Pea plants that flower for longer

A team from the IBMCP (CSIC-UPV) has identified a gene that controls the production of flowers and fruits in legumes, considered to be the crop of the future

UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE VALÈNCIA

 

IMAGE: 

IBMCP RESEARCHERS: CRISTINA FERRÁNDIZ, PACO MADUEÑO, IRENE MARTÍNEZ, ANA BERBEL Y VICENTE BALANZÀ.

 

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CREDIT: UPV

The end of the reproductive period, when flowers and fruits are produced, is a crucial moment in the life cycle of plants. However, the factors that control this process still need to be better understood. A research team led by the Research Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP), a joint centre of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas ( Spanish National Research Council) (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has found that a gene called FUL controls the duration of the reproductive phase in crops such as peas. This gene would be used as a biotechnological tool to prolong this phase, thus increasing the production of fruits and seeds in peas and other legumes such as chickpeas, lentils or beans. The work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Annual plants have only one reproductive season, producing flowers and fruits. Scientists are looking for genetic factors that cause plants to stop flowering to control the length of their reproductive phase. A few years ago, the group led by Cristina Ferrándiz, a CSIC research professor at the IBMCP, identified a gene called FUL (FRUITFULL) as a very important regulator of the flowering stops.

"The first studies were conducted only in Arabidopsis, a laboratory plant of no agronomic interest," Ferrándiz recalls. "We wanted to know if this function of FUL was the same in other species, especially crop species, and if we could use this knowledge to generate plants that produce flowers and fruits for longer, and therefore have a higher yield," she summarises. To this end, the team led by CSIC researcher Francisco Madueño at the IBMCP and other French and Canadian scientists studied the role of the FUL gene in pea plants, a legume with high nutritional value.

"We have seen that mutations that lead to a loss of function of the FUL genes in peas cause the plants to produce flowers, and consequently fruits, for much longer. This tells us that FUL controls the duration of the reproductive phase not only in the laboratory plant Arabidopsis but also in other species, including crop plants," explains Ferrándiz. "The prolonged flower and fruit production means that in certain pea varieties, mutations in the FUL genes can double the seed production, with identical nutritional characteristics to non-mutant plants, both in the greenhouse and the field," he says.

Mutants generated by classical methods

The research's authors, published in the latest issue of PNAS, emphasise that to obtain the mutations in the FUL genes analysed, they used mutant banks obtained by classical methods without generating transgenic plants. As a result, "the method for obtaining new plant varieties can be based on traditional mutagenesis, as used today and in this study, or on gene editing using CRISPR, the most promising and powerful tool for precision agriculture in the near future," says Francisco Madueño.

The potential application of these results is to use the FRUITFULL genes as a biotechnological tool to improve the yield of leguminous crops. The most significant increase in seed yield has been observed in medium-yielding pea varieties. In contrast, in high-yielding varieties, which already have a very high yield, the effect of mutations in the FUL genes is small," says Ferrándiz.

For the IBMCP researchers, the FRUITFULL genes could be beneficial to quickly and directly improve legume varieties. They are very valuable because they have interesting characteristics, such as high resistance to pathogens or drought, but are currently not used because of their low yields. "Mutating the FUL genes in these varieties would most likely also make them high-yielding and useful for agriculture. This could be very important given the challenges we face in the context of the climate crisis and the need to develop varieties that can better withstand it," they argue.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2321975121 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

nalysis of pea mutants reveals the conserved role of FRUITFULL controlling the end of flowering and its potential to boost yield.

 

Size of salty snack influences eating behavior that determines amount consumed

Study suggests pretzel size affects intake by governing how quickly a person eats and how big their bites are

PENN STATE

 

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RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT PRETZEL SIZE AFFECTS THE CONSUMER'S EATING RATE, WITH SMALLER SIZES LEADING TO A SLOWER EATING SPEED AND SMALLER BITES.  

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CREDIT: MADELINE HARPER/PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The size of an individual snack piece not only influences how fast a person eats it, but also how much of it they eat, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. With nearly a quarter of daily calorie intake in the United States coming from snacks, these findings may have implications for helping people better understand how eating behavior impacts calorie and sodium intake.

The team of food scientists investigated how the size of pretzels influences eating behavior — overall intake, eating rate, bite size and snacking duration — and found that people eat larger pretzels quicker with larger bites. They also found that while people ate smaller pretzels slower and with smaller bites, and ate less overall, they still had higher intake of sodium. Their results are available online now and will be published in the June issue of Appetite.

Seventy-five adults participated in the study, eating snacks three different times in the Sensory Evaluation Center. The oversized snack was about 2.5 servings of one of three sizes of pretzel — small, medium or large. To calculate eating rate and bite size, the researchers video recorded each snacking session, noting how many minutes each participant spent snacking and the number of bites. They also measured how much each participant ate in both weight and calories.

When participants were given the same amount of food, how much they ate — in both snack weight and calories — depended on unit size, with study participants consuming 31% and 22% more of the large pretzels compared to the small and medium sized pretzels, respectively. Size of the pretzel also influenced eating rate and bite size, with the largest pretzel size yielding the fastest eating rate and largest mean bite size.

The researchers also reported that, after accounting for eating behavior, the pretzel size alone did not significantly affect how much a person ate, suggesting the eating behavior the different pretzel sizes prompted was driving total intake. Their results suggest larger pretzel size induces a person to eat more quickly and take bigger bites.

Together, these findings indicate that unit size influences intake by affecting eating behavior and they show that food characteristics such as unit size can be leveraged to moderate snack intake, explained corresponding author John Hayes, professor of food science and director of the Penn State Sensory Evaluation Center.

“The study suggests that food structure — texture, size and shape — can be used to modulate eating behavior and food intake,” he said. “Food geometry, specifically unit size, is of particular utility for snack foods. We're interested in how the material properties of foods can be harnessed to help people eat less without impacting their enjoyment.”

The relationship between pretzel size and sodium intake was obvious but previously overlooked, noted Madeline Harper, a graduate student in food science and lead author on the study. She explained that eating more smaller pretzels likely results in higher sodium consumption. The smaller size has more surface area for the same weight, so the researchers hypothesize that more total salt on the surface means that a snacker would consume more sodium eating them.

“So, we're suggesting that if you're trying to watch your calorie intake or are trying to reduce the amount that you're eating in a snack, then maybe a smaller pretzel would meet your needs better, because of the inherent way the size of the pretzel affects your eating rate,” she said. “But if you're more worried about hypertension or the amount of sodium you're consuming, the larger pretzel might be better for you, because you'll consume less sodium in that treatment, even though you might consume more grams of pretzel.”

Paige Cunningham, postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Food Science and the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State, and Ciaran Forde, professor and chair in Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour Group in the Division of Nutrition, at Wageningen University, contributed to the research.  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture supported this research.

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JOURNAL

Appetite

DOI

10.1016/j.appet.2024.107300 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Unit size influences ad libitum intake in a snacking context via eating rate

 

Mixed diets balance nutrition and carbon footprint

A new analysis of food impacts looks at dishes rather than broad food groups

UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

 

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IN JAPAN, THIS KIND OF SPECIALTY MEAL, KNOWN AS SHOJIN RYORI, IS OFTEN ENTIRELY PLANT BASED. SOME COMMON FOOD IN JAPAN CAN HAVE A SURPRISINGLY LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT AT TIMES DUE TO LOW MEAT CONTENT AND RELATIVELY SHORTER COOKING TIMES.

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CREDIT: ©2024 ROHAN MEHRA

What we eat can impact our health as well as the environment. Many studies have looked at the impacts of diets in very general terms focused at the level of food groups. A new study led by researchers at the University of Tokyo explores this issue following a more nuanced dish-level approach. One of the benefits of this kind of study is that people’s connections with their diets vary around the world and have strong cultural associations. Knowledge of the impacts of diets using dishes rather than broad food groups can help individuals make informed choices and those in the food industry improve their practices.

“Our main conclusion is this: Mixed diets can offer good health and environmental outcomes. This is because mixed diets can afford consumers a larger diversity of dishes that can meet both nutritional requirements and have low carbon footprints,” said the lead author of the study, Associate Professor Yin Long from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering. “We identified trade-offs in terms of nutrition, carbon footprint and price for individual dishes with multiple ingredients, rather than using broad food categories such as red meat, fish or vegetables, as has been done in most similar studies so far. Although dishes from the same broad categories such as beef-based or fish-based dishes exhibit familiar trends as found in other studies in having comparatively higher carbon footprints, there are times when dishes do not follow the patterns of their respective food groups. It is also interesting to see a large concentration of dishes with low nutrient density and correspondingly low emissions and prices.”

Such examples are diets based on dishes with a greater proportion of plant-based ingredients that indeed tend to have lower carbon footprints, but sometimes fail to meet daily requirements for some nutrients. Conversely, mixed diets strike a balance between what is considered good nutritional outcome and carbon footprint. This is because mixed diets tend to afford larger combinations of dishes that both meet daily nutrient requirements and have low carbon footprints than stricter diets, for example, diets relying only on a subset of dish categories. The researchers found this out by analyzing data on 45 dishes popular in Japan that consist of multiple ingredients and have different cooking times, using algorithms that seek to optimize some parameters within sets of data.

“We should stress that we do not believe that impact analyses based on food groups and dishes are mutually exclusive, though. Instead, we believe they are highly complementary. For example, approaches relying on food groups can reveal broadly what sustainable diets can look like and how to achieve them at the production level, pointing to feasible directions for transforming food systems at the global and international levels,” said Professor Alexandros Gasparatos, another author of the study from the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Future Initiatives. “At the same time, we believe dish-based approaches can inform better the day-to-day organization of food consumption at the national and local levels, by acting as a reality check to inform, design and convey feasible and acceptable ways to steer dietary habits toward more sustainable directions.”

In a sense, dish-based approaches can better reflect how food is actually prepared and consumed in a given local context. This in turn better reflects cultural preferences for certain tastes or cooking methods, and cultural acceptability of certain food items. It can also better reflect the relative availability of certain food items, which itself might be due to local environmental conditions, which continue to change.

“Varying cultural preferences and ingredient availability lead to radically different ways to build healthy and sustainable diets between different countries and local contexts,” said Gasparatos. “Dietary choices have important ramifications for human health and the environment. On the one hand, unhealthy dietary habits have been associated with the increased prevalence of obesity, diabetes and various types of cancers. On the other hand, food production can have severe environmental impacts through land use, carbon emissions, methane emissions, water pollution, and overconsumption and more. I myself have tried to make some diet-conscious changes in the last couple of years before working on this study. However, the engagement with this research reaffirmed my belief that mixed diets offer lots of benefits and helped me to identify some items and dishes to maybe be consumed in moderation.”

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Journal article: Yin Long, Liqiao Huang, Jie Su, Yoshida Yoshikuni, Kuishuang Feng, Alexandros Gasparatos, “Mixed diets can meet nutrient requirements with lower carbon footprints”, Science Advances, DOI:

Funding:
This study was funded by the Leading Initiative for Excellent Young Researchers (LEADER) Program of 2022, and financially supported by the Asahi Group Foundation.

Useful links:
Institute for Future Initiatives https://ifi.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
Graduate School of Engineering https://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/soe  

Research contact:
Associate Professor Yin Long

Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo,
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8654, Japan

long@tmi.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Professor Alexandros Gasparatos
Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo,
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8654, Japan
gasparatos@ifi.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Press contact:
Mr. Rohan Mehra
Public Relations Group, The University of Tokyo,
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8654, Japan
press-releases.adm@gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp

About The University of Tokyo:

The University of Tokyo is Japan's leading university and one of the world's top research universities. The vast research output of some 6,000 researchers is published in the world's top journals across the arts and sciences. Our vibrant student body of around 15,000 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students includes over 4,000 international students. Find out more at www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/ or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @UTokyo_News_en.

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adh1077 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Mixed diets can meet nutrient requirements with lower carbon footprints

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Apr-2024

 

World-first “Cybercrime Index” ranks countries by cybercrime threat level

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Following three years of intensive research, an international team of researchers have compiled the first ever ‘World Cybercrime Index’, which identifies the globe’s key cybercrime hotspots by ranking the most significant sources of cybercrime at a national level.

The Index, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, shows that a relatively small number of countries house the greatest cybercriminal threat. Russia tops the list, followed by Ukraine, China, the USA, Nigeria, and Romania. The UK comes in at number eight.

Co-author of the study, Dr Miranda Bruce from the University of Oxford and UNSW Canberra said the study will enable the public and private sectors to focus their resources on key cybercrime hubs and spend less time and funds on cybercrime countermeasures in countries where the problem is not as significant.

“The research that underpins the Index will help remove the veil of anonymity around cybercriminal offenders, and we hope that it will aid the fight against the growing threat of profit-driven cybercrime,” Dr Bruce said.

“We now have a deeper understanding of the geography of cybercrime, and how different countries specialise in different types of cybercrime.”

“By continuing to collect this data, we’ll be able to monitor the emergence of any new hotspots and it is possible early interventions could be made in at-risk countries before a serious cybercrime problem even develops.”

The data that underpins the Index was gathered through a survey of 92 leading cybercrime experts from around the world who are involved in cybercrime intelligence gathering and investigations. The survey asked the experts to consider five major categories of cybercrime*, nominate the countries that they consider to be the most significant sources of each of these types of cybercrime, and then rank each country according to the impact, professionalism, and technical skill of its cybercriminals.

Co-author Associate Professor Jonathan Lusthaus, from the University of Oxford’s Department of Sociology and Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, said cybercrime has largely been an invisible phenomenon because offenders often mask their physical locations by hiding behind fake profiles and technical protections.

“Due to the illicit and anonymous nature of their activities, cybercriminals cannot be easily accessed or reliably surveyed. They are actively hiding. If you try to use technical data to map their location, you will also fail, as cybercriminals bounce their attacks around internet infrastructure across the world. The best means we have to draw a picture of where these offenders are actually located is to survey those whose job it is to track these people,” Dr Lusthaus said.

Co-author of the study, Professor Federico Varese from Sciences Po in France, said the World Cybercrime Index is the first step in a broader aim to understand the local dimensions of cybercrime production across the world.

“We are hoping to expand the study so that we can determine whether national characteristics like educational attainment, internet penetration, GDP or levels of corruption are associated with cybercrime. Many people think that cybercrime is global and fluid, but this study supports the view that, much like forms of organised crime, it is embedded within particular contexts,” Professor Varese said.

The World Cybercrime Index has been developed as a joint partnership between the University of Oxford and UNSW and has also been funded by CRIMGOV, a European Union-supported project based at the University of Oxford and Sciences Po. The other co-authors of the study include Professor Ridhi Kashyap from the University of Oxford and Professor Nigel Phair from Monash University.

For media enquiries and interview requests, contact: Dr Miranda Bruce; email: miranda.bruce@unsw.edu.au

Media support (UK /US): Dr Caroline Wood, University of Oxford; ph. 01865 280534; email: caroline.wood@admin.ox.ac.uk

Media support (Australia): Damon Whittock, UNSW Canberra; ph. 0404 489 376; email: d.whittock@adfa.edu.au

The study ‘Mapping the global geography of cybercrime with the World Cybercrime Index’ will be published in the journal PLOS ONE at 19:00 BST / 14:00 ET Wednesday 10 April at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297312 This link will go live once the embargo lifts. To view a copy of the paper before this under embargo, contact caroline.wood@admin.ox.ac.uk

*The five major categories of cybercrime assessed by the study were:

1.   Technical products/services (e.g. malware coding, botnet access, access to compromised systems, tool production).

2.   Attacks and extortion (e.g. denial-of-service attacks, ransomware).

3.   Data/identity theft (e.g. hacking, phishing, account compromises, credit card comprises).

4.   Scams (e.g. advance fee fraud, business email compromise, online auction fraud).

5.   Cashing out/money laundering (e.g. credit card fraud, money mules, illicit virtual currency platforms).

About the University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the eighth year running, and ​number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer.

Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing £15.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018/19, and supports more than 28,000 full time jobs.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0297312 

ARTICLE TITLE

Mapping the global geography of cybercrime with the World Cybercrime Index

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Apr-2024

 

Organizations need to beware whispering death from “institutional parasites”, study finds

Insidious or apparently benign mavericks can ultimately destroy an organisation from within and without

CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON

Organisations that fail to identify or swiftly expel “institutional parasites” risk long-term damage, academics from leading British and Finnish business schools have warned.

In a paper published in the respected Academy of Management Review, they argue that the increasingly complex and opaque nature of many organisations provides fertile ground for institutional parasites – such as suppliers or other key external partners and employees.

Dr Jukka Rintamäki from Finland’s Aalto University School of Business, Dr Simon Parker from Nottingham University Business School and Professor Andre Spicer, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London analysed existing research and a range of case studies.

They cite accountancy firms which collude in falsification of accounts (such as Arthur Andersen’s oversight of collapsed energy giant Enron) and specialist ESG firms that guarantee positive outcomes from human rights and sustainability audits of clients’ supply chains.

The authors used a model developed by Dr Rintamaki to explore how the parasites form and proliferate – and how they can be challenged effectively.

The parasitical action can initially benefit both the institutional parasite and the host organisation, they conclude. The parasite is more likely to win contracts by guaranteeing positive conclusions, while the latter may pay less tax or have lower supply chain costs.

The more complex and opaque the institutional environment, the more parasites can remain undetected or without their negative impact being obvious, the paper says.

Dr Rintamäki said: “Institutions identify and act against obvious threats but it is the insidious ones that can fell them. A leech that is visibly draining blood from a body will be quickly removed. An internal parasite, such as a roundworm, can cause significant harm to the host human before they realise they have a problem and seek medical attention and treatment.”

Partly due to the initially mutually beneficial nature of much parasitical activity, leaders can engage in a wilful blindness – or fail to clearly identify and challenge the parasites. That can foster more parasites – and ultimately lead to significant harm, including the collapse of the organisation.

Even when seeking to manage or remove the parasitical activity, leaders can actually exacerbate the problem, the authors warn.

Some leaders or industry watchdogs or legislators react with new policies, rules and guidance. Ironically, such measures can nurture the very environment in which parasites thrive by increasing complexity and opacity. The organisation is also focussing on process and administrative actions rather than its core functions – risking inefficiencies and reputational damage.

The authors urge leaders to instead act boldly – “reforming” the institution in ways that improve transparency and reinforce its core purpose and principles. Regulators and lawmakers responding to exposure of wrongdoing should also embrace that approach and aim to improve the identification of parasitical actors.

Often an organisation that has drifted too far from the principles and practices that made it successful in the first place needs to change to maintain or regain success, Dr Parker said.

“Complexity is the key driver of institutional parasitism and as organisations grow it is more difficult for leaders to be aware of emerging problems across many sites or partner organisations. It’s also a fact of life that there is sometimes a gap between what we claim about ourselves and what we do – and that can apply, for example, to monitoring of suppliers.”

Professor Spicer said: “In modern life medical science and public health regulations have removed many parasites and other risks to our biological health from our daily lives. Simultaneously, however, our increasingly complex working environments have fostered the conditions where institutional parasites flourish.

“We have all worked with ‘slackers’ and with people who sometimes cut corners or sail close to the wind ethically. Our concept of institutional parasites goes well beyond that.”

Dr Parker said: “It’s understandable that the first response to a parasitical threat is adding yet more pages to bulging staff manuals or supplier contracts. However, leaders should instead focus on stripping back the complexity and looking at the core functions, purpose and expectations of their organisation. Ironically, sometimes such change allows leaders to maintain a form of the status quo.”

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JOURNAL

Academy of Management Review

DOI

10.5465/amr.2021.0502 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Institutional Parasites

 

New book helps citizen scientists navigate complexities of infectious disease outbreaks

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

WASHINGTON (April 10, 2024) — Citizen scientists have long contributed to the collection and observation of natural events - from weather watchers to wildlife trackers – with thousands of organized community projects spanning decades. Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to an explosion of novice infectious disease detectives adding to the collection of science-enthusiasts.

To give these new disease detectives more tools for their craft, a new book written by two Georgetown University global health researchers, “Outbreak Atlas,” helps translate the complex interconnectedness of outbreak responses used by professionals across different fields, presenting accessible information that ensures a shared understanding of the essential activities to control an outbreak.

“We know there are thousands of people who have taken a keen interest in tracking outbreaks after living through the COVID-19 pandemic,” explains co-author Rebecca Katz, PhD, MPH, director of the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science and Security (GHSS). “We hope our book helps lift the curtain on what goes on behind the scenes in the management of an outbreak including topics such as preparedness, response and recovery.”

The book translates the work of the Georgetown Outbreak Activity Library (GOAL), an interactive online tool for global health practitioners that Katz and Moore developed, that outlines what needs to be done, when, and by whom, throughout all phases of an outbreak – including preparedness, response, and recovery.

“GOAL helps guide professionals to be prepared for an outbreak and our book translates that information for a lay audience so they are empowered to be a part of this important work too,” Katz says.

“More than 100 case studies and the visuals we’ve included in the book give real world examples of outbreak management,” says co-author Mackenzie S. Moore, M.Sc., a scientist and global health researcher, a member of GHSS. “Outbreak Atlas contributes to the larger goal of increasing public health literacy in the general public. Successful outbreak response relies heavily on public support and community engagement, and we hope to equip citizen scientists with information that empowers them to make informed decisions that protect themselves, their friends, and their families..”

“Outbreak Atlas"will be available for purchase at online retailers beginning April 15.

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Using CO2 and biomass, FAMU-FSU researchers find path to more environmentally friendly recyclable plastics

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

FROM LEFT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR HOYONG CHUNG AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER ARIJIT GHORAI DISPLAY THE TWO PHASES OF THEIR DEGRADABLE POLYMER AT THE DITTMER CHEMISTRY LAB AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY.

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CREDIT: SCOTT HOLSTEIN/FAMU-FSU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Modern life relies on plastic. This lightweight, adaptable product is a cornerstone of packaging, medical equipment, the aerospace and automotive industries and more. But plastic waste remains a problem as it degrades in landfills and pollutes oceans.

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers have created a potential alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic that is made from carbon dioxide (CO2) and lignin, a component of wood that is a low-cost byproduct of paper manufacturing and biofuel production. Their research was published in Advanced Functional Materials.

“Our study takes the harmful greenhouse gas CO2 and makes it into a useful raw material to produce degradable polymers or plastics,” said Hoyong Chung, an associate professor in chemical and biomedical engineering at the college. “We are not only reducing CO2 emissions, but we are producing a sustainable polymer product using the CO2.”

This study is the first to demonstrate the direct synthesis of what’s known as a cyclic carbonate monomer — a molecule made of carbon and oxygen atoms that can be linked with other molecules — made from CO2 and lignin.

By linking multiple monomers together, scientists can create synthetic polymers, long-chained molecules that can be designed to fill all manner of applications.

The material developed by Chung and his research team is fully degradable at the end of its life without producing microplastics and toxic substances. It can be synthesized at lower pressures and temperatures. And the polymer can be recycled without losing its original properties.

Using depolymerization, the researchers can convert polymers to pure monomers, which are the building blocks of polymers. This is the key to the high quality of the recycled material. The monomers can be recycled indefinitely and produce a high-quality polymer as good as the original, an improvement over previously developed and currently used polymer materials in which repeated heat exposure from melting reduces quality and allows for limited recycling.

“We can readily degrade the polymer via depolymerization, and the degraded product can synthesize the same polymer again,” Chung said. “This is more cost effective and keeps it from losing original properties of polymers over multiple recycling. This is considered a breakthrough in material science, as it enables the realization of a true circular economy.”

The newly developed material could be used for low-cost, short lifespan plastic products in such sectors as construction, agriculture, packaging, cosmetics, textiles, diapers and disposable kitchenware. With further development, Chung anticipates its use in highly specialized polymers for biomedical and energy storage applications.

The FSU Office of Commercialization provided valuable foundational support for Chung’s research. Support from an internal funding program helped previous work with lignin-based polymers, and with the help of the office, he has received patents for other polymer research.

The project was supported by federal funds awarded to the State of Florida from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and support from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Postdoctoral researcher Arijit Ghorai was the lead author of the study.

A closer view of the polymer developed by Chung’s research team in monomer and polymer phases.

CREDIT

Scott Holstein/FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

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JOURNAL

Advanced Functional Materials

DOI

10.1002/adfm.202403035 

ARTICLE TITLE

CO2 and Lignin-Based Sustainable Polymers with Closed-Loop Chemical Recycling

 

Aging U.S. adults have retreated from civic life since pandemic began, new research shows

A study including 7,000 people age 55-plus found they're staying at home more and skipping restaurants, the gym and other 'third places'

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER

Years after the U.S. began to slowly emerge from mandatory COVID-19 lockdowns, more than half of older adults still spend more time at home and less time socializing in public spaces than they did pre-pandemic, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research. 

Participants cited fear of infection and “more uncomfortable and hostile” social dynamics as key reasons for their retreat from civic life.

“The pandemic is not over for a lot of folks,” said Jessica Finlay, an assistant professor of geography whose findings are revealed in a series of new papers. “Some people feel left behind.”

The study comes amid what the U.S. Surgeon General recently called an ‘epidemic of loneliness’ in which older adults— especially those who are immune compromised or have disabilities— are particularly vulnerable.

“We found that the pandemic fundamentally altered neighborhoods, communities and everyday routines among aging Americans and these changes have long-term consequences for their physical, mental, social and cognitive health,” said Finlay.

‘I just can’t go back’

As a health geographer and environmental gerontologist, Finlay studies how social and built environments impact health as we age.

In March 2020 as restaurants, gyms, grocery stores and other gathering places shuttered amid shelter-in-place orders, she immediately wondered what the lasting impacts would be. Shortly thereafter, she launched the COVID-19 Coping Study with University of Michigan epidemiologist Lindsay Kobayashi. They began their research with a baseline and monthly survey. Since then, nearly 7,000 people over age 55 from all 50 states have participated.

The researchers check in annually, asking open-ended questions about how neighborhoods and relationships have changed, how people spend their time, opinions and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and their physical and mental health.

“We’ve been in the field for some incredibly pivotal moments,” said Finlay, noting that surveys went out shortly after George Floyd was murdered in May 2020 and again after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Collectively, the results paint a troubling picture in which a substantial portion of the older population remains isolated even after others have moved on. 

In one paper published in February in the journal Wellbeing, Space and Society, 60% of respondents said they spend more time in their home while 75% said they dine out less. Some 62% said they visit cultural and arts venues less, and more than half said they attend church or the gym less than before the pandemic.

While that survey was taken two years ago, the most recent survey taken in spring 2023 showed similar trends, with more than half of respondents still reporting that their socialization and entertainment routines were different than they were pre-pandemic. 

In another paper titled “I just can’t go back,” 80% of respondents reported that there are some places they are reluctant to visit in person anymore.

“The thought of going inside a gym with lots of people breathing heavily and sweating is not something I can see myself ever doing again,” said one 72-year-old male.

Those who said they still go to public places like grocery stores reported that they ducked in and out quickly and skipped casual chitchat. 

“It’s been tough,” said one 68-year-old female. “You don’t stop and talk to people anymore.”

Many respondents reported that they were afraid of getting infected with a virus or infecting young or immune-compromised loved ones, and said they felt “irresponsible” for being around a lot of people.

Some reported getting dirty looks or rude comments when wearing masks or asking others to keep their distance— interpersonal exchanges that reinforced their inclination to stay home.

Revitalizing human connection

The news is not all bad, stresses Finlay.

At least 10% of older adults report exercising outdoors more frequently since the pandemic. And a small but vocal minority said that their worlds had actually opened up, as more meetings, concerts and classes became available online.
Still, Finlay worries that the loss of spontaneous interactions in what sociologists call “third places” could have serious health consequences.

Previous research shows that a lack of social connection can increase risk of premature death as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and exacerbate mental illness and dementia.

“For some older adults who live alone, that brief, unplanned exchange with the butcher or the cashier may be the only friendly smile they see in the day, and they have lost that,” Finlay said.

Societal health is also at risk.

“It is increasingly rare for Americans with differing sociopolitical perspectives to collectively hang out and respectfully converse,” she writes. 

Finlay hopes that her work can encourage policymakers to create spaces more amenable to people of all ages who are now more cautious about getting sick – things like outdoor dining spaces, ventilated concert halls or masked or hybrid events.

She also hopes that people will give those still wearing masks or keeping distance some grace.

“It is a privilege to be able to ‘just get over’ the pandemic and many people, for a multitude of reasons, just don’t have that privilege. The world looks different to them now,” she said. 

“How can we make it easier for them to re-engage?”

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JOURNAL

Wellbeing Space and Society

DOI

10.1016/j.wss.2024.100184 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Altered place engagement since COVID-19: A multi-method study of community participation and health among older americans