It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Real "doodles of light" in real-time mark leap for holograms at home
Fast line-based algorithm turns hand-writing into holograms using standard CPUs
VIDEO: HANDWRITING ON A TABLET IS CONVERTED INTO 3D IMAGES IN REAL-TIME USING A STANDARD DESKTOP PC. view more
CREDIT: TOKYO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have devised and implemented a simplified algorithm for turning freely drawn lines into holograms on a standard desktop CPU. They dramatically cut down the computational cost and power consumption of algorithms that require dedicated hardware. It is fast enough to convert writing into lines in real-time, and makes crisp, clear images that meet industry standards. Potential applications include hand-written remote instructions superimposed on landscapes and workbenches.
Flying cars, robots, spaceships...whatever sci-fi future you can imagine, there is always a common feature: holograms. But holography isn't just about aesthetics. Its potential applications include important enhancements to vital, practical tasks, like remote instructions for surgical procedures, electronic assembly on circuit boards, or directions projected on landscapes for navigation. Making holograms available in a wide range of settings is vital to bringing this technology out of the lab and into our daily lives.
One of the major drawbacks of this state-of-the-art technology is the computational load of hologram generation. The kind of quality we've come to expect in our 2D displays is prohibitive in 3D, requiring supercomputing levels of number crunching to achieve. There is also the issue of power consumption. More widely available hardware like GPUs in gaming rigs might be able to overcome some of these issues with raw power, but the amount of electricity they use is a major impediment to mobile applications. Despite improvements to available hardware, the solution is not something we can expect from brute-force.
A key solution is to limit the kind of images that are projected. Now, a team led by Assistant Professor Takashi Nishitsuji have proposed and implemented a solution with unprecedented performance. They specifically chose to exclusively draw lines in 3D space. Though this may sound drastic at first, the number of things you can do is still impressive. In a particularly elegant implementation, they connected a tablet to a PC and conventional hologram generation hardware i.e. a laser and a spatial light modulator. Their algorithm is fast enough that handwriting on the tablet could be converted to images in the air in real-time. The PC they used was a standard desktop with no GPU, significantly expanding where it might be implemented. Though the images were slightly inferior in quality to other, more computationally intensive methods, the sharpness of the writing comfortably met industry standards.
All this means that holograms might soon be arriving in our homes or workplaces. The team is especially focused on implementations in heads-up displays (HUDs) in helmets and cars, where navigation instructions might be displayed on the landscape instead of voice instructions or distracting screens. The light computational load of the algorithm significantly expands the horizons for this promising technology; that sci-fi "future" might not be the future for much longer.
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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (20K19810, 19H01097), the Inoue Foundation for Science, the Takayanagi Kenjiro Foundation and Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (12ZQ220N, VS07820N).
Christmas Island reptile-killer identified
Bacterium responsible for deaths of critically endangered species
IMAGE: ONE OF THE AUSTRALIAN-NATIVE, CRITICALLY ENDANGERED LIZARD SPECIES: LISTER'S GECKO. view more
CREDIT: PARKS AUSTRALIA.
Native reptile populations on Christmas Island have been in severe decline with two species, Lister's gecko and the blue-tailed skink, entirely disappearing from the wild. While previously the main driver for this decline is likely predation by invasive species and habitat destruction, a silent killer is now threatening to wipe the species out entirely.
Those bred in captivity on the Australian Territory in the Indian Ocean have also been mysteriously dying, leaving the two species - which number only around 1000 each - in danger of extinction. Veterinary scientists from the University of Sydney, the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia have now discovered the cause of these deaths: a bacterium, Enterococcus lacertideformus (E. lacertideformus).
The bacterium was discovered in 2014 after captive reptiles presented with facial deformities and lethargy, and some even died. Samples were collected and analysed using microscopy and genetic testing.
The researchers' findings, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, will inform antibiotic trials on the reptiles to see if the infection can be treated.
The bacterium grows in the animal's head, then in its internal organs, before eventually causing death. It can be spread by direct contact - including through reptiles' mouths, or via reptiles biting one another - often during breeding season fights.
"This means that healthy captive animals need to be kept apart from infected ones and should also be kept away from areas where infected animals have been," said Jessica Agius, co-lead researcher and PhD candidate in the Sydney School of Veterinary Science.
CAPTION
Infected gecko displaying severe head and facial swelling associated with Enterococcus lacertideformus infection.
CREDIT
Jessica Agius.
Ms Agius and the research team not only identified the bacterium, they decoded its genetic structure using whole genome sequencing.
Specific genes were identified that are likely to be associated with the bacterium's ability to infect its host, invade its tissues and avoid the immune system.
"We also found that the bacterium can surround itself with a biofilm - a 'community of bacteria' that can help it survive," Ms Agius said.
"Understanding how E. lacertideformus produces and maintains the biofilm may provide insights on how to treat other species of biofilm-forming bacteria."
The search of the genetic code suggested that the killer bacterium was susceptible to most antibiotics.
Professor David Phalen, research co-lead and Ms Agius' PhD supervisor, said: "This suggests that infected animals might be successfully treated. That's what we need to determine now."
In another effort to protect the endangered reptiles on Christmas Island, a population of blue-tailed skinks has been established on the Cocos Islands. Ms Agius played a critical role in the translocation, testing reptiles on the Cocos Islands to make sure that they were free of E. lacertideformus.
"It's critical we act now to ensure these native reptiles survive," Ms Agius said.
CAPTION
PhD researcher Jessica Agius spotlighting critically endangered lizards in the field on Christmas Island to find out if they are infected with Enterococcus lacertideformus.
Researchers from Columbia University and Temple University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines how choice architecture can reduce socioeconomic disparities.
The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Do Nudges Reduce Disparities? Choice Architecture Compensates for Low Consumer Knowledge" and is authored by Kellen Mrkva, Nathaniel Posner, Crystal Reeck, and Eric Johnson.
As Mrkva explains, "Our research demonstrates that people with low socioeconomic status (SES), low numerical ability, and low knowledge are most impacted by nudges. As a result, 'good nudges,' designed to encourage selection of options that are in people's best interests, reduce SES disparities, helping low-SES people more than high-SES people." On the other hand, nudges that encourage selection of inferior options exacerbate disparities relative to "good nudges" because low-SES consumers are more likely to retain inferior default options. In other words, nudges are a double-edged sword that can either reduce disparities or make matters worse because they impact low-SES people most. The research team generalized its findings across three different types of nudges, several different consumer decision contexts, and real retirement decisions.
This research has major implications, including for the COVID vaccination process. Across the country, millions of people are now eligible to get a COVID vaccine. However, the signup process is often unnecessarily complex. New York's nycHealthy sign-up portal, for example, includes as many as 51 questions and requests that you upload your insurance card. As a result, many people, especially the elderly, poor, and less digitally literate, have struggled or failed to make an appointment. As Johnson explains, "Our research suggests that making beneficial behaviors like vaccination simpler has a crucial and underappreciated advantage--it reduces socioeconomic disparities. On the other hand, when these behaviors are unnecessarily complex, it is typically low-SES consumers who are harmed the most."
In five experiments as well as data from real retirement decisions, the researchers show that people who are lower in SES, domain knowledge, and numeracy are impacted more by a variety of nudges. As a result, "good nudges" that facilitate selection of welfare-enhancing options reduce disparities by helping low-SES, low-knowledge, and low-numeracy consumers most.
In Study 1, participants made five consumer financial decisions. For each decision, they were randomly assigned to a "no default," "good default," or "bad default" condition (the latter two pre-selected correct or incorrect options, respectively). After they made these five decisions, participants completed common measures of the three hypothesized moderators--financial literacy, numeracy, and socioeconomic status. As predicted, there was a large default effect. There were also interactions between the default condition and the three moderators; participants lower in these moderators were more impacted by defaults. These effects remained significant when adding survey engagement, comprehension, need for cognition, agreeableness, decision time, and their interactions with condition to the model as covariates.
Study 2 examines whether these effects generalized across three different types of nudges and three decision contexts. It replicated the SES and financial literacy effects of Study 1 across all nudges and contexts. Unlike Study 1 and all subsequent studies, the nudge x numeracy interaction was not significant. The key effects remained significant when controlling for a measure of fluid intelligence.
Study 3 uses syndicated data from stratified random samples of American households about their retirement investment decisions to examine a sample of people who work for companies that use defaults to automatically enroll employees into retirement contributions. Respondents reported whether they retained or opted out of the default contribution amount and default investment allocation. Evidence supports that lower-SES and less financially literate people are more impacted by nudges and thus less likely to opt out of these retirement defaults: Lower-SES participants were less likely to opt out as were participants with lower financial literacy.
Study 4 replicated these effects in the context of COVID-19 health decisions (e.g., deciding whether to wear a mask). Additionally, domain-specific health knowledge moderated default effects whereas other-domain knowledge did not. Studies 5-6 replicated the predicted moderators from Study 1 with incentives. Mediation models suggest that people with lower SES, domain knowledge, and numeracy were more impacted by nudges partly because they experience higher uncertainty and decision anxiety when making decisions.
Across the six studies, nudges influenced choice disparities across people. Posner summarizes the study by saying "Our results suggest that nudges that make behaviors such as retail purchases, vaccine sign-up, and retirement contributions more automatic can reduce socioeconomic inequities."
The Journal of Marketing develops and disseminates knowledge about real-world marketing questions useful to scholars, educators, managers, policy makers, consumers, and other societal stakeholders around the world. Published by the American Marketing Association since its founding in 1936, JM has played a significant role in shaping the content and boundaries of the marketing discipline. Christine Moorman (T. Austin Finch, Sr. Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University) serves as the current Editor in Chief. https://www.ama.org/jm
About the American Marketing Association (AMA)
As the largest chapter-based marketing association in the world, the AMA is trusted by marketing and sales professionals to help them discover what is coming next in the industry. The AMA has a community of local chapters in more than 70 cities and 350 college campuses throughout North America. The AMA is home to award-winning content, PCM® professional certification, premiere academic journals, and industry-leading training events and conferences. https://www.ama.org
How our microplastic waste becomes 'hubs' for pathogens, antibiotic-resistant bacteria
A new study shows how microplastics found in our daily personal care products can also host pathogens and boost antibiotic-resistant bacteria by up to 30 times once they wash down household drains and enter municipal wastewater treatment plants
IMAGE: A SINGLE USE OF A FACIAL EXFOLIATOR CAN RELEASE 5,000 -100,000 MICROPLASTICS TO THE ENVIRONMENT. view more
CREDIT: NJIT
It's estimated that an average-sized wastewater treatment plant serving roughly 400,000 residents will discharge up to 2,000,000 microplastic particles into the environment each day. Yet, researchers are still learning the environmental and human health impact of these ultra-fine plastic particles, less than 5 millimeters in length, found in everything from cosmetics, toothpaste and clothing microfibers, to our food, air and drinking water.
Now, researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology have shown that ubiquitous microplastics can become 'hubs' for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens to grow once they wash down household drains and enter wastewater treatment plants -- forming a slimy layer of buildup, or biofilm, on their surface that allows pathogenic microorganisms and antibiotic waste to attach and comingle.
In findings published in Elsevier's Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, researchers found certain strains of bacteria elevated antibiotic resistance by up to 30 times while living on microplastic biofilms that can form inside activated sludge units at municipal wastewater treatment plants.
"A number of recent studies have focused on the negative impacts that millions of tons of microplastic waste a year is having on our freshwater and ocean environments, but until now the role of microplastics in our towns' and cities' wastewater treatment processes has largely been unknown," said Mengyan Li, associate professor of chemistry and environmental science at NJIT and the study's corresponding author. "These wastewater treatment plants can be hotspots where various chemicals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens converge and what our study shows is that microplastics can serve as their carriers, posing imminent risks to aquatic biota and human health if they bypass the water treatment process."
"Most wastewater treatment plants are not designed for the removal of microplastics, so they are constantly being released into the receiving environment," added Dung Ngoc Pham, NJIT Ph.D. candidate and first author of the study. "Our goal was to investigate whether or not microplastics are enriching antibiotic-resistant bacteria from activated sludge at municipal wastewater treatment plants, and if so, learn more about the microbial communities involved."
In their study, the team collected batches of sludge samples from three domestic wastewater treatment plants in northern New Jersey, inoculating the samples in the lab with two widespread commercial microplastics -- polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS). The team used a combination of quantitative PCR and next-generation sequencing techniques to identify the species of bacteria that tend to grow on the microplastics, tracking genetic changes of the bacteria along the way.
The analysis revealed that three genes in particular -- sul1, sul2 and intI1-- known to aid resistance to common antibiotics, sulfonamides, were found to be up to 30 times greater on the microplastic biofilms than in the lab's control tests using sand biofilms after just three days.
When the team spiked the samples with the antibiotic, sulfamethoxazole (SMX), they found it further amplified the antibiotic resistance genes by up to 4.5-fold.
"Previously, we thought the presence of antibiotics would be necessary to enhance antibiotic-resistance genes in these microplastic-associated bacteria, but it seems microplastics can naturally allow for uptake of these resistance genes on their own." said Pham. "The presence of antibiotics does have a significant multiplier effect however."
Eight different species of bacteria were found highly enriched on the microplastics. Among these species, the team observed two emerging human pathogens typically linked with respiratory infection, Raoultella ornithinolytica and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, frequently hitchhiking on the microplastic biofilms.
The team say the most common strain found on the microplastics by far, Novosphingobium pokkalii, is likely a key initiator in forming the sticky biofilm that attracts such pathogens -- as it proliferates it may contribute to the deterioration of the plastic and expand the biofilm. At the same time, the team's study highlighted the role of the gene, intI1, a mobile genetic element chiefly responsible for enabling the exchange of antibiotic resistance genes among the microplastic-bound microbes.
"We might think of microplastics as tiny beads, but they provide an enormous surface area for microbes to reside," explained Li. "When these microplastics enter the wastewater treatment plant and mix in with sludge, bacteria like Novosphingobium can accidentally attach to the surface and secrete glue-like extracellular substances. As other bacteria attach to the surface and grow, they can even swap DNA with each other. This is how the antibiotic resistance genes are being spread among the community."
"We have evidence that the bacteria developed resistance to other antibiotics this way as well, such as aminoglycoside, beta-lactam and trimethoprim," added Pham.
Now, Li says the lab is further studying the role of Novosphingobium in biofilm formation on microplastics. The team is also seeking to better understand the extent to which such pathogen-carrying microplastics may be bypassing water treatment processes, by studying resistance of microplastic biofilms during wastewater treatment with disinfectants such as UV light and chlorine.
"Some states are already considering new regulations on the use of microplastics in consumer products. This study raises calls for further investigation on microplastic biofilms in our wastewater systems and development of effective means for removing microplastics in aquatic environments," said Li.
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Tropical species are moving northward in U.S. as winters warm
Insects, reptiles, fish and plants migrating north as winter freezes in South become less frequent
IMAGE: A MONARCH BUTTERFLY CATERPILLAR. MONARCHS ARE INTOLERANT OF FREEZING WEATHER, AND TYPICALLY OVERWINTERED IN MEXICO. THEY NOW ARE OVERWINTERING IN CALIFORNIA, THANKS TO MILDER WINTER TEMPERATURES. view more
CREDIT: NOAH WHITEMAN, UC BERKELEY
Notwithstanding last month's cold snap in Texas and Louisiana, climate change is leading to warmer winter weather throughout the southern U.S., creating a golden opportunity for many tropical plants and animals to move north, according to a new study appearing this week in the journal Global Change Biology.
Some of these species may be welcomed, such as sea turtles and the Florida manatee, which are expanding their ranges northward along the Atlantic Coast. Others, like the invasive Burmese python -- in the Florida Everglades, the largest measured 18 feet, end-to-end --maybe less so.
Equally unwelcome, and among the quickest to spread into warming areas, are the insects, including mosquitoes that carry diseases such as West Nile virus, Zika, dengue and yellow fever, and beetles that destroy native trees.
"Quite a few mosquito species are expanding northward, as well as a lot of forestry pests: bark beetles, the southern mountain pine beetle," said Caroline Williams, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a co-author of the paper. "In our study, we were really focusing on that boundary in the U.S. where we get that quick tropical-temperate transition. Changes in winter conditions are one of the major, if not the major, drivers of shifting distributions."
That transition zone, northward of which freezes occur every winter, has always been a barrier to species that evolved in more stable temperatures, said Williams, who specializes in insect metabolism -- in particular, how winter freezes and snow affect the survival of species.
"For the vast majority of organisms, if they freeze, they die," she said. "Cold snaps like the recent one in Texas might not happen for 30 or 50 or even 100 years, and then you see these widespread mortality events where tropical species that have been creeping northward are suddenly knocked back. But as the return times become longer and longer for these extreme cold events, it enables tropical species to get more and more of a foothold, and even maybe for populations to adapt in situ to allow them to tolerate more cold extremes in the future."
The study, conducted by a team of 16 scientists led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), focused on the effects warming winters will have on the movement of a broad range of cold-sensitive tropical plants and animals into the Southern U.S., especially into the eight subtropical U.S. mainland states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Williams and Katie Marshall of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver co-wrote the section on insects for the study.
The team found that a number of tropical species, including insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, grasses, shrubs and trees, are enlarging their ranges to the north. Among them are species native to the U.S., such as mangroves, which are tropical salt-tolerant trees; and snook, a warm water coastal sport fish; and invasive species such as Burmese pythons, Cuban tree frogs, Brazilian pepper trees and buffelgrass.
"We don't expect it to be a continuous process," said USGS research ecologist Michael Osland, the study's lead author. "There's going to be northward expansion, then contraction with extreme cold events, like the one that just occurred in Texas, and then movement again. But by the end of this century, we are expecting tropicalization to occur.
CAPTION
A map showing North America's tropical-to-temperate transition zone. Red, orange and yellow depict the more tropical zones, and blues depict the more temperate zones, based on the coldest recorded temperature for each area between 1980 and 2009. Photos show some cold-sensitive plants and animals with northern range limits governed by winter cold temperature extremes.
CREDIT
USGS
The authors document several decades' worth of changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme cold snaps in San Francisco, Tucson, New Orleans and Tampa - all cities with temperature records stretching back to at least 1948. In each city, they found, mean winter temperatures have risen over time, winter's coldest temperatures have gotten warmer, and there are fewer days each winter when the mercury falls below freezing.
Temperature records from San Francisco International Airport, for example, show that before 1980, each winter would typically see several sub-freezing days. For the past 20 years, there has been only one day with sub-freezing temperatures.
Changes already underway or anticipated in the home ranges of 22 plant and animal species from California to Florida include:
Continuing displacement of temperate salt marsh plants by cold-sensitive mangrove forests along the Gulf and southern Atlantic coasts. While this encroachment has been happening over the last 30 years, with sea-level rise, mangroves may also move inland, displacing temperate and freshwater forests.
Buffelgrass and other annual grasses moving into Southwestern deserts, fueling wildfire in native plant communities that have not evolved in conjunction with frequent fire.
The likelihood that tropical mosquitos that can transmit encephalitis, West Nile virus and other diseases will further expand their ranges, putting millions of people and wildlife species at risk of these diseases.
Probable northward movement, with warming winters, of the southern pine beetle, a pest that can damage commercially valuable pine forests in the Southeast.
Recreational and commercial fisheries' disruption by changing migration patterns and the northward movement of coastal fishes.
The changes are expected to result in some temperate zone plant and animal communities found today across the southern U.S. being replaced by tropical communities.
"Unfortunately, the general story is that the species that are going to do really well are the more generalist species -- their host plants or food sources are quite varied or widely distributed, and they have relatively wide thermal tolerance, so they can tolerate a wide range of conditions," Williams said. "And, by definition, these tend to be the pest species -- that is why they are pests: They are adaptable, widespread and relatively unbothered by changes in conditions, whereas, the more specialized or boutique species are tending to decline as they get displaced from their relatively narrow niche."
She cautioned that insect populations overall are falling worldwide.
"We are seeing an alarming decrease in total numbers in natural areas, managed areas, national parks, tropical rain forests -- globally," she said. " So, although we are seeing some widespread pest species increasing, the overall pattern is that insects are declining extremely rapidly."
The authors suggest in-depth laboratory studies to learn how tropical species can adapt to extreme conditions and modeling to show how lengthening intervals between cold snaps will affect plant and animal communities.
"On a hopeful note, it is not that we are heading for extinction of absolutely everything, but we need to prepare for widespread shifts in the distribution of biodiversity as climate, including winter climate, changes," Williams said. "The actions that we take over the next 20 years are going to be critical in determining our trajectory. In addition to obvious shifts, like reducing our carbon footprint, we need to protect and restore habitat for insects. Individuals can create habitat in their own backyards for insects by cultivating native plants that support pollinators and other native insects. Those are little things that people can do and that can be important in providing corridors for species to move through our very fragmented habitats."
COVID-19 transmission rare in schools with masking, distancing, contact tracing
Safe, in-person learning focus of CDC collaboration
In-school COVID-19 transmission is rare - even among close school contacts of those who test positive for the virus - when schools heed public health precautions such as mandatory masking, social distancing and frequent hand-washing, according to results of a pilot study in Missouri aimed at identifying ways to keep elementary and secondary schools open and safe during the pandemic. A close contact is anyone who has been within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period with someone infected with COVID-19.
The study is part of a larger, ongoing collaboration involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Saint Louis University, the Springfield-Greene and St. Louis County health departments, and school districts in the St. Louis and Springfield, Mo., areas.
The findings are published March 19 in the CDC's journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The Missouri school findings mirror those of schools in other states, demonstrating that COVID-19 prevention efforts can significantly curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among students, teachers and staff.
"This work is imperative because keeping kids in school provides not only educational enrichment but also social, psychological and emotional health benefits, particularly for students who rely on school-based services for nutritional, physical and mental health support," said senior author Johanna S. Salzer, DVM, PhD, a veterinary medical officer with the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
The pilot study involved 57 schools in the Pattonville School District in St. Louis County and the Springfield Public School District in Greene County in southwest Missouri, as well as two private schools in St. Louis County. All schools in the pilot study required students, teachers, staff and visitors to wear masks while on campus or buses.
Other safety measures included a focus on hand hygiene, deep cleaning of facilities, physical distancing in classrooms, daily symptom screenings for COVID-19, installing physical barriers between teachers and students, offering virtual learning options, and increasing ventilation.
For two weeks in December, the schools involved in the pilot project notified the research team of students, teachers and staff who were either infected with COVID-19 or quarantined due to being considered a close contact of someone who had tested positive. In St. Louis, close contacts of students or teachers who had tested positive were placed in quarantine, meaning they were not to leave their homes for 14 days from when last exposed to a positive case. In Springfield, however, some of the close contacts of those who had tested positive were placed in modified quarantine - meaning they could stay in school if they and the infected person were wearing masks when in close contact; in this scenario, the infected person still isolated at home.
Participants in the pilot study included 193 persons across 22 of the 57 schools -- 37 who tested positive for COVID-19 and 156 of their close contacts. Among participants who were COVID-19 positive, 24 (65%) were students, and 13 (35%) were teachers or staff members. Of the close contacts, 137 (88%) were students, and 19 (12%) were teachers or staff members.
Among the 102 close contacts who agreed to testing for COVID-19 using saliva tests, only two people received positive test results indicating probable school-based SARS-CoV-2 secondary transmission. Further, no outbreaks were identified in participating schools despite the high rates of community spread in December, even among the Springfield schools that followed modified quarantine protocols allowing some close contacts of positive individuals to remain in school.
"Schools can operate safely during a pandemic when prevention strategies are followed," said one of the study's leading researchers, Jason Newland, MD, a Washington University professor of pediatrics, who treats patients at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Newland led the pilot program with the CDC and has advised multiple school districts in Missouri on plans for reopening schools. "The pilot study demonstrates low transmission in schools and no student-to-teacher transmission -- and this was during the height of the pandemic in December, with high rates of community spread."
Added Randall Williams, MD, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: "Schools with proper prevention strategies remain a safe environment for students and teachers during the pandemic."
Since mid-January, the CDC, Washington University and Saint Louis University researchers, and the St. Louis County and Springfield-Greene County health departments, along with three school districts from St. Louis County, and three school districts in Greene County have been participating in a larger study to further examine the COVID-19 prevention strategies and quarantine policies. The St. Louis County school districts involved are Rockwood, Pattonville and University City; the Greene County school districts involved are Springfield, Republic and Logan-Rogersville.
In addition, the researchers are going into classrooms to measure the distances between desks to evaluate whether the 6-foot social distancing rule can be relaxed in school settings. They're also sending surveys to parents, teachers and staff to assess the stress and mental health challenges surrounding quarantine. In Springfield, the researchers are continuing to study modified quarantine policies.
"We are pleased to continue to work on this joint project with the CDC, Washington University, and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department," said Jean Grabeel, director of health services for Springfield Public Schools. "The initial results helped verify that our mitigation strategies have been successful in the school setting. This continued work will help to further guide the full-time return of students to in-person learning, five days a week, in a safe manner. We deeply appreciate this unique opportunity to collaborate on such a meaningful, impactful project."
Added Mark T. Miles, PhD, superintendent of the Rockwood School District, the largest school system in St. Louis County and one of the largest in the state, with 22,268 students: "I am grateful for Rockwood's opportunity to participate in this collaboration. We all share the same priority: keeping schools safe for students, teachers and staff as well as the community at large."
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Dawson P, Worrell MC, Orscheln RC, Williams RW, Newland JG, Salzer JS et al and the COVID-19 Surge Laboratory Group. Pilot investigation of SARS-CoV-2 secondary transmission in Kindergarten through Grade 12 schools implementing mitigation strategies - St. Louis County and City of Springfield, Missouri, December 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. March 19, 2021.
Washington University School of Medicine's 1,500 faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is a leader in medical research, teaching and patient care, ranking among the top 10 medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
DALLAS, March 19, 2021 -- Mechanical removal of blood clots causing a stroke is increasing, yet racial differences in treatment persist, according to late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2021. The virtual meeting is March 17-19, 2021 and is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health.
Mechanical clot-removal or endovascular therapy is a non-surgical treatment that uses tiny tubes, or catheters, to remove a blood clot. In 2015, several major clinical trials confirmed that endovascular therapy effectively treated stroke caused by a blockage in a large blood vessel (ischemic stroke). In 2018, the American Heart Association's stroke treatment guidelines were updated to recommend endovascular therapy to improve the odds that certain stroke patients could have functional recovery. However, previous research has indicated members of some under-represented racial/ethnic groups are less likely to receive recommended treatments such as endovascular therapy.
This study compared the use of endovascular therapy and post-stroke recovery among patients of different races/ethnicities before and after 2015. Between April 2012 and June 2019, investigators also reviewed data in the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke program, which includes a large, database of information about stroke treatment at hospitals across the U.S. Since 2003, over 2,000 hospitals have entered more than 5 million patient records into the program's database.
Researchers found:
Overall, 14% of 302,965 potentially eligible patients received endovascular therapy and, in all groups, endovascular therapy increased over the course of the study.
However, Black patients were 32% less likely to receive endovascular therapy before 2015 and still 17% less likely to receive it after 2015 when compared to non-Hispanic white patients.
Differences also emerged related to stroke recovery. In terms of short-term outcomes, patients from under-represented racial and ethnic groups fared better than non-Hispanic white patients. In addition, Black, Hispanic and Asian patients were more likely to return home and less likely to die while hospitalized or to be discharged to hospice care.
Three months later, however, Black patients were 16% less likely and Asian patients were 30% less likely to be able to function independently, compared to non-Hispanic white patients.
"It is reassuring that the treatment gap for Black patients has narrowed since 2015, yet it remains significant and is concerning. The most surprising finding was the discrepancy between short- and long-term outcomes in non-Hispanic white patients versus the patients in other race and ethnicity groups," said study lead author Faheem G. Sheriff, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Texas Tech University Health Science Center of El Paso, Texas. "There is a lot of work that remains in terms of figuring out the root causes for these differences and how best to improve equitable access and care for all patients."
Sheriff continued, "Once these root causes are identified, we can focus on formulating an action plan to reduce these differences, for both access to endovascular therapy and recovery afterwards, particularly post-discharge care."
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According to the American Heart Association's Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics -- 2021 Update, when considered separately from other cardiovascular disease, stroke ranks No. 5 among all causes of death in the U.S., causing 147,810 deaths in 2018. Stroke occurs when a blood vessel to or in the brain either becomes blocked or bursts, preventing blood and oxygen from reaching all of the brain. Treatment to quickly restore blood flow to the brain is essential to improve outcomes and survival.
To recognize stroke symptoms requiring immediate treatment, the American Stroke Association recommends everyone remember the acronym F.A.S.T. for face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 9-1-1. Fortunately, most strokes are preventable through healthy lifestyle choices: not smoking; eating healthy foods; being physically active; maintaining a healthy body weight; and controlling high blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure.
Co-authors are Haolin Xu, M.S.; Alberto Maud, M.D.; Vikas Gupta, M.B.B.S., M.S.; Anantha Vellipuram, M.D.; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D.; Roland A. Matsouaka, Ph.D.; Ying Xian, M.D.; Mathew Reeves, B.V.Sc., Ph.D.; Eric E. Smith, M.D., M.P.H.; Jeff Saver, M.D., Gustavo Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D.; Salvador Cruz-Flores, M.D., M.P.H.; and Lee H. Schwamm, M.D. The list of author disclosures is available in the abstract.
The study was funded by the Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke initiative of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Size and time impact outcomes when mechanical clot removal used for large core strokes Mechanical clot removal without clot busters may be sufficient stroke treatment Clot removal beyond normal treatment time, still improved quality of life after stroke
For more news at ASA International Stroke Conference 2021, follow us on Twitter @HeartNews #ISC21.
Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Association's scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association's policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers are available here, and the Association's overall financial information is available here.
The American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference (ISC) is the world's premier meeting dedicated to the science and treatment of cerebrovascular disease. ISC 2021 is virtual, March 17-19, 2021. This 3-day conference features more than 1,200 compelling presentations in 21 categories that emphasize basic, clinical and translational sciences as they evolve toward a better understanding of stroke pathophysiology with the goal of developing more effective therapies. Engage in the International Stroke Conference on social media via #ISC21.
About the American Stroke Association
The American Stroke Association is devoted to saving people from stroke -- the No. 2 cause of death in the world and a leading cause of serious disability. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat stroke. The Dallas-based association officially launched in 1998 as a division of the American Heart Association. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-888-4STROKE or visit stroke.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
