Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

What you need to know about 13 common mask types – Webster County Citizen

Every day, we seem to have more scientific data about what type of actions best protect us (and others) from COVID-19. When scientists look at the effectiveness of masks, they consider both the safety of the wearer and those around them. Some of the latest insights are from an August 2020 study by researchers from Duke Universitys physics department, who looked at the capacity of 14 face coverings and a no-mask control to minimize transmission of respiratory droplets when the wearer was speaking.

The researchers used a simple, low-cost measurement of the effectiveness of different facemask types, and focused primarily on the effectiveness of the testing method, rather than the impact of specific masks in avoiding COVID-19 infection. The study used a proven optical measurement method: an enclosure into which subjects could speak, outfitted with a green laser light that illuminated droplets and a cell phone camera that allowed the team to capture video and count droplets via a simple algorithm.

The tests looked at droplet transmission only when the subject was speaking and not other methods of transmission such as coughing or sneezing. The study had a sample size of only one for all masks, and only four for some of the masks (very uncommon in scientific research), and the team stressed that inter-subject variations are to be expected, for example due to difference in physiology, mask fit, head position, speech pattern, and such.

More research on this topic is necessary to definitively say which masks are most effective, particularly in the realm of cloth and other types of homemade masks. However, Stacker has found this study to be a useful jumping-off point for discussing 13 common masks and other covering types used by Americans across the country. The masks tested in the Duke University study are organized in this story from least protective to most protective, according to the studys results. Our slideshow excludes the no-mask control from the study.

Continue reading to learn more about the latest research on this topic.

You may also like: Biggest sources of stress for today's adults

More here:
What you need to know about 13 common mask types - Webster County Citizen

Physiology

Why more heatwaves endanger our health and ability to work – Horizon magazine

It's actually quite easy for us to point out the problem we have increasing temperatures, increasing frequency of heatwavesit affects our physical and cognitive performance, said Lars Nybo, a professor of integrative physiology from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is working on a project called HEAT-SHIELD designed to examine the effects of heat exposure on worker productivity in industrial sectors that employhalf of Europes workforce: manufacturing, construction, transportation, tourism, and agriculture.

Precipitated by a series of heatwaves, 2019 was thehottest year ever recorded in Europe. Over the past five years, mean temperatures in the continent are averaging almost 2C warmer than pre-industrial figures,a worrying sign for the achievementof the Paris climateagreement to keep global mean temperatureincreases well below2C.

Data from the project suggestthat exposure to external heat in combination with physical activity, which elevates the bodys production of heat, can result in physiological changes that can diminish occupational performance, via reduced working endurance, vision, motor coordination and concentration. This can lead to more mistakes as well as injuries.

Roughly 70% of all European workers, at some time during the working day, are not optimally hydrated, Prof. Nybo said. The solution to the problem, he adds, is intuitive: drink water, replace electrolytes and reduce physical activity, but implementing these measures whilst maintaining productivity is where things get tricky.

You could just say to the worker stay at home and drink cold margaritas in the shadow to prevent heat stress, he joked. But that will not help productivity.

Productivity

As coordinator of HEAT-SHIELD, Prof. Nybo and his team are tasked with not just assessing the extent of the problem modelling the expected rise in temperature in Europe in the coming years and its impact on worker productivity but also devising and implementing solutions that are location and vocation specific to adjust to the inevitable increases in temperature.

A construction worker wears a safety helmet, which impairs the bodys ability to purge heat, but the worker thinks this problem cannot be solved because it is intrinsic to their work, Prof. Nybo notes.

Surmounting challenges like this is one of the key objectives of the project conceiving ways to weave in heat mitigation strategies alongside the practicalities of the job.

For instance, outdoor workers should be vigilant of weather patterns and plan work earlier in the day during periods of extreme heat, take a short break every hour and secure easy access to water. Similar remedies for workers in enclosed settings could mean a combination of air conditioning, working in shade and improving ventilation keeping in mind the ecological footprint of such measures.

But on a macro level, for climate change policymakers to take concrete action here and now the numbers are key, Prof. Nybo says.

In Europe, agricultural and construction workers for instance, lose some 15% of effective working time when the temperature goes beyond 30C, which works out to almost one working day per week, he notes, citing HEAT-SHIELD analyses.

If you are a policymaker, he says, the numbers show that theres an incentive to act now: if you mitigate the problem the cost will stabilise at a lower level in the long run than if you dont.

Excessive heat

Diminished worker productivity and the downstream economic damage are prominent impacts of rising temperatures caused by climate change. But to get a full picture of the consequences, its necessary to understand what excessive heat does to the human body.

It can damage organs such as the heart and the lungs, exacerbate a range of diseases, and increase the risk of death.

Extreme heat can increasethe occurrence of heart attacksand strokes in susceptible patients due to increased blood viscosity, and raise the risk of cardiovascular death in vulnerable patients. Hot, humid days can also triggerasthma symptomsand have been shown to increase airway resistance, while warmer climates tend to extend the pollen season.

Another side effect of rising temperatures is the association with air pollution the largest environmental killer in Europe,causing roughly 500,000 premature deaths annually.

Observational data and modelling suggest that as it gets warmer, air pollution levels particularly surface ozone gas (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) increase in some populated regions, even whenemissions of air pollutants have not risen, as well as create conditions favourable for forest fires.

Both extreme heat and air pollution raise the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease, which currently costs the European Union anestimated 600bna year.If these environmental stressors continue to accumulate unabated, these costs could jump.

We think there are reasons to believe that being able to comply with a Paris agreement will save very many lives and reduce human suffering.

Dr Kristin Aunan, Center for International Climate Research, Norway

Projections

But the synergistic relationship between air pollutants and rising temperatures is not well understood and existing health-risk projections in Europe do not properly account for adaptive measures that can be taken to ameliorate associated health risks, according to Dr Kristin Aunan, a senior researcher at the Norway-based Center for International Climate Research.

There's quite a lot of literature on short-term impact in terms of the day-to-day variation on the impact of heat stress on mortality but when it comes to long-term impact, there is not a lot of information, she said.

As part of a project calledEXHAUSTIONthat kicked off last year, researchers including project coordinator Dr Aunan, are focused on quantifying the risks of cardiopulmonary disease in different temperatures.

The project is also working on identifying interventions to minimise the risks to health sparked by environmental stressors and demystifying the link between air pollution and temperature hikes.

Quantifying the cascading effect of cardiopulmonary diseases on the economy is key to affecting action on climate change, she suggests.

EXHAUSTION researchers, for instance, are devising a macro-economic model that tracks increased hospitalisation and mortality in different age groups to measure the impact on the broader economy in different European countries. We also have a bottom-up model where you put a price on every premature death or hospital admission and add up to estimate the economic cost.

One of the main questions the researchers hope to answer is the magnitude of impact limiting temperature spikes to 1.5C the aim of the Paris climate agreement will have on health.

I have no answer to that today but the reason why were doing this projectis that we think there are reasons to believe that being able to comply with a Paris agreement will save very many lives and reduce human suffering, Dr Aunan said.

When you discuss climate policy and discuss the costs of it its very expensive to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, etc. But you also need to consider the benefits and that's what we are doing with this project hoping that we can contribute to the other side of the coin.

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

Read more:
Why more heatwaves endanger our health and ability to work - Horizon magazine

Physiology

How an ultra-fast screening test and a team of contact tracers aim to keep campus safe – CU Boulder Today

A CU Boulder athlete spits into a tube as part of a new, 45-minute screening test for COVID-19. (Credit: CU Boulder)

Watch the webinar series

CU Boulder researchers, including Sara Sawyer and Matthew McQueen, took part in a series of webinars focusing on how the campus is preparing for the fall semester.

See the recordings

Incoming Buffs moving to campus next week will be among the first to access a new 45-minute COVID-19 test aimed at identifying asymptomatic individuals before they can spread the virus.

Before ever entering a residence hall, theyll spit in a tube, close the lid, hand it over to a gloved and masked volunteerand wait.

The idea is that if we can keep unknowingly infected students from ever stepping into the dorm on the first day, many of those transmission chains that would have started will not start, said Professor Sara Sawyer, whose team of virologists began work on the so-called RT-LAMP test shortly after word of the novel coronavirus began to make headlines. Its an incredible feeling to see something developed in our own lab now out in the world helping people.

The new test is just the first step in a unique, multi-pronged campus surveillance program being built from the ground up by CU Boulder scientists and staff members.

To work around national bottlenecks that have kept patients in some areas of the country waiting weeks for COVID-19 test results, biochemists at the BioFrontiers Institute have also developed a version of the more sensitive nasal-swab test known as PCR (Polymerase chain reaction).

Meanwhile, epidemiologists from the CU Boulder Department of Integrative Physiology have amassed a team of contact tracers, including about 80 students who are doing it for course credit. Theyll assist fellow students who test positive and help notify those they may have exposed.

A number of people on campus recognized very early on that, in order to avoid the problems associated with commercial testing and overburdened public health agencies, we needed to develop the capacity to do some things on our own, said Roy Parker, director of the BioFrontiers Institute, a biomedical research facility that will house two new testing labs. The community effort among scientists across this campus ever since has been awe-inspiring.

When more than 7,500 first-year students arrive next week, those who havent been tested or who are still awaiting results will begin their day with not one but two tests developed and processed at no cost to the student.

First, theyll spit in a tube. Then, theyll scrape a swab across the inside of each nostril. Finally, theyll hand off their samples to a team of students, postdoctoral researchers or EMTs-in- training who will whisk the samples away for processing.

A mobile lab screen newcomers to the CU Boulder campus for COVID-19. (Credit: CU Boulder)

Each test has its pros and cons.

The saliva test, based on a technology known as reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), requires little more than pipettes, a heating source and an enzyme mixture that changes color when it interacts with bits of the viruss genome. If the sample turns from pink to yellow, the test is positive. If it doesnt, its negative.

Results can be returned in as little as 45 minutes.

The PCR test uses more sophisticated equipmentthe now ubiquitous nasal swabto amplify and detect viral DNA from the sample.

It is FDA approved so you can give a clinical diagnosis, and it is slightly more sensitive, but the disadvantage is that it is expensive to run and takes more time and more staff, said Parker, pointing to nine- to 14-day waits and $100 price tags at labs around the country.

The CU Boulder effort is designed to return results, even for the PCR tests, within 24 hours.

Because the new saliva test is cheap, fast, easily scalable and deployable just about anywhere think factories, homeless shelters, school campusesit holds great promise as a triaging tool to find the occasional needle in a haystack of asymptomatic people, said Sawyer. Her team is currently working with the state of Colorado to further validate the test and make it more broadly available.

The researchers say its unlikely that a student would get a positive result on the saliva screening test and then test negative on the diagnostic nasal swab test.

But to cover all bases and get a sense of how the tests compare, CU Boulder will give incoming students both tests.

Our campus is going to be one of the first places in the country where mass screening of healthy people is being undertaken with two tests on a broad scale, said Sawyer. While students wait their 24 hours to get their diagnostic test, they can get a quick read-out that lets them know they should modify their behavior in the meantime.

Throughout the semester, the campus plans to conduct surveillance test of students both on and off-campus to get a sense of how the virus is moving through the community.If a student was to test positive at move-in, they would be asked to either return home to isolate or do so at on-campus housing set aside for such use. During the semester, they would be asked to isolate on campus or, if they live off-campus, isolate in place.

Thats where contact tracers would step in.

One person, under normal conditions, could infect three or four or more people, but with contact tracing you could get that number down to one or even none, said integrative physiology Professor Matt McQueen.

In March, McQueen teamed up with Professor Todd Gleeson, director of the Health Professions Residential Academic Program, to develop Public Health Practicum: Contact Tracing, a course that enables students to play a critical role in breaking the COVID-19 transmission chain.

If a student tests positive, the contact tracers, overseen by Medical Services staff, will try to get a sense of anyone the student has been within 6 feet of for 15 minutes or more in the last 48 hours. Then, theyll reach out to encourage those individuals to quarantine, and offer testing when appropriate.

In the case of a faculty or staff member testing positive, Medical Services has amassed a team of about two dozen staffers and paid temporary workers to serve as contact tracers for that population.

In addition to providing campus with an additional tool for keeping the COVID curve flat and contained, McQueen sees the course as a historic opportunity for students.

This is something they will tell their grandchildren about years from now, he said.

In the long-run, studies that grow out of these testing and tracing efforts could help people better prepare for, or even fend off, the next pandemic.

A year from now, due to the efforts of this scientific community, we will know a lot more about this virus, said Parker.

Continued here:
How an ultra-fast screening test and a team of contact tracers aim to keep campus safe - CU Boulder Today

Physiology

Learning good breathing habits from a freediver | Life Examined – KCRW

Taking a deep breath has long been known to calm down the body; athletes before a race do it or performers and speakers before going on stage. So how can we learn to breathe better? KCRWs Joanthan Bastian talks to a freediver and a breath practitioner about the mechanics of breathing well and the impacts on our mental and physical well-being.

The following interview excerpts have been abbreviated and edited for clarity.

KCRW: Youre a four time freediving World Champion. How did that get started for you?

Stig Severinsen:Well as with any child, once you start freediving, going under the surface of the ocean, or even in a swimming pool, you pretty quickly realize that in order to be able to stay down, you need to be relaxed. So mental relaxation, physiological relaxation is very important. As children we subconsciously train a lot of different breathing techniques you experiment and find your own way. When you get more into competitive freediving, most of your focus is actually on breathing and the preparation, so if you don't really understand breathing and you kind of have a bad start. So it sounds like a paradox, you're a free diver, you need to hold your breath but you're working with breathing, they go hand in hand and I look at it as a brother and a sister.

In yoga, the fourth element of Ashtanga Yoga, the fourth limb or the fourth step is called pranayama and that deals with breathing and particularly the breath holding but that's what freediving is, investigating the pause in the breath.

KCRW: How much training is involved in becoming a freediver?

Stig Severinsen:It depends. Once you get older, your metabolism slows down, which is an advantage. Whereas in most any other sport, once you get older you lose your stamina, your muscles, your coordination and balance you had in your youth. But in freediving, it's actually an advantage and you also have a lifelong experience to look back on and to lean against so I would say with decent freediving a few times a week. In addition you do a cardiovascular workout, the apnea training, the breath training, hypoxic training, all the kind of crazy, stuff that I do with the Navy Seals, the Royal Air Force, Olympic athletes, but for an average person its not too hard and thats the great thing about freediving.

The first rule of any diving is to never dive alone, never hold your breath alone because you can black out and drown. But if you experiment at home, in your bed, on the couch on your yoga mat, it's super safe, and you go into all these crevices of your mind and your body and your neurophysiology anatomy - thats extraordinary.

And the wonderful thing about freediving is that the learning curve is incredibly fast: you see people after 1,2, 3 introductory dives, doubling or tripling the performance. There are not many things in life where you can double or triple your performance; think about running or weightlifting. If you could triple the weight you could lift that would be amazing. So it takes dedication and patience but people can learn very quickly.

Annelies Richmond. Photo courtesy of Annelies Richmond.

KCRW: Annelies Richmond where did your interest in the breath begin and what kinds of results have you seen in the mental health space?

I run a program called Sky Campus Happiness, which we have at 58 universities in the US. I first got into this 22 years ago in New York City when I was a professional ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. I used to experience lots of stage anxiety, I would walk on the stage and I would have so much anxiety that I wouldn't perform as well. That was probably the worst part of my career and I just happened to walk into an Art of Living Course; a weekend course that taught me Sky Breath meditation, a breath-based meditation practice.

I had no idea what I was walking into but I had been exploring meditation, but this was the deepest by far and the most effective by far. I practiced it for about two weeks and then I walked onto stage one night and there was just zero anxiety. All of a sudden and I thought this is phenomenal. What happened to the stage anxiety that had been plaguing me for about eight or nine years.

So I vowed I would learn to teach this to others and I retired from dance and started this program 10 years ago specifically for university student populations, because student anxiety and depression has doubled in just in the last eight years. Mental health is really poor on campuses, more than 60% of college students say they report overwhelming anxiety. Suicidal ideation and severe depression has doubled since 2012. So I wanted to see how we could help in a very effective group setting to help cure some of these ills, or give students really practical tools. I knew that Sky Breath meditation was so phenomenal for anxiety and depression, so we combined the deep practice of meditation with the Art of Living Programs; which offer social connection and emotional intelligence skills.

KCRW: So is your practice different from meditation?Richmond: Yes, entirely different. Our classes are three days long. So I think we all probably notice that you cannot talk yourself out of a negative emotion. It's very difficult to tell your mind, don't be anxious or calm down. It's the worst thing someone tells you, is hey, calm down, don't be depressed. The more you resist negative emotions in the mind, the more they persist and the breath work gives us a way into the autonomic nervous system. It directly affects the physiology and takes us from the sympathetic mode of the nervous system, which is fight or flight. So a breath automatically puts you into parasympathetic mode very quickly, within the first session. And that trains your system to be in rest and digest mode, which brings calm and focus.

More:
Learning good breathing habits from a freediver | Life Examined - KCRW

Physiology

NASA-backed mobile gravity suit helps astronauts fight health hazards of zero-gravity space flight – Brinkwire

With the successful launch and return of SpaceXs Crew Dragon in May, space travel is getting closer to becoming a reality for the average person.

But spending extended periods outside Earths gravity can have serious health consequences, including bone decalcification, muscle atrophy, and decreased oxygen to the brain.

Astronauts in microgravity are also susceptible to Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS), a condition associated with blurry vision, headaches, and seeing spots.

Now a savvy young engineer has developed a mobile gravity suitthat could help future space jockeys fend off those deleterious effects.

The suit uses portable vacuum system that applies negative pressure, shifting blood flow to the lower body and generating ground-reaction forces to preserve bone and muscle density.

Neeki Ashari, a graduate bioengineering student at University of California San Diego, designed the space-age slacks while interning at the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute in La Jolla.

Ashari scored two NASA grants for her project, and assistance from Alan Hargens, director of UC-San Diegos Orthopaedic Clinical Physiology Lab and former chief of the space physiology department at NASAs Ames Research Center.

We designed and developed the mobile gravity suit in the form of wearable trousers, the pair detailed in a new report in Frontiers in Physiology.

[Its] fully equipped with its own portable vacuum system, pressure and thermal control system, safety shut-off system, and spinal loading system.

Here on Earth, we rely on gravity to provide resistance. Our body weight GRFs under our feet as we move.

In space, though, theres no external resistance and bones are more prone to breaks and fractures.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station use treadmills and other exercise to simulate GRFs.

But they only generate a fraction of what we get on Earth.

Lower body negative pressure (LBNP) chambers do better, but they require users to remain stationary for hours at a time.

And theyre too cumbersome to be included on missions outside Earths orbit.

Asharis pants allow a free range of motion and generate far greater GRFs than a standard LBNP chamber.

The mobile gravity suit is a small, untethered, and flexible intravehicular activity (IVA) suit, its creators write.

This trouser-like suit is designed for astronauts to comfortably wear and begin applying the LBNP technique without reducing crew time.

Made of an airtight yet breathable Hyprotex fabric, the pants exoskeleton envelops the user from the waist down, including their feet, maintaining the pressure and regulating temperature and humidity.

Last year, the first all-female space walk was delayed because NASA couldnt find enough spacesuits to fit the womens bodies.

Ashari had the opposite problem with her gravity trousers: Their tailored volume limited sizing, meaning her test subjects were all women.

When theyre actually produced, Ashari says, the suits will be custom designed for each astronauts biometrics.

For commercial use, though, she foresees five different sizes: XS, SM, M, L, and XL.

Once space travel becomes commercialized, this device may ensure the health of future civilian space travelers, the report reads. It is important to develop effective devices, like the mobile gravity suit, that simulate the very conditions our bodies on Earth depend on.

See the rest here:
NASA-backed mobile gravity suit helps astronauts fight health hazards of zero-gravity space flight - Brinkwire

Physiology

Meet the Researcher: Dan Schwartz, Physiology & Neurobiology – UConn Today

To say that UConn researcher Dan Schwartz wore many hats prior to becoming a faculty member would be an understatement. Classical piano teacher, Taekwondo instructor, personal trainer, math tutor these are all jobs Schwartz held before deciding on a career in academia.

Schwartz has continued to display a penchant for wearing many hats since arriving at UConn in 2010 as an assistant professor of physiology and neurobiology. In his time at UConn, he gained tenure, became the director of UConns Center for Open Research Resources and Equipment (COR2E), established a student web development lab, invented a web tool to support academic collaborations, and launched a startup to commercialize it. In February 2020, Schwartz added an additional hat, becoming the executive director of strategic analytics and initiatives in the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Diversity of interest has long been a major factor in Schwartzs life. Before going to Cornell University for his undergraduate studies, Taekwondo and piano were two important pursuits for Schwartz, who at 13 was among the youngest 3rd degree black belts in the country, and at 17 performed as a soloist with the Manhattan School of Musics preparatory division orchestra, having won the conservatorys piano concerto competition. He turned to more traditional studies at Cornell, where he majored in engineering.

At Cornell, an introductory course captivated Schwartzs interest in viral gene therapy and would lead him on a quest to find a virology lab that would accept an engineering student with little to no biology background. Ultimately Schwartz ended up in Colin Parrishs lab, where he would spend three years performing undergraduate research on the first molecular characterization of the Minute Virus of Canines (MVC), a virus that eventually led to the naming of a new viral genus.

Schwartz went on to receive his PhD in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University. It was there, again at an introductory graduate course, that Schwartzs interest was piqued yet again. Learning about short protein sequence patterns known as motifs involved in protein interactions led Schwartz to wonder whether motifs could be discovered statistically from protein sequences alone, rather than through laborious biochemical experimentation. He spent the majority of his graduate student years working on a self-initiated project around the statistical analysis of protein sequences, ultimately culminating in the publication of an algorithm and related software that would become the leading tool for motif discovery in the field of proteomics with over 800 citations to date.

In 2010, Schwartz came to the University of Connecticut where he planned to continue and expand his research in protein motifs.

When I set up my lab at UConn in 2010 I thought it was important to close the loop between the computational and the experimental. Were interested in understanding these motifs to further our basic science toolkit, as well as to better our understanding of the mechanisms associated with a variety of human diseases, Schwartz says.

Among his labs developments is pLogo, an online tool to graphically visualize protein motifs using a statistical framework. Since its publication in 2013, pLogo has been visited by users in every state and over 100 countries around the world, and has been cited over 180 times. His lab also focuses on developing broadly utilizable techniques and technologies for the detection of short patterns experimentally. Specifically, Schwartzs lab pioneered a strategy that uses E. coli bacteria as living test tubes for the detection of motifs associated with a class of human enzymes known as kinases. Protein kinases regulate a wide variety of cellular processes through the post-translational addition of phosphate groups on amino acid side chains. Importantly, kinase dysfunction has been associated with a wide range of human diseases including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration. In 2017, Schwartzs group was the first to show that a kinase mutation associated with Cushings Syndrome altered the recognition motif of the kinase a result that has since been verified and expanded upon by several other large research groups. Schwartzs lab is currently working on a similar project for another kinase, CDKL5, associated with early onset epilepsy.

Fundamentally, talented students are offered the opportunity to innovate in a manner that supports the university as well as their own career goals. Its just about as mutually beneficial a relationship as you can get. Dan Schwartz

Like many researchers working at the molecular level, Schwartzs research relies on highly specialized equipment. Three years after coming to UConn, Schwartz became a vocal proponent for institutional investment in proteomics instrumentation. Proteomics is the field that deals with the large scale study of proteins. Although Schwartzs lab had access to this instrumentation through collaborators at other institutions, he believed that UConn faculty were missing out on a rapidly growing field of experimentation that could greatly enhance their competitiveness in obtaining federal research grants. Specifically, an analysis by Schwartz revealed that within the cohort of universities plus and minus ten positions away from UConn in the US News & World Report annual rankings, UConn was the only institution that lacked a dedicated proteomics core research facility.

Schwartz dug into the topic further, ultimately consulting with over 50 faculty at Storrs on their research needs and developing a proposal for a new proteomics core facility as part of an internal UConn funding opportunity. His proposal was so persuasive that Schwartz was asked by the Vice President for Research at the time, Jeff Seemann, to oversee a total overhaul of the Biotechnology/Bioservices Center (BBC), a unit that previously managed 14 core research facilities at varying levels of functionality and openness, as its new director. Schwartz would in 2016 rebrand the BBC as the Center for Open Research Resources and Equipment (or CORE), substantially revamping its constitutive facilities, organizational structure, and providing a portal into the over 90 different core research facilities housed across all UConn campuses and managed by a variety of different units. Today COR2E is comprised of 11 core facilities that house highly specialized equipment and services that are open for all researchers both internal and external to the university.

The benefits of CORE are abundant and highly advantageous for the University as a whole, says Schwartz. For instance, when a university invests strategically in a set of comprehensive core facilities, it supports the research programs of literally dozens of faculty at once, and simultaneously enhances the universitys reputation among its peers.

Cutting-edge research questions increasingly necessitate cutting-edge equipment that is prohibitively expensive for individual faculty to own. Having these facilities well-equipped and staffed with expert directors helps us recruit top faculty, conduct more insightful research, and makes us more competitive for external funding, says Schwartz.

Schwartzs introduction to the administrative side of research at UConn in fact started prior to his engagement on core facilities. In 2013, Schwartz pitched an idea for the development of a software platform to help academic researchers connect with potential collaborators on interdisciplinary research projects. With critical seed funding from the OVPR, Schwartz was able to create this unique tool, Lincus. Since its launch, Lincus has had over 4,000 unique users across UConn. Lincus is now also the basis for Schwartzs startup, cofounded with three UConn alumni and located within UConns Technology Incubation Program (TIP). The commercial version of Lincus, which is currently being licensed to a variety of organizations, allows users to find research experts on a national scale, in less time than it takes to actually type a keyword as Schwartz puts it.

While re-envisioning UConns core facilities and inventing an innovative technology were both a monumental task, especially for an assistant professor seeking tenure, Schwartz added yet another hat to his collection when he formed squared labs in 2017, a student group comprised of top current and former students from UConn that are hired to do whatever they do best, whether its software development or scientific illustration.

At squared labs, we try to provide a unique and close to real-world working environment for our students, Schwartz explains. Fundamentally, talented students are offered the opportunity to innovate in a manner that supports the university as well as their own career goals. Its just about as mutually beneficial a relationship as you can get.

The students have been a part of multiple projects, and they are working on a website that helps faculty find equipment on campus. Though most squared labs projects revolve around web development, in 2018 the group launched a scientific illustration service, the centerpiece of which provides free cover art submissions for faculty who get their works accepted to academic journals. Since launching the service, student illustrations have appeared on a number of prominent journal covers.

A lot of what weve been able to accomplish is thanks to the dedication of many people working together, whether its the COR2E directors or the squared labs students and staff, Schwartz says. None of this would happen if it werent for their hard work.

Schwartz is always on the lookout for the next place he can work to make a positive difference at UConn. Over the last year, Schwartz has shifted some of his collaborative efforts to UConns Stamford campus, where, for a variety of reasons, he sees a tremendous opportunity for the future of the University and the state. He is presently spearheading university-wide initiatives in data science focused on research, student entrepreneurship activities, and a new technology incubation program. With new funding from StamfordNext (CTNexts innovation place project supporting economic development in the Stamford region), Schwartz is launching new programs to, hopefully, establish a permanent, transformational UConn data science footprint in Stamford.

While this is one in a long line of new hats, its certain not to be the last for Dan Schwartz.

Follow UConn Research on Twitter & LinkedIn.

See more here:
Meet the Researcher: Dan Schwartz, Physiology & Neurobiology - UConn Today

Physiology

AJMC in the Press, August 14, 2020 – AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the health care and mainstream press.

An article by The Doctor Weighs In spotlighted a podcast published on AJMC.com, the website of The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC). The podcast, Cancer Care in the Age of COVID-19: Dr Patricia Salber Interviews Dr Bobby Reddy, was conducted by Salber, of The Doctor Weighs In, with Reddy, who discussed the clinical care of patients with cancer in the age of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including how care has changed as a result of the pandemic and best practices at treatment centers to protect patients and staff.

An article by MobiHealthNews cited a study published online ahead of print in the October 2020 issue of AJMC. The study, Machine Intelligence for Early Targeted Precision Management and Response to Outbreaks of Respiratory Infections, found that precision management through personalized and predictive machine learning offers the opportunity to reduce the burden of outbreaks of respiratory infections.

A piece by ksl.com referenced an article published on AJMC.com, titled The Effects of Chronic Fear on a Person's Health. The article covered a session at the 2017 Neuroscience Education Institute Congress, presented by Mary D. Moller, PhD, DNP, ARNP, PMHCNS-BC, CPRP, FAAN, associate professor at the Pacific Lutheran University School of Nursing, which focused on the physiology of fear and its impact on wellness.

Here is the original post:
AJMC in the Press, August 14, 2020 - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Physiology

The Week That Wasn’t: Gaiters, Chicken Wings, Nasal Spray – Medscape

Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center.

This week in COVID-19 news, scientists tested how well various face coverings, including a neck gaiter, blocked respiratory droplets coming from the wearer's mouth and nose, authorities detected SARS-CoV-2 genetic material on frozen chicken wings, and researchers described a nasal spray they say could block viral infection. But you didn't see these headlines on Medscape. Here's why.

Researchers at Duke University developed a method to test how many respiratory droplets a person emits while wearing a face covering. The method employed a laser, a prism, a box, and a smartphone camera. They described the setup and their results from testing 14 different face coverings in the journal Science Advances. The particular tests, the authors write, "should serve only as a demonstration," because they expect different people would get different results wearing the same mask, owing to variation in factors such as their physiology, how well the mask fits, head position, and speech pattern.

But that's not what headlines said about this study. Many news outlets' coverage emphasized one of the tested face coverings: a neck fleece or gaiter. In the researchers' test, the speaker appears to have emitted slightly more droplets while wearing this face covering than when wearing no face covering, though the error bars overlap in the figure depicting the number of droplets emitted in the tests.

It takes a lot of extrapolation to make a claim about gaiters in general from the single test described in this study, and the researchers' overall point that face coverings vary in their effectiveness has been demonstrated previously. We mentioned this study and the discussion around it in our daily COVID-19 Update, but we didn't devote a full story to it because its findings are not novel.

Genetic material from SARS-CoV-2 was detected on the surface of frozen chicken wings imported to China from Brazil, local authorities said. CNN reported that the testing did not assess whether the virus was infectious. Health authorities traced people who could have been in contact with the frozen wings, and none tested positive for the virus.

This chicken report is not the first of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material apparently being found on frozen food, and it doesn't change the overall balance of evidence about how COVID-19 spreads mainly through person-to-person interaction with someone who is infected. We didn't think this story was a priority for our readers.

In a preprint posted to bioRxiv.org, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, describe how they developed nanobodies like antibodies, but smaller that bind to the parts of SARS-CoV-2 that interact with a cell's receptors to enter and infect it. They report that the nanobodies they engineered "proved exceptionally potent" at neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and could be aerosolized for potential delivery via a nasal spray or nebulizer.

"These properties may enable aerosol-mediated delivery of this potent neutralizer directly to the airway epithelia, promising to yield a widely deployable, patient-friendly prophylactic and/or early infection therapeutic agent to stem the worst pandemic in a century," the researchers write.

We hope so too, but there's a long road ahead. We didn't cover this because we don't want to hype an experimental treatment that may not have been tested in animal models yet, much less in clinical trials, before it's even out of the lab or peer-reviewed for publication in a scientific journal.

Ellie Kincaid is Medscape's associate managing editor. She has previously written about healthcare for Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Nature Medicine. She can be reached at ekincaid@medscape.net or on Twitter @ellie_kincaid.

Follow Medscape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Have a tip for us? Contact us.

View original post here:
The Week That Wasn't: Gaiters, Chicken Wings, Nasal Spray - Medscape

Physiology

NAU researcher studying the mechanics of breathing in adult survivors of preterm birth – NAU News

JJ Duke, an assistant professor in Northern Arizona Universitys Department of Biological Sciences, is studying respiratory mechanicsthe how of breathing. He wants to understand the underlying reasons why exercise ability and lung function, or breathing, in general are more difficult for adults who were born prematurely. His research suggests the problem may be smaller airways.

According to the World Health Organization, 10 to 12 percent of all live births are preterm (at or before 37 weeks). However, because of medical advances, this number likely will continue to increase. Preterm birth results in an underdeveloped cardiopulmonary system and can lead to lung deficiencies that continue into adulthood and decline further with age. Researchers have found that adult survivors of preterm birth may have an atypical physiology and are functioning with 20 to 25 percent less lung and exercise ability than their counterparts who were born at full term.

With a three-year R15 grant of more than $432,000 from the National Institutes of Health, Duke is studying the underlying causes of the reduction in lung function, as well as exercise ability, in adult survivors of preterm birth. This knowledge, he believes, will assist physicians in ensuring a correct diagnosis and course of treatment for those born prematurely and suffering from respiratory problems later in life.

Duke first became interested in this population while studying determinants, or causes, of pulmonary gas exchange efficiency as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon. Given that adult survivors of preterm birth have underdeveloped lungs, it seemed likely that their gas exchangetheir bodies ability to get oxygen into the blood and carbon dioxide out of the bloodwould be impaired.

We found no differences in the gas exchange efficiency, meaning they had normal oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in their blood. The lungs were functioning just fine in that respect, which makes it unlikely that this is the cause of their lower exercise ability, Duke said. As I left my postdoc, I pivoted my focus to another area of the pulmonary system that could limit exercise abilityrespiratory mechanics, which describes pressure, airflow and volume in the system. As a result of their underdeveloped lungs, these individuals may have impaired or altered respiratory mechanics.

Duke is measuring various aspects of respiratory mechanics in the Integrative Cardiopulmonary Physiology Laboratory at NAU. To do so, he and his Ph.D. students measure esophageal pressure by having participants swallow a balloon catheter, then perform a variety of breathing tests and exercise on a stationary bike. The researchers measure the participants work of breathing, or how much energy they need to move air in and out of their lungs.

By conducting these studies, Duke can meet his objective to glean information about airway size in adults who were born prematurely by measuring esophageal pressure.

If you are drinking a milkshake through a large straw, its easier to get it through that big tube than with a small straw, he said. Similarly, if airways are smaller, there is more resistance and you have to generate enough pressure to force the air through the airways.

Because these individuals have never known anything different, they may not know it is more work for them to breathe during exercise.

What is really compelling me to try to understand how the physiology is, and isnt, different from people born at term is to help clinicians accurately target the problem and direct treatment, Duke said. Most of the time, people are aware that they were born prematurely but may not be aware that they may be more limited than their peers who were carried to term. If they report asthma-like symptoms, including chest tightness, they could be misdiagnosed and given a rescue inhaler, which might or might not help.

Normal lung function decreases after the age of about 25 in healthy adults; however, by eating well, exercising and not smoking, Duke says most people should outlive their lungs. But those who were born preterm and are operating with 20 or 30 percent less lung function in the prime of their life may experience a displaced or steeper downward slope.

Understanding the physiology of young people who were born prematurely, who do not have significant current lung function and exercise ability issues, is critical, Duke said. This research will help further the understanding of the physiology of adult survivors of preterm birth and identify potential targets for therapeutic interventions to improve and/or maintain cardiopulmonary function.

Bonnie Stevens and Kerry Bennett | Office of the Vice President for Research

Read the original post:
NAU researcher studying the mechanics of breathing in adult survivors of preterm birth - NAU News

Physiology

Why more heatwaves endanger our health and ability to work – ScienceBlog.com

Its actually quite easy for us to point out the problem we have increasing temperatures, increasing frequency of heatwavesit affects our physical and cognitive performance, said Lars Nybo, a professor of integrative physiology from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is working on a project calledHEAT-SHIELDdesigned to examine the effects of heat exposure on worker productivity in industrial sectors that employhalf of Europes workforce: manufacturing, construction, transportation, tourism, and agriculture.

Precipitated by a series of heatwaves, 2019 was thehottest year ever recorded in Europe. Over the past five years, mean temperatures in the continent are averaging almost 2C warmer than pre-industrial figures,a worrying sign for the achievementof the Paris climateagreement to keep global mean temperatureincreases well below2C.

Data from the project suggestthat exposure to external heat in combination with physical activity, which elevates the bodys production of heat, can result in physiological changes that can diminish occupational performance, via reduced working endurance, vision, motor coordination and concentration. This can lead to more mistakes as well as injuries.

Roughly 70% of all European workers, at some time during the working day, are not optimally hydrated, Prof. Nybo said. The solution to the problem, he adds, is intuitive: drink water, replace electrolytes and reduce physical activity, but implementing these measures whilst maintaining productivity is where things get tricky.

You could just say to the worker stay at home and drink cold margaritas in the shadow to prevent heat stress, he joked. But that will not help productivity.

Productivity

As coordinator of HEAT-SHIELD, Prof. Nybo and his team are tasked with not just assessing the extent of the problem modelling the expected rise in temperature in Europe in the coming years and its impact on worker productivity but also devising and implementing solutions that are location and vocation specific to adjust to the inevitable increases in temperature.

A construction worker wears a safety helmet, which impairs the bodys ability to purge heat, but the worker thinks this problem cannot be solved because it is intrinsic to their work, Prof. Nybo notes.

Surmounting challenges like this is one of the key objectives of the project conceiving ways to weave in heat mitigation strategies alongside the practicalities of the job.

For instance, outdoor workers should be vigilant of weather patterns and plan work earlier in the day during periods of extreme heat, take a short break every hour and secure easy access to water. Similar remedies for workers in enclosed settings could mean a combination of air conditioning, working in shade and improving ventilation keeping in mind the ecological footprint of such measures.

But on a macro level, for climate change policymakers to take concrete action here and now the numbers are key, Prof. Nybo says.

In Europe, agricultural and construction workers for instance, lose some 15% of effective working time when the temperature goes beyond 30C, which works out to almost one working day per week, he notes, citing HEAT-SHIELD analyses.

If you are a policymaker, he says, the numbers show that theres an incentive to act now: if you mitigate the problem the cost will stabilise at a lower level in the long run than if you dont.

Excessive heat

Diminished worker productivity and the downstream economic damage are prominent impacts of rising temperatures caused by climate change. But to get a full picture of the consequences, its necessary to understand what excessive heat does to the human body.

It can damage organs such as the heart and the lungs, exacerbate a range of diseases, and increase the risk of death.

Extreme heat can increasethe occurrence of heart attacksand strokes in susceptible patients due to increased blood viscosity, and raise the risk of cardiovascular death in vulnerable patients. Hot, humid days can also triggerasthma symptomsand have been shown to increase airway resistance, while warmer climates tend to extend the pollen season.

Another side effect of rising temperatures is the association with air pollution the largest environmental killer in Europe,causing roughly 500,000 premature deaths annually.

Observational data and modelling suggest that as it gets warmer, air pollution levels particularly surface ozone gas (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) increase in some populated regions, even whenemissions of air pollutants have not risen, as well as create conditions favourable for forest fires.

Both extreme heat and air pollution raise the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease, which currently costs the European Union anestimated 600bna year.If these environmental stressors continue to accumulate unabated, these costs could jump.

We think there are reasons to believe that being able to comply with a Paris agreement will save very many lives and reduce human suffering.

-Dr Kristin Aunan, Center for International Climate Research, Norway

Projections

But the synergistic relationship between air pollutants and rising temperatures is not well understood and existing health-risk projections in Europe do not properly account for adaptive measures that can be taken to ameliorate associated health risks, according to Dr Kristin Aunan, a senior researcher at the Norway-based Center for International Climate Research.

Theres quite a lot of literature on short-term impact in terms of the day-to-day variation on the impact of heat stress on mortality but when it comes to long-term impact, there is not a lot of information, she said.

As part of a project calledEXHAUSTIONthat kicked off last year, researchers including project coordinator Dr Aunan, are focused on quantifying the risks of cardiopulmonary disease in different temperatures.

The project is also working on identifying interventions to minimise the risks to health sparked by environmental stressors and demystifying the link between air pollution and temperature hikes.

Quantifying the cascading effect of cardiopulmonary diseases on the economy is key to affecting action on climate change, she suggests.

EXHAUSTION researchers, for instance, are devising a macro-economic model that tracks increased hospitalisation and mortality in different age groups to measure the impact on the broader economy in different European countries. We also have a bottom-up model where you put a price on every premature death or hospital admission and add up to estimate the economic cost.

One of the main questions the researchers hope to answer is the magnitude of impact limiting temperature spikes to 1.5C the aim of the Paris climate agreement will have on health.

I have no answer to that today but the reason why were doing this projectis that we think there are reasons to believe that being able to comply with a Paris agreement will save very many lives and reduce human suffering, Dr Aunan said.

When you discuss climate policy and discuss the costs of it its very expensive to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, etc. But you also need to consider the benefits and thats what we are doing with this project hoping that we can contribute to the other side of the coin.

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

This article was originally published on Horizon magazine.

See the original post here:
Why more heatwaves endanger our health and ability to work - ScienceBlog.com