(Wiley) A recent Psycho-Oncology analysis of published studies found that few cancer survivors received financial information support from healthcare facilities during their initial treatment, even though cancer-related financial toxicity has multiple impacts on survivors' health and quality of life.

(Impact Journals LLC) Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 12 reported that the p16 tumor suppressor is coded by CDKN2A and plays an important role during carcinogenesis and tumor progression in numerous tumor entities.

Every summer, rainstorms occur in Hong Kong occasionally, leading to loss of property or even casualties.

(Dartmouth College) Expanded Dartmouth awards program gives prizes for 'spec fic' playwriting on what it means to be human in a computerized world.

(DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Using ORNL's now-decommissioned Titan supercomputer, a team of researchers estimated the combined consequences of many different extreme climate events at the county level, a unique approach that provided unprecedented regional and national climate projections that identified the areas most likely to face climate-related challenges.

(University of Massachusetts Amherst) As physicians and families know too well, though Alzheimer's disease has been intensely studied for decades, too much is still not known about molecular processes in the brain that cause it. Now researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst say new insights from analytic theory and molecular simulation techniques offer a better understanding of amyloid fibril growth and brain pathology.

(U.S. Army Research Laboratory) A US Army-funded project is identifying how officials at different levels of government can work together to encourage protective behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

(Goethe University Frankfurt) According to modern particle physics, matter produced when neutron stars merge is so dense that it could exist in a state of dissolved elementary particles. This state of matter, called quark-gluon plasma, might produce a specific signature in gravitational waves. Physicists at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies have now calculated this process using supercomputers.

(University of Arkansas) Giant elliptical galaxies are not as likely as disk-shaped galaxies, such as our own Milky Way, to be cradles of technological civilizations, according to a recent paper by a University of Arkansas astrophysicist.

(University of California - Irvine) Cyanobacteria living in rocks in Chile's Atacama Desert extract water from the minerals they colonize and, in doing so, change the phase of the material from gypsum to anhydrite. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and Johns Hopkins University gained verification of this process through experiments, and the work points to possible strategies for humans to stay hydrated in harsh environments.

(Arizona State University) An interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by Arizona State University, has provided a framework called a 'detectability index' to help prioritize exoplanets to study and provide scientists with a tool to select the best targets for observation and maximize the chances of detecting life.

(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) A new study, led by researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, suggests new paths for catching the signals of dark matter particles that have their energy absorbed by atomic nuclei.

(American Chemical Society) Antiviral drugs could help us fight the new coronavirus, but currently, we don't have a highly potent, effective antiviral that cures COVID-19. Why not? We called a few virologists to find out: https://youtu.be/AIpeZDR9i3E.

(University of Johannesburg) Fly ash generated by coal-fired power stations is a global environmental headache, creating groundwater and air pollution from vast landfills and ash dams. The waste product can be repurposed into geopolymer concrete, such as precast heat-cured structural elements for buildings. However, a critical durability problem has been low resistance to extreme alkali attack. UJ researchers found that high temperature heat-treatment at 200 degrees Celsius can halve this harmful mechanism in fly ash geopolymer concretes.

(University of Michigan) The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted just how reliant the United States and other countries are on Chinese manufacturing, with widespread shortages of protective medical gear produced there.

(University of Chicago Press Journals) A recent study confirms that Mesoamerican priests ripped the hearts out of their still-living victims in three different ways. New forensic evidence, historic witness accounts and native representations now show that the most common form of native heart extraction was from beneath the rib cage, second was forceful chest penetration between two ribs and at mid-chest level between the nipples, and thirdly, a mid-chest opening of one single blow, extracting the heart from the front.

(Bentham Science Publishers) Two authors representing environmental geomorphology and historical archaeology collaborated in an investigation that aimed to examine the material culture still evident in urban burial sites with dated, upstanding headstone memorials.

(Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) Three 16th-century skeletons from a mass burial in Mexico City highlight the role of the transatlantic slave trade in introducing and disseminating new pathogens to the Americas. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Mexico analyzed skeletal features, genetic data and isotopes to explore the life history of three enslaved Africans and explore the wide-ranging impacts of massive forced migration.

(Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona) Expansions by groups of humans were common during prehistoric times, after the adoption of agriculture. Among other factors, this is due to population growth of farmers which was greater than of that hunter-gatherers. We can find one example of this during the Neolithic period, when farming was introduced to Europe by migrations from the Middle East.

(University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture) David Mercker, an Extension forestry specialist with the University of Tennessee Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, has been named 2020 Extension Forester of the Year by the Forest Landowners Association (FLA). FLA is a national organization that promotes and protects the interests of private forest landowners and bestows this award annually as determined by its board of directors.

(National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) Researchers will soon have access to the full genomic sequences for 23 marine mammal species preserved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), thanks to an ongoing collaboration between NIST and a scientific consortium called the DNA Zoo.

(European Geosciences Union) A new declaration endorsed by EGU and other international geoscience societies affirms the commitment of the Earth, planetary and space science community to support and promote scientific knowledge and research for the benefit of humanity.

(Florida State University) Florida State University and partner universities investigated current baseline conditions in the southern Gulf to create a series of maps and guides that detail the distribution of carbon, nitrogen and the carbon-14 isotope.

As businesses slowly reopen, experts warn that social distancing may need to be dialed back up: ‘It’s not an on-off switch’ * Coronavirus – latest US updates * Coronavirus – latest global updatesSome California businesses on Friday began opening their doors for business – at least partially.As states and counties across the nation contend with pressure to lift the stay-at-home measures that have destroyed local economies, California is taking an especially cautious approach, walking a fine line between political and economic pressure to reopen and the public health imperative to stop the spread of disease.Public health experts told the Guardian that while no US state was equipped with enough coronavirus testing and surveillance to feel fully confident reopening, California’s slow, piecemeal recovery plan – though far from perfect – seemed like the least risky option. The planSeven weeks after the governor, Gavin Newsom, ordered his 40 million constituents to shelter in place and all non-essential businesses to close, California on Friday entered phase two of its grand reopening plan.Some retail stores, including bookshops, florists, music stores, clothing and sporting goods retailers, can reopen if they organize curbside pickup. Some manufacturing and logistics in the retail supply chain can restart as well, as long as they follow safety and hygiene protocols. And local authorities are allowed to ease regulations further than the state guidelines if they meet certain testing and sanitation requirements.Phase three of the plan – potentially months away – could see salons, gyms, movie theaters and in-person church services resume. Phase four would end all restrictions. The timingFriday’s reopenings come as California has avoided the surge of infections states like New York have seen. And although California has seen more than 61,000 cases and 2,500 deaths, its hospitals have not been overwhelmed.Last week, state officials reported the first week-over-week decline in Covid-19 deaths.The new guidelines also follow small but sustained protests across the state to demand a relaxation of regulations to revive the state’s crippled economy, and some rural counties have partially reopened in defiance of the lockdown measures. The caveatsHowever, California still hasn’t seen the two weeks of declining cases that the White House suggested as a criterion for easing restrictions and that several European countries have used as a benchmark.The state also lacks the robust testing and tracking systems that countries such as Germany and South Korea have used.The state has ramped up its ability to administer and process tests, although for now, its rate of 29,414 tests a day is below the figure required by some analyses.Authorities are working to put a robust contact tracing effort in place to make sure those who test positive get the care they need and are able to isolate themselves until they recover. Although some counties and communities have spearheaded community-wide testing and tracing programs, overall, the state isn’t at the point where its system is as widespread or efficient as a country like Germany’s.Experts say California should also have a system in place to make sure vulnerable, unhoused populations have access to shelter and medical care – to prevent infection flare-ups in homeless shelters and encampments. Progress on those measures heavily varies county by county.And ideally, there would be a treatment or a vaccine before reopening, said Dr Richard Jackson, a professor emeritus at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and the former head of the California department of public health. While we await a cure, Jackson cautioned, “no one should feel completely safe as we remove restrictions.” The trade-offsCalifornia’s reopening strategy stands in sharp contrast to the approach of states like Georgia, which suddenly allowed gyms, barber shops, hair salons, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys to welcome customers last week.“What certain places have done, where they’ve just thrown open the doors and said, ‘OK, we don’t have to keep our distance any more,’ is a colossal mistake,” Jackson said. Reopening businesses that put lots of people into close contact and speed the spread of disease will reverse the success of shelter-in-place rules, he noted, and overwhelm hospitals as cases surge. “Doing it very cautiously and carefully does make sense at this point in time,” he said.“I get that governors have to balance the public health goals with the economic goals,” said Dr Robert Tsai, surgeon and health policy researcher at Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. “But this stage of the pandemic is really all about trade-offs,” he noted. The weeks aheadIn the coming weeks, state and local leaders will have to watch closely and prepare to dial the distancing back up if the number of cases surges, said Tsai.“Social distancing isn’t an on-off switch. What it needs to be is a dial, which can be turned up or down depending on what the data show on the ground in terms of how the Covid-19 epidemic is progressing.“Reopening is going to be a very complicated process, and it should be complicated,” he added. “Because this is about making sure that people don’t end up in the hospital or dying.”That California’s plan allows for counties to maintain stricter distancing guidelines or ease up measures could be both a strength and a liability.The flexibility has allowed hotspots like the Bay Area and Los Angeles to take a more cautious approach, but it has also already caused confusion. In San Diego, where curbside shopping has already begun, business owners were unsure what, if anything, would change on Friday. In Bakersfield, restaurants allowed patrons to dine in on Monday and Tuesday, in defiance of the state’s guidelines.A hodgepodge reopening could cause surges in cases; Californians who travel between more lax and more strict counties could spread infections. Moreover, a rush to reopen fast in some areas could be counterproductive to economic recovery, said Alessandro Rebucci, an economist at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business.“If you reopen when the pandemic is still out there, people and businesses will not just go back to normal,” Rebucci noted. Based on research from China, it seems clear that fear of contracting the illness will keep businesses owners and patrons home until they feel it’s safe enough, he said.

(American Geriatrics Society) The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) annually honors researchers, clinicians, educators, and emerging health professionals who have made outstanding contributions to high-quality, person-centered care for older people. This year's award recipients include more than 20 leaders representing the breadth of disciplines championing care for us all as we age.

(American Geriatrics Society) The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Alexander K. Smith, MD, MPH, an associate professor of medicine at UCSF and one of geriatrics' most influential rising researchers and advocates, will be honored with the 2020/2021 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation.

(American Geriatrics Society) For only the second time in its near 80-year history, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will award one of its highest honors typically reserved for individuals to West Health, a family of nonprofit organizations dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable older adults to successfully age in place.

(Purdue University) New environmentally friendly technologies promise to be 'game changers' in the rare earth metals field and enable the US to create a more stable and reliable domestic source of these essential metals. Purdue University patented extraction and purifying processes using ligand-assisted chromatography are shown to remove and purify such metals from coal ash, recycled magnets and raw ore safely, efficiently and with virtually no detrimental environmental impact.

(University of Sydney) Data centres and digital information processors are reaching their capacity limits and producing heat. Foundational work here on optical-acoustic microchips opens door to low-heat, low-energy, fast internet.

Teri L. Hernandez
May 1, 2016; 29:82-88
From Research to Practice

Korey Capozza
May 1, 2015; 28:83-91
Feature Articles

Omar D. Fernandes
Jul 1, 2010; 23:194-198
Care Innovations

Hours after he was released from police lock-up last week, dancehall artiste Dexta Daps dropped some new music on his eager fans. The track, Breaking News, explores an all-too-familiar domestic violence storyline, but incorporates a controversial...

E xcess Love, a song by Nigerian gospel artiste Mercy Chinwo, has found favour with both Christians and non-Christians alike and has been flooding the airwaves since last year. Joanna Walker, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC)...

He's celebrating 10 years of dancing both competitively and in the street, and the co-founder of Unruly Skankaz, Devon Brown, says he is looking to expand the brand. The once three-member male dance group has grown to five, he told THE WEEKEND...

Persons with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and conditions such as high blood pressure and asthma are being urged to be particularly careful as those comorbidities have been identified in persons with COVID-19 in Jamaica requiring hospital care...

Her voice cracked as she related the story of a man with disabilities who lost his wife and whose child has had to drop out of school because he has no money. All he has is Bridgette Johnson, a fellow disabled person who has dedicated her life...

Research Event

Event participants

Silkie Carlo, Director, Big Brother Watch
Professor David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, University of California, Irvine, School of Law  
Professor Lorna McGregor, Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the ESRC, Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project
James Williams, Oxford Internet Institute
Chair: Harriet Moynihan, Associate Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House

Research Event

Event participants

Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Associate Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House
Ezequiel Heffes, Thematic Legal Adviser, Geneva Call
Sigrid Redse Johansen, Judge Advocate General, The Norwegian Armed Forces
Chair: Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Distinguished Fellow, Chatham House
Further speakers to be announced. 

15 October 2018

17 April 2014

As part of a roundtable series, Chatham House and China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) jointly organized this four-day meeting at Chatham House for international lawyers to discuss a wide range of issues related to public international law and the rights of individuals.

15 November 2014

As part of a roundtable series, Chatham House and China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) held a two-day roundtable meeting in Beijing on public international law and the rights of individuals.

6 March 2016

As part of a roundtable series, Chatham House, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and the Graduate Institute Geneva held a two-day roundtable meeting in Geneva on public international law and the rights of individuals.

3 June 2018

As part of a roundtable series, Chatham House and the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) held a two-day roundtable in Beijing on emerging issues of public international law. 

Research Event

Event participants

Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Associate Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House
Ezequiel Heffes, Thematic Legal Adviser, Geneva Call
Sigrid Redse Johansen, Judge Advocate General, Norwegian Armed Forces
Andrew Murdoch, Legal Director, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Chair: Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Distinguished Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House

β-Glucocerebrosidase (GBA) hydrolyzes glucosylceramide (GlcCer) to generate ceramide. Previously, we demonstrated that lysosomal GBA1 and nonlysosomal GBA2 possess not only GlcCer hydrolase activity, but also transglucosylation activity to transfer the glucose residue from GlcCer to cholesterol to form β-cholesterylglucoside (β-GlcChol) in vitro. β-GlcChol is a member of sterylglycosides present in diverse species. How GBA1 and GBA2 mediate β-GlcChol metabolism in the brain is unknown. Here, we purified and characterized sterylglycosides from rodent and fish brains. Although glucose is thought to be the sole carbohydrate component of sterylglycosides in vertebrates, structural analysis of rat brain sterylglycosides revealed the presence of galactosylated cholesterol (β-GalChol), in addition to β-GlcChol. Analyses of brain tissues from GBA2-deficient mice and GBA1- and/or GBA2-deficient Japanese rice fish (Oryzias latipes) revealed that GBA1 and GBA2 are responsible for β-GlcChol degradation and formation, respectively, and that both GBA1 and GBA2 are responsible for β-GalChol formation. Liquid chromatography–tandem MS revealed that β-GlcChol and β-GalChol are present throughout development from embryo to adult in the mouse brain. We found that β-GalChol expression depends on galactosylceramide (GalCer), and developmental onset of β-GalChol biosynthesis appeared to be during myelination. We also found that β-GlcChol and β-GalChol are secreted from neurons and glial cells in association with exosomes. In vitro enzyme assays confirmed that GBA1 and GBA2 have transgalactosylation activity to transfer the galactose residue from GalCer to cholesterol to form β-GalChol. This is the first report of the existence of β-GalChol in vertebrates and how β-GlcChol and β-GalChol are formed in the brain.

Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is highly expressed in the liver, small intestine, and kidney, where it functions in both the transport of exogenous long-chain fatty acids and the activation of very-long-chain fatty acids. Here, using a murine model, we investigated the phenotypic impacts of deleting FATP2, followed by a transcriptomic analysis using unbiased RNA-Seq to identify concomitant changes in the liver transcriptome. WT and FATP2-null (Fatp2−/−) mice (5 weeks) were maintained on a standard chow diet for 6 weeks. The Fatp2−/− mice had reduced weight gain, lowered serum triglyceride, and increased serum cholesterol levels and attenuated dietary fatty acid absorption. Transcriptomic analysis of the liver revealed 258 differentially expressed genes in male Fatp2−/− mice and a total of 91 in female Fatp2−/− mice. These genes mapped to the following gene ontology categories: fatty acid degradation, peroxisome biogenesis, fatty acid synthesis, and retinol and arachidonic acid metabolism. Targeted RT-quantitative PCR verified the altered expression of selected genes. Of note, most of the genes with increased expression were known to be regulated by peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor α (PPARα), suggesting that FATP2 activity is linked to a PPARα-specific proximal ligand. Targeted metabolomic experiments in the Fatp2−/− liver revealed increases of total C16:0, C16:1, and C18:1 fatty acids; increases in lipoxin A4 and prostaglandin J2; and a decrease in 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. We conclude that the expression of FATP2 in the liver broadly affects the metabolic landscape through PPARα, indicating that FATP2 provides an important role in liver lipid metabolism through its transport or activation activities.

Bokai Song
Apr 28, 2020; 0:RA120.001981v1-mcp.RA120.001981
Research