Cell Biology

University honors professors with Distinguished Research Achievement Awards – The Brown Daily Herald

Courtesy of Brown University

John Sedivy (right) has been working on understanding the basic mechanisms of aging and cell death, in particular a form known as cellular senescence, since he came to the University in 1995.

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Courtesy of Brown University

Michael Littman focuses on reinforcement learning, a technique used to teach machines through positive and negative feedback.

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Peter Monti (right) and Dr. Jennifer Tidey (left) working on their COBRE application last year.

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As part of its 2020 Research Achievement Awards, the University recognized the exemplary research of three accomplished professors in biology, computer science and alcohol and addiction studies with the Distinguished Research Achievement Awards.

These recipients add to the four Early Career Research Achievement awardees, The Herald previously reported. This installment of a two-part series features the work of University professors who have been recognized for their contributions not only at the University level, but also in the nation and across the globe, according to the University website.

Michael Littman codes for humanity

Inventor Danny Hillis once said, I just want to make a machine that will be proud of me. Referencing this quote, Professor of Computer Science Michael Littman PhD96 related his work in machine learning and artificial intelligence to a similar goal. He focuses on reinforcement learning, a technique used to teach machines through positive and negative feedback.

Computer science has always appealed to Littman, who began working in the field when he was 13. I like the idea that you can take very abstract things that float around your head and turn them into something real, he said. The contributions he has made to computer science have ranged from developing theorems that show facts about computations, to empirical work, such as building systems that run these computations. He builds on these two common aspects of computer science research through his studies with human participants and human-computer interaction.

Through his research in machine learning, Littman aims to find innovative ways of teaching machines to carry out intended tasks. One set of projects is about trying to reimagine machine learning from the perspective of people teaching machines, as opposed to machines learning from data, Littman said.

In conjunction with these projects, Littman co-directs the Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative, whose goal is to make robots directly beneficial to people. The emphasis from the very beginning was not to think of robots as a technological entity, but as the interaction between people and the machines, Littman said. Understanding people is a really important part of it.

Through his work with artificial intelligence, Littman experiences the process of making another entity, putting it out in the world, teaching it things and seeing the world through its eyes. Despite the highly technical and artificial nature of his work, Littman is motivated by understanding the natural world better. Its fun to do that especially because these systems are themselves simpler than people, so if we can get a sense of the inner lives of these machines, maybe we can understand people better as well, Littman said.

Peter Monti continues research on alcohol, HIV

Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies Peter Monti has been researching substance use for over 30 years. For around the last 15 years, his research has focused on the biological and social aspects of the relationship between alcohol and HIV. I fell in love with that area because I was always intrigued with the interaction between psychology and biology, Monti said.

Monti runs Browns Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, which focuses on the psychosocial aspects of substance use and increasingly on its neurobiological underpinnings. A grant from the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence that Monti received in 2019, which connected his interest in addiction with the long-term sequel of disease, enabled him to investigate questions like how alcohol affects dementia, or how alcohol and other substances affect HIV.

The grant provided Monti with infrastructure for his lab and studies, as well as facilitated the development of junior investigators. As the leader of the Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation grant, Monti funds and mentors junior faculty members interested in addiction and disease risk studies until they are prepared to apply for their own grants. The CADRE grant has funded studies that involve human subjects and simulations, as well as studies that tap into the biology of substance use and HIV.

We do a lot of neuroimaging in those studies and weve begun to see some links in level of alcohol use and brain function, added Monti.

Montis studies have also demonstrated the effectiveness of motivational interviewing, an intervention technique that he and colleagues have developed over the past two decades. A lot of it is giving people feedback in regards to their substance use. What we have found is that we can work with individuals to get them to drink less, Monti said, adding that this impacts both substance- and HIV-related and general health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has limited participants ability to come to his lab for his research, but therapy interventions for other studies are still delivered by video conference.

Monti looks forward to continuing his work on the CADRE grant and in expanding his work in alcohol and HIV to clinics across the country.

John Sedivy advances aging research

John Sedivy, professor of biology and director of the Brown Center on the Biology of Aging, has been working on understanding the basic mechanisms of aging and cell death, in particular a form known as cellular senescence, since he came to the University in 1995.

I started working in cancer research. What got me going into aging was the discovery of telomeres, the ends of genetic material, which promote aging and cellular senescence, said Sedivy. I got very interested in understanding the mechanisms of how that actually works.

Cellular senescence affects all tissues and is a phenomenon that becomes pronounced with aging and promotes age-associated diseases. Through research with long-lived mice and studies with cell cultures, Sedivy is able to study the intersection of cellular senescence and retrotransposable elements, which are responsible for creating virus-like entities in all of our genomes. The most exciting thing that we discovered recently is that some drugs that have been used to treat HIV are also effective against these retrotransposable elements, Sedivy said. He added that these drugs have been effective in treating age-associated diseases in mice.

Sedivy has also received a grant for a clinical trial to test these drugs efficacy in treating neurodegenerative disorders, specifically, Alzheimers, The Herald previously reported.

This study could have a profound impact in the clinic. I think it is something that is very exciting and we have indications that this may apply to many different diseases. Those are the kind of results that are almost too good to be true, Sedivy said.

Although the recognition ceremony for all seven awardees was postponed due to COVID-19, we will find a way to celebrate the award in the future, Vice President of Research Jill Pipher wrote in an email to The Herald.

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University honors professors with Distinguished Research Achievement Awards - The Brown Daily Herald

Cell Biology

Precigen Announces Clearance of IND to Initiate Phase I/II Study for First-in-Class PRGN-2009 AdenoVerse Immunotherapy to Treat HPV-positive (HPV+)…

GERMANTOWN, Md., April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Precigen, Inc.(Nasdaq: PGEN), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative gene and cell therapies to improve the lives of patients, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate a Phase I/II trial for Precigen's PRGN-2009, a first-in-class,off-the-shelf (OTS) investigational immunotherapy utilizing the AdenoVerse platform designed to activate the immune system to recognize and target HPV+ solid tumors. HPV+ cancers represent a significant health burden in indications such as head and neck, cervical, vaginal and anal cancer.

ThePhase I portion of the study will follow 3+3 dose escalation to evaluate the safety of PRGN-2009 administered as a monotherapy and to determine the recommended Phase II dose (R2PD) followed by an evaluation of the safety of the combination of PRGN-2009 at the R2PD and an investigational bifunctional fusion protein in patients with recurrent or metastatic HPV-associated cancers. The Phase II portion of the study will evaluate PRGN-2009 as a monotherapy or in combination with the bifunctional fusion protein in patients with newly-diagnosed stage II/III HPV16-positive oropharyngeal cancer.

PRGN-2009 leverages Precigen's UltraVector and AdenoVerse platforms to optimize HPV antigen design in combination with its gorilla adenovector with a large payload capacity and the ability for repeat administration due to very low to non-existent seroprevalence in the human population.

PRGN-2009 is under development through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, within the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Schlom, Chief oftheLaboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology (LTIB), Center for Cancer Research (CCR),National Cancer Institute (NCI). This CRADA has allowed Precigen to rapidly and cost-effectively advance PRGN-2009 to the clinic.The Phase I/II clinical trial of PRGN-2009 will be conducted at the NIH Clinical Center and will be led by Dr. Julius Strauss, Co-Director of the LTIB's Clinical Trials Group, and Dr. James Gulley, Chief of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, CCR, NCI.

"Globally, high-risk HPVs cause nearly 5% of all cancers, with about 570,000 women and 60,000 men diagnosed with HPV-related cancers each year," said Helen Sabzevari, PhD, President and CEO of Precigen. "We are incredibly proud of our continued relationship with NCI and the tremendous progress in bringing forward this novel asset class in such a short period of time. Advancements are critically needed to better target HPV+ tumors across multiple patient groups, and we have been encouraged by the promising preclinical data for PRGN-2009 in potentially targeting this patient population."

About HPV+ CancersHPV infects the squamous cells that line the inner surfaces of certain organs and, consequently, most HPV-related cancers are a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. Some cervical cancers come from HPV infection of gland cells in the cervix and are referred to as adenocarcinomas.1 HPV-related cancers include cervical, oropharyngeal, anal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar.1 Nearly 44,000 HPV-associated cancers occur in the United States each year. Of these, approximately 25,000 occur in women and 19,000 occur in men.2HPV is considered responsible for more than 90% of analand cervicalcancers, about 70% of vaginal and vulvar cancers, and more than 60% of penile cancers.2 Recent studies indicate that about 70% of cancers of the oropharynxalso may be related to HPV.2

Precigen: Advancing Medicine with PrecisionPrecigen (Nasdaq: PGEN) is a dedicated discovery and clinical stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the next generation of gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target the most urgent and intractable diseases in our core therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. Our technologies enable us to find innovative solutions for affordable biotherapeutics in a controlled manner. Precigen operates as an innovation engine progressing a preclinical and clinical pipeline of well-differentiated unique therapies toward clinical proof-of-concept and commercialization.

For more information about Precigen, visit http://www.precigen.com or follow us on Twitter @Precigen and LinkedIn.

References1HPV and Cancer, National Institutes of Health. Accessed in April 20202HPV-Associated Cancer Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed in April 2020

TrademarksPrecigen, AdenoVerse, UltraVector, and Advancing Medicine with Precision are trademarks of Precigen and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor StatementSome of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and projections about future events and generally relate to plans, objectives, and expectations for the development of the Company's business, including the timing and progress of preclinical and clinical trials and discovery programs, the promise of the Company's portfolio of therapies, the Company's refocus to a healthcare-oriented business, and its continuing evaluation of options for the Company's non-healthcare businesses. Although management believes that the plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the possibility that the timeline for the Company's clinical trial might be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and actual future results may be materially different from the plans, objectives and expectations expressed in this press release. The Company has no obligation to provide any updates to these forward-looking statements even if its expectations change. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. For further information on potential risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause the Company's actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor Contact:

Steven Harasym

Vice President, Investor Relations

Tel: +1 (301) 556-9850

investors@precigen.com

Media Contact:

Marie Rossi, PhD

Vice President, Communications

Tel: +1 (301) 556-9850

press@precigen.com

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Precigen Announces Clearance of IND to Initiate Phase I/II Study for First-in-Class PRGN-2009 AdenoVerse Immunotherapy to Treat HPV-positive (HPV+)...

Human Behavior

Preserving biodiversity to contain viral outbreaks – Geospatial World

Biodiversity is a natural repository for more than half of the medicines that we develop. A large number of disease outbreaks are zoonotic, primarily caused by ecological damage. By changing human behavior, we can make a big difference in terms of handling future pandemics, emphasizes Dr. Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio Associated Vice-President for Conservation and Health at EcoHealth Alliance and a Research Associate at the Bolivian National Herbarium, in a discussion with Dr. Sean OBrien President & CEO at NatureServe

Ecological destruction and loss of habitats of many species causes a lot of problems. Is this also associated with the transmission of viruses from animals to humans?

Most of the diseases in humans come from animals from domestic and from wildlife. These are called zoonosis, and there are around 435 diseases that jumped from animals over the past 60 years into humans. Over 60% of these spillover events are really related to some form of change for example, deforestation or increases in agricultural activities. What happens is when these human activities occur, the contact with wildlife increases. So, we have more encounters with these animals and therefore we get more viruses coming from these animals to us.

Just to be clear, biodiversity itself doesnt represent a threat to humanity its that we humans are getting more comfortable with destroying the habitat of these animals and we are having more encounters with them.

Diseases like AIDS and Ebola also originated from animals. Do you think other than deforestation and rampant ecological destruction, poaching and smuggling of exotic wild animals also plays a role in the spread of these contagions?

HIV jumped from primates to humans. Ebola is linked to deforestation and jumped from bats to humans. In Latin America, we have several different examples of hemorrhagic fevers like hantavirus. Recently, in Bolivia we witnessed the Machupa virus that jumped from rodents into humans, leading to very high mortality rate.

But its not just that. There are also human activities and practices that cause diseases. In the case of COVID-19, there is strong evidence that it jumped from bats into humans in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China. What happens in these places is that we get wildlife from different regions in China and then people go and buy meat. There are several species of animals in the same place.

So, if you can imagine, we have bats, pangolins, sometimes dogs, cats, civets all different species of domestic and wild animals mixed together. Since they dont have necessarily good refrigeration systems, all animals are kept alive there until the moment they are sold to humans. So, when they are sold, theres the moment when the people kill the animal and all the blood gets mixed into other animals, and then there is the opportunity for spillover of viruses. Thats what we believe has happened this time. There are two hypotheses that have been discussed: one is jumping from a bat directly to a human, and then the other idea is that it jumped from a bat to a pangolin, which changed the virus a little bit, and then it jumped to a human.

As per estimates by the World Economic Forum (WEF), over 50% of modern drugs are developed from natural plant extracts. So, clearly, biodiversity is essential not only for the ecosphere, but also for human health and medicine. What do you think needs to be done to preserve biodiversity in a holistic manner and enhance its role in developing new vaccines?

Several treatments for health come from plants. Recently, it has been discussed that chloroquine medicine that has been used for years to treat malaria, can be used in combination with other medication to cure or to treat COVID-19. But this quinine comes from a plant from the Amazon, so its important to keep all this biodiversity, but also work to explore all the active principles that are in these plants and can potentially be used for human health.

What do you think should be done for the realization to hit home that preserving biodiversity is intrinsically connected with human health?

We talk all the time about the risk of emerging infectious diseases and its important to clarify that there are three components of risk. One is what we call hazard in this case, its biodiversity, but especially mammal biodiversity, because these mammals are hosts for all these different pathogens. By itself, biodiversity doesnt represent a risk to humans its when we disturb the biodiversity that we get into trouble.

Also Read: Open data is the future: Sean T. OBrien

The second component is the exposure. Exposure is extremely important, and its related to human behavior. We are already in trouble because of human behavior and our ideas. For Instance, there is a widespread belief in China that traditional medicines and particular types of meat make people healthy; its putting us in danger. But China is not the only place; this happens all around the world bushmeat consumption happens in Africa, Latin America; it happens everywhere. By changing human behavior, we will make a big difference in how we handle future pandemics.

Finally, theres a third component, which is vulnerability. We can understand it as vaccination. Thats why we have been telling people that in this case, people older than 60 years of age are more at risk because they are more vulnerable to this disease. But in other cases, like Zika virus, we also said children that are young, like 5 years or younger, are at risk as well because they are developing the immune system. So, vaccination is important not just for COVID-19 but also for the regular influenza that happens every year.

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Preserving biodiversity to contain viral outbreaks - Geospatial World

Human Behavior

Are Concerts Really Not Coming Back Until 2021? – Dallas Observer

If theres one lesson we should have learned over the last four years, its that human behavior is unpredictable, and even our most formidable experts are capable of flawed analysis.

So when The New York Times reports that concerts and other large-scale events are likely to be absent from our lives until fall 2021, the proper response is to take it into consideration along with other possibilities.

But in fairness, the expert who made this prediction is oncologist and Center for American Progress senior fellow Dr. Zeke Emanuel, who is no Cassandra and even less a fool. You may know Emanuel as the older brother of former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, but his youngest brother, Ari Emanuel, is the CEO of William Morris-Endeavor, one of the largest talent agencies in the film and music industries.

So, yknow, he knows a lot about the human body and has secondhand perspective on how governments and concerts are run.

Larger gatherings conferences, concerts, sporting events when people say theyre going to reschedule this conference or graduation event for October 2020, I have no idea how they think thats a plausible possibility, Emanuel said to the Times. I think those things will be the last to return. Realistically were talking fall 2021 at the earliest.

It wasnt long after that this prediction made the rounds on social media. Fall 2021 became a trending Twitter search after MetalSucks ran a story under the headline Healthcare Expert Says Concerts Wont Return Until Fall 2021 At the Earliest. " Perhaps inadvertently, the story quickly became an indisputable fact:

Its possible that we will go a year-and-a-half without concerts, as Dr. Emanuel predicts, but its also possible that we experience some miraculous breakthrough in the form of a vaccine. Theres a small chance that the coronavirus will wane as temperatures rise over the summer. Conversely, Americas death toll could reach six-digits, and the outbreak could escalate to a point where fall 2021 seems like wishful thinking. Not to bum you out or anything.

The point is, nobody knows for certain whats going to happen, so perhaps people on social media are being myopic when they settle into one view alone in Emanuels prediction.

The big takeaway from the physician's assessment isnt that we may go a year-and-a-half without concerts (although we shouldnt rule it out) its that concerts and other mass gatherings will be the last things to come back once things go back to normal.

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Are Concerts Really Not Coming Back Until 2021? - Dallas Observer

Human Behavior

Earth Day Musings – The RoundTable is Evanston’s newspaper – Evanston RoundTable

Prior to the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, most landmark environmental regulations and laws were yet to be passed. It was completely legal for a factory to emit massive black clouds of toxic smoke into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into nearby waterways. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the sight and smell of a prospering nation, leaving mainstream America oblivious to environmental concerns.

In 1962, the publication of Rachel Carson'sSilent Springmarked apowerful impact on the growth of environmental consciousness. With more than 500,000 copies sold in 24 countries, the bestseller became a rallying point for the new social movement in the 1960s, focusing on the indissoluble links between pollution and public health. Earth Day 1970 provided a voice to the emerging movement.

Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson came up with the idea for a national day to focus on the environment as a result of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. Noticing the power behind the student anti-war movement of the time, Senator Nelson sought to harness the energy behind the anti-war protests and merge it with the growing public concern for air and water pollution in order to force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

April 22 was selected as the date and in 1970, massive coast-to-coast rallies comprising of 10 percent of the total United States population at the time took to streets, parks, and campuses in order to demonstrate for a healthy and sustainable environment. Earth Day united groups across political and socioeconomic boundaries that had been fighting individually against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife. The first Earth Day led to the formation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

Twenty years after the first Earth Day celebration, in 1990, Earth Day became a global celebration, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries. Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and provoke policy changes.

On its 50thAnniversary, Earth Day will return to its roots from 1970, placing environmental progress among the best ways to improve our world.

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Earth Day Musings - The RoundTable is Evanston's newspaper - Evanston RoundTable

Human Behavior

NATURE NOTES: Right Now We All Need To Be Oystercatchers – Brazosport Facts

These are tough times, folks. I hope this finds you and your family well and safe at home. For those who must go out to work an essential job thank you! Ive been reflecting on how the birds are doing their thing without any notice of how the human population is in turmoil.

Migrant birds are arriving on the coast right on time and passing through our area as normal. The bluebirds at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory have built a nest and have probably laid eggs by now. The northern parulas are singing their hearts out along the bayou.

But maybe saying the birds are doing their thing without notice is incorrect.

Turkey vultures and other scavengers have probably noticed a lack of roadkill for feasting because there arent as many vehicles on the roads as usual. Wilsons plovers have arrived to nest on beaches that are devoid of humans. Least terns, too. They must be in heaven.

Ive also been comparing and contrasting human behavior with bird behavior, especially with respect to two species that nest here in Texas and are often confused with each other. They look a lot alike. From a distance both appear as dark birds with orange on their bill. Both nest on the ground in shelly substrates on bay islands and are subject to the same threats of nest overwash, predation of eggs and chicks by gulls and mammals, and human disturbance. But they could not be more different in their social behavior.

We humans are most like the black skimmer, a black and white waterbird, somewhat like a tern. They have a unique orange and black bill in which the lower mandible is longer than the upper mandible. They use that lower mandible to snag fish while they skim the water.

Black skimmers are colonial, which means they nest in a colony very close to each other. They like being together, just like us humans. Once their chicks can fly, the adults leave them to their devices and they must learn to survive on their own, but they are almost always found in social groups not related to their first family. I love black skimmers ,but right now, dont be like the black skimmer.

Contrast that with the American oystercatcher, a large black, brown and white shorebird with an orange bill. American oystercatchers are not colonial. They are territorial. They will not let another oystercatcher, even another pairs chick, enter their territory. They are fiercely protective of what they consider their piece of property and are pretty darn antisocial during the breeding season.

It takes 28 days for the eggs to hatch and another 35 days before the young birds can fly. Even after the young birds can fly, though, the family stays together as a group for many months while the young birds learn to feed efficiently. So maybe right now, just for a while, become one with the oystercatchers and stay safe.

Just as the oystercatchers become more social when the breeding season is over (usually July or August), so will we become more social when the threat from COVID-19 is past. Stay safe, everyone, and we will get through this together while 6 feet apart.

Susan Heath, Ph.D., is an avian conservation biologist for the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, 299 Highway 332 W. in Lake Jackson. Contact the observatory at 979-480-0999 or visit gcbo.org.

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NATURE NOTES: Right Now We All Need To Be Oystercatchers - Brazosport Facts

Physiology

Study: Wind turbine noise not the cause of health symptoms – YLE News

A wind farm in Simo, Finnish Lapland.Image: Antti Ullakko / Yle

Claims of adverse health effects of the low frequency or infrasound vibrations caused by wind power stations are not supported by the newest, most long-ranging findings on the subject.

A long-term government-commissioned study conducted by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and others found that waves of infrasound cause no measurable changes in human physiology, and could not be detected by the human ear in rigorous testing.

Project leader Panu Maijala from VTT said that the wind power industry can now breathe a sigh of relief, after years of unsubstantiated public sentiment criticising wind turbine construction.

The chair of the managerial research team, Vesa Pekkola from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, predicted the results of the study will be significant in assuaging public misgivings.

"We were quick to make sure that the research must be utterly airtight in terms of scientific reliability," Pekkola said.

Maijala also emphasised the high quality of the research, which he said was conducted by "the best researchers in the country".

The VTT study used long-term measurements, listening tests and questionnaires to investigate the properties of infrasound a sound vibration whose frequency is below the range of human hearing.

Measurements showed that the infrasound levels in rural areas with wind power parks were about the same as levels in a regular urban environment.

Maijala did say he was surprised to see occasional spikes in the volume of the frequency, going up to 102 decibels.

The main frequencies of the infrasound were between 0.1 and 1.0 hertz (Hz), which is well below the hearing range of the human ear (16-20 Hz). The lower the frequency, the louder the sound must be for it to be audible.

Maijala said he considers it theoretically possible that some individuals might be able to hear the loudest infrasounds caused by the wind turbines. He emphasised that no changes in physiology were discovered in the VTT study.

In the study, people who claimed their symptoms were caused by infrasound were not found to be able to hear the low frequencies any better than people who did not claim it as a cause. Their autonomous nervous systems were not found to be any more activated by the waves than those of asymptomatic test subjects.

The research took note of prior international studies on infrasound and health, but new long-term measurements were also taken at two wind power parks. Both the Kurikka wind farm and the Kopsa area in Raahe contain 17 wind turbines.

Researchers took measurements both indoors and outside, inside the wind power plant and beyond it, for 308 days.

"Usually measurements take a day or two to produce. The data we collected is rare, because we were able to measure the frequencies in people's homes for an extended period," Maijala said.

Maijala pointed out that the study was conducted on apartments and houses whose residents had moved away due to perceived wind-power related health symptoms. Maijala said he spent several days in another house near the Kopsa wind farm.

"The countryside is so quiet you can hear your own thoughts, but still the frequency didn't affect my sleep at all. Granted, I was there only a short while."

The study points out that for some sufferers, symptoms may be brought on by the so-called nocebo effect, where strong belief in negative effects can bring some of them about. People may also assign blame for their real, underlying ailments to the wind turbines in error or bad faith.

The unusually broad study was conducted by VTT, the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

Pekkola said that no national or international criteria for the evaluation of infrasound effects existed prior to the study, published in late 2019. Concrete results have been in high demand around the globe.

"There have been a lot of people claiming that infrasound is a health risk. Now we have the evidence with which to approach those claims," Pekkola said.

As a world first, the study is piquing interest internationally, too.

"Similar research is underway in Germany and Australia, but their results aren't in yet," said Maijala. "I await them eagerly. I believe this study of ours will become a major reference point."

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Study: Wind turbine noise not the cause of health symptoms - YLE News

Physiology

WVU team finds N95 alternatives – Beckley Register-Herald

The novel coronavirus pandemic has nearly exhausted stockpiles of medical gear in the United States. Personal protective equipment, like masks, serves as a first-line defense for medical professionals with a front row seat to COVID-19.

Coming to the aid of those doctors and nurses is a team of scientists from West Virginia University and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which has developed two alternative face coverings that are as effective at blocking novel coronavirus as those highly coveted N95 masks.

You may even have some of the materials to make them: a home furnace filter and a 3D printer.

When COVID-19 began to creep into West Virginia, health officials and the state National Guard started scrambling for solutions to safeguard first responders, health care providers and patients affected by a lack of PPE.

They sought out expertise in WVUs Center for Inhalation Toxicology led by Timothy Nurkiewicz. iTOX includes the WVU Inhalation Facility, where researchers can test the effects of inhaled particles, even simulated COVID-19 droplets.

Nurkiewicz and his team concluded that air filter material from home furnaces you know, the ones you forget to change every three months can effectively obstruct coronavirus particles.

HVAC furnace filters especially the higher quality filters that remove allergens and dust mites can perform well in blocking COVID-19, said Nurkiewicz, chair of Physiology and Pharmacology at the WVU School of Medicine. We can layer that up and use it with publicly available 3D designs for respirator masks that would cover your face. That combination provides significant protection to anyone exposed to COVID-19 droplets.

Travis Goldsmith, iTOX senior research engineer, started the project by exploring ways to rapidly test unconventional filter materials. iTox worked in conjunction with Veronica Cyphert, Julie ONeil and Dr. Robert Gerbo, of WVU Occupational Medicine, to identify that the air filter material in a 3D-printed mask worked quite well.

Dr. Matthew Dietz, from WVU Orthopaedics, brought in additional 3D-printing expertise and added common window/door gaskets to the mask. This addition earned the mask the designation of pass for clinical fit testing performed by Occupational Medicine.

The team has forwarded those recommendations to the West Virginia National Guard, which is in the process of producing those masks. The National Guard has a network of printers that are currently being utilized, Nurkiewicz said.

For the second successful alternative, Nurkiewiczs team developed an adapter that can be 3D-printed and modified to universally fit any face mask. Goldsmith and Kevin Engels, of Physiology and Pharmacology, first developed a prototype. Oxana and Mark Tseytlin from WVU Biochemistry and Walter McKinney and Erik Sinsel from NIOSH in Morgantown worked quickly to develop the prototype into a 3D-printed product and try it out on a CPAP mask. The team discovered that it effectively blocked simulated coronavirus droplets from seeping through.

Nurkiewicz said the design templates will be made available free to the public in the coming weeks as the team refines the files.

Without the expertise of West Virginia Universitys researchers and expert faculty, we wouldnt be in a position to move forward with our network of academic institutions, community and technical colleges, public and private industries who are able to 3D-print these tested designs to meet the ever-growing need for PPE in our state, said Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard. This collaboration underscores the importance of building strong partnerships among academia and government agencies to develop innovative solutions to the most pressing issues facing our populace, including our current fight against COVID-19 in the Mountain State.

Overall, the team tested more than 20 materials and mask designs. As health professionals prepare for an expected peak in novel coronavirus cases in West Virginia in the coming weeks, Nurkiewiczs team is monitoring the local levels of PPE and is ready to assist if needed.

The WVU Inhalation Facility measures, identifies and discovers how particles we breathe affect our health. It provides researchers with real-time monitoring capabilities, while the many types of respirable particles it can accommodate during simultaneous experiments make it a standout internationally.

We have the capacity to generate artificial atmospheres of droplets and particles and can assess the size distribution of aerosols. Normally we assess the impact of their inhalation on the cardiopulmonary and reproductive systems, Nurkiewicz said. Now, we are determining whether or not a filter is performing a barrier function. Over the course of the past few weeks, weve tested pretty much everything.

Inside the Inhalation Facility, Nurkiewiczs team conducts aerosol generation exposures, which use ultrasound pulses to move particles and dust without physical contact. Researchers have previously used the iTOX facility to study nanomaterials and inhalable particles from e-cigarettes, auto emissions and military burn pits.

Necessity is the mother of invention, Nurkiewicz said in reflecting on the last few weeks. We dream and come up with a bunch of crazy ideas but working with the military has really been enlightening and rewarding. They are an awesome group of people, and we are very fortunate to have their service.

Nurkiewicz said the research would not have been possible without a dedicated effort from a diverse team of experts coming together as one.

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WVU team finds N95 alternatives - Beckley Register-Herald

Physiology

Doctors suspect death of 16-year-old boy from suburban Chicago may be linked to COVID-19 – WITI FOX 6 Milwaukee

WHEELING, Ill. A Northwest suburban school district confirmed two student cases of suspected COVID-19; one student died, and the other remains in intensive care.

Zach Leviton, 16, is the Wheeling student who died. His family said his symptoms werent what youd expect from the coronavirus. His test, in fact, came back negative, but doctors arent sure, so the case is still being investigated by state health officials as possible COVID-19.

Like many who are 16, Zach Leviton had his permit. His mom said he was excited to get his drivers license. What set this Wheeling High School student apart were his values, which are being remembered by friends and family online.

Some of the comments call Leviton a genuine person that could make me laugh, kind and such a sweetheart. One classmate said shell remember him like this, I wasnt the type of student to ask a question in class, and as soon as Zach realized this, he started asking the questions for me.

If Levitons death is confirmed as a COVID-19 case, he would be the first Illinois teenager to die from complications due to coronavirus. In March, COVID-19 took the life of an infant in Illinois. Both cases would be rare occurrences.

Obviously, a 2-year-old and a 17-year-old are all considered pediatric patients, but we know that the 17-year-old has the physiology much closer to an adult than, say, an infant, or a baby, so former hospitals and pediatricians Ive talked to, they have seen severe illness in older pediatric patients, as they look more like adults than babies, said Illinois Department of Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.

A dark week in District 214 that leaves me with an incredibly heavy heart. We will continue to move forward to see the sunrise again one day; however, this week in our District is marked by pain and sadness, said Superintendent Dr. David Schulerin a letter to parents.

One other student in District 214 remains hospitalized in the intensive care unit at an unnamed hospital, with COVID-19-like symptoms.

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Doctors suspect death of 16-year-old boy from suburban Chicago may be linked to COVID-19 - WITI FOX 6 Milwaukee

Physiology

Learning to fly from dinosaurs – Cosmos

By Ian Connellan

Pterosaurs, the largest animals ever to fly, soared the skies for 160 million years much longer than any species of modern bird. That ought to be enough to think about how they did it, and what we can learn from them.

But despite their aeronautic excellence, these ancient flyers have largely been overlooked in the pursuit of bio-inspired flight technologies.

Now, in a review just published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, researchers outline why and how the physiology of fossil flyers could provide ancient solutions to modern flight problems, such as aerial stability and the ability of drones to self-launch.

Theres a lot of really cool stuff in the fossil record that goes unexplored because engineers generally dont look to palaeontology when thinking about inspiration for flight, says lead author Liz Martin-Silverstone, from the University of Bristol, UK.

If were only looking at modern animals for inspiration, were really missing a large degree of the morphology out there and ignoring a lot of options that I think could be useful."

Previously, engineers have largely focused on the physiology of modern birds and insects when designing aeronautic technology like drones and planes; fossils are often incomplete.

But Martin-Silverstone says there are a select few pterosaur fossils that provide extraordinarily deep insight into the anatomy of their wings, which is essential for understanding their flight capabilities.

There are two or three absolutely amazingly preserved pterosaur fossils that let you see the different layers within the wing membrane, giving us insight into its fibrous components, she says.

Also, some fossils are preserved enough to show the wing attachments beneath the hip. While you dont know exactly the shape of the wing, by knowing the membrane attachments you can model the effectiveness of different wing shapes and determine which would have performed best in natural conditions.

Analysis of the shape and predicted flight mechanics of these ancient creatures has revealed novel tactics that dont exist in modern flyers.

Getting airborne is one example.

Launching into the air through a leap or jump, also known as ballistic launch, is standard throughout the animal kingdom. However, larger birds require a running start to gain enough momentum for lift-off.

Incredibly, pterosaurs may have developed a method to launch from a stationary position, despite some specimens weighing nearly 300 kilograms.

One hypothesis, proposed by co-author Mike Habib, of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, US, suggests that the wing membrane and the robust muscle attachments in the wings allowed pterosaurs to generate a high-powered leap off their elbows and wrists, giving them enough height to become airborne.

Today, something like a drone requires a flat surface to launch and is quite restricted on how it actually gets into the air, says Martin-Silverstone.

The unique launch physiology of pterosaurs might be able to help solve some of these problems.

Pterosaurs can also provide insights on preventing instability in flight.

Contrary to the way sails can become unstable in a strong wind, pterosaurs evolved strategies to resist flutter of their broad wings.

So far weve struggled to design things like flight suits that can resist the pressures of flight, says Martin-Silverstone.

If we can understand how pterosaurs did it, for instance by understanding how their wing membrane was actually structured, then thats something we can use to answer modern engineering questions.

Martin-Silverstone suggests that if we combine our knowledge from flyers both living and extinct, well have a much better chance of overcoming the hurdles still hindering man-made flight. She wants biologists and engineers to reach out to palaeontologists when theyre looking to solve flight problems.

If we limit ourselves to looking at the modern animals, then were missing out on a lot of diversity that might be useful.

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Learning to fly from dinosaurs - Cosmos