Monday, August 29, 2022

Vital ventilation

Stony corals use a refined built-in ventilation system to protect themselves from environmental stressors

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ALFRED WEGENER INSTITUTE, HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR POLAR AND MARINE RESEARCH

Reef with stony coral colony (Porites lutea) in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Thailand. 

IMAGE: REEF WITH STONY CORAL COLONY (PORITES LUTEA) IN THE ANDAMAN SEA OFF THE WEST COAST OF THAILAND. view more 

CREDIT: (NIPHON PHONGSUWAN, PHUKET MARINE BIOLOGICAL CENTER)

Coral reefs are not only one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on our planet; they are also among the most economically important ones. “For example, they’re extremely important for fishing and tourism,” says Moritz Holtappels. “And as wave breakers, they provide essential services for coastal management.” Accordingly, the experts are very concerned about the current status of these valuable undersea cities, which are simultaneously facing a variety of threats: the overfertilization and acidification of the ocean, as well as overly intensive fishing. Making matters worse, climate change is increasingly leading to the dreaded “coral bleaching”.

This happens when the water gets too warm for the reef-builders. Most of the small polyps that create these impressive calcium carbonate formations live in symbiosis with algae belonging to the dinoflagellates. They offer these organisms protection, and in return receive energy-rich sugar and other products that their “flatmates” produce from carbon dioxide and water with the aid of sunlight. But this process, known as photosynthesis, can become problematic when temperatures climb too high. Instead of providing the corals with energy, the algae release harmful substances. In response, the polyps “evict” them, causing the corals to lose their colour – and in many cases, to die off completely. “But this doesn’t happen to all the corals in a reef,” Cesar Pacherres explains. “Some bleach out quickly, others, not at all.” What explains the difference in responses?

In order to find out, the researchers took a closer look at the complex relationship between the stony coral Porites lutea and its green neighbours. Apparently, one problem facing this underwater “shared flat” is that the algae’s photosynthesis releases large amounts of oxygen. Although vital for most flora and fauna, too much oxygen can be dangerous, particularly in warm water. When the concentration is too high, the algae’s photosynthesis organ increasingly processes oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. This is not only less efficient in terms of generating energy; it also produces dangerous oxygen radicals, which can harm cells. “When there’s too much sunlight, it’s hard for corals to get rid of this surplus oxygen,” says Pacherres. “Low water movement and high temperatures worsen this effect, known as oxidative stress, which is widely considered to be the main cause of coral bleaching.”

Using innovative new methods, the experts followed the oxygen’s trail. What they learned: the algae producing the oxygen were by no means uniformly distributed among the corals examined. The algae were far denser in some areas than in others. “We expected to find the highest oxygen concentrations in the water above these photosynthesis hotspots,” says Soeren Ahmerkamp. “But much to our surprise, just the opposite was true.”

This finding contradicts the conventional theory regarding mass transfer between corals and their environs: until recently, the assumption had been that, once released substances left the tissue in question, they simply moved from regions with higher concentrations to those with lower concentrations via diffusion. But if that were true, the researchers should have found the highest oxygen concentrations where the most oxygen was produced. The only explanation for a different pattern is if the corals actively transport the element elsewhere. And thanks to cutting-edge surveillance technologies, they now know exactly how it’s done.

“The trick is that the tiny hairs, or cilia, on the corals’ surface, when moved in unison, create small eddies,” Ahmerkamp explains. In this way, the polyps can shape local currents in order to specifically ventilate those areas that are rich in algae. To do so, they direct oxygen-poor water from above to those areas with the highest algal densities, where it becomes charged with oxygen. In turn, the upward portion of the eddy produced flows away from the corals and releases its load higher up in the water column. Using a computer model, the researchers simulated the interplay between diffusion and ciliary action on the corals’ surface. As the simulation shows, by producing these local eddies near the algae, stony corals can cut the area of their surface exposed to critical oxygen concentrations in half.

“Accordingly, these sessile corals aren’t completely at the mercy of their marine environment, as was previously believed,” summarises Moritz Holtappels. Influencing the mass transfer with their surroundings in a targeted manner, and fanning away surplus oxygen, can be vital for these organisms – especially those growing in waters with little or no current. However, most likely not all corals have such a refined ventilation system. This could explain why some undergo more extreme bleaching than others in response to adverse conditions.

New evidence shows planting around school playgrounds protects children from air pollution

Scientists have published new evidence showing that selective planting of vegetation between roads and playgrounds can substantially cut toxic traffic-derived air pollution reaching school children.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

LANCASTER UNIVERSITY

Western red cedar leaves 

IMAGE: WESTERN RED CEDAR LEAVES view more 

CREDIT: PROFESSOR BARBARA MAHER

Scientists have published new evidence showing that selective planting of vegetation between roads and playgrounds can substantially cut toxic traffic-derived air pollution reaching school children.

The new findings, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, demonstrate that roadside vegetation can be designed, installed and maintained to achieve rapid, significant and cost-effective improvement of air quality.

Exposure to traffic-related air pollution has been linked with a range of health risks including cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological health. These risks are likely to be exacerbated in young children attending primary schools next to busy roads as their major organs are still developing and children have a higher breathing rate than adults.

Exposure to fine particulate matter in air pollution is reportedly the largest environmental risk factor contributing to cardiovascular deaths and disease globally, and is linked to around six to nine million premature deaths each year.

A team of researchers led by Barbara Maher, Emeritus Professor at Lancaster University, and supported by Groundwork Greater Manchester, installed ‘tredges’ (trees managed as a head-high hedge) at three Manchester primary schools during the summer school holidays of 2019.

One school had an ivy screen installed, another had western red cedar and the third school had a mixture of western red cedar, Swedish birch and an inner juniper hedge. A fourth school, with no planting, was used as a control.

The school with the ivy screen saw a substantial reduction in playground particulate matter concentrations, but an increase in black carbon. The playground with the mixture of planting saw lower reductions in air pollution to that of the western red cedar.

The biggest overall reductions in particulate matter and black carbon were shown at the school with western red cedar planted. The results showed almost half (49%) of black carbon and around 46% and 26% of the fine particulates, PM2.5 and PM1 emitted by passing traffic were captured by the western red cedar tredges.

The tredges also significantly reduced the magnitude and frequency of acute ‘spikes’ in air pollution reaching the playgrounds.

Professor Maher said: “Our findings show that we can protect school playgrounds, with carefully chosen and managed tredges, which capture air pollution particulates on their leaves. This helps to prevent at least some of the health hazards imposed on young children at schools next to busy roads where the localised air quality is damagingly poor, and it can be done quickly and cost-effectively.”

The scientists believe that western red cedar performed best at preventing the particulate air pollution from reaching the playground because its prolific, small, rough, evergreen leaves act like a filter, capturing particulate pollution and stopping it circulating in the atmosphere. When it rains, the particulates wash off – ending up in the soil or drains – enabling the leaves to then capture more particulate pollution.

Professor Maher said: “Western red cedar tredges work well because this species’ leaves form millions of tiny rough corrugated projections, each of which can bump into the particulates suspended in the air and ‘capture’ them in their ridges, furrows and pores.

“This takes them out of the local atmosphere and therefore reduces the exposure to these traffic-sourced air pollution particulates of the children and staff in the playground.”

The researchers believe species like ivy were not as effective at capturing particulate pollution as the western red cedar because of the smooth, waxy surface of its leaves. It therefore acts more akin to a fence where it blocks the transport of some particulate matter but is not as effective at capturing and thus removing it from the air.

The researchers suggest these benefits highlighted by the study are not just limited to schools and that carefully selected and managed tredges could be used in other parts of urban areas to reduce the damaging health impacts of exposure to traffic pollution.

The study was supported with funding from Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester, and Groundwork Greater Manchester which installed the tredges and ran ‘citizen science’ workshops with classes from the schools to highlight issues around air quality and steps young people and their families can take to make a difference.

Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment for Manchester City Council, said: "We were keen to be part of this study as Manchester seeks to embrace innovation in our efforts to become a greener city with cleaner air and tackle climate change. We note these positive findings with interest and will consider how we can use the lessons from this project to make further targeted use of green infrastructure in the city."

The study’s findings are detailed in the paper ‘Protecting playgrounds: local-scale reduction of airborne particulate matter concentrations through particulate deposition on roadside ‘tredges’ (green infrastructure)’.

Researchers on the paper include: Barbara Maher and Vassil Karloukovski of Lancaster University; Tomasz Gonet, formerly of Lancaster University and now Jaguar Land Rover; Huixia Wang of Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China; and Thomas Bannan, University of Manchester.

  

CAPTION

Installation of western red cedar tredge at school

CREDIT

Professor Barbara Maher

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18509-w

Economical PEF production

Efficient titanium-based catalyst used to produce PEF, the biobased alternative to PET

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

One possible replacement for drink containers made from PET is polyethylene furandicarboxylate (PEF), made from renewable resources. However, the production of the raw material for PEF from biomass is still rather inefficient. A new titanium-based photocatalyst could be about to change this, making it more economical to access the raw material for PEF from biomass, as a team of researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

In the valorization of biomass, the key chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is first obtained from the mix of natural substances. PEF is a recyclable plastic that can be produced from HMF. As PEF has very similar properties to PET, the most commonly used material for plastic bottles, it is used as a biobased replacement. However, the production of PEF is still expensive, due in large part to the difficulty in producing the raw material for PEF from HMF.

To produce the raw material for PEF, HMF must be oxidized, and this step is inefficient for two reasons. First, unwanted byproducts are formed during oxidation with atmospheric oxygen. In addition, the titanium-oxide-based catalysts available to date require UV light. Since UV light only makes up a small portion of the spectrum of sunlight, the efficiency of this photocatalytic reaction is low, making the process expensive.

A group of researchers headed by Ya-Qian Lan and Yifa Chen of the South China Normal University (SCNU) in Nanjing, China, have now developed a titanium-based photocatalyst that overcomes both obstacles. A titanium component in conjunction with an organic oxidizing group forms flat, crystalline nanosheets from an organometallic framework. By chemically linking the titanium with the organic components, the light absorption shifts from the UV to the visible range, considerably increasing efficiency, say the team.

The reaction is also highly selective, as relatively few reaction partners are required and virtually no waste is formed. The authors suggest that tailor-made photocatalysts like this could also be used to make a number of other reactions more sustainable.

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About the Authors

Dr. Ya-Qian Lan is a Professor of Chemistry at South China Normal University (SCNU) in Nanjing, China. His group’s research interests focus on the application of polyoxometalate-based composite materials in energy storage and conversion and porous metal–organic frameworks for applications in catalysis and proton conduction.

Dr. Yifa Chen is a Professor of Chemistry at SCNU. He has long been dedicated to the design of covalent metal–organic frameworks, membrane fabrication, and their applications in the fields of catalysis, energy storage, and environment treatment.

A recycling hub for materials research

The EU project ReMade@ARI starts on September 1st under the coordination of the HZDR

Business Announcement

HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM DRESDEN-ROSSENDORF

Accelerator at HZDR's Ion Beam Center 

IMAGE: ACCELERATOR AT HZDR'S ION BEAM CENTER view more 

CREDIT: HZDR/OLIVER KILLIG

According to the European Union's Circular Economy Action Plan, the industry can determine up to 80 percent of a product's subsequent environmental impact at the design phase. However, the linear manufacturing pattern offers few incentives to make products more sustainable. The research infrastructure project ReMade@ARI, which deals with innovative materials for key components in various areas such as electronics, packaging or textiles, wants to change this: The goal is to develop new materials with high recyclability and at the same time competitive functionalities. To this end, the institutions involved want to harness the potential of more than 50 analytical research infrastructures throughout Europe under the coordination of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR).

An illustrative example: In the supermarket fruits and vegetables are often  packaged in plastics to extend their shelf life. In future, bio-based materials derived from wood could provide a sustainable alternative. This is where ReMade@ARI comes into play: research leading to the development of such sophisticated new materials crucially relies on access to the world-class European research infrastructures, which joined forces in ReMade@ARI.

The ReMade@ARI platform will be the central hub for all sectors and research areas in which new materials for a circular economy will be developed. “We provide scientists who are working on the design of new recyclable materials with analytical tools that enable them to explore the properties and the structure of their material in smallest details up to atomic resolution. This requires the exploitation of the most diverse analytical methods, involving appropriate combinations of photons, electrons, neutrons, ions, positrons and the highest magnetic fields,” says Dr. Stefan Facsko, the project’s scientific coordinator. “Any scientist in academic or industrial research working on new recyclable materials should get in touch with us.”

A particular focus will be on scientists in research fields in which up to now, the potential of research infrastructures has not yet been exploited. “We will offer them an all-round service, closely collaborating with them to identify the relevant properties to be analyzed in order to develop the optimum material for a particular purpose. Based on that, the most suitable research infrastructures to measure these properties will be identified from among the pool of Europe’s unique facilities.”

ReMade@ARI will have a significant impact on the advancement of the circular economy. Overall, 40 partners of the ARIE network are involved in the project. HZDR alone is contributing three large-scale user facilities: the Ion Beam Center (IBC), the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (HLD) and the positron source at the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources (pELBE).

The project is being funded by the EU with a budget of 13.8 million euros. The project coordinator is HZDR.

Dr. Barbara Schramm, EU-Liaison Officer at HZDR, explains: “With a pool of highly motivated young researchers, the project will offer a user service of unprecedented quality which will enable each promising idea to be brought to success. We encourage in particular researchers from industry, for which we have put together an extensive package of support measures tailor-made to industry needs, to get in touch with us.”

The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) performs – as an independent German research center – research in the fields of energy, health, and matter. We focus on answering the following questions:
•    How can energy and resources be utilized in an efficient, safe, and sustainable way?
•    How can malignant tumors be more precisely visualized, characterized, and more effectively treated?
•    How do matter and materials behave under the influence of strong fields and in smallest dimensions?
To help answer these research questions, HZDR operates large-scale facilities, which are also used by visiting researchers: the Ion Beam Center, the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources.
HZDR is a member of the Helmholtz Association and has six sites (Dresden, Freiberg, Görlitz, Grenoble, Leipzig, Schenefeld near Hamburg) with almost 1,500 members of staff, of whom about 670 are scientists, including 220 Ph.D. candidates.

Brothers and sisters shape character less than thought

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH

Our personality as adults is not determined by whether we grow up with sisters or brothers. This is the finding of an international study by researchers from Leipzig University, the University of Zurich and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The results have now been published in the renowned journal “Psychological Science”.

Siblings play a central role in childhood, and so it seems reasonable to assume that they influence each other’s personalities in the long term. In fact, psychological research has been dealing with the question of what difference it makes whether people grow up with sisters or brothers for more than half a century.

Scientists have repeatedly investigated whether brothers and sisters influence the extent to which their siblings adopt traditional “gender-conforming” characteristics, i.e. characteristics that are considered “typically male” or “typically female” in society. There are many assumptions and also contradictory findings on this, which is due in part to the fact that earlier studies were often based on limited and not very robust data.

In order to shed light on the previously inconsistent data situation, a team of researchers has now analysed data from more than 80,000 adults from nine countries, including Germany and the US, but also Mexico and China, for example. This was made possible by various national longitudinal studies that systematically collect information about people over decades, including their living conditions and personality traits determined in various ways. Statistical analysis of this data showed across national borders that personality traits such as risk-taking, emotional stability, conscientiousness and patience are not systematically related to sibling gender.

“Our findings refute the idea that growing up with brothers or sisters causes us to develop certain personality traits in the long term that are considered ‘typically female’ or ‘typically male’ in a society,” explains Dr Julia Rohrer, one of the authors of the paper. “Overall, current research suggests that siblings have a surprisingly small impact on personality in adulthood. For example, previous studies by our research group here in Leipzig show that sibling position – that is, whether a person is a firstborn or a sandwich child, for example – also does not play a major role in personality.”

However, the results of the new study do not mean that sibling gender does not play a role at all in long-term life paths. Economic studies have shown that in the US and Denmark, women with brothers earn less when employed. “So there do seem to be some interesting dynamics here that are related to gender,” says Rohrer. “But personality is probably not part of the explanation for such effects.”

DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

Illicit drugs are used by one in ten intensive cardiac care unit patients

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Barcelona, Spain – 26 Aug 2022: Illicit drug use is associated with a nearly nine-fold greater risk of death or life-threatening emergencies in intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) patients, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022.1

Study author Dr. Theo Pezel of Hospital Lariboisiere, Paris, France said: “Our study shows that patients with acute cardiovascular conditions who take illegal drugs are more likely to die or experience cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock while in hospital compared with non-users. Multiple drug users had an 11-fold risk of a poor in-hospital prognosis compared with those taking one drug.”

Illicit drug use has increased by 22% in the past decade to an estimated 275 million people worldwide.2 In the EU, approximately 83.4 million (29%) of 15 to 64 year-olds have ever used an illicit drug.3 Cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA), amphetamines, and heroin or other opioids are the most commonly used substances. Illicit drugs have been linked with acute cardiovascular events including heart attacks and aortic dissection4,5 but the prevalence of drug use in ICCU patients, and the short-term consequences, remain unknown.

The Addiction in Intensive Cardiac Care Units (ADDICT-ICCU) study assessed the prevalence of illicit drug use and the association with in-hospital major adverse events in consecutive patients admitted for acute cardiovascular events. From 7 to 22 April 2021, all consecutive patients admitted to ICCU in 39 centres throughout France provided a urine sample which was tested for illegal drugs. The primary outcome was the prevalence of illegal drug use. The secondary outcome was in-hospital major adverse events, defined as death, resuscitated cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock.

A total of 1,499 patients were screened, of which 70% were men. The average age was 63 years. Reasons for admission included myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, arrhythmias, myocarditis and pulmonary embolism. Some 161 patients (10.7%) had a positive test for at least one illicit drug. Regarding the types of drugs, 9.1% tested positive for cannabis, 2.1% for opioids, 1.7% for cocaine, 0.7% for amphetamines and 0.6% for MDMA.

Patients who used illicit drugs tended to be young: one-third (33%) of patients under 40 years of age were users compared with just 6% of those aged 60 years or above. Some 12% of men were users compared to 8% of women. All patients completed a questionnaire in which they were asked if they currently used illicit drugs. Of those with a positive urine drug test, just 56.5% reported current use while 43.5% claimed they did not use drugs.

During a median hospitalisation of five days, 61 patients (4.1%) had a major adverse event. Illicit drug use was associated with an almost nine-fold odds of major adverse events after adjusting for comorbidities (odds ratio [OR] 8.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.68–16.7; p<0.001). After adjustment for age and sex, cannabis use was associated with a three-fold odds of major adverse events (OR=3.53; 95% CI 1.25–9.95; p<0.001) while cocaine was associated with a five-fold odds (OR=5.12; 95% CI 1.48–17.2; p=0.004).

Of those using drugs, 28% took more than one type of drug. Multiple drug use was associated with a higher incidence of major adverse events than single drug use, with an odds ratio of 11.4 (95% CI 4.31–32.7; p<0.001).

Dr. Pezel said: “Illicit drug use was common in ICCU patients but under-reported. Users admitted for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and acute heart failure had particularly high risks of death, cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock with odds ratios of 28.8  and 12.8, respectively. Our results suggest that patients admitted to ICCU should be tested for drugs to identify those with an increased likelihood of detrimental outcomes.”

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Authors: ESC Press Office
Mobile: +33 (0)7 85 31 20 36
Email: press@escardio.org

The hashtag for ESC Congress 2022 is #ESCCongress.

Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews 

 

Funding: Institutional grant from the ‘Fondation Coeur et Recherche’, Paris, France.

Disclosures: None.

 

References and notes

1The abstract “Prevalence of illicit drugs use and association with in-hospital major adverse events in patients hospitalised for acute cardiac events: the ADDICT-ICCU Trial” will be presented during the session Acute cardiac care and COVID on Monday 29 August at 15:15 to 16:00 CEST at Station 5.

2World Drug Report 2021. United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. //www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wdr2021.html

3European Drug Report 2022: Trends and Developments. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/2d48883c-ed1f-11ec-a534-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-search

4Havakuk O, Rezkalla SH, Kloner RA. The cardiovascular effects of cocaine. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;70:101–113.

5Jouanjus E, Lapeyre-Mestre M, Micallef J, Cannabis use: signal of increasing risk of serious cardiovascular disorders. J Am Heart Assoc. 2014;3:e000638.

 

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2022

It is the world’s largest gathering of cardiovascular professionals, disseminating ground-breaking science both onsite in Barcelona and online – from 26 to 29 August. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

Good sleepers have lower risk of heart disease and stroke

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Barcelona, Spain – 26 Aug 2022: Nine in ten people do not get a good night’s sleep, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022.1 The study found that suboptimal sleep was associated with a higher likelihood of heart disease and stroke. The authors estimated that seven in ten of these cardiovascular conditions could be prevented if everyone was a good sleeper.

“The low prevalence of good sleepers was expected given our busy, 24/7 lives,” said study author Dr. Aboubakari Nambiema of INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), Paris, France. “The importance of sleep quality and quantity for heart health should be taught early in life when healthy behaviours become established. Minimising night-time noise and stress at work can both help improve sleep.”

Previous studies on sleep and heart disease have generally focused on one sleep habit, such as sleep duration or sleep apnoea, where breathing stops and starts while sleeping. In addition, prior studies have often assessed sleep at baseline only. The current study used a healthy sleep score combining five sleep habits. The researchers investigated the association between the baseline sleep score, and changes over time in the sleep score, and incident cardiovascular disease.

This study included 7,200 participants of the Paris Prospective Study III (PPP3), an observational community‐based prospective cohort. Men and women aged 50 to 75 years and free of cardiovascular disease were recruited in a preventive medical centre between 2008 and 2011. The average age was 59.7 years and 62% were men. Participants underwent a physical examination and completed questionnaires on lifestyle, personal and family medical history, and medical conditions.

Questionnaires were used to collect information on five sleep habits at baseline and two follow up visits. Each factor was given 1 point if optimal and 0 if not. A healthy sleep score ranging from 0 to 5 was calculated, with 0 or 1 considered poor and 5 considered optimal. Those with an optimal score reported sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night, never or rarely having insomnia, no frequent excessive daytime sleepiness, no sleep apnoea, and an early chronotype (being a morning person). The researchers checked for incident coronary heart disease and stroke every two years for a total of 10 years.

At baseline, 10% of participants had an optimal sleep score and 8% had a poor score. During a median follow up of eight years, 274 participants developed coronary heart disease or stroke. The researchers analysed the association between sleep scores and cardiovascular events after adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, occupation, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, cholesterol level, diabetes, and family history of heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death. They found that the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke decreased by 22% for every 1 point rise in the sleep score at baseline. More specifically, compared to those with a score of 0 or 1, participants with a score of 5 had a 75% lower risk of heart disease or stroke.

The researchers estimated the proportion of cardiovascular events that could be prevented with healthier sleep. They found that if all participants had an optimal sleep score, 72% of new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke might be avoided each year.

Over two follow ups, almost half of participants (48%) changed their sleep score: in 25% it decreased whereas in 23% it improved. When the researchers examined the association between the change in score and cardiovascular events, they found that a 1 point increment over time was associated with a 7% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.

Dr. Nambiema said: “Our study illustrates the potential for sleeping well to preserve heart health and suggests that improving sleep is linked with lower risks of coronary heart disease and stroke. We also found that the vast majority of people have sleep difficulties. Given that cardiovascular disease is the top cause of death worldwide, greater awareness is needed on the importance of good sleep for maintaining a healthy heart."

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Authors: ESC Press Office
Mobile: +33 (0)7 85 31 20 36
Email: press@escardio.org

 

The hashtag for ESC Congress 2022 is #ESCCongress.

Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews 

 

Funding: The PPS3 was supported by grants from the National Research Agency (ANR), the Region Ile de France (Domaine d’Intérêt Majeur), the Research Foundation for Hypertension (RFHTA), the Research Institute in Public Health (IRESP), Horizon 2020 ESCAPE-NET, and FRM Team grant.

 

Disclosures: Nothing to declare.

 

References and notes

1The abstract “Healthy sleep score and incident cardiovascular diseases: the Paris Prospective Study III (PPS3)” will be presented during the session Sleep disorders and apnoea, physical inactivity on Saturday 27 August at 14:15 to 15:00 CEST at Station 4.

 

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2022

It is the world’s largest gathering of cardiovascular professionals, disseminating ground-breaking science both onsite in Barcelona and online – from 26 to 29 August. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

Natural climate solutions help mitigate climate change in China

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS

Natural climate solutions (NCS), which comprise various land stewardship options, are approaches to trapping carbon in terrestrial pools and/or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They are critical for slowing down the rate of global warming over the next few decades.

An international research group led by Prof. FU Bojie from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has now quantified China's NCS and their contribution to climate change mitigation. Results were published online in Natural Climate Change on Aug. 18.  

The researchers used data from the literature, forestry inventories, public databases and policy documents to estimate the climate mitigation associated with China's 16 NCS pathways, including conservation, restoration, and improved management of forest, grassland, cropland and wetland ecosystems. Results were: 0.6 Pg (or 8% of industrial CO2 emissions) per year for 2000–2020; 0.6 Pg (or 6% of industrial CO2 emissions) per year for 2020–2030; and 1.0 Pg CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year for 2020–2060. If the post-2020 carbon sink from previous NCS activities is included, China's NCS would counterbalance 11-12% of industrial CO2 emissions by 2030. The researchers also calculated that 26–31%, 62–65%, and 90–91% of the future potentials can be achieved at the cost thresholds of 10, 50 and 100 US$ per Mg of CO2e, respectively.  

The modest proportion of China's industrial CO2 emissions that can be counterbalanced by NCS shows that transforming energy use and rapidly applying low-carbon technologies are urgent priorities for climate mitigation. However, Prof. FU pointed out that when it comes to achieving steep reductions in emissions, the potential of technology continues to narrow and costs continue to rise. For this reason, Prof. FU said that "strengthening natural climate solutions will play an important role in China's Nationally Determined Contribution and carbon neutrality."

The researchers also found that different regions and provinces have distinct NCS options and mitigation potentials, due to regional heterogeneity in natural conditions, ecosystem characteristics, and management methods. The researchers suggested that in order to realize the maximum potential of NCS along with the co-benefits of biodiversity and ecosystem services, it is necessary to formulate a multilevel governance strategy that captures regional differences in various NCS pathways. 

Prof. FU said that realization of maximum mitigation potential of future ecosystems depends on "multipath management of large land areas." He also noted that "comprehensive upgrading of the nation's ecosystem management strategy" is needed.  

To meet this goal, the researchers said that overall investment in ecosystem management should be ensured and efficiency improved. Due to limited natural resources and economic capital, it's necessary to carefully plan forestation, enclosing grasslands and reclaiming farmland, in order to avoid blind expansion. The researchers also noted the critical importance of protecting the existing ecosystem, and seeking diversified management pathways through technological innovation and achieving synergies. 

Researchers from Boston College and Auburn University in the U.S., Peking University and Beijing Normal University in China, CEA, CNRS and UVSQ in France, and the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom participated in the study, which was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key R&D Program of China.

Oldest case of a rare genetic condition discovered

A group of international researchers has uncovered evidence of a super rare genetic condition that gives men an extra X chromosome, reporting the oldest clinical case of Klinefelter Syndrome to date.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Oldest case of a rare genetic condition discovered 

IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SKULL SHOW ANTERIOR (A) AND LATERAL (B) VIEWS WITH A PROBABLE MALOCCLUSION AND MAXILLARY PROGNATHISM DENOUNCED BY ATYPICAL DENTAL WEAR. view more 

CREDIT: THE LANCET

A group of international researchers has uncovered evidence of a super rare genetic condition that gives men an extra X chromosome, reporting the oldest clinical case of Klinefelter Syndrome to date.

The evidence comes from a 1,000-year-old skeleton from Portugal.

Klinefelter Syndrome is a rare genetic condition where individuals are born with an extra copy of the X chromosome, occurring in approximately one in 1,000 genetic-male births.

The study coordinated by Dr João Teixeira, an ARC DECRA Fellow at The Australian National University (ANU), brought together a multidisciplinary team that combined genetic, statistical, archaeological and anthropological information to establish a definitive diagnosis.

The team began by analysing genetic information obtained from a skeleton found in northeastern Portugal that had been radiocarbon dated to the 11th century by researchers from the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

“We were immediately excited the first time we looked at the results,” Dr Teixeira said. “However, ancient DNA, is often degraded and of low quality and abundance, meaning we were initially cautious.”

The researchers say the findings will help establish a historic record for Klinefelter Syndrome, as well as enhance understanding of its prevalence throughout human history.

“Our research shows the immense potential of combining different lines of evidence to study the human past, and the frequency of different health conditions through time,” Dr Teixeira said.

Associate Professor Bastien Llamas, Head of Molecular Anthropology at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, said: “In recent years, ancient DNA helped rewrite the history of worldwide human populations. Our study demonstrates it is now a valuable resource for biomedical research and the growing field of evolutionary medicine”.

The DNA was extracted by PhD student at the University of Adelaide, Xavier Roca-Rada, who said “genetic analysis was undertaken to computationally map the degraded DNA fragments of the X and Y chromosomes to the reference human genome”.

Given the well preserved state of the specimen, the researchers were also able to determine physical traits in the skeleton compatible with Klinefelter Syndrome.

“Given the fragile state of the DNA, we developed a new statistical method that could take into account the characteristics of ancient DNA, and our observations to confirm the diagnosis,” Dr Teixeira said.

“While the study offers compelling evidence for the genetic history of Klinefelter Syndrome, no sociological implications can be drawn from this diagnostic."

The researchers suggest their new method to analyse this particular skeleton can be further improved to study different chromosomal abnormalities in other archaeological specimens, including Down Syndrome. 

This research is published in The LancetAn image is also available for download.