Coronavirus antibodies decline within three months


05 October 2020

Antibodies in plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 start to disappear three months after the onset of symptoms, a new Canadian study has claimed.

The findings mean collecting plasma for treating COVID-19 patients should be done as early as possible, say the researchers. They also believe their work could have implications for vaccine design and for prevalence studies in communities trying to gauge how many people have recovered from the virus.

The small study, published in the journal Blood, follow 15 plasma donors in Québec who had donated plasma at least four times. The 11 men and four women had been diagnosed with and subsequently recovered from COVID-19, and none had been hospitalised.

They each donated their plasma between four and nine times, with the first donation occurring between 33 and 77 days after symptom onset and the last donation between 66 and 114 days.

All 15 donors showed decreases in antibodies at the same time, about 88 days after the onset of symptoms, and the detectable antibodies decreased by half within around 21 days after this point.

Study author Dr Renée Bazin, of the Héma-Québec blood centre, said it was one of the first longitudinal analyses to show that people who were seropositive can become seronegative.

“The antibodies disappear rapidly, so people recovering from COVID-19 who want to donate blood plasma should not wait too long once they become eligible to donate,” she said.

The researchers focused on antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD), which binds to the ACE-2 receptor on the surface of cells and allows virus to enter and infect the cell. The immune system can develop RBD antibodies that inhibit the protein’s ability to fit into and open the door through the ACE-2 receptor, thereby preventing the virus from entering the cells.

Dr Bazin said: “Based on our findings, clinicians should ideally use plasma that is collected early on after a donor’s onset of symptoms and check for the presence of antibodies before giving donor plasma to a patient.”

She added that while nearly 7% of their 282 convalescent plasma donors did not have detectable antibodies at their first donation, this proportion doubled to around 15% in donors who waited more than 11 to 12 weeks after symptom onset before donating.

Meanwhile, the UK convalescent plasma programme treated 220 people in September, it has been announced. In total 916 patients have received plasma as part of the RECOVERY and REMAP‑CAP trials. NHS Blood and Transplant is seeking to recruit donors 21 days after they recover from infection – and last week repeated its appeal for donors, especially men, who tend to have higher antibody levels.

Source: Perreault J, Tremblay T, Fournier MJ, Drouin M, Beaudoin-Bussières G, Prévost J, Lewin A, Bégin P, Finzi A, Bazin R. (2020) “Waning of SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies in longitudinal convalescent plasma samples within four months after symptom onset.” Blood, doi: 10.1182/blood.2020008367

 

UAE, Saudi Arabia's cyber plots against Arab states revealed

TEHRAN, Oct. 05 (MNA) – Al Jazeera channel broadcasted a documentary which revealed that UAE and Saudi Arabia have used their resources to escalate tensions and promote lies on social networks against some Arab countries and Turkey.

Al-Jazeera channel broadcasted a documentary about some provocative moves of UAE and Saudi Arabia against some Arab countries which caused many controversies in social media, Alquds Alarabi reported.

The documentary revealed that UAE and Saudi Arabia used resources of their countries in order to promote lies, especially on social networks against a number of Arab countries and Turkey.

In this regard, Abu Dhabi has used all its resources to target Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Jordan and etc. in cyberspace and social networks to create crises and tensions in these countries.

The documentary also showed that the UAE has launched a virtual project called "Arab Intelligence" to escalate tensions in some countries through spreading lies.

Some false news about the coup in Qatar has also been spread by some fake accounts in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi through sharing manipulated images and videos.

The Al Jazeera documentary revealed that the UAE has used espionage programs such as Zionist-backed programs, to target Qatar and other Arab countries, including Morocco, Oman, Jordan, Mauritania, Sudan, and Algeria.

RHM/5040383

News Code 164339

Iranian Realtors in Canada, US

 IRAN IS A CAPITALIST REGIME, SURROUNDED BY FUEDALIST SUNNI PETRO STATES

TEHRAN, Oct. 04 (MNA) – Hearing the name of a realtor, many people remembered intermediaries. Most people think that realtors' role in the transaction can be eliminated, and their role can be ignored.

Some people also think that paying a realtor is an extra and unnecessary expense.

Providing honest advice when pricing and registering a property among real estate advertisements is the first Iranian Realtor's task. These people are good at advising and justifying their customers to buy and sell the property.

Pricing the property is not an easy task. The Iranian Realtors must do this expertly with the seller to be sold at a reasonable price or advertised for mortgage and rent.

One of the Iranian Realtor's duties is to inspect the property thoroughly and, while recording the exact details, inform the seller or the owner if there is a problem.

Iranian Realtors in the United States and Canada

The United States and Canada are among the world's largest countries, which is why buying and selling homes is so important.

The two countries have made it possible for the rest of the world to migrate by investing in real estate and purchasing a home. The property market and its sales in these two countries are very complex, and if you are not familiar with this market, you will undoubtedly face problems when buying.

Iranian Realtors in these two countries, with their high knowledge in buying and selling property, property prices in these two countries, home buying and selling laws, and other things, can help you on the path to becoming a homeowner.

The Best Iranian Realtors in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the United States and California. Due to its excellent climate and excellent quality of life, this coastal city is an excellent choice for living. Many Iranians choose this city to live in, but they do not know that it has difficulties and advantages. One of those difficulties is facing the complex market of buying and selling houses in this city. An excellent Iranian Realtor can help Iranians find the home they want without fear of having a poor English language. Good Iranian Realtors in Los Angeles help you learn how to buy and sell a home to make the most of it. You can be sure to sell your property at the best possible price and buy a house at the best price by Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in Los Angeles.

 The Best Iranian Realtors in California

California is one of the largest states in the United States and has a large population. Many Iranians have chosen this state to live in and buy a home in this large state. The first thing Iranians need to do before moving to California is to find the best place to live in California and research the cost of living and buying a home in that city.

Finding the best city in California to live in and a cheap city to buy a home may require some expertise. An Iranian Realtor in California will help you buy a home, find the best home for your budget, and get the job done. Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in California who know the area and the house's price can benefit you.

The Best Iranian Realtors in Montreal

With over 4 million, Montreal is one of Canada's largest and most populous cities, with a large Iranian population. It is one of Canada's most important cities for business and economy and is, therefore, the best destination for finding work.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when moving to Canada and Montreal is buying a home. This process certainly requires an expert in this field, and with his help, you can find out the prices in the real estate market. Most Iranians may think they can do this independently, but buying and selling a home in a big country like Canada is not as easy as we think.

In Montreal, Iranian Realtors are aware of current knowledge and know what is going on in the real estate market. Find the Best Iranian Realtors in Montreal, leave the job of buying and selling a house to them, and continue your life in this city safely.

The Best Iranian Realtors in Toronto

With a population of 2.7 million, Toronto is the most populous city in Canada, where you can see different cultures and languages.

This city hosts more than 100 different languages ​​and different cultures, among which you can see many Iranians.

If you have moved or immigrated to this city and are unfamiliar with the Canadian real estate market, be sure to consult with Iranian Realtors and get help from them. Iranian Realtors in Toronto, Canada are among the best in this market. You can find the best home for yourself and your family by Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in Toronto.

How to find the best Iranian Realtors in the USA and Canada? 

With access to the best facilities in today's advanced world, Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in Canada and the United States will no longer be difficult. You can have a list of the best Iranian Realtors in the United States and Canada at any place and at any time by visiting www.iranianrealtor.org and go to them to buy and sell a house.

News Code 164309

 

No evidence suggests 9/11 was a conspiracy

TEHRAN, Sep. 12 (MNA) – I have seen absolutely no credible evidence to suggest that the 11 September 2001 attacks were a result of any kind of conspiracy by the US governments or anyone outside of the Al-Qaeda network.

It was indeed a terrorist attack planned and carried about exclusively by Al-Qaeda.

There were major intelligence failures by the Bush administration that they have tried to cover up. There were also disingenuous efforts to try to blame the attacks on Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and other efforts to take advantage of the tragedy to advance Washington’s imperialist agenda in the Middle East. The insistence on portraying the efforts to counter the threat from Al-Qaeda as a US-led “war” rather than an international anti-crime effort allowed the U.S. government to dramatically increase military spending at the expense of needed domestic programs and dramatically extend the US military presence in the greater Middle East.

Al-Qaeda was largely driven out of Afghanistan by the end of 2001, but US troops remain in that country to this day.  The administration took advantage of the fear from the 2001 attacks to build up support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, despite the fact that Iraq had nothing to do with it, that Saddam was a strong opponent of Al-Qaeda, and the US invasion and occupation not only took attention away from fighting Al-Qaeda but created conditions for the dramatic growth of Salafist extremism in Iraq and elsewhere. Furthermore, the United States maintains close ties to Saudi Arabia despite the regime’s support for Salafist extremists, again underscoring the United States’ lack of seriousness is challenging such dangerous tendencies in the region.

First Time Published in Tehran Times

 

Who were main arms suppliers to Saddam in war against Iran

TEHRAN, Sep. 22 (MNA) – During the eight years of the Imposed War (1980-88) against Iran, many countries provided financial and military aid to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, with US, France, and Germany as major contributors.

The following is the list of the countries which aided Iraq during the (1980-88) Imposed War against Iran: 

The United States:

The United States was Saddam's most important encourager to attack Iran. With the fall of the imperial regime in Iran, the Americans had no more access to the vast oil resources of our country, and immediately after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, they started their hostile campaigns and attacks against Iran. The failed Tabas Military attack, the Nojeh coup, and dozens of other plots were some of the US government's anti-Iran moves at the time.

When the Americans failed in all these plots, they encouraged the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to attack Iran.

In the second year of the war, when the Islamic army ousted the occupying forces, the US government simultaneously launched four operations in support of Saddam and against Iran:

1) Operation Staunch: Diplomatic attempts to identify the entry points of weapons into Iran and prevent the shipment of military equipment to the country

2) Financial operations: Efforts to meet the financial needs of Iraq through American companies

3) Intelligence operations: Providing military information on Iran to Iraq

4) Anti-Iranian operations in international organizations: Condemnation of Iran in these organizations and preventing Iranian officials from conveying their rightful messages to other countries.

The Soviet Union:

A major part of the weapons Iraqis needed during the war was supplied by the Soviet Union. The country greatly assisted Saddam in the war by providing him with modern equipment and weapons.

The most advanced warplanes, helicopters, tanks, and other such equipment were delivered to Iraq by the Soviet Union during the eight-year war.

Russian military commanders also trained Iraqi commanders and taught them ways to counter the Iranian army and the best methods and tactics to attack Iran.

Europe:

France and Germany aided Iraq more than any other European country. Super Étendard carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft and laser missiles – one of the latest achievements of the French military industry – were provided to the Iraqi army. Due to their high cost, Super Étendard aircraft were leased to the Iraqi army so that Iraqi pilots could easily use them to bomb Iranian soldiers and cities.

When all this aid failed to save Saddam's defeated army, Germany rushed to Saddam's aid by sending chemical weapons, enabling Saddam to use 6,000 tons of chemical bombs against the Iranian people. Saddam's army killed 1,100 people in Sardasht and other parts of Iran and 5,000 others in Halabja using chemical weapons.

Italy and Belgium were other supporters of Iraq in the war against Iran by providing the country with advanced anti-tank missiles and helping Iraq build long-range artillery and strengthen other parts of its military.

Arab countries:

Home to the world's largest oil and gas resources, these Arab countries were Iraq's main financial and manpower aid.

These Arab countries also deployed war prisoners from Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia and the Persian Gulf Arab states to fight in the Iraqi army.

The airspace of these countries was also under the control of Iraq during the war, and Iraqi planes used their airspace to attack critical areas in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the southern provinces of our country.

Other countries:

Countries such as Brazil and Argentina, which were relatively advanced in the military industry at the time, supplied weapons to Iraq. Some others such as Latin American and African countries either lacked the ability to aid Iraq or were neutral, such as Turkey and Pakistan.

During the war, 50 countries directly supported Saddam. I will give just a few examples to better clarify the situation: At the beginning of the war, the United States said that it did not directly support Saddam, but Imam Khomeini (r.a.) said from the beginning that Saddam was a lunatic and a US pawn – a fact that became clear after the presence of US bases in Iraq and Egypt was revealed.

In Karbala 4 and 5 operations, the Soviet Union provided 150 tanks to Iraq; the French delivered their first long-range aircraft to Iraq, and the Germans provided Iraq with both chemical and nuclear weapons and technology. Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all contributed $80 billion to Saddam, while Iran had an annual budget of only $7 billion during the war. These figures clearly show our situation during the war and show that it was only through our resistance spirit and ceaseless efforts that we managed to stand against the enemy and win the war.   

The excerpt is taken and translated from the Islamic Development Organization Information Database, The Role of Countries in the Iraq-Iran War, Hossein Eslafi, 22 Sep. 2009.

News Code 163845

As rats swarm California cities, Gov. Newsom bans popular poison to protect wildlife

by Ryan Sabalow, The Sacramento Bee 
SEPTEMBER 30, 2020
  

Credit: AskJoanne/Wikipedia

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday that seeks to protect mountain lions and other wildlife from being poisoned by a popular form of pesticide.

The move raises questions about how the state will manage its growing urban rat population, which some experts say is surging due to the spread of homeless camps across California.

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1788, which bans, with few exceptions, the use of what are known as "second generation anticoagulant rodenticides" until state pesticide regulators develop plans to ensure they're not harmful to wildlife.

Just about every major environmental group supported the bill authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, a Santa Monica Democrat. They argued the toxins are being found in often lethal levels in birds of prey and predatory mammals, especially bobcats and mountain lions.

The toxins build up in their systems as the animals consume rodents that are dying from the poisons. Nine in every 10 dead mountain lions state scientists test have the toxins in their livers.

"By pulling these four highly toxic rat poisons from the hands of pest control operators, California is giving sensitive species like mountain lions a bit of a fighting chance," Debra Chase, chief executive of the Mountain Lion Foundation, said in a written statement..

Pest control companies, the California Chamber of Commerce, apartment management associations and other business groups opposed the bill. They say the poisons are critical to controlling a rat and mouse population that has exploded in some major California cities, often in low-income areas and around homeless camps that have poor sanitation and piles of trash.

In recent years, the megalopolis of Los Angeles County has seen skyrocketing cases of a rodent-borne disease called typhus.

State environment officials last year, meanwhile, faced a major public relations crisis when they announced they planned to set out the poisons to control rats that had taken over the Sacramento CalEPA building courtyard it shares with a daycare center's outdoor playground.

Environmental groups were furious, and in response, the state agreed to use another type of poison.

The building houses the Department of Pesticide Regulation, which in 2014 prohibited the use of the poisons to anyone but state-certified pest control operators.

Newsom signed the bill just weeks after the National Park Service announced that biologists in the Santa Monica Mountains had found a dead mountain lion and a dead bobcat that had been killed by the poisons.

The cougar was the sixth mountain lion wearing a GPS-tracking collar to die from the poisons in a years-long study in the region.

Rat poisons are part of the reason why state regulators are considering protecting Southern California and Central Coast cougars under the state's Endangered Species Act.

The bill provides some exceptions for the continued use of the poisons on farms, food storage and processing facilities, medical centers, or when needed to keep rodents like the non-native swamp rats called nutria from tearing up levees. A public health official also can order the poison set out to prevent or address a public health crisis.

Newsom's been an ardent supporter of the state's big cat population over the years. His father, Judge William Newsom, who died in 2018, was a founding board member of the Mountain Lion Foundation.

"My father was a naturalist and a strong advocate for the preservation of mountain lions, and I grew up loving these cats and caring about their well-being," Newsom said Tuesday in a press release. "He would be proud to know that California is taking action to protect mountain lion populations and other wildlife from the toxic effects of rodenticides."

 

Anglo-Saxon warlord found by detectorists could redraw map of post-Roman Britain

First burial of its kind in mid-Thames region suggests it was more important than previously thought

UNIVERSITY OF READING

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE REMAINS OF THE WARLORD. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF READING

Archaeologists have uncovered a warrior burial in Berkshire that could change historians' understanding of southern Britain in the early Anglo-Saxon era.

The burial, on a hilltop site near with commanding views over the surrounding Thames valley, must be of a high-status warlord from the 6th century AD, archaeologists from the University of Reading believe.

The 'Marlow Warlord' was a commanding, six-foot-tall man, buried alongside an array of expensive luxuries and weapons, including a sword in a decorated scabbard, spears, bronze and glass vessels, and other personal accoutrements.

The pagan burial had remained undiscovered and undisturbed for more than 1,400 years until two metal detectorists, Sue and Mick Washington came across the site in 2018.

Sue said: "On two earlier visits I had received a large signal from this area which appeared to be deep iron and most likely not to be of interest. However, the uncertainty preyed on my mind and on my next trip I just had to investigate, and this proved to be third time lucky!"

Sue, who along with other members of the Maidenhead Search Society metal detecting club had visited the site several times previously, initially unearthed two bronze bowls. Realising the age and significance of the find, she stopped digging and the Club, in line with best practice, registered this discovery with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. (PAS).

The PAS Finds Liaison Officer for Buckinghamshire undertook a targeted excavation to recover the very fragile bronze vessels and, in the process, recovered a pair of iron spearheads suggested that the context was likely to be an Anglo-Saxon grave.

Thanks to their actions, the bowls and spearheads were identified and conserved, and following Sue's generous donation, are soon to go on display at Buckinghamshire Museum in Aylesbury.

Recognising the importance of the burial and the need for more detailed archaeological investigation, a team led by the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading carried out a full survey and excavation in August 2020. The burial was at a very shallow depth, making the excavation crucial to protect it from farming activity.

Dr Gabor Thomas, a specialist in early medieval archaeology at the University of Reading, said: "We had expected to find some kind of Anglo-Saxon burial, but what we found exceeded all our expectations and provides new insights into this stretch of the Thames in the decades after the collapse of the Roman administration in Britain.

"This the first burial of its kind found in the mid-Thames basin, which is often overlooked in favour of the Upper Thames and London. It suggests that the people living in this region may have been more important than historians previously suspected.

"This guy would have been tall and robust compared to other men at the time, and would have been an imposing figure even today. The nature of his burial and the site with views overlooking the Thames suggest he was a respected leader of a local tribe and had probably been a formidable warrior in his own right."

The early Anglo-Saxon period was one of great change in England with significant levels of immigration from the continent and the formation of new identities and power structures in the vacuum created by the collapse of the Roman administration around 400 AD. Around a century later - the period in which the Marlow Warlord lived -England was occupied by local tribal groupings, some of which expanded into Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, such as Wessex, Mercia and Kent.

The region of the mid-Thames between London and Oxford was previously thought to be a 'borderland' in this region, with powerful tribal groups on each side. This new discovery suggests that the area may have hosted important groups of its own. It is likely that the area was later squeezed out or absorbed into the larger neighbouring proto-kingdoms of Kent, Wessex and Mercia.

A team involving archaeologists from the University of Reading and local volunteer groups carried out a two-week excavation of the site in August 2020 with the kind permission of the supportive landowner. This activity included geophysical survey, test excavations, and a full excavation of the grave site.

Found buried with the Marlow Warlord were a sword with an exceptionally well-preserved scabbard - making it one of the best-preserved sheathed swords known from the period -made of wood and leather with decorative bronze fittings, spears, bronze and glass vessels, dress-fittings, shears and other implements.

These objects are currently being conserved by Pieta Greaves of Drakon Heritage and Conservation. Further analysis of the human remains will be carried out at the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, to help determine the man's age, health, diet and geographical origins.

Michael Lewis, Head of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "This is a great example of archaeologists and metal-detectorists working together. Especially important is the fact that the finders stopped when they realised they had discovered something significant and called in archaeological assistance. By doing so they ensure much more could be learnt about this interesting burial."

Michael Lewis, Head of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "This is a great example of archaeologists and metal-detectorists working together. Especially important is the fact that the finders stopped when they realised they had discovered something significant and called in archaeological assistance. By doing so they ensure much more could be learnt about this interesting burial."

The team are now hoping to raise funds to pay for further conservation work, to allow some of the finds to go on display to the public at the Buckinghamshire Museum in 2021, when their newly refurbished permanent galleries re-open.

To donate, visit https://reading.hubbub.net/p/marlowwarlord

 

STOP THE BLEED training has saved lives from Sierra Leone to Connecticut

Participants retained knowledge from the course and demonstrated a willingness to help in a bleeding emergency according to two new studies

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

Research News

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VIDEO: STOP THE BLEED TRAINING HAS SAVED LIVES FROM SIERRA LEONE TO CONNECTICUT. view more 

CREDIT: AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

CHICAGO: The STOP THE BLEED® course teaches a skill with lifesaving potential that is easy to learn and globally relevant. Two studies presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2020 provide evidence that STOP THE BLEED® training is effective and has made a lifesaving difference around the world.

In one study, an hour-long STOP THE BLEED® course was taught to 121 nursing students at the Kabala Nursing School in rural Sierra Leone. After one year, a survey was administered to the participants to learn whether they encountered bleeding emergencies and whether they were able to administer bleeding control techniques. Seventy-six people responded to the survey, reporting a total of 190 encounters with life-threatening bleeding situations.

The most common injuries requiring a bleeding control intervention were motorcycle collisions (34 percent), knife wounds (19 percent), and car accidents (13 percent). Participants reported they most commonly used wound packing (41 percent), direct pressure (26 percent), and tourniquet application (20 percent). Because they were able to intervene, nearly all of the patients (94 percent) survived, with a majority (82 percent) reporting to the hospital for further medical care.

"People are getting basic medical knowledge, which is essential. With or without a medical background, they can apply this knowledge to save a life," said Samba Jalloh, MB, ChB, of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

In low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), access to health care can be sporadic and the burden of injury can be significant. The findings from this study provide evidence that STOP THE BLEED® training can be implemented in LMICs with sustained success in treating bleeding emergencies before a patient is able to be transported to a hospital.

"Here, there are a lot of risks. Transportation is not very safe, and hospitals can be far away from villages. Knowing how to stop the bleed is very important. People are using the skill to save lives," Dr. Jalloh said.

The researchers stressed that these findings demonstrate enormous lifesaving applicability of STOP THE BLEED® training in Sierra Leone. They noted that future studies should focus on the specifics of adapting bleeding control for use in other LMICs.

"With the efforts of Dr. Jalloh, the course became a mandatory component of house staff training in Freetown. Successful technique usage and course dissemination have encouraged us to think of ways to improve bleeding control training in the United States and abroad. These findings support further emphasis on lifesaving prehospital interventions and represent a great example of sustainable, bidirectional global surgical teamwork," said lead study author Vennila Padmanaban, MD, a surgical resident at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark.

In another study from researchers in Connecticut, STOP THE BLEED® course attendees demonstrated a strong proficiency of bleeding control knowledge after one year, and course participants, including previously untrained attendees, reported successfully applying hemorrhage control techniques to save lives.

"In our study, we had people as young as 14 and as old as 64 report that they used bleeding control skills. Eight of these people had not undergone any previous training in bleeding control and seven of the people who used the skills did not work as a first responder or in a health care setting," said lead study author Jeremy Fridling, a fourth-year medical student at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, North Haven, Conn.

The researchers tracked 1,030 STOP THE BLEED® course attendees, administering surveys before and after the course, as well as six and twelve months later. Of the respondents, 31 participants (8.4 percent) applied bleeding control skills to live victims, with 29 (93.5 percent) reporting a successful outcome.

In the post-course surveys, the average response was between "agree" and "strongly agree" for confidence in knowledge and skills. Notably, the average response (on a 1-5 scale) significantly increased from pre (4.1) to post (4.6), six-month (4.4), and twelve-month (4.5) for willingness to treat a victim with serious bleeding.

"This study is a validation that regular, ordinary people--if you train them and give them a chance and empower them to do a public good and stop bleeding--can stop bleeding with a successful outcome," said study coauthor Lenworth Jacobs, MD, MPH, FACS, professor of surgery, University of Connecticut, and Medical Director, ACS STOP THE BLEED® program.

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Coauthors of the Sierra Leone study are Vennila Padmanaban, MD; Umaru Barrie, BS; Jeremy Badach, MD; Peter Johnston, MD; Wei Wei Zhang, MD; and Ziad C. Sifri, MD, FACS.

Mr. Fridling and Dr. Jacobs' coauthor of the Connecticut study is Richard Feinn, PhD.

"FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Citation: Bleeding Control Training in West Africa: One Year of Encounters, Interventions and Outcomes. Scientific Forum. American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2020.

Citation: Lives Saved and Public Empowerment One Year Following Bleeding Control Training. Scientific Forum. American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2020.

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 82,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit http://www.facs.org.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for

 

AI predicts patients at highest risk for severe pain, increased opioid use post-surgery

Model helps guide anesthesia approaches to limit opioid exposure

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS

Research News

CHICAGO - Artificial intelligence (AI) used in machine learning models can predict which patients are at highest risk for severe pain after surgery, and help determine who would most benefit from personalized pain management plans that use non-opioid alternatives, suggests new research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2020 annual meeting.

Some patients experience more severe pain after surgery and need higher doses of opioids for longer periods of time, which increases their risk for opioid abuse disorder. By knowing which patients are at higher risk for severe post-surgical pain, physician anesthesiologists can create an anesthesia plan using non-opioid alternatives - such as nerve blocks, epidurals and other medications - to more effectively address pain and reduce the need for opioids.

Currently physicians use time-consuming questionnaires to identify patients at higher risk for severe post-surgical pain, asking about their history of anxiety, sleep quality and depression. In this study, researchers sought a faster, more effective method using machine learning, where a system learns and evolves based on data it is provided. They created three machine learning models that analyzed patients' electronic medical records, which identified that younger age, higher body mass index, female gender, pre-existing pain and prior opioid use were the most predictive factors of post-surgical pain.

"We plan to integrate the models with our electronic medical records to provide a prediction of post-surgical pain for each patient," said Mieke A. Soens, M.D., lead author of the study and an anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and anesthesiology instructor at Harvard Medical School, Boston. "If the patient is determined to be at high risk for severe post-surgical pain, the physician anesthesiologist can then adjust the patient's anesthesia plan to maximize non-opioid pain management strategies that would reduce the need for opioids after surgery."

In the two-part study, researchers looked at data from 5,944 patients who had a wide variety of surgeries, including gallbladder removal, hysterectomy, hip replacement and prostate surgery. Of those, 1,287 (22%) had consumed 90 morphine milligram equivalent (MME) in the first 24 hours after surgery, which is considered a high dose. In the first part of the study, they used 163 potential factors to predict high pain post-surgery, based on a literature search and consultation with experts. From there they created three machine learning algorithm models (logistical regression, random forest and artificial neural networks) that mined the patients' medical records and whittled the 163 predictor factors down to those which most accurately predicted patients' pain severity and potential opioid needs after surgery.

In the second part, they compared what the models predicted to actual opioid use in those same patients. They determined all three models had similar predictive accuracy overall: 81% for logistical regression and random forest methods and 80% for artificial neural networks. That means the models accurately identified which people were more likely to have severe pain and need higher doses of opioids about 80% of the time.

"Electronic medical records are a valuable and underused source of patient data and can be employed effectively to enhance patients' lives," said Dr. Soens. "Selectively identifying patients who typically need high doses of opioids after surgery is important to help reduce opioid misuse."

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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS

Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 54,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care every patient deserves.

For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/WhenSecondsCount. Join the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2020 social conversation today. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on Twitter and use the hashtag #ANES20.

 

How the brain helps us navigate social differences

Our brain responds differently if we talk to a person of a different socioeconomic background from our own compared to when we speak to someone whose background is similar, according to a new imaging study by UCL and Yale researchers.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Research News

 

Our brain responds differently if we talk to a person of a different socioeconomic background from our own compared to when we speak to someone whose background is similar, according to a new imaging study by UCL and Yale researchers.

In the study, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 39 pairs of participants had a conversation with each other while wearing headsets that tracked brain activity.

Researchers found that, among pairs of people who had very different socioeconomic backgrounds - calculated according to education level and family income - there was a higher level of activity in an area of the frontal lobe called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The area is associated with speech production and rule-based language as well as cognitive and attentional control.

The findings support previous research suggesting that frontal lobe systems play a role in detecting bias and helping us to regulate our behaviour to avoid bias expression. The increased activity in the left frontal lobe was observed in both participants and was more alike than the brain responses of participants talking to someone of a similar background.

In a questionnaire following their task, participants paired with people of different backgrounds reported a slightly higher level of anxiety and effort during their conversation than those in similar-background pairs.

Professor Joy Hirsch (UCL Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering and Yale) said: "For the first time, we have identified the neural mechanisms involved in social interactions between people of different backgrounds.

"I believe our findings offer a hopeful message. We know that humans can have positive social encounters with others who are different. Now we have the neurobiological basis - our brains have apparently developed a frontal lobe system that helps us deal with diversity."

Participants' brain activity was tracked using a new technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which monitors blood flow and blood oxygenation by measuring changes in near-infrared light and involves wearing only a light headset. Previous studies have involved using MRI scans, which require patients to lie down and keep still, making conversation difficult.

The conversation task lasted for 12 minutes and involved participants being randomly assigned four subjects on themes such as "What did you do last summer?" and "How do you bake a cake?"

After their conversation task, participants were asked about the level of education they had completed and their parents' annual income and given a score based on these details. Pairs of participants were classified as either "high-disparity" or "low-disparity" depending on how different their scores were.

The two groups - different-background pairs and similar-background pairs - were matched in terms of age, race and gender, minimising the impact of these variables on the results. The participants were recruited from Yale's home city of New Haven in Connecticut, both from within the campus and beyond. They ranged in age from 19 to 44 and had a wide variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.

Lead author Olivia Descorbeth, a Yale University graduate who came up with the research proposal while still at school, said: "We wanted to know if the brain responded differently when we talked to others of a different socioeconomic background. Now we know that it does and that humans have a neurobiology that helps us navigate social differences."

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Senior author Professor Hirsch's joint appointment between UCL and Yale is made possible by the Yale-UCL Collaborative, an agreement that promotes joint research and enables teaching to be shared between the two institutions.

The study received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, of the US National Institutes of Health.