Culture

Washington, DC (August 2020) - Good news for pasta eaters! New research published in Frontiers in Nutrition this month, analyzing the diets of adults and children who eat pasta, has revealed good news about one of America's favorite foods. The research found that pasta consumption in both children and adults is associated with a better diet quality and better nutrient intakes than that of those adults and children who do not eat pasta. Furthermore, when evaluating weight parameters, no associations were observed in male adults and children. In adult women however, pasta-eaters showed a beneficial weight-related outcome. Pasta consumption in adult females was associated with reduced waist circumference, body weight and body mass index (BMI).

The research, "Pasta Consumption is Linked to Greater Nutrient Intakes and Improved Diet Quality in American Children and Adults, and Beneficial Weight-Related Outcomes Only in Adult Females" was conducted by Nutritional Strategies, Inc. on behalf of the National Pasta Association. The study examined associations between pasta consumption, shortfall nutrient intakes as defined by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines (2015 DG) and diet quality in comparison to non-pasta consumption in the U.S. population (children (ages 2-18) and adults (> 19 years). Pasta consumption was defined as all dry domestic and imported pasta/noodle varieties made with only wheat and no egg. From the analysis, researchers identified a number of key positive nutritional dietary patterns associated with those who eat pasta as part of their diet compared to those who don't eat pasta. They are:

- Better overall diet quality (as measured by USDA's Healthy Eating Index-2010 scale)

- Greater intake of key shortfall nutrients

a. In adults these were: folate, iron, magnesium, and dietary fiber

b. In children these were: folate, iron, magnesium, dietary fiber and vitamin E

- Lower daily intakes

a. Saturated fat and added sugars in adults

b. Saturated fat and total fat in children

- No differences were seen in total daily calories and sodium intake.

- No significant associations were seen with body weight, waist circumference and body mass index in children and adult males. In adult women (19 -50 years), pasta eating was associated with lower body weight and waist circumference.

Pasta is a convenient, nutritious, easy-to-prepare meal for both young and old and pleases even the pickiest of eaters. It has long been celebrated as one of America's favorite foods and is advocated by nutritionists for its good nutrition.

"Pasta can be an effective building block for good nutrition throughout the lifecycle, as it serves as a perfect delivery system for fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish and legumes," explains registered dietitian Diane Welland, Director of Nutrition Communications for the National Pasta Association. "Think of pasta as a canvas from which you can add almost any nutrient-dense, fiber-rich food you and your family like, to create memorable and delicious meals. This analysis underscores the nutritional importance of grains, such as pasta, as consistent with a healthy diet. It shows that pasta eaters have better quality diets than those who don't eat pasta."

Within cells, molecules known as transfer RNAs, or "tRNAs," play an important but unglamorous workhorse role in keeping the genetic translation process moving along from codes of DNA to functional proteins.

Because they play such a vital role in this translational "housekeeping," tRNAs are plentiful. There are hundreds of tRNA genes in mammalian cells and more than enough backup copies, just in case anything goes wrong. Yet because there are so many tRNAs, they've been largely overlooked in the search for the roots of disease processes.

University of California San Diego scientists studying tRNAs in mice have now found that a mutation in a tRNA gene called n-Tr20--expressed only in the brain--can disrupt the landscape of the entire cell, leading to a chain reaction altering brain function and behavior.

The new research is described August 26 in the journal Neuron.

Study first author Mridu Kapur, a postdoctoral scholar working in Professor Susan Ackerman's laboratory, says she and her colleagues found that n-Tr20 plays a role in the delicate balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain. A disruption in this balance has been implicated in numerous neurological diseases, including epilepsies and autism spectrum disorders.

"tRNAs have generally been overlooked in the hunt for the genetic causes of disease, but recent whole-genome sequencing projects have revealed that there are many variations in tRNA sequences in the human population," said Kapur. "Our study suggests the enormous potential for tRNA variants to contribute to disease outcomes and phenotypic variability."

The researchers found that a loss of n-Tr20, one of the members of a five-gene tRNA family, made mice resistant to seizures. While they note that their initial interest in this area came from the idea that a tRNA mutation could subsequently influence other gene mutations, their results not only confirm their speculations that tRNA mutations can influence other mutations, but indicate that these mutations alone can also alter brain function.

"You can imagine it's like a seesaw--if you push either way you can have problems," said Ackerman, a member of the Section of Neurobiology, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Keeping balance of these two opposing forces is essential for normal function. Shifting one way or another can lead to neurological diseases. It's becoming well accepted in the autism spectrum disorder field that what we are really seeing is an imbalance of excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmission."

Ackerman says part of the reason tRNAs have been overlooked in disease investigations is because researchers commonly concentrate on mutations in unique genes. A member of a large family such as n-Tr20 typically gets tossed in the genetic garbage can because they are too similar to one other.

"We never knew a mutation in a multi-copy tRNA gene could do anything like this," said Ackerman. "These findings make you think about people who have diseases with variable symptoms and how much this class of overlooked genes could be playing a role in their disease. So we're seeing this go from a behavior, such as seizure, all the way to the molecular underpinnings causing them."

The researchers say the results are likely the tip of the iceberg and are now turning their attention to studying tRNA links to disease in tissues outside the brain.

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 26, 2020 - The detection more than a decade ago by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope of an excess of high-energy radiation in the center of the Milky Way convinced some physicists that they were seeing evidence of the annihilation of dark matter particles, but a team led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine has ruled out that interpretation.

In a paper published recently in the journal Physical Review D, the UCI scientists and colleagues at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and other institutions report that - through an analysis of the Fermi data and an exhaustive series of modeling exercises - they were able to determine that the observed gamma rays could not have been produced by what are called weakly interacting massive particles, most popularly theorized as the stuff of dark matter.

By eliminating these particles, the destruction of which could generate energies of up to 300 giga-electron volts, the paper's authors say, they have put the strongest constraints yet on dark matter properties.

"For 40 years or so, the leading candidate for dark matter among particle physicists was a thermal, weakly interacting and weak-scale particle, and this result for the first time rules out that candidate up to very high-mass particles," said co-author Kevork Abazajian, UCI professor of physics & astronomy.

"In many models, this particle ranges from 10 to 1,000 times the mass of a proton, with more massive particles being less attractive theoretically as a dark matter particle," added co-author Manoj Kaplinghat, also a UCI professor of physics & astronomy. "In this paper, we're eliminating dark matter candidates over the favored range, which is a huge improvement in the constraints we put on the possibilities that these are representative of dark matter."

Abazajian said that dark matter signals could be crowded out by other astrophysical phenomena in the Galactic Center - such as star formation, cosmic ray deflection off molecular gas and, most notably, neutron stars and millisecond pulsars - as sources of excess gamma rays detected by the Fermi space telescope.

"We looked at all of the different modeling that goes on in the Galactic Center, including molecular gas, stellar emissions and high-energy electrons that scatter low-energy photons," said co-author Oscar Macias, a postdoctoral scholar in physics and astronomy at the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at the University of Tokyo whose visit to UCI in 2017 initiated this project. "We took over three years to pull all of these new, better models together and examine the emissions, finding that there is little room left for dark matter."

Macias, who is also a postdoctoral researcher with the GRAPPA Centre at the University of Amsterdam, added that this result would not have been possible without data and software provided by the Fermi Large Area Telescope collaboration.

The group tested all classes of models used in the Galactic Center region for excess emission analyses, and its conclusions remained unchanged. "One would have to craft a diffuse emission model that leaves a big 'hole' in them to relax our constraints, and science doesn't work that way," Macias said.

Kaplinghat noted that physicists have predicted that radiation from dark matter annihilation would be represented in a neat spherical or elliptical shape emanating from the Galactic Center, but the gamma ray excess detected by the Fermi space telescope after its June 2008 deployment shows up as a triaxial, bar-like structure.

"If you peer at the Galactic Center, you see that the stars are distributed in a boxy way," he said. "There's a disk of stars, and right in the center, there's a bulge that's about 10 degrees on the sky, and it's actually a very specific shape - sort of an asymmetric box - and this shape leaves very little room for additional dark matter."

Does this research rule out the existence of dark matter in the galaxy? "No," Kaplinghat said. "Our study constrains the kind of particle that dark matter could be. The multiple lines of evidence for dark matter in the galaxy are robust and unaffected by our work."

Far from considering the team's findings to be discouraging, Abazajian said they should encourage physicists to focus on concepts other than the most popular ones.

"There are a lot of alternative dark matter candidates out there," he said. "The search is going to be more like a fishing expedition where you don't already know where the fish are."

LONDON, ONTARIO - A team from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University has made significant steps forward in understanding COVID-19 through two back-to-back studies published this week in Critical Care Explorations. In one study, the team has identified six molecules that can be used as biomarkers to predict how severely ill a patient will become. In the other study, they are the first to reveal a new mechanism causing blood clots in COVID-19 patients and potential ways to treat them.

The studies were conducted by analyzing blood samples from critically ill patients at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). They build on a growing body of work from the team who were first in the world to profile the body's immune response to the virus by revealing a separate six molecules that could act as potential targets to treat hyperinflammation in critically ill patients.

"We've begun answering some of the biggest COVID-19 questions asked by clinicians and health researchers," says Dr. Douglas Fraser, lead researcher from Lawson and Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and Critical Care Physician at LHSC. "While the findings need to be validated with larger groups of patients, they could have important implications for treating and studying this disease."

Predicting which COVID-19 patients will get worse

With no proven therapies, many COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) do not survive.

"When a patient is admitted to ICU, we normally wait to see if they are going to get worse before we consider any risky interventions. To improve outcomes, we not only need new therapies but also a way to predict prognosis or which patients are going to get worse," explains Dr. Fraser.

The researchers identified six molecules of importance (CLM-1, IL12RB1, CD83, FAM3B, IGFR1R and OPTC). They found that these molecules were elevated in COVID-19 patients who would become even more severely ill. They found that when measured on a COVID-19 patient's first day of ICU admission, the molecules could be used to predict which patients will survive following standard ICU treatment.

"While further research is needed, we're confident in these biomarkers and suspect these patterns may be present even before ICU admission, such as when a patient first presents to the emergency department," notes Dr. Fraser. "These findings could be incredibly important in determining how severely ill a patient will become."

The team measured 1,161 plasma proteins from the blood of 30 participants: 10 COVID-19 patients and 10 patients with other infections admitted to LHSC's ICU, as well as 10 healthy control participants. Blood was drawn on set days of ICU admission, processed in a lab and then analyzed using statistical methods and artificial intelligence.

The team notes that predicting a patient's disease severity can help in a number of ways. It could allow for medical teams to have important conversations with family members, setting goals of care based on the patient's health and personal wishes. Medical teams could use the knowledge to mobilize resources more quickly. If they know a patient is at higher risk of death, they may consider intervening sooner despite associated risks. The team also hopes the findings can be used to better design COVID-19 clinical trials by grouping patients based on their risk. This could allow for stronger results when examining potential treatments for the disease.

Understanding why blood clots occur and how to treat them

A major complication occurring in most critically ill COVID-19 patients is clotting in the lung's small blood vessels which leads to low oxygen levels in the body.

"The reason for this clotting has been unclear. Most suspect the clotting mechanisms in our blood are put into overdrive and so many clinicians have been treating with anticoagulant therapies like the drug heparin," says Dr. Fraser. "But we've uncovered an entirely different mechanism."

The team further analyzed the blood samples from their 30 participants, and found evidence to suggest that the inner linings of small blood vessels are becoming damaged and inflamed, making them a welcoming environment for platelets (small blood cells) to stick.

They discovered that COVID-19 patients had elevated levels of three molecules (hyaluronic acid, syndecan-1 and P-selectin.) The first two molecules are products broken down from small hair-like structures (the glycocalyx) which line the inside of the blood vessels. Their presence suggests the glycocalyx is being damaged with its breakdown products sent into the bloodstream. The presence of P-selectin is also significant as this molecule helps to make both platelets and the inner lining of blood vessels adhere to one another.

"The glycocalyx keeps platelets from touching the inside wall of the blood vessel and helps facilitate the production of nitric oxide, which has an important role in preventing platelets from sticking," explains Dr. Fraser. "We suspect the body's immune response is producing enzymes that shear off these little hair-like structures, inflaming blood vessels and making them a welcoming environment for platelets to form clots."

The team suggests that two therapies may hold promise for treating blood clots in COVID-19 patients: platelet inhibitors to stop platelets from sticking and molecules to protect and restore the inner lining of blood vessels.

"By exploring these therapies as potential alternatives to anticoagulant therapies, we may be able to improve patient outcomes," says Dr. Fraser. "Through our combined findings, we hope to provide tools to predict which patients will become the most severely ill and treatments for both hyperinflammation and blood clots."

When a star passes too close to a supermassive black hole, tidal forces tear it apart, producing a bright flare of radiation as material from the star falls into the black hole. Astronomers study the light from these "tidal disruption events" (TDEs) for clues to the feeding behavior of the supermassive black holes lurking at the centers of galaxies.

New TDE observations led by astronomers at UC Santa Cruz now provide clear evidence that debris from the star forms a rotating disk, called an accretion disk, around the black hole. Theorists have been debating whether an accretion disk can form efficiently during a tidal disruption event, and the new findings, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal and available online, should help resolve that question, said first author Tiara Hung, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Cruz.

"In classical theory, the TDE flare is powered by an accretion disk, producing x-rays from the inner region where hot gas spirals into the black hole," Hung said. "But for most TDEs, we don't see x-rays--they mostly shine in the ultraviolet and optical wavelengths--so it was suggested that, instead of a disk, we're seeing emissions from the collision of stellar debris streams."

Coauthors Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC, and Jane Dai at the University of Hong Kong developed a theoretical model, published in 2018, that can explain why x-rays are usually not observed in TDEs despite the formation of an accretion disk. The new observations provide strong support for this model.

"This is the first solid confirmation that accretion disks form in these events, even when we don't see x-rays," Ramirez-Ruiz said. "The region close to the black hole is obscured by an optically thick wind, so we don't see the x-ray emissions, but we do see optical light from an extended elliptical disk."

The telltale evidence for an accretion disk comes from spectroscopic observations. Coauthor Ryan Foley, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC, and his team began monitoring the TDE (named AT 2018hyz) after it was first detected in November 2018 by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN). Foley noticed an unusual spectrum while observing the TDE with the 3-meter Shane Telescope at UC's Lick Observatory on the night of January 1, 2019.

"My jaw dropped, and I immediately knew this was going to be interesting," he said. "What stood out was the hydrogen line--the emission from hydrogen gas--which had a double-peaked profile that was unlike any other TDE we'd seen."

Foley explained that the double peak in the spectrum results from the Doppler effect, which shifts the frequency of light emitted by a moving object. In an accretion disk spiraling around a black hole and viewed at an angle, some of the material will be moving toward the observer, so the light it emits will be shifted to a higher frequency, and some of the material will be moving away from the observer, its light shifted to a lower frequency.

"It's the same effect that causes the sound of a car on a race track to shift from a high pitch as the car comes toward you to a lower pitch when it passes and starts moving away from you," Foley said. "If you're sitting in the bleachers, the cars on one turn are all moving toward you and the cars on the other turn are moving away from you. In an accretion disk, the gas is moving around the black hole in a similar way, and that's what gives the two peaks in the spectrum."

The team continued to gather data over the next few months, observing the TDE with several telescopes as it evolved over time. Hung led a detailed analysis of the data, which indicates that disk formation took place relatively quickly, in a matter of weeks after the disruption of the star. The findings suggest that disk formation may be common among optically detected TDEs despite the rarity of double-peaked emission, which depends on factors such as the inclination of the disk relative to observers.

"I think we got lucky with this one," Ramirez-Ruiz said. "Our simulations show that what we observe is very sensitive to the inclination. There is a preferred orientation to see these double-peak features, and a different orientation to see x-ray emissions."

He noted that Hung's analysis of multi-wavelength follow-up observations, including photometric and spectroscopic data, provides unprecedented insights into these unusual events. "When we have spectra, we can learn a lot about the kinematics of the gas and get a much clearer understanding of the accretion process and what is powering the emissions," Ramirez-Ruiz said.

LOWELL, Mass. - Incumbent Edward Markey has opened up a double-digit lead over challenger U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III one week before the Democratic primary in the race for U.S. Senate, according to a new poll of Massachusetts voters released today.

Conducted by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion, the poll of 800 likely Democratic primary voters found that Markey leads the race with 52 percent of respondents supporting him, compared to 40 percent for Kennedy, with 6 percent of voters undecided and 2 percent favoring another candidate. The primary election is Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Voters' education factors into their choice and accounts for the largest divide among respondents, poll results show. Voters with a college degree prefer Markey by a 37-point margin, as 65 percent of these respondents would elect him, compared to 28 percent of voters who favor Kennedy. The congressman leads by 15 points among voters without a college degree, with 53 percent favoring him, compared to 38 percent for Markey.

Markey also holds double-digit leads over Kennedy among voters in key demographic groups. Among younger likely voters, 59 percent of respondents age 18 to 44 say they would vote for Markey, compared to 32 percent who would elect Kennedy, giving a 27-point lead in that demographic to the senator, who first won the seat in a 2013 special election to replace former U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Among women, Markey leads by 18 points, as 55 percent of respondents said they would vote for him, compared to 37 percent for Kennedy. The senator holds a 24-point lead among voters with a family income of more than $100,000, favored by 57 percent of these respondents, compared to 33 percent for Kennedy. The candidates are tied, each with 46 percent support, among respondents who earn less than $50,000 a year. Markey is also besting Kennedy among white voters, as 55 percent of respondents prefer the senator, who holds a 16-point advantage over Kennedy, with 39 percent support. Among voters of color, Kennedy is up one point, 41 percent to Markey's 40 percent, which is within the margin of error.

"Perhaps the most peculiar thing about this race is that the incumbent has been embraced by the outsider wing of the Democratic Party and the challenger has been characterized as an insider. This insider/outsider dynamic comes through clearly in that voters who trust government are much more likely to support Kennedy and those that distrust government are more likely to support Markey. Should Markey hold on to win, his ability to avoid the out-of-touch-establishment-elite label will be the reason he was able to keep his seat," said Joshua Dyck, director of the Center for Public Opinion and UMass Lowell associate professor of political science.

The findings released today are a sharp contrast to the results of past polling by the Center for Public Opinion on the race. Survey results issued in May found a close contest, with Kennedy garnering 44 percent of support among likely Democratic voters and 42 percent supporting incumbent Markey, while 10 percent were undecided. At that time, Markey led among likely voters who identify themselves as liberals (54 percent to 39 percent), while Kennedy was ahead among moderates (55 percent to 25 percent).

Yet despite Markey's widening lead, 52 percent of voters polled in results released today said their lives are not likely to be any better or worse in six years regardless of which candidate wins the election.

"In the final days, voters see this race as low stakes, but that hasn't prevented the race from being high drama. Both candidates have taken the gloves off in this campaign, but it's clear that Markey has Kennedy on the ropes. This bout isn't over, but Markey has the clearest advantage we've seen since Kennedy filed to run," said John Cluverius, associate director of the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and assistant professor of political science.

The poll also surveyed likely Democratic primary voters' views about life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings include:

More voters (35 percent), said COVID-19 will prove to be a greater threat to humanity over the next five years than climate change. Thirty-one percent of voters said climate change is the more pressing issue and 36 percent of respondents said the threats were about equal;

Asked whether their local schools should reopen for face-to-face instruction in the fall, 84 percent of voters oppose that move, while 16 percent favor it;

Without an option to vote early or by mail, 15 percent of respondents said they would opt to stay home and not vote in this election. Further, if they knew voting in person would lead to them contracting COVID-19, 62 percent said they would stay home.

"Democratic primary voters have almost no faith in local leaders to safely reopen schools for face-to-face instruction. There's some backlash to President Trump's desire for schools to open in person, but it's clear here that anxiety about reopening schools is rampant among Democratic primary voters, even in a state that has contained the virus much better than others," Cluverius said.

Despite voters' COVID-19 concerns, Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker remains extremely popular with Democrats, survey results show. Among poll respondents, Baker has an 89 percent approval rating, with 54 percent of voters who "strongly approve" and 35 percent who "somewhat approve" and only 11 percent who disapprove of how the governor is handling his job. These statistics are virtually unchanged from polling data the Center for Public Opinion released in May, according to Dyck.

"Charlie Baker continues to be the most popular Republican among Democrats in Massachusetts - more popular, in fact, than most Democratic politicians. His 89 percent approval rating among Democratic likely voters includes unenrolled voters. But even among just registered Democrats, Baker's approval rating is 90 percent," he said.

Detailed poll results - including analysis, topline and methodology - are available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. The independent, nonpartisan poll was conducted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell's Center for Public Opinion using the latest technology and highest standards. The center is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative and presents events and polls on political and social issues that provide unique opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and research.

The poll also surveyed voters' views on national issues. Here, the survey found the Black Lives Matter movement has the support of a majority of Democrats polled, with a net favorability rating of +71 percent. As may be expected among Democratic primary voters, 67 percent of respondents said they disapprove of President Donald Trump's job performance, while 7 percent approve, and 92 percent of voters polled said they think the country is on the wrong track, compared to 8 percent who said it is on the right track.

Findings on the presidential race shows Democratic nominee Joe Biden has a +67 net positive favorability rating, (80 percent favorable, 13 percent unfavorable), while his running mate, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris has a +65 net positive favorability rating (77 percent favorable, 12 percent unfavorable). On the Republican ticket, Trump has a -87 net negative favorability rating (6 percent favorable, 93 percent unfavorable) and Vice President Mike Pence has a -76 net negative favorability rating (9 percent favorable, 85 percent unfavorable).

Among other national public figures, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force has a +80 net positive favorability rating (85 percent favorable, 5 percent unfavorable) and White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Deborah Birx has a +6 net favorability rating (27 percent favorable, 21 percent unfavorable). Former President Barack Obama has a +81 net positive favorability rating and presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is at a -73 net negative rating.

Likely Democratic primary voters were also questioned on a range of other topics. Findings include:

Markey's campaign decision to draw on his roots as an ice cream man may be paying dividends, as the dessert has a net favorability rating of +91 percent among Democrats polled;

Market Basket has a net favorability rating of +68 percent, with Dunkin close behind at +64 percent;

Among companies that operate social-media platforms, TikTok is the most disliked, with a -20 net favorability rating, followed by Facebook with a -4 net favorability rating and Snapchat with a -1 net favorability rating.

Political parties have become more polarized since World War II, while voters have remained moderate

By moving to extremes, parties minimize constituency overlap

Researcher: 'Increased polarization is not voters' fault'

New study challenges a 1950's model by economist Anthony Downs

EVANSTON, Ill. -- New research shows that U.S. political parties are becoming increasingly polarized due to their quest for voters -- not because voters themselves are becoming more extremist.

The research team, which includes Northwestern University researchers, found that extremism is a strategy that has worked over the years even if voters' views remain in the center. Voters are not looking for a perfect representative but a "satisficing," meaning "good enough," candidate.

"Our assumption is not that people aren't trying to make the perfect choice, but in the presence of uncertainty, misinformation or a lack of information, voters move toward satisficing," said Northwestern's Daniel Abrams, a senior author of the study.

The study is now available online and will be published in SIAM Review's printed edition on Sept. 1.

Abrams is an associate professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. Co-authors include Adilson Motter, the Morrison Professor of Physics and Astronomy in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and Vicky Chuqiao Yang, a postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and former student in Abrams' laboratory.

To accommodate voters' "satisficing" behavior, the team developed a mathematical model using differential equations to understand how a rational political party would position itself to get the most votes. The tool is reactive, with the past influencing future behaviors of the parties.

The team tested 150 years of U.S. Congressional voting data and found the model's predictions are consistent with the political parties' historical trajectories: Congressional voting has shifted to the margins, but voters' positions have not changed much.

"The two major political parties have been getting more and more polarized since World War II, while historical data indicates the average American voter remains just as moderate on key issues and policies as they always have been," Abrams said.

The team found that polarization is instead tied to the ideological homogeneity within the constituencies of the two major parties. To differentiate themselves, the politicians of the parties move further away from the center.

The new model helps explains why. The moves to the extremes can be interpreted as attempts by the Democratic and Republican parties to minimize an overlap of constituency. Test runs of the model show how staying within the party lines creates a winning strategy.

"Right now, we have one party with a lot of support from minorities and women, and another party with a lot of support from white men," Motter said.

Why not have both parties appeal to everyone? "Because of the perception that if you gain support from one group, it comes at the expense of the other group," he added. "The model shows that the increased polarization is not voters' fault. It is a way to get votes. This study shows that we don't need to assume that voters have a hidden agenda driving polarization in Congress. There is no mastermind behind the policy. It is an emergent phenomenon."

The researchers caution that many other factors -- political contributions, gerrymandering and party primaries -- also contribute to election outcomes, which future work can examine.

The work challenges a model introduced in the late 1950s by economist Anthony Downs, which assumes everyone votes and makes well-informed, completely rational choices, picking the candidate closest to their opinions. The Downsian model predicts that political parties over time would move closer to the center.

However, U.S. voters' behaviors don't necessarily follow those patterns, and the parties' positions have become dramatically polarized.

"People aren't perfectly rational, but they're not totally irrational either," Abrams said. "They'll vote for the candidate that's good enough -- or not too bad -- without making fine distinctions among those that meet their perhaps low bar for good enough. If we want to reduce political polarization between the parties, we need both parties to be more tolerant of the diversity within their own ranks."

Washington, DC - August 26, 2020 - A Seattle fishing vessel that departed port in May returned 18 days later with an unusual haul: the first human evidence that neutralizing antibodies provide protection from reinfection by SARS-CoV-2. The research is published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

Although SARS-CoV-2swept the vessel, infecting 104 of 122 people on board, all 3 individuals who tested positive for neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 prior to embarking remained healthy during and following the expedition.

"These antibodies likely protect people from being reinfected," said corresponding author Alex Greninger, M.D., Ph.D., assistant director of clinical virology at the University of Washington Medical Center. "The titers found in these 3 individuals look like they're attainable with the vaccines under study," he said, referring to data emerging from the clinical trials. (A titer is the measurement of antibodies in blood.) "I'm optimistic about the vaccine."

Despite having only 3 people in the protected group, Dr. Greninger said that the high percentage of those on board who became infected--more than 85%--rendered the findings highly statistically significant.

One disappointment from the data: the high percentage of crew members infected "suggests that any pre-existing cross-reactive immunity caused by prior infection from other seasonal coronaviruses [such as cold viruses] provides limited protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection," the report states

The researchers tested the crew prior to the fishing expedition in an effort to keep the vessel free from coronavirus, and they tested them again after their return to port. Testing included using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which can detect viral genetic material indicating current infection. One limitation of this method is that some residual genetic material may remain for weeks after an infection has subsided.

Crew members were also tested with an assay that detects antibodies against the viral nucleoprotein, which can indicate lasting resistance following infection. The nucleoprotein encapsulates part of the viral genetic material of SARS-CoV-2. Crew members who tested positive for anti-nucleoprotein antibodies were further tested for anti-spike protein antibodies. The virus uses spike proteins to gain entry into human cells.

Solar cells can now be made so thin, light and flexible that they can rest on a soap bubble. The new cells, which efficiently capture energy from light, could offer an alternative way to power novel electronic devices, such as medical skin patches, where conventional energy sources are unsuitable.

"The tremendous developments in electronic skin for robots, sensors for flying devices and biosensors to detect illness are all limited in terms of energy sources," says Eloïse Bihar, a postdoc in the team of Derya Baran, who led the research. "Rather than bulky batteries or a connection to an electrical grid, we thought of using lightweight, ultrathin organic solar cells to harvest energy from light, whether indoors or outdoors."

Until now, ultrathin organic solar cells were typically made by spin-coating or thermal evaporation, which are not scalable and which limit device geometry. This technique involved using a transparent and conductive, but brittle and inflexible, material called indium tin oxide (ITO) as an electrode. To overcome these limitations, the team applied inkjet printing. "We formulated functional inks for each the layer of the solar cell architecture," says Daniel Corzo, a Ph.D. student in Baran's team.

Instead of ITO, the team printed a transparent, flexible, conductive polymer called PEDOT:PSS, or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate. The electrode layers sandwiched a light-capturing organic photovoltaic material. The whole device could be sealed within parylene, a flexible, waterproof, biocompatible protective coating.

Although inkjet printing is very amenable to scale up and low-cost manufacturing, developing the functional inks was a challenge, Corzo notes. "Inkjet printing is a science on its own," he says. "The intermolecular forces within the cartridge and the ink need to be overcome to eject very fine droplets from the very small nozzle. Solvents also play an important role once the ink is deposited because the drying behavior affects the film quality."

After optimizing the ink composition for each layer of the device, the solar cells were printed onto glass to test their performance. They achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.73 percent, beating the previous record of 4.1 percent for a fully printed cell. For the first time, the team also showed that they could print a cell onto an ultrathin flexible substrate, reaching a PCE of 3.6 percent.

"Our findings mark a stepping-stone for a new generation of versatile, ultralightweight printed solar cells that can be used as a power source or be integrated into skin-based or implantable medical devices," Bihar says.

A recent finding by researchers at the BC Cancer Research Institute and the University of British Columbia (UBC) may offer a new treatment possibility for people diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of ovarian cancer.

Small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT), is a particularly devastating cancer that has no effective treatments and is usually diagnosed in women in their 20s. The study, published in Clinical Cancer Research, describes a metabolic vulnerability present in cells that may represent a therapeutic target if proven in clinical trials.

"Finding this vulnerability and identifying a way to exploit it could have a huge impact for anyone diagnosed with this rare disease," said the study's first author Jennifer Ji, an MD/PhD candidate at UBC's faculty of medicine and trainee at the BC Cancer Research Institute.

The discovery is welcome news to Justin Mattioli, whose 34-year-old wife Eileen, passed away from SCCOHT in the spring of 2019. Prior to her passing, Eileen made the decision to donate her tissue samples to help advance cancer research in the hopes of finding new treatments for others facing the disease.

"We would hate to see someone else go through what Eileen did," said Justin. "And there is a good possibility that this may help advance further research into other types of cancers as well."

Eileen's samples are being used as a new cell model, enabling researchers to test the effects of new treatments and to better understand the biology of the disease.

The team found that SCCOHT cancer cells have very low levels of an enzyme necessary for the production of arginine, an amino acid needed to help our cells build protein.

Non-cancerous cells have this enzyme and can produce their own arginine, but tumours without it cannot produce this amino acid themselves, meaning that they need to be in an arginine-rich environment to survive.

Using a small molecule agent, the team has found a way to eliminate arginine in the tumour environment, essentially starving the cancer to death while having minimal effect on normal cells.

"This agent basically absorbs all of the arginine within the tumour environment so cells can't produce it themselves, thus starving the tumour," said research team lead Dr. David Huntsman, a pathologist and ovarian cancer researcher at BC Cancer and professor in the departments of pathology and laboratory medicine and obstetrics and gynecology at UBC. "As such vulnerability has been also discovered in several other cancer types, we are now looking to partner with other research organizations who are evaluating these treatment options in patients whose cancer lacks the expression of this particular enzyme."

So far, researchers have validated this treatment in pre-clinical studies. They are now exploring combination therapy, with the use of Eileen's samples, in an effort to boost the response and avoid potential resistance. In addition, they want to test their findings in clinical trials.

"This research is another step to better understanding a very aggressive form of ovarian cancer and providing better treatment outcomes for women diagnosed with this disease," said Huntsman.

The evolution of novel features - traits such as wings or eyes - helps organisms make the most use of their environment and promotes increased diversification among species. Understanding the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms involved in the origin of these traits is of great interest to evolutionary biologists.

The flowering plant Aquilegia, a genus of 60-70 species found in temperate meadows, woodlands and mountain tops around the world, is known for a novel feature - the nectar spur, which is important for pollination, and for the ecology and evolution of the genus. More uniquely, the species Aquilegia ecalcarata (A. ecalcarata), native to montane regions of central China, is the only known species of Aquilegia in which the petals have naturally lost their spurs. A team of researchers from California State University in Sacramento, University of California in Santa Barbara, and Harvard University have used this spurless species to identify a key gene controlling the development of the nectar spur in Aquilegia.

In a August 26 paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers sought to identify the gene or genes responsible for spur-loss in A. ecalcarata, for which there was initially no obvious genetic candidate. Evangeline Ballerini, Assistant Professor at California State University in Sacramento and lead researcher of the study, began by repeating a 1960 study by the Russian geneticist W. Praźmo (Acta Soc. Bot. Pol. 29, 423-442). Praźmo crossed a spurred species of Aquilegia with A. ecalcarata and found that patterns of phenotype distribution in the second generation indicated a single gene in the genome was responsible for spur loss. Ballerini then teamed with Professor Scott Hodges, University of California, Santa Barbara and Professor Elena Kramer, Harvard University, to recreate the inter-species cross between A. ecalcarata and four spurred Aquilegia. Their results confirmed that there appeared to be a single, recessive gene responsible for spur loss, however, it was in a region that contained approximately one thousand genes.

Researchers were able to draw on previous work by Ballerini that had identified all of the genes that are differentially expressed between the spurless A. ecalcarata and the spurred species. By focusing on gene expression - genes that are off when you don't have spurs and genes that are on when you do have spurs - they were able to ask, do any of the genes in the critical genomic region show this differential expression? "There was no guarantee that these methods would lead us to the gene we were looking for," Ballerini said. "There was definitely quite a bit of work that went into all of the experiments and analyses, but in the end there was a bit of luck too."

Of the 1000 genes, only one gene fit all the criteria of being off when the plant had no spur, on when the plant had a spur, and was specifically expressed in developing spurs. This gene, which the team refer to as POPOVICH (POP), was turned on in species with nectar spurs. In further testing, when the researchers turned off POP in species that had spurs, the petals lost their spurs. "POP appears to be present in the beginning of the developing spur and is responsible for promoting cell divisions in the specific regions where the spur develops" said Kramer. "By turning off POP, the petals lose the cells that would normally become the nectar spur."

While this study has identified a key gene responsible for the development of the novel nectar spur in Aquilegia, the team is now interested in how POP was involved in the evolution of the nectar spur and what its role may have been in the diversification of petal spur morphology across Aquilegia. The team plans to trace the evolution of the spur development by looking at the evolution of POP and understanding its role in the petal development of Aquilegia, which can aid in understanding the origin and modification of the nectar spur.

Across flowering plants, spurs have evolved many times independently. This study and others have suggested that, not surprisingly, those independent evolutionary events were achieved through different genetic mechanisms. "While POP promotes spur development in Aquilegia, it may not do so in other flowering plants" said Kramer. "However, it does provide a model of how to approach questions of how to identify a single gene in regions of the genome." The identification of a critical gene that controls spur development can lead to a broader understanding of the genetic program. "There are things that we will want to do now that we've identified this gene," Hodges said. "Since POP is a transcription factor, it must have particular genes that it's affecting. The next logical step would be to identify the targets of this gene, and that will tell us a lot more about how it functions."

A new University of Washington study of thousands of local rental ads finds a pattern of "racialized language" that can perpetuate neighborhood segregation, using specific terms to describe apartments in different areas of town.

Terms like "convenient" and "safe and secure" are more common in neighborhoods with a greater proportion of people of color, while "vintage" and "classic" are more popular in predominantly white neighborhoods.

"When you're looking at racial segregation, we all make housing choices, and those choices we make affect segregation. We should know if we're making choices based on racialized discourse," said Ian Kennedy, a graduate student at the UW and lead author of the study. "A racialized society can be perpetuated through means that aren't clearly conscious."

The findings don't mean the ads are overtly, or even intentionally, racist, Kennedy said. Rather, words and phrases - certain terms common to some neighborhoods, and certain terms for others - can reinforce perceptions of neighborhoods, influence where people choose to live, and ultimately, create areas of the city where some racial and ethnic groups are more prevalent than others.

The study published Aug. 3 in the journal Social Forces.

Past research has documented segregation in Seattle, and the legacy of redlining in some neighborhoods. Through the mid-20th century, real estate and rental ads identified properties in "restricted" areas - those with covenants designed to keep out people of color. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prevented such discrimination in housing, and by 1970, overtly race-related language in local housing ads had essentially disappeared. But by then, as is the case elsewhere in the country, geographic and demographic patterns had been cemented, and less-explicit forms of discrimination continued.

Given Seattle's economic and population growth in recent years, Kennedy wanted to examine the factors that could sustain some of the de facto segregation that exists today. Seattle has grown by more than 130,000 people since 2010, and people new to the area may have little information about specific neighborhoods.

UW sociologist Kyle Crowder has written about how people tend to move to neighborhoods where there are others "like" them, often because others in their social networks live there or recommend them. Combined with the legacy of racial segregation, this perpetuates neighborhoods where predominantly white people live and shop, neighborhoods where Black people tend to live and shop, and so on.

For this study, Kennedy and the research team started with more than 400,000 Craigslist ads for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area between March 2017 and September 2018. Removing duplicate ads cut the database to about 45,000 from nearly 850 census tracts; data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey established the racial and ethnic breakdown of each tract.

Kennedy used an approach called topic modeling to recognize groups of words appearing together, and categorized those groups into 40 topics. For example, the topic "vintage charm" typically included words like "vintage," "classic" and brick." The topic of "convenience and ease" included terms such as "easy," "convenient," "location" and "open."

Kennedy was then able to spot patterns between the terms in the ads, and the neighborhoods the ads were tied to.

Topics such as "vintage charm" and those related to walkability and surrounding amenities were associated more frequently with predominantly white neighborhoods in Seattle, such as Wallingford and Queen Anne. In neighborhoods with a greater proportion of people of color, such as Seattle's Northgate and in Kent, topics like "safe and friendly" and those pertaining to drive times and bus access were common. In particular, terms related to security - "safety," "secure," "controlled," "courtesy patrol" - were associated more frequently with neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black residents.

"These associations are sadly aligned with what we know about racial stereotypes in the United States," Kennedy said. "We're worried that, in addition to influencing housing patterns, that these ads could also be a site for the reproduction of racial stereotypes."

A general theme emerged, Kennedy said: Listings in predominantly white neighborhoods highlighted history, culture and community. In neighborhoods that had a greater proportion of people of color, listings focused more often on features that separate the property from its surroundings, or simply on transportation out of the area.

The goal of rental ads, of course, is to occupy the unit, Kennedy said, so listings try to highlight what will draw a tenant; reversing perceptions and patterns requires a more systemic effort to discourage segregation. The study notes how the Chicago suburb of Oak Park took a proactive approach to integrating its community by promoting a variety of neighborhoods and working with real estate agents, landlords and prospective tenants on changing perceptions.

A recent study co-authored by two Northern Arizona University researchers showed that targeted efforts to increase water efficiency could save enough water annually to fill Lake Mead. It could happen without significantly compromising economic production, jobs or tax revenue.

The study, published today in Environmental Research Letters, demonstrates that there is no one right answer to increase water efficiency--rather, there are dozens of right answers depending on region, industry and company. Ben Ruddell, the director of the FEWSION Project and director of the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS) and Richard Rushforth, an assistant research professor in SICCS, are co-authors on the study. Landon Marston, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, led the study.

"What's unique about this study is that we try to answer the question of how much water conservation can readily and affordably be achieved in each region and industry of the United States by looking at the conservation that has already been achieved by the water conservation leaders in each industry and region," Ruddell said.

The study looked at how much water conservation can readily and affordably be achieved in each region and industry of the United States by looking at what conservation measures were already working and considering how much water is being used in every industry and throughout the country. Then the researchers ran statistics on that information, looking for areas that offer greater efficiency. The method controls for the differences in climate and technologies in different industries and states.

The study demonstrates how water users from farmers to manufacturers to service providers can collectively reduce their water consumption, both in their own processes and upstream throughout their supply chain, to reduce overexploitation of surface water and groundwater resources. It builds on earlier research evaluating potential water savings within the agricultural sector and in cities, applying a novel approach to water savings in the whole economy.

"The scope and detail of our study are unparalleled, and we believe this work will make a significant and timely contribution to the debate on how to conserve water while maintaining, or even increasing, economic activity," Marston said. "We find that some of the most water-stressed areas throughout the U.S. West and South have the greatest potential for water savings, with about half of these water savings obtained by improving water productivity in the production of corn, cotton and alfalfa."

The research argues that streamflow depletion throughout the West can be decreased on average by 6.6 percent to 23.5 percent without significantly reducing economic production or increasing costs. That is the other piece in this problem--that significant water savings can happen without significant harm to the economy. The majority of U.S. industries and regions can make the biggest contributions to water conservation by working with suppliers to reduce water use "upstream" in their supply chain; some large companies are already adopting this supply chain sustainability.

In the Southwest, which has a sizable agricultural industry as well as perennial water scarcity issues, the conversation about conservation has included ways to improve water use efficiency among farmers since the 1980s, but the study found that more improvement is readily achievable. The good news is that improvement is possible.

Although the study did not argue for specific conservation measures and water saving policies, it does offer a number of high-level recommendations. These included partnerships between large manufacturers, retailers and large metropolitan areas that are "downstream" in the water supply chain, which have more money and influence in making changes, and the large water users "upstream" to help organize and fund water conservation.

"This study argues that we can solve a large fraction of the U.S. water supply crisis simply by employing water conservation strategies that are already in routine use by the water productivity leaders in every industry and every region of the U.S.A.," Ruddell said. "We don't need a revolution in laws or technologies, or much more money, to achieve this. In the 21st century, water conservation has the potential to affordably boost and protect our national water supply in a big way, and avoid the need for hundreds of billions of dollars in taxing and spending on new water infrastructure to cope with drought and climate change."

DALLAS, August 26, 2020 -- Steps for reducing the risk of stroke in patients undergoing heart surgery are detailed in a new American Heart Association Scientific Statement, "Considerations for Reduction of Risk of Perioperative Stroke for Adult Patients Undergoing Cardiac and Thoracic Aortic Operations," published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation. Pre-screening, surgical technique changes, early diagnosis while in surgery and quick team response all contribute to better survival rates and reduce the risks of major disability for patients.

"Cardiac surgery has come a long way in recent decades, and improvements in pre-operative screening and treatment now really make a difference between a patient suffering a disabling stroke or surviving and thriving with a good quality of life," said Mario F.L. Gaudino, M.D., chair of the writing group for the scientific statement, and a cardiac surgeon and professor of cardiothoracic surgery at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. "This statement provides an overview of the latest surgical protocols and techniques that can reduce stroke risk after heart surgery and improve patient survival and outcomes."

A stroke that happens during or soon after heart surgery is called a perioperative stroke. Patients undergoing heart surgery who experience perioperative stroke have a 5 to 10 times higher risk of in-hospital death, increased costs and length of hospital stay, and increased risk of cognitive decline one year after surgery. The statement cites stroke as the most feared complication of cardiac surgery - most patients would sacrifice longevity for freedom from stroke.

Stroke risk for common cardiac procedures varies depending on both patient risk factors and the procedure. The risk is about 1% for a valve repair or coronary artery bypass alone; 2-3% if those procedures are combined; and 3-9% for surgeries involving the aorta, the body's main and largest artery. Stroke risk is also higher for the 27% to 40% of patients who develop atrial fibrillation after heart surgery. Atrial fibrillation causes the heart's smaller chambers to flutter and increases the risk of a dangerous blood clot that can dislodge, travel to the brain and cause a stroke.

Typical pre-surgery screening for perioperative stroke risk includes an assessment of age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, smoking, heart failure, renal disease, atrial fibrillation and prior history of stroke or transient ischemic attack. The scientific statement further suggests monitoring and actions to diagnose and treat a surgery-related stroke quickly. Highlights of the statement's recommendations are:

Prevention during surgery

Monitor blood flow to the brain;

Intraoperative (during surgery) imaging of the aorta;

Tight blood pressure control; and

Closely monitor blood loss and the need for transfusion.

Early stroke diagnosis

Perform a complete neurologic exam as soon as possible after surgery;

If a patient is high-risk for perioperative stroke, consider a fast-track anesthesia protocol to help quickly identify signs of a stroke after surgery;

Have a stroke team in place to provide emergency treatment if a stroke is suspected; and

Conduct a head CT and CT angiography of head and neck as soon as stroke is suspected.

Rapid treatment of perioperative stroke

Transfer the patient to intensive care;

Optimize brain oxygenation and perfusion;

Consider clot busting or clot removal therapy; and

Evaluate patient's speech and swallow function; evaluate for rehabilitation; screen for depression; and begin preventive therapy for deep vein thrombosis.

"It's imperative that a stroke team work together to assess a patient's health before, during and after heart surgery. In addition to the surgeons, this multidisciplinary team should include stroke neurologists, neuro-interventionalists, neurocritical care specialists and neuro-anesthesiologists," added Gaudino. "Following these protocols can lead to quicker response times by medical teams in the event of an emergency and help to reduce the frequency of neurological injuries among patients."

This scientific statement was prepared by the volunteer writing group on behalf of the American Heart Association's clinical Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia; the Stroke Council; and the Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing.

Sophia Antipolis, France - 26 Aug 2020: A saliva test could fast track heart attack diagnosis, according to preliminary research presented today at ESC Congress 2020.1

The innovative technique requires patients to spit into a tube and provides results in 10 minutes, compared to at least one hour for the standard blood test.

Heart attacks need urgent diagnosis, followed by treatment to restore blood flow to blocked arteries. Diagnosis is based on symptoms (such as chest pain), an electrocardiogram (ECG) and a blood test for cardiac troponin, a protein released into the blood when the heart muscle is injured.

"There is a great need for a simple and rapid troponin test for patients with chest pain in the pre-hospital setting," said study author Dr. Roi Westreich of Soroka University Medical Centre, Beer Sheva, Israel. "Currently troponin testing uses blood samples. In this preliminary study we evaluated the feasibility of a novel method using saliva."

The purpose of the study was to see if cardiac troponin could be detected in the saliva of patients with heart muscle injury. Saliva samples underwent a unique processing procedure to remove highly abundant proteins.2 A total of 32 patients with heart muscle injury (i.e. they had a positive cardiac troponin blood test) and 13 healthy volunteers were requested to provide saliva samples by spitting into a collecting tube. Then, half of each sample was processed, and the other half remained in its natural state.

The researchers then tested the processed and unprocessed saliva samples for cardiac troponin. "Since no test has been developed for use on saliva, we had to use commercially available tests intended for whole blood, plasma, or serum, and adjust them for saliva examination," said Dr. Westreich.

For patients, the researchers compared the results from the saliva samples (processed and unprocessed) with the blood samples. There was strong agreement between the blood findings and the processed saliva, but not saliva in its natural state. Some 84% of the processed saliva samples tested positive for troponin, compared to just 6% of the unprocessed saliva.

Among healthy participants, no cardiac troponin was detected in the processed and unprocessed saliva samples.

Dr. Westreich said: "This early work shows the presence of cardiac troponin in the saliva of patients with myocardial injury. Further research is needed to determine how long troponin stays in the saliva after a heart attack. In addition, we need to know how many patients would erroneously be diagnosed with heart attack and how many cases would be missed."

The next steps in this research are to expand the number of patients being studied and create a prototype for a cardiac troponin test using saliva. "This prototype will be tailor-made for processed saliva and is expected to be more accurate than using a blood test on saliva," said Dr. Westreich. "It will be calibrated to show positive results when saliva troponin levels are higher than a certain threshold and show a yes/no result like a pregnancy test."