Hold-up - are high support bras bad for the back?

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth, England, uncover how over-reducing breast motion in bras could increase back pain during exercise

University of Portsmouth

• Improvements in bra design that focus on maximising bounce reduction may increase loading on the spine

• A first-of-its-kind female musculoskeletal model estimated the potential impact of high-support bras on the back

• These findings show that a theoretical bra that achieves 100 per cent bounce reduction may increase loading on the spine 

Research from the University of Portsmouth suggests that bras offering excessive bounce reduction may come with hidden consequences for spinal health.

Sports bras are extremely popular in the health and fitness world, with the bra industry often emphasising "bounce reduction" as a key indicator of a bra's performance. However, a new study suggests that high-support bras that significantly reduce breast bounce could have a detrimental effect on the spine.

Published in the European Journal of Sport Science, the preliminary research revealed that bras designed to prevent breast bounce during exercise may unknowingly cause potential unseen consequences on the musculoskeletal system.

Dr Chris Mills and a team from the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Portsmouth employed advanced tools - including motion capture, force platforms, and a 3D surface scanner - to investigate the effects of breast movement on spinal rotational forces. Using a first-of-its-kind whole body female specific musculoskeletal model, the study examined how varying levels of breast support influenced torso motion, breast forces, and spinal moments during running.

The findings revealed that while sports bras are essential for reducing breast pain during exercise, achieving 100 percent bounce reduction could unintentionally increase loading on the spine. 

Simulated conditions showed that bras eliminating breast movement led to higher spinal moments, which could elevate the risk of lumbar back pain. Researchers emphasised the importance of striking an optimal balance in bra design; reducing breast bounce without overloading the spine.

Dr Mills said: "While a supportive sports bra is crucial for exercise comfort, excessive bounce reduction may place additional strain on spinal muscles, increasing the risk of back pain."

The study, built on two decades of research by the University’s Research Group in Breast Health, highlights the need for bra manufacturers to consider the unseen musculoskeletal impacts on the human body in their designs. Professor Wakefield-Scurr, often referred to as the ‘Bra Professor’, added, “These findings suggest that striving for maximum bounce reduction may inadvertently pose challenges to spinal health during activities like running.

“As sports bras evolve, this study challenges industry leaders to innovate designs that balance comfort, breast support, and holistic health, ensuring that bounce reduction doesn’t come at a cost to spinal health.”

The creation of a subject-specific female musculoskeletal model enabled researchers to gain a detailed understanding and approximation of changes in spinal moments, following simulated changes in breast motion during running.

Previous research by the Portsmouth team used the model to predict changes in spinal moments after breast surgery. 

“The musculoskeletal model could become a useful tool in predicting appropriate and personalised rehabilitation recommendations, which could help ease the loading on the spine after breast surgeries”, explained Dr Mills.

“Understanding the individual muscular contributions will help to develop personalised pre-surgical rehabilitation programs as well as bras that work in tandem with each female body to maximise performance and reduce injury risk.

“Moving forward the key goal is to determine what is the optimal amount of bounce reduction to both reduce exercise induced breast pain and also the internal loading on the spine during physical activity.”

Last year the Research Group in Breast Health’s (RGBH)  bra testing unit celebrated its 10th anniversary. In the past decade, the unit has monitored the performance of over 700 sports bras and on over 8,000 women.

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Journal

European Journal of Sport Science

DOI

10.1002/ejsc.12290 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Modelling Female Breast Motion During Running: Implications of Breast Support on the Spine

 

New study confirms copper-based fungicides as a reliable solution for aerial stem rot in potatoes

American Phytopathological Society

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Symptoms of aerial stem rot (ASR) caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum. A, Initial infections occur through wounds such as petiole scars or insect damage and expand outward, creating a distinct black lesion. B, The lesion spreads down the stem, infecting petioles and eventually killing the stem. C, Severe ASR infection showing disease in four out of five stems on the plant. Note that the lesions have spread down the stem as healthy, green tissue can be seen around the base of the plant in the infected stems.

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Credit: Courtesy Phillip S. Wharton—© 2025 The American Phytopathological Society

Potato growers face a persistent late-season threat: aerial stem rot (ASR), a bacterial disease primarily caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum. Often emerging after thunderstorms and other weather events, ASR has long been a challenge to manage effectively. While previous research has suggested the potential of copper-based fungicides to control ASR, inconsistent results left many growers uncertain about the products’ reliability. Now, a decade-long study provides conclusive evidence that copper fungicides offer a dependable solution.

Published in Plant Health Progress, this comprehensive research effort was led by Phillip S. Wharton of the University of Idaho Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology, and Nematology. The study analyzed 10 years of field trials in which copper-based fungicides were applied weekly, starting at row closure. Researchers assessed disease severity over a 4-week period following symptom onset, using the relative area under the disease progress curve to quantify disease progression. The results confirmed that copper fungicide treatments consistently slowed disease spread and improved yields.

“Even though in some years there were no significant differences in disease severity or yield between treated and untreated plots, when viewed over the 10-year period, copper fungicide treatments outperformed the untreated control,” explained Wharton. “Yields were at least 3 tonnes per hectare (27 hundredweight per acre) higher in treated plots, and disease levels were consistently lower.”

This study is the first to thoroughly investigate the efficacy of copper-based fungicides against ASR in potatoes. “Regardless of the formulation, copper fungicides effectively reduced ASR incidence and severity when applied on a 7-day schedule starting at row closure,” noted the research team.

Beyond demonstrating the effectiveness of copper fungicides, the study also underscores the importance of distinguishing ASR from blackleg, another bacterial disease commonly found in potato production. Unlike blackleg, which originates from infected seed pieces and moves upward through the stem, ASR infection begins in the potato canopy and becomes prominent after row closure. This fundamental difference means that while blackleg cannot be controlled through foliar fungicide applications, ASR can be effectively managed with consistent copper fungicide treatments.

The findings have significant implications for potato growers and crop consultants. Copper fungicides are not only effective in managing ASR but are also cost-efficient and approved for use in organic potato production. This research reinforces the role of copper-based fungicides as a practical tool for managing late-season bacterial diseases in potatoes.

For additional details, read “Ten-Year Trends in Aerial Stem Rot Management: Evaluating Copper-Based Solutions for Sustainable Potato Cultivation,” published in Plant Health Progress, to learn more.
 

About Plant Health Progress

Plant Health Progress (PHP) is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, online journal of applied plant health. PHP, an official journal of The American Phytopathological Society, aims to publish new scientific information that enhances the health, management, and production of agricultural and horticultural crops.

Follow Plant Health Progress on X.

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Journal

Plant Health Progress

DOI

10.1094/PHP-08-24-0085-RS 

Article Title

Ten-Year Trends in Aerial Stem Rot Management: Evaluating Copper-Based Solutions for Sustainable Potato Cultivation

 

New study reveals how to make prescribed forest fires burn safer and cleaner

Stanford University

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Prescribed burns literally fight fire with more fire. Often referred to as a “beneficial fire,” they target areas at risk for wildfires and burn away material that could otherwise fuel a future blaze.

However, all fires, whether accidental or planned, produce smoke that can cause health and respiratory issues, especially in nearby communities. Burning fires release harmful chemicals, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), that are carcinogenic – PAHs can cause cancer, lung damage, and lead to weakened immunity in those who inhale smoke. 

Recently, in a study published in Atmospheric Pollution Research, scientists at Stanford University suggested ways to perform prescribed burns with drastically reduced health implications. They’ve determined that simply tweaking some of the burn conditions can slash PAH emissions by up to 77%. The researchers estimate that this could cut cancer risks from smoke exposure by over 50%.

“There is clearly potential for improving prescribed burn procedures, such that the health impact is reduced,” said Karl Töpperwien, lead author of the paper and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the School of Engineering. “We can essentially kill two birds with one stone – protect ecosystems while simultaneously protecting communities that would be otherwise at risk.”

Many hands make light work

To bring this new method to fruition, Töpperwien’s team took a multidisciplinary approach, collaborating with medical researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, physicists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and chemical researchers at Aerodyne Research Inc. 

The medical researchers identified the most toxic pollutants from wildfires, in terms of potential harm to humans. Many PAHs are listed as carcinogenic pollutants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and can cause long-term health impacts. “We were focusing on these as our priority pollutants because exposure to these pollutants can cause cancer, inflammation, and other types of diseases,” said Töpperwien.

Once identified, the next obstacle was how to measure these pollutants precisely. This is where the chemists brought in their expertise. “They are excellent experimentalists who really advanced the frontier of measuring chemical species at high selectivity and precision,” said Matthias Ihme, senior author of the paper and professor of mechanical engineering in the School of Engineering and of photon science at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Töpperwien and Ihme’s team tied their collaborative efforts together by building the experimental apparatus that enabled these measurements and providing expertise on the fundamentals of fire behavior. They built a laboratory-sized combustion chamber where they burned samples of Eastern White Pine, one of the most common trees found on the eastern U.S with the highest emissions of PAHs among commonly studied hardwoods and softwoods.

Fine-tuning fires

Adjusting the moisture, heat, and oxygen level of the fires, the researchers conducted controlled burn experiments in their lab. They used high-resolution atmospheric and aerosol mass spectrometers to measure gaseous PAH emissions and particle-phase aerosols in real time.

Their experiments revealed that fine-tuning three conditions can reduce PAH emissions by up to 77%.

The first condition concerns the moisture content of the fuel. They found that the wood should have a moisture content of 20-30% – too dry and it burns too fast, producing more smoke, but too wet and it smolders, emitting high levels of PAH. Second, the heat intensity of the fire needs to be between 60-70 kW/m². Different levels of heat load promote different chemical reactions, which ultimately form PAHs: dialing in the heat means finding the “sweet spot” where the least PAH is formed. Finally, the fires need to burn with oxygen levels of 5-15%. Too little oxygen can cause inefficient burns, leading to too much smoke, while too much oxygen can make a fire burn uncontrollably.

These three burn parameters can effectively make prescribed burns safer and cleaner for the environment and for communities living near fire-prone regions.

Fire in the field

Ultimately, the question is whether these laboratory fires can be replicated in real-life prescribed burns. The researchers believe it to be highly possible and note that many of the techniques that could control these conditions are already used in field tests. “There will be some limitations to upscaling this, but I clearly see a path towards making this technique more viable for a broader range of environmental conditions,” said Ihme, who is also a principal investigator with the Stanford PULSE Institute at SLAC. 

In fact, Töpperwien remarks that forest managers and burn crews often prepare the wood by pre-burn treatments such as chopping, drying, and measuring moisture content to increase burn efficiency. Moisture content is perhaps the most straightforward parameter to control. Oxygen level and fire intensity are affected by the size of the wood burned and the arrangement of the burn pile, but it will take further research to understand how to precisely influence those parameters in a real-world burn. 

For the team, the next steps include replicating the laboratory burns in a field experiment and observing how their findings translate to real-life prescribed burns. The researchers will also expand this work by experimenting on different woods and by finding the best balance between cleaner burns, fuel consumption, and the cost of employing these methods. 

“Fire is more complex than we think,” said Ihme. “It’s not only finding where the flame is, but also how the smoke is transported, how it affects long-term health, and how it is admitted into the environment as it settles from the air onto the soil.”

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For more information

Additional Stanford co-authors of this work include postdoctoral scholar Guillaume Vignat, former postdoctoral scholar Alexandra Feinberg, and Matthias Kling, professor of photon science at Stanford and SLAC. Additional co-authors are from Aerodyne Research Inc. and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

This research was funded by the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator, the Google Academic Research Awards program, the Moore Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Journal

Atmospheric Pollution Research

DOI

10.1016/j.apr.2025.102438 

Article Title

Burn parameters affect PAH emissions at conditions relevant for prescribed fires

 

How proactive salmon conservation in the North Pacific can deliver global benefits

A new study examines the “stronghold strategy”—an ambitious plan to protect food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience through salmon rivers

Wild Salmon Center

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Wild sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Bristol Bay is one of the North Pacific river systems central to Wild Salmon Center's stronghold strategy for salmon conservation.

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Credit: Jason Ching

April 15, 2025 | Portland, Oregon—A new study in the journal Fisheries shows how a salmon-focused ecosystem protection strategy in the North Pacific can deliver meaningful results in the global drive to protect biodiversity.

The approach, called the stronghold strategy, aims to proactively protect the world’s greatest remaining “strongholds”—a select group of salmon, steelhead, and trout systems that collectively comprise 119 distinct watersheds. According to Wild Salmon Center President & CEO Guido Rahr—lead author of the peer-reviewed study—salmonids center the strategy because they are both iconic and globally recognized as keystone species. For the past 25 years, WSC has deployed the stronghold strategy in rivers across the North Pacific, with impacts that ripple far beyond the rivers that salmon call home. 

“When you protect salmon, you protect the benefits of healthy watersheds,” Rahr says. “The science is clear that salmon rivers can safeguard food security, species biodiversity, and climate resilience. So we built a strategy centered on strongholds—some of the best salmon river systems in the world.” 

Strongholds are distinguished by their relatively high levels of wild salmon abundance, productivity and diversity, along with habitat quality capable of sustaining wild salmon for decades. They include vast and stunning places like Bristol Bay, Alaska, and the Skeena and Dean watersheds in British Columbia. According to the authors, strongholds can play a key role in advancing the world’s 30 x 30 conservation goals. As some of the planet’s last large, intact landscapes, salmon strongholds sequester 6.1 billion tons of greenhouse gasses—roughly equivalent to 3.5 years of total U.S. emissions.

“Strongholds are already working hard on our behalf,” says study co-author and WSC Science Director Dr. Matthew Sloat. “We can build on their benefits by scaling up our stewardship, but time is a factor. The window is closing in which we can protect these systems from the threats that are breaking so many other salmon rivers.”

The authors note that the stronghold strategy aims to complement—rather than replace—different strategies to recover endangered salmon populations in systems degraded by development, harmful resource extraction, and other threats to wild fish. But in action, the stronghold strategy is uniquely proactive. In the decades since the strategy’s conception, WSC and a network of partners have protected 35.7 million acres of overall habitat and prioritized wild fish biodiversity in 89 rivers across the North Pacific. 

The study provides multiple case studies on the stronghold strategy’s impact. In Oregon, for example, NOAA Fisheries noted an increase in coho salmon population diversity following the strategic expansion of coastal “wild fish zones.” Another case study tracks the 2006 designation of Russia’s Kol watershed as the first World Heritage Site dedicated to salmon, as led by WSC and a coalition of Russian partners. The Kol’s whole-watershed protections became permanent in 2015, and have inspired the creation of nine additional large-scale protected areas for wild salmon across the Russian Far East.

“The stronghold strategy is already sustaining local fisheries, slowing the pace of biodiversity loss, and helping to mitigate climate change,” Dr. Sloat says. “The long-term protection of strongholds is one of the smartest, most cost-effective investments we can make for the health and wellbeing of future generations.”

The stronghold strategy aims to ensure that these systems will remain safe for decades, Dr. Sloat notes. For each system, success rests on achieving three pillars of durability: 

• Layered habitat protection and restoration. Each stronghold needs policies that can protect land and water through shifts in politics and economic pressure. 
• A fisheries management emphasis on wild fish biodiversity. According to Dr. Sloat, the rich genetic and life history diversity of salmon is the species’ superpower, enabling them to survive ice ages, floods, and dramatic climate changes. 
• A culture of local stewardship. The enduring presence of local land and water guardians builds what Rahr calls a human “immune response”—community members ready to defend a stronghold from threats.

“The stronghold strategy is about more than ensuring a future that we can share with these amazing wild fish,” Rahr says. “It’s about a legacy of wild rivers and wild places that we inherited, and that we owe to our children and grandchildren.” 

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MEDIA VIDEO/PHOTO ASSETS* 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K_GhkG4B37qlrG4otfOHaiBP3Q8XjOFU 
* Please include video/photo credits with use

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ABOUT WILD SALMON CENTER
The mission of Wild Salmon Center is to promote the conservation and sustainable use of wild salmon ecosystems across the Pacific Rim. Working across the entire range of Pacific salmon, from California to the Western Pacific, WSC has led the protection of strongholds: the North Pacific's last, best salmon rivers. To date, the organization has worked with local partners to protect 35.7 million acres of habitat and prioritize 89 stronghold rivers for wild fish management. More at wildsalmoncenter.org.

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Journal

Fisheries

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Strongholds for Pacific salmon: A proactive conservation strategy for ecosystem health, food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience

Canadian universities report jump in US applicants as Trump cuts funding

Wa Lone and Promit Mukherjee
Tue, April 15, 2025 


A view shows the Environmental Science and Chemistry building at the University of Toronto's Scarborough Campus after police say during a press conference that they detonated a hoax explosive device, in Toronto

TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - More students living in the United States are applying to Canadian universities or expressing interest in studying north of the border as U.S. President Donald Trump cuts federal funding to universities and revokes foreign student visas.

Officials at the University of British Columbia's Vancouver campus said the school reported a 27% jump in graduate applications as of March 1 from U.S. citizens for programs starting in the 2025 academic year, compared to all of 2024.

In response to rising demand for graduate-level programs, UBC Vancouver briefly reopened admissions to U.S. citizens for several graduate programs this week with plans to fast-track applications from American students hoping to begin studies in September.

University of Toronto, Canada's largest university by number of students, also reported more U.S. applications by its January deadline for 2025 programs, while a University of Waterloo spokesperson reported an increase in U.S. visitors to campus and more web traffic originating from the United States since September.

The universities in Toronto and Waterloo did not cite the reasons for the increase in interest, while the UBC's Vancouver campus attributed the rise to the Trump administration's policies.

The administration has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for numerous universities, pressing them to make policy changes and citing what it says is a failure to fight antisemitism on campus. It has begun deportation proceedings against some detained foreign students who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, while visas for hundreds of other students have been canceled - actions that have raised concerns about speech and academic freedoms in the U.S.

At the same time, Canada has capped the number of international students allowed to enter the country for the second year in a row, meaning there may be fewer spots for U.S. and other international students.

Canada's immigration ministry said it expects learning institutions to only accept the number of students they can support, including providing housing options. Provinces and territories are responsible for distributing spaces under the cap, the ministry said.


US CRACKDOWN

Gage Averill, UBC Vancouver’s provost and vice president of academics, attributed the spike in U.S. applications to the Trump administration abruptly revoking visas of foreign students and increased scrutiny of their social media activity.

"That, as a result, and especially as a result of the very recent crackdown on visas in the United States for international students, and now the development of a center that's reading foreign students' social media accounts," Averill said.

The University of Toronto, considered an alternative to U.S. Ivy League schools, is seeing a "meaningful increase" in applications from those living or studying in the U.S. over previous years, the university said in a statement.

University of Waterloo, which is known for its technical graduate programs and churns out top-notch engineering talent, said some faculties including engineering have seen increased interest and applications from students in the U.S.

"We have seen an increase in U.S. visitors to the UW Visitors Centre on campus, and web traffic that originates in the U.S. has increased by 15% since September 2024," a University of Waterloo spokesperson said.

It did not specify whether these students were foreign students studying in the U.S. or American citizens.

Averill said UBC has seen only a modest 2% increase in undergraduate applications for this year's programs, which closed around the time of Trump’s inauguration. However, interest appears to be growing, with campus tour requests from U.S. students up by 20%.

"We were concerned about the United States universities, our sister institutions in the U.S., who are under enormous pressure right now," said Averill, referring in particular to the Trump administration's efforts to withhold funds from universities that continue with diversity and equity initiatives or study climate science.

According to UBC's annual report, the United States ranks as one of the top three countries for international student enrollment. Currently, about 1,500 U.S. students are enrolled in both graduate and undergraduate programs at the university's two campuses.

(Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Deepa Babington)

 A Major Toilet Paper Brand Just Filed for Bankruptcy — Here’s What We Know

Parade · Getty Images

Melissa Copelton

Tue, April 15, 2025 

Royal Paper, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is a major U.S. manufacturer of bath tissue and paper products.

On April 8, the toilet paper giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Although Royal Paper may not be as widely known as names like Charmin, Quilted Northern, and Scott, you’ll likely recognize a few of their products.

“Our philosophy has always been centered around helping our retail and away-from-home partners deliver the highest quality paper products to their consumers. For some, that means we provide them with our sustainably manufactured, proven Earth First®, SuperSoft™, EcoFirst®, and Platinum® brands,” Royal Paper’s website reads.

“For others, it means we work with them to create custom-tailored private label brands designed to their unique and specific specifications,” the site adds. “Either way, it’s about exceeding our partners’ expectations in product quality, service and environmental stewardship.”

Despite Royal Paper filing for bankruptcy, the company, which was founded in 1992, isn’t going under just yet.

According to TheStreet, Sofidel America Corp. will acquire all of Royal Paper’s assets.

"To facilitate the transaction, Royal has filed for voluntary protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This action is expected to provide for a quick and orderly sale of the company's assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, with Sofidel serving as the 'stalking horse bidder' in a court-supervised auction and sale process,” a press release for Royal Paper states, per The Street.

According to several outlets, Royal Paper is a third-party manufacturer for products sold at Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Whole Foods, and Aldi.