Wagamaga
Wagamaga OP t1_j9y2ikr wrote
Reply to Researchers develop highly accurate machine learning model for early detection of mild cognitive impairment in older drivers. The model has achieved an accuracy of 96 percent in predicting mild cognitive impairment and dementia, outperforming traditional machine learning models by Wagamaga
Using ensemble learning techniques and longitudinal data from a large naturalistic driving study, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons have developed a novel, interpretable and highly accurate algorithm for predicting mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older drivers. Digital markers refer to variables generated from data captured through recording devices in the real-world setting. These data could be processed to measure driving behavior, performance and tempo-spatial pattern in exceptional detail. The study is published in the journal Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.
The researchers used an interaction-based classification method for selecting predictive variables in the dataset. This learning model has achieved an accuracy of 96 percent in predicting mild cognitive impairment and dementia, outperforming traditional machine learning models such as logistic regression and random forests -- a statistical technique widely used in AI for classifying disease status. “Our new ensemble learning model based on digital markers and basic demographic characteristics can predict mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older drivers with excellent accuracy,” said Sharon Di, associate professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia Engineering and the study’s lead author.
The investigators constructed 200 variable modules using the naturalistic driving data on the driver, the vehicle and the environment captured by in-vehicle recording devices for 2977 drivers participating in the Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) project, a prospective cohort study conducted in five sites across the contiguous United States and sponsored by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. At the time of enrollment, the participants were active drivers aged 65-79 years who were cognitively intact. Data used in this study came from the first three years of follow-up, spanning from August 2015 through March 2019. During the follow-up, 36 participants were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, 8 with Alzheimer’s disease, and 17 with other or unspecified dementia.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0933365723000246#b7
Wagamaga OP t1_j9o34oo wrote
Reply to Research suggests that school-based physical activity intervention, by way of increasing physical exercise classes to daily during school, is successful in reducing childhood obesity. Scientists found that obesity was reversed after 3 years. by Wagamaga
From 2011 to 2018, Slovenia enacted a nationwide program named Healthy Lifestyle that added two to three additional physical education classes per week for students in more than 200 schools in the country. The researchers found that students who participated in the additional classes had a larger reduction in BMI than nonparticipants, and the BMI decrease grew as students participated in the intervention for a longer time.
“There are two important messages,” Gregor Starc, PhD, assistant professor in the faculty of sport at University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, told Healio. “The first one is that school-based interventions to increase physical activity can be effective in reducing obesity prevalence, but such interventions should be longer than two years. The second — in our regard the more important message — is that introducing one hour of high-quality school physical education every day could reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.”
Researchers analyzed findings from Healthy Lifestyle, a program that allocated two additional physical education classes per week for students in grades one to six and three additional classes for students in grades seven to nine. The additional classes meant that participants attended a physical education class during every school day. There were 216 schools in Slovenia that opted to participate in the program. All students at participating schools were invited to take part in the intervention as an elective course. Height, weight and triceps skinfold measurements were obtained from the Slovenian national fitness surveillance system. Children in the 85th to 94th percentile for age- and sex-specific BMI were considered to have overweight, and those in the 95th percentile or higher were defined as having obesity. Researchers compared data from intervention participants with a control group of children who attended participating schools but did not take part in the intervention.
Wagamaga OP t1_j9jx6di wrote
Reply to Study finds “forever chemicals” disrupt key biological processes. The disruption of these biological processes is connected to an increased risk of a very broad range of diseases, including developmental disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease and many types of cancer. by Wagamaga
A team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that exposure to a mixture of synthetic chemicals found widely in the environment alters several critical biological processes, including the metabolism of fats and amino acids, in both children and young adults. The disruption of these biological processes is connected to an increased risk of a very broad range of diseases, including developmental disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease and many types of cancer.
Known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, these man-made chemicals are used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products. PFAS are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they break down very slowly and accumulate in the environment and human tissue.
Although individual PFAS are known to increase the risk of several types of disease, this study, published February 22 in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to evaluate which biological processes are altered by exposure to a combination of multiple PFAS, which is important because most people carry a mixture of the chemicals in their blood.
“Our findings were surprising and have broad implications for policy makers trying to mitigate risk,” said Jesse A. Goodrich, PhD, assistant professor of population and public health sciences and lead author of the study. “We found that exposure to a combination of PFAS not only disrupted lipid and amino acid metabolism but also altered thyroid hormone function.”
Wagamaga OP t1_j9653lz wrote
Reply to Scientists create carbon nanotubes out of plastic waste using an energy-efficient, low-cost, low-emissions process. Compared to commercial methods for carbon nanotube production that are being used right now, ours uses about 90% less energy and generates 90%-94% less carbon dioxide by Wagamaga
The amount of plastic waste produced globally has doubled over the past two decades — and plastic production is expected to triple by 2050 — with most of it ending up in landfills, incinerated or otherwise mismanaged, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Some estimates suggest only 5% is actually being recycled.
“Waste plastic is rarely recycled because it costs a lot of money to do all the washing, sorting and melting down of the plastics to turn it into a material that can be used by a factory,” said Kevin Wyss, a Rice graduate student and lead author on a study published in Advanced Materials that describes how he and colleagues inthe lab of chemist James Tour used their flash Joule heating technique to turn plastic into valuable carbon nanotubes and hybrid nanomaterials.
“We were able to make a hybrid carbon nanomaterial that outperformed both graphene and commercially available carbon nanotubes,” Wyss said.
Wagamaga OP t1_j8xc96f wrote
Reply to Depression can lead to memory dysfunction. This study may pave way for new drugs. Results of a large study involving brain scans show that patients with moderate to severe depression have 7-10 per cent fewer serotonin 4 receptors in the brain than healthy test subjects. by Wagamaga
In many patients, depression is associated with memory dysfunction. Now the results of a large study involving brain scans show that patients with moderate to severe depression have 7-10 per cent fewer serotonin 4 receptors in the brain than healthy test subjects.
The researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Psychiatry in the Capital Region and Rigshospitalet performed PET scans of 90 patients with depression who still had not received treatment and just as many healthy test subject of the same age. A PET scan will reveal the amount of serotonin 4 receptors in the brain.
“You cannot tell from a scan whether a person is depressed or not. But we could tell that there was a difference between the patients and the test subjects. The former had fewer serotonin 4 receptors,” says Clinical Professor Gitte Moos Knudsen from the Department of Clinical Medicine and the Neurobiological Research Unit at Rigshospitalet.
Largest PET brain scan study of its kind Previous studies have shown that the serotonin 4 receptor affects the risk of depression, while others have shown that it is associated with human memory. The new results, which have just been published in the scientific journal JAMA Psychiatry, are based on the largest PET brain scan study ever to have been conducted on patients suffering from depression. The aim of the study was to describe the connection between depression, memory dysfunction and low receptor levels.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2801424
Wagamaga OP t1_j8wbjkj wrote
Reply to Religious Hermit Found Buried in The Fetal Position. The woman buried was living with septic arthritis and also advanced venereal syphilis. This would have meant she lived with severe, visible symptoms of infection affecting her entire body, and later on, neurological and mental health decline by Wagamaga
The rare and unusual life of an anchoress, a woman who devoted her life to prayer while living in seclusion, has been unearthed by the University of Sheffield and Oxford Archaeology, thanks to a skeletal collection now held at the University.
Analysis of the collection, which includes a staggering 667 complete skeletons dated to the Roman, Medieval, and Civil War era, has revealed one in particular that is likely Lady Isabel German, an important anchoress - or type of religious hermit - who is documented to have lived at All Saints Church in Fishergate, York during the 15th century.
As an anchoress, Lady German would have chosen to live a life of seclusion. Living inside a single room of the church without direct human contact, she would have devoted herself to prayer and accepted charity to survive.
Skeleton SK3870 was discovered in 2007 during excavations at what was once All Saints Church on the site of the famous York Barbican. Not found in the cemetery alongside the others skeletons in the collection, this medieval woman was buried in a tightly crouched position within the apse of the church foundations, a small room located behind the altar.
Only clergy, or the very rich were buried inside churches at this time, so the new study suggests the location of this highly unusual burial makes SK3870 a prime candidate to be that of the All Saints’ anchoress, Lady German.
Dr Lauren McIntyre, University of Sheffield Alumna and Osteoarchaeologist at Oxford Archaeology Limited, conducted the analysis of the historical and osteoarchaeological evidence, which included using radiocarbon dating and isotopic investigation to examine skeleton SK3870.
Wagamaga OP t1_j8e8ck5 wrote
Reply to The brain can rapidly detect and process fearful faces that are otherwise invisible to the eye. There appears to be a neural pathway for detection of fear, which operates automatically, outside of conscious awareness. by Wagamaga
The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure deep in the brain, located on the medial surface of the temporal lobe, which processes both positive and negative emotions. Brain scanning studies show that the amygdala is activated in response to fearful faces, even when they are not consciously perceived.
Previous studies did not measure brain activity in real-time, however, and so direct evidence for rapid fear processing in the amygdala was lacking.
A rare opportunity
Yingying Wang of Zhejiang University and her colleagues had the rare opportunity to record neuronal activity directly from the brains of 18 patients undergoing presurgical evaluation for drug-resistant epilepsy.
While neurosurgeons monitored their brain activity to identify the source of debilitating seizures, the researchers implanted microelectrodes into their amygdalae, visual cortices, and various other brain regions, and recorded the responses of individual cells to images of happy, fearful, and neutral facial expressions.
The researchers used low- and high-resolution images of the faces of 96 actors that were rendered invisible by a process called backward masking, in which each image is shown briefly, and then quickly followed by another image of the same color that does not contain a face.
Low-resolution images of fearful faces, but not of happy or neutral ones, evoked rapid cellular responses in the amygdala, but not in the visual cortex or other regions. The earliest responses of amygdala neurons occurred within one-tenth of a second, even though the patients were not consciously aware of having seen the images.
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/brain-fear-unconscious-awareness/
Wagamaga OP t1_j8dgrx0 wrote
Reply to A study in the US has found, compared to unvaccinated people, protection from the risk of dying from COVID during the six-month omicron wave for folks who had two doses of an mRNA vaccine was 42% for 40- to 59-year-olds; 27% for 60- to 79-year-olds; and 46% for people 80 and older. by Wagamaga
COVID-19 booster shots appear to benefit folks 50 and older but less so for younger people, a new study suggests.
For the study, researchers ran a statistical analysis using death rates from COVID, and looked at the vaccines' effectiveness in protecting people from dying of the disease. While they were found to be very effective among older people, the study noted that boosters made little difference in younger folks because they're least likely to die from the infection anyway.
Senior researcher Bernard Black is a law professor at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law in Chicago who specializes in health policy. He pointed out that the study only looked at deaths from COVID and did not consider infections the vaccine may have prevented or made less severe.
Still, for younger people the booster may be of less benefit, he suggested.
"There isn't evidence of a [death] benefit in younger people," Black said.
Although millions of Americans have gotten the initial doses of a COVID vaccine, only about 16% of those eligible for booster shots have gotten them, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get the COVID vaccine and keep up with boosters.
With the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration poised to recommend yearly COVID shots, Black believes the message should be focused on folks in their 60s and older, for whom the protection against dying is greatest.
"We don't know enough to know whether to recommend an annual COVID shot below age 60," he said. "From everything I know, above a 60, sure; in your 50s, probably. Below that, I'd say we just don't know."
Maybe, Black said, if public health messaging said, "You are someone who really needs it," more people who really need the booster would get it.
https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/covid-boosters-benefit/2023/02/13/id/1108399/
Wagamaga OP t1_j8d1r2a wrote
Reply to Investigators assessed the risk of dementia using changes in alcohol consumption in nearly four million people in Korea and found that after about 7 years, dementia was 21% less likely in mild drinkers and 17% less likely in moderate drinkers. by Wagamaga
Drinking one or two cocktails a day may protect against dementia, while having three or more could increase risk, new research suggests. Investigators assessed the risk of dementia using changes in alcohol consumption in nearly four million people in Korea and found that after about 7 years, dementia was 21% less likely in mild drinkers and 17% less likely in moderate drinkers. Heavy drinking was linked to an 8% increased risk of getting the disease.
The findings were published in JAMA Network Open on February 6. According to CNN, lead author Dr. Keun Hye Jeon, assistant professor at CHA Gumi Medical Center in Gumi, South Korea, said in an email:
“We found that maintaining mild to moderate alcohol consumption as well as reducing alcohol consumption from a heavy to a moderate level were associated with a decreased risk of dementia.”
The new study examined the health records of people covered by the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) who get free medical examinations twice a year if they are 40 years or older. The current study looked at data collected between 2009 and 2011 and categorized people by their self-reported drinking levels. If a person said they drank about 0.5 ounces daily, they were considered “mild” drinkers. If they consumed the equivalent of two standard drinks in the U.S. (a standard drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits), they were considered to be “moderate” drinkers. If the participants said they drank more than that, researchers considered them “heavy” drinkers
https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/alcohol-consumption-drinking/2023/02/09/id/1108060/
Wagamaga OP t1_j89ahnd wrote
Reply to Chinese researchers have reported what they claim is the world’s youngest person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which may overturn the conventional perception that cognitive impairment rarely occurs in young people. by Wagamaga
Chinese researchers have reported what they claim is the world’s youngest person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which may overturn the conventional perception that cognitive impairment rarely occurs in young people. A 19-year-old male was diagnosed with probable Alzheimer’s disease after his memory declined gradually over two years, according to researchers from Capital Medical University’s Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing. The authors said the patient had characteristics typical of Alzheimer’s disease, including memory loss and hippocampal atrophy, a shrinkage that is an early marker of the disease.
Wagamaga OP t1_j8981zb wrote
Reply to Study links Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy in Africa to the use of media platforms that spread misinformation. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa was accompanied by unprecedented and recurring waves of misinformation and disinformation. by Wagamaga
A recent study that examined the impact of information sources on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa discovered a strong link between people’s use of various media sources and vaccination resistance.
In 2020, when the pandemic’s impact in Africa was still underestimated, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that nearly 6000 people were hospitalized worldwide as a result of misinformation about coronavirus.
By then, the organization was working to combat false coronavirus information on social media platforms through the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance.,
According to the study, the prevalence of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the region was 73 percent among social media users, 72 percent among TV viewers, and 42 percent among newspaper readers.
The study was conducted by African researchers from Western Sydney University in Australia; Cape Town and Kwazulu-Natal universities in South Africa and Jos, Benin, and Calabar universities in Nigeria.
It was the first of its kind to demonstrate the impact of information sources on vaccine uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.
It involved 2572 respondents and found that resistance to the Covid-19 vaccines was most common (87 percent) among social media and least common (37 percent) among newspaper readers.
Potential negative effects
Vaccination resistance was also documented in individuals, especially females, who got information about the vaccine from friends and relatives.
In many ways, the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa was accompanied by unprecedented and recurring waves of misinformation and disinformation.
This raised serious concerns about safety and potential negative effects, as well as what scientists called an Infodemic, or too much information, including false or misleading information in physical and digital environments.
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-14972-2
Wagamaga OP t1_j7ysg2f wrote
Reply to The discovery of fossils dating back 250.8 million years near the Guizhou region of China suggests that complex ecosystems were present on Earth just one million years after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, which is much earlier than previously thought. by Wagamaga
About 250 million years ago, the Permian-Triassic mass extinction killed over 80 per cent of the planet's species. In the aftermath, scientists believe that life on earth was dominated by simple species for up to 10 million years before more complex ecosystems could evolve. Now this longstanding theory is being challenged by a team of international researchers – including scientists from McGill University and Université du Québec à Montréal.
A fossilized ocean ecosystem Until now, scientists have long theorized that scorching hot ocean conditions resulting from catastrophic climate change prevented the development of complex life after the mass extinction. This idea is based on geochemical evidence of ocean conditions at the time. Now the discovery of fossils dating back 250.8 million years near the Guizhou region of China suggests that complex ecosystems were present on Earth just one million years after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, which is much earlier than previously thought
Wagamaga OP t1_j7qnb64 wrote
Reply to People from the poorest backgrounds are far more likely to develop a mental disorder later in life than those from wealthier beginnings. More than half of people with a low educational attainment at age 30 will have a diagnosis of a mental disorder 22 years later by Wagamaga
People from the poorest backgrounds are far more likely to develop a mental disorder later in life than those from wealthier beginnings, suggests a study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
In addition, more than half of people with a low educational attainment at age 30 will have a diagnosis of a mental disorder 22 years later, according to the study of people in Finland.
Previous studies have found a link between socioeconomic position and incidence of mental disorders, but the importance of different measures of socioeconomic position has seldom been compared.
A team of researchers from Finland analyzed official national data on more than 1.2 million of the population born between 1966 and 1986 who were living in Finland when they turned 30.
They set out to investigate the association between socioeconomic position at the age of 30 and the subsequent risk of the most common major mental disorders - substance misuse, schizophrenia, mood, and anxiety disorders.
They used three register-based measures for socioeconomic position, namely, educational attainment, employment status, and personal total income while also taking into account shared family characteristics that have an impact.
The study's population was followed between 1996 and 2017 and just over a quarter (26.1%) of them (331,657) were diagnosed with a mental disorder during the study's follow-up period.
The researchers' analysis showed that lower socioeconomic position at age 30 was consistently associated with a higher risk of being later diagnosed with a mental disorder, even after taking into account shared family characteristics and prior history of a mental disorder.
Wagamaga OP t1_j7gdzkx wrote
Reply to Analysis showed that 65.6% of women who took extra Vitamin D gave birth naturally. The study analysed results from the MAVIDOS trial which involved 965 women being randomly allocated an extra 1,000 International Units (IU) per day of vitamin D during their pregnancy or a placebo. by Wagamaga
Women who take extra vitamin D during their pregnancy are more likely to have a ‘natural’ delivery, according to new research.
The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, analysed results from the MAVIDOS trial which involved 965 women being randomly allocated an extra 1,000 International Units (IU) per day of vitamin D during their pregnancy or a placebo.
Analysis showed that 65.6% of women who took extra Vitamin D had a spontaneous vaginal delivery, or “natural” delivery, compared to 57.9% in the placebo group.
Fewer women from the vitamin D group had an assisted delivery (13.2%) compared with the placebo group (19.4%).
Wagamaga OP t1_j7flfdm wrote
Reply to More than 75% of global insect species not adequately protected. From insects like bees and butterflies, to organisms such as wasps and mosquitoes, insects are facing threats such as climate change, and a myriad of other ills such as habitat loss and pesticide use. by Wagamaga
More than 75 percent of the world’s insect species are insufficiently protected when it comes to conservation areas around the globe, according to a recent new study.
From our favorites like bees and butterflies, to the lesser appreciated organisms such as wasps and mosquitoes, insects are facing threats such as climate change, and a myriad of other ills such as habitat loss and pesticide use.
Protected areas, also known as conservation areas, are clearly defined geographic spaces that are legally recognized and managed to achieve the long term conservation of nature.
The study was published last week in the journal One Earth, and argues that protected areas can support vulnerable insect populations, but only if their geographic ranges are specifically targeted.
https://grist.org/article/insects-need-better-protection-climate-change/
Wagamaga OP t1_j77h4xf wrote
Reply to A new study suggests that too much screen time during infancy may lead to changes in brain activity, as well as problems with executive functioning — the ability to stay focused and control impulses, behaviors, and emotions — in elementary school. by Wagamaga
If you’re a parent, you’ve probably been there. You have a baby howling for attention, but you need to cook dinner or get a sibling to take a much-needed nap. Baby TV shows, touch tablets, and digital phone toys can feel like lifesavers in keeping an active infant calm and contained while juggling what life brings.
But a new study suggests that too much screen time during infancy may lead to changes in brain activity, as well as problems with executive functioning — the ability to stay focused and control impulses, behaviors, and emotions — in elementary school.
“The infant brain thrives on enriching interactions with the environment, and excessive infant screen time can reduce opportunities for real-world interactions that are important for brain development,” says Dr. Carol Wilkinson, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital who was part of the study. “Especially today, when screens are with us all the time, we need to better support parents in non-screen time tips and tricks to keep infants engaged and parents sane.”
Wagamaga OP t1_j76a63w wrote
Reply to Researchers looked at health outcomes for a population of more than 400,000 middle-aged and older adults, and found that both social isolation and loneliness increased the risk of hospitalization or death from heart failure by 15% to 20%. by Wagamaga
Studies have shown that social isolation and loneliness are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but less has been known about their specific connection with heart failure. A new study published in JACC: Heart Failure shows that both social isolation and loneliness are associated with higher rates of heart failure but whether or not a person feels lonely is more important in determining risk than if they are actually alone. Social disconnection can be classified into two different, but connected, components. “Social isolation” refers to being objectively alone or having infrequent social connections, while “loneliness” is defined as a painful feeling caused when someone’s actual level of social interaction is less than they would like it to be.
For the study, researchers looked at data from the UK Biobank study, which followed population health outcomes over 12 years and assessed psychosocial factors like social isolation and loneliness through self-reported questionnaires. Researchers looked at health outcomes for a population of more than 400,000 middle-aged and older adults. Previous studies have been inconclusive, with inconsistent results and have used different measurements for assessing social isolation and loneliness, said Jihui Zhang, MD, PhD, a researcher at Guangzhou Medical University in Guangzhou, China, and senior author of the study.
The researchers found that both social isolation and loneliness increased the risk of hospitalization or death from heart failure by 15% to 20%. However, they also found that social isolation was only a risk factor when loneliness was not also present. In other words, if a person was both socially isolated and felt lonely, loneliness was more important. Loneliness also increased risk even if the person was not socially isolated. Loneliness and social isolation were more common in men and were also associated with adverse health behaviors and status, such as tobacco use and obesity.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213177923000264?via%3Dihub
Wagamaga OP t1_j6t317y wrote
Reply to Scientists have shown for the first time that briefly tuning into a person's individual brainwave cycle before they perform a learning task dramatically boosts the speed at which cognitive skills improve. by Wagamaga
Scientists have shown for the first time that briefly tuning into a person’s individual brainwave cycle before they perform a learning task dramatically boosts the speed at which cognitive skills improve.
Calibrating rates of information delivery to match the natural tempo of our brains increases our capacity to absorb and adapt to new information, according to the team behind the study.
University of Cambridge researchers say that these techniques could help us retain “neuroplasticity” much later in life and advance lifelong learning.
“Each brain has its own natural rhythm, generated by the oscillation of neurons working together,” said Prof Zoe Kourtzi, senior author of the study from Cambridge’s Department of Psychology. “We simulated these fluctuations so the brain is in tune with itself – and in the best state to flourish.”
https://academic.oup.com/cercor/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhac426/6814397
Wagamaga OP t1_j6rrspq wrote
Reply to US Emissions of the World’s Most Potent Greenhouse Gas Are 56 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates. Electric utilities are likely responsible for the nation’s higher than expected emissions of sulfur hexafluoride, a greenhouse gas 25,000 times worse for the climate than carbon dioxide. by Wagamaga
While emissions of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), the world’s most potent greenhouse gas, have fallen sharply in the U.S. in recent decades, actual emissions are significantly higher than the official government estimates, a new study concludes.
Across the United States, 390 metric tons of SF6 were emitted into the atmosphere in 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, according to a new study resulting from a joint initiative between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. The study, designed to better quantify SF6 emissions in the U.S., was published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
SF6, a man-made gas used by electric utilities to quickly interrupt the flow of electricity in high voltage circuit breakers, is also the most potent greenhouse gas ever studied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The gas is 25,200 times more effective at warming the planet than carbon dioxide, making even small releases of SF6 cause for concern.
The volume of SF6 released in 2018 is less than half of what it was a decade prior, but still equaled the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 2.1 million automobiles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator.
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/1437/2023/acp-23-1437-2023.pdf
Wagamaga OP t1_j6o4zry wrote
Reply to Depression, poor mental health in young adults linked to higher cardiovascular risks. The research also found people without established cardiovascular disease, those who reported depression had 1.8 times higher odds of suboptimal cardiovascular health than those without depression. by Wagamaga
Young adults with depression or overall poor mental health report more heart attacks, strokes and risk factors for cardiovascular disease than their peers without mental health issues, new research shows.
The findings, published recently in the Journal of the American Heart Association, add to a large body of evidence linking cardiovascular disease risk and death with depression, but leave unanswered questions about how one may lead to the other.
"While the relationship between heart disease and depression is likely to be bidirectional, it's important to prioritize mental health among younger adults as this may be beneficial in reducing heart disease and improving overall heart health," said the study's lead author, Dr. Yaa Adoma Kwapong, a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Baltimore.
Kwapong and her colleagues wanted to better understand how mental health may affect cardiovascular disease and its risk factors earlier in life. They analyzed data for 593,616 adults who were 35 years old on average and took part in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a self-reported nationally representative survey, between 2017 and 2020.
Survey participants reported whether they had ever been told they had a depressive disorder and the number of days they experienced poor mental health during the past month. They also reported whether they had experienced a heart attack, stroke or chest pain, a condition known as angina, or have had cardiovascular disease risk factors including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, being overweight or having obesity, smoking, diabetes, physical inactivity and not eating enough fruits and vegetables. People who had two or more of these risk factors were considered to have suboptimal cardiovascular health
Wagamaga OP t1_j686i5n wrote
Reply to COVID vaccines and first boosters provided protection to pregnant women during Omicron surge. Looking at unvaccinated women, you still have an increased death rate, and increased neonatal mortality. If you are vaccinated and boosted, especially with a mRNA vaccine, those levels drop by 81%. by Wagamaga
COVID vaccines and first boosters provided significant protection to pregnant women against severe complications and death, even after the arrival of the new Omicron variant, according to a study published this week in The Lancet medical journal.
This study "demonstrates a vaccine effectiveness in preventing severe complications of severe COVID-19 of 76% following vaccination and at least one booster," said Dr. Michael Gravett, an OB-GYN with the University of Washington School of Medicine who participated in the study, which was led by Oxford University. "Given the marked increased in maternal mortality and severe morbidity seen in our earlier studies prior to vaccination, the 76% efficacy is pretty impressive and really points to the need to get women vaccinated."
The main point of the study, which was completed before other variants came on the scene, is for pregnant women to get vaccinated and receive all their boosters, including the bivalent booster, he said.The bivalent booster contains components targeting the original strain of the virus as well as a component of the Omicron strain, which emerged in late 2021.
As of the first week of January, 71% of pregnant women have received their primary COVID vaccines but only 19% have received the recommended bivalent booster, according the the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In Washington state, only 29% of pregnant women have received the bivalent booster, Gravett said.
Gravett noted that the study, one of the largest of its kind, compared outcomes of 1,545 pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 with those of 3,073 pregnant women without the infection. UW Medicine sites were one of three in the United States included in the study. Gravett and Dr. Alisa Kachikis guided the Seattle part of the study, which included around 75 women from UW Medical Center-Montlake, UW Medical Center-Northwest and Harborview Medical Center.
Wagamaga OP t1_j67xagj wrote
Reply to Researchers has found a link in sleep problems and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A study found sleep disturbances were prevalent among those with lifetime suicidal ideation or a lifetime suicide attempt. by Wagamaga
Sleep plays a critical role in mental health. And a new study led by University of Arizona researchers has found a link in sleep problems and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
The study surveyed 885 people from May 2020 to May 2021. Forty-one percent of participants had thought about suicide in their lifetime.
The team then compared individuals with and without suicide ideation on different measures of sleep, such as duration, timing, insomnia, nightmares and depressive symptoms.
Lead author Michael Grandner with UA said working to improve sleep health can reduce the risk of suicide.
Suicide was in the top three leading causes of death for those aged 10-35 in 2020.
The study was published in the Journal of American College Health.
https://kjzz.org/content/1837252/study-sleep-problems-linked-suicidal-thoughts
Wagamaga OP t1_j60673u wrote
Reply to Research shows among women 65 or older, each additional 31 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a 21% lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Risk was also 33% lower with each additional 1,865 daily steps. by Wagamaga
Senior women were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia if they did more daily walking and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, according to a new study led by the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.
In the Jan. 25, 2023 online edition of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, the team reported that, among women aged 65 or older, each additional 31 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a 21 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Risk was also 33 percent lower with each additional 1,865 daily steps.
“Given that the onset of dementia begins 20 years or more before symptoms show, the early intervention for delaying or preventing cognitive decline and dementia among older adults is essential,” said senior author Andrea LaCroix, Ph.D., M.P.H., Distinguished Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego.
While there are several types, dementias are a debilitating neurological condition that can cause loss of memory, the ability to think, problem solve or reason. Mild cognitive impairment is an early stage of memory loss or thinking problems that is not as severe as dementias.
https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.12908
Wagamaga OP t1_j5yzfpm wrote
Reply to Recyclable mobile phone batteries a step closer with rust-busting invention. Rather than disposing of batteries after two or three years, we could have recyclable batteries that last for up to nine years, by using high-frequency sound waves to remove rust that inhibits battery performance by Wagamaga
Rather than disposing of batteries after two or three years, we could have recyclable batteries that last for up to nine years, by using high-frequency sound waves to remove rust that inhibits battery performance, the team says.
Only 10% of used handheld batteries, including for mobile phones, are collected for recycling in Australia, which is low by international standards. The remaining 90% of batteries go to landfill or are disposed of incorrectly, which causes considerable damage to the environment.
The high cost of recycling lithium and other materials from batteries is a major barrier to these items being reused, but the team’s innovation could help to address this challenge.
The team are working with a nanomaterial called MXene, a class of materials they say promises to be an exciting alternative to lithium for batteries in the future.
Wagamaga OP t1_j9y3f1w wrote
Reply to Climate change, urbanization drive major declines in L.A.’s birds. 40% of bird species were present at fewer sites today than they were 100 years ago, while only 10% were present at more sites. Meanwhile, in the Central Valley, the proportion of species that experienced a decline (23%) by Wagamaga
Climate change isn’t the only threat facing California’s birds. Over the course of the 20th century, urban sprawl and agricultural development have dramatically changed the landscape of the state, forcing many native species to adapt to new and unfamiliar habitats.
In a new study, biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, use current and historical bird surveys to reveal how land use change has amplified — and in some cases mitigated — the impacts of climate change on bird populations in Los Angeles and the Central Valley.
The study found that urbanization and much hotter and drier conditions in L.A. have driven declines in more than one-third of bird species in the region over the past century. Meanwhile, agricultural development and a warmer and slightly wetter climate in the Central Valley have had more mixed impacts on biodiversity.
“It’s pretty common in studies of the impact of climate change on biodiversity to only model the effects of climate and not consider the effects of land use change,” said study senior author Steven Beissinger, a professor of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley and a researcher at the campus’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ). “But we’re finding that the individual responses of different bird species to these threats are likely to promote unpredictable changes that complicate forecasts of extinction risk.”
The study, publishing today in the journal Science Advances, presents the latest results from UC Berkeley’s Grinnell Resurvey Project, an effort to revisit and document birds and small mammals at sites first surveyed a century ago by UC Berkeley professor Joseph Grinnell.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abn0250