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Hockey is one of the toughest sports games. Players need both finesse and speed on the ice, but they also need to be strong. Being slammed into the boards or glass while chasing the puck is hard on the body. And the stronger the players get, the higher the number of injuries.

Image: Wikipedia

Researchers in Finland investigated whether the shock-absorbing properties of different dasher board structures and materials can affect injury rates. Their findings show that the different types of boards’ shock-absorbing properties varied significantly.

Researchers from the Department of Biology of Physical Activity at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland measured the physiological properties of body-checking against the boards in real-life game play and in a laboratory setting. With respect to the latter, the team calculated the maximum force inflicted on the board by body-checking and the displacement of the board. The numbers they generated helped them calculate the rigidity of the dasher board system.

The researchers found that the shock-absorbing properties of various board types were not similar. They identified a 25% difference in the impact forces measured from the most flexible board and from the conventional dual base frame. The glazing of the flexible board is made of plastic, while the glazing of the dual base frame is made of tempered glass.

They also observed significant differences in displacement. According to them, the displacement of the most flexible board was more than 130% greater in some cases, when compared with the reference board. They also found that the most flexible board had around 30% of the rigidity of its conventional counterpart.

The researchers said the shock-absorbing properties of metallic support posts in dasher board systems were inferior to those containing a flexible plastic shield.

The results show that the maximum impact force of a body check against a support post was up to 70% higher than the maximum impact force of a similar body check against a protective shield. They also found that the posts were up to five times more rigid than a plastic shield.

‘By replacing the widely used tempered glass with a plastic shield, the impact force on players being body-checked against the boards is considerably reduced,’ said Professor Janne Avela and researcher Piritta Poutiainen.

It should be noted that dasher board systems with a plastic shield and metallic posts are not a safe option, because the rigidity in metallic posts can cause injuries in players who body-check. It makes no difference if the plastic shield is flexible, the team said. Mitigating the force of impact is possible if the board’s height is lowered. According to the researchers, this would allow the player who is body-checked to fall on the flexible shield.

EU-funded food technology project to help alleviate poverty by preventing food losses

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Image: Wikipedia.

Millions of the world’s poorest people in some of the most deprived regions could soon be helped by a new EU-funded food technology project that brings together researchers from Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

The 3-year project GRATITUDE (‘Gains from losses of root and tuber crops’) brings together 16 project partners from Ghana, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. It received close to EUR 3 million of funding from the ‘Food, agriculture and fisheries, and biotechnology’ Theme of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Led by scientists from the University of Greenwich’s Natural Resources Institute in the United Kingdom, the project partners aim to find new ways of reducing waste during the production of food crops vital to families in parts of Africa and Asia. Another aim of the project is to develop new products such as snack foods from the crops, and seek new markets. The fact that the consortium is made up of partners from both academic and business will help meet this aim.

Image: Wikipedia.

Cassava and yam are important food security crops for approximately 700 million people worldwide, and their post-harvest losses are significant. These losses can be physical or economic, through discounting or processing into low-value products, or can result from bio-wastes. By reducing such losses, the role these crops play in food and income security can be enhanced.

Post-harvest physical losses are exceptionally high and occur throughout the food chain. Losses in economic value are also high, for example, cassava prices can be discounted by up to 85% within a couple of days of harvest. The project will also focus on improving how waste such as peels, liquid waste, and spent brewery waste is used, so that higher value products can be produced for human consumption, including snack foods, mushrooms and animal feed.

At the moment, growers can lose up to 60% of yam and 30% of cassava during the processing of the crops after harvesting through rotting, poor storage, transport and price discounts. The researchers hope to reduce these losses by implementing better storage and processing techniques to reduce waste and turn it into something of value.

The success of different products in different regions will shared with partners in other parts of the world via digital links. It is hoped that the project will help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) make connections with large-scale industry and lead to job creation.

The project will start by launching pilot schemes to reduce waste in Nigeria, Ghana, Vietnam and Thailand.

Project coordinator Keith Tomlins from the University of Greenwich’s Natural Resources Institute described the project as an ‘ambitious scheme that could have a huge effect on many millions of people’.

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Scientists have refuted recent claims that sex-linked chromosomes such as the male Y chromosome could become extinct. The new claims have been made in a genetic study into the sex chromosomes of chickens, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Image: Cordis

The team, who hail from Sweden and the United Kingdom, looked at how genes on sex-linked chromosomes are passed down through generations and linked to fertility, using the specific example of the W chromosome in female chickens.

W chromosomes in female chickens are akin to Y chromosomes in men in that they are sex-limited and do not re-combine when males and females reproduce, as the other regions of the genome do. This means that any studies on chickens are relevant for humans too.

The recombination process allows chromosomes to break up linked genes, which makes selection more effective and helps get rid of faulty mutations. Some scientists believe that Y and W chromosomes are set to perish because of this lack of recombination.

But this new study shows that although these chromosomes have shrunk over millions of years, and have lost many of their original genes, those that remain are extremely important in predicting fertility and are, therefore, unlikely to become extinct. Lead study author Professor Judith Mank, from University College London, says: ‘Y chromosomes are here to stay, and are not the genetic wasteland that they were once thought to be.’

The study, which received a funding boost from the European Research Council (ERC), compared DNA regions on the W chromosome in different breeds of chickens, whose fertility rates are very easy to measure simply by counting eggs.

Genetic information from two breeds, the Minorca and Leghorn, which lay more than 250 eggs per year, were compared with two breeds selected for male traits (fighting and plumage) called Yokohama and Old English Game. The researchers also looked at Red Jungle Fowl, a tropical member of the Pheasant family that is ancestral to the domestic chicken.

The scientists measured gene expression levels from the W-linked genes in all the breeds, and showed that selection for laying lots of eggs has led to elevated gene expression for almost all the W-linked genes in the layer breeds. At the same time, relaxed female selection in the fighting and plumage breeds has led to a loss of W gene expression.

This means that female-specific selection related to fertility acts to shape the W chromosome, and also that the chromosome is able to respond to that selection despite all the problems surrounding the lack of recombination.

Professor Mank comments: ‘We have shown that Y and W chromosomes are very important in fertility – the Y in males and the W in females. It is the ability of the W-linked genes to evolve that is the key to their survival, and which suggests that both the Y and the W chromosomes are with us for the long haul.’

Santino showed an innovative use of concealments

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The Furuvik Zoo in Sweden is home to Santino, the chimpanzee known for gathering stones and making concrete projectiles to throw at anyone visiting the zoo in 2009. But stone-throwing is not all that Santino does. A new study has found that the infamous chimp finds innovative ways to fool the visitors.

Image: Cordis

Presented in the journal PLoS ONE, the findings suggest that chimps can represent the future behaviours and actions of others while those others are not present, effectively producing a future event instead of merely preparing for an event. The results might indicate that chimps recombine episodic memories in perceptual simulations.

Researchers from Lund University in Sweden investigated the ability a chimp has to carry out complex planning. They observed that chimps, which experts believe are the closest relatives from the animal kingdom to humans, have the capacity to fool others cunningly and skilfully.

Santino’s behaviour piqued the curiosity of researchers, because he planned the deception when the humans were out of sight. In a nutshell, the chimp followed through on his plan without having immediate perceptual feedback of his objective, which in this case, were the people visiting the zoo.

Santino became popular worldwide in 2009 when visitors to the zoo were the targets of his stones and concrete projectiles. Researchers thought then that his behaviour was an example of spontaneous planning for a future event. So his psychological state was clearly different from that of his subsequent aggressive displays.

Most researchers have long thought that such cognitive abilities belonged only to humans. For the purposes of this study, the researchers collected more detailed data on Santino’s projectile-throwing behaviour over the course of the 2010 zoo season.

They found that Santino continued and extended his previous behaviour of caching projectiles to be used for future throwing displays of aggression. The chimp also showed an innovative use of concealments: those made from hay and those made naturally (e.g. rock).

To test Santino, the team placed the people participating in the study in the visitors’ area. The chimp could throw his missiles before the people had a chance to get away. Santino created his hay concealments when the visitors were away. He launched his missiles when they returned. During their observation of the chimp, the researchers discovered that Santino preferred to conceal his missiles. However, he combined two strategies consistently: he hid projectiles and he inhibited the displays of dominance that otherwise preceded his throws.

‘When planning for potential future behaviours of others, we suggest that this could in principle also be solved by detached perceptual construct of behaviours priorly experienced under different circumstances,’ the authors of the study write. ‘Then there is no need for theory like reasoning about others’ mental states; the behaviour could be “read” from the perceptual simulations (it is not necessary to represent other’s mental states even for creating the constructs; a learned behavioural catalogue would suffice). What underlies the perceptual simulations of potential futures, what makes them [...] form, is a highly interesting question beyond the scope of speculations of this study.’

The researchers say further work should be carried out to determine whether chimps, and other great apes, are in general capable of planning for future deception, and whether they can form representations of future behaviours of others who are out of sight.

André Kuipers: world ambassador

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Observing Earth from far above, ESA astronaut André Kuipers is acting as a world ambassador for the WWF, which issued its flagship publication the Living Planet Report today.

André Kuipers. Credits: ESA/NASA

The Living Planet Report measures changes in biodiversity by tracking 9000 populations of more than 2600 of the world’s species. André wrote the foreword to the report and is doing his part to show how fragile our world really is.

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We only have one Earth

André has been concerned about our planet since his last mission to the International Space Station in 2004. He has been sending us images that show the impact humans are having on our climate.

Jet contrails pictured from the International Space Station. Credits: ESA/NASA

“We only have one Earth. From up here I can see humanity’s footprint, including forest fires, air pollution and erosion – challenges which are reflected in this edition of the Living Planet Report,” said André.

The report illustrates how our demand on natural resources has become unsustainable. By 2050, two out of every three people will live in a city. Humanity requires new and improved ways of managing natural resources.

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André’s Flickr stream: recording humanity’s presence

Using ESA’s new NightPod camera aid, André is taking sharper pictures than ever before of cities at night. Light pollution is a dramatic example of energy that humans waste.

View all of André’s images in his Flickr photo stream, or follow the astronaut on Twitter.

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Satellites spot invisible effects

The effect we have on our planet extends beyond what is visible to the human eye. To be able to understand and manage human impact better, ESA is providing data from a range of satellites.

Europeans kick-start solar cell production project

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Development of more efficient and cost-effective solar cells is high on the EU agenda. Helping drive this effort is the SCALENANO (‘Development and scale-up of nanostructured-based materials and processes for low-cost high-efficiency chalcogenide-based photovoltaics’) project, which has clinched more than EUR 7.5 million under the ‘Energy’ Theme of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to make efficient and cheaper solar cells a reality.

Image: Cordis

Led by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research in Spain, the SCALENANO project partners are developing and scaling up new processes based on nanostructured materials to generate high efficiency and cheaper photovoltaic devices and modules that comply with mass production requirements. The SCALENANO team comprises experts from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

By today’s standards, the production of solar cells, the ‘power generators’ inside solar panels, can burn holes in many pockets. However, researchers and industry recognise the significance of making photovoltaic devices, as they can convert light energy from the Sun into electrical energy for personal and corporate use.

Solar energy can also help Europeans mitigate the use of nuclear fuel and oil. Efforts to secure alternative ways to power up the region keep intensifying following recent disasters like the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan. Germany’s decision to start decommissioning nuclear power plants within the next 10 years is also compelling researchers to look for alternative options.

It should be noted that investing in the development of more efficient solar panels could help put Europe at the forefront of this field.

Dr Phillip Dale, head of the Electrodeposition Group under the Laboratory of Photovoltaics at the University of Luxembourg, says: ‘Our main objective is to develop low-cost and efficient solar cell technology. Increasing the competitiveness of this technology will bring the cost down for everyone, which will eventually allow solar technology to reach the masses.’

The University of Luxembourg’s contribution to SCALENANO is the use of sophisticated research tools to specifically examine ways to optimise the process of combining and baking the chemicals, to create the required solar cell materials. A rapid thermal annealing furnace is being used for this. According to the Luxembourg team, cutting the time needed for baking means less energy will be used, and in turn this will decrease the cost of manufacturing solar cells.

SCALENANO got off the ground earlier this year and will end in 2015. ‘We are excited to get started and are confident we have the tools and the capacity to significantly contribute,’ Dr Dale says. ‘We look forward to collaborating well with our research partners.’

The SCALENANO team says the findings of their project will benefit future work making energy sustainable.

Study finds link between languages and high biodiversity regions

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Earth is home to some of the most linguistically diverse regions, which are found specifically in hot spots and high biodiversity wilderness areas, new British-American research shows.

Presented in the journal PNAS, the findings suggest that around 70% of all languages have found a niche in these regions. The study will help shed light on the lives of people who reside in these areas, and provide insights into the conservation of biodiversity.

Images: Cordis

Conservationists from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in the United States say the languages in question are for the most part unique to particular regions and could be potentially wiped out.

Experts believe species are becoming extinct at a rate 1,000 times higher than historic rates. For their part, linguists say 50% to 90% of the languages spoken worldwide will become extinct by the end of the 21st century.

Researchers in the past had identified a link between language diversity and biodiversity. The datasets, however, were not geographically accurate.

‘Paul Ehrlich likened the loss of species to removing the rivets in a plane’s wings,’ said Professor Larry J. Gorenflo from Penn State. ‘How many rivets can you remove before the wing falls off and the plane falls out of the sky? Similarly, how many species can you lose before an ecosystem fails? Unfortunately, stopping species loss in a world of 7 billion people is extremely challenging. We conducted this study to understand more about the people living in areas important for biodiversity conservation.’

For the purposes of this study, Professor Gorenflo and colleagues used two sets of data: the locations of the hot spots and high biodiversity wilderness areas, and the geographic locations of more than 6,900 languages. The former were compiled for geographic information system (GIS) applications by Conservation International and the latter for GIS by Global Mapping International.

‘We looked at regions important for biodiversity conservation and measured their linguistic diversity in an effort to understand an important part of the human dimension of these regions,’ Professor Gorenflo explained.

The team observed that intact habitat in 35 hotspots hold over 50% of the world’s vascular plants and 43% of terrestrial vertebrate species. Intact habitat represents just 2.3% of the surface of the planet. Overall, 3,202 languages, or almost 50% of the world’s spoken languages, are found within the 35 hotspots. They exist all around the world, save for Antarctica.

Looking specifically at 5 high biodiversity wilderness areas, which represent just over 6% of the planet’s surface and are home to around 17% of the vascular plant species and 6% of the terrestrial vertebrate species, the researchers identified another 1,622 languages. The uniqueness of these languages, however, makes them vulnerable and increases their risk of extinction.

‘What ends up happening when we lose linguistic diversity is we lose a bunch of small groups with traditional economics,’ said Professor Gorenflo. ‘Indigenous languages tend to be replaced by those associated with a modern industrial economy accompanied by other changes, such as the introduction of chain saws. In terms of biodiversity conservation, all bets are off.’

The loss of a language can trigger a lot of damage. Environmental information is lost, putting much strain on culture, language and words. The researchers say it is important to act and protect cultural and linguistic diversity.

‘I think it argues for concerted conservation efforts that are integrated and try to maintain biodiversity and cultural diversity,’ Professor Gorenflo remarked.

Gorenflo also warns that without cultural and linguistic diversity, which increasingly appears to be tied to biological diversity, biodiversity loss is likely to continue at an alarming rate.

‘In many cases it appears that conditions that wipe out species wipe out languages,’ he adds.

The team said their work can help others further investigate the link between biological and linguistic-cultural diversity.

Multiple thought channels secret to avoiding brain congestion, researchers report

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EU-funded researchers from Germany and the United States report that brain networks may avoid traffic jams at their busiest junctions by communicating on different frequencies, according to findings in a new paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The work was boosted by the BRAINSYNC (‘Large scale interactions in brain networks and their breakdown in brain diseases’) project which was funded under the ‘Health’ Theme of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to the tune of EUR 2,978,242.

Image: Cordis

Normally, when scientists study brain networks, areas of the brain that regularly work together, they use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which tracks blood flow. This practice is founded on the assumption that an increase in blood flow to part of the brain indicates increased activity in the brain cells of that region.

Instead, for this study the team, made up of researchers from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in the United States and the University of Tübingen in Germany, used a technique called magnetoencephalography (MEG) to analyse brain activity in 43 healthy volunteers.

One of the study authors, Maurizio Corbetta from Washington University School of Medicine, outlines the limitations of MRI: ‘It only allows us to track brain cell activity indirectly, and it is unable to track activity that occurs at frequencies greater than 0.1 hertz, or once every 10 seconds. We know that some signals in the brain can cycle as high as 500 hertz, or 500 times per second.’

MEG however can detect very small changes in magnetic fields in the brain that are caused by many cells being active at once and it can detect these signals at rates up to 100 hertz.

Lead author Joerg Hipp who is based at both the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University of Tübingen reports on their findings:
‘We found that different brain networks ticked at different frequencies, like clocks ticking at different speeds.’

Networks that included the hippocampus, a brain area critical for memory formation, tended to be active at frequencies around 5 hertz. Networks comprising areas involved in the senses and movement were active between 32 hertz and 45 hertz. Many other brain networks were active at frequencies between 8 hertz and 32 hertz. These ‘time-dependent’ networks could be described as resembling different airline route maps, overlapping but each ticking at a different rate.

Maurizio Corbetta comments: ‘There have been a number of MRI studies of depression and schizophrenia showing ‘spatial’ changes in the organisation of brain networks. MEG studies provide a window into a much richer ‘temporal’ structure. In the future, this might offer new diagnostic tests or ways to monitor the efficacy of interventions in these debilitating mental conditions.’

The overall aim of the BRAINSYNC project was to understand how neuronal assemblies exchange information (functional or neuronal communication), and how variability in neuronal communication explains variability in behavioural performance, both in the intact and injured brain.

‘Many neurological and psychiatric conditions are likely to involve problems with signaling in brain networks,’ says Maurizio Corbetta. ‘Examining the temporal structure of brain activity from this perspective may be especially helpful in understanding psychiatric conditions like depression and schizophrenia, where structural markers are scarce.’

Insulin may influence body weight gain in former smokers

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It is probably safe to say that smokers refuse to give up their vice because they believe their waistlines will only get bigger. And while most researchers have long speculated that a metabolic link exists between butting out cigarettes and gaining weight, no study has been able to substantiate this… until now. A research team in Austria has found a link between insulin secretion and weight gain after smoking cessation.

Speaking to delegates at the 15th International Congress of Endocrinology (ICE) and the 14th European Congress of Endocrinology (ECE) in Florence, Italy on 8 May, Dr Marietta Stadler from the Hietzing Hospital in Vienna, Austria said she and her team have found that changes in insulin secretion could be related to weight gain after a person stops smoking.

Image: Cordis

Study subjects were healthy smokers who took part in a smoking cessation programme. They underwent three-hour glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) while still smoking and after no less than three and six months of being cigarette-free. The researcher and her team also measured the subjects’ body composition.

The team measured the subjects’ beta cell secretion of insulin while fasting and after being exposed to glucose. Their appetite levels were also assessed following their consumption of a free-choice buffet meal. The researchers also measured the fasting levels of several hormones that play a role in regulating energy intake.

‘We found that body weight and fat mass increased after 3 months of no smoking, by 4% and 22%, respectively,’ said Dr Stadler, ‘and after 6 months the increase was 5% and 35%, respectively.’

The researcher said the most striking metabolic findings were a rise in the first phase insulin secretion, following the glucose challenge, and a rise in carbohydrate intake following a buffet meal for patients who had stopped smoking for three months.

The subjects showed significant fasting insulin resistance, where the normal response to an insulin dosage is reduced, at three months. The result was not the same at the six-month level. ‘Dynamic insulin sensitivity (the sensitivity to insulin in the postprandial state) assessed during the OGTT remained unchanged throughout,’ she said. ‘Neuropeptide-Y (NPY) [2] levels at fasting were increased at three months, but not at six months. We believe that the alterations in insulin secretion could possibly be related to the increased carbohydrate cravings and weight gain experienced by many smokers who give up. However, the increase in insulin secretion and carbohydrate intake seems to be a transient effect of stopping smoking, as these changes were not seen any more after six months, even though the participants had gained more weight.’

The findings also show that increased insulin secretion was not as evident in the patients who were smoke-free for at least 6 months compared to patients who replaced after only 90 days.

‘All these factors are pointers to understanding the metabolic processes involved in weight gain after smoking cessation,’ said Dr Stadler. ‘The more we can understand the biological basis for the phenomenon, the higher our chances of being able to control it.’

The researchers next plan to match the study’s subjects with a group of non-smokers of the same age. Their objective? To determine if beta cell function changes in those who continue to smoke and not just during the period of cessation.

In conclusion, Dr Stadler said: ‘We also intend to discuss our results with experts in the field of addiction and behavioural medicine in order to gather ideas and hypotheses as to why smoking might exert these metabolic effects, in order that we can plan studies that bring together the many disciplines involved in this important field of research.’

Scientists find link between biological processes and young breast cancer patients

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Breast cancer in young women is linked to age-related biological processes, a new study shows. Because it is a biologically unique disease, it calls for tailor-made management strategies, researchers reported at the IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium from 3 to 5 May.

Image: Cordis

The findings, presented in the journal Annals of Oncology, could impact potential treatment methods, especially because breast cancer in young women is often aggressive and diagnosed at an advanced stage. The prognosis for young patients is not good.

Led by the Institut Jules Bordet in Belgium, the researchers discovered that breast cancer in women aged 45 years or younger is enriched with the aggressive basal-like tumours. These women are also at greater risk of relapse independent of stage, histological grade, breast cancer molecular subtypes and treatment received.

‘While some investigators could refer this to poor compliance of young women to hormonal therapies, we performed another analysis in 1 188 women who did not receive any systemic therapy, and indeed, found significant poor outcome in young women both in luminal-A and luminal-B tumours,’ said Dr Hatem A. Azim Jr of the Institut Jules Bordet.

Luminal-A cancers are ER+ and low-grade, while luminal-B cancers are ER+ but often high grade.

The team analysed the expression of different genes in women with breast cancer to determine if they correlated with age. In order to consider the tumour size at diagnosis, Dr Azim and his colleagues adjusted the results. They examined whether the disease had spread to lymph nodes, and the breast cancer molecular subtype, as well as other variables.

Their analysis was carried out on two independent data sets, including 1 188 and 2 334 patients. The findings were the same in both cases.

‘What we found was that even after adjustment for these parameters, there are several genes and gene signatures that are significantly associated with age in breast cancer patients,’ Dr Azim said. ‘Some were highly expressed in young women – including stem cells, luminal progenitors, RANK-ligand (RANKL) and c-kit – while others were down-regulated, such as genes related to programmed cell death, or apoptosis.’

According to the researchers, various signalling pathways in the breast cancers of young women could be potential targets for treatment. A case in point is a gene signature of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase molecular pathway closely linked with young age.

‘PI3k is an important targetable signalling pathway in breast cancer and perhaps these results could encourage investigating its role in breast cancer arising in young women,’ Dr Azim explained.

Another gene, RANKL, is also highly expressed in young breast cancer patients. Experts say this gene contributes to bone metastasis. Based on the results of emerging preclinical data, RANKL appears to have an anti-tumour effect besides contributing to the spread of bone cancer.

‘Putting all the information in context, we hypothesise that perhaps targeting RANKL could be particularly interesting in young breast cancer patients,’ Dr Azim concluded.