovered that only 6.5% of those surveyed were fully vaccinated, and only 15.8% had completed any HPV vaccination.  

Many factors play into the low HPV vaccination rate, according to the lead author of the study, Niels Kokot, MD, a head and neck surgeon with Keck Medicine. He cites not only a lack of general knowledge of the link between HPV and cancer, but also a lack of advertising about the HPV vaccine in comparison to other well-publicized campaigns such as for the flu or COVID-19 vaccines and growing vaccine hesitancy in the United States.  

Socioeconomic status, race, education level, access to health care, sexual orientation and gender also play roles in who is getting vaccinated, he added, with men, Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics and those not having a personal health care provider among those less likely to be vaccinated.  

Kokot hopes these findings will help spur greater public education on the HPV vaccine. He also recommends that any eligible adult who has not yet been vaccinated talk to a health care provider about vaccinations. “Every patient’s circumstances are different, and the subject is worth a discussion to see if an individual would benefit from the vaccine,” he said.  

Besides cervical and throat cancer, HPV can also cause anal, penile, vaginal and vulvar cancers. Learn more about HPV and cancer here.  

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For more information about Keck Medicine of USC, please visit news.KeckMedicine.org. 

 

U.S. medical students, residents receive limited training on treating current and formerly incarcerated

Boston University School of Medicine

 

(Boston)— Nearly 2 million Americans currently reside in jails or prisons, and another 4 million are involved in the criminal legal system under forms of community supervision such as parole and probation. There is a link between incarceration and chronic health issues. The justice-involved population faces significant chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and are more likely to have cancer, infectious diseases, and substance use disorders. Approximately 95% of those incarcerated will return to the community, but are medical providers prepared to serve them?

 

A new study from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine finds medical students and residents, nationally, are not being taught to care for the incarcerated or formerly incarcerated despite the millions of potential affected patients. 

 

“Most are not aware of just how many people are impacted by the criminal justice system—millions reside in jails and prisons and many more are on probation and parole, all of which adversely affect health. We’re also now finding out that having a family member who is incarcerated can detrimentally affect one’s own health and that’s almost half of all adults in the U.S. and yet doctors are not learning about any of this,” explains corresponding author Nicole Mushero, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the school.

 

To understand the scope and context of medical education in correctional healthcare, the researchers reviewed the literature to see how many published teaching curricula included education on people affected by incarceration. While they found social determinants of health education has increased in recent years, only a quarter of doctors graduated with any training to care for this population.

 

According to the researchers, this study suggests medical schools need to do a better job of teaching doctors about the health effects of incarceration both on the people who were in jails and prisons and their family members. “At BU, all medical students receive instruction on the care of incarcerated patients during their third-year medicine clerkship and we are now piloting a longitudinal curriculum to train our future doctors in the care of incarcerated or formerly incarcerated patients,” adds Mushero, who also is a geriatrician at Boston Medical Center.

 

These findings appear online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

 

Funding Nicole Mushero K0149060. This publication is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

 

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Journal

Journal of General Internal Medicine

DOI

10.1007/s11606-024-09239-y 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The State of Medical Education on Criminal Justice Health: A Systematic Review

Article Publication Date

10-Dec-2024

 

Work satisfaction, pay are worse for those who stutter 

UNLESS YOU ARE POTUS

University of Florida

People who stutter have lower earnings, experience underemployment and express lower job satisfaction than those who don’t stutter, a new University of Florida study finds.

Led by a UF College of Public Health and Health Professions researcher, the study examined data collected over two decades from people who stutter in order to evaluate how stuttering may affect job-related outcomes over time. Findings appear in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

Income disparities were evident at all income ranges and particularly at the $100,000 annual salary level, where people who stutter were nearly four times less likely than those who don’t to earn $100,000 or more. People who stutter were nearly 25% less likely to report being satisfied in their jobs with dissatisfaction increasing over time.

“Job satisfaction may not seem like a great indicator of employment outcomes because it doesn’t necessarily dictate your income level, but job satisfaction is incredibly important from an economic perspective, because it relates to job turnover and retention, which are important economic indicators and characteristics that create a stable, ready and productive labor force,” said lead author and health economist Molly Jacobs, Ph.D., an associate professor of health services research, management and policy. “Working Americans spend a substantial portion of their lives at work. Therefore, it was surprising to see that the majority of those respondents with stuttering had minimal job satisfaction, leading us to believe that they were most likely unhappy and unfulfilled at work.”

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects an estimated 3 million Americans. Up to a third of young children will experience stuttering and in most cases, stuttering will resolve by age 5 or 6. Between 3% and 5% of people who stutter as children will continue to stutter as adults. While there is currently no cure for stuttering, there are treatments available to help improve speech fluency and experts suggest those treatments should continue to be made available to adults.

As young adults who stutter enter the workforce, they may select or be steered toward careers that require less verbal communication, a phenomenon known as role entrapment.

“Individuals who have or perceive themselves to have difficulty speaking or communicating may gravitate toward jobs that are not outward facing and do not require regular dialogue, contact, or discourse with others,” Jacobs said. “Unfortunately, prominent, interactive jobs that require more face-to-face communication may also offer higher compensation.”

For the study, Jacobs and her colleagues, Hope Gerlach-Houck, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, of Western Michigan University, and Patrick Briley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, of East Carolina University, analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The nationally representative study, which follows participants over decades, collects data on respondents’ social, economic, psychological, and physical well-being with contextual data on family, neighborhood, community, school, friendships, peer groups, and romantic relationships.

The team found that in their late teens and early 20s, participants who stutter were less likely to report they expected to attend college or earn a middle-class income. A later wave of surveys conducted when participants were in their late 30s and early 40s, a time when people tend to enter an upward slope in earnings trajectory, found those earlier responses had served as a kind of prediction for job outcomes. People who stutter reported significantly lower income than people who do not stutter and were less likely to have graduated from college.

There are likely multiple causes for these labor inequities, the researchers say, including discrimination, self-stigmatization, and even frustration and exhaustion from the act of stuttering itself. While more research is needed to understand these factors, the current study’s findings point toward a significant need for continued treatment and resources for adults who stutter, Jacobs said.

And there is something we all can do to make the workplace a more supportive environment for people with speech fluency issues, she said.

“Many of us have spoken with someone who has an issue with fluency,” Jacobs said. “It’s important to be patient. We have this tendency to want someone to hurry up or respond with immediacy. It can be a natural tendency for individuals to want to speak for them, or interrupt them if there’s a hesitation. But that doesn’t really benefit you or your coworker who has a fluency issue in any way. If someone has a verbal hesitation we need to exercise the patience to allow them the time they need. Time is an inexpensive resource when we think about the value that all individuals can add to the workplace.”

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Journal

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

DOI

10.1044/2024_AJSLP-24-0020 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Differential Impacts of Anticipated Success on Employment Outcomes Among Adults Who Stutter

New collaboration aims to optimize crop nutrient uptake and tolerance to environmental stress for more sustainable agriculture

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

 

image: 

Armando Bravo, PhD, and lab members in a greenhouse

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Credit: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

ST. LOUIS, MO, December 10, 2024 –The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Enhanced Nature (EN), together with its parent company Symbiotic Sciences (SS), today announced a joint program to develop methods to accelerate and optimize the in vitro growth of AMF (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) for more sustainable agriculture. The project is led by Armando Bravo, PhD, assistant member at the Danforth Center. Dr. Bravo’s field of expertise is the symbiotic relationship between AMF and plant roots. His counterpart is Shouvik Chowdhury, VP Product Development and Strategy at EN, who also manages the EN and SS AMF production facility in Delhi, India. 

AMF live underground in tight association with plant roots, where they help plants take up nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen from the soil, and to tolerate environmental stress. In exchange, plants return essential carbon-containing compounds that allow the AMF to live and grow. About 70% of all plants naturally form symbiotic relationships with AMF, and AMF is recognized as a key organic component contributing to more sustainable and profitable agriculture practices. AMF sales worldwide have been projected to grow over the next 8 years at 10-15% annually (CAGR).

"Although AMF's benefits to plants have been known for decades, widespread agricultural adoption has remained limited due to inefficient production methods," said Bravo. "Recent breakthroughs in AM symbiosis research could enhance our ability to cultivate AMF more effectively. These advances not only deepen our understanding of AMF's functions but also offer practical applications for improved fungal production. Just like the symbiotic relationship between AMF and plants, this collaboration will benefit both Symbiotic Sciences and the Danforth Center by advancing basic science and sustainable agricultural practices." 

“For the last 15 years we have been operating one of the largest AMF production facilities in the world,” said Chowdhury. “As we have developed our proprietary methods, we have come to appreciate the complexity of culturing AMF at scale. Since EN has begun selling a variety of AMF products to the market we have observed a rapid increase in demand. Supply of high quality AMF is limited, so methods to increase production efficiencies without compromising quality are clearly needed. We are truly excited to partner with Dr. Bravo and the Danforth Center, as we believe this collaboration will open up innovative pathways to enhance production efficiency and scalability. We hope to collaborate with Danforth on other projects to facilitate the adoption of AMF in agriculture.”

About the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a nonprofit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research, education and outreach aim to have an impact at the nexus of food security and the environment, and position the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science. The Center’s work is funded through competitive grants from many sources, including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and through the support of individuals and corporations. Learn more at danforthcenter.org
 

About Enhanced Nature
Enhanced Nature (EN) drives the future of bionutrition, harnessing the power of concentrated AMF (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) to the ultimate benefit of farmers and growers around the world. Backed by the pioneering expertise and robust  foundation of Symbiotic Sciences—an innovator in AMF research and large-scale production—EN delivers on its promise of “Nature, Enhanced". EN supplies the highest quality AMF-based bionutrients to bionutrient suppliers, retailers, and wholesalers.

Media Contact: 

EN Rob Gibson, rob@enhancednature.com

Danforth Center, Karla Roeber, kroeber@danforthcenter.org