Multi-compartment membranes for multicellular robots: Everybody needs some body

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF HOW DROPLETS EXTRACTED FROM A SPONGE SELF-ASSEMBLE INTO A MULTICELLULAR BODY STRUCTURE. view more 

CREDIT: RICHARD ARCHER / SHIN-ICHIRO NOMURA

The typical image of a robot is one composed of motors and circuits, encased in metal. Yet the field of molecular robotics, which is being spearheaded in Japan, is beginning to change that.

Much like how complex living organisms are formed, molecular robots derive form and functionality from assembled molecules. Such robots could have important applications, such as being used to treat and diagnose diseases in vivo.

The first challenge in building a molecular robot is the same as the most basic need of any organism: the body, which holds everything together. But manufacturing complex structures, especially at the microscopic level, has proven to be an engineering nightmare, and many limitations on what is possible currently exist.

To address this problem, a research team at Tohoku University has developed a simple method for creating molecular robots from artificial, multicellular-like bodies by using molecules which can organize themselves into the desired shape.

The team, including Associate Professor Shin-ichiro Nomura and postdoctoral researcher Richard Archer from the Department of Robotics at the Graduate School of Engineering, recently reported their breakthrough in the American Chemical Society's publication, Langmuir.

"Our work demonstrated a simple, self-assembly technique which utilizes phospholipids and synthetic surfactants coated onto a hydrophobic silicone sponge," said Archer.

When Nomura and his colleagues introduced water into the lipid coated sponge, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces enabled the lipids and surfactants to assemble themselves, thereby allowing water to soak in. The sponge was then placed into oil, spontaneously forming micron sized, stabilized aqueous droplets as the water was expelled from the solid support. When pipetted on the surface of water, these droplets quickly assembled into larger planar macroscopic structures, like bricks coming together to form a wall.

"Our developed technique can easily build centimeter size structures from the assembly of micron sized compartments and is capable of being done with more than one droplet type," adds Archer. "By using different sponges with water containing different solutes, and forming different droplet types, the droplets can combine to form heterogeneous structures. This modular approach to assembly unleashes near endless possibilities."

The team could also turn these bodies into controllable devices with induced motion. To do so, they introduced magnetic nanoparticles into the hydrophobic walls of the multi-compartment structure. Archer says this multi-compartment approach to robot design will allow flexible modular designs with multiple functionalities and could redefine what we imagine robots to be. "Future work here will move us closer to a new generation of robots which are assembled by molecules rather than forged in steel and use functional chemicals rather than silicon chips and motors."

CAPTION

An actually formed multicellular body structure (top) and its enlarged view (bottom).

CREDIT

Richard Archer / Shin-Ichiro Nomura

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JOURNAL

Langmuir

DOI

10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c02859 

ARTICLE TITLE

Scalable Synthesis of Planar Macroscopic Lipid-Based Multi-Compartment Structures

Researchers developed an AI-based method to replace chemical staining of tissue

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TURKU

 

IMAGE: IMAGE: AN EXAMPLE OF VIRTUAL STAINING OF TISSUE. UNSTAINED TISSUE ON THE LEFT, CHEMICALLY STAINED TISSUE IN THE MIDDLE AND VIRTUALLY STAINED TISSUE ON THE RIGHT. THE EXAMPLES ARE PROSTATE TISSUE. view more 

CREDIT: PEKKA RUUSUVUORI

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Turku, and Tampere University have developed an artificial intelligence-based method for virtual staining of histopathological tissue samples as a part of the Nordic ABCAP consortium. Chemical staining has been the cornerstone of studying histopathology for more than a century and is widely applied in, for example, cancer diagnostics.

“Chemical staining makes the morphology of the almost transparent, low-contrast tissue sections visible. Without it, analysing tissue morphology is almost impossible for human vision. Chemical staining is irreversible, and in most cases, it prevents the use of the same sample for other experiments or measurements,” says University Researcher and Vice Director of the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland Leena Latonen, who led the experimental part of the study.

The artificial intelligence method developed in this study produces computational images that very closely resemble those produced by the actual chemical staining process. This virtually stained image can then be used for inspecting the morphology of the tissues. Virtual staining reduces both the chemical burden and manual work needed for sample processing while also enabling the use of the tissue for other purposes than the staining itself.

The strength of the proposed virtual staining method is that it requires no special hardware or infrastructure beyond a regular light microscopy and a suitable computer.

“The results are very widely applicable. There are plenty of topics for follow-up research, and the computational methods can still be improved. However, we can already envision several application areas where virtual staining can have a major impact in histopathology,” says Associate Professor Pekka Ruusuvuori from the University of Turku, who led the computational part of the study.

Ground-breaking research with international funding

One of the key factors enabling the study was the consortium funding obtained from the ERAPerMed joint transnational call. The ABCAP consortium consists of Nordic research groups developing artificial intelligence-based diagnostics of breast cancer towards personalised medicine and is funded by ERAPerMed, Nordic Cancer Union and the Academy of Finland. Both Latonen and Ruusuvuori lead their own subprojects.

“This research is truly cross-disciplinary. Without consortium funding, it would be very difficult to find enough resources for both the experimental laboratory work and the computational effort to enable studies like this,” acknowledge Ruusuvuori and Latonen.

This cross-disciplinary research is based on expertise in tissue biology, histological processes, bioimage informatics and artificial intelligence. The first part of the two-phase study focused on optimising the tissue sample processing and imaging steps, and was carried out by Doctoral Researcher Sonja Koivukoski from the University of Eastern Finland. Systematic assessment of histological feasibility was a unique component in the study.

“Development of computational methods using artificial intelligence often lacks proper assessment of the feasibility from the perspective of the end user. This may lead to methods being developed and published but eventually not really used in practice. Therefore, it is especially important to combine both computational and domain-based knowledge already in the development phase, as was done in our study,” state Latonen and Koivukoski.

Great potential of computational methods

Deep neural networks learning form large volumes of data have rapidly transformed the field of biomedical image analysis. In addition to traditional image analysis tasks, such as image interpretation, these methods are also well suited for image-to-image transforms. Virtual staining is an example of such a task, as was successfully shown in the two published parts of the work. The second part focused on optimising virtual staining based on generative adversarial neural networks, with Doctoral Researcher Umair Khan from the University of Turku as the lead developer.

“Deep neural networks are capable of performing at a level we were not able to imagine a while ago. Artificial intelligence-based virtual staining can have a major impact towards more efficient sample processing in histopathology,” says Khan.

In addition to the artificial intelligence algorithms, the key to success was the availability of high-performance computing services through CSC.

“In Finland, we have an excellent infrastructure for parallel high-performance computing. Computationally intensive research like this would not be possible without the capacity provided by CSC,” says Ruusuvuori.

The results of the study were published in two international peer-reviewed journals, Laboratory Investigation and Patterns.

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JOURNAL

Laboratory Investigation

DOI

10.1016/j.labinv.2023.100070 

ARTICLE TITLE

Unstained tissue imaging and virtual hematoxylin and eosin staining of histological whole slide images

Microwaves advance solar-cell production and recycling

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: DR BINESH PUTHEN VEETTIL view more 

CREDIT: MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

A microwave technology invented at Macquarie University will improve the manufacture of solar cells and make them easier to recycle.

During the fabrication of solar panels, silicon goes through several high-temperature processes known as annealing. Currently the cells are cooked in an oven.

But in a paper published in the US Journal Applied Physics Letters, a team led by senior lecturer Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil of the School of Engineering has shown that heating using microwave radiation is nearly as efficient. Plus, it saves considerable time and energy and has other advantages.

Because microwave radiation selectively heats silicon, it leads to almost instantaneous effects with massive savings of energy. This is partly because the rest of the laminated panel of glass, plastic and aluminium is left largely unaffected. And that property that has led to an unexpected recycling benefit for which the group has a patent pending.

Recycling benefits

Under microwave treatment, the plastic (ethylene vinyl acetate) coating that protects the silicon plate from moisture and contamination softens to the point where it can be peeled off mechanically. That means the plate can be easily delaminated and its components reused without employing harsh chemicals.

“Until now it made economic sense to just dump the panels in the landfill,” says Dr Veettil. “In the rare instances when they are recycled, you crush the panels, heat them to about 1400°C and wash them with chemicals to remove the plastic — a highly energy-demanding process. But now, as the solar panels which began to be installed in vast numbers about 20-30 years ago are reaching the end of their life and being decommissioned, governments are demanding they be recycled.”

Selective annealing

Microwave annealing has several other advantages. The ability to focus microwave radiation means the heating it induces can be selective and highly tuned. Some of the newer panels, for instance, employ what is known as heterojunction technology, where crystalline and amorphous silicon are interleaved. In these cells, faster, better-directed annealing is highly advantageous.

Precise focusing also means that annealing can be directed to specific parts of the solar panel, making it ideal for annealing solar panels with more intricate internal structures fabricated for special purposes.

And, in contrast to an oven where all sorts of chemical substances are shed from the walls, microwave annealing takes place in a clean environment. “So there is less contamination,” says Dr Veettil. “And the whole process can all be undertaken at room temperature.”

New materials

There are several other projects involving solar cells and sustainable energy underway at Macquarie. One of the co-authors of the annealing paper, Associate Professor Shujuan Huang, leads a group looking at microwave annealing in perovskite solar cells. Perovskites are a group of crystalline minerals with semiconductor properties that may, in future, be used for solar cells because they are flexible, lightweight and cheap to produce.

In this case, the microwave radiation produced more efficient solar cells as compared to conventional annealing methods, but the reason is not clear. The current work is being undertaken partly to answer that question.

Dr Veettil’s research in collaboration with the school of photovoltaics at UNSW, was initiated with funding from the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and has been further supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil is an electronic engineer in the Macquarie University School of Engineering who has a particular interest in renewable energy.

Abstract: Microwave annealing of silicon solar cells

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0127896

The microwave annealing of semiconductor devices has not been extensively researched and is rarely utilized in industry, yet it has the potential to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with large-volume semiconductor processing, such as the various heating and annealing processes required in the manufacture of photovoltaic modules. In this paper, we describe microwave annealing of silicon solar cells, the effective passivation of light-induced defects and a reduction in light-induced degradation. We find that silicon solar cells are heated rapidly in a microwave field and that effective B-O defect passivation can be achieved by microwave processing in as little as two seconds. Microwave annealing yields similar results as compared to Rapid Thermal Annealing.

Binesh Puthen Veettil1, Yuchao Zhang2, David Payne1, Mattias Juhl1, Shujuan Huang1, Brett Hallam2 and Darren Bagnall1

1 School of Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia

2 School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2207, Australia

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JOURNAL

Applied Physics Letters

DOI

10.1063/5.0127896 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Microwave annealing of silicon solar cells

New reports highlight opportunities for Sustainable Blue Economy in the Caribbean

A new set of reports from the Commonwealth Secretariat have highlighted the potential for a more sustainable future in the Caribbean.

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH

A new set of reports from the Commonwealth Secretariat have highlighted the potential for a more sustainable future in the Caribbean. 

The Rapid Readiness Assessment (RRA) has been trialled in selected Caribbean islands over the last few months. The results will inform the Islands on their next steps towards becoming a sustainable ‘blue’ economy.  This means the Islands will be able to effectively tap into ocean resources and support long-term economic growth, while also protecting marine and coastal ecosystems, and ensuring societal wellbeing.

The assessment has been conducted as part of a pilot project in the Caribbean Islands of Antigua & Barbuda and Trinidad & Tobago. Through research and workshops, researchers evaluated how ready the Islands’ national systems, structures and stakeholders are to make the transition to becoming a sustainable blue economy. Building on progress already made in each country, it will help governments and stakeholders understand their current situation and identify both opportunities and gaps. 

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth have been leading the work in Antigua & Barbuda. They found these islands have significant potential for growth in areas such as sustainable fisheries, marine renewable energy, and ocean-based tourism.  However, they also identified a number of challenges that will need to be addressed in order to achieve a successful transition, including the need for more comprehensive marine planning and stronger governance frameworks. 

Antaya March from the University of Portsmouth has led the work being done in Antigua & Barbuda. She said: “This is a critical time to bring together all of the valuable, existing work in each country and identify how to harmonise approaches and avoid duplication of efforts. A sustainable blue economy presents the opportunity for Antigua & Barbuda and Trinidad & Tobago to truly tap into the wealth of resources the ocean offers, provide equitable sharing of the benefits and reduce their economies’ over reliance on tourism and oil respectively, for an equal operating system.

“By identifying key opportunities and challenges, we can begin to develop strategies that balance economic development with environmental sustainability.”

The assessments have been coordinated under the Commonwealth Blue Charter programme, with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Howell Marine Consulting and the University of Portsmouth.

Lead Advisor for the Commonwealth Blue Charter programme at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Jeff Ardon said: “The Rapid Readiness Assessment provides a clear picture of a country’s existing policies, legal frameworks, systems and political landscape and how these would facilitate a sustainable blue economy transition. They also identify the gaps and outline recommendations for next steps, including the types of resource required.”

UNEP’s Head of Marine and Freshwater, Leticia Carvalho, said: “The utility of the Sustainable Blue Economy Transition Framework, and the available assessments, will go a long way in helping countries to take the first steps towards a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to mainstreaming biodiversity into comprehensive ocean and coastal policy as a prerequisite for sustainable, resilient and equitable blue economies.

“This framework can support countries to practically address the critical importance of marine and coastal biodiversity in the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.”

COVID lockdown allows study of tourism’s impact on Hawaii fishes

Pandemic-forced dip in visitation benefits reef fish in a high-use marine protected area 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: MOLOKINI CRATER IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR SNORKELING SPOTS AND THE SITE OF A LONG-RUNNING SERIES OF FISH SURVEYS. BOSS FROG/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. CC BY-SA 4.0 view more 

CREDIT: BOSS FROG/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. CC BY-SA 4.0

During August 2019, more than 40,000 tourists visited Hawaii’s Molokini island to snorkel or dive. In March 2020 the worldwide COVID lockdown dropped that number to zero.

The sudden and prolonged drop in visitors to one of the world’s most popular snorkeling spots provided scientists with a novel opportunity to study how underwater tourism impacts marine fishes. The results of their study, published in the most recent issue of PLOS One, will help resource managers better care for Molokini and other threatened marine habitats.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Kevin Weng of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, says “The COVID-related tourism freeze provided a unique natural experiment to measure the effects of decreased tourism on fish behavior in a high-use, no-take marine protected area.” Joining Weng on the study were Dr. Alan Friedlander and Whitney Goodell of the National Geographic Society and Dr. Laura Gajdzik and Russell Sparks of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. Friedlander and Goodell are also affiliated with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

Molokini, which lies about 3 miles off the shore of Maui, was designated as a “no-take” marine protected area or MPA in 1977 based on tour operators' concerns regarding the impacts of fishing and other “consumptive” uses. “Tour operators have always been interested in the conservation of Molokini, and have worked with the State on several measures," says Sparks. As the volume of “non-consumptive” uses such as snorkeling and SCUBA diving increased, tour operators worked with the State to establish a limited-entry permit system for tour boats and to replace anchoring with permanent moorings to protect corals.

The current study focused on the impacts of these non-consumptive uses. “Our research demonstrates that human presence alone can alter the community structure and possibly the functioning of an ecosystem,” says Weng. “This means we can improve how tourism is configured in Hawaii and around the world to reduce the impacts of human presence.”

Community structure refers to the type and numbers of species present in an ecosystem. During Hawaii’s COVID lockdown—which began at full force in March of 2020 and was then slowly lifted until visitation returned to pre-pandemic levels in May of 2021—the researchers conducted SCUBA surveys on five separate occasions to record the species, abundance, size, and location of predatory and herbivorous fishes within Molokini’s submerged crater. They also tracked the movement of the predatory species using electronic tags. Comparing these observations with data from similar surveys conducted in the years before and after the lockdown allowed them to detect differences in fish community structure caused by human presence. The researchers gathered data on human presence using logbooks kept by the 40 charter boat companies permitted to bring tourists into Molokini’s waters.

The results of this natural experiment were clear. “When tourism shut down due to COVID,” says Friedlander, “species that had been displaced from shallow habitats by high human presence moved back in on a timescale of months, increasing fish biomass as well as the proportion of larger predators." The species that mainly drove the observed increase in lockdown biomass were fast-swimming predatory fishes known as jacks, which learn to fear humans as they are often targeted by anglers. When tourism resumed, the predators moved to deeper waters, reducing fish biomass and habitat use to pre-pandemic levels. Biomass is a combined measure of fish abundance and size.

The observed changes in predator biomass were also reflected in the fishes’ behavior. Before the COVID lockdown, jacks were known to leave the inside of the crater during the morning peak in tourist visits. However, during the lockdown, they remained in the shallow, sheltered interior. These predators were quickly displaced from this shallow-water habitat whentourism resumed. Their displacement is particularly concerning because their summertime spawning season overlaps with the annual peak in marine tourism.

The human-induced displacement of predatory fishes from Molokini’s crater likely sends ripples throughout the local food web. Previous studies have shown that a drop in the abundance of predatory fishes affects not only the herbivorous fishes they count as prey, but the algae and other primary producers eaten by the herbivores. “Predators have diverse ecosystem roles,” says Friedlander, “and their loss can reduce the resistance and resilience of ecosystems to other stressors.” 

Overall, the team’s findings suggest that "Molokini is being over-used, and that management is needed to improve not only ecosystem health but the visitor experience," says Sparks. “Our findings indicate that the business-as-usual conditions of high tourism alter community structure by displacing predatory fishes to deeper environments,” adds Weng. Moreover, a 2011 study found that more than two thirds of visitors to Molokini felt crowded during their trip and supported actions that would reduce visitor numbers.

“As Hawaii formulates marine management plans and undertakes the Sustainable Hawai`i Initiative,” says Gajdzik, “lessons from Molokini can help inform managers and help facilitate an effective response. As part of this process, we need to think strategically about the scale and configuration of tourism in Hawaii to optimize earnings and employment without damaging the environment.”

“Our study indicates that the intensity of non-consumptive uses, especially in heavily visited MPAs, should be considered for the long-term health and resilience of these ecosystems,” says Weng. “Management of tourism should be guided by biological research, and include clear and well-enforced rules, adaptive management, and broad stakeholder involvement.”

The Bluefin trevally or omilu (Caranx melampygus) is one of the fast-swimming predatory fishes that increased their use of Molokini's shallow habitats during the COVID lockdown. © K. Weng/VIMS.

SCUBA divers monitor fishes within Molokini’s submerged crater during Hawaii’s COVID lockdown. Comparing these data with those from similar pre- and post-lockdown surveys allowed the researchers to detect differences in fish community structure caused by human presence.

CREDIT

Dr. Kevin Weng/Virginia Institute of Marine Science

JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0283683 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Decreased tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic positively affects reef fish in a high use marine protected area.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Apr-2023

One-size-fits-all content moderation fails the Global South

Reports and Proceedings

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ITHACA, N.Y. – Social media companies need content moderation systems to keep users safe and prevent the spread of misinformation, but these systems are often based on Western norms, and unfairly penalize users in the Global South, according to new research at Cornell University.

Farhana Shahid, lead researcher and doctoral student in information science, interviewed people from Bangladesh who had received penalties for violating Facebook’s community standards. Users said the content moderation system misinterpreted their posts, removed content that was acceptable in their culture and operated in ways they felt were unfair, opaque and arbitrary.

“Pick any social media platform and their biggest market will be somewhere in the East,” said co-author Aditya Vashistha, assistant professor of information science. “Facebook is profiting immensely from the labor of these users and the content and data they are generating. This is very exploitative in nature, when they are not designing for the users, and at the same time, they’re penalizing them and not giving them any explanations of why they are penalized.”

Shahid will present their work in April at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Even though Bengali is the sixth most common language worldwide, Shahid and Vashistha found that content moderation algorithms performed poorly on Bengali posts. The moderation system flagged certain swears in Bengali, while the same words were allowed in English. The system also repeatedly missed important context. When one student joked “Who is willing to burn effigies of the semester?” after final exams, his post was removed because it might incite violence.

Another common complaint was removing posts that were acceptable in the local community, but violated Western values. When a grandmother affectionately called a child with dark skin a “black diamond,” the post was flagged for racism, even though Bangladeshis do not share the American concept of race. In another instance, Facebook deleted a 90,000-member group that provides support during medical emergencies because it shared personal information – phone numbers and blood types in emergency blood donation request posts by group members.

The restrictions imposed by Facebook had real-life consequences. Several users were barred from their accounts – sometimes permanently – resulting in lost photos, messages and online connections. People who relied on Facebook to run their businesses lost income during the restrictions, and some activists were silenced when opponents maliciously and incorrectly reported their posts.

Participants reported feeling “harassed,” and frequently did not know which post violated the community guidelines, or why it was offensive. Facebook does employ some local human moderators to remove problematic content, but the arbitrary flagging led many users to assume that moderation was entirely automatic. Several users were embarrassed by the public punishment and angry that they could not appeal, or that their appeal was ignored.

“Obviously, moderation is needed, given the amount of bad content out there, but the effect isn’t equally distributed for all users,” Shahid said. “We envision a different type of content moderation system that doesn’t penalize people, and maybe takes a reformative approach to better educate the citizens on social media platforms.”

Instead of a universal set of Western standards, Shahid and Vashistha recommended that social media platforms consult with community representatives to incorporate local values, laws and norms into their moderation systems. They say users also deserve transparency regarding who or what is flagging their posts and more opportunities to appeal the penalties.

“When we’re looking at a global platform, we need to examine the global implications,” Vashistha said. “If we don’t do this, we’re doing grave injustice to users whose social and professional lives are dependent on these platforms.”

For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.

Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews.

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DOI

10.1145/3544548.3581538 

Research Brief: Genetic background, social rank identified as factors in aging and lifespan in animals

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (04/13/2023) — Published in PNAS, University of Minnesota Medical School researchers found that genetic background and social rank are critical contextual modifiers of aging and lifespan in animal models of social stress. 

“This is the largest translational study yet on the impact of lifelong social stress on healthspan, aging-associated diseases, epigenome and lifespan. This work provides a preclinical, experimental model to study the impact of social determinants of health disparities and accelerated aging in human populations,” said Maria Razzoli, PhD, a senior scientist at the U of M Medical School.

Low social status is associated with greater levels of stress, which is known to have negative consequences on health and aging. However, individual differences make it unclear whether genetic predispositions and/or the experienced degree of stress are critical risk factors for disease and mortality. This study sought to address this gap in knowledge and test whether genetic background moderates the effect of social status on health and aging. 

The research team found low social status corresponded to a shorter lifespan in their study population. However, the study revealed that low status, high status and unstable social status were each identified as the most disadvantageous in different genetic backgrounds. The research team also linked social status to effects on survival with changes in global DNA methylation patterns in the liver.

Further research will focus on the timing of stress exposure from pre-conception to old age. Additionally, future studies are suggested to examine the ability to measure the biological age of an individual using a variety of approaches and determine how stress accelerates it in relation to the individual’s chronological age. This would allow researchers to estimate the risk of disease development and life expectancy. 

“The ultimate goal of this research is to develop preclinical approaches to support the development of therapeutic interventions to protect against the negative toll of life stress on aging-associated diseases,” said Alessandro Bartolomucci, PhD, a professor at the U of M  Medical School.

Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (R01AG043972, R61AG078520), the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies and IBP Grant Accelerator Program.

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About the University of Minnesota Medical School

The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School, both the Twin Cities campus and Duluth campus, is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2211755120 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Contextual modifiers of healthspan, lifespan, and epigenome in mice under chronic social stress

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Apr-2023

COI STATEMENT

B.H.C. is a full-time employee of FOXO Technologies Inc., which seeks to commercialize epigenetic technologies in the life insurance industry. B.H.C. owns stock in Illumina Inc., the manufacturer of the DNA methylation arrays used in this study. B.H.C. is listed as a co-inventor in filed patents on commercial applications of epigenetic prediction models. The other authors declare no competing interest.

LGBTQ+ adults report higher rates of pain, US survey data shows

Western University sociology professor says pain can be used as an overall holistic measure of physical and psychological wellbeing at the population level

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO

A new study analyzing data from the 2013 - 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has found the number of people who report being in pain is significantly higher among LGBTQ+ adults than straight adults. 

Western University sociology professor Anna Zajacova said pain has not been studied from a population perspective in the past because it was assumed to be a symptom of something else.

“However, chronic pain is now widely understood as a condition in its own right. It’s an important condition, too, given its high burden in the population and tremendous impact individuals’ quality of life,” said Zajacova, a co-author on the study recently published in the journal Pain. “In fact, we view pain as an overall holistic measure of physical and psychological wellbeing at the population level.”

The analysis was conducted by researchers from Western, the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Michigan State University, Ohio State University and National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The researchers found LGBTQ+ adults (those who self-identified in the National Health Interview Survey as gay, lesbian, bisexual or “something else”) reported markedly higher levels of pain.

The results showed that compared with straight adults, gay and lesbian adults had a 47 per cent higher prevalence of pain and a 33 percent higher prevalence of chronic pain, bisexual adults had a 105 per cent higher prevalence of pain and an 88 percent higher prevalence of chronic pain.

Of the other factors examined, the one most strongly linked with higher prevalence of pain in LGBTQ+ groups was psychological distress. Socioeconomic status and health care covariates played only modest roles, which were not statistically significant.

“These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial inputs and supports that seem to be driving a lot of the differences," Zajacova said.

The authors suggest  the stigma and discrimination faced by members of these groups may increase the risk of pain. They called for additional research to develop a fuller understanding of pain disparities by sexual identity, with the ultimate goal of eliminating disparities and reducing pain to achieve better health and well-being.

The authors stress t this kind of data collection is important in the Canadian context as well.

“I suspect  we might see similar patterns in Canada despite it being more advanced in terms of sociolegal acceptance of LGBTQ+ adults, because what we are seeing seems to hint at the psychosocial issues that may be influencing higher prevalence of pain,” Zajacova said.

The data used in this analysis are for adults aged 18 to 64 who participated in the 2013–2018 waves of the NHIS. They also answered questions about chronic pain, defined in the survey as having pain most days or every day in the past three months (2013–2015 and 2018) or six months (2016 and 2017) and pain at three or more sites (defined as positive responses to questions about three or more of the following: low-back pain, neck pain, severe headache or migraine, facial or jaw ache or pain, and persistent joint pain). Data were also collected on a variety of other factors such as socioeconomic characteristics, health behaviours and psychological distress.

Read the full study here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37017364/

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JOURNAL

Pain

DOI

10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002891 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Chronic pain among U.S. sexual minority adults who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or "something else"

Kombucha to kimchi: Which fermented foods are best for your brain? 

Reports and Proceedings

MICROBIOLOGY SOCIETY

Many countries around the world have their own staple fermented foods which are ingrained into culture and diet. It can’t be a coincidence that this has happened again and again. It seems logical that fermented foods offer more than a method of preservation.  

Diet can hugely impact your mental health and previous research has shown that some foods are particularly good at positively impacting your brain. Fermented foods are a source of tryptophan, an amino acid key to the production of serotonin, a messenger in the brain which influences several aspects of brain function, including mood. The foods may also contain other brain messengers (known as neurotransmitters) in their raw form. It’s no surprise then that research has shown that eating fermented foods may have various long- and short-term impacts on brain function, such as reducing stress. But which foods have the biggest impact on brain health?  

Researchers at APC Microbiome, University College Cork, and Teagasc (Ireland’s Agriculture and Food Development Authority) in Moorepark, Cork, Ireland are currently working on a large study to finally answer this question. Ramya Balasubramanian and the team at APC compared sequencing data from over 200 foods from all over the world, looking for a variety of metabolites that are known to be beneficial to brain health.   

The study is still in it’s initial stages, but researchers are already surprised by preliminary results. Ramya explains, “I expected only a few fermented foods would show up, but out of 200 fermented foods, almost all of them showed the ability to exert some sort of potential to improve gut and brain health”. More research is needed to fully understand which groups of fermented foods have the greatest effects on the human brain, but results are showing an unexpected victor. 

“Fermented sugar-based products and fermented vegetable-based products are like winning the lottery when it comes to gut and brain health”, explains Ramya.  

“For all that we see on sugar-based products being demonised, fermented sugar takes the raw sugar substrate, and it converts it into a plethora of metabolites that can have a beneficial effect on the host. So even though it has the name ‘sugar’ in it, if you do a final metabolomic screen, the sugar gets used by the microbial community that's present in the food, and they get converted into these beautiful metabolites that are ready to be cherry picked by us for further studies.”  

These further studies are what’s next for Ramya. She plans to put her top ranked fermented foods through rigorous testing using an artificial colon and various animal models to see how these metabolites affect the brain.   

Ramya hopes that the public can utilise these preliminary results and consider including fermented foods in their diet as a natural way of supporting their mental health and general well-being. 

BU faculty member receives Midwifery Award

Grant and Award Announcement

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 13, 2023

 

BU Faculty Member Receives Midwifery Award 

(Boston)—JoAnna Rorie, CNM, PhD, clinical associate professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been selected to receive the Dorthea Lang Pioneer Award, the most prestigious midwifery award by the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM). This award honors one exceptional CNM who has exhibited vision, leadership, and innovation, and made a lasting mark on the field of midwifery and midwifery educational programs and the integration of midwifery into the health care systems.

 

Rorie was also selected by the Boston Celtics to receive their Hero Among Us Award which is presented to an individual who, through their unique commitment and humanitarian spirit, has made exceptional and lasting contributions to our community. She was given this award during the halftime show at a recent Boston Celtics game.

 

A tireless member of the midwifery service at Boston Medical Center, Rorie can be found on rounds, checking in on new mothers in the hours following birth, educating medical students and residents and traveling into the community on the Curbside Care for Moms and Babies mobile unit which provides comprehensive mother-infant dyadic care during the first six weeks of life.

 

Rorie has advocated and provided care to the most vulnerable members of the Boston community for more than 40 years working with the incarcerated at MCI-Framingham medium security prison where she was the first midwife to provide prenatal care to inmates. She provided full scope midwifery care to women in conflict with the law at a residential treatment program the Neil J. Houston House on the Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury and worked for HealthCare Without Walls, providing care to the unhoused people of Boston.

 

Rorie started the first midwifery service at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in 1981 developing their policies and procedures while increasing staffing to care for women from community health centers delivering at BIDMC. She also initiated midwifery care at the Dimock Health Center, providing full scope care there for more than 20 years while directing their women’s health program. During her tenure, Dimock was chosen to be one of the first sites funded by the national Healthy Baby Healthy Child Program.

 

Rorie helped initiate and taught in the joint program for midwifery and public health at Boston University School of Public Health. During her tenure as faculty she advocated, supported and mentored young midwives of color – aware more than  30 years ago that this is key to improving health outcomes for black and brown members of our community.

 

Currently she serves as an advisor to the Neighborhood Birth Center, a stand-alone birth center set to open in 2024 in Roxbury. This birth center will center the experience of black and brown birthing people in a time of devastating increases in black maternal morbidity and mortality.