The brain’s system for removing waste is driven primarily by the pulsations of adjoining arteries, University neuroscientists and mechanical engineers report in a new study. They also show that changes in the pulsations caused by high blood pressure slow the removal of waste, reducing its efficiency.

This might explain the association between high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers say. Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia among older adults, is characterized by abnormal clumps and tangled bundles of fibers in the brain.

The study, reported in Nature Communications, builds upon groundbreaking discoveries about the brain’s waste removal system by Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the University’s Center for Translational Neuromedicine. Nedergaard and her colleagues were the first to describe how cerebrospinal fluid is pumped into brain tissue and flushes away waste. Subsequent research by her team has shown that this glymphatic waste removal system is more active while we sleep and can be damaged by stroke and trauma.

This latest research shows “in much greater depth and much greater precision than before” how the glymphatic system functions in the perivascular spaces that surround arteries in the outer brain membrane, says Douglas Kelley, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and an expert in fluid dynamics. His lab is collaborating with Nedergaard’s team as part of a $3.2 million National Institute on Aging grant.

For this study, Humberto Mestre, a PhD student in Nedergaard’s lab, injected minute particles in the cerebrospinal fluid of mice, and then used two-photon microscopy to create videos showing the particles as they moved through the perivascular spaces.

Jeff Tithof, a postdoctoral researcher working with Kelley, then used an automated particle tracking code developed by the Kelley lab that can follow a dot from frame to frame of a video, and after a few frames estimate its velocity and acceleration. From a typical video spanning “tens of minutes,” the code could track more than 20,000 individual particles and derive about a million total measurements to quantify their movements, which show up as “comet tails” behind each of the tracked dots in the videos.

By analyzing videos from experiments involving multiple mice, “we were able to gather a really rich data set of what’s actually happening with this flow,” Kelley says.

The researchers found that:

• The flow of cerebrospinal fluid is synchronized with the heartbeat. “One of the main points of this paper is that this flow is mostly – and maybe purely — driven by the flexing of the artery wall,” Kelley says.
• When high blood pressure was induced in the mice, the flow slowed down and was not as efficient. Artery walls are muscular; they have to flex harder in order to hold the same shape when there’s more pressure inside, and they get stiffer,” Kelley says. “And that changes the waveform of the flexing of the artery wall.”

“That’s highly interesting because early onset high blood pressure is known to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s in humans,” Kelley says.  “There are still a few steps between what we did and chronic high blood pressure. But it may be that high blood pressure—by reducing the pumping of cerebrospinal fluid so that waste isn’t cleared out as well — is one mechanism that leads to Alzheimer’s.”

Read more here.

Faculty members from the Departments of Modern Languages and Culture, History, and Music will explore the theme of “communities” as Humanities Center internal fellows next fall and spring, writes Joan Rubin, the Ani & Mark Gabrellian Director of the Humanities Center, in her Weekly Update.

David Holloway, assistant professor of Japanese, will be a fellow during Fall 2019.  He will complete his book The End of Transgression: Gender, Body, Nation, which “takes as its aim the pursuit of stability in some works of contemporary fiction by Japanese women.”  The project is concerned with the absence of community that has produced crises of subjectivity for young Japanese today.  He will also work on his second project, which examines representations of HIV across Japanese cultural media.

Brianna Theobald, assistant professor of history and fellow during Fall 2019, will advance her second book, Safe Havens:  Feminisms and the Domestic Violence Movement.  The book explores feminist visions of “community” and is based in part on Theobald’s “direct engagement with members of the Rochester community.”  It traces theoretical and organizational approaches to domestic violence from the nineteenth century to the present.  Violence against women, Theobald notes, “forced women from different feminist genealogies to think critically about concepts and institutions including patriarchy, the family, and women’s agency, as well as, in some cases, race, class, colonialism, religion, and sexuality”—all dimensions of her project.

Andrew Cashner, assistant professor of music and fellow during Spring 2020, will complete his first book, Hearing Faith:  Music as Theology in the Spanish Empire.  That project concerns villancicos, a genre of devotional music, as a source, in his words, “for understanding how Spanish Catholics of the seventeenth century understood music’s role in the relationship between hearing and faith.”  He will then begin a new project, which will examine “practices of singing the Biblical psalms in the different post-Reformation communities during and just after the Thirty Years’ War” in order to explore how such groups used “common texts to articulate the relationship between self and society in a distinctive way.”

Tom Fleischman, assistant professor of history and fellow during Spring 2020, will revise his manuscript Three Little Pigs:  East Germany’s Green Revolution, 1945-2000.  At the heart of the project, which explores the history of agricultural development in the German Democratic Republic, is an investigation of “an international community of industrial agricultural boosters, dedicated to diffusion of its methods, technologies, and organisms around the world during the Cold War.”  He will also devote time to his new project, tentatively titled The Petrel and the Viking:  German Whaling in the Age of Globalization.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revisions to the Common Rule (the “Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects”) went into effect on January 21, 2019.

How Does this Affect Existing Research?

In consult with leaders and peers within the field of human subject protection, the Office for Human Subject Protection (OHSP) has determined that the revised regulations will only apply to research approved on or after January 21, 2019.  The “old” (pre-2018) common rule requirements remain in effect for all research approved prior to January 21, 2019.  This means regulatory revisions will not affect existing approvals; previously approved research will continue to be conducted as approved.  Study teams can verify which regulatory requirement applies to their research from the study homepage in Click® IRB.

How Does this Affect Research Approved After January 21, 2019?

Research approved on or after January 21, 2019 will be subject to the new regulations, with the largest impact affecting Institutional Review Board policies and procedures.  From a study team standpoint, the need-to-know revisions are as follows:

• Additional elements are required in the consent form. The Research Subjects Review Board (RSRB) revised the consent form templates accordingly in Spring 2018 to begin introducing the new required language.  Study teams should continue to use the updated consent form templates provided by the RSRB for all new research submitted. 
• More studies will qualify for exemption (see OHSP Policy 501 and the associated Guideline for Exempt Status Determination).
• Continuing review will no longer be required for every expedited study.
• Approved clinical trial consent forms will need to be posted on a public website (though this is not required until after the trial is closed to enrollment).

These changes will be reviewed in further detail at the February 14, 2019 UR-HRPP Educational Forum from noon to 1 p.m. in Helen Wood Hall Classroom 1W-509; remote attendance details will be provided via the OHSP email distribution list.  Summaries of the revised regulations are also available for your review in the Office for Human Subject Protection’s 2017 Q4 Newsletter.  Additional resources include:

• Office for Human Research Protection’s Revised Common Rule Q&A
• Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative’s Final Rule Resources

Here’s an opportunity to learn time-saving strategies and get an introduction to University of Rochester tools that help you connect with colleagues, discover collaborators, manage research data, find funders, and expose your work to new audiences.

Register for “Managing Your Scholarly Identity,” which will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., February 13, at the Learning Lab in 2-7544 at the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The discussion will be facilitated by librarians from both the River Campus and Medical Center.

For more information, email adele.coelho@rochester.edu

Hongying Sun, biology, “RNA Folding Nearest Neighbor Parameters Derivation and RNA Secondary Structure Prediction.” 1 p.m. February 6, 2019. Medical Center Room 1-6823. Advisor: David Mathews.

Mengchen Xu, mechanical engineering, “Investigation of Corneal Biomechanical and Optical Behaviors by Developing Individualized Finite Element Model.” 1 p.m. February 6, 2019. Hopeman 224. Advisors: Geunyoung Yoon and Amy Lerner.

Steven Rogers, physics, “High-Q Microcavities as Multifunctional Elements for Chip-Scale Nonlinear and Quantum Optics.” 10 a.m., February 8, 2019. Dewey 2110E. Advisor: Qiang Lin.

Today: Initial proposal abstracts due for Department of Public Health Sciences funding for research pilot projects that have a substantial component of or impact on public health sciences, practices, or policies. See submission criteria and other details.

Feb. 4: Applications due for University Research Awards, which provide “seed funding” for promising, high-risk research projects. Completed applications should be directed to Adele Coelho, faculty outreach coordinator in the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Research, at adele.coelho@rochester.edu

Feb. 4: Applications due for AS&E PumpPrimer II awards, which help researchers develop proof of concept and/or pilot data that can then be used to apply for external funding for high-risk proposals. Click here for more information.

Feb. 6: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. Christopher Haufe, Humanities Center Fellow, presents on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.

Feb. 13: Managing Your Scholarly Identity. Time-saving strategies and University tools that help you connect with colleagues, discover collaborators, manage research data, find funders, and expose your work to new audiences. Facilitated by librarians from both the River Campus and Medical Center. Please register. 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Learning Lab 2-7544, School of Medicine and Dentistry. For more information, email adele.coelho@rochester.edu

Feb. 15: Applications due for Wilmot Cancer Research postdoctoral fellowship providing mentored research training for physicians with MD or MD/PhD degrees who have completed their residency training and intend to pursue an academic career in clinical, translational, or basic cancer research. View application details. For questions, email Pamela Iadarola or call 585-275-1537.

Feb. 21: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. Christopher Rovee, Humanities Center Fellow, presents on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.

Feb. 27: Phelps Colloquium Series: Elizabeth West Marvin, professor of music theory and of brain and cognitive sciences, Experiencing Absolute Pitch: Insights from AP Possessors in the US and Asia, and Gilbert “Rip” Collins, professor of mechanical engineering and of physics and astronomy, Extreme Matters: A Laboratory Exploration of Planets, Stars, and Quantum Materials. 4-5:30 p.m. Max at Eastman. Register here. Questions? Contact Adele Coelho or call 273-2571.

March 6: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. Anna Rosensweig, assistant professor of French, presents on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.

March 13: Translational genomics and proteomics un-meeting. Researchers from across UNYTE Translational Research Network member institutions will discuss and develop new, innovative, and effective ideas for genomics and proteomics translational research. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Helen Wood Hall 1-304. Click here for registration and agenda.

March 21: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. William Miller, assistant professor of English, presents on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.

March 27: Phelps Colloquium Series: Huaxia Rui, associate professor, Simon Business School, Open Voice or Private Message? The Hidden Tug-of-War on Social Media Customer Service, and Maria Marconi, assistant professor of clinical nursing, and specialty director of Health Care Organization and Management Master’s Program and of the master’s program in nursing, Leveraging Generational Diversity in Our Classrooms. 4-5:30 p.m. Location TBD. Register here. Questions? Contact Adele Coelho or call 273-2571.

April 3: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. Jennifer Kyker, associate professor of music, presents on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.

April 17: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. Anaar Desai-Stephens, assistant professor of ethnomusicology, presents on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.

May 2: Jesse L. Rosenberger Works-in-Progress seminar. Tracy Stuber and Anastasia Nikolis, Public Humanities graduate fellows, present on the theme of expertise and evidence. Noon to 2 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D at Rush Rhees LIbrary. Lunch provided. RSVP by clicking here.