It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Robotic hand rotates objects using touch, not vision
IMAGE: INSPIRED BY THE EFFORTLESS WAY HUMANS HANDLE OBJECTS WITHOUT SEEING THEM, A TEAM LED BY ENGINEERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO HAS DEVELOPED A NEW APPROACH THAT ENABLES A ROBOTIC HAND TO ROTATE OBJECTS SOLELY THROUGH TOUCH, WITHOUT RELYING ON VISION.view more
CREDIT: BINGHAO HUANG
Inspired by the effortless way humans handle objects without seeing them, a team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new approach that enables a robotic hand to rotate objects solely through touch, without relying on vision.
Using their technique, the researchers built a robotic hand that can smoothly rotate a wide array of objects, from small toys, cans, and even fruits and vegetables, without bruising or squishing them. The robotic hand accomplished these tasks using only information based on touch.
The work could aid in the development of robots that can manipulate objects in the dark.
To build their system, the researchers attached 16 touch sensors to the palm and fingers of a four-fingered robotic hand. Each sensor costs about $12 and serves a simple function: detect whether an object is touching it or not.
What makes this approach unique is that it relies on many low-cost, low-resolution touch sensors that use simple, binary signals—touch or no touch—to perform robotic in-hand rotation. These sensors are spread over a large area of the robotic hand.
This contrasts with a variety of other approaches that rely on a few high-cost, high-resolution touch sensors affixed to a small area of the robotic hand, primarily at the fingertips.
There are several problems with these approaches, explained Xiaolong Wang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego, who led the current study. First, having a small number of sensors on the robotic hand minimizes the chance that they will come in contact with the object. That limits the system’s sensing ability. Second, high-resolution touch sensors that provide information about texture are extremely difficult to simulate, not to mention extremely expensive. That makes it more challenging to use them in real-world experiments. Lastly, a lot of these approaches still rely on vision.
“Here, we use a very simple solution,” said Wang. “We show that we don’t need details about an object’s texture to do this task. We just need simple binary signals of whether the sensors have touched the object or not, and these are much easier to simulate and transfer to the real world.”
The researchers further note that having a large coverage of binary touch sensors gives the robotic hand enough information about the object’s 3D structure and orientation to successfully rotate it without vision.
They first trained their system by running simulations of a virtual robotic hand rotating a diverse set of objects, including ones with irregular shapes. The system assesses which sensors on the hand are being touched by the object at any given time point during the rotation. It also assesses the current positions of the hand’s joints, as well as their previous actions. Using this information, the system tells the robotic hand which joint needs to go where in the next time point.
The researchers then tested their system on the real-life robotic hand with objects that the system has not yet encountered. The robotic hand was able to rotate a variety of objects without stalling or losing its hold. The objects included a tomato, pepper, a can of peanut butter and a toy rubber duck, which was the most challenging object due to its shape. Objects with more complex shapes took longer to rotate. The robotic hand could also rotate objects around different axes.
Wang and his team are now working on extending their approach to more complex manipulation tasks. They are currently developing techniques to enable robotic hands to catch, throw and juggle, for example.
“In-hand manipulation is a very common skill that we humans have, but it is very complex for robots to master,” said Wang. “If we can give robots this skill, that will open the door to the kinds of tasks they can perform.”
Inspired by the effortless way humans handle objects without seeing them, a team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new approach that enables a robotic hand to rotate objects solely through touch, without relying on vision.
CREDIT
Binghao Huang
Dark energy camera captures galaxies in lopsided tug of war, a prelude to merger
Haley’s Coronet and dwarf galaxy companion feel each other’s gravitational forces as they begin to coalesce
ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY (AURA)
IMAGE: THE SPIRAL GALAXY NGC 1532, ALSO KNOWN AS HALEY’S CORONET, IS CAUGHT IN A LOPSIDED TUG OF WAR WITH ITS SMALLER NEIGHBOR, THE DWARF GALAXY NGC 1531. THE IMAGE — TAKEN BY THE US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S (DOE) DARK ENERGY CAMERA MOUNTED ON THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION’S (NSF) VÍCTOR M. BLANCO 4-METER TELESCOPE AT CERRO TOLOLO INTER-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY IN CHILE, A PROGRAM OF NSF’S NOIRLAB — CAPTURES THE MUTUAL GRAVITATIONAL INFLUENCES OF A MASSIVE- AND DWARF-GALAXY MERGER.view more
CREDIT: CTIO/NOIRLAB/DOE/NSF/AURA ROBERTO COLOMBARI, M. ZAMANI & D. DE MARTIN (NSF’S NOIRLAB)
Galaxies grow and evolve over billions of years by absorbing nearby companions and merging with other galaxies. The early stages of this galactic growth process are showcased in a new image taken with the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.
The massive barred spiral galaxyNGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is located about 55 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Eridanus (the river). Its sweeping spiral arms are seen edge-on from Earth, with the nearer arm dipping downward and the receding arm lurching upward as it tugs upon its smaller, dwarf companion galaxy NGC 1531. These gravitationally bound galaxies will eventually become one, as NGC 1532 completely consumes its smaller companion.
Despite its small stature, however, the dwarf galaxy has also been exerting a noticeable gravitational influence on its larger companion, distorting one of its spiral arms, which can be seen rising above the galactic plane. Additionally, plumes of gas and dust can be seen between the two galaxies, like a bridge of stellar matter held in place by the competing tidal forces. This interaction has also triggered bursts of star formation within both galaxies.
This lopsided cosmic tug of war is a snapshot of how large galaxies grow and evolve by devouring smaller galaxies, absorbing their stars and star-forming material. A similar process has happened in the Milky Way, possibly six times in the past, leaving vast streams of stars and other signs in the halo of the Milky Way.
The process of absorbing a smaller companion galaxy is starkly different from the cataclysmic merger of two spiral galaxies of comparable size. In the latter case, two massive galaxies collide to form an entirely distinct galaxy with its own shape and characteristics. This type of galactic merger will happen to the Milky Way when it merges with the Andromeda Galaxy four billion years from now.
DECam, with its unparalleled wide-field imaging capabilities, gives astronomers highly detailed views of these large-scale galactic interactions. It also has the remarkable sensitivity, with the help of the 4-meter Blanco telescope, needed to detect faint objects in our Solar System and to trace the influence of dark matter on galaxies across the visible Universe. Currently, DECam is used for programs covering a wide range of science.
More information
NSF’s NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), the US center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the international Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (in cooperation with DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The astronomical community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on Iolkam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that these sites have to the Tohono O'odham Nation, to the Native Hawaiian community, and to the local communities in Chile, respectively.
IMAGE: AT THE CENTRE OF THIS IMAGE IS THE YOUNG STAR V960 MON, LOCATED OVER 5000 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY IN THE CONSTELLATION MONOCEROS. DUSTY MATERIAL WITH POTENTIAL TO FORM PLANETS SURROUNDS THE STAR. OBSERVATIONS OBTAINED USING THE SPECTRO-POLARIMETRIC HIGH-CONTRAST EXOPLANET RESEARCH (SPHERE - HTTPS://WWW.ESO.ORG/PUBLIC/TELES-INSTR/PARANAL-OBSERVATORY/VLT/VLT-INSTR/SPHERE/) INSTRUMENT ON ESO’S VLT (HTTPS://WWW.ESO.ORG/PUBLIC/TELES-INSTR/PARANAL-OBSERVATORY/VLT/), REPRESENTED IN YELLOW IN THIS IMAGE, SHOW THAT THE DUSTY MATERIAL ORBITING THE YOUNG STAR IS ASSEMBLING TOGETHER IN A SERIES OF INTRICATE SPIRAL ARMS EXTENDING TO DISTANCES GREATER THAN THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM. MEANWHILE, THE BLUE REGIONS REPRESENT DATA OBTAINED WITH THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY (ALMA - HTTPS://WWW.ESO.ORG/PUBLIC/TELES-INSTR/ALMA/), IN WHICH ESO IS A PARTNER. THE ALMA DATA PEERS DEEPER INTO THE STRUCTURE OF THE SPIRAL ARMS, REVEALING LARGE DUSTY CLUMPS THAT COULD CONTRACT AND COLLAPSE TO FORM GIANT PLANETS ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF JUPITER VIA A PROCESS KNOWN AS “GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY”.view more
CREDIT: ESO/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/WEBER ET AL.
A spectacular new image released today by the European Southern Observatory gives us clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers have detected large dusty clumps, close to a young star, that could collapse to create giant planets.
“This discovery is truly captivating as it marks the very first detection of clumps around a young star that have the potential to give rise to giant planets,” says Alice Zurlo, a researcher at the Universidad Diego Portales, Chile, involved in the observations.
The work is based on a mesmerising picture obtained with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s VLT that features fascinating detail of the material around the star V960 Mon. This young star is located over 5000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros and attracted astronomers’ attention when it suddenly increased its brightness more than twenty times in 2014. SPHERE observations taken shortly after the onset of this brightness ‘outburst’ revealed that the material orbiting V960 Mon is assembling together in a series of intricate spiral arms extending over distances bigger than the entire Solar System.
This finding then motivated astronomers to analyse archive observations of the same system made with ALMA, in which ESO is a partner. The VLT observations probe the surface of the dusty material around the star, while ALMA can peer deeper into its structure. “With ALMA, it became apparent that the spiral arms are undergoing fragmentation, resulting in the formation of clumps with masses akin to those of planets,” says Zurlo.
Astronomers believe that giant planets form either by ‘core accretion’, when dust grains come together, or by ‘gravitational instability’, when large fragments of the material around a star contract and collapse. While researchers have previously found evidence for the first of these scenarios, support for the latter has been scant.
“No one had ever seen a real observation of gravitational instability happening at planetary scales — until now,” says Philipp Weber, a researcher at the University of Santiago, Chile, who led the study published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“Our group has been searching for signs of how planets form for over ten years, and we couldn't be more thrilled about this incredible discovery,” says team-member Sebastián Pérez from the University of Santiago, Chile.
ESO instruments will help astronomers unveil more details of this captivating planetary system in the making, and ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will play a key role. Currently under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the ELT will be able to observe the system in greater detail than ever before, collecting crucial information about it. “The ELT will enable the exploration of the chemical complexity surrounding these clumps, helping us find out more about the composition of the material from which potential planets are forming,” concludes Weber.
More information
The team behind this work comprises young researchers from diverse Chilean universities and institutes, under the Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) research centre, funded by the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) and its Millennium Science Initiative Program. The two facilities used, ALMA and VLT, are located in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
This research is presented in a paper to appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ace186).
The team is composed of P. Weber (Departamento de Física, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile [USACH]; Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons, Chile [YEMS]; Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile [CIRAS]), S. Pérez (USACH; YEMS; CIRAS), A. Zurlo (YEMS; Núcleo de Astronomía, Universidad Diego Portales Chile [UDP]; Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile), J. Miley (Joint ALMA Observatory, Chile; National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Japan), A. Hales (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA), L. Cieza (YEMS; UDP), D. Principe (MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, USA), M. Cárcamo (YEMS; CIRAS; USACH, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Engineering Department, Chile), A. Garufi (INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Italy), Á. Kóspál (Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), Hungary; CSFK, MTA Centre of Excellence, Hungary; ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Physics, Hungary; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany), M. Takami (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, ROC), J. Kastner (School of Physics & Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA), Z. Zhu (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, USA; Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada, USA), and J. Williams (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, USA).
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of ESO, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.
IMAGE: DR. TAREK SAYED, PROFESSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIAview more
CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Most navigation apps can show you the fastest possible route to your destination and some can even suggest an eco-friendly route calculated to produce the least amount of carbon emissions.
But what if they could also map the safest route with the lowest possible risk of a crash?
A new algorithm developed by UBC researchers could make this a reality. Led by Dr. Tarek Sayed, professor in the UBC department of civil engineering, and PhD student Tarek Ghoul, the group developed a new approach which identifies the safest possible route in an urban network using real-time crash risk data, and can be incorporated into navigation apps such as Google Maps.
To conduct their research, the team used data from 10 drones hovering over downtown Athens, Greece, over multiple days and recording factors including vehicle position, speed and acceleration. They used this information to identify near-misses between vehicles and then predicted the risk of crashes in real-time.
“This research is the first to use real-time crash risk data to provide navigation directions and give you the safest possible driving route through a city,” said Dr. Sayed. “The algorithm is capable of adjusting directions in real-time, suggesting detours to avoid hazardous locations. This helps enhance road safety for all users. For instance, companies will be able to route their fleet efficiently, prioritizing safety and reducing crash risk.”
Fastest route not always the safest
The study also found that the fastest routes are not always the safest. For example, the team analyzed a small section of Athens’ urban road network and found only 23 per cent of the fastest routes were also considered to be the safest routes. On average, the safest route used 54 per cent of the roads used in the fastest route. This indicates that road users should consider a mix of safety and efficiency when choosing directions, said Ghoul.
“In the network we looked at, there was a clear trade-off between safety and mobility: The safest route tended to be 22 per cent safer than the fastest route, while the fastest route was only 11 per cent faster than the safest route. This suggests that there are considerable gains in safety on the safest routes with just a small increase in travel time. As well, intermediate routes, which consider both safety and mobility, would yield larger safety benefits that would by far outweigh the increased travel time.”
Connected cities
The researchers are currently extending their research into other cities, including Boston, where autonomous vehicles are being tested that produce not only information about themselves and their navigation, but also about traffic routes and crash risk.
“If an urban road network has access to new technologies such as autonomous vehicle data, cameras and other sensing technologies, new possibilities open up for real-time safety measurement and effective routing,” said Dr. Sayed. “These technologies are now generating unprecedented amounts of data, giving rise to new smart mobility applications in the future.”
The algorithm could also be used for bike routing, with cyclists and pedestrians being some of the most vulnerable users of road networks. “Including pedestrian and cyclist data in future algorithms or navigation tools will allow us to improve their safety significantly,” said Dr. Sayed.
It’s important to use real-time crash risk data in any crash prediction or safety optimization algorithm, he added, in order to reflect current conditions, provide more accurate crash risk estimates, and reduce the number of road collisions. Using this data and advanced modelling techniques allows a safer route algorithm that helps road users prioritize safety without compromising efficiency.
A team of researchers recently set out to determine whether it is possible to identify invasive common reed reliably in the field – reducing the need for time-consuming and costly genetic testing. In a study featured in volume 16, issue 2 of the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management, they examined multiple populations of both introduced and native common reed to determine distinguishing features.
Nearly two dozen observable traits were compared, such as stem color, the presence or absence of round-stem fungal spots, the presence or absence of dark red pigmentation on lower internodes, and the retention of leaf sheaths on dead stems.
Based on the data collected, an easy-to-use, five-part checklist was developed to help land managers quickly determine whether a given specimen of common reed is a native plant or an introduced invasive weed. Since geographical variations are possible, the team says the checklist will be most applicable in the Great Lakes region where their research was based. The same data can be used, though, to inform field identification best practices in other regions.
“With this new tool, land managers should be able to focus their limited resources more effectively,” says Michael McTavish, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Toronto. “They can target invasive reed populations and also protect desirable native plants from accidental removal.”
The article “Morphological traits for rapid and simple separation of native and introduced Phragmites australis” is now available at https://doi.org/10.1017/inp.2023.15
About Invasive Plant Science and Management
Invasive Plant Science and Management is a journal of the Weed Science Society of America, a nonprofit scientific society focused on weeds and their impact on the environment. The publication focuses on invasive plant species.
BOSTON – In June, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the average age of the U.S. population reached a new high of nearly 39 years old. Today, roughly three million older adults who belong to a sexual and gender minority (individuals who self-describe as LGBTQ+ or as having discordant gender and sex assigned at birth) live in the U.S., a number that is projected to grow to more than five million by 2030. Prior studies have demonstrated that this demographic is at disproportionate risk of chronic conditions, mental health issues, cognitive decline and health risk behaviors compared to the general population. However, there’s little data available to characterize the way this population is aging.
In a new study led by Chelsea N. Wong, MD, an advanced geriatric medicine fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, investigators developed an index to describe and compare frailty—a measure of physiological reserve or vulnerability—between older sexual and gender minority (OSGM) adults and non-OSGM participants. Using the frailty index they constructed, Wong and colleagues showed that, overall, OSGM had higher rates of frailty, starting at younger ages and continuing into older age, compared to non-OSGM. The team’s work appears in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.
“We found that older individuals who belong to sexual and gender minorities have a higher burden of frailty, maintained across the lifespan and a higher magnitude of mortality risk,” said Wong, who is also entering a T32 Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the Harvard Translation Research in Aging Training Program at Hebrew SeniorLife. “To our knowledge this is the first study to examine frailty among this marginalized population.”
Frailty is the state of vulnerability caused by age-associated decline across multiple functions, and it is associated with an increased risk of falls, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. While no single symptom confirms a frailty diagnosis, it commonly involves muscle loss and weakness, fatigue, slow walking speed and impaired cognition. Taken together, the symptoms of frailty can lead to social isolation or make independent living impossible.
Wong and colleagues constructed their frailty index using data from the All of Us Research Program, a program funded by the National Institutes of Health designed to recruit a diverse cohort of participants who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical research. The team built their frailty index to calculate based on 33 factors where individuals may experience deficits, including cognition, cardiovascular diseases, the ability to bathe or run errands alone, maintain a social life, fatigue, anxiety and depression, hearing and sight.
When the researchers applied the Frailty Index to a sample of more than 76,000 eligible All of Us participants, they saw clear patterns. The 9,110 OSGM participants had a higher burden of frailty than their counterparts, with 41 percent robust (not frail), 34 percent pre-frail, and 26 percent frail. In comparison, non-OSGM participants, 50 percent were robust, 32 percent were pre-frail and 19 percent were frail. Further, the risk of mortality associated with frailty was higher among OSGM compared to non-OSGM.
These disparities, the authors note, are understood through the minority stress theory, which describes how the external stressors of discrimination become internalized. Previous research has demonstrated that minority stress is associated with negative health consequences, including changes in inflammation immune and endocrine function, which in turn contribute to poor cardiovascular, metabolic and immunologic clinical outcomes.
“This current generation of older adults who identify as sexual and gender minorities experienced significant events specific to their minority identity, including homosexuality being officially labeled as a mental illness, the Lavender Scare where there was mass dismissal of SGM workers from U.S. government employment, and the advent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Wong. “The minority stress experience of chronic additive stress associated with social stigmatization and discrimination may lead to systematic inflammation and contribute to the development of frailty at relatively younger ages. These findings emphasize the need for early geriatric assessment among OSGM and future work should identify potential targets to mitigate frailty.”
Co-authors included Michael P. Wilczek, PhD, Louisa H. Smith, PhD, Robert Cavanaugh, MS, PhD, Justin Manjourides, PhD, Brianne Oliveri-Mui, PhD, and Jordon D. Bosse, PhD, RN, of Northeastern University; Erin L. Richard, PhD of University of California San Diego; and Ariela R. Orkaby, MD, MPH, of Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Orkaby is supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (grant VA CSR&D CDA-2 award IK2-CX001800). The All of Us Research Program is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Please see the publication for a complete list of grants. The authors report no conflicts of interest.
About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a leading academic medical center, where extraordinary care is supported by high-quality education and research. BIDMC is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,800 physicians and 36,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education.
JOURNAL
Journal of Gerontology
Brazilian researchers identify gynecological concerns of caregivers of young girls and women with Down syndrome
Concerns regarding gynecological aspects of Brazilian girls and women with Down syndrome: a cross-sectional study of caregivers’ opinion
Brazilian researchers conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the concerns of caregivers of Brazilian girls with Down syndrome (DS) regarding gynecological aspects of DS including menstruation, contraception and sexual practices. The study included 100 caregivers of females aged 9 years or older with DS who had reached menarche. Participating caregivers completed a questionnaire about their concerns around puberty, menstruation, sexuality and contraceptive methods.
Caregivers commonly expressed concerns around menstrual bleeding. Most caregivers (57%) reported that they would permit their child to engage in romantic relationships, including sexual relationships, with 2% of caregivers surveyed reported that their child had already engaged in sexual intercourse. According to information from surveyed caregivers, 14 of 78 (17.9%) individuals had used contraceptive methods, with weight gain being the most common side effect (43%). In the study sample, researchers concluded that women with DS had sexual development comparable to women without DS. These women are increasingly independent, which the authors argue makes it necessary to guide caregivers and primary care physicians on addressing difficulties related to menstruation, contraception and sexual practices.
What We Know: Women with Down syndrome (DS) and their caregivers may have more difficulties with puberty, menstruation, sexuality and contraception use. In this study, Brazilian researchers aimed to understand the concerns of the caregivers of girls and women with DS-related gynecological issues.
What This Study Adds: The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the specific gynecological care requirements of young girls and women with DS and sheds light on the primary concerns expressed by their caregivers. These results can contribute to a deeper understanding of the unique needs of individuals with DS and serve as a means to sensitize physicians, regardless of their specialization, who may encounter patients with DS and require guidance in effectively addressing their families' inquiries and concerns.
Concerns Regarding Gynecological Aspects of Brazilian Girls and Women With Down Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study of Caregivers’ Opinion
Renato Nisihara, PhD Federal University of Paraná Medicine, University Positivo and Mackenzie Evangelical School of Medicine Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil Permanent link
JOURNAL
The Annals of Family Medicine
HEY KIDZ
Meta-analysis of research on acne reveals that oral isotretinoin, followed by topical antibiotic, benzoyl peroxide and retinoid, are most effective treatments
Comparative efficacy of pharmacological treatments for acne vulgaris: a network meta-analysis of 221 randomized controlled trials
In their comprehensive meta-analysis (comprising 221 randomized controlled trials involving 65,601 patients), researchers investigated the effectiveness of various pharmacological therapies for acne vulgaris across diverse age groups and genders. The articles described 37 interventions, with a median patient age of 20 years old and median duration of treatment of 12 weeks. The median total, inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesion counts were 71.5, 27 and 44, respectively.
The study revealed that oral isotretinoin was the most effective treatment (mean difference 48.41; p-score 1.00), followed in efficacy by a triple therapy containing a topical antibiotic, a topical retinoid and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) (MD 38.15; p-score 0.95) and another triple therapy containing an oral antibiotic, a topical retinoid and BPO (MD 34.83; p-score 0.90). For monotherapies besides isotretinoin, antibiotics or topical retinoids have comparable efficacy for inflammatory lesions, while antibiotics have less effect on non-inflammatory lesions. Additionally, the authors present a comprehensive comparison of each intervention, providing a valuable resource for clinical decision-making.
What We Know: Acne is a common skin disease with an estimated global presence of 9.4% and an annual cost of $3 billion in the United States. Although guidelines that recommend medications are generally supported by high-quality, randomized controlled trials, research is lacking on the efficacy of certain medications, particularly when comparing treatment options that have markedly inconsistent drug prescribing patterns among countries and among prescriber specialties.
What This Study Adds: Based on a comprehensive meta-analysis of 210 articles, comprising 221 trials and examining 37 interventions involving 65,601 patients, researchers have concluded that oral isotretinoin is the most effective treatment for acne. Following closely behind, triple therapies incorporating a topical retinoid, benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and an antibiotic have shown significant efficacy. For monotherapies, both oral/topical antibiotics and topical retinoids demonstrate comparable effectiveness for inflammatory lesions. However, it is important to note that oral/topical antibiotics exhibit limited efficacy for non-inflammatory lesions and should not be utilized as stand-alone treatments due to the risk of bacterial resistance.
Comparative Efficacy of Pharmacological Treatments for Acne Vulgaris: A Network Meta-Analysis of 221 Randomized Controlled Trials
Chien-Chang Lee, MD, ScD, et al Department of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, and Center for Intelligent Healthcare, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Permanent link
