How news coverage affects public trust in science

Negative stories without context can undermine confidence in science

ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Research News

 

News media reports about scientific failures that do not recognize the self-correcting nature of science can damage public perceptions of trust and confidence in scientific work, according to findings by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania and the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York.

News stories about science follow several specific narratives, the researchers write in a new study in the journal Public Understanding of Science. One is that science is "in crisis" or "broken," a narrative driven in recent years by reports of unsuccessful efforts to replicate findings in psychology, a rise in retractions, failures of peer review, and the misuse of statistics, among other things.

"Attempts and failures to replicate findings are an essential and healthy part of the scientific process," said co-author Yotam Ophir, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Buffalo and a former postdoctoral fellow in APPC's science of science communication program, where the work was conducted. "Our research shows the need for journalists and scientists to accurately contextualize such failures as part of the self-correcting nature of science."

In an experiment, nearly 4,500 U.S. adults were assigned to read one of four different types of news stories about science or a control story. Among the findings:

Exposure to stories highlighting problems reduced trust in scientists and induced negative beliefs about scientists.

Greater effects were seen among people who read stories saying that science was in crisis or broken.

"We've identified a tendency in news coverage to overgeneralize the prevalence of problems in science and take them as an indicator that the enterprise as a whole is broken," said co-author and APPC Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson. What the experiment found, she added, is that "exposure to news that mistakenly concluded that because something has gone wrong science is in crisis can unjustifiably undercut confidence in science."

The experiment

The study sought to provide experimental evidence about the effects of exposure to different narratives about science. It was conducted online with 4,497 U.S. adults in early 2019 - before, Jamieson noted, the world was in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic and "science discovered life-saving vaccines with unprecedented speed."

The experiment tested the effects of four narratives:

the "honorable quest" or discovery, in which a scientist discovers knowledge that is reliable and consequential;

the "counterfeit quest," or retraction of published work, in which a scientist engages in dishonorable and guileful conduct;

the science is "in crisis/broken" narrative, which indicts scientists or the institution of science for failing to address a known problem; and

the "problem explored," where scientists explore and potentially fix a problem revealed by the "crisis/broken" narrative.

Participants were randomly assigned a reading based on edited news stories that were consistent with one of the narratives. For example, one "quest" story told of a discovery in immunotherapy to treat leukemia, while a "counterfeit quest" story described retracted scientific claims about eating behavior. A "science is broken" story described an "alarming increase in the number of retractions," and a "problem explored" story looked at psychologists exploring ways to increase the reliability of psychology studies. A fifth group of participants read a control story about an unrelated subject, baseball.

After completing the readings, the participants were asked about their trust in science, beliefs about science, and support for funding of science.

Trust in science is high

The researchers found that:

Trust in science was moderately high;

Beliefs that science is self-correcting and beneficial were moderate to high;

Among people with higher levels of trust in science, the more they perceived the problem-focused stories to be representative of science, the more likely they were to believe that science is self-correcting;

For people with lower levels of trust in science, the effect was reversed: the more they saw the problem-focused stories as representative, the less likely they were to believe that science is self-correcting;

Support for funding science was not affected by the stories.

"This study," the authors concluded, "demonstrates the adverse, if small, effects of problem-focused media narratives on trust in, beliefs about, and support for scientists and points to the importance of perceived representativeness and audience trust in scientists in the audience's response to them."

The experiment follows up on a 2018 study by Jamieson in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The earlier study examined three media narratives about science - the honorable quest, counterfeit quest, and crisis/broken. Of the crisis/broken articles examined in that study, just 29% indicated that science is self-correcting and 34% were written by a scientist. That study expressed concern that "defective narratives can enhance the capacity of partisans to discredit areas of science... containing findings that are ideologically uncongenial to them."

How journalists and scientists can bolster trust in science

"By labeling problems in scientific research 'a crisis' and by framing scientific failures as indications that science is unreliable, both scientists and journalists are failing to communicate the true values of science," Ophir said. "Making mistakes is part of science. What the news media and scientists themselves often frame as failure is an indicator of healthy science."

The content analysis found that honorable quest story was the most prevalent. But the study noted that when media reports do discuss failures "they tend to ignore scientific attempts to address the problems," the authors write. "We argue that such narratives about individual or systemic scientific failures fail to communicate scientific norms of continuing exploration, scrutiny, and skepticism and could, particularly if being presented regularly and consistently, harm public trust and confidence in scientific work."

Use of the "problem explored" narrative could lessen the detrimental effects and improve attitudes toward science by "better communicating scientific norms of continuing exploration, scrutiny, and skepticism," the authors write. "As scientific communication in news media is the result of a negotiation between scientists and journalists, these results could guide future science communication efforts by both journalists and members of the scientific community.

"Like others before us..." they conclude, "we believe that such a change will require scientific institutions to reconsider the current incentive structure, that prioritizes the promotion of novel, statistically significant discoveries over [rigorous] self-correction efforts."

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The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication's role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

MOMMA CAPITALI$M

Mumpreneur success still requires conventional masculine behaviour

UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Research News

 

A new study led by Kent Business School, University of Kent, finds that whilst the mumpreneur identity may enable women to participate in the business world and be recognised as 'proper' entrepreneurs, this success is dependent on alignment with the conventional masculine norms of entrepreneurship.

These conventional masculine behaviours include working long hours and an ongoing dedicated commitment to the success of a business.

Published in the International Small Business Journal and based on an interview study of women business owners, the study highlights the interviewees' belief that entrepreneurship and motherhood are compatible but challenges the claim in existing research that mumpreneurship represents a new feminised identity and a different way of doing business.

The study conceptualises the mumpreneur as the hybrid combination of masculine and feminine behaviours, examining the tensions that emerge in simultaneously running a business and a family, and considering if these are managed through the curtailment of entrepreneurial activity.

The study found that for those women who see themselves as entrepreneurial mums, entrepreneurial curtailment is not an option and conventional masculine behaviours are valued higher than the feminine in the context of successful business development.

The consequences of this hybrid behaviour are significant:

To be identified as a 'normal' entrepreneur, feminine behaviours are accepted alongside masculine commitment to business, so long as they are not disruptive of the latter.

Mumpreneurs must balance both behaviours yet avoid engaging in excessive feminine conduct that may restrict business development or devalue their entrepreneurial activities.

Mumpreneurs perceived as 'too feminine' in their business activities are marginalised as unengaged in 'proper' entrepreneurship, creating a hierarchy of business identities.

Patricia Lewis, Professor of Management at the University of Kent and Principal Investigator said: 'The mumpreneur identity has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the way women's entrepreneurship is viewed. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates that it has not disrupted the dominant discourses of masculine entrepreneurship or gendered power relations in the field. Women are still in a position of being committed to both sides of the balance between business and motherhood but are devalued as entrepreneurs when devoting time to their children rather than business.'

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The paper, 'Postfeminism, hybrid mumpreneur identities and the reproduction of masculine entrepreneurship', is published in the International Small Business Journal (Professor Patricia Lewis, University of Kent; Professor Nick Rumens, Oxford Brookes University; Professor Ruth Simpson, Brunel University London).

URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02662426211013791

DOI: 10.1177/02662426211013791

Small 'snowflakes' in the sea play a big role

New findings from scientists of Bremen will aid in the further development of biogeochemical models that include the marine nitrogen cycle

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT

Research News

 

IMAGE: SMALL MARINE "SNOWFLAKES " ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE NUTRIENT BALANCE OF THE OCEANS. THE PARTICLE SHOWN HERE IS HIGHLY MAGNIFIED - IN REALITY SMALL PARTICLES ARE ONLY ABOUT THE WIDTH... view more 

CREDIT: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR MARINE MICROBIOLOGY / C. KARTHÄUSER AND S. AHMERKAMP

In the deep waters that underlie the productive zones of the ocean, there is a constant rain of organic material called 'marine snow'. Marine snow does not only look like real snow but also behaves similarly: Large flakes are rare and fall quickly while highly abundant smaller flakes take their time. Scientists from Bremen and Kiel have now discovered that precisely those features explain why small particles play an important role for the nutrient balance of the oceans. These findings have now been published in Nature Communications and will aid in the further development of biogeochemical models that include the marine nitrogen cycle.

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and the GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have been studying biogeochemical processes in the oxygen minimum zone of the eastern South Pacific off Peru, one of the largest low oxygen regions of the world ocean. The researchers focused on so-called marine snow particles of different sizes, which are composed of algal debris and other organic material, aiming to understand how these particles affect the nitrogen cycle in the oxygen minimum zone. Thereby, they solved a long-standing puzzle: How do the nutrients that are concentrated inside the particles reach anammox bacteria that live freely suspended in the water column.

Too much of a good thing can be bad

Oxygen minimum zones are regions of the ocean where little or no oxygen is dissolved in the water. As most animals need oxygen to breathe, they cannot survive in these water bodies. Not surprisingly, oxygen minimum zones are also referred to as marine dead zones. Oxygen minimum zones are a natural phenomenon, but have been found to be expanding in many regions of the ocean as a result of human activity. Global warming contributes to decreasing oxygen concentrations, as warm water stores less oxygen. Warmer surface water also mix less with the deep, cool water below, thus leading to stagnation and reduced ventilation.

Changes to the nitrogen cycle also have deleterious effects on ocean oxygen concentrations. Nitrogen is a vital nutrient that animals and plants need in order to grow. Normally rare in the ocean, nitrogen compounds that can be processed have become increasingly available in many coastal regions. Humans use large amounts of fertilizers with nitrogen compounds such as ammonium and nitrate for agriculture and these nutrients find their way into the ocean via rivers and the atmosphere in ever increasing amounts. This has severe consequences. The additional nutrients enhance phytoplankton growth. When the planktonic organisms die, they are decomposed by bacteria. During this process the bacteria consume oxygen, driving a decline in oxygen concentrations. Once oxygen is fully consumed, anaerobic microbial processes take over, during which microbes essentially "breathe" nitrogen compounds in place of oxygen, and as a result convert nitrate, nitrite and ammonium back to nitrogen gas and release it to the atmosphere.

CAPTION

Map with an overview of the oxygen minimum zones. The largest are located offshore Middle and South America, but oxygen depleted areas can also be found in the Baltic Sea. The red box marks the oxygen minimum zone off Peru where samples were collected for this study.

CREDIT

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology / S. Ahmerkamp

Which factors drive the loss of nitrogen?

Combined, the anaerobic microbial respiration processes of anammox and denitrification in oxygen minimum zones lead to the loss of up to 40 percent of the oceans nitrogen. However the regulation of microbial nitrogen-loss processes in oxygen minimum zones is still poorly understood. This study is focused on the anammox process, i.e. anaerobic ammonium oxidation with nitrite. In their project, the researchers followed up on the observation that the anammox process is particularly high when organic material in the form of marine snow particles is especially abundant. Their hypothesis was that the organic material, which contains a large amount of fixed nitrogen, serves as a source of ammonium for the anammox reaction. Strangely enough, anammox bacteria do not seem to live on the marine snow itself, but in the water column. So how do these bacteria find their nutrients?

To unravel this puzzle, the scientists used underwater cameras to measure particle abundances over depth profiles at different stations in the oxygen minimum zone off Peru. "We observed that the anammox process occurs mainly in places where the smaller particles are abundant," says Clarissa Karthäuser, shared first author of the paper with Soeren Ahmerkamp. "This indicates that the smaller particles are more important for the anammox process than the larger ones - whereby small means that they are about the size of the width of a human hair and thus barely visible".

These small particles are very abundant in the water column and sink slowly, thus they stay in the oxygen minimum zone longer. Also, the organic material is packed more densely in smaller particles and as a result the small flakes transport a similar amount of material per particle as the larger clumps, which means that overall they transport significantly more nitrogen. "We estimated that the ammonium concentration around the particles is significantly increased," says Soeren Ahmerkamp. "This indicates two things: First, that the higher number and longer residence times of the smaller particles in the water column increase the likelihood that bacteria will encounter a small particle by chance. Secondly, the high ammonium concentrations in the boundary layer of the particle can then provide nourishment to the bacteria."

Important results for earth system models

The new findings are crucial for the improvement of Earth system models. "With this study, we have resolved an important aspect of the anammox process and thus made an important contribution to a better understanding of the nutrient balance in the oceans," says Marcel Kuypers, head of the Department of Biogeochemistry of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. "With this improved process understanding, we provide the link between particle-associated processes and N-cycling in oxygen minimum zones which can be adapted in biogeochemical Earth system models to better assess the effects of anthropogenic deoxygenation on the nitrogen cycle."

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Original publication

Clarissa Karthäuser, Soeren Ahmerkamp, Hannah K Marchant, Laura A Bristow, Helena Hauss, Morten H Iversen, Rainer Kiko,Joeran Maerz, Gaute Lavik, Marcel MM Kuypers Small sinking particles control anammox rates in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone Nature Communications, 28 May 2021

CAPTION

Clarissa Karthäuser in the lab. On the screen you see a coloured and highly magnified particle.

CREDIT

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology / C. Karthäuser

Ancient volcanic eruption destroyed the ozone layer

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (KAUST)

Research News

A catastrophic drop in atmospheric ozone levels around the tropics is likely to have contributed to a bottleneck in the human population around 60 to 100,000 years ago, an international research team has suggested. The ozone loss, triggered by the eruption of the Toba supervolcano located in present-day Indonesia, might solve an evolutionary puzzle that scientists have been debating for decades.

"Toba has long been posited as a cause of the bottleneck, but initial investigations into the climate variables of temperature and precipitation provided no concrete evidence of a devastating effect on humankind," says Sergey Osipov at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, who worked on the project with KAUST's Georgiy Stenchikov and colleagues from King Saud University, NASA and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

"We point out that, in the tropics, near-surface ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the driving evolutionary factor. Climate becomes more relevant in the more volatile regions away from the tropics," says Stenchikov.

Large volcanic eruptions emit gases and ash that create a sunlight-attenuating aerosol layer in the stratosphere, causing cooling at the Earth's surface. This "volcanic winter" has multiple knock-on effects, such as cooler oceans, prolonged El Niño events, crop failures and disease.

"The ozone layer prevents high levels of harmful UV radiation reaching the surface," says Osipov. "To generate ozone from oxygen in the atmosphere, photons are needed to break the O2 bond. When a volcano releases vast amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO2), the resulting volcanic plume absorbs UV radiation but blocks sunlight. This limits ozone formation, creating an ozone hole and heightening the chances of UV stress."

The team examined UV radiation levels after the Toba eruption using the ModelE climate model developed by NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies). They simulated the possible after-effects of different sizes of eruptions. Running such a model is computationally intensive, and Osipov is grateful for the use of KAUST's supercomputer, Shaheen II, and associated expertise.

Their model suggests that the Toba SO2 cloud depleted global ozone levels by as much as 50 percent. Furthermore, they found that the effects on ozone are significant, even under relatively small eruption scenarios. The resulting health hazards from higher UV radiation at the surface would have significantly affected human survival rates.

"The UV stress effects could be similar to the aftermath of a nuclear war," says Osipov. "For example, crop yields and marine productivity would drop due to UV sterilization effects. Going outside without UV protection would cause eye damage and sunburn in less than 15 minutes. Over time, skin cancers and general DNA damage would have led to population decline."

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The narrative of becoming a leader is rooted in culture

The growth stories of Finnish leaders repeat the same elements as the leadership stories in the beloved Finnish literary masterpieces The Unknown Soldier and Under the North Star

UNIVERSITY OF VAASA

Research News

 

IMAGE: WHAT ARE THE GROWTH STORIES OF FINNISH LEADERS LIKE? IN A RECENT STUDY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF VAASA, FINNISH DIRECTORS WERE ASKED ABOUT THEIR PATHS TO LEADERSHIP AND THESE GROWTH... view more 

CREDIT: SEPPÄLÄN VALOKUVAAMO

What are the growth stories of Finnish leaders like? In a recent study from the University of Vaasa, Finnish directors were asked about their paths to leadership and these growth stories were compared with the leadership stories in Väinö Linna's novels. According to the study, the directors' stories repeat elements that are rooted in our cultural heritage and can also be seen in Linna's novels.

M.A. Krista Anttila's doctoral dissertation at the University of Vaasa examines established cultural modes of talking regarding the leader development process. By analysing leaders' talk about their journeys to leadership and by comparing and contrasting it with culturally significant pieces of literature, Anttila makes customary modes of narrating visible and shows also that these modes of narrating have their roots in cultural history. Through the use of literary and sociological means, she illustrates the subtle differences between those modes in a narrative form.

The dissertation arises from the recent need to examine Finnish leadership in more detail. In addition to leadership, the dissertation is also linked to discussions regarding leader and entrepreneurship education, class and habitus, and the role of language in shaping cultural reality.

Anttila's study shows that particular, culturally established modes of discourse and their elements are being reproduced in interview talk about leadership. Such elements act as templates of individual narrating by partly enabling, partly restricting it, and for this reason, they may shape the way in which leaders conceive leadership and live life. Anttila, therefore, delineates also other possible, perhaps more up-to-date modes of talking about the phenomenon.

"The results of my doctoral study can be used for instance in counselling-based leader development methods such as executive coaching, occupational therapy, or in workplace development activities", says Anttila.

According to Anttila, the doctoral dissertation was built on Vilma Hänninen's model of narrative circulation, more specifically, the notion of inner narrative, which was developed into the concept of illustrative inner narrative.

The empiric part of the dissertation made use of two types of text materials: interviews and literature. Anttila interviewed twelve leaders from different fields about their growth journeys to leadership.

"In addition, I used two culturally significant novels, Väinö Linna's Unknown Soldiers and Reconciliation and selected leader development stories in them, as means of comparison and complementation", says Anttila.

By using narrative analysis methods, Anttila identified the themes and features found in both the materials. Finally, she constructed ideal-typical leader development narratives with different habituses out of their shared resources.

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Doctoral dissertation

Anttila, Krista (2021) Leader Development as a Cultural and Narrative Phenomenon. Acta Wasaensia 461. Doctoral dissertation. University of Vaasa.

Publication pdf: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-476-956-3

The public examination of M.A. Krista Anttila's doctoral dissertation " Leader Development as a Cultural and Narrative Phenomenon" was successfully held on Tuesday 1 June, 2021. The field of dissertation is Management. Professor Alf Rehn (University of Southern Denmark) acted as opponent and Professor Riitta Viitala as custos.

 

New device helps restore penile length and sexual function after prostate cancer surgery

WOLTERS KLUWER HEALTH

Research News

against

June 1, 2021 - A new type of penile traction therapy (PTT) device can increase penile length and preserve erectile function in men who have undergone prostate cancer surgery (prostatectomy), reports a clinical trial in The Journal of Urology®, Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

"Our randomized trial suggests penile traction therapy using a new type of device provides an effective new option for penile rehabilitation after prostatectomy," comments senior author Landon Trost, MD, of Male Fertility and Peyronie's Clinic in Orem, Utah. "These objective findings are backed by men reporting an increase in their sexual satisfaction."

While nerve-sparing approaches have reduced the risk of erectile dysfunction and other sexual complications after prostate cancer surgery, men may still experience these issues - sometimes including a reduction in penis size, as well as functioning. Medications and vacuum devices are commonly used, but with limited success.

Originally developed to treat penile curvature due to Peyronie's disease, the new device (marketed under the brand name RestoreX) works by applying gentle, dynamic pressure to stretch and shape the penis. Studies in men with Peyronie's disease have shown the new device can produce significant straightening and increased penile length with as little as 30 minutes of daily use - compared to several hours with previous PTT devices.

Could the same approach be used to improve penile form and functioning after prostate cancer surgery? In the new trial, 82 men (average age 59 years) who had undergone prostatectomy were randomly assigned to six months of daily PTT using the new device or no treatment. Six-month follow-up data were available for 30 men in the PTT group and 25 in the control group.

"Men receiving PTT had significant improvements in most of the objective or subjective measures evaluated," according to Dr. Trost. That included a significant increase in penile length: an average gain of 1.6 centimeters in the PTT group, compared to little or no change (average 0.3 cm) in the control group.

Erectile function was also improved with PTT: men assigned to the study treatment had no change on a standard erectile function score, compared to a significant decline in the control group. Patients assigned to PTT were also less likely to use other treatments for erectile dysfunction, including medications and injection therapies.

The PTT group also had higher scores for sexual satisfaction, including satisfaction with intercourse. Average patient satisfaction score was 8 out of 10; more than 90 percent of patients said they would recommend the treatment to a friend. The outcomes of PTT were similar on two treatment schedules, with average device use of 90 or 150 minutes per week. Discomfort and other side effects were mild and generally temporary.

The authors note some limitations of their study, including the relatively low follow-up rate, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They plan a further three-month evaluation, including offering the new approach to PTT to men originally assigned to no treatment.

The study is the first randomized clinical trial of any treatment to preserve erectile function after prostatectomy. "Our findings need to be validated in further studies," says Dr. Trost. "If they are, PTT would be the first treatment with high-quality research data showing improvement in penile length and erectile function in men who have undergone prostatectomy, without medications or other on-demand therapies."

Senior author Landon Trost, MD, developed RestoreX during his time at the Mayo Clinic in cooperation with Mayo Clinic Ventures. PathRight Medical has licensed the technology from Mayo Clinic and maintains rights to the technology.

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Click here to read "Efficacy of a Novel Penile Traction Device in Improving Penile Length and Erectile Function Post Prostatectomy: Results from a Single-Center Randomized, Controlled Trial." DOI: 10.1097/JU.0000000000001792

About The Journal of Urology®

The Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA), and the most widely read and highly cited journal in the field, The Journal of Urology® brings solid coverage of the clinically relevant content needed to stay at the forefront of the dynamic field of urology. This premier journal presents investigative studies on critical areas of research and practice, survey articles providing brief editorial comments on the best and most important urology literature worldwide and practice-oriented reports on significant clinical observations. The Journal of Urology® covers the wide scope of urology, including pediatric urology, urologic cancers, renal transplantation, male infertility, urinary tract stones, female urology and neurourology.

About the American Urological Association

Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has nearly 24,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health care policy. To learn more about the AUA visit: http://www. auanet. org.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2020 annual revenues of €4.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,200 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

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

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Early bird or night owl? Study links shift worker sleep to 'chronotype'

Sleep styles may hold the key to designing better work schedules

MCGILL UNIVERSITY

Research News

 through  against

Getting enough sleep can be a real challenge for shift workers affecting their overall health. But what role does being an early bird or night owl play in getting good rest? Researchers from McGill University find a link between chronotype and amount of sleep shift workers can get with their irregular schedules.

"Some people seem to be hardwired to sleep early, while others tend to sleep late. This preference, called chronotype, is modulated by our circadian system - each person's unique internal timekeeper," says lead author Diane B. Boivin, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University.

Their study published in Sleep is the first to examine the relationship between chronotype and sleep behaviour in shift workers during morning, evening, and night shifts. To investigate this relationship, the researchers tracked 74 police officers as they worked their usual shifts. For close to a month, the officers wore a watch-like device, allowing researchers to measure their sleep.

Not all shifts created equal

"Our results suggest that the effect of chronotype on sleep duration and napping behavior depends on the shift type. On average early risers sleep 1.1 hours longer on morning shifts, while night owls sleep two hours longer on evening shifts," says co-author Laura Kervezee, a former Postdoctoral Fellow at The Douglas Research Centre affiliated with McGill University.

The power of naps

While shift workers take naps to reduce the effect of their irregular schedules on their sleep, the researchers found this behaviour was more prominent during night shifts in early risers. Generally, early risers slept less after night shifts compared to night owls - but they also took more naps prior to their night shifts, so their total daily sleep was similar.

The findings could help design strategies to improve sleep in workers with atypical schedules, the researchers say. Such strategies could include work schedules that consider chronobiological principles.

"People involved in shift work experience an increased risk of sleep disturbances and fragmented sleep periods. Since sleep is essential for optimal performance, health, and well-being, it's important to develop strategies to get better rest," says Boivin, who is also the Director of the Centre for Study and Treatment of Circadian Rhythms at The Douglas Research Centre.

As next steps, the researchers hope to study the impact of chronotype and shift work on other health outcomes.

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About this study

"The relationship between chronotype and sleep behavior during rotating shift work: a field study" by Laura Kervezee, Fernando Gonzales-Aste, Phillipe Boudreau, and Diane B. Boivin was published in Sleep. This study was supported by a grant from the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail.

TWO: https:// two. org/10. 1093/sleep/zsaa225

 

Foster care, homelessness are higher education hurdles

New research shows stable housing, money for books among chief concerns

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Research News

 

A college education is estimated to add $1 million to a person's lifetime earning potential, but for some students the path to earning one is riddled with obstacles. That journey is even more difficult for students who have been in the foster care system or experienced homelessness, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

But the more college administrators and faculty know about these students' problems, the more they can do to ease the burden.

Getting into universities in the first place can frequently be a challenge for students who've had unstable home lives, said David Meyers, co-author of the study.

"Research tells us that every time a student moves from one foster care placement to another, they lose six months of educational progress," said Meyers, a public service associate in the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. "That's a pretty serious setback. It's a challenge for them to participate in after-school activities or athletics. Their college resume is not going to be as strong as those students who don't face those same challenges."

It's a similar struggle for students who've experienced homelessness. For those who beat the odds, getting into college is just the start of a whole new set of hurdles. The added stressors of having to figure out how to pay for courses, books and housing once they get there--something many of their classmates don't have to think about--take a tremendous toll.

"Having to act like an adult when you're still a kid presents huge challenges for students trying to get into college," said Kim Skobba, co-author of the paper and an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. "But then when you get to college, you're still on your own."

Entirely on their own

The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Research, focuses on the experiences of 27 college students, all attending four-year institutions, who had been in foster care, experienced homelessness or both. The researchers conducted a series of three in-depth interviews with each participant over the course of one academic year, and several clear themes emerged.

These students all had to "get by" largely on their own. They often were without parental guidance or support during high school, and in college they were entirely on their own. Many took jobs, sometimes going to school full time while also working full or nearly full-time hours.

One student described having six classes while also working 40 hours a week, saying, "I kept breaking down. ... I was staying up to about 2 or 4 in the morning doing homework and waking up at 7." (This type of experience was more common among students who had been homeless than those who were in foster care at the time of their high school graduation.)

One of the biggest expenses for all the students in the study was paying for and maintaining stable housing. Eleven of them experienced at least one period of homelessness since beginning college, living in their cars or couch surfing.

Another constant issue was finding money for books and food. Even with scholarship support, many of the students would ask professors whether the book was essential for success in their course and if so would borrow a friend's book or even one of the professor's copies, if possible.

Perhaps not surprisingly, these stressors made it difficult for students to focus on their academics.

"It takes a mental and emotional toll on these students," Meyers said. "We think about it in financial terms, but it really, I think, also shows up in sort of this constant emotional challenge. Being thoughtful, being vigilant, never really having the luxury of being able to set it aside."

Finding solutions

Institutions like UGA are taking steps to address this issue, with programs that provide emotional support while connecting students to resources they might otherwise not know exist.

Embark@UGA, for example, is the campus-based component of Embark Georgia, an effort led by Meyers and Lori Tiller, a colleague at the Fanning Institute. The program is a statewide network that connects the University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia to the Division of Family and Children Services, the Georgia Department of Education, and numerous nonprofit and community organizations seeking to increase college access and retention for students who have experienced foster care or homelessness.

Through Embark, each USG university and technical college campus and every high school in Georgia has a point of contact to help identify and provide resources to homeless and former foster students who need help.

Additionally, scholarships like Let All the Big Dawgs Eat, which provides a food stipend for students, have also helped narrow the gap. UGA also has made a point to start using free online textbooks in many courses.

But not all schools have the same resources.

"Expanding programs at the federal level that would serve students who've been in foster care or homeless would really help close that gap," Skobba said. "We also don't want them taking out huge loans because that's not a good financial situation long term. And some kind of financial aid grant program serving this group would make a huge difference."

Another big help? Understanding and awareness from professors that not all students are able to spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks or don't have a personal laptop to use for class assignments.

"I think I was already a pretty flexible understanding professor, but just realizing that if you're working 40 hours because that's what it takes to stay in school, some things are going to drop from time to time," Skobba said. "Having a little bit of breathing room in your syllabus and assignments is probably beneficial to all students, but it's going to be especially helpful for this group of students."

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Diann Moorman, associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, is also a co-author on the study.

 

More salmonella infections in Europe: Hygiene rules help prepare poultry safely

Special care when handling raw meat and thorough cooking can prevent illnesses

BFR FEDERAL INSTITUTE FOR RISK ASSESSMENT

Research News 

In recent months, more than three hundred cases of salmonellosis have occurred in various European countries and Canada, which are linked to each other. In the UK the cases could be partly traced back to frozen breaded poultry meat. The cause was contamination with the bacterium Salmonella Enteritidis, which causes gastrointestinal inflammation. Salmonella is not killed by deep freezing and can remain infectious at temperatures below zero degrees Celsius. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the BfR are monitoring the situation together with the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). In Germany, the number of reported cases has currently risen to more than 20 in six federal states. In 2020, there were a total of about 10,000 reported cases of salmonellosis in Germany, most of which were caused by the consumption of contaminated food. In principle, foodborne infections can be avoided by paying particular attention to hygienic care when preparing raw poultry. Due to the measures taken to contain the COVID 19 pandemic, people are currently cooking more often at home and, in the course of this, convenience products such as frozen goods are also being used more frequently. Sometimes it is not obvious at first glance whether such products contain pre-cooked or raw meat. Sufficient heating should always be ensured during preparation, especially of products containing raw poultry meat. In addition, bacterial contamination of other dishes via the raw meat and breading is possible. "Especially for children and elderly people there is a higher risk of getting sick from salmonella," says BfR President Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel.

Link to the FAQs: https://www. bfr. bund. de/en/selected_faqs_on_poultry_meat-54623. html

Investigations by the official food monitoring authorities show that raw poultry and poultry meat products - including frozen products - can be contaminated with pathogens. In 2018, Salmonella was found in 5.6% of chicken meat samples examined and Campylobacter bacteria in every second sample. For this reason, the BfR encourages adherence to its recommendations on the handling and preparation of poultry and poultry products.

It is true that germs such as salmonella and campylobacter are killed during the preparation of poultry meat if the correspondingly high temperatures are reached during cooking. But by transferring these germs to hands, household utensils and kitchen surfaces, other food can become contaminated with these pathogens. If this contaminated food is not reheated before consumption, one can fall ill. Since salmonella can multiply in food at temperatures above 7 °C, there is a particular risk when eating food that is kept unrefrigerated for a long time, such as salads and desserts.

Therefore, the following general hygiene rules should be strictly followed when preparing raw poultry:

- Store and prepare raw poultry products and other foods separately, especially when the latter are not reheated

- Store fresh poultry at a maximum of +4 °C and process and consume until the use-by date.

- Defrost frozen poultry without packaging in the refrigerator (cover and place in a bowl to collect the defrost water).

- Dispose packaging materials carefully and discard defrost water immediately.

- Do not wash poultry, as the splashing water can spread germs; it is better to process it directly or dab it with a paper towel, which should be disposed of directly.

- Utensils and surfaces that have come into contact with raw poultry products or defrost water must be cleaned thoroughly with warm water and washing-up liquid before further use.

- Clean hands thoroughly with warm water and soap between each preparation step.

About the BfR

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is a scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in Germany. The BfR advises the Federal Government and the States ('Laender') on questions of food, chemical and product safety. The BfR conducts its own research on topics that areclosely linked to its assessment tasks.

This text version is a translation of the original German text which is the only legally binding version.