This blog consists of daily news items of interest to followers of QUIDDITY as a qualitatitive method of describing the world. This approach was described by Clive Barker in "The Great and Secret Show" and analyzed in the 149 posts of the QUIDDITY blog of this writer (see link to companion blog).
By Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post
March 7, 2021
-- Evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom knew it was only
a matter of time: The coronavirus would turn into an even more formidable foe,
able to dodge the disease-fighting antibodies that protect people after being
infected or vaccinated.
More at:
Comparative study shows differences in bone health
From: the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)
March 1, 2021
-- The vegan diet is on trend. How this type of diet affects health is the
subject of scientific studies. In a new study from the BfR, the bone
health of 36 vegans as well as 36 people following a mixed-food diet was
determined with an ultrasound measurement of the heel bone. The result: on
average, people following a vegan diet had lower ultrasound values compared to
the other group. This indicates poorer bone health. In the study, the
scientists also determined biomarkers in blood and urine. This aims to identify
nutrients that might be related to diet and bone health. Out of 28 parameters
of nutritional status and bone metabolism, it was possible to identify twelve
biomarkers most strongly associated with bone health - for example, the amino
acid lysine and vitamins A and B6. The results show that in most cases, the
combination of these biomarkers was present in lower concentrations in vegans.
This could be a possible explanation for the poorer bone health. "A vegan
diet is often considered health-conscious. However, our scientific findings
indicate that a vegan diet does affect bone health," says BfR President
Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel.
Nutrition
plays an important role in bone health. This was more closely investigated in
the BfR’s cross-sectional “Risks and benefits of a vegan diet” study. 72
men and women participated in the study. The bone health of all participants
was assessed at the heel bone using ultrasound measurements. Information on
age, smoking status, education, body mass index, physical activity and alcohol
consumption was also collected. By using a statistical model, the BfR was
able to identify a pattern of twelve biomarkers that play an important role in
bone health from 28 nutrition- and bone-relevant parameters from blood or
urine. It was shown that in combination vitamins A and B6, the amino acids
lysine and leucine, omega-3 fatty acids, selenoprotein P, iodine,
thyroid-stimulating hormone, calcium, magnesium and α-Klotho protein were
positively associated with bone health. Conversely, lower concentrations of the
hormone FGF23 were observed at higher ultrasound levels in this pattern.
Taking into
account other scientific studies, the results indicate that vegans intake fewer
nutrients that are relevant for the skeleton and are mainly found in food of
animal origin. Further studies are needed for clarification.
About the BfR
The German
Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is a scientifically independent
institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and
Agriculture (BMEL) in Germany. It advises the German federal government and
German federal states ("Laender") on questions of food, chemical and
product safety. The BfR conducts its own research on topics that are
closely linked to its assessment tasks.
This text
version, https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/press_information/2021/09/does_a_vegan_diet_lead_to_poorer_bone_health_-268536.html,
is a translation of the original German text which is the only legally binding
version.
Link to
publication:
The right '5-a-day' mix is 2 fruit and 3 vegetable servings
From: The American Heart Association
March 1, 2021 -- According to new
research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship
journal Circulation, diets
rich in fruits and vegetables help reduce risk for numerous chronic health
conditions that are leading causes of death, including cardiovascular disease
and cancer. Yet, only about one in 10 adults eat enough fruits or vegetables,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"While groups like the American
Heart Association recommend four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables
daily, consumers likely get inconsistent messages about what defines optimal
daily intake of fruits and vegetables such as the recommended amount, and which
foods to include and avoid," said lead study author Dong D. Wang, M.D.,
Sc.D., an epidemiologist, nutritionist and a member of the medical faculty at
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Wang and colleagues analyzed data from
the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, two
studies including more than 100,000 adults who were followed for up to 30
years. Both datasets included detailed dietary information repeatedly collected
every two to four years. For this analysis, researchers also pooled data on
fruit and vegetable intake and death from 26 studies that included about 1.9
million participants from 29 countries and territories in North and South
America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Analysis of all studies, with a
composite of more than 2 million participants, revealed:
"Our analysis in the two cohorts of
U.S. men and women yielded results similar to those from 26 cohorts around the
world, which supports the biological plausibility of our findings and suggests
these findings can be applied to broader populations," Wang said.
Wang said this study identifies an
optimal intake level of fruits and vegetables and supports the evidence-based,
succinct public health message of '5-a-day,' meaning people should ideally
consume five servings of fruit and vegetable each day. "This amount likely
offers the most benefit in terms of prevention of major chronic disease and is
a relatively achievable intake for the general public," he said. "We
also found that not all fruits and vegetables offer the same degree of benefit,
even though current dietary recommendations generally treat all types of fruits
and vegetables, including starchy vegetables, fruit juices and potatoes, the
same."
A limitation of the research is that it
is observational, showing an association between fruit and vegetable
consumption and risk of death; it does not confer a direct cause-and-effect
relationship.
"The American Heart Association
recommends filling at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables at each
meal," said Anne Thorndike, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the American Heart
Association's nutrition committee and an associate professor of medicine at
Harvard Medical School in Boston. "This research provides strong evidence
for the lifelong benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and suggests a goal
amount to consume daily for ideal health. Fruits and vegetables are naturally
packaged sources of nutrients that can be included in most meals and snacks,
and they are essential for keeping our hearts and bodies healthy."
Co-authors are Yanping Li, Ph.D.; Shilpa
N. Bhupathiraju, Ph.D.; Bernard A. Rosner, Ph.D.; Qi Sun, M.D., Sc.D.; Edward
L. Giovannucci; Eric B. Rimm, Sc.D.; JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H.,
FAHA; Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H.; Meir J. Stampfer, M.D., Dr.P.H.; and
Frank B. Hu, M.D., Ph.D.
The study was funded by the National
Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of
Health.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210301084519.htm
By Richard Schulman, Editor of Founders Broadsheet
“Astonishing as it may seem, the physics
of two primary determinants of earth’s climate — sun and clouds — is poorly
incorporated into the climate models upon which the Biden administration’s
trillion-dollar green-energy spending blowout is based. This is the greatest
scandal in the history of science…”
—March 3, 2021
Researchers exploring the
interactions between light particles, photons and matter find that optical
microresonators host quasiparticles made by two photons.
From:
University of Bath
March
2, 2021 -- Scientists at the University of Bath have found a way to bind
together two photons of different colors, paving the way for important
advancements in quantum-electrodynamics – the field of science that describes
how light and matter interact. In time, the team’s findings are likely to
impact developments in optical and quantum communication, and precision
measurements of frequency, time and distances.
Apple and
wave: they both have a mass
An apple falling from a tree has
velocity and mass, which together give it momentum. ‘Apple energy’ derived from
motion depends on the fruit’s momentum and mass.
Most people find the concept of momentum
and energy (and therefore mass) an easy one to grasp when it’s associated with
solid objects. But the idea that non-material objects, such as light waves
(everything from sunlight to laser radiation), also have a mass is surprising
to many. Among physicists, however, it’s a well-known fact. This apparently
paradoxical idea that waves have a mass marks the place where quantum physics
and the physical world come together.
The wave-particle duality, proposed by
French physicist Louis de Broglie in 1924, is a powerful concept that describes
how every particle or quantum entity can be described as either a particle or a
wave. Many so-called quasiparticles have been discovered that combine either
two different types of matter particles, or light waves bound to a particle of
matter. A list of exotic quasiparticles includes phonons, plasmons, magnons and
polaritons.
The team of physicists at Bath has now
reported a way to create quasiparticles that bind together two differently colored
particles of light. They have named these formations photon-photon polaritons.
Detecting
photon-photon polaritons
The opportunity to discover, and
manipulate, photon-photons is possible thanks to the relatively new development
of high-quality microresonators. For light, microresonators act as miniature
racetracks, with photons zipping around the internal structure in loops. The
signature left by photon-photons in the light exiting the microresonator can be
linked to the Autler–Townes effect, a peculiar phenomenon in quantum theory
that describes strong photon-atom interactions. To achieve this effect in
microresonators, a laser is tuned to the specific resonance frequency where a
photon is expected to be absorbed, yet no resonance absorption happens.
Instead, the photon-photon interaction makes up two new resonance frequencies
away from the old one.
A significant feature that has emerged
from the Bath research is that the microresonator provided a whole set of split
resonances, where each photon-photon pair displayed its own momentum and
energy, allowing the researchers to apply the quasiparticle concept and
calculate mass. According to the researchers’ predictions, photon-photons are
1,000+ times lighter than electrons.
Professor Dmitry Skryabin, the physicist
who led the research, said: "We now have a situation where microresonators
– which are millimeter-scale objects – behave like giant atoms. The artificial
atoms concept is rapidly gaining ground in the quantum-electrodynamics of
microwaves in superconducting circuits, while here we are looking at the
similar opportunity in the optical range of frequencies.
“The small mass of photon-photons could
lead to further developments of many important analogies between light and
fluids, where other families of quasiparticles have already been used."
PhD student Vlad Pankratov, who
participated in the project, said: “After a year of running models and
collecting data, these are incredibly exciting findings for us. The potential
applications of our results are in the terabit and quantum optical
communication schemes, and in the area of precision measurements."
This work was supported by the European
Union Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (812818, MICROCOMB)
The paper Photon-photon
polaritons in χ(2) microresonators is published in Physical Review
Research.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
An optical microcavity or microresonator is
a structure formed by reflecting faces on the two sides of a spacer layer or
optical medium, or by wrapping a waveguide in a circular fashion to form
a ring. The former type is a standing
wave cavity, and the latter is a traveling
wave cavity. The name microcavity stems from the fact that
it is often only a few micrometers thick, the spacer layer sometimes even in
the nanometer range. As with common lasers this
forms an optical cavity or optical resonator,
allowing a standing wave to form inside the spacer layer,
or a traveling wave that goes around in the ring.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_microcavity
Froim the top of a cloud in Hawaii uopwards into space. See this link: Scientists Captured a Rare Photo of Red & Blue Lightning Shooting Toward Space (msn.com)
In era of online learning, new testing method aims to reduce cheating
From:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York – March 1, 2021 -- The
era of widespread remote learning brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic
requires online testing methods that effectively prevent cheating, especially
in the form of collusion among students. With concerns about cheating on the
rise across the country, a solution that also maintains student privacy is
particularly valuable.
In research published today in npj
Science of Learning, engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
demonstrate how a testing strategy they call "distanced online
testing" can effectively reduce students' ability to receive help from one
another in order to score higher on a test taken at individual homes during
social distancing.
"Often in remote online exams,
students can talk over the phone or internet to discuss answers," said Ge
Wang, an endowed chair professor of biomedical engineering at Rensselaer and
the corresponding author on this paper. "The key idea of our method is to
minimize this chance via discrete optimization aided by knowledge of a
student's competencies."
When a distanced online test is
performed, students receive the same questions, but at varying times depending
on their skill level. For instance, students of highest mastery levels receive
each question after other groups of students have already answered those
questions. This approach, Wang said, reduces the incentive for students to
receive help from those who have more mastery of the material. In order to
determine the order of each student's questions, their competence levels are
estimated using their grade point averages, SAT scores, or midterm scores,
depending on what is available at a specific point in the semester.
According to statistical tests and
post-exam surveys, this method reduced the points gained through collusion by
orders of magnitude when compared to conventional exam methods. As an added
benefit, Wang said, when students knew collusion would not be possible, they
were more motivated to study class material. Wang and his collaborators hope to
share this pedagogical innovation beyond the Rensselaer campus.
"We plan to develop a good platform
so that others can easily use this method," said Wang, a member of the
Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer.
