Culture

The market share of a company does not have a strong influence on its financial performance, a new study in marketing at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Cologne shows. Companies should instead invest in building customer relationships and a strong brand. If the market share increases by 1%, the financial performance of companies only increases by 0.13% on average. To arrive at these results, the researchers examined the relationship between market share and financial profitability using 89 published studies from six different continents published between 1972 and 2017.

Other studies show a much stronger financial effect of other metrics, such as customer satisfaction and brand equity. In fact, customer relationships deliver six times the effect and the brand almost three times the effect of market share gains alone. Dr. Alexander Edeling from the University of Cologne and Professor Dr. Alexander Himme from Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg published their findings in their article, "When Does Market Share Matter? New Empirical Generalizations from a Meta-Analysis of the Market Share-Performance Relationship," in the Journal of Marketing.

"Many CEOs still consider market share to be the most important indicator of business success," says Edeling. "But in today's digital market, small companies can often produce cost-effectively and sell to a global audience. That allows them to compete with the industry's leading companies."

Together with his co-author, Edeling suggests distributing budgets accordingly. Slow and steady investments in the expansion of products, the improvement of customer service and the development of a brand with a potential target customer base are the key to the growth and future security of a company for the authors.

After an almost two-year journey, NASA's asteroid sampling spacecraft, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), caught its first glimpse of asteroid Bennu last week and began the final approach toward its target. Kicking off the mission's asteroid operations campaign on Aug. 17, the spacecraft's PolyCam camera obtained the image from a distance of 1.3 million miles (2.1 million km).

OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it safely back to Earth. The spacecraft has traveled approximately 1.1 billion miles (1.8 billion km) since its Sept. 8, 2016, launch and is scheduled to arrive at Bennu on Dec. 3.

"Now that OSIRIS-REx is close enough to observe Bennu, the mission team will spend the next few months learning as much as possible about Bennu's size, shape, surface features, and surroundings before the spacecraft arrives at the asteroid," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. "After spending so long planning for this moment, I can't wait to see what Bennu reveals to us."

As OSIRIS-REx approaches the asteroid, the spacecraft will use its science instruments to gather information about Bennu and prepare for arrival. The spacecraft's science payload comprises the OCAMS camera suite (PolyCam, MapCam, and SamCam), the OTES thermal spectrometer, the OVIRS visible and infrared spectrometer, the OLA laser altimeter, and the REXIS x-ray spectrometer.

During the mission's approach phase, OSIRIS-REx will:

regularly observe the area around the asteroid to search for dust plumes and natural satellites, and study Bennu's light and spectral properties,;

execute a series of four asteroid approach maneuvers, beginning on Oct. 1, slowing the spacecraft to match Bennu's orbit around the Sun;

jettison the protective cover of the spacecraft's sampling arm in mid-October and subsequently extend and image the arm for the first time in flight; and

use OCAMS to reveal the asteroid's overall shape in late-October and begin detecting Bennu's surface features in mid-November.

After arrival at Bennu, the spacecraft will spend the first month performing flybys of Bennu's north pole, equator and south pole, at distances ranging between 11.8 and 4.4 miles (19 and 7 km) from the asteroid. These maneuvers will allow for the first direct measurement of Bennu's mass as well as close-up observations of the surface. These trajectories will also provide the mission's navigation team with experience navigating near the asteroid.

"Bennu's low gravity provides a unique challenge for the mission," said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "At roughly 0.3 miles [500 meters] in diameter, Bennu will be the smallest object that any spacecraft has ever orbited."

The spacecraft will extensively survey the asteroid before the mission team identifies two possible sample sites. Close examination of these sites will allow the team to pick one for sample collection, scheduled for early July 2020. After sample collection, the spacecraft will head back toward Earth before ejecting the Sample Return Capsule for landing in the Utah desert in Sept. 2023.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission's science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the agency's New Frontiers Program for its Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

There is good evidence that polluted air increases the risk of respiratory problems such as asthma -- as well as organ inflammation, worsening of diabetes and other life-threatening conditions.
But new research suggests air pollution can also fuel something else: chronic kidney disease, or CKD, which occurs when a person's kidneys become damaged or cannot filter blood properly.

Recently published in PLOS ONE, a University of Michigan study highlights the lesser-known connection.

"Similar to smoking, air pollution contains harmful toxins that can directly affect the kidneys," says Jennifer Bragg-Gresham, M.S., Ph.D., a Michigan Medicine epidemiologist and the study's lead author.

"Kidneys have a large volume of blood flowing through them, and if anything harms the circulatory system, the kidneys will be the first to sense those effects."

People with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure or heart disease are at increased risk of developing CKD. Which is why high-risk patients who live in heavily populated or polluted areas should recognize the danger and take precautions, Bragg-Gresham says.

Why air pollution is dangerous

Air pollution contains fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is a cocktail of microscopic particles.

Because these particles are virtually weightless, they can stay in the air longer, causing humans to unavoidably inhale them on a regular basis without knowing it. PM2.5 can lead to serious health effects when inhaled often.

By reviewing Medicare claims data and air-quality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study's authors found a positive association between CKD rates and PM2.5 concentration.

Says study co-author Rajiv Saran, M.D., a Michigan Medicine nephrologist and director of the United States Renal Data System Coordinating Center at U-M: "If you look at areas that are heavily polluted versus areas that are less polluted, you will find more chronic kidney disease."

According to figures cited in the new research, chronic kidney disease afflicts more than 27 million Americans. People with CKD have an eightfold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality.

Unfortunately, PM2.5 is almost impossible to avoid.

We encounter air pollution from many simple everyday activities, such as cooking and driving. Other contributors are smoking, burning wood, packaged spray products, household appliances and, perhaps the most obvious, industry and vehicle emissions.

Air pollution also contains heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium -- all of which are known to negatively affect the kidneys.

Problems and preventive measures

The U-M research examined several prior studies on the issue, including an effort conducted in select coal-mining areas of Appalachia that found a 19 percent higher risk of CKD among men and a 13 percent higher risk in women compared with those who lived in counties with no mining.

The good news: PM2.5 levels are much lower in the U.S. than in other industrialized countries such as China and India.

"What this means for the countries with higher PM2.5 is significantly higher odds of CKD," says Bragg-Gresham, also an assistant research scientist at U-M. "Our research was only able to examine a small range of PM2.5 values present in America but was able to find a significant association."

However, it's still important to take precautions when exposed to air pollution, especially for people who have existing health conditions or who live in densely populated or polluted cities.

"In heavily polluted areas, consider wearing masks that cover your nose and mouth, limit hours outside and limit long hours commuting to work in high traffic as well," Saran says, adding that the risk should be taken seriously.

"Many people don't see the seriousness of air pollution because it isn't something visible, but that doesn't mean it's any less important for your health."

August 24, 2018- Like other data-driven organizations, healthcare networks are vulnerable to potentially crippling cyberattacks - but may lag behind other sectors in preparing for and avoiding data breaches, according to a series of articles and commentaries in the Fall issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management, an official publication of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). This journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

"Cyberattacks pose a real threat that all healthcare leaders and boards can and must address with strategic plans of action to prevent vulnerabilities, minimize risk, and respond to incidents when they do occur," writes Frontiers Editor Trudy Land, FACHE, in an introductory editorial.

Preventing Cyberattacks: 'In Cybersecurity, Everyone Is a Stakeholder'

The new issue highlights two feature articles in which healthcare executives share their insights and experiences with building an effective cybersecurity strategy to protect valuable but vulnerable healthcare data. Dennis W. Pullin, FACHE, of Virtua health system in Marlton, N.J., emphasizes the importance of process improvements and team culture. At Virtua, "Cybersecurity is a team effort," Mr. Pullin writes. "From board trustees to frontline employees, everyone is held accountable for protecting the organization against cyberattacks."

Michael J. Reagin and Michael V. Gentry, FACHE, of Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Va., discuss the role of enterprise cybersecurity - walking readers through the essential integration of people, process, and technology involved in building a world-class cyber defense program. The authors write, "Partnering with a managed security services provider to build the key components of a program, rather than developing them completely in-house, can reduce costs and provide a higher level of expertise."

In a commentary, Dane C. Peterson and colleagues of Emory Healthcare in Atlanta point out that the costs of cyberattacks include real risks to patient safety and quality of care. One study reported a significant increase in a hospital's 30-day mortality rate for acute myocardial infarction, lasting for years after a cyberattack. The authors highlight key components of the cybersecurity strategies outlined by the feature articles:

Third-party risks - ensuring that vendors are also taking cybersecurity seriously
Value of multifactor identification in limiting "both the likelihood and impact of data breaches"
Staff training (and follow-up) in recognizing phishing scans and protecting passwords
Effective security staffing models, including the importance of internal and external collaboration
"Cyberleadership" and culture, including engagement of senior leaders in a cybersecurity oversight committee
Governance and financing challenges, including the role of a Board-level IT committee

Additional commentaries share perspectives from an insurer (Sean P. Murphy, FACHE, of Premera Blue Cross in Washington and Alaska) and a healthcare IT expert (Carla Smith of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Chicago).

The editors and contributors hope that the cybersecurity-focused issue of Frontiers will increase awareness of the vulnerability to cyberattacks at every level of the healthcare system. "Through organization-wide training, leaders can raise critical security consciousness, explain the various threats, develop and disseminate policies and procedures, emphasize the severe consequences of an attack, and convey shared responsibility," Trudy Land writes. "In cybersecurity, everyone is a stakeholder."

Expansive arterial remodeling (EAR) comprises a genetically programmed biological response designed to restore homeostatic levels of arterial wall stress after an increase in vessel flow load occurs. The magnitude and rate of EAR reactions relative to local hemodynamic stress fields and the tensile strength of vascular tissue determines whether the process will result in a stable mural structure (adaptive remodeling) or an unstable mural structure that progresses to form an aneurysm (maladaptive remodeling). A recent study published in Current Neurovascular Research reveals the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive and maladaptive remodeling of cerebral arteries for the first time.

In this study, investigators flow loaded the basilar artery in rats by performing bilateral carotid artery ligation. Flow induced changes in basilar artery morphometry and histology were correlated with changes in mRNA expression and protein expression. Flow induced alterations in mural structure and biology were revealed by comparison of flow loaded basilar arteries with basilar arteries from rats that underwent sham surgery. The adaptive and maladaptive remodeling responses were differentiated by comparing the results from an aneurysm prone inbred strain of rats to an aneurysm resistant inbred strain of rats. The study revealed 24 genes that were differentially expressed between strains in the absence of flow loading (resting state). More than half of these genes have previously been associated with pathological vascular phenotypes, and more than a third have specifically been associated with aneurysmal pathology.

Numerous flow-induced genes were revealed by this study, including a group of 8 genes that showed very strong flow induced expression conserved in both inbred strains. A group of 9 genes showed very strong flow induced expression with major differences between aneurysm prone inbred rats and the aneurysm resistant inbred rats. These genes are considered to play major roles in maladaptive cerebrovascular remodeling responses that lead to mural destabilization and cerebral aneurysm formation. Three of these genes including the Tgfb3, Ldha and Rgs16 genes have specifically been associated with aneurysmal pathology in prior studies.

The newly discovered maladaptive cerebrovascular remodeling genes revealed by this research may enable the development of new diagnostic biomarker tests for patients at increased risk of cerebral aneurysm formation. Such tests may be used to identify patients at risk for cerebral aneurysm formation at a very early stage. In such cases, it may be possible to stabilize or reverse the aneurysm forming process with targeted therapies before clinical complications occur. The products of maladaptive cerebrovascular remodeling genes may eventually prove to be high yield drug targets for targeted arterial wall stabilizing therapies. Such therapies may be particularly beneficial for individuals at high risk of aneurysm formation, including patients with severe hypertension, unilateral carotid artery occlusions, cerebral arteriovenous malformations and aneurysmal cerebral arteriopathies such as Tuberous Sclerosis, Alagille syndrome and Sickle cell disease.

During IndyCar races, pit stop crews will often refuel a car, replace wheels and complete minor repairs on a race car within 10 seconds. In this short time, a dozen or so people work rapidly and in a highly coordinated manner to complete a number of tasks with extraordinary efficiency.

But the efficiency and coordination of molecular pathways in our cells often surpass what a pit stop crew can achieve. Take for example, the events that happen in the eye when light hits the retina--millions of signals begin a cascade of molecular proportions within a second. At this rate, a retinal cell can run out of signaling molecules in just a few seconds. However, cellular processes of incredible efficiency keep the signaling system going by rapidly resynthesizing essential molecules.

How cells coordinate and achieve this phenomenon is a puzzle that Raghu Padinjat's team at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, has been studying for more than a decade. Now, the team has uncovered another piece of the signaling puzzle--they have identified a set of three proteins responsible for helping the pathway operate efficiently in cells.

Researchers from the group have shown that the enzyme PI4KIIIα (phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIα), along with the little-known proteins Efr3 and TTC7, are crucial for maintaining levels of the lipid molecule PIP2, on the surface membranes of cells, where it is vital for producing molecular messengers during cellular signaling.

The phospholipase C (PLC) pathway is a widely occurring signaling system in cells used to relay information in response to stimuli such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and even odors and light. For example, in the eyes, light falling on the surface membranes of retinal cells activates membrane-bound PLC which splits PIP2 into secondary messengers that transfer information within cells; this is the very first step of the signaling cascade that feeds into our sense of vision.

During this signaling process, PIP2 pools in the surface membranes of retinal cells are rapidly used up, and a constant resupply of the molecule is necessary to maintain the signaling system. In this, surface membrane levels of the molecule PI4P (phosphatidylinositol 4 phosphate) are crucial as PI4P is a key precursor for PIP2 synthesis. PI4P is in turn synthesized by phosphatidylinositol kinases (PI4Ks), of which there are 3 known forms--PI4KIIIα, PI4KIIIβ, and PI4KIIβ. Using the fruit fly, Drosophila, as a model, Padinjat's team has shown that PI4KIIIα is the isoform that maintains PI4P levels during signaling. Mutant flies with very low levels of this enzyme in their eyes show a very reduced response to light. This lack of response to light in PI4KIIIα-deficient flies was found to be due to PIP2 depletion at the surface membranes of the flies' retinal cells--this confirms the vital role of PI4KIIIα in maintaining PIP2 levels in the surface membranes of cells. In addition to this, the study has also found that PI4KIIIα works in conjunction with two other proteins, Efr3 and TTC7, to maintain PI4P levels. Much like the pit crew refueling cars during a race, Efr3, TTC7, and PI4KIIIα function together to rapidly refuel signaling cells with the required quantities of PIP2 to keep signaling going. The group's future work will focus on understanding how Efr3 and TTC7 work with PI4KIIIα to replenish PI4P and PIP2 levels during signaling.

"Genetic variations in one of the components of the complex, Efr3, have been linked to autism spectrum disorders in humans. Although neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism are an important health issue, the alterations in neural cell function in the brain that lead to such brain illnesses are poorly understood. Furthermore, the human brain is a very complex organ and understanding its function via simpler models such as Drosophila can provide a lot of information. This study may therefore provide insights into the molecular pathology underlying developmental disorders of human brain function," says Raghu Padinjat, who heads the research laboratory at NCBS that carried out this work.

In an interesting deviation from the normal methodologies, this work uses state-of-the art mass spectrometry (MS) to measure PI4P and PIP2 levels in the cells' membranes. "Usually, studies like ours use lipid-binding fluorescent probes to measure PI4P and PIP2 levels, but here, we have measured these low-abundance lipids using MS," says Sruthi Balakrishnan, who is the first author of a publication that describes these results. She also points out that MS offers quantitative data which complements fluorescence imaging-based methods that offer spatially resolved information.

"The availability of a state-of-the art central MS facility at NCBS has enabled us to obtain quantitative insights into the secrets of how this pathway works" adds Padinjat.

"Finding out that PI4KIIIα helps in maintaining surface-membrane PIP2 levels fills a major gap in our understanding of PIP2 metabolism and PLC signaling," says Balakrishnan. "Also, since the two processes are highly conserved across organisms, and occur in many cell types, our work in flies can actually tell us a lot about these pathways even in human cells," she adds.

It has long been assumed that the content of dreams can tell us something about the person's well-being. However, so far dream researchers have mostly studied the dreams of people suffering from various disorders and we know very little about the positive side of well-being: do happier people have happier dreams? Well-being researchers, on the other hand, have specifically studied happiness, but have neglected an important aspect of well-being - peace of mind.

- We wanted to address these important gaps in both dream and well-being research and to study how dream emotions are related to not only different aspects of waking ill-being, but also to different aspects of waking well-being, including peace of mind. In fact, this is the first study to look at how peace of mind relates to dream content, says Pilleriin Sikka, Doctoral Candidate in Psychology at the University of Turku and Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Skövde, and lead author of the article published in the Nature group journal Scientific Reports.

- Peace of mind is a state of inner peace and harmony, a more complex and durable state of well-being traditionally associated with happiness in the Eastern cultures, Sikka continues.

- Even though it has rarely been directly measured in studies of well-being, in several philosophical traditions and spiritual approaches, peace of mind has always been regarded as central to human flourishing, adds co-author Antti Revonsuo, Professor of Psychology at the University of Turku and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Skövde.

The researchers asked healthy participants to fill in a questionnaire that measured their waking ill-being and well-being. Then, during the following three weeks the participants kept a daily dream diary in which, every morning upon awakening, they reported all their dreams and rated the emotions they experienced in those dreams. Results showed that individuals with higher levels of peace of mind reported more positive dream emotions, whereas those with higher levels of anxiety reported more negative dream emotions.

These findings show that if we want to understand how dream content is related to waking well-being, it is not enough to measure only the symptoms of mental ill-being but we should measure well-being in its own right. Surprisingly, those aspects that are typically considered and measured as 'well-being' were not related to dream content. So there seems to be something unique about peace of mind and anxiety, Sikka explains.

The researchers propose that individuals with higher levels of peace of mind may be better able to regulate their emotions not only in the waking state but also during dreaming, whereas the opposite may be true for those with higher levels of anxiety.

In future studies we should explore whether better emotion regulation capacity, and self-control in general, is indeed something that characterises people with higher levels of peace of mind, and whether improving such skills can also lead to more peace of mind, Sikka concludes.

DES PLAINES, IL -- Sociodemographic risk adjustment of emergency care-sensitive mortality improves apparent performance of some hospitals treating a large number of nonwhite, Hispanic, or poor patients. That is the finding of a study published in the August 2018 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

The lead author of the study is Kimon L. H. Ioannides MD, Senior Emergency Medicine Resident at Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia.

The study, by Ioannides et al, demonstrate substantial potential financial benefits from sociodemographic adjustment for safety net hospitals taking care of vulnerable patients. Within the broader debate about the role of safety net hospitals, the findings also provide key evidence on potential effects of payment reform on nonemergency care and on hospital markets more generally.

Ioannides et al recommend including sociodemographic adjustment in payment models to avert harm to safety net hospitals and vulnerable patients, but caution that close monitoring, reporting of adjustment trends (including other comorbidities), and robust data transparency (including rankings stratified by sociodemographics) are required to avoid exploitation of these adjustments.

Lynne D. Richardson, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Professor of Population Health Science and Policy, and System Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, commented:

"This analysis by Ioannides et al adds to the growing evidence that traditional approaches to risk adjustment do not adequately account for the impact of persistent and pervasive societal inequities on observed health outcomes. We must continue to refine and improve the quality metrics used to evaluate hospital and physician performance by integrating important social determinants of health into our risk adjustment models."

Disruptive noise is almost everywhere, from people talking in the office corridor to road construction down the street to the neighbor's lawn mower. Research being conducted at the University of Illinois' Coordinated Science Laboratory is looking to improve this noisy frustration.

Current noise cancelling technology comes in the form of headphones and earbuds. To cancel noise, these headphones emit an anti-noise signal to contrast the external sounds. The time available for the headphones to produce this anti-noise signal is extremely short. This results in some noise getting through, which is why all these devices must cover the entire ear with noise-canceling material. However, wearing such ear-blocking devices for long periods of time is not comfortable, and can even be harmful.

"Our goal is to not block the ear canal," said Sheng Shen, lead author and a Ph.D. candidate in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). "We envision a behind-the-ear device that still achieves noise cancellation as good as the best headphones or earbuds available today."

The main idea behind this research involves combining wireless IoT networks with noise cancellation. A microphone is placed in the environment that senses sounds and sends them over wireless signals to an earpiece. Since wireless signals travel a million times faster than sound, the earphone can receive the sound information much faster than the actual sound itself.

"This is similar to lightning and thunder -- the lightning arrives much before the thunder, allowing people to prepare for the loud rumble," said Shen's advisor, Romit Roy Choudhury, an ECE Professor. "Similarly, our ear device gets the sound information in advance, and has much more time to produce a better anti-noise signal."

The figure below (and the attached video) shows an example of how this technology would work. The person who wants to cancel noise (Alice) would place the IoT microphone away from her, say on her office door. The noise from her coworkers' conversation in the hallway is picked up by this IoT device and transmitted to Alice's earpiece over a wireless connection. The actual sound arrives at the earpiece later, and because of this lead time, the noise can be fully canceled. As a result, it is no longer necessary to block the ear canal.

There are however, a few limitations. The IoT microphone needs to be between the noise source and Alice. If noise is coming at her from all directions, a couple more IoT devices would need to be placed around her. In tests conducted during the research, the device designed by
Shen and Choudhury's group outperformed a leading headphone in overall noise cancellation and was rated better by the human participants.

When asked about the potential privacy concerns involved with the device, Shen nullified some of the most common fears.

"The most common privacy concern is that the device will secretly record someone's voice," Shen said. "This device is analog, so it has no capacity to record the sound. The moment the device hears the sound it is sent out wirelessly."

This differentiation is what separates Shen's device from many IoT devices commonly used today, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, which must record voice samples in order to operate.

Shen and his colleagues are already receiving attention for their work. The research paper about the project was recently selected for presentation at the upcoming Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Data Communication (ACM SIGCOMM) Conference which takes place in Budapest, Hungary, in late August. The conference brings together global researchers across the field of computer networking and communications.

"This is bound to change the way we think of noise cancellation, where networks of IoT sensors coordinate to enable quieter and more comfortable environments," said ECE Assistant Professor Haitham Hassanieh, who is a co-author on this paper. Other co-authors include Nirupam Roy and Junfeng Guan, both ECE Ph.D. students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Looking forward, the team would like to expand the use of their device to provide noise cancellation for more than one individual at a time and make the wearable device even lighter for continuous use.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Growing numbers of families in China are sending their teens on college tours in other countries, creating a potentially lucrative market sector for universities, college towns and tourism-related businesses, a new study suggests.

While the itineraries of these study tours used to concentrate on the Ivy League schools and their peers scattered along the East and West coasts of the U.S., intense competition for admission and rising tuition costs are prompting more Chinese students to look beyond the ivies to the highly ranked public universities in the Midwest, said lead author Joy Huang, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois.

"These short-term overseas tours and summer camps are a very important market for the tourist industry in the Midwest," Huang said. "They are also a very good recruiting tool for universities and a way to 'audition' potential foreign students - who usually pay much higher tuition than domestic students."

In 2013, more than 300,000 young people from China participated in overseas study tours. But by summer 2015, the number of Chinese teens who traveled abroad on these types of trips grew to more than 500,000 annually, according to the study.

Organized by travel agencies and high schools, the two- to four-week trips to the U.S. and other developed countries typically cost Chinese families $5,000-$8,000.

Huang co-wrote the study with Qian Li, then a doctoral student at the U. of I. Their paper appears in the Journal of China Tourism Research.

To learn more about why Chinese teens participate in the tours and the factors that influence families' decisions to send their children on these excursions, the researchers interviewed 30 Chinese adolescents who had traveled on a group study tour within the prior three years and 20 of their parents.

Similar to the grand tours undertaken by wealthy young men in ancient Europe, the study tours typically include sightseeing and an assortment of educational and cultural enrichment experiences as well as social and recreational activities, Huang said.

China's integration into the global economy has given rise to a rapidly growing middle class that is curious about other cultures and perspectives and eager to expand their children's knowledge beyond the Chinese educational system's test-focused curriculum, she said.

The parents interviewed said they hoped that going on the study trip would enrich their children's educational and life experience, and foster "global perspectives" that would enhance their competitiveness in the job market after college. Accordingly, the youths said they were motivated by their desire to learn about other cultures, to experience daily life in other countries and improve their English language skills.

With many of the parents' own college aspirations derailed by China's Cultural Revolution, they sought to fulfill those dreams vicariously by pushing their children to attend colleges in the U.S. and other countries, which they perceived as being more prestigious than the postsecondary institutions in China, Huang said.

Their children were among the generations born under China's one-child family planning policy, which began in 1979 and was phased out in 2016.

Among China's well-educated and more prosperous families, the one-child policy and exposure to Western cultural values has produced child-centered families in which the parent-child relationships are more egalitarian than in traditional Chinese culture, Huang and Li found.

"Several adolescents - and some parents - indicated that they hoped the study tours, which were the youths' first trips without their parents in tow, would foster greater independence" and prepare them for college life, Huang said. "The teens thought it was important to learn how to socialize and communicate with other people in new environments."

While much of the research on Chinese outbound tourists takes a "mass-market perspective, viewing all Chinese as a homogenous group, travel agencies and tourist destinations need to recognize the heterogeneity that exists among these travelers and adapt their products and marketing messages to these audience members' differing perspectives," Huang said.

She suggested that tourist agencies and universities that want to appeal to college-bound Chinese teens offer diverse itineraries with a mix of educational, social and recreational activities that immerse visiting teens in campus life. The itinerary might include attending classes and sporting events, hosting talks that enable visitors to ask questions of current students and housing the visiting teens in college residence halls.

Marketing campaigns aimed at the parents of these teens, however, should highlight the educational benefits and career opportunities available to students who attend the colleges they will visit, Huang said.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a way to stop immune cell death associated with multiple diseases, including sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and arthritis.

The findings, published in Science Immunology, identify a chemical that potently inhibits inflammatory cell death. Cells often perforate their own membranes in response to extreme inflammation--a type of cell suicide known as pyroptosis. In human cells and animal models, the chemical prevents these deadly holes from forming inside cell membranes. This is a new pharmacologic approach to stopping this destructive process.

"To date, there has been no pharmacologic mechanism to directly inhibit pyroptotic pore formation," said Derek Abbott, MD, PhD, Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, whose lab performed the work. "We knew necrosulfonamide inhibited another type of pore formation and had a hunch it might work against pyroptosis, too. We found necrosulfonamide is effective in our sepsis models, and could be effective to treat diseases worsened by inflammation."

In the new study, mice treated with the chemical necrosulfonamide survived longer than untreated mice, after exposure to bacterial proteins that cause inflammation. The results suggest the chemical alleviates extreme, harmful inflammation associated with bacterial sepsis. Necrosulfonamide has never before been studied as a pharmacologic agent.

Pyroptosis is part of a vicious cycle in many diseases. As dying cells poke holes in their membranes, they leak molecules that recruit more immune cells. The sudden influx of new cells also initiates cell death, and another round of pyroptosis occurs. Chronic inflammation can result, including the type that underlies arthritis and IBD. Abbott, who is also a professor of pathology and Co-Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and his team sought a way to stop pyroptosis while preserving other necessary immune cell functions.

The researchers tested necrosulfonamide by adding it to human cells growing in their laboratory. Even in the face of inflammatory triggers, like bacteria, immune cells exposed to the chemical remained intact. They did not leak dyes or other molecules, and still sent signals to other cells as part of normal, healthy function.

The new study also describes how necrosulfonamide works inside cells. Abbott's team used biochemical analyses to show it directly attaches to gasdermin D--a protein that destroys cell membranes. During pyroptosis, long chains of gasdermin D aggregate inside cell membranes, forming pores. Necrosulfonamide physically gets in the way of this process. With the large chemical attached to it, gasdermin D can't aggregate.

The researchers studied different gasdermin D variations to pinpoint the exact location where necrosulfonamide attaches. They found it attaches to regions where gasdermin D proteins connect to each other. The specific attachment mechanism differs from how the chemical inhibits enzymes involved in other types of cell death.

"Our results suggest gasdermin D inhibitors are clinically possible," said Joseph Rathkey, first author on the study and student in the MSTP at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. "We've provided proof of principle that destructive pore formation can be inhibited, and that gasdermin D is a viable pharmaceutical target." He says the "high therapeutic potential" of chemicals like necrosulfonamide could inform future studies in humans.

Leishmania is a microorganism that enters the human body via a sandfly bite. Instead of fleeing the white blood cells deployed by the immune system to destroy it, the parasite allows itself to be swallowed up. In doing so, Leishmania has developed the ideal strategy for continuing its life cycle, threatening the health of over 500 million people at risk of crossing its path in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Leishmaniasis, the disease caused by the parasite, has been on the radar of scientists for a long time, not only because of efforts to find treatment, but because the parasite makes an ideal model for study. Hence, numerous immune mechanisms have been elucidated by researchers thanks to the disease, including at INRS. However, the quest for affordable and effective treatment continues. INRS professors Albert Descoteaux and Steven LaPlante have developed a new, cost-effective strategy to rapidly identify molecules capable of eliminating Leishmania, a disease which can disfigure, disable, or kill its victims, especially in tropical areas.

A DISEASE AFFECTING NUMEROUS SPECIES

"I have been studying this parasite for 30 years, and there is still a lot we do not understand," says parasitologist Albert Descoteaux, who works to uncover the secrets of Leishmania, a genus encompassing some 20 single-celled species. In addition to its human victims, the parasite also targets some 70 other mammal species, according to the World Health Organization. Leishmania moves from an host to another by hitching a ride with tiny phlebotomine sandflies, which transmit the undesirable parasite when they bite.

According to the most recent estimates, 12 million people are currently affected by one form of leishmaniasis or another. There are three main forms: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral. "These are diseases that destroy lives--when they do not kill outright," stresses Professor Descoteaux, adding that the pharmaceutical companies have little interest in developing treatments. "There is little commercial interest in neglected tropical diseases like leishmaniasis," he points out. "It is the second-leading parasitic killer in the world, right behind malaria, yet there has been no real headway made on treatments in decades. There is currently no effective vaccine, and the available treatments all have major shortcomings, including serious side effects, high cost, and problems administering them in endemic areas." He pauses before adding, "Unfortunately, as is the case with many other drugs, the parasite is also developing resistance. That is never good news."

Albert Descoteaux, who is based at Centre INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, is one of five INRS professors currently working on leishmaniasis. Their efforts to better understand the fundamental interaction between the parasite and its host account for one-third of all research activity on the disease in Canada, and their work is recognized worldwide.

Professor Steven LaPlante, who has been with INRS since 2015, specializes in drug discovery. With his colleague Albert Descoteaux, he has developed a project to identify new molecules that show promise for treating leishmaniasis. Their innovative approach is raising hopes of finding a more effective tool for developing drugs for leishmaniasis, but also for many other diseases.

THE CHALLENGE OF FINDING THE RIGHT TARGET

Having evolved its tactics and molecular machinery over millions of years, Leishmania has more than one trick up its sleeve. This is why there are so many obstacles to identifying molecules capable of eliminating the disease. For one thing, unicellular protists like Leishmania have more in common with mammal cells than with bacteria and viruses. "Like fungus, yeast, and worms, Leishmania are complex cells with a nucleus, and they have similarities to human cells," notes the professor. "But they have taken a different evolutionary path, so there are lots of differences we need to identify and understand."

Second, delivering a useful molecule to the parasite is a challenge. "Before it can kill Leishmania, the drug has to get past all kinds of barriers," explains LaPlante." It has to penetrate the infected cell without killing it or being too toxic. Then it has to reach and enter the protist to do its thing. Let's just say that there are a lot of molecules to test before we find the right one for the job!"

Testing a lot of molecules is exactly the approach used by most researchers in the drug discovery process, but it takes extensive resources. Unfortunately, in the fight against leishmaniasis, there is little financial incentive for funding this kind of work. Yet given the prevalence of the disease worldwide, there are numerous calls for urgent action to find new treatments.

A PROMISING NEW APPROACH

This is the context in which the two INRS researchers joined forces, drawing on their combined expertise in biology (Albert Descoteaux) and medicinal chemistry (Steven LaPlante). LaPlante has access to a special small-molecule library from which he selected 1,604 molecules that had the best chances of reaching Leishmania in the macrophages and preventing it from completing its life cycle. Compared to the molecule libraries maintained by pharmaceutical companies--which can hold up to two million molecules--his library represents a very modest number but have special properties which makes it easily manageable within the confines of a university research lab.

"We dubbed our approach Fragment-Based Phenotypic Lead Discovery, or FPLD," says Professor LaPlante. "It's a combination of tried and tested methods that hadn't previously been adapted for leishmaniasis. We start by administering very small molecules to cultured cells and then observe the impact on the infection."

In medicinal chemistry, several phases are required to develop a drug with multiple characteristics. The ideal molecule for fighting an infection should be non-toxic to humans, easy to administer, capable of reaching the infectious agent, affordable to produce, and, obviously, effective against the pathogen in question.

As is the case when designing any everyday object, different components of a drug are selected to perform different jobs. The components in question are molecular fragments. The goal of the two INRS professors was to identify which of these could stop Leishmania in its tracks. The idea is that effective fragments can be combined with other components serving various purposes--stability, delivery, absorption, and so on--to improve efficacy and end up with a viable drug.

"We've been very fortunate to be able to rely on our collaborator NMX Research and Solutions Inc. and General Manager François Bilodeau who donated all the molecules we needed for our study. It's a huge contribution," notes Professor LaPlante. NMX designed the molecular fragments at the INRS business incubator, where the young startup is based.

A PAINSTAKING JOB

Yann Ayotte, lead author on the study recently published on the project, systematically--and very patiently--observed cultures treated with the fragments under the microscope, counting the number of parasites in the infected cells in order to compare them. The PhD student, who is currently continuing his research in Professor LaPlante's lab, first joined the project as an intern in Albert Descoteaux's lab at the end of his undergraduate degree. The two professors are quick to praise his outstanding dedication to his work.

After numerous experiments, the highly targeted screening of a small number of molecules allowed the team to identify two families of molecules showing high efficacy against Leishmania: indole and indazole derivatives. A dozen molecules have shown good potential, a very high number compared to other screening techniques.

Is there a new drug on the horizon? "For now, we are still at the very beginning of the process," says Professor Descoteaux. "And you can't skip any steps!" adds LaPlante. First, it's essential to understand why the molecules have a leishmanicidal effect, a task that will keep Professor Descoteaux busy for a good while yet. In the mean time, the active molecule can be improved upon and "dressed up" with other appendages in order to fulfil all the criteria of an effective treatment--a job for Professor LaPlante and his team.

A BROADER VISION

For Steven LaPlante, the most successful aspect of the project so far has been to show that a university lab can help identify potential new avenues for treatment. Pharmaceutical research does not cover all diseases or types of intervention, and from this perspective, academia can also play an important role.

The work of the team garnered enough enthusiasm that the journal ChemMedChem, published by ChemPubSoc Europe, a partnership of European chemical societies, rated it as a "Very Important Paper" and put it on the cover of the issue in which it appeared.

What will the study on the modes of action of the molecules identified at INRS reveal? "Research on Leishmania has lifted the veil on several properties of immune system we would not have been able to observe any other way," affirms Professor Descoteaux. "Every time there is a new avenue to explore, we add to our knowledge on the immune system and on the biology of this parasite. Even if a new drug is still a long way away, these molecules will help us hone our understanding of the disease, which will keep us busy for years to come." ?

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A new Michigan State University study has found that a malfunctioning gene associated with a common arthritic disease that often starts in teenagers is now directly linked to the loss of vital immune cells that may prevent it.

Endoplasmic Reticulum Aminopeptidase 1, or ERAP1, is a gene widely known to be associated with the debilitating disease ankylosing spondylitis. Also known as AS, the autoimmune disorder affects millions worldwide, mostly developing in the hips and spines of those as young as 17 years old and lasting throughout life.

But how changes in the gene result in the condition has remained somewhat of a mystery.

The federally funded study, now published in the journal Scientific Reports, puts scientists a step closer to uncovering just what role the gene plays in affecting the immune system.

"We've demonstrated in mice that loss of proper ERAP1 activity correlates with loss of certain immune cells called Tr1s, which we know are directly responsible for controlling excessive immune responses that can attack healthy tissue and cells," said Andrea Amalfitano, an Osteopathic Heritage Foundation professor who led the study with Yuliya Pepelyayeva, a doctoral student in MSU's microbiology and molecular genetics program. "Our finding allows us to zero in on the role the gene and Tr1 cells have in AS."

In the case of autoimmune disorders, the immune system can no longer tell the difference between good, healthy cells and bad, diseased cells. This often results in an extreme immune reaction where the body starts to overcompensate and attack itself.

Because of this response, patients with AS experience bony fusions between the joints of the pelvis and spine, which cause chronic pain and disability. They also can suffer from other health issues including problems with the gut and intestine.

"We know that Tr1 cells are implicated in digestive issues such as inflammatory bowel disease, and it's possible that the reduction of these cells is responsible for the increased inflammatory responses we saw in mice and is associated with ankylosing spondylitis as well," Pepelyayeva said.

With this new insight, both researchers are now testing cells in human blood samples and will move to human trials in the coming years to see if their findings are consistent.

"There's more work to be done, but a new immunotherapy treatment where more Tr1 cells are infused back into the patient, ultimately correcting the deficiency, could be a possibility," Pepelyayeva said.

This new treatment, she added, would potentially help regulate the way the immune system responds and might correct any inflammation in the spine and spinal fusions.

Amalfitano also indicated that scientists can now focus on this potential relationship between gene and immune cell and look at it as a possible cause of not just AS, but several other autoimmune diseases, too.

The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

Throughout the alluvial plains of Amazonia, there are immense forests that are flooded for almost half the year. These Amazonian wetlands encompass a wide array of types of vegetation in or near stream gullies, including blackwater (igapó) and whitewater (várzea) inundation forest, swamp (pântano), white sand savanna (campina), and mangrove (mangue) types.

According to a new study, the region's wetlands are inhabited by 3,615 tree species--three times more than previously estimated, making these the world's most diverse wetland forests in terms of tree species richness.

The study was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP and performed under the aegis of FAPESP's Research Program on Biodiversity Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (BIOTA-FAPESP). The results published in the journal PLOS ONE include the most comprehensive list of wetland tree species produced to date.

The authors compiled data available from tree inventories and botanical collections covering the nine countries spanned by the Amazon Basin.

"The list with the names of all the species is the main contribution made by this survey, which is open access. It will serve as a basis for future studies to fill the gap in botanical knowledge of the region's wetlands, especially on tributaries of the Solimões and Amazon rivers. If there were more inventories, the number of species could quickly triple again," said Bruno Garcia Luize, first author of the article and a doctoral researcher at São Paulo State University's Bioscience Institute (IB-UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil, who has a scholarship from FAPESP.

The number of species is threefold the number inventoried by previous researchers because the area covered by this study was larger, and more habitats were included.

"Prior studies focused only on whitewater inundation forests and floodplains. We included data for blackwater inundation forests, white sand savannas and mangroves, for example. Additionally, there is a very strong bias toward the Solimões-Amazon river system. We were able to add data for important effluents extracted from rare inventories of forests along the Purus, Juruá and Madeira, among others," Luize said.

For the researchers, the large number of tree species shows the importance of the role played by wetlands in creating and maintaining biodiversity in Amazonia. "This role has traditionally been assigned to the Andes, given the climate gradient there, but the fact that we found almost all families and genera to be well distributed, with species capable of colonizing wetland areas, suggests this ecosystem has been involved in the diversification process for a long time," said Thiago Sanna Freire Silva, a professor in São Paulo State University's Geography Department and coprincipal investigator of the project.

The hard lives of trees

The climate in Amazonia's wetland forests is distinctly seasonal, with fluctuations between dry periods and heavy rain leading to floods, during which the trees may be under water by as much as 8 meters. Wetland habitats can therefore be considered environmental filters that select individuals and species capable of tolerating recurrent flooding and drought during their lifespan.

"It's an incredibly beautiful environment," Luize said. "Blackwater inundation forests, for example, are among the most emblematic images of Amazonia. Tree embryos are submerged for four or five months while they develop. Moreover, monkeys swing through the tree crowns, and the pink river dolphin [Inia geoffrensis] feeds on fish deep in the forest."

Despite the difficult hydrological regimen, the Amazonian wetland tree species currently inventoried account for 53% of all the 6,727 tree species thus far confirmed for the entire Amazon region, according to the latest study.

For the researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP), the high proportion of trees in wetlands corresponding to 30% of Amazonia's 7 million square kilometers is due to interchange between wetland and upland forest habitats.

Submerged tree roots can rot, and underwater respiration is difficult. "Flooded areas require a different tree metabolism," Luize said. "Some upland or terra firme species are able to tolerate inundation conditions, but studies have shown that populations in the different environments don't manage the same performance. Basically, this means that if you plant a seed from an upland species in a flooded area, it probably won't thrive and vice versa."

This difference suggests either that physiological adjustment occurs during the life of a tree or that the populations found in wetland areas have adapted to that environment. "As a result, we reach an extreme in which species are exclusive to wetland areas or only occur in upland areas," added the FAPESP scholarship holder.

Variations in variations

The duration of flooding in wetland areas varies considerably from one year to the next. "When floods last less and are less intense, the composition of the tree species pool resembles that found in upland areas. However, once these species have developed flood tolerance, even if it is initially a low level of tolerance, the flood provides an opportunity for them to colonize new waterlogged areas. This can lead to specialization in wetlands by some individuals, which become different from upland individuals," Freire Silva said.

Trees may become increasingly flood tolerant or evolve new forms of seed dispersal via water or fish. "Species diversity grows over thousands of years, increasing the variety of niches available," he noted.

South America is considered the region with the largest area of wetlands, a vital ecosystem for the planet's freshwater balance. The researchers stressed the importance of a better understanding of the variations in metabolic and physiological characteristics of both wetland and upland tree species.

"This is a point we need to investigate in more depth, but there are studies that show the effects of dry and wet seasons on forest productivity and on the carbon source-sink balance--the uptake and release of carbon from or into the atmosphere," Luize said. "Tolerance of hydrological extremes, from drought to flood and back again, is a characteristic of floodable trees. It's important to understand these swings and exchanges on the scale of the basin as a whole."

WASHINGTON (Aug. 23, 2018)--Social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, according to new research led by the George Washington University. Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 United States presidential election, these Twitter accounts entered into vaccine debates months before election season was underway. The study, "Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate" was published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, examined thousands of tweets sent between July 2014 and September 2017. It discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the U.S. election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeted about vaccines and skewed online health communications.

"The vast majority of Americans believe vaccines are safe and effective, but looking at Twitter gives the impression that there is a lot of debate. It turns out that many anti-vaccine tweets come from accounts whose provenance is unclear. These might be bots, human users or 'cyborgs' -- hacked accounts that are sometimes taken over by bots. Although it's impossible to know exactly how many tweets were generated by bots and trolls, our findings suggest that a significant portion of the online discourse about vaccines may be generated by malicious actors with a range of hidden agendas," David Broniatowski, an assistant professor in GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science, said.

For example, the researchers found that "content polluters" -- bot accounts that distribute malware, unsolicited commercial content and disruptive materials -- shared anti-vaccination messages 75 percent more than average Twitter users.

"Content polluters seem to use anti-vaccine messages as bait to entice their followers to click on advertisements and links to malicious websites. Ironically, content that promotes exposure to biological viruses may also promote exposure to computer viruses," Sandra Crouse Quinn, a research team member and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, said.

Russian trolls and more sophisticated bot accounts used a different tactic, posting equal amounts of pro- and anti-vaccination tweets. Dr. Broniatowski's team reviewed more than 250 tweets about vaccination sent by accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian government-backed company recently indicted by a U.S. grand jury because of its attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections. The researchers found the tweets used polarizing language linking vaccination to controversial issues in American society, such as racial and economic disparities.

"These trolls seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," Mark Dredze, a team member and professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins, said. "However, by playing both sides, they erode public trust in vaccination, exposing us all to the risk of infectious diseases. Viruses don't respect national boundaries."