Traffic density, wind and air stratification influence concentrations of air pollutant NO2

Leipzig researchers use a calculation method to remove weather influences from air pollution data

LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR TROPOSPHERIC RESEARCH (TROPOS)

 

IMAGE: TRAFFIC DENSITY, WIND AND AIR STRATIFICATION INFLUENCE THE POLLUTION WITH THE AIR POLLUTANT NITROGEN DIOXIDE, ACCORDING TO THE CONCLUSION OF A TROPOS STUDY COMMISSIONED BY THE LFULG. view more 

CREDIT: BURKHARD LEHMANN, LFULG

Leipzig/Dresden. In connection with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite measurements made headlines showing how much the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) had decreased in China and northern Italy. In Germany, traffic density is the most important factor. However, weather also has an influence on NO2 concentrations, according to a study by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), which evaluated the influence of weather conditions on nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Saxony 2015 to 2018 on behalf of the Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG). It was shown that wind speed and the height of the lowest air layer are the most important factors that determine how much pollutants can accumulate locally.

In order to determine the influence of various weather factors on air quality, the team used a statistical method that allows meteorological fluctuations to be mathematically removed from long-term measurements. The air quality fluctuates, in some cases very strongly, due to different emissions and the influence of the weather. Until now, however, it has been difficult to estimate, what share legal measures such as low emission zones or diesel driving bans have and what share the weather influences have in the actual air quality? With the method used, this will be easier in the future.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an irritant gas which attacks the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, causes inflammatory reactions as an oxidant and increases the effect of other air pollutants. As a precursor substance, it can also contribute to the formation of particulate matter. Limit values have been set in the EU to protect the population: For nitrogen dioxide, an annual average value of 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air applies (μg/m³). To protect the health of the population, measures must be taken if these limit values are not complied with. In 2018/2019, for example, various measures were taken in Germany, ranging from a reduction in the number of lanes (e.g. in Leipzig) to driving bans for older diesel vehicles (e.g. in Stuttgart).

To evaluate the effectiveness of such measures, it would be helpful to determine the exact influence of weather conditions. The Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG) therefore commissioned TROPOS to carry out a study on the influence of weather factors on NO2 concentrations and provided its measurement data from the Saxon air quality measurement network and meteorological data for this purpose. The researchers were thus able to evaluate data from 29 stations in Saxony over a period of four years, which represent a cross-section of air pollution - from stations at traffic centres to urban and rural background stations and stations on the ridge of the Erzgebirge mountains. They also calculated the height of the lowest layer in the atmosphere and incorporated data from traffic counting stations in Leipzig and Dresden into the study. A method from the field of machine learning was used for the statistical modelling, the application of which in the field of air quality was first published by British researchers in 2009.

In this way, the study was able to demonstrate that the traffic density at all traffic stations is most significantly responsible for nitrogen oxide concentrations. However, two weather parameters also have a significant influence on nitrogen dioxide concentrations: wind speed and the height of the so-called mixing layer. The latter is a meteorological parameter that indicates the height to which the lowest layer of air, where the emissions mix, extends. "It was also shown that high humidity can also reduce the concentration of nitrogen dioxide, which could be due to the fact that the pollutants deposit more strongly on moist surfaces. However, the exact causes are still unclear," says Dominik van Pinxteren.

The statistical analysis has also enabled the researchers to remove the influence of the weather from the time series of pollutant concentrations: Adjusted for the weather, the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) decreased by a total of 10 micrograms per cubic meter between 2015 and 2018 on average over all traffic stations in Saxony. In urban and rural areas and on the ridge of the Erzgebirge, however, NOx concentrations tend to remain at the same level. Even though there have been some improvements in air quality in recent years, there are good scientific arguments for further reducing air pollution.

In a way, this also applies to premature conclusions from the corona crisis: in order to find out how strong the influence of the initial restrictions on air quality actually was, the influence of the weather would have to be statistically removed in a longer series of measurements. To this end, investigations for the Leipzig area are currently underway at TROPOS, as is a Europe-wide study of the EU research infrastructure for short-lived atmospheric constituents such as aerosol, clouds and trace gases (ACTRIS), the German contribution to which is coordinated by TROPOS. Tilo Arnhold

###

Publication:

Dominik van Pinxteren, Sebastian Düsing, Alfred Wiedensohler, Hartmut Herrmann (2020): Meteorological influences on nitrogen dioxide: Influence of weather conditions and weathering on nitrogen dioxide concentrations in outdoor air 2015 to 2018. Series of publications of the LfULG, issue 2/2020 (in German only) https://publikationen.sachsen.de/bdb/artikel/35043

This study was commissioned by the State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG).

Project:

LfULG-Projekt „Meteorologische Einflüsse auf Stickstoffdioxid": https://www.luft.sachsen.de/Inhalt_FuE_Projekt_Witterung_NOx_Ozon.html

More evidence of causal link between air pollution and early death

Study of more than 68 million older Americans using state-of-the-art analyses suggests that US air pollution standards are not protective enough

HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

 

Boston, MA - Strengthening U.S. air quality standards for fine particulate pollution to be in compliance with current World Health Association (WHO) guidelines could save more than 140,000 lives over the course of a decade, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study, published June 26, 2020 in Sciences Advances, provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of the causal link between long-term exposure to fine particulate (PM2.5) air pollution and premature death, according to the authors.

"Our new study included the largest-ever dataset of older Americans and used multiple analytical methods, including statistical methods for causal inference, to show that current U.S. standards for PM2.5 concentrations are not protective enough and should be lowered to ensure that vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, are safe," said doctoral student Xiao Wu, a co-author of the study.

The new research builds on a 2017 study that showed that long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution and ozone, even at levels below current U.S. air quality standards, increases the risk of premature death among the elderly in the U.S.

For the new study, researchers looked at 16 years' worth of data from 68.5 million Medicare enrollees--97% of Americans over the age of 65--adjusting for factors such as body mass index, smoking, ethnicity, income, and education. They matched participants' zip codes with air pollution data gathered from locations across the U.S. In estimating daily levels of PM2.5 air pollution for each zip code, the researchers also took into account satellite data, land-use information, weather variables, and other factors. They used two traditional statistical approaches as well as three state-of-the-art approaches aimed at teasing out cause and effect.

Results were consistent across all five different types of analyses, offering what authors called "the most robust and reproducible evidence to date" on the causal link between exposure to PM2.5 and mortality among Medicare enrollees--even at levels below the current U.S. air quality standard of 12 μg/m3 (12 micrograms per cubic meter) per year.

The authors found that an annual decrease of 10 μg/m3 in PM2.5 pollution would lead to a 6%-7% decrease in mortality risk. Based on that finding, they estimated that if the U.S. lowered its annual PM2.5 standard to 10 μg/m3--the WHO annual guideline--143,257 lives would be saved in one decade.

The authors included additional analyses focused on causation, which address criticisms that traditional analytical methods are not sufficient to inform revisions of national air quality standards. The new analyses enabled the researchers, in effect, to mimic a randomized study--considered the gold standard in assessing causality--thereby strengthening the finding of a link between air pollution and early death.

"The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed retaining current national air quality standards. But, as our new analysis shows, the current standards aren't protective enough, and strengthening them could save thousands of lives. With the public comment period for the EPA proposal ending on June 29, we hope our results can inform policymakers' decisions about potentially updating the standards," said co-author Francesca Dominici, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population, and Data Science.

###

Other Harvard Chan School co-authors of the study included research scientist Danielle Braun and Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology.

Funding for the study came from NIH grants R01 ES024332-01A1, P50 MD010428, R21 ES024012, R01 ES026217, R01 ES028033, MD012769, R01 ES030616, and P30 ES09089; HEI grant 4953-RFA14-3/16-4; and USEPA grants 83587201-0 and RD-83479801.

"Evaluating the Impact of Long-term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter on Mortality Among the Elderly," Xiao Wu, Danielle Braun, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Francesca Dominici, Science Advances, June 26, 2020, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aba5692.

Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives--not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible

Study finds strong evidence for a causal link between long-term exposure to fine air particles and greater mortality in elderly Americans

Evaluating the impact of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter on mortality among the elderly

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

 

A new analysis of 16 years of publicly accessible health data on 68.5 million Medicare enrollees provides broad evidence that long-term exposure to fine particles in the air - even at levels below current EPA standards - leads to increased mortality rates among the elderly. Based on the results of five complementary statistical models, including three causal inference methods, the researchers estimate that if the EPA had lowered the air quality standard for fine particle concentration from 12 μg/m3 down to the WHO guideline of 10 μg/m3, more than 140,000 lives might have been saved within one decade. "Our findings provide the strongest evidence to date that current national air quality standards aren't sufficiently protective of Americans' health," said corresponding author Francesca Dominici. "Now, in the middle of a pandemic that attacks our lungs and makes us unable to breathe, it is irresponsible to roll back environmental policies," she added. The new study is likely to inform national discussions around updating air quality standards, for example, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards by the EPA.

A number of studies have documented a strong correlation between long-term exposure to fine particulate and greater human mortality, but some concern has remained about the causal nature of the evidence, and whether it is sufficient to inform revisions to air quality standards. Some scientists argue that modern causal inference methods can provide such evidence, using the right data. "Causal inference can quantify and visualize how close our data are to approximating a randomized controlled study, the gold standard for assessing causation," said the study's lead author Xiao Wu. Analyzing a massive dataset through five distinct approaches, including two traditional statistical methods and three causal inference methods, Wu and colleagues derived broad evidence consistent with a causal link between long-term particulate exposure and mortality. Modeling a 10 μg/m3 decrease of fine particle concentration between 2000 and 2016 resulted in a 6% to 7% decrease in mortality risk. Based on their model results, the researchers estimated that more than 140,000 lives might have been saved if the current U.S. standard for fine particle concentration had been lowered to 10 μg/m3 between 2007 and 2016. The authors emphasize the urgent need to modify particulate concentration levels to help protect elderly individuals with respiratory diseases living in polluted areas.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/aaft-sfs062620.php

Children more resilient against coronavirus, study reveals

Texas team reviews 131 studies of children from 26 countries

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT SAN ANTONIO

 

IMAGE: ALVARO MOREIRA, MD, MSC, OF THE LONG SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UT HEALTH SAN ANTONIO, LED A STUDY TEAM THAT FOUND CHILDREN INFECTED WITH THE CORONAVIRUS FARED BETTER THAN ADULTS.... view more 

CREDIT: UT HEALTH SAN ANTONIO

SAN ANTONIO - The majority of children with COVID-19 in 26 countries fared well clinically compared to adults during the first four months of the pandemic, a newly released study shows.

Researchers from the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio prepared the study, which is the largest systematic review to date of children and young adults with COVID-19. EClinicalMedicine, a journal of The Lancet, on June 26 published the results, which cover studies published between Jan. 24 and May 14.

Among the findings:

• 19% of the pediatric population with COVID-19 had no symptoms.
• 21% exhibited patchy lesions on lung X-rays.
• 5.6% suffered from co-infections, such as flu, on top of COVID-19.
• 3.3% were admitted to intensive care units.
• Seven deaths were reported.

"Our data is compiled from 131 studies and encompasses 7,780 patients who span the pediatric age spectrum," said study senior author Alvaro Moreira, MD, MSc, assistant professor of pediatrics at UT Health San Antonio and a fellowship-trained neonatologist.

"In the study we report the most common symptoms, quantify laboratory findings and describe imaging characteristics of children with COVID-19," Dr. Moreira said. "Furthermore, we summarize treatments that were administered and offer an initial glimpse of a handful of patients who met the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children."

Symptoms

The most frequent symptoms, similar to the adult population, were fever and cough. Those were found in 59% and 56% of the pediatric population.

In 233 individuals, a past medical history was noted, and among this group, 152 were children with compromised immune systems or who had underlying respiratory or cardiac disease.

The number of children with excellent outcomes surprised the research team. "Although we are hearing about severe forms of the disease in children, this is occurring in very rare circumstances," Dr. Moreira said.

The majority of journal articles were from China. The largest study that was included was a case series of 2,572 patients reported by the U.S. CDC COVID-19 team.

Laboratory measures that were consistently abnormal in pediatric COVID-19 patients included inflammatory markers such as creatine kinase, interleukin-6 and procalcitonin.

Few severe cases

Thankfully, only a small number of patients met inclusion for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Their disease paralleled the extreme forms of COVID-19 seen in adults.

"Children with systemic inflammation had a significant decrease in the amount of lymphocytes in their blood," Dr. Moreira said. "COVID-positive children who didn't have the extreme form of the disease had 42% lymphocytes in their blood, versus 11% in children with the multisystem syndrome."

Lymphocytes are one of the main types of immune cells in the body.

Kidney failure was seen in nine pediatric patients, liver failure also in nine and shock in 19. Mechanical ventilation was required by 42 patients.

The study does not take into consideration a new surge of patients in New York, England and Italy where specialists are now starting to see children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, Dr. Moreira said.

###

In addition to Dr. Moreira, the team consists of two study co-first authors who are medical students in the Long School of Medicine; a pediatric intensive care fellow at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston; undergraduate students from Texas A&M, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Cottey College; a student accepted into the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston; and a San Antonio high school student.

COVID-19 in 7,780 pediatric patients A systematic review

Ansel Hoang, Kevin Chorath, Axel Moreira, Mary Evans, Finn Burmeister-Morton, Fiona Burmeister, Rija Naqvi, Matthew Petershack, Alvaro Moreira, MD, MSc

First published: June 26, 2020, EClinicalMedicine

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100433

The Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is named for Texas philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long. The school is the largest educator of physicians in South Texas, many of whom remain in San Antonio and the region to practice medicine. The school teaches more than 900 students and trains 800 residents each year. As a beacon of multicultural sensitivity, the school annually exceeds the national medical school average of Hispanic students enrolled. The school's clinical practice is the largest multidisciplinary medical group in South Texas with 850 physicians in more than 100 specialties. The school has a highly productive research enterprise where world leaders in Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer, aging, heart disease, kidney disease and many other fields are translating molecular discoveries into new therapies. The Long School of Medicine is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center known for prolific clinical trials and drug development programs, as well as a world-renowned center for aging and related diseases.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also referred to as UT Health San Antonio, is one of the country's leading health sciences universities and is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. With missions of teaching, research, patient care and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have graduated more than 37,000 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields, and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways "We make lives better®," visit http://www.uthscsa.edu.

Stay connected with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

To see how we are battling COVID-19, read inspiring stories on Impact.

Life in the galaxy: maybe this is as good as it gets?

GOLDSCHMIDT CONFERENCE

 

IMAGE: GALAXY M51 IS A SPIRAL GALAXY, ABOUT 30 MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY, THAT IS IN THE PROCESS OF MERGING WITH A SMALLER GALAXY SEEN TO ITS UPPER LEFT. view more 

CREDIT: IMAGE CREDIT: X-RAY: NASA/CXC/SAO; OPTICAL: DETLEF HARTMANN; INFRARED: COURTESY NASA/JPL-CALTECH. HI-DEFINITION IMAGE AVAILABLE AT HTTPS://WWW.NASA.GOV/MISSION_PAGES/CHANDRA/MULTIMEDIA/SPIRAL-GALAXY-M51.HTML...

Researchers have found that rocky exoplanets which formed early in the life of the galaxy seem to have had a greater chance of developing a magnetic field and plate tectonics than planets which formed later. As both these conditions are considered favourable to the development of life, this means that if life exists in the Galaxy, it may have developed earlier than later, and that planets formed more recently may have less chance of developing life.

As lead scientist, planetary researcher Craig O'Neill said,

"Plate tectonics is important for habitability, and it looks like the optimum conditions plate tectonics existed for planets forming early in the galaxy's lifespan, and may be unlikely to easily recur. For life, maybe that was as good as it gets".

Exoplanets - planets in orbit around distant stars - have been attracting great interest because of the possibility that some of them may harbour life. Presenting the results at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference, Professor Craig O'Neill (Director of the Macquarie Planetary Research Centre, Macquarie University) continued:

"Because of the great distances involved, we have a limited amount of information on these exoplanets, but we can understand some factors, such as position, temperature, and some idea of the geochemistry of the exoplanets. This allows us to model how they develop".

Using huge simulations involving hundreds of processors on the Australian National Computing Infrastructure, the team ran the parameters through the ASPECT* geodynamics code, which simulates the development of the interior of planets. O'Neill's group was able to show that many early planets would have tended to develop plate tectonics, which is favourable to the development of life.

He commented: "Plate tectonics act as a kind of thermostat for the Earth creating the conditions which allow life to evolve. The Earth has a lot of iron in its core, and we had assumed that this would be necessary for tectonic development. However we found that even planets with little iron may develop plate tectonics if the timing is right. This was completely unexpected".

The development of plate tectonics has a major knock-on effect. "Planets which formed later may not have developed plate tectonics, which means that they don't have this built in thermostat. This doesn't just affect the surface temperature, this means that the core stays hot, which inhibits the development of a magnetic field. If there's no magnetic field, the planet is not shielded from solar radiation, and will tend to lose its atmosphere. So life becomes difficult to sustain. A planet needs to be lucky to have the right position and the right geochemistry at the right time if it's going to sustain life", said Professor O'Neill.

Researchers know that the overall chemical balance of the Galaxy has changed over time for diverse reasons, such as material coalescing into stars and planetary bodies, or being expelled through supernova. This means that the interstellar material available to form planets is significantly different to that available in the early galaxy.

"So the planets which formed earlier did so in conditions favourable to allow the development of life" said Craig O'Neill, "These conditions are becoming increasingly rarer in our galaxy."

Commenting, Professor Sara Russell said:

"Over the last few years, amazing projects such as the NASA Kepler mission have located thousands of planets orbiting around other stars. However, these exoplanet observations alone provide very basic information. It is so important to combine observing campaigns with large simulation projects like this, that really tell us something about the geological evolution of planets formed at different stages of galactic evolution. This enables us to build a picture of what these strange worlds might look like, and how habitable they may be".

Sara Russell is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Geochemical Society. She is Professor of Planetary Sciences and leader of the Planetary Materials Group at the Natural History Museum, London. She was not involved in this work, this is an independent comment.

As of 5th June, NASA has confirmed the detection of 4158 exoplanets in our galaxy, see https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/ . The closest exoplanets yet found orbit the star Proxima Centuri, which is about 4 light years from Earth (latest data indicates either 2 or 3 exoplanets).

The Goldschmidt conference is the world's main geochemistry conference, hosted by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. Held annually, it covers such material as climate change, astrobiology, planetary and stellar development and conditions, chemistry of Earth materials, pollution, the undersea environment, volcanoes, and many other subjects. For 2020 the scheduled Hawaii congress has been moved online, and takes place from 21-26 June, see https://goldschmidt.info/2020/index. Future congresses are in Lyon, France (2021) and the rescheduled Hawaii congress (2022).

*NOTE: See Advanced Solver for Problems in Earth's ConvecTion https://aspect.geodynamics.org/ ASPECT was developed by the University of California (Davis) with funding from the National Science Foundation.

In the wild, chimpanzees are more motivated to cooperate than bonobos

When informing about a threat territorial chimpanzees are more motivated to cooperate than less territorial bonobos

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY

 

IMAGE: CHIMPANZEES ARRIVING LATER AT THE SNAKE WERE BETTER INFORMED AND THEREFORE LESS SURPRISED TO SEE IT IN THIS PLACE THAN BONOBOS ARRIVING LATER. view more 

CREDIT: CÉDRIC GIRARD-BUTTOZ, TAÏ CHIMPANZEE PROJECT

We humans have unique cooperative systems allowing us to cooperate in large numbers. Furthermore, we provide help to others, even outside the family unit. How we developed these cooperative abilities and helping behaviour during our evolutionary past remains highly debated. According to one prominent theory, the interdependence hypothesis, the cognitive skills underlying unique human cooperative abilities evolved when several individuals needed to coordinate their actions to achieve a common goal, for example when hunting large prey or during conflict with other groups. This hypothesis also predicts that humans who rely more on each other to achieve such goals, will be more likely to provide help and support to one another in other situations.

"While we cannot study the behaviour of our human ancestors", explains Roman Wittig, a senior author and head of the Taï Chimpanzee Project, "we can learn how relying on others may influence helping behaviour in our ancestors by studying our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos". Chimpanzees are more territorial than bonobos and in some populations engage more frequently in group hunts. According to the interdependence hypothesis, chimpanzees should thus have evolved a higher tendency to cooperate and help others in the group.

To test this hypothesis, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Harvard University and Liverpool John Moores University, presented 82 chimpanzees and bonobos from five different communities with a model of a Gaboon viper, a deadly snake. During the experiment the apes could cooperate with each other by producing alarm calls to inform conspecifics about the snake. This represents the first experimental study ever conducted in wild bonobos. "This experimental study is a novel and promising approach to probe bonobo's mind," says Gottfried Hohmann, a senior author on the study and head of the LuiKotale bonobo project. Martin Surbeck, co-author on the paper adds: "This study should stimulate several more experimental studies on wild bonobo cooperation, cognition, and communication".

In this study, researchers show that both chimpanzees and bonobos can assess what others know, as they stopped calling when all individuals around had seen the snake. However, chimpanzees warned each other more efficiently: individuals arriving later at the snake were less surprised upon seeing it than late arriving bonobos. This suggests chimpanzees were better informed of the snake's presence than bonobos. Indeed, late arriving chimpanzees were more likely to hear a call before reaching the snake than bonobos in the same circumstance, suggesting that the motivation to help and warn others was higher in chimpanzees.

"Our findings support the theory that the extreme reliance on each other in humans, for instance during war and group hunting, may have promoted the evolution of some forms of help and support to others, even sometimes to complete strangers," says first author Cédric Girard-Buttoz. The authors confirm that chimpanzees may have some awareness of others' knowledge and demonstrate for the first time this ability in wild bonobos.

"How chimpanzees and bonobos apparently keep track of other's knowledge, the specific cognitive skills to do this, are not clear," adds Catherine Crockford, last author of the study, "we face a major challenge to understand which cognitive skills are unique to humans and which are shared with other apes".

Humans navigate with stereo olfaction

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS

YOU GOTTA LOVE A SCIENCE ARTICLE THAT BEGINS BY QUOTING GANDALF THE GREY

 

IMAGE: NOSE GUIDES HUMAN NAVIGATION. view more 

CREDIT: YE YUTING

"If in doubt, always follow your nose," said Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

Despite Gandalf's advice, humans tend to regard themselves as "microsmatic" - having a poor sense of smell. Human navigation is thought to rely primarily on vision and audition. Specifically, subtle differences between the inputs to the paired eyes and ears are exploited by the brain to construct three-dimensional experiences that guide navigation.

Although humans also have two separate nasal passages that simultaneously sample from nonoverlapping regions in space, it is widely held that inter-nostril differences in odor concentration do not provide directional information in humans unless that odor also stimulates the trigeminal nerve (i.e., elicits hot, cold, spicy, tingling, or electric feelings), in which case it is really the trigeminal system that generates a directional cue.

However, a new study conducted by graduate student WU Yuli and his colleagues at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) argues otherwise.

WU and his colleagues introduced various levels of binaral concentration disparity to a heading judgment paradigm based on optic flow - a unique type of visual stimulus that captures the pattern of apparent motion of surface elements in a visual scene and induces the illusory feeling of self-movement in stationary observers.

The odorants they used were phenylethyl alcohol and vanillin, which smell like rose and vanilla, respectively, and are known to activate only the olfactory nerve.

Results from stringent psychophysical testing in four experiments involving a total of 180 participants consistently showed that a moderate binaral disparity biases recipients' perceived direction of self-motion toward the higher-concentration side in manners reminiscent of stereo vision (i.e., binocular stereopsis), despite not being able to verbalize which nostril smells a stronger odor.

In addition, the effect depends on the inter-nostril ratio of odor concentrations as opposed to the numeric difference in concentration between the two nostrils.

"Our work presents clear behavioral evidence that humans have a stereo sense of smell that subconsciously guides navigation," said Dr. ZHOU Wen, senior author of the study. "The findings underscore the multisensory nature of heading perception and could provide guidance for the design and development of olfactory virtual-reality systems for humans."

###

The study, entitled "Humans navigate with stereo olfaction," was published online on PNAS on June 22.

It was funded by the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commi

Infant' planet discovered by UH astronomers, Maunakea telescope

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA

 

IMAGE: ILLUSTRATION OF AU MIC B ORBITING ITS PARENT STAR, AU MIC. view more 

CREDIT: NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER/CHRIS SMITH (USRA)

Astronomers study stars and planets much younger than the Sun to learn about past events that shaped the Solar System and Earth. Most of these stars are far enough away to make observations challenging, even with the largest telescopes. But now this is changing.

University of Hawai'i at Mānoa astronomers are part of an international team that recently discovered an infant planet around a nearby young star. The discovery was reported Wednesday in the international journal Nature.

The planet is about the size of Neptune, but, unlike Neptune, it is much closer to its star, taking only eight and a half days to complete one orbit. It is named "AU Mic b" after its host star, AU Microscopii, or "AU Mic" for short. The planet was discovered using the NASA TESS planet-finding satellite, as it periodically passed in front of AU Mic, blocking a small fraction of its light. The signal was confirmed by observations with another NASA satellite, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Maunakea. The observations on Hawai'i Island used a new instrument called iSHELL that can make very precise measurements of the motion of a star like AU Mic. These measurements revealed a slight wobble of the star, as it moves in response to the gravitational pull of the planet. It confirmed that AU Mic b was a planet and not a companion star, which would cause a much larger motion.

Discovery on Maunakea sets foundation

AU Mic and its planet are about 25 million years young, and in their infancy, astronomically speaking. AU Mic is also the second closest young star to Earth. It is so young that dust and debris left over from its formation still orbit around it. The debris collides and breaks into smaller dust particles, which orbit the star in a thin disk. This disk was detected in 2003 with the UH 88-inch telescope on Maunakea. The newly-discovered planet orbits within a cleared-out region inside the disk.

"This is an exciting discovery, especially as the planet is in one of the most well-known young star systems, and the second-closest to Earth. In addition to the debris disk, there is always the possibility of additional planets around this star. AU Mic could be the gift that keeps on giving," said Michael Bottom, an Assistant Astronomer at the UH Institute for Astronomy.

"Planets, like people, change as they mature. For planets this means that their orbits can move and the compositions of their atmospheres can change. Some planets form hot and cool down, and unlike people, they would become smaller over time. But we need observations to test these ideas and planets like AU Mic b are an exceptional opportunity," said Astronomer Eric Gaidos, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at UH Mānoa.

Clues to the origin of Earth-like planets

AU Mic is not only much younger than the Sun, it is considerably smaller, dimmer and redder. It is a "red dwarf," the most numerous type of star in the galaxy. The TESS satellite is also discovering Earth-sized and possibly habitable planets around older red dwarfs, and what astronomers learn from AU Mic and AU Mic b can be applied to understand the history of those planets.

"AU Mic b, and any kindred planets that are discovered in the future, will be intensely studied to understand how planets form and evolve. Fortuitously, this star and its planet are on our cosmic doorstep. We do not have to venture very far to see the show," Gaidos explained. He is a co-author on another five forthcoming scientific publications that have used other telescopes, including several on Maunakea, to learn more about AU Mic and its planet.

AU Mic appears low in the summer skies of Hawai'i but you'll need binoculars to see it. Despite its proximity, the fact that it is a dim red star means it is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye.

###

Agricultural fires in central Africa light up in Suomi NPP satellite image

NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

 

IMAGE: FIRES HAVE SPREAD ACROSS THE MAJORITY OF THE LANDSCAPE IN ANGOLA AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO IN THIS NOAA/NASA SUOMI NPP SATELLITE IMAGE USING THE VIIRS (VISIBLE INFRARED... view more 

CREDIT: NASA IMAGE COURTESY WORLDVIEW EARTH DATA OPERATED BY THE NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER EARTH SCIENCE DATA AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (EOSDIS) PROJECT. CAPTION BY LYNN JENNER WITH INFORMATION FROM GLOBAL FOREST...

Fires have spread across the majority of the landscape in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in this NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument from June 25, 2020. Fires of this number are not uncommon at this time of year in Africa. During the agricultural season of clearing field and planting new ones, farmers set fire to the remains of old crop fields to rid them of the leftover grasses and scrub. This action also helps return nutrients to the soil to ensure a good crop during the next planting season. This agricultural ritual is one that is at least 12,000 years ago. It is economical for the farmer since large equipment is not needed to clear the fields. In Angola, the Global Forest Watch website (using data from the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite) had 61,661 alerts for fires for the past week (June 18 - June 25). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there are 102,738 VIIRS alerts for fire for that same period.

"Slash and burn" agriculture is practiced most often in regions including parts of Africa, northern South America, and Southeast Asia, where an abundance of grasslands and rainforests are found. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter or soot and is hazardous to breathe.

###

NASA image courtesy Worldview Earth Data operated by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Data and Information System (EOSDIS) project. Caption by Lynn Jenner with information from Global Forest Watch.

SYSTEMIC RACISM 

Racial disparities in surgery rates for esophageal cancer

Black patients with esophageal cancer are less likely to receive life-saving surgery for early-stage disease than white patients

THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY

PHILADELPHIA - Black patients with esophageal cancer are at a higher risk of death compared to white patients. Although many reasons have been suggested for this, few have given physician actionable information. A new study from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC) - Jefferson Health points to a different reason - Black patients were less likely to receive surgery for treatable diseases, which could have contributed to their higher rates of death.

The results were published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.

"National guidelines suggest that early-stage esophageal cancer should be treated with surgery because data shows that it offers patients the best chances of survival, rather than chemotherapy alone," says senior author Nathaniel Evans, MD, Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, and Chief of Cancer Services, Center City Division at the SKCC. "Our data show that Black patients are not having surgery for early-stage disease, which may contribute to higher rates of death. With this data, we can now begin to educate patients and providers to change practice."

A total of 60,041 patients were included in the analysis that drew from the National Cancer Database, of whom 4,402 were Black and 55,639 were white across over 1,334 hospitals around the country. In order to ensure an unbiased comparison, Black and white patients were matched by demographics, comorbidities, and tumor characteristics in a 1:1 fashion. The final dataset included 5,858 patients.

The analysis led by first author Samantha L. Savitch, a senior medical student and researcher working in the Department of Surgery and others showed that rates of surgery were significantly lower, 25-40% less for Black patients with esophageal cancer in stages I to III. In addition, the researchers noted that the chances of getting surgery decreased as the age of Black patients increased, and also decreased if the patients were receiving radiation therapy. Black patients were more likely to get surgery if they were treated at a hospital that was more than 5 miles from their homes.

The findings also suggested that patients who were diagnosed with a type of esophageal cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, which is more common in Black patients, were less likely to receive surgery. All this despite clear evidence that surgical resection is the best chance for survival in patients with esophageal cancer.

"Although the data doesn't give us a reason for the observations we're seeing, it does show us areas where we can take action," says Dr. Evans. "Even when we control for socioeconomic status, insurance status, location, and comorbid conditions, the disparity still persists, it is quite profound. This highlights the need to educate Black patients and their healthcare providers on the importance of surgery in the treatment esophageal cancer."

"One way we are addressing this is by developing a Multidisciplinary GI Cancer group," says Dr. Evans. "We review esophageal cancer patients and ensure their treatment plans are tailored to the individual patent and follow established guidelines."

"This important study is part of a much larger effort at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center to understand and mitigate cancer disparities," says Karen Knudsen, PhD, EVP of Oncology Services and Enterprise Director of SKCC. "This goal is central to our mission to improve the lives cancer patients and their families, regardless of geography, gender, or demographic. We are thankful to Dr. Evans and the entire research team for raising awareness about this critical national issue."

###

Article reference: Samantha L. Savitch, Tyler R. Grenda, Walter Scott, Scott W. Cowan, James Posey III, Edith P. Mitchell, Steven J. Cohen, Charles J. Yeo, Nathaniel R. Evans, "Racial Disparities in Rates of Surgery for Esophageal Cancer: a Study from the National Cancer Database," Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, DOI: 10.1007/s11605-020-04653-z, 2020.

Early-onset colorectal cancer study in young adult men reveals 'hotspots' of death in US

HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE

 CITY, UT - Over the last three decades, colorectal cancer survival in the United States has improved significantly. But in young people--particularly men diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 50--incidence and mortality due to colorectal cancer are on the rise. Even among patients with early-stage colorectal cancer, racial disparities have grown more pronounced, with survival after colorectal cancer diagnosis poorer among African Americans compared with whites.

Charles R. Rogers, PhD, MPH, MS, Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) cancer researcher and assistant professor of public health at the University of Utah (U of U), is working to better understand these factors in young people with colorectal cancer in order to help improve outcomes

IMAGE: THIS IS A MAP OF COLORECTAL CANCER HOTSPOTS IN THE UNITED STATES. view more 

CREDIT: ROGERS ET AL. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CANCER RESEARCH

and reduce related disparities from this preventable disease. A study led by Rogers and his colleagues, published in the American Journal of Cancer Research, found many of these new diagnoses are occurring in counties in the lower Mississippi Delta, west-central Appalachia, and eastern Virginia/North Carolina. These "hotspot" areas--where colorectal cancer is on the rise and actually killing young men at high rates--revealed several trends about who these men are and how their cancer progresses. The researchers found that young adult non-Hispanic Black men living in these areas are part of a group in which there is an alarming trend of increasing rates of early-onset colorectal cancer, and that these men are more likely to die of the disease as compared to other racial groups.

Rogers and his colleagues developed an analysis of counties with a high rate of early-onset colorectal cancer using data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the years 1999 to 2017. They then linked this to Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program data from the National Cancer Institute for men aged 15 to 49. This revealed 232 hotspot counties for early-onset colorectal cancer in the U.S. The majority of these counties are in the south.

The team then studied a variety of factors of the diagnoses in these hotspot counties. These included age, race, tumor stage and grade, treatment approach, and marital status. In the hotspot counties, they identified that death rates in non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic men with early-onset colorectal cancer outpaced other racial groups studied. In addition, Rogers's team examined many other health and social factors, such as smoking. The team observed that although roughly 14% of all U.S. adults are current smokers, 24% of the adult population residing in hotspot counties reported currently smoking and having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. "After identifying these geographic disparities, the focus of our study was to better understand the role of individual and county-level characteristics in explaining regional variations in early-onset colorectal cancer survival among these men," Rogers explained.

Rogers said, "If young men are not already doing so, adults younger than 50 should have conversations with health care providers about early detection screening for colorectal cancer. This is especially the case if they have any symptoms of colorectal cancer, a family history of the disease, or if they live in the 'hotspot' counties we have identified for early-onset colorectal cancer."

Rogers plans to identify early-onset colorectal cancer hotspots in Utah, where his lab is located. The lab studies the health and well-being of underrepresented men through community engagement, research, and education.

Rogers' team is also working to develop a community-based intervention to increase awareness while reducing incidence and death due to early-onset colorectal cancer in Utah and areas of the country where rates are on the rise.

###

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute including P30 CA01420114, K01 CA234319, T32CA190194, and T32HG008962, and by Huntsman Cancer Foundation. The study acknowledges support from key collaborator Justin X. Moore, PhD, of Augusta University in Georgia.

Full study and author list available at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32509399/

Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah is the official cancer center of Utah. The cancer campus includes a state-of-the-art cancer specialty hospital as well as two buildings dedicated to cancer research. HCI treats patients with all forms of cancer and is recognized among the best cancer hospitals in the country by U.S. News and World Report. As the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West, HCI serves the largest geographic region in the country, drawing patients from Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at HCI than at any other cancer center in the world, including genes responsible for hereditary breast, ovarian, colon, head, and neck cancers, along with melanoma. HCI manages the Utah Population Database, the largest genetic database in the world, with information on more than 11 million people linked to genealogies, health records, and vital statistics. HCI was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman.