Beauty salon–based intervention increases trust of PrEP among Black cisgender women

Stigma about PrEP and consideration of using it also improved somewhat

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WOLTERS KLUWER HEALTH

September 6, 2023 — Among African American and other Black cisgender women, a beauty salon–based intervention improved knowledge and awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV and increased trust in it, according to a pilot study published in the September issue of The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC), the official journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. JANAC is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. 

However, most study participants did not self-identify as requiring PrEP or having risk factors for HIV. "Like others, our study found women's willingness to take PrEP increased once they understood how PrEP benefits and protects them, but there remains a gap between willingness and perceived need," lead investigator Schenita D. Randolph, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, of Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues write. 

Leveraging the social networks of Black women within a trusted environment 

Black women in the U.S. represent just 26% of female PrEP users while constituting 57% of new infections among women. To address the urgent need to increase PrEP uptake in this population, Dr. Randolph's group designed a 3-part intervention called UPDOs Protective Styles: Using PrEP and Doing It for Ourselves: 

• Two-hour training for beauty salon stylists who have Black women as their principal clientele; stylists receive continuing education credit and "Ask Me about PrEP" signage for their salons. 

• A narrative-based educational video series, co-developed with Black women and an established community advisory council, designed to entertain while conveying key messages about HIV, PrEP, and Black women's social contributors to health. 

• Opportunity to reach out to a PrEP navigator. 

The intervention moved the needle on trust of PrEP but uptake was not affected 

In the pilot study, 44 Black women who typically visit their salon at least every two weeks took an online survey before and after watching the videos. 89% were heterosexual and the average age was 42. 

Pre- intervention survey results showed insufficient knowledge and awareness of PrEP and its availability. Only one woman was currently taking PrEP. Post-intervention results showed significant increases in knowledge and awareness, and women's trust of PrEP and providers improved significantly. 

After the intervention, women reported expecting less disapproval from sexual partners, family, and friends about PrEP use. However, there was no change in social stigma scores or PrEP user stereotypes. 

Twenty women (45%) said they had no risk of HIV infection, and 22 (50%) said they had low risk. The other two said they were at medium risk. This is of concern because in 2019, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 84% of new HIV diagnoses among women were attributed to heterosexual sex. 

On the pre-intervention survey, 7% of study participants said they were not considering starting PrEP within the next month, and 86% said they were not currently considering it. Post-intervention, those figures were 32% and 64%.  

"To move Black cisgender women from intention to uptake will happen mainly in how we measure and define risk; there is a need to re-evaluate the messaging," Dr. Randolph and her co-authors recommend. They plan qualitative research to gain a deeper understanding of perceived and actual reasons for women to take PrEP and identify acceptable language that will influence positive views of PrEP use by women. 

Read [UPDOs Protective Styles, a Multilevel Intervention to Improve Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Uptake Among Black Cisgender Women] 

Wolters Kluwer provides trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students in effective decision-making and outcomes across healthcare. We support clinical effectiveness, learning and research, clinical surveillance and compliance, as well as data solutions. For more information about our solutions, visit https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/health and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth. 

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About JANAC 

The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC) is a peer-reviewed, international nursing journal that covers the full spectrum of the global HIV epidemic, focusing on prevention, evidence-based care management, interprofessional clinical care, research, advocacy, policy, education, social determinants of health, epidemiology, and program development. JANAC functions according to the highest standards of ethical publishing practices and offers innovative publication options, including Open Access and prepublication article posting. 

About the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care 

Since 1987, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) has been the leading nursing organization responding to HIV/AIDS. The mission of ANAC is to foster the professional development of nurses and others involved in the delivery of health care for persons at risk for, living with, and/or affected by HIV and its co-morbidities. ANAC promotes the health, welfare, and rights of people living with HIV around the world. 

About Wolters Kluwer 

Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare, tax and accounting, financial and corporate compliance, legal and regulatory, and corporate performance and ESG sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.  

Wolters Kluwer reported 2022 annual revenues of €5.5 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 20,900 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

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JOURNAL

Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care

ARTICLE TITLE

UPDOs Protective Styles, a Multilevel Intervention to Improve Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Uptake Among Black Cisgender Women

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023

 

Canine health data to guide new cancer study

Grant and Award Announcement

MORRIS ANIMAL FOUNDATION

 

IMAGE: A NEWLY FUNDED STUDY WILL EVALUATE BOTH THE FREQUENCY AND MAJOR RISK FACTORS FOR CANCER IN GOLDEN RETRIEVERS. view more 

CREDIT: JL LYNNE

DENVER/Sept. 6, 2023 — A newly funded study will evaluate both the frequency and major risk factors for cancer in golden retrievers, a breed commonly affected by the disease.  

The study will use data from Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, which is one of the largest and most comprehensive canine health studies in the world. The study will also incorporate data from Veterinary Companion Animal Surveillance System (VetCompass), a not-for-profit research project based at the Royal Veterinary College in London, England. VetCompass collects and analyzes data from more than 1,800 veterinary practices in the United Kingdom.  

“The evaluation of major risk factors for canine cancer can highlight potentially modifiable factors that could reduce the risk of cancer for future golden retrievers,” said David Brodbelt, epidemiologist and co-project leader of VetCompass. “This could include for example, certain lifestyle-related factors such as diet and levels of exercise.”   

Moreover, by delving into cancer occurrences, not only in golden retrievers, but across the broader spectrum of dogs using VetCompass data, this research aims to put more intricate and precise findings from the Study into the context of the wider veterinary population, Brodbelt added.  

This work is supported by a $10,000 sponsorship from Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., an animal health pharmaceutical company. The sponsorship will support the hiring of a new canine cancer epidemiologist at the Royal Veterinary College who will lead cancer epidemiology research both at the college and within the study.  

"Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is dedicated to providing solutions to unmet clinical needs in oncology,” said Dr. Marlene Hauck, Head of Oncology Research at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. “As such, this research will help determine the cancers that would benefit most from innovative therapeutic options.”  

About Morris Animal Foundation  
Morris Animal Foundation’s mission is to bridge science and resources to advance the health of animals. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Denver, it is one of the largest nonprofit animal health research organizations in the world, funding nearly $160 million in more than 3,000 critical studies across a broad range of species. Learn more at morrisanimalfoundation.org.    

About Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA  
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is working on first-in-class innovation for the prediction, prevention, and treatment of diseases in animals. For veterinarians, pet owners, producers, and governments in more than 150 countries, we offer a large and innovative portfolio of products and services to improve the health and well-being of companion animals and livestock.  

As a global leader in the animal health industry and as part of the family-owned Boehringer Ingelheim, we take a long-term perspective. The lives of animals and humans are interconnected in deep and complex ways. We know that when animals are healthy, humans are healthier too. By using the synergies between our Animal Health and Human Pharma businesses and by delivering value through innovation, we enhance the health and well-being of both.   

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has deep roots in the U.S. from a start in St. Joseph, Missouri, more than 100 years ago, it has grown to encompass seven sites. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health’s portfolio contains widely used and well-respected vaccines, parasite-control products and therapeutics for pets, horses and livestock including NexGard®, Heartgard®, Pyramid® + Presponse®, VAXXITEK®, Ingelvac CircoFLEX® and Prascend®.  

Learn more about Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA at bi-animalhealth.com    

Media Contact: Annie Mehl

 

Insomnia drug helps prevent oxycodone relapse, Scripps Research study shows

New findings suggest that treating insomnia can stop opioid-seeking behavior, even after ending treatment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

LA JOLLA, CA—A good night’s sleep has many proven health benefits, and a new Scripps Research study suggests one more: preventing opioid relapse.

In the new study, published online in Neuropharmacology on August 12, 2023, scientists gave an experimental insomnia treatment to rats experiencing oxycodone withdrawal. The researchers found that the animals were far less likely to seek out drugs again in the future—even after ending the treatment. These findings could eventually lead to therapies to help prevent opioid addiction or relapse in humans.

“These results are very encouraging,” says Rémi Martin-Fardon, PhD, associate professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and senior author of the study. “We hope in the future this compound may be useful for not only treating sleep disorders, but also drug use disorders.”

Opioids including oxycodone are used to treat pain, but carry a risk of misuse and opioid dependence in people who use them regularly. In 2021, opioid overdoses killed more than 80,000 people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Researchers know that during opioid withdrawal—which can last for days in people who are dependent on the drug—people experience a range of symptoms including nausea, vomiting, sweating, chills, pain, anxiety and insomnia.

Martin-Fardon and Jessica Illenberger, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at Scripps Research and first author of the study, wondered whether treating the insomnia associated with opioid withdrawal might help prevent relapse. This is why they turned to an experimental insomnia drug known as DORA-12, which is like the FDA-approved drug Belsomra (suvorexant).

“A lot of drug use and relapse are primarily motivated by a person’s desire to alleviate these withdrawal symptoms,” says Illenberger. “The idea behind testing this treatment was that if people or animals sleep better during that withdrawal period, then when they wake up, perhaps they won’t feel so much craving and won’t be as likely to relapse.”

In a previous study, the researchers found that suvorexant decreased the amount of oxycodone that opioid-dependent rats self-administered during binge sessions. In the new study, the team focused more on the withdrawal period from oxycodone.

During a 14-day withdrawal period from oxycodone, opioid-dependent rats showed expected withdrawal symptoms, including disturbed circadian rhythms like those seen in insomnia—marked by an increase in activity, eating and drinking during their usual sleeping hours. However, rats given DORA-12 during this withdrawal period showed patterns of behavior and physiological activities more like animals not dependent on opioids. In addition, when once again exposed to cues they had learned to associate with oxycodone, the rats treated with DORA-12 did not show drug-seeking behavior. Signs of opioid addiction in the brain, characterized by the number of certain neuron types, were also reversed by DORA-12, and the effect persisted even if DORA-12 had not been given for days.

Interestingly, Martin-Fardon’s group saw slightly different results between male and female animals. Although all rats had less opioid relapse when treated with DORA-12, the drug was less effective in female animals and the changes to neuron numbers seemed to be more pronounced in males.

“I think this is something really important to follow up on,” says Martin-Fardon. “It may be that women are much more sensitive to the effect of oxycodone and different doses of treatment are required.”

More studies are needed to show the utility of DORA-12 or similar insomnia drugs to treat opioid addiction in people. Already, clinical researchers at the Pearson Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research are studying the use of the insomnia drug suvorexant in people with alcohol use disorder.

In addition to Martin-Fardon and Illenberger, authors of the study, “Daily treatment with the dual orexin receptor antagonist DORA-12 during oxycodone abstinence decreases oxycodone conditioned reinstatement,” include Francisco Flores-Ramirez, Glenn Pascasio and Alessandra Matzeu of Scripps Research.

This work was supported by funding from the Merck Investigator Studies Program (MISP59371), NIH/NIAAA (AA026999, AA028549, AA006420, T32 AA0074560) and NIH/NIDA (DA053443). The DORA-12 was provided by Merck Pharmaceuticals

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JOURNAL

Neuropsychopharmacology

DOI

10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109685 

 

Disease affects blackbirds more than previously thought

Peer-Reviewed Publication

LUND UNIVERSITY

The researchers studied birds given a simulated bacterial infection in order to stimulate their immune system. The birds were then compared with birds whose immune system was not stimulated – and their activity was measured for several weeks using miniature data loggers.

“We found that the birds whose immune system was stimulated had reduced activity for three weeks, which is much longer than we expected. We could also see that the "sick" blackbirds stopped their activities almost an hour earlier in the evenings compared to the control group”, says Arne Hegemann, biologist at Lund University.

Previously, researchers assumed that effects from a compromised immune system only take a day or two to resolve. The new study shows that it takes much longer to recover; and that it affects the duration of activity per day rather than the level of activity throughout the day.

“First of all, it is important to understand what happens to wild animals when they are affected by disease. Even mild ailments and short disease spans can have far-reaching consequences for animals, not least because it affects their everyday life”, says Arne Hegemann.

Whether the birds were sleeping or just sitting still is unknown, but the study shows that sick birds go to bed earlier, just like sick people do.

“The difference is that when we humans are sick and have symptoms such as fever, reduced appetite or body pain, we may stay at home for a day or two and then return to normal life. Wild animals have the same symptoms but for them the consequences are greater. If small birds get sick and have 45 minutes less time per day to look for food, it can be the difference between life and death for both them and their young ones”, concludes Arne Hegemann.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2023.0794 

ARTICLE TITLE

Immune challenge reduces daily activity period in free-living birds for three weeks

 

World can now breathe easier

Further air pollution mitigation still needed, say WashU researchers who quantified changes from 1998-2019

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

 

IMAGE: RANDALL MARTIN AND CHI LI FOUND A GENERAL REVERSAL OF TRENDS IN PM2.5 AIR POLLUTION AROUND THE WORLD. THESE MAPS SHOW TRENDS IN POPULATION-WEIGHTED PM2.5 FOR 204 TERRITORIES FROM 1998-2011 AND 2011-2019. view more 

CREDIT: MARTIN LAB, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the world’s leading environmental health risk factor. At only 2.5 micrometers or smaller, these particles are small enough to be inhaled and cause respiratory problems, such as asthma and bronchitis, and cardiovascular issues, including heart attacks and high blood pressure. For children, PM2.5 can cause lifelong developmental issues, and for the general population, PM2.5 is associated with premature death.

To ameliorate these wide-ranging negative impacts resulting from exposure to PM2.5, which is produced largely through traditional energy sources such as burning fossil fuels or wood, several countries have taken steps to reduce exposure to PM2.5. But how effective have these mitigation efforts been, and what region or regions are most responsible for driving global PM2.5 reduction?

Researchers working with Randall Martin, the Raymond R. Tucker Distinguished Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, examined PM2.5 data from 1998-2019 to find out.

“The importance of PM2.5 as a leading risk factor for human health motivates assessment of its long-term changes,” Martin said. “We sought to analyze our satellite-derived PM2.5 estimates for insight into global and regional changes in PM2.5 exposure and its health effects.”

The team’s analysis, published Sept. 2 in Nature Communications, showed that global, population-weighted PM2.5 exposure, related to both pollution levels and population size, increased from 1998 to a peak in 2011, then decreased steadily from 2011 to 2019, largely driven by exposure reduction in China and slower growth in other regions.

“Before this work, there was a knowledge gap regarding quantitative local/regional contributions to global population exposure to PM2.5 and its changes,” said Chi Li, first author on the study and a staff scientist in Martin’s research group. “We developed a new regional decomposition approach that jointly considered pollution level and population size, and from that we depicted the first-ever time series of regional contributions to global PM2.5 air pollution.”

Li found that many regions exhibited decreasing exposure since 2011, including continuous reductions in North America and western Europe. He described recent emerging decreases in China as particularly striking.

“Rigorous air quality management in China, which has been most pronounced since 2013, turned out to be the biggest contributor to this global reversal,” Li said. “More than 90% of the reduction of global mean exposure from 2011 to 2019 is from China, according to our regional attribution. This result was astonishing when it was derived, but it could be explained well by the rapid reduction of PM2.5 concentrations due to China’s mitigation efforts, which benefit nearly one-fifth of the global population.”

Benefits from PM2.5 exposure reduction include 1.1 million fewer premature deaths in China alone between 2011 and 2019, as well as improved health more generally. Future interventions to reduce PM2.5 exposure will have even greater impacts for an aging and growing global population, Li said.

“By combining PM2.5 data with health data and exposure-response models, we also revealed that, despite the recent sustained reduction of global PM2.5 pollution, population aging and growth are now the main challenges in alleviating PM2.5 health impacts,” Li said. “Reducing the same amount of PM2.5 now will have stronger health benefits than it would have 20 years ago, a globally prevalent phenomenon highlighted in our study.”

The team calculated that in 2019, there were still millions of premature deaths worldwide that could be attributed to PM2.5, highlighting the urgent need for continued reduction to PM2.5 exposure. Careful monitoring, especially in regions that are currently poorly monitored but highly populated, including South Asia and the Middle East, will be critical to ongoing improvements in air quality and to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation efforts, Martin said.

“There is need to continue to sustain and develop global monitoring capabilities for PM2.5 both from satellite, but also from ground-based measurements,” Martin said. “The successes in PM2.5 reductions serve to demonstrate the benefits of PM2.5 mitigation efforts, and to motivate further mitigation.”

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Li C, van Donkelaar V, Hammer MS, McDuffie EE, Burnett RT, Spadaro JV, Chatterjee D, Cohen AJ, Apte JS, Southerland VA, Anenberg SC, Brauer M, Martin RV. Reversal of trends in global fine particulate matter air pollution. Nature Communications, Sept. 2, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41086-z

This work was supported by NASA (80NSSC21K0508, 80NSSC22K0200, and 80NSSC21K0511). All data and codes used for analyses and visualizations in this work are available at 10.5281/zenodo.7618789 along with detailed supporting documentation.

Originally published on the McKelvey School of Engineering website.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-41086-z 

ARTICLE TITLE

Reversal of trends in global fine particulate matter air pollution

 BOURGEOIS ECONOMIST

Rotman School economist elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ROTMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

 

IMAGE: A RENOWNED TRADE ECONOMIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO’S ROTMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT HAS BEEN ELECTED A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA (RSC) FOR HIS RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INNOVATION, INEQUALITY, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. view more 

CREDIT: ROTMAN SCHOOL

Toronto – A renowned trade economist at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) for his research on international trade, innovation, inequality, and artificial intelligence.

Prof. Daniel Trefler is one of the new fellows in the Class of 2023 for the Academies of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science who have been elected by their peers for their outstanding scholarly, scientific, or artistic achievement. Recognition by the RSC is the highest honour an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences in Canada. The class will be inducted at a ceremony in November.

“It is delightful to see Professor Trefler’s immense contributions to his field receive this highest level of recognition. Dan is not only a remarkable academic but is also a wonderful colleague with numerous contributions to the Rotman School and the entire University including the mentoring of countless PhD students as well as junior faculty,” says Dean Susan Christoffersen of the Rotman School, who also holds the William A. Downe BMO Chair in Finance.

Prof. Trefler holds the J. Douglas and Ruth Canada Research Chair in Competitiveness and Prosperity at the Rotman School. His research looks notably at the effects of shifting global value chains, the consequences of China’s rise, and the potential impacts of digitalization on trade in financial and other services. His has been instrumental in the design and pursuit of trade agreements that promote productivity, innovation and investment while minimizing the harmful effects on workers and the most disadvantaged. As an advisor to Global Affairs Canada, he helped inform the department's work on the Canada-EU trade agreement and consulted on the NAFTA renegotiations. He previously received the Killam Prize for his exceptional career achievement in the field of social sciences in 2016, his first Bank of Canada Fellowship Award in the same year, which was renewed in 2021, a Canada Research Chair, and all three major awards from the Canadian Economics Association.

Founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) comprises the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences, and The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. The RSC recognizes excellence, advises the government and the larger society, and promotes a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world.

The Rotman School of Management is part of the University of Toronto, a global centre of research and teaching excellence at the heart of Canada’s commercial capital. Rotman is a catalyst for transformative learning, insights and public engagement, bringing together diverse views and initiatives around a defining purpose: to create value for business and society. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca

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The António Champalimaud Vision Award 2023 distinguishes St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital for their fight against blindness in Palestine

Grant and Award Announcement

CHAMPALIMAUD CENTRE FOR THE UNKNOWN

The 2023 edition of the António Champalimaud Vision Award recognizes the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group (SJEHG) for its work supporting hundreds of thousands of people living in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem, helping in the fight against blindness while providing access to essential health services in a region marked by conflict and instability.

The SJEHG has been developing its activity at the centre of three major world religions. The ongoing conflict in the region has had a severe impact on health care access and delivery. Without the intervention of the SJEHG, the rate of blindness would be rampant, increasing the heavy economic burden already suffered by people in the region.

The SJEHG continues to innovate through research on the causes and risk factors for eye issues unique to the region, training of eye care providers from the local population, and delivering state-of-the art services to even the most isolated and vulnerable people in the West Bank and Gaza.

The SJEHG is the only hospital specialized in eye care in the Palestinian territories, where it has been present for 140 years. Over the past decade, it has treated the eyesight of hundreds of thousands of people. In 2022, 143,000 patients were reached, and 6,900 major surgeries were performed.

An epidemiological study carried out by SJEHG showed that the rate of blindness in Palestine is ten times higher than in the West. This is due to mobility issues, unemployment and poverty rates, as well as high levels of genetic eye diseases.

In addition to providing health care, the SJEHG has trained teams of Palestinian doctors and nurses specializing in ophthalmology. In total, the SJEHG is composed of six hospitals and three mobile outreach services, with 277 health professionals spread across the various territories of Palestine.

About the António Champalimaud Vision Award

The António Champalimaud Vision Award is supported by "Vision 2020 - The Right to Sight", a global initiative for the prevention of blindness launched in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. The Prize is awarded annually, distinguishing contributions to generic research in the field of vision and contributions to the alleviation of vision problems, mainly in developing countries. Among the candidates there are laboratories/productive organizations or collaborative efforts that, in this way, can involve groups coming from more than one institution or discipline.

 

CityU’s novel AI system enhances the predictive accuracy of autonomous driving

Meeting Announcement

CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

 

IMAGE: QCNET CAN CAPTURE THE INTENTIONS OF ROAD USERS, ACCURATELY PREDICTING MULTIPLE POSSIBLE MOVEMENTS OF SURROUNDING VEHICLES. view more 

CREDIT: PROFESSOR WANG’S RESEARCH GROUP / CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Precisive real-time prediction of the movement of nearby vehicles or the future trajectory of pedestrians is essential for safe autonomous driving. A research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently developed a novel AI system that improves predictive accuracy amid dense traffic and increases computational efficiency by over 85%, offering great potential for enhancing the safety of autonomous vehicles.

Professor Wang Jianping, in the Department of Computer Science (CS) at CityU, who led the study, explained the critical importance of precise, real-time prediction in autonomous driving, highlighting that even minimal delays and errors can lead to catastrophic accidents. 

However, existing solutions for behaviour prediction often struggle to correctly understand driving scenarios or lack efficiency in their predictions. These solutions usually involve re-normalising and re-encoding the latest positional data of surrounding objects and the environment whenever the vehicle and its observation window move forward, even though the latest position data substantially overlaps the preceding data. This leads to redundant computations and latency in real-time online predictions.

To overcome these limitations, Professor Wang and her team presented a breakthrough trajectory prediction model, called “QCNet”, which can theoretically support streaming processing. It is based on the principle of relative spacetime for positioning, which gives the prediction model excellent properties, such as the “roto-translation invariance in the space dimension” and “translation invariance in the time dimension”. 

These two properties enable the position information extracted from a driving scenario to be unique and fixed, regardless of the viewer’s space-time coordinate system when viewing the driving scenario. This approach allows for caching and reusing previously computed encodings of the coordinates, enabling the prediction model to theoretically operate in real time. 

The team also incorporated the relative positions of road users, lanes and crosswalks into the AI model to capture their relationships and interactions in driving scenarios. This enhanced understanding of the rules of the road and the interactions among multiple road users enables the model to generate collision-free predictions while accounting for uncertainty in the future behaviour of road users.

To evaluate the efficacy of QCNet, the team utilised “Argoverse 1” and “Argoverse 2”, two large-scale collections of open-source autonomous driving data and high-definition maps from different U.S. cities. These datasets are considered the most challenging benchmarks for behaviour prediction, comprising over 320,000 sequences of data and 250,000 scenarios.

In testing, QCNet demonstrated both speed and accuracy in predicting road users’ future movements, even with a long-term prediction of up to six seconds. It ranked first among 333 prediction approaches on Argoverse 1 and 44 approaches on Argoverse 2. Moreover, QCNet significantly reduced online inference latency from 8ms to 1ms, and increased the efficiency by over 85% in the densest traffic scene involving 190 road users and 169 map polygons, such as lanes and crosswalks. 

“By integrating this technology into autonomous driving systems, the autonomous vehicles can effectively understand their surroundings, predict the future behaviour of other users more accurately, and make safer and more human-like decisions, paving the way for safe autonomous driving,” said Professor Wang. “We plan to apply this technology to more applications in autonomous driving, including traffic simulations and human-like decision-making.” 

CAPTION

QCNet can understand the rules of the road and the interactions among multiple road users, predicting map-compliant and collision-free future trajectories.

CREDIT

Professor Wang’s research group / City University of Hong Kong

QCNet achieved the best performance among the approaches on Argoverse 1and Argoverse 2, and won the championship in Argoverse 2’s Multi-Agent Motion Forecasting Competition at CVPR 2023.

CREDIT

Professor Wang’s research group / City University of Hong Kong

The research findings were presented at the “IEEE / CVF Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference” (CVPR 2023), an influential annual academic conference in computer vision, held in Canada this year, under the title “Query-Centric Trajectory Prediction”.

The first author is Mr Zhou Zikang, a PhD student in Professor Wang’s research group in the CS Department at CityU. The corresponding author is Professor Wang. Also contributing to the research were collaborators from the Hon Hai Research Institute, a research centre established by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn®), and Carnegie Mellon University, in the U.S. The findings will be integrated into Hon Hai Technology Group’s autonomous driving system to enhance real-time prediction efficiency and self-driving safety.

The research was supported by various funding sources, including Hon Hai Research Institute, the Hong Kong Research Grant Council and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission.

https://www.cityu.edu.hk/research/stories/2023/09/06/cityus-novel-ai-system-enhances-predictive-accuracy-autonomous-driving

 

How sleep deprivation can harm the brain

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Not only does a lack of sleep make you feel awful, research has shown it impairs the brain. What’s more, sleep loss over long periods can even increase risk for Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases. Researchers want to understand how sleep deprivation causes this harm. In a new study in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research, a team working with mice has identified a protective protein whose level declines with sleep deprivation, leading to neuronal death.

Studies indicate that lack of sleep leads to neurological damage in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory. To better understand the changes responsible for this effect, scientists have begun examining shifts in the abundance of proteins and RNA, which contains genetically encoded instructions derived from DNA. In this way, previous studies have identified some factors linking sleep loss to damage; however, researchers haven’t generally confirmed they play a role in cognitive function within larger animal populations. So, Fuyi Xu, Jia Mi and their colleagues set out to further explore how sleep loss damages the brain and to corroborate their findings.

To start off, the researchers evaluated how well mice navigated a simple maze and learned to recognize new objects after having been sleep deprived for two days. They then extracted the proteins in the animals’ hippocampi and identified those whose abundance changed. Then, to further narrow the possibilities, they looked at data linking these proteins to maze performance in related strains of mice that had not experienced sleep deprivation.

This approach led the researchers to pleiotrophin (PTN), which declined in the sleep-deprived mice. Through an analysis of RNA, the team identified the molecular pathway by which a loss of PTN causes cells in the hippocampus to die. When they looked at genetic studies in humans, they found that PTN is implicated in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. This research has uncovered a new mechanism by which sleep protects brain function, according to the researchers, who also note that PTN levels could serve as an indicator of cognitive impairment resulting from insomnia.

The authors acknowledge funding from Taishan Scholars Construction Engineering, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Special Project of Central Government for Local Science and Technology Development of Shandong Province, Major Basic Research Project of Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, Shandong Province Higher Educational Youth Innovation Science and Technology Program, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province and the Binzhou Medical University Research Start-up Fund.

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.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Proteome Research

DOI

10.1021/acs.jproteome.3c00269 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Combination of Quantitative Proteomics and Systems Genetics Analysis Reveals that PTN Is Associated with Sleep-Loss-Induced Cognitive Impairment

 

Paving the way for better recommendations for how biodiversity may be leveraged to promote delivery of ecosystem services

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS JOURNALS

Thousands of studies examine how plant diversity structures predator communities and shapes herbivore pressure. This body of evidence has led to at least 23 separate quantitative syntheses encompassing a wide range of approaches to understanding plant diversity effects. Yet the sheer quantity of primary literature and inconsistency among these syntheses prevents a confident understanding of consensus in plant diversity outcomes.

"A Guide to 23 Global Syntheses of Plant Diversity Effects: Unpacking Consensus and Incongruence across Tropic Levels," a new paper published in The Quarterly Review of Biology, scrutinizes these 23 quantitative syntheses published over three decades on how plant diversity impacts both natural enemies and herbivores in arthropod communities and scrutinizes their divergent patterns to identify key drivers of herbivory.

Amid the 23 syntheses, robust patterns have stood the test of time: divergent outcomes frequently result from insect diet breadth, spatial scale, and plant relatedness variation. “Clarifying these persistent drivers enables us to identify and explore remaining sources of variation in plant diversity effects across trophic levels,” note authors K. D. Holmes and C. K. Blubaugh.

They find that plant diversity consistently attracts more abundant and diverse communities of predators. Herbivore diversity tends to increase in response to plant diversity treatments, while herbivore abundance and plant damage generally decrease. However, these net effects often mask nuanced responses to plant diversity that depend on ecosystem, scale, and specialization. For instance, specialist herbivores often respond negatively to plant diversity, while generalists more often mount positive or neutral responses.

The authors conduct a historical review of the past three decades of syntheses, reporting their approaches, scopes, and findings across trophic levels. They examine core ecological variables that shape the varying outcomes across studies, identify consistent patterns across these ecological factors, and explore mechanisms that explain incongruence between syntheses. Finally, they discuss the complex species interactions and analytical approaches that will be key in resolving context dependency and improving the ability to predict reliably whether biodiversity functions or fails to deliver ecosystem services. 

The authors also present a chronological and conceptual history of the 23 meta-analyses and global syntheses of plant diversity effects, focusing on major developments in this literature, and interpret outcomes for the most commonly reported responses of arthropods and plants, principally, the abundance and species richness of herbivores and predators and productivity and damage in plants. 

Spatial context is key to understanding impacts of diversity at different trophic levels. Studies conducted at greater spatial scales often show a dilution of effects on herbivores but reveal conflicting effects on predators. Plant arrangement is also important, with agricultural studies showing that alternating rows of crops reduces pest populations, while surrounding crop fields with floral borders better supports predators. Meanwhile, research in forests has demonstrated that the arrangement of plant diversity interacts with other elements of plant and herbivore natural history, such as insect diet breadth and plant relatedness, to predict outcomes. Despite the complexity of outcomes, syntheses show that diversifying plant communities hold great promise for enhancing the resilience of managed ecosystems. 

The plethora of syntheses on plant diversity effects reflects the challenge of understanding relationships in complex multitrophic communities, an urgent need for improved predictability in biodiversity-based tools for pest control in agroecosystems, and the rapidly expanding literature. Despite achievements in research and synthesis, the sheer number of meta-analyses with conflicting results means that outcomes of plant diversity for herbivorous insects are not generalizable. “Scrutinizing potential mechanisms underlying variation in outcomes across meta-analyses is vital,” the authors write, “especially now as ‘meta-meta-analyses’ have begun to emerge from this explosive body of work that further pool and simplify results.”

By distilling the varied results of the 23 syntheses, the authors pave the way for stronger and more precise recommendations for how biodiversity may be most effectively leveraged to promote delivery of ecosystem services. “Fine-tuning management of biodiversity will be essential to meet the ever-growing global need to design sustainable agriculture solutions that support both high plant productivity and diverse plant-arthropod communities,” they note.

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JOURNAL

The Quarterly Review of Biology

DOI

10.1086/726687 

ARTICLE TITLE

A Guide to 23 Global Syntheses of Plant Diversity Effects: Unpacking Consensus and Incongruence across Trophic Levels