Podcasts about nature scientific reports

durée : 00:04:51 - Avec sciences - par : Alexandre Morales - Une étude parue récemment dans la revue Nature Scientific Reports s'est intéressée aux marqueurs génétiques des groupes sanguins de plusieurs représentants du groupe Homo. Leurs résultats nous éclairent sur le succès évolutif de nos ancêtres.

Kaip dėl klimato kaitos keitėsi senovinės žemdirbystės strategijos šiaurės rytų Europoje per pastaruosius du tūkstančius metų? Apie tai kalbėsimės su Istorijos fakulteto profesore Giedre Motuzaite Matuzevičiūte, kurios tyrimams neseniai skirta Europos mokslo tarybos dviejų milijonų eurų vertės dotacija. O prieš kelias dienas jos ir kolegų tyrimo rezultatai atspausdinti prestižiniame žurnale „Nature: Scientific Reports“.Priklausomybės nuo alkoholio ir nuo opioidų išlieka vienomispagrindinių, dėl kurių žmonės ieško pagalbos, rodo Respublikinio priklausomybės ligų centro apibendrinti 2024 m. duomenys. Tiesa, specialistai pastebi ir naujų ryškėjančių tendencijų – daugėja nepilnamečių, žalingai vartojančių keletą skirtingų psichoaktyvių medžiagų, bei vis daugiau žmonių kreipiasi dėl priklausomybės nuo rūkymo.Paaiškėjo Eurovizijos lietuviškosios atrankos finalininkai. Kaip juos vertinate?Lietuvoje buriasi balfolko šokių bendruomenės. Balfolkas iš pirmo žvilgsnio primena tradicinius folklorinius šokius, kurie nuo seno įprasti Lietuvoje – polką ar valsą. Tačiau balfolko vakaronėje gali pasijausti ir kaip Airijoje ar kitoje Europos šalyje. Kuo įdomūs šie Lietuvoje populiarėjantys šokiai? Balfolko pamokoje lankėsi kolegė Anastasija Marčenkaitė.

In 1986, the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl- then in the USSR, now in Ukraine- experienced meltdown. This disaster is one of the worst in nuclear history. However, there are some biological consequences we should explore. Sources for this episode: The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2020), Chernobyl accident summary (online) (Accessed 29/05/2024). The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Half-life (online) (Accessed 31/05/2024). Ellegren, H., Lingren, G., Primmer, C. R. and Møller, A. P. (1997), Fitness loss and germline mutations in barn swallows breeding in Chernobyl. Nature 389: 593-596. Hine, R. S. (2019), Oxford Dictionary of Biology (8th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Møller, A. P. and Mousseau, T. A. (2015), Strong effects of ionizing radiation from Chernobyl on mutation rates. Nature Scientific Reports 5: 8363. Weinberg, H. Sh., Korol, A. B., Kirzhner, V. M., Avivi, A., Fahima, T., Nevo, E., Shapiro, S., Rennert, G., Piatak, O., Stepanova, E. I. and Skvarskaja, E. (2001), Very high mutation rate in offspring of Chernobyl accident liquidators. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 268: 1001-1005.

Some optimistic and positive science news to end the year.For rats, anticipation of a pleasurable event is a pleasure in itself One day early in the pandemic, behavioural neuroscientist Kelly Lambert from the University of Richmond went to check on her rats. The rats responded with excitement when they saw her, anticipating the treats they were about to receive. That inspired her to pivot her research to study the effects that anticipating pleasurable experiences could have on the brain. She's found in research that has yet to be published, that building in anticipation periods before they get to do something they enjoy, increases, which, if her findings extend to humans, could help boost mental resiliency. Their previous work was published in Behavioural Brain Research. How Marine Protected Areas are improving tuna fisheriesA comprehensive study of province-sized marine protected areas in the tropical pacific has shown that they not only provide a refuge for fish, but improve tuna fisheries harvests in the areas outside their borders, making a win-win for conservation and industry. John Lynham, a professor of Economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, led the study which was published in the journal Science.For chimpanzees, play and the world plays with youA study of chimpanzees in Zambia has revealed that play and grooming are infectious behaviours. Animals who observe others performing these activities are more likely to groom and play themselves, which the researchers think promotes social cohesion in the troop. Zanna Clay, a professor of Psychology at Durham University, was part of the team, which published their research in the journal PLOS One.The oceans smallest plants and animals could help suck up excess atmospheric carbonResearchers may have discovered a new, fairly simple way to stimulate life in the ocean to capture and lock up atmospheric carbon. Phytoplankton absorbs and then releases 150 billion tons of atmospheric carbon every year. The researchers found that by adding just a little bit of clay to a phytoplankton bloom, this glues carbon particles together, creating “carbon snow” that falls down and is eaten by zooplankton, who then deposit it in the deep ocean. Mukul Sharma, a professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College, says that in the lab this method locked up 90 per cent of the carbon that phytoplankton released. His study was published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.A seal of approval: Unique elephant seal behaviour observed by a failed experimentA team of researchers developed a sophisticated deep-water experiment to observe and listen for sounds made by sablefish. They were startled when their study site was repeatedly visited by elephant seals, who would chase and chow down on the sablefish — all at 645 meters below the ocean's surface. This accidental observation was made in the Barkley Canyon Node, part of the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) cabled video-observatory. It was the first time that elephant seals were studied in the deep ocean, giving unexpected and valuable new insights into seal resting and foraging behaviour. The findings were published in the journal PLOS One.Producer Amanda Buckiewicz spoke with Rodney Rountree, an independent biologist, ichthyologist, and adjunct marine biologist in the Department of Biology at Victoria University.And Héloïse Frouin-Mouy, an assistant scientist at the University of Miami's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, and affiliate at the University of Victoria.

Dr. Michele Gelfand is a cultural psychologist and author of Rule Makers, Rule Breakers. She joins us to discusses how “tight” and “loose” cultures shape societies. Tight cultures, like Japan's, respond to threats with strict rules and order, while looser ones, like the U.S., allow greater flexibility. Gelfand suggests a balanced “Goldilocks” approach, adjusting strictness and flexibility to suit each environment's needs, from families to organizations. She also explores online accountability, recommending "nudges" to promote civility, and sees AI as a potential tool for managing biases and promoting understanding.     Guest Bio Michele Gelfand is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Professor of Psychology by Courtesy at Stanford University. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture--as well as its multilevel consequences for human groups. Her work has been cited over 20,000 times and has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Voice of America, Fox News, NBC News, ABC News, The Economist, De Standard, among other outlets.   Gelfand has published her work in many scientific outlets such as Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Psychological Science, Nature Scientific Reports, PLOS 1, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Research in Organizational Behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology, Annual Review of Psychology, American Psychologist, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Current Opinion in Psychology, among others. She has received over 13 million dollars in research funding from the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and the FBI.   As a native New Yorker, Michele is now a California transplant. She is married to Todd Betke and has two daughters, Jeanette and Hannah, two birds (Bonnie and Theo) and a Portuguese water dog, Pepper.     Show Notes (1:47) What is culture? (4:08) The age that we start learning norms (10:01) What makes a person or nation a tight versus a loose culture (15:12) How the movement of people affect looseness and tightness dynamics (17:57) How changes in attitudes occur (20:59) Tightness doesn't mean a lack of creativity (24:26) The Goldilocks Approach (30:49) Avoiding becoming too tight or too loose (32:55) Applying the Goldilocks Approach on social media (35:56) The disrupting force technology can have on loose and tight cultures (38:19) AI's ability to understand culture (41:11) What's next for Dr. Michele Gelfand (45:00) How to follow Michele's work     Links Referenced Values, Political Action, and Change in the Middle East and the Arab Spring: https://www.amazon.com/Values-Political-Action-Change-Middle/dp/019026909X Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World: https://www.amazon.com/Rule-Makers-Breakers-Tight-Cultures/dp/1501152939 Personal website: michelegelfand.com  

While using nuclear fission has been well established and used commercially for decades to generate electricity, nuclear fusion has remained out of reach because of the extremely complicated engineering, and extraordinary power and resource needs required. There's another branch of fusion research known as 'cold fusion' which takes a different approach to fuse atoms together that does not require huge amounts of energy and resources. Our guest is working on his own approach to cold fusion and has achieved interesting, early results that have now been published in the May, 2024 edition of the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Plus Humans Prefer AI Poetry Like this? Get AIDAILY, delivered to your inbox, every weekday. Subscribe to our newsletter at https://aidaily.us Elon Musk Predicts AI Will Surpass Doctors and Lawyers in Diagnoses Elon Musk anticipates that AI will outperform doctors and lawyers as ChatGPT-4 recently achieved a 90% diagnostic accuracy rate, surpassing medical professionals. This follows statements from Abacus.AI's CEO, who argued AI could excel in diagnosis and legal tasks. Musk envisions AI evolving beyond human roles, possibly with multiple humanoid robots per human. Study Finds People Prefer AI Poetry Over Human Works A recent study in Nature Scientific Reports found that people often favor AI-generated poetry over human-written poems, appreciating its clarity and accessible themes. When told a poem was AI-made, however, ratings dropped, highlighting a bias. The study prompts reflection on how technology intersects with human creativity.  Could AI Step in During Worker Strikes? After New York Times tech workers went on strike, Perplexity's CEO offered AI support to maintain website function on election day. The offer sparked controversy, as some viewed it as undermining the union's leverage. This raises questions on AI's role in labor conflicts and workers' rights.  AI Outperforms Humans in Disease Detection on Histopathology Slides Washington State University engineers and biologists have created an AI system that identifies disease in tissue images, surpassing human abilities in speed and accuracy. Using scalable deep learning, the model efficiently detects pathologies in gigapixel images and even flags missed instances. This breakthrough, combining computer vision and medicine, could transform diagnostics. Are Humans and AI Evolving Together? Exploring Human-AI Coevolution The concept of human-AI coevolution suggests humans and AI influence each other's development. While AI aids human learning and adapts from user interactions, skeptics argue that AI's "evolution" lacks true autonomy. Advocates believe this interplay will increasingly shape society, raising ethical questions on control and influence. Demis Hassabis on AI's Role in Decoding Reality Demis Hassabis sees AI as pivotal in exploring life's big questions, like time and consciousness. From AlphaFold's Nobel-recognized protein-folding to flood predictions and brain mapping, AI is advancing science at "digital speed." Hassabis advocates ethical AI development, urging collaboration for safe, transformative progress.  AI's Impact on Full-Time Careers and Gig Economy Growth in 2025 Experts predict AI will replace some full-time roles, shifting more people into gig and freelance work. Embracing AI culture will be crucial for efficient adaptation. Meanwhile, AI-powered recruitment tools and structured digital interviews will enhance hiring processes, but increased regulation and ethical concerns remain

Gli odori possono condizionare i comportamenti dei nostri animali. Un recente studio pubblicato su Nature Scientific Reports ha dimostrato che gli animali che vivono con noi assorbono inconsciamente le nostre emozioni attraverso i cambiamenti negli odori che emettiamo. Ne parliamo con il prof. Roberto Marchesini, etologo e filosofo.

Molly Watts discusses the benefits of 10 minutes of daily aerobic exercise on brain health, mood, and memory, citing research by neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, particularly the hippocampus, promoting neurogenesis and cognitive function. Regular exercise can slow or reverse age-related brain shrinkage and cognitive decline. Watts emphasizes the importance of consistency over intensity, suggesting activities like brisk walking or dancing for 10 minutes daily. She ties this to the alcohol minimalist journey, highlighting exercise as a natural way to counteract alcohol-induced brain fog and boost dopamine and serotonin levels. Watts encourages listeners to start small, track progress, and observe the positive impact on mood and stress management.Action Items[ ] Start each day with 10 minutes of movement, such as a brisk walk, dancing, or cycling.[ ] Track the impact of the 10-minute daily exercise on your mood, focus, and stress response.OutlineBrain Health and NeuroplasticityMolly Watts introduces the episode, focusing on brain health, neuroscience, and behavior change.She mentions the importance of creating small, sustainable habits for long-term change.Molly introduces Dr. Wendy Suzuki's research on the brain-changing benefits of exercise.The episode aims to discuss how 10 minutes of daily movement can improve brain health, mood, and memory.The Role of Exercise in Brain HealthMolly explains that exercise can enhance memory, boost mood, and potentially protect against dementia.She highlights the importance of neuroplasticity and how exercise can make the brain more elastic and adaptable.Dr. Suzuki's research shows that 10 minutes of aerobic exercise can significantly impact brain health.Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, especially the hippocampus, which is crucial for learning and memory.Neurogenesis and Cognitive FunctionMolly discusses how blood flow promotes neurogenesis, the growth of new neurons.Exercise helps maintain and improve the brain's ability to form new connections as we age.Dr. Suzuki calls exercise the "antidote to aging" because it can slow down or reverse brain shrinkage associated with cognitive decline.A study in Nature Scientific Reports found that even 10 minutes of light exercise can increase connectivity between the hippocampus and other brain regions involved in memory processing.The Iterative Mindset and ConsistencyMolly emphasizes the importance of consistency over intensity in exercise.She discusses the all-or-nothing mindset and encourages taking small, consistent actions.Adding 10 minutes of movement to your day can lead to significant improvements in brain health over time.Molly ties this back to the iterative mindset, which is about small, consistent actions leading to lasting change.Exercise as a Replacement for AlcoholMolly explains how exercise can counteract the brain fog caused by habitual daily drinking.Exercise boosts the production of dopamine and serotonin, which are impacted by alcohol use.Molly suggests using exercise as a replacement for alcohol in moments of stress or emotional discomfort.Movement stimulates the brain's reward system, helping to regulate emotions and feel more in control.Immediate and Long-Term Benefits of ExerciseMolly highlights that even a single session of moderate exercise can boost mood and improve focus.Small, incremental changes in exercise can lead to lasting transformation.Dr. Suzuki recommends starting with 10 minutes of moderate exercise each day for consistency.The key is to do it every day, regardless of intensity, to promote neurogenesis and reduce the risk of cognitive decline.Accessibility and Consistency in ExerciseMolly emphasizes that 10 minutes of exercise is accessible to everyone, regardless of fitness level.The goal is to add movement into your routine without overhauling your lifestyle.Molly discusses the iterative mindset, which involves starting small and building up to big results.Consistency in exercise can have profound effects on brain health and overall well-being.Challenge and ConclusionMolly challenges listeners to start each day with 10 minutes of movement and track their progress.She encourages listeners to notice how it impacts their mood, focus, and stress response.Molly thanks listeners for joining and invites them to review and share the episodes with others.She concludes by emphasizing the importance of small, consistent actions for long-term brain health and mindset improvement. ★ Support this podcast ★

It takes fungi-sniffing dogs, back-room deals, and a guy named “The Kingpin” for the world's most coveted morsel to end up on your plate. Zachary Crockett picks up the scent. SOURCES:Jason McKinney, co-founder and C.E.O. of Truffle Shuffle.Besart Morina, truffle dealer. RESOURCES:"Dogs Pay the Price in Italian Truffle War," by Margherita Stancati (The Wall Street Journal, 2022)."How Truffles Took Root Around the World," by Federico Kukso (Smithsonian Magazine, 2022)."Has the American-Grown Truffle Finally Broken Through?" by Rowan Jacobsen (Smithsonian Magazine, 2021)."Sonoma County Farm Strikes Black Truffle Gold After 9 Years of Waiting," by Jenn Harris (Los Angeles Times, 2021)."In Nicolas Cage's ‘Pig,' How Much Is the Truffle Hog Worth Anyway?" by Victoria Petersen (The New York Times, 2021)."Predicted Climate Change Will Increase the Truffle Cultivation Potential in Central Europe," by Tomáš Čejka, Miroslav Trnka, Paul J. Krusic, Ulrich Stobbe, Daniel Oliach, Tomáš Václavík, Willy Tegel, and Ulf Büntgen (Nature Scientific Reports, 2020)."Inside the Exceptionally Shady World of Truffle Fraud," by Ryan Jacobs (Eater, 2019)."Truffle Thieves Face Paramilitary Threat," by Kim Willsher (The Guardian, 2012)."The Hidden Life of Truffles," by James M. Trappe and Andrew W. Claridge (Scientific American, 2010)."Cultivation of Black Truffle to Promote Reforestation and Land-Usestability," by José Antonio Bonet, Christine R. Fischer, and Carlos Colinas (Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2006).

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals founder Ingrid Newkirk has been badgering meat-eaters, fur-wearers, and circus-goers for more than 40 years. For a woman who's leaving her liver to the president of France in her will, she sounds quite sensible when she tells Steve what we can learn from animals, why she supports euthanasia, and who'll get her other organs.  SOURCE:Ingrid Newkirk, founding president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. RESOURCES:"Paradoxical Gender Effects in Meat Consumption Across Cultures," by Christopher J. Hopwood, Jahn N. Zizer, Wiebke Bleidorn, et al. (Nature Scientific Reports, 2024)."PETA President Bequeaths Her Rump to a Reality Show," (PETA.org, 2023).Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion, by Ingrid Newkirk (2020)."One Last U.S. Medical School Still Killed Animals to Teach Surgery. But No More," by Darryl Fears (The Washington Post, 2016)."The Naked and the Dead," by Katie Glass (The Times, 2013)."The Betrayal of 'No-Kill' Sheltering," by Ingrid Newkirk (PETA YouTube channel, 2013)."The Lab-Monkey Controversy That Launched the Animal-Rights Movement," by Caroline Fraser (The New Yorker, 1993). EXTRAS:"Suleika Jaouad's Survival Mechanisms," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024)."Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She's Not Done," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022)."Peter Singer Isn't a Saint, But He's Better Than Steve Levitt," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022)."Bruce Friedrich Thinks There's a Better Way to Eat Meat," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).Project Donor.

Говорићемо о првим реаговањима на научни рад о утицају истражних активности потенцијалног рудника литијума на животну средину у западној Србији који је крајем јула објављен у часопису "Nature Scientific Reports“. Поводом Међународне ноћи слепих мишева чућете каква је њихова улога у екосистему, по чему су специфични и зашто постоји толико предрасуда о тим сисарима? Биће речи и о истраживањима флоре Петроварадинске тврђаве, о улагањима управљача ЈП “Војводина шуме“ у Специјалне резервате природе “Обедска бара“ и „Горње Подунавље“ и унапређењу стања рибљег фонда на Тамишу. Уредник и водитељ: Драгана Ратковић

How do we break through existing boundaries in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology? What barriers currently hinder the progress of BCI, and how can overcoming these challenges revolutionize the field? In this episode of the Neurocareers Podcast BCI Award series, we're diving deep into the innovative world of BCIs with Dr. Vincent Rouanne. As a nominee for the 2022 BCI Award, Vincent's work represents a significant leap forward in the field. His groundbreaking project, published in Nature Scientific Reports, introduces the auto-adaptive BCI (aaBCI). This technology challenges traditional BCI constraints, particularly the extensive need for calibration and training, opening new avenues for user-friendly interfaces. Dr. Rouanne's approach involves Motor Task Performance (MTP) Decoders and Control Decoders, which together enhance the system's ability to understand and respond to the user's intentions with remarkable accuracy. This novel methodology reduces user effort and significantly improves the adaptability and efficiency of BCI systems. Dr. Rouanne's work was developed at Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI, Clinatec, in collaboration with esteemed colleagues, setting a new standard in the field. In today's episode, Vincent shares his insights from the BCI Award project submission process and offers invaluable advice for successful submissions. He also provides career guidance for aspiring scientists who wish to follow in his footsteps, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in neuroscience and BCI technology. The International BCI Award is back and bigger than ever! If you're working on pioneering BCI research, don't miss your chance to gain international recognition. With a total endowment of $6,000 USD and opportunities to publish and present your work globally, this is an opportunity to shine at the forefront of neuroscience innovation. Submission Deadline: September 1st, 2024 Prize Details: 1st Place: $3000 USD 2nd Place: $2000 USD 3rd Place: $1000 USD Nominees will be invited to: Submit a chapter for the BCI State-of-the-Art book series by Springer. Present their work at the prestigious BCI Award Ceremony. Receive keynote invitations to the BCI & Neurotechnology Spring School. Submission Process: Write a clear two-page description of your project in English. Create a concise two-minute video explaining your project. Email your documents and video to submit@bci-award.com before the deadline. Attend the virtual ceremony or send a delegate for potential awards. Prepare for global recognition and a significant impact in the BCI community. For more details on submission and criteria, visit BCI Award Submission Information: https://www.bci-award.com/Home Let's shape the future of BCI together! Join us in celebrating innovation and pushing the frontiers of neuroscience. Tune in to this exciting episode and get inspired by Dr. Vincent Rouanne's journey in advancing neurotechnology! About the Podcast Guest: Vincent Rouanne, PhD, is at the forefront of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology, passionately working to advance research and facilitate the integration of BCIs into everyday life. With a PhD in Neuroscience, Dr. Rouanne combines advanced academic knowledge with extensive hands-on experience in Machine Learning, Signal Processing, and Brain Data Acquisition. His professional background is marked by pivotal roles in cutting-edge environments, including a leading neuroengineering startup, MindMaze, as well as top-tier BCI research labs such as Clinatec in Grenoble, France, and the CNBI lab in Lausanne, Switzerland. These positions have sharpened his expertise in areas crucial to the development and application of neurotechnology. Areas of Expertise: Data Science & Analysis: Skilled in leveraging large datasets to develop insights that propel BCI technology forward. Signal Processing: Expert in manipulating complex neural signals to enhance the functionality and integration of BCIs. Neural Networks & Artificial Intelligence: Innovates with AI models to improve BCI adaptability and user experience. Research and Development: Committed to pioneering advancements in neurotechnology through rigorous research and development. Programming: Proficient in Python, Matlab, and C++, using these tools to build sophisticated healthcare and neurotechnology applications. Dr. Rouanne is dedicated to using his extensive knowledge and unique skills to contribute to a future where BCIs enhance human capabilities, improving the quality of life and transforming healthcare delivery. Connect with Vincent Rouanne, PhD on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-rouanne-384b76147 About the Podcast Host: The Neurocareers podcast is brought to you by The Institute of Neuroapproaches (https://www.neuroapproaches.org/) and its founder, Milena Korostenskaja, Ph.D. (Dr. K), a neuroscience educator, research consultant, and career coach for people in neuroscience and neurotechnologies. As a professional coach with a background in the field, Dr. K understands the unique challenges and opportunities job applicants face in this field and can provide personalized coaching and support to help you succeed. Here's what you'll get with one-on-one coaching sessions from Dr. K: Identification and pursuit of career goals Guidance on job search strategies, resume, and cover letter development Neurotech / neuroscience job interview preparation and practice Networking strategies to connect with professionals in the field of neuroscience and neurotechnologies Ongoing support and guidance to help you stay on track and achieve your goals You can always schedule a free neurocareer consultation/coaching session with Dr. K at https://neuroapproaches.as.me/free-neurocareer-consultation Subscribe to our Nerocareers Newsletter to stay on top of all our cool neurocareers news at updates https://www.neuroapproaches.org/neurocareers-news

On today's edition of the Newsroom Temperature Check, today is Flag Day! 246 years ago, Congress created our national flag by commemorating Betsy Ross’ creation of the Stars & Stripes. A study published in Nature Scientific Reports revealed that men do eat more meat than women, and more! The Newsroom Temperature Check is sponsored by American Weathermakers, Heating, Cooling, and […]

Meet Alexander Ballatori and Shane Shahrestani, two innovative minds revolutionizing the medtech industry with their groundbreaking company, StrokeDX. Their story is not just about technological innovation; it's a tale of resilience, determination, and a deep-rooted desire to enhance stroke care. Amidst financial hurdles and skepticism, their commitment to transforming stroke diagnosis and treatment shines through. Their episode is a must-listen for anyone intrigued by the confluence of medical technology, entrepreneurial spirit, and the profound impact of personal experiences in shaping healthcare solutions.   Guest links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-shahrestani/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-ballatori/ Charity supported: Sleep in Heavenly Peace Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at podcast@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editing: Marketing Wise Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 027 - Alexander Ballatori & Shane Shahrestani [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. [00:00:50] Hello, and welcome back to The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am so excited to introduce you to my guests today, Alex Ballatori and Shane Sharasani. They are the creators and innovators extraordinaire behind StrokeDX, and I'm so excited just to talk with them, find out more about the innovation and see where they're going from here. So thank you all so much for being here. [00:01:11] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah. Thank you so much for having us. We're really excited to be here. [00:01:15] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent. Excellent. I'd love if you two wouldn't mind starting off by just sharing a little bit about yourself, your background and, well, let's stop there. Let's do that first. [00:01:26] Alexander Ballatori: Great. I'll go ahead. So, I'm Alex. I'm originally from upstate New York, from Rochester, so very grateful to be in sunny California at the moment. Now that we're entering the winter period. But I went to the University of Rochester to study biology and chemistry. I was really interested in medtech and medicine in general. And I want to take some time before deciding what type of graduate degree I was going to pursue as well as learn a bit more about the startup ecosystem. So I ended up living in San Francisco for a few years. I really got to see a lot with respect to medtech in general, predominantly in the orthopedic in the pediatric health space, and then I ended up choosing to go to medical school where I met Shane is my first roommate in medical school and we hit it off right away started. [00:02:07] This is our 2nd business together and yeah very passionate about stroke. Stroke has impacted my family numerous times and when I saw this creative solution that Shane developed during his PhD and also just given my long lasting interest in medtech, it was a no brainer to start this company with him, but I'll let him kind of take over from there, give him some background, and then we can dive into more about our story as a company. [00:02:32] Shane Shahrestani: Thanks, Alex. Yeah, so my name is Shane Sharasani. I grew up in sunny Southern California, very different from Rochester. And I was at UCLA for undergrad. I studied neuroscience and then I did my MD PhD, my MD at USC and my PhD at Caltech. And the way they designed that is you do 2 years of med school, you do the full PhD and you come back and you finish med school. So in the first 2 years, I saw the effect that stroke had on patients. And when I went into my PhD, I wanted to develop technology that can solve that problem. Namely, having timely access to stroke care diagnosis that you receive faster treatment because time is brain. So that's where this idea came about. [00:03:13] We pivoted this tech from the aerospace industry and developed this tech for stroke detection. And when it came time to spinning out of Caltech, there was no other partner that I wanted on this other than Alex. He's my best friend and also my first roommate, as he said. So it made sense to work together and we work very well together. So since then, it's been a exciting journey since the end of 2020 when we spun out and filled with highs and lows. And we're happy to be here today on this podcast. Thank you. [00:03:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, of course. Again, thank you all so much for being here. And it's just fun to hear how you guys got connected in the first place, and the fact that, you know, this roommate, which could be so hit or miss, let's be honest. And it just turned into this fantastic friendship and now business partnership. So I love hearing those kinds of background stories. So, you know, Alex, you mentioned having a personal connection to stroke, and perhaps Shane, you do as well, but I would love if you would share a little bit about your, your own experience and kind of what really motivated you all to tackle this issue and to try to make a difference in this arena. [00:04:26] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, so, I mean, it started really close to home with my grandfather, actually, as well as a couple other uncles and great uncles, unfortunately. And, you know, my, so both my family, both my parents are clinicians by training. And so, when I saw them, and I saw the care that they received, my, my family was always, my, both my parents were very strong advocates for anyone in my family that became ill. And when I saw my family members go through stroke care, I saw that even if you have the best advocate at one of the best hospitals, there's still so many inefficiencies in the care that we can deliver. [00:05:00] And then going to medical school and seeing it firsthand when we are now. I was functioning as the provider at that point, there's just so, it's just so many issues. And despite all the advancements we've made from surgical technique and therapeutics, we haven't put a dent in stroke outcomes in multiple decades. So, you know, when we, when I first saw what this technology could do, the chain had developed at the price point that it can, also at the safety level and in the amount of time that it can deliver this information, I saw all of those problems from at my, within my family and within my medical training. That could be solved just with this simple, elegant, low cost solution. [00:05:42] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's incredible. And Shane, do you have anything to add to your own experience with stroke and what motivated you to develop this? [00:05:51] Shane Shahrestani: Yeah, of course. So I briefly touched upon the fact that I went to the PhD, I already had some experience with stroke in terms of dealing with patients in medical school and really looking at the inefficiencies there. Why are we ordering so many CTs? There has to be a better way to monitor at the bedside. And why do we not have that? Right? And now I work as a neurosurgery resident and those problems still exist. So many patients every day have to be sent back to the scanner just because something changed about their exam, and we have no idea what happened until we send them down to this big, bulky, expensive machine that requires transport. It uses radiation and there have to be better ways to solve these problems and provide the information at a point of care at a efficient cost to the patient in the hospital system. [00:06:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And so I would love if you both or one would share a little bit about the technology itself, kind of where you are in process with approvals and all that fun regulatory excitement and just, you know, what do you envision for your company as it grows? [00:07:01] Shane Shahrestani: So from a tech perspective, there are sensors that they use in aerospace to look for cracks in airplane wings. And we have methods for non destructive detection. That's what they call it: "non destructive testing and detection" that we use every day in other fields. So what we did is, we took this technology and we optimized it for the human body, specifically for the brain and by doing so you can create a non invasive handheld, small, cheap, portable, non radiating technology that you can use anywhere to quickly assess objectively how the brain is doing in terms of its cerebrovascular health, right? [00:07:52] And the idea is it works a lot like a metal detector, right? And in stroke, you can either have too much blood in the hemorrhage or too little. And in ischemic stroke, where you're literally stopping blood flow. And if you have a metal detector that's tuned for the human body and for blood, then you can quickly assess how is the blood flow changing and what are we going to do about it? So that's the technology, and I'll pass it over to Alex to talk about the rest. [00:08:17] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, so absolutely. So given that this technology can differentiate, localize, as well as produce an image of where the lesion is, and in stroke, again, there's two types of stroke. You need to know what type of stroke they're having. And then once they have the stroke can progress over time. So back in 2020 and 2021, when Shane was first validating this technology with an NIH funded grant awarded to Caltech and USC, we saw that it could provide all of that critical information in a very compact form and in a very low cost form. [00:08:48] So once we published that information in Nature Scientific Reports, we went out and started the company. We went out and started to raise money. And one of the, one of the things that we knew is that our basis, the basic form of our technology the common baseline principle, how it works could impact the entire stroke continuum. Right? So the stroke space has a lot of problems. So, for example, 1 out of 6 stroke patients in an ambulance goes to the wrong hospital because we can't evaluate their brain. Often stroke patients are just found down. Right? [00:09:20] So as an EMS personnel, all you want to do is get them to the closest hospital. But unfortunately, not all hospitals can manage stroke patients. So, one out of six times they're wrong, and that leads to hours in their delays in care. And like Shane said, time is brain. Every minute that passes, you lose a million neurons irreversibly. So, that's the first problem. It's kind of like the EMS. [00:09:38] Then in the emergency department, it still takes quite a while to rule in stroke, because we rely on CT scans. And there's also just a whole slew of things that have to happen for a patient in that process of getting admitted to the hospital. So stroke on average takes over two hours to diagnose from the initial symptom onset. So that's kind of the pre hospital, early hospital problem within stroke care. [00:10:01] The other big problem in stroke care is we don't have any way of monitoring patients at the bedside with a disease that's rapidly progressing. And so currently we just send patients back down to CT, on average four times for admission. And so 80%, unfortunately, these repeat scans are negative. Nothing had changed in the brain, but we require objective information to manage these patients appropriately. So we keep sending them back. [00:10:26] The other problem not to get too into the weeds with this is that most stroke patients are above the age of 65. They are enrolled in Medicare and the Medicare bundled payment system. Ever since it came out, hospitals have been losing money across the board route on stroke care, and a big contributing factors are inability to monitor and image the brain in a timely manner. So that problem also goes into the neuro rehab setting where hospitals are now pressured to push patients into neurorehab where they're getting paid, you know, per diem. And also can kind of close the DRG. [00:10:56] So you can kind of look at the stroke continuum as two problems. The early hospital, pre hospital, and then the inpatient inability to monitor this rapidly progressing disease. We have built an automated device for that second space, the inpatient and neurorehab space. Which is an automated, lightweight device that takes our sensor and has two mechanical arms that move it around the patient's head in a completely automated fashion, removing the human element to the path and the scanning path. [00:11:23] And so what that enables us to do is it enables us to put this device-- it sits right at the head of the bed-- all you have to do as a user is set them up in it, which takes less than a minute. You press go on a tablet and it scans everything and tells you all the information that's happening right at the point of care. It also enables us to leave it on and monitor patients over time, which is going to be a game changer in inpatient stroke care, where currently it takes quite a while to get patients to CT. [00:11:48] And again, 80 percent of the time it was a negative scan. So it's a completely inefficient process. That's actually we estimate to be over a 6 billion in efficiency in the U. S. alone. So we're first pursuing that, but not to say that we're not interested in the pre hospital space. We still are very interested in prehospital stroke ruling and so a lot of our diluted first round of our first round of funding, which was just about a year ago, we came to our 1 year mark, like 4 or 5 days ago, is spending a lot of time on improving our sensors capabilities, which we've improved about 3 X from what it was back in 2021. [00:12:21] So ultimately we are pursuing the inpatient space first, because there's a very clear problem for us to solve that we can solve, but it's not to say that we're not going to go for the outpatient space at a later date. We are still very actively pursuing it because our technology will be the one to solve that problem as well. [00:12:39] Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. And I love how bold and confident y'all are in your ability to do this because it's exciting to see that there are such amazing innovations and there's progress in this space. So thank you for doing the work to make that happen. I know that's going to impact so many people's lives. And also, I want to say congratulations because y'all are winning so many awards. I was looking at your LinkedIn pages and it was so fun to see, you know, post after post. So tell me a little bit about some of your recent wins, if you'd love to share that. You've been part of the MedTech Innovator Accelerator cohort for a year ish now. So yeah, just tell me about your experience and what you're celebrating. [00:13:25] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah. I mean, it's been an incredible process. MedTech Innovator is by far the most significant thing we have participated in since forming our company. The doors that were completely shut and locked and sealed that we could never potentially even knock on are now wide open because of MedTech Innovator. So yes, we've been participating for the past year and it's been a wonderful experience. First, starting off at the the pitch events at UCLA, where we pitched to the judges, where they narrowed it down. They had about 1200 early stage companies. I think a total of 1900 applications in total. And they, after those pitch events, which there were five, they narrowed it down to 61 companies total and about, I think it was 40 early stage companies. [00:14:06] So we enrolled in that program and got assigned to some incredible mentors, got to meet all of these amazing alumni that were either first time founders or seasoned, seasoned founders that have been through a lot. And we just had this complete access to this amazing network of people that we could talk to. And so, you know, it started off with Wilson Sonsini, the Innovator Summit, and the Wilson Sonsini medical device conference where we were picked to be in the top five for the vision award, which is based on the criteria, "would you invest in this company? And would you want to work for them? And do you find them inspirational?" [00:14:38] So we made it into the top five, which we're pretty surprised about, honestly, because it was a cohort wide boat. And then we had 7 minutes to pitch very similar to the finals, which I'll get to in a second. And we won that, and that was the first kind of wave of, you know, just increased interest in us, a lot more visibility for us, and a lot of validation. Our 2022 was a very very trying time for us, which we can talk about later. But anyways, that was the first big win for us. [00:15:05] And then we participated in the cohort and got to know the MTI team and our mentors and go through the value proposition program. It was so helpful for us in so many ways, and it culminated in us making it to the finals at the AdvaMed medtech conference, whereas a similar setup, we had about 7 minutes to pitch, try to explain all of the wonderful things about our technology in just a couple of minutes. After a crowd vote, we ended up winning. And so, it was really special for us because in 2022, as young innovators, you get a lot of doubt, you get a lot of no's, you get a lot of people saying you're crazy. And so to win that was really special. And I want to give Shane a moment to say anything else with respect to that too, but it was just a really sweet moment for us after what we've been through. [00:15:48] Shane Shahrestani: Yeah, a hundred percent. You know, we were two young guys in medical school, no previous business experience, trying to spin out a medtech company while also being in medical school. And the number of times we got said no to, we completely lost track. So to be able to build back up and to make it to a point where we're actually the top startup in medtech in the world was, you know, we didn't even believe it. And also, you know, a couple other things it was, Alex and I just went so much. It was awesome working together as a team over the last year and figuring out all these other problems that came up. And at the same time, at MedTech Innovator, we met so many other people going through similar problems as us. And there are so many amazing cohort companies that we got to meet who are going to change how medicine is provided in the U. S. and globally. So it was an absolute pleasure to work with all of them and to work together to solve so many problems in MedTech Innovator. It's cool. [00:16:47] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's incredible. I'm so glad that you guys had such a great experience with the cohort. And again, yeah, congratulations for winning the whole thing. That's fabulous. And I think it does speak to the innovation that y'all are bringing to the world and how important it is. And obviously you're getting some really good external validation. I mean you know the value that you're bringing, but it's always nice to have an outside person saying, "yes, we agree," you know, and to that point, I'm really curious about your 2022, because you kind of mentioned that that was a little bit more trying. So if you'd be willing to speak to that, I'd love to hear a little bit about that. [00:17:28] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, absolutely. So like Shane mentioned, we were both full time in medical school. We were in the hospital for, I don't even want to admit how many hours. I don't think I'm allowed to say how many hours. And you know, trying to form a pitch deck. And, we're both heavy in science and research and we know how to build the presentation typically for the scientific community, right? And so, and again, we're clinicians, like, one of the reasons why I mentioned before, I think, before the recording, one of the reasons why we're so excited to come to this podcast is that this podcast is really about increasing and bringing technology to increase human health and improve human health. [00:18:05] And, you know, one of the things that we were passionate about, and still are very passionate about, is that we want to bring this product to market because we know it's going to help a lot of people. But one of the things that we had to learn is that we needed to pitch a company, right? We needed to pitch a vision and a mission, which we had the vision and the mission. It's gotten much more refined. But we had, that was our, I think our first learning curve, which we give a lot of, we have got to give a shout out to Helen McBride and Julie Schoenfeld from Caltech, as well as our lead investors at Freeflow for helping us with that one. [00:18:33] But it was tough. We were pitching during our lunch breaks and we were pitching on the weekends and we had investors lined up and then unfortunately, the day before the round of funding was supposed to come through, the markets went south and they said, "Hey, we're not investing right now. So sorry." And we were in a good amount of debt. And so, it speaks to one of the value or one of the most important things when starting a company is kind of faith in your mission and faith in your founder. [00:18:57] We were sitting and just looking at each other like, "man, what are we gonna do right now?" Like, we were still fully deep in school studying for our board exams, and we were in debt and we couldn't even build anything. And so, you know, we kept going at it and we really believed in what we could do. And we ended up finding Freeflow Ventures with David Fleck and Kevin Barrett who believed in us and, and saw our vision as well as the individuals at Caltech, and then we ended up finding quite a few other angel investors who are all directors of stroke centers, neuroradiologists, triple board certified neurologists, and you know, experts in clinical trial neuro design. [00:19:34] And they all believed in us. And so we got the money that we needed. And we've been sprinting ever since, which is why we've been able to accomplish so much in the last year. And, you know, now looking back, Shane and I were just talking about this, after we'd won MedTech Innovator finals and we were like, you know, 2022 was really tough, but it put us in a really good position because it forced us to study everything about the market, learn everything about our competitors. And really hone in on where are we going to bring this thing first? Right? Because like I said before, there's an entire continuum of stroke care where the sensor could be applied and we will apply it to all of those areas. [00:20:12] But what did we want to do first? Right? And so I think us having to go through that tough time is one of the reasons why we're so successful in such a short amount of time. So it was a tough time, but we're obviously, I think we're doing much, much better out of it. Now we can, you know, when you look back at it, we're grateful more than anything else. It's taught us a lot and definitely earned our stripes. [00:20:35] Lindsey Dinneen: It sounds like it. Shane, do you have anything to add to that? [00:20:39] Shane Shahrestani: Pressure makes diamonds. I mean, we felt the pressure. We definitely felt the pressure. It's an understatement, but you know, we learned a lot and we were able to thoughtfully revise our pitch decks, our business plans, our engineering plans with all the no's that we were getting and the feedback that we were getting underlying those no's and that's how we were just able to learn and grow. And I think there's something to be said about being young and trying to run a business. I think a lot of people don't necessarily believe in you, especially when you're asking for millions of dollars. So, we learned that we, as Alex said, earned our stripes and proved ourselves and that we were serious and we knew what we were doing. [00:21:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And you know, what's so interesting is, when I was looking at both of your LinkedIn profiles and just seeing, I kept thinking, do you guys sleep? Do you have time to sleep? [00:21:40] Alexander Ballatori: We're sponsored by caffeine. That's actually, so Shane and I, before we even started this. We, I don't know, Shane, how many papers we published together and like 30 at least and so many conferences. And it was honestly like that, that the number of nights where we consumed hundreds of milligrams of caffeine, just working together is how we knew we were going to be great business partners. And so, you know, again, we're StrokeDX is sponsored by caffeine. [00:22:06] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. Can we get that official so that you actually don't have to pay for your coffee or whatever? Your caffeine of choices. Incredible. So this journey from, and obviously you probably wouldn't consider it a complete pivot or anything, but this journey from clinician to entrepreneur, and everything that entails, you know, obviously, like you said, 2022 was this huge learning curve. What would be some advice that you might have now looking back and being able to say to somebody who might be in a similar situation, maybe what's a one or two pieces of advice that you would say would be beneficial? [00:22:49] Shane Shahrestani: All right. A couple of things. One, find a co founder that you trust with your life, who is your best friend, that you'd rather be awake drinking Monsters at 3am than being asleep. That's very important. Two, every time someone says, no, that's an opportunity to learn and grow. And if you have the resilience and grit to keep your head up when you're being told no and to learn from it and to keep going forward, it will always work out. [00:23:20] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, that's exactly, literally exactly what I was going to say. You know, someone gave us a good piece of advice. They said, expect to receive 200 no's. And so when you get your 113th, you know, you're barely, you've just barely crossed the halfway mark. Just keep going, because you should expect 200, right? And that was something that, you have to be a little crazy to do this. But also, I think, in addition, like what Shane was saying, you need to have someone that when you hit a low, you know that you can trust the person next to you and you just say, "okay, let's learn from this. Let's refine our approach. Let's , amend our deck and our plan. And let's keep going." Right? [00:23:58] And also, I think really taking the time to understand the market is really-- what you have, first of all, this is before you even get to this point-- you need to understand what you have, how it will be applied. And I think that was actually one of the one of our biggest benefits is that we work in medicine and we understand clinical utility, clinical need and as well as what we've learned that was very easy for us to learn because of we are clinicians is the whole pay/ payer system, right? [00:24:25] And, you know, price points and pricing strategies, it's all kind of coming from a clinical side. And seeing these products that I know how people use them. I've seen them use. I've used them. It just made it a lot easier for us. But yeah, ultimately boils down to having a strong partner. And and not taking things too to heart when people tell you that you're crazy. [00:24:51] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, indeed. You know, that reminds me, I remember one time somebody saying, " when you hear no it's very rarely no forever. Never going to consider it, the end, close the door, slam it, and lock it." It's usually, "no, not right now." So if you can take that with a grain of salt, if you can take those no's with a grain of salt, eventually, you'll get to either them changing their mind or somebody else saying, no, I agree with you, you're absolutely right. [00:25:22] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, we got a lot of "not nows." And I think it really boiled down to the fact that our first prototype was handheld. And so we were confident in our decision to go into the inpatient setting. And so now the pendulum has swung the other way. And now that we've validated that our automated device has worked in this translation, translational project of automating this technology has been successful, all of those people that were the not nows are the, "are you raising money now?" questions, which is obviously a great feeling. But yeah, no, definitely. We learned a lot. There were-- also be frank. There are many times where they ask us questions that we studied for weeks afterwards and learned so much from so all those not now is really they shaped us in such a positive way. [00:26:07] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, yes, I can imagine. Anything to add to that, Shane? [00:26:13] Shane Shahrestani: No, I totally agree. As Alex was saying, a lot of the previous no's are now reaching out to us. So table turn for sure, but it just takes hard work, great resilience. Got to keep your head up, keep fighting and it works out. [00:26:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Out of curiosity, going back to your childhoods, could you have possibly imagined where you are now, back in the day? I mean, did you always have an interest in medicine? Is this something that sort of developed over time? Did you think you were going to be a business owner? [00:26:50] Shane Shahrestani: So ever since I was in fifth grade, I always loved the brain. I knew I wanted to do something related to the brain and now I am working in neurosurgery, but my deep passion is medtech. That's what I wake up for every day. I look forward to working with Alex and our team and solving complex problems and creating new devices that can save brain. Right? So I knew I'd be somewhere in this field, but I had no idea that I'd be able to work on a product so amazing that can really just change the paradigm and stroke care, which affects so many people every year. So, so, I never thought I'd be a business owner. I knew I'd be in the brain somewhere, but this is super exciting. [00:27:35] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, and for me, I, so I grew up with two rockstar parents. Both came from nothing from, you know, farms in Italy, but both were very naturally gifted when it came to science and medicine. And so my parents actually met while my dad was completing his PhD at the University of Rochester. My mom was finishing up her MD. And they both saw that they had Italian last names, and then the rest is history. And then I grew up in Rochester, New York, and clouds and snow for the first 22 years of my life. But, I was very, whether it's nature or nurture, I was always very drawn to science and medicine, and both my parents actually were both entrepreneurs as well in the medical space. [00:28:13] So my dad was a pioneer in lipid and bile metabolism in the liver and developed a lot of enzymatic targets and a lot did a lot of the early work in understanding bio reabsorption. And my mom is a surgeon with multiple devices under her belt and actually is pursuing, it just gotten one of her products just got FDA cleared at the moment. They're launching right now. So I grew up in a very unique household where this is kind of dinner conversation, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be in medtech. I knew I wanted to some sort of degree in medicine. [00:28:44] And so I took time off after I graduated and I got a degree in biology and chemistry. And so I kind of went into my time off just trying to explore as much as possible. I got my hands on so many different startups. I also got to learn from kind of the bigger medtech corporate world is getting more in respect to the orthopedic world. And so I knew it was for me, but then I was deciding PhD or MD. And for me, I liked kind of the wide breadth of knowledge that you get from the MD because there's so many problems in medicine that need to be solved. [00:29:16] And one of the things that really sticks with me is that this whole definition of "gold standard" or "standard of care," or "this is the best that we got" that I just don't, I don't like accept fully, maybe that's just kind of how I was raised or what, but I knew that I was going to, I wanted to go to medical school because I knew that there were so, there's so much more I could learn with respect to how we take care of patients that is so behind with respect to where it should be and can be, especially when you look at what's happening at some of these top universities, like a Caltech and USC and at the lab or at the benchtop. [00:29:52] So, of course, the PhD would have kind of pigeonholed me into one very specific area that I couldn't decide what I was super interested in. So to tell to go back to your question, if I, if you ask me 5 years ago, if I would be doing exactly what I'm doing right now. No, there's no way. But given my background, given my experience with stroke and then, you know, working with Shane, it just really harmoniously kind of just worked out very well. [00:30:17] And I'm really looking forward to the next few years and seeing where we can take this and then the next one as well. And the next one after that. Shane and I have a very common, one of, one of the we're I keep saying we're crazy. We kind of are in many ways where when a finish something a little bit, when we finish a task and we like finish our to-do list, the next thing we say is not like, "let's go grab lunch or grab dinner or something." It's "alright, what's next? What do we do next?" Right? And so I know the day... [00:30:40] Shane Shahrestani: I'll call Alex at like 6, 7 p. m. and be like, "Alex, I'm itching to do something. Like, just tell me something to do. What needs to be done?" He's like, "dude, you just worked a 14, 16 hour day. Why do you want more work?" I don't know. I just, it feels wrong. [00:30:56] Alexander Ballatori: I was like, Shane, go to sleep. [00:30:57] Lindsey Dinneen: It's all that caffeine. You've got your system wired, ready to go. Oh my word. Oh, that's incredible. Oh, my goodness. So out of curiosity, are there any moments or maybe one moment or whatnot that kind of stand out to you? It could be through medical school, it doesn't necessarily have to be with StrokeDX, but just a moment that stands out to you as saying, "yes, I know exactly why I'm here. This is it." It's reinforced for you: "I am in the right place at the right time doing the work that I really feel passionate about." [00:31:37] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, you know, I think there wasn't one specific moment, but more so a process over 2022. And being told no, so so many times. And then finally battling through debt, and thank you so much to our lawyers for being very flexible with us on that. But when we finally got the amount of investors that we needed and the amount of money that we needed, everything, just we were on fire. We were so ready and we had such a strong plan. The moment the money came in, it was we were already starting to send it out the door to our engineers to start paying. And we started working that the same day that the money came in, we had a meeting with our engineers to start working. And I think just that transition point from going from trying to sell the mission to actually executing it was definitely a highlight for us. So I don't think there's one specific moment. But I think it was that kind of transition and seeing all of our incremental improvements in our sensor and seeing this device come to life. It's just been, it's, I think it's almost the whole process is really just validated that this is where I'm supposed to be. [00:32:45] Shane Shahrestani: Yeah, I think to the families of people who had a stroke and explaining to them what a stroke is and the prognosis and what's going to happen to their loved one, and then seeing people unfortunately pass because of stroke, and maybe they live too far from a hospital and their life could have been saved if they came in a little bit sooner, or they didn't know that they were having a stroke and they tried to sleep it off and woke up and couldn't move half their body. Right? And the stories go on and on. You see it in every permutation and every variation. But then, at the end of the day, these are people and their loved ones are in the hospital with them and you're trying to keep them alive and all our odds are against you and it's a function of losing brain cells and that is a function of time and efficiency, right? [00:33:41] So a big why is just so much suffering, sadness, loss can be prevented by creating new technologies that can just make healthcare more efficient for people, right? Faster, cheaper, better diagnostics, better assessment tools, better ways to monitor. And you know, that's another reason why I think Alex and I, you know, share that in common and we just work tirelessly just to create new things to just change the paradigm, change the standard of care, make things better for people. 'Cause that's just where our heart and our passion lies. [00:34:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'm very glad that you both did not let all the no's deter you. I'm glad you were willing to come back to your why and just keep at it. Yeah, that's, that takes a lot of grit and determination, but glad y'all are doing what you're doing. So, pivoting just for fun, imagine that you were asked to teach a masterclass on anything that you want. You're going to be given a million dollars for this. What would you choose to teach and why? It also doesn't have to be related to your industry at all, although it could be. [00:34:58] Alexander Ballatori: I, so my family and my my, just family events and cooking is, and my Italian heritage, is very important to me. And so I, it's, when I'm not working, I'm cooking or I'm spending, I make wine for fun. It's just it's all the traditions from my family. So I think if I had to teach a class, it would probably be sharing some of my family recipes, and also I love to cook and host all the time. So I like have had cooking classes at my house with friends and every year I make wine. It's always a big event and always have people over it. It's a really simple process. It seems so daunting, but it's quite simple, especially when you do it the old world way. And so, yeah, I guess I guess that would probably be mine. [00:35:45] Shane Shahrestani: First of all, I would go to Alex's masterclass. I'd pay however much he charged. I'd be there. His wine is like the only wine I drink now. If I had to teach a masterclass, so there's two things about me that I don't even know if Alex knows. I can identify the Latin name for any insect, any insect. And also I can classify like any saltwater fish, like tropical fish. So, somewhere between insects and tropical fish, just like, you pointed out, I'll just tell you what it is. [00:36:17] Alexander Ballatori: No way. Get out of here. We gotta go to the Galapagos. We're going on a trip. [00:36:23] Shane Shahrestani: Dude, I'm ready. We'll be the new Charles Darwins. [00:36:28] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, so if I were to just take a random photo of a bug, I could just send it to you and you'd go, yeah, that's a... [00:36:34] Shane Shahrestani: A hundred percent. I can tell you like what order and like species that bug is. [00:36:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. [00:36:41] Shane Shahrestani: Yeah. [00:36:42] Alexander Ballatori: Incredible. [00:36:45] Lindsey Dinneen: We learn something new every day. I love it. [00:36:48] Shane Shahrestani: Just when you thought I couldn't be more nerdy, Alex. [00:36:52] Alexander Ballatori: No, so the reason why I'm laughing is because I used to do the exact same with any, you could show me any dinosaur skeleton and I knew I could do the exact same thing. I definitely can't anymore. I definitely cannot anymore. [00:37:05] Shane Shahrestani: That's so funny. [00:37:06] Alexander Ballatori: That's definitely just harsh parenting on like repeated flashcards. It was some genuine interest there, but [00:37:15] Shane Shahrestani: That's incredible. [00:37:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. I see how, you know, your, some of your childhood interests or pastimes have led you to successful careers in medicine, 'cause that amount of memorization must be daunting, but it clearly isn't because y'all have been doing it your whole life. [00:37:32] Shane Shahrestani: It's been the journey, from insects to here, you know. [00:37:38] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. Alright, on a slightly more serious note, how would you like to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:37:46] Alexander Ballatori: That's a great question. You know, I had a mentor at UCSF that was in a very similar position to where I kind of see myself in the later years of my career and it's very difficult to be a clinician full time and still spin technologies out, run the kind of the business end of things. And, he was someone that did it. He was someone that did both, and that's something that I also aspire at some point. And, we had this conversation where you kind of have to view it as, "do you want to be the person that takes care of the tree? And you can see the impact from your own hands on that one person? Or would you rather maintain the forest and drive things that can impact the entire forest?" It's something that sticks with me always. [00:38:35] And like I was mentioning before, just this whole concept of standard of care or gold standard, the best way to do something that I never really fully accept. So I think it's kind of not fully concrete, but I think continuing to spin out technology that these amazing technologies that are stuck at the benchtop. And through this kind of bureaucratic tech transfer process, I really see myself down the line. I would like to be remembered by our ability to take these amazing technologies and not accept that things are just the way that they are because they never are, right? We used to operate without gloves and not that long ago and wondered why our infection rates were so high. So I think for me, just down the line, I'd love to be able to be remembered by bringing new technologies and not accepting that what we currently considered the best way to do it, the actual best way to do it. [00:39:23] Shane Shahrestani: Yeah, I think, similarly, I think we all have family and friends that we love and we cherish. And I think everyone's biggest fear is losing someone that they care about. And I think we have one shot in life and my personal mission statement is just to do whatever I can just to spread positivity, happiness, ways to, to maximize that love and keep people around. Right? And I really think that medical devices and medicine and new technologies are the way to just create new solutions to problems that affect everyone. Or will affect everyone at some point in their lives. So, it would be great to be remembered as innovators, someone who can create that device that saved my brother or my mom, you know? And I think that's also a big dream or aspiration that, that we work towards every day. [00:40:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and final question: what is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:40:36] Alexander Ballatori: I mean, I love seeing a big table filled with food anytime, because it's, again, it's my family. We used to get together every Friday, every Sunday, no exceptions. Everyone is there, 50 to 100 people. And so every time we open a table and it's like I'm going back to upstate New York for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. And so every time I see there, I think about it, you know, we've all grown now and we're all kind of all over the place. So we don't get together as much. So anytime I think about that's definitely that's definitely my, my, what makes me smile for sure. [00:41:06] Shane Shahrestani: Lately I've been smiling, looking at that big check we won at MedTech Innovator. [00:41:16] Alexander Ballatori: Me too. Me too. Me too. [00:41:17] Shane Shahrestani: Yeah. So we'll leave it there. [00:41:20] Alexander Ballatori: And our new device rendering also makes me smile. [00:41:22] Shane Shahrestani: That's oh yeah. Yeah. That makes me smile. [00:41:25] Alexander Ballatori: It's also both of our phones screensavers. So we're smiling a lot. [00:41:31] Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. That's fantastic. It's just motivation day in and day out. You just look at it and go, "yeah, this is great. This is what we're doing." Oh my word. That is absolutely incredible. And this has just been so much fun. I really appreciate you both joining me today and sharing more about your backgrounds and your passion and all of the really exciting innovation coming out of your company. Again, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing for the world. It matters. And it's really cool to see you take the challenge and get past the no's to get to those yeses. So thanks. [00:42:08] Alexander Ballatori: Yeah, no, thank you so much for allowing us to share our story and make sure you follow us as we are moving very quickly and starting to collect clinical data. And so it's a very exciting time to, to start following us. If you aren't already, it's now is the best time to start. [00:42:22] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. Yes. [00:42:23] Shane Shahrestani: Appreciate you for having us today. It's been a pleasure chatting and hopefully we do this again soon. [00:42:29] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And we are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which provides beds for children who don't have any in the United States. So thank you for choosing that organization to support. And yeah, we just wish you continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:42:52] Alexander Ballatori: Thank you so much. Thanks again. [00:42:53] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. And thank you also to our listeners for tuning in. Please go follow StrokeDX. Like they said, they are moving quickly and you will definitely want to be on top of that. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am, I'd love if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two, and we will catch you next time. [00:43:14] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.  

Nous commencerons notre émission en parlant d'un commentaire de l'ancien président Donald Trump qui a choqué l'Europe : il a dit qu'il encouragerait Poutine à attaquer les membres de l'OTAN qui ne respectent pas les directives en matière de dépenses de défense. Nous poursuivrons la partie de l'émission consacrée à l'actualité politique en discutant de la réaction de l'UE après l'interview que Poutine a donnée à Tucker Carlson, un ancien animateur de Fox News. Nous nous intéresserons ensuite à une étude publiée dans la revue Nature Scientific Reports qui présente un moyen d'augmenter considérablement les chances de survie en cas de coup de foudre sur la tête. Dans la partie culturelle de l'émission, nous parlerons enfin du plus grand événement sportif annuel aux États-Unis, le Super Bowl.    Nous parlerons du nombre inquiétant de morts dues à un accident du travail en France. Et pour finir, nous discuterons de l'avancée des travaux de reconstruction de Notre-Dame de Paris, qui a retrouvé sa flèche. - Trump s'engage à encourager Poutine à agir contre les membres de l'OTAN - L'UE ne va pas sanctionner Tucker Carlson pour avoir été le propagandiste de Poutine - En cas de foudre, avoir le cuir chevelu mouillé pourrait être une protection - Pour la deuxième fois de son histoire, le Super Bowl s'est joué en prolongation - Un fléau mortel et invisible : les accidents du travail - Notre-Dame retrouve sa charpente et sa flèche

Inizieremo con una notizia che ha letteralmente sconvolto l'intera Europa. Riguarda la dichiarazione rilasciata dall'ex presidente Donald Trump, di voler incoraggiare Putin ad attaccare i Paesi membri della NATO che non rispettano le linee guida sulla spesa per la difesa. Quindi, continueremo a parlare di politica e cercheremo di approfondire la posizione dell'Unione Europea nei confronti dell'ex conduttore di Fox News, Tucker Carlson, dopo la sua intervista della scorsa settimana a Vladimir Putin. Commenteremo, poi, i risultati di uno studio pubblicato sulla rivista Nature Scientific Reports che svela una possibile soluzione per aumentare significativamente la sopravvivenza nel caso in cui si venga colpiti alla testa da un fulmine. Ed, infine, parleremo del Super Bowl, il più grande evento sportivo degli Stati Uniti.    Parleremo, innanzitutto, della difficile situazione degli agricoltori italiani, che insieme ai loro colleghi europei, si trovano a dover protestare per le crescenti difficoltà che affliggono il settore agricolo. Successivamente, commenteremo una notizia sportiva che ha scatenato un'ondata di entusiasmo tra i tifosi italiani: l'arrivo alla Ferrari del pilota britannico Lewis Hamilton. - Trump promette di incoraggiare Putin ad agire contro i membri della NATO - L'UE non ha intenzione di sanzionare Tucker Carlson perché è un propagandista di Putin - Il cuoio capelluto bagnato potrebbe proteggerci in caso di un fulmine diretto alla testa - Il secondo Super Bowl che viene deciso ai tempi supplementari - Le proteste degli agricoltori arrivano in Italia - Lewis Hamilton alla Ferrari riaccende la passione dei tifosi

Comenzamos el programa de esta semana con una noticia que dejó impactada a Europa. Fue un comentario del expresidente Donald Trump, que sugirió que animaría a Putin a atacar a países miembro de la OTAN que no cumplieran las directrices de gasto en Defensa. Continuaremos la parte política del programa con la reacción de la UE a la entrevista de Tucker Carlson, un expresentador de Fox News, a Putin la semana pasada. Después hablaremos de un estudio publicado en la revista Nature Scientific Reports, que describe una manera de aumentar considerablemente las probabilidades de sobrevivir en caso de ser alcanzado por un rayo en la cabeza. En la sección de cultura del programa, hablaremos del mayor acontecimiento deportivo del año en EE. UU., la Super Bowl. En el segmento Trending in Spain del programa, hablaremos de dos circunstancias que necesitan regulación inmediata. En la primera noticia, discutiremos las posibles soluciones que pueden ayudar a Cataluña a paliar su extrema sequía. En la segunda noticia, comentaremos cómo se han realizado algunos pósteres de Carnaval que han traído algún que otro problema. Trump promete animar a Putin a actuar contra los miembros de la OTAN La UE no planea sancionar a Tucker Carlson por hacerle propaganda a Putin Humedecer el cuero cabelludo podría proteger contra el impacto directo de un rayo en la cabeza La segunda Super Bowl de la historia en ir a la prórroga Emergencia por falta de agua en Barcelona Carteles de Carnaval

A series of 5000 flowers pressed in the 16th century near Bologna have given scientists an opportunity to see human impacts and the rise of alien species. All while giving us an excuse to touch on what the Columbian exchange actually is... Sources for this episode: Anteric, I., Basic, Z., Vilovic, K., Kolic, K. and Andjelinovic, S. (2014), Which Theory for the Origin of Syphilis is True? Journal of Sexual Medicine 11: 3112-3118. Buldrini, F., Alessandrini, A., Mossetti, U., Muzzi, E., Pezzi, G., Soldano, A. and Nascimbene, J. (2023), Botanical memory: five centuries of floristic changes revealed by a Renaissance herbarium (Ulisse Aldrovandi, 1551-1586). Royal Society Open Science 10(11): 230866. Guerra, F. (1993), The European-American Exchange. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 15: 313-327. Hancock, J. F. (2023), Fifty Years Later- The Legacy of Alfred Crosby's “The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492”. Economic Botany 77(1): 82-102. Harper, K. N., Zuckerman, M. K., Harper, M. L., Kingston, J. D. and Armelagos, G. J. (2011), The Origin and Antiquity of Syphilis Revisited: An Appraisal of Old World Pre-Columbian Evidence for Treponemal Infection. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 54: 99-133. Lees, D., Lopez-Vaamonde, C., Augustin, S., Biodiversity Heritage Library, Field Museum et al. (2009), Cameraria ohridella Deschka & Dimic 1986. Encyclopedia of Life, MacArthur Foundation, Sloan Foundation. Ffhal-02824036. McCook, S. (2011), The neo-Columbian exchange: the second conquest of the Greater Caribbean, 1720-1930. Latin American Research Review: 46(S1): 11-31. Milliken, W., Walker, B. E., Howes, M.-J. R., Forest, F. and Lughadha, E. N. (2021), Plants used traditionally as antimalarials in Latin America: Mining the tree of life for potential new medicines. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 279: 114221. Sanz-Biset, J., Campos-de-la-Cruz, J., Epiquién-Rivera, M. A. and Cañigueral, S. (2009), A first survey on the medicinal plants of the Chazuta valley (Peruvian Amazon). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 122: 333-362. Stefanaki, A., Walter, T. and van Andel, T. (2022), Tracing the introduction history of the tulip that went wild (Tulipa sylvestris) in sixteenth-century Europe. Nature Scientific Reports 12: 9786. Weston, P., the Guardian (2023), ‘Inestimable importance': 500-year-old cache of pressed flowers reveals new secrets (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ .   The worlds of academia and political upheaval meet in my guest Michal Kosinski, who was behind the first press article warning against Cambridge Analytica, which was at the heart of a scandal involving the unauthorized acquisition of personal data from millions of Facebook users and impacting the 2016 Brexit and US Presidential election votes through the use of AI to microtarget people through modeling their preferences. Michal also co-authored Modern Psychometrics, a popular textbook, and has published over 90 peer-reviewed papers in prominent journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Nature Scientific Reports and others that have been cited over 18,000 times. Michal has a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge, as well as master's degrees in psychometrics and social psychology In the second half of the interview, we pivot to the Theory of Mind – which is the ability of a creature to understand that another has a mind – and research around whether AI has it. Michal has amazing new research in that respect. He also says, "Without a question, GPT-4 and similar models are the most competent language users on this planet." All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.          

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ .   The worlds of academia and political upheaval meet in my guest Michal Kosinski, who was behind the first press article warning against Cambridge Analytica, which was at the heart of a scandal involving the unauthorized acquisition of personal data from millions of Facebook users and impacting the 2016 Brexit and US Presidential election votes through the use of AI to microtarget people through modeling their preferences. Michal also co-authored Modern Psychometrics, a popular textbook, and has published over 90 peer-reviewed papers in prominent journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Nature Scientific Reports and others that have been cited over 18,000 times. Michal has a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge, as well as master's degrees in psychometrics and social psychology, positioning him to speak to us with authority about how AI has and may shape the beliefs and behaviors of people en masse. In this first part of the interview, we delve into just that, plus the role of social media, and Michal's take on what privacy means today. All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.          

Hurricanes im Atlantik und in der Karibik gewinnen immer schneller an Stärke. Das geht aus einer Studie hervor, die heute in „Nature Scientific Reports“ veröffentlicht wird (Autor: Werner Eckert)

Si chiama iHEART, ed è un modello matematico e computazionale del cuore umano, interamente sviluppato al Politecnico di Milano. È senza dubbio il più raffinato e completo modello matematico del cuore, con una risoluzione che si spinge a livello di singola cellula, frutto di un lungo lavoro guidato dai laboratori MOX del Dipartimento di Matematica del Dipartimento di Chimica e giunto finalmente a compimento. Descritto su sulla prestigiosa rivista Nature Scientific Reports, iHEART è pensato per lo studio di patologie cardiache e permette di simulare ogni aspetto del funzionamento del cuore. Lo spiega Alfio Quarteroni, professore emerito del Politecnico di Milano e del Politecnico di Losanna e fondatore del MOX.

Researching Transit comes to you again from the Conference on Advanced Systems in Public Transport (CASPT2022) in Tel Aviv, Israel. In this episode Professor Graham Currie met with another of the conference organisers, Professor Avi Ceder. Avi is the Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and at the Transportation Research Institute, Technion Israel Institute of Technology. He is also a former Zhi-xing Professor at Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) and Honorary Professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Avi is an expert on public transport scheduling, and the author of Public Transit Planning and Operation: Theory, Modeling and Practice. Graham and Avi first talk about Avi's background and experience as a bus driver, PhD student, academic and now Emeritus Professor. Avi got into transit scheduling having taught operations management subjects, and as a consultant to an Israeli bus company prior to development of computerised scheduling tools. Graham and Avi discuss the development of, and research into, transit scheduling theory and tools. They then move onto discuss a recent paper Avi authored on Syncing sustainable urban mobility with public transit policy trends based on global data analysis in Nature Scientific Reports (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93741-4). Avi outlines four issues with road traffic discussed in this paper: crashes, congestion, pollution and space used by parked vehicles. He also discusses the paper's study of 17 cities, and exploration of what the shift to autonomous vehicles might mean for transportation, transit and the number of vehicles that will be needed in the future. Graham and Avi discuss some of the opportunities that are presented by COVID-19, autonomous vehicles and other shifts. Avi's Nature paper discusses how autonomous vehicles, if publicly owned / shared, may allow cities to reallocate road and parking space to other uses. He and Graham discuss how a future with widespread private ownership and use might, instead, result in more vehicles, lower occupancy and increase congestion. Later in the episode Avi discusses his work on deficit functions that can be use in the optimisation of vehicle numbers and minimisation of waiting time. Avi also outlines the concept of Just Noticeable Difference (JND), being the threshold at which people might distinguish between different costs, waiting times or other aspects of alternative transport options. This might be used as an input to mobile phone-based trip planning software, to personalise route recommendations to individual preferences in real-time. Find out more about Avi and his work at his: Avi's webpage at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology at https://ceder.net.technion.ac.il/ Avi's webpage as an International Associate of Monash's Public Transport Research Group (PTRG) at http://publictransportresearchgroup.info/our-team/international-associates/avi-ceder-2/ Avi's publications at: World Transit Research at https://www.worldtransitresearch.info/do/search/?q=author_lname%3A%22Ceder%22&start=0&context=1060035&facet=#query-results Have feedback? Find us on twitter and Instagram @transitpodcast or using #researchingtransit Music from this episode is from https://www.purple-planet.com

#PARELLI #MATTEONIHORSEMANSHIPNel video di oggi continuiamo il nostro fantastico viaggio alla scoperta dei sensi dei cavalli. Oggi parliamo dell'udito.Buon ascolto!Qui trovate il video di YouTubehttps://youtu.be/qPX_RoQojfALe fontiIl libro che mi ha ispirato e da cui sono tratte anche le immagini: Cervello Equino - Cervello Umano di Janet L. Jones (Autore), Milvia Faccia (Traduttore) https://amzn.eu/d/3qezyutSincronizzazione tra cervelli che ascoltano la musica Jens Madsen, Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, Rhimmon Simchy-Gross, Lucas C. Parra, “Music Synchronizes Brainwaves Across Listeners with Strong Effects of Repetition, Familiarity, and Training”, in Nature: Scientific Reports, 5 marzo 2019, 9, art. 3576.Vincere con la musicaStachurska, Iwona Janczarek, Isabela Wilk, Witold Kedzierski, “Does Music Influence Emotional State in Race Horses?”, in Journal of Equine Veterinary Science Volume 35, Issue 8, August 2015, Pages 650-656Localizzazione dei suoniRickye S. Heffner, Henry E. Heffner, “Localization of Tones by Horses: Use of Binaural Cues and the Role of the Superior Olivary Complex”, in Behavioral Neuroscience, 1986, 100, p. 93-103. Inoltre, Brian Timney, Todd Macuda, “Vision and Hearing in Horses”, in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 15 maggio 2001, 218, n. 10, p. 1567-1574.Riconoscimento degli individui “Cross-modal Individual Recognition in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus)”, 20 Gennaio 2009, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ,Se vuoi puoi seguirmi anche su:I miei siti internethttps://www.matteonihorsemanship.comhttp://www.equitazionenaturale.infoIl mio canale YouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/c/sergiomatteoniparelliinstructorIl mio canale Telegramhttps://t.me/MatteoniHorseManShipLa mia pagina facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/SergioMatteoniPNH/Il mio profilo Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/matteonihorsemanship/e iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/matteoni-horsemanship/id1489600155Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3vwU5teyhlfsfV2jupClHASpreaker https://www.spreaker.com/show/matteoni-horsemanshipPodCast Addict https://podplayer.net/?podId=2485103)Google PodCast (https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvNDA3MDMxMy9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVkMusic credits-----------------------Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=fh-o8Bxc3Ys&event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fmusictoday80%2Frock-music%2Fcomment-431589450&redir_token=GtXVsLifu9vOFaMiMqcYT2Bt3St8MTU4Mzk5MDA4M0AxNTgzOTAzNjgzAttribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=fh-o8Bxc3Ys&event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcreativecommons.org%2Flicenses%2Fby%2F3.0%2F&redir_token=GtXVsLifu9vOFaMiMqcYT2Bt3St8MTU4Mzk5MDA4M0AxNTgzOTAzNjgzMusic provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg-----------------------• Song: ( Energetic Rock ) By : Anwar Amr• Video Link: https://youtu.be/HPa9eTADd5Y-----------------------Crediti musicaliMusic: https://www.purple-planet.com

Zu dem Ergebnis kommt ein Team von Forschern der Universität von New Mexiko. Die Daten wurden in "Nature Scientific Reports" veröffentlicht (Autor: Werner Eckert)

JMART CAST is J-Mart's Monday Morning Podcast about his life and Bitcoin. Like Bill Burr but bettah :PToday's episode is about:My response to another crazy Twitter thread from Bank of CanadaMy review of an article from Nature Scientific Reports on Titanium Dioxide (carcinogen) particles on face masksWhy I have so much conviction about Bitcoin even with the price down so muchConnect with J-Mart on Social MediaInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/jmartfit/​Twitter - https://twitter.com/jmartfitFacebook page - https://fb.me/jmartmoves​Medium page - https://jmartwrites.medium.com/Newsletter - newsletter@jmartfit.comYou can also check out my State of Health Podcast (health education geared) on the platform of your choice:Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/state-of-health/id1540500767Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/280adseGOPdxg6cZZrTqbR?si=gBPeEknXR0y7gW1DuZpSxQAmazon Music - https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/01bb34c0-00a2-45e2-8627-95c32aba7c0e/state-of-healthStitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/state-of-healthGoogle Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5yZWRjaXJjbGUuY29tL2QzZGIwODYxLWJmODItNDc0Mi1iZGYzLWMyZDAxODQ4ODY2Ng==Referral LinksShakepay - Sign up with my link and we'll each get $10 to buy Bitcoin:https://shakepay.me/r/HNT0N6QLedn - Earn interest on your Bitcoin (could be risky to have someone else hold your Bitcoin for you though, be cautious)https://platform.ledn.io/join/c15adfd34db69ea38fcdbf571467c643Wild Meadows Farm — Amazing quality meat from a Southern Ontario farmhttps://wildmeadowsfarm.ca/register?referral_code=V2OMFtc5XYJdSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/state-of-health/donationsMusic: www.bensound.com

In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Vera Schluessel about her work on the cognitive abilities of fish, with a specific focus on her latest study published in Nature Scientific Reports, "Cichlids and Stingrays can add & subtract 'one' in the number space from 1 to 5. Basically, she is going to tell us about fish doing math!  In the podcast she will discuss why she started researching the cognitive abilities of fish, why the general public rarely considers it and wrongly assumes "fish are dumb", some of her unique fish studies and results,  and the overall message she hopes to convey to the general public. Dr. Schluessel runs the Schluessel Cognition Lab at the Institute of Zoologie at the University of Bonn in Germany. To contact Dr. Eeks, do so through bloomingwellness.comOr follow her on Instagram here.Twitter here.Or Facebook here.Subscribe to her newsletter here!

Et nyt studie kobler det at spille computer med en højere IQ, og den slags forskning fører i visse medier til overskrifter a la 'Computerspil gør dig klog!´ Men er der noget om snakken? Bliver vi virkelig mere intelligente af at stable klodser i Minecraft og pløkke terrorister i Counter-Strike? I ugens Brainstorm-episode kigger vi nærmere på, om der skulle være en sammenhæng mellem gaming og intelligens - og hvad den kan skyldes. Vi kigger også nærmere på, hvad man helt konkret kan lære af forskellige spil som: Minecraft Counter-Strike og tekst-tunge rollespil Til at hjælpe os har vi to kyndige spilforskere med på linjen.  Sidst, men ikke mindst, har Jais en indrømmelse fra den seneste episode, som skal ud af verden.  Medvirkende: Andreas Lieberoth, lektor i pædagogisk psykologi på DPU ved Aarhus Universitet. Thorkild Hanghøj, Professor MSO på The Center for Applied Game Research på Aalborg Universitet. Brainstorm er støttet af Lundbeckfonden. Link til det nye studie i Nature Scientific Reports

Hosted by Thomas Hitchcock, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at Crown Laboratories, The Skin Science Podcast is a monthly podcast that covers topics relating to skin health. The series will dig into hot topics within dermatology and aesthetics and will challenge the audience to think a bit differently about current skin treatment options. In this episode, featuring Dr. Brian Jones and Chad Sulak, ProGen PRP Brand Manager, we discuss SPF.   The Skin Science Podcast is intended to provide listeners with information regarding various topics in the field of skin science. None of the content in this podcast should be interpreted or construed as professional or medical advice. Further, the views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not represent those of Crown Laboratories, Inc., and the appearance of any guest on the podcast does not imply an endorsement of the guest or any particular entity they represent. References:1) https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/center-drug-evaluation-and-research-cder/sun-protection-factor-spf2) Conway et al, Acute toxicity of the uv filter oxybenzone to the coral galaxea fascicularis. Science of the total Environment 796 (2021) HTTPS://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148663) de Barros Marangoni et al., Unraveling the different causes of nitrate and ammonium effects on coral bleaching. Nature/Scientific Reports 2020 HTTPS://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68916-0

In Italia il valore economico delle foreste è calato del 10% a causa dell'inquinamento da ozono che ha, al tempo stesso, provocato una riduzione che supera l'1% della superficie forestale destinata alla produzione di legname. E il tutto rischia di comportare un danno potenziale che potrebbe arrivare fino a 2,85 miliardi di euro (circa 870 euro per ettaro). A comunicare questi dati è lo studio pubblicato su Nature Scientific Reports e condotto da un gruppo composto da dieci ricercatori provenienti da ENEA, Cnr e Università di Firenze, in collaborazione con l'azienda francese di servizi satellitari ARGANS. La ricerca sottolinea come questa perdita di redditività economica possa portare, con l'andare del tempo, anche ad un graduale abbandono delle aree forestali più esposte. Da questo punto di vista, le foreste italiane sono più a rischio rispetto a quelle dell'Europa del Nord, perché il clima più caldo stimola la formazione di questo gas. Spiega, infatti, l'ENEA che “ l'ozono troposferico è un inquinante gassoso che ha effetti negativi sulla fotosintesi e, di conseguenza, sulla capacità di assorbimento dell'anidride carbonica da parte della vegetazione. E, a livello globale, ciò potrebbe determinare un aumento dei costi di riduzione dei gas serra fino a 4,5 trilioni di dollari al 2100”. I risultati, nel nostro Paese, variano da regione a regione: la Sardegna è, ad esempio, risultata la regione con la maggiore riduzione dell'area forestale redditizia, con una perdita di oltre 10mila ettari (-6,2%). Però, a subire le maggiori perdite economiche sono state la Liguria (1.229 euro per ettaro), la Campania (628 euro), la Calabria (568) ed il Lazio (527).

Dr. Shane Miller is back on the podcast to talk about a new paper that just came out. The Hopewell airbust event, published about in Nature Scientific Reports, is believed to be a series of near-Earth comets that are hypothesized to have had impacts on cultures living around 1600 years ago (252-383 CE). We dive into this paper and discuss its argument, the pitfalls/questions we have about the paper and where we want to see the research go in the future. Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar technology in archaeology? Check out the linked PaleoImaging course from James Elliot! Start your own podcast with Zencastr and get 30% off your first three months with code RUINS. Click this message for more information. Transcripts For rough transcript head over to A Life in Ruins Episode 98. Links The Hopewell airburst event,1699–1567 years ago (252–383 CE) by Kenneth Barnett Tankersley et al. Literature Recommendations The American Southeast at the End of the Ice Age (Archaeology of the American South: New Directions and Perspectives) edited by D. Shane Miller, Ashley M. Smallwood and Jesse W.Tune Guest Contact Dr. Shane Miller on Twitter: @TheDurty_Trowel Contact Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast Twitter: @alifeinruinspod Website: www.alifeinruins.com Ruins on APN: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/ruins Store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/alifeinruins/shop ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Tee Public Store Affiliates Wildnote TeePublic Timeular

Dr. Shane Miller is back on the podcast to talk about a new paper that just came out. The Hopewell airbust event, published about in Nature Scientific Reports, is believed to be a series of near-Earth comets that are hypothesized to have had impacts on cultures living around 1600 years ago (252-383 CE). We dive into this paper and discuss its argument, the pitfalls/questions we have about the paper and where we want to see the research go in the future. Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar technology in archaeology? Check out the linked PaleoImaging course from James Elliot! Start your own podcast with Zencastr and get 30% off your first three months with code RUINS. Click this message for more information. Transcripts For rough transcript head over to A Life in Ruins Episode 98. Links The Hopewell airburst event,1699–1567 years ago (252–383 CE) by Kenneth Barnett Tankersley et al. Literature Recommendations The American Southeast at the End of the Ice Age (Archaeology of the American South: New Directions and Perspectives) edited by D. Shane Miller, Ashley M. Smallwood and Jesse W.Tune Guest Contact Dr. Shane Miller on Twitter: @TheDurty_Trowel Contact Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast Twitter: @alifeinruinspod Website: www.alifeinruins.com Ruins on APN: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/ruins Store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/alifeinruins/shop ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Tee Public Store Affiliates Wildnote TeePublic Timeular

A continued discussion about a cosmic event that wiped out the cities of the plain in the Middle Bronze Age. The evidence suggests an airburst event occurred. Dr. Byers and Dr. Collins continue to discuss in Part 2, the evidence that 22 researchers & scientists unaffiliated with the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project have provided. Published in Nature Scientific Reports, this paper is making an impact in the scientific community. This paper can be found here Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month! Become a dig volunteer for Season 16 Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon Smile Follow Tall-el Hammam and TSU on Social Media: Facebook Twitter Instagram

A cosmic event wiped out the cities of the plain in the Middle Bronze Age. The evidence suggests an airburst event occurred. Dr. Byers and Dr. Collins continue to discuss the evidence that 22 researchers & scientists unaffiliated with the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project have provided. Published in Nature Scientific Reports, this paper is making an impact in the scientific community. This paper can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97778-3 Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month! Become a dig volunteer for Season 16: https://tallelhammam.com/be-a-dig-volunteer Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner: https://tallelhammam.com/inner-circle-partners ​ Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon Smile: https://bit.ly/TeHEPsmile​​ Follow Tall-el Hammam and TSU on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigSodom/​​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeHEP_TSU Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tsu_museum_of_archaeology/

Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers discuss the recently published paper in Nature Scientific Reports, on the airburst that destroyed Tall el-Hammam in the Middle Bronze Age. This paper was the collaboration of 22 researchers in various fields, lead by our own Dr. Phil Silvia. Learn what impact this paper is making! This paper can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97778-3 Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month! Become a dig volunteer for Season 16: https://tallelhammam.com/be-a-dig-volunteer Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner: https://tallelhammam.com/inner-circle-partners ​ Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon Smile: https://bit.ly/TeHEPsmile​​ Follow Tall-el Hammam and TSU on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigSodom/​​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeHEP_TSU Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tsu_museum_of_archaeology/

Malaria, a disease that infects hundreds of millions of people and kills hundreds of thousands each year. It is caused after a plasmodium parasite is passed from a blood-feeding mosquito into a human host. Subject to much research over hundreds of years, of both host and parasite, one of the evolutionary mysteries has been why the plasmodium so prospers in the mosquito populations in infected areas. Why haven't mosquitoes' immune systems learned to fight back for example? In short, what's in it for the mozzies? Ann Carr, working with Laurence Zwiebel at Vanderbuilt University, reports in the journal Nature Scientific Reports how they managed to discover a mutual symbiotic relationship between the plasmodium and the mosquito. Using advanced sequencing technology they discovered that the infected insects can live longer, and have enhanced sensing (olfaction) and egg positioning than their uninfected brethren. This, in turn, could help them finds meals better, bestowing higher numbers of infection opportunities for the parasite, and benefitting both. NASA this week successfully launched its DART mission, which will next year attempt to nudge an asteroid in its orbit by smashing a mass into it. Could this method allow future humans, endangered by an impending collision push an asteroid out of the way to save the planet? It is billed as human's first ever “earth-defence mission”, but as relieved-sounding mission leads Nancy Chabot and Andy Rivkin of Johns Hopkins University told the BBC, it is perhaps finally time to stop talking about these sorts of things and have a go. Less relieved perhaps are astronomers around the world, as the James Webb Space Telescope team announce a further small delay to its launch to sometime after December 22nd. The BBC's John Amos a few weeks ago stood in the presence of the telescope before it was coupled to the launch vehicle, and spoke with ESA's Peter Jensen about its cost and complexity. BBC Inside Science is planning a special episode devoted to the instrument to accompany the launch of this successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Watch, as they say, this space... And finally an insight perhaps into the origin of words and language. Apart from onomatopoeia, where a word can sound like the noise of a noise-making thing, can a word sound like other properties, such as for example its shape? In the late 1920s psychologists found that different people would match certain made-up words with the same abstract shapes. This “Bouba/ Kiki” effect has been studied since, where the word “Bouba” is associated with rounded blobby shapes, and “Kiki” with spikier, angular forms. But there wasn't so much evidence whether or not the effect worked across different languages or different written alphabets, until now. Aleksandra Ćwiek of Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft in Berlin tells Gaia of her international study (published in Royal Society Phil. Trans. B) looking at the effect in 25 different languages and cultures. The effect is robust across the different writing systems and locations, so the link is not simply about the shape of a letter b or letter k when written in a latinate alphabet, but could allude to something much deeper. Presented by Gaia Vince Produced by Alex Mansfield Assistant Producer, Emily Bird Made in Association with The Open University.

This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts.Tara Thiagarajan is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Sapien Labs. Based in Washington, DC, Sapien Labs is a non-profit organization whose mission is to take brain diversity seriously. Most research in psychology and neuroscience treats the brain as a kind of monolithic entity, as if every brain were the same. But we know that's not true: there are important differences in the brain not only between individuals, but within the same individual from day-to-day. We also know that psychology and neuroscience have historically focused on a skewed sample of mostly white, mostly American, mostly undergraduate participants. Tara's goal with Sapien Labs is to truly account for what it means to look at differences in brains among all people on the planet. One of their in-progress projects is the Human Brain Diversity Project. Over the next five years, this project will "build an open database of 40,000 individuals across 4 countries and continents consisting of EEG recordings along with extensive information about demographics, lifestyle, technology use, diet and cognitive and mental health aspects." One of their papers, published this year in Nature Scientific Reports, showed the effect of "stimulus poverty" on brain physiology. They showed that the different stimuli people encounter on an average day—from phone use, to travel, to reading, and beyond—correlate with different physiological signatures in the brain, as measured by EEG. I found Tara's projects, as well as her overall story, very fascinating. I'm excited to see how those projects continue to develop in the coming years. Like this episode? Here’s another one to check out:I’d love to know what you thought of this episode! Just reply to this email or send a note directly to my inbox. Feel free to tweet me @CodyKommers. You can also leave a rating for the show on iTunes (or another platform). This is super helpful, as high ratings are one of the biggest factors platforms look at in their recommender system algorithms. The better the ratings, the more they present the show to new potential listeners.Also: If you’d like to unsubscribe from these weekly podcast emails, you can do so while still remaining on the email list that features my weekly writing. Thanks for following my work! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit codykommers.substack.com/subscribe

Tara Thiagarajan is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Sapien Labs. Based in Washington, DC, Sapien Labs is a non-profit organization whose mission is to take brain diversity seriously. Most research in psychology and neuroscience treats the brain as a kind of monolithic entity, as if every brain were the same. But we know that's not true: there are important differences in the brain not only between individuals, but within the same individual from day-to-day. We also know that psychology and neuroscience have historically focused on a skewed sample of mostly white, mostly American, mostly undergraduate participants. Tara's goal with Sapien Labs is to truly account for what it means to look at differences in brains among all people on the planet. One of their in-progress projects is the Human Brain Diversity Project. Over the next five years, this project will "build an open database of 40,000 individuals across 4 countries and continents consisting of EEG recordings along with extensive information about demographics, lifestyle, technology use, diet and cognitive and mental health aspects." One of their papers, published this year in Nature Scientific Reports, showed the effect of "stimulus poverty" on brain physiology. They showed that the different stimuli people encounter on an average day—from phone use, to travel, to reading, and beyond—correlate with different physiological signatures in the brain, as measured by EEG. I found Tara's projects, as well as her overall story, very fascinating. I'm excited to see how those projects continue to develop in the coming years. More info: codykommers.com/post/73-tara-thiagarajan

Archeology is an interesting science. People carefully dig through old ruins to find artifacts. Did you know that since 1846 archeology has repeatedly validated the historical accuracy of the Bible? Recently, Nature Scientific Reports published information confirming the existence and destruction of ancient Sodom. Researchers used the biblical description of Sodom's location to discover ruins at Tall el-Hammam. As they excavated, they found a five-foot layer of soot with random bits of melted bricks and burned human bones. Also, the pottery bits had a glaze similar to the sand melted by the atomic tests in the New Mexico desert in 1945. Researchers calculate an explosion causing this destruction produced temperatures of at least 3,500 degrees and a wind of 700 miles per hour. It vaporized the city and all in it. “The Nature article concludes explicitly that what happened in 1700 BC bears inescapable parallels to what the Bible says about Sodom.”* Here's what Genesis 19:24-25 says, “Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah–from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities–and also the vegetation in the land.” Archeology again validates the historical accuracy of the Bible! You can trust what it says! *Eric Metaxas, "Is Archaeology Proving the Bible?" Newsweek, October 4, 2021, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/is-archaeology-proving-the-bible-opinion/ar-AAP7j9p. Please provide feedback and suggestions at: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/feedback/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Interview recorded: 11 July 2021 Released: 16 July 2021 Duration: 21 minutes, 33 seconds Beatriz Villarroel discusses her latest VASCO paper in Nature Scientific Reports, "Exploring nine simultaneously occurring transients on April 12th 1950." Links: Villarroel+ , Exploring Nine simultaneously occurring transients on April 12th 1950. Burst 19: Our Sky Now and Then (August 2016) Episode 41: The Vanishing Sources with Beatriz Villarroel (November 2019) The Vanishing & Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations project: I. USNO objects missing in modern sky surveys and follow-up observations of a "missing star The Palomar Digital Sky Survey Gran Telescopio Canarias The United States Nuclear Testing Program Credits Host and Producer: Paul Carr Music: Ahleuchatistas and Erika Lloyd    

Offshore wind is booming in Europe.  The expansion of wind energy in the German Bight and Baltic Sea has been especially dramatic.  At this point, there are about 8 gigawatts of wind turbines in German waters, the equivalent of about 8 nuclear power plants.  But space in this region is limited so that wind farms […]

Imagine a liquid biopsy test whose results would allow physicians to evaluate chemotherapy for every patient in real time. Richard Brand, CFO of DiaCarta, Inc., a translational genomics and personalized diagnostics company, discusses a recent data publication in "Nature Scientific Reports" that validates their cell-free DNA biomarker detection pre-treatment (chemotherapy) can predict how much treatment a patient needs. Their QuantiDNA™ cfDNA test, studied in this paper, is used to quantify the total amount of cfDNA directly from a plasma sample while the patient is undergoing cancer therapy. #DiaCarta #LiquidBiopsyTest Richard Brand is the Chief Financial Officer at DiaCarta Inc., a company delivering precision diagnostics. In his previous role, he helped raise $86 million as CFO for a private diagnostics company, Laboratory for Advanced Medicine, Inc. Over 2 years, helped generate 2x return and best performing biotech IPO for most of 2017 as CFO. Managed one-third of an institutional investment fund's portfolio, helping it grow to $1 billion from $400 million. Managed Robertson Stephens's biotech private placement business to number two ranking. Richard holds a MBA from the University of Chicago and is a former Board member for the University's and Booth School's NYC Alumni Clubs.

Nataliya is passionate about an idea of creating a partnership between AI and human intelligence, fusion of a machine and a human brain. She obtained her Ph.D in 2015 in the domain of non-invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) as a part of EHCI team of Université Grenoble-Alpes, France. Most of her projects are focused around EEG-based BCIs in the context of consumer grade applications. Before joining MIT Media Lab – Fluid Interfaces group in 2017, she was a post-doc at Hybrid team (VR/AR), Inria Rennes, France. Nataliya has published and served as a program committee member in conferences and journals such as Nature Scientific Reports, CHI, ACM IDC, Ubicomp, INTERACT, TOCHI, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Plos ONE, IEEE EMBC and ACM AutomotiveUI. She gave 2 TEDx talks. Nataliya worked for the past 12 years on designing solutions to control drones, rolling robots, home appliances using brain activity. These projects were presented to general public and were tested by more than 4000 people in 2015-2019. Nataliya won multiple awards for her work, among which is L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science award she received in 2016. Nataliya was also named as one of 10 Top French Talent 2017 from MIT Innovators Under 35. 

Saludos geonáufragos del mundo. En este programa mensual, mencionamos varios temas de forma superficial como la erupción del Etna en Italia, y la llegada de la Perseverance a Marte. Sobre este último nos hablará con más detalle Nahum en su sección, pero si no podéis esperar, nuestros amig@s de "Enciérrate con la Ciencia" han hecho un especial al respecto. Empezamos el programa respondiendo a Joaquín, quien nos escribió en un correo lo siguiente: "Hace un tiempo escuché una conferencia de la Fundación Juan March sobre escultura griega antigua y el conferenciante decía que dudaban del origen de las esculturas. Las esculturas de la acrópolis por ejemplo son de muchas zonas de toda Grecia continental y de las islas. ¿Existe la posibilidad de conocer el origen de una escultura por el análisis petrográfico de la roca?" Joaquín además nos enlaza al ciclo de conferencias realizadas en la Fundación Juan March. Los temas principales del programa de hoy son por un lado el nuevo trabajo de Avi Loeb titulado en algunos medios como "A los dinosaurios los mató un cometa que se fragmentó al pasar junto al Sol", y cuyo artículo original podéis encontrar en Nature Scientific Reports. Y por otro lado un artículo en la revista Geology titulado por algunos medios como "Las montañas de la Tierra podrían haber dejado de crecer durante mil millones de años", y que nos explica Pedro. Grupo de Telegram: t.me/geocastawaypodcast Web: http://geocastaway.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/geocastaway Facebook: http://facebook.com/geocastaway Youtube: http://youtube.com/geocastaway Correo: geocastaway@gmail.com Tienda: http://geocastaway.spreadshirt.es

TikTok is the place to go for sea shanties and oddly complicated dance-alongs — but if you've been spending hours on it a day, you might find that you suddenly can't remember when you read a real book, or watched a show on Netflix without scrolling through your phone at the same time. With videos so short they max out at a minute, can TikTok mess with your attention span? Researchers know that the brain is plastic; in other words, it changes over time, rewiring and creating new connections. So the idea of lots of quick videos "training" your brain to respond shorter and shorter content isn't that far-fetched. But experts tell Bustle that TikToks are actually safer than they seem. For one thing, it's tricky to measure attention span, aka roughly how long you can pay attention to one thing or task, without getting distracted; on average, it's around 20 to 30 minutes. A study published in Nature Communications in 2019 found that in general, our collective attention spans do seem to be narrowing, thanks to how fast everybody consumes information on social media. Trends rise and disappear rapidly, and the main character on Twitter one afternoon may be forgotten an hour later. But that's the big picture; your own brain is harder to figure out. When you scroll through TikTok, neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez Psy.D. tells Bustle, you're actually in pursuit of dopamine. "When you scroll and hit upon something that makes you laugh, your brain receives a hit of dopamine," she explains. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter released by the brain's reward system, and it produces feelings of pleasure — and motivates you to find another hit. "When you see something you don't like, you can quickly pivot to something that produces more dopamine," Dr. Hafeez says. Dopamine does play a role in attention. Research from 2016 in Current Biology shows that when people get a dopamine boost from something, they're more likely to pay attention to similar things in the future. Like Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, Dr. Hafeez explains, TikTok isn't designed to foster long attention spans. But she notes that the adult brain is less susceptible to changes in its attention span than adolescent brains, so hours of TikToks might not change how you focus long-term. Attention involves a bunch of brain regions, including ones that control decision-making and rewards, and researchers are still figuring out how social media might affect them. A study from MIT published in PNAS in 2020 found that maintaining attention in the brain requires two things: dismissing all the other stimuli, and dampening your impulses to do something else (like switch the channel). And a 2020 study in Nature Scientific Reports discovered that people who use a lot of social media show signs of extra impulsivity — in other words, they click away on a whim. Research on social media and the brain has mostly focused on multitasking — paying attention to TikTok, Insta, and your Twitter feed all at once. The science there doesn't look great; a study in World Psychiatry in 2019, for example, found that people who multitask across social media tend not to do well at tasks that require them to filter out distractions. And a survey conducted by Canadian researchers for Microsoft found that people tend to lose interest in what they're watching after around 8 seconds, if it's not sufficiently diverting. But there's no real evidence that TikTok, specifically, will have any long-term effects on your attention span. A review of the available science in Yale Journal Of Biology & Medicine in 2019 found that the relationship between technologies and attention spans is inconclusive; the one thing research does say is that multitasking often overwhelms your brain's attention centers. Jill Daino LCSW, a therapist with Talkspace, tells Bustle that the COVID-19 pandemic may also have had a negative effect on your attention. "It is not that we don't have the ability to concentrate on longer things; it is that right now we may not have the bandwidth, given that we are stretched so thin in all areas of our lives," she says. If you feel you're switching off more rapidly than you used to, Dr. Hafeez recommends using meditation, reading books, doing crossword puzzles, or watching movies to train yourself into enjoying long-term attention. And try not to be hard on yourself if you just can't seem to handle Lord Of The Rings marathons right now. "It is crucial to remember that we are all doing our best to navigate the challenging circumstances of the past year," Daino says. Put that box set away for another time. Anderson, B. A., Kuwabara, H., Wong, D. F., Gean, E. G., Rahmim, A., Brašić, J. R., George, N., Frolov, B., Courtney, S. M., & Yantis, S. (2016). The Role of Dopamine in Value-Based Attentional Orienting. Current biology : CB, 26(4), 550–555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.062 Bari, A., Xu, S., Pignatelli, M., Takeuchi, D., Feng, J., Li, Y., & Tonegawa, S. (2020). Differential attentional control mechanisms by two distinct noradrenergic coeruleo-frontal cortical pathways. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(46), 29080–29089. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015635117 Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C. J., & Sarris, J. (2019). The "online brain": how the Internet may be changing our cognition. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 18(2), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20617 Isbell, E., Stevens, C., Pakulak, E., Hampton Wray, A., Bell, T. A., & Neville, H. J. (2017). Neuroplasticity of selective attention: Research foundations and preliminary evidence for a gene by intervention interaction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(35), 9247–9254. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1707241114 Lodge, J. M., & Harrison, W. J. (2019). The Role of Attention in Learning in the Digital Age. The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 92(1), 21–28. Wegmann, E., Müller, S.M., Turel, O. et al. Interactions of impulsivity, general executive functions, and specific inhibitory control explain symptoms of social-networks-use disorder: An experimental study. Sci Rep10, 3866 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60819-4

耳朵學英文, 大腦篇#3, neurons 神經元, neurosis, neurology 請私訊林威老師 lineID: linwayet 各位同學好，我是林威老師， 英文教學已達27年 講解BBC 720篇文章(3年)， 經濟學人2100篇文章 (8年) 花了三年的時間整理的終極片語， 豐富的例句中英對照 本書前面有53個重要的字根， 以及字首字尾整理 本書本的最後還整理了 兩個動詞make和take的慣用語的比較 只要購買字根200回影片講解 (雲端分享)，贈送本書, 歡迎點選demo影片 ! 
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我有個商品要賣『林威老師親編終極片語+影片講解200個字根』，售價$6,000！快到我的店鋪看看吧！https://shopee.tw/product/18811006/6072162816?smtt=0.18812342-1609723528.4 #蝦皮購物 ……………….. neurosis, a mental illness resulting in high levels of anxiety, unreasonable fears and behaviour and, often, a need to repeat actions for no reason. 神經官能症，神經症 If you want my opinion, I think she's suffering from some form of neurosis. 如果你想聽聽我的意見，我認為她患有某種神經官能症。 She's obsessively clean - it's almost become a neurosis with her. 她有潔癖——幾乎到了神經過敏的程度。 She got a neurosis about chemicals and imagined them everywhere doing her harm. 她對化學物質神經過敏，並想像到處處都有化學物質對她造成傷害。 Neurosis is a class of mental disorders involving distress but not delusions or hallucinations. 神經症是一類精神疾病，涉及困擾，但不包括妄想或幻覺。 neurology, the study of the structure and diseases of the brain and all the nerves in the body. 神經學；神經病學 Neurology is the branch of doctors that deals with the disorders of the nervous system. 神經病學是處理神經系統疾病的醫生分支。 Neurology is about the medical diagnosis and treatment of conditions and illnesses of the nervous system. 神經病學是關於神經系統疾病和病症的醫學診斷和治療。 Cerebrovascular disease the most important part in clinical neurology is also the core business for neurologists. 腦血管疾病是臨床神經病學中最重要的部分，也是神經科醫生的核心業務。 A neuron is a nerve cell that carries electrical impulses. Neurons are the basic units of our nervous system. 神經元是攜帶電脈衝的神經細胞。神經元是我們神經系統的基本單位。 A neuron or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. 神經元或神經細胞是可電刺激的細胞，通過稱為突觸的專門連接與其他細胞通信。 Brain functions are made possible by circuits of spiking neurons, connected together by microscopic, but highly complex links called synapses. In this new study, published in the scientific journal Nature Scientific Reports, the scientists created a hybrid neural network where biological and artificial neurons in different parts of the world were able to communicate with each other over the internet through a hub of artificial synapses made using cutting-edge nanotechnology. This is the first time the three components have come together in a unified network.

Bob Hutchens, CEO of StemBioSys, Inc., developers of advanced stem cell technologies discusses research, which was recently published in peer-reviewed journal "Nature Scientific Reports" (Nov 2020), that demonstrates that CELLvo™ Matrix Plus, a jointly developed platform with Cartox, Inc., enables the widescale testing of experimental drugs via human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) and enables maturation in seven days compared to the current partial hiPSC-CM maturation within 30 to 100 days. Matrix Plus offers the potential to significantly reduce (and one day eliminate) the need to sacrifice animals for preclinical safety studies.

It’s that time again for another Ask Me Anything episode. And we must say, listeners sent us a wealth of excellent questions for this round of Ask Me Anything. In today’s podcast, Ken and Dawn answer questions that range from blood-flow restriction to swimming induced pulmonary edema to intermittent fasting to methylene blue to low-carb diets, and much, much more. If you have questions you want to send to Ken and Dawn for an Ask Me Anything episode, email your question to STEM-Talk Producer Randy Hammer at rhammer@ihmc.org. Show notes:  [00:02:24] In light of Ken’s former experience in wrestling, a listener asks about wrestlers who perform neck bridges to strengthen their neck.  The listener wonders if Ken thinks neck exercises are important and, if so, what does he does in that regard. In his response, Ken mentions a neck-strengthening device, Iron Neck. [00:06:12] A listener asks Ken and Dawn about their morning routines and what scientific journals they read and if they could each give a few book recommendations. [00:08:16] A listener asks Dawn, in light of her accepting a position at the University of North Carolina, if she will continue working with IHMC and  co-hosting STEM-Talk. [00:09:13] A listener asks if and how Dawn sees crossover between the research on humans in extreme environments that she did at IHMC, and the clinically oriented work she is doing now. [00:10:37] A listener mentions that they have recently started using blood-flow restriction training in their workouts thanks to STEM-Talk and have enjoyed the experience. The listener goes on to mention, however, that they are noticing they feel light headed when going for a run after a blood-flow restriction resistance workout. The listener asks Ken if he has any knowledge of this phenomenon, or other side effects of blood flow restriction exercise. [00:12:56] A listener mentions that they have just finished reading Denise Minger’s “Death by Food Pyramid” which explains that no nutrition-oriented classes are required for a Harvard medical degree, which is also true of about 70% of medical schools in the nation. The listener goes on to mention, from their own experience, that people are often told to consult their doctor when thinking about the potential benefits of new diets. Doctors and even nutritionists, however, generally prescribe the Mediterranean diet and do not seem to know much about low-carb diets. The listener asks Ken who one should consult when wanting to start a ketogenic diet. In his response, Ken mentions several resources, including the websites Virta Health and Diet Doctor; and the books “The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living” as well as “The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance.” [00:15:22] A listener, who is a triathlete, asks Dawn for advice about performance in extreme environments, particularly in regards to swimming induced pulmonary edema. They also go on to ask about Dawn’s thoughts on Sildenafil, also known as Viagra. In her response, Dawn mentions a paper by Dr. Richard Moon of Duke University, “Swimming-Induced Pulmonary Edema: Pathophysiology and Risk Reduction with Sildenafil.” [00:20:08] A listener asks Ken a question about an article they read about a study out of the University of Glasgow that was published in Nature Scientific Reports. The listener highlights a quote from the press release announcing the publication of the article: “There is no magic diet, or magic food, for weight control. Instead, people have to find the best way to eat fewer calories. Low-carb diets have had a lot of hype from media and celebrities, but they are no better than high-carb diets. Their evidence is generally poor, and our earlier research found low-carb diets are associated with some vitamin deficiencies, with more diabetes, not less. We can't stop people cutting carbohydrate, and it may suit some people at least in the short-term, but there should be a health warning.

Desde o Descobrimento, pressão humana sobre espécies de mamíferos causou perda de 56% das espécies na América Latina Um estudo, publicado recentemente na Nature Scientific Reports, compilou mais de 1.000 assembleias de mamíferos contemporâneos inventariadas na região neotropical, que compreende o México, a América Central e a América do Sul. Para explicar esse trabalho, conversamos com o biólogo Juliano Bogoni, pós-doc no departamento de Ciências Florestais da Esalq, autor do estudo. Leia o artigo na íntegra: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212041620301157?dgcid=author&fbclid=IwAR2pYPjfLoBlYcnJUNwQjN6m61x4_H7OebgFXQV3TpW5k9a8zHQgB3KZTIk

Thema dieser Episode ist Entscheiden unter Unsicherheit oder etwas genauer, Unter welchen Voraussetzungen sind evidenzbasierte Entscheidungen angebracht, und wie ist unter Unsicherheit, also etwa bei komplexen Problemen zu entscheiden. Auch dies ist wieder keine Corona-Episode im engeren Sinne, wenngleich die Corona-Krise ein gutes Beispiel für eine Situation ist, wo evidenzbasierte Entscheidung nur bedingt möglich ist. Zunächst gibt es wieder einmal einen Blick in die Vergangenheit: Was können wir von James Lind, Florence Nightingale, Archie Cochrane und John Ioannidis über Fortschritt in der Medizin und evidenzbasiertes Entscheiden lernen? Was sind die Voraussetzungen, damit man in einer bestimmten Problemlage evidenzbasiert Entscheiden kann? Zunächst versuche ich Risiken in drei Klassen einzuteilen und mit Beispielen zu unterlegen um damit deutlich zu machen, dass es von großer Bedeutung ist zunächst einmal zu verstehen, mit welcher Art von Risiko wir es in einem konkreten Fall überhaupt zu tun haben. Darf man etwa Masern Herzinfarkt Autounfälle Ertrinken im Swimmingpool politische Konflikte Covid-19 Finanzmärkte Klimakrise miteinander vergleichen? Wenn ja, unter welchen Voraussetzungen? Wann ist ein System oder ein Problem komplex und was bedeutet das für Entscheidungen? Unter welchen Voraussetzungen ist schnelles und aggressives Handeln das Mittel der Wahl, unter welchen Deliberation und Bezug auf vergangene Ereignisse? Ist rationales Entscheiden Intuition und Bauchgefühl immer überlegen? Warum wird dann so häufig defensiv oder pseudo-rational entschieden? Wenn man über ein akutes Problem hinausblickt: wie kann man sich für die Zukunft vorbereiten? Welche systemischen Aspekte könnte man bedenken Vorbereiten auf Tail Risks  Resilienz vs. Effizienz Vielfalt statt Einfalt Verteilung statt Konzentration enge oder lockere Kopplung? Versicherung In dieser Episode wird es wieder einige Anregungen zum Weiterdenken geben, aber wir müssen auch einige Aspekte für spätere Episoden offen lassen, z.B.  Eine vertiefte Betrachtung komplexer Systeme und deren Probleme, z.B. »Wicked Problems« Solutionism – wie Technik unseren Blick auf Probleme verwirren kann Atomwaffen und internationale Politische Konflikte Referenzen andere Episoden Episode 23: Frozen Accidents Episode 22: Biodiversität und komplexe Wechselwirkungen – Gespräch mit Prof. Franz Essl Episode 13 und 14 – (Pseudo)wissenschaft? Welcher Aussage können wir trauen? Teil 1 & Teil 2 Episode 10: Komplizierte Komplexität Episode 6: Messen, was messbar ist? fachliche Referenzen John Ioannidis John Ioannidis, Why most published research finding are false, PLoS medicine (2005) John Ioannidis, A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data James Lind: The man who helped to cure scurvy with lemons, BBC Florence Nightingale – Data Scientist Florence Nightingale as Statistician, Edwin W. Kopf, Publications of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 15, No. 116 (Dec., 1916) Florence Nightingale, datajournalist: information has always been beautiful,  The Guardian (2010) Presentation by Prof. Lynn McDonald at Gresham College. (30. Oct., 2014) Archie Cochrane Archie Cochrane: - 1971 Rock Carling Fellowship monograph Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services, first published in 1972 by the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust Archie Cochrane and his vision for evidence-based medicine, Hriday M. Shah, Kevin C. Chung (2009) Tim Harford, Trial and Error (2012) Flash Crash Neil Johnson, Abrupt rise of new machine ecology beyond human response time, Nature Scientific Reports (2013) Chris Clearfield, Meltdown: Why systems fail and what we can do about it (2018) The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Part 1 - Wait But Why (2015) Gerd Gigerenzer Gerd Gigerenzer, Wie trifft man gute Entscheidungen Gerd Gigerenzer, Bauchentscheidungen (2008) Gerd Gigerenzer, Risiko (2014) Peter Kruse Peter Kruse, Wie reagieren Menschen auf Komplexität? (YouTube) Peter Kruse, next practice. Erfolgreiches Management von Instabilität (2004) Nassim Taleb Nassim Taleb, Skin in the Game (2018) Nassim Taleb, Yaneer Bar-Yam, Uncertainty, Certainty and what to do when there is Systemic Risk(2020) Steve Jobs on Consulting

Other than air, what is invisible, omnipresent, affects every single human being and yet is taken for granted? The answer is the cultural norms. They are the unspoken rules of social behaviors and shared conventions that everyone is expected follow, but may be doing so without really connecting it to the WHY.On this episode, our guest, distinguished university professor and professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, Michele Gelfand, Ph.D., discusses the concept of looser or tighter cultures and how our deep cultural programming shapes our views and informs our implicit understanding of what's permissible in public versus private settings. In order to achieve goals we aspire, we need strong Executive Function and self-regulation skills that allow us to activate versus inhibit certain decisions and actions. However, without the true understanding of the social or cultural context or the understanding of social conventions, one might fail to comply because of having failed to code-switch.About Dr. Michele GelfandMichele Gelfand is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture and its multilevel consequences. Her work has been published in outlets such as Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Psychological Science, Nature Scientific Reports, Nature Human behavior, PLOS 1, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Research in Organizational Behavior, Annual Review of Psychology, American Psychologist, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, among others.Gelfand is the founding co-editor of the Advances in Culture and Psychology annual series and Frontiers of Culture and Psychology series (with CY Chiu and Ying-Yi Hong, Oxford University Press). She is the Past President of the International Association for Conflict Management, Past Division Chair of the Conflict Division of the Academy of Management, Past Treasurer of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, and co-founder of the Society for the Study of Cultural Evolution. She received the 2016 Diener award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the 2017 Outstanding International Psychologist Award from the APA, the 2019 Outstanding Cultural Psychology Award from SPSP, the 2109 Science-Practitioner award from SIOP, and the Annaliese Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which was given to 7 scientists worldwide for outstanding contributions in their fields. Her work that was published in Science was honored with the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.Websitewww.michelegelfand.comWiki Page – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_J._GelfandBookRule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the WorldSupport the show (https://mailchi.mp/7c848462e96f/full-prefrontal-sign-up)

Postdoctoral fellow Sarah Sauvé recommends “Individual differences in rhythmic cortical entrainment correlate with predictive behavior in sensorimotor synchronization” by Sylvie Nozaradan, Isabelle Peret, and Peter E. Keller, published in Nature Scientific Reports in 2016. Sarah and Finn interview Dr. Nozaradan about the measures of metrical perception and rhythm production, entrainment to difficult stimuli, and what these results imply for a replication study conducted with older participants. Time Stamps [0:00:10] Intro with Sarah [0:09:41] Interview: Where this study comes from [0:14:25] Interview: Challenging stimuli [0:22:09] Interview: Older listeners replication [0:26:43] Interview: Task 3, metrical prediction [0:38:25] Interview: Implications for everyday musical experiences [0:44:43] Closing debrief Show notes Recommended article: Nozaradan, S., Peretz, I., & Keller, P. E. (2016). Individual differences in rhythmic cortical entrainment correlate with predictive behavior in sensorimotor synchronization. Scientific reports, 6, 20612. Interviewee: Dr. Sylvie Nozaradan, Institute of neuroscience at UC Louvain, in Belgium (Google Scholar Profile) Co-host: Dr. Sarah Sauvé, Postdoctoral fellow at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Website, twitter) Contact Questions, comments, and article recommendations are always welcome! Get in touch here, through the contact page, or on twitter, or email the producer directly: finn at sostrangely.com Credits The So Strangely Podcast is produced by Finn Upham, 2019. The closing music includes a sample of Diana Deutsch's Speech-Song Illusion sound demo 1.

Dr. Paul Wang :                 Welcome to the monthly podcast On the Beat for circulation, arrhythmia and electrophysiology. I’m Dr. Paul Wang editor in chief with some of the key highlights from this month’s issue. We’ll also hear from Dr. Suraj Kapa reporting on new research for the latest journal articles in the field.                                                 The first article in this month's issue is by Yoav Michowitz and Associates who examine the morphological ECG characteristics of left posterior fascicular ventricular tachycardia and differentiated from right bundle branch block and left anterior hemiblock aberrancy. 183 ECGs with left posterior fascicular ventricular tachycardia in patients who underwent ablation were identified using a systematic Medline search were examined and compared to 61 ECGs with right bundle branch block in left anterior hemiblock aberrancy with no obvious cardiac pathology by echocardiography.                                                 Using four variables including atypical right bundle branch block like V1 morphology, positive QRS in aVR, V6R greater than S ratio of less than one and QRS less than or equal to 140 ms, a prediction model was developed that predicted posterior fascicular ventricular tachycardia with a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 78%. Patients with three out of four positive variables had a high probability of having left posterior fascicular ventricular tachycardia whereas patients with less than or equal to one positive variable always had right bundle branch block plus left anterior hemiblock.                                                 In the next article, Anna Thøgersen and associates describe a case series of 10 patients in whom implantable cardioverter defibrillators failed to treat ventricular tachyarrhythmias. The authors examine whether consensus derive generic rate threshold cutoffs between 185 and 200 beats per minute were employed in this case series. In nine patients, ventricular fibrillation did not satisfy program detection criteria. Five patients died with untreated ventricular fibrillation, four had cardiac arrest requiring external shocks and one was rescued by a delayed ICD shock. Seven of these patients had slowest detection rates that were consistent with generic recommendations but not tested in a peer review trial for their manufacturer’s ICDs.                                                 In the reported cases, manufacturer specific factors interacted with fast detection rates to withhold therapy including strict ventricular fibrillation episode termination rules, enhancements to minimize T-wave over sensing and features that restrict therapy to regularly rhythms in VT zones. Untreated ventricular fibrillation despite recommended programming accounted for 56% of the deaths and 11% of all of deaths. The authors concluded that complex and unanticipated interactions between manufacturer specific features and generic programming can prevent therapy for ventricular fibrillation.                                                 In the next article, Miguel Rodrigo and associates describe from 17 simulations of atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter and focal atrial tachycardia the ability to understand signal processing that can affect identification of reentrant activity using electrograms, body surface potential mapping and electrocardiographic imaging ECGI phase maps. Reentrant activity was identified by singularity point recognition and raw signals and in signals after narrow band pass filtering at the highest dominant frequency.                                                 Reentrant activity was identified without filtering in 60% of unipolar records but filtering was required to increase reentrant activity detection from 1% to 62% in bipolar recordings. The filtering resulted in residual false reentrant activity in about 30% of bipolar recordings. The authors concluded that rotor identification is accurate and sensitive and does not require additional signal processing in measured or noninvasively computed unipolar electrograms while bipolar electrograms and body surface potential mapping do require highest dominant frequency filtering in order to detect rotors at the expense of a decrease specificity.                                                 In the next article, Raymond Yee and associates examine the ability of a new automated antitachycardia pacing algorithm to reduce ICD shocks. The new automated ATP algorithm was based on electrophysiologic first principles and prescribed the ATP sequences in real time using the same settings for all patients. In 144 patients who had dual chamber or CRT ICDs as well as a history of one or more ICD treated VT or VF episodes or a recorded sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia episode. Detection was sent to ventricular fibrillation interval detection of 24 out of 32 ventricular tachycardia interval detection of 16 or greater in a fast VT zone of 242 to 320 ms.                                                 There were 1,626 treated episodes in 49 patients over 14.5 month’s follow up. Data logs permitted adjudication of 702 episodes including 669 sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia episodes, 20 polymorphic ventricular tachycardia episodes, 10 SVT episodes and three mal sensing episodes. The novel automated antitachycardia pacing algorithm terminated 39 out of 69 episodes or adjusted 59% of the sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia events in the fast VT zone, but 509 out of 590 or 85% adjusted in the VT zone and 6 out of 10 in the VF zone. No SVTs were converted to VT or VF and no anomalous ATP behavior was observed. The authors concluded that this new automated ATP algorithm could be used safely in all zones without need for individualized programming.                                                 In the next study Pablo Ávila and associates studied the incidence and clinical predictors of atrial tachycardias in adults in a cohort of 3,311 patients with congenital heart disease. Prospectively followed in a tertiary center for 37,607 person years. The study patients were divided into three categories; 49% simple, 39% moderate and 12% complex congenital heart disease. In this cohort, 153 or 4.6% of patients presented with atrial tachycardia. The atrial tachycardia burden was highest in complex congenital heart disease such as single ventricle 22.8% or D-TGA 22.1%.                                                 The authors found that univentricular physiology, previous intracardiac repair, systemic right ventricle, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary regurgitation, pulmonary AV valve regurgitation and pulmonary and systemic ventricular dysfunction were independent risk factors for developing atrial tachycardia. At the age of 40 years, atrial tachycardia free survival in patients with zero risk factors was 100%. With one risk factor, it was 94%. With two risk factors was 76% and three or more risk factors was 50%. These authors confirm these findings in a validation cohort.                                                 In the next article, Khidir Dalouk and associates compare clinical outcomes between ICD patients followed up in a telemedicine videoconferencing clinic and a conventional in person clinic. In this retrospective study, the authors compared time to first appropriate ICD therapy, time to first inappropriate ICD therapy, time to first shock and overall survival. The authors studied 287 patients in the telemedicine videoconferencing clinic group and 236 patients in the conventional in person clinic over mean follow-up duration of 4.8 years. The authors found that telemedicine videoconferencing clinic was not inferior to in person follow-up for the pre-specified outcomes.                                                 In the next article, Elisabeth Mouws and associates studied the epicardial breakthrough waves in sinus rhythm possibly giving insight to the arrhythmogenic substrate in atrial fibrillation. In 381 patients with ischemic or valvular heart disease, intraoperative epicardial mapping with intro electro distance of 2 mm was performed of the right atrium, Bachmann’s bundle, the left atrioventricular groove and the pulmonary vein area. Epicardial breakthrough waves were referred to as sinus node breakthrough waves if they were the earliest right atrial activated site. A total of 218 epicardial breakthrough waves and 57 sinus node breakthrough waves were observed in 168 patients or 44%.                                                 Epicardial breakthrough waves mostly occurred at the right atrium and 48% at the left atrioventricular groove and 31% followed by Bachmann’s bundle and 12% and the pulmonary vein area and 9%. Epicardial breakthrough waves occurred most often in ischemic heart disease patients 49% to valvular patient's 17%. Epicardial breakthrough wave electrograms most often consisted of double or fractionated electrograms seen in 63%. Fractionated epicardial breakthrough wave potentials were more often observed at the right atrium or Bachmann's bundle. The authors concluded that epicardial breakthrough waves are present in over a third of patients possibly indicating muscular connections between the endocardium and epicardium that may enhance the occurrence of epicardial breakthrough waves during atrial fibrillation promoting AF persistence.                                                 In the next article, Shouvik Haldar and associates compare horizontal and vertical orientation bipolar electrograms with novel omnipolar peak to peak voltages in sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation using a high density fixed multi-electrode plaque placed on the epicardial surface of the left atrium in dogs. Bipolar orientation had significant impact on bipolar electrogram voltages obtained either in sinus rhythm or atrial fibrillation. Omnipole Vmax values were 99.9% larger than both horizontal or vertical electrograms in sinus rhythm in larger than horizontal or vertical electrograms in atrial fibrillation.                                                 Further vector analysis of omnipole electrograms showed that omnipolar electrograms can record electronic voltage unaffected by collision and fractionation. The authors concluded that omnipolar electrograms can attract maximal voltages from AF signals which are not influenced by directional factors, collision or fractionation compared to contemporary bipolar techniques.                                                 In our final article for the month, Pauline Quenin and associates examine the efficacy of screening in relatives of subjects who died suddenly. The authors provided clinical screening to 64 families who experienced unexplained sudden cardiac death before age 45 in a prospective multicenter registry. The diagnosis was established in 16 families, 25% including Brugada syndrome, long QT syndromes, dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The diagnostic yield was mainly dependent on a number of screen relatives with 3.8 screen relatives in the diagnosed family versus 2.0 in the non-diagnosed families rising to 40% with at least three relatives.                                                 It additionally increased from 9% to 41% when both parents were screened. Diagnostic performance was also dependent on the exhaustiveness of the screening. 70% of complete screening versus 25% with incomplete screening with 17 Brugada syndrome and 15 long QT syndrome diagnoses based on pharmacologic tests. The authors concluded that even without autopsy, familial screening after sudden death in young patients is effective greatly increasing the likelihood of diagnosis in families.                                                 That's it for this month but keep listening. Suraj Kapa will be surveying all journals for the latest articles on topics of interest in our field. Remember to download the podcast On the Beat. Take it away Suraj. Suraj Kapa:                          Thank you Paul. It is my pleasure to welcome everybody back to our continued series of On the Beat articles from across the electrophysiology literature especially selected to highlight their potential importance in terms of either current or future practice within the realm of cardiac electrophysiology. Again, my name is Suraj Kapa and it is my pleasure to walk us through a variety of hard-hitting articles.                                                 Today we’ll be starting within the realm of atrial fibrillation specifically as it relates to cardiac mapping and ablation. The first article was by Iwasawa et al entitled Temperature Controlled Radiofrequency Ablation for Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation published in volume 70 of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In this article, Iwasawa and colleagues discuss the role of novel temperature controlled irrigated ablation catheter to attempt to obtain deeper transmural lesions in cardiac tissue, specifically they tested the utility of a diamond embedded tip for rapid cooling accompanying six surface thermocouples to better reflect tissue temperature.                                                 They demonstrated in this first in human series that a temperature controlled irrigated ablation could produce rapid, efficient and durable PV isolation. The importance of this particular article lies in the continued development of novel tools that can achieve pulmonary vein isolation either more safely or more quickly. This was highlighted in the article by Iwasawa et al when they demonstrated that the mean radiofrequency application duration was significantly less by almost a factor of three and those using the novel radiofrequency ablation catheter versus those with older models.                                                 They also noted that there was lower acute dormant pulmonary vein re-conduction rates and patients tend to have more frequent durable isolation when remapped after ablation. While the study group only consisted of 35 patients within the treatment group and 35 patients within the control group, the potential of these novel catheters to achieve aims of both shortening procedure duration as well as improving procedure and success need to be taken in consideration.                                                 The next article is by Dr. Gopinathannair entitled Atrial Tachycardia after Surgical Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Clinical Characteristics, Electrophysiological Mechanisms and Ablation Outcomes from a large multicenter study published in the August 2017 issue of JACC Clinical Electrophysiology. In this article, Dr. Gopinathannair reviews the outcomes of cardiac mapping and ablation targeted atrial tachycardias occurring after surgical atrial fibrillation ablation. They reviewed a large number of patients nearly 137 undergoing catheter ablation for symptomatic postsurgical atrial fibrillation ablation atrial tachyarrhythmias across three high volume institutions in the United States.                                                 They demonstrated that the vast majority had a left atrial origin though up to a third also had a right atrial origin further atrial tachyarrhythmias. The predominant circuits noted were cavotricuspid isthmus but also frequently perimitral roof and left or right pulmonary veins. In addition, most of the patients namely 93% had at least one pulmonary vein reconnection requiring re-isolation. The key point with the article however were the outcomes. They demonstrated that acute termination inducibility could be achieved in as many as 97% of right atrial and 93% of left atrial tachyarrhythmias in the setting of prior surgical ablation.                                                 Furthermore, 12 month followup demonstrated an 80% success rate. Traditionally, surgical atrial fibrillation ablation is seen as a complex procedure with the remapping of arrhythmias requiring a lot more complexity. However, these findings cross a large group of patients suggesting that we can have a high rate of success should propose to individuals that perhaps targeted ablation at these postsurgical atrial tachyarrhythmias should be amenable towards ablation especially at high volume complex ablation centers.                                                 Next will discuss the article by Pathik et al entitled Epicardial-Endocardial Breakthroughs through Stable Macroreentry: Evidence from ultra-high-resolution three-dimensional mapping published in Heart Rhythm in August 2017. In this article, the group of Pathik et al decided to review whether epicardial-endocardial breakthrough could be discerned during stable right atrial macroreentry using high density and high spatial resolution three-dimensional mapping. Twenty-six patients were studied and they noted that up to 14 patients had evidence of epicardial-endocardial breakthrough. Using systematic entrainment confirmation, stable atrial macroreentry with epicardial-endocardial breakthrough was consistently demonstrated.                                                 The principle of epicardial-endocardial breakthrough or dissociation is critically important during cardiac mapping. While widely accepted for ventricular mapping, the tradition because of lack of available tools and atrial mapping has suggested that endocardial only mapping should reveal the entire cardiac circuits. Advances in signal processing as well as cardiac mapping techniques and technologies has allowed for better discernment of potentially deeper manifestations of cardiac tissue involvement in cardiac arrhythmias. As been well recognized that there can be significant epicardial and endocardial dissociation in cases of persistent atrial fibrillation.                                                 The article by Pathik et al is important in that it highlights that such events can manifest themselves even in the setting of relatively organized or stable atrial macroreentry. Part of the reason this becomes so critical is that when we consider endocardial only remapping and rely on these signals alone, we may run into situations where we miss a significant chamber of atrial tissue namely the epicardium, thus the focus of this article and the consideration of it in the clinician's repertoire of cardiac mapping and ablation should lie in an understanding of the fact that the entire story of an electrical circuits may not be told by traditional endocardial mapping alone without consideration for epicardial-endocardial breakthrough.                                                 The next article we will focus on is by Dr. Chun et al regarding the impact of cryoballoon versus radiofrequency ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation on healthcare utilization and costs and economic analysis. This was from the FIRE and ICE Trial published in the Journal of the American Heart Association this past month. In this study they sought to assess payer cost following cryoballoon or radiofrequency catheter ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. They demonstrated that there are cost savings of as much as $355,000 related to the use of cryoballoon over traditional radiofrequency catheter ablation. This reduction in resource use and payer costs was consistent across three different national healthcare systems.                                                 Furthermore, the reason for the reduced cost was primarily attributable to fewer repeat ablations and a reduction in cardiovascular rehospitalizations with cryoballoon ablation. In this era of cost reduction, it is important to consider the potential implications of use of novel technologies in terms of procedural costs. The ability to identify novel techniques that can actually both reduce costs and either achieve equal or improved outcomes needs to be strongly considered. While the three national healthcare systems reviewed here might not reflect all healthcare systems or all insurance needs, it still brings up an important economic consideration that all novel technology may not necessarily result in increased costs, and utilization must be considered both in the context of the particular system as well as the particular provider.                                                 Changing pace, we’ll move on with an atrial fibrillation to the role of anticoagulation. The first major article recently published is by Pollack et al regarding the use of Idarucizumab for dabigatran Reversal, the full cohort analysis published the New England Journal of Medicine. Idarucizumab is a monoclonal antibody fragments developed to reverse the anticoagulant effect with dabigatran and represents the first reversal agent available for reversal of any of the novel oral anticoagulant drugs. In this study which is both multicenter, prospective and open label, patients were enrolled to undergo treatment with this reversal agents.                                                 A total 503 patients were included and the median maximum percentage reversal dabigatran was 100% which was measured using the diluted thrombin time or the ecarin clotting time. In those with active bleeding, the median time to cessation of bleeding was around 2.5 hours. Furthermore, in a surgical cohorts who underwent reversal in order to accommodate them going to surgery, the time to initiation of an intended procedures was 1.6 hours with periprocedural hemostasis assessed as normal in 93%, mildly abnormal in 5% and moderately abnormal in 1.5%. Thrombotic events occurred in about 6.3% of patients undergoing reversal because of active bleeding and then 7.4% undergoing reversal for surgical accommodation.                                                 Mortality rates were around 18% to 19%. Thus it was demonstrated that in emergency situations Idarucizumab can rapidly, durably and safely reverse the anticoagulant effect of dabigatran. However, it is important to note that there was a signal for thrombotic events and consideration of the risk of rapid reversal of anticoagulation regardless of the type of anticoagulation in combination with the actual need for reversal should be considered in the patient context.                                                 The next article we will review is by Jackevicius et al entitled Early Non-persistence with Dabigatran and Rivaroxaban in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation, published in Heart this past month. In this article, the group reviewed how patients manage being on their novel oral anticoagulants over the course of time after initial diagnosis and prescription. One of the concerns regarding novel oral anticoagulants is given the fact that there is no actual tracking or no actual measurements needed to ensure continued adherence to the drug, whether or not there will be higher rates of nonpersistence with use of these novel oral anticoagulants.                                                 Amongst 15,857 dabigatran users and 10,119 rivaroxaban users, they noted that at six months about a third of patients were nonpersistent with either drug. In those patients who were nonpersistent with use of the drug, the combined endpoint of stroke, TIA and death was significantly higher with hazard ratios of 1.76 in the dabigatran cohort and 1.89 in the rivaroxaban cohort. Furthermore, the risk of stroke or TIA was markedly higher in nonpersistent patients with about a hazard ratio of 3.75 in dabigatran nonpersistence and 6.25 in rivaroxaban nonpersistence.                                                 Given these relatively high rates of nonpersistence in clinical practice and the negative outcomes associated with nonpersistence, this highlights the importance of continued validation of the need for persistence with use of oral anticoagulation in patients prescribed these perceived to be at high risk of stroke associate with atrial fibrillation. In an era of improving drug use or improving drugs that can be used without the need for blood testing, it must also be considered that these drugs may be more easily stopped on the patient's own discretion without any knowledge from a provider as there is no active blood test associated. Thus this further highlights the importance of continued discussion between patients and physicians over the course of therapy and care regarding the need for continuation.                                                 Changing paces. We review the article by Godier et al entitled Predictors of Pre-procedural Concentrations of Direct Oral Anticoagulants a prospective multicenter study published at the European Heart Journal. We all know that one of the major issue with a direct oral anticoagulants is that these patients frequently undergo elective invasive procedures and in this setting the management can be very challenging specifically as it relates to when the direct oral anticoagulants should and can be safely stopped.                                                 In clinical practice, there is wide variability in the timing by which providers inform patients to stop these new oral anticoagulants prior to invasive procedure. In this prospective multicenter study, 422 patients were evaluated with preprocedural DOAC concentrations and routine hemostasis assays performed to determine those patients who achieved a minimal preprocedural concentration based on the timing of their discontinuation of the drug. They ranged the duration of discontinuation of the oral anticoagulant from 1 to 218 hours. They noted after a 49 to 72 hour discontinuation period, 95% of the concentration of the direct oral anticoagulants in patients had levels that were significantly low suggesting safety and proceeding with any sort of invasive procedure.                                                 Thus a 72 hour discontinuation period predicted sufficiently low concentrations of DOACs with 91% specificity. In multivariable analyses, duration of the DOAC discontinuation with creatinine clearances and antiarrhythmics were independent predictors of a minimal preprocedural DOAC concentration, namely better renal function, longer duration of DOAC discontinuation and interestingly the use of antiarrhythmic drugs were all associated with lower DOAC concentrations. The conclusion from this article was a last DOAC intake of three days before a procedure resulted in a minimal preprocedural anticoagulant effect for almost all patients considered.                                                 The exception would be in moderate renal impairment especially in dabigatran treated patients and antiarrhythmics in anti-Xa-treated patients could result in the need for longer DOAC interruption. Thus, the key things here to note are that antiarrhythmics can result in the need for longer DOAC interruption to achieve minimal blood concentrations and that similarly moderate renal impairment especially in dabigatran treated patients may result in the same. Another outcome other studies suggested a lack of association between routine assays such as routine hemostasis assays and DOAC concentrations suggesting that in situations where testing is believed to be needed routine assays should not replace DOAC concentration measurement in decision-making regarding whether or not the DOAC has sufficiently gone down in concentration to safely proceed.                                                 Along these lines, the final article we will review within the realm of anticoagulation is by Brendel et al entitled the Anticoagulant Effect of Heparin during Radiofrequency Ablation in Patients Taking Apixaban or Rivaroxaban published in the Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology this past month. One concern regarding the use of the direct oral anticoagulants is the fact that during procedures where heparin is needed, knowledge of how much heparin to give is unclear. This is both in the setting of understanding what the synergistic effect of the simultaneous and continued use of apixaban or rivaroxaban or other direct oral anticoagulants in combination with heparin might be and also what the effect on actual activated coagulation time might be.                                                 As it is felt that be ACT may not necessarily reflect the true anticoagulant activity of drugs. Thus in a prospective study, Brendel et al studied about 90 patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing radiofrequency ablation procedures. During radiofrequency ablation, unfractionated heparin was given to maintain ACT of 250 to 300 ms with blood samples taken before and up 360 minutes after heparin administration. They demonstrated that heparin displayed a lower anti-Xa activity in rivaroxaban treated patients compared to apixaban treated patients.                                                 In contrast, D-dimer and prothrombin fragment F1+2 plasma levels indicated a higher activation of the coagulation cascade in apixaban/heparin combinations than in rivaroxaban/heparin combinations. While there was clear differences in the level of anticoagulant effect, depending on which DOAC was combined with heparin, they had no clinical impact in terms of bleeding or thromboembolic complications from the procedure. This article is significant in that it highlights that there are clear and different biochemical responses based on which DOAC is used in combination with heparin during radiofrequency ablation.                                                 While in the small study, there was no clear effect on clinical impact, precautions should still be considered when monitoring periprocedural hemostasis in DOAC patients to avoid mismanagement especially considering the variability that might occur between DOACs themselves and not just between DOACs and warfarin.                                                 Changing paces to risk stratification and management within atrial fibrillation. We’ll review the article by Labombarda et al entitled Increasing Prevalence of Atrial Fibrillation and Permanent Atrial Arrhythmias in Congenital Heart Disease published in this past month's issue of the Journal the American College of Cardiology. In this article, they sought to assess the types and patterns of atrial arrhythmias, associate factors and age-related trends in a multicenter cohort of patients with adult congenital heart disease. What they demonstrated is that by far the most common presenting arrhythmia was intraatrial reentrant tachycardia in almost two-thirds of patients with the remaining including atrial fibrillation in up to 30% of patients and focal atrial tachycardias in up to 10% of patients.                                                 The association of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia with congenital heart disease was stronger with higher complexities of congenital heart disease. With those with more complex defects having a higher frequency of IART than those with simple effects. Furthermore, as is commonly seen in the general population, the frequency of atrial fibrillation increased with age to eventually suppress IART as the most common arrhythmia in those greater than equal to 50 years of age. The predominant arrhythmia pattern was paroxysmal in almost two-thirds of patients though almost 30% were persistent.                                                 Furthermore, the frequency of permanent atrial arrhythmias increased with age. While it is commonly seen that patients with congenital heart disease were living longer and as a result it is expected that the frequency of arrhythmias in this population will likely increase. The interesting outcome from the study is the high frequency of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia as the presenting atrial arrhythmia in patients with congenital heart disease and also with the predominantly paroxysmal pattern. The finding also that atrial fibrillation increases in prevalence highlights the importance of closely monitoring these patients in order to assess for anticoagulation needs and options for treatment.                                                 Changing gears to cellular electrophysiology. We focus on an article by Qiao et al entitled transient Notch activation induces long-term gene expression changes leading to sick sinus syndrome in mice published in this past month's issue of Circulation Research. Notch signaling programs cardiac conduction during development and in the adult ventricle. It is noted that injury can induce notch reactivation resulting in global transcriptional and epigenetic changes. Thus, the group sought to determine whether notch reactivation may alter atrial ion channel gene expression arrhythmia inducibility.                                                 They demonstrated that notch signaling regulates transcription factor in ion channel gene expression in adult atrial myocardium. With reactivation inducing electrical changes resulting in sinus bradycardia, sinus pauses and a susceptibility atrial arrhythmias, altogether contributing to a phenotype resembling sick sinus syndrome. The importance of these findings lies in the mechanism underlying sick sinus syndrome.                                                 While we search for genetic clues for why patients might develop atrial fibrillation or sick sinus syndrome or sinus bradycardia as they age, the importance of activation of typically quiet signaling patterns in the adult myocardium and their role in arrhythmogenesis is important because it might highlight novel targets for treatment. Understanding how the arrhythmogenic substrate develops and the mechanisms underlying it, may allow for a better understanding of why in certain patients certain drugs may be effective or not or certain invasive therapies may be effective or not.                                                 Next with the realm of electrocardiography, we’ll review the article by Christophersen et al entitled 15 Genetic Loci Associated with Electrocardiographic P-wave published in Circulation Genetics this past month. Similar to the previous article by Dr. Qiao et al, the importance of the article by Christophersen et al lies in the identification of a number of genetic underpinnings for what forms the final electrocardiographic P-wave that is seen.                                                 Six novel genetic loci associated with P-wave duration and six novel loci associated with P-wave terminal force were identified by the group. Both in the case of the transient Notch activation findings as well as in the findings related to a specific genetic loci associated with electrocardiographic P-wave abnormalities might highlight potential genetic targets either with existing drugs not traditionally used for atrial electrophysiology or potentially future drug targets.                                                 Changing gears yet again, we’ll move on to their own sudden death cardiac arrest and specifically to an article published by Fallavollita et al entitled the denervated myocardium is preferentially associate with sudden cardiac arrest in ischemic cardiomyopathy a pilot competing risks analysis of cost specific mortality. Previous studies identify multiple factors associated with total cardiac mortality but we all recognize the ejection fraction has limited value. Thus within this article published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, the group decided to do a competing risks analysis the National Institutes of Health sponsored prediction of arrhythmic events with positron emission tomography trial.                                                 They demonstrated that sudden cardiac arrest was correlated with greater volumes of denervate myocardium based on defects on positron emission tomography using a norepinephrine analog carbon 11 hydroxy ephedrine. However, they also demonstrated that other factors such as lack of angiotensin inhibition therapy, elevated BNP and large left particular end-diastolic volume were further associated with sudden cardiac arrest.                                                 The importance of potential modifying factors to better attribute cardiac arrest risk and thus the need for defibrillator or other therapies in patients with myopathy needs to continue to be highlighted especially in light of recently published Danish and other studies suggesting that the mortality benefit conferred by ICD is an ischemic and nonischemic populations may not be equivalent in newer studies. The fact that further risk stratification opportunities can exist underlying the pathophysiologic basis for why these patients develop ventricular arrhythmias is critical. While recognized for a few decades now that myocardial denervation may be associated with sudden cardiac arrest risk, this study highlights the continued need for further study to help further clarify these populations.                                                 Moving onto the realm of genetic channelopathies, we review the article by Anderson et al entitled Lidocaine Attenuation Testing: An in vivo Investigation of Putative LQT3-Associated Variants in the SCN5A-encoded sodium channel published in this past month's issue of Heart Rhythm. Long QT syndrome type 3 represents one of the more difficult types of long QT syndrome to adequately diagnose both by genetic testing as well as through traditional means. Approximate 2% of healthy individuals can have rare variance of uncertain significance in the SCN5A channel and thus distinguishing true LQT3 causative mutations for background genetic noise can be quite difficult in this population.                                                 Anderson et al decided to assess the utility of lidocaine attenuation testing in evaluating patients with possible LQT3. They gave a loading dose of 1 mg per kg of intravenous lidocaine followed by continuous infusions of 50 micrograms for 20 minutes. If the corrected QT interval shortened by at least 30 ms, the LAT was defined as positive. They demonstrated that use of this test can help distinguish true LQT3 causative mutations from otherwise noncontributory variance of uncertain significance. Thus in this era of increasing genetic testing where one might identify a variant of uncertain significance in either a family member affected with sudden cardiac arrest or in a patient being evaluated for any sort of uncertain significant variant, the use of lidocaine testing in those variance as they apply to LQT type 3 may offer significant clinical use.                                                 Next we will review the article by Ishibashi et al published in this past month's edition of Heart entitled Arrhythmia Risk and Beta Blocker Therapy in Pregnant Woman with Long QT Syndrome. One of the biggest concerns of patients with long QT syndrome especially woman is pregnancy. The fact is because of the different hormonal states, it is possible that pregnancy may alter arrhythmic risk and the safety of beta blocker therapy given both the potential fetal effects as well as the continued efficacy at the level those seen previously.                                                 Thus Ishibashi et al reviewed 136 pregnancies across 76 long QT pregnant patients. They retrospectively analyzed clinical and electrophysiological characteristics in pregnancy outcomes in both the presence and absence of beta blocker therapy. All of the beta blocker group had prior events while the majority of the nonbeta blocker group had not been diagnosed with pregnancy. Pregnancy was noted to increase heart rate in those not treated with beta blockers, but interestingly, between the two groups there was no significant difference over the course of pregnancy in QT intervals.                                                 In the beta blocker group, only two events occurred and these were relegated to the postpartum period. However, 12 events occurred in the nonbeta blocker group either during pregnancy and half or in the postpartum period and the remaining half. There was no difference in this frequency of spontaneous abortion between the two groups, and furthermore, fetal growth rates and proportion of infants with congenital malformation were similar between the two groups. However, premature delivery and low birth weight infants were more common in those taking beta blockers.                                                 Given the high risk of events and the relative safety of beta blocker therapy in this population of patients with long QT who become pregnant, it was felt that the use of early diagnosis and beta blocker therapy could be critical both the during pregnancy and during the postpartum period. It was also felt the beta blocker therapy may be tolerated for babies in long QT pregnant patients. This highlights that the continued use of beta blockers throughout the pregnancy and consideration of the introduction of beta blockers in those not already on them during pregnancy may be an important consideration.                                                 Finally within the realm of genetic channelopathies, we focus on the article by Roberts et al entitled Loss of Function in KCNE2 Variants: True Monogenic Culprits of Long QT Syndrome or Proarrhythmic Variants Requiring Secondary Provocation published in this past month's issue of Circulation: Arrhythmia Electrophysiology. As we identify more and more genes the baby is associated with long QT syndrome, the understanding of the clinical phenotype associated with that syndrome requires better study. In this particular study, Roberts et al reviewed the role of long QT syndrome type 6 stemming from mutations in the KCNE2 encoded voltage gated channel beta subunits.                                                 They reviewed mutations identified during arrhythmia evaluation from either inherited arrhythmia clinics or the Rochester long QT syndrome registry. They demonstrated that the high allelic frequencies of LQT6 mutations in the Exome aggregation consortium database and the absence of previous documentation of genotype phenotype segregation suggest many KCNE2 variants and potentially all were actually erroneously designated as LQT as causative mutations. Instead, it was felt the KCNE2 variants may actually confer proarrhythmic susceptibility when provoked by additional environmental and/or acquired or genetic factors.                                                 What they are saying is that identifying the KCNE2 variants as the principal culprits may be over calling the role of the KCNE2 variants and instead it might be a combination of effects such as two hit affect the requires further provocation by either outside or additional genetic factors. Furthermore, complex genetic studies were likely needed to better understand how variants and genes that may not have been previously designated as disease causing play a role in the actual disease process, whether as potentiating other factors that might exist that might also otherwise be relatively benign or as unique singular hits that might by themselves result in the clinical phenotype.                                                 Next moving onto the realm of ventricular arrhythmias, we first focus on an article published in this past month's issue of the American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology by Howard Quijano et al entitled Spinal Cord Stimulation Reduces Ventricular Arrhythmias during Acute Ischemia by Attenuation of Regional Myocardial Excitability. In this article, they demonstrated in a porcine model ventricular ischemia that spinal cord stimulation decrease sympathetic nerve activation regionally in ischemic myocardium while having no effect on normal myocardium. They demonstrated that the antiarrhythmic effects conferred by spinal cord stimulation were likely secondary to attenuation of some sympathoexcitation locally in ischemic myocardium rather than changes in the global myocardial electrophysiology.                                                 This is important because it highlights the mechanisms by which spinal cord stimulation may confer in antiarrhythmic benefits in both animal and human models. As we search for novel interventions that can be used for the treatment of ventricular arrhythmias, understanding the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms by which they work is critical. The understanding that the use of spinal cord stimulation is primarily conferred in a regional way primarily in terms of its effect on an ischemic myocardium, further study is also needed in terms of how the effect is seen in nonischemic myopathies where there may be more patchy scar in the same role of denervation, nerve sprouting and hyper innervation may play different roles.                                                 In the next article we choose to focus on is by Berte et al entitled a New Cryo-energy for Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation a Proof of Concept Study published in this past month's edition of Europace. One of the key problems in ventricular tachycardia ablation is the lack of transmural lesion formation. This is an important determinant of arrhythmia recurrence. Thus the group decided to do a proof of concept study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new and more powerful cryoablation system for ventricular ablation. They demonstrated that a novel cryoablation system to create large transmural ventricular lesions, whether it delivered by endocardial or epicardial approach. It was felt that this technology can hold potential for both surgical and catheter-based VT ablation in humans.                                                 While primarily studied in sheep models, it nevertheless highlights the importance of novel therapies that might better achieve through and through lesions. There are many different novel products being developed for the hope of achieving transmural lesions partly to target the myocardial circuits and partly to ensure achievement of through and through lesions without leaving residual potential substrate, because of only partial thickness lesions. These include things like needle ablation catheters, the safety of which still has to be fully evaluated, bipolar ablation or the use of technology such as novel cryo-energy approaches. Comparative efficacy of these different approaches however will be critical to determining which one is safest and best in any given clinical situation.                                                 Next we’ll review the article by Venlet et al published this past month's issue of Circulation Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology entitled Unipolar Endocardial Voltage Mapping in the Right Ventricle: Optimal Cutoff Values Correcting for Computed Tomography-derived Epicardial Fat Thickness and their clinical value for substrate delineation. The work by [inaudible 00:53:37] and others highlighted the importance of using unipolar and bipolar voltage cutoffs and helping delineate areas of both endocardial as well as potentially more distal such as epicardial scar during endocardial mapping. It is felt the low endocardial unipolar voltage during bipolar voltage mapping endocardially may indicate epicardial scar.                                                 However, the primary issues, the additional presence of epicardial fat both in the right ventricle and left ventricle and how this epicardial fat may effect normal unipolar voltage cutoffs. Thus, Venlet et al decided to review using computed tomography data the effective epicardial fat on unipolar voltage cutoffs. They demonstrated that endocardial unipolar voltage cutoff of 3.9 millivolts was more accurate than previously reported cutoff values for right ventricular epicardial scar during endocardial mapping.                                                 It was further demonstrated that while epicardial abnormal electrograms may be associated with transmural scar when associated with low endocardial bipolar voltage, the additional use of endocardial unipolar voltage and normal bipolar voltage sites can improve the diagnostic accuracy resulting in identification of all epicardial abnormal electrograms at sites with less than 1 mm of fat. Thus, the unipolar voltage not only assisted in evaluating whether epicardial scar was present, but also in further clarifying epicardial abnormal electrograms in terms of whether or not they truly represented potential transmural scar.                                                 Finally, within the realm of electrogram mapping of ventricular arrhythmias, we focus on the article by Magtibay et al entitled Physiological Assessment of Ventricular Myocardial Voltage using Omnipolar Electrograms published in the Journal of the American Heart Association this past month. Bipolar electrograms are traditionally used to characterize myocardial health. However, dependence on these electrograms may reduce the reliability of voltage assessment along different planes of arrhythmic myocardial substrates.                                                 Thus, newer catheters rely on evolving tools that might allow for different approaches to bipolar mapping. Using omnipolar electrograms, Magtibay et al studied in healthy rabbits, pigs and diseased humans under paced conditions the role of two bipolar electrode orientations both horizontal and vertical. Voltage maps were created for both bipoles and omnipoles, and they noted that electric orientation affected the bipolar voltage map with an average absolute difference between horizontal and vertical of up to 0.25 millivolts in humans. Thus, they demonstrated omnipoles can provide physiologically relevant and consistent voltages along the maximal bipolar direction and provide an advantage over traditionally obtained bipolar electrograms.                                                 When we consider the use of evolving techniques to get an understanding of myocardial health whether for the purpose of cardiac mapping and ablation or even for the purpose of other intervention such as cardiac biopsy, understanding what the voltage abnormalities perceived actually are is critical to understanding what substrate is actually being targeted. However, given directionality issues in terms of assessment of voltage as well as relative orientation of the catheter in understanding the relevance of received voltage, use of novel signal processing and electro designs are important to consider in the light of their effects on substrate mapping compared to traditional techniques.                                                 Changing gears yet again, but nevertheless related to cardiac mapping and ventricular arrhythmias, we focus on article by Yalagudri et al published in this past month's issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology entitled A Tailored Approach for Management of Ventricular Tachycardia in Cardiac Sarcoidosis. While in a small number of patients, nearly 14 patients, they attempt to develop a methodology for approaching patients with cardiac sarcoidosis for management of their ventricular arrhythmias. Patients with either cardiac myocarditis or cardiac sarcoidosis represent a particularly difficult cohort to treat.                                                 Prior work by Dr. Roderick Tung and others has demonstrated the high-frequency of perceived inflammatory abnormalities based on cardiac FDG PET scanning amongst patients with ventricular arrhythmias. Whether this reflects cardiac sarcoidosis or other hypermetabolic activity is unclear. However, how to take into account the FDG PET abnormalities when deciding whether or not to take a patient for ablation or how to best treat them in light of their primary disease process is critical.                                                 In this study, the group tried to tailor therapy for ventricular tachycardia and cardiac sarcoidosis according to the phase of disease results. Namely based on the degree of inflammation noted on the FDG PET scan. They noted that via their named clinical protocol, that this tailored therapy could result in good clinical outcome and avoid unnecessary immunosuppression in some patients. Whether or not the use of this tailored therapy approach may apply in larger populations remains to be seen.                                                 Finally within the realm of other EP concepts that might apply broadly across the electrophysiology landscape, we focus on two articles. The first is by Kudryashova et al entitled Virtual Cardiac Monolayers for Electrical Wave Propagation in Nature Scientific Reports this past month. It is the complex structure of cardiac tissue that is considered to be one the main determinants of whether a substrate becomes arrhythmogenic or not. Multiple mathematical and computational models have been developed in order to recapitulate this complex cardiac structure. However, there been varying degrees of limitations in these approaches.                                                 Using a joint in silico-in vitro approach, the group carefully characterized the morphology of cardiac tissue and cultures of neonatal rat ventricular cells and then proposed mathematical models to result in tissue morphology that could be recapitulated for virtual studies of cardiac electrophysiology mainly in order to study wave propagation. They demonstrated in their virtual cardiac monolayers, that the simulated waves had the same anisotropy ratios and wave form complexity as those in in vitro experimental models.                                                 Thus, they demonstrated that they could reproduce both the morphological and physiological properties of cardiac tissue in a virtual landscape. These findings are critical to improving the ability to better study the effects of different antiarrhythmic drugs or interventional techniques on overall cardiac electrophysiology. The difficulty in existing techniques using traditional in vitro cultures is the fact that they’re costly and requires sacrifice of animals that adds to the additional cost of routine studies. The ability to recapitulate actual hearts within a virtual landscape to mimic the cardiac electrophysiology and then study it in a more controlled setting that can be reproducible based on the availability of appropriate computing power is important in terms of future studies within the realm of our field.                                                 The final article we will review is by Das and Dutta published in Physical Review E this past month entitled Controlling Three-Dimensional Vortices using Multiple and Moving External Fields. One of the key studies over the course of the last several years has been that of the role of the spiral and scroll waves in not just atrial fibrillation but ventricular fibrillation and other arrhythmias. It is well recognized that the spiral or scroll waves depending on whether one thinks in a two dimensional or three dimensional substrate may have significant contribution to arrhythmogenesis. Whether targeting the spiral or scroll waves actually eliminates arrhythmias remains to be fully elucidated. However, it also remains to be elucidated exactly how one should control the spiral or scroll waves.                                                 The review by Das and Dutta demonstrated that in fact the spiral or scroll waves could actually be physically moved around and controlled using moving external electric fields and thermal gradients. They show that the scroll rings can be made to trace cyclic trajectories on a rotating electric field or that application of thermal gradients in addition to electric field could deflect the motion and change the nature of a trajectory of a spiral or scroll wave. These findings are important in that they might represent non-ablative techniques that can eventually be used to control spiral or scroll waves in cardiac media, and thus result in either their alteration or termination without the need for additional cardiac injury.                                                 One the biggest problems with additional cardiac ablation in cases such as atrial fibrillation is the fact that they often lead to additional regions of scarring that might lead towards further organized atrial arrhythmias. However, the ability to potentially terminate critical sites responsible for arrhythmogenesis in real time without the need for ablation may represent novel interventions or devices in the future.                                                 I appreciate everyone's attention to these key and hard-hitting articles that we have just focus on from this past month of cardiac electrophysiology across the literature. Thanks for listening. Now back to Paul. Dr. Paul Wang :                 Thanks Suraj. You did a terrific job surveying all journals for the latest articles on topics of interest in our field. There is not an easier way to stay in touch with the latest advances. These summaries and a list of all major articles in our field each month could be downloaded from the Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology website. We hope that you’ll find the journal to be the go to place for everyone interested in the field. See you next month.

Dr. Paul Wang:                Welcome to the monthly podcast, On The Beat for Circulation: Arrhythmia, and Electrophysiology. I'm Dr. Paul Wang, Editor in Chief, with some of the key highlights from this month's issue. We'll also hear from Dr. Suraj Kapa, reporting on new research from the latest journal articles in the field.                                            This month's issue of Circulation: Arrhythmia, and Electrophysiology has a number of groundbreaking and fascinating articles. Let's start with the first article by Christopher Andrews and Associates on the novel use of noninvasive electrocardiographic imaging in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.                                            The authors compared 20 genotyped arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy patients to 20 control patients using electrocardiographic imaging, ECGI, a method for noninvasive cardiac electrophysiology mapping. They found that ARVC patients had a longer ventricular activation duration, with a mean of 52 milliseconds versus 42 milliseconds with a p-value of 0.007, as well as a prolonged mean epicardial activation recovery interval, a surrogate for local action potential duration with a median of 275 milliseconds versus 240 milliseconds with a p-value of 0.014.                                            In addition, the authors observed abnormal epicardial activation breakthrough locations with regions of nonuniform conduction and fractionated electrograms. These abnormal activation patterns correlated with late gadolinium enhancement using cardiac magnetic resonance scar imaging. This study suggests that electrocardiographic imaging may be a promising tool for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with ARVC.                                            In the next article, Thomas Fink and Associates report the results of the prospective randomized Alster-Lost AF trial, comparing ablation strategies in patients with symptomatic persistent or long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation. The study compared standalone pulmonary vein isolation, the PVI-only approach, with a stepwise approach of PVI followed by complex fractionated atrial CFAE ablation and linear ablation, the substrate modification approach. Patients were randomized one-to-one to each study group. The primary study endpoint was freedom from recurrence of any atrial tachyarrhythmia at 12 months after a 90-day blanking period. 118 of 124 enrolled patients were analyzed. 61 in the p-value only group and 57 in the substrate modification group. The pulmonary vein isolation only group had a one-year freedom from arrhythmia recurrence of 54%, which was similar to the 57% recurrence rate in the substrate modification group, p = 0.86. Thus, this study confirms in a population of persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation that there is no significant benefit to the addition of CFAE ablation to pulmonary vein isolation only.                                            In the next paper, John Papagiannis and associates studied AV nodal reentrant tachycardia in patients with congenital heart disease. In this multi-centered, retrospective study, the authors compared catheter ablation of AV nodal reentrant tachycardia in 51 patients with complex congenital heart disease, with 58 patients with simple congenital heart disease.                                            There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of growth parameters, the use of 3D imaging, or type of ablation, radio frequency versus cryoablation. The procedure times, fluoroscopy times were longer in the complex group compared to the simple group. There were also significant differences between the groups in terms of acute success of ablation, 82% versus 97%; the risk of AV block, 14% versus 0%; and the need for chronic pacing, all significant in favor of the simple congenital heart disease group. There were no permanent AV block observed in patients who underwent cryoablation.                                            After a mean, 3.2 years of follow up, the long-term success was 86% in the complex group, and 100% in the simple group, p = 0.004. Thus, the authors concluded that the complexity of congenital heart disease affects the outcome of AV nodal reentrant tachycardia catheter ablation.                                            In the next paper, Moloy Das and associates studied whether the presence of abnormal intra-QRS peaks would indicate altered activation and might predict ventricular arrhythmias in cardiomyopathy patients. The authors examined the 99 patients with ischemic or nonischemic cardiomyopathy undergoing primary prevention ICD implantation, with a mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 27%. After a median follow up of 24 months, 20% of patients had arrhythmic events. Using a multivariate, Cox regression model that included age, left ventricular ejection fraction, QRS duration, and QRS peaks, only QRS peaks was an independent predictor of arrhythmic events with a hazard ration of 2.1. ROC analysis revealed that a QRS peak value of greater than or equal to 2.25 identified arrhythmic events with a greater sensitivity than QRS duration, 100% versus 70%, with p < 0.05, and a negative predictive value of 100%, compared to 89% for QRS duration, p < 0.05. Thus, the authors concluded that this novel QRS morphology index may be a promising additional tool in sudden death risk stratification.                                            In our next paper, Yoshiyasu Aizawa and associates studied J wave changes during atrial pacing in patients with and without idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. In eight patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, and 17 patients without idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, having J waves, the J wave amplitude was measured before, during and after atrial pacing. All of the patients with ventricular fibrillation did not have any structural heart disease. The idiopathic ventricular fibrillation patients were younger than the non-idiopathic ventricular fibrillation patients, and had larger J waves with more extensive distribution. The J wave amplitude decreased from 0.35 millivolts to 0.22 millivolts when the R-R intervals shortened, a decrease of greater than, equal to 0.005 millivolts in the J wave amplitude was observed in six of eight idiopathic ventricular fibrillation patients while the J wave amplitudes were augmented in nine out of 17 non-idiopathic ventricular fibrillation subjects. The authors therefore concluded that the different response patterns of J waves to rapid pacing suggested different mechanisms that is early repolarization in idiopathic ventricular fibrillation patients, and conduction delay in non-idiopathic ventricular fibrillation patients.                                            Our final paper of the month was written by Jim T. Vehmeijer and colleagues, who examined the utility of recent guidelines and consensus documents for ICD implantation for sudden death protection in adults with congenital heart disease. The authors examined an international, multi-center registry, having 25,790 adult congenital heart disease patients, and identified all sudden cardiac death cases, which were then matched to living controls by age, gender, congenital defect and surgical repair. They used conditional logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios, and receiver operating characteristic curves. In their first analysis, they identified 124 cases and 230 controls. In total, 41% of sudden cardiac death cases, and 17% of controls had an ICD recommendation based on the 2014 consensus statement on arrhythmias in adult congenital heart disease, with an odds ratio of 5.9. A similar analysis of the 2015 European Society of Cardiology guidelines showed that 35% of cases and 14% of controls had an ICD recommendation, respectively with an odds ratio of 4.8. The authors concluded that a minority of sudden cardiac death cases had an ICD recommendation according to these guidelines, while the majority of sudden cardiac death victims remained under-recognized, emphasizing the need for continued critical, clinical reasoning when deciding on ICD implantation in adult congenital heart disease patients.                                            And now, here with the review of the highlights from the articles from journals throughout the world, in the past month is Dr. Suraj Kapa. Dr. Suraj Kapa:                 Thank you, Paul. Today we'll be discussing hard-hitting articles that have been published within the last month across the electrophysiologic literature. First, we'll be focusing on the topical area of atrial fibrillation, with an initial foray into the realm of anticoagulation. The first article we will be focusing on was published by Yao, et al., in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in volume 69, entitled Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulant Dosing in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Renal Dysfunction. In the study, Yao, et al, demonstrated that the dosing of direct oral anticoagulants in a real world patient sample, with preexisting renal dysfunction was inappropriately dosed in as many as 43% of patients. Specifically, in these patients, there was overdosing of the direct oral anticoagulants. Moreover, as many as 13% of patients were underdosed.                                            The overdosing of these patients led to increased bleeding risks, without an incremental stroke benefit compared with cohorts that were appropriately dosed. In turn, underdosing led to increased stroke risk without an incremental reduction in bleeding risk. These results are provocative in that they indicate, in a real life sample of patients, frequent inappropriate dosing of direct oral anticoagulants. This identifies the need for better guidelines, or better adherence to guidelines, in management of these patients to improve clinical outcomes.                                            In another article with the realm of anticoagulation management of atrial fibrillation patients, was published by Labovitz, et al. in Stroke, in volume 48, entitled Using Artificial Intelligence to Reduce the Risk of Nonadherence in Patients on Anticoagulation Therapy. They demonstrated in a small randomized study that a smart phone based artificial intelligence program could be used to monitor anticoagulation adherence, and in fact, improve it. The program utilized features available on all smart phones to identify the patient, the medication, and active ingestion of the medication by the patient in real time.                                            With this approach, they noted the plasma drug concentration levels indicated 100% adherence in the intervention group, namely those using the artificial intelligence program, while in the control group, only 50% of patients had adherence to the medications. Overall, there was an absolute improvement in adherence amongst patients on direct oral anticoagulants by as many as 67%. These findings are provocative given data suggestive of the lack of appropriate adherence to anticoagulant therapy amongst patients.                                            Changing paths from anticoagulation management, the next article we choose to focus on was published within the realm of cardiac mapping in ablation for atrial fibrillation. It was published by Das, et al. in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology in volume three, entitled Pulmonary Vein Re-Isolation as a Routine Strategy Regardless of Symptoms, The PRESSURE Randomized Controlled Trial. In this randomized trial, Das, et al, demonstrated that aggressive reevaluation of patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation after index ablation for pulmonary vein reconnection, with the intent to re-ablate, significantly reduced arrhythmia recurrence. In addition, there was a commented improvement in quality of life. It has been well-recognized that even in the absence of clinical recurrence, a large number of patients, after index pulmonary vein isolation, may have pulmonary vein reconnection. However, it has always been unclear whether aggressive reevaluation and re-isolation of reconnected veins holds value, has been unclear. Further study is needed to evaluate the cost effectiveness and the risk-benefit ratio of such an invasive approach to reevaluate pulmonary vein isolation, irrespective of the evidence of clinical atrial fibrillation recurrence, however.                                            Changing gears, with the realm of atrial fibrillation, we will now focus on risk stratification and management. Pathik, et al, in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, published in volume three, have progressed to complement their work on the role of risk stratification, and risk factor management in patients with atrial fibrillation, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and clinical effectiveness of such risk factor management clinics in atrial fibrillation, that they termed the SENSE Study. They demonstrated that there was significant cost and clinical benefits to aggressive risk factor targeting clinics for patients with atrial fibrillation, specifically, utilizing supervised approaches to weight-loss, improvements in fitness and reduction in other clinical risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, or other risks. The patients had a significantly decreased risk of arrhythmia occurrence. In addition to this, there was an actual incremental cost benefit of $62,000 for quality adjusted life year saved. These findings suggest that such an aggressive risk factor mediated approach to management of patients with atrial fibrillation holds significant promise, not just in the reduction of arrhythmia occurrence, but also in potential healthcare cost savings.                                            Our next article within the realm of risk stratification and management relates to identification of patients with atrial fibrillation, in otherwise normal population-wide cohorts. Krivoshei, et al, in Europace volume 19, studied algorithms applied to information gathered on pulse-wave signals via smartphone-based LED light/camera lens. They demonstrated that using such a tool on patients, atrial fibrillation can be discriminated from sinus rhythm with sensitivity specificity of above 95%. We recognize the critical importance of early detection of atrial fibrillation, particularly in high-risk cohorts for stroke. Early identification of patients may identify those patients for initiation of anticoagulation, even if asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic. Our so-termed subclinical atrial fibrillation patients, which we identify by prior clinical trials, have an increased risk of stroke. However, the main hurdle to implementation of such technology has been the high cost, applied to traditional medical interventions. However, use of ever-advancing ambulatory technologies, such as smartphones or in the future, smart watches, may held the promise to identify atrial fibrillation via cheaper mechanisms.                                            The last article within the realm of atrial fibrillation risk stratification and management that we'll choose to focus on is that by Gaeta, et al, published in Europace in volume 19. They performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing trials, regarding whether epicardial fat depot was associated with atrial fibrillation. They demonstrated via their meta-analysis that there is, in fact, a significant association between epicardial fat and atrial fibrillation risk, with more epicardial fat being associated with more persistent, rather than paroxysmal forms of atrial fibrillation, as well as any atrial fibrillation versus none. However, the role of epicardial fat in arrhythmogenesis remains unclear. While many studies suggest an association, causation remains to be proven. A recent review, however, published by Antonopoulos, et al, in the Journal of Physiology in June 2017, has multiple suggestive pathways by which paracrine effects of epicardial fat on the heart and vice versa, may lead to alterations in normal cardiac function. Thus, while this remains an association, there are evolving principles that might further support causation.                                            Changing topics, we'll next focus on four major articles within the realm of ICDs, pacemakers, and CRT managements. Lyons, et al, in JACC: Heart Failure, volume five, studied the impact of current versus previous cardiac resynchronization therapy guidelines on the proportion of patients with heart failure eligible for therapy. They evaluated the effect of changing guidelines based on increased bodies of evidence, related to indications for resynchronization therapy on real world patient samples. They demonstrated that these further refined guidelines would decrease by as many as 15% those patients eligible for cardiac resynchronization therapy. However, while their study demonstrates that fewer patients may qualify, as far as receiving benefit from resynchronization therapy, at least two studies published in the same month have demonstrated that even amongst patients who meet guidelines, there is severe under-utilization/under-referral for such devices. These studies by Marzec, et al, in JAMA Cardiology, as well as by Randolph, et al, in American Heart Journal, demonstrated that there's frequent under-utilization and under-referral of patients meetings indications for resynchronization therapy.                                            Keeping on the same topic in resynchronization therapy, Barra, et al, in Heart, volume 103, looked at sex-specific outcomes with addition of defibrillation to resynchronization therapy in patients with heart failure. They demonstrated in a multi-central observational cohort study that the addition of defibrillator resynchronization therapy in patients meeting primary prevention indications for device implant, primarily conferred benefit in men, rather than women. In the same month, Randolph, et al, in the American Heart Journal, demonstrated that resynchronization therapy offered potential greater benefits in women over men. Interestingly, this study by Barra, et al, conversely demonstrates that the concomitant addition of defibrillator therapy does not necessarily further improve outcomes on women, with the primary benefit being conferred to men. Whether this differential is effected by relative rates of arrhythmogenic myopathy is in men versus women remains unclear. However, the findings are provocative.                                            Keeping within the realm of appropriateness of defibrillator therapies, Luni, et al, performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Physiology, in volume 28, on the mortality effect of ICDs in primary prevention in nonischemic cardiomyopathies, including six studies that met criteria. They found that while there was an overall significant survival benefit in patients receiving ICDs in the setting of nonischemic cardiomyopathy. Once accounting for those on adequate beta-blockade, and ACE or ARP 00:22:56 therapy, there was no statistical difference conferred by primary prevention ICD use.                                            This complements an article published by Al-Khatib, et al, in JAMA Cardiology, in the same month, which also suggested that the overall mortality benefit was present in nonischemic patients, though in their case, they did not evaluate the granularity of appropriateness based on current management at the time of ICD implant. These findings further previous findings from a Danish study that the survival benefit of primary prevention ICD in nonischemic cardiomyopathy might not be anywhere near the same as those conferred with ischemic cardiomyopathy. However, the perceived lower relative mortality benefit, compared to earlier clinical trials, namely partly due to improvements in the clinical and pharmacologic management of such patients.                                            The final paper we'll choose to focus on within the realm of device therapies was published by Doppalapudi, in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, in volume 28. They looked at the significant discrepancy between estimated and actual longevity in St. Jude Medical implantable cardioverter defibrillators. While amongst a small number of patients of only 40, they demonstrated that up to 74% of these patients had a significant discrepancy between actual and estimated battery life, specifically amongst current or promotes defibrillator devices. This discrepancy was most significant in the 18 months prior to reaching electrical replacement medication. These findings suggest the need for more frequent monitoring of such devices to look for rapid battery depletion.                                            Switching topics away from device therapies, we next focus on the realm of sudden death in cardiac arrest. The first paper we'll focus on was published in Circulation, in volume 135, by Halliday, et al, and focused on the association between mid-wall late gadolinium enhancements, and sudden cardiac death in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy in mild and moderate left ventricular systolic dysfunction. In his publication, Halliday demonstrated that the presence of mid-wall late gadolinium enhancements on MRI identified patients at risk of sudden cardiac death, with a hazard ratio up to 35.9 for border sudden cardiac death, amongst dilated cardiomyopathy patients with such mid-wall dilated enhancements. The incremental value of MRI is evolving in the risk stratification of patients, though it has not quite met inclusion in guidelines for decision making regarding those who most benefit from ICDs. However, studies like this are provocative in the sense of identifying those patients most at risk.                                            Within the realm of cardiac arrest, we next focus on the role of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and how to improve management of these patients. Boutilier, et al, published in Circulation, in volume 135, optimization of drone networks to deliver automated external defibrillators. They demonstrated via simulation model that using a drone network system to deliver AEDs to patients suffering sudden cardiac arrest could decrease the time to response by as much as six minutes and 43 seconds compared to traditional approaches, such as 911 in urban areas, or as much as 10 minutes and 34 seconds in rural areas. These findings are highly provocative. However, they need to be applied to clinical real world situations. The first attempt at such was actually published this month as well, by Claesson, et al, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a drone network within real world case example, and the efficacy of the same. These disruptive technologies have the potential to improve emergency care, and out of hospital cardiac arrest survival.                                            Next, we move on to studies in electrophysiology. The first article we will focus on is by De Jesus, et al, published in Heart Rhythm, volume 14, on antiarrhythmic effects of interleukin 1 inhibition after myocardial infarction. De Jesus, et al, in this study, demonstrated that the use of anakinra and interleukin 1 beta antagonist would improve conduction velocity, calcium handling, spontaneous and inducible ventricular arrhythmias, and action potential duration dispersion, in canine models. These findings of potential antiarrhythmic effects were due to increased expression of connexin 43, and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase. While in isolation, this might seem a general article, it complements multiple recent studies that suggest a significant role for targeting inflammatory pathways, not just in infarct pathogenesis, but in arrhythmogenesis.                                            Lazzerini, et al, this month as well, demonstrated in the European Heart Journal, the link between systemic inflammation and arrhythmic risk based on a review of the existing literature. In addition, Yucel, et al, demonstrated in Nature Scientific Reports the relationship between lipopolysaccharides and electrophysiology dysfunction in stem cell direct cardiomyocytes, which they felt partly may be mediated through interleukin pathways. Finally, though as of yet unpublished, a clinically available interleukin 1 beta inhibitor, canakinumab, has been shown in preliminary data to reduce major cardiovascular events in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, when combined with optimal medical therapy in patients with post myocardial infarction. These potential clinical benefits complement translational benefits seen to date. However, whether these are conferred by primary inflammatory pathways, arrhythmogenic pathways, or interactions between both remains to be seen.                                            The next article we will focus on is by Chauveau, et al, published in Circulation: Arrhythmia Electrophysiology, volume 10. They looked at induced pluripotent stem cells derived cardiomyocytes in producing in vivo biological pacemaker function. They demonstrated that in canines with atrioventricular block, injection of such derived cardiomyocytes into the epicardial surface of the heart, demonstrated inherent pacemaker activity with global cardiac activation. In fact, this activation in pacemaker activity increased over time, up to four weeks of maturation, and also demonstrated responsiveness to epinephrine and alterations with day and night variation. However, the intrinsic rates tend to be quite low, in the 50 to 60 beat per minute range. The potential to restore pacemaker activity in patients with severe conduction disease, holds the potential to dynamically progress options in care for patients with electrophysiologic disease. However, even though these findings are promising, significant remaining questions include ensuring the robustness of the heart rate conferred by these biologic pacemakers, the durability of pacemaker activity, and the arrhythmogenic potential of such interventions.                                            Within the realm of cellular electrophysiology, the final article we will choose to focus on was published by Barbic, et al, in American Journal of Physiology, heart and Circulatory Physiology, in volume 312, entitled Detachable Glass Microelectrodes for Recording Action Potentials in Active Moving Organs. They demonstrated that a new glass microelectrode could allow for determinational cellular actional potential duration in actively moving organs. This is a profound potential advance in the physiologic evaluation of both in vitro and in vivo translational cellular models of cardiac activation. Traditional patch clamping action potential studies required immobilization of cells being studied, whether by mechanical or pharmacologic means. However, directed efforts to immobilize cells can alter electrophysiologic parameters. The ability to record cellular action potentials in actively moving cells, for example the beating heart, may offer studies of cellular electrophysiology, that more closely approximate real world physiology.                                            Our next area of focus will be on genetic channelopathies, including long QT syndrome, Brugada, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and others. The article we choose to focus on this month, within this realm, was published by Pappone, et al, in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, volume 10. They focus on electrical substrate elimination in 135 consecutive patients with Brugada syndrome. They demonstrated in this large cohort of patients that the arrhythmogenic electrical substrate associated with the Brugada syndrome primarily localized to the right ventricular epicardium, and an ablation of such region led to normalization of electrocardiogram and non-inducibility ventricular arrhythmias acutely in all patients, and over a long term in all but two patients.                                            These findings complement prior work by Nademanee and others that support a role for targeting substrate in the region of the right ventricular epicardium, in preventing recurrent ventricular arrhythmias in patients with Brugada syndrome, and in normalizing the electrocardiographic Brugada pattern. At the translational level, prior work has demonstrated that the same SCN mutations associated with Brugada syndrome confer accentuated transmittal gradients within the realm of the right ventricle, along with preferential prolongations of action potentials in the right ventricular epicardial myocytes. However, it remains to be seen whether the specific genetic cause of individual patient's Brugada pattern or Brugada syndrome is associated with discreet pathologic and inter-ablation findings and success rates.                                            Next, moving on to the realm of ventricular arrhythmias, we focus on three major articles published in the past month. The first article is published by Vaseghi, et al, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, volume 69, entitled Cardiac Sympathetic Denervation for Refractory Ventricular Arrhythmias. They demonstrated that cardiac sympathetic denervation may be an effective therapy in many patients with intractable ventricular arrhythmias, with a greater than 50% reduction in sustained VT, ICD shock, transplant or death over one year follow-up. Not only this but nearly one third of patients no longer required antiarrhythmics. However, bilateral sympathectomy is far superior over left sided only sympathectomy. Furthermore, advanced heart failure and VT cycle length were associated with poor outcomes. These findings suggest a role for bilateral sympathectomy in management of patients presenting with intractable ventricular arrhythmias. However, patient identification and selection in terms of the ideal cohorts for such therapy, and how to identify such cohorts remains to be seen.                                            Our next article regards advances in attaining epicardial access. Di Biase, et al, published in Heart Rhythm, volume 14, the initial international multi-centered human experience with the novel epicardial access needle embedded with a real time pressure frequency monitor to facilitate epicardial access. They looked specifically at feasibility and safety of this novel approach. While in only 25 patients, they did demonstrate that epicardial access can be successfully obtained with only one complication of a delayed pericardial effusion. With evolving indications for epicardial access, including for left atrial appendage occlusion, epicardial ganglia modulation, and ventricular arrhythmia mapping and ablation, development of novel tools to minimize the risks associated with epicardial ablation, particularly in individuals who do not perform it routinely, is critical. However, whether these variable approaches hold significant advances in randomized trials, beyond traditional approaches, remains to be seen.                                            Within the realm of ventricular arrhythmias, the last article we will choose to focus on was published by Acosta, et al, in Europace, volume 19. They looked at the long-term benefit of first line peri-implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implant ventricular tachycardia substrate ablation in secondary prevention patients. This study complemented prior data from SMASH-VT supporting a role for early ablation to reduce future arrhythmia events in patients receiving defibrillators. In their study, they demonstrated that early ablation was associated with a decreased recurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and defibrillary shocks over an average of almost four years. However, it addressed patients with lower ejection fractions, namely less than 35%, received less benefit. Though this was mostly conferred by while having similar frequency of VT recurrence, having an overall lower burden compared to those who did not have ablation. Practice patterns continue to vary in the decision making with regards to performing early ablation in such patients. Furthermore, whether or not a mortality benefit exists with early ablation remains relatively unclear and unproven. However, there's an evolving body of evidence to support the notion that aggressive, early intervention with invasive procedures in patients receiving ICDs, and at high risk for ventricular arrhythmias, may make sense.                                            The final article we will focus on that has been published in the past month, is published by Turagam, et al, in the International Journal of Cardiology, volume 236, entitled Practice Variation in the Re-initiation of Dofetilide: an Observational Study. Turagam, et al, surveyed 347 providers in the U.S. and worldwide, and demonstrate significant practice variability when re-initiating dofetilide. They know that up to 21% of providers always admit patients to the hospital for dofetilide re-initiation, while 37% of physician admit patients less than 10% of the time. Interestingly, the duration off of dofetilide ranging anywhere from three days to more than a year, did not necessarily significantly affect the rate of decision to re-initiate dofetilide, after prior cessation. One key finding of this was the 4% of physicians reporting major adverse events with drug re-initiation in patients. This was despite the vast majority of these patients tolerating de novo initiation. Given the prolific effects of antiarrhythmetic drugs, strategies to reduce those potential risks are critical. In fact, multiple groups such as the Cardiac Safety Research Consortium, within the same month, had sought to publish recommendations for long-term electrocardiographic monitoring, in drug developments. It must be realized the consideration of the impact of antiarhythmetic drug managements may not always be well outlined by existing protocols. And thus, further study is likely required to inform current clinical practice.                                            It was my pleasure to introduce to you some of the major heart hitting articles published in the part month across the electrophysiologic literature. While none of this is really touching on every single major advance, we hope to identify those that hold potential, measure immediate clinical potential, or those that hold potential for future advancements within our field. Thank you. Dr. Paul Wang:                I hope you enjoyed this month's podcast On the Beat, Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. We've had a number of groundbreaking and fascinating studies. See you next month.

2017-06-12 Special EnglishThis is Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.China&`&s new cyber security law, which went into effect recently, is not aimed at limiting foreign companies&`& access to the Chinese market.China&`&s Internet regulator said the law is designed to safeguard China&`&s cyberspace sovereignty, national security, public interest, as well as the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement that it does not restrict foreign companies or their technology and products from entering the Chinese market, nor does it limit the orderly, free flow of data. The document said China is entitled to make laws and rules to regulate its cyberspace sovereignty following international practice.The law was passed in November 2016 at a bimonthly session of the National People&`&s Congress Standing Committee after a third reading.A regulation requiring Internet products and services that may affect national security to undergo a security review will go into effect on the same day as the cyber security law.Reviews focus on whether the products or services are secure and sufficiently managed, and on assessing the risk of illegal control, disruption or interruption.They also evaluate the risk of providers using their products or services to illegally gather, store, process or make use of user information.This is Special English.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called on Germany to help China-developed large passenger plane C919 get an airworthiness certificate from the European Union.Li made the call during his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. He was on an official visit to Germany for an annual meeting between the two heads of government, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004.The twin-engine C919 made its maiden flight on May 5 in Shanghai with five crew members on board but no passengers. The success makes China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the United States, Western Europe and Russia.With a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, the narrow-bodied jet is comparable with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing&`&s new generation 737 planes, signaling the country&`&s entry into the global aviation market.China has taken pride in developing the homegrown jumbo jet, regarding it as a symbol of national strength.In 2007, the State Council approved plans to develop a large passenger jet. In November 2015, the first C919 jet rolled off the assembly line. More than 200,000 technicians worked on the project.A total of 23 foreign and domestic customers, including China&`&s national carrier Air China, had placed orders for 570 aircraft as of May 5.You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.U.S. space firm SpaceX has launched supplies to the International Space Station, including an experiment from a Chinese university that will test the effects of space environments on DNA.The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft lifted off on the company&`&s Falcon 9 rocket at 5:07 p.m. local time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Around 10 minutes later, the rocket&`&s first stage achieved a successful landing at SpaceX&`&s Landing Zone 1, just south of the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.On this trip, the Dragon will deliver almost 2,700 kilograms of supplies, including solar panels, tools for Earth-observation and equipment to study neutron stars.Among the cargo is a 3.5-kilogram device from the Beijing Institute of Technology that seeks to answer questions including "Does space radiation and microgravity cause mutations among antibody-encoding genes and if so, how does it happen."There is a U.S. law in place, known as the Wolf amendment, that bans cooperation between the U.S. space agency NASA and Chinese government entities, but this deal is purely commercial and therefore considered legal.NASA spokesperson Kathryn Hambleton confirmed to China&`&s Xinhua News Agency that there is a Chinese experiment that has been launched on this mission, known as SpaceX CRS-11.You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.China&`&s manned submarine Jiaolong has conducted its first dive of the year in the Yap Trench.Jiaolong began diving at 8:43 a.m. local time on a rainy day on 4th of June, reaching a depth of 4,177 meters.A staff member on board said Jiaolong was not afraid of the bad weather, but the rain did make it a bit more difficult for the dive. He said they cannot hear each other clearly due to the rain, so they have to be extra careful during the operation.There will be five dives for Jiaolong in the Yap Trench, with the last dive being planned for June 12.According to scientists on the ship, the dives will focus on research in deep-sea biotic communities and gene resources.Jiaolong completed a series of dives in the Mariana Trench on June 1 and was transferred aboard its support ship to the Yap Trench afterwards.The Mariana and Yap trenches are located in the west Pacific Ocean. The Yap Trench has a depth of 8,527 meters, and the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point of Earth&`&s oceans, has a depth of 11,034 meters.Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest point of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012. This is Special English.A network of remote sensing satellite ground stations that cover all of China&`&s territory and 70 percent of Asia has passed its final acceptance examination.The network is headquartered in Beijing and features three ground stations in a suburb in Beijing, in Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Sanya in Hainan Province.According to the examination committee, it will be used to support various remote-sensing systems, especially for the western part of the country and the South China Sea. The project began in 2007. You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to crienglish.com. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. Now the news continues.India has launched its heaviest rocket, along with a satellite, that is now believed to be able to send humans into space in the future.The domestically-produced rocket, named Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle or Mark III, lifted off from the southern spaceport in Andhra Pradesh state at 5:28 p.m. local time.The state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation said the communication satellite that the rocket carried weighs more than three tonnes.The countdown for the launch of the 640-tonne rocket began on Sunday.In another development, India has successfully test fired its first all-weather tracked-chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile.India&`&s state-run broadcaster All India Radio said the missile was launched from a mobile launcher in the Integrated Test Range off the Odisha coast at Chandipur at around 12:39 p.m. local time.The broadcaster reported that the test was carried out for validating various parameters of the sophisticated weapon system to further strengthen its air defence system. This is Special English.A survey of the California Current System along the U.S. West Coast of the United States found persistent, highly acidified water throughout the ecologically critical nearshore habitat.Led by Francis Chan, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University, researchers participating in the survey said conditions will continue to worsen because the atmospheric carbon dioxide primarily to blame for the increase in acidification has been rising substantially in recent years.While the findings of the study, which was published recently in Nature Scientific Reports, identified "hotspots" of pH, or the potential of hydrogen, measurements as low as any oceanic surface waters in the world, there were "refuges" of more moderate pH environments that could become havens for some marine organisms to escape more highly acidified waters.The threat of ocean acidification is global and though it sometimes seems far away, it is happening on the West Coast of the United States and those waters are already hitting the beaches. Chan said that ten years ago, they were focusing on the tropics with their coral reefs as the place most likely to be affected by ocean acidification. But the California Current System is getting hit with acidification earlier and more drastically than other locations around the world.You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation has raised concerns that meadows and pastures are becoming increasingly endangered in Germany and has released a new red list to the German Press Agency.The new red list of endangered biotypes, serves as a handbook for future conservation plans and is an update from the previous 2006 red list.Federal Minister for the Environment Barbara Hendrick from the Social Democratic Party of Germany, presented the findings that indicated almost two-thirds of the 863 species present in habitats in Germany are under severe threat from intensive agriculture, among other causes. The threat has particularly worsened in pastures or grasslands; meadows are also under increasing pressure.The Federal Office for Nature Conservation has reported some positive developments in coastal regions as well as next to rivers and streams which are benefiting from restoration or environmental protection plans as well as better sewage treatment plants. However, figures are much less positive for groundwater due to high nitrogen pollution caused by fertilizers from intensive farming. Many stagnant water volumes are also affected.There are many types of natural habitats in Germany including 46 types of water environments and 20 types of arable and fallow arable land. This is Special English.A study on young female mice reveals how puberty hormones might trigger changes in neural communication in the frontal cortices and impede some aspects of flexible youthful learning.Scientists have found that the onset of puberty hits something like a "switch" in the brain&`&s frontal cortex that can reduce flexibility in some forms of learning.The study was led by Linda Wilbrecht, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, and the senior author of the study published in the journal Current Biology.The changes occurred in a region of the frontal brain that is associated with learning, attention and behavioral regulation.Overall, children have been found to have greater brain flexibility or "plasticity" than adults, enabling them to more easily master multiple languages and other elementary scholastic pursuits.While they continue to learn after puberty, their cognitive focus in adolescence is often redirected to peer relationships and more social learning.The study noted that if hormonal changes start as early as second or third grade, when children are tasked with learning basic skills, a shift in brain function could be problematic.Puberty onset is occurring earlier and earlier in girls in modern urban settings, driven by such factors as stress and the obesity epidemic, and has been associated with worse outcomes in terms of school and mental health.This is Special English.America&`&s first Nutella Cafe opened recently in downtown Chicago, with more than 400 customers lining up for their favorite treat.This is the first standalone Nutella Cafe owned by parent company Ferrero. Its menu items include grilled baguettes, fresh-roasted hazelnut, gelato and some Italian specialties.Noah Szporn, head of marketing at Nutella North America says there&`&s an incredible dining culture in the city, and Nutella is all about the idea of sharing good food with friends and family; and they thought that Chicago would be the perfect place to do that.（文稿请浏览周六微信。）

Dra. Celia Andreu-Sánchez del Departamento de Comunicación Audiovisual y Publicidad de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Celia forma parte del Neuro-Com Research Group y la llamé para conversar sobre un paper que ha publicado recientemente en Nature Scientific Reports titulado “Eyeblink rate watching classical Hollywood and post-classical MTV editing styles, in media and non-media professionals”. Celia y sus colaboradores se han preguntado cómo el estilo de edición y montaje, es decir: la receta de planos secuencia como las películas clásicas holliwoodienses o los infinitos cortes inmediatos de los videos musicales de la -ahora algo trasnochada- MTV afectan al parpadeo de quien los observa. Más allá del parpadeo, esta es una conversación sobre comunicación audiovisual, sobre la psicología y la neurociencia detrás de ésta y cómo nos afecta. Después, escucharéis una conversación que he tenido con un creador audiovisual que ha decidido crear lo que él llama el Netflix de los documental. Se trata de GuideDoc y, como amante y creador de documentales, es un proyecto que me encanta. Víctor Correal os cuenta en detalle de qué trata.   Encuéntralo en CUONDA.com     Aquí en EEUU se está moviendo algo por las redes que merece la pena copiar, se trata de compartir o recomendar un podcast que te haya gustado poniendo en el tuit o el post la etiqueta #trypod     ENLACES http://www.nature.com/articles/srep43267 http://www.neuro-com.es/NeuroscienceCommunication/Home.html https://www.guidedoc.tv/ La música es de Yatch y la encontré en freemusicarchive.org Dra. Celia Andreu-Sánchez del Departamento de Comunicación Audiovisual y Publicidad de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Celia forma parte del Neuro-Com Research Group y la llamé para conversar sobre un paper que ha publicado recientemente en Nature Scientific Reports titulado “Eyeblink rate watching classical Hollywood and post-classical MTV editing styles, in media and non-media professionals”. Celia y sus colaboradores se han preguntado cómo el estilo de edición y montaje, es decir: la receta de planos secuencia como las películas clásicas holliwoodienses o los infinitos cortes inmediatos de los videos musicales de la -ahora algo trasnochada- MTV afectan al parpadeo de quien los observa. Más allá del parpadeo, esta es una conversación sobre comunicación audiovisual, sobre la psicología y la neurociencia detrás de ésta y cómo nos afecta. Después, escucharéis una conversación que he tenido con un creador audiovisual que ha decidido crear lo que él llama el Netflix de los documental. Se trata de GuideDoc y, como amante y creador de documentales, es un proyecto que me encanta. Víctor Correal os cuenta en detalle de qué trata.   Encuéntralo en CUONDA.com     Aquí en EEUU se está moviendo algo por las redes que merece la pena copiar, se trata de compartir o recomendar un podcast que te haya gustado poniendo en el tuit o el post la etiqueta #trypod     ENLACES http://www.nature.com/articles/srep43267 http://www.neuro-com.es/NeuroscienceCommunication/Home.html https://www.guidedoc.tv/ La música es de Yatch y la encontré en freemusicarchive.org Este contenido es gratis y sólo te pido que, si te ha gustado, entretenido, iluminado de algún modo, lo compartas en tus redes y nos valores en tu plataforma de pódcast favorita. Gracias ;)

Dra. Celia Andreu-Sánchez del Departamento de Comunicación Audiovisual y Publicidad de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Celia forma parte del Neuro-Com Research Group y la llamé para conversar sobre un paper que ha publicado recientemente en Natu Dra. Celia Andreu-Sánchez del Departamento de Comunicación Audiovisual y Publicidad de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Celia forma parte del Neuro-Com Research Group y la llamé para conversar sobre un paper que ha publicado recientemente en Nature Scientific Reports titulado “Eyeblink rate watching classical Hollywood and post-classical MTV editing styles, in media and non-media professionals”. Celia y sus colaboradores se han preguntado cómo el estilo de edición y montaje, es decir: la receta de planos secuencia como las películas clásicas holliwoodienses o los infinitos cortes inmediatos de los videos musicales de la -ahora algo trasnochada- MTV afectan al parpadeo de quien los observa. Más allá del parpadeo, esta es una conversación sobre comunicación audiovisual, sobre la psicología y la neurociencia detrás de ésta y cómo nos afecta. Después, escucharéis una conversación que he tenido con un creador audiovisual que ha decidido crear lo que él llama el Netflix de los documental. Se trata de GuideDoc y, como amante y creador de documentales, es un proyecto que me encanta. Víctor Correal os cuenta en detalle de qué trata.   Encuéntralo en CUONDA.com     Aquí en EEUU se está moviendo algo por las redes que merece la pena copiar, se trata de compartir o recomendar un podcast que te haya gustado poniendo en el tuit o el post la etiqueta #trypod     ENLACES http://www.nature.com/articles/srep43267 http://www.neuro-com.es/NeuroscienceCommunication/Home.html https://www.guidedoc.tv/ La música es de Yatch y la encontré en freemusicarchive.org Este contenido es gratis y sólo te pido que, si te ha gustado, entretenido, iluminado de algún modo, lo compartas en tus redes y nos valores en tu plataforma de pódcast favorita. Gracias ;)

A widely used drug to treat diabetes may hold promise as a therapeutic for patients with Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a rare, inherited metabolic disorder involving the dysfunction of an enzyme needed to break down three essential amino acids. The findings, which appear in a new study in Nature Scientific Reports come from researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. We spoke to Arvind Ramanathan, senior author of the study and a member of the Buck faculty, about the study, what it says about the ability to understand more common diseases through the study of rare diseases, and how repurposing existing therapies holds promise of brining new treatments to rare disease patients who are without them.