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Human Behavior

For mindfulness programs, ‘with whom’ may be more important than ‘how’ – Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I.[Brown University] For people who feel stressed, anxious or depressed, meditation can be a way to find some emotional peace. Structured mindfulness-based meditation programs, in which a trained instructor leads regular group sessions featuring meditation, have been shown to be effective in improving psychological well-being.

But the precise factors for why these programs can help are less clear. A new study teased apart the different therapeutic factors of mindfulness-based meditation programs and found that the effects of the instructor and the group are often more significant than the type or amount of meditation practiced.

Willoughby Britton, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University who led the study, says that mindfulness-based meditation programs often operate with the assumption that meditation is the active ingredient, but less attention is paid to social factors inherent in these programs, like the group and the instructor.

Its important to determine how much of a role is played by social factors, because that knowledge informs the implementation of treatments, training of instructors and much more, Britton said. If the benefits of mindfulness meditation programs are mostly due to relationships of the people in the programs, we should pay much more attention to developing that factor. This is one of the first studies to look at the significance of interpersonal relationships in meditation programs.

Interestingly, social factors werent what Britton and her team, including study author Brendan Cullen, set out to explore; their initial research focus was the effectiveness of different types of practices for treating conditions like stress, anxiety, and depression. Britton directs theClinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Brown,which investigates the psychophysiological and neurocognitive effects of cognitive training and mindfulness-based interventions for mood and anxiety disorders. She uses empirical methods to explore accepted yet untested claims about mindfulness and expand the scientific understanding of the effects of meditation. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Britton led a clinical trial that compared the effects of focused attention meditation, open monitoring meditation and a combination of the two (mindfulness-based cognitive therapy) on stress, anxiety and depression.

The goal of the study was to look at these two practices that are integrated within mindfulness-based programs, each of which has different neural underpinnings and different cognitive, affective and behavioral consequences, to see how they influence outcomes, Britton said.

The answer to the original research question, published in PLOS ONE in January, was that the typeof practice did matter but less than expected.

Some practices on average seem to be better for some conditions than others, Britton said. It depends on the state of a persons nervous system. Focused attention, which is also known as a tranquility practice, was helpful for anxiety and stress and less helpful for depression; open monitoring, which is a more active and arousing practice, seemed to be better for depression, but worse for anxiety.

But importantly, the differences were small, and the combination of focused attention and open monitoring didnt show a clear advantage over either practice alone. All programs, regardless of the meditation type, had large benefits. This could mean that the different types of mediation were largely equivalent, or alternatively, that there was something else driving the benefits of mindfulness program.

Britton was aware that in medical and psychotherapy research, social factorslike the quality of the relationship between patient and providercould be a stronger predictor of outcome than the treatment modality. Could this also be true of mindfulness-based programs?

To test this possibility, Britton, with researchers Kristina Eichel, Nicholas Canby and other Brown scholars, compared the effects of meditation practice amount to social factors like those related to instructors and group participants. Their analysis assessed the contributions of each towards the improvements the participants experienced as a result of the programs.

There is a wealth of psychological research showing that community, relationships and the alliance between therapist and client are responsible for most of the outcomes in many different types of therapy, said Canby, a senior research assistant at Brown and a fifth-year Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at Clark University. It made sense that these factors would play a significant role in therapeutic mindfulness programs as well.

Working with the data collected as part of the trial, which came from surveys administered before, during and after the intervention as well as qualitative interviews with participants, the researchers were able to correlate variables such as the extent to which a person felt supported by the group with improvements in symptoms of anxiety, stress or depression. The results were published Frontiers in Psychology in January.

The findings showed that instructor ratings predicted changes in depression and stress, group ratings predicted changes in stress and self-reported mindfulness, and formal meditation amount (for example, setting aside time to meditate with a guided recording) predicted changes in anxiety and stress while informal mindfulness practice amount (such as paying attention to ones present moment experience throughout the day, Canby explained) did not predict improvements in emotional health.

The social factors were stronger predictors of improvement in depression, stress and self-reported mindfulness than the amount of mindfulness practice itself. In the interviews, participants frequently talked about how their relationships with the instructor and the group allowed for bonding with other people, the expression of feelings and the instillation of hope, the researchers said.

Our findings dispel the myth that mindfulness-based intervention outcomes are exclusively the result of mindfulness meditation practice, the researchers wrote in the paper, and suggest that social common factors may account for much of the effects of these interventions.

In a surprise finding, the team also learned that amount of mindfulness practice did not actually contribute to increasing mindfulness, or nonjudgmental and accepting present moment awareness of thoughts and emotions. However, bonding with other meditators in the group by sharing experiences did seem to make a difference.

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For mindfulness programs, 'with whom' may be more important than 'how' - Brown University

Human Behavior

Did positive thinking boost college faculty’s online teaching? – Inside Higher Ed

With little time to prepare or plan, many instructors found last years COVID-19-induced transition to remote learning difficult. But some managed to weather the storm with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn new skills, according to a recent study.

These optimistic instructors were the ones who were better able to avoid burnout and ended up receiving stronger evaluations from their students.

The longitudinal study, conducted by researchers at the University of Augsburg and the University of Mannheim in Germany, was published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. It examined the goals and attitudes of 80 faculty members in the semesters before and after the transition to remote instruction. The researchers also reviewed 703 student ratings of these faculty members teaching quality.

Authors of the study were planning to look at faculty members attitudes toward teaching prior to COVID-19, they said via email. But when the pandemic hit, the context of the higher education landscape along with that of our study changed completely," said one of the study's authors, Raven Rinas. Rinas responded to questions in an email with replies put together with the study's other authors, Martin Daumiller, Julia Hein, Stefan Janke, Oliver Dickhuser and Markus Dresel.

The study continued to explore the motivation of faculty members but added exploring how they responded to the pandemic.

We felt that gaining insights into how faculty members motivations impacted their perceptions of and experiences during the pandemic could be a catalyst for further research, with the ultimate goal of identifying those who are struggling and better supporting them, Rinas said.

Much like in the U.S., universities in Germany transferred from face-to-face to remote teaching in March 2020. For many faculty members, it was their first time teaching online, and there was little time to prepare for this new modality and learn how to approach it effectively. Though administrators did their best to support faculty members, many found the experience stressful, the study authors said. German universities are still primarily teaching remotely, and it is expected this will continue into the upcoming summer semester, though things are still relatively uncertain at this point, Rinas said.

Survey results showed that faculty attitudes toward the change from face-to-face to online teaching were generally more favorable than unfavorable, but responses varied widely. The study found that instructors who indicated a lack of willingness to learn new skills, embrace new technology or improve their teaching before the COVID-19 outbreak reported a higher perceived threat from the shift to remote learning. These instructors also experienced higher burnout levels and more negative student evaluations.

The authors were pleased with the responses from 80 faculty members, especially considering how busy they were. But they would have liked input from a larger sample.

We are also aware that faculty members who were more distressed may have been less likely to respond to our survey in the first place, meaning that the results in our study likely depict more conservative estimates, Rinas said.

A key takeaway message from our research is that also personal, especially motivational factors of faculty members are important to consider (particularly their goals and attitudes towards unexpected challenges), Rinas said. Dealing with unexpected challenges is and will continue to be an issue that has important implications for university faculty members well-being, professional learning and teaching quality.

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Did positive thinking boost college faculty's online teaching? - Inside Higher Ed

Human Behavior

Saratoga Shakespeare and the Sonnet Man offers the Bard as hip hop – The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. Since everything closed last March most theater companies struggled to stay connected to their audiences.

Many turned to small-cast productions or play readings on Zoom. In the majority of cases, that didnt work mostly because audiences didnt accept theater on digital platforms.

Since digital was the only game in town, the new struggle became how do you find innovative ways to maintain a presence with your audience.

For Saratoga Shakespeare the answer is a program titled Ghost Light. According to Marcus Fuller, the executive and artistic director of Saratoga Shakespeare, the series features a variety of podcasts, interviews and anything they feel might be enlightening, and hopefully thought-provoking.

Their first program certainly fits this description. Its titled Sonnet Man and features Brooklyn-based educator Devon Glover using Shakespeares sonnets delivered to young audiences in the form of rap music.

Fuller met Glover at a convention that focused on using the works of Shakespeare as educational tools. Impressed with Glovers talent, Fuller invited him to Saratoga last fall. What was planned to be a one-day visit was so successful it kept getting extended.

The same is true of the taped episodes. Fuller says the material was so rich the one planned episode was expanded to six. Two are already on line; the others will be released one at a time, every other week.

Glover is a math teacher who has gained fame as Sonnet Man. His recitations of Shakespeares sonnets and soliloquies in the form of a hip-hop tune have given him international status. His music appeals to both adults and students.

Glover says he learned from his own experience that learning to love Shakespeare just by reading the plays is almost impossible. He insists that because they were written for the stage they must be seen and heard.

Furthermore, he finds that to involve modern youngsters with Shakespeare the format must be more contemporary.

If nothing else, the Broadway musical Hamilton proved that the general public is willing to accept the once foreign sounds of hip-hop music.

Indeed, go to YouTube and listen to Glover offer Shakespeares Sonnet 18, the one recognized by the line Shall I compare thee to a summer day, or listen to him deliver the inner monologue To be or not to be from Hamlet as hip hop. Its a revelation.

And it works as a teaching tool. On the first two sections of Sonnet Man, available on Saratoga Shakespeares website, it shows students struggling to read passages from a Shakespeare play. However, they begin to light up when Glover recites some pieces like Sonnet 18 - using the beats and rhythms of spoken word music.

The idea of incorporating rap and Shakespeare isnt new. Many have compared the themes in Shakespeares plays to the contemporary social issues addressed by rap artists.

Not long ago, Doug Rappaport gave a TED Talk calling Shakespeare the biggest gangster rapper of all time. He calls him The Notorious BARD.

Rap is often condemned in many circles for advocating gang violence, and partying behavior. Rappaport points out there are 34 deaths in Macbeth and the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet started with two factions who hated each other, fighting in the street.

As for celebrating a party culture, the character Falstaff has become a synonym for carousing behavior. He also points to Othello as a play to understand the durability of racism and states the obvious - calling The Merchant of Venice a play about antisemitism.

Glover, Rappaport and Fuller recognize that the social issues Shakespeare wrote about are still with us. Fuller says, We didnt invent all our social problems. Theyve existed forever.

Rather, he finds Shakespeares greatness in his ability to illuminate the essence of the issues through beautiful language.

As for the delivery system, Fuller is pro hip hop music, pointing out that Glover doesnt change the language. Its still Shakespeares words, he says.

He further makes the point that at the time the plays were written, people didnt go around talking in verse. Shakespeare, he says, wrote in iambic pentameter and used rhymed couplets. Thats what engaged the audience.

Its hard to accept that if Shakespeare was living today that hed be a rap star. But,even if he were that would not detract from his genius and insights into human behavior.

The entertainment industry has learned through the COVID 19 pandemic that even though delivery platforms change, social problems are consistent.

To learn more about Sonnet Man go to saratogashakespeare.org. He can also be found on You Tube.

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Saratoga Shakespeare and the Sonnet Man offers the Bard as hip hop - The Saratogian

Human Behavior

With A Decarbonized Future Bearing Down, Refineries Look At The Nitty-Gritty Of The Transition – Forbes

This Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015 photo shows a Dow Chemical plant in La Porte, Texas. Dow Chemical and ... [+] the DuPont will attempt to merge in an all-stock deal that would create a colossal chemical producer worth $130 billion, before splitting into three separate companies. The deal announced Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 is being billed a merger of equals, to be called DowDuPont. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

As the Biden administration makes good on its promises to heat up the conversation on climate change, owners of refineries and chemical plants are zeroing in on ways to cut their use of carbon-emitting fuels.

Refineries and other industrial plants are widely recognized as significant contributors to carbon emissions: industrial processes accounted for 27% of all carbon emissions in 2019, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The challenge is that industrial processes require massive amounts of energy for the transformative processes that make gasoline or cement. Many of these processes require really high temperatures sometimes 1000 degrees or more; and heating is responsible for more than half of carbon emissions. The remaining emissions mostly come from the electricity required to run motors and other equipment, and from carbon dioxide produced as a byproduct in in some of the processes.

There are several reasons oil refining and chemical companies in the US are thinking hard about their carbon footprint.

The first is the growing acknowledgement by the vast majority of the public that climate change exists and is a result of human behavior.

An added incentive is the very real possibility that carbon pricing might be adopted by the Biden administration, given worldwide trends.

And then there is the growing investor and shareholder interest in how companies are making the transition.

Independent refiners are absolutely feeling the same pressure and the same premise of the energy transition as majors like BP and Shell, said Pavel Molchanov, an energy analyst at Raymond James RJF . The independent refiners are also subject to shareholder pressure to decarbonize.

So, what are the options for refineries hoping to lessen their carbon contribution, other than abandoning the sector?

Theres a number of them, according to Alan Rossiter, the executive director, external relations and educational program development for UH Energy at the University of Houston. Rossiter spent much of his career as a chemical engineer advising refineries and chemical plants on how to become more energy efficient.

Energy efficiency is great place to start decarbonization, as it not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but also brings in cost savings from reduced energy consumption, Rossiter explained. And there is a range of improvements plants can make for example, operational improvements, better maintenance, and facility improvements. The first two options are relatively cheap for plants, but facility improvements typically require additions and upgrades, or even completely new plants, which can be extremely costly.

The most common applications of energy efficiency in a refinery or a chemical plant are around recovering and reusing heat, Rossiter explained. This means recovering heat that would otherwise be wasted.

As a result, improvements like upgrading an inefficient boiler system can reduce the need to burn fuel. Yet while these improvements are significant, a typical boiler upgrade, for example, only reduces energy demand by two to three percent. More can be achieved by major process revamps, but even these have limitations.

There is just so far you can go with energy efficiency, Rossiter said. These plants make chemical transformations and separations that require a certain minimum amount of energy, and well before you get to these limits, you find that the equipment gets very expensive and you run into practical problems.

Using electricity to replace natural gas or coal-fired heating is another option for plants. However, the electricity must come from low-carbon or carbon-free sources, or electrification would simply move the plants emissions to power generation facilities.

Electrification can reduce your steam demand, therefore reducing the cost of environmental upgrades, said James Turner, an executive director of process technology for engineering company Fluor FLR FLR , in a recent webinar. Burning less fuel already means that youll make less CO2, which is a strategic driver for many companies.

One of the biggest hurdles in using electricity to replace fossil fuels in industry will be the delivery of power to the industries that need it. A multibillion-dollar investment in power transmission and distribution lines will be needed, along with huge batteries.

Furthermore, Inside the plant youll need a whole lot of investment for new equipment to electrify processes that currently use natural gas or other fossil fuels for heating, Rossiter said.

In theory, about 70% of the services that currently burn fuel in these plants could use electricity to replace it.But for the oil refiners, the biggest challenge will be the costs of revamping the equipment.

Using hydrogen as fuel is another interesting option for refineries under investigation.

It is a virtually unlimited store of energy, and it is available everywhere. It is contained in water, Rossiter said. However, it takes much more energy to convert it into a fuel than you get when you burn it. This is a major challenge.

The use of hydrogen in cars is already popular in California, which now has more than 40 hydrogen fueling stations. And hydrogen is also being used as a fuel in refineries and chemical plants but only in small amounts, mixed with natural gas.

The leap to using pure hydrogen as a fuel is still under development, with companies like Shell and Dow Chemical studying the challenges involved in a transition from natural gas to hydrogen.

If you want to burn it, you can, but you might have to do a lot of redesign on the furnace, Rossiter said. Hydrogen is very corrosive, and damage can occur to conventional materials if you expose them to hydrogen in high concentrations.

Biofuels are yet another option. And while used cooking oil and algae tend to capture the publics imagination when discussing biofuels, synthetic natural gas is actually a better option for decarbonizing refineries and chemical plants, as it can directly replace natural gas. This is a big advantage, as plants can use their existing equipment pretty much as is, greatly lowering the investment bar.

Yet biofuels face production challenges, as they take precious water and land resources as well as additional energy to produce.

All of the options involve a balancing act. Its all part of the transition, while keeping an eye on containing the costs to ensure that the business itself remains competitive.

Emily Pickrellis a veteran energy reporter, with more than 12 years of experience covering everything from oil fields to industrial water policy to the latest on Mexican climate change laws. Emily has reported on energy issues from around the U.S., Mexico and the United Kingdom.Prior to journalism, Emily worked as a policy analyst for the U.S. GovernmentAccountability Office and as an auditorfor the international aid organization, CARE.

UH Energy is the University of Houstons hub for energy education, research and technology incubation, working to shape the energy future and forge new business approaches in the energy industry.

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With A Decarbonized Future Bearing Down, Refineries Look At The Nitty-Gritty Of The Transition - Forbes

Human Behavior

Combination treatment for common glioma type shows promise in mice – National Institutes of Health

Media Advisory

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

NIH-funded preclinical study suggests new approach to treat a type of brain tumor

Gliomas are common brain tumors that comprise about one third of all cancers of the nervous system. In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers tested a novel combination treatment approach on mice with tumors with characteristics similar to human astrocytomas a type of slow-growing gliomaand found tumor regression in 60 percent of the mice treated. These encouraging results, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could be the first step toward developing a treatment for this type of brain cancer.

Led by senior authors Maria Castro, Ph.D. and Pedro Lowenstein, M.D., Ph.D. along with a team of researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center in Ann Arbor specifically tested inhibitors of the compound D-2-Hydroxyglutarate (D-2-HG), which is produced by cancer cells, on a mouse version of astrocytoma carrying mutations in the genes IDH1 and ATRX, along with an inactivated form of the tumor suppressor protein 53 (TP53) gene.

When the implanted mice were treated with a drug to block the production of D-2-HG along with standard of care radiation and temozolomide (chemotherapy) treatments, their survival significantly improved. Looking more closely at tumor cells grown in dishes, the researchers saw that blocking D-2-HG caused the cells to become more susceptible to radiation treatment. However, the treatment also increased the amount of an immune checkpoint protein, which tumors use to turn off T cells and evade the immune system.

Inhibiting this immune checkpoint protein with an additional drug resulted in an even greater improvement in survival, because the mouses own immune system was able to attack the tumor. Importantly, this combination therapy also led to immunological memory against the glioma, meaning that the mouse now had T cells tailored to the specific tumor. Because gliomas almost always grow back after treatment, these T cells make the animal better prepared to fend off regrowth.

It must be emphasized that these experiments were performed in mice. Nonetheless the preclinical results produced by this combination therapy could represent a key advance in developing an improved treatment regimen, which combines D-2-HG and immune checkpoint inhibition, radiation, and temozolomide, for patients with astrocytomas.

Jane Fountain, Ph.D., program director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Kadiyala P. et al. Inhibition of 2-Hydroxyglutarate Elicits Metabolic-reprogramming and Mutant IDH1 Glioma Immunity in Mice. Feb. 15, 2021. Journal of Clinical Investigation. DOI: 10.1172/JCI139542

This study was supported by the NIH (NS091555, NS094804, NS074387, NS076991, NS082311, NS096756, EB022563); Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan; Rogel Comprehensive Cancer Center; Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation; American Brain Tumor Association; Leahs Happy Hearts; and Chad Tough Foundations.

This media availability describes a basic research finding. Basic research increases our understanding of human behavior and biology, which is foundational to advancing new and better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. Science is an unpredictable and incremental process each research advance builds on past discoveries, often in unexpected ways. Most clinical advances would not be possible without the knowledge of fundamental basic research. To learn more about basic research, visit https://www.nih.gov/news-events/basic-research-digital-media-kit.

NINDS (https://www.ninds.nih.gov) is the nations leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

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Combination treatment for common glioma type shows promise in mice - National Institutes of Health

Human Behavior

Duluth police chief recounts officers’ ‘dangerous’ encounter with fugitive – Bring Me The News

Credit: Duluth PD Chief Mike Musken

Two police officers were hospitalized and treated for minor injuries after a run-in with an individual described as a "fugitive."

The incident happened Wednesday around 11:30 a.m., according to Duluth Police Department Chief Mike Musken, who described the encounter as a prime example of the "unpredictability of human behavior."

Musken said officers from the Duluth and Superior police departments were attempting to detain a fugitive with multiple arrest warrants when the situation went from "good planning and safe staffing" to "chaos in a moment." Musken wrote:

"The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle and a DPD Sergeant/Lake Superior Violent Crimes Task Force officer took cover behind a garage to a place where he thought he was safe until the suspect drove through the garage throwing a cascade of garage parts upon him as he scrambled for cover."

"The suspect continued to flee the scene and came upon a second DPD Investigator/Lake Superior Violent Crimes Task Force officer seated in his car and rammed the officers car in his path of flight."

The suspect was ultimately arrested near Interstate 35 and 40th Avenue West, but not before the officer taking cover behind the garage and the officer whose squad car was rammed were injured.

Musken said they "are counting our blessings" that both officers only sustained minor injuries.

The suspect is being held in the St. Louis County Jail on pending charges of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, second-degree sale of cocaine, second-degree possession of methamphetamine and cocaine, in addition to crimes for possession of ammunition and fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.

According to Fox 21, the incident began on the2000 block of Hammond Avenue and was one of two police pursuits in Duluth on Wednesday.

Note: The details provided in this story are based on the polices latest version of events, and may be subject to change.

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Duluth police chief recounts officers' 'dangerous' encounter with fugitive - Bring Me The News

Human Behavior

Experts weigh in on whether COVID-19 is here to stay – UC Riverside

COVID-19 is far from beaten. Vaccines may not be the ultimate panacea to haul us out of the pandemic crisis. In the future, will outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, arrive in waves every winter? Might COVID-19 never go away?

Experts at the University of California, Riverside, weigh in.

Whether COVID-19 is here to stay depends on the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants around the world. Variants that escape detection by the antibodies induced by the current vaccines will present ongoing threats to human health. It is important that we have robust surveillance methods in place in order to detect these variants. My personal opinion is that we should be planning for booster shots for at least the next few years.

My personal opinion is that we should be planning for booster shots for at least the next few years. Borkovich

I do believe different aspects of our lives which have been changed due to COVID-19 will be forever changed. The change is permanent for those who lost loved ones, jobs, health, and their livelihoods. We have the prevention tools to end the pandemic, but until everyone is able to access and use these tools, variants will continue to plague us, and it takes all of us to end the pandemic. If we use the tools available to us, we will be better protected against the virus that causes COVID-19 and future pandemics which we must prepare for.

This will not be the last pandemic our nation faces and it would be unacceptable morally and practically to not try to learn from history, no matter how ugly this chapter has been for us. The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic is most certainly here to stay as a very dark chapter in our nations history. This is not simply due to the extent of sickness and deaths caused by the coronavirus, but because of how our nation responded to the challenges it threw at us. To be sure, we have much to be proud of in terms of how we tapped into our nation's deep well of scientific and public health expertise to quickly learn about a new disease and develop multiple safe, efficacious vaccines in such a short time span. Yet, the pandemic showcased so many disappointing elements of our nation for which we have been reckoning with for months and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead. These include:

In addition, the pandemic spotlighted that many historically disadvantaged persons and communities face disproportionately higher disease and death burdens for COVID, as they do with so many other health threats. Despite these harsh realities, I remain hopeful that, after we begin to get this pandemic under control, there will benonpartisan federal and state panels set up to review and evaluate our national response and provide actionable recommendations that we will pursue in earnest to ensure we don't repeat the same mistakes next time.

This will not be the last pandemic our nation faces and it would be unacceptable morally and practically to not try to learn from history, no matter how ugly this chapter has been for us. Carpiano

Over the past year, it has been quite challenging to predict with certainty what will happen to the current pandemic. However, it has become clear that SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay for at least a few more years. While it is likely that the disease will persist, I would not worry yet. Over time, we may end up with a situation similar to the flu or the common cold. It is indeed now quite clear that the virus can mutate and escape some of the immunity generated by prior infections and/or vaccines. Scientists and health care workers will have to remain extremely vigilant, monitor virus evolution and most likely update their vaccine designs on a regular basis. There are still many scientific questions that remained unanswered. One of the most important one will be to find out how long it will take to lose immunity after infection or vaccination. Ultimately, we want to maintain a situation in which the disease is less severe for life to return to normal.

Often this is about the properties of the virus or vaccine, and we do have incredible scientists on the job. The real question is whether human behavior will be up to the task, and recent history has already provided the answer. We eradicated smallpox, and nearly eliminated polio from the planet, with coordinated community-level effort. But now weve abandoned the battlefield; people cannot even agree on the value of science and verifiable facts. Weve had at least three worldwide pandemics in my lifetime, but none of those lessons were applied toward preparation for the next one. So, is COVID-19 here to stay? The answer is yes, and another one is coming.

The real question is whether human behavior will be up to the task, and recent history has already provided the answer ... So, is COVID-19 here to stay? The answer is yes, and another one is coming.Lo

I predict SARS-CoV-2 will continue to be an issue in the coming years because of the rise of viral variants and the delays in global vaccination. It is important to note that viruses can only replicate inside a host cell, and that they acquire mutations during replication. Even though SARS-CoV-2 has a lower mutation rate than other RNA viruses like influenza virus, the sheer number of people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 has given the virus the opportunity to accumulate an array of mutations. Currently, the approved vaccines offer protection against the new variants, but not as effectively as the original strains. As newer variants emerge, some may be better at escaping vaccine protection, thereby potentially allowing the virus to replicate in vaccinated persons. The other issue that will drive the spread of COVID-19 is that vaccination rates are currently low. There are developing countries that will not have access to the vaccines for quite a while, so the virus will continue to spread and mutate in these unvaccinated populations. Until there is herd immunity across the globe, the virus will be just a plane ride away. That is why it is imperative we vaccinate as many people as we can as soon as possible.

Until there is herd immunity across the globe, the virus will be just a plane ride away.Morrison

I think it is too early to say. There is obviously a clear source of hope that maybe it wont be around to stay, with the very effective vaccines we have now. But with the proliferation of more resistant variants, my guess is that we will be updating and changing the vaccine and will need yearly boosters, like flu shots, for the foreseeable future.

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Experts weigh in on whether COVID-19 is here to stay - UC Riverside

Human Behavior

SAI Global and NABCRMP Launch Ground-Breaking Training Course "Addressing Systemic Racism in the Workplace" – PRNewswire

CHICAGO, Feb. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SAI Global, a leader in integrated cloud-basedGovernance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) and Ethics & Compliance (E&C) learning solutions announced today a partnership with the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management Professionals (NABCRMP) to launch a new training course "Addressing Systemic Racism in the Workplace."

SAI Global and NABCRMP will work together to help companies raise awareness about the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, answering the question, "How do we reshape human behavior to support and mitigate the risk of discrimination?" The new training course provides a comprehensive look at behaviors embedded within organizations.

With the support of SAI Global's learning methodology, the course aims to reshape human behavior by building a solid vocabulary and a plain-language explanation of what systemic racism is, how it perpetuates, and the tangible changes needed to eradicate it. Learners will be presented with self-reflective checkpoints that support the development of a workplace that promotes respect, acceptance, and equity.

The training course aims to take discussions about diversity and inclusion one step further. Diversity and Inclusion is meant to highlight and value broad representation across people, ideas, and culture in an environment that fosters belonging and community. Antiracism means understanding the structures that promote racial inequities and taking a proactive stand against racism through definitive actions and policies.

"We're delighted to have NABCRMP on board as a strategic partner," said Rina Souppa, Sr. Director, Product Management & Design at SAI Global. "The organization's breadth of knowledge in this core area will be instrumental for companies committed to taking up the challenge of dismantling the structures that perpetuate racial inequality and racial discrimination within their organizations."

"Systemic racism continues to exist because people don't think it's that big of problem and there are many companies that have difficulty acknowledging the problems in their own organization," said Dion Harrison, Chair of the NABCRMP DEI Workgroup. "There needs to be recognition of this issue to demystify notions that cloud the judgment of anyone rationalizing racism in any form. We need to be intentional, honest, and bold anti-racists to create inclusive workplaces. Companies haven't historically looked at diversity, equity and inclusion as a risk mitigation tool. This training is the first step of many that will foster the conversations needed to make tangible changes in organizations."

Kicking off their partnership, SAI Global and NABCRMP will host awebinar on Feb. 17 with Moni N. Robinson Chief Operating Officer, ofthe National Association of Black Compliance and Risk ManagementProfessionals, members of NABCRMP's Diversity, Equity and InclusionWorkgroup and SAI Global's Anne Spencer, who helped design the course.The event will be moderated by Rina Souppa, Sr. Director, ProductManagement & Design at SAI Global. For more information on the programor to register for the webinar, please visitour website.

About SAI Global SAI Global is headquartered in Chicago, U.S., and operates across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. Discover more atwww.saiglobal.com/riskor follow us onLinkedIn.To see SAI360 in action,request a demo.

About NABCRMP Founded in 2019, the National Association of Black Compliance & Risk Management Professionals, Inc. is a member-based 501 (c)(3) non-profit dedicated to the professional development of African-American compliance and risk management professionals. NABCRMP envisions an environment where the unique perspectives and contributions of Black compliance and risk management professionals result in a more inclusive environment.

Contact Moni N. Robinson NABCRMP Phone: 937.520.2242 [emailprotected]

Jacqueline Fleming SAI Global Phone: 917-573-6120 [emailprotected]

SOURCE SAI Global; NABCRMP

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SAI Global and NABCRMP Launch Ground-Breaking Training Course "Addressing Systemic Racism in the Workplace" - PRNewswire

Human Behavior

Clinical Trials Are Moving Out of the Lab and Into Peoples Homes – The New York Times

When the pandemic hit last year, clinical trials took a hit. Universities closed, and hospitals turned their attention to battling the new disease. Many studies that required repeated, in-person visits with volunteers were delayed or scrapped.

But some scientists found creative ways to continue their research even when face-to-face interaction was inherently risky. They mailed medications, performed exams over video chat and asked patients to monitor their own vitals at home.

Many scientists say this shift toward virtual studies is long overdue. If these practices persist, they could make clinical trials cheaper, more efficient and more equitable offering state-of-the-art research opportunities to people who otherwise wouldnt have the time or resources to take advantage of them.

Weve discovered that we can do things differently, and I dont think well go back to life as we used to know it, said Dr. Mustafa Khasraw, a medical oncologist and clinical trial specialist at Duke University.

According to one analysis, nearly 6,000 trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov were stopped between Jan. 1 and May 31, roughly twice as many compared with non-pandemic times.

At Johns Hopkins University, for instance, researchers delayed their investigation into how adults aged 65 to 80 metabolized tenofovir, a drug used to prevent and treat H.I.V.

The idea of recruiting older people who we know are particularly vulnerable recruiting them to answer a fundamental question that is not going to immediately change care or impact their health just seemed like not what we should be doing, said Dr. Namandje Bumpus, the pharmacologist leading the study, which remains on hold.

In Flint, Mich., researchers had to stop enrolling emergency-room patients for a hypertension trial. Other volunteers quit the study or became difficult to reach.

Their phone service has dropped or they have very different schedules or theyre harder to reach because theyre caring for someone, said Dr. Lesli Skolarus, a stroke neurologist at the University of Michigan who is leading the study.

Dr. Skolarus and her colleagues kept the trial going, albeit with some modifications. Most notably, they scrapped their in-person follow-up visits, instead asking participants to use take-home blood pressure cuffs and to send photos of the readings via text message.

Other research teams made similar adjustments. Neurologists at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston revamped a pilot study of methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin, in seniors with mild dementia or cognitive impairment. Instead of going to the hospital every two weeks, study participants are now receiving their medication by mail, taking cognitive assessments over video conference, playing brain games on their computers, and completing daily surveys at home.

Essentially, this is now a totally virtual trial, said Dr. Steven Arnold, the neurologist leading the trial.

Feb. 18, 2021, 8:01 p.m. ET

Even when scientists cant eliminate in-person visits, theyre finding ways to reduce them. When Lorraine Wilner, a 78-year-old retiree with metastatic breast cancer, first began a clinical trial at Duke University last summer, she had to make the three-hour drive to the Durham, N.C., campus every four weeks, for blood work and occasional other tests. She said she would always leave with a full gas tank, so I dont have to stop at a gas station or touch things or go into places where half the people dont have a mask on, she said.

But she can now have her blood drawn at a lab near her home in Lancaster, S.C. Researchers then review the results with her over a video call. She still has to drive up to Duke for periodic scans, but the reduced traveling has been a great relief. It makes it a lot more convenient, she said.

Remote trials are likely to persist in a post-pandemic era, researchers say. Cutting back on in-person visits could make recruiting patients easier and reduce dropout rates, leading to quicker, cheaper clinical trials, said Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist at the University of Rochester who conducted remote research for years.

In fact, he noted, enrollment in one of his current virtual studies, which is tracking people with a genetic predisposition to Parkinsons, actually surged last spring. While most clinical studies were paused or delayed, ours accelerated in the midst of the pandemic, he said.

The shift to virtual trials could also help diversify clinical research, encouraging more low-income and rural patients to enroll, said Dr. Hala Borno, an oncologist at the University of California, San Francisco. The pandemic, she said, does really allow us to step back and reflect on the burdens that weve been placing on patients for a really long time.

Virtual trials are not a panacea. Researchers will have to ensure that they can thoroughly monitor volunteers health without in-person visits, and be mindful of the fact that not all patients have access to, or are comfortable with, technology.

And in some cases, scientists still need to demonstrate that remote testing is reliable. While Dr. Arnold is optimistic that in-home cognitive tests could provide a better window into his patients everyday functioning, he noted that homes are uncontrolled environments. Maybe theres a cat crawling on them or grandchildren in the next room, he said.

There is also the unpredictable nature of human behavior. Dr. Brennan Spiegel, a gastroenterologist and the director of health services research at the Cedars-Sinai Health System, frequently uses Fitbits to monitor trial subjects remotely. But a participant once put the device on a dog. Several others sent their Fitbits through the wash. You get a lot of steps all of a sudden thousands and thousands of steps, he said.

And some treatments simply may not work as well at a distance. Last January, Clay Coleman Jr., a 61-year-old Chicago resident, enrolled in a clinical trial to treat his peripheral artery disease, which caused intense pain whenever he tried to walk. It was very hard, said Mr. Coleman, who doesnt drive. My legs are very important to me because thats how I get around.

He hoped that the trial which involved taking a blood pressure medication and participating in a supervised exercise program could get him back into walking shape. Three times a week, he traveled to a local gym for a structured treadmill workout with a coach. I had been there maybe six weeks or so before this virus thing came around, he said.

Suddenly, the gym was out. Instead, Mr. Colemans coach called him regularly on the phone and encouraged him to keep moving.

Dr. Mary McDermott, a general internist at Northwestern University who is running the trial, isnt sure how effective this kind of remote coaching will be. We cannot assume that remote interventions are going to be the same, she said. Or that remote measurements are going to replace everything that we have done in person.

Still, the pandemic has demonstrated that there is room for reform. Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a cardiologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, is part of a team starting a trial of an injectable blood thinner later this year. After the first, in-person medical visit, appointments will be virtual.

Im quite sure if Covid had not occurred, we would have done things the usual way, he said. Sometimes, he added, it takes a crisis to provoke change.

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Clinical Trials Are Moving Out of the Lab and Into Peoples Homes - The New York Times

Human Behavior

How to Build Security Resilience in Healthcare Beyond COVID-19 – HealthTech Magazine

Hackers Use Pandemic-Related Tactics in Phishing Scams

During the pandemic, Texas Childrens has seen a 100 percent increase in scam emails related to the coronavirus, COVID-19 and personal protective equipment, Tonthat says. Many of the attacks targeted the supply chain and accounts payable groups.

Email could be our worst enemy sometimes because thats the gateway in, she says. When suspicious emails come in, Tonthats team reviews those that pass through the email security stack to confirm their validity.

We see it happen all the time there has definitely been an increase during COVID, Tonthat says. Weve been faced with many targeted attempts around PPE-type fraud schemes.

Luke McNamara, a principal analyst at the Mandiant Threat Intelligence unit of FireEye, saw the incorporation of COVID-19 into various phishing campaigns as a theme amid the surge of cases in the U.S. last spring, similar to the jumps in thematic phishing that happen during tax season or the holidays. Such emails often have a malicious link or attachments, he says.

The intent is to get the user to open that file and deploy the malware unwittingly, of course or click on a link and enter their credentials into what appears to be a legitimate web page, which then get captured, McNamara says.

Any emails with COVID-19 in the subject line or in an attachment filename should be examined carefully.

Texas Childrens has established multiple layers of defense for email. The stronger the security, the more likely actors will give up and go to an easier target, Tonthat says. She notes that customers using Microsoft 365 gain an additional layer of email defense.

MORE FROM HEALTHTECH: See how AI can increase efficiency in healthcare.

A proper security setup includes multiple controls such as a proxy, network firewall, application-level firewalls, encryption, dedicated denial of service protection and two-factor authentication, Tonthat says. She also advises that, where possible, organizations consider geolocation blocks to guard against overseas threat actors.

Health systems also should implement systems like tap and go to log on to EHR systems, and facial recognition is another tool for consideration. Together, password, badge and physical access comprise the multiple layers of strong access management for a hospital.

Texas Childrens conducts phishing simulations to train staff to respond appropriately to malicious emails. The idea is to ensure that physicians, nurses and staff arent caught off guard as they focus on attending to patients, Tonthat says.

During the pandemic, simulations to enhance workforce vigilance have been considered critical, she said.

We send them a phishing email, and we monitor who clicks, who forwards, and make sure they take the required training, Tonthat says. Cybersecurity is everyones responsibility. During the pandemic, we have engaged our executives to help raise awareness of cybersecurity threats to their teams, and we have seen a very positive shift in human behavior.

Ransomware has been one of the biggest threats facing hospitals, particularly the prospect of this type of attack slowing down a health system in the middle of a pandemic.

The fact that they could be disrupted by these operations is certainly something that is concerning, McNamara says.

In 2020, in addition to installing ransomware on PCs, threat actors exfiltrated data and publicly posted it online, which caused privacy and regulatory issues. To avoid losing data during an attack, healthcare organizations should secure and back up data off the network, McNamara advises.

In October, the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services alerted Texas Childrens about cyberthreats related to ransomware targeting providers, Tonthat says.

Among other threats, she points to the danger of financially motivated, nation-sponsored hacking. You steal the data to sell it on the dark web and disrupt operations because you believe you will be able to get a ransom by the victim organization, she says.

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How to Build Security Resilience in Healthcare Beyond COVID-19 - HealthTech Magazine