thescientist--2020-09-21--Brain Circuitry for Fear and Anxiety Is the Same on fMRI

A prevailing belief in neuroscience has long been that fear and anxiety are distinct emotions , prompted by different stimuli that in turn activate different regions of the brain .
Fear is a more basal response to an immediate threat thought to be controlled by the amygdala , while anxiety , linked to a part of the brain known as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis , or BNST , plays out over time and doesn ’ t always stem from obvious danger .
Scientists are now challenging the belief that the two emotions are segregated in the brain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Journal of Neuroscience demonstrates that when people are subjected to a certain threat meant to prompt fear or an uncertain threat that evokes anxiety , their brains seem to react the same , calling upon both the amygdala and the BNST in their response .
While fear and anxiety are distinct emotional states , it appears their underlying neural circuitry is shared .
The original idea that the two emotions have separate neural processing pathways stems from decades of animal experiments that lesioned whole sections of a rodent ’ s brain , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dogma .
Yet , as neuroscience has evolved and the technology has progressed to the level of studying individual cells , the evidence supporting a strict distinction has been increasingly challenged .
“ For every six studies that find a distinction , there are another six that run counter to it , ” says Alexander Shackman , a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland and the senior author on the new study .
“ It just seems like we don ’ t have strong evidence for making these claims , so we tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better job than some prior work of really nailing [ this ] down.
” To study how the brain interprets fear and anxiety , Shackman ’ s team designed an fMRI experiment that he calls a “ low budget version of an immersive experience you might have with a good haunted house or a horror film.
” Nearly 100 participants agreed to lie in an MRI , where they were exposed to physical , visual , and auditory stimuli meant to evoke feelings of fear or anxiety .
In some trials , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fear—at the end of a sequential countdown , each person received a strong electric shock , saw a disturbing image , such as a mutilated body , and heard a loud noise like a gunshot or scream .
In others designed to prompt ongoing anxiety , the series of numbers was random , and there was no telling when the negative stimuli would be delivered .
As controls , the researchers also had trials of both certain and uncertain timing of safety , using benign stimuli such as a picture of a chair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ machine , participants rated their fear or anxiety on a scale of one to four at the end of each trial , and everyone experienced each of the four scenarios at least once .
Throughout the experiment , participants had their skin conductance monitored and their brain activity mapped .
Shackman and his colleagues found that people ’ s subjective rating of fear largely matched their skin conductance measurements , and both fear and anxiety were more acute during threatening trials than during ones in which they knew they were safe .
People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the threat was uncertain , intended to evoke anxiety .
When the researchers compared the most active brain regions during each type of trial , they found that the response to threat was remarkably similar whether or not the timing of the threat was predictable , that is , whether the participant was experiencing fear or anxiety .
Both instances stimulated the amygdala and the BNST .
Using a statistical test , Shackman and his colleagues were unable to distinguish the responses between the two regions .
“ What ’ s even more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if you just look at the proportion of subjects .
.
.
for any particular comparison who showed a bias in one region or the other , ” Shackman tells The Scientist .
Across all the certain and uncertain threat tests , 50 percent of participants showed a bias towards greater activity in one region over the other , the same results as flipping a coin .
Among other regions of the brain , they found that the cortex was more involved in processing anxiety , a novel finding that Shackman says may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its cognitive power to address sustained uncertainty in the face of an unpredictable threat .
Designing adequate paradigms to test such sensitive questions is difficult , and some research ultimately fails because of poorly conceived methods that don ’ t accurately test what scientists are looking to study , says Matthew Pomrenze , a postdoc in neuroscience at Stanford University .
“ But I think this one did a good job , based on the fact that they randomized everything and made it as controlled as they could .
It gives me a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I know it ’ s completely unbiased , ” Pomrenze tells The Scientist .
Similarly , Joseph LeDoux , a neuroscientist at New York University who studies how the brain perceives danger , says these findings reaffirm what he has long believed : the two emotions are distinct , but connected .
“ Fear morphs into anxiety almost immediately , and anxiety can trigger fear .
As soon as you ’ re anxious , you start seeing dangers everywhere , ” LeDoux says .
He wasn ’ t surprised , then , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neural regions .
He does say , however , that fMRI remains “ a blunt tool.
” With more sophisticated methods , researchers might be able to detect more subtle differences in the responses between the two regions , a finding that Shackman doesn ’ t dispute .
Despite their similar responses to the different threat scenarios , the amygdala and the BNST are “ certainly not interchangeable , ” Shackman tells The Scientist .
The findings have potential implications for how scientists diagnose and treat mental health disorders .
The amygdala-fear/BNST-anxiety binary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Mental Health ’ s guidelines for standardizing the study of mental health disorders .
This research framework , called the Research Domain Criteria , or RDoC , underlies much of the National Institutes of Health–funded work carried out in the US over the last decade .
By treating fear as the domain of the amygdala while segregating anxiety to the BSNT , RDoC may be unintentionally obfuscating their dual involvement in both emotional states .
Rather than treating fear and anxiety as two different systems , Shackman says , “ there ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of intervention would actually hit both and help with both.
” He , along with Pomrenze and LeDoux , say they would like to see RDoC updated to reflect the growing body of evidence that shows fear and anxiety reflect similar responses in the brain rather than falling back on conclusions from animal studies carried out decades before .
To bring about those changes , neuroscientists will need to have open and frank discussions about how the evidence has changed in the last decade since the RDoC was adopted .
“ As scientists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skepticism , and on occasion we need to apply that to our own micro community of research , ” Shackman says .
“ My hope is that the field can get closer to the truth faster than if we don ’ t turn inward and talk about it.
” J. Hur et al.
, “ Anxiety and the neurobiology of temporally uncertain threat anticipation , ” J Neurosci , doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0704-20.2020 , 2020 .

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, TADAMICHI
A prevailing belief in neuroscience has long been that fear and anxiety are distinct emotions, prompted by different stimuli that in turn activate different regions of the brain. Fear is a more basal response to an immediate threat thought to be controlled by the amygdala, while anxiety, linked to a part of the brain known as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, or BNST, plays out over time and doesn’t always stem from obvious danger.
Scientists are now challenging the belief that the two emotions are segregated in the brain. A study published September 21 in The Journal of Neuroscience demonstrates that when people are subjected to a certain threat meant to prompt fear or an uncertain threat that evokes anxiety, their brains seem to react the same, calling upon both the amygdala and the BNST in their response. While fear and anxiety are distinct emotional states, it appears their underlying neural circuitry is shared.
The original idea that the two emotions have separate neural processing pathways stems from decades of animal experiments that lesioned whole sections of a rodent’s brain, and was for many years treated as dogma. Yet, as neuroscience has evolved and the technology has progressed to the level of studying individual cells, the evidence supporting a strict distinction has been increasingly challenged.
“For every six studies that find a distinction, there are another six that run counter to it,” says Alexander Shackman, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland and the senior author on the new study. “It just seems like we don’t have strong evidence for making these claims, so we tried to design this study to do a better job than some prior work of really nailing [this] down.”
To study how the brain interprets fear and anxiety, Shackman’s team designed an fMRI experiment that he calls a “low budget version of an immersive experience you might have with a good haunted house or a horror film.”
Nearly 100 participants agreed to lie in an MRI, where they were exposed to physical, visual, and auditory stimuli meant to evoke feelings of fear or anxiety. In some trials, the timing was certain, meant to emulate fear—at the end of a sequential countdown, each person received a strong electric shock, saw a disturbing image, such as a mutilated body, and heard a loud noise like a gunshot or scream. In others designed to prompt ongoing anxiety, the series of numbers was random, and there was no telling when the negative stimuli would be delivered. As controls, the researchers also had trials of both certain and uncertain timing of safety, using benign stimuli such as a picture of a chair.
Researchers created a paradigm in which participants in an MRI machine were subjected to threats meant to stimulate either fear (certain threat) or anxiety (uncertain threat). Following a series of numbers on a screen, those in the threat trials received a strong electric shock, were shown a distressing image, and heard a loud sound. In the fear scenario, the numbers counted down sequentially and the viewer knew when to expect the stimuli. In the anxiety scenario, the numbers were presented randomly and the viewer didn't know when the stimuli would occur. hur et al., j neurosci, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0704-20.2020, 2020
During their time in the MRI machine, participants rated their fear or anxiety on a scale of one to four at the end of each trial, and everyone experienced each of the four scenarios at least once. Throughout the experiment, participants had their skin conductance monitored and their brain activity mapped.
Shackman and his colleagues found that people’s subjective rating of fear largely matched their skin conductance measurements, and both fear and anxiety were more acute during threatening trials than during ones in which they knew they were safe. People responded most strongly to trials in which the threat was uncertain, intended to evoke anxiety.
When the researchers compared the most active brain regions during each type of trial, they found that the response to threat was remarkably similar whether or not the timing of the threat was predictable, that is, whether the participant was experiencing fear or anxiety. Both instances stimulated the amygdala and the BNST. Using a statistical test, Shackman and his colleagues were unable to distinguish the responses between the two regions.
“What’s even more convincing than using the fancy stats is if you just look at the proportion of subjects . . . for any particular comparison who showed a bias in one region or the other,” Shackman tells The Scientist. Across all the certain and uncertain threat tests, 50 percent of participants showed a bias towards greater activity in one region over the other, the same results as flipping a coin.
Among other regions of the brain, they found that the cortex was more involved in processing anxiety, a novel finding that Shackman says may stem from the brain attempting to use its cognitive power to address sustained uncertainty in the face of an unpredictable threat.
Designing adequate paradigms to test such sensitive questions is difficult, and some research ultimately fails because of poorly conceived methods that don’t accurately test what scientists are looking to study, says Matthew Pomrenze, a postdoc in neuroscience at Stanford University. “But I think this one did a good job, based on the fact that they randomized everything and made it as controlled as they could. It gives me a lot of confidence in their data. I know it’s completely unbiased,” Pomrenze tells The Scientist.
Similarly, Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist at New York University who studies how the brain perceives danger, says these findings reaffirm what he has long believed: the two emotions are distinct, but connected. “Fear morphs into anxiety almost immediately, and anxiety can trigger fear. As soon as you’re anxious, you start seeing dangers everywhere,” LeDoux says. He wasn’t surprised, then, to see a similar response in the two neural regions.
He does say, however, that fMRI remains “a blunt tool.” With more sophisticated methods, researchers might be able to detect more subtle differences in the responses between the two regions, a finding that Shackman doesn’t dispute. Despite their similar responses to the different threat scenarios, the amygdala and the BNST are “certainly not interchangeable,” Shackman tells The Scientist.
The findings have potential implications for how scientists diagnose and treat mental health disorders. The amygdala-fear/BNST-anxiety binary has been integrated in the National Institute of Mental Health’s guidelines for standardizing the study of mental health disorders. This research framework, called the Research Domain Criteria, or RDoC, underlies much of the National Institutes of Health–funded work carried out in the US over the last decade. By treating fear as the domain of the amygdala while segregating anxiety to the BSNT, RDoC may be unintentionally obfuscating their dual involvement in both emotional states.
Rather than treating fear and anxiety as two different systems, Shackman says, “there’s a reasonable chance that one kind of intervention would actually hit both and help with both.” He, along with Pomrenze and LeDoux, say they would like to see RDoC updated to reflect the growing body of evidence that shows fear and anxiety reflect similar responses in the brain rather than falling back on conclusions from animal studies carried out decades before.
To bring about those changes, neuroscientists will need to have open and frank discussions about how the evidence has changed in the last decade since the RDoC was adopted. “As scientists, one of our core values is skepticism, and on occasion we need to apply that to our own micro community of research,” Shackman says. “My hope is that the field can get closer to the truth faster than if we don’t turn inward and talk about it.”
J. Hur et al., “Anxiety and the neurobiology of temporally uncertain threat anticipation,” J Neurosci, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0704-20.2020, 2020.


thescientist--2020-09-21--Algorithm Spots COVID-19 Cases from Eye Images: Preprint

ABOVE : Eye regions analyzed by the AI-based tool for screening potential coronavirus infections YANWEI FU Scientists describe a potential screening method for COVID-19 based on eye images analyzed by artificial intelligence .
Scanning a set of images from several hundred individuals with and without COVID-19 , the tool accurately diagnosed coronavirus infections more than 90 percent of the time , the developers reported in a preprint posted to medRxiv September 10 .
“ Our model is quite fast , ” Yanwei Fu , a computer scientist at Fudan University in Shanghai , China , who led the study , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than a second it can check results.
” Currently , screening for coronavirus infection involves CT imaging of the lungs or analyzing samples from the nose or throat , both of which take time and require professional effort .
A system based on a few images of the eyes that could triage or even diagnose people would save on both costs and time , says Fu .
But the investigation by Fu ’ s team is preliminary and both ophthalmologists and AI specialists say they ’ d want to see much more information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it could work .
Volunteers at Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre in Fudan each had five photos of their eyes taken using common CCD or CMOS cameras .
Of 303 patients , 104 had COVID-19 , 131 had other pulmonary conditions , and 68 had eye diseases .
A neural network tool extracted and quantified the features from different regions of the eye and an algorithm recognized the ocular characteristics of each disease .
A neural network is a series of algorithms for solving AI problems , learning as it goes along in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The researchers then carried out a validation experiment on a small dataset from healthy people , COVID-19 patients , pulmonary patients , and ocular patients .
Of 24 people with confirmed coronavirus infections , the tool correctly diagnosed 23 , Fu tells The Scientist .
And the algorithm accurately identified 30 out of 30 uninfected individuals .
Coronavirus infections , not just those caused by SARS-CoV-2 , have long had associations with the eye , causing inflammation of the transparent membrane that covers the inside of the eyelid and whites of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or pink eye .
The eyes also offer a route to infection for respiratory viruses , including coronaviruses .
Human coronavirus NL63 , which causes common cold symptoms , was first identified in 2004 in a baby with bronchiolitis and conjunctivitis .
Subsequent studies showed that a minority of children infected with this coronavirus suffer from this eye condition .
Although conjunctivitis remains a potential symptom of coronavirus infections , less than 5 percent of COVID-19 patients actually present with eye symptoms , notes Daniel Ting , ophthalmologist at the Singapore National Eye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ topic and deep learning in ophthalmology .
“ If you look to develop an AI system to detect COVID-19 based on [ limited numbers of ] eye images , I think the performance is not going to be great , ” especially given the low prevalence of eye symptoms .
He doubts the performance of the algorithm also because “ a lot of eye manifestations could be due to reasons other than COVID-19.
” Ting cautions that the sample size of 303 patients and 136 healthy individuals in the Shanghai study is too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To develop a good deep learning system to automatically detect some unique features from any medical imaging requires more patients , ” he says .
“ In order to increase the reliability of this study , the same size would need to be multiplied by at least ten times , so , thousands of patients.
” Fu has started down this road , increasing the number of participants and broadening the types of subjects .
“ We are now doing more double-blind tests in the hospitals , with patients , some with eye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group also plans to introduce an online screening platform that uses the algorithm to screen for COVID-19 .
“ As an ophthalmologist it would be very surprising if there is a distinct COVID viral conjunctivitis pattern as opposed to other similar forms of viral conjunctivitis , ” ophthalmologist Alastair Denniston , the director of the Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health in Birmingham , UK , writes in an email to The Scientist .
“ This is unlike building an algorithm for conditions which are biologically more distinct like macular degeneration , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if there were a unique pattern evident in COVID-19 cases , “ then the comparison for training and testing should be against cases that look similar , ” such as non–COVID-19 viral conjunctivitis or other causes of a red eye associated with colds caused by adenovirus or rhinovirus .
He also faults the paper in not providing “ the necessary description to really critique the science in terms of how they built and ( tried to ) validate the model.
” Denniston recently reviewed more than 20,000 AI studies on detecting disease from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 1 percent were sufficiently robust in their design and reporting that independent reviewers had high confidence in their claims .
This led him to convene a group of experts to define the international standards for the design and reporting of clinical trials of AI systems .
These standards were published this month in Nature Medicine , The BMJ , and Lancet Digital Health and are supported by leading medical journals .
The Shanghai study has some potentially controversial applications , even if the AI works .
Their algorithm could be used in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this would raise data privacy concerns in many countries .
“ In China , for example , we have a lot of high-resolution cameras everywhere , ” he notes .
“ In airports or at train stations , we could use these surveillance cameras to check people ’ s eyes.
” The program would be most accurate if people looked directly at the camera , but Fu says “ as long as our camera can clearly watch the eye region it would be good enough.
” Screening the public without expressed consent using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bounds in some parts of the world .
“ In Europe , this would be highly problematic and most likely illegal , in violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and general data protection legislation , ” says computer scientist Barry O ’ Sullivan of University College Cork in Ireland who is an expert in AI .
The gathering of health data and biometric data in Europe requires consent .
O ’ Sullivan echoes the concern that the paper falls short on detail regarding its methodology .
“ It is an interesting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as currently written , it isn ’ t ready for publication in a machine learning journal , he concludes .

ABOVE: Eye regions analyzed by the AI-based tool for screening potential coronavirus infections
YANWEI FU
Scientists describe a potential screening method for COVID-19 based on eye images analyzed by artificial intelligence. Scanning a set of images from several hundred individuals with and without COVID-19, the tool accurately diagnosed coronavirus infections more than 90 percent of the time, the developers reported in a preprint posted to medRxiv September 10.
“Our model is quite fast,” Yanwei Fu, a computer scientist at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, who led the study, tells The Scientist. “In less than a second it can check results.”
Currently, screening for coronavirus infection involves CT imaging of the lungs or analyzing samples from the nose or throat, both of which take time and require professional effort. A system based on a few images of the eyes that could triage or even diagnose people would save on both costs and time, says Fu. But the investigation by Fu’s team is preliminary and both ophthalmologists and AI specialists say they’d want to see much more information on the technique—and its performance—before being convinced it could work.
Volunteers at Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre in Fudan each had five photos of their eyes taken using common CCD or CMOS cameras. Of 303 patients, 104 had COVID-19, 131 had other pulmonary conditions, and 68 had eye diseases. A neural network tool extracted and quantified the features from different regions of the eye and an algorithm recognized the ocular characteristics of each disease. A neural network is a series of algorithms for solving AI problems, learning as it goes along in a way that mimics the human brain. The researchers then carried out a validation experiment on a small dataset from healthy people, COVID-19 patients, pulmonary patients, and ocular patients.
Of 24 people with confirmed coronavirus infections, the tool correctly diagnosed 23, Fu tells The Scientist. And the algorithm accurately identified 30 out of 30 uninfected individuals.
Coronavirus infections, not just those caused by SARS-CoV-2, have long had associations with the eye, causing inflammation of the transparent membrane that covers the inside of the eyelid and whites of the eyeball, a condition called conjunctivitis, or pink eye. The eyes also offer a route to infection for respiratory viruses, including coronaviruses.
Human coronavirus NL63, which causes common cold symptoms, was first identified in 2004 in a baby with bronchiolitis and conjunctivitis. Subsequent studies showed that a minority of children infected with this coronavirus suffer from this eye condition.
Although conjunctivitis remains a potential symptom of coronavirus infections, less than 5 percent of COVID-19 patients actually present with eye symptoms, notes Daniel Ting, ophthalmologist at the Singapore National Eye Centre, who has published on this topic and deep learning in ophthalmology. “If you look to develop an AI system to detect COVID-19 based on [limited numbers of] eye images, I think the performance is not going to be great,” especially given the low prevalence of eye symptoms. He doubts the performance of the algorithm also because “a lot of eye manifestations could be due to reasons other than COVID-19.”
Ting cautions that the sample size of 303 patients and 136 healthy individuals in the Shanghai study is too small to draw strong conclusions. “To develop a good deep learning system to automatically detect some unique features from any medical imaging requires more patients,” he says. “In order to increase the reliability of this study, the same size would need to be multiplied by at least ten times, so, thousands of patients.”
Fu has started down this road, increasing the number of participants and broadening the types of subjects. “We are now doing more double-blind tests in the hospitals, with patients, some with eye diseases,” he says. The group also plans to introduce an online screening platform that uses the algorithm to screen for COVID-19.
“As an ophthalmologist it would be very surprising if there is a distinct COVID viral conjunctivitis pattern as opposed to other similar forms of viral conjunctivitis,” ophthalmologist Alastair Denniston, the director of the Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health in Birmingham, UK, writes in an email to The Scientist. “This is unlike building an algorithm for conditions which are biologically more distinct like macular degeneration,” he writes.
He notes that if there were a unique pattern evident in COVID-19 cases, “then the comparison for training and testing should be against cases that look similar,” such as non–COVID-19 viral conjunctivitis or other causes of a red eye associated with colds caused by adenovirus or rhinovirus. He also faults the paper in not providing “the necessary description to really critique the science in terms of how they built and (tried to) validate the model.”
Denniston recently reviewed more than 20,000 AI studies on detecting disease from medical imaging, but found that less than 1 percent were sufficiently robust in their design and reporting that independent reviewers had high confidence in their claims. This led him to convene a group of experts to define the international standards for the design and reporting of clinical trials of AI systems. These standards were published this month in Nature Medicine, The BMJ, and Lancet Digital Health and are supported by leading medical journals.
The Shanghai study has some potentially controversial applications, even if the AI works. Their algorithm could be used in public places, Fu says, though this would raise data privacy concerns in many countries. “In China, for example, we have a lot of high-resolution cameras everywhere,” he notes. “In airports or at train stations, we could use these surveillance cameras to check people’s eyes.” The program would be most accurate if people looked directly at the camera, but Fu says “as long as our camera can clearly watch the eye region it would be good enough.”
Screening the public without expressed consent using this algorithm would be ruled out of bounds in some parts of the world. “In Europe, this would be highly problematic and most likely illegal, in violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and general data protection legislation,” says computer scientist Barry O’Sullivan of University College Cork in Ireland who is an expert in AI. The gathering of health data and biometric data in Europe requires consent.
O’Sullivan echoes the concern that the paper falls short on detail regarding its methodology. “It is an interesting hypothesis,” he says. But, as currently written, it isn’t ready for publication in a machine learning journal, he concludes.


thescientist--2020-09-22--William Danforth, Longtime Research Philanthropist, Dies at 94

William Henry Danforth , a cardiologist who founded the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and transformed Washington University in St. Louis into one of the nation ’ s leading universities , died September 16 .
He was 94 .
“ Bill will be revered in St. Louis as one of the most important civic figures in the history of the city , ” says Danforth Plant Science Center President Jim Carrington , who was a close friend of Danforth .
“ People would talk about him as if he was someone with superpowers , but I think of him as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he could look to see what people needed and he wasn ’ t afraid to work and make things better.
” Danforth was born in St. Louis on April 10 , 1926 , the son of Donald , a business executive for whom he named the Plant Science Center , and Dorothy Danforth , and the grandson of William H. Danforth , the founder of Ralston Purina Co .
He graduated from St. Louis Country Day School and briefly attended Westminster College in Fulton , MO , while serving in the US Navy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transferred to Princeton University where he earned a bachelor ’ s degree in biology in 1947 .
He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1951 , after which he completed an internship at a Washington University hospital .
After two years as chief medical officer for four destroyers during the Korean War , he returned to Washington University as a faculty member in 1957 after completing residencies in medicine and pediatrics .
At 39 , he was appointed vice chancellor for medical affairs and president of the Washington University Medical Center in 1965 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of internal medicine in 1967 .
Five years later , he would become Washington University ’ s 13th chancellor .
During his tenure , the university ’ s enrollment increased elevenfold and faculty members won 11 Nobel Prizes and two Pulitzer Prizes .
He established 70 endowed professorships , tripled the number of student scholarships , and oversaw the growth of the endowment to $ 1.72 billion , which in 1995 was the seventh largest in the country , according to a Washington University memorial .
Danforth also established the Spencer T. Olin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professional studies , the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences , and a joint Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences with 29 basic science and clinical departments .
His wife was sure he would serve only three or four years as chancellor , she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a 1993 interview .
Instead , he stayed on for 24 years until 1995 , when he retired and became chairman of Washington University ’ s Board of Trustees .
Danforth continued to be an important advocate and fundraiser for scientific research for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agricultural and sustainability research could help feed an ever-increasing global population , Danforth founded the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center with a $ 60 million gift from his family ’ s foundation in 1998 and served as its chairman until 2013 .
The independent , nonprofit research institute now employs 28 principal investigators .
An obituary by the Post-Dispatch states that Danforth had previously told the newspaper that the idea for a plant science center came after a conversation he had with Peter Raven , then the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monsanto vice president .
“ We were on our way to a meeting in Irvine , California , and it occurred to us that our region had the potential to emerge as an international leader in plant science , ” he said .
In 2000 , he founded the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences ( now BioSTL ) to stimulate the creation of biomedical companies in St. Louis .
He served as the chairman of the organization from 2000 to 2011 .
That year , he also received the Alexander Meiklejohn Award @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his support of academic freedom .
Danforth was also named “ Man of the Year ” in 1977 by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and received the 2012 St. Louis Award for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the St. Louis region , particularly for his role in establishing the Danforth Center .
In 2006 , Washington University renamed its Hilltop campus the Danforth Campus to honor the contributions of Danforth and his family .
Also that year , Danforth was a leading voice in favor of Missouri ’ s Amendment 2 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enshrining in the state constitution access by Missouri patients and researchers to any method of stem cell research , therapies , and cures permitted under federal law .
He helped found and donated more than $ 150,000 to the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures that led the charge on the ballot initiative .
In 2007 , he served on a task force and testified before Congress to urge the formation of a $ 1 billion national institute for agricultural research .
The following year , the National Institute of Food and Agriculture was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fund the research and innovations to enhance American agriculture and make it more productive and environmentally sustainable .
“ Bill was the most generous and giving of his time , ” Carrington tells The Scientist .
“ He gave time and attention to everybody who needed or wanted time and attention with him.
” Danforth is survived by two daughters , Maebelle Anne Danforth and Elizabeth Danforth , his son , David Danforth , a brother , John Danforth , 13 grandchildren , and eight great-grandchildren .
A fourth child , Cynthia Danforth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wife , Elizabeth , died of cancer in 2005 at the age of 75 .

COURTESY OF THE DONALD DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER
William Henry Danforth, a cardiologist who founded the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and transformed Washington University in St. Louis into one of the nation’s leading universities, died September 16. He was 94.
“Bill will be revered in St. Louis as one of the most important civic figures in the history of the city,” says Danforth Plant Science Center President Jim Carrington, who was a close friend of Danforth. “People would talk about him as if he was someone with superpowers, but I think of him as the most human of human beings because he could look to see what people needed and he wasn’t afraid to work and make things better.”
Danforth was born in St. Louis on April 10, 1926, the son of Donald, a business executive for whom he named the Plant Science Center, and Dorothy Danforth, and the grandson of William H. Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina Co.
He graduated from St. Louis Country Day School and briefly attended Westminster College in Fulton, MO, while serving in the US Navy during World War II. He then transferred to Princeton University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1947.
He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1951, after which he completed an internship at a Washington University hospital. After two years as chief medical officer for four destroyers during the Korean War, he returned to Washington University as a faculty member in 1957 after completing residencies in medicine and pediatrics.
At 39, he was appointed vice chancellor for medical affairs and president of the Washington University Medical Center in 1965. He was named a full professor of internal medicine in 1967.
Five years later, he would become Washington University’s 13th chancellor. During his tenure, the university’s enrollment increased elevenfold and faculty members won 11 Nobel Prizes and two Pulitzer Prizes. He established 70 endowed professorships, tripled the number of student scholarships, and oversaw the growth of the endowment to $1.72 billion, which in 1995 was the seventh largest in the country, according to a Washington University memorial.
Danforth also established the Spencer T. Olin Fellowship Program for Women in graduate and professional studies, the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, and a joint Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences with 29 basic science and clinical departments.
His wife was sure he would serve only three or four years as chancellor, she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a 1993 interview. Instead, he stayed on for 24 years until 1995, when he retired and became chairman of Washington University’s Board of Trustees. Danforth continued to be an important advocate and fundraiser for scientific research for years to come.
Believing that cutting-edge agricultural and sustainability research could help feed an ever-increasing global population, Danforth founded the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center with a $60 million gift from his family’s foundation in 1998 and served as its chairman until 2013. The independent, nonprofit research institute now employs 28 principal investigators.
An obituary by the Post-Dispatch states that Danforth had previously told the newspaper that the idea for a plant science center came after a conversation he had with Peter Raven, then the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Virginia Weldon, a former Monsanto vice president. “We were on our way to a meeting in Irvine, California, and it occurred to us that our region had the potential to emerge as an international leader in plant science,” he said.
In 2000, he founded the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences (now BioSTL) to stimulate the creation of biomedical companies in St. Louis. He served as the chairman of the organization from 2000 to 2011.
That year, he also received the Alexander Meiklejohn Award from the American Association of University Professors for his support of academic freedom.
Danforth was also named “Man of the Year” in 1977 by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and received the 2012 St. Louis Award for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the St. Louis region, particularly for his role in establishing the Danforth Center.
In 2006, Washington University renamed its Hilltop campus the Danforth Campus to honor the contributions of Danforth and his family.
Also that year, Danforth was a leading voice in favor of Missouri’s Amendment 2, a ballot measure that narrowly passed, enshrining in the state constitution access by Missouri patients and researchers to any method of stem cell research, therapies, and cures permitted under federal law. He helped found and donated more than $150,000 to the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures that led the charge on the ballot initiative.
In 2007, he served on a task force and testified before Congress to urge the formation of a $1 billion national institute for agricultural research. The following year, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture was created with the goal to stimulate and fund the research and innovations to enhance American agriculture and make it more productive and environmentally sustainable.
“Bill was the most generous and giving of his time,” Carrington tells The Scientist. “He gave time and attention to everybody who needed or wanted time and attention with him.”
Danforth is survived by two daughters, Maebelle Anne Danforth and Elizabeth Danforth, his son, David Danforth, a brother, John Danforth, 13 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. A fourth child, Cynthia Danforth Prather, died in 2017. His wife, Elizabeth, died of cancer in 2005 at the age of 75.


thescientist--2020-09-22--The Lancet Alters Editorial Practices After Surgisphere Scandal

The Lancet has announced changes to its editorial policies following the controversial publication and retraction earlier this year of a paper on COVID-19 patients treated with the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine .
The changes , described in an comment entitled “ Learning from a retraction ” last Thursday ( September 17 ) , include alterations to peer review and other paper acceptance procedures , and have prompted mixed responses from the scientific and science publishing community .
“ The proposed changes are a welcome addition , and I am glad to see Lancet implementing them , ” Mario Malicki , co–editor-in-chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Review , writes in an email to The Scientist .
“ However , they do not answer the questions at the core of the peer review process .
How is it that the Lancet ’ s editorial team and reviewers ( including a statistical reviewer ) missed what the research community saw when the paper came out , [ and ] how do the new proposed changes ensure that Lancet or other top journals indeed consult the best reviewers for the studies submitted to them ?
” The Lancet attracted criticism in May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was purportedly based on a huge database of electronic medical data managed by Surigsphere Corporation , a tiny Illinois-based company owned by study coauthor and vascular surgeon Sapan Desai .
The paper reported a link between treatment with hydroxychloroquine and increased mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and had fast and far-reaching effects on clinical research and global health policy , but fell apart under scrutiny from scientists and journalists within days of its publication .
That paper and another study based on the same database published in The New England Journal of Medicine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ independent auditors said that they ’ d been unable to access and verify the company ’ s data .
Surgisphere itself disappeared a couple weeks later amid accusations of scientific fraud , with its website going offline and Desai ceasing to respond to The Scientist ’ s requests for comment .
See The Scientist ’ s investigation into Surgisphere Corporation Speaking to The Scientist in the wake of the scandal this July , The Lancet ’ s editor-in-chief , Richard Horton , said that the journal would review its policies and aim to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ between learning the lessons but also not over-responding , because you don ’ t want to impose another layer of bureaucracy on science that actually makes it more difficult either to do science or to publish science.
” Among the changes announced last week are alterations to author declaration forms .
“ All authors will be asked to sign the author statements form to confirm they had full access to the data .
.
.
and accept responsibility for submitting the Article for publication , ” the comment reads .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amit Patel—a physician and Desai ’ s relative—signed such a statement .
Authors will be required to include a data-sharing statement , too , detailing what data will be shared and when .
While this was already a requirement for clinical trials , the changes make this obligatory for all research papers , and “ editors will take data-sharing statements into account when making editorial decisions , ” the comment says .
The journal will also introduce “ additional peer-review requirements , ” including ensuring that “ at least one peer reviewer is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being reported ” —for example , by recruiting a data scientist for studies with very large datasets—and explicitly asking reviewers if they have concerns regarding ethics or research integrity .
The changes are “ a great first step ” toward improving transparency and author responsibility in the publication process , says Daniel Kulp , the vice-chair and chair-elect of the nonprofit Committee on Publication Ethics ( COPE ) , which develops guidance for publishers .
“ It ’ s very important for [ journals ] to have not only a policy for correcting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ but a process by which they can investigate how things happen and if there are ways of reducing the possibility of repeating errors .
I ’ m completely in favor of that.
” Kulp adds that while journals can ’ t guarantee against the publication of bad research , The Lancet ’ s move should help push scientific publishing toward greater openness .
He says he hopes that the journal will reflect on the effects of the changes a year or so from now “ to see if it ’ s accomplished @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweak it again in whatever direction they need to .
These things should be dynamic.
” James Watson , a senior scientist at the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit ( MORU ) in Thailand who in May organized an open letter listing concerns about the hydroxychloroquine study , tells The Scientist in an email that the new data-sharing statements in particular are an important change , “ although Lancet are pretty late to the game , ” as many other publishers already require such statements .
He adds that “ making it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be used by the editors to evaluate a new submission is a great incentive for people to think hard about data sharing and find clever ways of doing it.
” MORU ’ s own study of hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 prevention in healthcare workers was suspended following The Lancet paper ’ s publication , although it has since been reinstated .
Like Malicki , Watson and other researchers note that the changes don ’ t address larger , more general issues highlighted by Surgisphere ’ s papers , including journals ’ reluctance to push @ @ @ @ @ @ @ published studies , and an overall lack of transparency in how papers are reviewed before and after publication .
University of California , San Francisco ( UCSF ) , infectious diseases researcher Matthew Spinelli , for example , tells The Scientist in an email that he is particularly disappointed by “ the lack of acknowledgement of post-publication review , ” without which , he adds , “ this fraud would never have been detected.
” Spinelli and UCSF biostatistician David Glidden were among many scientists to write letters to The Lancet with concerns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ publication .
Despite accepting several of those letters , The Lancet dropped plans to publish them after retracting the original paper , with Lancet senior editor Josefine Gibson writing to authors that , “ in the light of the retraction , the Editor in Chief and I no longer feel that we can offer a platform for these questions and discussion.
” Spinelli and Glidden tell The Scientist that journals should put more emphasis on the conversation that takes place after a paper is published .
“ A process which reflects the capabilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a record of post-publication review and would recognize the work of external reviewers , ” Spinelli writes .
“ This process would be more accountable , fairer , and more transparent.
” The New England Journal of Medicine wrote in a statement to The Scientist in July that it would also be reflecting on its editorial procedures in light of its own Surgisphere retraction , but has so far declined to provide detail about specific changes .

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, MORDOLFF
The Lancet has announced changes to its editorial policies following the controversial publication and retraction earlier this year of a paper on COVID-19 patients treated with the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine. The changes, described in an comment entitled “Learning from a retraction” last Thursday (September 17), include alterations to peer review and other paper acceptance procedures, and have prompted mixed responses from the scientific and science publishing community.
“The proposed changes are a welcome addition, and I am glad to see Lancet implementing them,” Mario Malički, co–editor-in-chief of the journal Research Integrity and Peer Review, writes in an email to The Scientist. “However, they do not answer the questions at the core of the peer review process. How is it that the Lancet’s editorial team and reviewers (including a statistical reviewer) missed what the research community saw when the paper came out, [and] how do the new proposed changes ensure that Lancet or other top journals indeed consult the best reviewers for the studies submitted to them?”
The Lancet attracted criticism in May for publishing the hydroxychloroquine paper, which was purportedly based on a huge database of electronic medical data managed by Surigsphere Corporation, a tiny Illinois-based company owned by study coauthor and vascular surgeon Sapan Desai. The paper reported a link between treatment with hydroxychloroquine and increased mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and had fast and far-reaching effects on clinical research and global health policy, but fell apart under scrutiny from scientists and journalists within days of its publication.
That paper and another study based on the same database published in The New England Journal of Medicine were retracted on June 4, after independent auditors said that they’d been unable to access and verify the company’s data. Surgisphere itself disappeared a couple weeks later amid accusations of scientific fraud, with its website going offline and Desai ceasing to respond to The Scientist’s requests for comment.
Speaking to The Scientist in the wake of the scandal this July, The Lancet’s editor-in-chief, Richard Horton, said that the journal would review its policies and aim to implement changes that would strike a balance “between learning the lessons but also not over-responding, because you don’t want to impose another layer of bureaucracy on science that actually makes it more difficult either to do science or to publish science.”
A process which reflects the capabilities of modern, on-line journals would provide a record of post-publication review and would recognize the work of external reviewers. —Matthew Spinelli, University of California, San Francisco
Among the changes announced last week are alterations to author declaration forms. “All authors will be asked to sign the author statements form to confirm they had full access to the data . . . and accept responsibility for submitting the Article for publication,” the comment reads. In the hydroxychloroquine study, only one author, Amit Patel—a physician and Desai’s relative—signed such a statement.
Authors will be required to include a data-sharing statement, too, detailing what data will be shared and when. While this was already a requirement for clinical trials, the changes make this obligatory for all research papers, and “editors will take data-sharing statements into account when making editorial decisions,” the comment says.
The journal will also introduce “additional peer-review requirements,” including ensuring that “at least one peer reviewer is knowledgeable about the details of the dataset being reported”—for example, by recruiting a data scientist for studies with very large datasets—and explicitly asking reviewers if they have concerns regarding ethics or research integrity.
The changes are “a great first step” toward improving transparency and author responsibility in the publication process, says Daniel Kulp, the vice-chair and chair-elect of the nonprofit Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which develops guidance for publishers. “It’s very important for [journals] to have not only a policy for correcting the literature,” he says, “but a process by which they can investigate how things happen and if there are ways of reducing the possibility of repeating errors. I’m completely in favor of that.”
Kulp adds that while journals can’t guarantee against the publication of bad research, The Lancet’s move should help push scientific publishing toward greater openness. He says he hopes that the journal will reflect on the effects of the changes a year or so from now “to see if it’s accomplished what they wanted—and if not, then tweak it again in whatever direction they need to. These things should be dynamic.”
James Watson, a senior scientist at the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Thailand who in May organized an open letter listing concerns about the hydroxychloroquine study, tells The Scientist in an email that the new data-sharing statements in particular are an important change, “although Lancet are pretty late to the game,” as many other publishers already require such statements.
He adds that “making it clear that the data sharing statement will be used by the editors to evaluate a new submission is a great incentive for people to think hard about data sharing and find clever ways of doing it.” MORU’s own study of hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 prevention in healthcare workers was suspended following The Lancet paper’s publication, although it has since been reinstated.
Like Malički, Watson and other researchers note that the changes don’t address larger, more general issues highlighted by Surgisphere’s papers, including journals’ reluctance to push authors to share data and code for published studies, and an overall lack of transparency in how papers are reviewed before and after publication.
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), infectious diseases researcher Matthew Spinelli, for example, tells The Scientist in an email that he is particularly disappointed by “the lack of acknowledgement of post-publication review,” without which, he adds, “this fraud would never have been detected.”
Spinelli and UCSF biostatistician David Glidden were among many scientists to write letters to The Lancet with concerns about the paper within days of its publication. Despite accepting several of those letters, The Lancet dropped plans to publish them after retracting the original paper, with Lancet senior editor Josefine Gibson writing to authors that, “in the light of the retraction, the Editor in Chief and I no longer feel that we can offer a platform for these questions and discussion.”
Spinelli and Glidden tell The Scientist that journals should put more emphasis on the conversation that takes place after a paper is published. “A process which reflects the capabilities of modern, on-line journals would provide a record of post-publication review and would recognize the work of external reviewers,” Spinelli writes. “This process would be more accountable, fairer, and more transparent.”
The New England Journal of Medicine wrote in a statement to The Scientist in July that it would also be reflecting on its editorial procedures in light of its own Surgisphere retraction, but has so far declined to provide detail about specific changes.


thescientist--2020-09-23--Best of Cancer Research

Best of Cancer Research

Understanding and treating cancer is a significant challenge for physicians and researchers alike .
This compilation of popular news stories @ @ @ @ @ Scientist website sheds light on recent studies that help us better understand and treat cancer @ @ @ @ @ articles from The Scientist to read

Understanding and treating cancer is a significant challenge for physicians and researchers alike. This compilation of popular news stories about cancer research from The Scientist website sheds light on recent studies that help us better understand and treat cancer.
Download this collection of articles from The Scientist to read


thescientist--2020-09-23--More than 450 Pilot Whales Stranded in Tasmanian Inlet

ABOVE : Rescuers work to keep a stranded pilot whale alive .
TASMANIA POLICE Hundreds of pilot whales have become beached in the shallow waters of Macquarie Harbour , on the west coast of Tasmania .
Many of the whales are dead , the BBC reports .
The stranding event is the largest ever recorded in Tasmania , Kris Carlyon , a wildlife biologist with the Australian state ’ s Marine and Conservation Program , said in a Department of Primary Industries , Parks , Water and Environment statement today ( September 23 ) .
Carlyon is part of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sand bars of the harbor and return them to deeper waters .
“ Pilot whales are deep-water species that are not accustomed to shallow waters or tides and may not be able to navigate well using their biosonar in shallow and sandy environments , ” Fleur Visser , the scientific director of Kelp Marine Research , writes in an email to The Scientist .
Annebelle Kok , a marine biologist at the University of California , San Diego , and a collaborator of Visser on a recent pilot whale study , tells @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s strong social bonds that led to such a mass stranding .
It ’ s possible that “ as one animal swims towards the coast , the rest will follow , leading to the whole group stranding at once , ” she writes in an email .
Because of their social nature , she says , the number of pilot whales that stranded is not surprising .
Pilot whales are a common species suffering mass strandings , but the recent event is historic in Tasmania .
In 1935 , close to 300 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the northern tip of the Australian island state , and in 1998 , 216 stranded near Marion Bay on the east side of the island .
Both Kok and Visser say that what has caused the whales to strand is uncertain .
“ In this case , one of the possibilities is that certain anomalies or oceanographical features , or perhaps illness , have interfered with pilot whale navigation , leading them into shallow water from which they can not easily escape , ” Visser writes .
Variations in the architecture of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swimming toward shore , rather than away from it , Kok explains .
“ This is for example a hypothesis for why so many whales strand in New Zealand.
” Human sounds , such as the use of sonar , should also be considered , the scientists say .
Visser notes mass strandings have been recorded “ before the advent of wide-spread man made noise in the ocean , ” so sound may not be the cause of the stranding .
Still , she says , “ we do need to investigate possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and possible injuries of the stranded animals , ” and also by creating a list of human activities in the possible areas the whales visited in the days before the stranding began .
“ Unfortunately , there are still many instances in which we don ’ t know why the whales stranded , ” Kok says .
As rescue teams work to identify possible causes of the mass stranding and move the live whales away from shallow waters , authorities have begun to consider what to do with the dead whales scattered along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whales have been towed out to sea or buried ashore , according to the BBC .
“ We have a couple of options that we are considering , but we need to consider all aspects before we settle on a decision , ” Nic Deka , Incident Controller and Parks and Wildlife Service regional manager , says in the Department of Primary Industries , Parks , Water and Environment statement .
“ We can ’ t leave the whales in the harbour as they will present a range of issues .
We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ key priority is to remain focussed on the rescue effort.
” “ Any whale we save we are considering a real win , ” Carlyon said in a statement issued Tuesday ( September 22 ) .
“ We are focusing on having as many survivors as we can .
”

ABOVE: Rescuers work to keep a stranded pilot whale alive. TASMANIA POLICE
Hundreds of pilot whales have become beached in the shallow waters of Macquarie Harbour, on the west coast of Tasmania. Many of the whales are dead, the BBC reports.
The stranding event is the largest ever recorded in Tasmania, Kris Carlyon, a wildlife biologist with the Australian state’s Marine and Conservation Program, said in a Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment statement today (September 23). Carlyon is part of the effort to rescue the living whales from the sand bars of the harbor and return them to deeper waters.
“Pilot whales are deep-water species that are not accustomed to shallow waters or tides and may not be able to navigate well using their biosonar in shallow and sandy environments,” Fleur Visser, the scientific director of Kelp Marine Research, writes in an email to The Scientist.
Annebelle Kok, a marine biologist at the University of California, San Diego, and a collaborator of Visser on a recent pilot whale study, tells The Scientist it might be the animal’s strong social bonds that led to such a mass stranding. It’s possible that “as one animal swims towards the coast, the rest will follow, leading to the whole group stranding at once,” she writes in an email. Because of their social nature, she says, the number of pilot whales that stranded is not surprising.
Pilot whales are a common species suffering mass strandings, but the recent event is historic in Tasmania. In 1935, close to 300 long-finned pilot whales stranded near Stanley, by the northern tip of the Australian island state, and in 1998, 216 stranded near Marion Bay on the east side of the island.
Both Kok and Visser say that what has caused the whales to strand is uncertain. “In this case, one of the possibilities is that certain anomalies or oceanographical features, or perhaps illness, have interfered with pilot whale navigation, leading them into shallow water from which they cannot easily escape,” Visser writes. Variations in the architecture of the seafloor can lead to the whales swimming toward shore, rather than away from it, Kok explains. “This is for example a hypothesis for why so many whales strand in New Zealand.”
Human sounds, such as the use of sonar, should also be considered, the scientists say. Visser notes mass strandings have been recorded “before the advent of wide-spread man made noise in the ocean,” so sound may not be the cause of the stranding. Still, she says, “we do need to investigate possible causes, through investigation of the health and possible injuries of the stranded animals,” and also by creating a list of human activities in the possible areas the whales visited in the days before the stranding began.
“Unfortunately, there are still many instances in which we don’t know why the whales stranded,” Kok says.
As rescue teams work to identify possible causes of the mass stranding and move the live whales away from shallow waters, authorities have begun to consider what to do with the dead whales scattered along the coast. In the past, whales have been towed out to sea or buried ashore, according to the BBC.
“We have a couple of options that we are considering, but we need to consider all aspects before we settle on a decision,” Nic Deka, Incident Controller and Parks and Wildlife Service regional manager, says in the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment statement. “We can’t leave the whales in the harbour as they will present a range of issues. We are committed to retrieving and disposing but our key priority is to remain focussed on the rescue effort.”
“Any whale we save we are considering a real win,” Carlyon said in a statement issued Tuesday (September 22). “We are focusing on having as many survivors as we can.”


thescientist--2020-09-23--Mass Elephant Die-Off Caused by Cyanobacteria, Officials Say

Months after hundreds of African elephants mysteriously dropped dead in one concentrated region in Botswana , puzzling conservationists across the world , government officials say that test results show toxins produced by naturally occurring cyanobacteria caused the animals ’ demise .
Cyanobacteria can proliferate in standing water , producing lethal cyanotoxins , and can grow into large blue-green algal blooms .
“ Our latest tests have detected cyanobacterial neurotoxins to be the cause of deaths .
These are bacteria found in water , ” Mmadi Reuben , principal veterinary officer at the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( September 21 ) , according to the The Guardian .
The government in the landlocked southern African country , home to the world ’ s largest elephant population , announced in July it had launched an investigation into the more than 300 deaths , collecting samples from the carcasses to better understand the situation .
Aerial surveys showed that most carcasses were clustered around water sources close to the Okavango Delta , which is typically a major tourist safari destination .
Some elephants were spotted walking dizzily in circles before suddenly dropping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because cyanobacteria were found in the water that does not prove that the elephants died from exposure to those toxins .
Without good samples from dead elephants , all hypotheses are just that : hypotheses , ” Niall McCann , the director of conservation at UK-based charity National Park Rescue , tells The Guardian .
Except for one horse , the investigation found no other animals that were affected by the toxins .
“ One working hypothesis is that , unlike other animals , elephants suck water with their trunks from underneath , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the waterholes , closer to silt where the anaerobe toxins are contained , ” Reuben said at the press conference .
Reuben said during the news conference that his team investigated injuries on the carcasses and tested water samples at laboratories in Botswana , South Africa , and the US .
He blamed a “ combination of neurotoxins ” but did not elaborate and declined to say at which institutions tests had been carried out .
Reports in June showed that tusks had not been removed , discrediting poaching as a likely explanation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monitor waterholes for algal blooms during the next rainy season to prevent any more deaths .
Conservationists expressed frustration with the government ’ s lengthy investigation , as the death toll steadily rose since officials discovered the first elephant carcasses in May .
Speculation swirled that the elephants succumbed to a rodent virus or anthrax .
“ This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn ’ t been seen in a very , very long time .
Outside of drought , I don ’ t know of a die-off that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Guardian in July .
Elephant populations have declined in recent years .
and the species is classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature ’ s ( IUCN ) Red List .
Animosity toward elephants in Botswana has been building , as many blame them for the destruction of cropland , The Washington Post reported in 2019 .
President Mokgweetsi Masisi campaigned in 2019 on promises to keep the elephant population in check , and his government has reintroduced some elephant hunting licenses , which were banned by his @ @

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM,
NICOLAMARGARET
Months after hundreds of African elephants mysteriously dropped dead in one concentrated region in Botswana, puzzling conservationists across the world, government officials say that test results show toxins produced by naturally occurring cyanobacteria caused the animals’ demise.
Cyanobacteria can proliferate in standing water, producing lethal cyanotoxins, and can grow into large blue-green algal blooms. “Our latest tests have detected cyanobacterial neurotoxins to be the cause of deaths. These are bacteria found in water,” Mmadi Reuben, principal veterinary officer at the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks, said at a news conference on Monday (September 21), according to the The Guardian.
The government in the landlocked southern African country, home to the world’s largest elephant population, announced in July it had launched an investigation into the more than 300 deaths, collecting samples from the carcasses to better understand the situation.
Aerial surveys showed that most carcasses were clustered around water sources close to the Okavango Delta, which is typically a major tourist safari destination. Some elephants were spotted walking dizzily in circles before suddenly dropping dead, face first.
“Just because cyanobacteria were found in the water that does not prove that the elephants died from exposure to those toxins. Without good samples from dead elephants, all hypotheses are just that: hypotheses,” Niall McCann, the director of conservation at UK-based charity National Park Rescue, tells The Guardian.
Except for one horse, the investigation found no other animals that were affected by the toxins.
“One working hypothesis is that, unlike other animals, elephants suck water with their trunks from underneath, so they drink from deeper levels in the waterholes, closer to silt where the anaerobe toxins are contained,” Reuben said at the press conference.
Reuben said during the news conference that his team investigated injuries on the carcasses and tested water samples at laboratories in Botswana, South Africa, and the US. He blamed a “combination of neurotoxins” but did not elaborate and declined to say at which institutions tests had been carried out.
Reports in June showed that tusks had not been removed, discrediting poaching as a likely explanation.
Reuben added that he plans to monitor waterholes for algal blooms during the next rainy season to prevent any more deaths.
Conservationists expressed frustration with the government’s lengthy investigation, as the death toll steadily rose since officials discovered the first elephant carcasses in May. Speculation swirled that the elephants succumbed to a rodent virus or anthrax.
“This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn’t been seen in a very, very long time. Outside of drought, I don’t know of a die-off that has been this significant,” McCann told The Guardian in July.
Elephant populations have declined in recent years. and the species is classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
Animosity toward elephants in Botswana has been building, as many blame them for the destruction of cropland, The Washington Post reported in 2019. President Mokgweetsi Masisi campaigned in 2019 on promises to keep the elephant population in check, and his government has reintroduced some elephant hunting licenses, which were banned by his predecessor.


thescientist--2020-09-23--Advanced Flow Cytometry Uncovers T Cell Biology

Researchers make large strides in cancer treatment with immunotherapies that use the body ’ s own immune system , particularly @ @ @ @ @ and eliminate tumor cells .
Understanding complex T cell phenotypes is essential when developing targeted @ @ @ @ @ employ advanced flow cytometry to quickly analyze multiple T cell parameters .
Download this white @ @ @ @ @ about • None How scientists use T cells in cancer immunotherapy

Researchers make large strides in cancer treatment with immunotherapies that use the body’s own immune system, particularly T cells, to target and eliminate tumor cells. Understanding complex T cell phenotypes is essential when developing targeted cancer treatments, so researchers employ advanced flow cytometry to quickly analyze multiple T cell parameters.
Download this white paper from Sartorius to learn about


thescientist--2020-09-21--Virus Hunters: Searching for Therapeutic Phages in a Drug Resistant World

Typically , viral infections are not desirable ; however , bacterial viruses , or bacteriophages , are promising therapeutic agents @ @ @ @ @ Many phages have a narrow host range , infecting only one bacterial species or strain @ @ @ @ @ these viruses into targeted therapies for devastating bacterial infections .
In this webinar from The @ @ @ @ @ Turner and Jason Gill will describe their research on phages that destroy drug resistant pathogens @ @ @ @ @ patient treatment , and challenges and successes in obtaining FDA approval for this experimental therapy @ @ @ @ @ of Staphylococcus , Burkholderia , and Klebsiella species Jason Gill , PhD Associate Director Center @ @ @ @ @ Departments of Animal Science , Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology , and Genetics Texas A & @ @

FREE Webinar
Thursday, October 29, 2020
2:30 - 4:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time
Register Now
Typically, viral infections are not desirable; however, bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages, are promising therapeutic agents against multi-drug resistant microbes. Many phages have a narrow host range, infecting only one bacterial species or strain. Researchers hope to transform these viruses into targeted therapies for devastating bacterial infections. In this webinar from The Scientist, bacteriophage experts Paul Turner and Jason Gill will describe their research on phages that destroy drug resistant pathogens, their experiences with emergency patient treatment, and challenges and successes in obtaining FDA approval for this experimental therapy.
Topics to be covered
Genomics and distribution of Staphylococcus, Burkholderia, and Klebsiella species
Circumventing bacterial phage resistance
Phages in emergency patient treatment
Regulatory considerations surrounding clinical phage use
Register Now
Meet the Speakers:
Paul Turner, PhD
Rachel Carson Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Yale University
Microbiology Faculty
Yale School of Medicine
Jason Gill, PhD
Associate Director
Center for Phage Technology
Associate Professor, Departments of Animal Science, Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, and Genetics
Texas A&M University


thescientist--2020-09-24--Battling COVID-19 with Genomics

Battling COVID-19 with Genomics

Genomic sequencing is a valuable tool when fighting infectious disease that provides information about viral structure , antigenicity and virulence @ @ @ @ @ During the COVID-19 pandemic , researchers have used whole genome sequencing to rapidly characterize this @ @ @ @ @ spread , and reveal secrets that may limit its effects .
Download this ebook from @ @ @ @ @ team to learn how whole genome sequencing • Tracks how the virus enters and spreads @ @ @ @ @ how antibodies to the common cold might help fight COVID-19

Genomic sequencing is a valuable tool when fighting infectious disease that provides information about viral structure, antigenicity and virulence, and transmission patterns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have used whole genome sequencing to rapidly characterize this novel virus, track its spread, and reveal secrets that may limit its effects.
Download this ebook from The Scientist's Creative Services team to learn how whole genome sequencing


thescientist--2020-09-24--Autopsies Show Varied Forms of Heart Damage in COVID-19 Patients

Massachusetts General Hospital pathologist James Stone can tell that most of the hearts he ’ s examined from COVID-19 patients are damaged from the first moment he holds them .
They ’ re enlarged .
They ’ re heavy .
They ’ re uneven .
What he can ’ t tell—at least until he starts looking at samples of the tissue under a microscope—is exactly how those hearts were damaged , and whether it is a direct result of SARS-CoV-2 infection .
Early in the pandemic , other clinicians noted that even some patients who didn ’ t have preexisting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 infections , pointing to a possible causative link .
Researchers had found , for example , that 8–12 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had elevated levels of muscle contraction–regulating proteins called troponins—a sign of heart damage—and that these patients had an increased risk of mortality compared with those who didn ’ t have excess troponins .
And early observations of patients in China who suffered reduced ejection fraction—the amount of blood getting pumped out of the heart each time it contracts—led researchers to suggest that these individuals were likely experiencing myocarditis , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weaken the heart and is commonly associated with infections .
But Stone and his collaborators ’ analysis of heart tissue from 21 patients who died of COVID-19 , published today ( September 24 ) in the European Heart Journal , shows that while 86 percent of the patients did have inflammation in their hearts , only three had myocarditis .
Several had other forms of heart injury , such as right ventricular strain injuries .
“ The problem we identified in this study is that there ’ s other types of myocardial injury @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elevated troponins , ” says Stone .
His international team sought to determine the mechanisms through which the disease damaged the heart and found that some conditions “ really haven ’ t been talked about at all in the [ COVID-19 ] papers that have previously been published.
” The pathologists observed a median of 20 slides from each heart , which is more than are included in most other studies regarding COVID-19 ’ s cardiac effects .
George Abela , a cardiologist at Michigan State University who was not involved in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ email , “ This provides a more in-depth view of the extent of injury.
” The researchers expected to find some macrophages , a type of white blood cell that indicates inflammation , as pathologists had observed macrophages in the hearts of SARS patients during the 2003 outbreak .
But Stone says he was surprised to see just how common these were—18 out of 21 COVID-19 patients ’ hearts harbored macrophages that exhibited this type of inflammation .
“ It was really quite extensive , ” he says .
As they analyzed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only three patients had myocarditis , while four showed signs of heart injury due to right ventricular strain and another four had small blood clots in the vessels in the heart .
It ’ s not clear why patients experience such inconsistent cardiac issues .
Abela says these findings have implications for treatment .
For example , if the patient has right heart failure , a condition where the right side of a patient ’ s heart is not pumping enough blood to the lungs , a device that mechanically helps the heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drugs that target the inflammation or infection , which could be used to treat myocarditis .
Because so many of the hearts were infiltrated by macrophages , the researchers say that it may be difficult to discern who is experiencing myocarditis , which is characterized by different inflammatory cells—lymphocytes—while patients are alive .
The two cell types would appear similar on tests that image the hearts of living patients .
So , the team looked back at the patients ’ medical records to see if they could find patterns in clinical tests that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when it still might be treatable .
The three patients with myocarditis all had both troponin levels above 60 ng/mL and abnormal ECG readings while in the hospital .
Only 15 percent of the patients without myocarditis had this combination .
The findings need to be replicated in larger groups of patients but could help doctors determine the best course of treatment for heart damage due to COVID-19 , Stone says .
The study is “ giving the cardiologists and the ICU doctors that are taking care of these patients a roadmap of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the heart.
” “ Novel disease entities like SARS-CoV-2 reinforce the tremendous importance of continuing our efforts at continuing to facilitate autopsy evaluations , ” says Allan Jaffe , a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic , in an email .
“ This consortium of hospitals have added substantially to our knowledge of Covid disease.
” C. Basso et al.
, “ Pathologic features of COVID-19 associated myocardial injury : A multicenter cardiovascular pathology study , ” European Heart Journal , ehaa664 , 2020 .

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, PAUL CAMPBELL
Massachusetts General Hospital pathologist James Stone can tell that most of the hearts he’s examined from COVID-19 patients are damaged from the first moment he holds them. They’re enlarged. They’re heavy. They’re uneven.
What he can’t tell—at least until he starts looking at samples of the tissue under a microscope—is exactly how those hearts were damaged, and whether it is a direct result of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Early in the pandemic, other clinicians noted that even some patients who didn’t have preexisting heart conditions experienced cardiovascular damage while fighting COVID-19 infections, pointing to a possible causative link. Researchers had found, for example, that 8–12 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had elevated levels of muscle contraction–regulating proteins called troponins—a sign of heart damage—and that these patients had an increased risk of mortality compared with those who didn’t have excess troponins. And early observations of patients in China who suffered reduced ejection fraction—the amount of blood getting pumped out of the heart each time it contracts—led researchers to suggest that these individuals were likely experiencing myocarditis, a severe form of inflammation that can weaken the heart and is commonly associated with infections.
But Stone and his collaborators’ analysis of heart tissue from 21 patients who died of COVID-19, published today (September 24) in the European Heart Journal, shows that while 86 percent of the patients did have inflammation in their hearts, only three had myocarditis. Several had other forms of heart injury, such as right ventricular strain injuries.
“The problem we identified in this study is that there’s other types of myocardial injury in these patients that is also causing elevated troponins,” says Stone. His international team sought to determine the mechanisms through which the disease damaged the heart and found that some conditions “really haven’t been talked about at all in the [COVID-19] papers that have previously been published.”
The pathologists observed a median of 20 slides from each heart, which is more than are included in most other studies regarding COVID-19’s cardiac effects. George Abela, a cardiologist at Michigan State University who was not involved in the study, tells The Scientist in an email, “This provides a more in-depth view of the extent of injury.”
The researchers expected to find some macrophages, a type of white blood cell that indicates inflammation, as pathologists had observed macrophages in the hearts of SARS patients during the 2003 outbreak. But Stone says he was surprised to see just how common these were—18 out of 21 COVID-19 patients’ hearts harbored macrophages that exhibited this type of inflammation. “It was really quite extensive,” he says.
As they analyzed the hearts further, the pathologists noted that only three patients had myocarditis, while four showed signs of heart injury due to right ventricular strain and another four had small blood clots in the vessels in the heart. It’s not clear why patients experience such inconsistent cardiac issues.
Abela says these findings have implications for treatment. For example, if the patient has right heart failure, a condition where the right side of a patient’s heart is not pumping enough blood to the lungs, a device that mechanically helps the heart pump blood might help, rather than drugs that target the inflammation or infection, which could be used to treat myocarditis.
Because so many of the hearts were infiltrated by macrophages, the researchers say that it may be difficult to discern who is experiencing myocarditis, which is characterized by different inflammatory cells—lymphocytes—while patients are alive. The two cell types would appear similar on tests that image the hearts of living patients. So, the team looked back at the patients’ medical records to see if they could find patterns in clinical tests that would reveal the type of heart damage when it still might be treatable. The three patients with myocarditis all had both troponin levels above 60 ng/mL and abnormal ECG readings while in the hospital. Only 15 percent of the patients without myocarditis had this combination.
The findings need to be replicated in larger groups of patients but could help doctors determine the best course of treatment for heart damage due to COVID-19, Stone says. The study is “giving the cardiologists and the ICU doctors that are taking care of these patients a roadmap of the changes that are going on in the heart.”
“Novel disease entities like SARS-CoV-2 reinforce the tremendous importance of continuing our efforts at continuing to facilitate autopsy evaluations,” says Allan Jaffe, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, in an email. “This consortium of hospitals have added substantially to our knowledge of Covid disease.”
C. Basso et al., “Pathologic features of COVID-19 associated myocardial injury: A multicenter cardiovascular pathology study,” European Heart Journal, ehaa664, 2020.


thescientist--2020-09-24--Pandemic Shutdown Altered Bay Area Birdsongs

With less traffic and fewer people on the streets of San Francisco this spring , the songs of resident male white-crowned sparrows became more audible despite actually being quieter , according to a report in Science today ( September 24 ) .
The birds also increased in the bandwidth of their songs to include lower notes , which , according to experts , makes them more appealing to the females of the species .
“ It ’ s a very nice paper , ” says Hans Slabbekoorn , who studies the effects of noise on animal behavior at Leiden University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The data are very convincing that these birds adjusted immediately to the lower noise levels.
” In cities that are normally bustling , the sudden shutdown of schools , shops , restaurants , and places of work in mid-march this year virtually eliminated the buzz of traffic , construction , and people almost overnight .
In the relative quiet , city dwellers started noticing how noisy the birds were .
“ There has been a lot of armchair observation going on that birds and other animals are being more active and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mike Webster of Cornell University who also was not part of the research team .
“ To be honest , I put that down to people being at home more and paying attention more , but what these guys have shown pretty clearly is that the birds they studied really are singing differently .
.
.
and are responding very strongly and very quickly to all the COVID-19–induced shutdowns.
” The “ guys ” to whom Webster refers are animal communication researcher Elizabeth Derryberry of the University of Tennessee and colleagues .
Derryberry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of male white-crowned sparrows ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) in the noisy urban environments and quiet rural settings around San Francisco for a number of years .
The female sparrows rarely sing .
“ These authors were in a perfect position because they had all this pre-pandemic , highly quantitative data , ” says Jeff Podos of the University of Massachusetts who studies songbird communication and was not part of the research team .
For them , he says , “ a really nice opportunity presented itself from amidst the grim news of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been , but Derryberry was initially too preoccupied to notice , she confesses .
“ I was at home with a two-year-old and an eight-year-old and trying to keep working .
.
.
and to [ deal with ] virtual school .
We all were , I think , slightly bamboozled by this [ shutdown ] .
” It wasn ’ t until she saw some pictures of San Francisco ’ s Golden Gate Bridge on social media that the penny dropped , she says .
“ I was like , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ” Although Derryberry was in Tennessee , unable to fly to California , Jennifer Phillips , who had studied the sparrows for her PhD with Derryberry , was nearby at California Polytechnic State University , a few hours south of San Francisco , working as a postdoc in the lab of Clinton Francis .
“ Everything just lined up , ” says Derryberry , and with Phillips being able to record the birds and noise levels in the same locations as the team had done years earlier , “ we had this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmed that background sound had indeed dropped .
Their recordings showed on average a 7-decibel reduction in background hum in the city , bringing the noise levels close to those of the surrounding rural area , which remained largely unchanged .
“ The soundscape .
.
.
of the city was almost identical to that of the countryside during the shutdown , ” Derryberry says .
The question was , what if anything had happened to the birdsong ?
In their earlier studies , the team had found that birds in the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their rural counterparts , presumably to be heard over the sounds of traffic and human life .
When that noise was gone , they found , the resident birds quieted too—by about 4 decibels , says Derryberry .
Despite their softer calls , the songs were audibly clearer and thus traveled further .
That ’ s because they hadn ’ t dropped in volume to the same degree as the background noise , explains Derryberry .
The signal-to-noise ratio was essentially higher , which accounts for the anecdotal reports of louder birdsong during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the sparrows ’ shutdown songs had increased in bandwidth , says Derryberry .
Specifically , they produced lower frequency notes that would ordinarily be lost in the low rumbling of traffic .
Prior studies have shown that female birds find males who sing songs with greater bandwidth more attractive .
“ The wider the bandwidth , the sexier and more competitive the male , ” Derryberry says .
Whether the altered songs this spring will influence the reproductive success of the city sparrows is unclear .
Nevertheless , the study ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respond quickly to reductions in anthropogenic interference , in this case , noise , ” says Webster , “ so that ’ s a very positive thing.
” Even though human life and its accompanying noise is returning to cities as the restrictions have eased , there will be “ increasing awareness that humans are having this effect on natural populations , ” Webster says , and that nature can bounce back if such human disturbances are removed .
As a result “ I think there will be increased interest in minimizing our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
People might decide to work from home more often , for example , or make their next car an electric one .
“ People are probably interested in buying electric cars for lots of reasons .
.
.
this is just one more positive benefit of doing something like that , ” Webster says .
In short , the study increases awareness of noise pollution , he says , and “ awareness can lead to action.
” E.P Derryberry et al.
, “ Singing in a silent spring : Birds respond to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shutdown , ” Science , doi:10.1126/science.abd5777 , 2020 .

ABOVE: Male white-crowned sparrow in San Francisco
JN PHILLIPS
With less traffic and fewer people on the streets of San Francisco this spring, the songs of resident male white-crowned sparrows became more audible despite actually being quieter, according to a report in Science today (September 24). The birds also increased in the bandwidth of their songs to include lower notes, which, according to experts, makes them more appealing to the females of the species.
“It’s a very nice paper,” says Hans Slabbekoorn, who studies the effects of noise on animal behavior at Leiden University and was not involved in the research. “The data are very convincing that these birds adjusted immediately to the lower noise levels.”
In cities that are normally bustling, the sudden shutdown of schools, shops, restaurants, and places of work in mid-march this year virtually eliminated the buzz of traffic, construction, and people almost overnight. In the relative quiet, city dwellers started noticing how noisy the birds were.
“There has been a lot of armchair observation going on that birds and other animals are being more active and are singing louder,” says ornithologist Mike Webster of Cornell University who also was not part of the research team. “To be honest, I put that down to people being at home more and paying attention more, but what these guys have shown pretty clearly is that the birds they studied really are singing differently . . . and are responding very strongly and very quickly to all the COVID-19–induced shutdowns.”
I think there will be increased interest in minimizing our own acoustic footprint. —Mike Webster, Cornell University
The “guys” to whom Webster refers are animal communication researcher Elizabeth Derryberry of the University of Tennessee and colleagues. Derryberry has been studying and comparing the songs of male white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) in the noisy urban environments and quiet rural settings around San Francisco for a number of years. The female sparrows rarely sing.
“These authors were in a perfect position because they had all this pre-pandemic, highly quantitative data,” says Jeff Podos of the University of Massachusetts who studies songbird communication and was not part of the research team. For them, he says, “a really nice opportunity presented itself from amidst the grim news of the pandemic.”
A unique opportunity it may have been, but Derryberry was initially too preoccupied to notice, she confesses. “I was at home with a two-year-old and an eight-year-old and trying to keep working . . . and to [deal with] virtual school. We all were, I think, slightly bamboozled by this [shutdown].”
It wasn’t until she saw some pictures of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on social media that the penny dropped, she says. “I was like, ‘Oh, it’s really empty.’”
Although Derryberry was in Tennessee, unable to fly to California, Jennifer Phillips, who had studied the sparrows for her PhD with Derryberry, was nearby at California Polytechnic State University, a few hours south of San Francisco, working as a postdoc in the lab of Clinton Francis.
“Everything just lined up,” says Derryberry, and with Phillips being able to record the birds and noise levels in the same locations as the team had done years earlier, “we had this nice paired comparison.”
The team first confirmed that background sound had indeed dropped. Their recordings showed on average a 7-decibel reduction in background hum in the city, bringing the noise levels close to those of the surrounding rural area, which remained largely unchanged. “The soundscape . . . of the city was almost identical to that of the countryside during the shutdown,” Derryberry says.
The question was, what if anything had happened to the birdsong? In their earlier studies, the team had found that birds in the city sing louder and at higher frequencies than their rural counterparts, presumably to be heard over the sounds of traffic and human life. When that noise was gone, they found, the resident birds quieted too—by about 4 decibels, says Derryberry.
The wider the bandwidth, the sexier and more competitive the male. —Elizabeth Derryberry, University of Tennessee
Despite their softer calls, the songs were audibly clearer and thus traveled further. That’s because they hadn’t dropped in volume to the same degree as the background noise, explains Derryberry. The signal-to-noise ratio was essentially higher, which accounts for the anecdotal reports of louder birdsong during shutdown.
In addition to being quieter, the sparrows’ shutdown songs had increased in bandwidth, says Derryberry. Specifically, they produced lower frequency notes that would ordinarily be lost in the low rumbling of traffic. Prior studies have shown that female birds find males who sing songs with greater bandwidth more attractive. “The wider the bandwidth, the sexier and more competitive the male,” Derryberry says.
Whether the altered songs this spring will influence the reproductive success of the city sparrows is unclear. Nevertheless, the study’s findings show that “natural systems can respond quickly to reductions in anthropogenic interference, in this case, noise,” says Webster, “so that’s a very positive thing.”
Even though human life and its accompanying noise is returning to cities as the restrictions have eased, there will be “increasing awareness that humans are having this effect on natural populations,” Webster says, and that nature can bounce back if such human disturbances are removed. As a result “I think there will be increased interest in minimizing our own acoustic footprint,” he says.
People might decide to work from home more often, for example, or make their next car an electric one. “People are probably interested in buying electric cars for lots of reasons . . . this is just one more positive benefit of doing something like that,” Webster says. In short, the study increases awareness of noise pollution, he says, and “awareness can lead to action.”
E.P Derryberry et al., “Singing in a silent spring: Birds respond to a half-century soundscape reversion during the COVID-19 shutdown,” Science, doi:10.1126/science.abd5777, 2020.