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, January 24, 2024
Women and people of color remain “invisible” as most people pick white men as their heroes, study shows
Women and people of colour remain invisible to many people in Britain and the USA as people pick white men as their heroes instead, a study shows. Their achievements are often forgotten or not recognised when people are choosing who inspires them, researchers have found.
Most people said their family and friends, people closest to them, were their heroes. These ‘everyday’ heroes accounted for one in three choices in Britian and 41 per cent in the US.
In both countries, politicians were popular as heroes, with more common choices including Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Barak Obama, and British Prime Ministers such as Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
Human rights activists and campaigners were the sixth most popular category in both countries. This included Martin Luther King Jr, whose popularity competes with Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai in the UK, and Mahatma Gandhi and Malcolm X in the US.
But there were striking differences between the two countries. Celebrities, actors, and TV presenters were the second popular category of hero in Britain, with only 1.2 per cent choosing religious figures. Religious figures were the second most popular type of hero in the US, reaching almost 7 per cent of all reported heroes. British respondents tended to choose living religious leaders such as the Pope compared to the US respondents’ affinity with Biblical figures.
British and US women were more likely than men to have women-heroes. American and British men were around four times less likely to have a woman-hero than women - 9 to 34 per cent in the US and 9 to 40 per cent in Britain.
The analysis by Ekaterina Kolpinskaya from the University of Exeter and Nataliya Danilova from the University of Aberdeen is based on YouGov surveys that asked 1,686 adults in Britain and 1,000 in the USA who their biggest personal hero was.
Dr Kolpinskaya said: “The allure of heroes is enduring. We have found people’s gender and ethnicity has an impact on who their hero is. There is a persistent gap between the publicly prominent white male hero-figure and a perpetually ‘invisible’, and ‘forgotten’ heroine. People’s choice of hero reflects their own sex and race and ethnicity.”
Only one in four Britons and one in five Americans said they had a heroine.
When family members were excluded only 11 per cent of Americans choose a women public figure hero, compared to one in five Britons. The under 25’s in the US were more likely to have a women-hero than those who were older while rates for older and younger people were similar in the UK at 25 per cent.
In Britain, supporting the Conservative Party increases the probability of having a woman-hero - 27 per cent chance compared to 13 per cent for Labour, 22 per cent for Liberal Democrats and 14 per cent for UKIP. Researchers believe this represents a ‘Thatcher effect’ – with Margaret Thatcher accounting for 18 per cent of all women-heroes listed by Conservative supporters.
Supporting the Republican Party in the US substantially reduced the chance of having a woman-hero with the Republicans having a 13 per cent chance of having a woman-hero compared to the Democrats’ 25 per cent.
In Britain, although racial prejudice is declining, non-white minority heroes account for only 15 per cent of all heroes compared to 31 per cent in the US. This includes 21 per cent for women. Ethnic minority hero-figures tend to include non-British political activists such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Malala Yousafzai, Mahatma Gandhi, and Muhammad Ali, while only three Britons made it to the list, including boxer Lennox Lewis, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and a Victoria Cross recipient Johnson Beharry. The study says there is an acute need for the public recognition of ethnic minorities in the fabric of British society.
Dr Danilova said: “In both countries, ethnic minorities belong to another group of ‘invisible’, and often overlooked heroes. But there was a much wider presence of non-white Americans in the ‘pool’ of the US heroes. This included prominent public figures such as Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr.
“As in Britain, American women are disproportionately – and statistically significantly – more likely to have ethnic minority heroes with one in three women declaring an ethnic minority figures among their family and friends.”
African Americans (88 per cent), Hispanics (70 per cent) and Americans belonging to other ethnic minority groups (89 per cent) had a strikingly higher probability of having a non-white hero compared to white Americans (6.5 per cent).
JOURNAL
International Journal of Politics Culture and Society
CREDIT: THE EYE & ENT HOSPITAL OF FUDAN UNIVERSITY / THE LANCET.
A clinical trial in China in collaboration with Mass Eye and Ear investigators showcased the recovery of hearing for individuals suffering from a type of inherited deafness, DFNB9
Five of six children treated demonstrated hearing recovery and improvements in speech recognition. No dose-limiting toxicities were reported.
The trial, which began in December 2022, was the first to administer a gene therapy to a child with DFNB9
A new study co-led by investigators from Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, demonstrated the effectiveness of a gene therapy towards restoring hearing function for children suffering from hereditary deafness. In a trial of six children taking place at the Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, the researchers found the novel gene therapy to be an effective treatment for patients with a specific form of autosomal recessive deafness caused by mutations of the OTOF (otoferlin) gene, called DFNB9. With its first patient treated in December 2022, this research represents the first human clinical trial to administer gene therapy for treating this condition, with the most patients treated and longest follow-up to date. Their results are published January 24th in The Lancet.
“If children are unable to hear, their brains can develop abnormally without intervention,” said Zheng-Yi Chen, DPhil, an associate scientist in the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories at Mass Eye and Ear and associate professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School. “The results from this study are truly remarkable. We saw the hearing ability of children improve dramatically week by week, as well as the regaining of their speech.”
Hearing loss affects more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, with congenital deafness making up about 26 million of those individuals. For hearing loss in children, more than 60 percent stem from genetic reasons. DFNB9 for example, is a hereditary disease caused by mutations of the OTOF gene and a failure to produce a functioning otoferlin protein, which is necessary for the transmission of the sound signals from the ear to the brain. There are currently no FDA-approved drugs to help with hereditary deafness, which has opened the door for new solutions like gene therapies.
In order to test this novel treatment, six children with DFNB9 were observed over a 26-week period at the Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University. The Mass Eye and Ear collaborators utilized an adeno-associated virus (AAV) carrying a version of the human OTOF gene to carefully introduce the gene into the inner ears of the patients through a special surgical procedure. Differing doses of the single injection of the viral vector were used.
All six children in the study had total deafness, as indicated by an average auditory brainstem response (ABR) threshold of over 95 decibels. After 26 weeks, five children demonstrated hearing recovery, showing a 40-57 decibel reduction in ABR testing, dramatic improvements in speech perception and the restored ability to conduct normal conversation. Overall, no dose-limiting toxicity was observed. While following up on the patients, 48 adverse events were observed, with a significant majority (96%) being low grade, and the rest being transitory with no long-term impact.
This study provides evidence towards the safety and effectiveness of gene therapies in treating DFNB9, as well as their potential for other forms of genetic hearing loss. Moreover, the results contribute to an understanding of the safety of AAV insertion into the human inner ear. In regard to the usage of AAVs, the success of a dual-AAV vector carrying two pieces of the OTOF gene is notable. Typically, AAVs have a gene size limit, and so for a gene like OTOF that exceeds that limit, the achievement with a dual viral vector opens the door for AAV’s use with other large genes that are typically too big for the vector.
“We are the first to initiate the clinical trial of OTOF gene therapy. It is thrilling that our team translated the work from basic research in animal model of DFNB9 to hearing restoration in children with DFNB9,” said lead study author Yilai Shu, MD, of the Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University at Fudan University. Shu previously served as a postdoctoral fellow in Chen’s lab at Mass Eye and Ear. “I am truly excited about our future work on other forms of genetic hearing loss to bring treatments to more patients.”
The researchers plan to expand the trial to a larger sample size as well as track their outcomes over a longer timeline.
“Not since cochlear implants were invented 60 years ago, has there been an effective treatment for deafness,” said Chen. “This is a huge milestone that symbolizes a new era in the fight against all types of hearing loss.”
Disclosures: Kaiyu Gao is a staff of the Shanghai Refreshgene Therapeutics Co., Ltd. Zheng-Yi Chen is a cofounder of Salubritas Therapeutics. The other authors declare no conflict of interests.
Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program of China, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, and Shanghai Refreshgene Therapeutics.
Paper cited: Lv, J et al. “AAV1-hOTOF Gene Therapy for Autosomal Recessive Deafness 9: a single-arm 2 trial”. Journal DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02874-X.
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About Mass Eye and Ear
Massachusetts Eye and Ear, founded in 1824, is an international center for treatment and research and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. A member of Mass General Brigham, Mass Eye and Ear specializes in ophthalmology (eye care) and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ear, nose and throat care). Mass Eye and Ear clinicians provide care ranging from the routine to the very complex. Also home to the world's largest community of hearing and vision researchers, Mass Eye and Ear scientists are driven by a mission to discover the basic biology underlying conditions affecting the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head and neck and to develop new treatments and cures. In the 2023–2024 “Best Hospitals Survey,” U.S. News & World Report ranked Mass Eye and Ear #4 in the nation for eye care and #7 for ear, nose and throat care. For more information about life-changing care and research at Mass Eye and Ear, visit our blog, Focus, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
AAV1-hOTOF gene therapy for autosomal recessive deafness 9: a single-arm trial
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
24-Jan-2024
COI STATEMENT
Kaiyu Gao is a staff of the Shanghai Refreshgene Therapeutics Co., Ltd. Zheng-Yi Chen is a cofounder of Salubritas Therapeutics. The other authors declare no conflict of interests.
A building rising from the hilltop—Three topographical approaches to building in a landscape
This essay writes on a building project in the remote southwestern China that is built in uninhabited and is inspired and informed by its landscape context. The essay discusses how an extraordinary building project reacts to three different dimensions about landscape–architecture—a natural terrain being manipulated and recast. A small building needs to find its precise connecting point to a much larger historical and environmental context. A practical project needs to reach a balance between architectural pursuits and engineering concerns. Initially, artificial works might be isolated from and in conflict with the terrain, which requires architectural approaches to reconciling the demands at different scales and of functions. Finally, people who use the building will move forward to an effective and open dialogue between architecture and its landscape settings.
A Building Rising From the Hilltop—Three Topographical Approaches to Building in a Landscape
Ban on disposable vapes would affect one in seven young adults in Great Britain
A ban on disposable vapes, currently being considered by the UK Government, would affect one in seven young adults (aged 18-24) in Great Britain, and one in 20 adults overall, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.
A ban on disposable vapes, currently being considered by the UK Government, would affect one in seven young adults (aged 18-24) in Great Britain, and one in 20 adults overall, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.
The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in the journal Public Health, looked at survey responses from 69,973 adults in England, Wales and Scotland between January 2021 and August 2023.
The researchers found the proportion of adults using disposable e-cigarettes rose from 0.1% to 4.9% during that period. The increase was particularly pronounced among 18- to 24-year-olds, with 14.4% using disposable vapes in 2023, as well as among smokers (16.3%) and people who had stopped smoking in the past year (18.2%).
Use among people who had never regularly smoked was relatively rare (1.5%) but was higher among 18- to 24-year-olds, of whom 7.1% used disposable e-cigarettes and had never regularly smoked tobacco.
Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care), said: “Our study suggests a ban on disposable e-cigarettes would affect an estimated 2.6 million people in England, Wales and Scotland.
“This group includes about 316,000 18- to 24-year-olds who currently use disposables but who have never regularly smoked tobacco. However, it also includes 1.2 million people who currently smoke and would benefit from switching to e-cigarettes completely, and a further 744,000 who previously smoked and may be at risk of relapse.
“While banning disposables might seem like a straightforward solution to reduce youth vaping, it could have substantial unintended consequences for people who smoke.
“In the event of a ban, it would be important to encourage current and ex-smokers who use disposables to switch to other types of e-cigarettes rather than going back to just smoking tobacco.
“In addition, we found disposable use to be particularly prevalent among recent ex-smokers with a history of mental health conditions. This group may require targeted support to help them avoid relapse.”
The research team used data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, in which a different sample of 2,450 adults in Great Britain (who are representative of the general population) are interviewed each month.
They found disposable e-cigarette use was significantly higher among adults living in England than Wales or Scotland (5.3% vs. 2.0% and 2.8% at the end of the study period) and among those from less (vs. more) advantaged social grades (6.1% vs. 4.0%), those with (vs. without) children (6.4% vs. 4.4%), and those with (vs. without) a history of mental health conditions (9.3% vs. 3.1%).
Until recently, the researchers noted, very few adult vapers in Great Britain used disposables, but in 2021 new disposable e-cigarettes entered the market with designs and branding that appealed to young people, causing use of disposables to quickly rise in the UK and elsewhere. These products are available widely, for instance in corner shops, and are promoted via colourful in-store displays.
While they are convenient to use, with a very low upfront cost, they have also become an environmental problem, with millions of the devices reportedly thrown away in the UK each week.
Senior author Professor Jamie Brown (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care), said: “There is a need for action to reduce disposable vaping among young people who have never smoked. However, trade-offs need to be carefully considered. A ban may discourage use of e-cigarettes among people trying to quit smoking and may induce relapse among those who have already used disposables to quit. Cigarettes are far more harmful to our health and are not currently banned and a ban on disposable e-cigarettes may signal to large numbers of people that these products are worse for our health or that their harm is comparable to that caused by smoking tobacco. I favour a range of alternative policies, in the first instance, allied with rapid evaluation to judge whether these are sufficient to achieve reductions in youth vaping.”
In the paper, the researchers outlined other measures to strengthen the regulation of disposable vapes that had a reduced risk of unintended consequences, such as causing relapse among ex-smokers.
These included prohibiting branding with appeal to children (e.g., bright colours, sweet names, and cartoon characters), prohibiting promotion of e-cigarettes in shops, putting e-cigarettes out of sight and reach of children, and putting an excise tax on disposables to raise the price to the same level as the cheapest reusable e-cigarettes. Defining disposables may prove problematic so a minimum unit price may be more a straightforward alternative to reduce their affordability and is something that could be implemented quickly.
The researchers noted that their data might under-estimate prevalence of disposable vape use. This is because survey respondents were asked which type of e-cigarette they mainly used, so people who used disposables as a secondary product were not captured.
In addition to Cancer Research UK, the study received support from the UK Prevention Research Partnership.
Who would be affected by a ban on disposable vapes? A population study in Great Britain
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
24-Jan-2024
Avoiding cloudy messaging: Vape prevention campaigns face challenges
Flinders University researchers say that cohesive and collaborative action from preventive health communicators and organisations is needed to inform young people about the devastating harms of vaping.
VAPING PREVENTION HEALTH COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN EXAMPLE MATERIALS: (A) NSW HEALTH CAMPAIGN MEDIA AND TOOLKIT, ADAPTED, BASTION AGENCY; (B) LUNG FOUNDATION AUSTRALIA CAMPAIGN, ADAPTED, SABIO AGENCY AND (C) US FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION CAMPAIGN, ADAPTED, FDA RESOURCE LIBRARY.
CREDIT: HEALTH PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL -HTTPS://ACADEMIC.OUP.COM/HEAPRO
Flinders University researchers say that cohesive and collaborative action from preventive health communicators and organisations is needed to inform young people about the devastating harms of vaping.
“Despite awareness of the potential harms, recreational vaping is increasing among younger people with our South Australian participants seeing vaping as ‘cleaner’ and less harmful than cigarettes,” says Flinders University’s Dr Joshua Trigg.
“We know that nicotine vapes are highly addictive and expose people to harmful chemicals, respiratory irritants, and toxic substances. In order to discourage young people from picking up a vape, we need to understand what messaging they will best respond to,” says Dr Trigg.
Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are lithium battery-powered devices that heat liquids containing solvents, nicotine, flavourings and other chemicals, volatile compounds, and ultrafine particles into an aerosol that are inhaled into the lungs.
Flinders University researchers investigated the impact of different vaping prevention public health media campaigns among young South Australians aged 16–26 years to help determine what will work best in vaping risk messaging.
Participants of the study were shown example materials from three vaping prevention campaigns and resource sets: ‘The Real Cost, ‘Do you know what you’re vaping’ and ‘Unveil what you inhale’ to assess whether they were easily understood, appropriate, relevant, credible and effective.
“We know that health communication campaigns are an established tool for emphasising the dangers associated with vaping. By studying the impact of these campaigns more closely, we can improve future messaging to reduce and deter the use of vapes by young people,” he says.
Those who do vape and those who don’t, reacted in different ways to the campaigns. Those who didn’t already vape responded better to explicit messaging and shock tactics about the health risks associated with vaping. Whereas those who already vaped responded better to information challenging the notion that vapes are healthier than smoking cigarettes.
“We found that young people are likely to engage more with campaigns that consider the real life experiences, social contexts, and negative consequences associated with vaping. These experiences drew more interest and were more thought provoking to young South Australians,” Dr Trigg says.
“Bright visual design elements that represented health and wellbeing drew the attention of both groups of young people, with participants reiterating the benefits of using online and media resources to deliver preventative media campaigns. Campaigns now tend to adopt a ‘mobile first’ design approach, to target their audiences where they consume media” he says.
“In future, it is important that vaping prevention messaging considers those who already vape and those who do not, and clearly address the potential dangers and side-effects of inhaling a combination of chemicals. Young people need to understand that nicotine vaping is not a risk-free alternative to smoking cigarettes,” he adds.
The research – “Vaping harms awareness messaging: exploring young South Australians’ responses to vaping prevention campaign materials”, by Joshua Trigg, Ola Ela, Jacqueline Bowden, Ashlea Bartram, Clinton Cenko, and Billie Bonevski – has been published in the journal Health Promotional International. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daad145
According to a new analysis, almost a quarter of Australians with disabilities smoke when compared to just 12.6% of the wider population.
While the number of Australians smoking is declining, the barriers for people with disabilities mean targeted support is needed to develop healthier habits.
Flinders University and Cancer Council NSW health experts are recommending new strategies to tackle the alarming smoking rate through targeted government policies, data collection on smoking and training for disability support workers on tobacco prevention strategies.
The experts have assessed strategies that can address increased risk factors that result in higher rates of smoking among people with disabilities. These include socioeconomic challenges that make nicotine replacements unaffordable such as higher unemployment and living on income support.
Physical restrictions and a shortage of trained professionals to support their efforts to quit make the challenge even harder, according to the researchers.
Cancer Council NSW Tobacco Cessation Coordinator and lead author of the paper, Tiana Vourliotis, said a comprehensive approach including smoking cessation services, co-designed programs, and targeted policy initiatives is imperative to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use.
Published in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, the researchers recommend innovative prevention strategies that can close the disparity in smoking rates, including:
Offering support to stop smoking within disability services
Training for healthcare providers and support workers on effective strategies
Consistent policy across Australian states
Further collection of smoking data
Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute Director and study co-author, Professor Billie Bonevski, says the decrease in the numbers of people who smoke in Australia is not consistent across the whole of society and there remains a significantly higher smoking prevalence among people experiencing social, economic, or cultural disadvantage.
“People with disabilities encounter various obstacles, including lower socioeconomic status, unemployment, and difficulties accessing affordable quit-smoking support. Physical barriers and a shortage of trained professionals make the challenge even greater, hindering their ability to quit smoking,” says Professor Bonevski.
“Despite these big challenges, we know that informed policymaking and a dedication to positive health outcomes can drive meaningful reductions in smoking rates for people with disabilities.”
The federal government last year introduced new laws aimed at curbing smoking and addiction to tobacco in Australia using health warnings on packaging.
But this research has recognised the importance of providing choice for people with disabilities with the aim of fostering supportive environments for quitting, particularly in health and residential settings where they reside.
“Our commitment to addressing high smoking rates among people with disabilities in Australia can set a precedent for global efforts when it comes to developing targeted strategies and paving the way for a healthier future for the entire population.”
JOURNAL
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, resulted in a severe release of radioactive materials, including cesium, from the damaged nuclear reactors. The loss of cooling capabilities led to partial meltdowns in the reactor cores, releasing a substantial amount of cesium-137 (Cs-137) and cesium-134 (Cs-134) into the environment. The release of Cs-137, in particular, poses environmental and human health hazards due to its long half-life and high mobility in the environment. Environmentally, Cs-137 contributes to radioactive contamination and can lead to soil degradation and ecosystem disruption. In terms of human health, prolonged exposure to Cs-137 radiation increases the risk of cancer, particularly affecting the thyroid. Long-term effects may include chronic radiation damage, impacting immune and reproductive systems.
The removal of cesium from radioactive wastewater remains a challenging task due to several factors. The complex chemical nature of cesium makes its effective removal a technologically demanding process. Furthermore, the sheer volume of radioactive wastewater generated, especially in the aftermath of nuclear accidents like the Fukushima disaster, adds to the complexity. Large-scale treatment processes are needed to handle the substantial quantities of contaminated water, and the choice of an appropriate method must consider factors such as efficiency, cost, and environmental impact.
In a recent paper by Prof. Shuting Zhuang and Prof. Jianlong Wang, two common methods for cesium removal have been reviewed in detail: adsorption and membrane separation methods. Adsorption emerges as a highly effective method for treating radioactive wastewater with low radionuclide concentrations but spanning a significant volume. The primary focus is on advancing adsorbents that are both highly efficient and cost-effective for removing Cs+. Various materials, including inorganic (such as hexacyanoferrates, carbon-based materials, clay minerals, geopolymers, MOFs) and organic (resins, Cs+-imprinted polymers, macrocyclic ligands) substances, as well as biological materials (microbes, industrial and agricultural wastes, biopolymers), have been explored for Cs+ removal, with hexacyanoferrate recognized for its exceptional adsorption capacity and selectivity.
Membrane separation, particularly reverse osmosis (RO), stands out as an effective technique for cesium ion separation. RO membranes with smaller pores can efficiently retain cesium ions, offering advantages like commercialization, high efficiency, and water fluxes. Despite these advantages, membrane methods generate concentrated retention liquid that needs treatment due to higher concentrations of radioactive nuclides. Additionally, prolonged operation poses challenges to the radiation stability of membrane materials.
Ongoing research and technological advancements are essential to develop sustainable and cost-effective methods for treating contaminated water and mitigating the environmental impact of cesium discharge. Given the significance and complexity of removing cesium ions, Prof. Zhuang and Prof. Wang’s article has provided us with an overview of recent progress in this field. Interested readers are welcome to read the full article in the journal of Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering (Volume 18, Issue 3).
