SciPod

The Scottish Highlands are known as an area of great natural beauty. One notable aspect of the area’s ecology is the relative lack of trees and woodland. In recent years, there have been concerted efforts to introduce more trees. However, Dr James Fenton argues that this fundamentally misunderstands Scotland’s environmental history, imposes southern ideas on the northern landscape, and risks undermining the unique ecology of the Highlands.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people across the globe changed the way they worked, to comply with social distancing measures. Many people worked from home, and attended meetings virtually using videoconferencing platforms. Dr Eva Straus, Dr Lars Uhlig, Professor Jana Kühnel, and Professor Christian Korunka at the University of Vienna recently carried out a diary-based study exploring the wellbeing, perceived productivity, and professional engagement of remote workers during the pandemic.

The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals outline the massive challenges humanity must face to survive on Planet Earth in the 21st Century. All knowledge and experiences accumulated by human societies across time and space could be essential to address these grand challenges. Thus, we should find a way to make this knowledge readily available wherever and whenever decision-makers, heritage stakeholders, and scholars might need it. Professor Andrea Nanetti, an award-winning and internationally recognised expert in Digital Humanities, recently published an open-access paper exploring the opportunities and challenges of using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to leverage human heritage and empower societies to see beyond what is thinkable.

Fibromyalgia is a relatively common and yet poorly understood condition characterised by chronic diffuse pain and stiffness, chronic fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive difficulties. Ria Nishikawara at the University of British Columbia and her collaborators Dr Izabela Schultz, Dr Lee Butterfield, and John Murray, carried out a study exploring the unique healthcare experiences of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Their aim was to determine what patients found most helpful and how the available services could be improved.

South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy has largely emphasised state-led continental political and economic integration. However, little attention has been paid to the influence of the country’s multinational corporations – or ‘MNCs’ – in this process. MNCs have indeed made an important contribution to increased integration across Africa, due to expansion strategies and the desire to increase market share. Dr Mpumelelo Mkhabela and Professor Christopher Changwe Nshimbi from the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation at the University of Pretoria argue that we should do more to acknowledge this.

We are pleased to be joined by Dorothy Achu, Regional Malaria Adviser, WHO African Region; Aimable Mbituyumuremyi, Director, National Malaria Control Program, Ministry of Health, Rwanda; Adam Aspinall, Senior Director, Access and Product Management, and George Jagoe, Executive Vice-President Medicines for Malaria Venture. To learn about antimalarial drug resistance in Africa to ensure patients can continue to be saved.

Osteoarthritis is a painful and progressive joint disorder that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Typically, the options for treating the condition involve exercise or medication to reduce pain. However, these methods do not target the underlying structural problems in the joints of patients. Recently, researchers have uncovered a genetic susceptibility to osteoarthritis associated with a protein called GDF5, which is involved in skeletal growth and development. Alongside a team of scientists across Europe, Dr Kerstin Kleinschmidt-Doerr at Merck has explored a modified form of the GDF5 protein, named R399E, which showed effects in animal models and in-vitro experiments for treating pain and the underlying structural problems in osteoarthritis.

Cases of type 2 diabetes are on the rise around the world, so gaining a deeper understanding of this chronic condition is vital to ensure early diagnosis and good outcomes for patients. Dr Xiaomu Li and her colleagues at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University are conducting important research to understand the risk factors associated with developing type 2 diabetes. Their findings will help healthcare providers to identify patients at high risk of diabetes, enabling early diagnosis and targeted interventions to prevent the development of the condition.

Studies suggest that children who rely more on vision from their left eye could be more likely to develop dyslexia if they learn to write using pathways in the right brain hemisphere. Dr David Mather, a researcher at the University of Victoria, recently published a paper reviewing these findings. He outlines a proposed approach to teaching writing skills that could prevent these children from developing dyslexia. This approach involves teaching children to write when they are 7 or 8 years old, when the human brain is better at mapping and memorising entire words.

Acute vestibular syndrome is one of the most common reasons people present at hospital with dizziness. The symptoms can arise from damage within the brain or the ear, and specialist medical knowledge or equipment is typically needed to determine the specific cause. Dr Nakatsuka from the University of Sydney in Australia has conducted a large-scale analysis and review of the published literature to determine whether well-trained emergency physicians can differentiate between the two causes, using a quick bedside physical examination without expensive special equipment.