Sunday, May 07, 2023

Helping health care providers support Black breastfeeding families

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF NURSING

PHILADELPHIA (May 5, 2023) - Despite breastfeeding being recommended for at least two years, only 36 percent of all infants are still breastfed at their first birthday. Black/African American mothers are least likely to initiate breastfeeding with initiation rates of only 74 percent compared to 90 percent of Asian mothers with a national average of 84 percent. Given the disparities in breastfeeding initiation, there are likely to be equivalent disparities in breastfeeding duration.

New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) published in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine shares Black mothers’ descriptions of their needs and experiences during breastfeeding. The results can help health care providers understand how to better support Black breastfeeding families.

“The goal of this research was to hear from Black mothers who had long-term breastfeeding experiences to understand the barriers and facilitators of setting and reaching long-term breastfeeding goals,” explains Stephanie N. Acquaye, Hillman Scholar at Penn Nursing and article coauthor. “This research provides insight for developing interventions to support optimal breastfeeding duration for Black families. Population-specific interventions must always be guided by the voices and experiences of members of that population. Therefore, we urge that any intervention developed accounts for variations in sociocultural factors among those who identify as Black/African American.”

The study indicates that for Black families, a variety of psychological and social factors influence the desire for and achievement of breastfeeding a child beyond infancy. “Factors positively affecting achieving long-term breastfeeding goals include accessible breastfeeding education and support from community and providers,” says coauthor Diane L. Spatz, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, Professor of Perinatal Nursing, and Helen M. Shearer Term Professor of Nutrition at Penn Nursing.

The article “Lactation Experiences of Black Mothers Who Breastfed a Child Beyond Age One” is available online.

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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing. For the eight year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University. For the second year in a row, our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program is ranked # 1 in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings. Penn Nursing is also consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools and is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram.

JOURNAL

Breastfeeding Medicine

ARTICLE TITLE

Lactation Experiences of Black Mothers Who Breastfed a Child Beyond Age One

UCF scientist uncovers roots of antibiotic resistance

By understanding how mutations occur, researchers can better understand and develop therapeutics to combat resistant infections

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

By Suhtling Wong | May 1, 2023

Bacteria naturally adapt to various environmental stimuli and as they mutate, these changes can make them resistant to drugs that would kill or slow their growth.

In a recent article published in PLoS Genetics, UCF College of Medicine microbiologist Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno uncovers the evolutionary origins of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria. His studies on the bacterium that causes cholera, Vibrio cholerae, provide insight into deciphering what conditions must occur for infectious agents to become resistant.

“How AMR occurs in bacterial populations and the pathways leading to these new traits are still poorly understood,” he said. “This poses a major public health threat as antimicrobial resistance is on the rise.“

Dr. Almagro-Moreno studied genetic variants of a protein found in bacterial membranes called OmpU. Using computational and molecular approaches, his team found that several OmpU mutations in the cholera bacteria led to resistance to numerous antimicrobial agents. This resistance included antimicrobial peptides that act as defenses in the human gut. The researchers found that other OmpU variants did not provide these properties, making the protein an ideal system for deciphering the specific processes that occur to make some bacteria resistant to antimicrobials.

By comparing resistant and antibiotic sensitive variants, the researchers were able to identify specific parts of OmpU associated with the emergence of antibiotic resistance. They also discovered that the genetic material encoding these variants, along with associated traits, can be passed between bacterial cells, increasing therisk of spreading AMR in populations under antibiotic pressure.

By understanding how mutations occur, researchers can better understand and develop therapeutics to combat resistant infections. Dr. Almagro-Moreno is also looking at environmental factors such as pollution and warming of the oceans, as possible causes of resistant bacteria. “We are studying the genetic diversity ofenvironmental populations, including coastal Florida isolates, to develop a new approach to understandinghow antimicrobial resistance evolves,” he explained.

Understanding the bacteria that causes cholera, an acute diarrheal illness linked to infected water and foods, has global implications. The disease sickens up to 4 million people worldwide and severe cases can cause death within hours.

JOURNAL

PLoS Genetics

DOI

10.1371/journal.pgen.1010490

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Allelic diversity uncovers protein domains contributing to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance

Case report: former football player’s cognitive symptoms improved after study revealed alternative diagnosis and treatment

After receiving treatment for hydrocephalus, the former professional athlete regained cognitive functioning, illustrating the importance of taking a comprehensive approach when addressing health concerns among athletes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM

Football players who have had repetitive head trauma and concussion are at heightened risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an irreversible condition that leads to dementia. But not every case of cognitive decline means CTE, as illustrated by a new case study published by researchers from Mass General Brigham in Current Sports Medicine Reports.

In the publication, Adam Tenforde, MD, a physician in Mass General Brigham’s Sports medicine program and medical director of the Spaulding National Running Center, co-authored a study that described the case of a 54-year-old former professional football player who was suffering from life-altering cognitive, behavioral and personality changes when he enrolled in the Harvard Football Players Health Study. As part of the study, which comprehensively assesses each participants’ health over the course of a three-day study visit, the participant received a brain MRI. The MRI revealed signs of hydrocephalus—swelling in the brain that can be treated and reversed. After receiving treatment, the participant experienced improvements in mood and cognition.

“We see with this case report that it’s important to always be curious as to why an individual experiences a change in function,” said Tenforde. “There can be unconscious bias in how we approach former and current athletes, and those biases can affect care. Providers might assume a decline in cognition is indicative of a diagnosis or condition that is untreatable. But one of the key findings from our work on this ongoing study is that when we take a more comprehensive approach, we may find alternative explanations and a treatable diagnosis.”

JOURNAL

Current Sports Medicine Reports

DOI

10.1249/JSR.0000000000001061

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Reversible cognitive decline in a former American-style football player

COI STATEMENT

: R.Z. reported receiving royalties from Springer/Demos publishing for serving as coeditor of the text Brain Injury Medicine; serving on the scientific advisory board of Myomo Inc., and onecare.ai Inc.; evaluating patients in the Massachusetts General Hospital Brain and Body–TRUST Program, which is funded by the NFL Players Association; and receiving grants from the NIH. A.T. serves as senior editor for PM&R Journal. He gives professional talks such as grand rounds and medical conference plenary lectures and receives honoraria from conference organizers. He has participated in research funded by Arnold P. Gold Foundation (physician and patient care disparities), American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (bone density research), Uniform Health Service and Enovis (Achilles tendinopathy). He evaluates patients in the Massachusetts General Hospital Brain and Body–TRUST Program, which is funded by the NFL Players Association; He is a paid consultant for State Farm Insurance and Strava.

Adolescents, young adults with advanced heart disease show desire to take active role in medical care decisions

One center finds discord between medical decision-making preferences of youth with heart failure and their parents

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MICHIGAN MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Adolescents and young adults with advanced heart disease are at high risk of dying in the hospital, often require invasive treatment and experience significant symptoms that impact their quality of life.

And while most of their parents prefer that decision making about their treatment and care options remain between parents and physicians, many young people want to be actively involved in medical decisions affecting them, a new study suggests.

“As a pediatric psychologist, I have found that healthcare communication is one of the most critical – yet most underappreciated aspects of care,” said lead author Melissa Cousino, Ph.D., director of the U-M Congenital Heart Center Psychosocial and Educational Program (M-COPE) at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“How we communicate about diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options and more impacts coping, medical adherence, and health outcomes. In pediatric healthcare, it is critical that we better understand the communication and medical decision-making preferences of the young people we care for.”

Researchers surveyed 53 young adults ages 12-24 with advanced heart diseases, including heart failure – a lifelong condition in which the heart muscle can't pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs – along with 51 of their parents at Mott.

“In our sample of patients with serious heart disease, we found that the majority of teens and young adults want to be aware of their treatment options, risks and prognosis information and desire active involvement in their medical decision making,” Cousino said.

But there was a notable gap between the preferences of young patients and their parents, according to the research published in JAMA Network Open.

Nearly 45 % of patients desired active, patient-led decision making specific to their heart disease management with a considerable majority wanting to discuss adverse effects or risks of treatment, surgical details, quality of life and life expectancy.

Many youth surveyed agreed with the statement “I should make the decision but strongly consider the physician’s and my parents’ opinions.” More than half wanted to be involved in their end-of-life care decision making if critically ill.

Meanwhile, parents and guardians preferred an approach involving shared decision making between them and their child’s doctors.

“The largest proportion of parents felt they should make medical decisions for their teen or young adult in partnership with the medical team,” Cousino said. “Even though half of our patient sample were adults themselves, only six parents felt medical decision-making should be patient-led.”

“I often find that parents, as well as pediatric healthcare clinicians, are understandably trying to protect young people from the bad, sad, or difficult news,” she added. “Yet, for a large number of young people, keeping them from fully understanding or engaging in their healthcare, even when information is related to death or dying, can be more isolating and anxiety-provoking.”

Cousino says research on patient communication and medical decision making was recently identified as a top priority in the field of palliative care in pediatric cardiology.

“There is not a one-size-fits all approach to medical communication and decision making. Each child, teen, young adult and family system has different needs and preferences,” she said.

“It is on us to better understand youth needs and preferences to best incorporate their voice into medical care decisions in a way that is aligned with their needs. Ultimately, this will inform the development of interventions to support parents and healthcare clinicians working with young people facing serious illnesses and arduous medical courses.”

Senior author, Kurt Schumacher, M.D., a pediatric cardiologist at Mott, says the study has important implications for clinicians caring for children and young adults with serious heart disease.

“The study should get the attention of all clinicians who care for children with significant heart disease. We all communicate with families, but not everyone is aware of the information that our patients would like to receive and discuss,” he said. “Both parents and providers may be underestimating how actively involved adolescents and young adults want to be when it comes to decisions about their heart disease.”

“These findings underscore the importance of understanding each individual’s preferences and personalizing communication methods with each young patient regardless of their diagnosis, disease severity or symptoms,” Schumacher added.

“We need to continue to pursue individualized conversation tools and decision-making interventions with young patients with advanced heart disease. And we need to help providers be comfortable and open with these discussions as well.”

JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open

Calls for more positive health messaging around fertility

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

The language used to communicate fertility awareness should be more empathetic and target both men and women, finds a new study involving UCL researchers.

The review, published in Human Reproduction Open, gives five recommendations on how to promote fertility awareness in a more positive way.

While education about fertility is not intrinsically controversial, finding the right language to address the topic can be difficult – with the risk of causing negative effects such as anxiety, culpability, and stigma.

After reviewing previous studies and literature on the subject, the team were particularly keen to resolve issues around language that could evoke feelings of personal blame, the marginalisation of those struggling to conceive and distress caused by focusing on idealised health situations.

Consequently, they found that it was important to:

Frame fertility awareness messages with reproductive autonomy in mind and aim to be inclusive of those who do not represent the traditional nuclear family.
Be empathetic and steer clear of blame.
Avoid scaremongering and offer a positive angle.
Give due consideration to both women and men in fertility health messaging.
Tailor the messages to particular contexts and audiences and develop resources in close collaboration with the target groups.

Professor Joyce Harper (UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health), founder and chair of the International Reproductive Health Education Collaboration who wrote the paper said: “Wording messages about fertility in a way that people are willing to accept and without causing offense is a difficult balance. And, while reproductive health education resources exist, the field of reproductive health promotion is in its infancy and more work needs to be done.”

With regards to autonomy, the researchers found that it was important to stress that parenthood is a choice and not everybody may want to have children.

The team also wanted to ensure that reproductive health information was representative of non-binary individuals and those whose sex at birth does not match their gender identity.

Meanwhile, to avoid unnecessary blame or stigma, the researchers say that it may be more useful to offer positive advice about the impact of healthy eating and regular exercise on reproductive health – rather than reinforcing taboos about factors such as weight and obesity, which may cause people to feel shame or distress.

The same positive tone should be used for messaging about the impact of age on fertility. For example, while the chances of having a healthy pregnancy diminish with age, it is not always possible or desirable for people to have children when they are young.

The researchers also recommend not overstating risks to fertility – as this could lead to anxiety.

And they believe it is important to create male-focused messages about how men can contribute to the chance of pregnancy and the health of a future baby – highlighting how reproductive outcomes depend on both sexes.

Finally, in order to tailor health messaging to particular contexts and audiences, the researchers recommend involving those with lived-experience, to ensure that priorities and wording are accurate, helpful and approachable.

Professor Harper said: “Reproductive health communication is a particularly challenging endeavour and needs involvement from different target groups in order to get the messaging right.

“We hope that our five recommendations will provide a basis for more positive communication of reproductive health awareness in the future.”

JOURNAL

Human Reproduction Open

DOI

10.1093/hropen/hoad009

ARTICLE TITLE

Stimulating fertility awareness: the importance of getting language right

Uncovering the mysteries of alfalfa seed dormancy through multispectral imaging analysis

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KEAI COMMUNICATIONS CO., LTD.

Alfalfa seeds often show dormancy and fail to germinate — IMAGE: SCIENTISTS IN CHINA HAVE NOW USED MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING, MACHINE LEARNING, AND “OMICS” TO REVEAL THE MECHANISMS BEHIND ALFALFA SEED DORMANCY view more
CREDIT: M7SANCHEZ

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), commonly called the “King of Grass,” is a legume grown in many parts of the world as a source of animal fodder. It is prized in the forage industry for its high protein content and biomass yield. Recently, alfalfa protein has found applications in aquaculture, pet food industry and human diet. Furthermore, it is seen as an environmentally beneficial crop, with positive impacts on biodiversity and soil nitrogen conservation.

Alfalfa produces two seed types—hard and non-hard—with no obvious visible differences. Unfortunately, the hard seeds cannot be avoided and pose a significant challenge from an economic standpoint. Hard seeds have low value as they exacerbate slow germination, nonuniform seedling establishment, increased weed competition, and germination failure. Seed dormancy—the delayed germination following embryogenesis—has multiple dormancy categories. Of these, hormone-mediated physiological dormancy (PD), hard seededness for physical dormancy (PD), and combinatorial dormancy (PY+PD) are suspected to have a role in alfalfa seed germination.

Notably, there is a dearth of hard seed research in legumes and until recently, dormancy in alfalfa was thought to only include the PY type. Now, scientists from the College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University led by Associate Professor Shangang Jia have found the PY+PD pattern in this species of legume through multispectral imaging (MSI) technology combined with ‘multi-omics’ platforms.

Their study was made available online on 31 March 2023 and was published in The Crop Journal.

Explaining their motivation behind pursuing this research, Dr. Jia says, "Studying dormancy in hard and non-hard alfalfa seeds is problematic. Doing comparative research by soaking the seeds in water–a technique called imbibition–is time-consuming and causes the non-hard seeds to germinate. We needed an accurate, non-destructive, and high-throughput approach to gain deeper insights."

By combining MSI with multi-omics (transcriptomics, metabolomics, and methylomics) platforms, the team developed a high-throughput technique for identifying seeds, comparing the dormancy pattern, and observing differences in physiology, metabolism, and gene expression in hard and non-hard seeds.

“The technique could successfully identify hard alfalfa seeds with high accuracy—of up to 100%. Furthermore, the transcriptomics, metabolomics, and methylomics analyses revealed that abscisic acid (ABA) responses played a key role in hard alfalfa seeds,” adds Jia.

ABA—a hormone that induces dormancy—acts like a sleeping pill that keeps seeds in a dormant state. Moreover, the balance of ABA and other hormones like indole acetic acid (IAA) and jasmonic acid (JA) also govern the degree of seed dormancy. Compared to non-hard seeds, hard seeds were enriched in antioxidants and flavonoids, lipids, and hormone biosynthetic pathways. Furthermore, the increased expression of ABA genes and the differential methylation of ABA-responsive genes in hard alfalfa seeds underscored the ABA responses.

The team also identified non-PY hard seeds that contained higher ABA/IAA and ABA/JA levels and did not germinate following treatment to break dormancy. This finding gave credence to the involvement of the PD pattern and indicated that PY+PD, rather than PY alone governed the germination failure of hard alfalfa seeds.

"We believe we've provided a theoretical and technical framework for exploring alfalfa hard seed dormancy, and our findings could certainly guide the optimal processing of these seeds in the alfalfa seed industry!" concludes Jia with an air of excitement.

The scientists are confident their findings will have a strong bearing on future research and could have immense economic implications.

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Contact the corresponding author: Shangang Jia

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 100 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

JOURNAL

The Crop Journal

DOI

10.1016/j.cj.2023.03.003

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Multiple omics datasets reveal significant physical and physiological dormancy in alfalfa hard seeds identified by multispectral imaging analysis

Researchers call for single approach on wild horses

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING

The U.S. federal government’s management of wild horses is doomed to fail without fundamental changes in policy and the law, according to a new paper led by researchers at the University of Wyoming and Oklahoma State University.

Because contrasting societal views have created an approach that simultaneously manages horses on the range as wildlife, livestock and pets, current government programs are incapable of succeeding, the researchers argue in the article that appears in the journal BioScience.

“For the federal government to sustain healthy populations, ecosystem health and fiscal responsibility, lawmakers must properly define how feral equids should be labeled,” the scientists wrote. “Each label (wild, livestock, pet) has validity, and management plans can be implemented to optimize equid populations with other land uses. Furthermore, providing a clear definition of feral equids will determine the legal tools that can be applied for their management.”

The lead author of the paper is Jacob Hennig, a former UW Ph.D. student who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Oklahoma State. Hennig’s advisers at UW -- Professor Jeff Beck and Associate Professor Derek Scasta, both in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management -- are co-authors of the paper. So are Oklahoma State Professor Sam Fuhlendorf and Assistant Professor Courtney Duchardt, who is a former UW Ph.D. student; Colorado State University research scientist Saeideh Esmaeili, also a former UW Ph.D. student; and Tolani Francisco, of Native Healing LLC in New Mexico.

The researchers note that, while the fossil record shows there were horses in North America previously, they went extinct about 10,000 years ago.

“The equids currently inhabiting North America did not coevolve there; they are descendants of livestock that underwent millennia of domestication and artificial selection,” the paper says. “Most large predators that would help limit their population growth went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene (epoch), and the Anthropocene (current epoch) has led to further predator reductions.”

Because wild horses have no natural predators, cannot be legally hunted under federal law and are no longer slaughtered as livestock in the United States, their numbers on the range have more than doubled in the last decade, the researchers say. They also note that horses removed from the range by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and held in government facilities and private lands have grown in number by 33 percent during that time, with the BLM spending over $550 million since 2013 supporting the captive animals.

“The BLM has increased the number of individuals removed from the wild in each of the past four years, leading to decreases in the on-range population,” the paper acknowledges. “However, the total on-range population is still approximately 50,000 individuals above the maximum (appropriate management level), and the recent moderate decrease in on-range individuals is directly correlated with an increase in the off-range population and subsequent expenditures.”

Removing wild horses from Western rangelands and placing them in long-term holding is not a solution, the researchers say. Doing so “simply exports the issue elsewhere -- including the imperiled tallgrass prairie ecosystem -- with unknown ecological effects,” they wrote, noting that there are now about 23,500 wild horses on private lands in Oklahoma, five times more than the number on open range in Wyoming.

Additionally, the paper contends that wild horses have a comparatively large impact on the range, as they consume more forage and water than ruminants such as cattle, per capita.

The scientists credit the BLM for basing recent management on science, including better population estimates of wild horses and deploying measures to keep them from reproducing. But there are too many animals on the range for this approach to work.

“Although the BLM has admirably increased fertility control research and application, if they are unable to also remove tens of thousands of equids, this process is doomed to be a Sisyphean task,” the researchers wrote.

The federal Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 essentially calls for wild horses to freely roam like wild animals, but they are treated differently from wild animals because the act prohibits hunting. At the same time, the BLM’s practice of gathering and removing wild horses from the range “more closely resemble livestock operations than wildlife management, whereas adoption programs, sales restrictions and the abolition of slaughter have resulted in feral equids effectively serving as society’s pets,” the paper says.

Choosing one of the labels -- wild, livestock or pets -- offers the best hope for the federal government to succeed in wild horse management, the scientists wrote.

“As a wild species that lacks sufficient predation to keep most populations in check, a hunting or culling program, like those for other wild ungulates, could slow their population growth,” the paper says. “As livestock, gathers and removals that lead to sale or slaughter would limit growth and give the animals the monetary value they currently lack. As pets, simultaneously conducting large-scale removals and administering fertility control, including permanent sterilization (and potentially euthanasia), could reduce population sizes and slow growth.”

The researchers’ conclusion?

“The current state of feral horse and burro management in the United States is unsustainable and will continue to be a painful resource sink without fundamental changes to the law. We recommend that the U.S. federal government should officially declare the status of feral equids as either wild, livestock or pets and should provide the BLM and (U.S. Forest Service) the legal latitude and funding to develop and implement respective management options.”

JOURNAL

BioScience

DOI

10.1093/biosci/biad033

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

A crossroads in the rearview mirror: the state of United States feral equid management in 2023

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-May-2023

Archaea in a warming climate become less diverse, more predictable

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

Led by Jizhong Zhou, Ph.D., the director of the Institute for Environmental Genomics at the University of Oklahoma, an international research team conducted a long term experiment that found that climate warming reduced the diversity of and significantly altered the community structure of soil archaea. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

At the microbiological level, life can be described as belonging to one of three kingdoms – how species are described in relation to one another. Eukarya contains complex organisms like animals and plants and microorganisms such as fungi. The other two categories, bacteria and archaea, are comprised only of microorganisms. Archaea are prevalent in a range of environments, from some of the most hostile like volcanoes and permafrost. However, archaea are also common in the human microbiome and as an important part of soil ecology.

“As temperature is a major driver of biological processes, climate warming will impact various ecological communities,” Zhou said. “Based on long-term time-series data, our previous studies revealed that experimental warming leads to the divergent succession of soil bacterial and fungal communities, accelerates microbial temporal scaling, reduces the biodiversity of soil bacteria, fungi and protists, but increases bacterial network complexity and stability. However, how climate warming affects the temporal succession of the archaeal community remains elusive. Archaea are ubiquitously present in soil and are vital to soil functions, e.g., nitrification and methanogenesis.”

Using a long-term multifactor experimental field site at OU’s Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field Station, the researchers showed that experimental warming of a tallgrass prairie ecosystem significantly altered the community structure of soil archaea and reduced their taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity. In contrast to the researchers’ previous observations in bacteria and fungi, their finds show that climate warming leads to convergent succession of the soil archaeal community, suggesting archaeal community structures would become more predictable in a warmer world.

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About the Project

The article, “Experimental Warming Leads to Convergent Succession of Grassland Archaeal Community” published May 3, 2023 in Nature Climate Change. DOI no. 10.1038/s41558-023-01664-x. Zhou, who is also a George Lynn Cross Research Professor of Microbiology in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, is the corresponding author. The first author is Ya Zhang, Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology at OU.

About the University of Oklahoma Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships

The University of Oklahoma is a leading research university classified by the Carnegie Foundation in the highest tier of research universities in the nation. Faculty, staff and students at OU are tackling global challenges and accelerating the delivery of practical solutions that impact society in direct and tangible ways through research and creative activities. OU researchers expand foundational knowledge while moving beyond traditional academic boundaries, collaborating across disciplines and globally with other research institutions as well as decision makers and practitioners from industry, government and civil society to create and apply solutions for a better world. Find out more at ou.edu/research.

JOURNAL

Nature Climate Change

DOI

10.1038/s41558-023-01664-x

ARTICLE TITLE

Experimental warming leads to convergent succession of grassland archaeal community

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-May-2023

UBS white paper: The Rise of the Impact Economy

Zurich 03 May 2023,

The latest paper from UBS’s Sustainability and Impact Institute argues that the output economy has become out of step with today’s priorities and charts the evolution of an economy that values people and the planet. Welcome to impact economics.

The UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute today released its latest white paper, ‘The rise of the impact economy: Evolving to the next level,’ and makes a compelling argument for adopting new economic metrics that price in profit, people and planet, and reach beyond outdated output metrics such as GDP.

The key points raised in the white paper are as follows:

The impact economy is better placed than outdated models to help solve the fundamental economic problem of how to allocate our limited means between our unlimited desires

The impact economy addresses a much broader set of people’s well-being needs than simply the quest for material wealth

Financial institutions have a clear role to embrace the impact economy as part of being responsible participants in civil society

The paper charts the evolution of the economic system and argues the world has outgrown GDP and the focus from policy makers on equating living standards with the making of paid-for products. It argues that the impact economy is the necessary next phase in the world’s economic evolution.

The paper urges governments to use both incentives and regulations to drive change with tax incentives used to encourage capital flows into an impact economy; and direct market regulations limiting or redirecting the flows of capital when needed. There is a need for governments and regulators to work with independent research and analytical organizations to build more transparent, accurate and wide-ranging data resources to underpin this new economy.

Paul Donovan, Chief Economist UBS Global Wealth Management: “We are seeing a big shift in the way we quantify economic progress. The output economy and its measures of growth like GDP are no longer fit for purpose in the world we live in now. In fact, it distorts the very thing economics is supposed to achieve. We are evolving towards an impact economy that values people and planet, assuring the consideration of all outcomes in the valuations of goods, services and the entire economy.”

“Financial services firms like UBS not only have a duty to adapt to this evolution but have a clear role to help their clients cope with change successfully in four ways. First, as global employers they need to emphasize the importance of people and planet. Secondly, by harnessing their intellectual firepower and data, they need to make a compelling case for an effective impact economy. Thirdly, they need to advise their clients on how the global economy is changing and how this will impact their investments. Finally, as investors, financial services companies should use different types of capital to develop the impact economy and leverage their ownership of investee companies to drive change.”

UBS Group AG

The rise of the impact economy | UBS Global PDF

How online art viewing can impact our well-being

New research sheds light on the positive effect of online art breaks on our mood

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT

Who benefits from online art viewing, and how — IMAGE: A NEW STUDY REVEALS HOW AND WHY ONLINE ART VIEWING POSITIVELY IMPACTS MENTAL WELL-BEING. view more
CREDIT: MPI FOR EMPIRICAL AESTHETICS / F. BERNOULLY

Art can have a positive effect on our mood. But does this also work when we look at paintings on a screen? An international research team involving the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main decided to investigate this question. The study was funded by the EU Horizon ART*IS Project. The results have now been published as an open access article in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

240 study participants viewed an interactive Monet Water Lily art exhibition from Google Arts and Culture. By filling out a questionnaire, they provided information about their state of mind, how much pleasure they felt when looking at the pictures, and how meaningful they considered the experience to be. The results showed significant improvements in mood and anxiety after just a few minutes of viewing.

“Online art viewing is an untapped source of support for well-being that can be consumed as bite-sized bits of meaning-making and pleasure,” says MacKenzie Trupp, first author from the University of Vienna.

The study also found that some participants were more receptive to art than others and were able to benefit more. This advantage could be predicted using a metric called “aesthetic responsiveness.”

“Aesthetic responsiveness describes how people react to diverse aesthetic stimuli, like art and nature. The results showed that individuals with high levels of art and aesthetic responsiveness benefit more from online art viewing due to having more pleasurable and meaningful art experiences,” explains Edward A. Vessel of MPIEA, developer of the Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment (AReA).

The findings of this study are particularly interesting for people who are unable to visit museums in person, such as those with health problems. Furthermore, the results suggest that interactive art exhibitions and similar online experiences should be designed with an awareness of individual differences in aesthetic responsiveness. The study thus expands insight into the benefits and limitations of art in digital media and points the way for increasing the wellness potential of online art.

JOURNAL

Computers in Human Behavior

DOI

10.1016/j.chb.2023.107764

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Who Benefits From Online Art Viewing, and How: The Role of Pleasure, Meaningfulness, and Trait Aesthetic Responsiveness in Computer-Based Art Interventions for Well-Being.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Aug-2023

Will Yellowstone’s geology produce rock music?

World first live data sonification performance will turn seismographs into sound

Meeting Announcement

ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY

A scientist will attempt to turn seismic activity – recorded in real time at Yellowstone National Park – into music during an ambitious live performance on Tuesday, 9 May.

Dr Domenico Vicinanza, a Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, is a leading expert in data sonification, which is the process of converting scientific measurements into sound, and the event will be the first time that data sonification using live geophysical data has been attempted on stage.

During the performance at the 2023 Internet2 Community Exchange conference in Atlanta, Georgia, which brings together universities and researchers from across the United States and beyond, Dr Vicinanza will access seismographic data being recorded by the US Geological Survey in Yellowstone National Park.

The music will be produced live on stage with the help of a computer programme developed by Dr Vicinanza, which will map the seismographic data to musical notes. It will then be performed by Dr Alyssa Schwartz, Visiting Assistant Professor of Flute and Musicology at Fairmont State University.

Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active areas of the United States, with as many as 3,000 earthquakes recorded annually. Earthquakes at Yellowstone often occur in “swarms”, with many happening in a short space of time.

This element of chance makes it impossible to predict what the music will sound like, and the duo are ready for whatever nature throws at them.

Dr Vicinanza, who in addition to his role at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is the coordinator for the arts and humanities at GÉANT, the European network for research and education, said: “We have absolutely no idea how the music will turn out.

“Using my programme I’ll be converting the data to musical notes and if there’s significant seismic activity and big spikes in the data we’re receiving at that time, the music will be incredibly dramatic. Equally it could be quite serene, so it’s a huge artistic challenge for Alyssa to interpret, and it’s really Alyssa who will be taking all the risks.

“Alyssa won’t be able to change any note, but she will be able to interpret the piece of music created before her eyes, and she will be able to creatively use speed, articulation, or make certain parts softer or louder. It might be really difficult to play, but that’s what makes it exciting, and Alyssa is incredibly brave to be doing this in front of a live audience.”

Dr Vicinanza’s ongoing work with Yellowstone National Park is the first time the US National Parks Service has recognised music as a research output. He will visit Yellowstone next year to capture his own recordings amongst the hot springs and geysers, but in the meantime he’s delighted to have this opportunity to bring scientific data from the country’s oldest national park to a wider audience.

Dr Vicinanza added: “By being able to ‘perform’ what would otherwise be viewed on a graph, we’re able to bring the power of nature to life and help more people experience the natural wonders of Yellowstone.

“Music, and sound in general, can be a really useful way of experiencing science – for scientists as well as the general public. After all, our ears are much more sensitive to small changes than our eyes.

“Every pattern, spike, or sudden change in the music is a direct representation of what is happening at that spot in Yellowstone at that time. Rather than just looking at a seismograph we can listen to it, and that’s an incredible thing.”