Faster narcotics classification of Internet drugs with method developed at Linköping University

Peer-Reviewed Publication

LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: HENRIK GREEN, PROFESSOR OF FORENSIC SCIENCES AT LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY AND RESEARCHER AT THE NATIONAL BOARD OF FORENSIC MEDICINE IN SWEDEN. view more 

CREDIT: EMMA BUSK WINQUIST/LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY

NPS, new psychoactive substances, also known as Internet drugs, are substances developed to affect the brain in a similar way to illegal drugs. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the National Board of Forensic Medicine, have set up a rapid method for measuring the effect of new NPS and provide scientific basis for narcotics classification. This method made it possible to classify a majority of the substances tested as narcotic drugs. The method and the result of analyses of 17 suspected psychoactive cannabinoid drugs are described in an article published in Forensic Science International.

“When new synthetic drugs come on the market, there is often no telling what effects they will have or how much to take”, says Henrik Green, professor of Forensic Sciences at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at Linköping University and researcher at the National Board of Forensic Medicine.

NPS, “designer drugs” or “legal highs” are new substances that have psychoactive properties affecting the brain. Some 50 such drugs enter Europe every year. Narcotics classification in Sweden is based on the exact chemical structure of each compound. It therefore takes time to classify new variants as illegal. In the meantime, they are easy to get hold of. As possession of these substances during that time is legal, many people erroneously think that they are safe or harmless.

One group of NPS is synthetic cannabinoids.

“Those who use cannabinoids are after euphoria. Sometimes you get the desired effect, but often you also get many unwanted effects, such as hallucinations, nausea, arrhythmia and anxiety”, says Henrik Green.

Public agencies in several countries have warned against sweets containing synthetic cannabis, which look identical to normal sweets. Not only is there a risk that children may eat the cannabis sweets by mistake, the strength of synthetic cannabinoids may also vary quite considerably. According to Swedish Customs, they may be up to 100 times stronger than ordinary cannabis.

“If you know that the sweets contain narcotic drugs, you’ll take maybe one or two pieces to get the desired effect. But children rarely stop after a couple of pieces, especially not if they think the sweets are normal sweets, so there’s a huge risk of overdosing when drugs are packaged in this way”, says Henrik Green.

Narcotics classification by the Public Health Agency requires scientific basis describing the effects of new compounds. There was previously no system for rapid screening for the activity of new psychoactive substances. As part of a collaboration between the Public Health Agency, the National Board of Forensic Medicine and Linköping University, researchers have set up a method for fast measurement of the effects of new substances. Their article, published in Forensic Science International, describes their method and the result of analyses of 17 suspected psychoactive cannabinoid drugs.

Cannabinoid substances are intended to affect the brain by binding to and activating a structure on the cell surface called cannabinoid receptor-1, CB1. The method developed by researchers uses cultured cells with the cannabinoid receptor on the cell surface. The researchers add the substance to be tested and measure if, and how much, the receptor is activated. By measuring the effects of eight different concentrations of the substance, they can measure the effect in relation to dose. Once the analysis is ready, the information is sent directly to the Public Health Agency. A huge advantage of this procedure is that the Public Health Agency no longer has to wait for data on new substances to be published in scientific journals.

15 of the 17 substances examined turned out to be able to activate the cannabinoid receptor.

“Fourteen of the substances we tested were quickly classified as narcotics in Sweden. This is very good proactive collaboration that makes a difference in combating drugs, and we researchers are tremendously grateful for being able to contribute to results in society,” says Henrik Green.

The method is quick and relatively simple to use. The researchers have further developed the method so as to also measure effects on the cellular systems affected by substances similar to for example amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, morphine and fentanyl. The project between the Public Health Agency, the National Board of Forensic Medicine and Linköping University has also led to collaboration with the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, EMCDDA, who also want this information for their risk assessments.

The study was funded by the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

The article: Using in vitro receptor activity studies of synthetic cannabinoids to support the risk assessment of new psychoactive substances – A Swedish strategy to protect public health from harm, Matilda Bäckberg, Svante Vikingsson, Joakim Strandberg, Sara Wall, Anna Åstrand, Hanna Karlsson, Mattias Persson, Robert Kronstrand and Henrik Green, (2023), Forensic Science International, published online on 13 April 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111691

---

JOURNAL

Forensic Science International

DOI

10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111691 

ARTICLE TITLE

Using in vitro receptor activity studies of synthetic cannabinoids to support the risk assessment of new psychoactive substances – A Swedish strategy to protect public health from harm

Trials will investigate if rock dust can combat climate crisis

Enhanced Rock Weathering could absorb and lock up large amounts of CO2, plus boost crop yield

Business Announcement

UK CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY & HYDROLOGY

 

IMAGE: A TRACTOR SPREADS ROCK DUST ON UPLAND GRASSLAND IN PLYLIMON, MID-WALES. view more 

CREDIT: ALAN RADBOURNE, UKCEH

Scientists at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) are trialling an innovative approach to mitigating climate change and boosting crop yield in mid-Wales. Adding crushed rock dust to farmland has the potential to remove and lock up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In the first trial of Enhanced Rock Weathering on upland grasslands in the world, UKCEH scientists have applied 56 tonnes of finely ground basalt rock from quarries to three hectares of farmland in Plynlimon, Powys, this month and are repeating this at the same time next year.

The basalt rock dust particles, which are less than 2mm in size, absorb and store carbon at faster rates than occur with the breaking down, or weathering of the naturally occurring rocks at the sites, reducing the timescale from decades to just months (see Notes).

As part of the project, similar trials are also being carried out at lowland grassland in North Wyke, Devon, and arable cropland in Harpenden, which are field sites owned by Rothamsted Research, as part of a wider UK study funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The project is led by Professor David Beerling of the University of Sheffield, who estimates that Enhanced Rock Weathering could remove up to two billion tonnes of CO2 a year from the atmosphere globally by 2050. This would include up to 30 million tonnes in the UK – around 30 per cent of annual greenhouse gas removal (GGR) targets* as part of national net zero plans.

While other studies from around the world suggest Enhanced Rock Weathering could be very effective in removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, there have been no large-scale trials in the UK for our specific land use and soil systems.

Professor Bridget Emmett, Head of Soils and Land Use at UKCEH, says: “Enhanced Rock Weathering offers multiple potential wins. Rock dust could play a key role in meeting net zero and Paris Agreement targets. Meanwhile, the resulting chemical changes in the soil can also aid crop and grass production.

Critically, the project includes a whole system assessment of emissions linked to the supply and transport of the rock dust from quarries around the UK, to identifying the potential unintended environmental impacts such as changes in freshwater biodiversity.”

Dr Alan Radbourne of UKCEH, who is managing the Plynlimon trials, says: “We hope to understand more of the scale and possible trade-offs this technology might have in the real world. However, the magnitude of climate crisis means that it will be just part of the broad mix of nature-based and engineered solutions needed to accelerate greenhouse gas removal. It is also important to remember we need to significantly reduce our emissions in the first place.”

UKCEH, which has been researching biogeochemical and hydrological processes in the Plynlimon catchments since the 1960s, has set up greenhouse gas flux chambers on the fields to measure how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are captured from the atmosphere. Our scientists will also monitor the amount of carbon stored in soil and transferred to the river, as well as other impacts on biodiversity, grass production and overall water quality. Time-lapse cameras are being used to monitor sheep grazing patterns in the catchment to see if changes in the forage quality will draw more sheep to the area.

For more information on the Plynlimon trials, visit the UKCEH project page.

Ends

Media enquiries

Photographs and a video of the spreading of rock dust in Plynlimon are available. For interviews and further information, contact Simon Williams, Media Relations Officer, via simwil@ceh.ac.uk or call 07920 295384.

Notes to Editors

The Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) demonstrator project involves partners including the University of Sheffield, UKCEH, Rothamsted Research and the National Oceanographic Centre. It is part of the GGR CO2RE programme, a multi-disciplinary, multi-centre national research hub on Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) funded by UKRI via the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

There are two possible ways to store the carbon removed by the crushed rock. Both begin with CO2 in rainwater reacting with chemical elements in the rock dust to create soluble compounds in the soil called carbonates. Depending on local hydrology and soil characteristics, the carbonates will either form carbon-rich minerals and be stored in the soil itself or will be transported through drainage waters and rivers before ultimately being deposited and stored in ocean sediments. The process of rocks breaking down resulting in carbonate formation, transport and storage is commonly called soil weathering.

Natural weathering in Wales is a slow process because our rocks do not have minerals which are so effective at capturing carbon. Adding basalt rock dust has the potential to enhance this slow natural process.

*In its Balanced Net Zero Pathway of its Sixth Carbon Budget, the Climate Change Committee estimated a total of 97 million tonnes of CO2 year, from engineered and land-based solutions, would be required to be removed from the atmosphere by 2050 as part of the UK’s net zero target. A report by Element Energy and UKCEH, commissioned by BEIS, produced a range of combinations of GGR methods that could remove 110 million tonnes a year.
 

About the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is a world-leading centre for excellence in environmental sciences across water, land and air. The Centre has a long history of investigating, monitoring and modelling environmental change. Its 600 scientists provide the data and insights that researchers, governments and businesses need to create a productive, resilient and healthy environment.

UKCEH undertakes long-term national surveys of both natural and managed environments, focusing on carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. We make a major contribution to the UK national and international greenhouse gas emissions inventories, and we improve understanding of the role that land use has on emissions. We are contributing to the development of peatland and saltmarsh carbon codes – voluntary certification standards, enabling peatland and saltmarsh carbon to be marketed and purchased by private investors – thereby providing an income stream for the achievement of national net zero goals.

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is a strategic delivery partner for the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.

www.ceh.ac.uk / @UK_CEH /  LinkedIn: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

 

 

 

 

---

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

Shrimp from Finding Nemo could help keep your white bread white

Ben-Gurion University researchers discover new principle in optics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, May 30, 2023 – The Pacific Cleaner Shrimp may hold the secret to keeping white bread white. Inorganic nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are widely used as whitening agents in foods, cosmetics, and paints. However, due to health concerns, there is currently an intensive search to find organic, bio-compatible analogues to replace these materials. Now, Dr. Ben Palmer and his student Tali Lemcoff of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered a new material in cleaner shrimp that produces one of the most efficient white reflectors in nature which could inspire the development of novel, organic whitening materials. By studying the white material found in cleaner shrimp, the researchers discovered a completely new principle in optics. The findings were published late last month in the prestigious Nature Photonics (https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01415-0) journal.

The Pacific Cleaner Shrimp, also known as Jacques from Finding Nemo, uses white stripes on its cuticle and appendages to attract fish, which it then proceeds to clean by eating parasites off the fish’s body. When the researchers took a closer look at these white stripes, they discovered something amazing. The white stripes are made of an ultra-thin layer of densely packed particles of a small molecule, isoxanthopterin. Making white materials from thick materials is trivial. However, making efficient white reflectors from thin, dense materials is challenging due to an optical effect called ‘optical crowding’, whereby reflectance decreases at higher packing densities. Despite being less than 5 microns thick, the whiteness produced by the shrimp is extremely bright, making it one of the thinnest and most efficient white materials that exist.

The key to the optics is in the arrangement of molecules in the particles. The molecules are arranged in a ‘liquid crystal’, stacked in columns which radiate radially from the center of the nanospheres like the spokes of a wheel.  “At first, I thought it was not interesting because the nanospheres were not classic crystals. However, when we looked closer using cryo-SEM and TEM microscopes, we realized not only that the particles are liquid crystals, like those in LCD displays, but that they exhibit birefringence (dual refraction), which is exceedingly rare in the animal world,” enthused Tali Lemcoff.

It turns out that this special arrangement of molecules is key to overcoming the ‘optical crowding’ hurdle, allowing the particles to be packed densely, reducing the thickness of the layer required to produce bright whiteness.

“It is really one of the first times we have learned an entirely new principle from studying an organism. The shrimp has overcome a seemingly fundamental hurdle in optics by creating particles with this special arrangement of molecules.  Now the question is, how can we replicate this effect for creating new materials we could use as food additives in white bread, or in white paint and other applications?” says Dr. Palmer.

Additional researchers include: Lotem Alus, Johannes S. Haataja, Avital Wagner, Gan Zhang, Mariela J. Pavan, Venkata Jayasurya Yallapragada, Silvia Vignolini, Dan Oron, Lukas Schertel.

The study was supported by ERC Starting Grant (Grant number: 852948, ‘CRYSTALEYES’), HFSP Grant (Grant number: RGP0037/2022) awarded to Benjamin A. Palmer. Benjamin A. Palmer is the Nahum Guzik Presidential Recruit. Benjamin A. Palmer is a recipient of the 2019 Azrieli Faculty Fellowship.

---

JOURNAL

Nature Photonics

DOI

10.1038/s41566-023-01182-4 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Brilliant whiteness in shrimp from ultra-thin layers of birefringent nanospheres

Jacques, the Pacific cleaner shrimp




We have many of the fish from 'Finding Nemo' at the Aquarium, but the non-fish we have from the film is the Pacific cleaner shrimp ('Lysmata amboinensis'), which is the character Jacques.

We love invertebrates and this shrimp is in our top ten! In the film, Jacques has what looks like an impressive moustache. His 'moustache' is the real life shrimp's antennae. If you look closely at Jacques you’ll see he actually has two moustaches.

This is the same with shrimps. They have a long antennae (usually longer than their body length) which they use to touch, and to help orientate themselves with their surroundings. This is also used for 'tasting' and 'smelling' what’s around them. Their shorter antennae are used to assess whether their prey is suitable for eating.

Cleaner shrimp 'clean up' other animals in the sea. Cleaning stations have been observed, occupied by a few cleaner shrimp waiting for fish like eels and groupers to come by. Once they’ve got their 'customers' they will climb on board and start to pick away at any external parasites which the shrimp then eat. Some fish may even open their mouths to allow the shrimp inside! You might think that this was a trap and that the shrimp will be guzzled. It’s no trap though, because the fish have worked out that having parasites removed is much better for their health in the long run, than making a meal of the little shrimp. They also 'clean up' the algae in the tank.

In 'Finding Nemo', when they’re plotting to escape the tank, Jacques is ordered by the other fish to stop 'cleaning', which results in a very algaefied tank within a few days. In reality a shrimp will pick at algae, but they wouldn’t be able to keep all algae at bay. It grows too fast and would be far too much for one shrimp to deal with it all.

If you were to ask us if our cleaner shrimp was a girl or a boy, we'd have to tell you they’re both! All these shrimps are born male, and then along their lifespan develop female organs as well. This is known as 'protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism'. They are able to function as a male or female when it comes to their reproductive life.

Our cleaner shrimp are a bit shy - they hide in their tank so you need to look hard if you want to spot them. If we ever need to clean their tanks, sometimes we get a shock when they come up to clean us! They have little claws at the end of their legs which they use to pick off parasites on fishes and dead skin on humans. For small claws they’re surprisingly sharp, though I guess this is a must for retrieving stuck in parasites. It’s not really painful, but it certainly feels a bit odd!

BUMPER CAR BRAINS

Self-driving cars lack social intelligence in traffic

Self-driving cars fall short when it comes to understanding the social codes in traffic that let human drivers decide whether to give way or drive on, according to new award winning research from the University of Copenhagen.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN - FACULTY OF SCIENCE

NEWS RELEASE 30-MAY-2023

Should I go or give way? It is one of the most basic questions in traffic, whether merging in on a motorway or at the door of the metro. The decision is one that humans typically make quickly and intuitively, because doing so relies on social interactions trained from the time we begin to walk.     

Self-driving cars on the other hand, which are already on the road in several parts of the world, still struggle when navigating these social interactions in traffic. This has been demonstrated in new research conducted at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Computer Science. Researchers analyzed an array of videos uploaded by YouTube users of self-driving cars in various traffic situations. The results show that self-driving cars have a particularly tough time understanding when to ‘yield’ - when to give way and when to drive on.

"The ability to navigate in traffic is based on much more than traffic rules. Social interactions, including body language, play a major role when we signal each other in traffic. This is where the programming of self-driving cars still falls short. That is why it is difficult for them to consistently understand when to stop and when someone is stopping for them, which can be both annoying and dangerous," says Professor Barry Brown, who has studied the evolution of self-driving car road behavior for the past five years.

Sorry, it’s a self-driving car!

Companies like Waymo and Cruise have launched taxi services with self-driving cars in parts of the United States. Tesla has rolled out their FSD model (full self-driving) to about 100,000 volunteer drivers in the US and Canada. And the media is brimming with stories about how good self-driving cars perform.  But according to Professor Brown and his team, their actual road performance is a well-kept trade secret that very few have insight into. Therefore, the researchers performed in-depth analyses using 18 hours of YouTube footage filmed by enthusiasts testing cars from the back seat.

One of their video examples shows a family of four standing by the curb of a residential street in the United States. There is no pedestrian crossing, but the family would like to cross the road. As the driverless car approaches, it slows, causing the two adults in the family to wave their hands as a sign for the car to drive on. Instead, the car stops right next to them for 11 seconds. Then, as the family begins walking across the road, the car starts moving again, causing them to jump back onto the sidewalk, whereupon the person in the back seat rolls down the window and yells, "Sorry, self-driving car!".

"The situation is similar to the main problem we found in our analysis and demonstrates the inability of self-driving cars to understand social interactions in traffic. The driverless vehicle stops so as to not hit pedestrians, but ends up driving into them anyway because it doesn't understand the signals. Besides creating confusion and wasted time in traffic, it can also be downright dangerous," says Professor Brown. 

A drive in foggy Frisco

In tech centric San Francisco, the performance of self-driving cars can be judged up close. Here, driverless cars have been unleashed in several parts of the city as buses and taxis, navigating the hilly streets among people and other natural phenomena. And according to the researcher, this has created plenty of resistance among the city’s residents: 

"Self-driving cars are causing traffic jams and problems in San Francisco because they react inappropriately to other road users. Recently, the city’s media wrote of a chaotic traffic event caused by self-driving cars due to fog. Fog caused the self-driving cars to overreact, stop and block traffic, even though fog is extremely common in the city," says Professor Brown.   

Robotic cars have been in the works for 10 years and the industry behind them has spent over DKK 40 billion to push their development. Yet the outcome has been cars that still drive with many mistakes, blocking other drivers and disrupting the smooth flow of traffic. 

Why do you think it's so difficult to program self-driving cars to understand social interactions in traffic?

"I think that part of the answer is that we take the social element for granted. We don't think about it when we get into a car and drive – we just do it automatically. But when it comes to designing systems, you need to describe everything we take for granted and incorporate it into the design. The car industry could learn from having a more sociological approach.  Understanding social interactions that are part of traffic should be used to design self-driving cars’ interactions with other road users, similar to how research has helped improve the usability of mobile phones and technology more broadly."

About the study:

• The researchers analyzed 18 hours of video footage of self-driving cars from 70 different YouTube videos.
• Using different video analysis techniques the researchers studied the video sequences in depth, rather than making a broader superficial analysis.
• The study is called: "The Halting Problem: Video analysis of self-driving cars in traffic" has just been presented at the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, where it won the conference’s best paper award.
• The study was conducted by Barry Brown of the University of Copenhagen and Stockholm University, Mathias Broth of Linköping University, and Erik Vinkhuyzen of Kings College, London.

 

DOI

10.1145/3544548.3581045 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Halting problem: Video analysis of self-driving cars in traffic

Meda Surdokaitė, winner of international science competitions: “The greatest charm of science is the community”

“Although the environment was very competitive, I felt the other side of the competition as well – I met many wonderful young researchers,” says Meda Surdokaitė, a first-year KTU student, who was awarded the third place at Regeneron ISEF in Dallas,

Grant and Award Announcement

KAUNAS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: MEDA SURDOKAITĖ, A FIRST-YEAR APPLIED CHEMISTRY STUDENT FROM KTU, LITHUANIA WON THE THIRD PRIZE IN THE CHEMISTRY CATEGORY AT REGENERON ISEF'2023 IN DALLAS, USA view more 

CREDIT: KTU

“Although the environment was very competitive, I felt the other side of the competition as well – I met many wonderful young researchers,” says Meda Surdokaitė, a first-year KTU student, who was awarded the third place at Regeneron ISEF in Dallas, USA. Nearly 2,000 young scientists attended one of the largest scientific competitions in the world. Lithuanian Meda was delegated to it by the EUCYS competition for young scientists of the European Union, in which she took first place in the fall of last year.

Surdokaitė, who is studying applied chemistry at the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), believes that participation in an event of such magnitude as Regeneron ISEF inspires and motivates to strive for more.

“Many different ideas were presented in the competition, which are not limited to chemistry or biology – 21 categories of scientific works were named,” explains Surdokaitė.

Although Meda won third place and a $1,000 prize in the chemistry category, she says her award-winning work — optimizing the synthesis of the Nile Red dye — is interdisciplinary. Nile Red dye is used in both biomedical and environmental engineering laboratories: its chemical properties help detect lipids in cells and microplastics in water.

“At the competition, one student from the United States presented a project in which she used my optimized synthesis dye Nile Red to detect nanoplastic particles in water. It’s incredible to see that your work is already helping someone,” says Surdokaitė.

To follow the new EU requirements for chemical substances, Surdokaitė conducted several experiments in which she proposed a new, non-toxic way of synthesizing Nile Red dye. In 2022, when she presented it at the EUCYS, European Young Scientists Contest, she won the highest award and became the first Lithuanian girl to achieve such a result. For this achievement, the KTU student was not only nominated in the Lithuanian National Broadcaster’s LRT annual awards as Future of the Year, was able to participate in the Stockholm international youth science seminar SIYSS, but also got the opportunity to compete in the prestigious Regeneron ISEF competition as EUCYS delegated representative of Europe.

“For me, a Lithuanian, just participating in such a competition is already a victory,” says Surdokaitė.

Priorities help making plans

Meda, a student of the KTU GITFed talent development programme says that she is most motivated by curiosity about science in a broad sense: “In the field of science, I see cooperation as one of the greatest values. Researchers’ work is very interesting, and I am happy to be able to learn from a mentor who is also passionate about science.”

Meda carried out her award-winning experiments under the guidance of KTU researcher Artiom Magomedov. Today, he is her academic mentor.

“I am often asked how I find time for everything. The truth is, I cannot find time for everything that I want to do, and what I consider meaningful. For me, it is challenging to devote time to those topics that are less interesting, to be squeezed into the framework of study modules. However, I understand that the purpose of the modules, which may seem less important to me now, is to lay the foundations that may be needed someday,” says Surdokaitė, the winner of international science competitions.

The KTU applied chemistry fresher not only dreams of a career as a scientist, but is also actively pursuing it. She says that when choosing any path, the most important thing is to do what is interesting, and to see the meaning in the activity. Today, Surdokaitė is preparing for a summer internship at the University of Turin in Italy, is planning partial studies with the Erasmus+ exchange programme in Prague and an internship with her mentor Artiom Magomedov.

“However, the field of science is very dynamic, therefore it is difficult to plan your activities there. What I have listed are current and not exact plans. It is important to have priorities so that when the time comes, you can choose the best option,” says Meda.

New tool may help spot “invisible” brain damage in college athletes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NYU LANGONE HEALTH / NYU GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

An artificial intelligence computer program that processes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can accurately identify changes in brain structure that result from repeated head injury, a new study in student athletes shows. These variations have not been captured by other traditional medical images such as computerized tomography (CT) scans. The new technology, researchers say, may help design new diagnostic tools to better understand subtle brain injuries that accumulate over time.

Experts have long known about potential risks of concussion among young athletes, particularly for those who play high-contact sports such as football, hockey, and soccer. Evidence is now mounting that repeated head impacts, even if they at first appear mild, may add up over many years and lead to cognitive loss. While advanced MRI identifies microscopic changes in brain structure that result from head trauma, researchers say the scans produce vast amounts of data that is difficult to navigate.

Led by researchers in the Department of Radiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study showed for the first time that the new tool, using an AI technique called machine learning, could accurately distinguish between the brains of male athletes who played contact sports like football versus noncontact sports like track and field. The results linked repeated head impacts with tiny, structural changes in the brains of contact-sport athletes who had not been diagnosed with a concussion.

“Our findings uncover meaningful differences between the brains of athletes who play contact sports compared to those who compete in noncontact sports,” said study senior author and neuroradiologist Yvonne Lui, MD. “Since we expect these groups to have similar brain structure, these results suggest that there may be a risk in choosing one sport over another,” adds Lui, a professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Radiology at NYU Langone Health.

Lui adds that beyond spotting potential damage, the machine-learning technique used in their investigation may also help experts to better understand the underlying mechanisms behind brain injury.

The new study, which published online May 22 in The Neuroradiology Journal, involved hundreds of brain images from 36 contact-sport college athletes (mostly football players) and 45 noncontact-sport college athletes (mostly runners and baseball players). The work was meant to clearly link changes detected by the AI tool in the brain scans of football players to head impacts. It builds on a previous study that had identified brain-structure differences in football players, comparing those with and without concussions to athletes who competed in noncontact sports.

For the investigation, the researchers analyzed MRI scans from 81 male athletes taken between 2016 through 2018, none of whom had a known diagnosis of concussion within that time period. Contact-sport athletes played football, lacrosse, and soccer, while noncontact-sport athletes participated in baseball, basketball, track and field, and cross-country.

As part of their analysis, the research team designed statistical techniques that gave their computer program the ability to “learn” how to predict exposure to repeated head impacts using mathematical models. These were based on data examples fed into them, with the program getting “smarter” as the amount of training data grew.

The study team trained the program to identify unusual features in brain tissue and distinguish between athletes with and without repeated exposure to head injuries based on these factors. They also ranked how useful each feature was for detecting damage to help uncover which of the many MRI metrics might contribute most to diagnoses.

Two metrics most accurately flagged structural changes that resulted from head injury, say the authors. The first, mean diffusivity, measures how easily water can move through brain tissue and is often used to spot strokes on MRI scans. The second, mean kurtosis, examines the complexity of brain-tissue structure and can indicate changes in the parts of the brain involved in learning, memory, and emotions.

“Our results highlight the power of artificial intelligence to help us see things that we could not see before, particularly ‘invisible injuries’ that do not show up on conventional MRI scans,” said study lead author Junbo Chen, MS, a doctoral candidate at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. “This method may provide an important diagnostic tool not only for concussion, but also for detecting the damage that stems from subtler and more frequent head impacts.”

Chen adds that the study team next plans to explore the use of their machine-learning technique for examining head injury in female athletes.

Funding for the study was provided by National Institute of Health grants P41EB017183 and C63000NYUPG118117. Further funding was provided by Department of Defense grant W81XWH2010699.

In addition to Lui and Chen, other NYU researchers involved in the study were Sohae Chung, PhD; Tianhao Li, MS; Els Fieremans, PhD; Dmitry Novikov, PhD; and Yao Wang, PhD.

Media Inquiries:

Shira Polan

Phone: 212-404-4279

shira.polan@nyulangone.org

 

---

JOURNAL

The Neuroradiology Journal

DOI

10.1177/1971400923117739 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Identifying relevant diffusion MRI microstructure biomarkers relating to exposure to repeated head impacts in contact sport athletes

New study challenges common perceptions of Victorian register office weddings

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Register office weddings were more popular with older couples rather than runaway teenagers when introduced by the Victorians, new analysis shows.

More than a million couples chose to avoid a church for their wedding in favour of a register office following the Marriage Act 1836 until the death of Queen Victoria.

Some couples chose to marry in a register office because they had something to hide. Others did so because of practical considerations of location, cost, and speed.

Professor Rebecca Probert, from the University of Exeter Law School, analysed information about 286 register office weddings celebrated between 1837 and 1901, with examples from 40 counties and 151 different registration districts.

Older couples were overrepresented, and many of these were remarriages having first had a ceremony in a church. Brides and grooms marrying in the register office were twice as likely to be in their 40s and older.

In 2020 Professor Probert put out a call via the Lost Cousins network of family historians and societies interested in family history inviting family historians whose ancestors had married in ‘a civil ceremony’ to provide information. A total of 184 got in touch and between them provided information about 1,132 weddings celebrated between 1837 and 2017.

According to the national figures, in 1901 4.9 per cent of marriages were recorded as involving a groom in their 40s, and 3.5 per cent as involving one aged 50 or over. For brides, the percentages were even lower, with 3.6 per cent of marriages recorded as involving a bride in her 40s, and just 1.6 per cent involving one aged 50 or over. Within the sample exampled by Professor Probert 9.8 per cent of grooms were recorded as being in their 40s, and 7.3 per cent as over 50; similarly, 6.6 per cent of brides were recorded as being in their 40s and 3.7 per cent as over 50.

During the Victorian era 16.7 per cent of all marriages were stated to be remarriages for one or both of the parties. By contrast, 25 per cent of the register office sample were stated to be widow(ers) or (more rarely) divorce(e)s.

Professor Probert also found impediments for 24 marriages, or 8.4 per cent. Three men married a daughter or niece of their deceased wife, while one woman married her deceased husband’s brother, and seven men married their deceased wife’s sister. The other 13 cases involved an existing spouse.

In other cases individuals seem to have given false details. Within the sample, 6.2 per cent of grooms and 8.9 per cent of brides are known to have adjusted their ages (sometimes upwards, sometimes downwards). There were also 15 marriages in the sample (around 5.2 per cent of the sample) in which there was an age gap of 20 years or more between the bride and groom. 

In one case where the bride was 33 years older than the groom, her given age was recorded as 50 rather than the actual 62, while he claimed to be 30 rather than 29.

Within the register office sample, at least 14.7 per cent of brides were pregnant, many of whom would have been very visibly pregnant at the time of the wedding.

Increasing urbanisation may also have played a role in the increase in register office weddings, for those who were living far away from their family or who did not have a deep connection with their new parish church.  

Professor Probert said: “There’s no simple answer to the question of who married in a register office in Victorian England. Individuals often made different choices at different stages in their lives. Working with family historians is a great way of building up a picture of what happened in practice.”  

---

JOURNAL

Family & Community History

DOI

10.1080/14631180.2023.2205736 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Avoiding Attention? Assessing the Reasons for Register Office Weddings in Victorian England and Wales

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-May-2023

The next generation of solar energy collectors could be rocks

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: THESE GRANITE (LEFT) AND SOAPSTONE (RIGHT) SAMPLES COULD HELP STORE HEAT FROM THE SUN TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY. view more 

CREDIT: ADAPTED FROM ACS OMEGA, 2023, DOI: 10.1021/ACSOMEGA.3C00314

The next generation of sustainable energy technology might be built from some low-tech materials: rocks and the sun. Using a new approach known as concentrated solar power, heat from the sun is stored then used to dry foods or create electricity. A team reporting in ACS Omega has found that certain soapstone and granite samples from Tanzania are well suited for storing this solar heat, featuring high energy densities and stability even at high temperatures.

Energy is often stored in large batteries when not needed, but these can be expensive and require lots of resources to manufacture. A lower-tech alternative is thermal energy storage (TES), which collects energy as heat in a liquid or solid, such as water, oil or rock. When released, the heat can power a generator to produce electricity. Rocks such as granite and soapstone are specifically formed under high heat and found across the globe, which might make them favorable TES materials. However, their properties can vary greatly based on where in the world they were formed, possibly making some samples better than others. In Tanzania, the Craton and Usagaran geological belts meet, and both contain granite and soapstone. So, Lilian Deusdedit Kakoko, Yusufu Abeid Chande Jande and Thomas Kivevele from Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology and Ardhi University wanted to investigate the properties of soapstone and granite found in each of these belts.

The team collected several rock samples from the belts and analyzed them. The granite samples contained a large amount of silicon oxides, which added strength. However, the Craton granite contained other compounds, including muscovite, which are susceptible to dehydration and could make the rock unstable at high temperatures. Magnesite was found in the soapstone, which conferred a high density and thermal capacity. When heated to temperatures over 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, both soapstone samples and the Usagaran granite had no visible cracks, but the Craton granite fell apart. Additionally, the soapstone was more likely to release its stored heat than the granite. In all, the Craton soapstone had the best performance as a TES, able to absorb, store and transmit heat effectively while maintaining good chemical stability and mechanical strength. However, the other rocks might be better suited for a lower-energy TES application, such a solar dryer. The researchers say that though further experiments are needed, these samples show good promise in being a sustainable energy storage material.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research under the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and the United States Agency for International Development.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

---

JOURNAL

ACS Omega

DOI

10.1021/acsomega.3c00314 

ARTICLE TITLE

“Experimental Investigation of Soapstone and Granite Rocks as Energy-Storage Materials for Concentrated Solar Power Generation and Solar Drying Technology”