Culture

A new study examines the historical and genetic origins of the White Plymouth Rock chicken, an important contributor to today's meat chickens (broilers). Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden, The Livestock Conservancy and Virginia Tech in the USA have used genomics to study breed formation and the roots of modern broilers.

The mid-19th century was an era of excitement among poultry breeders. Newly imported chickens from Asia were crossed with American landrace chickens and specialty breeds from Europe to establish new breeds and varieties that were standardized by the American Poultry Association beginning in 1873. With contributions by multiple breeders using different strategies, histories of these American breeds are sometimes unclear or inconsistent.

Two well-known lines of chickens developed at Virginia Tech represented the White Plymouth Rock. The HWS and LWS lines have been selected since 1957 for high and low body weights, respectively, and are considered representative of the White Plymouth Rock breed as of the mid-20th century in the USA. The research team sequenced DNA from HWS, LWS, and the eight breeds generally considered to have been used to develop the White Plymouth Rock. They then ascertained the percentage of genetic contribution made by each of the founding breeds. Furthermore, by measuring each breed's contribution to individual chromosomes, they were able to determine contribution to specific traits on those chromosomes. Contributions to the male and female chromosomes shed further light on the breed history.

The results confirmed that the Dominique, a very old American breed, was the major contributor to the Plymouth Rock. Dominique, Black Java, and Cochin breeds contributed to the maternal ancestry, while contributions on the male ancestry included Black Java, Cochin, Langshan, Light Brahma, and Black Minorca. Perhaps surprisingly, the proportional contribution of each of the founders is consistent with early breed history and records, despite selection in the 19th century for white feathers, clean legs, single comb, and yellow skin and selection in the early 20th century for increased body size and egg production.

Differences in the overall ancestral contibutions to the HWS and LWS lines were minor, despite more than 60 years of selection for 8-week body weight. Contributions to individual chromosomes were more apparent, and subsequent analyses may provide more insights into the relationship between ancestry in specific chromosome regions and long-term selection for body weight differences. Such analyses may have implications for genetic contributions to today's broilers.

The livestock and poultry breeds of today are the result of foundation, isolation (genetic drift), and selection, both natural and intentional.

"Genomic analysis has proven to be a good tool for understanding genetic contributions to breed development. Through additional study of founder contribution to chromosomes and genes, such analyses may also reveal more about the importance of drift and selection in closed populations. Such work also highlights the importance of conserving pure breeds and selected lines of chickens, "says Örjan Carlborg, Professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, and lead author of the study.

PIM kinases are enzymes that are evolutionarily well conserved in both humans and nematodes. Led by Dr Päivi Koskinen, a research group from the Department of Biology of the University of Turku in Finland has previously proven that PIM kinases promote the motility and survival of cancer cells, but now the group has shown that these enzymes also regulate the sense of smell.

The novel results were inspired by new research tools. Koskinen's research group had assessed the efficacy of PIM-inhibitory compounds in cancer cells and decided to test whether they affect normal tissues, too.

"We especially wanted to study the regulation of olfactory neurons, since we had noticed that PIM kinases are expressed in the olfactory epithelium in mice. Instead of mice, however, we chose the invertebrate Caenorhabditis elegans nematode as our experimental organism. These little creatures have only 302 neurons, but can still efficiently distinguish between attractive or repulsive olfactory and gustatory cues in their environment, and thereby find food and avoid danger," tells Koskinen.

The C. elegans cultures in Turku were set up with the expert help by Dr Carina Holmberg from the University of Helsinki. For the actual experiments, Dr Karunambigai Kalichamy from India was recruited to provide further expertise on the use and behavioural analyses of these small and modest test animals.

In her chemotactic experiments, Kalichamy measured the motility of the nematodes towards or away from volatile or soluble compounds and compared untreated control animals with those treated with PIM inhibitors.

"Untreated nematodes immediately started to crawl towards attractive agents or run away from unpleasant compounds. PIM inhibitors did not affect any gustatory sensations, but significantly interfered with olfaction, so that the drug-treated animals were not able to respond to olfactory cues, but randomly moved to different directions," tells Kalichamy.

These results were not simply due to off-target effects of the drugs, as similar data were obtained also when PIM expression was abrogated by targeted mutations.

"Next it would be interesting to dissect the molecular effects of the PIM kinases in more detail and find out, whether they regulate olfaction also in humans and other mammals. The results could be interesting not only to evolution biologists, but to pharma companies, too. In case the PIM inhibitors rapidly, but luckily reversibly, reduce human olfactory responses in cancer patients, this phenomenon could even be used as a biomarker to assess the efficacy of the PIM-targeted therapies that are currently being developed against several types of cancer," states Koskinen.

MedAxiom, an American College of Cardiology Company, the nation's leading cardiovascular health care performance community and top cardiovascular-specific consulting firm, has released its seventh annual Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey. The report reveals trends that help cardiovascular organizations navigate an evolving health care industry and ultimately advance heart health.

Key findings include:

Overall total cardiology compensation increased 3 percent year over year, reaching the second highest total since 2012

Electrophysiologists are once again the top earners

Heart failure cardiologist compensation ($441,845 per FTE), reported for the first time, is 10 percent lower than general non-invasive compensation

The income gap between physicians in private vs. integrated groups narrowed to 3.5 percent

There are more cardiologists age 61 and over than ever before (about 1 in 4)

"MedAxiom continues to evolve the data collected for this annual report to keep up with the ever-changing health care landscape. With the addition of heart failure data, this year's report is more robust than ever," said Joel Sauer, MedAxiom executive vice president of consulting and author of the report. "Looking at compensation and production together helps us understand where we stand today and where we need to head as we continue to advance cardiovascular health care."

The comprehensive report provides data and expert analysis on compensation and production trends by subspecialty, geographic region, ownership model and more. It looks at the diverse set of data points and factors including compensation per work relative value unit, key cardiology volumes and ratios, diagnostic testing trends, and the roles of advanced practice providers, part-time physicians and non-clinical roles.

"As the health care delivery system evolves, it's crucial that we understand how economics are affected," said Gerald Blackwell, MD, MBA, FACC, MedAxiom president. "Having a pulse on cardiovascular compensation and production data and trends enables cardiovascular organizations to make informed practice decisions and ensures they are on par with peer organizations."

At the beginning of each year MedAxiom surveys its membership which represents more than one-third of all cardiology and cardiovascular groups in the country. The data collected contain financial, staffing, productivity and compensation metrics, and a number of demographic measures. Data for the 2019 report were collected over the 2008-2018 timeframe and include 184 groups, representing 2,267 full-time physicians.

Email Sam Roth to receive a copy of the full 2019 Provider Compensation and Production Survey Report or an infographic with key report findings.

Schwann cells form a protective sheath around nerve fibres and ensure that nerve impulses are transmitted rapidly. If these cells are missing or damaged, severe neurological diseases may occur as a result. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have succeeded in demonstrating a complex interaction within Schwann cells which plays an important role for correct cell maturation.

Insulation and nutrients

For years, Dr. Franziska Fröb and Dr. Michael Wegner have devoted most of their time to researching one particular type of cell in the human body: Schwann cells. Similarly to insulation on electric cables, these cells form a sheath around the nerve fibres in the peripheral nervous system which connect nerve cells to muscle cells and the surrounding area and conduct impulses. If this protective layer, known as the myelin sheath, is damaged, the exchange of information becomes slower, incorrect, or ceases entirely. Nerve fibres and the corresponding nerve cells may die completely, as the Schwann cells also provide them with nutrients. The consequences for patients are pain, numbness, muscular atrophy or problems with moving hands and feet correctly.

Improved understanding of networks

Researchers Dr. Fröb and Prof. Wegner, Chair of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry at FAU, hope that they will one day be able to help people suffering from diseases such as diabetic neuropathy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease or Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, there is still a long way to go. After more than 25 years of research on this type of cell, most of the proteins and protein complexes which have a role to play in the development and maturation of Schwann cells have been identified. However, the proteins interact with each other as well. Research into how the various components within this regulatory network interact is only just beginning. 'We will only be able to consider possible therapies once we have gained a better understanding of the networks,' Prof. Dr. Michael Wegner explains the current state of research.

The FAU working group has now succeeded in deciphering one of these complex links. Research has focused on a protein named Ep400, which the team has only recently discovered in Schwann cells. Together with other proteins, this protein acts within Schwann cells to ensure that DNA is packaged correctly and marked accordingly. Packaging is immensely important in order to transport genetic information to the cell nucleus as compactly as possible. Marking allows the required information to be found and read. In their experiments, the scientists deleted the protein from the Schwann cells. Thereafter, the mechanism for creating cells did not complete correctly and overlapped the maturation mechanism which would normally follow, meaning that certain proteins which were no longer required continued to be created without restriction, whilst other proteins which were required were no longer produced in sufficient quantities. As a result, the myelin sheaths of the Schwann cells were deformed. They were too thin and short, and the protective sheath of the nerve fibres was defective as a result. When the scientists deleted a further protein named Tfap2a which is normally regulated by Ep400 and which had been continued to be produced, there was a marked reduction in defects.

'We are, of course, pleased that we have made such a significant step forward in understanding the complex interdependencies within the Schwann cells,' explains Prof. Wegner. 'Our results indicate that DNA structural changes induced by proteins such as Ep400 are extremely important and may also be useful in future to develop therapies for peripheral neuropathy.'

Think your new romance will be much different from your last one? According to new University of Alberta research, it's not likely.

An eight-year study of 554 people in Germany showed that eventually, they had the same dynamics in new partnerships as in past broken relationships, after the glow of the honeymoon phase had faded.

"Although some relationship dynamics may change, you are still the same person, so you likely recreate many of the same patterns with the next partner," said Matthew Johnson, a U of A relationship researcher and lead author on the study.

"New love is great, but relationships continue past that point."

In the study, which is among the first of its kind to explore the issue long-term, researchers surveyed people at four points: a year before their first intimate relationship ended and again in the final year, then within the first year of the new relationship and again a year after that.

Seven relationship aspects were reviewed, including satisfaction, frequency of sex, ability to open up to a partner, how often they expressed appreciation for the other person and confidence in whether the relationship would last.

All but two aspects were stable across the past and present relationships. The exceptions were frequency of sex and expressing admiration for your partner--both increased in the second relationship, which would be expected, according to Johnson.

"These aspects are directly dependent on a partner's behaviour, so we are more likely to see changes in these areas," he said.

However, Johnson noted the level of sexual satisfaction tended to stay the same as in the prior relationship even though sexual frequency increased.

People may feel that a new relationship is different but that's because of how past partnerships end, the study showed.

"Things get worse as a relationship ends, and when we start a new one, everything is wonderful at first, because we're not involving our partner in everyday life like housework and child care. The relationship exists outside of those things," Johnson said.

But most relationship dynamics during the middle phase of the prior relationship, when things were going well, were similar to those of the second relationship, after the initial honeymoon phase had passed.

"There's a lot of change in between, but more broadly, we do have stability in how we are in relationships," Johnson noted.

That could be both good and bad.

"It's good in a sense that we as individuals can bring ourselves and our experiences into relationships; we aren't totally trying to change who we are, and that continuity shows we stay true to ourselves," Johnson explained.

In fact, relationships end for a lot of reasons and breaking up shouldn't necessarily be seen as a failure, he added.

"It could be the best possible outcome for the people involved."

The downside of bringing the same dynamic to new relationships is that people may not be learning from their mistakes.

"Just starting a new partnership doesn't mean things are going to be different. This research shows that chances are, you are going to fall into the same patterns in many aspects of the relationship. Even if things are different, they're not guaranteed to be better," Johnson said.

The study also showed that people who tended to experience a lot of negative emotions fared worse in their second relationships--they tended to have lower relationship and sexual satisfaction, less frequent sex, fewer expressions of admiration and more conflict.

"Who you are matters, and addressing personal issues is going to be very impactful on whether you'll be successful in your relationship or not," Johnson said.

It's important to have an honest view of our past romances as we move into new ones, Johnson advised.

"Because of how badly a relationship ends, that colours our view of the whole thing. But having a more balanced view of the negatives and positives gives us realistic expectations for the new relationship."

On August 17, 2017, scientists made history with the first direct observation of a merger between two neutron stars. It was the first cosmic event detected in both gravitational waves and the entire spectrum of light, from gamma rays to radio emissions.

The impact also created a kilonova--a turbocharged explosion that instantly forged several hundred planets' worth of gold and platinum. The observations provided the first compelling evidence that kilonovae produce large quantities of heavy metals, a finding long predicted by theory. Astronomers suspect that all of the gold and platinum on Earth formed as a result of ancient kilonovae created during neutron star collisions.

Based on data from the 2017 event, first spotted by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), astronomers began to adjust their assumptions of how a kilonova should appear to Earth-bound observers. A team led by Eleonora Troja, an associate research scientist in the University of Maryland's Department of Astronomy, re-examined data from a gamma-ray burst spotted in August 2016 and found new evidence for a kilonova that went unnoticed during the initial observations.

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory began tracking the 2016 event, named GRB160821B, minutes after it was detected. The early catch enabled the research team to gather new insights that were missing from the kilonova observations of the LIGO event, which did not begin until nearly 12 hours after the initial collision. Troja and her colleagues reported these new findings in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on August 27, 2019.

"The 2016 event was very exciting at first. It was nearby and visible with every major telescope, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. But it didn't match our predictions--we expected to see the infrared emission become brighter and brighter over several weeks," said Troja, who also has an appointment at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "Ten days after the event, barely any signal remained. We were all so disappointed. Then, a year later, the LIGO event happened. We looked at our old data with new eyes and realized we had indeed caught a kilonova in 2016. It was a nearly perfect match. The infrared data for both events have similar luminosities and exactly the same time scale."

The similarities between the two events suggest that the 2016 kilonova also resulted from the merger of two neutron stars. Kilonovae may also result from the merger of a black hole and neutron star, but it is unknown whether such an event would yield a different signature in X-ray, infrared, radio and optical light observations.

According to Troja, the information collected from the 2016 event does not contain as much detail as the observations of the LIGO event. But the coverage of those first few hours--missing from the record of the LIGO event--revealed important new insights into the early stages of a kilonova. For example, the team got their first look at the new object that remained after the collision, which was not visible in the LIGO event data.

"The remnant could be a highly magnetized, hypermassive neutron star known as a magnetar, which survived the collision and then collapsed into a black hole," said Geoffrey Ryan, a Joint Space-Science Institute (JSI) Prize Postdoctoral Fellow in the UMD Department of Astronomy and a co-author of the research paper. "This is interesting, because theory suggests that a magnetar should slow or even stop the production of heavy metals, which is the ultimate source of a kilonova's infrared light signature. Our analysis suggests that heavy metals are somehow able to escape the quenching influence of the remnant object."

Troja and her colleagues plan to apply the lessons they learned to re-evaluate past events, while also improving their approach to future observations. A number of candidate events have been identified with optical light observations, but Troja is more interested in events with a strong infrared light signature--the telltale indicator of heavy metal production.

"The very bright infrared signal from this event arguably makes it the clearest kilonova we have observed in the distant universe," Troja said. "I'm very much interested in how kilonova properties change with different progenitors and final remnants. As we observe more of these events, we may learn that there are many different types of kilonovae all in the same family, as is the case with the many different types of supernovae. It's so exciting to be shaping our knowledge in real time."

A special kind of streaked aurora has been found to track disturbances in near-Earth space from the ground. Known as structured diffuse aurora, it was recently discovered, with the help of NASA spacecraft and instruments, that these faint lights in the night sky can map the edges of the Van Allen radiation belts -- hazardous concentric bands of charged particles encircling Earth.

When the Van Allen belts undulate in shape and size -- which they do in response to incoming radiation from the Sun as well as changes from Earth below -- they can envelop satellites in unexpected radiation. The new discovery will help us better track the edges of the belts -- and the more we know about how the belts are changing, the more we can mitigate such effects.

Depending on your side of the aisle, climate change either elicits doomsday anxiety or unabashed skepticism.

Jason Hubbart, director of Institute of Water Security and Science at West Virginia University, takes a more centered approach.

He’s studied the undisputable changing patterns in West Virginia’s climate. And, believe it or not, there is at least one silver lining stemming from changing climate, he insists: The growing season is getting longer.

“Our future climates in West Virginia are likely to be more conducive to agricultural production,” said Hubbart, a professor of hydrology and water quality in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. “We should plan for that now.”

In research published in Regional Environmental Change, and the journals Water and Climate, Hubbart found that, between 1900 and 2016, maximum temperatures in West Virginia trended downward, average minimum temperatures ascended and annual precipitation increased. Specifically, precipitation increased about an inch each of the last few decades.

In other words, West Virginians are now, on average, seeing cooler summers, warmer winters and wetter weather.

Corresponding with those trends, big changes have occurred in agriculture. Yield for hay and corn, which have historically been bread-and-butter resources for the state, have increased, yet 23 percent slower than the national average; however, other crops, including winter wheat and soybeans, have increased yields 15 percent faster than the national average.

Based on his findings, “it’s time to rethink farming in West Virginia,” said Hubbart, who grew up on a 2,000-acre dairy farm near Spokane, Washington.

Hubbart breaks down why traditional West Virginia crops are floundering while others, previously not prominent, have gained potential.

“Some areas of West Virginia are too drenched or flooded all the time,” he said. “Because it’s wetter, we’ve seen a decline in crops like hay and corn.”

An uptick in humidity – a result of climate change in many regions – plays a part in the dwindling performance of traditional West Virginia crops. More humidity lowers vapor-pressure deficit, which is the difference between the amount of moisture in the air and how much moisture the air can hold (i.e. saturation).

When the air is saturated, water can condense out to form clouds, turn into precipitation and create dew or films of water over a plant’s leaves. More importantly, when the air is saturated (approaching 100 percent humidity), plants have a much more difficult time transpiring (moving water from the leaf to atmosphere). Therefore, the plants also have difficulty staying cool, transporting nutrients and photosynthesizing. For many historic agricultural crops, future climates may result in lower productivity.

Corn and alfalfa, for instance, need a lot of water. Those plants use energy to create sugars and biomass. If it gets too hot, productivity can slow because they cannot move water up the plant and out the stomates, Hubbart explained. Ultimately, though West Virginia is seeing more precipitation, the increased humidity slows the movement of water from the plant to the atmosphere.

Yet that doesn’t mean death to West Virginia agriculture. Crops that don’t require as much water (through transpiration), or thrive in short winters, long summers or moderate temperatures, could help turn the state around, Hubbart believes.

The winter season has shrunk by as much as 20 days, according to Hubbart’s research, and the minimum (and winter) temperatures have become warmer. The growing season itself has increased by approximately 13 days.

“Winter wheat and soy bean crops are just a couple of examples of future agricultural investment,” Hubbart said. “Those crops, and many broadleafs do well in short winters. Basil, specialty teas, specialty vegetables, those are plants that have had trouble growing here historically, but now, and in the future, they may fare better.

“We can diversify our crops more. West Virginia should be thinking strategically about which crops to grow in what locations.”

Outcomes in his research also suggest the possibility of double-cropping, meaning that the growing seasons are extending long enough to raise one crop and harvest it and then raise another crop and harvest it, too, within the same year.

“Doing that, obviously, increases economic revenue and provides local food supplies that could greatly improve access to fresh vegetables to our citizens,” Hubbart said. “That’s more than just a bit of good news.”

Hubbart’s findings come from more than 90 years’ worth of observed weather data from climate stations on the ground throughout West Virginia and Appalachia. Whereas some research relies on climate models utilizing information from more distant locations and predictions based on those models that often aren’t accurate, these findings are based on actual observed long-term West Virginia data, he said.

While other climate research predicts drier climates and the emergence of food deserts, Hubbart’s research indicates quite the opposite.

“West Virginia is a beautiful state with so much to look forward to,” he said. “Our great scientists are making incredible progress in agriculture, food deserts, agricultural economics, etc. We need to celebrate our current successes and how we can use those successes in what I view as a very bright agricultural future for our state.”

“My results indicate that future climates will facilitate higher productivity and new crops, both of which could create an economic boom for West Virginia, reduce food desert issues and broadly improve the human condition in our state.”

Journal

Regional Environmental Change

WASHINGTON -- Researchers have developed a way to enhance the imaging speed of two-photon microscopy up to five times without compromising resolution. This record-fast imaging speed will allow scientists to observe biological phenomena that were previously too fleeting to image with current state-of-the-art advanced microscopy.

In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters, researchers led by Shih-Chi Chen from The Chinese University of Hong Kong describe how they combined a computational imaging approach known as compressive imaging with a faster scanning method. They used the new method to acquire two-photon microscopy images of a pollen grain in less than one second. This would take five times as long using the traditional approach.

"This new compressive sensing-based two-photon microscopy method will be useful for visualizing a neural network or monitoring activity from hundreds of neurons simultaneously," said Chenyang Wen, first author of the paper. "Typically, neurons transmit signals on a time scale of 10 milliseconds, which conventional systems are too slow to follow."

Speedier scanning
Two-photon microscopy works by delivering ultrafast pulses of infrared laser light to the sample where it interacts with tissue or fluorescent labels that emit signals used to create an image. It is extensively used for biology research because of its ability to produce high-resolution, 3D images up to a depth of one millimeter. These advantages, however, come with a limited imaging speed because the low-light conditions call for point detectors that require point-by-point image acquisition and reconstruction.

To speed up imaging, the researchers previously developed a multi-focus laser illumination method that uses a digital micromirror device (DMD), a type of low-cost light scanner typically used in projectors. "It was thought that these DMDs could not work with ultrafast lasers," said Chen. "However, we recently addressed this issue, which has enabled application of DMDs in ultrafast laser applications that include beam shaping, pulse shaping, fast scanning and two-photon imaging."

The DMD generates five to 30 points of focused laser light on randomly selected locations within a specimen. The position and intensity of each point of light are controlled by a binary hologram that is projected onto the device. During each measurement, the DMD reflashes the hologram to change the position of each focus and records the intensity of the two-photon fluorescence with a single-pixel detector. Although, in many ways, DMD multi-focus scanning is more flexible and faster than traditional raster scanning, the speed is still limited by the rate at which the device can form light patterns.

Combining methods brings faster imaging
In the new work, the researchers further increase the imaging speed by combining multi-focus scanning with compressive sensing. This computational approach enables image reconstruction with fewer exposures because it carries out sampling and image compression in a single step and then uses an algorithm to fill in the missing information. For two-photon microscopy, it allows a specimen to be reconstructed using 70 to 90 percent fewer exposures than traditional approaches.

After conducting a simulation experiment to demonstrate the new method's performance and to identify optimal parameters, the researchers tested it with two-photon imaging experiments. These experiments demonstrated the technique's ability to produce high-quality 3D images with high imaging speeds from any field of view. For example, they were able to acquire images from five layers in a pollen grain, with each layer measuring 100 × 100 pixels, in just .55 seconds. The same images acquired with raster scanning took 2.2 seconds.

"We achieved a 3 to 5 times enhancement in imaging speed without sacrificing the resolution when imaging arbitrarily selected regions in 3D specimens," said Wen. "We believe this new compressive sensing-based approach will be useful to use with approaches such as optogenetics in which light is used to control neurons and will lead to new discoveries in biology and medicine."

The researchers are working to further improve the speed of the reconstruction algorithm and image quality. They also plan to use the DMD platform with other advanced imaging techniques such as wave front correction, which allows deep tissue imaging.

A new study finds that women of color perceive their interactions with doctors, nurses and midwives as being misleading, with information being "packaged" in such a way as to disempower them by limiting maternity healthcare choices for themselves and their children.

"Given the significant birth-related disparities faced by women of color, particularly black women, this study illuminates a previously undescribed aspect of the patient-provider interaction," said University of Washington assistant professor Molly Altman, lead author of the study published online in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

"How providers shared or didn't share appropriate information about options, risks and possible outcomes was perceived as biased and dependent on whether providers saw them as individuals capable of making good decisions," said Altman. Now at the UW School of Nursing, Altman conducted the research while a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California San Francisco as part of its California Preterm Birth Initiative.

The study participants said that while they wanted complete, truthful and comprehensive information about their care and options available, they felt information was "packaged" in a way that reflected what the provider thought the patient should do, based on bias, and was "disrespectful."

One participant said she felt like her providers were "harassing" and "bullying" her to get tests she didn't want. Another said she wanted to "do a little bit more research" into vaccinations before getting them for her children, and said her provider "was like, 'Well, I thought that you cared about your children. But if that's not the case, then feel free to go.'"

Researchers interviewed 22 self-identified women of color from the San Francisco Bay Area who had given birth within the previous year. The interviews were open-ended discussions of the participants' experiences in pregnancy, birth and postpartum care and took place between September 2015 and December 2017. The researchers point out in their paper that they used a method of analysis that "acknowledges the subjective and involved nature of the researcher in relation to the participant" to account for the interpersonal nature of the research.

"The results of our study were not surprising in the sense that communities of color have long known that providers often use their power to influence health-related communication and decision-making," Altman said. However, she added, "given existing evidence of the impacts of implicit bias and racism on birth outcomes, this study provides a potential mechanism for how this association occurs."

The authors explain that while providers have to consider health literacy of patients and tailor information to make it understandable, there is a difference between providing information in understandable language and packaging information based on prejudice and assumptions, or not providing information at all.

One participant said that during a postpartum hemorrhage, she received no information about what was happening to her and was treated as if she were not part of the situation.

"It was scary because I didn't know what was happening, and, I mean, it was obvious that it was a serious issue because of, like, the look on everyone's face and, like, how -- how no one was even talking to me," the participant said.

Another participant explained that when she told her health care providers she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, they treated her differently.

"They're like, 'Oh, maybe she's not a crazy black woman,' or something, you know? ... It just makes me feel weird because, one, I feel like I'm accessing on like a certain type of privilege. And I feel like a part of me does it on purpose because I know that they're going to treat me better after I say that," the participant said.

The researchers hope the study provides evidence that will lead to improved provider training in power differentials, informed consent and providing respectful care.

"Our study is one of the first to evaluate how information and power are exchanged between providers and patients from the perspective of the people we serve," said Monica McLemore, the study's co-author and an associate professor at the UCSF School of Nursing. "I believe these data are critical in developing new models of partnership, specific to how black women and other people with the capacity for pregnancy want and need to receive information that is essential for their care and decision-making."

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 27, 2019 -- When it comes to historical fashion, nothing stands out more than an item woven with shiny metal threads. These threads have been woven into textiles since ancient times and have been used by cultures around the world. However, the historical record has limited insight into how these materials were made, and conservation efforts limit scientists' ability to obtain samples because many methods are destructive. Today, researchers report their progress toward a new, less damaging methodology for analyzing metal threads.

The researchers will present their results at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 9,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

"This project began when we were asked to investigate the metal threads of a 14th century Italian textile using a proteomics-based approach," says Caroline Solazzo, Ph.D., who is one of the project's principal investigators. Her team published a study last year characterizing the protein-containing membranes and adhesives in the threads of this artifact, which were made from animal products such as cow hide and pig intestine. Now, the team is reporting on their investigation into the exact composition of metal fibers of this and other historical objects.

"Conservation science is a unique area of chemistry research," says Aleksandra Popowich, Ph.D., who is presenting the work at the meeting. "We are using microscopy techniques that allow us to build a 3D view of the threads, so we can see things like layering and micro-structure that give us insight into when and how the fibers were made." Both Solazzo and Popowich are researchers at the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute, a center for specialized technical collections research and conservation of artistic, anthropological, biological and historical artifacts.

While decorative metal threads have been a subject of historical research interest for decades, studies to determine their manufacture and makeup have relied on cross-section analysis to view the internal metal structure. The current study, however, was driven by the desire to maintain the integrity of artifacts.

For this particular work, Popowich and her Smithsonian colleagues Thomas Lam, Ph.D., and Edward Vicenzi, Ph.D., obtained 30 samples from the Fashion Institute of Technology. The samples originated from Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and some of them were nearly 1,000 years old. The types of threads were diverse; some were strips of metal, others were strips of paper wrapped around fibers. Many of the pieces were religious textiles, such as vestments, demonstrating the cultural and historical importance of metal threadwork.

To get a closer look, the researchers developed a strategy that combined energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and correlated micro X-ray fluorescence. Together, the methods provided a high-resolution map of the threads' elemental composition and thickness. These techniques only required a few micrograms of material, leaving most of the threads intact for future conservation efforts.

The resulting surface images and cross-sections showed that most threads had a combination of gold, silver and sometimes copper or zinc, creating a layered structure that highlighted the intricacy of the craftsmanship. The researchers learned that some thread-making techniques vary by culture, but other methods did not change much over time. For example, data from two French threads, one from the 16th century and one from the 18th century, showed that the process of rolling super-thin metal wires and wrapping them around a core material was largely unchanged between those years. In addition, the measurements taken using this method align with historic sources and data from computer simulations.

With this pilot investigation completed, the researchers plan to further develop this strategy to the point where they do not need to destroy a piece of the sample at all. This advance could open up the list of artifacts for study to include those that are too culturally important to damage for the sake of research. Such a method could also expand their work to include other materials, such as gilt leather, tapestries or gilded furniture.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 27, 2019 -- Made infamous by outbreaks on cruise ships, norovirus can really ruin a vacation, causing severe vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. But the highly infectious virus can also strike closer to home, with water- and foodborne outbreaks occurring in municipal water systems, schools and restaurants. Today, researchers report a sensitive, portable device that can detect as few as a handful of norovirus particles in water.

The researchers will present their results at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 9,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

A brand-new video on the research is available at http://www.acs.org/HLS_Norovirus_Detector.

"It only takes a very small number of norovirus particles to cause an infection in humans, so we need a really sensitive detection method," says Jeong-Yeol Yoon, Ph.D., who led the team. "Also, scientists aren't able to culture norovirus in the lab, and available antibodies to the pathogen aren't very strong." As a result, detecting very small amounts of norovirus in water or food samples typically involves a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method, which takes several hours and must be conducted in a lab by trained personnel.

In previous work, Yoon and his colleagues at the University of Arizona developed a smartphone-based device that could detect low levels of norovirus by measuring the light scattered from virus-bound polystyrene beads in a paper microfluidic chip. "Even though our detection limit was really low, the problem was that norovirus can be infectious at even lower concentrations," Yoon says. "When we talked about this work at conferences, the feedback we received was that we need to provide an even easier method that can detect much lower concentrations of virus."

So the team went back to the lab and developed a new approach that uses fluorescence, rather than light scattering, to detect norovirus. The researchers converted an ordinary smartphone into a fluorescence microscope by attaching a commercially available light microscope accessory, a separate light source and two band-pass filters. To a channel of their paper microfluidic chip, they added a water sample containing norovirus. Then, the researchers added a suspension of fluorescent beads with antibodies against norovirus attached to them. The capillary action of the paper caused the two liquids to flow and mix. Each individual norovirus particle bound to multiple fluorescent beads via their attached antibodies, causing the beads to aggregate and produce a much larger size of fluorescent image.

The team snapped photos of the chip with their smartphone-based fluorescence microscope, and an app calculated norovirus concentrations from the pixel count of the images. "The lowest detection limit corresponded to about 5 or 6 norovirus particles per sample, so it's very close to the single-virus level," Yoon says. Because as few as 10 virus particles can cause illness in people, the new method is sensitive enough for practical applications.

Recently, Yoon and colleagues made the system more compact and handheld by enclosing the fluorescent microscope, light source and optical filters in a 3D-printed case. They also developed a cloud-computing app to analyze the large images and send the results back to the smartphone. In addition, they found a way to concentrate samples within the paper chip so they can analyze much larger sample volumes.

The device could detect miniscule amounts of norovirus in both purified water and reclaimed wastewater, which is very dirty. Tap water, on the other hand, was prone to error. "We believe that the chlorine in tap water is affecting the assay," Yoon says. "We don't think it will be a problem to treat the water to remove chlorine before performing our method." Yoon envisions that municipal water systems staff could use the device and app to check for norovirus in the water supply. To test use of the assay in the field, the team is collaborating with Kelly Reynolds, Ph.D., at the same institution, as well as Tucson Water.

Now, Yoon and colleagues are working on using their smartphone-based device for diagnosing norovirus infections in patients at an earlier stage than is currently possible. To do this, they plan to analyze fecal samples. "When norovirus reaches levels detectable by other methods, the person is already seriously ill," Yoon says. "But if we can detect the virus earlier, they can receive medical care sooner." Early detection might also help curb the spread of disease in isolated, crowded situations like cruise ships, where distinguishing between a run-of-the-mill upset stomach and a norovirus infection could guide quarantine efforts or expedite getting a passenger to port for treatment.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 27, 2019 -- Movies featuring heroes with superpowers, such as flight, X-ray vision or extraordinary strength, are all the rage. But while these popular characters are mere flights of fancy, scientists have used nanoparticles to confer a real superpower on ordinary mice: the ability to see near-infrared light. Today, scientists report progress in making versions of these nanoparticles that could someday give built-in night vision to humans.

The researchers will present their results at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 9,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

"When we look at the universe, we see only visible light," says Gang Han, Ph.D., the project's principal investigator, who is presenting the work at the meeting. "But if we had near-infrared vision, we could see the universe in a whole new way. We might be able to do infrared astronomy with the naked eye, or have night vision without bulky equipment."

The eyes of humans and other mammals can detect light between the wavelengths of 400 and 700 nanometers (nm). Near-infrared (NIR) light, on the other hand, has longer wavelengths -- 750 nm to 1.4 micrometers. Thermal imaging cameras can help people see in the dark by detecting NIR radiation given off by organisms or objects, but these devices are typically bulky and inconvenient. Han and his colleagues wondered whether they could give mice NIR vision by injecting a special type of nanomaterial, called upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), into their eyes. These nanoparticles, which contain the rare-earth elements erbium and ytterbium, can convert low-energy photons from NIR light into higher-energy green light that mammalian eyes can see.

In work published earlier this year, the researchers, who are at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, targeted UCNPs to photoreceptors in mouse eyes by attaching a protein that binds to a sugar molecule on the photoreceptor surface. Then, they injected the photoreceptor-binding UCNPs behind the retinas of the mice. To determine whether the injected mice could see and mentally process NIR light, the team conducted several physiological and behavioral tests. For example, in one test, the researchers placed the mice into a Y-shaped tank of water. One branch of the tank had a platform that the mice could climb on to escape the water. The researchers trained the mice to swim toward visible light in the shape of a triangle, which marked the escape route. A similarly lit circle marked the branch without a platform. Then, the researchers replaced the visible light with NIR light. "The mice with the particle injection could see the triangle clearly and swim to it each time, but the mice without the injection could not see or tell the difference between the two shapes," says Han. A video of this work, posted by Han's institution, can be viewed here.

Although the UCNPs persisted in the mice's eyes for at least 10 weeks and did not cause any noticeable side effects, Han wants to improve the safety and sensitivity of the nanomaterials before he contemplates trying them out in humans. "The UCNPs in our published paper are inorganic, and there are some drawbacks there," Han says. "The biocompatibility is not completely clear, and we need to improve the brightness of the nanoparticles for human use." Now, the team is experimenting with UCNPs made up of two organic dyes, instead of rare-earth elements. "We've shown that we can make organic UCNPs with much improved brightness compared with the inorganic ones," he says. These organic nanoparticles can emit either green or blue light. In addition to having improved properties, the organic dyes could also have fewer regulatory hurdles.

One of the next steps for the project might be translating the technology to man's best friend. "If we had a super dog that could see NIR light, we could project a pattern onto a lawbreaker's' body from a distance, and the dog could catch them without disturbing other people," Han says. Superhero powers aside, the technology could also have important medical applications, such as treating diseases of the eye. "We're actually looking at how to use NIR light to release a drug from the UNCPs specifically at the photoreceptors," Han says.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 27, 2019 -- Anyone who has gone through the stress and discomfort of raw, irritated skin knows the relief that comes with slathering on a creamy lotion. Topical creams generally contain a few standard ingredients, but manufacturers know little about how these components interact to influence the performance of the product. Now, researchers report the first direct glimpse of how a cream or lotion is structured on the molecular scale, and it's not quite what they expected.

The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 9,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

"The long-term stability and clinical properties of a cream are determined by its fundamental structure," says Delaram Ahmadi, the graduate student who performed the study. "If we can understand the chemical microstructure of the cream and relate that to the structure of the skin, then perhaps we can better repair the compromised skin barrier."

One of Ahmadi's research advisors, David Barlow, Ph.D., adds, "We wanted to improve the science around cream formulation so that companies could more rationally formulate them to get exactly what they want. The most significant thing we found is that the textbook picture of the structure of a cream is very naïve."

Formulators have mostly inferred the structure of these emulsions based on indirect measurements, Barlow explains. But his group took a direct approach, with Ahmadi analyzing the cream using X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to determine how the ingredients were dispersed. Ahmadi and Barlow are at King's College London, and their co-investigator, Jayne Lawrence, Ph.D., is at Manchester University.

Cream is usually thought of as stacks of lamellae, or membranes, composed of surfactants and co-surfactants that maintain oil droplets dispersed within water (or vice versa). To reveal a cream's true structure, the researchers started with an aqueous cream formulation from the British Pharmacopoeia that contains two co-surfactants and a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant. They also incorporated a diol known to act as a preservative. One by one, Ahmadi replaced each ingredient with heavier isotopic versions. The researchers then scattered X-rays and neutrons off the selectively isotope-labelled samples and, from the resulting patterns of scattering, determined the location of each ingredient and the aggregate it formed within the cream.

The results were surprising. Although they observed co-surfactants in the lamellar layers as predicted, the surfactant was not there. "The surfactant peak profile suggested that the molecule formed micelles in the cream," Ahmadi says. In addition, the preservative was not found in the aqueous layer, where scientists have always presumed it would be. It was, in fact, residing in the lamellae. Preservatives have an antimicrobial effect, thereby prolonging shelf-life. Formulators had assumed that to be an effective antimicrobial, the preservative had to be dissolved in the water layer. So, Ahmadi says this finding could mean the creams are essentially self-preserving.

The team is currently performing computer experiments to model the behavior of the preservatives in a bilayer system like a cream to understand why they are in the membrane layer. And they want to better understand the structure of the surfactant micelles dispersed in the layers. "I don't think anybody else has considered that there would be these micelles in the system at all," Barlow says. "This is new, and we need to think about where they are in the structure and what they are doing."

They also want to study different creams. Ahmadi says the formula from the British Pharmacopoeia is pretty basic, with only five ingredients. In addition, personal care companies have phased out SDS as a surfactant, so the researchers plan to analyze variations without SDS in the future.

A press conference on this topic will be held Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time in the San Diego Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room 14B, Mezzanine Level, or watch live on Youtube http://bit.ly/acs2019sandiego. To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 27, 2019 -- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) -- defined as a bump, blow or jolt to the head that disrupts normal brain function -- sent 2.5 million people in the U.S. to the emergency room in 2014, according to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today, researchers report a self-assembling peptide hydrogel that, when injected into the brains of rats with TBI, increased blood vessel regrowth and neuronal survival.

The researchers will present their results at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 9,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

"When we think about traumatic brain injuries, we think of soldiers and athletes," says Biplab Sarkar, Ph.D., who is presenting the work at the meeting. "But most TBIs actually happen when people fall or are involved in motor vehicle accidents. As the average age of the country continues to rise, the number of fall-related accidents in particular will also increase."

TBIs encompass two types of injuries. Primary injury results from the initial mechanical damage to neurons and other cells in the brain, as well as blood vessels. Secondary injuries, which can occur seconds after the TBI and last for years, include oxidative stress, inflammation and disruption of the blood-brain barrier. "The secondary injury creates this neurotoxic environment that can lead to long-term cognitive effects," Sarkar says. For example, TBI survivors can experience impaired motor control and an increased rate of depression, he says. Currently, there is no effective regenerative treatment for TBIs.

Sarkar and Vivek Kumar, Ph.D., the project's principal investigator, wanted to develop a therapy that could help treat secondary injuries. "We wanted to be able to regrow new blood vessels in the area to restore oxygen exchange, which is reduced in patients with a TBI," Sarkar says. "Also, we wanted to create an environment where neurons can be supported and even thrive."

The researchers, both at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, had previously developed peptides that can self-assemble into hydrogels when injected into rodents. By incorporating snippets of particular protein sequences into the peptides, the team can give them different functions. For example, Sarkar and Kumar previously developed angiogenic peptide hydrogels that grow new blood vessels when injected under the skin of mice.

To adapt their technology to the brain, Sarkar and Kumar modified the peptide sequences to make the material properties of the hydrogel more closely resemble those of brain tissue, which is softer than most other tissues of the body. They also attached a sequence from a neuroprotective protein called ependymin. The researchers tested the new peptide hydrogel in a rat model of TBI. When injected at the injury site, the peptides self-assembled into a hydrogel that acted as a neuroprotective niche to which neurons could attach.

A week after injecting the hydrogel, the team examined the rats' brains. They found that in the presence of the hydrogel, survival of the brain cells dramatically improved, resulting in about twice as many neurons at the injury site in treated rats than in control animals with brain injury. In addition, the researchers saw signs of new blood vessel formation. "We saw some indications that the rats in the treated group were more ambulatory than those in the control group, but we need to do more experiments to actually quantify that," Sarkar says.

According to Kumar, one of the next steps will be to study the behavior of the treated animals to assess their functional recovery from TBI. The researchers are also interested in treating rats with a combination of their previous angiogenic peptide and their new neurogenic version to see if this could enhance recovery. And finally, they plan to find out if the peptide hydrogels work for more diffuse brain injuries, such as concussions. "We've seen that we can inject these materials into a defined injury and get good tissue regeneration, but we're also collaborating with different groups to find out if it could help with the types of injuries we see in soldiers, veterans and even people working at construction sites who experience blast injuries," Kumar says.