Category Archives: Evolution

Amanda Nunes is widely considered one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the sport of MMA. According to her head coach Mike Brown, shes actually getting event better.

The two-division champion will defend her bantamweight title against Julianna Pena in the co-main event of UFC 268 on Dec. 11.

The fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 265 in August but was postponed after Nunes tested positive for COVID-19. Now that shes back at American Top Team getting ready for another fight, Brown has noticed a more evolved version of the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound womens fighter in MMA Fightings global rankings, which is a scary thing to think about.

Shes just getting better all the time, Brown told MMA Fighting during a visit to American Top Team. Its amazing. Shes the No. 1 fighter in the world and still improving all the time. Its pretty crazy how much shes still evolving and I think people will be surprised when they see her next fight, I think. For whatever reason, I dont know whats clicked with her, but in the last year, two years, shes accelerated.

Shes trying new things, managing thingsmaybe her trainingbetter. I dont know exactly what it is, but shes improving for now then [she has] in the past.

Theres just more techniques added to her arsenal. Shes more composed, more relaxed, better vision, better octagon awareness, the whole thing all combined. Theres a lot of pieces to it and I feel like shes really accelerated.

Nunes has been victorious in 12 straight, which includes winning and defendingmultiple timesthe bantamweight and featherweight titles. The Lioness will put her 135-pound title on the line for the first time in nearly two years against Pena. In her most recent defense of the bantamweight title, she defeated Germaine De Randamie via unanimous decision at UFC 245. She went on to defend her 145-pound title in her next two appearances, earning a dominant decision against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250, and a first-round submission win over Megan Anderson in March at UFC 259.

For Brown, seeing a fighter with such accolades, such a strong resume still not find her ceiling admittedly leaves him scratching his head.

Its impressive and it makes you wonder, Brown said. Thats what happens, sometimes. Maybe its confidence. With confidence, you grow. Your mentality changes, you do more, you can be more open-minded to a lot of different techniques, and maybe it just kind of snowballs from there. Thats my best guest.

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Mike Brown touts Amanda Nunes continued evolution ahead of UFC 269: I think people will be surprised - MMA Fighting

Christian Rabeling, a researcher and associate professor of organismal evolutionary biology from the Arizona State University can now tell a story, specifically that of the evolution of social parasitism that's 30 million years in the making.

APhys.orgreport said, Rabeling and his team which includes Marek Borowiec, a colleague and former post-doctoral researcher and now a University of Idaho assistant professor, and Stefan Cover, a long-term friend and colleague, safe keeper of the largest ant collection of the world at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, have now unveiled the most recent plot twists to understanding the origins and evolution of ant social parasitism.

A professor at ASU's School of Life Sciences, and a core researcher in the social insect group of the universities Rabeling explained, identifying the conditions linked to ant life history, and their transition from cooperative colony life to manipulative social parasitism is essential for understanding the manner behavioral changes are contributing to speciation.

ALSO READ:Leaf Cutter Ants Evolved a Biomineral Armor That Protects It From Pathogens

(Photo : Richard Bartz, Munich aka Makro Freak on Wikimedia Commons)Formica polyctena is a species of European red wood ant in the family Formicidae.

The professor said he is fascinated by social parasitism by first examining such behavior in leaf-cutter ants. And now, in his most recent study, he is studying Formica ants, one of the most varied groups of all.

The question he now asks is, "how did Formica ants evolve?" He explained that no one had ever carried out a detailed phylogenetic analysis that looked into the said issue.

First, as indicated in the study, published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesjournal, a group of Formica ants, described in theInsect Identificationsite, lost their capacity to independently form the "hub of ant life," also known as colony formation.

The moment that ability got lost, a switch to a couple of other more multifaceted types of social parasitic behaviors occurred.

The researcher also explained that in the study, it was demonstrated that social parasites evolved from an ancestor that lost the capability of establishing new colonies independently and that extremely specialized parasites can evolve from less complicated social parasite syndromes.

And, as this report compared the said formula to most blockbuster Hollywood films, once it being successful, Rabeling discovered this same ant plotline was recurrently borrowed over and over again.

Describing social parasitism, Rabeling said it is a life history strategy evolving at least 60 times in ants, and over 400 socially parasitic species are identified from six distantly correlated subfamilies.

A similar report from theMuseum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard Universityreport said, out of 14,000 different species of ants to study, this researcher and associate professor chose one of the largest and the most diverse ant groups, as earlier mentioned, Formica ants.

As this study specified, there are more than 170 species within this genus or the so-called "supergroup," with half exhibiting social parasitic behavior, making it one of the Earth's largest.

The researchers' initial step to seeing a larger picture of Formica social parasites was to make a worldwide global evolutionary tree to understand further the historical links between species, as well as a window into the manner different species became social parasites.

To develop a Formica evolutionary tree which is also called phylogeny, the researchers looked at the DNA level to make branching associations between the Formica ants and insight into the inheritance of traits that regulate social behavior and diversity.

To do so, the team collected samples of DNA from over 100 Formica ants which represent all 10 known species groups across a worldwide geographical distribution. They also carefully calibrated the said data across evolutionary time.

As a result, the researchers found that the supergroup was one of the most successful in the history of the life of animals, first originating in the Old World approximately 30 million years ago and scattering several times to the New World and back as land bridges would come and go.

From their assessment, the researchers found that Formica last shared the same ancestor with Iberformica, its sister group, roughly 33 million years ago, and likely originated in Eurasia during the Oligocene Period following a long global cooling period.

Related information about Formica ants is shown on AntsCanada's YouTube video below:

RELATED ARTICLE:Male Praying Mantis Developed A Mechanism To Avoid Decapitation After Mating

Check out more news and information onInsectson Science Times.

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Ant Social Parasitism: Plot Twists in the Origins and Evolution of These Tiny Animals Revealed - Science Times

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Evolution and dispersal of snakes across the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction - Nature.com

The level of public acceptance of evolution in the United States is now solidly above the halfway mark, according to a new study based on a series of national public opinion surveys conducted over the last 35 years.

From 1985 to 2010, there was a statistical dead heat between acceptance and rejection of evolution, said lead researcher Jon D. Miller of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. But acceptance then surged, becoming the majority position in 2016.

Examining data over 35 years, the study consistently identified aspects of educationcivic science literacy, taking college courses in science, and having a college degreeas the strongest factors leading to the acceptance of evolution.

Almost twice as many Americans held a college degree in 2018 as in 1988, said co-author Mark Ackerman, a researcher at Michigan Engineering, the U-M School of Information and Michigan Medicine. Its hard to earn a college degree without acquiring at least a little respect for the success of science.

The researchers analyzed a collection of biennial surveys from the National Science Board, several national surveys funded by units of the National Science Foundations, and a series focused on adult civic literacy funded by NASA. Beginning in 1985, these national samples of U.S. adults were asked to agree or disagree with this statement: Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.

The series of surveys showed that Americans were evenly divided on the question of evolution from 1985 to 2007. According to a 2005 study of the acceptance of evolution in 34 developed nations, led by Miller, only Turkey, at 27%, scored lower than the United States. But over the last decade, until 2019, the percentage of American adults who agreed with this statement increased from 40% to 54%.

The current study consistently identified religious fundamentalism as the strongest factor leading to the rejection of evolution. While their numbers declined slightly in the last decade, approximately 30% of Americans continue to be religious fundamentalists as defined in the study. But even those who scored highest on the scale of religious fundamentalism shifted toward acceptance of evolution, rising from 8% in 1988 to 32% in 2019.

Miller predicted that religious fundamentalism would continue to impede the public acceptance of evolution.

Such beliefs are not only tenacious but also, increasingly, politicized, he said, citing a widening gap between Republican and Democratic acceptance of evolution.

As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats.

The study is published in the journal Public Understanding of Science.

Reference: Public acceptance of evolution in the United States, 19852020 by Jon D. Miller, Eugenie C. Scott, Mark S. Ackerman, Beln Laspra, Glenn Branch, Carmelo Polino and Jordan S. Huffaker, 16 August 2021, Public Understanding of Science.DOI: 10.1177/09636625211035919

Besides Miller and Ackerman, the authors are Eugenie Scott and Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education; Beln Laspra of the University of Oviedo in Spain; and Carmelo Polino of the University of Oviedo and Centre Redes in Argentina; and Jordan Huffaker of U-M.

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Evolution Now Accepted by Majority of Americans - SciTechDaily

Uterine transplantation (UTx) is acknowledged to be on the second (2A) of five steps of development in accordance with the staging system for the evaluation of surgical innovations. Accordingly, we aimed to systematically review the available evidence of the surgical techniques and outcomes of UTx in terms of graft survival.A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed Medline, Cochrane-EBMR, Scopus, Web of Science, and CENTRAL through November 2020.Forty studies, reporting 64 recipients and 64 donors, satisfied inclusion criteria. The surgical time and the estimated blood loss were 515minutes and 679mL for graft procurement via laparotomy, 210minutes and 100mL for laparoscopic-assisted graft harvest, and 660minutes and 173mL for robotic-assisted procedures, respectively. Urinary tract infections (=8) and injury to the urinary system (=6) were the most common donor complications. Using the donors internal iliac system, two arterial anastomoses were performed in all cases. Venous outflow was accomplished through the uterine veins (UVs) in 13 cases, a combination of the UVs and the ovarian/uteroovarian veins (OVs/UOVs) in 36 cases, and solely through the OVs/UOVs in 13 cases. Ischemia time was 161 and 258minutes when using living donors (LD) and deceased donors (DD), respectively. Forty-eight uteri were successfully transplanted or fulfilled the purpose of transplantation, 41 from LDs and 7 from DDs. Twenty-five and four live childbirths from LDs and DDs have been reported, respectively.UTx is still experimental. Further series are required to recommend specific surgical techniques that best yield a successful transplant and reduce complications for donors and recipients.Thieme. All rights reserved.

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Evolution and Transformation of Uterine Transplantation: A Systematic Review of Surgical Techniques and Out... - Physician's Weekly

Whenthe Globes Ben Volin inquired about the importance of having one player on the roster who specializes in long snapping, the Patriots head coach gave an extremely detailed answer that spanned nearly 10 minutes and was over 1,500 words.

Its an interesting conversation, Belichick said. One thats really, I would say, honestly during the course of my coaching career, has kind of traveled that long and winding road from when I came into the league.

Then he gave a history lesson. Heres the full transcript:

Its an interesting conversation. One thats really, I would say, honestly during the course of my coaching career, has kind of traveled that long and winding road from when I came into the league.

First of all, there were no long snappers, but the specialists, the kickers and the punters were frequently position players, and thats where they came from in college as well, so a lot of the good college punters and place kickers also played a position, and then as time evolved, starting with like [Pete] Gogolak and guys like that, you know, they specialized in kicking, and then you had some of the punters that specialized in punting, so players like Danny White and Tom Tupa and guys like that who were very good position players, you know, Gino Cappelletti, that evolved into specialists because of, I would say, the importance of the kicking game the number of plays that the kicking game and opportunities that it provided.

Same thing with returners. There were very few just pure returners. I think long snapping, to me, changed in the mid-80s, and really the key guy in that was [Steve] DeOssie, in my opinion because Steve was the first center that really, truly allowed a spread punt formation against all-out rush. Prior to that, teams would generally pull.

First of all, there wasnt that many gunners, but when teams started using gunners, they would pull one in and kick away from the free guy on the back side, and that was kind of the idea that protection was not to let the snapper block against a nine-man rush with a split player. The return team would have one guy on the gun or the split, and one guy returns, so you got nine guys rushing against essentially the punter who wasnt a blocker or the split guy who wasnt a blocker and the snapper who really wasnt a blocker, so it was nine on eight, and the idea was to block the most dangerous eight and let the ninth guy go and punt away from him, and then when the Cowboys went to spread punt and then the Cardinals followed that pretty quickly, and they kept two gunners split, and the snapper blocked a guy, then that created an eight on eight situation but put a lot of pressure on the snapper to deliver the ball 15 yards deep on the money and still block a good rusher offsetting and the A-gap.

I mean, weve all seen offensive linemen have trouble making that block on a pass play, and so now youre talking about a deep snap and a block, but as players got better at that, that skill became more, I would say, players became more efficient at that, then teams decided to carry a long snapper rather than worry about getting a punt block. Plus, there was also a level of consistency and durability with those players, so if you lose a position player who is also a long snapper, youre looking at some real problems, and that evolved into the punters, for the most part, becoming holders because of the amount of time that they could spend with the kickers versus having a wide receiver or quarterback be the holder, which again, you dont see very much of that anymore. Assuming a punter is, you know, capable and good enough and has good enough hands to be the holder, and so then that kind of whole unit has really evolved into, you know, specified snapper or a specified kicker, a specific punter, and generally the punter as the holder, so the three of those guys could work together all practice because theyre all available.

I know, again, going back to when I first came into league, you worked on field goals, and, I mean, it was maybe five minutes because that was only time the starting center and the starting receiver or backup quarterback or whatever were available to practice that, so, like, is it that hard? Its a pretty hard job. Yeah. Its a pretty hard job. Its not as hard as it used to be because youre not allowed to hit the center, especially on field goals and run them over.

There are some limitations on the punt rush based on what the formation is and so forth, but generally speaking, its a hard block, and I think you see most punt rushes attack the snapper. They loop guys back so the center thinks hes going right, but then he has to come back to the left, or maybe they fake like theyre coming back, but they dont come back, so he not only has to snap, and so then that gets into whether youre a blind snapper and you look at the rush and just snap the ball, or whether youre a look back snapper and snap it, and then after the snap you have to look up and recognize whats happened and make a proper block, but again, its man-to-man blocking. Like that guys got to block somebody or youre a guy short, so it is a hard job, and the accuracy of the placekickers through the years, which has gone up dramatically. Part of thats the surface. Part of thats the not kicking outdoors and so forth. Part of it is the operation between the snapper, the holder and the kicker, which I would say, generally speaking, is at a pretty high level, which it should be in the National Football League.

I think if you go back and look at kicks from back when that wasnt the case, you see balls rolling back and the holder coming out of a stance that catch the ball and the kind of things you see at times in a high school game and that kind of thing. Theres just a much higher level of skill, which there should be, but yeah. I think its a pretty tough position, and nobody knows or cares who the snapper is if there was a bad snap and all of a sudden, thats front-page story. Theres a decent amount of pressure on that player as well, and not just the snap, but also, as I said, to the block and punt protection.

The roster sizes have increased. Its been a lot easier to carry that player just like its a lot easier to carry a true returner, and so in terms of depth and availability, you know, you really dont want to be looking for one of those players in the middle of any time. In the middle of the game or middle of the season, but when you have him as a starting receiver, Lou Groza, a starting tackle, or whoever. Those guys and theyre playing and something happens and not only do you lose a player, but you lose a key specialist as well, so yeah.

I mean, its a great question. There would be so much value in a player that could do a couple of things and save a roster spot, but I would say there are so few of those players available, even at the point where, you know, [Matt] Amendola did a great job last week. Its so rare that you even see a combination punter and place kicker.

Usually, its one or the other, and I think part of that is at one level its, Ill say, relatively easy to put your foot on the ball, but at this level, you know, the difference in kicking mechanics and punting mechanics are so different that its really hard to be good at both, but you know, if a guys got a good leg and hes a good athlete and he can make good contact with a ball, theres a point where, high school, college, that maybe its good enough.

Maybe hes the best guy on the team to do that, but Id say at this level, that will be asking a lot. Now like Jake [Bailey] can punt. Jake can kick-off. Jake can kick field goals. To be at the kind of level you want it to be at, to have the person split their time between the two of those, again, I think is a lot to ask. Im not saying its impossible or unheard of, but its a lot to ask, and thats why you dont see it very much.

Thats a good question. Its really interesting, and Id say if you look at the evolution of those positions since Ive been in the league, but even a little bit before then, because thats really where it started to go was in the late sixties. I think [Pete] Gogolak was the first, or one of the first, where that trend really started to, okay, were just going to keep a guy, and all he does is kick. [Garo] Yepremian and guys like that. Thats all they did. That was a little bit unusual, but you know, gradually that has become the new normal.

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Bill Belichick gave a nearly 10-minute history lesson about the evolution of the long snapper - The Boston Globe

An African lily (Agapanthus africanus) flower is broken into component parts. According to a new classification of plant complexity, an African lily has 12 types of parts in its reproductive structure, some of which are on the seed or inside the ovary and not pictured here. In comparison, a typical fern has one type of reproductive part. Credit: Andrew Leslie

A Stanford-led studyreveals that rather than evolving gradually over hundreds of millions of years, land plants underwent major diversification in two dramatic bursts, 250 million years apart. The first occurred early in plant history, giving rise to the development of seeds, and the second took place during the diversification of flowering plants.

The research uses a novel but simple metric to classify plant complexity based on the arrangement and number of basic parts in their reproductive structures. While scientists have long assumed that plants became more complex with the advent of seeds and flowers, the new findings, published on September 17, 2021, in Science, offer insight into the timing and magnitude of those changes.

The most surprising thing is this kind of stasis, this plateau in complexity after the initial evolution of seeds and then the total change that happened when flowering plants started diversifying, said lead study authorAndrew Leslie, an assistant professor of geological sciences at StanfordsSchool of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences(Stanford Earth). The reproductive structures look different in all these plants, but they all have about the same number of parts during that stasis.

Flowers are more diverse than every other group of plants, producing colors, smells, and shapes that nourish animals and delight the senses. They are also intricate: petals, anthers and pistils interweave in precise arrangements to lure pollinators and trick them into spreading pollen from one flower to another.

This complexity makes it difficult for scientists to compare flowering plants to plants with simpler reproductive systems, such as ferns or some conifers. As a result, botanists have long focused on characteristics within family groups and typically study evolution in non-flowering plants separately from their more intricate flowering relatives.

Leslie and his co-authors overcame these differences by designing a system that classifies the number of different kinds of parts in reproductive structures based on observation alone. Each species was scored according to how many types of parts it has and the degree to which it exhibited clustering of those parts. They categorized about 1,300 land plant species from about 420 million years ago until the present.

This tells a pretty simple story about plant reproductive evolution in terms of form and function: The more functions the plants have and the more specific they are, the more parts they have,Leslie said. Its a useful way of thinking about broad-scale changes encompassing the whole of plant history.

When land plants first diversified in the early Devonian about 420 million to 360 million years ago, Earth was a warmer world devoid of trees or terrestrial vertebrate animals. Arachnids like scorpions and mites roamed the land amongst short, patchy plants and the tallest land organism was a 20-foot fungus resembling a tree trunk. After the Devonian, huge changes occurred in the animal kingdom: Land animals evolved to have large body sizes and more varied diets, insects diversified, dinosaurs appeared but plants didnt see a major change in reproductive complexity until they developed flowers.

Insect pollination and animal seed dispersal may have appeared as early as 300 million years ago, but its not until the last 100 million years that these really intricate interactions with pollinators are driving this super high complexity in flowering plants, Leslie said. There was such a long period of time where plants could have interacted with insects in the way that flowering plants do now, but they didnt to the same degree of intricacy.

In the Late Cretaceous, about 100 to 66 million years ago, Earth more closely resembled the planet we know today a bit like Yosemite National Park without the flowering trees and bushes. The second burst of complexity was more dramatic than the first, emphasizing the unique nature of flowering plants, according to Leslie. That period gave rise to plants like the passionflower, which can have 20 different types of parts, more than twice the number found in non-flowering plants.

The researchers classified 472 living species, part of which Leslie carried out on and around Stanfords campus by simply pulling apart local plants and counting their reproductive organs. The analysis includes vascular land plants everything except mosses and a few early plants that lack supportive tissue for conducting water and minerals.

One thing we argue in this paper is that this classification simply reflects their functional diversity, Leslie said. They basically split up their labor in order to be more efficient at doing what they needed to do.

Reference: Reproductive innovations and pulsed rise in plant complexity by Andrew B. Leslie, Carl Simpson and Luke Mander, 17 September 2021, Science.DOI: 10.1126/science.abi6984

Study co-authors include Carl Simpson of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and Luke Mander of The Open University.

Originally posted here:

Plants Didnt Evolve Gradually They Evolved Complexity in Two Dramatic Bursts 250-Million-Years Apart - SciTechDaily

Designed for both form and function, the Lyric is indispensable to any lifestyle. The Lyric's beautiful design, available in five attractive colors, means no hiding it in a drawer or closet like most massage devices. Users can proudly display the device in their homes, serving as a steady reminder to use it daily and develop positive wellness habits.

The Lyric provides an intuitive experience. Its easy-to-use touchscreen guides users through therapies and, unlike other connected massagers and their respective apps, it eliminates the need to juggle a device and phone simultaneously, allowing people to truly be in the moment and focus on their holistic wellbeing.

As a self-care companion, the Lyric provideson-board guidance for temporary relief of muscle aches and pains, as well as therapies designed to relax and energize. The Lyric's Wi-Fi technology offers users peace of mind knowing they'll always have the latest software upgrades, therapies and wellness content.

"Never before has a massage device offered the technology, aesthetic and experience to answer so many unmet consumer needs, not just those of serious athletes," said Hugh Williams, Lyric co-founder. "Each detail of the Lyric has been thoughtfully designed based on extensive research and feedback to create an unmatched wellness experience. Now, people won't have to choose between what they want and what their bodies and minds need with the Lyric, they can have it all in one device."

Stimulate Your Nervous System with Rhythm TherapyWith the introduction of the Lyric comes a breakthrough in massage technology, Rhythm Therapy. Rather than a mono-frequency or "flat line" experience, which is what most massage devices deliver, the Lyric vibrates in a wavelike pattern mimicking naturally occurring rhythms that can have a profound impact on the body and mind. Rhythm is deeply humanand connected to our ability to rest, invigorate and renew. Rhythm promotes a feeling of happiness; it helps center and connect the mind and body. Rhythm helps people to be fully well. The Lyric's Rhythm Therapy creates an exquisite experience it's like Mozart for your muscles.

Rhythmic frequencies have been shown to affect the endocrine, musculoskeletal and nervous systems, and can temporarily alleviate minor muscle pain, shift stress and positively affect both emotions and overall mental state.

"Therapies that incorporate rhythmic frequencies have the ability to guide the body to its parasympathetic mode, allowing it to slow down and rest, but they can also activate the body's sympathetic mode, leading to feeling alert, awake and energized," said Dr. Jena Gatses, DPT, LMT, SFMA,CSCS. "The therapy options provided by the Lyric offer a range of benefits, including pain relief, calm and energy, for an intuitive and customized experience."

Wellness HarmonizedThe Lyric establishes a new category in wellness, thanks to its therapeutic range of frequencies coupled with lower amplitude (the distance traveled by the massage head). This combination requires less pressure from the device to achieve the same result, allowing for a more comfortable, enjoyable and nonaggressive massage experience that feels good and promotes positive wellbeing.

The Lyric offers a slim handle with ergonomic grip and includes an optional extension handle for easier maneuvering and accessing hard-to-reach spots. Also included with each massager are four attachments neatly stored in the docking station: Cone, Dome, Thumb and Double. Each attachment helps to deliver a personalized experience that provides exactly what the body needs, regardless of the ache or pain. The Lyric also has induction charging built intothe docking station (as well as a USB-C) for grab-n-go charging.

Elevated DesignSleek, stylish and lightweight, the Lyric merits public display as a constant reminder to use and benefit from it daily. Offered in Blueprint (light blue), Terracotta (soft orange), Stone (off white), Slate (dark grey with blue undertone) and Granite (black), the Lyric features beautiful hues to fit any taste or dcor. Its $199.95 MSRP makes the Lyric a premium experience for a broad range of users, lifestyles and needs, for hundreds of dollars less than other devices offering fewer features.

Find Your Rhythmwith the Lyric therapeutic massager atExperienceLyric.com or at select retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Meijer, REI and Target. Join the Lyric wellness movement by following @ExperienceLyric on Facebook, Instagramand Twitter.

About The LyricThe Lyricis the result of a two-year project by a distinguished team of leading designers, therapists, entrepreneurs and investors drawing on consumer research and experience working across some of the world's most iconic brands. In partnership with global leaders in design and innovation, the Lyric was developed to address unmet consumer needs around form, function and accessibility. Say goodbye to ugly, aggressive and heavy massage guns made only for elite athletes.The stylishly designed Lyric was created with everybody and every body in mind, delivering an intuitive and easy-to-use experience. Now, you don't have to sacrifice quality or choose between features when deciding on self-care. With the Lyric, you can have what you want as well as what your body and mind need. Visit ExperienceLyric.comto Find Your Rhythm and join the Lyric wellness movement by following @ExperienceLyric on Facebook, Instagramand Twitter.

SOURCE The Lyric

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Introducing The Lyric Therapeutic Massager, An Evolution In Self-Care - PRNewswire

CardioNerds(Amit Goyal,Daniel Ambinder) and Dr. Mark Belkin, (CardioNerds Correspondent) and Dr. Shirlene Obuobi (CardioNerds Ambassador) from University of Chicago are honored to bring to you the Dr. Milton Packer perspective on the evolution of the neurohormonal hypothesis as part of The CardioNerds Heart Success Series. In part 2 Dr. Packer shares his journey as the trailing spouse and tells the story of how the neurohormonal hypothesis was developed.

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This is a non CME episode. Disclosures: Milton Packer reports receiving consulting fees fromAbbvie, Actavis,Amgen, Amarin,AstraZeneca,Boehringer Ingelheim,Bristol Myers Squibb, Casana, CSL Behring,Cytokinetics,Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc., Eli Lilly and Company,Moderna, Novartis, ParatusRx, Pfizer, Relypsa, Salamandra, Synthetic Biologics,Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.and Theravance Biopharma Inc.

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This CardioNerdsHeart Failure Success Series was created in memory of Dr. David Taylor. We thank our partners at the Heart Failure Society of Americawhich is a multidisciplinary organization working to improve and expand heart failure care through collaboration, education, research, innovation, and advocacy. Its members include physicians, scientists, nurses, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists. Learn more athfsa.org.

147. The Evolution of the Neurohormonal Hypothesis with Dr. Milton Packer: Part 2 The Secret to Happiness, The Aha Moment, & The Birth Of The...

Telehealth continues to grow as a crucial part of patient care, especially when supporting patients who live in remote areas and senior citizens. Research firm Frost & Sullivan forecasts a sevenfold growthin telehealth by 2025 a five-year compound annual growth rate of 38%.

The bottom line is that people want to have access to healthcare anytime, anywhere, across multiple devices and in the language of their choice. In fact, many new areas of telehealth such as tele-oncology and tele-stroke have become part of the mainstream healthcare system.

The idea of triaging patient issues and prescribing medication or assigning tasks such as physical therapy is just a part of the picture. There also has been an uptick in the use of telepsychiatry, especially for patients who are suffering from anxiety, depression and isolation.

For healthcare providers, telehealth presents an opportunity to address patient care needs, improve the customer experience and reduce costs. Healthcare IT News sat down with Linda Comp-Noto, division president forhealthcare enterprise operationsat telemedicine technology and services vendor Teleperformance, to discuss the evolution of telehealth, unique aspects of supporting remote customers and senior citizens, approval of more than 80 new medical services that can be delivered via telehealth and the creation of new diagnostic codes, and tackling privacy issues related to HIPAA.

Q. How has telehealth evolved over the past few years?

A. Telehealth is defined as the provision of healthcare virtually by use of digital information and communication technologies. According to Mayo Clinic, telehealth is used to access healthcare servicesremotelyto manage one's healthcare. These may be technologies used from the home or that a doctor uses to improve or support healthcare services.

Over the years, while digital technology was quickly advancing, telehealth had a relatively low adoption rate due to poor reimbursement rates and regulatory challenges when it came to patient privacy and HIPAA compliance.

Telehealth providers saw a rapid rise in the need for remote services with the initial spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Healthcare providers needed to find an immediate solution to care for their patients while keeping them home and maintaining the safety of the community. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began to allow for reimbursement for videoconferencing between healthcare provider and patient.

According to HHS.gov, CMS created a provisional policy during the coronavirus pandemic to help support the use of telehealth. CMS issued temporary measures to make it easier for people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to receive medical care through telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This trend in remote access to care has expanded widely and is expected to continue.

Q. What are some of the unique aspects of supporting patients remotely?

A. Going beyond a global pandemic with a critical need to support patients remotely, there are many other situations where telehealth plays an important role in a person's healthcare.

It can be critical in helping people who don't have physical access to care due to their geography, lack of transportation or socioeconomic situation. Telehealth also can be extremely helpful in care coordination between primary healthcare providers and specialists by enhancing communication on a real-time basis, allowing faster response time and access to life-changing treatment.

Now more than ever, patients need to be their own advocates and engage in proper self-care techniques for treating and preventing diseases. Telehealth allows access to online portals to track symptoms and progress in a person's quest for wellness.

Portals can contain information from a patient's electronic health records from various providerstest results,digital device results such as heart rate, weight, oxygen levels, blood pressure and activity level,just to name a few. This is an exciting time for the future of telehealth for all people to lead longer and healthier lives.

Q. Please discuss the importance of the approval of more than 80 new medical services that can be delivered via telehealth and the creation of new diagnostic codes.

A. Last year, Congress eliminated barriers to patient care by approving a bill called the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020. This allowed telehealth to be used to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Since then, CMS has now expanded coverage for telehealth and telemedicine. Eighty services can now be offered at the same reimbursement rates as traditional in-person office care.

According to CMS.gov, CMS is expanding access to telehealth services with Medicare. This means patients can receive care wherever they are at home, nursing home, assisted living, etc. If they have COVID-19, they can continue in isolation and prevent the spread of the illness. If they are not infected, they can get care without risking exposure to others who may be ill.

The 80 services that have now been approved include emergency department visits, initial nursing facility and discharge visits, and at-home visits that must be provided by a clinician who is allowed to provide telehealth.

This is important for the future of healthcarebecause it is helping remove the restrictions on access to care for many people. The new rules allow for some audio-only options that can help people who do not have access to computer equipment or video phones. There also are new provisions allowing telehealth use for ambulatory surgery, mental health centers and other healthcare settings that were restricted in the past. Further updates can be found at Coronavirus.gov.

Q. How can healthcare provider organizations tackle privacy issues related to HIPPA when it comes to telemedicine?

A. Patient privacy and data security are paramount when it comes to a successful telehealth operation. It is imperative that provider organizations ensure patient information is fully protected, as patients are trusting them to do so. There are many ways to effectively ensure privacy and security.

According to HIMSS, there are four best practices for data privacy and telehealth: strong authentication, end-to-end encryption, clean machines,and, when in doubt, throw it out. When addressing authentication, the telehealth platform should provide a strong authentication method. This means both parties need to be authenticated prior to the sharing of access to any confidential information.

This often involves platforms that require individuals to log in with unique usernames and passwords. Passwords need to be strong and contain a complex combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Biometrics can be implemented, along with multifactor authentication when required.

Second, end-to-end encryption is important for ensuring that only the people intended to be part of the conversation are able to access any part of communication and no one can break through.

Third, keeping a clean machine ensures that all operating systems and applications are fully up to date and working properly. This includes, but is not limited to, antivirus and appropriate firewalls. WiFi should be secure and not open to the public whenever personal or proprietary information is exchanged.

Lastly, when in doubt, throw it out. If any electronic communication appears to be suspicious, it's best to delete it and avoid clicking on any links.

Phishing is used to infect users' machines with malware and viruses. Both patients and providers can receive phishing emails, and they should always be disregarded. Privacy and data security go hand in hand and should involve technology combined with solid standard operating procedures that are audited and adhered to.

Twitter:@SiwickiHealthITEmail the writer:bsiwicki@himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

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Taking stock of the sudden evolution of telemedicine - Healthcare IT News