Population

• Even then, they would only have heard accounts of the events, without images or videos to reproduce exactly what happened.
• In today’s world, omnipresent communication technology means the spread of horrific images is all but impossible to escape.
• We experience this now, for example, with images from Israel and Gaza, and other wars and attacks in recent years.

Images that release cortisol

• Even when viewed through a phone screen, experiencing an extremely violent situation activates the sympathetic branch of our nervous systems, which governs our “fight or flight” response.
• Our bodies react to these images by secreting hormones into the bloodstream including adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, commonly known as the stress hormone.
• If they become chronic, they can cause serious health problems in the long run, as has been common knowledge for decades.

Poor memory and a loss of control

• In acutely stressful situations the hippocampus’ role in memory becomes inhibited, and the prefrontal cortex ceases to exercise control.
• These changes are, in principle, intended to help us cope with specific stressful situations in the short term.
• When we face a threat the priority is to react quickly, not taking time to remember similar events and analyse contextual factors.
• This is essentially because chronic stress causes problems for our learning and memory, affecting three areas which are worth exploring in more detail: precision, flexibility and reconsolidation.

Francisco Javier Saavedra Macías no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

• Cranberries are a staple in U.S. households at Thanksgiving – but how did this bog dweller end up on holiday tables?
• But as a plant scientist, I’ve learned much about cranberries’ ancestry from their botany and genomics.

New on the plant breeding scene

• Humans have cultivated sorghum for some 5,500 years, corn for around 8,700 years and cotton for about 5,000 years.
• In contrast, cranberries were domesticated around 200 years ago – but people were eating the berries before that.
• Today, Wisconsin produces roughly 60% of the U.S. cranberry harvest, followed by Massachusetts, Oregon and New Jersey.

A flexible and adaptable plant

• Like roses, lilies and daffodils, cranberry flowers are hermaphroditic, which means they contain both male and female parts.
• The flower’s resemblance to the beak of a bird earned the cranberry its original name, the “craneberry.”

• They can also be propagated sexually, by planting seeds, or asexually, through rooting vine cuttings.
• This is important for growers because seed-based propagation allows for higher genetic diversity, which can translate to things like increased disease resistance or more pest tolerance.
• These pockets serve a biological role: They enable the berries to float down rivers and streams to disperse their seeds.

Reading cranberry DNA

• The cranberry is a diploid, which means that each cell contains one set of chromosomes from the maternal parent and one set from the paternal parent.
• It has 24 chromosomes, and its genome size is less than one-tenth that of the human genome.
• Insights like these help scientists better understand where potentially valuable genes might be located in the cranberry genome.
• Researchers are developing molecular markers – tools to determine where certain genes or sequences of interest reside within a genome – to help determine the best combinations of genes from different varieties of cranberry that can enhance desired traits.

Ripe at the right time

• Fresh cranberries are ready to harvest from mid-September through mid-November, so Thanksgiving falls within that perfect window for eating them.
• In recent decades, the cranberry industry has branched out into juices, snacks and other products in pursuit of year-round markets.

Serina DeSalvio does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• But the truth is, this sleep-related respiratory disorder is significantly under-reported in First Nations communities.
• Read more:
  The first sleep health program for First Nations adolescents could change lives

What is obstructive sleep apnoea?

• In obstructive sleep apnoea the upper airway is repeatedly wholly or partially blocked during sleep, resulting in lower blood oxygen levels.
• Sleep apnoea also increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, cognitive problems, poor mental health, productivity loss and driving accidents.
• Another reason why we suspect sleep apnoea is under-reported is the
  lack of specialist sleep services in rural and remote areas.

A growing awareness

• This builds on insights from community yarns about the impact of poor sleep.
• These highlighted that dreaming in First Nations culture is considered an important opportunity to connect with ancestors, Country and cultural knowledge.
• So, poor sleep, through its impact on dreaming, also affects spiritual health.

• The program’s yarn with community members also highlighted the lack of culturally secure services, low awareness of sleep apnoea treatment options and stigma in accessing services as the key contributors to high rates of undiagnosed/untreated sleep apnoea in First Nations communities.
• There is still shame in talking about sleep apnoea.
• I was tested for sleep apnoea, and the doctor told me I stopped breathing 13 times [per hour] in my sleep.
• I was tested for sleep apnoea, and the doctor told me I stopped breathing 13 times [per hour] in my sleep.

So what does the program look like?

• This has involved consultation with 12 First Nations communities, and training Aboriginal health workers and nurses to deliver the program.
• The Aboriginal health workers will educate community members about symptoms of sleep apnoea, its health impacts and pathways to seek clinical care.
• The program uses standard treatments for sleep apnoea, such as continuous positive airway pressure therapy, known as a CPAP machine.

Read more:
Friday essay: the remarkable yidaki (and no, it's not a 'didge')

Locally-led, culturally responsive

• It’s early days for us to see any results from the program.
• But it shows we can develop locally led and culturally responsive models of care.

• Yaqoot Fatima is supported by funding from the NHMRC Partnership Grant, MRFF Indigenous Health Research Grant, MRFF-EMCR grant, Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre grant and Beyond Blue for sleep health research.
• Daniel Sullivan is a member of the Australasian Sleep Association and the Australian Psychological Society.
• Daniel Sullivan receives funding from a Medical Research Future Fund Early-Mid Career Researchers grant.

• It added that the admission of Finland into Nato and Sweden’s application meant the treaty was dead.
• The CFE treaty had aimed to reduce the opportunity for either side to launch a rapid offensive against the other.
• In fact, the US never ratified the treaty and Moscow and Washington have exchanged angry words, each accusing the other of undermining the NTBT.
• This has helped nobody – activity in both the US and Russia has escalated tensions over nuclear testing.

Aggressive stance

• Moscow’s increasingly aggressive stance will certainly add to concerns for the Baltic states and Poland.
• With a significant number of ethnic Russians as part of their populations, the risks of civil unrest leading to an escalation is rather high.

• But the Russians would need to be more competent and capable in their military adventures than they have been shown to be in Ukraine.
• The likelihood of a Russian attack is small, but Putin likes to keep his options open.
• He is also an experienced propagandist and will use whatever levers he has to try and prise Nato’s members apart.

Kenton White does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.