Culture

Environmental hazards affect populations worldwide and can drive migration under specific conditions. Changes in temperature levels, increased rainfall variability, and rapid-onset disasters, such as tropical storms, are important factors as shown by a new study led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Environmental migration is most pronounced in middle-income and agricultural countries but weaker in low-income countries, where populations often lack resources needed for migration. The findings make it possible to identify geographical regions that may be especially susceptible to migration movements in the future.

"Environmental factors can drive migration, but the size of the effects depends on the particular economic and sociopolitical conditions in the countries," says lead author Roman Hoffmann from PIK and the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. "In both low and high income countries environmental impacts on migration are weaker - presumably because either people are too poor to leave and become basically trapped, or, in wealthy countries, have enough financial means to absorb the consequences. It is mainly in regions with middle incomes and a dependency on agriculture that we see strong effects."

Environmental impacts differ by contexts and types of hazards

The meta-study, which analyzed 30 previously published studies on the topic, reveals a number of fascinating patterns. It shows, for example, that impacts on migration vary by types of environmental hazards and that different hazards can re-inforce each other. "While changing temperatures in a region are found to have the strongest impact on migration, also rapid-onset disasters and changing rainfall variability and anomalies can play a role. Especially smallholder farmers rely on steady climatic conditions and suffer from changes and shocks as they have insufficient capacities to adapt," says co-author Raya Muttarak from the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis and the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, University of Vienna).

The researchers emphasize that there is no automatism at play - environmental migration always depends on a number of economic and sociopolitical factors. The narrative of climate refugees pushing towards Europe or the US may be too simplistic. For instance, the researchers found compelling evidence that environmental changes in vulnerable countries predominantly lead to internal migration or migration to other low- and middle-income countries, rather than cross-border migration to high-income countries. Affected populations often migrate to places within their own region and eventually return to their homes within a relatively short period of time.

Localizing potential migration hotspots

The findings, published in the latest issue of Nature Climate Change, also hint at regions highly vulnerable to climate change where environmental migration may be particularly prevalent. "Our research suggests that populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the Sahel region and East Africa, as well as Western, South and Southeast Asia are particularly at risk," says co-author Anna Dimitrova from the Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Given the expected rise of the global average temperature the researchers believe that the topic of environmental migration will become more important in the future. Consequently, interventions have to be tailored to the actual situations on the ground that reduce vulnerabilities. "The best way to protect those affected is to stabilize the global climate, namely to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels," concludes Jesus Crespo Cuaresma from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and IIASA. "While migration can be an effective adaptation strategy for households, it can be involuntary and come with unacceptable human suffering - unacceptable because it indeed can be avoided."

In a period defined by an impeachment inquiry, a pandemic, nationwide protests over racial injustice, and a contentious presidential campaign, Americans' knowledge of their First Amendment rights and their ability to name all three branches of the federal government have markedly increased, according to the 2020 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey.

Among the highlights of the annual survey, released before Constitution Day (Sept. 17):

Americans are much more aware of all five rights protected by the First Amendment when asked unprompted to name them;

Nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) correctly named freedom of speech as one of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment, up from 48% in 2017;

More than half of those surveyed (51%) accurately named all three branches of the federal government, up from 39% last year, the prior high point in this survey.

The civics knowledge survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania was conducted among 1,009 U.S. adults from August 4-9, 2020, prior to the political conventions. It has a margin of error of ± 3.6 percentage points.

"Divided government, the impeachment process, and the number of times political leaders have turned to the courts probably deserve credit for increasing awareness of the three branches, while controversies over the right to peaceably assemble, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech may have done the same for the First Amendment," said Annenberg Public Policy Center Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

Improved knowledge of First Amendment rights

Americans' ability to name the five rights protected by the First Amendment has jumped since 2017, when we last asked this question. Their ability to specify some of them more than tripled. Asked to name any of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment of the Constitution:

73% of Americans named freedom of speech, up from 48% in 2017;

47% named freedom of religion, up from 15% in 2017;

42% named freedom of the press, up from 14% in 2017;

34% named right of assembly, up from 10%;

14% named right to petition the government, up from 3%;

Those who could not name any First Amendment right fell to 19% from 37% in 2017 (total of "can't name any" and "don't know").

This upturn in unprompted recall of First Amendment rights is consistent with increases seen in 2018 and 2019 surveys by the Freedom Forum. (See the Appendix.)

Over half can name the three branches

This year, an unusually high 51% of the U.S. adults surveyed could name the three branches of government - the executive branch (White House), the legislative branch (Congress) and the judicial branch (Supreme Court). That compares with 39% in the 2019 survey, which was the high point in 10 prior surveys, since 2006, when APPC asked this question. In addition:

17% of respondents could name two branches of government, in line with our data since 2006, ranging from 12% to 18%;

8% could name one branch of government, a large drop from 25% in 2019;

23% could not name any branches, essentially unchanged from last year's 22%.

How Supreme Court justices rule

The survey also asked Americans about the fairness and impartiality of the Supreme Court. Asked which is closer to their view of what guides Supreme Court justices in issuing rulings:

56% of respondents agreed that Supreme Court justices set aside their personal and political views and make rulings based on the Constitution, the law, and the facts of the case - a significant increase from 49% in 2019;

By contrast, 37% said that Supreme Court justices nominated by Democratic presidents are more likely to make liberal rulings and that Supreme Court justices nominated by Republicans are more likely to make conservative rulings, regardless of the Constitution, the law, and the facts of the case - down slightly though not significantly from 41% in 2019.

"The actions of the court in the past year appear to have effectively signaled that the justices who cast the decisive votes were guided by the Constitution, laws, and facts of the case more so than by which political party would applaud the outcome," Jamieson noted. "The public probably got that signal from the widely covered rulings that upheld the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the one written by Justice Gorsuch and supported by Chief Justice Roberts that held that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian and transgender employees from being discriminated against by employers because of sex."

The balance of power

The survey asked if the president and the Supreme Court differed on whether an action by the president is constitutional, who would have the final responsibility for deciding whether it is constitutional:

Just half the respondents (51%) correctly said the Supreme Court, lower than the 61% in 2019. A growing minority (29%) said it was up to Congress to decide whether the president's acts are constitutional, up from 21% in 2019, which may reflect overgeneralization about congressional authority in a period in which impeachment over alleged unconstitutional action clouded the meaning of the question.

When asked what it means when the Supreme Court rules 5-4 on a case:

Just over half of respondents (54%) correctly knew that the decision is the law and needs to be followed, down significantly from 59% in 2019;

17% of respondents thought the decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration, up significantly from 12% in 2019;

13% thought the decision is sent back to the federal court of appeals to be decided, up from 10%.

Finally, the survey also asked how much of a majority is required for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to override a presidential veto. Only 47% correctly said it takes a two-thirds majority to override a veto - the lowest percentage since 2007. There have been no efforts to override a veto in the past year.

Constitution Day and civics

The Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey was conducted for APPC by SSRS, an independent research company. For the question wording and other data, see the Appendix.

The Annenberg Civics Knowledge Survey is released by APPC for Constitution Day, which celebrates the signing of the Constitution in 1787. APPC's activities to enhance civics education include Annenberg Classroom, which offers free classroom resources for teaching the Constitution, and the Civics Renewal Network (CRN), a coalition of over 30 nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations seeking to raise the visibility of civics education by providing free, high-quality resources for teachers.

Efforts to stem the impact of COVID-19 in low to middle income countries could be creating a health time bomb in their slum communities by deepening existing inequalities, according to an international team of health researchers led by the University of Warwick.

Measures to control the coronavirus, such as quarantining and restricting travel, are exacerbating existing economic hardship and limited access to quality healthcare in these communities, creating a 'perfect storm' of factors that harm health in the short and long term.

However, the research - funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) - has identified that adopting mobile consulting and upskilling local providers could be an effective way to provide access to healthcare services for residents.

The conclusions are drawn from research with community leaders, residents, health workers, volunteers and managers working on the ground in slum communities of Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan. The study is published in the journal BMJ Global Health.

The researchers define a slum as an area of high population density that lacks sanitation, clean water, safe and durable housing, as well as basic services. The crowded conditions and poor sanitation in slums makes the recommended methods of controlling COVID-19 - such as regular handwashing and social distancing - a challenge in these communities.

In addition, restrictions on travel and the economy limit work opportunities and access to quality healthcare for these communities, both of which often require people to travel long distances.

Those interviewed by the research team reported that residents were turning more frequently to home remedies, pharmacies or patent medicine vendors, traditional healers and private health centres, due to the disruption in health services. Many of these are not part of formal public health systems, and staff are often not qualified.

In some cases residents were reluctant to travel to formal healthcare facilities due to the risk of infection or stigmatisation. Prior to COVID-19, illnesses that were perceived to be common by local health workers included respiratory, gastric, waterborne and mosquitoborne illnesses and hypertension.

However, the researchers argue that less formal services may play a vital part in communicating health information in slum communities, and that focus should be made by governments to 'upskill' those workers.

Lead author Professor Frances Griffiths of Warwick Medical School said: "Patent medicine vendors and traditional healers live and work in these neighbourhoods. They are in a good position to advise residents and direct them to formal healthcare when it is in the patient's best interest, and should be supported in doing this.

"Local healthcare providers should plan for remote consulting to reduce patient contact and reserve personal protective equipment for necessary face-to-face contact."

To aid in social distancing measures, some health workers and residents reported using their phones for accessing healthcare remotely. The WHO advises the use of mobile consulting to protect health workers and patients but gives little detail about how. However, there is growing evidence of the potential for mobile consulting to enhance provision of healthcare to remote and marginalised populations.

Professor Griffiths added: "These communities are already disadvantaged. There is a danger of them being further disadvantaged by restrictions to control COVID-19 for the wider population and by increasing prices for drugs, healthcare and transport."

The research team were already investigating access to health care in slum communities as part of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Improving Health in Slums. In light of the COVID-19-related lockdowns imposed in each country, the team expanded the scope of the project by rapidly employing a new phase of stakeholder engagement focused on the impact of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON (Sept. 14, 2020) -- In a new report commissioned by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), Georgetown global health experts say the success of any effort to redress pandemic preparedness failures demonstrated by COVID-19 requires a re-centering of governance that would include greater accountability, transparency, equity, participation and the rule of law.

The report, Governance Preparedness: Initial Lessons from COVID-19, was published today by the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a failure in preparedness arising from a failure of governance in global collective action, including coordination and engagement with multilateral systems, and financing, including chronic underinvestment in preparedness as well as states withdrawing financial support," write the report's authors, global health legal and policy expert Alexandra Phelan, SJD, LLM, LLB and global health security expert Rebecca Katz, PhD, MPH.

The work of this report informed the GPMB 2020 Annual Report also released today.

Phelan and Katz have identified key strategies to re-center and improve governance preparedness:

1. Re-establish global norms of solidarity and multilateral cooperation, including through critical reform of the International Health Regulations;

2. Consider new mechanisms to support data sharing, research and development, and equitable access to diagnostics, treatments, vaccines, and medical goods;

3. Immediately address funding constraints on the World Health Organization through increases in assessed contributions;

4. Develop frameworks and processes for more cohesive and responsive coordination between international institutions and instilling pandemic preparedness in all policies at the international level; and

5. Actively incorporate principles of good governance into international and national decision-making bodies and processes.

Using lessons from governance of other global challenges, the authors say these strategies would ensure better preparedness for collective action and financing in the medium- and long-term future.

The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions, views, or recommendations of the GPMB.

Scientists have developed a new genetic tool that can help them better understand and ultimately work to save coral reefs.

"Surprisingly, we still don't know how many coral species live on the Great Barrier Reef, how to identify them, or which species live where. And those are the first steps in saving an ecosystem like that," said Dr Peter Cowman from the ARC Centre of Excellence at James Cook University (Coral CoE at JCU).

Dr Cowman led an international study on coral classification. Classification explains how species are related to each other. Shared similarities and differences provide a key to help identify species. For example, dogs and cats are classified on different branches of the evolutionary tree using their body design.

A seemingly finer detail, like how cats can retract their claws and dogs cannot, helps people decide whether a newly discovered species of small carnivore is more like a dog or a cat.

Dr Cowman said an important challenge when identifying corals is that the same species can grow in many different ways.

"For instance, some species can grow with either a plate or branch structure. The study found classifying corals by their physical characteristics didn't match the classifications based on their genetics," he said.

Species identification underpins almost all biological and ecological research, and the new study challenges more than 200 years of coral classification. The researchers say the 'traditional' method does not accurately capture the differences between species or their evolutionary relationships.

Co-author Professor Andrew Baird, also from Coral CoE at JCU, led a recent scientific journey along the Great Barrier Reef, uncovering 'treasure troves' of new, unidentified coral species.

"The traditional classification of corals is dead," Prof Baird said.

"But these new molecular tools allow us to reinvent a new classification system on the ashes of the old. Hence, the name we have given to the research: Project Phoenix," he said.

"These are exciting times to be a coral taxonomist."

"We need to review the way we currently identify corals," said co-author Dr Tom Bridge from Coral CoE at JCU, who is also the curator of corals at the Queensland Museum.

Dr Bridge said research in the past ten to 20 years has already revolutionised the understanding of the older branches on the evolutionary tree of corals. But, to date, there has been little progress on the more recent twigs of the 'tree'--the living species--particularly with the most diverse and ecologically-important group: the Acropora.

"The Acropora are the branching 'staghorn' corals that dominate reefs," Dr Bridge said. "Yet, even in well-researched locations like the Great Barrier Reef, we can't identify many of these species accurately."

Dr Cowman said the traditional method doesn't reflect the tens of millions of years of coral evolution.

"At the moment, we're flying blind," he said.

Dr Andrea Quattrini, curator of corals at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, developed the new genetic tool. She said it provides a way forward with plans to secure the future of coral reefs.

"By comparing thousands of key genetic coral features, we were able to discern the evolutionary relationships of corals from the Great Barrier Reef and broader Indo-Pacific region," Dr Quattrini said.

"The result is a new classification that provides important scientific knowledge to assess the various intervention strategies currently being proposed on the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere."

Some of the interventions being proposed on the reef include hybridising species and moving some populations south.

"It's clear we do not know enough about many of the species we're dealing with. This new method can help generate the robust science we need to assess such proposals," Dr Bridge said.

Independent group leaders Eleanor Scerri and Denise Kuehnert of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH) have teamed up with other colleagues from the institute and beyond to comment in Nature Ecology & Evolution on the future of field-based sciences in a COVID-19 world. The piece outlines the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, details its effects on field-based sciences and identifies how working practices can be remodelled to overcome the challenges brought on by the virus.

The authors have wide-ranging expertise in archaeology, the allied geosciences and infectious disease dynamics and represent a diversity of views ranging from the Global North to the South, from large countries to small island nations. Drawing from this broad pool of experience and expertise allowed the authors to consider a wide range of barriers and possible solutions while ensuring ethical and safeguarding standards are in place. For example, the current paper outlines protocols for remote collaboration, key adjustments that need to be made by funding agencies and curriculum changes to accommodate emerging technological problems and solutions.

"This project started as a discussion with international colleagues and collaborators to find positive solutions to the research problems we face," says Dr. Eleanor Scerri, head of the Pan-African Evolution Research Group at the MPI-SHH.

"In the future we will likely see spatially and temporally patchy peaks and troughs in COVID-19 case numbers," adds Dr. Denise Kuehnert, head of the Transmission, Infection, Diversification & Evolution Group. "It seems clear we can't just pause all science fieldwork or persist with short-term mitigation strategies."

Among the recommendations outlined are the creation and use of digital archives with community interpretation - goals that correspond well with an 'Open Science' framework and make scientific research accessible to all. At the same time, the authors argue for greater recognition of the value of technicians and greater investment in technician training and recruitment, as well as greater financial support for method development. To prevent the loss of foundational methods of field interpretation, the paper articulates how virtual training methods can be combined with safe, local and physically distanced training excavations.

In making these points, the authors note that the scientific decarbonization movement has long been advocating for change in fieldwork practices. The movement - which seeks to reduce the travel-related carbon footprint of scientists, among other things - has also made the case for the increased use of technologies that promote remote collaboration.

"We see the barriers we're facing as an opportunity to remodel the way field-based sciences are taught, conducted and funded," says Scerri. "This is an opportunity to develop better collaborations for both social and climate justice while continuing to safely engage with our disciplines to the fullest extent."

Sticky webs of DNA released from immune cells known as neutrophils may cause much of the tissue damage associated with severe COVID-19 infections, according to two new studies published September 14 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM). The research, conducted by independent groups in Belgium and Brazil, suggests that blocking the release of these DNA webs could be a new therapeutic target for the management of severe forms of COVID-19.

While many people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus experience relatively mild symptoms, some patients mount an excessive inflammatory response that can damage the lungs and cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), leading to low blood oxygen levels and, potentially, patient death. An early indicator of severe COVID-19 is an increased number of circulating neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. Neutrophils can catch and kill invading microbes by unwinding their DNA and extruding it from the cell to form sticky webs known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs can also damage surrounding tissue, however, and could therefore cause some of the lung pathology associated with severe COVID-19.

In one of the new studies, a research team from Liege University’s GIGA Institute led by Thomas Marichal, Cécile Oury, and Philippe Delvenne examined the lungs of patients who had succumbed to COVID-19 and found large numbers of NETs dispersed throughout the organ. The researchers saw many NETs in the airway compartment, where they often appeared to almost completely obstruct the small bronchioles and alveoli that mediate gas exchange. NETs were also formed at sites of inflammation located in the interstitial compartment between the alveoli and blood vessels, and could even be seen in the blood vessels themselves near tiny blood clots known as micro-thrombi that can restrict blood flow through the lungs and are a common pathological feature of severe COVID-19 patients.

“NETs can form a platform for the adhesion of platelets and other blood-clotting factors, but whether NETs actually contribute to the formation of COVID-19–associated pulmonary micro-thrombi will require further investigation,” says Thomas Marichal. “Altogether, our study supports the idea that targeting NETs in COVID-19 patients may help the clinical management of severe forms of COVID-19 by alleviating thrombotic events, excessive tissue-damaging inflammation, fibrosis, and airway obstruction.”

In the second study, a team of researchers led by Fernando Queiroz Cunha, Flavio Protasio Veras, and Thiago Mattar Cunha at the University of São Paulo also identified increased numbers of NETs in the lungs of severe COVID-19 patients and found that NET formation was elevated in COVID-19 patients’ blood plasma as well. Moreover, the researchers determined that SARS-CoV-2 can trigger the release of NETs by infecting neutrophils and replicating inside of them. NETs released from SARS-CoV-2–infected neutrophils induce the death of lung cells grown in the lab, the researchers found, but cell death is prevented if NET release is inhibited or the NETs are degraded by an enzyme that chews up DNA.

“Our study supports the use of inhibitors of NET synthesis or promoters of NET fragmentation as a strategy to ameliorate the organ damage associated with severe COVID-19,” says Fernando Queiroz Cunha.

Night-time imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed Hurricane Paulette's large eye approaching the island of Bermuda. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Bermuda.

Bermuda is a British territory in the western Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately 643 miles (1,035 km) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

NASA's Night-Time View of Elida's Intensification

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a nighttime image of Hurricane Paulette at 1:30 a.m. EDT (0530 UTC). The large eye, between 35 and 40 miles in diameter, was clearly apparent in the nighttime image, and it was surrounded by powerful thunderstorms. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km).

The image was created using the NASA Worldview application at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Hurricane Paulette's Status  

At 5 a.m. EDT on Sept. 14, the eye of Paulette circled the entire island of Bermuda. The center of the eye of Hurricane Paulette was located over northeastern Bermuda or near latitude 32.3 degrees north and longitude 64.7 degrees west.

NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Paulette is moving toward the north-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this motion should continue early this morning. A turn toward the north is expected by late morning and will continue into this afternoon. A faster motion toward the northeast is expected by this evening and will continue through Wednesday.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts.  Additional strengthening is likely when Paulette turns northeastward and moves away from Bermuda tonight through Tuesday. Although winds have subsided across much of Bermuda due to Paulette's eye passage, hurricane-force winds will return shortly when the southern portion of Paulette's eyewall passes over the island. Tropical-storm-force winds will continue possibly into the early afternoon across the entire island. The estimated minimum central pressure based on surface observations on Bermuda is 973 millibars.

Paulette's Forecast Track

At 5 a.m. EDT, the NHC noted that on the forecast track, the eye of Paulette will continue to pass over Bermuda during the next couple of hours, followed by passage of the southern portion of the eyewall.

About NASA's EOSDIS Worldview

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now."

NASA Researches Earth from Space

For more than five decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth observations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. Advancing knowledge of our home planet contributes directly to America's leadership in space and scientific exploration.

For updated forecasts, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

ABERDEEN PROVIDING GROUND, Md. -- A team of Army researchers uncovered how the human brain processes bright and contrasting light, which they say is a key to improving robotic sensing and enabling autonomous agents to team with humans.

To enable developments in autonomy, a top Army priority, machine sensing must be resilient across changing environments, researchers said.

"When we develop machine vision algorithms, real-world images are usually compressed to a narrower range, as a cellphone camera does, in a process called tone mapping," said Andre Harrison, a researcher at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory. "This can contribute to the brittleness of machine vision algorithms because they are based on artificial images that don't quite match the patterns we see in the real world."

By developing a new system with 100,000-to-1 display capability, the team discovered the brain's computations, under more real-world conditions, so they could build biological resilience into sensors, Harrison said.

Current vision algorithms are based on human and animal studies with computer monitors, which have a limited range in luminance of about 100-to-1, the ratio between the brightest and darkest pixels. In the real world, that variation could be a ratio of 100,000-to-1, a condition called high dynamic range, or HDR.

"Changes and significant variations in light can challenge Army systems--drones flying under a forest canopy could be confused by reflectance changes when wind blows through the leaves, or autonomous vehicles driving on rough terrain might not recognize potholes or other obstacles because the lighting conditions are slightly different from those on which their vision algorithms were trained," said Army researcher Dr. Chou Po Hung.

The research team sought to understand how the brain automatically takes the 100,000-to-1 input from the real world and compresses it to a narrower range, which enables humans to interpret shape. The team studied early visual processing under HDR, examining how simple features like HDR luminance and edges interact, as a way to uncover the underlying brain mechanisms.

"The brain has more than 30 visual areas, and we still have only a rudimentary understanding of how these areas process the eye's image into an understanding of 3D shape," Hung said. "Our results with HDR luminance studies, based on human behavior and scalp recordings, show just how little we truly know about how to bridge the gap from laboratory to real-world environments. But, these findings break us out of that box, showing that our previous assumptions from standard computer monitors have limited ability to generalize to the real world, and they reveal principles that can guide our modeling toward the correct mechanisms."

The Journal of Vision published the team's research findings, Abrupt darkening under high dynamic range (HDR) luminance invokes facilitation for high contrast targets and grouping by luminance similarity.

Researchers said the discovery of how light and contrast edges interact in the brain's visual representation will help improve the effectiveness of algorithms for reconstructing the true 3D world under real-world luminance, by correcting for ambiguities that are unavoidable when estimating 3D shape from 2D information.

"Through millions of years of evolution, our brains have evolved effective shortcuts for reconstructing 3D from 2D information," Hung said. "It's a decades-old problem that continues to challenge machine vision scientists, even with the recent advances in AI."

In addition to vision for autonomy, this discovery will also be helpful to develop other AI-enabled devices such as radar and remote speech understanding that depend on sensing across wide dynamic ranges.

With their results, the researchers are working with partners in academia to develop computational models, specifically with spiking neurons that may have advantages for both HDR computation and for more power-efficient vision processing--both important considerations for low-powered drones.

"The issue of dynamic range is not just a sensing problem," Hung said. "It may also be a more general problem in brain computation because individual neurons have tens of thousands of inputs. How do you build algorithms and architectures that can listen to the right inputs across different contexts? We hope that, by working on this problem at a sensory level, we can confirm that we are on the right track, so that we can have the right tools when we build more complex AIs."

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to negative mental health effects for many in the U.S., according to new Penn State research. But the researchers also found that some coping techniques -- like wearing masks and focusing on self-care -- were linked with positive mental health.

Erina MacGeorge, professor of communication arts and sciences, said the results -- recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health -- may give clues about how people can continue to cope with the pandemic, as well as which populations may need extra care and assistance.

"These populations may include young people, those with pre-existing conditions, and those who don't have much social support from family and friends," MacGeorge said. "As individuals, we can help bolster our own mental health by protecting ourselves from COVID-19 as much as possible -- like with social distancing, hand-washing, and mask-wearing -- by seeking support when we need it, and choosing activities that keep us moving forward, such as looking for safe ways to have fun and help others."

After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in the middle of March 2020, a cascade of measures meant to slow the spread -- such as school and business closures and social distancing requirements -- went into effect.

The researchers said that while necessary, these measures helped contribute to people experiencing excess stress not only from fear of the disease itself, but also from other factors such as financial stress, problems finding child care, and separation from friends and family, among others.

"I've spent much of my career studying social support, which is one important factor in how people respond to traumatic events," said MacGeorge. "Living through the earliest weeks of the pandemic, talking with friends, and reading news stories about the challenges we were all facing, I wanted to study relationships, supportive communication, and health during the pandemic."

The researchers recruited participants between the ages of 18 and 90 for the study. Participants were asked to complete surveys at three points in time: one on April 20, one between May 4 and 8, and one between May 18 and 22. A total of 442 participants participated in all three surveys.

In each survey, participants answered questions designed to measure symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as ones designed to measure how well participants were coping with traumatic events. The surveys also measured how much the participants felt the pandemic was affecting them financially, physically, socially and mentally, as well as whether participants were adhering to recommendations -- such as mask wearing -- and what kinds of coping strategies they were using.

The researchers found that levels of stress, anxiety and depression were highest at the beginning of the study, at the end of April. By the time the study ended near the end of May -- when many states were making plans to reopen -- these levels were lower. Younger people and people with pre-existing health conditions were more likely to have negative mental health outcomes.

According to the researchers, "social strain" -- such as someone making demands, giving criticism, or simply getting on your nerves -- was the strongest and most consistent predictor of mental health.

"This suggests that in difficult times like this, it could be particularly important to proactively structure our social networks in ways that minimize negative social experiences," said Yanmengqian "Alison" Zhou, a graduate assistant in communication arts and sciences.

However, MacGeorge said that several "forward-focused" coping strategies were associated with better mental health.

"Things like keeping a consistent schedule, reminding yourself that things will get better, finding activities to distract yourself, and taking care of others who need help are all helpful," MacGeorge said. "Additionally, adhering to the national recommendations for protecting oneself from COVID-19, like hand-washing, social distancing and masking, was also associated with better mental health."

Jessica Myrick, associate professor of media studies, said the study suggests that physical and mental health are interconnected.

"Sometimes we need to take a break from thinking about how we feel and do something to help alleviate the threat and make us feel a lot better about our situation in life," Myrick said. "COVID-related messages that emphasize that even small actions are worthwhile might have the doubly positive effect of getting people to take small actions, like washing their hands more often, but also alleviate some mental strain, too."

MacGeorge added that it's important to note that the data for their study was collected in April and May, before the protests following the killing of George Floyd and the ramping up of presidential campaigns.

"The pandemic had not been going on very long at that point," MacGeorge said. "Many states were just starting to 'reopen,' and there was a temporary flattening of the COVID-19 illness and death curve at that time. There is reason to believe that the mental health impacts of the continuing pandemic will be stronger than they appeared in our study in May, especially for people who have lost loved ones, who are now out of work, or who have suffered racial prejudice and discrimination."

COVID-19 and interlinkages to endocrine and metabolic diseases was an important programme topic at the 2020 European Congress of Endocrinology. With 4675 attendees from 112 countries this is the premier European endocrine meeting. Over 5 days, panel sessions covered the science behind COVID-19 and endocrine and metabolic disorders, as well as e-consulting and e-support to endocrine patients in times of COVID-19.

"One thing that is clear from the beginning of the pandemic is that patients with underlying endocrine diseases, like diabetes, obesity or the lack of vitamin D were more at risk of developing severe COVID-19," said Andrea Giustina, President of ESE. He continued, "Therefore, disciplines that work in the prevention, such as endocrinology, can focus on creating a healthier population, which can be important in the preparation for pandemics like COVID-19."

The need to address the links between endocrinology and COVID-19 has not gone unnoticed by policymakers. At the e-ECE opening ceremony, John Ryan, Director of public health, country knowledge and crisis management at the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission said, "there is a huge issue regarding non-communicable diseases and the EU is investing heavily together with Member States in trying to find effective ways to prevent it, such as the Farm2Fork Strategy of the EU4Health program."

COVID-19 incidence higher for those with underlying endocrine conditions

There is evidence that people with underlying endocrine conditions such as diabetes, obesity or autoimmune thyroid disease, face an increased risk of infection from COVID-19. In fact, vitamin D deficiency makes people more vulnerable to infection and may increase lung damage. In addition, recent studies show that certain underlying conditions, associated with exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), are exacerbating the effects of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations.

Endocrine conditions lead to worse outcomes for COVID-19

It has been proven that people suffering from underlying endocrine-related diseases, who are infected by COVID-19 are more likely to suffer severe symptoms, be admitted to intensive care units (ICU) as well as have an increased risk of death. For instance, in a study by Matteo Rottoli, obesity was shown to be a risk factor for respiratory failure, admission to the ICU and death among COVID-19 patients. In fact, patients with a body mass index (BMI) over 35kg/m2 had a dramatically increased risk of death.

Moreover, endocrine systems could suffer in the long term from the impact of COVID-19, since the hormone system is the key regulator of body weight, energy expenditure and energy (food) intake. In fact, COVID-19 is associated with anorexia, dysgeusia, dysfunction of gastrointestinal absorption and severe weight loss, mostly from muscle mass.

Urgent policy attention is needed to address these interlinkages

The European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) has stated in a COVID-19 and endocrinology position statement that we need urgent policy attention to address the structural factors and underlying conditions that render populations vulnerable and exacerbate healthcare crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The upcoming EU4Health strategy needs a strong endocrine and metabolic element to achieve its objectives. Therefore, it is needed to focus on the following demands: an increase in research funding for the relationship between COVID-19 and hormones, a coordinated effort for global surveillance, new models of patient management and increased collaboration between countries, policymakers and other stakeholders.

Columbus, Ohio - A new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) shows that RNA nanoparticles have elastic and rubbery properties that help explain why these particles target tumors so efficiently and why they possess lower toxicity in animal studies.

RNA nanoparticles show great promise for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs. Understanding their structure and behavior is essential for their possible future use.

This study, published in the journal ACS Nano, reveals that RNA nanoparticles have elastic and rubbery properties that enable the molecules to stretch and return to their normal shape. Researchers say that these properties could help the particles target tumors by enabling them to slip through the poorly formed walls of tumor blood vessels and enter a tumor mass.

The researchers further proved that the same rubbery properties enable the RNA nanoparticle to slip through the kidney filters to excrete into the urine half hour after systemic injection, thereby eliminating them from the body relatively quickly. That, in turn, could reduce retention of the anticancer agent in vital organs, lowering an agent's toxicity.

"We show that RNA nanoparticles have a flexibility that allows for the assembly of molecular structures that have stretchable angles," says study leader and corresponding author Peixuan Guo, PhD, professor in the College of Pharmacy and the Sylvan G. Frank Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery. Guo also is in the OSUCCC - James Translational Therapeutics Research Program.

"These findings demonstrate the rubbery properties of RNA nanoparticles and why these molecules hold great promise for industrial and biomedical applications, especially as carriers for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs," says Guo, who directs Ohio State's Center for RNA Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine.

For this study, Guo and his colleagues tested the elasticity of nucleic acid polymers by stretching and relaxing individual RNA nanoparticle , while subjecting RNA nanoparticles to elasticity studies using dual-beam optical tweezers built in Guo lab. Finally, they used animal models to study the biodistribution, excretion and retention of RNA nanoparticles. This included measuring excretion of the particles in urine, along with the study on the effect of their shape and size.

Key findings include:

RNA nanoparticles are stretchable and shrinkable, like rubber, even after repeated extension and relaxation with multiple repeats by optical tweezers.

In animal models, RNA nanoparticles show stronger cancer targeting and lower accumulation in healthy organs when compared to gold and iron nanoparticles of similar size.

Also in animal models, within half hour after systemic injection, RNA nanoparticles that were 5, 10 and 20 nm in size were filtered by the kidneys and retained their original structure in urine, even though the upper limit of kidney pore size for filtration is generally 5.5 nm. This suggests that the larger RNA nanoparticles slipped like rubberl and amoeba through filtration pores, then returned to their original size and shape in urin.

"Overall," Guo says, "we believe these findings further support the development of RNA nanoparticles for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs or therapeutic RNA."

Grants from the National Institutes of Health (EB019036, CA151648 and CA207946) supported this research.

Other researchers involved in this study were Chiran Ghimire, Hongzhi Wang, Hui Li, Mario Vieweger and Congcong Xu, The Ohio State University.

About the OSUCCC - James

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 51 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only a few centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials on novel anticancer drugs sponsored by the NCI. As the cancer program's 356-bed adult patient-care component, The James is one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report and has achieved Magnet® designation, the highest honor an organization can receive for quality patient care and professional nursing practice. With 21 floors and more than 1.1 million square feet, The James is a transformational facility that fosters collaboration and integration of cancer research and clinical cancer care.

Journal

ACS Nano

DOI

10.1021/acsnano.0c04863

An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule - phosphine - in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially, or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments.

Astronomers have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could offer a home for microbes - floating free of the scorching surface, but still needing to tolerate very high acidity. The detection of phosphine molecules, which consist of hydrogen and phosphorus, could point to this extra-terrestrial 'aerial' life. The new discovery is described in a paper in Nature Astronomy.

The team first used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii to detect the phosphine, and were then awarded time to follow up their discovery with 45 telescopes of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. Both facilities observed Venus at a wavelength of about 1 millimetre, much longer than the human eye can see - only telescopes at high altitude can detect this wavelength effectively.

Professor Greaves says, "This was an experiment made out of pure curiosity, really - taking advantage of JCMT's powerful technology, and thinking about future instruments. I thought we'd just be able to rule out extreme scenarios, like the clouds being stuffed full of organisms. When we got the first hints of phosphine in Venus' spectrum, it was a shock!"

Naturally cautious about the initial findings, Greaves and her team were delighted to get three hours of time with the more sensitive ALMA observatory. Bad weather added a frustrating delay, but after six months of data processing, the discovery was confirmed.

Team member Dr Anita Richards, of the UK ALMA Regional Centre and the University of Manchester, adds: "To our great relief, the conditions were good at ALMA for follow-up observations while Venus was at a suitable angle to Earth. Processing the data was tricky, though, as ALMA isn't usually looking for very subtle effects in very bright objects like Venus."

Greaves adds: "In the end, we found that both observatories had seen the same thing - faint absorption at the right wavelength to be phosphine gas, where the molecules are backlit by the warmer clouds below."

Professor Hideo Sagawa of Kyoto Sangyo University then used his models for the Venusian atmosphere to interpret the data, finding that phosphine is present but scarce - only about twenty molecules in every billion.

The astronomers then ran calculations to see if the phosphine could come from natural processes on Venus. They caution that some information is lacking - in fact, the only other study of phosphorus on Venus came from one lander experiment, carried by the Soviet Vega 2 mission in 1985.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Dr William Bains led the work on assessing natural ways to make phosphine. Some ideas included sunlight, minerals blown upwards from the surface, volcanoes, or lightning, but none of these could make anywhere near enough of it. Natural sources were found to make at most one ten thousandth of the amount of phosphine that the telescopes saw.

To create the observed quantity of phosphine on Venus, terrestrial organisms would only need to work at about 10% of their maximum productivity, according to calculations by Dr Paul Rimmer of Cambridge University. Any microbes on Venus will likely be very different to their Earth cousins though, to survive in hyper-acidic conditions.

Earth bacteria can absorb phosphate minerals, add hydrogen, and ultimately expel phosphine gas. It costs them energy to do this, so why they do it is not clear. The phosphine could be just a waste product, but other scientists have suggested purposes like warding off rival bacteria.

Another MIT team-member, Dr Clara Sousa Silva, was also thinking about searching for phosphine as a 'biosignature' gas of non-oxygen-using life on planets around other stars, because normal chemistry makes so little of it.

She comments: "Finding phosphine on Venus was an unexpected bonus! The discovery raises many questions, such as how any organisms could survive. On Earth, some microbes can cope with up to about 5% of acid in their environment - but the clouds of Venus are almost entirely made of acid."

Other possible biosignatures in the Solar System may exist, like methane on Mars and water venting from the icy moons Europa and Enceladus. On Venus, it has been suggested that dark streaks where ultraviolet light is absorbed could come from colonies of microbes. The Akatsuki spacecraft, launched by the Japanese space agency JAXA, is currently mapping these dark streaks to understand more about this "unknown ultraviolet absorber".

The team believes their discovery is significant because they can rule out many alternative ways to make phosphine, but they acknowledge that confirming the presence of "life" needs a lot more work. Although the high clouds of Venus have temperatures up to a pleasant 30 degrees centigrade, they are incredibly acidic - around 90% sulphuric acid - posing major issues for microbes to survive there. Professor Sara Seager and Dr Janusz Petkowski, also both at MIT, are investigating how microbes could shield themselves inside droplets.

The team are now eagerly awaiting more telescope time, for example to establish whether the phosphine is in a relatively temperate part of the clouds, and to look for other gases associated with life. New space missions could also travel to our neighbouring planet, and sample the clouds in situ to further search for signs of life.

Professor Emma Bunce, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, congratulated the team on their work:

"A key question in science is whether life exists beyond Earth, and the discovery by Professor Jane Greaves and her team is a key step forward in that quest. I'm particularly delighted to see UK scientists leading such an important breakthrough - something that makes a strong case for a return space mission to Venus."

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

"Venus has for decades captured the imagination of scientists and astronomers across the world."

"This discovery is immensely exciting, helping us increase our understanding of the universe and even whether there could be life on Venus. I am incredibly proud that this fascinating detection was led by some of the UK's leading scientists and engineers using state of the art facilities built on our own soil."

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Liège (Belgium) has detected significant amounts of DNA traps in distinct compartments of the lungs of patients who died from Covid-19. These traps, called NETs, are released massively into the airways, the lung tissue and the blood vessels. Such excessive release could be a major contributor to severe disease complications leading to in-hospital death. These results are published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Neutrophils are innate immune cells that act as the immune system's first line of defence. However, when over-activated, they can play a toxic role, as in the case of autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory diseases, for example. Neutrophils have the ability to release their own DNA through DNA traps called Neutrophil Extracellular Traps or NETs. When massively released in certain compartments of the lungs, they can cause toxic effects.

"Here, we have detected substantial quantities of NETs in distinct compartments of the lungs of patients who died from Covid-19 at the University Hospital (CHU) of Liège and who exhibited histo-pathological features of diffuse alveolar damage, whereas these DNA traps were absent in the lungs of patients who died from another cause," explains Prof. Thomas Marichal, Welbio and ERC Investigator, head of the Immunophysiology Laboratory at the GIGA Institute of the University of Liège. The presence of NETs in the blood vessels, pulmonary interstitium and airways could explain the formation of fibrin-rich clots underlying highly prevalent thrombotic events and different aspects of lung damage resulting from an uncontrolled activation of the immune system leading to the "cytokine storm".

Also composed of Prof. Cécile Oury (Fund for Scientific Research - F.R.S.-FNRS, Head of the Cardiology Laboratory, GIGA, ULiège) and Prof. Philippe Delvenne (Head of Pathological Anatomy Laboratory of the CHU of Liège, Director of the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, ULiège) and Dr Coraline Radermecker (Postdoctoral Research for the Fund for Scientific Research - FNRS at the Laboratory of Immunophysiology, GIGA, ULiège), the research team was able to characterize the presence and precise localization of NETs in the lungs using imaging techniques associated with histopathological analyses.

"We are the first team in the world to identify the presence of NETs in several compartments of the lungs of patients with Covid-19," explains Coraline Radermecker, first author of this study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

"Clinical trials aimed at degrading these NETs in the hope of improving the condition of patients with advanced disease are being conducted by other teams around the world. Our study validates these therapeutic approaches by demonstrating that NETs are associated with the severe complications of Covid 19," added Thomas Marichal.

"NET-targeting pharmacological approaches exist, with drugs already available, such as dornase alfa used in cystic fibrosis" explains Cécile Oury. As part of the prevention and treatment of thrombotic complications, she also stresses the need to implement current heparin-based recommendations. The fight against the excessive release of NETs appears to be a complementary route that could prove efficacy.

"We will now continue our research on the effects of Covid 19 on other organs, including the heart, another organ frequently affected in this disease, and further refine our knowledge of the mechanisms that lead to severe forms of the disease", Thomas Marichal concludes.

"When we got the first hints of phosphine in Venus's spectrum, it was a shock!", says team leader Jane Greaves of Cardiff University in the UK, who first spotted signs of phosphine in observations from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), operated by the East Asian Observatory, in Hawai'i. Confirming their discovery required using 45 antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, a more sensitive telescope in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner. Both facilities observed Venus at a wavelength of about 1 millimetre, much longer than the human eye can see -- only telescopes at high altitude can detect it effectively.

The international team, which includes researchers from the UK, US and Japan, estimates that phosphine exists in Venus's clouds at a small concentration, only about twenty molecules in every billion. Following their observations, they ran calculations to see whether these amounts could come from natural non-biological processes on the planet. Some ideas included sunlight, minerals blown upwards from the surface, volcanoes, or lightning, but none of these could make anywhere near enough of it. These non-biological sources were found to make at most one ten thousandth of the amount of phosphine that the telescopes saw.

To create the observed quantity of phosphine (which consists of hydrogen and phosphorus) on Venus, terrestrial organisms would only need to work at about 10% of their maximum productivity, according to the team. Earth bacteria are known to make phosphine: they take up phosphate from minerals or biological material, add hydrogen, and ultimately expel phosphine. Any organisms on Venus will probably be very different to their Earth cousins, but they too could be the source of phosphine in the atmosphere.

While the discovery of phosphine in Venus's clouds came as a surprise, the researchers are confident in their detection. "To our great relief, the conditions were good at ALMA for follow-up observations while Venus was at a suitable angle to Earth. Processing the data was tricky, though, as ALMA isn't usually looking for very subtle effects in very bright objects like Venus," says team member Anita Richards of the UK ALMA Regional Centre and the University of Manchester. "In the end, we found that both observatories had seen the same thing -- faint absorption at the right wavelength to be phosphine gas, where the molecules are backlit by the warmer clouds below," adds Greaves, who led the study published today in Nature Astronomy.

Another team member, Clara Sousa Silva of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, has investigated phosphine as a "biosignature" gas of non-oxygen-using life on planets around other stars, because normal chemistry makes so little of it. She comments: "Finding phosphine on Venus was an unexpected bonus! The discovery raises many questions, such as how any organisms could survive. On Earth, some microbes can cope with up to about 5% of acid in their environment -- but the clouds of Venus are almost entirely made of acid."

The team believes their discovery is significant because they can rule out many alternative ways to make phosphine, but they acknowledge that confirming the presence of "life" needs a lot more work. Although the high clouds of Venus have temperatures up to a pleasant 30 degrees Celsius, they are incredibly acidic -- around 90% sulphuric acid -- posing major issues for any microbes trying to survive there.

ESO astronomer and ALMA European Operations Manager Leonardo Testi, who did not participate in the new study, says: "The non-biological production of phosphine on Venus is excluded by our current understanding of phosphine chemistry in rocky planets' atmospheres. Confirming the existence of life on Venus's atmosphere would be a major breakthrough for astrobiology; thus, it is essential to follow-up on this exciting result with theoretical and observational studies to exclude the possibility that phosphine on rocky planets may also have a chemical origin different than on Earth."

More observations of Venus and of rocky planets outside our Solar System, including with ESO's forthcoming Extremely Large Telescope, may help gather clues on how phosphine can originate on them and contribute to the search for signs of life beyond Earth.