Physiology

Five Johns Hopkins faculty named to National Academy of Inventors – The Hub at Johns Hopkins

ByHub staff report

Five Johns Hopkins faculty members have been elected as fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, a prestigious distinction that recognizes and honors the creators or co-developers of outstanding inventions that have made a difference in society. These professors join the more than 4,000 current fellows of the academy, which features members of more than 250 institutions worldwide.

The honorees from Johns Hopkins are:

Ramalingam Chellappa, who joined the Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor earlier this year. Chellappa's work has shaped the field of facial recognition technology, and he is known as an expert in machine learning. At Hopkins he contributes to the Mathematical Institute for Data Science and the Center for Imaging Science.

Valina Dawson, a professor of neurology, neuroscience, and physiology in the School of Medicine, and co-director of the Neuroregeneration and Stem Cell Programs in the Institute for Cell Engineering. The lab aims to discover and describe the cell signaling pathways that contribute to neuron survival and death in Parkinson's disease and strokes. In her work, Dawson has discovered new therapies to treat neurological disorders, and established new neurological targets for patients' recovery processes.

Sharon Gerecht, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology. Gerecht is an internationally recognized expert in vascular and stem cell biology and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Together with her research group, she studies the interactions between stem cells and their microenvironments with the long-term goal of engineering artificial cell microenvironments.

Carol Greider, a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. In 2009, Grieder shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak for their work on telomeres and telomerase, an enzyme that maintains protective "caps" on the ends of chromosomes. She studies the roles these enzymes play in cancer and age-related degenerative disease.

Nitish Thakor, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Thakor conducts research on neurological instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, micro and nanotechnologies, neural prosthesis, and neural and rehabilitation techniques. Director of the Laboratory for Neuroengineering, Thakor also serves as director of the NIH Training Grant on Neuroengineering. Currently, he is developing a next-generation neurally controlled upper limb prosthesis alongside a multi-university consortium funded by DARPA.

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Five Johns Hopkins faculty named to National Academy of Inventors - The Hub at Johns Hopkins

Physiology

Emulate Announces Lung-Chip Technology Used by US Army to Study Effects of COVID-19 – PRNewswire

BOSTON, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Emulate, Inc., a leading provider of advanced in vitro models, today announced that its Alveolus Lung-Chip is being used by the U.S. Army to understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus interacts with lung cells. With funding from the FY20 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Chemical Biological Center are using Emulate Lung-Chips to observe intracellular interactions and better understand the role of proteins within lung cells on disease processes.

Emulate Lung-Chip models recreate key aspects of pulmonary physiology by incorporating multiple primary cell types in distinct epithelial and vascular channels in a lung-specific dynamic microenvironment which can mimic tissue-to-tissue interactions, extracellular matrix, immune cell components and mechanical forces. They are ideal for studies looking at viral infection and pathogenesis and efficacy testing.

"In the past, the closest researchers could get to something like this was by introducing a virus into animals and then dissect them. With this, there is no need for animals in performing toxicological research," said Dan Angelini, Ph.D., a Center research biologist, in an Army press release. "For example, we can observe which specific lung cells engaged the virus and allowed it to cross the cell membrane. We can then track the actions of the virus inside the infected cell both recording the virus' mechanisms of pathogenesis and the timing of the damage it causes."

The Alveolus Lung-Chip combines primary human alveolar epithelial cells with primary human microvascular lung endothelial cells. Cells are seeded onto the chips which have been coated with extracellular matrix. A mechanical strain is applied and then air is introduced into the epithelial cell channel. This creates a unique microenvironment which maintains phenotype and functionality of the endothelial and epithelial cells enabling scientists to develop more representative understandings of disease processes and drug responses. These characteristics make it an ideal model for studying the underlying mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection.

"Historically technologies for in vitro modelling have been slow to innovate, contributing to a high failure rate in drug development and a limited understanding of human physiological response," said Jim Corbett, CEO of Emulate, Inc. "Advanced in vitro models, such as Organ-Chips from Emulate, are showcasing more predictive outcomes than 2D modeling and animal studies. We are excited the Army is embracing these new technological advances and applying them toward understanding SARS-CoV-2 viral infection and taking critical steps to impact this global health crisis."

The Lung-Chip is part of a complete Human Emulation System from Emulate, which includes chips, instrumentation and hardware. For more information, visit https://www.emulatebio.com/blog/webinar-lung-chip-viral-infection-covid-19

About Emulate, Inc.Emulate Inc.is a privately held company that creates advanced in vitro models for understanding how diseases, medicines, chemicals, and foods affect human health. Our lab-ready Human Emulation System includes three components: Zo Culture Module, Organ-Chips, and analytical software applications. The platform provides a window into the inner workings of human biology and diseaseoffering researchers a new technology designed to predict human response with greater precision and detail than conventional cell culture or animal-based experimental testing. Each of Emulate's proprietary Organ-Chipsincluding the liver, intestine, and kidneycontains tiny hollow channels lined with tens of thousands of living human cells and tissues and is approximately the size of an AA battery. An Organ-Chip is a living, microengineered environment that recreates the natural physiology and mechanical forces that cells experience within the human body. Our founding team pioneered the Organs-on-Chips technology at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Emulate holds the worldwide exclusive license from Harvard University to a robust and broad intellectual property portfolio for the Organs-on-Chips technology and related systems. For more information, please visit emulatebio.com.

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Physiology

Uncovering the Mind-Body Connection of Touch – UANews

By Brittany Uhlorn, BIO5 Institute

Tuesday

Humans are born with the language of touch, and physical connection is essential to our development, growth and survival throughout life.

An infant requires the protective embrace of a parent or caretaker to fully develop, learn trust, and make connections. University of Arizona researcher Dr. Katalin Gothard, born and trained as a medical doctor in Romania, interacted with infants who lacked that physical connection while training at an orphanage during her pediatric clerkship. Due to dictatorial policies in Romania, many orphanages were bursting with unwanted babies while suffering from lack of funds and staff. Because of scarce resources and the goal to keep the children alive, workers prioritized medical needs like preventing malnutrition and infection.

Though she and the staff did their best to keep the children physically healthy, Gothard didn't fully understand the impact that the lack of touch would have on the orphans until she began to study the mind-body connection as a scientist in the United States.

"All those antibiotics and all that nutrition did not make them happier adults," said Gothard, a UArizona professor of physiology and member of the university's BIO5 Institute. "Picking them up, holding them and tickling them would have been much more important."

Though initially educated as a medical doctor, Gothard was also trained as a neuroscientist. Observing the toll of mental and emotional hardships caused in part by the oppressive regime in Romania inspired her to change career paths from medicine to science.

"I strongly believe that there's no human suffering that compares to the suffering that our own mind can inflict on us," she said. "There's no physical disease that compares to the pain and misery and hopelessness of a mental disease."

Gothard now dedicates herself to understanding how physical sensations and experiences affect our emotions. For more than 20 years, the physician-turned-scientist has focused on the amygdala, the almond-shaped mass within the brain, as the critical center of this mind-body dialogue.

In 2019, she and colleagues discovered cells in the amygdala that responded not just to sights and sounds, but also touch something that had never before been shown.

In the moment of the discovery, Gothard felt a strong pull from her earlier days at the orphanage to investigate those touch-responsive brain cells.

"One day we found cells that respond to touch, and it was irresistible. I thought, 'Does that mean that I could work on something that takes me back to those years at the orphanage when I was ignorant, and I didn't know what these babies really needed?'" she said. "It was one of those things in life that you cannot say no to. It walks into your life and you know that from that day on your life will change."

Physical Versus Emotional Responses to Touch

Though we know that a handshake forms a connection, a hug brings comfort and a touch from a stranger feels uncomfortable, scientists and physicians have yet to determine the neural mechanisms behind these mind-body processes. With a $2.1 million grant from National Institutes of Health, a team of trainees led by Gothard and her co-investigator Andrew Fuglevan, a professor of neuroscience and physiology, is seeking to understand how the brain interprets the social, emotional and physical determinants of touch.

Gothard's lab examines the differences in brain activity between gentle grooming on the cheek and a pesky puff of air on the forehead. The researchers observed that the response to the physical aspects of touch when and where occurs much faster than the response to the emotional and social components, like whether the touch was pleasant or from a familiar person.

They also compared the influences of the various touch parameters on emotional state and found that although the objective parameters of touch are processed first, the social aspects were more important in influencing amygdala activity and resulting emotional states.

"If you receive a gentle caress from a person that is not welcome even though the pressure on your skin, the sweep speed, the temperature of the hand might be exactly the same as a welcomed touch your amygdala will say, 'I don't like this,'" Gothard said.

With these findings, Gothard realized the emotional and social consequences of touch, combined with our expectations, outrank the physical.

She and her team found that recipient heart rate at the time of touch correlated with emotional response: When the touch was a positive experience, both the heart rate and amygdala activity slowed, but when the touch was negative, heart rate and amygdala activity both increased. She now aims to find the link between touch and changes to markers in the body, including heart rate, as this causal factor might also be the direct link between touch and changes to amygdala circuitry.

"The more we understand about the brain, the more humble we become about how little insight we have on what's happening inside that dark cranial box," she said.

COVID-19 Causing Touch Deprivation

Gothard hopes her work will one day inform not only the ways humans normally process touch, but also how these circuits can go awry in people with mental illnesses such as social anxiety or schizophrenia, in which the response to touch is more complex. The research may also help to explain how a lack of touch during infancy such as that experienced by orphans leads to attachment disorders later in life.

Implications for Gothard's work further extend to the deprivation of touch during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Gothard stands by the recommendations of social distancing to mitigate the spread of disease, she believes that social isolation during the pandemic will have major, lasting mental health ramifications.

"We are in the middle of uncertainty. What you want in the middle of uncertainty is a hug, but you can't do that right now," she said.

Since physical touch is currently scarce, especially for the elderly and for those who live alone, it's important to find ways to pacify the brain's craving for touch, Gothard said.

She recommends massaging the scalp during hair washing or stimulating the body through physical movement and exercise with the sunshine and breeze. Mind-body scans, such as those often used in yoga and other mindfulness practices, can also help substitute physical touch.

Although these substitutes help to meet the need for physical connection, Gothard said, they cannot fully replace the language of touch we were born to give and receive.

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Uncovering the Mind-Body Connection of Touch - UANews

Physiology

Communication’s Lindsey Aloia Honored with Early Career Award for Prolific Research – University of Arkansas Newswire

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Lindsey Aloia

Lindsey Aloia, associate professor of communication in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, was recently honored with the 2020 Janice Hocker Rushing Early Career Research Award from the Southern States Communication Association.

This award honors untenured, assistant professors with no more than five years in the academy thatare SSCA members who demonstrate exceptional scholarly ability through research and publication.

Aloia's research is prolific. Aloia has published 24 manuscripts, three book chapters, a special journal issue introduction, and has two manuscripts accepted and in production, with seven manuscripts under review.

In addition, she has secured a book contract with Oxford University Press as the lead editor of a handbook on physiology of interpersonal interactions and physiological outcomes of interpersonal communication. Also, Aloia has presented her research findings at 31 regional, national, and international conferences resulting in multiple awards for top papers, articles, and a top dissertation award.

Aloia's work focuses on elucidating the causes and consequences of verbal aggression and in interpersonal communication associations, specifically how qualities of interpersonal interactions, as well as individuals, shape the use of and reactions to verbally aggressive experiences.

In her work, she considers consequential communication to illuminate the emotional well-being, cognitive fitness, physiological health, and behavioral implications of verbal aggression.

In his letter of nomination, Robert Brady, former chair for the Department of Communication, noted "Lindsey joined the communication department at the University of Arkansas in her first assistant professor position in 2015 and immediately impressed me with her exceptional scholarly ability."

He added, "I believe that Lindsey's innovative, theoretically motivated, and rigorous research, combined with her methodological prowess and commitment to the Southern States communication Association make her a strong candidate for the Janice Hocker Rushing Early Career Research Award."

For more information about the Janice Hocker Rushing Early Career Research Award, visit the SSCA online.

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Communication's Lindsey Aloia Honored with Early Career Award for Prolific Research - University of Arkansas Newswire

Physiology

Evaluation of Pulmonary Function Tests Among Pregnant Women of Differe | IJWH – Dove Medical Press

Yosef Eshetie Amare,1 Diresibachew Haile2

1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia; 2Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Correspondence: Yosef Eshetie AmareDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, Debre Berhan University, EthiopiaTel +251910966364Email yophy2006@gmail.com

Introduction: Pregnancy is characterized by a sequence of dynamic physiological changes that impact multiple organ system functions and is associated with various changes in pulmonary anatomy and physiology. Precise knowledge of the pulmonary function test parameters helps to understand and manage the course and outcome of pregnancy leading to safe delivery. It also helps to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of normal pregnancy on pulmonary function tests among pregnant women in Debre Berhan Referral Hospital, Ethiopia.Methods: A total of 176 study participants (first, second, and third trimester; and control) were involved under a comparative cross-sectional study design and convenience sampling technique. Anthropometric data, oxygen saturation of arterial blood, and pulmonary function tests were measured. Data were tabulated and statistically analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 statistical software. Means of all parameters were compared using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukeys post hoc multiple comparison test. Statistical significance was preset at a p-value of less than 0.05.Results: Mean of FVC for the controls, first, second, and third trimesters was 2.59 0.26, 2.13 0.15, 1.93 0.27, and 1.90 0.11 liters, respectively. Except for FEV1%, the mean values of FVC, FEV1, PEFR, and FEF 25 75% in the pregnant group (all the three trimesters) were significantly decreased from the controls (P< 0.05). Strong negative correlation was seen between SaO2 and RR (r= 0.865; P < 0.01). As the pregnancy progressed from first to the third trimester, dynamic pulmonary function tests (FVC, FEV1, FEF25-75%, and PEFR) were dropped and the respiratory rate increased.Conclusion: The results had shown the tendency of obstructive pattern while pregnancy becoming advanced. We have observed also a remarkable decline of SaO2 in pregnant women that might be counterbalanced by raised respiratory rate.

Keywords: pregnancy, high altitude, FVC, trimester, oxygen saturation

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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Evaluation of Pulmonary Function Tests Among Pregnant Women of Differe | IJWH - Dove Medical Press

Physiology

Seymour native, husband prepare to open chiropractic practice – Seymour Tribune

With seven years of college behind her, MacKenzie Ryczek is ready to apply what she learned.

The 25-year-old Seymour native and her husband, Nick Ryczek, graduated from the first and largest college of chiropractic Oct. 23.

That wrapped up MacKenzies postsecondary journey, which started with earning a Bachelor of Arts in science with a major in biology and minor in kinesiology and integrative physiology from Hanover College in 2017 and a Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic this year.

Now, she and Nick are making an adjustment in opening their own business, New Wave Chiropractic, in Greenwood in the spring of 2021.

Story continues below gallery

I am most looking forward to being able to serve the community, MacKenzie said. Its not a secret that people are getting sicker, yet we are spending the most on health care out of any other country. I want to be a part of the change that is needed to get people back to being healthy. Now more than ever, people are in need of a health change.

MacKenzie said she was in seventh grade when she decided she wanted to attend Palmer.

I have always wanted to be in the health field to help people, but I wanted to do something other than prescribe medications, she said. Chiropractic is about helping people find the root cause of their health concerns and heal them from the inside out.

She graduated from Seymour High School in 2013 before going on to Hanover to earn her undergraduate degree.

I feel that my education from Seymour and Hanover prepared me very well for graduate school, MacKenzie said. Not only the type of classes I took, but the amount of effort the classes required really made me prioritize my education.

The process of applying to chiropractic school included an application with two academic references, an essay and a phone interview.

No specific undergraduate degree is required, but you do have to have a certain amount of science-based classes in order to start the program, MacKenzie said.

Palmer was the only chiropractic school she visited as a prospective student and the only school she wanted to attend. The main campus is in Iowa, and other schools are in San Jose, California, and Port Orange, Florida.

I wanted to go to Palmer in Davenport, Iowa, because it was the first chiropractic college and so much history lives there, she said of the worlds first chiropractic school that was established in 1897.

At Palmer, MacKenzie said she received an excellent education and made many lifelong friends who are now valuable colleagues.

During her first trimester, she joined a club called AMPED, or Advanced Mentorship Program for Entrepreneurial Development.

This group met every week to train on communication, leadership and various business principles to prepare you for opening a practice after graduation, she said. I attended countless conferences and leadership retreats with this organization that has prepared me so much for what I am doing right now.

Making the grade was important to MacKenzie, and that showed by being named to the deans list eight times at Palmer.

I focused on learning and retaining as much information as I could during the classes to prepare for the five parts of chiropractic board exams, she said.

October was a big month because she and Nick were married Oct. 3 and followed that up 20 days later with graduation.

She and Nick met at Palmer.

We were in the same graduating class and had almost every class together for over three years, MacKenzie said. The intensity and demanding nature of going to school at Palmer can put strain on relationships, so it was nice to be able to share that stress and experience with Nick. Being able to graduate together made it easy for us to focus on the same goals right after graduation.

Nick, a Wisconsin native, said it wasnt until his early undergraduate years he realized he wanted to be a chiropractor.

I always knew I wanted to go into health care and help people, but I didnt exactly know where I fit into that until I was introduced to chiropractic, he said. The natural approach of chiropractic really spoke to me, and from that point on, I knew I wanted to go to chiropractic school and practice this amazing form of healing.

Nick said he was lucky to meet MacKenzie at Palmer.

Chiropractic school is pretty tough, so having her to go through everything with me was amazing, Nick said. We were able to keep each other going through the hard times and celebrate the good times together.

The ceremony Oct. 23 was MacKenzies third graduation. Her parents, James Harvey II and Tracy Harvey of Seymour, were in attendance.

It meant so much to be able to walk across the stage and be ceremonially promoted to doctor, she said. I have been in school since 2013 receiving a higher education. This is the first time in my life that I dont have a class to attend or an assignment to do. It feels surreal that I have finally accomplished what I set out to do many years ago.

Getting married and graduating in the same month was almost like running a marathon, she said.

It took a lot of planning and tons of phone calls to be able to graduate with my new last name, she said. It was nice to be able to celebrate the entire month of October with friends and family on our accomplishments.

MacKenzie decided she wanted to open her own practice after she joined AMPED.

This group really gave me the courage and determination to do that, she said. After Nick and I started dating, I brought him into the group and shared my goals and dreams, and I was lucky that he had the same goals, and everything just seemed to work out.

They chose Greenwood for several reasons.

I am very familiar with the area, its really close to Indianapolis but not as busy, its a very family-oriented town and it is going through some major growth, as well, MacKenzie said. We visited Greenwood a few times to just drive around, and it really felt like home.

The Ryczeks will be the only chiropractors and plan to have at least two employees at the start and hire more as they grow.

They are certified in Torque Release Technique, an instrument-based system of analyzing the spine that allows them to make adjustments as gentle and specific as possible. They also are trained to see pregnant women, infants and children of all ages.

Were so excited to start this chapter of our lives and be able make a huge impact on the health of our community, Nick said of opening the practice.

MacKenzie hopes her success story inspires others to pursue their dreams and work toward achieving them.

I hope to serve as an example in that you can do anything you set your mind to, she said. It doesnt matter where you come from, how strange anyone thinks your dream is. You can do whatever you are determined to do. It just takes effort, and it may take a ton of time, but it is so worth it in the end.

Ryczek file

Name: MacKenzie Ryczek

Age: 25

Hometown: Seymour

Residence: Greenwood

Education: Seymour High School (2013); Hanover College (Bachelor of Arts in science with a major in biology and minor in kinesiology and integrative physiology, 2017); Palmer College of Chiropractic (Doctorate of Chiropractic, 2020)

Occupation: Chiropractor

Family: Husband, Nick Ryczek; parents, James Harvey II and Tracy Harvey

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Seymour native, husband prepare to open chiropractic practice - Seymour Tribune

Anatomy

The Anatomy of a Collapse: AKA, How Bears Did the Impossible – Bear Maven

Somehow, Matt Nagy's explanation Monday for what went down on the lakefront Sunday didn't quite suffice.

"It was a higher-scoring game that we weren't able to finish," Nagy said.

And that 1865 scene in Ford's theater was a theatrical production with an interruption.

The complete Bears collapse on Sunday in the final five minutes had numerous intricate pieces involved, and changing any of them might have prevented a catastrophe, even embarrassment.

They could have been tied for the NFC wild-card lead, but their 34-30 loss to the Detroit Lions instead fueled speculation about the firing of Nagy and GM Ryan Pace, if not a restructuring of the entire organization.

Part 1: The Defensive Collapse

Nagy pointed out they've wanted this chance late in games to let their defense tee off without concern over the opponents' running game, so a 30-20 lead with five minutes left was exactly what they wanted.

It would give them a chance for the secondary to make plays on ill-advised, rushed passes. Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks could rush Matthew Stafford.

"If you asked me in the middle of the season, beginning of the season, where we're at in that situation, I'd tell you 10 out of 10 times we're going to end up with it at the end, we're going to get a big stop, we're going to end the game with the ball in our hands and win," Nagy said.

Instead it was the reverse of the early season when the offense couldn't move and the defense propped up everything.

A 96-yard drive allowed in 2:15 over seven plays and got the Lions a chance at the win.

"I know that our defensive guys in that moment, they get that back, they want another opportunity at that," Nagy said. "We just got to get that one game where all three phases are playing together and I think it will show our guys how sturdy of a team we can be. We just haven't done it."

The defense caved in so poorly that Detroit was able to retain all of its timeouts and also have the two-minute warning left in case they got the ball back, which they did.

"It was obviously well done by them on offense and I think that right there, you know when we look back that's where we want to either be able to make them use more time, at worst make them kick a field goal, but certainly be able to stop them there," Nagy said.

Part 2: The Kickoff Failure

Some teams might try an onside kick with 2:18 remaining. The Lions opted to kick deep. The Bears put their hands team on the field just in case, and had rookie Darnell Mooney back deep instead of Cordarrelle Patterson. He returned it sideways and the Bears were pinned back at their own 11.

Even if Trubisky hadn't fumbled, they'd have been punting from the goal line and giving Stafford plenty of time to manage at least a tying drive.

Nagy said the choice made was intended to make sure they got the ball, more than anything else.

"That's one there where field position-wise, with where that was at and being a three-point game, I think you can certainly go either way," Nagy said. "We decided to go that way with the onside kick, to protect that."

They got the ball, but at their own 11. So the offense was going to need to generate at least one first down and couldn't do it.

Part 3: The Strip-Sack

Mitchell Trubisky tried to pass from inside the pocket. Guard Germain Ifedi, who has been forced to play right tackle due to Bobby Massie's knee injury, didn't stay square in his pass block stance and gave the edge to Romeo Okwara, who came around and knocked it loose as Trubisky got set to throw. Defensive tackle John Penisini recovered at the 7-yard line for Detroit. The throw was meant for Anthony Miller, but Trubisky had an option in safe routes over the middle to Darnell Mooney and David Montgomery, as well. He was going for Mooney.

"Could you go back and could you try to run a screen or do something like that, or throw it behind the sticks and keep the clock running? You could always look at doing that," Nagy said.

The clock wouldn't have run long because the two-minute warning was approaching.

"But we all collectively as a staff, we felt good about that; I think our players did," Nagy said. "It was just something where unfortunately Ifedi, he just kind of opened up his hips a little bit. The kid made a good rush off the edge.

"I think Mitch was just getting ready versus zone when Mooney was getting ready to burst to his last three steps. He was gonna give it to him. And it would have been probably a little short of the sticks and try to fall forward for the first. But timing-wise, we just weren't able to get it out."

Part 4: The Final Drive

The Bears still had a chance at the win and had one timeout left when for some reason Allen Robinson chose to run out of bounds a yard short of the stick when he could have pressed the issue and challenged a tackler who had fallen. If he hadn't gotten out, they had a timeout left but would have had only 11 seconds left to score from the 19 without a timeout. It was a split-second decision.

Robinson twice before this season has shorted a play near the stick and did it again, except this time it was in the closing seconds.

"I have not yet talked to him personally about that yet," Nagy said on Monday. "After a game like that, there are just so many raw emotions that we're all going through. I think that's real. Let it out a little bit from everybody's side, because everybody cares.

"That's one in the heat of the moment when you catch that ball, it is a crucial situation. Allen's a super smart guy. He has a high football IQ. That's one where you think, 'OK, there's not much time on the clock, I need to get out of bounds.' But it's in a position where you can still get the first. And if you get the first, you stay in bounds, then we're going to have to use that timeout, which is what we end up trying to do when we ran the ball on fourth-and-1 and didn't get it.So, I know for sure that Allen was trying to do both; he was trying to get the first and get out of bounds. He did get out of bounds. He didn't get the first."

And Besides All That ...

Two other aspects of the collapse, subplots if you will, went totally unmentioned by Nagy: 1) How the defense went into a fetal position on second-and-goal from the 5 after Trubisky's fumble and 2) the offense's inability to put it away when given the chance.

If they force a field goal after Trubisky's fumble, the last Bears drive only needs to be only for a field goal to win it. They reached the Detroit 20. Cairo Santos has made 16 straight. They should win. Jaylon Johnson and Roquan Smith both had good chances to stop Adrian Peterson on his 5-yard go-ahead TD run but couldn't take him down. And Smith was leading the NFL in solo tackles.

As for the offense, they had just as much responsibility as the defense.

The defense got them the ball back with Bilal Nichols' interception of a Matthew Stafford fourth-quarter screen pass. They had it in Detroit territory on consecutive series after that pick while owning a 30-20 lead. They punted both times.

Change any of these things and Detroit goes home a loser, but instead the Lions made up for their own blown win in the first game of the year by putting the onus of shame back on the Bears.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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The Anatomy of a Collapse: AKA, How Bears Did the Impossible - Bear Maven

Anatomy

90 Day Fianc: The Anatomy of TVs Most Addictive Reality Show – Vanity Fair

The opening moments of 90 Day Fiancs eighth season, which premiered Sunday evening, are a brain-melting series of smash cuts, shock reveals, and, some might argue, assaults to more refined viewing senses. Audiences are introduced to Brandon, a 27-year-old farmer who lives with his parents and never really had a girlfriend growing up. After a few atmospheric cutaway shots showing Brandon tending to sheep in rural Virginia, Brandons unlikely love interest appears: Julia, a brunette go-go dancer from metropolitan Russia. After a slick montage of Julia sliding down a stripper pole, gyrating in a bra, and posing in a thong, Brandon solemnly explains, I fell in love immediately.

In a flashback, we learn that Brandon decided to propose to Julia after five months of dating and only one in-person meetingwhich, in the 90 Day-verse, feels like a reasonable courtship. And now that Julia has been granted her K-1 visa, the couple has 90 days, once Julia lands, to marry, or else Julia will have to return to Russia.

As if that time constraint is not intimidating enough, Julia will also have to acclimate to life on a farm in a foreign country with her fiancs controlling mother who, at the start of the episode, questions Julias motives, and by the end of the episode, will call a doctor to inquire about getting Julia on birth control. Brandon and Julia are just one of seven couples that the roller-coaster eighth season follows.

At a time when most television audiences have seemingly jumped the linear-programming ship in favor of the deep, bingeable-content seas of streaming services, 90 Day Fiancs numbers continue to grow. Since the series was introduced in 2014, TLC has spun the show off into over 10 franchise legsand in the process, has become the years leading cable channel for women, as well as the top television destination on Sunday and Monday nights for adults this summer. This year alone, according to TLC, viewers have consumed a staggering 73 billion minutes of 90 Day and its children. This week, the network announced its new streaming service, Discovery+, will contain four additional spin-offs and more than 200 total hours of bingeable 90 Day content when it debuts January 4the closest TLC can get to injecting its tried-and-true variety of vrit into viewers veins.

The genius of the series, created by Matt Sharp, is that beneath its slick editing are real-life couples who were already struggling to obtain K-1 visas when his production team found them. While reality series like The Bachelor or The Real Housewives ply their stars with wine and manipulate social setups to breed petty drama, 90 Days couples were living out their highest-stakes romantic lives before being cast on the show. By the time TLC turns on its cameras, the couples are usually emotionally drained by the parameters of their long-distance relationships, financially drained by expensive K-1 paperwork, and, in some cases, worn down by critical friends and family members. No priming for drama is necessary.

These people arent just doing this for a television show, Sharp told Vanity Fair. This is their life. They put it on the line for this other person, and this is very real to them.

This seasons returning cast member Tarik Meyers explained that, when he was first cast on the series with his partner Hazel Cagalitan, he had been through such a grueling gauntlet that he didnt have the energy to put on a show for the cameras.

When you have two different embassies breathing down your neck, basically going over your life with a fine-tooth comb, and then the camera crew gets there, its like, Oh, you again? said Meyers.

The 90 Day team said that primarily, theyre looking for cast members who can be totally transparent about their journey.

Were really looking for people to open up and be comfortable letting us in, said Sharp, explaining that his producers aim for each confessional-style interview to feel like youre sitting on the end of the bed with your best friend, and that best friend is really opening up and telling you what the deal is with their relationship.

Added TLC president Howard Lee, A really good cast member can articulate their thoughts powerfully, quickly, directlyand they wear their hearts on their sleeves. They do not hold back. They want to process everything thats on their mind.

Meyersa rapper and single father who describes himself as a cross between Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince and Ice Cubesaid that he definitely fits that archetype.

With me, what you see is what you get, said Meyers. I just let people see it, good or bad.

Meyers said that he found the process of appearing on the show therapeutic. Until seeing the series, he didnt know of anyone else who flew overseas to date: I thought I was like a unicorn. When he heard about the series, he said, I was like, Really, theyve got a show about crazy people like me? Meyers laughed. I started watching it and I was like, WowI didnt know we had a home.

Brutal, unguarded honesty is critical to the messiness quotient of the series as well. Were not looking to tell a puppies and rainbows story, confirmed Sharp, and were not looking to tell something thats entirely negative. Were just looking to tell an honest story.

Interestingly enough, criminal backgrounds are not enough to disqualify a candidate, as long as that criminal background is neither violent nor boring. Many times we embrace that as part of our storytelling, said Sharp of the franchise, which has cast people charged with second-degree arson, theft and forgery, and felony possession of marijuana. We know everyone has a past, and not everyone is proud of everything theyve done in the past. Sometimes that enriches their story.

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90 Day Fianc: The Anatomy of TVs Most Addictive Reality Show - Vanity Fair

Anatomy

Anatomy of a play: How the 49ers denied the Rams their favorite passing concept and generated sacks – Niners Nation

The 49ers finished the sweep of the Rams this season last Sunday largely on the back of their defense, who intercepted quarterback Jared Goff twice, including one pick-six to open the second half, recorded two sacks, and forced two fumbles, which the defense both recovered. It was the most complete defensive performance in a season full of injuries and uncertainty surrounding the teams fate as they enter the final quarter of the season.

While the pick-six and interceptions are noteworthy plays, todays Anatomy of a Play series is going to focus on how the 49ers shut down the Rams favorite passing concept: the weakside choice route to Cooper Kupp.

The Rams favorite passing concept to Cooper Kupp this season is a simple choice route. The choice route gives the receiver a 3-way go with the option to sit in the zone at a depth of six yards or cut across the field or cut to the outside in the flat depending on whether the defense plays man coverage and what leverage they have on the receiver. The most important aspect for the quarterback is being in sync with the receiver and seeing the same coverage post-snap as the receiver.

For the Rams, the choice route on a passing concept called choice stucko is the preferred call to Kupp in high leverage situations on 2nd or 3rd and short. The Rams have called the play for several big plays this season.

Choice stucko is a passing concept where the choice route is primarily run from the slot or from the outside receiver in a stack formation.

The receiver to the same side runs a comeback if the choice is in the slot and runs a corner route if the choice is the outside stack receiver. The choice is the first read, with the corner/comeback being the second read. The other side has a stick china route from the tight end, or slot and a widen scout route as the alert with the option of converting that into a go route. The stick china is the third read in the progression.

Cooper Kupp has had two big plays running the choice route on this play from both the slot and the outside number one in the stack.

In both plays in the clips above, Kupp cuts to the inside off defenders with outside leverage. In the clip against the Eagles, the corner is playing off slightly as Kupp takes an outside track at the defenders outside shoulder, getting him to widen. He slow rolls his release and cuts inside, where Goff finds him for a gain of 24 yards. In the clips against the Giants, The Giants send a snake blitz (slot corner blitz), so the safety rolls over to cover Kupp. He takes away the outside as Kupp widens him, but Kupp cuts inside, catches the pass, and sprints to the end zone for the touchdown.

In week six, in their first meeting, the 49ers denied the Rams opportunities to run this route effectively, and the Rams offense suffered; as a result, being forced into unwanted third-and-long situations or punts.

In week 12, the Rams tried throw to Kupp twice on the choice route on choice stucko, and both times Goff was sacked by Kerry Hyder because he held onto the ball too long after coming off his initial read. It helped that no one was open too, but Goff has enough veteran presence to know that he shouldve thrown the ball away.

1st sack, 2nd quarter 1:43, 1st and 10 at LAR 20

The Rams are running choice stucko this time with Kupp in the slot. But the Rams designed this with a wrinkle. The tight end Gerald Everett (No. 81) is flexed out wide left, making this the strong side of the formation.

The 49ers are playing cover-1 with a low hole dropper to the strong linebacker Dre Greenlaw (No. 57), with Jimmie Ward (No. 20) in the slot covering Kupp. The Rams figure it might be easier to complete the choice route over the middle with Greenlaw rather than Warner as the hole dropper.

Ward follows Kupp on the motion across before the snap. As Goff drops back and looks for Kupp running the choice from the slot, Greenlaw flies to the route as the low hole defender.

Goff has nowhere to throw as Kupp cuts inside so he scans his other progressions and takes a sack from Kerry Hyder.

2nd sack, 4th quarter 9:38, 3rd and 4 at LAR 36

The play call is the same except this time Kupp is the number one receiver in the stack to the left running the choice underneath Van Jefferson on the corner route.

This time the 49ers send Warner to the weak side because the tight end is over to the opposite of the stack bunch. Theyre still playing cover-1 with Warner as the low hole dropper.

Verrett is in coverage over Kupp to the outside this time, with Ward covering the tight end to the opposite side. Goff drops back and looks for Kupp, but Warner sinks under the route and takes away Goffs primary read. Goff has nowhere to go and Hyder cleans up with his second sack of the game.

The 49ers swept the Rams again this season, and 4-0 over the last two seasons with Kyle Shanahan improving to 5-3 over his former colleague Sean McVay. This time, the win came on the back of a superior defensive performance by Robert Saleh.

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Anatomy of a play: How the 49ers denied the Rams their favorite passing concept and generated sacks - Niners Nation

Anatomy

Anatomy of a vaccine: What it takes to create a safe, effective COVID shot – University of California

Shawn stepped into the UCLA Vine Street Clinic in Hollywood with confidence. He offered up his arm. The UCLA doctor injected him. It took seconds; there was barely a sting.

Twenty-four hours after the first of two shots, given 28 days apart, he suffered the headaches and fatigue associated with a milder case of COVID-19. But Shawn remained calm, resolved to honor the memory of his mother, a nurse who had died in May 2020 from an unrelated cause.

The 57-year-old nonprofit worker had been thinking about the challenges of COVID-19 for a long time, and he decided to go through the lengthy consent process for the medical trial. It gave me something to do with my anger that was so much better than yelling at someone for not wearing a mask, he says. And [at UCLA] I felt I was in good hands.

Shawn is one of many volunteers who have stepped up to participate in medical trials at UCLA, which is part of a global network thats determined to help find a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

The stakes are huge. More than 250,000 Americans have already died, and there have been more than 1 million deaths around the world. Economies have been brought to their knees, social tensions have disrupted communities and emotional maladies are on the rise.

In response, doctors and scientists have been challenged to be resilient and ingenious. Theyre taking an array of different approaches, knowing that public confidence in vaccines hangs in the balance.

In addition, it has been a challenge to create a vaccine in such a short amount of time similar efforts have taken five to 10 years. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and biotech firm Moderna have both reported remarkable progress, announcing in November that their vaccine candidates were more than 90% effective. All of which has raised questions about the next steps, such as how the vaccines will be distributed.

I dont want to make a vaccine to protect against mild disease, says Dr. Marcus Horwitz, distinguished professor of medicine and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. I want to protect people who are going to get severe disease.

Horwitz has already developed vaccines against the bacteria behind tuberculosis, anthrax and the tick-borne disease tularemia, but he has never tried to create a vaccine against a virus. When faced with a worldwide pandemic, we thought we might be able to make a contribution, he says.

Vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize and fight disease-causing pathogens, such as viruses or bacteria. Doctors introduce the bodys immune system to antigens, which are molecules from the virus or bacteria, and the immune system responds by making proteins called antibodies and immunity-building T cells, which both neutralize the pathogen.

The delivery of these antigens requires a delicate calculus: It must provoke the immune system, but not go so far as to make the patient ill. You need a vector that will wake up the immune system of the host, but not cause any further harm, Horwitz says.

The vaccine approach by Horwitz and his team, including lead investigator Qingmei Jia, is a medical outlier: They adapted an existing antibacterial platform to build protection against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The team has shown that their vaccine candidate protects hamsters, which develop severe disease in a way similar to humans.

Some of the potential vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 use a weakened form of an adenovirus, which causes the common cold, to deliver the S protein that is found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Horwitzs vaccine stands out from the pack because it uses a weakened bacterium to deliver two SARS-CoV-2 proteins, the M and N proteins.

That difference could have a tremendous impact. Billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses are needed, and bacteria, unlike viruses, are easy and cheap to produce and transportable.

The success of a COVID-19 vaccine also depends on the immune system, which can be less robust in older people.

This is a problem that has driven Song Li, chair of the bioengineering department at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, who has focused his career on cell and tissue engineering. Adapting a concept from cancer immunotherapy, Li is developing a biomaterial vaccine booster using artificial cells that could improve the immune systems ability to generate long-term protection.

When the immune system encounters a destructive pathogen, it produces cells that are designed to attack the invader. A small number of those cells, called T memory stem cells, can stay in the system for years ready for a future invasion. Unfortunately, our ability to produce T memory stem cells declines as we get older. Li hopes his booster, in combination with a vaccine, can help fragile immune systems effectively fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

My goal at the outset was to help the elderly population, Li says. But it could be useful for any person whose immune system needs help generating protection from the virus.

Another UCLA team led by Bogdan Pasaniuc, Dr. Manish Butte and Dr. Daniel Geschwind, the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics at the Geffen School of Medicine is trying to find out why the virus significantly impacts some, but leaves others relatively unscathed.

We know age is a major factor, but we see older people who get infected and do quite well, Geschwind says. We have a limited ability to predict how sick someone will get. His team hopes that studying whole-genome sequences from thousands of COVID-19 patients will reveal hidden factors that make some more vulnerable than others. The research could help identify people who are at higher risk for infection as well as develop new treatment and prevention strategies.

Dr. Brigitte Gomperts, professor of pediatrics and pulmonary medicine and a member of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center, is studying how COVID-19 affects lung tissue. By using stem cellderived clusters of lung cells, known as organoids, she can rapidly screen thousands of prospective treatments. Because the organoids are grown from human cells and reflect the cell types and architecture of the lungs, they can offer insights into how the virus infects and damages the organ.

At UCLA medical centers around Los Angeles County, physicians are ensuring that their medical trials include diverse groups of people and women of all ages.

COVID-19 has hit the African American and Latino communities particularly hard, says Dr. Jesse Clark, associate professor-in-residence in the department of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine. We have to make sure that any vaccine has been determined to be safe and effective in all populations that will receive it.

COVID-19 has hit the African American and Latino communities particularly hard. We have to make sure that any vaccine has been determined to be safe and effective in all populations that will receive it.

Dr. Jesse Clark, associate professor-in-residence in the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Clark is medical director of the UCLA Vine Street Clinic, which is involved in the Moderna clinical trial. Notably, Modernas vaccine works differently from a typical vaccine, because it doesnt contain the virus at all. Instead, it uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, which uses the bodys genetic code to produce antibodies against the virus.

CNN mentioned that the vaccine trials were having trouble finding minorities to participate, says Roderick, a 37-year-old IT manager and father of two, who is participating in the Moderna trial. Being Black and Mexican, and knowing how hard my demographic has been hit, I just went ahead and signed up online. Its worth doing to help out.

Meanwhile, Dr. Katya Corado, an infectious disease specialist at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, has been enrolling patients in a phase 3 clinical trial of an adenovirus vector vaccine thats under development by the University of Oxford and the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

All vaccines undergo three phases of clinical trials, according to rules set by the Food and Drug Administration. Phase 1, which involves 20 to 100 volunteers, tests the safety and dosage of the vaccine. Phase 2 tests the drugs efficacy and side effects among several hundred participants, and phase 3 gathers more information about a vaccines safety and effectiveness by studying thousands of volunteers.

In the phase 3 trial, we focus on studying how effective the vaccine is in populations that need it most, Corado says.

Clark and Corado are both hopeful that their work can protect the most vulnerable, which includes people over 65, patients with chronic conditions, those facing economic disadvantages and essential workers.

Inoculations have eradicated past epidemics, such as smallpox. But public faith in vaccines has wavered, especially when a now-disproven report in 1998 suggested that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was linked to autism spectrum disorder. That has led to U.S. outbreaks of measles, which had been previously eliminated. So scientists recognize the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine right.

There are other factors to consider as well. Vaccine distribution will be high on the agenda of the incoming White House administration, but if supply is limited, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends prioritizing certain groups, such as medical workers.

Also, some vaccines currently in development need to be stored in ultra-cold conditions. For example, Pfizers vaccine must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, while Modernas vaccine must be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius the temperature of a regular freezer. These factors will affect how the vaccines are distributed.

Some lawmakers have advocated letting the virus run its course in the hopes of achieving herd immunity, which is when enough people have become immune to an infectious disease, either through being infected or vaccination. Since the COVID-19 vaccine is still pending, a majority of people will need to be infected in order to achieve herd immunity and that comes at a terrible cost.

According to Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, professor-in-residence of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, up to 2 million Americans would have to die before the country reached herd immunity.

He argues that vaccines work, even if they are not perfectly safe or perfectly effective, as proven by the near-eradication of polio. But approving vaccines prematurely to buckle under the pressure of politics or profit could cause a terrible backlash against being vaccinated, which could lead to future outbreaks.

We want to make sure we are not cutting corners, Kim-Farley says, that we are getting the best vaccine that has the highest efficacy, the longest duration, the fewest number of side effects [with] the fewest number of doses.

This is a very high-stakes game, and its important to get it right, without recalls or playing into the [anti-vaccination] narrative. What still concerns me is the equitable distribution of vaccines to make sure that countries that are not as wealthy as us have access to these life-saving vaccines. We are all members of one global community.

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Anatomy of a vaccine: What it takes to create a safe, effective COVID shot - University of California