A Hot Topic for Cold Weather Warfighter – DVIDS

February 27, 2020 medical

The International Congress on Soldiers Physical Performance (ICSPP) is held once every three years and attracts scientists, practitioners, and military leaders from all over the world. This sentinel meeting is known for exceptional content regarding applied, operationally relevant military human performance research. The theme for ICSPP 2020 was Optimizing the Winter Soldier and was held February 1114 in Quebec City, Canada.Modern conflicts have taken our armed forces around the globe and placed them in diverse climates ranging from oppressive heat and humidity to freezing temperatures. Mr. Jay Heaney, Thermal Physiologist and Deputy Director of the Naval Health Research Centers (NHRC) Warfighter Performance Department, presented his teams work assessing the physical and neurocognitive responses to cold water immersion and rewarming. These findings, which are the culmination of data collected over a five year period, directly informs practice and policy for military operations in the austere environment. The Thermal Physiology Team in NHRCs Warfighter Performance Department seeks to broaden the understanding of the physiological effects of harsh environmental temperatures. The goal is to develop evidence-based solutions to manage heat and cold stress while protecting warfighter health and maximizing performance.

The team presented several talks on the impact of exposure to cold water and cold air temperature on cognitive performance. As military operations transition to frigid environments, NHRC is investigating both cognitive and physical performance issues. One innovative approach being used in these investigations is mobile electroencephalography (EEG) while performing cognitive tasks. Thus far, this technique has provided unique insights to neurocognitive elements of human performance in cold environments, with delays in cognitive response observed when body temperature decreases, explains Mr. Heaney. Exposure to environmental stressors, such as freezing cold water can cause physiological and cognitive deterioration leading to decreased performance. For the warfighter, this reduces capabilities and effectiveness, which can then lead to compromised missions.At the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California, training is conducted to prepare both warfighters and the medical personnel who care for them to operate in cold environments. During the three week course, students are taught the deleterious effects of accidental hypothermia as part of their training. Students are taught best practices on how to quickly and effectively rewarm following a ten minute ice water immersion exercise, which facilitates return to operational tasks.

While it is well know that many warfighters exhibit functional limitations resulting from exposure to cold environments, the specific reasons for such impairments are not well delineated. To better understand the underlying causes, NHRCs Warfighter Performance team used EEG hardware and other signal processing techniques to assess participants while in the frigid water. Cognitive results paired with EEG recordings provided valuable information on warfighters neurocognitive responses during cold water immersion and rewarming.

One of the lead scientists of the Thermal Physiology Team, Dr. Doug Jones, not only manages the study but invests his work on a personal level. During his time away from the lab, he spends his weekends in the winter volunteering as an alpine ski patroller for the Snow Valley Mountain Patrol, where he has seen firsthand, the effects of hypothermia. This work has allowed me to blend my passion for the mountains and cold environments with ground-breaking research to identify specific performance impairments that warfighters are encountering in cold operational settings, comments Dr. Jones. At this time, NHRCs Warfighter Performance Department is the only research group that has been able to collect high quality EEG data in the field during cold environmental conditions.

NHRCs mission is to optimize the operational readiness and health of our armed forces and families by conducting research, development, testing and evaluation informing Department of Defense (DoD) policy. NHRC supports military mission readiness with research and development that delivers high-value, high-impact solutions to the health and readiness challenges our military population faces on the battlefield, at sea, on foreign shores, and at home. NHRCs team of distinguished scientists and researchers consists of active duty service members, federal civil service employees and contractors, whose expertise includes physiology, microbiology, psychology, epidemiology, and biomedical engineering.

-NHRC-

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A Hot Topic for Cold Weather Warfighter - DVIDS

Physiology

Finding the sex factor in immunity – Pursuit

February 27, 2020 medical

We know men and women have different constitutions and physiology, and this is likely why men and women are more or less susceptible to different diseases.

Women, for example, are more prone to autoimmune diseases like arthritis and lupus where the immune system attacks healthy cells.

We also know men are more prone to metabolic diseases where there are problems in how food is converted into energy, resulting in conditions like obesity, high blood pressure or high blood sugar levels. This makes men more susceptible to diseases like diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

While this suggested that men and women have differences in their immune systems, there was little specific proof for that, until now.

In research published in Nature, Melbourne scientists have uncovered the clearest evidence yet of how men and womens immune systems operate differently.

It provides researchers with a new roadmap to look for the precise cellular and molecular mechanisms at work in men and women.

It also opens up the possibility of future drugs tailored to men or women to treat metabolic and immune diseases, as well as the secondary illnesses associated with them, like cancer.

The focus of the study, led by researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and University of Melbourne, was to understand why men are more prone to obesity and metabolic diseases than women.

It was already well known that when a high fat diet is fed to mice, the males become obese much faster than the females. In a bid to work out why, researchers minutely examined the body fat of mice.

Body fat, or what we call the adipose, isnt just fat, says senior researcher on the study Professor Axel Kallies at the Peter Doherty Institute.

It is actually an organ that plays an important role in making hormones and messenger molecules to regulate metabolism. So we looked at every cell type we could think of by isolating them from the adipose and comparing males and females.

What they found completely surprised them. They discovered that the immune systems operating in the body fat of males and females were starkly different.

The male mice had many more and different types of white blood cells called Regulatory T cells (Treg cells). Indeed, males had three to four times as many Tregs cells as females.

These cells play a crucial role in limiting the otherwise harmful inflammation that is triggered when our immune system is alerted to an infection.

They also found that males had a unique type of stromal cell. These are the cells that make up the connective tissue that shape organs.

Not only did we discover dramatic differences in Treg cells, we also discovered a stromal cell type that responds directly to testosterone and is specific to males, says study lead author Dr Ajithkumar Vasanthakumar.

This was surprising because past research on key organs involved in the immune system the lymph nodes, spleen and blood had found no difference in Tregs cells between males and females.

When they delved further to understand why males had so many more Treg cells in their body fat, they discovered the male-specific stromal cells. It is these stromal cells that create the environments, or niches, for Treg cells to adapt to specific organs, like body fat.

In this way, stromal cells influence how the immune system in an organ develops, and in body fat these stromal cells are different between males and females.

The team also found that male fat contained many more pro-inflammatory cytokines the immune system messenger molecules that allow different cells to communicate with each other and are important in triggering an immune response and inflammation.

This is probably the most striking and clear finding that goes toward explaining the differences in male and female immune systems, says Professor Kallies.

In an earlier study we biopsied human adipose tissue and found the same type of Treg cells as we find in mice, so there is every reason to believe that similar systems are at play.

We now have a fairly complete picture at the molecular, cellular and hormonal level of what is going on, and it may well apply in different parts of the body, though the details of how it works may vary from organ to organ.

For example, instead of the stroma cell niche in body fat resulting in differences in Treg cells between men and women, in other organs the stroma may impact the female and male immune systems in a different way.

Professor Kallies says the findings show that male body fat is more primed to inflammation than female body fat. That may explain why men are more susceptible to obesity and metabolic diseases, which are associated with high levels of inflammation.

Professor Kallies suggests that the higher levels of Treg cells in men are an adaption to try and control this stronger inflammation.

If men didnt have this different Treg cell mechanism in place then they would be even worse off than they are now when it comes to metabolic diseases.

The interaction, via messenger molecules, between stroma cells and the immune system and how this differs between males and females represent a new target for research and possible new drugs, says Professor Kallies.

It means we have a more informed way of targeting these metabolic and autoimmune diseases, and the secondary conditions they are associated with like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

But the other key implication is that it underlines the urgent need for medical research to end the bias towards investigating only male physiology, and end the under-representation of women in clinical trials.

A 2018 study reported that between 1997 and 2000, of the ten prescription drugs the US Food and Drug Administration suspended because of severe side effects, eight caused greater health risks in women.

It is just outrageous that you can have drugs being tested only on male animals and clinical trials only including males when we know the metabolism of men and women is different, says Professor Kallies.

We need to be taking into account the differences between males and females from the very start of research.

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Physiology

Pioneer Neuroscientists Believed the Mind Is More Than the Brain – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

February 27, 2020 medical

In a podcast discussion with Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor talks about how many famous neuroscientist became dualiststhat is, they concluded that there is something about human beings that goes beyond matterbased on observations they made during their work [4:24 min].

A partial transcript follows:

04:24 | Wilder Penfield on the soul and the spirit

Robert J. Marks: What did the research of one of your fellow neurosurgeons, in history, Wilder Penfield, tell us about the soul and the spirit?

Michael Egnor: Wilder Penfield (18911976) was one of many neuroscientists who was a dualist. In fact, many of the greatest neuroscientist in history have been dualists

04:47 | What is a dualist?

Robert J. Marks: Could you just briefly, in a sentence, explain what a dualist is again?

Michael Egnor: Sure. A dualist is someone who believes that some aspect of the mind is not material. That is, that there is something above and beyond brain matter that constitutes the human mind.

Sherrington (right), who was really the original pioneer of neuroscience, worked back near the beginning of the twentieth century was a dualist, as was Dr. Penfield, whom I will talk about momentarily.

Note: Charles Scott Sherrington (18571952) won the Nobel Prize, along with Edgar Adrian, for Physiology or Medicine in 1932. His investigations of nearly every aspect of mammalian nervous function directly influenced the development of brain surgery and the treatment of such nervous disorders as paralysis and atrophy. Sherrington coined the term synapse to denote the point at which the nervous impulse is transmitted from one nerve cell to another. Britannica

If it is mind that we are searching the brain, then we are supposing the brain to be much more than a telephone-exchange. We are supposing it to be a telephone-exchange along with subscribers as well.

Michael Egnor: And there was John Eccles in the 1960s, a Nobel Laureate who was a passionate dualist. (John Eccles, below, in 1963, CC by 3.0)

Note: John Eccles (19031997) won the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology in 1963, along with Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley. Eccless research, which was based largely on the findings of Hodgkin and Huxley, settled a long-standing controversy over whether nerve cells communicate with each other by chemical or by electric means. His work had a profound influence on the medical treatment of nervous diseases and research on kidney, heart, and brain function. Britannica

We regard promissory materialism to be as superstition without rational foundation. The more we discover between mental phenomena and the more wonderful do both the brain events and the mental phenomena become. Promissory materialism is simply religious belief held by dogmatic materialism.

Michael Egnor: Other neuroscientists like Roger Sperry and Benjamin Libet, these are neuroscientists of the top rank who were dualists.

Robert J. Marks: And its interesting that they maintained this position because of their neurosurgery experience

Note: Roger Sperry (19131994) won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with David Hunter Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel. His studies demonstrated that the left side of the brain is normally dominant for analytical and verbal tasks, while the right hemisphere assumes dominance in spatial tasks, music, and certain other areas. The surgical and experimental techniques Sperry developed from the late 1940s laid the groundwork for much more specialized explorations of the mental functions carried out in different areas of the brain. Britannica

When the brain is whole, the unified consciousness of the left and right hemispheres adds up to more than the individual properties of the separate hemispheres.

See also: Four researchers whose work sheds light on the reality of the mind, where you will find a discussion of the work of Benjamin Libet (19162007).

Show Notes

00:46 | Introducing Dr. Michael Egnor, Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at State University of New York, Stony Brook

Note: In the earlier part of the discussion, Dr. Egnor talked about the difference between soul and spirit, noting that, loosely speaking, the soul is the principle of life in a body and the spirit refers more to the immaterial aspects of the soul, which are the ability to reason and the ability to make decisions based on reason. A partial transcript is available here.

Next: Wilder Penfield offered three reasons for believing the mind is not merely the brain

Here are some of Michael Egnors thoughts on theories of consciousness:

Tam Hunt offers some ideas at Scientific American but his dismissal of objectivity is cause for concern. There is a better way. Hunt is right that the scientific study of consciousness using merely third-person objective data is flawedit is the idiotic flaw of behaviorismbut the notion that objective data needs scare quotes opens the door to a deconstruction of our knowledge of the natural world that is every bit as idiotic and dangerous as the crude materialist objectification of consciousness.

Why eliminative materialism cannot be a good theory of the mind. Thinking that the mind is simply the brain, no more and no less, involves a hopeless contradiction. How can you have a proposition that the mind doesnt exist? That means propositions dont exist and that means, in turn, that you dont have a proposition.

Why the mind cannot just emerge from the brain. The mind cannot emerge from the brain if the two have no qualities in common. In his continuing discussion with Robert J. Marks, Michael Egnor argues that emergence of the mind from the brain is not possible because no properties of the mind have any overlap with the properties of brain. Thought and matter are not similar in any way. Matter has extension in space and mass; thoughts have no extension in space and no mass.

and

The minds reality is consistent with neuroscience. A neglected dualist theory offers some insights. Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor thinks that the explanation of the relationship of the mind to the brain that best fits todays neuroscience is that certain powers, particularly the intellect and will, are not generated by matter but are immaterial. However, other properties of the mind, like perception, memory and imagination are physical, generated by brain matter.

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Physiology

PhysIQ and U.S. Veteran’s Affairs Publish Breakthrough Study Predicting Heart Failure Hospitalization up to 10 days in Advance using AI – Business…

February 27, 2020 medical

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--physIQ, Inc. and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today published the results of a breakthrough study aimed at validating the ability to detect the onset of heart failure exacerbation using wearable sensors and machine learning-based personalized physiology analytics. Published in Circulation Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, the LINK-HF study was designed to assess the ability to predict rehospitalization due to heart failure exacerbation using sophisticated analytics applied to continuous wearable sensor data. In the study, 100 patients were enrolled upon discharge from heart failure hospitalization across four VA hospitals and monitored continuously and for up to 90 days without intervention. Post hoc data analysis indicated a mean detection lead time of as high as 10.4 days prior to the hospitalization or ER visit with as high as 88% sensitivity and 86% specificity. Such a lead time interval should permit intervention aimed at preventing hospitalization.

The study evaluated physIQs pinpointIQ continuous data collection platform including patented analytics that use machine learning to automatically establish a personalized model of each individuals baseline physiological behavior in order to detect subtle anomalies that may be predictive of hospitalization. PhysIQs innovative solution addresses a critical, unmet healthcare need for continuous remote monitoring of patient vital signs without the cost, risks and patient requirements of invasive monitoring procedures.

This study demonstrates that integration of novel non-invasive technology and machine learning analytics provides an accurate prediction of clinical decompensation in heart failure, says Dr. Josef Stehlik, Professor of Medicine, Co-Chief of the Advanced Heart Failure Program, University of Utah Health and Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Medical Center. This work has the potential to reduce hospitalization and improve quality of life of patients with heart failure.

Upon discharge from heart failure hospitalization, patients in the multi-site observational study were provided a set of disposable 4-day adhesive sensor patches for the chest, and a smartphone to upload their data to the cloud. In the cloud, physIQs FDA 510(k)-cleared analytics established a personalized physiologic baseline for each patient. From this baseline, the physIQ algorithms could detect subtle physiologic changes that predicted rehospitalization 7 10 days in advance of the hospitalization or ED visit. Moreover, the easy-to-use disposable patches helped the study achieve a remarkable sensor compliance and data yield throughout the 90-day monitoring.

The newly released publication is noteworthy in the realm of digital medicine, where prospectively designed studies presented in peer-reviewed journals are a rarity. There is a lot of buzz about digital medicine these days, said Gary Conkright, CEO of physIQ, but the reality is that very few companies have been able to demonstrate the clinical rigor required in a healthcare use case. The publication of this study is yet another example of how we at physIQ continue to lead the market in developing FDA-cleared technology and clinical validation.

The results of the study are relevant for payers and providers looking to establish more scalable solutions for managing at-risk patient populations, as well as for pharmaceutical companies looking to use wearable sensor data to demonstrate efficacy and safety of their products. Continuous sensor data has enormous potential to transform how we understand trajectories of human health; but these data streams present multiple challenges, noted Matt Pipke, CTO, physIQ. Not only is the volume of data massive, but the behavior of physiology in the unconstrained ambulatory setting is rich and complex. Properly validated machine learning and deep learning analytics, like those tested in this VA study, are the key to effectively processing wearable biosensor data to provide clinical users with information they can act on.

Building on the breakthrough success of this VA heart failure study, physIQ is now leveraging these and other data sets to power deep learning to develop biomarkers that will enable transformational tools to diagnose and monitor disease. These novel biomarkers will allow biopharma companies to revolutionize how they demonstrate clinical value and fundamentally change how payers and health systems care for their at-risk patient populations.

By giving doctors the information they need to preemptively intervene and prevent patient deterioration, rather than react to what has already happened, physIQ is bringing the power of AI to healthcare delivery in ways that will transform patient care and improve care value, said Dr. Stephen Ondra, Chief Medical Officer for physIQ.

Early detection is critical to success in avoiding heart failure rehospitalization. There are currently over 6 million people in the United States diagnosed with heart failure and one million annual hospitalizations. Among them, approximately 20% of patients are readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge, underscoring the challenges both clinicians and patients face with trying to manage this disease.

About physIQ

PhysIQ is a company dedicated to enabling proactive care delivery models through pinpointIQ, its highly scalable cloud-based platform for personalized physiology analytics. Our FDA 510(k)-cleared data analytics platform is designed to process multiple vital signs from wearable sensors to create a personalized dynamic baseline for each individual. By mapping vital sign relationships this way, physIQs analytics detect subtle deviations that may be a precursor to disease exacerbation or change in health. With applications in both healthcare and clinical trial support, physIQ is transforming continuous physiological data into insight for providers, health systems, payers and pharmaceutical and medical device companies. For more information, please visit http://www.physIQ.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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PhysIQ and U.S. Veteran's Affairs Publish Breakthrough Study Predicting Heart Failure Hospitalization up to 10 days in Advance using AI - Business...

Physiology

Pet owners may be able to track their animal’s health with a fitness tracker for dogs – inews

February 27, 2020 medical

NewsTechnologyThe sensor could also help humans to realise when sniffer dogs have reached their targets

Wednesday, 26th February 2020, 10:10 pm

Pet owners may soon be able to track their furry companions' health and vital signs thanks to a new fitness tracker for dogs.

The device, created by researchers at Imperial College London, monitors an animal's vital signs through its fur when strapped around its chest, removing the need to shave hair off to place the sensor directly on skin.

Its sensor and microphone work together like a "watery stethoscope", which is flexible enough to mould around a creature's fur and tight enough to prevent air bubbles from forming and obscuring the sound of its heartbeat.

"The sensor works like a watery stethoscope, filling any gaps between it and its subject so that no air bubbles get in and dampen the sound," first author Yasin Cotur said.

'Fitbit' for dogs

The sound is converted to a digital signal that's transmitted to a nearby computer to enable real-time tracking of the dog's physiology.

While there are numerous trackers available to buy to attach to animals, previous versions can't track vital signs through fur. The team are working to add motion sensors to the system to track an animal's movements, meaning future version could use artificial intelligence (AI) to work out when pets are standing, sitting, or lying, as well as which direction they are facing and how their vital signs diverge from the norm.

Owners could keep an eye on their animals' movements through a paired smartphone app to ensure they're getting enough exercise or to work out where they are and what they're doing at any given time.

"Wearables are expected to play a major role in monitoring health and detecting diseases early," Dr Firat Guder, lead author of the study, said.

Tracking health of animals

"Our stretchy, flexible invention heralds a whole new type of sensor that can track the health of animals and humans alike over fur or clothing."

The team is planning to experiment with how the wearable tech could translate information collected by sniffer dogs into measurable data, helping humans to establish when the dogs have identified what they're looking for more quickly.

It could help to establish baselines of normal heart and breathing rates from which to quantify the level of excitement for each dog, as sniffer dogs' heart and breathing rates rise upon finding their target objects (such as bombs or humans trapped under rubble) in anticipation of being rewarded.

"By measuring how excited the dogs are, an inbuilt algorithm might even be able to tell the strength of the dog's reaction to the smell it detects and work out how 'sure' the dog is of finding the desired object," the team's report, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, claimed.

Horses and livestock are other potential beneficiaries of the sensor, they added.

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Pet owners may be able to track their animal's health with a fitness tracker for dogs - inews

Physiology

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Metabolic Syndrome Among Patients | DMSO – Dove Medical Press

February 27, 2020 medical

Tesfaye Teshome,1 Dejene Hailu Kassa,2 Agete Tadewos Hirigo3

1Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, Physiology Unit, Hawassa City, Southern-Ethiopia; 2Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Science, Faculty of Health Science, School of Public Health, Hawassa City, Southern-Ethiopia; 3Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Science, School of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Hawassa City, Southern-Ethiopia

Correspondence: Tesfaye TeshomeHawassa University College of Medicine and Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, Physiology Unit, P.O. Box 1560, Hawassa City, Southern-EthiopiaTel +251-925-112625Email tesfayeteshome9@gmail.com

Background: Patients with severe mental disorders have a high risk of metabolic-related complications like metabolic syndrome (MetS), diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension and lipid derangements, and these factors may predispose them to a high mortality rate. Data is very scarce regarding MetS among patients with severe mental illness in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of MetS and its associated factors among patients with severe mental illness.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from January to June 2019 among adult patients attending a psychiatric outpatient department, Southern Ethiopia. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 245 study subjects. Socio-demographic and other data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Both the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines were used to define MetS.Results: The prevalence of MetS was 24.5% and 26.9% by NCEP-ATP and IDF criteria respectively. In both definitions, females had significantly higher MetS when compared to males (31.4% vs 19.6%; p=0.03 by NCEP), and (34.3% vs 21.7%; p =0.03 by IDF), respectively. Duration > 5 years with mental illness indicated higher MetS when compared to duration 5 years (42.9% vs 19.9%, p=0.001; and 46.9% vs 21.9%, p< 0.0001) in NCEP and IDF, respectively. In addition, marital status [AOR (95% CI): 2.4 (1.1 5.3)], and BMI [AOR (95% CI): 8.4(4.0 17.6)], duration > 5 years with mental illness [AOR (95% CI): 2.8(1.2 6.5)], and age > 40 years [AOR (95% CI): 2.7(1.2 6.1)] were significantly associated factors of MetS by NCEP. While BMI, age > 40 years and duration > 5 years with mental illness were associated with MetS by IDF.Conclusion: Long-time experience with severe mental illness and antipsychotic therapy might predispose patients to metabolic complications with significant risks of cardiovascular events. Therefore, intensive screening of patients for MetS/components is required during follow-up based on national non-communicable diseases guideline. Besides, the proper intervention of patients concerning lifestyle changes and averting risk full behaviors is mandatory.

Keywords: severe mental illness, antipsychotic agents, metabolic syndrome, Hawassa, Southern-Ethiopia

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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Physiology

Latham BioPharm Group Adds Dr. Thijs Beuming and Expands Consulting Offering to Include In Silico Drug Discovery Services – BioSpace

February 27, 2020 medical

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Latham BioPharm Group, Inc. (LBG), a premier provider of life science consulting services, today announced the recent addition of Dr. Thijs Beuming to the team to lead In Silico Drug Discovery services. LBG's new offering complements existing product development capabilities by providing full service and strategic support for companies seeking to apply In Silico Drug Discovery methods to streamline drug discovery, design, development, and optimization efforts.

Dr. Beuming comes to LBG with more than 20 years of experience applying computational biophysics, computational chemistry, bioinformatics and cheminformatics to problems in biology and drug discovery, with working knowledge in academia and industry. Prior to joining LBG, he spent over a decade at Schrdinger, Inc, the global leader in providing computational chemistry and molecular modeling solutions to the pharmaceutical and materials industries. Dr. Beuming has made key contributions to novel methodologies to significantproblems in computational chemistry, including the study of protein flexibility, protein solvation, thermodynamic binding affinity calculations, and small molecule and peptide docking. His work has been documented in over 50 peer-reviewed articles and reviews. He holds a Masters degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and obtained his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from Weill Medical College at Cornell University, where he focused on elucidating structure function studies of neurotransmitter transporters. He also serves as adjunct professor of Computational Biomedicine at Weill Medical College at Cornell University.

LBG President and Managing Partner, Pete Latham, commented: "We are delighted to have Thijs on board and are excited about the integration of this new service into our existing capabilities set. This service will add a significant capability cornerstone to our product development services and will serve as a valuable resource to both existing and prospective LBG clients to ensure the best version of products are advanced forward to development."

About Latham BioPharm Group

Latham BioPharm Group (LBG), headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a leading life sciences consulting company that supports the following:

LBG provides technical expertise, quality oversight, strategic analysis, and knowledge management necessary to successfully navigate the complex roadmap of life sciences product development. In addition, LBG has helped clients identify, evaluate, fund, manage, and monetize opportunities, generating over $1 Billion in non-dilutive funding and over $100 Million in licensing fees and investments.

For more information, please visit http://www.lathambiopharm.com or contact Dr. Beuming at 978.266.9151.

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Physiology

A single ‘paper mill’ appears to have churned out 400 papers, sleuths find – Science Magazine

February 27, 2020 medical

3d imagination/shutterstock.com

By Dalmeet Singh ChawlaFeb. 27, 2020 , 2:00 PM

Online sleuths have discovered what they suspect is a paper mill that has produced more than 400 scientific papers with potentially fabricated images. Some journals are now investigating the papers.

Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologistturnedresearch integrity expert based in San Francisco, along with other forensic detectives, identified the potentially problematic papers, which they think came from a single source. They say the papers contain western blot imagesused in molecular biology to visualize the presence of proteinsthat contain remarkably similar background patterns and unusually neat bands lacking smears, stains, or dots, which often appear in such images.

We think that these western blots are not real, says Bik, who wrote about the case on her blog on 21 February. Most of them have a very similar layout so we realized these are all coming from the same stable.

The papers in question have no common authors, Bik says. The papers also vary in disciplines, including pediatrics, cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, and vascular surgery.

One common factor, however, is that authors of these papers all seem to be based at hospitals in China, Bik notes. The Jining First Peoples Hospital tops the list with 101 papers listing it as an affiliation. It is followed by the Jilin University ChinaJapan Union Hospital and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University with 59 and 23 papers, respectively.

Biks hunch is that the studies were published as a tick-box exercise by physicians who have to publish papers in international journals in order to be eligible for promotions.

The main reason behind such cases is that too much emphasis has been placed on international publications in performance evaluation and promotion [in China], not taking into consideration that there should be differences between a scientist and a physician, says Cong Cao, a professor of social studies of science, technology, and innovation at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo.

Last week, Chinas Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly released new guidelines on research evaluation that appear to recommend moving away from an emphasis in evaluations on papers published in international journals, and those indexed in the database Science Citation Index, which is often used to judge academic performance. But Cao thinks the move is unwise and goes to the other extreme. Chinese universities may have to scramble to come up with new implementation measures to adapt [to the] governments policy changes, which are vague and not operational.

Gregg Fields, a biochemist at Florida Atlantic University and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cellular Physiology, which published 21 of the papers under scrutiny, says the journals publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, is looking into the issue. Meanwhile, Fields says he and his team are doing their best to keep these papermill manuscripts out of the journal going forwards. This, he says, may require the adaptation of software to categorize common gel images utilized in the papermill manuscripts.

Florian Lang, a physiologist at Eberhard Karls University of Tbingen who edits Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry, which published 26 of the papers in question, says he found out about the problem about 3 weeks ago and is now in the process of approaching the authors. He notes that if the images are found to be fabricated, he will request that the journals publisher, Karger Publishers, retract the papers.

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A single 'paper mill' appears to have churned out 400 papers, sleuths find - Science Magazine

Physiology

PECASE Honoree Michael Boyce on Sugar’s Role in Cell Signaling and on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Scientific Workforce – Newswise

February 27, 2020 medical

Newswise Sugars arent merely energy sources for our cells. They also play important signaling roles through a process called glycosylation, where they attach to proteins and lipids as tags. Although these sugar tags, called glycans, impact many cellular processes, they have long been understudied due to technical challenges. Now, advances in analytical tools like mass spectrometry are enabling scientists to examine the enormous complexity of glycans. Other advances also allow researchers to synthesize complex sugars, providing them with standards for analytical experiments.

Dr. Michael Boyce, an associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), has begun using these new tools to explore the fascinating role of sugars in signaling.

Michael Boyce, associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Credit: Michael Boyce.

The attachment of sugars or sugar chains is the most abundant modification of proteins and lipids in all of nature, says Boyce. It impacts basically all cell biological processes. In fact, abnormal glycosylation can be observed in almost all human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative conditions, and diabetes. Boyces lab focuses on glycosylations signaling role in such processes as cytoskeleton dynamics, protein stability, and vesicle trafficking, hoping to shed light on both normal physiology and disease.

A cartoon depicting common types of glycansstructures composed of sugarsmade by mammalian cells. Credit: Alex Broussard and Michael Boyce.CC BY-NC-SA-3.0.

For example, one glycosylated protein is involved in degrading proteins that are part of the cytoskeleton. This protein is also mutated in the rare neurodegenerative disease giant axonal neuropathy. Because the protein is involved directly in the disease, understanding how it worksand how glycosylation affects its functionmay inform the development of therapies.

For Boyce, the PECASE is meaningful because it recognizes not only his scientific contributions, but also his service to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the biomedical research workforce. Among other efforts at Duke, he has spearheaded a seminar series in his department that brings in biochemistry and cell biology faculty members from other institutions to talk about their science and efforts to promote diversity and inclusion.

Boyce is also co-chair of the American Society for Cell Biologys Minorities Affairs Committee. The committee runs several federally funded programs for postdocs and junior faculty from underrepresented backgrounds that promote scientific and professional development, such as workshops for grant writing and job applications, and forums for networking and mentoring.

Im really glad that this kind of service is valued even at the highest levels of the government, because I think its an important thing for all scientists to contribute to inclusion, equity, and broad participation in the American research enterprise, Boyce says.

Boyces research is supported in part by NIGMS grants R01GM117473 and R01GM118847, and NINDS grant R01NS111588.

Originally posted here:
PECASE Honoree Michael Boyce on Sugar's Role in Cell Signaling and on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Scientific Workforce - Newswise

Anatomy

Anatomy Health & Wellness Brand Appoints David Geller as Partner & Chief Operating Officer – PRNewswire

February 27, 2020 medical

MIAMI, Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Anatomy, South Florida's premier health and wellness brand, has tappedStrategy and Marketing veteranDavid Geller tolead the company's business, operations and growth strategies as the newly appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO). Aligning with Anatomy's mission to establish integrated health and wellness communities throughout South Florida and beyond, Geller will design and implementnew systems, partnerships and development strategies, reflective of the company's culture and vision, while overseeing daily on-going operations.

Since joining the Anatomy team as a consultant in 2015, Geller has been instrumental in the growth of Anatomy's Miami Beach location, the launching of Anatomy's Midtown outpost and Blackout Studio, securing Anatomy's soon-to-be 4thlocation in Coconut Grove, as well as facilitating partnerships, including Anatomy's relationship with 1 Hotel South Beach. As Partner and COO, David will continue to focus on growth and development plans, spearheading the company's future growth beyond the South Florida market with national expansion plans in play. Furthermore, strategic planning and business operations, including sales, finance, human resources and organizational systems, will all fall under David's oversight.

"I am thrilled to join the Anatomy team to help guide the company and position the brand for growth,"saidDavid Geller,Chief Operating Officer at Anatomy. "Anatomy has a strong culture and community that makes the brand unique. This will remain at the heart of all of our systems and growth strategies as we embark on our next phase of development."

Geller has more than 25 yearsof international marketing, branding and strategy experience, having held senior positions at globally recognized brands such as American Express Publishing, Barnes & Noble.com, and Equinox Fitness Clubs. As Head of Marketing at Equinox, Geller was part of the executive management team that catapulted Equinox from a regional, NY-based fitness provider, to an international luxury lifestyle brand with multiple subsidiary brands. In 2011, Geller opened his own consulting practice, focusing on the fitness, health and wellness spaces. Current and past clients have included health clubs, fitness brands, institutional investors, and organizations such as TapoutFitness, Reebok, Les Mills,HCOAFitnessand Miami-based Body & Soul, Vixen Workout, and Anatomy.

Influenced by sports performance and the science of strength conditioning, Anatomy is a luxury boutique fitness club with state-of the-art strength and cardio equipment, proprietary group fitness and personal training offerings, and recovery and regeneration services, which provide members and guests a life-enriching community where they can sweat, enhance and recover in a positive welcoming environment.

Anatomy's expansion in Coconut Grove marks the concept's fourth center in South Florida, joining locations in Midtown, Miami Beach and at the 1 Hotel South Beach. As a result of Anatomy's commitment to their neighboring communities, each location customizes certain programs and amenities based upon the locales unique wants and needs.With the intention in mind, another one of David's key objectives will be to integrate Anatomy's 'future of fitness' philosophy into these neighborhoods by helping to build out fitness and health centric societies in such.

Geller holds a BA degree from Brown University and an MBA degree from Harvard University, where he graduated with 2ndyear honors.

ABOUT ANATOMY:

Founded in 2014, Anatomy, a collaboration among fitness, sports science and nightlife veterans, is a health and wellness sanctuary with locations in Miami Beach, Midtown Miami, at the 1 Hotel South Beach and Coconut Grove (slated to open Fall 2020).

Anatomy offers propriety programing, influenced by sports performance and the science of strength conditioning to provide members and guests a life-enriching community where they can sweat, enhance and recover. The innovative concept combines state-of-the-art fitness equipment, proprietary personal training and indoor/outdoor group fitness programming, with recovery and regeneration components including hot and cold plunges, infrared and cold saunas and eucalyptus steam room. Anatomy is holistic wellness experience fully equipped to address the unique needs and goals of its member.

Each location offers additional custom amenities based upon the needs of their community, including Vitamin Infusions by VitaSquad, hair & spa services, on-site spray tanning, top-of-the-line chiropractic and physical therapy services, 'Kids Club' program and Endermologie.

BLACKOUT is Anatomy's newest studio concept located on the 2ndfloor of Anatomy Midtown. This next generation group-fitness experience is comprised of expertly programed low impact, high-intensity interval training(HIIT) workouts.

Club locations include: Anatomy @ Miami Beach:1220 20thSt, Miami Beach, FL | Anatomy @ Midtown:3415 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL| Anatomy @ 1 Hotel South Beach:2341 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL| Anatomy@ Coconut Grove:3385 Pan American Drive, Coconut Grove, FL.

For more information visitwww.anatomyfitness.com.

CONTACT: Camille Muratore camille@alchemy-agency.com

SOURCE Anatomy

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Anatomy Health & Wellness Brand Appoints David Geller as Partner & Chief Operating Officer - PRNewswire