The Indus basin: Untapped potential for long-term energy storage

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

Research News

Hydropower has massive potential as a source of clean electricity, and the Indus basin can be a key player in fulfilling long-term energy storage demands across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. IIASA researchers explored the role the Indus basin could play to support global sustainable development.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the growth of hydropower plants worldwide is set to slow down this decade. This puts at risk the ambitions of countries across the globe aiming to reach net-zero emissions while ensuring reliable and affordable energy supplies for their citizens. Even so, there are thousands of dams planned to be built this next decade. New hydropower dams installed worldwide are forecasted to increase global hydroelectricity capacity from the current 1,200 gigawatt (GW) to around 1,700 GW. Many of these dams are being built in countries with emerging economies, such as those in the Balkan region, Ethiopia, and Pakistan. Hydropower is very important in reaching net zero goals, not only because of its ability to produce clean energy, but also because of its capabilities in terms of energy storage. The Indus basin, which stretches across parts of Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan, is one area with huge hydropower potential due to its high altitudes and large water availability.

According to Pakistan's State of Industry Report, 100% of Pakistan's hydropower already comes from the Indus basin, and much of the region's potential has yet to be tapped into. Additionally, an investigation into medium sized hydropower projects in Pakistan revealed that the Indus basin is the region with the largest and cheapest seasonal energy storage potential.

IIASA researchers explored the future of hydropower in the Indus region in a new paper published in the Journal of Energy Storage. They focused much of their research on the costs and benefits of hydropower, water storage, and long-term and short-term energy storage in the Indus Basin. They considered the potential and costs of conventional hydropower dams, as well as seasonal pumped hydropower storage. Unlike conventional dams, which are built in the cross sections of main rivers, seasonal pumped hydropower storage plants act as artificial reservoirs off the main river usually at higher altitudes with a built in power or pumping station that generates hydroelectric power or fills up the reservoir.

According to the researchers, many of the challenges faced in the Indus region regarding hydropower are due to larger water management issues. These issues stem from high population growth seen in the area coinciding with rapid urbanization, industrialization, environmental degradation, lack of water storage infrastructure, and outdated irrigation systems. The seasonality of the Indus region is something else the team had to consider. The Indus River deals with droughts in the winter and monsoon season, and melting snow and ice masses from the mountains in the summer. This considerably increases the flow of the river with many regular flooding events also occurring. Land changes from climate change and reduced groundwater levels further exacerbate flooding events and water scarcity.

To gather their data, the researchers used different models estimating power potentials as well as their corresponding costs. They incorporated five essential components: the physical features of the area, the river network and water flow data, infrastructure cost estimation, and project design optimization.

The researchers' models and analysis concluded that the Indus region has the potential to play a similar role in energy storage for Asia as the Alps does in Europe.

"We found that the levelized energy storage cost in the Indus region is US $1 per megawatt hour (MWh) for conventional hydropower and $2/MWh for seasonal pumped storage, which is the lowest cost long-term energy storage alternative in the world. Even cheaper than natural gas reinjection in empty gas reservoirs, these low costs can justify the use of seasonal pumped hydropower storage to store energy in a yearly, two-year, or three-year energy cycle. The levelized costs of energy storage with batteries is around $100/MWh. This makes hydropower energy storage 100 times cheaper and seasonal pumped hydropower storage 50 times cheaper. For this reason, these are good solutions for long-term energy storage," explains study lead-author Julian Hunt.

As more countries industrialize and develop their economies, growing energy demands are sure to follow. Having long-term energy storage using low emission methods like hydropower is important, especially during the era of climate change. The Indus basin can serve as a global supply.

"During the summer when there is high availability of water in the Indus basin, for example, excess solar power in northern hemisphere countries can be used to pump water in seasonal pumped hydropower storage plants in the basin, so that hydropower can be generated during the winter. With an integrated hydrogen and battery economy in the future, the region could serve as the world's long-term energy storage hub," Hunt concludes.

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Reference

Hunt, J., Falchetta, J, Parkinson, S., Vinca, A., Zakeri, B., Byers, E., Jurasz, J., Quaranta, E., et al. (2021). Hydropower and seasonal pumped hydropower storage in the Indus basin: pros and cons. Journal of Energy Storage DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2021.102916

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. http://www.iiasa.ac.at

CSI

Recovering DNA from challenging forensic evidence in forensic genomics

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC./GENETIC ENGINEERING NEWS

Research News

IMAGE: JOURNAL THAT ADDRESSES HOW ADVANCES IN GENETIC TESTING AND GENOMIC ANALYSIS CAN ENABLE INVESTIGATORS TO BREAK THROUGH PREVIOUSLY IMPENETRABLE FORENSIC DNA BARRIERS view more 

CREDIT: MARY ANN LIEBERT INC., PUBLISHERS

New Rochelle, NY, July 19, 2021--Duct tape and items retrieved from the water are common pieces of evidence in forensic cases. A new study evaluates the recovery of DNA from folded duct tape that has been submerged in ocean water for up to 2 weeks. The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal Forensic Genomics. Click here to read the article now.

Joseph Donfack, PhD, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Laboratory Division, and coauthors showed that it is possible to recover enough DNA to yield a complete short tandem repeat (STR) profile from folded duct tape that has been submerged in ocean water for up to 2 weeks if the initial amount of cellular material is sufficient. They concluded that "the durability and adhesive nature of duct tape seem to provide protection to cellular material on its surface while submerged in aqueous environments."

Also published in the current issue of Forensic Genomics is the article entitled "Genes, Race, Ancestry and Identity in Forensic Anthropology: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Concerns," by Amy Michael, PhD, University of New Hampshire, Jennifer Bengtson, PhD, Southeast Missouri State University, and Samantha Blatt, PhD, Idaho State University. "As anthropologists who collaborate with Forensic Genomics experts, we are interested in considering how debates within anthropological circles might inform--or be informed by--detailed biogeographical ancestry estimates generated as part of forensic genomic analyses," state the authors. "In this article, we summarize the history of the race concept in anthropology and contemporary debates about ancestry estimation occurring more specifically among forensic anthropologists." The proper assessment of biogeographical ancestry can be key for identifying unknown persons from forensic evidence.

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About the Journal

Forensic Genomics is a new peer-reviewed journal that addresses how advances in genetic testing and genomic analysis can enable investigators to break through previously impenetrable forensic DNA barriers. Led by Editor-in-Chief David Mittelman, PhD, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Othram, Inc., the Journal focuses on the use of DNA testing technologies, algorithms, artificial intelligence, and genealogical research methods to support human identification using inference tools and inductive reasoning. Forensic Genomics aims to accelerate the validation and adoption of new methods to support investigations that would be otherwise stalled with traditional testing methods. For complete information, visit the Forensic Genomics website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 90 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

Public trust in CDC, FDA, and Fauci holds steady, survey shows

But heavy users of conservative media have less confidence and are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories

ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Research News

IMAGE: PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN DR. ANTHONY FAUCI PROVIDING TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION ABOUT PREVENTING AND TREATING COVID-19 -- BY RELIANCE ON DIFFERENT MEDIA SOURCES. SOURCE: ANNENBERG SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE SURVEY, JUNE 2-22, 2021, AMONG... view more 

CREDIT: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

With more than two-thirds of American adults vaccinated with at least one dose of an authorized Covid-19 vaccine, the top U.S. health agencies retain the trust of the vast majority of the American public, as does Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of U.S. efforts to combat the virus, according to a new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.

The survey revealed growing public confidence in both the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to prevent Covid-19.

But after months of attacks on Fauci in conservative and social media, the survey found that people who said they rely on conservative and very conservative media rather than other sources were more likely to have less confidence in Fauci's trustworthiness on Covid-19 and more likely to accept misinformation about him and misinformation and conspiracy theories about the authorized Covid-19 vaccines and the novel coronavirus.

The survey also found that a growing number of Americans - more than 1 in 3 - believes that the coronavirus was created by the Chinese government as a biological weapon.

"Our analysis of the data shows that there is good news and bad news here," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. "Those who underestimate the lethality of Covid-19 or the safety of Covid-19 vaccination are less likely to accept a Covid-19 vaccination. The same is true of those who believe Covid-19 conspiracy theories. By contrast, those who trust health authorities are more likely to seek vaccination. Deceptive messages that undermine trust in a health expert such as Dr. Fauci are deeply worrisome."

The latest Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey was conducted among 1,719 U.S. adult respondents from June 2 - June 22, 2021. Data were weighted to represent the target U.S. adult population. The margin of error is ± 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The panel survey is a follow-up to an April 2021 ASK survey with 1,941 respondents. (See the Appendix for additional data.)

Confidence in U.S. health authorities

The ASK survey found that the most trustworthy source of information for treating and preventing Covid-19 is the doctor or nurse who is an individual's primary health care provider:

• Primary health care provider: 83% are confident their primary health care provider is providing trustworthy information about Covid-19;

• Food and Drug Administration: 77% are confident that the FDA, which authorized emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccines available in the United States, is providing trustworthy information about treating and preventing Covid-19 - statistically about the same as the 75% in April and up significantly from 71% in August 2020 in an earlier Annenberg Public Policy Center survey;

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 76% are confident that the CDC is providing trustworthy information on Covid-19, about the same as in April (75%) and August 2020 (72%);

• Dr. Anthony Fauci: 68% overall are confident that Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is providing trustworthy advice on Covid-19, statistically about the same as in April (71%) and August 2020 (68%).

Conservative media and lower confidence

For more than a year, some prominent hosts in the conservative media have attacked Fauci's credibility. Fox News's Laura Ingraham falsely claimed on June 2, 2021, "Much of what Fauci said about this virus, the drugs that could treat it, and the measures that could be taken to slow the spread was untrue. He knew it was untrue."

The survey found that those who indicated that they rely on conservative and very conservative media have less confidence in U.S. health authorities providing trustworthy information about Covid-19 - especially Fauci.

Among people who said they rely all the time or often on ...

• Very conservative media sources such as Newsmax, One America News (OAN), Gateway Pundit, Parler, or Telegram: 55% are confident about trustworthiness of the FDA, 52% are confident about the trustworthiness of the CDC, and only 38% are confident in the trustworthiness of Fauci.

• Conservative media such as Fox News: Nearly 7 in 10 are confident that the CDC (68%) and FDA (69%) are providing the public with trustworthy information on Covid-19, but just over half (51%) have confidence that Fauci is doing so.

• Mainstream broadcast and print news media such as CBS, ABC, and NBC News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal news pages, and the Associated Press: 87% are confident in trustworthiness of the CDC and FDA, and 84% in Fauci.

• Social media such as Facebook: 80% are confident that the CDC and FDA are providing the public with trustworthy information on Covid, and 71% have confidence that Fauci is providing trustworthy information.

Confidence in Covid-19 vaccines

In June, a growing majority of the U.S. public said the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective:

• 78% of the U.S. public believes it is definitely or probably true that Covid-19 vaccines are effective in preventing Covid-19, up significantly from 74% in April;

  o Those who say this is definitely true grew to 46%, from 38% in April. (NOTE: THESE UNFILLED-IN BULLETS ARE INDENTED UNDER A REGULAR BULLET)

• 76% of the U.S. public believes it is definitely or probably true that it is safer to get the Covid-19 vaccine than to get Covid-19, about the same as the 75% in April;

  o Those who say this is definitely true grew to 54%, from 49% in April, a significant change.

  o In the presence of statistical controls, the more ideologically conservative that people described themselves as, the less likely they are to believe that it is true that it is safer to get the Covid-19 vaccine than to get Covid-19.

CAPTION

Belief that the coronavirus was created by the Chinese government as a biological weapon. Source: Annenberg Science Knowledge survey, June 2-22, 2021, among 1,719 U.S. adults.

CREDIT

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

Conspiracy beliefs

The survey asked respondents about misinformation and conspiracy theories.

• Bioweapon conspiracy theory: Over 1 in 3 people (35%) said it was true that the coronavirus was created by the Chinese government as a biological weapon, up slightly from 31% in April. Another 42% said that statement was false and 23% were not sure. (Although the origin of the coronavirus is still uncertain, there currently is no evidence it was created by the Chinese as a bioweapon.)

  o In the presence of statistical controls, those who say they rely on conservative media such as Fox News or very conservative media such as OAN are more likely to believe this conspiracy theory. Those who say they rely on mainstream media are more likely to reject this theory.

  Among the instances in which a conservative media outlet legitimized the Chinese bioweapon theory was Tucker Carlson's Fox News show on June 30, 2021, which featured an interview with a Chinese "coronavirus whistleblower" who claimed that Covid-19 was a "biologically engineered weapon that got out of control... " And on June 8, 2021, conservative personality Steve Bannon hosted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) on his podcast "War Room: Pandemic," where she claimed that Fauci was sending "American tax dollars" to the Chinese lab in Wuhan "to fund this research that was creating ... a virus that can spread rapidly among a population, make people sick and kill them... [with] these viruses that they experiment with like some sort of Dr. Frankenstein experiments: These are bioweapons."

  In addition, while most respondents knew that a vaccine conspiracy theory involving Bill Gates and microchips was false, a worrisome number either thought it was true or were unsure:

• Gates/microchip conspiracy theory: 75% correctly said it was false that the vaccine against Covid-19 developed with support from Microsoft founder Bill Gates contains microchips that can track the person who has been vaccinated, but 1 in 4 people either said this conspiracy theory was true (11%) or were not sure (14%). None of the authorized Covid-19 vaccines contain microchips and while the Gates Foundation has a partnership with BioNTech, the foundation says it did not directly invest in either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.

  o In the presence of statistical controls, those who say they rely on conservative media or very conservative media are more likely to believe this claim.

Misinformation

• Fauci and vaccines: Asked if it was true that Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH "has NO financial stake" in any Covid-19 vaccine, only 37% said it was true - a decline from the 42% who said it was true in April. Another 32% thought it was false to say Fauci had no financial stake in a Covid vaccine, and 30% were not sure. (There is no evidence Fauci has a financial stake in a Covid-19 vaccine.)

  o In the presence of statistical controls, those who indicate that they rely on conservative media or very conservative media are more likely to say this is false - in other words, to reject the idea that Fauci has no financial stake in any vaccine. Those who say they rely on mainstream news are more likely to say this is true.

• Give you Covid-19: 75% correctly said it was false that taking a Covid-19 vaccine can give you Covid-19 - it can't - but 1 in 4 people said it was true (14%) or were not sure (11%);

• Change your DNA: 71% correctly said it was false that the Covid-19 vaccine changes people's DNA - it does not - but nearly 3 in 10 people thought it was true (12%) or were not sure (17%).

The lab leak theory

As scientists search for the origins of SARS-CoV-2, more than half the survey respondents said they believe the virus came from a lab in Wuhan, China - and got out through either a deliberate or an accidental leak. When asked which statement was closest to their view:

• 20% said the coronavirus was deliberately leaked from a Wuhan, China, laboratory;

• 33% said the coronavirus accidentally escaped through carelessness or incompetence from the Wuhan lab;

• 13% said the coronavirus did not originate in a lab in Wuhan, China;

• 34% said they were not sure.

Vaccination and prevention

Asked about prevention and vaccination, 70% of respondents said they have gotten a Covid-19 vaccine, up from 47% in April. The other 30% (442 people) said they have not been vaccinated.

Of those 442 people who have not been vaccinated,

• 76% said they had the information they need to decide if they want to get vaccinated, and 24% said they did not have it;

• 75% said they were not likely to get vaccinated (333 people) and 25% said they were likely to be vaccinated.

Those who were not likely to be vaccinated (333 people) were asked to give their reasons why and select all that applied. Due to multiple responses, the results total over 100%. Their top five reasons:

o 61% said the vaccines were still too untested or they were waiting to see what happens - which increased significantly from the 48% who gave this reason in April;

o 44% are worried about allergies and side effects;

o 43% don't trust the government;

o 36% don't trust the scientists and companies that make the vaccines;

o And 32% are "just not concerned" about coronavirus/Covid-19.

For the survey Appendix containing the methodology and additional data, click here.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication's role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

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Millions of dollars saved when scheduled travel providers adapt to on-demand scheduling

New research based on commuter and traffic patterns

INSTITUTE FOR OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND THE MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

Research News

CATONSVILLE, MD, July 20, 2021 - Uber and Lyft are popular on-demand ways to travel, but does that mean trains and buses are a thing of the past? Travelers prefer different modes of transportation at different times. So how can all these modes co-exist and do so successfully? New research in the INFORMS Journal Transportation Science has created a model and an algorithm to redistribute transit resources based on commuter preferences resulting in millions in savings.

"Based on case study experiments in New York City, our optimized transit schedules consistently lead to 0.4%-3% system-wide cost reduction. This amounts to rush hour savings of millions of dollars per day, while simultaneously reducing costs to passengers and transportation service providers," said Vikrant Vaze of Dartmouth College.

"Transit Planning Optimization under Ride-hailing Competition and Traffic Congestion," was written by Vaze alongside Keji Wei also of Dartmouth, as well as Alexandre Jacquillat of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This study attempts to understand what would happen if a public transit agency were to explicitly consider commuter choice factors and what that would do to the commute when designing their schedules.

Commuters choose modes of transportation based on travel convenience, prices, travel times and traffic congestion. The authors have found that the opposite is also true - their choice in turn changes the traffic patterns and travel times.

The authors note that by considering both of these points, they can come up with a better alignment of available transportation options with passengers' preferences in mind - by redistributing public transit resources where they provide the strongest societal benefits.

"In the interest of the overall urban ecosystem, a transit operator should critically assess what kinds of trips and travel needs transit is better equipped to serve and at the same time, what are some of the areas where it might be better to cut down and let on-demand operators take up a larger proportion of trips. Such thoughtful reconfiguration can benefit diverse stakeholders simultaneously," continued Vaze, a professor in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. "What we found is that this leads to schedules that are better for passengers, better for transportation operators and better for the city as a whole, a rare win-win-win."

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About INFORMS and Transportation Science

Transportation Science is a premier peer-reviewed scholarly journal focused on research about all modes of transportation, present and prospective, and looks at planning and design issues and the related economic, operational and social concerns. It is published by INFORMS, the leading international association for operations research and analytics professionals. More information is available at http://www.informs.org or @informs.

UH OH

15,000-year-old viruses discovered in Tibetan glacier ice

Most of the viruses were previously unknown to humans, study finds

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

IMAGE: YAO TANDONG, LEFT, AND LONNIE THOMPSON, RIGHT, PROCESS AN ICE CORE DRILLED FROM THE GULIYA ICE CAP IN THE TIBETAN PLATEAU IN 2015. THE ICE HELD VIRUSES NEARLY 15,000 YEARS... view more 

CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY LONNIE THOMPSON, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Scientists who study glacier ice have found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China. Most of those viruses, which survived because they had remained frozen, are unlike any viruses that have been cataloged to date.

The findings, published today in the journal Microbiome, could help scientists understand how viruses have evolved over centuries. For this study, the scientists also created a new, ultra-clean method of analyzing microbes and viruses in ice without contaminating it.

"These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice," said Zhi-Ping Zhong, lead author of the study and a researcher at The Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center who also focuses on microbiology. "The glaciers in western China are not well-studied, and our goal is to use this information to reflect past environments. And viruses are a part of those environments."

The researchers analyzed ice cores taken in 2015 from the Guliya ice cap in western China. The cores are collected at high altitudes - the summit of Guliya, where this ice originated, is 22,000 feet above sea level. The ice cores contain layers of ice that accumulate year after year, trapping whatever was in the atmosphere around them at the time each layer froze. Those layers create a timeline of sorts, which scientists have used to understand more about climate change, microbes, viruses and gases throughout history.

Researchers determined that the ice was nearly 15,000 years old using a combination of traditional and new, novel techniques to date this ice core.

When they analyzed the ice, they found genetic codes for 33 viruses. Four of those viruses have already been identified by the scientific community. But at least 28 of them are novel. About half of them seemed to have survived at the time they were frozen not in spite of the ice, but because of it.

"These are viruses that would have thrived in extreme environments," said Matthew Sullivan, co-author of the study, professor of microbiology at Ohio State and director of Ohio State's Center of Microbiome Science. "These viruses have signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments - just surreal genetic signatures for how a virus is able to survive in extreme conditions. These are not easy signatures to pull out, and the method that Zhi-Ping developed to decontaminate the cores and to study microbes and viruses in ice could help us search for these genetic sequences in other extreme icy environments - Mars, for example, the moon, or closer to home in Earth's Atacama Desert."

Viruses do not share a common, universal gene, so naming a new virus - and attempting to figure out where it fits into the landscape of known viruses - involves multiple steps. To compare unidentified viruses with known viruses, scientists compare gene sets. Gene sets from known viruses are cataloged in scientific databases.

Those database comparisons showed that four of the viruses in the Guliya ice cap cores had previously been identified and were from virus families that typically infect bacteria. The researchers found the viruses in concentrations much lower than have been found to exist in oceans or soil.

The researchers' analysis showed that the viruses likely originated with soil or plants, not with animals or humans, based on both the environment and the databases of known viruses.

The study of viruses in glaciers is relatively new: Just two previous studies have identified viruses in ancient glacier ice. But it is an area of science that is becoming more important as the climate changes, said Lonnie Thompson, senior author of the study, distinguished university professor of earth sciences at Ohio State and senior research scientist at the Byrd Center.

"We know very little about viruses and microbes in these extreme environments, and what is actually there," Thompson said. "The documentation and understanding of that is extremely important: How do bacteria and viruses respond to climate change? What happens when we go from an ice age to a warm period like we're in now?"

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This study was an interdisciplinary effort between Ohio State's Byrd Center and its Center for Microbiome Science. The 2015 Guliya ice cores were collected and analyzed as part of a collaborative program between the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Funding also came from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.

THE HADROSAUR IS THE OFFICAL DINOSAUR OF ALBERTA

A foot tumor and two tail fractures complicated the life of this hadrosaur

FECYT - SPANISH FOUNDATION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

VIDEO: LIFE OF THE HADROSAUR view more 

CREDIT: JOSÉ ANTONIO PEÑAS (SINC)

When it was discovered in the 1980s in Argentina, this hadrosaur was diagnosed with a fractured foot. However, a new analysis now shows that this ornithopod commonly known as the duck-billed dinosaur actually had a tumour some 70 million years ago, as well as two painful fractures in the vertebrae of its tail, despite which, it managed to survive for some time.

This dinosaur, called Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis, was discovered in Argentinean Patagonia in the 1980s, and the first analyses of its fossils indicated an ailment of the foot, possibly a fracture, as the Argentinean palaeontologist Jaime Powell pointed out at the time. The study of this animal then came to a standstill until 2016, when Powell invited another team of scientists to resume the research.

"In addition to the ailment of the foot, there were other possible fractures in several neural spines of the vertebrae of the tail," as Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, the lead author of the study, now published in the journal Cretaceous Research, and a scientist at the Research Institute of Palaeobiology and Geology of CONICET and the National University of Río Negro (Argentina), as well as a professor at the University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain), has told SINC.

The researchers decided to analyse them all to see this hadrosaur, also known as duck-billed dinosaur, "during its lifetime" and to see how it was able to interact with the environment, with its fellows, and with predators while suffering from these problems.

Scientists were particularly surprised by the condition of the foot. "We were struck by the large overgrowth of bone that gave it a cauliflower-like appearance and covered almost the entire metatarsal," the researcher points out. When studying the histology and CT scans of the fossil, the team did not find a fracture. Instead, the indicators showed a reduction in bone density and several areas where cortical tissue had been destroyed.

"We were probably looking at a cancer or a neoplasm, such as an osteosarcoma," specifies Cruzado-Caballero. The presence of diseases such as tumours confirms that they already existed at a very early age and among a very diverse group of animals.

"Despite the large development of the cancer, it did not significantly affect the muscle insertion zone, so we cannot be sure that the lesion affected its locomotion," says the palaeontologist. The study has allowed us to determine that the tumour did not spread to other bones - since this ornithopod preserved almost half of its skeleton -, "so, although it severely affected the metatarsus, it did not cause its death," she adds.

CAPTION

Despite the seriousness of its foot and tail vertebrae ailments, 

Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis did not die immediately after its injuries

CREDIT

José Antonio Peñas (SINC)

Tail fractures followed by infections

In addition to the foot tumour, other pathologies were identified in the neural spines of two vertebrae in Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis's tail. According to the scientists, one of the vertebrae had a displaced fracture that had almost healed. "It was probably related to an injury resulting from a strong blow that caused the bone to be displaced and to heal in this manner, giving the spine a curved appearance," Cruzado-Caballero stresses.

The other vertebra had an almost completely healed fracture also produced by a stress event (it is not known if it was due to impact), which did not lead to the displacement of the bone. Although the spine maintains its straight shape, the researchers observed a swelling that formed a callus on the bone as it healed.

"These fractures, especially in the case of the displaced fracture, must have been associated with infections following the rupture of the muscles surrounding the bone," says the researcher, who considers that they must have been painful not only because of the blow, but also because of the infections that could have impeded the mobility of the tail and caused this specimen a great deal of discomfort when it moved.

However, despite the severity of the ailments, the death of Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis did not follow immediately after its injuries, the authors point out. "But we cannot quantify how long it lived afterwards, which means that it could have lived for months or years. Nor can we confirm that these injuries were the final cause of its death," comments the scientist.

This hadrosaur, although badly injured, therefore managed to survive and continued to interact with its fellows, despite the initial pain caused by fractures and infections. These could have been caused by falling, hitting an object or another animal to defend itself from predators, or even by being trampled on the tail by another hadrosaur.

CAPTION

Forensic paleontology

CREDIT

José Antonio Peñas (SINC)

Reference:

Penélope Cruzado-Caballero et al. "Osseous paleopathologies of Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis (Ornithopoda, Hadrosauridae) from Allen Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Patagonia Argentina" Cretaceous Research

Young forests are preferred summer vacation destinations for bats

Recently cut forest spaces suit bats more than long-established woods

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Research News

The sight of felled trees and logging activity can be jarring for nature lovers, but from those sites can sprout young forest growth that's especially attractive to a familiar inhabitant of wooded areas throughout the Northeast - bats.

New findings from researchers at the UConn College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, published in Forest Ecology and Management, finds that a number of bat species native to the Northeast are highly active in newly created forest spaces, foraging for food at higher rates than is typical of mature forests.

Little is known about how different bat species use forests of varying ages, but Natural Resources and the Environment researchers - including Dan Wright '20 (CAHNR) MS, associate Professor Tracy Rittenhouse, and Assistant Professor in Residence Chad Rittenhouse - sought to learn more. What they found sheds new light on how forests can be managed to support bat populations, most of which are threatened or in decline, says Chad Rittenhouse.

"The reason people haven't worked on this (summer habitat) in bats is due to white nose syndrome and the spread of the disease causing the rapid decline of populations," he says. "The conservation efforts around bats, rightfully so, were really focused in on the hibernaculum caves where the mortality was happening, and where the disease contact between individuals is happening. However, there is this whole foraging and young-rearing period that hasn't been looked at, and we don't know the details of what happens."

Chad Rittenhouse explains that this research focusing on bats sprang from similar research he did in graduate school with birds.

"There was an emphasis on what's called post-fledging ecology of birds, basically finding out what birds do after they leave the nest but before they migrate," he says. "When the young leave the nest, they are going for canopy gaps and small openings within the forest. We didn't really know that previously and through radio telemetry studies and observational studies found that that they were doing that because there is more sunlight, which means more vegetative growth, which means more insects feeding on the vegetation growth, which means young birds can grow more quickly through increased insect consumption. There's also a lot of structure, vertical and horizontal, that was providing cover from predators."

The researchers knew the DEEP Wildlife Division has a bat monitoring program that mainly tracks bats along roadways, where they often forage and commute, says Chad Rittenhouse. Reminded of the fledging bird research, they thought about applying methods that have been used on birds to learn about how bats use forested habitats, and in areas where forest management treatments have been applied.

"Why not look at bats off roads? Why not look at bats in these cut areas? We thought we should look at bats and clear cuts and regenerating forests and just see what's going on. A quick peek at the scientific literature revealed literally only a handful of studies that have looked at this issue."

Tracy Rittenhouse explains the experimental setup, which took place in northwestern Connecticut and southwestern Massachusetts: "We picked sites that were embedded, meaning the sites had mature forest, with a smaller -- depending on how you define smaller - harvested stands embedded within mature forests."

The forest locations varied in age from one to 12 years of regrowth since trees were cut, where researchers then recorded bat foraging calls at night. Through this passive acoustic sampling, they were able to track bat foraging behaviors and identify which species were present.

"We paired every one of our sites that was a cut site with a nearby control site, typically within 100 meters or so which was not cut. What we have is a nice comparison of how bats are using the mature forest and the cut forest," says Chad Rittenhouse.

Tracy Rittenhouse says the results showed a strong pattern where bat foraging activity was the highest in younger forests, and that it steadily declines as the forests age. By day, bats can roost in a variety of structures, resting up before their nocturnal foraging acrobatics, from the eaves of houses or beneath curls of bark on shagbark hickory trees.

"We tend to think that old growth forests must be good for bats, because we know they contain roosting sites, but within 24 hours [of a tree cut], they're roosting and foraging."

Wright adds, "After a cut happens in the forest, bats are really active, using it as both commuting and foraging habitat. As the cuts continue to age, the vegetation height increases, and the foraging space, up in the air, where bats typically forage is not as suitable anymore."

With knowledge of the bat foraging preferences, Tracy Rittenhouse says future studies will include taking a closer look at roosting preferences, but what is clear is that homogenous forest age does not meet the range of needs for everyone.

Though cut trees and logging can be a jarring sight, studies like this one illustrate the importance of management and the impacts on animal populations, says Chad Rittenhouse.

"An important point is that young forest is still forest. I think a lot of people don't think of it that way, but to get to replacement of old trees, we need young trees too. We've been beating this drum about young forests being really important because there are lots of species that are associated with and dependent on young forests."

Wright says, "Forest management in terms of harvesting trees can be a huge asset to wildlife, wildlife conservation, in general. I think our work is pretty great in helping to manage forests and manage sustainability with productivity."

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DNA assay aids in identifying and protecting North American wolves, coyotes

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

DIRE WOLF NORTH AMERICA

Research News

 

Forensics specialists can use a commercial assay targeting mitochondrial DNA to accurately discriminate between wolf, coyote and dog species, according to a new study from North Carolina State University. The genetic information can be obtained from smaller or more degraded samples, and could aid authorities in prosecuting hunting jurisdiction violations and preserving protected species.

In the U.S., certain wolf subspecies or species are endangered and restricted in terms of hunting status. It is also illegal to deliberately breed wolves or coyotes with domesticated dogs.

"If it's a case where you have a whole specimen, authorities can typically identify it based on physical characteristics, though similarity between some species makes that method less than ideal," says Kelly Meiklejohn, assistant professor of forensic science at NC State and corresponding author of the research. "If you're working with cross-bred animals, or incomplete specimens, you need DNA-based methods to accurately determine what species you have."

Although some U.S. federal laboratories perform DNA-based identification of wolves and coyotes, their methods and genetic reference databases aren't publicly available. Meiklejohn partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if it was possible to use a commercially available assay designed for dogs as a way to recover the mitochondrial genome from diverse North American canid species.

The mitochondrial genome is one of two genomes inherited from an animal's parents. Specifically, the mitochondrial genome is inherited from the mother. It is useful for species identification both because its circular shape makes it less prone to degradation, and because there are more copies of this genome per cell, increasing the chance of retrieving useful material from small or damaged samples.

The team used a method, called a 'hybridization capture,' in which about 80 base-pair long RNA fragments are used to isolate DNA for sequencing. Samples are incubated with the RNA fragments, and if there's a match, the fragment will bind with the sample's DNA. The bound DNA can be isolated and sequenced. In this case, the team used a hybridization capture panel designed for the dog mitochondrial genome.

"The fragments will bind if there is about 80% similarity, which is why we felt the dog kit would be useful for sequencing wolves and coyotes," Meiklejohn says. "Dogs only diverged from wolves around 20,000 years ago, so the mitochondrial genomes aren't that different."

They sequenced 51 samples, and were able to recover full mitochondrial genomes and successfully differentiate between four species of interest: dog, wolf, Mexican wolf, and coyote.

"Essentially, this finding means we can do more with less," Meiklejohn says. "In forensics we rarely have high quality DNA samples; they've usually been exposed to the environment and are degraded. The flexibility of this kit allows us to determine the species we're looking at, which in turn may aid in prosecuting hunting or breeding violations and protecting endangered canid species."

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The research appears in Forensic Science International: Animals and Environments, and is supported by seed funding from NC State. Dyan Straughan and Mary Burnham-Curtis, from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, are coauthors.

Note to editors: An abstract follows.

"Using hybridization capture to obtain mitochondrial genomes from forensically relevant North American canids: assessing sequence variation for species identification"

DOI: 10.1016/j.fsiae.2021.100018

Authors: Melissa Scheible, Kelly Meiklejohn, North Carolina State University; Dyan Straughan, Mary Burnham-Curtis, U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

Published: June 25, 2021 in Forensic Science International: Animals and Environments

Abstract:

The majority of DNA casework processed by forensic laboratories focuses on human samples, but material from canids (dogs, wolves, coyotes) can also be encountered. Undomesticated canids can be the center of forensic investigations in the U.S. since some species are endangered. As many wolf species are similar morphologically, identification in the field by wildlife officers is not always straight-forward, making molecular based-approaches ideal. While some published methods using mitochondrial DNA targets can discriminate among Canis species, they are either not compatible with highly degraded samples or cannot differentiate closely related sub-species. Although some U.S. laboratories regularly perform veterinary/wildlife casework including canid identifications, their validated methods and reference genetic databases are not publicly available. We aimed to assess the utility of alternative regions in the mitochondrial genome for discriminating among canid species, including the complete genome. To achieve this, we utilized a commercial hybridization capture panel composed of biotinylated RNA "baits" designed for the domestic dog to enrich canid mitochondrial genomes for next-generation sequencing. We used this panel to successfully sequence complete mitochondrial genomes for 51 samples, representing four U.S. forensically relevant canids (coyote, wolf, Mexican wolf, dog). While the complete mitochondrial genome permitted discrimination, we also assessed previously published mitochondrial DNA targets (n, 5) for resolution and identified four alternate ~200 bp fragments from ND1, ND5, COI and CYTB genes that could help resolve canids. The utility of these alternate regions should be assessed in future studies using forensic-type samples representing canids from diverse geographic areas, prior to casework implementation.

Study highlights socioeconomic, racial differences in the financing of medical education

A secondary analysis of AAMC data, led by U of M Medical School students, raises equity concerns as medicine works to improve the diversity of its workforce

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL

Research News

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (07/20/2021) -- National data analyzed by University of Minnesota Medical School researchers show that nearly 40 percent of all funds used to pay for medical school are expected to come from family or personal sources and scholarships. The prevalence of these sources, however, varies widely by race and socioeconomic status.

Arman Shahriar, Varun Sagi and Lorenzo Gonzalez, all fourth-year students at the University of Minnesota Medical School, are co-lead authors of the study, which was published today in JAMA Network Open.

"Financing a four-year medical education requires upwards of a quarter-million dollars, and this amount has been rising faster than inflation since the 1960s. Prior to this study, little was known about how students pay for medical school, so we set out to shed light on this opaque subject," Shahriar said.

Their research analyzed de-identified data from more than 29,000 medical students nationwide who responded to the 2017 to 2019 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Matriculating Student Questionnaire. The study found that:

- Nearly 25 percent of all medical students come from the top five percent of household incomes (greater than $270,000 in 2019), and 37% of these high-income students will be paying for medical school primarily using family or personal funds. For comparison, only three to four percent of students from the lowest three income quintiles rely primarily on family or personal funds.

- Family or personal financing was more prevalent among Asian students and white students and was least prevalent among Black students. Shahriar says, "This may be a reflection of the widening racial wealth gap - rooted in structural racism - and may explain AAMC data indicating Black students graduate with the highest debt burden of any racial group."

- Between high- and low-income students, scholarships were distributed much more evenly than family or personal funds. The heavier reliance on loans among low-income students suggests an inadequacy of current scholarship amounts to offset the large deficit in family or personal funds that these low-income students face.

"Knowing that scholarship funds are finite, individual medical schools should work to ensure that scholarships are awarded through holistic review with ample consideration of economic background," Shahriar said. "Additionally, considering the degree to which some students are relying on family wealth, medical schools ought to be ensuring equal access to expensive resources during training, like board preparatory materials. As medicine works toward improving its socioeconomic, racial and ethnic diversity, the last thing we want is for family wealth to be influencing educational quality."

The study team is now looking at socioeconomic diversity among matriculating medical students. Shahriar says that future work on the topic of financing should better examine how financing methods have evolved over time for various subgroups, as well as link matriculant financing plans with debt and other economic outcomes at the time of graduation and beyond.

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This research was funded by the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and the Friedman-Bowen Scholarship grant from the Minnesota Medical Association Foundation.

Other co-authors include Thomas E. Kottke, MD, MSPH, and Gabriela Vazquez-Benitez, PhD, of HealthPartners Institute. The senior author is Renée Crichlow, MD, of Boston University (previously of the U of M Medical School).

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.