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Stanford-Forscher zeigen superstarke Miniroboter

 

30.04.2015 – Sascha Mattke Ameise gegen Roboter. (Stanford University) Mehrere Gruppen arbeiten seit langem an biologisch inspirierten Maschinen, die so gut klettern können wie ein Gecko. Die Stanford University hat jetzt einige besonders starke Beispiele für dieses Konzept entwickelt. Gemeinhin gelten Ameisen, gemessen an ihrem Körpergewicht, als außerordentlich stark: Manche Arten können das 60-Fache ihres eigenen Gewichts durch die Gegend tragen. Eine Gruppe von Forschern an der Stanford University stellt diese Leistung mit Minirobotern jetzt jedoch weit in den Schatten. Eine ihrer Maschinen kann das Zweitausendfache ihres eigenen Gewichts (das nur 12 Gramm beträgt) bewegen. Ein weiterer Roboter schafft bei einem Eigengewicht von 9 Gramm mehr als 1 Kilogramm Last – und zwar senkrecht eine Wand hoch. Details über die starken Miniroboter sollen Ende Mai auf der International Conference on Robotics and Automation vorgestellt werden. Die Stanford-Gruppe machte bereits Ende 2014 auf sich aufmerksam, als eines ihrer Mitglieder mit speziellen Haftplatten an Händen und Füßen eine Fassade hochstieg. Entscheidend für derartige Kunststücke ist eine sichere Haftung auf der Oberfläche. Die Inspiration dafür beziehen die Stanford-Forscher aus der Natur, nämlich von den Füßen von Geckos. Die Echsen, die auch kopfüber an Decken entlang laufen können, faszinieren Wissenschaftler seit langem mit ihrem enormen Klettergeschick. Die Grundlage dafür sind Millionen von extrem dünnen, als Setae bezeichneten Haaren an den Geckofüßen, die sich am Ende noch weiter verzweigen. Insgesamt entsteht so eine große Oberfläche, die dank elektrischer Anziehung ausreichend Haftung gewährleistet. Wenn ein Gecko sein Gewicht verlagert, haben die Setae weniger Kontaktfläche, so dass der Fuß problemlos angehoben werden kann. Schon 2006 stellten die Stanford-Forscher ihren „Stickybot“ vor, dessen Füße ähnlich funktionieren wie die von Geckos. Der große Vorteil einer solchen rein physikalischen Haftung: Anders als eine chemische lässt sie sich leicht wieder aufheben, was schnelle Bewegungen ermöglicht. Mehrere Gruppen versuchen seit dieser Zeit, kommerzielle Anwendungen für die Technologie zu entwickeln. Gecko Biomedical zum Beispiel arbeitet an einem Klebsystem für Operationen. Die jetzt vorgestellten Stanford-Roboter treiben das Konzept auf die Spitze. Der stärkere der beiden kann bei 12 Gramm Eigengewicht mehr als 20 Kilogramm über eine waagerechte Fläche ziehen; nach Angaben der Gruppe ist das vergleichbar mit einem Menschen, der einen Blauwal bewegt. Die Variante für senkrechte Bewegungen wiegt 9 Gramm und kann mehr als das Hundertfache davon mit sich tragen. Ein Video zeigt, wie dieser Roboter seinen Vorgänger Stickybot eine Wand hochzieht. Ein weiterer Miniroboter, gebaut mit Pinzetten unter eine Lupe, wiegt nur 20 Milligramm, kann aber bis 500 Milligramm befördern. In ausgereifter Form könnte es für solche superstarken Miniroboter eine Reihe von Anwendungsmöglichkeiten geben. Nach Angaben der Forschergruppe würden sie sich zum Beispiel dafür eignen, schwere Objekte in Fabriken oder auf Baustellen zu transportieren. Ebenfalls denkbar wäre, die kleinen Roboter bei Katastrophen mit Hilfsgütern loszuschicken, beispielsweise um eine Leiter zum Dach eines hohen Hauses zu bringen. Im größeren Maßstab werden sich die extremen Verhältnisse von Eigengewicht zu Tragfähigkeit wie bei den Mini-Modellen nicht halten lassen, weil die Gecko-Haftung bei winzigen Strukturen am besten funktioniert. Doch wie der menschliche Fassaden-Kletterer Ende 2014 zeigte, ist das Konzept durchaus skalierbar. Genau das haben die Stanford-Forscher auch vor: „Wenn man etwas mehr Platz zur Verfügung hat, kann man wirklich beeindruckende Dinge machen“, sagt David Christensen, einer der Beteiligten. (Sascha Mattke) Permalink: http://heise.de/-2626452 Version zum Drucken

Danger in using car seats, sitting and carrying devices for sleeping infants

 

Sleep-related deaths are the most common cause of death for infants 1-12 months of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants sleep on their back on a firm mattress, without loose bedding. However, many parents use sitting or carrying devices, such as car seats, swings, or bouncers, as alternative sleeping environments, which could lead to potential injury or death. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers describe how the improper use of these items can lead to infant deaths. Erich K. Batra, MD, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and colleagues from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Children's National Medical Center reviewed deaths that were reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, of children under 2 years of age that occurred in sitting and carrying devices between April 2004 and December 2008. According to Dr. Batra, "Many parents use sitting or carrying devices, not realizing that there are hazards when they do this." The data include information from death certificates, reports from medical examiners and coroners, and interviews with family members and witnesses. The researchers analyzed records for 47 deaths associated with sitting and carrying devices; all but one were attributed to asphyxia (positional or strangulation). Two-thirds of the cases involved car seats; strangulation from straps accounted for 52% of the car seat deaths. The remainder of deaths occurred in slings, swings, bouncers, and strollers. The elapsed time from when the infants were last seen alive to when they were discovered ranged from as little as four minutes to up to 11 hours. The study included newborns as well as toddlers. It is important to note that an infant in a properly positioned car seat, in a car, with properly attached straps is at little risk from a suffocation injury. However, contrary to popular belief, the restraints and design of infant sitting or carrying devices are not intended for unsupervised sleeping. "Infants and young children should not be left unsupervised when using a sitting or carrying device due to the risk of suffocation and death," notes Dr. Batra. The authors offer the following advice to parents when using infant sitting or carrying devices: Do not leave children unsupervised (awake or asleep); Never leave children in a car seat with unbuckled or partially buckled straps; Car seats should never be placed on a soft or unstable surface; Infants in bouncers, strollers, and swings may be able to maneuver into positions that could compromise their airway; straps on these devices may not prevent infants from getting into hazardous situations; Ensure that infants cannot twist their heads into soft bedding or slump forward in a seat; restraints should be used according to manufacturer's instructions; Slings are particularly hazardous because of their design and the ease with which an infant's airway can be collapsed. If used, the infant's face should be "visible and kissable" at all times; and Do not place more than one infant together in a swing meant for one infant. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Elsevier. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Erich K. Batra, Jonathan D. Midgett, and Rachel Y. Moon. Hazards Associated with Sitting and Carrying Devices for Children Two Years and Younger. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.03.044

When Scientists Choose Motherhood

 

A single factor goes a long way in explaining the dearth of women in math-intensive fields. How can we address it? Wendy M. Williams, Stephen J. Ceci I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy. —Marie Curie, two-time Nobel Prize winner and mother of a daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, who also won the Nobel Prize Jennifer was an extremely talented undergraduate, majoring in mathematics and engineering. Her grades and test scores were nearly perfect; her professors saw a bright future for her as an engineering professor and encouraged her to pursue a doctorate. In graduate school, she continued to excel, accumulating high-quality publications, fellowships and awards. She landed a premier postdoctoral position and was headed for a first-tier professorship. But she never applied for a tenure-track academic job. As a 33-year-old postdoc, she could not imagine waiting to have children until after tenure at age 40, nor could she imagine how she would juggle caring for a young family with the omnipresent demands of an assistant professorship. The harried lives of the two tenured mothers in her department convinced her that such a path was not for her. Jennifer made the choice to have a family and teach mathematics part-time at a local community college. Although it’s not hard to find evidence of women professors’ many successes in the academy, scenarios like Jennifer’s are all too common. Women hold a substantial portion of professorships in the humanities and liberal arts, and they are well represented in the social sciences and some fields of natural science, such as biology. Overall, women make up 33 percent of faculty at doctoral-level institutions. They receive many teaching and service awards and do as well as men in winning grants. But women are in short supply in math-intensive fields, such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering and computer science. For example, in the top 100 U.S. universities in 2007, women full professors in these fields numbered only 4.4 to 12.3 percent, and women were only 16 to 27 percent of assistant professors (see Figure 2). What is going on here? Why are women who are talented and dedicated enough to graduate from college with degrees in mathematics not progressing through graduate school and ultimately earning full professorships? Where are these women going, and why do they leave their chosen field? Much has been written about the underrepresentation of women professors in math-intensive fields, particularly in upper-level positions. Despite the substantial amount of high-quality data on this issue, however, myths and misunderstandings prevail. Potentially addressable issues that limit women are often ignored, and efforts and resources are misdirected toward solving problems that no longer exist. The usual explanations for the shortage of women focus squarely on sex discrimination at various life stages. As a result of such discrimination, the argument goes, girls and women drop out of math-based endeavors or change their focus. Some scholars have argued for the effects of early socialization practices that lead girls along a path that downplays math—pink versus blue attire for babies, Barbie dolls proclaiming “Math class is tough,” middle-school math teachers calling on boys more than girls, high-school girls urged to be cheerleaders or writers instead of scientists. Others invoke gender stereotypes—sets of shared cultural expectations that suggest, for instance, that females are not gifted in math or that the responsibility for raising children belongs primarily or solely to women. Still others look further down the pipeline, at disenfranchisement of women once they enter academic-science careers, focusing on claims of “chilly climate”; unequal pay and promotion; devaluing of women’s work styles and biased assessment of their efforts; and old-boys’ clubs that isolate women. Researchers have also studied the role of sex differences at the extreme right tail of the math distribution—more boys than girls demonstrate extremely high levels of math ability on standardized tests such as the SAT. Still others suggest that women simply prefer to use their math and science skills to be veterinarians and biologists, for example, rather than engineers and computer scientists, and that the difference in the numbers can be explained by this freely determined preference. We argue for the importance of another factor in women’s underrepresentation: the choice to become a mother. To place the role of this choice in context, we consider its impact on women’s careers relative to the impacts of other variables that may reduce women’s participation in the sciences. Our own findings as well as research by others show that the effect of children on women’s academic careers is so remarkable that it eclipses other factors in contributing to women’s underrepresentation in academic science. Unlikely Causes Three major sets of factors have been offered to explain the dearth of women in math-intensive fields: ability differences; occupational and lifestyle preferences; and sex discrimination. Elsewhere we have extensively reviewed the evidence for several of these issues; here we provide a summary. Ability differences: Scholars once thought sex differences that favored men on tests of quantitative ability were responsible for the shortage of women in math-based fields. Although there are no systematic sex differences in average scores on tests such as the SAT mathematics (SAT-M), many more men score in the very top range. For example, among the top 0.01 percent (1 in 10,000) of scorers in nonrandom samples, there are about 4 men for every woman. College admissions committees may admit more men because of their higher SAT-M scores, setting in motion a cycle of women’s attrition. Yet this cannot be the whole story or even a large part of it. Starting about two decades ago, women began gaining on men in math ability and participation. By 2005, men and women were almost equally represented among college math majors, and women tend to get better grades in math courses. But far fewer women than men enroll in math-based Ph.D. programs. The GRE-Quantitative scores of graduate students in math-intensive fields at our own university are very high across the board. These students come from the top end of the ability distribution, and the test actually underestimates their ability due to ceiling problems (there are not enough very hard questions to distinguish the truly exceptional from the merely talented). So, since fewer women score in the top range on tests used for admission to Ph.D. programs, this fact may be responsible for some of the shortage of women in math-intensive careers. As compelling as this argument seems, however, there are several problems with it. Females outperform males in math classes throughout schooling, including in college. Surely graduate-admissions decision makers take women’s higher GPAs into account. Also, even if among the top 1 percent of scorers there were 2 males for every female, there should still be more women in math-based disciplines, because we do not see anything close to a 2-to-1 ratio of men to women in these careers. Recall that 12 percent or less of full professors in these fields are women. Something more than scoring at the right tail is responsible. Some researchers argue that those who succeed in mathematical fields come from more rarefied strata than the top 1 percent. David Lubinski, Camilla Benbow and their associates at Vanderbilt University have shown that those in the topquarter of the top 1 percent of scorers outperform those in the bottomquarter of the top 1 percent in obtaining tenure-track jobs, publishing articles and patents, and other indicators of excellence and success. If extremely high math ability is important to success, and if many more men possess this extreme ability than do women, perhaps it is responsible for observed ratios of men to women in math-based fields. Although further investigation might show a correlation between success and scores in the far-right tail of the range, no one has demonstrated a causal relation between the two factors. We do know that math-talented women are less likely than equivalently math-talented men to enter mathematical professions. In other words, many fewer women than men choose mathematical fields—even when they have comparable math scores. There is no direct evidence that men’s math-score advantage explains this shortage of women. Forty-five percent of undergraduate degrees in mathematics go to women, as do 29 percent of Ph.D.s, suggesting that whatever these women’s math skills, they are compatible with very high levels of achievement. Thus, we believe mathematical differences between the sexes are not primary factors in women’s underrepresentation in math-heavy fields. Career preferences and lifestyle differences: If cognitive differences cannot explain most of the shortage of women in these careers, what about sex differences in career preferences and lifestyle choices? Surveys have documented that females, starting at a young age, are more interested in careers that involve living things—such as medicine, biology, animal science and psychology—than fields such as computer science, mathematics, physics and engineering. Adolescent girls seldom name engineering and computer science as desired careers, whereas nearly a quarter of adolescent boys do. Unlike some researchers, we are not overly worried by these findings, because careers in biology, medicine and veterinary science seem as valuable and satisfying as those in math-based fields. It would be troubling if adolescents declined to try such professions on the basis of faulty information about what is possible, but as long as they are doing so to pursue careers they perceive as more rewarding, society still benefits from these young people’s talents. A related factor concerns life-course differences between the sexes. In surveys of graduate students, Lubinski, Benbow and their students found that female graduate students viewed a full-time career as “important” or “extremely important” about as often as did their male counterparts (77 percent versus 81 percent, respectively). However, when it came to the importance of temporarily having a part-time career, significant sex differences emerged (31 percent versus 9 percent, respectively), as well as for always having a part-time career (19 percent versus 9 percent, respectively). Such life-course preferences can lead to differences in research productivity and hours spent at the office, reflecting differing priorities in optimal life-work balance. Lubinski studied the amount of time that nearly 2,000 33-year-olds, who were in the top 1 percent of quantitative ability during their adolescence, spent on career-related work. He found that roughly twice as many high-aptitude men as women reported working at their jobs more than 50 hours per week. Other surveys underscore this male advantage in working very long hours. Sex discrimination in publishing, funding and hiring: A frequent claim is that women are derailed by sex discrimination in publishing their work, obtaining grant funding and being hired. However, although these forms of discrimination may have played important roles historically, none of these causes can explain today’s underrepresentation. In an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., we reviewed the evidence and concluded that such discrimination is not responsible for the current dearth of women. Consider one example of the research we synthesized. In 2004 and 2005, a National Research Council committee surveyed U.S. university departments and faculty in a number of math-intensive fields about their interviewing, hiring and promotion records. It found that women applicants were actually more likely to be interviewed and offered tenure-track jobs than were their male competitors, and that there were no differences in tenure and promotion rates for women and men. A number of other analyses have reached the same conclusions. In mathematics, only 20 percent of applicants for tenure-track posts were women, but 28 percent of those invited to interview were women, as were 32 percent of those offered positions. The picture is much the same for funding and publishing. Women scientists are as successful as men at publishing work and at earning grant funding, according to analyses of hundreds of thousands of grant applications submitted throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Thus, the shortage of women in mathematical fields is not the result of discriminatory hiring, publishing and funding, nor can it be explained away on the basis of ability differences. Some portion of the dearth of women in math fields can clearly be traced to differences between the sexes in career preferences. Women’s greater desire for lifestyle flexibility, reflecting differing ideas about work-life balance and different expectations regarding responsibility for raising children and working in the home, also plays a role. This latter point leads to what we see as the single most important factor in explaining women’s underrepresentation: a desire for children and family life. The Perils of Motherhood It is when academic scientists choose to be mothers that their real problems start. Women deal with all the other challenges of being academic scientists as well as men do. Childless women are paid, promoted and rewarded equivalently to their male peers (and in some analyses at even higher rates). Children completely change the landscape for women—but do not appear to have the same effect on the careers of men. What happens when children enter the equation, and why does this change seem to impact women’s but not men’s careers? Answering this question requires knowledge about the typical course of an academic career. Most college students interested in becoming professors in the sciences graduate from college and matriculate in graduate school soon thereafter. Earning a doctorate takes five to six years on average; it is common to work as a postdoctoral associate for several years after the doctorate. By the time students contemplate applying for tenure-track academic jobs, they are at least 27 years old, and on average 33. Landing a job means applying broadly and being willing to relocate, giving the search priority over the needs of partners or spouses. The next six years are spent in relentless efforts to accumulate an impressive portfolio of work—encompassing research, teaching, service and grants—until finally, at age 35 or older, a professor may be fortunate enough to earn tenure. Research by Jerry Jacobs and Sarah Winslow has shown that more than 60 percent of female untenured professors are over 40, and Mary Ann Mason and Mark Goulden showed the average age of tenure was already 39-plus by 2003. Women’s optimal fertility is between ages 18 and 31. By age 37, many will have difficulty conceiving. Waiting to have children has not only physical aspects but also emotional ones—some women want to have children when they are younger. For women, the tenure track presents a harsh reality that juxtaposes the most significant physical and emotional challenges of their lives with the most significant professional challenges. It’s easy to see why the pretenure years might be off-putting for a woman who does not wish to delay having children until her late thirties—she must deal with pregnancy, childbirth and child care while simultaneously amassing a tenurable portfolio of work. This reality is too daunting for some women, and they either leave the tenure-track pipeline or give up on having children. Surveys have shown that regrets plague women in the academy at a far greater rate than they do men. In a 2002–2003 survey of around 4,500 University of California faculty members by Mason, Angelica Stacy, and Goulden, 38 percent of women but only 18 percent of men stated that they “regret not having children” or “regret not having more children.” In research by Elaine Ecklund and Anne Lincoln at Rice University and Southern Methodist University, nearly 40 percent of women graduate students said they had fewer children than they wanted because of the pressure of their careers (versus only 20 percent of men), as did 45 percent of women faculty in astronomy, biology and physics (versus only 25 percent of men). Often this regret is associated with leaving the academy. Men more often have stay-at-home spouses or spouses in flexible careers who bear and raise children while the men are free to focus on academic work. Women professors in heterosexual partnerships who want to bear children, by virtue of biology, can never achieve this same distance from childrearing, and male stay-at-home partners devoted to child care are rare. Mason and her colleagues found that mothers are 35 percent less likely to enter the tenure track and 38 percent less likely to achieve tenure than fathers, and twice as likely as fathers to work in part-time or non–tenure-track positions. Only one in three women who accepts a fast-track university job before having a child ever becomes a mother. Among tenured scientists, only 50 percent of women are married with children, compared to 72 percent of men, and women married when beginning faculty careers are much more likely to divorce or separate than men. For women who want to have children and a career in science, the picture is not pretty. If women’s fears about the effects of having children on their careers were unfounded, we could simply educate young women scientists about what really happens and relieve them of their anxiety. But in fact, children represent a dramatic influence on women’s life paths and work productivity. To complicate the situation further, in some cases children have a positive impact on men’s productivity. Research by David Leslie has shown that the more children a woman has, the fewer hours per week she spends on her professional work, while the exact opposite is true for men. Both for men and for women who have no children or plans to have them, the process of becoming a tenured professor in a scientific field depends on single-minded pursuit of academic goals. Whether measured in hours spent or in percentage of one’s life energy devoted, the job demands devotion to the task at a level that is extraordinarily challenging for women who are mothers of young children. The tenure system was created at a time when few women worked outside the home and when raising children was assumed to be women’s work, and thus it was designed for people without significant responsibilities in household work or child care. In fact, many early professors were unmarried men who were expected to live in residence at their universities. A lot has changed since then, but the tenure system itself has remained much the same. The research by Mason, Stacy and Goulden found that childless women and childless men professors report working an average of 78 hours per week across all life domains (in the workplace and at home), and men with children work 88 hours per week. But women with children work 100-plus hours per week across all life domains. Among assistant professors with children, women spend nearly 4 hours fewer per week on their professional careers than do men (52.5 versus 56.3), according to Jacobs and Winslow. The impact of children on women is especially dramatic for the proportion working 60-plus hours per week—42 percent of married male assistant professors with children work 60-plus hours per week, compared to only 29 percent of married women with children. The reality of the lives of women professors with children may seem too stark for their younger colleagues, postdocs and students. The role of children in women’s versus men’s decisions about whether to stay in a research-intensive career track or opt out of it can also be seen in research by Goulden, Karie Frasch and Mason. They show that once children—or even plans for children—exist, women become far more likely to move out of the research-professor pipeline. Women with no plans for children show decision making comparable to men, exhibiting about the same likelihood of opting out of research-professor careers. This single factor of having or wanting children has great impact. In some analyses, females are twice as likely as males to decide not to pursue tenure-track careers as a result of this factor. Having children prior to working as a postdoctoral associate creates a 19 percent likelihood for men of opting out, versus 32 percent for women; having new children after beginning postdoctoral work creates a 20 percent versus 41 percent difference. No other factor can account for as much leakage of women from the research-professor pipeline. The percentage of women in the applicant pool at each of several key transition points shows this decline: From award of Ph.D., to application for tenure-track positions, to being invited to interview, to being offered a tenure-track job, to being promoted to associate and full professor, women’s numbers diminish. The proportion of applications from women is significantly lower than the proportion of doctoral degrees awarded to women. This gap is more pronounced in some fields than in others; for example, the difference is quite substantial in chemistry and biology, two disciplines with relatively high proportions (32 percent and 46 percent, respectively) of recent Ph.D.s awarded to women. However, when women do apply for tenure-track positions, they are more likely to be interviewed and hired than their proportion in the applicant pool (as opposed to their proportion in the Ph.D. pool) would lead one to expect. These data, in sum, lead us to conclude that the dynamics of family formation in Western society—not biased hiring committees, journal reviewers and grant panelists—are the primary cause of the underrepresentation of women in academic science. Do women in nonacademic careers face the same challenges? At least in some fields, the answer is yes. The economists Marianne Bertrand, Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz surveyed nearly 2,500 University of Chicago M.B.A.s who graduated between 1990 and 2006. More women M.B.A.s dropped out of the full-time workforce with each added year following their degree. As their biological clocks ran down, significantly fewer remained in full-time and part-time employment. Although this situation is also seen among women in medicine and among Ph.D.s, it is exacerbated in business, particularly for those jobs associated with work weeks of more than 60 hours (investment banking, consulting) or close to 60 hours (venture capital, sales, trading). For the first few years following receipt of their M.B.A., men and women have similar labor-force participation, both at nearly 100 percent. However, 10 years after graduation, among women who have one or more children, only 52 percent work full-time and full year. Sex differences in labor-force participation widen as careers progress. Women are not found in greater numbers in some fields, particularly math-intensive ones, due to a combination of factors. The two most significant reasons are that women are more likely than men to prefer other fields (such as medicine, biology, law and veterinary science, rather than mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science and physics), even when they have comparable mathematical ability, and that family-formation goals extinguish tenure-track aspirations in women more often than in men. The majority of child care, housework and household management is done by women, and women scientists are no exception in assuming this greater burden. Although this second factor affects women in all fields of science, not just math-intensive ones, the lower numbers of women entering graduate programs in math-based fields means that any factor that further reduces their number results in a dearth of tenure-track female faculty. At the top 100 universities in the 1996-to-2005 cohort, less than a third of Ph.D.s in math-intensive fields were women, and in three of those fields less than 15 percent of Ph.D.s were women. Fields such as biology, psychology, sociology and medicine, in which the majority of new Ph.D.s and M.D.s are now women, are able to retain a larger number of women in the tenure-track pipeline, even after family-driven attrition. Policy Changes with Potential If sex discrimination in interviewing and hiring, or in reviewing of women’s work products, were responsible for the dearth of women professors in math-intensive fields, we would advocate interventions targeting these issues. But current data show that our society has moved past these types of blatant discrimination. Of course, more subtle forms of discrimination may operate today, and we await empirical data supporting their existence and illuminating optimal pathways to address them. One potentially promising way to increase women’s representation is to focus efforts on the problems faced by mothers struggling to raise young families while building tenurable scholarly records. Accordingly, we advocate evaluation of an assortment of strategies (suggested by ourselves and by others, such as Mason and her colleagues) to determine which have promise. For instance, universities might educate women graduate students about the downsides of alternative career paths, following partners’ career moves and taking time off. They could explore the use of part-time tenure-track positions for women having children that segue to full-time once children are older, and offer members of a couple the option to temporarily share a single full-time position. Further strategies include not penalizing older or nontraditional applicants for jobs; leveraging technology to enable parents to work from home while children are young or ill; providing parental leaves for primary caregivers of either gender and offering funding to foster successful reentry; and providing an academic role for women who have left professional positions to have children. Institutions could also try stopping tenure clocks for primary caregivers during family formation; adjusting the length of time allocated for work on grants to accommodate childrearing; offering no-cost grant extensions; providing supplements to hire postdocs to maintain labs during family leave; reducing teaching loads for parents of newborns; providing grants for retooling after parental leave; hiring couples; offering child care during professional meetings; providing high-quality university-based child care and emergency backup care; and instructing hiring committees to ignore family-related gaps in curricula vitae. Ensuring that adolescent girls and boys have access to accurate career information is also important, so that misinformation does not lead young people to opt out of careers they might have found rewarding. Some of these strategies have been implemented at some universities; a range of adjustments to the tenure process will be necessary to ensure that women and men who want to have children and be primary caregivers will have equal opportunity. Key factors that limit women today are still in need of solutions. It is time for our society to address them. The stresses faced when raising young families drive women out of careers for which they are trained and in which they would be as successful as men were they to make the choice not to have children. This critical constraint, which has both biological and cultural aspects, creates a sometimes grim and seemingly unfair reality for women that men simply do not face. Modern universities must create policies to target this real issue, which is supported by extensive empirical data, and which lies at the heart of the current problem.

SpaceLife Jacket may be the closest you'll get to walking on the Moon

 

The SpaceLife Jacket is designed to pay tribute to the classic spacesuits of yesteryear Image Gallery (8 images) Almost everybody will, at some point, have harbored a desire to travel into outer space. But it's unlikely any of us will achieve this goal, unless and until Elon Musk or Richard Branson deliver on their promises to make space travel much simpler and more affordable. Still, if you can't actually make it out of Earth's atmosphere, you can at least buy the T-shirt. Or, more accurately, an approximation of the jacket worn by astronauts. This is the SpaceLife Jacket, designed to resemble (though not replicate) the classic spacesuits worn by the brave astronauts who ventured to the Moon and beyond. While this isn't officially sanctioned by NASA, and doesn't come with the Neil Armstrong seal of approval, the SpaceLife Jacket would certainly make wannabe-astronauts look the part. The exterior of the SpaceLife Jacket is made from a "210D trilobal nylon oxford fiber" designed to be both waterproof and light-reflecting, while parts of the interior are neoprene, providing durability and flexibility regardless of the conditions. The major selling point of the SpaceLife Jacket is, however, something that is definitely not standard issue for astronauts. Speakers built into the hood enable you to listen to music – or mission control recordings – while on the go, with controls built into the suit controlling music playback on your smartphone via Bluetooth. There is also a built-in microphone enabling you to make calls – "Houston, we have a problem," for example. The eye-catching design, the expensive materials, and the integrated audio system mean the SpaceLife Jacket doesn't come cheap. Due to be delivered in September 2015, each SpaceLife Jacket is priced at €1,499 (US$1,840). Still, couple it with the limited edition sneakers known as The Missions and you'll be two items of clothing closer to walking on the Moon. Kinda. Source: SpaceLife via Slashgear

Televised medical talk shows: Health education or entertainment?

 

"The research supporting any of these recommendations is frequently absent, contradictory or of poor quality," says Christina Korownyk, an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "The public may see these shows as educational," adds Mike Allan, a colleague and fellow professor in the Department of Family Medicine. "But in many ways we wonder if that's really what they're there for and perhaps they're just there for entertainment." Korownyk and Allan are two of the authors of a new study published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal, which examines the recommendations of televised medical talk shows. The researchers say they settled on the study after hearing concerns from several physicians whose patients took to heart the advice given on the shows. "Some patients come in and say 'I heard on Dr. Oz yesterday that we should all be doing this.' And then we're left scrambling in our office to try to find answers," says Korownyk. "It got us reflecting, what's being said there? What kinds of things are being recommended and what kind of information is being provided?" To find an answer, the team chose two internationally syndicated medical talk shows to analyze: The Dr. Oz Show and The Doctors. Each show was recorded every day from January 2013 to April 2013. From there, the researchers randomly selected 40 episodes of each show and had two team members watch every episode independently, recording topics, recommendations made and who was making the recommendations. After that, another two researchers were brought in to re-watch the episodes, focusing on the information provided in the recommendations and answering the questions: was there a benefit mentioned? Was it specific? Did the show quantify the magnitude of the benefit? Did they mention costs? Did they mention conflict of interest? The team then randomly selected 80 of the strongest recommendations from each show for further study, giving the medical researchers an hour per question to try and find out if there was any evidence to support what was being said. Korownyk says the results were revealing. "One out of three recommendations from The Dr. Oz Show has believable evidence and about half of the recommendations on The Doctors has believable evidence." "Frequently you're not getting enough information and without doing the research you won't know if it's supported by evidence or not," adds Allan. Among the other findings: Most common topic discussed after general medical advice: The Dr. Oz Show -- Dietary advice (43.2 percent) The Doctors -- Dietary advice (16.8 percent) Most common recommendations given: The Dr. Oz Show -- Dietary advice (39.2 percent) The Doctors -- Consult a health-care professional (17.8 percent) Were specific benefits mentioned along with the recommendation? The Dr. Oz Show -- (42.6 percent) The Doctors -- (41.3 percent) Was the magnitude of the benefit mentioned with the recommendation? The Dr. Oz Show -- (16.5 percent) The Doctors -- (11 percent) Were possible harms mentioned? The Dr. Oz Show -- (9.8 percent) The Doctors -- (7.6 percent) Were costs mentioned? The Dr. Oz Show -- (12.5 percent) The Doctors -- (3.1 percent) Korownyk and Allan also note that out of 924 total recommendations examined, in only four instances were there accompanying mentions of potential conflict of interest by the presenter. Allan believes the sum of evidence shows viewers aren't being given enough information to make the best decisions. "It is limited and would not allow many patients to make a clear informed choice about what they're hearing. They're really taking these recommendations based on their trust of the host rather than making an informed choice based on the information provided." The researchers say it appears that general advice for the public is often not the best path for viewers to make their health decisions. And while televised medical talk shows may be great entertainment, listening to health-care providers who can give specific and balanced advice will leave people healthier and happier in the long run. "Our bottom line conclusion is to be skeptical of what you hear on these shows," says Allan.

Cuba’s Internet Revolution

 

Easy access to the Internet is an important tool in economic and political development. Cubans could be about to enjoy vastly improved access to communications technology under proposed normalization of relations with the United States, which will permit companies to import telecom infrastructure and expertise. But economic and political obstacles still need to be overcome for cheap, open Internet access to become a reality. While the White House wants to remove trade restrictions on sending telecom gear and other technology to the country, it’s not yet clear what the regime of Raúl Castro, which strictly controls Internet access, will do. “Castro has not committed to anything other than the prisoner swap and allowing a U.S. embassy on the island,” says Coco Fusco, visiting associate professor in the Comparative Media Studies/Writing program at MIT, who visits Cuba frequently and has done research on Cuba’s blogosphere. “No concrete promises have been made. We have to wait and see what the Cuban government actually decides to allow.” Even basic Internet services could transform daily life in Cuba. Right now, only elites can easily get online. At government-sanctioned cyber-cafés, connecting to websites outside Cuba costs at least $5 an hour—a hefty price in a nation where the average monthly wage is $20. And in some cases users have been asked to sign agreements not to use their Web activities to do anything that might harm “public security.” Those aren’t the only restrictions. If Cubans want to tweet, they must get around internal filters by using an international phone number—at a cost of about $1 per message, says Fusco. Plus, “the Cuban government has a monopoly on telecommunications service and can charge ridiculous rates for international and cell-phone service.” The new policies could provide indirect technological help by making it easier for Cubans to afford things like mobile phones. The White House wants to authorize American credit card usage in Cuba, allow more tourism, and loosen policies on cash remittances, all of which could put more cash in people’s pockets. “Common things like computers, mobile phones, and thumb drives are not easy to find in Cuba, and people want them,” says Ellery Roberts Biddle, editor of Global Voices Advocacy, who studies the politics of Internet use in Cuba (see “Cuba’s New Internet Service Is Also No Bed of Roses”). Having more money will be a huge help, she says: right now, Cubans often share information by passing around storage devices and plugging them into whatever old PCs they have access to. Cuba’s electronic isolation can easily be seen in its fiber Internet connections. Whereas the Dominican Republic, nearby, has five fiber-optic cables landing on the coastline, Cuba has only one, financed by the Venezuelan government. It’s an open question whether Cuba will build out public infrastructure and allow increased investment by U.S. and global technology companies and telecoms. “But if this does in fact occur, it will be interesting to see if they pursue a mobile-first model instead of investing in fiber deployment,” says David Belson, senior director of industry and data intelligence at Akamai, the Web-optimization company. Either way, such changes would require not just a relaxation of Cuban restrictions on Internet content, but also economic growth to support the new infrastructure and ensure that people have enough money to pay for service. Even if Cuba’s dictatorship does pursue new communications technology, it might include means to help maintain control over the Internet, a strategy adopted by other repressive regimes. Several use American-made technology to filter and spy on their populations (see “Regimes Use U.S. Tech to Censor Citizens, Study Finds”). For now, restrictions on communication technologies represent an “internal blockade,” says Ted Henken, a professor at Baruch College in New York City and author of a book about Cuban entrepreneurial policy. “Even as the external embargo crumbles, the internal embargo remains,” he says.

Coenzima Q10

 

Coenzima Q10 Produzida naturalmente pelas nossas células, a coenzima Q10 (CoQ-10), como o próprio nome indica, é um co-factor de uma enzima. As enzimas são substâncias que se encontram em todos os seres vivos, e são necessárias para o crescimento e reparação de células e tecidos vivos. A coenzima Q10 trata-se de uma ubiquinona (a ubidecarenona), composto derivado das benzoquinonas, que participa no transporte dos electrões na cadeia respiratória ao nível das mitocôndrias das células. Existem dez coenzimas mas a coenzima Q10 é a única que se encontra no tecido humano. Este nutriente desempenha um papel importante na produção de trifosfato de adenosina (ATP), o componente básico da energia celular. Sendo sintetizada no nosso organismo, a sua concentração mais elevada é encontrada no coração e no fígado. Uso terapêutico A CoQ-10 tem sido alvo de importantes pesquisas, nos últimos 30 anos. Sob a forma de suplemento, é usada com o objectivo de melhorar o aporte energético ao organismo cansado ou debilitado. Ajuda na circulação sanguínea e no aparelho cardíaco, estimula o sistema imunitário, combate os radicais livres, fortalece o fígado e o coração, aumenta a oxigenação dos tecidos e possui efeito anti-envelhecimento. A deficiência em coenzima Q10 tem sido relacionada com a obesidade, problemas cardíacos, doenças das gengivas, diabetes, distrofia muscular e o processo de envelhecimento. Só no Japão, seis milhões de pessoas tomam-na regularmente. Efeitos Colaterais Até hoje, nenhum efeito colateral ou secundário foi relatado, desconhecendo-se qualquer toxicidade desta substância, independentemente da dosagem tomada. Coenzima Q10 – Beneficios Antioxidante A coenzima Q10 é uma substância semelhante às vitaminas, parecida com a vitamina E, mas cujo poder antioxidante é ainda mais poderoso. A CoQ-10, componente essencial celular, é um antioxidante natural, combatendo assim os radicais livres da célula, impedindo o seu envelhecimento, com todas as consequências benéficas que daí advêem para o nosso organismo. Obesidade Estudos feitos nos EUA e Bélgica, mostraram que os obesos têm baixos níveis de CoQ10 nas suas células, comparados com as pessoas mais magras. O processo de acumulação de gorduras no nosso corpo é muitas vezes devido à dificuldade do fígado em metabolizá-las. Esta dificuldade é, na maior parte dos casos, devida à descida dos níveis de CoQ-10 que enfraquece o fígado, impedindo-o de desempenhar a sua tarefa. Assim, ao tomar um suplemento de coenzima Q10, os níveis são repostos, fornecendo a energia necessária às células do fígado para que estas passem a exercer a sua função metabólica sem qualquer quebra. Como também encontramos grandes concentrações de CoQ-10 no fígado, a manutenção dos níveis deste produto é prioritário para haver um bom funcionamento deste orgão tão vital a todo o equilíbrio do nosso organismo. Coração e Hipertensão O caso do coração é exemplar e está amplamente documentado na comunidade científica. Como o coração se apresenta constituído por tecidos musculares activos, com um dos maiores metabolismos do nosso organismo, vai precisar de um constante fornecimento de energia para a sua acção natural de contínuo batimento. Por causa das elevadas concentrações de CoQ-10 no coração, o seu fornecimento regular ao organismo vai diminuir o risco de ataques cardíacos, pois ajuda à respiração do músculo cardíaco e aparentemente, confere protecção contra inflamações do coração causadas por vírus, contribuindo também para a prevenção de arritmias cardíacas. Devido à sua acção de fortalecimento do músculo cardíaco, muitos cirurgiões utilizam a CoQ-10 em pacientes prestes a sofrer uma operação cardíaca. Em testes clínicos efectuados, verificou-se que 75% dos doentes que sofrem de problemas cardíacos possuem níveis deficientes de CoQ-10. Mais de 12 milhões de pessoas tomam regularmente este suplemento para o tratamento de doenças cardíacas e hipertensão. Alguns estudos mostraram que a coenzima Q10 consegue baixar a pressão arterial sem qualquer outra medicação ou mudança de dieta. A sua acção reflecte-se de forma particularmente positiva em algumas perturbações do coração, como é o caso da insuficiência cardíaca congestiva e angina de peito. Sistema Imunitário A CoQ-10 tem um papel crucial na eficácia do sistema imunitário. Os seus beneficios para a saúde não se ligam exclusivamente ao coração, já que se apresenta como uma substância estimuladora do funcionamento das defesas imunológicas, o que é fácil de perceber, pois se a CoQ-10 actua como um catalisador de toda a energia celular, vai ser esta energia a capacitar o sistema imunitário a responder a ataques constantes a que o nosso organismo está exposto. A SIDA é o principal alvo da pesquisa actual sobre a coenzima Q-10, devido aos seus imensos benefícios para o sistema imunitário. Câncer O New England Institute (EUA) relata que a co-enzima Q-10 sózinha reduz com eficácia a mortalidade em animais de laboratório atacados por tumores e leucemia. Em 1993, um relatório clínico da Dinamarca, descreve o caso de duas mulheres, portadoras de cancro da mama em avançado estado de metástase, que tomaram diairamente uma dose elevada (390 miligramas) de CoQ10, por vários meses, o que fez desaparecer todos os traços de malignidade. No ano seguinte, foram relatados mais três casos de cura como estes. O uso da coenzima Q 10 parece ser um passo importante na prevenção e controle do câncer. Testes clínicos estão a ser usados também na administração conjunta com quimioterapia (como no caso da Adriamicina, com toxicidade para o coração) para reduzir os efeitos colaterais desses medicamentos. Tônus Muscular A CoQ-10 é um dos coadjuvantes mais essenciais para a produção de energia no organismo. É recomendada quando o corpo necessita de produzir mais energia como, por exemplo, durante as actividades desportivas, em casos de esforço físico, em pessoas de idade com fraca massa muscular, em situações de convalescência, de distrofia muscular e em casos de perda geral de energia. Patologias Diversas Para além de todos os efeitos terapêuticos já mencionados, a CoQ-10 também tem apresentado bons resultados nos tratamentos de doenças das gengivas, candidíase, esclerose múltipla, e diabetes. Pesquisas no Japão revelaram que a coenzima Q-10 protege o revestimento do estômago e do duodeno, podendo ajudar a curar úlceras. A coenzima Q-10 tem ainda a capacidade de controlar a histamina e é, portanto, valiosa para as pessoas que sofrem de alergias, asma e doenças respiratórias. Tem sido também utilizada para tratar disfunções mentais como a esquizofrenia e a doença de Alzheimer. Envelhecimento Com o decorrer dos anos de vida, o nosso organismo perde a capacidade de fabricar as quantidades necessárias de CoQ-10, podendo esta redução atingir proporções até aos 80%. Esta redução dos níveis de CoQ-10 é responsável por muitos fenómenos desagradáveis relacionados com o envelhecimento. Ao declinar a sua presença no organismo com o avançar da idade (em condições normais de saúde, a partir dos 50 anos), torna-se necessário um suplemento deste nutriente visto desempenhar um papel crucial na eficácia do sistema imunitário e em todo o processo de envelhecimento. A CoQ-10 contribui ainda para prevenir os efeitos tóxicos dos fármacos tradicionais utilizados no tratamento de várias doenças associadas ao envelhecimento. Contudo, além do envelhecimento, existem outros factores que podem provocar no nosso organismo deficiências de CoQ-10, aumentando assim o risco do aparecimento de várias doenças. Dentro destes factores podem destacar-se os maus hábitos de alimentação, o stress e condições particulares como uma infecção.

Enzyme inhibitors suppress herpes simplex virus replication, study finds

December 18, 2014 Saint Louis University A family of molecules known as NTS enzyme inhibitors are promising candidates for new herpes virus treatments, a new study shows. The findings could lead to new treatment options for herpes that patients can use in conjunction with or instead of currently approved anti-viral medications like Acyclovir. Researchers likened a combination of treatments for herpes to a cocktail of medications HIV patients take. Saint Louis University research findings published in the December issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy report a family of molecules known as nucleotidyltransferase superfamily (NTS) enzyme inhibitors are promising candidates for new herpes virus treatments. The findings could lead to new treatment options for herpes that patients can use in conjunction with or instead of currently approved anti-viral medications like Acyclovir. Researcher Lynda A. Morrison Ph.D., professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Saint Louis University, likened a combination of treatments for herpes to a cocktail of medications HIV patients take. "Acyclovir does a good job in suppressing the virus," Morrison said. "But because NTS inhibitors work by a different mechanism than currently approved drugs, we have the potential to have a drug that would work in combination with drugs that are already available to completely suppress the virus." Lead author John E. Tavis, Ph.D., professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Saint Louis University, noted the findings, which first appeared online in September, have already received interest from pharmacology firms. "Within a decade or so, we could have therapies that reasonably improve patient outcomes," Tavis said. "Improved outcomes could range from shorter duration of nuisance outbreaks (including cold sores) to a better treatment for herpetic encephalitis." Herpes simplex virus (HSV)encephalitis is thought to occur from direct transmission of the virus to the brain via the nerves that transmit one's sense of sight or facial motor functions like chewing or biting. The study's authors note that more than half of all Americans are impacted by cold sores (HSV-1) and 20 percent suffer from genital herpes (HSV-2). Herpes can be passed from mother to child during childbirth posing serious health risks to both the baby and the new mother. HSV-2 also increases the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition. The research team at Saint Louis University investigated whether inhibitors of NTS enzymes would suppress replication of HSV-1 and HSV-2. The inhibitors suppressed accumulation of viral genomes and infectious particles and blocked events in the viral replication cycle before and during viral DNA replication. Five of six NTS inhibitors of the HSVs also blocked replication of another herpes virus pathogen, human cytomegalovirus. Tavis added that the team is now focused on expanding their original small scale study to identify the exact mechanisms by which each inhibitor suppresses virus replication. He noted that one compound has already proven effective in animals and another is found in a topical antifungal already FDA approved for use. Researchers will also look at the evolution of the virus as it interacts with the inhibitors identified in the study. "The hope is that it evolves really slowly," Tavis said. "That gives us a better chance at something that can work for a long time without allowing the virus to mutate as rapidly as currently approved treatments do." Current treatment of herpes infections relies primarily on nucleoside analog inhibitors of the viral DNA polymerase, according to the article. Several newer agents are in clinical development, but none of them have been shown to fully suppress herpes infections. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Saint Louis University. Journal Reference: J. E. Tavis, H. Wang, A. E. Tollefson, B. Ying, M. Korom, X. Cheng, F. Cao, K. L. Davis, W. S. M. Wold, L. A. Morrison. Inhibitors of Nucleotidyltransferase Superfamily Enzymes Suppress Herpes Simplex Virus Replication. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2014; 58 (12): 7451 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.03875-14

Ibuprofen leads to extended lifespan in several species, study shows

 

Ibuprofen, a common over-the-counter drug worldwide, added to the healthy lifespan of yeast, worms and flies in a recent study. A common over-the-counter drug that tackles pain and fever may also hold keys to a longer, healthier life, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species, according to research published in the journal Public Library of Science, Genetics. "We first used baker's yeast, which is an established aging model, and noticed that the yeast treated with ibuprofen lived longer," said Dr. Michael Polymenis, an AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station. "Then we tried the same process with worms and flies and saw the same extended lifespan. Plus, these organisms not only lived longer, but also appeared healthy." He said the treatment, given at doses comparable to the recommended human dose, added about 15 percent more to the species lives. In humans, that would be equivalent to another dozen or so years of healthy living. Polymenis, who also is a professor in the biochemistry and biophysics department at Texas A&M University, collaborated with Dr. Brian Kennedy, the president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California, along with several researchers from Russia and the University of Washington. Ibuprofen is a relatively safe drug that was created in the early 1960s in England. It was first made available by prescription and then, after widespread use, became available over-the-counter throughout the world in the 1980s. The World Health Organization includes ibuprofen on their "List of Essential Medications" needed in a basic health system. Ibuprofen is described as a"nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relieving pain, helping with fever and reducing inflammation." Polymenis said the three-year project showed that ibuprofen interferes with the ability of yeast cells to pick up tryptophan, an amino acid found in every cell of every organism. Tryptophan is essential for humans, who get it from protein sources in the diet. "We are not sure why this works, but it's worth exploring further. This study was a proof of principle to show that common, relatively safe drugs in humans can extend the lifespan of very diverse organisms. Therefore, it should be possible to find others like ibuprofen with even better ability to extend lifespan, with the aim of adding healthy years of life in people." "Dr. Polymenis approached me with this idea of seeing how his cell cycle analysis corresponded with our aging studies," said Dr. Brian Kennedy, CEO at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California. "He had identified some drugs that had some really unique properties, and we wanted to know if they might affect aging, so we did those studies in our lab. We're beginning to find not just ibuprofen, but other drugs that affect aging, so we're really excited about it. "Our institute is interested in finding out why people get sick when they get old. We think that by understanding those processes, we can intervene and find ways to extend human health span, keeping people healthier longer and slowing down aging. That's our ultimate goal." Chong He, a postdoctoral fellow at Buck Institute and lead author on the paper, said looking deeper into the common drugs that target individual diseases might shed light on understanding the aging process. "We have some preliminary data on worms that showed that this drug also extended the health span in worms," she said. "It made them live not just longer but also more healthy. You can measure the thrashing of the worms. If they're healthy, they do have a tendency to thrash a lot, and also we can measure the pumping as they swallow, because if they're healthy, the pumping is faster. "Ibuprofen is something that people have been taking for years, and no one actually knew that it can have some benefits for longevity and health span." Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Texas A&M AgriLife Communications. Texas A&M AgriLife Communications. "Ibuprofen use leads to extended lifespan in several species, study shows." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 December 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141218141004.htm>.

Malnutrition a hidden epidemic among elders

 

Health care systems and providers are not attuned to older adults' malnutrition risk, and ignoring malnutrition exacts a toll on hospitals, patients, and payers, according to the latest issue of the What's Hot newsletter from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA). Under the title "Aging Policy: Preventing and Treating Malnutrition to Improve Health and Reduce Costs," the new installment points out that aging is a risk factor for malnutrition and highlights opportunities to improve nutrition awareness, interventions, and policy priorities. Support for the publication was provided by Abbott. GSA member Connie Bales, PhD, RD, of the Duke University School of Medicine and Robert Blancato, MPA, of Matz, Blancato & Associates, Inc., served as faculty advisers. "This issue of What's Hot points to a growing but still unaddressed epidemic of malnutrition -- especially among older adults," said Blancato, who heads the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs. "It makes a strong case for modest but important changes in current laws which can address malnutrition and achieve the dual desirable goals of improving health and reducing health care costs." Bales, a convener of GSA's Nutrition Interest Group, said the new publication aligns with GSA's mission by expanding scientific knowledge in aging and fostering application of research in the development of public policy. "The newsletter raises awareness of the nutritional challenges faced by older adults and advocates for applying the existing science to current and future policies that will help improve their nutritional status," she said. The What's Hot states that malnutrition cuts across all weight categories, from underweight to obese. An estimated one-third to one-half of U.S. adults are malnourished or at risk for malnourishment upon admission to the hospital -- and longer hospital stays are associated with worsening nutritional status. Additionally, about half of older adults in rehabilitation settings are malnourished. Yet only about one-quarter of U.S. medical schools provide at least 25 hours of nutrition instruction for medical students, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. But as the issue points out, there are a range of possible policy interventions that can help mitigate the problem -- enhancing the health and quality of life for older adults while simultaneously reducing healthcare costs. The upcoming reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, for example, could be a key opportunity to expand access to malnutrition services and support. "Modest changes in current laws such as greater utilization of registered dietitians, nutrition screening, and counseling in the Older Americans Act; greater focus on nutrition in care transition grants under the Affordable Care Act; and coverage for oral nutrition supplements for at risk older adults should all be on the agenda for the new Congress," Blancato said. "GSA and its publication make the point that good nutrition throughout the lifespan is the personification of prevention." More information can be found at: https://www.geron.org/component/hikashop/product/18-aging-policy-preventing-treating-malnutrition-to-improve-health-and-reduce?Itemid=385 Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by The Gerontological Society of America. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Ability to balance on one leg may reflect brain health, stroke risk

 

"Our study found that the ability to balance on one leg is an important test for brain health," said Yasuharu Tabara, Ph.D., lead study author and associate professor at the Center for Genomic Medicine at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, Japan. "Individuals showing poor balance on one leg should receive increased attention, as this may indicate an increased risk for brain disease and cognitive decline." The study consisted of 841 women and 546 men, average age of 67. To measure one-leg standing time, participants stood with their eyes open and raised one leg. The maximum time for keeping the leg raised was 60 seconds. Participants performed this examination twice and the better of the two times was used in the study analysis. Cerebral small vessel disease was evaluated using brain magnetic resonance imaging. Researchers found that the inability to balance on one leg for longer than 20 seconds was associated with cerebral small vessel disease, namely small infarctions without symptoms such as lacunar infarction and microbleeds. They noted that: 34.5 percent of those with more than two lacunar infarction lesions had trouble balancing. 16 percent of those with one lacunar infarction lesion had trouble balancing. 30 percent of those with more than two microbleed lesions had trouble balancing. 15.3 percent one microbleed lesion had trouble balancing. Overall, those with cerebral diseases were older, had high blood pressure and had thicker carotid arteries than those who did not have cerebral small vessel disease. However, after adjustment for these covariates, people with more microbleeds and lacunar infarctions in the brain had shorter one-legged standing times. Short one-legged standing times were also independently linked with lower cognitive scores. Although previous studies have examined the connection between gait and physical abilities and the risk of stroke, this is among the first study to closely examine how long a person can stand on one leg as an indication of their overall brain health. "One-leg standing time is a simple measure of postural instability and might be a consequence of the presence of brain abnormalities," said Tabara. Small vessel disease occurs due to microangiopathy of arterioles in the brain, making these arteries less flexible, which can interfere with blood flow. Small vessel disease typically increases with age. Loss of motor coordination, including balance, as well as cognitive impairment has been suggested to represent subclinical brain damage. Tabara and colleagues also found a strong link between struggling to stand on one leg and increased age, with marked shorter one-leg standing time in patients age 60 and over. Although the study did not assess participants' histories of falling or physical fitness issues, such as how fast they could walk or any gait abnormalities, Tabara said the one-leg standing test is an easy way to determine if there are early signs of being at risk for a stroke and cognitive impairment and whether these patients need additional evaluation.

Vert wearable measures athletes' jumps

 

Vert is a wearable designed specifically for tracking jumps Image Gallery (4 images) While there are many fitness trackers designed to log metrics like heart rate and steps, the Vert Jump Rate Monitor sets itself apart by specifically targeting sports and workouts that require the athlete to jump. The Vert can track motion in all directions, and is capable of recording jump-specific metrics including vertical height, average vertical over a session, highest vertical and total jump count. It provides the user with real-time stats via a built-in OLED display and is designed to be non-intrusive, supposedly allowing athletes to forget they’re wearing it. The wearable pairs with smartphones via Bluetooth 4.0 and is smaller than a matchbox. It’s designed to be worn near the waist and can also be purchased with a "VertBelt" strap to help keep it in place. Right now the Vert is iOS only, but in the future the company plans to support Android. Vert also has plans to eventually let athletes link the device with Android Wear and Pebble smartwatches, as well as the Apple Watch. Vert measures jumps with three high precision gyroscopes, alongside three high-rate accelerometers. There’s an ARM Cortex M3 inside to calculate directional movement, with a proprietary algorithm performing more than 50 simultaneous calculations to measure height with an accuracy of 96 percent. Despite the fact that the device is only hitting store shelves now, it’s already been showcased in a nationally-televised NCAA volleyball match, and has been used to provide live jump stats on stadium Jumbotrons. The jump tracker is available now for US$125. While the standard companion app is free, there’s also an optional ($100) VertCoach app that provides simultaneous analysis of a group of Vert-equipped athletes. Source: Vert