(72,'New methods for network visualizations enable change of perspectives and views','new-methods-for-network-visualizations-enable-change-of-perspectives-and-views','2022-02-26 01:50:11.519587','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When visualizing data using networks, the type of representation is crucial for extracting hidden information and relationships. The research group of Jörg Menche, Adjunct Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Professor at the University of Vienna, and Group leader at Max Perutz Labs, developed a new method for generating network layouts that allow for visualizing different information of a network in two- and three-dimensional virtual space and exploring different perspectives. The results could also facilitate future research on rare diseases by providing more versatile, comprehensible representations of complex protein interactions.</p><p>Network visualizations allow for exploring connections between individual data points. However, the more complex and larger the networks, the more difficult it becomes to find the information you are looking for. For lack of suitable layouts, so-called \"hairballs\" visualizations emerge, that often obscure network structure, rather than elucidate it. Scientists from Jörg Menche\'s research group at CeMM and Max Perutz Labs (a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna), developed a method that makes it possible to specify in advance which network properties and information should be visually represented in order to explore them interactively. The results have now been published in <em>Nature Computational Science</em>.</p><p><strong>Reducing complexity</strong></p><p>For the study, first author Christiane V. R. Hütter, a PhD student in Joerg Menche\'s research group, used the latest dimensionality reduction techniques that allow visualizations for networks with thousands of points to be computed within a very short time on a standard laptop. \"The key idea behind our research was to develop different views for large networks to capture the complexity and get a more comprehensive view and present it in a visually understandable way -- similar to looking at maps of the same region with different information content, detailed views and perspectives.\" Menche Lab scientists developed four different network layouts, which they termed cartographs, as well as two- and three-dimensional visualizations, each following different rules to open up new perspectives on a given dataset. Any network information can be encoded and visualized in this fashion, for example, the structural significance of a particular point, but also functional features. Users can switch between different layouts to get a comprehensive picture. Study leader Jörg Menche explains: \"Using the new layouts, we can now specify in advance that we want to see, for example, the number of connections of a point within the network represented, or a particular functional characteristic. In a biological network, for instance, I can explore connections between genes that are associated with a particular disease and what they might have in common.\"</p><p><strong>The interplay of genes</strong></p><p>The scientists performed a proof-of-concept on both simple model networks and the complex interactome network, which maps all the proteins of the human body and their interactions. This consists of more than 16,000 points and over 300,000 connections. Christiane V.R. Hütter explains: \"Using our new layouts, we are now able to visually represent different features of proteins and their connections, such as the close relationship between the biological importance of a protein and its centrality within the network. We can also visualize connection patterns between a group of proteins associated with the same disease that are difficult to decipher using conventional methods.\"</p><p><strong>Tailored solutions</strong></p><p>The flexibility of the new framework allows users to tailor network visualizations for a specific application. For example, the study authors were able to develop 3D interactome layouts specifically for studying the biological functions of certain genes whose mutations are suspected to cause rare diseases. Jörg Menche adds, \"To facilitate the visual representation and also analysis of large networks such as the interactome, our layouts can also be integrated into a virtual reality platform.\"</p>','2022-02-26 00:31:46.589460','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences','Researchers have developed a new method for generating network layouts that allow for visualizing different information of a network in two- and three-dimensional virtual space and exploring different perspectives. The results could also facilitate future research on rare diseases by providing more versatile, comprehensible representations of complex protein interactions.',1,63,'<li>Christiane V. R. Hütter, Celine Sin, Felix Müller, Jörg Menche. <strong>Network cartographs for interpretable visualizations</strong>. <em>Nature Computational Science</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43588-022-00199-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s43588-022-00199-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(73,'New stem cell population provides a new way to study the awakening of the human genome','new-stem-cell-population-provides-a-new-way-to-study-the-awakening-of-the-human-genome','2022-02-26 01:54:35.700771','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers from the Babraham Institute have today published their latest work in the journal <em>Cell Stem Cell </em>describing a new subset of human embryonic stem cells that closely resemble the cells present at the genomic \'wake up call\' of the 8-cell embryo stage in humans. This new stem cell model will allow researchers to map out the key genomic changes during early development, and help move towards a better understanding of the implications of genome activation errors in developmental disorders and embryo loss.</p><p>In all mammals, the early embryo undergoes a number of molecular events just after fertilisation that set the stage for the rest of development. During this key \'wake up call\' the genome of the embryo takes over control of the cell\'s activities from the maternal genome. In humans, this happens at the 8-cell stage and is called zygotic genome activation (ZGA). Before the findings of this study, investigating the details of human ZGA could only be done in human embryos; existing human stem cell models represented the embryo only at later stages of the developmental process. In the UK, experiments using embryos are permitted but highly regulated, meaning that research into early development relied in part on alternative, non-human models.</p><p>In 2012, cells representing the genome activation stage of development were found in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), allowing researchers to learn more about mammalian ZGA. Almost a decade later, the Reik lab at the Institute have found a human equivalent. The lab\'s discovery opens up a way to advance our knowledge of the earliest events during preimplantation development.</p><p>Dr Jasmin Taubenschmid-Stowers, lead author and Research Fellow in the Reik lab, part of the Institute\'s Epigenetics research programme , commented: \"Studying mouse embryonic stem cells has allowed researchers to learn about the general process of genome activation, but we could learn even more about this important step in human development thanks to our discovery of a human stem cell counterpart.\"</p><p>In order to function, cells take copies of the genome in the form of an RNA code which is translated into proteins. The RNA code output is called the transcriptome and it can be used to identify different populations of cells. In this study, researchers used existing human data sets and information from mouse ESC studies to identify characteristic transcriptome marks that could be linked to genome activation. Using single cell techniques, they started the search for similar cells in their population of human ESCs.</p><p>The team found a subset of human ESCs with the right transcriptome marks to be a potential match for the 8-cell stage, when the major wave of genome activation occurs. They called these cells \'8-cell like cells\' or 8CLCs and used the published human data to further validate and confirm that these cells shared the same molecular outputs indicative of genome activation and could be pursued as a reliable model for future studies.</p><p>To further explore the extent of the similarities between their 8CLCs and 8-cell stage in human embryos, the team worked with Professor Jennifer Nichols from the Wellcome -- MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Together they were able to select and search for proteins present in both sets of cells that were indicative of ZGA. Their results showed that the ZGA-associated proteins of 8CLCs closely matched those seen in human 8-cell embryos.</p><p>As Jasmin explains: \"The collaboration with Professor Nichols and her team was vital as we could identify selected proteins and really look at those in real, fixed human 8-cell stage embryo cells compared to our new stem cell counterparts. This work confirmed that our 8C-like cells matched at the protein level too, in additional to the transcriptomics data, providing validation that the 8-cell like cells matched embryo cells across multiple molecular layers.\"</p><p>\"Our focus is now to characterise these cells and understand their unique properties so that we can use 8-cell like cells as a tool to ask questions about the molecular changes that may cause developmental issues at this early stage.\" said Professor Wolf Reik, Babraham Institute group leader.</p>','2022-02-26 00:31:51.436026','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Babraham Institute','Researchers have discovered a new type of stem cell that resembles cells in the early human embryo during the transition of \'genomic power\' from mother to embryo. During this major developmental event the genome is reset and reorganized with large numbers of embryonic genes being expressed for the first time. If unsuccessful, further embryo development fails or there may be implications for later developmental stages. The newly identified stem cells provide the closest model available to study this process without the need for human embryos. This model of the early embryo will allow the study of human genome activation in a much more detailed way, providing important functional insights into genome regulation, developmental disorders, and early embryo loss.',1,29,'<li>Jasmin Taubenschmid-Stowers, Maria Rostovskaya, Fátima Santos, Sebastian Ljung, Ricard Argelaguet, Felix Krueger, Jennifer Nichols, Wolf Reik. <strong>8C-like cells capture the human zygotic genome activation program in vitro</strong>. <em>Cell Stem Cell</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2022.01.014\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.stem.2022.01.014</a>\r\n</li>'),(74,'Rebooting evolution','rebooting-evolution','2022-02-26 01:56:01.257536','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The building blocks of life-saving therapeutics could be developed in days instead of years thanks to new software that simulates evolution.</p><p>Proseeker is the name of a new computational tool that mimics the processes of natural selection, producing proteins that can be used for a range of medicinal and household uses.</p><p>The enzymes in your laundry detergent, the insulin in your diabetes medication or the antibodies used in cancer therapy are currently made in the laboratory using a painstaking process called directed evolution.</p><p>Laboratory evolution mimics natural evolution by making mutations in naturally-sourced proteins and selecting the best mutants, to be mutated and selected again, in a time-intensive and laborious process that creates useful proteins.</p><p>Scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology have now discovered a way to perform the entire process of directed evolution using a computer. It can reduce the time required from many months or even years to just days.</p><p>The team was led by Professor Oliver Rackham, Curtin University, in collaboration with Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, the University of Western Australia, and is based at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Perth, Western Australia.</p><p>To prove how useful this process could be they took a protein with no function at all and gave it the ability to bind DNA.</p><p>\'Proteins that bind DNA are currently revolutionising the field of gene therapy where scientists are using them to reverse disease-causing mutations,\' says Professor Rackham. \'So this could be of great use in the future.</p><p>\'Reconstituting the entire process of directed evolution represents a radical advance for the field.\'</p>','2022-02-26 00:31:53.557519','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Curtin University','The building blocks of life-saving therapeutics could be developed in days instead of years thanks to new software that simulates evolution. Proseeker is the name of a new computational tool that mimics the processes of natural selection, producing proteins that can be used for a range of medicinal and household uses.',1,64,'<li>Samuel A. Raven, Blake Payne, Mitchell Bruce, Aleksandra Filipovska, Oliver Rackham. <strong>In silico evolution of nucleic acid-binding proteins from a nonfunctional scaffold</strong>. <em>Nature Chemical Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41589-022-00967-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41589-022-00967-y</a>\r\n</li>'),(76,'The impacts from using genetic testing to track down relatives','the-impacts-from-using-genetic-testing-to-track-down-relatives','2022-02-26 01:58:01.429697','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Genetic genealogy has become a popular hobby over the past several years, thanks to direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing and relative-finder services offered by some DTC genetic testing companies. In a paper published February 24 in the <em>American Journal of Human Genetics</em>, researchers report results from a survey that asked people who had participated in these services what effect the discovery of previously unknown relatives had on their lives.</p><p>Among the most important findings were that identifying a genetic relative appeared to be somewhat common. Additionally, those discoveries were generally experienced as neutral or positive and didn\'t appear to have a big impact on participants\' lives. However, some participants learned things that could be considered significant and destabilizing -- such as that their biological parent wasn\'t who they thought. These participants were especially vulnerable to negative outcomes.</p><p>\"Everyone on our team is involved in studying the ethical, legal, and social implications of DTC genetic testing, and we\'ve been paying attention to stories in the media about individuals who\'ve made surprising family discoveries from these tests and relative-matching services,\" says lead author Christi Guerrini of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. \"We wanted to understand if these and other kinds of discoveries are common, how they\'re experienced by those making the discoveries, and what people are doing as a result.\"</p><p>The investigators sent the survey to about one million DTC genetic testing customers and genetic genealogy database participants; more than 26,000 responded. The final sample for analysis consisted of 23,196 completed or substantially completed surveys. Among the reasons that respondents said they chose to participate in this type of testing were to learn more about their family or build their family trees; to search for a biological parent, child, or other relative; or to investigate a suspicion that they might not be genetically related to family members.</p><p>\"It seems that many -- perhaps most -- are just curious about their families and interested in building out their family trees, but it\'s clear that quite a lot of participants are looking for someone or hoping to confirm something in particular,\" Guerrini says. \"It might be that they\'re adopted and looking for a biological parent, or that they\'ve always felt out of place in their family and want to see if there\'s something to that feeling. Or they might be looking for information about a branch of their family tree that\'s unknown to them, or to confirm a family story that\'s been passed down over the years.\"</p><p>Most respondents (82%) reported that they learned the identity of at least one genetic relative. Among this subpopulation, 10% identified a biological grandparent, 10% identified a full or half- sibling, and 7% identified a biological father. The survey asked whether the participant had chosen to contact any of their newly identified relatives and, if so, the reasons for doing so. It also asked whether their discoveries resulted in any life changes, including changes in health-related behaviors.</p><p>Guerrini says that the high number of people overall who identified an unknown genetic relative was not unexpected, because many of those relatives could be very distant ones. But she acknowledges that the high number of participants who found close relatives could be skewed by the type of people who choose to undergo relative matching in the first place. \"Unfortunately, we can\'t answer that question with our data, but I\'m very interested in trying to do so in future research,\" she says.</p><p>She adds that although these experiences appear to be interesting and enjoyable to a large number of people, it\'s clear that some who are participating in these services have experienced negative outcomes. \"In future research, we\'d like to better understand those outcomes and what resources could be helpful in managing them,\" she says.</p><p>This research was supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health.</p><p>Get a free digital \"<strong>Metabolism Myths</strong>\" issue of <em>New Scientist</em> and discover the 7 things we always get wrong about diet and exercise. <a href=\"https://landing.newscientist.com/what-is-new-scientist-sd/?utm_source=sciencedaily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_freeissue\">Claim yours now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a></p>','2022-02-26 00:31:58.971525','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cell Press','Genetic genealogy has become a popular hobby over the past several years, thanks to direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing and relative-finder services offered by some DTC genetic testing companies. Researchers now report results from a survey that asked people who had participated in these services what effect the discovery of previously unknown relatives had on their lives.',1,65,'<li>Christi J. Guerrini, Jill O. Robinson, Cinnamon C. Bloss, Whitney Bash Brooks, Stephanie M. Fullerton, Brianne Kirkpatrick, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Mary Majumder, Stacey Pereira, Olivia Schuman, Amy L. McGuire. <strong>Family secrets: Experiences and outcomes of participating in direct-to-consumer genetic relative-finder services</strong>. <em>The American Journal of Human Genetics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.01.013\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.01.013</a>\r\n</li>'),(77,'Development of a diamond transistor with high hole mobility','development-of-a-diamond-transistor-with-high-hole-mobility','2022-02-26 01:59:08.712467','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Using a new fabrication technique, NIMS has developed a diamond field-effect transistor (FET) with high hole mobility, which allows reduced conduction loss and higher operational speed. This new FET also exhibits normally-off behavior (i.e., electric current flow through the transistor ceases when no gate voltage is applied, a feature that makes electronic devices safer). These results may facilitate the development of low-loss power conversion and high-speed communications devices.</p><p>Diamond has excellent wide bandgap semiconductor properties: its bandgap is larger than those of silicon carbide and gallium nitride, which are already in practical use. Diamond therefore could potentially be used to create power electronics and communications devices capable of operating more energy efficiently at higher speeds, voltages and temperatures. A number of R&amp;D projects have previously been carried out with the aim of creating FETs using hydrogen-terminated diamonds (i.e., diamonds with their superficial carbon atoms covalently bonded with hydrogen atoms). However, these efforts have failed to fully exploit diamonds\' excellent wide bandgap semiconductor properties: the hole mobility (a measure of how quickly holes can move) of these diamond-integrated transistors was only 1-10% that of the diamonds before integration.</p><p>The NIMS research team succeeded in developing a high-performance FET by using hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as a gate insulator instead of conventionally used oxides (e.g., alumina), and by employing a new fabrication technique capable of preventing the surface of hydrogen-terminated diamond from being exposed to air. At high hole densities, the hole mobility of this FET was five times that of conventional FETs with oxide gate insulators. FETs with high hole mobility can operate with lower electrical resistance, thereby reducing conduction loss, and can be used to develop higher speed and smaller electronic devices. The team also demonstrated normally-off operation of the FET, an important feature for power electronics applications. The new fabrication technique enabled removal of electron acceptors from the surface of the hydrogen-terminated diamond. This was the key to the team\'s success in developing the high-performance FET, although these acceptors had generally been thought to be necessary in inducing electrical conductivity in hydrogen-terminated diamonds.</p><p>These results are new mileposts in the development of efficient diamond transistors for high-performance power electronics and communications devices. The team hopes to further improve the physical properties of the diamond FET and to make it more suitable for practical use.</p>','2022-02-26 00:32:04.156094','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'National Institute for Materials Science, Japan','Using a new fabrication technique, engineers have developed a diamond field-effect transistor (FET) with high hole mobility, which allows reduced conduction loss and higher operational speed. This new FET also exhibits normally-off behavior (i.e., electric current flow through the transistor ceases when no gate voltage is applied, a feature that makes electronic devices safer). These results may facilitate the development of low-loss power conversion and high-speed communications devices.',1,66,'<li>Yosuke Sasama, Taisuke Kageura, Masataka Imura, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Takashi Uchihashi, Yamaguchi Takahide. <strong>High-mobility p-channel wide-bandgap transistors based on hydrogen-terminated diamond/hexagonal boron nitride heterostructures</strong>. <em>Nature Electronics</em>, 2021; 5 (1): 37 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41928-021-00689-4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41928-021-00689-4</a>\r\n</li>'),(78,'Reporting entanglements of leatherback turtles is critical for survival','reporting-entanglements-of-leatherback-turtles-is-critical-for-survival','2022-02-26 02:07:01.053824','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research suggests that leatherback turtles entangled in fishing gear have a better chance of survival if the incident is reported quickly, giving trained responders the opportunity to fully disentangle the animals.</p><p>Researchers, led by Dr. Kara Dodge of the New England Aquarium, analyzed 15 years of data collected by a network of disentanglement responders with the aim of better understanding sea turtle bycatch and mortality. Of the 280 confirmed sea turtle entanglements documented from 2005 to 2019 in Massachusetts waters, 272 involved leatherback turtles, with most wrapped in rope around their necks and front flippers. The study in <em>Endangered Species Research</em> found that, for those cases with sufficient photo/video documentation, 88% of completely disentangled turtles were predicted to have a low or intermediate risk of death based on their degree of injury. Among those turtles that were equipped with tags to definitively follow their outcome, many were confirmed to be alive weeks to years after being disentangled.</p><p>\"This dataset gave us a unique opportunity to really dig into and understand leatherback turtle entanglement in buoy lines, which is critical to determining how entanglement happens and identifying workable solutions to solve this problem,\" said Dr. Dodge, Research Scientist in the Aquarium\'s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. \"Bycatch of endangered species is rarely observed, so this dataset is an incredible testament to all the watchful mariners reporting these events and the disentanglement network consistently collecting high quality data for over 15 years.\"</p><p>Leatherback turtles are the largest and one of the most endangered sea turtle species on earth, sometimes reaching six feet in length and weighing over 1000 lbs. They are often called \"living dinosaurs\" because they have existed for nearly 100 million years. Leatherbacks range widely throughout the global oceans, often visiting the coast of Massachusetts to feed on jellyfish during the summer and fall.</p><p>\"Our findings for leatherbacks mirrors what we have seen in whales. They are very likely to become entangled in whatever rope is most available to them. Reducing rope, which is not meant to mean reducing fishing, will be the best strategy for reducing entanglements,\" said coauthor Scott Landry from the Center for Coastal Studies, which leads entanglement response efforts in the region and collected the bulk of the data for the study.</p><p>To support better survival rates, researchers noted the importance of sea turtles being completely and safely disentangled, as turtles have a low chance of survival when only partially disentangled. The disentanglement network works collaboratively with fishermen to quickly respond to entanglements. It also relies on boaters to report entanglements immediately and stand by at a safe distance while a trained team responds. Mariners should never attempt to disentangle a turtle or whale on their own due to the danger posed to both people and the animals.</p><p>\"We really want boaters to inform us as soon as possible when they encounter an entangled turtle so that we can assess the turtle\'s condition and provide medical treatment if needed,\" said Dr. Charles Innis, Director of Animal Health at the New England Aquarium and a coauthor of the study. \"We have a mobile veterinary team available to help these turtles. When injured turtles are released by well-intentioned boaters without medical assessment and treatment, it may reduce their chance of survival, and it prevents us from learning more about the effects of entanglement.\"</p><p>The vast majority of turtles studied were caught in actively fished commercial gear, rather than ghost gear or debris. Potential solutions to reduce the risk of sea turtle entanglements include replacing single fixed-gear fishing traps with trawls to reduce the number of vertical lines in important feeding habitats for leatherbacks. The researchers also encourage the development of emerging technologies, particularly \"ropeless\" fishing, which could be the key to a future in which fishing and sea turtles can coexist.</p><p>\"Response by the trained and specially-equipped sea turtle disentanglement network has the highest chance of success in completely disentangling turtles, minimizing injury, and contributing to the survival of these endangered species,\" said Kate Sampson, Sea Turtle Stranding and Disentanglement Coordinator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, NOAA Fisheries. \"The network also collects a great deal of data, including the type of gear involved, configuration of entanglement, and associated injuries, which are invaluable to understanding these events and informing potential management efforts. This information provides unique insight not available through other sources.\"</p><p>While the study focused on entanglements in Massachusetts waters, researchers emphasize that the challenges facing sea turtles are not unique to this area. Similar studies have shown that entanglement is also a serious problem for leatherbacks in Canadian waters. Scientists hope the study can serve as a model for other areas across the globe where sea turtles and fixed-gear fisheries share the ocean.</p><p>\"The life-threatening entanglements observed locally are also seen around the world where turtles and fixed gear fisheries co-exist,\" said Brian Sharp of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. \"The findings from this study can help catalyze innovative solutions, such as ropeless fishing, that can be used globally to reduce bycatch and help ensure that both turtles and fishermen can survive and thrive.\"</p><p>Dodge plans to compile more information about the survival of leatherbacks following disentanglement efforts. The New England Aquarium recently received funding from the NOAA Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust to study post-release outcomes of disentangled leatherbacks on a larger scale, which will continue to include collaboration with the disentanglement network and commercial fishermen to both understand the problem and identify workable solutions. All entanglement sightings should be reported immediately to local responders, including the Center for Coastal Studies hotline (1-800-900-3622) off southern New England.</p><p>Turtle disentanglement was authorized under NOAA 50 CFR 222.310, and tagging research was conducted under NMFS Permit #21301.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-02-26 00:32:06.903410','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'New England Aquarium','New research suggests that leatherback turtles entangled in fishing gear have a better chance of survival if the incident is reported quickly, giving trained responders the opportunity to fully disentangle the animals.',1,67,'<li>KL Dodge, S Landry, B Lynch, CJ Innis, K Sampson, D Sandilands, B Sharp. <strong>Disentanglement network data to characterize leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea bycatch in fixed-gear fisheries</strong>. <em>Endangered Species Research</em>, 2022; 47: 155 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr01173\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3354/esr01173</a>\r\n</li>'),(80,'Error mitigation approach helps quantum computers level up','error-mitigation-approach-helps-quantum-computers-level-up','2022-02-26 02:16:05.845678','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A collaboration between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory\'s (Berkeley Lab\'s) Applied Mathematics and Computational Research Division (AMCRD) and Physics Division has yielded a new approach to error mitigation that could help make quantum computing\'s theoretical potential a reality.</p><p>The research team describes this work in a paper published in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, \"Mitigating Depolarizing Noise on Quantum Computers with Noise-Estimation Circuits.\"</p><p>\"Quantum computers have the potential to solve more complex problems way faster than classical computers,\" said Bert de Jong, one of the lead authors of the study and the director of the AIDE-QC and QAT4Chem quantum computing projects. De Jong also leads the AMCRD\'s Applied Computing for Scientific Discovery Group. \"But the real challenge is quantum computers are relatively new. And there\'s still a lot of work that has to be done to make them reliable.\"</p><p>For now, one of the problems is that quantum computers are still too error-prone to be consistently useful. This is due in large part to something known as \"noise\" (errors).</p><p>There are different types of noise, including readout noise and gate noise. The former has to do with reading out the result of a run on a quantum computer; the more noise, the higher the chance a qubit -- the quantum equivalent of a bit on a classical computer -- will be measured in the wrong state. The latter relates to the actual operations performed; noise here means the probability of applying the wrong operation. And the prevalence of noise dramatically increases the more operations one tries to perform with a quantum computer, which makes it harder to tease out the right answer and severely limits quantum computers\' usability as they\'re scaled up.</p><p>\"So noise here just basically means: It\'s stuff you don\'t want, and it obscures the result you do want,\" said Ben Nachman, a Berkeley Lab physicist and co-author on the study who also leads the cross-cutting Machine Learning for Fundamental Physics group.</p><p>And while error correction -- which is routine in classical computers -- would be ideal, it is not yet feasible on current quantum computers due to the number of qubits needed. The next best thing: error mitigation -- methods and software to reduce noise and minimize errors in the science outcomes of quantum simulations. \"On average, we want to be able to say what the right answer should be,\" Nachman said.</p><p>To get there, the Berkeley Lab researchers developed a novel approach they call noise estimation circuits. A circuit is a series of operations or a program executed on a quantum computer to calculate the answer of a scientific problem. The team created a modified version of the circuit to give a predictable answer -- 0 or 1 -- and used the difference between the measured and predicted answer to correct the output measured of the real circuit.</p><p>The noise estimation circuit approach corrects some errors, but not all. The Berkeley Lab team combined their new approach with three other different error mitigation techniques: readout error correction using \"iterative Bayesian unfolding,\" a technique commonly used in high-energy physics; a homegrown version of randomized compiling; and error extrapolation. By putting all these pieces together, they were able to obtain reliable results from an IBM quantum computer.</p><p><strong>Making bigger simulations possible</strong></p><p>This work could have far-reaching implications for the field of quantum computing. The new error mitigation strategy allows researchers to tease the right answer out of simulations that require a large number of operations, \"Way more than what people generally have been able to do,\" de Jong said.</p><p>Instead of doing tens of so-called entanglement or controlled NOT operations, the new technique allows researchers to run hundreds of such operations and still get reliable results, he explained. \"So we can actually do bigger simulations that could not be done before.\"</p><p>What\'s more, the Berkeley Lab group was able to use these techniques effectively on a quantum computer that\'s not necessarily optimally tuned to reduce gate noise, de Jong said. That helps broaden the appeal of the novel error mitigation approach.</p><p>\"It is a good thing because if you can do it on those kinds of platforms, we can probably do it even better on ones that are less noisy,\" he said. \"So it\'s a very general approach that we can use on many different platforms.\"</p><p>For researchers, the new error mitigation approach means potentially being able to tackle bigger, more complex problems with quantum computers. For instance, scientists will be able to perform chemistry simulations with a lot more operations than before, said de Jong, a computational chemist by trade.</p><p>\"My interest is trying to solve problems that are relevant to carbon capture, to battery research, to catalysis research,\" he said. \"And so my portfolio has always been: I do the science, but I also develop the tools that enable me to do the science.\"</p><p>Advances in quantum computing have the potential to lead to breakthroughs in a number of areas, from energy production, de-carbonization, and cleaner industrial processes to drug development and artificial intelligence. At CERN\'s Large Hadron Collider -- where researchers send particles crashing into each other at incredibly high speeds to investigate how the universe works and what it\'s made of -- quantum computing could help find hidden patterns in LHC data.</p><p>To move quantum computing forward in the near term, error mitigation will be key.</p><p>\"The better the error mitigation, the more operations we can apply to our quantum computers, which means someday, hopefully soon, we\'ll be able to make calculations on a quantum computer that we couldn\'t make now,\" said Nachman, who is especially interested in the potential for quantum computing in high-energy physics, such as further investigating the strong force that is responsible for binding nuclei together.</p><p><strong>A cross-division team effort</strong></p><p>The study, which started in late 2020, marks the latest in a series of collaborations between Berkeley Lab\'s Physics and Computational Research divisions. That kind of cross-division work is especially important in the research and development of quantum computing, Nachman said. A funding call a few years ago from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of a pilot program to see if researchers could find ways of using quantum computing for high-energy physics initially prompted Nachman and his colleague Christian Bauer, a Berkeley Lab theoretical physicist, to approach de Jong.</p><p>\"We said, \'We have this idea. We\'re doing these calculations. What do you think?\' \" Nachman said. \"We put together a proposal. It was funded. And now it\'s a huge fraction of what we do.\"</p><p>A lot of people are interested in this technology across the board, according to Nachman. \"We have benefited greatly from collaboration with (de Jong\'s) group, and I think it goes both ways,\" he said.</p><p>De Jong agreed. \"It has been fun learning each other\'s physics languages and seeing that at the core we have similar requirements and algorithmic needs when it comes to quantum computing,\" he said.</p><p>The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, provided the researchers with access to the IBM Q quantum computers used for the research.</p><p>In addition to de Jong, Nachman, and Bauer, participants in this research effort include Miroslav Urbanek, formerly of Berkeley Lab\'s Computational Research Division and now at Atom Computing; Vincent R. Pascuzzi, formerly with the Physics Division and now a research associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory\'s Computational Science Initiative; and Andre He, formerly with the Physics Division and now a quantum hardware engineer at IBM.</p><p>The study was supported by the DOE through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Quantum Algorithms Team Program and the Office of High Energy Physics through the Quantum Information Science Enabled Discovery program.</p>','2022-02-26 01:11:37.207991','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory','Recent research has yielded a new approach to quantum error mitigation - \'noise estimation circuits\' - that could help make quantum computing\'s theoretical potential a reality.',1,68,'<li>Miroslav Urbanek, Benjamin Nachman, Vincent R. Pascuzzi, Andre He, Christian W. Bauer, Wibe A. de Jong. <strong>Mitigating Depolarizing Noise on Quantum Computers with Noise-Estimation Circuits</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2021; 127 (27) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.270502\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.270502</a>\r\n</li>'),(82,'Scientists uncover a new approach for treating aggressive cancer','scientists-uncover-a-new-approach-for-treating-aggressive-cancer','2022-02-26 02:18:24.571048','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a new role of a chromatin-modulatory enzyme, termed EZH2, during cancer development. They then developed a new therapeutic approach with a potent small-molecule inhibitor of this enzyme.</p><p>Certain subtypes of blood cancers such as acute leukemias rely on multiple mechanisms for sustaining growth of aggressive cancer cells. Notably, these mechanisms include those driven by EZH2, a chromatin-modulatory enzyme, and cMyc, a prominent cancer-causing factor. UNC researchers now show that these two factors can directly associate with one another, modulating cancer-cell-specific programs of gene expression.</p><p>To develop pharmacological means of targeting both EZH2 and cMyc, they teamed with the chemical biologists at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and designed a new small-molecule, MS177, based on the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology. MS177 targets both EZH2 and cMyc and thus inhibit cancer growth.</p><p>Their findings are published online in<em> Nature Cell Biology.</em></p><p>\"EZH2 plays a very important role during cancer progression and is a known target suitable for drug development,\" said UNC Lineberger\'s Greg Wang, PhD, associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine and co-lead author of this research article. \"We are amazed by the efficiency of small-molecule PROTAC in simultaneously targeting EZH2 and cMyc in cancer cells.\"</p><p>They found that EZH2 possesses two different binding patterns on chromatin in acute leukemia cells, eliciting two distinct gene-regulatory programs. On the one hand, EZH2 forms a canonical protein complex termed PRC2, leading to gene repression at a set of genomic regions; on the other hand, EZH2 interacts with cMyc to activate gene expression at genomic sites distinctive from the above ones. \"This explains why the current small-molecule inhibitors of EZH2 cannot block EZH2 completely. PROTAC addresses this gap,\" said Jun Wang, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at UNC Lineberger and co-first author of the work.</p><p>MS177 achieves on-target effect in cancer cells and exhibits profound tumor killing effects, the researchers report. \"Compared to the existing enzymatic inhibitors, MS177 is more likely to behave much better for the treatment of patients with acute leukemias. To our knowledge, an agent for dual targeting of EZH2 and cMyc has not been developed before. cMyc is hard to \'drug,\'\" Greg Wang said. \"MS177 thus represents a promising candidate for treating other cancers depending on the above tumorigenic pathways.\"</p><p><strong>Authors </strong></p><p>In addition to Greg Wang, Jin and Jun Wang, the paper\'s other authors are Weida Gong, PhD, Xijuan Liu, PhD, Yi-Hsuan Tsai, PhD, David F. Allison, PhD, Ling Cai, PhD, UNC; Xufen Yu, PhD, Kwang-Su Park, PhD, Anqi Ma, PhD, Yudao Shen, PhD, and Jing Liu, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; Takashi Onikubo, PhD, and Robert G. Roeder, PhD, Rockefeller University, New York; Wen-Chieh Pi, PhD, and Wei-Yi Chen, PhD, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.</p><p>This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, R01CA218600, R01CA268519, R01CA211336, R01CA215284, R01CA230854, and R01GM122749; Kimmel Scholar Award; Gabrielle\'s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research; When Everyone Survives Leukemia Research Foundation; and the University Cancer Research Fund. Wang is an American Cancer Society Research Scholar, a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar, and an American Society of Hematology Scholar in Basic Science.</p><p>Yu, Ma, Shen, Lui, and Jin are inventors of patent applications filed by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The Jin Laboratory received research funds from Celgene Corporation, Levo Therapeutics, Cullgen, Inc., and Cullinan Oncology. Jin is a co-founder, scientific advisory board member and equity shareholder in Cullgen Inc., and is a consultant for Cullgen Inc., EpiCypher Inc. and Accent Therapeutics Inc. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.</p>','2022-02-26 01:57:08.091417','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center','Researchers have uncovered a new role of a chromatin-modulatory enzyme, termed EZH2, during cancer development. They then designed a new small-molecule, MS177, based on the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology, that targets both EZH2 and cMyc and thus inhibits cancer growth.',1,69,'<li>Jun Wang, Xufen Yu, Weida Gong, Xijuan Liu, Kwang-Su Park, Anqi Ma, Yi-Hsuan Tsai, Yudao Shen, Takashi Onikubo, Wen-Chieh Pi, David F. Allison, Jing Liu, Wei-Yi Chen, Ling Cai, Robert G. Roeder, Jian Jin, Gang Greg Wang. <strong>EZH2 noncanonically binds cMyc and p300 through a cryptic transactivation domain to mediate gene activation and promote oncogenesis</strong>. <em>Nature Cell Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-00850-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41556-022-00850-x</a>\r\n</li>'),(83,'Farms following soil-friendly practices grow healthier food, study suggests','farms-following-soil-friendly-practices-grow-healthier-food-study-suggests','2022-02-26 02:19:42.372476','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Everyone knows eating fruits and vegetables is good for your health. But these days, stores offer a dizzying array of options: organic, conventional, CSAs, local agriculture. Which ones are best for your health?</p><p>A new study, published in January in the journal <em>PeerJ,</em> looks at how regenerative farming practices -- soil-building techniques that minimize plowing, use cover crops, and plant diverse crops -- affect the nutritional content of the food.</p><p>Results of the preliminary experiment, which included 10 farms across the U.S., show that the crops from farms following soil-friendly practices for at least five years had a healthier nutritional profile than the same crops grown on neighboring, conventional farms. Results showed a boost in certain minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals that benefit human health.</p><p>\"We couldn\'t find studies that related directly to how the health of the soil affects what gets into crops,\" said lead author David Montgomery, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences. \"So we did the experiment that we wished was out there.\"</p><p>Montgomery designed the study during research for his upcoming book, \"What Your Food Ate,\" due out in June. His spouse, Anne Biklé, is a biologist and co-author of the study and the upcoming book.</p><p>The authors collaborated with farmers using regenerative farming practices to conduct an experiment. All the participating farms, mostly in the Midwest and in the Eastern U.S., agreed to grow one acre of a test crop -- peas, sorghum, corn or soybeans -- for comparison with the same crop grown on a neighboring farm using conventional agriculture. Co-author Ray Archuleta, a retired soil conservation scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, visited all the farms and sampled their soil in summer 2019. Farmers then sent samples of their crops in for analysis.</p><p>\"The goal was to try to get some direct comparisons, where you controlled for key variables: The crop is the same, the climate is the same, the weather is the same because they\'re right next to each other, the soil is the same in terms of soil type, but it\'s been farmed quite differently for at least five years,\" Montgomery said.</p><p>The study sites included the farm and ranch of co-author Paul Brown. Brown had met the UW researcher during Montgomery\'s work for the 2017 book, \"Growing a Revolution,\" which toured regenerative farms in the U.S. and overseas, including Brown\'s Ranch in North Dakota.</p><p>Results of the new study showed that the farms practicing regenerative agriculture had healthier soils, as measured by their organic matter, or carbon, content and by a standard test.</p><p>\"What we\'re seeing is that the regeneratively farmed soils had twice as much carbon in their topsoil and a threefold increase in their soil health score,\" Montgomery said.</p><p>Crop samples were analyzed at lab facilities at the UW, Oregon State University and Iowa State University.</p><p>The food grown under regenerative practices contained, on average, more magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc; more vitamins, including B1, B12, C, E and K; and more phytochemicals, compounds not typically tracked for food but that have been shown to reduce inflammation and boost human health. Crops grown in the regenerative farms were also lower in elements broadly detrimental to human health, including sodium, cadmium and nickel, compared with their conventionally grown neighbors.</p><p>\"Across the board we found these regenerative practices imbue our crops with more anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants,\" Montgomery said.</p><p>Organic farms avoid chemical pesticides but they can vary in their other farming practices, such as whether they have a diversity of crops or till the soil to control weeds. Results from a previous review study, published by Montgomery and Biklé in the fall, show organic crops also generally have higher levels of beneficial phytochemicals than crops grown on conventional farms.</p><p>The researchers believe the key lies in the biology of the soil -- the microbes and fungi that are part of the soil ecosystem -- as these organisms directly and indirectly help boost beneficial compounds in crops.</p><p>\"The biology of the soil was really the part that got overlooked in moving to chemistry-intensive farming,\" Montgomery said. \"It may be that one of our biggest levers for trying to combat the modern public health epidemic of chronic diseases is to rethink our diet, and not just what we eat, but how we grow it.\"</p><p>The study also included cabbage grown on a no-till farm in California and a single wheat farm in northern Oregon that was comparing its own conventional and regenerative farming practices and provided both samples. The study included meat from a single producer, Brown\'s Ranch; the beef and pork raised on regenerative agriculture feed was higher in omega-3 fatty acids than meat from a conventional feedlot.</p><p>\"The biggest criticism I would have of this study is small sample size -- that\'s why the paper\'s title includes the word \'preliminary,\'\" Montgomery said. \"I\'d like to see a lot more studies start quantifying: How do differences in soil health affect the quality of crops that come from that land?\"</p><p>The other co-author is Jazmin Jordan of Brown\'s Ranch. The study was funded by the Dillon Family Foundation.</p>','2022-02-26 01:57:10.777028','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Washington','An experiment conducted on 10 farms across the U.S. suggests that crops from farms following soil-friendly practices for at least five years have a healthier nutritional profile than the same crops grown on neighboring, conventional farms. Researchers believe soil microbes and fungi boost certain beneficial minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals in the crops.',1,70,'<li>David R. Montgomery, Anne Biklé, Ray Archuleta, Paul Brown, Jazmin Jordan. <strong>Soil health and nutrient density: preliminary comparison of regenerative and conventional farming</strong>. <em>PeerJ</em>, 2022; 10: e12848 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12848\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.7717/peerj.12848</a>\r\n</li>'),(84,'Entanglement unlocks scaling for quantum machine learning','entanglement-unlocks-scaling-for-quantum-machine-learning','2022-02-26 02:20:21.909736','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The field of machine learning on quantum computers got a boost from new research removing a potential roadblock to the practical implementation of quantum neural networks. While theorists had previously believed an exponentially large training set would be required to train a quantum neural network, the quantum No-Free-Lunch theorem developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory shows that quantum entanglement eliminates this exponential overhead.</p><p>\"Our work proves that both big data and big entanglement are valuable in quantum machine learning. Even better, entanglement leads to scalability, which solves the roadblock of exponentially increasing the size of the data in order to learn it,\" said Andrew Sornborger, a computer scientist at Los Alamos and a coauthor of the paper published Feb. 18 in <em>Physical Review Letters. </em>\"The theorem gives us hope that quantum neural networks are on track towards the goal of quantum speed-up, where eventually they will outperform their counterparts on classical computers.\"</p><p>The classical No-Free-Lunch theorem states that any machine-learning algorithm is as good as, but no better than, any other when their performance is averaged over all possible functions connecting the data to their labels. A direct consequence of this theorem that showcases the power of data in classical machine learning is that the more data one has, the better the average performance. Thus, data is the currency in machine learning that ultimately limits performance.</p><p>The new Los Alamos No-Free-Lunch theorem shows that in the quantum regime entanglement is also a currency, and one that can be exchanged for data to reduce data requirements.</p><p>Using a Rigetti quantum computer, the team entangled the quantum data set with a reference system to verify the new theorem.</p><p>\"We demonstrated on quantum hardware that we could effectively violate the standard No-Free-Lunch theorem using entanglement, while our new formulation of the theorem held up under experimental test,\" said Kunal Sharma, the first author on the article.</p><p>\"Our theorem suggests that entanglement should be considered a valuable resource in quantum machine learning, along with big data,\" said Patrick Coles, a physicist at Los Alamos and senior author on the article. \"Classical neural networks depend only on big data.\"</p><p>Entanglement describes the state of a system of atomic-scale particles that cannot be fully described independently or individually. Entanglement is a key component of quantum computing.</p>','2022-02-26 01:57:15.870872','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory','The field of machine learning on quantum computers got a boost from new research removing a potential roadblock to the practical implementation of quantum neural networks.',1,68,'<li>Kunal Sharma, M. Cerezo, Zoë Holmes, Lukasz Cincio, Andrew Sornborger, Patrick J. Coles. <strong>Reformulation of the No-Free-Lunch Theorem for Entangled Datasets</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (7) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.070501\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.070501</a>\r\n</li>'),(89,'More sensitive X-ray imaging','more-sensitive-x-ray-imaging','2022-02-26 02:26:36.433976','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scintillators are materials that emit light when bombarded with high-energy particles or X-rays. In medical or dental X-ray systems, they convert incoming X-ray radiation into visible light that can then be captured using film or photosensors. They\'re also used for night-vision systems and for research, such as in particle detectors or electron microscopes.</p><p>Researchers at MIT have now shown how one could improve the efficiency of scintillators by at least tenfold, and perhaps even a hundredfold, by changing the material\'s surface to create certain nanoscale configurations, such as arrays of wave-like ridges. While past attempts to develop more efficient scintillators have focused on finding new materials, the new approach could in principle work with any of the existing materials.</p><p>Though it will require more time and effort to integrate their scintillators into existing X-ray machines, the team believes that this method might lead to improvements in medical diagnostic X-rays or CT scans, to reduce dose exposure and improve image quality. In other applications, such as X-ray inspection of manufactured parts for quality control, the new scintillators could enable inspections with higher accuracy or at faster speeds.</p><p>The findings are described in the journal <em>Science</em>, in a paper by MIT doctoral students Charles Roques-Carmes and Nicholas Rivera; MIT professors Marin Soljacic, Steven Johnson, and John Joannopoulos; and 10 others.</p><p>While scintillators have been in use for some 70 years, much of the research in the field has focused on developing new materials that produce brighter or faster light emissions. The new approach instead applies advances in nanotechnology to existing materials. By creating patterns in scintillator materials at a length scale comparable to the wavelengths of the light being emitted, the team found that it was possible to dramatically change the material\'s optical properties.</p><p>To make what they coined \"nanophotonic scintillators,\" Roques-Carmes says, \"you can directly make patterns inside the scintillators, or you can glue on another material that would have holes on the nanoscale. The specifics depend on the exact structure and material.\" For this research, the team took a scintillator and made holes spaced apart by roughly one optical wavelength, or about 500 nanometers (billionths of a meter).</p><p>\"The key to what we\'re doing is a general theory and framework we have developed,\" Rivera says. This allows the researchers to calculate the scintillation levels that would be produced by any arbitrary configuration of nanophotonic structures. The scintillation process itself involves a series of steps, making it complicated to unravel. The framework the team developed involves integrating three different types of physics, Roques-Carmes says. Using this system they have found a good match between their predictions and the results of their subsequent experiments.</p><p>The experiments showed a tenfold improvement in emission from the treated scintillator. \"So, this is something that might translate into applications for medical imaging, which are optical photon-starved, meaning the conversion of X-rays to optical light limits the image quality. [In medical imaging,] you do not want to irradiate your patients with too much of the X-rays, especially for routine screening, and especially for young patients as well,\" Roques-Carmes says.</p><p>\"We believe that this will open a new field of research in nanophotonics,\" he adds. \"You can use a lot of the existing work and research that has been done in the field of nanophotonics to improve significantly on existing materials that scintillate.\"</p><p>Soljacic says that while their experiments proved a tenfold improvement in emission could be achieved, by further fine-tuning the design of the nanoscale patterning, \"we also show that you can get up to 100 times [improvement], and we believe we also have a path toward making it even better,\" he says.</p><p>Soljacic points out that in other areas of nanophotonics, a field that deals with how light interacts with materials that are structured at the nanometer scale, the development of computational simulations has enabled rapid, substantial improvements, for example in the development of solar cells and LEDs. The new models this team developed for scintillating materials could facilitate similar leaps in this technology, he says.</p><p>Nanophotonics techniques \"give you the ultimate power of tailoring and enhancing the behavior of light,\" Soljacic says. \"But until now, this promise, this ability to do this with scintillation was unreachable because modeling the scintillation was very challenging. Now, this work for the first time opens up this field of scintillation, fully opens it, for the application of nanophotonics techniques.\" More generally, the team believes that the combination of nanophotonic and scintillators might ultimately enable higher resolution, reduced X-ray dose, and energy-resolved X-ray imaging.</p><p>Yablonovitch adds that while the concept still needs to be proven in a practical device, he says that, \"After years of research on photonic crystals in optical communication and other fields, it\'s long overdue that photonic crystals should be applied to scintillators, which are of great practical importance yet have been overlooked\" until this work.</p><p>The research team included Ali Ghorashi, Steven Kooi, Yi Yang, Zin Lin, Justin Beroz, Aviram Massuda, Jamison Sloan, and Nicolas Romeo at MIT; Yang Yu at Raith America, Inc.; and Ido Kaminer at Technion in Israel. The work was supported, in part, by the U.S. Army Research Office and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory through the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and by a Mathworks Engineering Fellowship.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-02-26 03:13:53.209112','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts Institute of Technology','Making nanoscale patterns in \'scintillator\' materials that convert X-rays into light could allow a tenfold signal enhancement for medical or industrial imaging, researchers report. This method might lead to improvements in medical X-rays or CT scans, to reduce dose exposure and improve image quality.',1,71,'<li>Charles Roques-Carmes, Nicholas Rivera, Ali Ghorashi, Steven E. Kooi, Yi Yang, Zin Lin, Justin Beroz, Aviram Massuda, Jamison Sloan, Nicolas Romeo, Yang Yu, John D. Joannopoulos, Ido Kaminer, Steven G. Johnson, Marin Soljačić. <strong>A framework for scintillation in nanophotonics</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 375 (6583) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm9293\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abm9293</a>\r\n</li>'),(90,'A new platform for customizable quantum devices','a-new-platform-for-customizable-quantum-devices','2022-02-26 02:27:29.859908','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A ground-up approach to qubit design leads to a new framework for creating versatile, highly tailored quantum devices.</p><p>Advances in quantum science have the potential to revolutionize the way we live. Quantum computers hold promise for solving problems that are intractable today, and we may one day use quantum networks as hackerproof information highways.</p><p>The realization of such forward-looking technologies hinges in large part on the qubit -- the fundamental component of quantum systems. A major challenge of qubit research is designing them to be customizable, tailored to work with all kinds of sensing, communication and computational devices.</p><p>Scientists have taken a major step in the development of tailored qubits. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the team, which includes researchers at MIT, the University of Chicago and Columbia University, demonstrates how a particular molecular family of qubits can be finely tuned over a broad spectrum, like turning a sensitive dial on a wideband radio.</p><p>The team also outlines the underlying design features that enable exquisite control over these quantum bits.</p><p>\"This is a new platform for qubit design. We can use our predictable, controllable, tunable design strategy to create a new quantum system,\" said Danna Freedman, MIT professor of chemistry and a co-author of the study. ?\"We\'ve demonstrated the broad range of tunability over which these design principles work.\"</p><p>The work is partially supported by Q-NEXT, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by Argonne National Laboratory.</p><p>The researchers\' work focuses on a specific group of molecules: those with a central chromium atom surrounded by four hydrocarbon molecules to form a pyramidlike structure.</p><p><strong>The molecular qubit advantage</strong></p><p>The qubit is the quantum equivalent of the traditional computing bit. Physically, it may take any of several forms, such as a specially prepared atom inside a crystal or an electrical circuit. It can also be a lab-made molecule.</p><p>One advantage of a molecular qubit is that, like a tiny 3D-printed gadget, it can be engineered from the bottom up, giving the scientist freedom to tune the qubit for different functions.</p><p>\"We\'re working to change the atomic structure through synthetic chemistry and then learning how those changes modify the physics of the qubit,\" said Leah Weiss, a University of Chicago postdoctoral researcher and study co-author.</p><p>A molecular qubit\'s information is stored in its spin, a property of atomic-level materials. Scientists engineer the spin by adjusting -- tuning -- the arrangement of the molecule\'s electrons, its electronic structure. The information enters the qubit as particles of light, or photons, and is encoded in the qubit\'s spin. The spin-encoded information is then translated again into photons, to be read out.</p><p>Different photon wavelengths are more suitable for different applications. One wavelength may work better for biosensing applications, another for quantum communication.</p><p><strong>The ligand\'s the thing</strong></p><p>One of the molecular qubit\'s key tuning dials is the ligand field strength, the strength of the bonds connecting the central metal atom to the surrounding hydrocarbons.</p><p>\"The ligand is fundamentally everything. We can intentionally control the way in which the ligand environment influences the spin and rationally control where the emitted photons end up,\" said Dan Laorenza, MIT graduate student and lead author of the paper.</p><p>Researchers demonstrated that they could exercise remarkably fine tuning over these bonds. Not only that, but they also showed that the ligand field strengths are adjustable over a relatively broad spectrum, while computational simulations performed by researchers at Columbia provided quantum mechanical insight into the ligands\' role in controlling the molecule\'s electronic properties.</p><p>The light emitted by their chromium qubits spanned an impressive 100 nanometers.</p><p>\"This is an unprecedented range of tunability for qubits targeting designer applications,\" Freedman said.</p><p>\"Just by keeping the central metal ion the same, which is doing the hard work of the quantum information processing, but tuning the surrounding environment through ligands, you can play around with the properties,\" said University of Glasgow\'s Sam Bayliss, who co-authored the study while a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago. ?\"That\'s very hard to do with other systems, like solid-state systems, where you\'re essentially fixed at whatever the elemental properties give you.\"</p><p>A solid-state qubit is created by scooping out a tiny, atom-sized bit of matter from a crystal, and the resulting vacancy is where quantum information is stored and processed. While they have their advantages, solid-state qubits can\'t be tuned with the same chemical precision, for example.</p><p>\"With those, effectively, you get no tuning,\" Freedman said. ?\"You\'re really going from zero to 100 there.\"</p><p><strong>Laying out the design rules</strong></p><p>Approaching the molecule\'s design by focusing on its electronic structure -- the molecule\'s energy levels -- rather than its physical structure was key to the team\'s discovery.</p><p>\"Throwing the physical structure out the window and focusing entirely on the electronic structure, which is something that can be achieved across a range of molecular platforms, is really the key innovative detail,\" Freedman said.</p><p>The researchers spell out the design criteria for building similar molecules in their paper, laying the groundwork for creating new tunable molecular qubits that can be designed toward a future application.</p><p>\"Having demonstrated the accuracy of our computational methods on these chromium qubits, we can now use the same methods to simplify the screening process,\" said Arailym Kairalapova, one of the Columbia researchers who performed the calculations.</p><p>\"By bringing together the tools of chemistry and physics, it\'s possible to start to understand the design rules that will guide the continued improvement of this class of qubits,\" Weiss said.</p><p>One could custom-design qubits that attach to a biological system and use them for quantum biosensing. Or researchers could architect a qubit to be water-soluble so that it could detect signals in an aqueous environment.</p><p>\"One of the terrific things about this platform is that, if the molecule doesn\'t emit at a certain wavelength, it\'s easy for us to go back in the lab, make a new material at a low cost, and see which one gives us the appropriate feature we want,\" Laorenza said. ?\"We can do this in a few days. It\'s not something that takes a really intense, high amount of fabrication.\"</p><p>The team attributes its success also to innovations in studies of light-matter interactions.</p><p>\"A few years ago, this was just a dream -- to have a set of molecular systems be a novel platform for quantum information science,\" Bayliss said. ?\"Seeing where we are now is really exciting.\"</p><p>The team plans to explore different ligand environments to widen the range of photon emission.</p><p>\"This is now a jumping off point that we hope allows many more chemists to be invited into this space, opening up the work to a much broader range of chemists who could contribute quite a bit to quantum information science,\" Laorenza said.</p><p>This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science National Quantum Information Science Research Centers.</p>','2022-02-26 03:14:05.348147','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Argonne National Laboratory','Scientists have demonstrated a wide range of tunability in a family of qubits, an important step in designing custom qubits for specific applications.',1,68,'<li>Daniel W. Laorenza, Arailym Kairalapova, Sam L. Bayliss, Tamar Goldzak, Samuel M. Greene, Leah R. Weiss, Pratiti Deb, Peter J. Mintun, Kelsey A. Collins, David D. Awschalom, Timothy C. Berkelbach, Danna E. Freedman. <strong>Tunable Cr4  Molecular Color Centers</strong>. <em>Journal of the American Chemical Society</em>, 2021; 143 (50): 21350 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c10145\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/jacs.1c10145</a>\r\n</li>'),(91,'Researchers develop 3D imaging technique to understand how dendrites form in batteries','researchers-develop-3d-imaging-technique-to-understand-how-dendrites-form-in-batteries','2022-02-26 02:29:04.507266','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As the world lessens its dependence on fossil fuels, industries and manufacturers are turning to lithium-ion batteries to power the machines that make modern life possible. These batteries power electric vehicles, mobile phones, drones, vacuum cleaning robots and other machines and will be an essential component to the energy transition.</p><p>But there\'s a problem with lithium-ion batteries: as they age and are charged, they develop dendrites. A research team from the University of Houston is trying to solve the dendrite problem by investigating how these structures grow on batteries. Dendrites are spiky structures that accumulate on the batteries\' anodes. These structures reduce the life of the batteries, hinder their ability to hold a charge and can short-circuit machines potentially causing safety hazards like battery fires.</p><p>\"By understanding how dendrites grow on batteries, we can identify chemical and physical solutions to prevent the growth of dendrites, which is necessary to develop the next generation of batteries,\" said Xiaonan Shan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH\'s Cullen College of Engineering.</p><p>Shan and his team have developed a \"novel in-situ\" 3D microscopy to image and study the localized electrochemical environments and understand where dendrites start forming in batteries. Using the 3D microscope, small cameras and other computer imaging technology, Shan and his team were able to geometrically map out how a battery initially develops dendrites.</p><p>The findings were recently published in the journal <em>Advanced Energy Materials</em>.</p><p>\"This is significant because most battery researchers traditionally use electrochemical measurements to measure the entire surface or interior battery, so they don\'t know what happens inside the battery,\" said Shan, who is a corresponding author on the paper. Electrical and computer engineering graduate student Guangxia Feng is the lead author. Most battery companies focus on the materials part of developing batteries, so new materials emphasize performance, he added.</p><p>\"With this process, manufacturers can theoretically make better performing batteries by focusing on the structural design of batteries that discourages the growth of dendrites,\" Shan noted. \"And in the next step, we will use this technique to design highly efficient Zn (zinc-carbon) batteries.\"</p><p>Authors joining Shan and Feng on the paper are Jiaming Guo, Yaping Shi, Xiaoliang, Xu Yang and David Mayerich, all of the UH Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Huajun Tian, Zho Li and Yang Yang, University of Central Florida.</p>','2022-02-26 04:04:46.505864','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Houston','As the world lessens its dependence on fossil fuels, industries and manufacturers are turning to lithium-ion batteries to power the machines that make modern life possible. These batteries power electric vehicles, mobile phones, drones, vacuum cleaning robots and other machines and will be an essential component to the energy transition. But there\'s a problem with lithium-ion batteries: as they age and are charged, they develop dendrites. A research team is trying to solve the dendrite problem by investigating how these structures grow on batteries. Dendrites are spiky structures that accumulate on the batteries\' anodes. These structures reduce the life of the batteries, hinder their ability to hold a charge and can short-circuit machines potentially causing safety hazards like battery fires.',1,72,'<li>Guangxia Feng, Jiaming Guo, Huajun Tian, Zhao Li, Yaping Shi, Xiaoliang Li, Xu Yang, David Mayerich, Yang Yang, Xiaonan Shan. <strong>Probe the Localized Electrochemical Environment Effects and Electrode Reaction Dynamics for Metal Batteries using In Situ 3D Microscopy</strong>. <em>Advanced Energy Materials</em>, 2021; 12 (3): 2103484 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202103484\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/aenm.202103484</a>\r\n</li>'),(92,'Newly diagnosed diabetes in patients with COVID-19 may simply be a transitory form of the blood sugar disorder','newly-diagnosed-diabetes-in-patients-with-covid-19-may-simply-be-a-transitory-form-of-the-blood-sugar-disorder','2022-02-26 02:30:30.218315','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Many COVID-19 patients newly diagnosed with diabetes during hospital admission may in fact have a temporary form of the disease related to the acute stress of the viral infection and may return to normal blood sugar levels soon after discharge, a study by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has found. These patients are more likely to be younger, non-white, and on Medicaid or uninsured compared to individuals with previously diagnosed diabetes, suggesting many of these \"new-onset\" cases may simply be pre-existing but undiagnosed diabetes in individuals with limited access to healthcare services, according to the study published in <em>Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications.</em></p><p>High rates of newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (NDDM) have been reported in COVID-19 hospital admissions around the world. It is still unclear, however, if this phenomenon represents truly new diabetes or previously undiagnosed cases, what the cause of these elevated blood sugars may be, and whether patients\' blood sugars improve after resolution of COVID-19 infection. Pre-existing diabetes in people with COVID-19 has been associated with higher rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, and death.</p><p>\"We believe that the inflammatory stress caused by COVID-19 may be a leading contributor to \'new-onset\' or newly diagnosed diabetes,\" says lead author Sara Cromer, MD, an investigator with the Department of Medicine-Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at MGH. \"Instead of directly causing diabetes, COVID-19 may push patients with pre-existing but undiagnosed diabetes to see a physician for the first time, where their blood sugar disorder can be clinically diagnosed. Our study showed these individuals had higher inflammatory markers and more frequently required admission to hospital ICUs than COVID-19 patients with pre-existing diabetes.\"</p><p>For its study, the MGH team looked at 594 individuals who exhibited signs of diabetes mellitus when admitted to MGH at the height of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Of that group, 78 had no known diagnosis of diabetes prior to admission. Researchers learned that many of these newly diagnosed patients -- versus those with pre-existing diabetes -- had less severe blood sugar levels but more severe COVID-19. Follow-up with this cohort after hospital discharge revealed that roughly half its members reverted to normal blood sugar levels and that only eight percent required insulin after one year.</p><p>\"This suggests to us that newly diagnosed diabetes may be a transitory condition related to the acute stress of COVID-19 infection,\" explains Cromer. Indeed, this key finding supports the clinical argument that newly diagnosed diabetes is likely caused by insulin resistance -- the inability of cells to properly absorb blood sugar in response to insulin, resulting in higher-than- normal build-up of glucose in the blood -- rather than by insulin deficiency, caused by direct and permanent injury to the beta cells which manufacture insulin.</p><p>\"Our results suggest that acute insulin resistance is the major mechanism underlying newly diagnosed diabetes in most patients with COVID-19, and that insulin deficiency, if it occurs at all, is generally not permanent,\" says Cromer. \"These patients may only need insulin or other medications for a short time, and it\'s therefore critical that physicians closely follow them to see if and when their conditions improve.\"</p><p>Cromer is an instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Senior author Deborah Wexler, MD, is an associate professor of Medicine at HMS, associate clinical chief of the MGH Diabetes Unit, and clinical director of the MGH Diabetes Center. Co-author Melissa Putman, MD, is assistant professor of Pediatrics at HMS and an attending physician in Endocrinology at MGH.</p>','2022-02-26 04:56:20.186226','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts General Hospital','A new study shows that blood sugar levels of COVID-19 patients newly diagnosed with diabetes during hospital admission often returned to normal following discharge, and that only eight percent used insulin after one year.',1,46,'<li>Sara J. Cromer, Caitlin Colling, Daria Schatoff, Michael Leary, Maria I. Stamou, Daryl J. Selen, Melissa S. Putman, Deborah J. Wexler. <strong>Newly diagnosed diabetes vs. pre-existing diabetes upon admission for COVID-19: Associated factors, short-term outcomes, and long-term glycemic phenotypes</strong>. <em>Journal of Diabetes and its Complications</em>, 2022; 108145 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2022.108145\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2022.108145</a>\r\n</li>'),(93,'Transparent ultrasound chip improves cell stimulation and imaging','transparent-ultrasound-chip-improves-cell-stimulation-and-imaging','2022-02-26 03:14:05.990464','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Ultrasound scans -- best known for monitoring pregnancies or imaging organs -- can also be used to stimulate cells and direct cell function. A team of Penn State researchers has developed an easier, more effective way to harness the technology for biomedical applications.</p><p>The team created a transparent, biocompatible ultrasound transducer chip that resembles a microscope glass slide and can be inserted into any optical microscope for easy viewing. Cells can be cultured and stimulated directly on top of the transducer chip and the cells\' resulting changes can be imaged with optical microscopy techniques.</p><p>Published in the Royal Society of Chemistry\'s journal <em>Lab on a Chip</em>, the paper was selected as the cover article for the December 2021 issue. Future applications of the technology could impact stem cell, cancer and neuroscience research.</p><p>\"In the conventional ultrasound stimulation experiments, a cell culture dish is placed in a water bath, and a bulky ultrasound transducer directs the ultrasound waves to the cells through the water medium,\" said Sri-Rajasekhar \"Raj\" Kothapalli, principal investigator and assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Penn State. \"This was a complex setup that didn\'t provide reproducible results: The results that one group saw another did not, even while using the same parameters, because there are several things that could affect the cells\' survival and stimulation while they are in water, as well as how we visualize them.\"</p><p>Kothapalli and his collaborators miniaturized the ultrasound stimulation setup by creating a transparent transducer platform made of a piezoelectric lithium niobate material. Piezoelectric materials generate mechanical energy when electric voltage is applied. The chip\'s biocompatible surface allows the cells to be cultured directly on the transducer and used for repeated stimulation experiments over several weeks.</p><p>When connected to a power supply, the transducer emits ultrasound waves, which pulse the cells and trigger ion influx and outflux.</p><p>To test the setup, Kothapalli and his team cultured bladder cancer cells on the chip. They then inserted fluorescent calcium indicators into the cells to allow researchers to clearly see dynamic changes in cell calcium signaling under the microscope during stimulation.</p><p>\"Since the cells are directly sitting on the transparent transducer surface, we can confirm that all the cells are equally stimulated at the same time using a single ultrasound stimulus, unlike conventional approaches,\" Kothapalli, a co-hire with the Penn State Cancer Institute, said. \"And unlike earlier processes, we can get high resolution images of many cells at once in a single field of view, because we are able to see the cells from a close distance.\"</p><p>Through the bladder cancer cell study, researchers established proof-of-concept for the new transducer setup. But they can extend these findings to use the transducer setup in potential future applications, according to Kothapalli, such as stem cell differentiation, mechanosensitive neuromodulation, drug delivery and the opening of the blood-brain barrier.</p><p>\"This simple setup will be invaluable for researchers interested in modulating cells and tissues with an ultrasound,\" said Pak Kin Wong, professor of biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering and surgery at Penn State and co-author on the paper. \"It can be used to explore novel therapeutic ultrasound applications, such as focused ultrasound immunotherapy.\"</p><p>The ultrasound stimulation chip is low-cost, easy to fabricate, compact and scalable in size, and disposable and reusable, according to Haoyang Chen, first author of the paper and doctoral student under Kothapalli in biomedical engineering.</p><p>\"It is easy to grow cells on the chip using standard cell culturing methods,\" Chen said. \"The setup provides controllable stimulation parameters for a variety of experiments and can be imaged with all conventional optical microscopy techniques.\"</p><p>In addition to Kothapalli, Wong and Chen, other contributors to the study were Peter Butler, Penn State professor of biomedical engineering and associate dean for education and graduate professional programs; biomedical engineering graduate students Ninghao Zhu, Mohamed Osman and Shubham Khandare; and biomedical engineering undergraduate students Ryan Biskowitz and Jinyun Liu.</p><p>The study was partially funded by the Penn State Cancer Institute, a Penn State multidisciplinary seed grant, and the National Science Foundation.</p>','2022-02-26 05:20:50.339028','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','Ultrasound scans -- best known for monitoring pregnancies or imaging organs -- can also be used to stimulate cells and direct cell function. A team of researchers has developed an easier, more effective way to harness the technology for biomedical applications.',1,29,'<li>Haoyang Chen, Ninghao Zhu, Mohamed Osman, Ryan Biskowitz, Jinyun Liu, Shubham Khandare, Peter Butler, Pak Kin Wong, Sri-Rajasekhar Kothapalli. <strong>A transparent low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) chip for high-throughput cell stimulation</strong>. <em>Lab on a Chip</em>, 2021; 21 (24): 4734 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D1LC00667C\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1039/D1LC00667C</a>\r\n</li>'),(95,'How much energy does a dolphin use to swim?','how-much-energy-does-a-dolphin-use-to-swim','2022-02-26 03:16:55.278452','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">From foraging for prey to evading predators, ship strikes or other dangers, a dolphin\'s survival often hinges on being able to crank up the speed and shift its swimming into high gear.</p><p>But burning all that rubber burns a lot of energy too, which, over time, can deplete reserves vital for growth, health and reproduction if the animal\'s movements use more calories than it can take in.</p><p>Being able to estimate these energy costs of locomotion (COL) and determine where the metabolic tipping point might be is essential for answering fundamental questions about dolphin physiology and ecology, and for understanding the impacts of human disturbance on them. Because measuring costs of locomotion in dolphins in the wild is extremely difficult, past studies have estimated it based on the number of fluke stokes per minute. Since not all fluke strokes are the same size, it\'s an imprecise measure of swimming effort.</p><p>A new Duke University-led study provides a more reliable way to estimate energy costs in dolphins by using overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), an integrated measure of all body motions a dolphin makes during swimming.</p><p>\"Researchers have used movement tags to measure ODBA in other species, but this is the first published study calibrating ODBA with energy expenditure in multiple dolphins,\" said study leader Austin Allen, a postdoctoral researcher in marine biology at Duke\'s Nicholas School of the Environment. The work appears Feb. 24 in <em>Journal of Experimental Biology</em>.</p><p>As a proxy for measuring cost of locomotion in wild animals, Allen and his colleagues conducted swim trials on six trained bottlenose dolphins at Dolphin Quest, a zoological facility on Oahu, Hawaii, during May 2017, 2018, and 2019.</p><p>Using a non-invasive device known as a pneumotachometer, they measured each dolphin\'s oxygen consumption while at rest and immediately after it swam an 80-meter underwater lap across a lagoon. Non-invasive biologging tags were also used to record each animal\'s three-dimensional body motions over each section of the trial -- such as when it was slowing down to make a turn or speeding up mid-lap.</p><p>By analyzing the collected data, a pattern began to emerge.</p><p>\"There was some individual variation, but, overall, the results showed significant correlation between oxygen consumption and body acceleration, which suggests ODBA can be a reliable proxy for COL,\" Allen said.</p><p>\"Working with dolphins in zoos or aquariums is allowing us to use data we\'ve already collected using these tags in the field to evaluate the cost of locomotion in wild populations,\" he said.</p><p>Allen\'s co-authors on the new paper were Andrew Read and Ashley Blawas of Duke; Alex Shorter and Joaquin Gabaldon of the University of Michigan; Julie Rocho-Levine of Dolphin Quest Oahu; and Andreas Falhman the Fundacio?n Oceanogra?fic de la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain and Kolmården Wildlife Park in Sweden.</p><p>Funding for the study came from Dolphin Quest, the Duke University Marine Laboratory, the Duke University Graduate School, and the Office of Naval Research.</p>','2022-02-26 07:08:24.125497','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Duke University','From foraging for prey to evading predators and ship strikes, a dolphin\'s survival depends on speedy swimming, but burning all that energy can delete the metabolic reserves vital for growth, health and reproduction. A new study provides scientists with a new metric for estimating how much energy wild dolphins expend on swimming -- information that is essential for answering fundamental questions about their physiology and ecology, and for understanding the impacts of human disturbances on them.',1,73,'<li>Austin S. Allen, Andrew J. Read, K. Alex Shorter, Joaquin Gabaldon, Ashley M. Blawas, Julie Rocho-Levine, Andreas Fahlman. <strong>Dynamic body acceleration as a proxy to predict the cost of locomotion in bottlenose dolphins</strong>. <em>Journal of Experimental Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243121\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1242/jeb.243121</a>\r\n</li>'),(96,'A potential antiviral for SARS and SARS-like coronaviruses','a-potential-antiviral-for-sars-and-sars-like-coronaviruses','2022-02-26 03:17:41.847612','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Both SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, originate from a group of betacoronaviruses known as \"subgroup 2b.\" Coronaviruses from this subgroup have been highlighted as having significant potential to cross from animal hosts to humans with deleterious consequences, COVID-19 being the most recent one.</p><p>A coronavirus enzyme called papain-like protease, or PLpro, is one of two proteases that are required for the initial replication steps of the virus as well as silencing host immune responses, making this enzyme a sought-after drug target.</p><p>Scott Pegan, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, has led a team that investigated the PLpro from a subgroup 2b bat coronavirus, BtSCoV-Rfl.2004, to determine if identifiable trends in enzymatic activity exist within all subgroup 2b PLpros.</p><p>In a paper published in <em>ACS Infectious Diseases</em>, the team lays out the similarities in biochemical function among PLpros from SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, and those of other SARS-like viruses already circulating among bats and other species. The work has revealed that unlike other types of coronaviruses, these subgroup 2b SARS and SARS-like coronaviruses seek to selectively target a specific form of ubiquitin -- a small protein that exists in all eukaryotic cells -- linked to key host immune pathways. Additionally, these PLpros have evolved to selectively target a ubiquitin-like protein known as ISG15 only from a subset of species.</p><p>With this information in hand, researchers can further zero in on how SARS and SARS-like viruses go undetected by the host immune system during the early stages of infection and which hosts specific coronaviruses have frequented.</p><p>\"The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to develop effective coronavirus therapeutics that can prevent current and future coronavirus subgroup 2b health threats,\" Pegan said. \"Our paper highlights that PLpro is not just a valid drug target for the current threat of COVID-19, but for other coronaviruses from that group that could cross from animals to humans in the future. Our work has potential to develop a therapy effective against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses lurking around the corner.\"</p><p>Pegan explained that the conserved nature of PLpros among subgroup 2b coronaviruses presents an opportunity to develop inhibitors that can be used to thwart viral threats.</p><p>\"Our goal is to open the door to future therapeutic design considerations for targeting PLpro as a strategy for pan-coronavirus subgroup 2b therapeutics,\" Pegan said.</p><p>Pegan and his colleagues used the PLpro of BtSCoV-Rfl.2004 as a tool alongside PLpros of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 to push the development boundaries of two small molecule scaffolds shown by Pegan to have antiviral properties against SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. This led to the design of 30 next generation drug-like subgroup 2b PLpro inhibitors that provide new directions for pan-coronavirus subgroup 2b antiviral developments of PLpro inhibitors.</p><p>In the paper, the researchers demonstrate that these types of compounds can be pan inhibitors of PLpro and highlight their safety profiles at a cellular level.</p><p>\"In particular, we push forward the development of a set of compounds from which a practical therapeutic may come,\" Pegan said.</p><p>Pegan was joined in the research by several colleagues at the University of Georgia. Of these, David Crich led the compound synthesis team and served as co-designer of the compounds with Pegan; Ralph Tripp led the antiviral testing group; and Brian Cummings, now at Wayne State University, led the toxicology efforts.</p><p>The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and industry partner Sunshine BioPharma. The structural biology data collection for the project was supported by the Department of Energy.</p>','2022-02-26 07:08:28.694607','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Riverside','In a new paper, researchers lay out the similarities in biochemical function among PLpros (papain-like proteases) from SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, and those of other SARS-like viruses already circulating among bats and other species.',1,74,'<li>Brendan T. Freitas, Daniil A. Ahiadorme, Rahul S. Bagul, Ian A. Durie, Samir Ghosh, Jarvis Hill, Naomi E. Kramer, Jackelyn Murray, Brady M. O’Boyle, Emmanuel Onobun, Michael G. Pirrone, Justin D. Shepard, Suzanne Enos, Yagya P. Subedi, Kapil Upadhyaya, Ralph A. Tripp, Brian S. Cummings, David Crich, Scott D. Pegan. <strong>Exploring Noncovalent Protease Inhibitors for the Treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Like Coronaviruses</strong>. <em>ACS Infectious Diseases</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00631\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00631</a>\r\n</li>'),(100,'What brain-eating amoebae can tell us about the diversity of life on earth and evolutionary history','what-brain-eating-amoebae-can-tell-us-about-the-diversity-of-life-on-earth-and-evolutionary-history','2022-02-26 17:14:45.274140','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An international team of researchers, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently announced in the journal <em>Current Biology </em>that an amoeba called <em>Naegleria</em> has evolved more distinct sets of tubulins, used for specific cellular processes, than previously thought. Their insight has a host of implications, which range from developing treatments for brain-eating infections to better understanding how life on earth evolved such enormous diversity.</p><p>Much of life on earth relies on a series of polymers called microtubules, composed of tubulin, to complete a wide range of tasks inside their cells. These microtubules are like the 2x4s of the cell and are used in everything from helping the cell to move, to transporting food and waste within the cell and giving the cell structural support.</p><p>Microtubules also help in mitosis, which is when a single cell divides into two by first duplicating its chromosomes and then pulling each set to opposite sides of the cell before dividing itself in two. One of the key moments in mitosis is when a spindle, made up of microtubules, grabs hold of the chromosomes and helps separate them into two identical sets.</p><p>This is where <em>Naegleria</em> comes in. Biologists had previously known that <em>Naegleria</em> uses a specific kind of tubulin during mitosis. But the new study, led by Katrina Velle, a postdoc in biology at UMass Amherst and the paper\'s lead author, shows that <em>Naegleria</em> also employs three additional distinct tubulins specifically during mitosis. One pair of tubulins are used only during mitosis, while the other, the flagellate tubulin, specialize in cellular movement. The authors of the study then compared the tubulins and the structures they build to each other and those of more commonly studied species.</p><p>The implications of this work are exciting and range from the practical to the theoretical. For instance, the team studied a species of <em>Naegleria</em>, <em>Naegleria</em> <em>gruberi</em>, which is closely related to <em>Naegleria fowleri</em> -- an amoeba that can eat your brain. \"If we can understand the basic biology of <em>Naegleria</em>,\" says Velle, \"we can learn how to kill it by devising drugs that target the amoeba\'s unique tubulins.\"</p><p>But <em>Naegleria</em> also helps us to understand the basic rules that govern life on earth. \"All organisms have to replicate themselves,\" says Lillian Fritz-Laylin, professor of biology at UMass Amherst and a senior author of the paper. \"We know how the replication processes works for some cells, but there\'s a huge set that we don\'t understand. <em>Naegleria</em> lets us test the rules scientists have come up with to see if they hold here.\"</p><p>To conduct their research, the team relied in part on the state-of-the-art microscopy equipment at UMass Amherst\'s Institute for the Applied Life Sciences (IALS), which combines deep and interdisciplinary expertise from 29 departments on the UMass Amherst campus to translate fundamental research into innovations that benefit human health and well-being. The team grew the <em>Naegleria</em> cells, stained them with different chemicals so that the tubulins would glow, and then took extremely high resolution, 3-D photographs, which allowed them to measure, count and analyze the different microtubule structures.</p><p>\"I\'ve spent most of my career studying the mitotic spindles of more common cells, like mammalian cells,\" says Patricia Wadsworth, professor of biology at UMass Amherst and one of the paper\'s senior authors. \"The tools of modern biology allow us to explore more diverse cells, like <em>Naegleria,</em> which is in some ways similar, but also very different.\"</p><p>The research has been supported by a prominent, international set of institutions, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, the Smith Family Foundation Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science, the National Science Foundation, the Croatian Science Foundation, the European Research Council, the European Regional Development Fund -- the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme: QuantiXLie Center of Excellence and IPSted, as well as the Robert A. Welch Foundation.</p><p>\"People often think of technology driving science,\" says Fritz-Laylin. \"But in this case, the questions we are trying to answer are so fundamental to how life on earth operates, and of such interest to so many scientific specialties, that we needed to assemble an international team of various experts. In this case, collaboration, teamwork and effective communication drove the science.\"</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-02-26 22:03:44.398868','uploads/news/what-brain-eating-amoe.jpg',1,'University of Massachusetts Amherst','Researchers recently announced that an amoeba called Naegleria has evolved more distinct sets of tubulins, used for specific cellular processes, than previously thought. Their insight has a host of implications, which range from developing treatments for brain-eating infections to better understanding how life on earth evolved such enormous diversity.',1,75,'<li>Katrina B. Velle, Andrew S. Kennard, Monika Trupinić, Arian Ivec, Andrew J.M. Swafford, Emily Nolton, Luke M. Rice, Iva M. Tolić, Lillian K. Fritz-Laylin, Patricia Wadsworth. <strong>Naegleria’s mitotic spindles are built from unique tubulins and highlight core spindle features</strong>. <em>Current Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.034\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.034</a>\r\n</li>'),(103,'Researcher urges caution on AI in mammography','researcher-urges-caution-on-ai-in-mammography','2022-02-27 07:08:11.706692','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Analyzing breast-cancer tumors with artificial intelligence has the potential to improve healthcare efficiency and outcomes. But doctors should proceed cautiously, because similar technological leaps previously led to higher rates of false-positive tests and over-treatment.</p><p>That\'s according to a new editorial in <em>JAMA Health Forum</em> co-written by Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH, a researcher at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Endowed Chair in Health Care Delivery and professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.</p><p>\"Without a more robust approach to the evaluation and implementation of AI, given the unabated adoption of emergent technology in clinical practice, we are failing to learn from our past mistakes in mammography,\" the JAMA Health Forum editorial states. The piece, posted online Friday, was co-written with Christoph I. Lee, MD, MS, MBA, a professor of radiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.</p><p>One of those \"past mistakes in mammography,\" according to the authors, was adjunct computer-aided detection (CAD) tools, which grew rapidly in popularity in the field of breast cancer screening starting more than two decades ago. CAD was approved by the FDA in 1998, and by 2016 more than 92% of U.S. imaging facilities were using the technology to interpret mammograms and hunt for tumors. But the evidence showed CAD did not improve mammography accuracy. \"CAD tools are associated with increased false positive rates, leading to overdiagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ and unnecessary diagnostic testing,\" the authors wrote. Medicare stopped paying for CAD in 2018, but by then the tools had racked up more than $400 million a year in unnecessary health costs.</p><p>\"The premature adoption of CAD is a premonitory symptom of the wholehearted embrace of emergent technologies prior to fully understanding their impact on patient outcomes,\" Elmore and Lee wrote.</p><p>The doctors suggest several safeguards to put in place to avoid \"repeating past mistakes,\" including tying Medicare reimbursement to \"improved patient outcomes, not just improved technical performance in artificial settings.\"</p>','2022-02-27 12:37:24.271104','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences','Analyzing breast-cancer tumors with artificial intelligence has the potential to improve healthcare efficiency and outcomes, but doctors should proceed cautiously, according to a new editorial.',1,35,'<li>Joann G. Elmore, Christoph I. Lee. <strong>Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging—Learning From Past Mistakes in Mammography</strong>. <em>JAMA Health Forum</em>, 2022; 3 (2): e215207 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.5207\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.5207</a>\r\n</li>'),(104,'Study questions the role of vitamin D2 in human health but its sibling, vitamin D3, could be important for fighting infections','study-questions-the-role-of-vitamin-d-in-human-health-but-its-sibling-vitamin-d3-could-be-important-for-fighting-infections','2022-02-27 07:11:01.261684','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research has found significant differences between the two types of vitamin D, with vitamin D2 having a questionable impact on human health. However, the study found that vitamin D3 could balance people\'s immune systems and help strengthen defences against viral infections such as Covid-19.</p><p>In a collaborative study by the Universities of Surrey and Brighton, researchers investigated the impact of vitamin D supplements -- D2 and D3 -- taken daily over a 12-week period on the activity of genes in people\'s blood.</p><p>Contrary to widely held views, the research team discovered that both types of vitamin D did <em>not</em> have the same effect. They found evidence that vitamin D3 had a modifying effect on the immune system that could fortify the body against viral and bacterial diseases.</p><p>Professor Colin Smith, lead-author of the study from the University of Surrey, who began this work while at the University of Brighton, said:</p><p>\"We have shown that vitamin D3 appears to stimulate the type I interferon signalling system in the body -- a key part of the immune system that provides a first line of defence against bacteria and viruses. Thus, a healthy vitamin D3 status may help prevent viruses and bacteria from gaining a foothold in the body.</p><p>\"Our study suggests that it is important that people take a vitamin D3 supplement, or suitably fortified foods, especially in the winter months.\"</p><p>Although some foods are fortified with vitamin D, like some breakfast cereals, yoghurts, and bread, few naturally contain the vitamin. Vitamin D3 is produced naturally in the skin from exposure to sunlight or artificial ultraviolet UVB light, while some plants and fungi produce vitamin D2.</p><p>Many people have insufficient levels of vitamin D3 because they live in locations where sunlight is limited in the winter, like the UK. The Covid-19 pandemic has also limited people\'s natural exposure to the sun due to people spending more time in their homes.</p><p>Professor Susan Lanham-New, co-author of the study and Head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Surrey, said:</p><p>\"While we found that vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 do not have the same effect on gene activity within humans, the lack of impact we found when looking at vitamin D2 means that a larger study is urgently required to clarify the differences in the effects. However, these results show that vitamin D3 should be the favoured form for fortified foods and supplements.\"</p><p>The study is published in <em>Frontiers in Immunology</em>.</p>','2022-02-27 12:38:36.493087','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Surrey','New research has found significant differences between the two types of vitamin D, with vitamin D2 having a questionable impact on human health. However, the study found that vitamin D3 could balance people\'s immune systems and help strengthen defences against viral infections such as Covid-19.',1,76,'<li>Louise R. Durrant, Giselda Bucca, Andrew Hesketh, Carla Möller-Levet, Laura Tripkovic, Huihai Wu, Kathryn H. Hart, John C. Mathers, Ruan M. Elliott, Susan A. Lanham-New, Colin P. Smith. <strong>Vitamins D2 and D3 Have Overlapping But Different Effects on the Human Immune System Revealed Through Analysis of the Blood Transcriptome</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Immunology</em>, 2022; 13 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.790444\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fimmu.2022.790444</a>\r\n</li>'),(105,'Ultrasounds for endangered abalone mollusks','ultrasounds-for-endangered-abalone-mollusks','2022-02-28 15:42:37.255587','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The world\'s abalone are threatened, endangered or otherwise vulnerable in nearly every corner of the planet. While captive breeding efforts are underway for some species, these giant sea snails are notoriously difficult to spawn. If only we could wave a magic wand to know when abalone are ready to reproduce, without even touching them.</p><p>Scientists from the University of California, Davis, found that wand -- although it isn\'t magic, and it only looks like a wand. It\'s an ultrasound transducer, and it can be used to quickly and noninvasively detect when abalone are ready to spawn, according to a study published in the journal<em> Frontiers in Marine Science.</em></p><p>The technique is expected to help abalone farmers and captive breeding managers produce more abalone, with minimal stress to the animal.</p><p><strong>Increasing abalone welfare</strong></p><p>Abalone suction onto surfaces and typically have to be pried off for gonad inspection before spawning. For these animals -- particularly endangered abalone -- the less they are handled, the less opportunity for stress or physical harm.</p><p>\"There are not a lot of animal welfare methods applied to invertebrate animals, let alone for aquatic species,\" said corresponding author Jackson Gross, an assistant professor of Cooperative Extension in Aquaculture with the UC Davis Department of Animal Science. \"Here\'s a way to increase the welfare of an abalone without bringing added stress to them.\"</p><p>The United States Navy\'s Pacific Fleet funded the research as part of its efforts to conserve federally endangered black abalone and find better ways to assess their reproductive health. Because of black abalones\' low numbers and high vulnerability, the authors used closely related farmed red abalone to test the effectiveness of ultrasounds on abalone.</p><p>Gross had used the technique for gonad assessments on sturgeon and catfish, but it had never been tested for sea snails until this study. When Gross saw a video of a veterinarian in Scotland conducting an ultrasound on a large land snail, he felt certain it would work for abalone.</p><p><strong>Testing the tech</strong></p><p>With Gross\' background, the extensive knowledge of the white abalone captive breeding program at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, and first author Sara Boles\' experience studying red abalone, the authors tested the method on 12 farm-raised red abalone and about 100 red abalone raised at Bodega Marine Lab. They monitored the lab-raised abalone for seven weeks to detect seasonal changes in their gonad size.</p><p>They found that ultrasounds could differentiate reproductive tissues from digestive tissues. They were then able to create a gonad index score ranging from 1 to 5 that indicates the abalones\' readiness to reproduce. Abalone measuring in the 3 to 5 range could be ideal candidates for spawning. They also found the technology was sensitive enough to detect changes both before and after spawning.</p><p>\"This is very helpful for broodstock managers when trying to select individuals for a spawning season, whether for production aquaculture or conservation,\" said Boles, a postdoctoral researcher with the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute at the Bodega Marine Laboratory.</p><p><strong>How to give abalone an ultrasound</strong></p><p>So how do you ultrasound an abalone? It\'s fairly straightforward.</p><p>You submerge the abalone underwater in its tank and place the ultrasound transducer on the outside of the tank by the abalone\'s foot. The sound passes through the tank and transmits the image.</p><p>Routine assessments using ultrasounds can be conducted without touching the animal at all. Abalone do still have to be handled for spawning events, but ultrasounds can minimize the handling involved.</p><p>Abalone are an ecologically and culturally important keystone species for California\'s coastal ecosystem. They face multiple, often intertwining threats -- from warming ocean temperatures and disease to crashing kelp forests and habitat degradation.</p><p>\"We\'re excited to see how much faster we can use this technology to assess the health of these animals, especially in a world where climate change is making an impact,\" Gross said.</p><p>The study\'s co-authors include Isabelle Neylan and Laura Rogers-Bennett of UC Davis.</p>','2022-02-27 17:50:38.105970','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Davis','The world\'s abalone are threatened, endangered or otherwise vulnerable in nearly every corner of the planet. If only we could wave a magic wand to know when abalone are ready to reproduce, without even touching them. Scientists have now found that wand -- although it isn\'t magic, and it only looks like a wand. It\'s an ultrasound transducer, and it can be used to quickly and noninvasively detect when abalone are ready to spawn, they report in a study this week.',1,82,'<li>Sara E. Boles, Isabelle P. Neylan, Laura Rogers-Bennett, Jackson A. Gross. <strong>Evaluation of Gonad Reproductive Condition Using Non-invasive Ultrasonography in Red Abalone (Haliotis rufescens)</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em>, 2022; 9 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.784481\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fmars.2022.784481</a>\r\n</li>'),(130,'Making the invisible visible: A clearer ‘picture’ of blood vessels in health and disease thanks to new imaging approach','making-the-invisible-visible-a-clearer-picture-of-blood-vessels-in-health-and-disease-thanks-to-new-imaging-approach','2022-02-28 15:52:22.564675','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have developed and tested a new imaging approach they say will accelerate imaging-based research in the lab by allowing investigators to capture images of blood vessels at different spatial scales. Tested in mouse tissues, the method, dubbed \"VascuViz,\" includes a quick-setting polymer mixture to fill blood vessels and make them visible in multiple imaging techniques. The approach enables researchers to visualize the structure of a tissue\'s vasculature, which in conjunction with detailed mathematical models or complementary images of other tissue elements can clarify the complex role of blood flow in health and disease, say the researchers. The combined images of the blood vessels should not only enhance the study of the biology of diseases that involve abnormalities in blood flow, such as cancer and stroke, but also advance our understanding of the structures and functions of tissues throughout the body, they say.</p><p>The report published Feb. 10 in <em>Nature Methods</em>.</p><p>\"Usually, if you want to gather data on blood vessels in a given tissue and combine it with all of its surrounding context like the structure and the types of cells growing there, you have to re-label the tissue several times, acquire multiple images and piece together the complementary information,\" says Arvind Pathak, Ph.D., professor of radiology, biomedical and electrical engineering and member of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. \"This can be an expensive and time-consuming process that risks destroying the tissue\'s architecture, precluding our ability to use the combined information in novel ways.\"</p><p>Researchers use many different imaging methods, such as MRI, CT and microscopy to study the role of blood vessels in the lab. These images are useful for understanding the dynamics of how tissues develop disease or respond to treatment. However, integrating the data available in these images has remained a challenge because agents used to make a blood vessel visible to one imaging method can make it invisible on other tools. This limits the amount of data researchers can gather from a single sample.</p><p>VascuViz overcomes this problem by making the structure of the largest arteries to the smallest microvasculature visible to a variety of imaging tools, which allows researchers to develop a multilayered understanding of blood vessels and related tissue components with less time and effort.</p><p>The development of VascuViz is particularly useful in creating computerized visualizations of how complex biological systems such as the circulatory system work, and is a hallmark of the growing field of \"image-based\" vascular systems biology.</p><p>\"Now, rather than using an approximation, we can more precisely estimate features like blood flow in actual blood vessels and combine it with complementary information, such as cell density,\" says Akanksha Bhargava, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Pathak Lab within the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. To do this, VascuViz-based measurements are entered into computer simulations of blood flow, such as the cancer models Bhargava studies.</p><p>To create VascuViz, Bhargava tested several combinations of existing imaging agents and their suitability for different imaging methods. After multiple iterations, she found that a CT contrast agent named BriteVu and a fluorescently labeled MRI contrast agent called Galbumin-Rhodamine could be combined to create a compound that makes the macro- and microvasculature simultaneously visible when imaging with MRI, CT and optical imaging techniques without interference.</p><p>With the compound working in test tubes, the researchers then tested it in a variety of mouse tissues, perfusing it through the vascular system of breast cancer models, leg muscles, the brain and kidney tissues. The resulting images of the tissues acquired with MRI, CT and optical microscopy were then combined to create stunning 3D visualizations of the vasculature and associated components comprising these disease model and organ systems.</p><p>Due to VascuViz\'s affordability and commercially available components, Pathak and his team hope it is globally adopted by scientists to help shed new light on different diseases involving the vasculature.</p><p>Other researchers involved in this study include Benjamin Monteagudo, Priyanka Kushwaha, Janaka Senarathna, Yunke Ren, Ryan Riddle and Manisha Aggarwal of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.</p><p>This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (51R01CA196701-05, 1R01CA237597-01A1), the National Institute of Dental &amp; Craniofacial Research (5R01DE027957-02) and NIH Instrumentation grant (S10OD012287) and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Quantitative Sciences Pilot Project Grant.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/XMltFRdxpSQ\">https://youtu.be/XMltFRdxpSQ</a></p>','2022-02-28 21:16:34.689690','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','Researchers have developed and tested a new imaging approach they say will accelerate imaging-based research in the lab by allowing investigators to capture images of blood vessels at different spatial scales.',1,71,'<li>Akanksha Bhargava, Benjamin Monteagudo, Priyanka Kushwaha, Janaka Senarathna, Yunke Ren, Ryan C. Riddle, Manisha Aggarwal, Arvind P. Pathak. <strong>VascuViz: a multimodality and multiscale imaging and visualization pipeline for vascular systems biology</strong>. <em>Nature Methods</em>, 2022; 19 (2): 242 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41592-021-01363-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41592-021-01363-5</a>\r\n</li>'),(131,'New DNA modification system discovered in animals, captured from bacteria more than 60 MYA','new-dna-modification-system-discovered-in-animals-captured-from-bacteria-more-than-60-mya','2022-02-28 15:53:25.000176','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Your DNA holds the blueprint to build your body, but it\'s a living document: Adjustments to the design can be made by epigenetic marks.</p><p>Epigenetic marks are modifications to DNA bases that don\'t change the underlying genetic code, but \"write\" extra information on top of it that can be inherited along with your genome. Epigenetic marks usually regulate gene expression -- turn genes on or off -- particularly during early development or when your body is under stress. They can also suppress \"jumping genes\" -- transposable elements that threaten the integrity of your genome.</p><p>In humans and other eukaryotes, two principal epigenetic marks are known. A team from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) has discovered a third, novel epigenetic mark -- one formerly known only in bacteria -- in bdelloid rotifers, small freshwater animals. This fundamental and surprising discovery is reported this week in <em>Nature Communications.</em></p><p>\"We discovered back in 2008 that bdelloid rotifers are very good at capturing foreign genes,\" said senior author Irina Arkhipova, senior scientist in the MBL\'s Josephine Bay Paul Center. \"What we\'ve found here is that rotifers, about 60 million years ago, accidentally captured a bacterial gene that allowed them to introduce a new epigenetic mark that was not there before.\" This is the first time that a horizontally transferred gene has been shown to reshape the gene regulatory system in a eukaryote.</p><p>\"This is very unusual and has not been previously reported,\" Arkhipova said. \"Horizontally transferred genes are thought to preferentially be operational genes, not regulatory genes. It is hard to imagine how a single, horizontally transferred gene would form a new regulatory system, because the existing regulatory systems are already very complicated.\"</p><p>\"It\'s almost unbelievable,\" said co-first author Irina Yushenova, a research scientist in Arkhipova\'s lab. \"Just try to picture, somewhere back in time, a piece of bacterial DNA happened to be fused to a piece of eukaryotic DNA. Both of them became joined in the rotifer\'s genome and they formed a functional enzyme. That\'s not so easy to do, even in the lab, and it happened naturally. And then this composite enzyme created this amazing regulatory system, and bdelloid rotifers were able to start using it to control all these jumping transposons. It\'s like magic.\"</p><p>\"You don\'t want transposons jumping around in your genome,\" said first author Fernando Rodriguez, also a research scientist in Arkhipova\'s lab. \"They will mess things up, so you want to keep them in check. And the epigenetic system to accomplish that is different in different animals. In this case, a horizontal gene transfer from bacteria into bdelloid rotifers created a new epigenetic system in animals that hasn\'t been described before.\"</p><p>\"Bdelloid rotifers, especially, have to keep their transposons in check because they primarily reproduce asexually,\" Arkhipova said. \"Asexual lineages have fewer means for suppressing proliferation of deleterious transposons, so adding an extra layer of protection could prevent a mutational meltdown. Indeed, transposon content is much lower in bdelloids than it is in sexual eukaryotes that don\'t have this extra epigenetic layer in their genome defense system.\"</p><p>In the two previously known epigenetic marks in eukaryotes, a methyl group is added to a DNA base, either cytosine or adenine. The team\'s newly discovered mark is also a cytosine modification, but with a distinct bacterial-like positioning of the methyl group -- essentially recapitulating evolutionary events of over two billion years ago, when the conventional epigenetic marks in early eukaryotes emerged.</p><p>Bdelloid rotifers are extremely resilient animals, as the Arkhipova and David Mark Welch labs at MBL have discovered over the years. They can completely dry up (desiccate) for weeks or months at a time, and then spring back to life when water becomes available. During their desiccation phases, their DNA breaks up into many pieces. \"When they rehydrate or otherwise render their DNA ends accessible, this might be an opportunity for foreign DNA fragments from ingested bacteria, fungi, or microalgae to transfer into the rotifer genome,\" Arkhipova said. About 10 percent of the rotifer genome comes from non-metazoan sources, they have found.</p><p>Still, the Arkhipova lab was surprised to find a gene in the rotifer genome that resembled a bacterial methyltransferase (a methyltransferase catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group to DNA). \"We hypothesized that this gene conferred this new function of suppressing transposons, and we spent the last six years proving that, indeed, it does,\" Arkhipova said.</p><p>It\'s too early to know what the implications may be of discovering this new epigenetic system in rotifers. \"A good comparison is the CRISPR-Cas system in bacteria, which started out as a basic research discovery. Now CRISPR-Cas9 is used everywhere as a tool for gene editing in other organisms,\" Rodriguez said. \"This is a new system. Will it have applications, implications for future research? It\'s hard to tell.\"</p><p>These discoveries open the door to new tools and research directions to investigate genome function and resilience in this rotifer system. In the future, such knowledge may be applied in creative ways to impact ssociety during this time of rapid environmental change.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-02-28 21:16:42.463519','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Marine Biological Laboratory','In humans and other eukaryotes, two principal epigenetic marks are known. A team has discovered a third, novel epigenetic mark -- one formerly known only in bacteria -- in bdelloid rotifers, small freshwater animals. Epigenetic marks are modifications to DNA bases that don\'t change the underlying genetic code, but \'write\' extra information on top of it that can be inherited along with your genome.',1,83,'<li>Fernando Rodriguez, Irina A. Yushenova, Daniel DiCorpo, Irina R. Arkhipova. <strong>Bacterial N4-methylcytosine as an epigenetic mark in eukaryotic DNA</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28471-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28471-w</a>\r\n</li>'),(132,'Seismic study reveals key reason why Patagonia is rising as glaciers melt','seismic-study-reveals-key-reason-why-patagonia-is-rising-as-glaciers-melt','2022-02-28 15:53:54.742131','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The icefields that stretch for hundreds of miles atop the Andes mountain range in Chile and Argentina are melting at some of the fastest rates on the planet. The ground that was beneath this ice is also shifting and rising as these glaciers disappear. Geologists have discovered a link between recent ice mass loss, rapid rock uplift and a gap between tectonic plates that underlie Patagonia.</p><p>Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, led by seismologist Douglas Wiens, the Robert S. Brookings Distinguished Professor in Arts &amp; Sciences, recently completed one of the first seismic studies of the Patagonian Andes. In a new publication in the journal <em>Geophysical Research Letters</em>, they describe and map out local subsurface dynamics.</p><p>\"Variations in the size of glaciers, as they grow and shrink, combined with the mantle structure that we\'ve imaged in this study are driving rapid and spatially variable uplift in this region,\" said Hannah Mark, a former Steve Fossett postdoctoral fellow in earth and planetary sciences at Washington University, the first author of the publication. Mark is now a postdoctoral investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.</p><p>The seismic data that Mark and Wiens analyzed reveals how a gap in the down-going tectonic plate about 60 miles beneath Patagonia has enabled hotter, less viscous mantle material to flow underneath South America.</p><p>Above this gap, the icefields have been shrinking, removing weight that previously caused the continent to flex downward. The scientists found very low seismic velocity within and around the gap, as well as a thinning of the rigid lithosphere overlying the gap.</p><p>These particular mantle conditions are driving many of the recent changes that have been observed in Patagonia, including the rapid uplift in certain areas once covered by ice.</p><p>\"Low viscosities mean that the mantle responds to deglaciation on the time scale of tens of years, rather than thousands of years, as we observe in Canada for example,\" Wiens said. \"This explains why GPS has measured large uplift due to the loss of ice mass.</p><p>\"Another significant thing is that the viscosity is higher beneath the southern part of the Southern Patagonia Icefield compared to the Northern Patagonia Icefield, which helps to explain why uplift rates vary from north to south,\" he said.</p><p><strong>Rebounding and rising</strong></p><p>When glaciers melt, a tremendous weight is lifted from the ground that once supported them. Huge amounts of water, previously stored as ice, flows toward the oceans. The newly unburdened earth rebounds and rises.</p><p>Geologists see evidence of this combination of ice mass changes and uplift in places all over the world.</p><p>The ongoing movement of land -- what is known as \'glacial isostatic adjustment\' -- matters for a lot of reasons, but especially because it affects predictions for sea level rise under future climate warming scenarios.</p><p>Mark said that one of the most interesting things they discovered in this study was that the hottest and least viscous parts of the mantle were found in the region of the gap, or slab window, below the part of the Patagonia icefields that had opened up most recently.</p><p>\"This suggests to us that maybe the mantle dynamics associated with the slab window may have intensified over time, or that the continental plate in the south started out thicker and colder and so was less affected by the slab window than the part of the plate farther north,\" Mark said.</p><p>Mark and Wiens worked with colleagues from California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Southern Methodist University and Universidad de Chile to complete the seismic study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation.</p><p>Patagonia is a remote area that is not densely populated, and earthquake hazards are relatively low -- which helps explain why few seismic studies have been conducted in this area in the past, Wiens said. The data he and his team collected is already being used for purposes beyond this mantle imaging effort.</p><p>Wiens first visited Patagonia more than 25 years ago. He said that he is shocked by changes that he has observed in his lifetime.</p><p>\"The beautiful glaciers are being reduced in size,\" Wiens said. \"Over the coming decades, the ice fronts will recede higher up the mountains and farther into the interior, potentially making them more difficult to visit. I can easily see that the glaciers have shrunk since I first visited this area in 1996.\"</p><p><strong>Ups and downs of field work in Patagonia</strong></p><p>A group of Washington University students helped Wiens and his team service and collect data from the seismographs that were installed for this study as part of a 2019 Undergraduate Field Geology course field trip, led by Phil Skemer and Alex Bradley in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. The students had the opportunity to spend their spring break getting firsthand experience with the geology of Patagonia -- exploring tectonics, sediment accumulations and the geomorphological effects of alpine glaciation in the region.</p><p>Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and international travel ground to a halt.</p><p>\"The instruments were trapped in Chile and Argentina during COVID, so they were not returned in April 2020 as planned,\" Wiens said. \"Instead, they were returned in February 2021 through the tremendous help of our colleagues in those countries.</p><p>\"But the seismographs operated well without any servicing over this time, so we collected about 10 months more data than initially planned,\" he said.</p><p>Knowing more about what\'s happening below the ground is important for monitoring future changes in places like the Patagonian icefields.</p><p>\"One thing we can and will do now is incorporate the 3D mantle structure into a model for glacial isostatic adjustment in Patagonia, along with constraints on the extent of glaciation over time,\" Mark said.</p><p>\"Plate tectonics and the properties of the deep earth are vitally important for understanding how the land responds to glaciation [and deglaciation],\" Wiens said. \"With better earth models, we can do a better job of reconstructing recent changes in the ice sheets.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-02-28 21:16:46.246291','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Washington University in St. Louis','Geologists have discovered a link between recent ice mass loss, rapid rock uplift and a gap between tectonic plates that underlie Patagonia.',1,33,'<li>Hannah F. Mark, Douglas A. Wiens, Erik R. Ivins, Andreas Richter, Walid Ben Mansour, M. Beatrice Magnani, Eric Marderwald, Rodrigo Adaros, Sergio Barrientos. <strong>Lithospheric Erosion in the Patagonian Slab Window, and Implications for Glacial Isostasy</strong>. <em>Geophysical Research Letters</em>, 2022; 49 (2) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096863\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1029/2021GL096863</a>\r\n</li>'),(133,'Antibiotic doesn’t prevent future wheezing in babies hospitalized with RSV','antibiotic-doesnt-prevent-future-wheezing-in-babies-hospitalized-with-rsv','2022-02-28 15:54:44.407512','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The antibiotic azithromycin has anti-inflammatory properties that can be beneficial in some chronic lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. With that in mind, researchers investigated its potential to prevent future recurrent wheezing among infants hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). With such babies at increased risk of developing asthma later in childhood, the scientists hoped to find a therapy to reduce this risk.</p><p>However, among infants hospitalized with RSV, there was no difference in the amount of wheezing in babies treated with azithromycin versus those who received a placebo, according to a new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University.</p><p>Further, while the difference in the amount of wheezing did not reach statistical significance, the study hints that treatment with antibiotics of any kind may increase wheezing in infants hospitalized with the virus.</p><p>Results of the study were presented Feb. 27 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma &amp; Immunology in Phoenix and published simultaneously in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine -- Evidence.</em></p><p>In infants and young children, RSV can cause bronchiolitis, an infection of the small airways in the lungs. Nearly all children contract RSV at some point in early childhood, and a small percentage develop bronchiolitis severe enough to be hospitalized. Infants hospitalized with RSV bronchiolitis are at an increased risk of developing asthma.</p><p>\"About half of infants admitted to a hospital with RSV will be diagnosed with asthma by age 7,\" said first author Avraham Beigelman, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics and a pediatric allergist and immunologist in the Division of Allergy &amp; Pulmonary Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. \"We are interested in finding approaches to prevent the development of asthma after RSV infection. Azithromycin has anti-inflammatory effects in other airway diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. We also had data in mice and data from a smaller clinical trial of hospitalized infants that suggested azithromycin reduced wheezing following RSV infection. So, we were surprised by the negative results of this larger trial.\"</p><p>The current trial confirmed, as anticipated, that azithromycin lowers a marker of airway inflammation called IL-8. Infants treated with azithromycin had lower levels of IL-8 in their noses than infants who received a placebo, confirming anti-inflammatory effects of azithromycin. Even so, azithromycin-treated patients did not have reduced risk of developing recurrent wheezing compared with the placebo group. While the difference did not reach statistical significance, the data actually leaned toward azithromycin increasing risk of wheezing, with 47% of patients who had received azithromycin experiencing recurrent wheezing versus 36% of the placebo group. Recurrent wheezing was defined as three episodes of wheezing during the two to four years of follow up.</p><p>With parental permission, the researchers randomly assigned 200 infants hospitalized at St. Louis Children\'s Hospital for RSV bronchiolitis to receive either oral azithromycin or a placebo for two weeks. The babies were otherwise healthy and ranged in age from 1 month to 18 months. The researchers received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to give infants azithromycin as part of this clinical trial. Azithromycin is a commonly prescribed antibiotic used in children age 2 and older.</p><p>Patients were enrolled during three consecutive RSV seasons, from 2016 to 2019, and were followed for two to four years after hospitalization. The researchers also kept track of whether the infants received any other antibiotics before or during their hospital stays. A child\'s pediatrician could choose to prescribe other antibiotics if, for example, the child also developed an ear infection or was suspected of developing bacterial pneumonia or other bacterial infection. Amoxicillin was the most common additional antibiotic prescribed.</p><p>While the study was not designed to parse the effects of different combinations of antibiotics, Beigelman said they found evidence suggesting that azithromycin alone -- among patients who did not receive any other antibiotics -- could increase the risk of recurrent wheezing. The researchers also found a suggestion of increased recurrent wheezing risk among patients who had received any antibiotic (such as amoxicillin from the pediatrician).</p><p>\"There may be an increase in risk of recurrent wheezing with any antibiotic use,\" Beigelman said. \"We want to be cautious in our interpretation of this potentially negative effect of antibiotics, as the study was not designed to test the effects of different antibiotics. However, this is an important message to be communicated to pediatricians, since antibiotics are frequently given to patients with RSV bronchiolitis despite the fact that this practice is not supported by clinical guidelines. At the very least, azithromycin and antibiotics in general have no benefit in preventing recurrent wheeze, and there is a possibility they are harmful.\"</p><p>Beigelman said the researchers also collected airway microbiome samples from these patients and plan to investigate whether bacteria colonizing the airway may interact with the antibiotics and have an impact on wheezing. They also plan to analyze stool samples collected from the same infants to see whether the gut microbiome may have a role in wheezing and the subsequent risk of developing asthma in childhood.</p><p>This work was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant number R01HL130876.</p>','2022-02-28 21:16:52.156382','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Washington University School of Medicine','Antibiotics provide no benefit in preventing future recurrent wheezing in babies hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), according to a new study. And there is some evidence that antibiotics may make wheezing worse.',1,84,'<li>Avraham Beigelman, Mythili Srinivasan, Charles W. Goss, Jinli Wang, Yanjiao Zhou, Kelly True, Elizabeth Ahrens, Dana Burgdorf, Matthew D. Haslam, Jonathan Boomer, Sarah Bram, Carey-Ann D. Burnham, Timothy J. Casper, Andrea M. Coverstone, Watcharoot Kanchongkittiphon, Cadence Kuklinski, Gregory A. Storch, Meghan A. Wallace, Huiqing Yin-DeClue, Mario Castro, Kenneth B. Schechtman, Leonard B. Bacharier. <strong>Azithromycin to Prevent Recurrent Wheeze Following Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis</strong>. <em>NEJM Evidence</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/EVIDoa2100069\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1056/EVIDoa2100069</a>\r\n</li>'),(134,'Mystery solved about the origin of the 30,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf','mystery-solved-about-the-origin-of-the-30000-year-old-venus-of-willendorf','2022-02-28 17:29:22.155651','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The almost 11 cm high figurine from Willendorf is one of the most important examples of early art in Europe. It is made of a rock called \"oolite\" which is not found in or around Willendorf. A research team led by the anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna and the two geologists Alexander Lukeneder and Mathias Harzhauser as well as the prehistorian Walpurga Antl-Weiser from the Natural History Museum Vienna have now found out with the help of high-resolution tomographic images that the material from which the Venus was carved likely comes from northern Italy. This sheds new light on the remarkable mobility of the first modern humans south and north of the Alps. The results currently appear in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.</p><p>The Venus von Willendorf is not only special in terms of its design, but also in terms of its material. While other Venus figures are usually made of ivory or bone, sometimes also of different stones, oolite was used for the Lower Austrian Venus, which is unique for such cult objects. The figurine found in the Wachau in 1908 and on display in the Natural History Museum in Vienna has so far only been examined from the outside. Now, more than a 100 years later, anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna has used a new method to examine its interior: micro-computed tomography. During several passes, the scientists obtained images with a resolution of up to 11.5 micrometres -- a quality that is otherwise only seen under a microscope. The first insight gained is: \"Venus does not look uniform at all on the inside. A special property that could be used to determine its origin,\" says the anthropologist.</p><p>Along with the two geologists Alexander Lukeneder and Mathias Harzhauser from the Natural History Museum in Vienna, who had previously worked with oolites, the team procured comparative samples from Austria and Europe and evaluated them. A complex project: Rock samples from France to eastern Ukraine, from Germany to Sicily were obtained, sawn up and examined under a microscope. The team was supported by the state of Lower Austria, which provided funds for the time-consuming analyses.</p><p><strong>The inside also gives information about the outside</strong></p><p>The tomographic data from the Venus showed that the sediments were deposited in the rocks in different densities and sizes. In between there were also small remnants of shells and six very dense, larger grains, so-called limonites. The latter explains the previously mysterious hemispherical cavities on the surface of Venus with the same diameter: \"The hard limonites probably broke out when the creator of the Venus was carving it,\" explains Weber: \"In the case of the Venus navel, he then apparently made it a virtue out of necessity.\"</p><p>Another finding: The Venus oolite is porous because the cores of the millions of globules (ooides) of which it is comprised had dissolved. This is a great explanation for why the resourceful sculptor chose this material 30,000 years ago: It is much easier to work with. The scientists also identified a tiny shell remnant, just 2.5 millimetres long, and dated it to the Jurassic period. This ruled out all other potential deposits of the rock from the much later Miocene geological era, such as those in the nearby Vienna Basin.</p><p><strong>A long way for that time</strong></p><p>The research team also analysed the grain sizes of the other samples. Hundreds, sometimes even thousands of grains were marked and measured with image processing programs or even manually. None of the samples within a 200-kilometer radius of Willendorf even remotely matched. The analysis finally showed that the samples from the Venus were statistically indistinguishable from samples from a location in northern Italy near Lake Garda. This is remarkable because it means that the Venus (or at least its material) started a journey from south of the Alps to the Danube north of the Alps.</p><p>\"People in the Gravettian -- the tool culture of the time -- looked for and inhabited favourable locations. When the climate or the prey situation changed, they moved on, preferably along rivers,\" explains Gerhard Weber. Such a journey could have taken generations.</p><p>One of the two possible routes from the south to the north would lead around the Alps and into the Pannonian Plain and was described in simulations by other researchers a few years ago. The other way to get from Lake Garda to the Wachau would be via the Alps. Whether this was possible more than 30,000 years ago is unclear due to the climate deterioration that began at that time. This would be a rather improbable variant if there had already been continuous glaciers at that time. However, the 730 km long path along the Etsch, the Inn and the Danube had always been below 1,000 meters above sea level, with the exception of 35 kilometres at Lake Reschen.</p><p><strong>Possible, but less likely, connection to eastern Ukraine</strong></p><p>The statistics clearly point to northern Italy as the origin of the Venus oolite. Nevertheless, there is another interesting place for the origin of the rock. It is in eastern Ukraine, more than 1,600 kilometres linear distance from Willendorf. The samples there do not fit as clearly as those from Italy, but better than all the rest of the sample. An interesting connection here: Venus figures were found in nearby southern Russia, which are somewhat younger, but look very similar to the Venus found in Austria. Genetic results also show that people in Central and Eastern Europe were connected to one another at this time.</p><p>The exciting story of the Lower Austrian Venus could be continued. Only a few systematic studies have so far dealt with the existence of early humans in this time frame in the Alpine region, and with their mobility. The famous \"Ötzi,\" for example, only comes into play much later, namely 5,300 years ago. \"We want to use these Venus results and our new Vienna research network \"Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences,\" in cooperation with anthropology, archaeology and other disciplines, to further clarify early history in the Alpine region,\" concludes Weber.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-02-28 22:00:04.416295','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Vienna','The almost 11 cm high figurine from Willendorf is one of the most important examples of early art in Europe. It is made of a rock called \'oolite\' which is not found in or around Willendorf. Anthropologist, geologists and prehistorians have now found out, with the help of high-resolution tomographic images, that the material from which the Venus was carved likely comes from northern Italy. This sheds new light on the remarkable mobility of the first modern humans south and north of the Alps.',1,85,'<li>Gerhard W. Weber, Alexander Lukeneder, Mathias Harzhauser, Philipp Mitteroecker, Lisa Wurm, Lisa-Maria Hollaus, Sarah Kainz, Fabian Haack, Walpurga Antl-Weiser, Anton Kern. <strong>The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf</strong>. <em>Scientific Reports</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06799-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41598-022-06799-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(135,'Gas flares tied to premature deaths','gas-flares-tied-to-premature-deaths','2022-02-28 17:32:09.828470','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Newly published research by Rice University environmental engineers suggests flaring of natural gas from oil and gas fields in the United States, primarily in North Dakota and Texas, contributed to dozens of premature deaths in 2019.</p><p>Satellite observations and computer models can link gas flares to air pollution and health, according to Daniel Cohan of Rice\'s George R. Brown School of Engineering and his colleagues, who published their findings in the journal <em>Atmosphere</em>.</p><p>Oil and gas producers flare excess gas when infrastructure to bring it to market is unavailable. While flaring reduces the direct venting of the powerful greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere, it also produces black carbon particles, also known as soot or particulate matter. These particles, smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, can impair lung function and cause respiratory disease, heart disease and strokes.</p><p>The Rice team partnered with researchers from the Clean Air Task Force to produce calculations, based on infrared satellite observations of oil fields where 97% of flaring takes place, showing that the United States emitted nearly 16,000 tons of black carbon in 2019. The researchers used computationally efficient reduced-form models to estimate that 26-53 premature deaths were directly attributable to air quality associated with flares.</p><p>\"Our research shows that flaring not only wastes a valuable fuel but is deadly, too,\" said Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, who led the study with first-year graduate student Chen Chen. \"Particulate matter causes more deaths than all other air pollutants combined, and flares are an important source of it.\"</p><p>Flares aren\'t the only source of particulate matter in the atmosphere. Particles are also produced whenever fossil fuels are burned, including by vehicles, and by wildfires, cooking meat and other sources.</p><p>The researchers\' models accounted for the fact that the heat content of the burning fuel varies widely across oil and gas fields and has a strong impact on black carbon emissions.</p><p>\"For this study, we used 10 different emission factors for flares, and using the reduced-form models made the calculations super-fast,\" Chen said. \"Other studies show a good relationship between full and reduced-form models, so we\'re confident in our results.\"</p><p>Cohan said black carbon emissions also contribute to climate change by absorbing solar radiation in the atmosphere, influencing the formation of clouds and accelerating snow and ice melt, though all of those consequences were beyond the scope of their study.</p><p>The researchers noted there are cost-effective technological alternatives to flaring, including gas-gathering pipelines, small-scale gas utilization and reinjecting excess back into the ground. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering regulations to reduce both methane emissions and associated gas flaring, there are currently no federal limits to the widespread practice of flaring, they wrote.</p><p>\"We initially didn\'t think about publishing a peer-reviewed paper,\" Chen said. \"We were asked by the Clean Air Task Force to estimate these health impacts to support their advocacy to reduce harmful pollution from oil and gas production. But because the clearly shows dozens of deaths per year due to flaring, we thought a paper would provide regulators with new angles to consider in their efforts to minimize the impacts of oil and gas air pollution.\"</p><p>Co-authors are senior scientist David McCabe and senior analyst Lesley Fleischman of the Clean Air Task Force.</p>','2022-02-28 22:43:19.065326','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Rice University','Engineers suggest that flaring of natural gas at oil and gas fields in the United States, primarily in North Dakota and Texas, contributed to dozens of premature deaths in 2019.',1,86,'<li>Chen Chen, David C. McCabe, Lesley E. Fleischman, Daniel S. Cohan. <strong>Black Carbon Emissions and Associated Health Impacts of Gas Flaring in the United States</strong>. <em>Atmosphere</em>, 2022; 13 (3): 385 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030385\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3390/atmos13030385</a>\r\n</li>'),(136,'Separator key when it comes to \'stable\' vs. \'safe\' battery','separator-key-when-it-comes-to-stable-vs-safe-battery','2022-02-28 17:33:03.575417','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Research from the lab of Peng Bai, assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, recently revealed the formula for building a perfectly stable sodium electrode. The team has now discovered the formula for a perfectly stable and safe electrode.</p><p>The research was published last month in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.</p><p>Stability in an electrode is key to a well-performing battery. Instability is caused by irregular distribution of metal ions as they move from the cathode to the anode. The more uniformly the ions move, the smoother the outgrowth of metal deposits. This results in a longer-lasting battery and, importantly, a battery that is less likely to short and create a hazardous situation.</p><p>\"Does absolute stability guarantee absolute safety?\" Bai asked. It does not, especially during the fast charging. Bai and Bingyuan Ma, a postgraduate research associate, determined why.</p><p>The short answer: A critical component that has been left out in laboratory experiments is more important than previously thought. A perfectly safe battery that can undergo fast recharging requires cooperation from the separator.</p><p>When researchers observe the changes of metal anodes in real-time during battery fast charging, they do it in a lab setup that leaves out the separator, which is a crucial part of the battery. This porous divider separates the anode side from the cathode side of a battery. It turns out that the separator plays an outsized role in how safe a battery is, no matter the stability of its electrode.</p><p>\"We found that safety depends on the pore size of the separator,\" Bai said. Battery separators are porous in order to hold liquid electrolytes for metal ions to move, but some have bigger pores than others. \"The lower the pore size, the lower the chance of localized pore selection by the growing metal deposits.\"</p><p>That means that as the electrode moves toward the separator, if the pore sizes are small, there are fewer places the metal ions can penetrate. Instead of evenly spreading out, much of the current ends up in some naturally selected spots, which can lead to a battery short circuiting.</p><p>Bai and Ma have devised a mathematical model, called the Young-Laplace overpotential, that captures the dynamics of the physics inside an actual battery, which is now guiding Bai\'s lab to develop more stable and safer anode-free metal batteries.</p><p>\"We had already found a physical threshold for the ideal cases,\" Bai said. \"But the practical threshold is much lower. And it depends on the microstructure of the separator precisely following the mathematical model we developed.\"</p>','2022-02-28 22:43:28.851696','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Washington University in St. Louis','Researchers have discovered the key to making a stable, safe battery.',1,72,'<li>Bingyuan Ma, Peng Bai. <strong>Fast Charging Limits of Ideally Stable Metal Anodes in Liquid Electrolytes</strong>. <em>Advanced Energy Materials</em>, 2022; 2102967 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202102967\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/aenm.202102967</a>\r\n</li>'),(137,'New, nature-inspired concepts for turning CO2 into clean fuels','new-nature-inspired-concepts-for-turning-co-into-clean-fuels','2022-02-28 18:51:19.334361','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers have developed an efficient concept to turn carbon dioxide into clean, sustainable fuels, without any unwanted by-products or waste.</p><p>The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, have previously shown that biological catalysts, or enzymes, can produce fuels cleanly using renewable energy sources, but at low efficiency.</p><p>Their latest research has improved fuel production efficiency by 18 times in a laboratory setting, demonstrating that polluting carbon emissions can be turned into green fuels efficiently without any wasted energy. The results are reported in two related papers in <em>Nature Chemistry</em> and <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</p><p>Most methods for converting CO<sub>2</sub> into fuel also produce unwanted by-products such as hydrogen. Scientists can alter the chemical conditions to minimise hydrogen production, but this also reduces the performance for CO<sub>2</sub> conversion: so cleaner fuel can be produced, but at the cost of efficiency.</p><p>The Cambridge-developed proof of concept relies on enzymes isolated from bacteria to power the chemical reactions which convert CO<sub>2</sub> into fuel, a process called electrolysis. Enzymes are more efficient than other catalysts, such as gold, but they are highly sensitive to their local chemical environment. If the local environment isn\'t exactly right, the enzymes fall apart and the chemical reactions are slow.</p><p>The Cambridge researchers, working with a team from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal, have developed a method to improve the efficiency of electrolysis by fine-tuning the solution conditions to alter the local environment of the enzymes.</p><p>\"Enzymes have evolved over millions of years to be extremely efficient and selective, and they\'re great for fuel-production because there aren\'t any unwanted by-products,\" said Dr Esther Edwardes Moore from Cambridge\'s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, first author of the <em>PNAS</em> paper. \"However, enzyme sensitivity throws up a different set of challenges. Our method accounts for this sensitivity, so that the local environment is adjusted to match the enzyme\'s ideal working conditions.\"</p><p>The researchers used computational methods to design a system to improve the electrolysis of CO<sub>2</sub>. Using the enzyme-based system, the level of fuel production increased by 18 times compared to the current benchmark solution.</p><p>To improve the local environment further, the team showed how two enzymes can work together, one producing fuel and the other controlling the environment. They found that by adding another enzyme, it sped up the reactions, both increasing efficiency and reducing unwanted by-products.</p><p>\"We ended up with just the fuel we wanted, with no side-products and only marginal energy losses, producing clean fuels at maximum efficiency,\" said Dr Sam Cobb, first author of the <em>Nature Chemistry</em> paper. \"By taking our inspiration from biology, it will help us develop better synthetic catalyst systems, which is what we\'ll need if we\'re going to deploy CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis at a large scale.\"</p><p>\"Electrolysis has a big part to play in reducing carbon emissions,\" said Professor Erwin Reisner, who led the research. \"Instead of capturing and storing CO<sub>2</sub>, which is incredibly energy-intensive, we have demonstrated a new concept to capture carbon and make something useful from it in an energy-efficient way.\"</p><p>The researchers say that the secret to more efficient CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis lies in the catalysts. There have been big improvements in the development of synthetic catalysts in recent years, but they still fall short of the enzymes used in this work.</p><p>\"Once you manage to make better catalysts, many of the problems with CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis just disappear,\" said Cobb. \"We\'re showing the scientific community that once we can produce catalysts of the future, we\'ll be able to do away with many of the compromises currently being made, since what we learn from enzymes can be transferred to synthetic catalysts.\"</p><p>\"Once we designed the concept, the improvement in performance was startling,\" said Edwardes Moore. \"I was worried we\'d spend years trying to understand what was going on at the molecular level, but once we truly appreciated the influence of the local environment, it evolved really quickly.\"</p><p>\"In future we want to use what we have learned to tackle some challenging problems that the current state-of-the-art catalysts struggle with, such as using CO<sub>2</sub> straight from air as these are conditions where the properties of enzymes as ideal catalysts can really shine,\" said Cobb.</p><p>Erwin Reisner is a Fellow of St John\'s College, Cambridge. Sam Cobb is a Research Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. Esther Edwardes Moore completed her PhD with Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The research was supported in part by the European Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.</p>','2022-02-28 23:48:39.110650','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Cambridge','Researchers have developed an efficient concept to turn carbon dioxide into clean, sustainable fuels, without any unwanted by-products or waste.',1,87,'<li>Esther Edwardes Moore, Samuel J. Cobb, Ana Margarida Coito, Ana Rita Oliveira, Inês A. C. Pereira, Erwin Reisner. <strong>Understanding the local chemical environment of bioelectrocatalysis</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (4): e2114097119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2114097119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2114097119</a>\r\n</li>'),(138,'Snail competition leads to fewer parasites that cause schistosomiasis','snail-competition-leads-to-fewer-parasites-that-cause-schistosomiasis','2022-03-01 02:39:01.333871','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Schistosomiasis is a debilitating disease caused by a parasitic worm that develops in freshwater snails before infecting people. Knocking back snail populations with pesticides is one method to control the spread of the disease, also known as \"snail fever.\"</p><p>A new study led by Emory University, however, shows that schistosome transmission can actually be highest when freshwater snail populations are low. <em>The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> published the study, the first to demonstrate how the size of a freshwater snail population relates to its parasitic infection rate.</p><p>\"We\'ve shown that the more snails you have in a freshwater source, the less dangerous each individual snail is, in terms of the number of parasites they\'re releasing,\" says David Civitello, an Emory assistant professor of biology and lead author of the study. \"The incredible strength of our finding is that we\'ve demonstrated the effect both in the field, using natural transmission sites, and in an experimental context, through outdoor laboratory experiments.\"</p><p>The research carries important implications for policies aimed at reducing the transmission of schistosomiasis. Considered one of the most significant of the neglected tropical diseases, the parasites that cause schistosomiasis currently infect more than 200 million people.</p><p>\"Our results suggest that if you apply a heavy dose of pesticides to reduce a snail population, the infectivity of the remaining snails might actually skyrocket,\" Civitello says. \"It\'s basically impossible to kill every snail and so you set the stage for a rebound in infection risk. As the snail population begins to recover, our data tells us that this is a time with extremely high potential for transmission of the parasites to humans.\"</p><p>Previous laboratory experiments had found that when an individual freshwater snail infected with the parasite is well fed, it can generate as many as thousands more parasites per day compared to an underfed snail. In fact, an underfed infected snail may generate as few as a single parasite per day.</p><p>\"In general, when an animal needs to fight off an infection of some kind, it helps to have good nutrition to support the immune system,\" Civitello says. \"It appears to be the opposite case in these freshwater snails. When the snails are full of energy, it provides more nutrients for the parasites to steal from them and to reproduce.\"</p><p>Chronic infections of schistosomiasis cause considerable morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia. The disease cycles between humans and freshwater snails that live in water sources where people may bathe, wash their clothes and dishes and collect water for household use. Children, who like to play in water, are at especially high risk for infection.</p><p>When eggs of the parasitic worms hatch in water, the larvae burrow into snails. Once the larvae develop into free-swimming worms, they burrow back out of their snail hosts and return to the water. These swimming worms can then burrow into the skin of people who come into contact with the water.</p><p>Inside their human hosts, the worms enter blood vessels where they eat red blood cells for fuel as they mature into adults, pair up and mate. The female lays hundreds of thousands of eggs per day. Many of the eggs are excreted through feces and urine that re-enters water sources, continuing the cycle of infection. Some of the eggs, however, become lodged in the tissues and organs of their human hosts, leading to immune reactions and progressive damage to organs, such as the liver, the bladder, kidneys and the urogenital tract. One of the classic symptoms of a chronic infection is blood in the urine.</p><p>The prescription medication Praziquantel treats schistosomiasis but has limitations. \"One problem is that the drug kills the mature adult schistosomes in humans, but not schistosomes that are only five or six weeks old and still maturing,\" Civitello says.</p><p>And a follow-up drug treatment does not eliminate the infection in the environment.</p><p>\"There is growing recognition in recent years that effective control of freshwater snails is needed, along with treatment of people, in order to disrupt transmission of schistosomiasis,\" Civitello says. \"In many cases, however, snail control policies have not been updated for decades.\"</p><p>For the PNAS paper, the researchers wanted to test whether the effect of food intake seen on the infection rate of individual freshwater snails in a laboratory would scale up to a population in the wild. Their hypothesis was that the larger the snail population, the more the snails would have to compete for food resources, lowering their energy levels along with their infectivity rate.</p><p>They conducted field research in the Mwanza region of Tanzania where schistosomiasis is endemic, in collaboration with Tanzania\'s National Institute for Medical Research Mwanza Center. Running water is not accessible in villages in the area and many people use surface water ponds and hand-dug open wells that dot the clay-soil landscape.</p><p>The researchers found that snails collected from these water sources where the snail populations were dense were poorly infectious. In contrast, in the water sources where the snail population was low, their parasitic infection rate was high.</p><p>The outdoor laboratory experiments, conducted in collaboration with the University of South Florida, further showed how the growth of a snail population from low to high density creates a burst of infectivity among the population before competition once again forces the infectivity to subside.</p><p>\"Our results suggest that, if you treat water bodies infrequently with a pesticide to control snails, you are likely to soon get a rebound of the snail population with a higher infectivity rate, potentially creating a surge of transmission to people,\" Civitello. \"It may be better either to not apply a pesticide at all, or else to apply the pesticide more frequently to prevent the snails rebounding.\"</p><p>The Civitello lab plans to continue to collaborate with colleagues in Tanzania to gather more detailed data to help develop the most effective methods of freshwater snail control, for use in combination with other preventative methods for schistosomiasis.</p><p>\"It\'s important to unite the ecology of a pathogen with human disease interventions and control measures,\" Civitello says.</p><p>Co-authors of the PNAS include: Safair Kinung\'hi, Teckla Angelo, Moses Mahalila and Jenitha Charles (National Institute for Medical Research Mwanza Center); Jason Rohr (University of Notre Dame); Karena Nguyen, Rachel Hartman, Naima Starkloff and Lynda Bradley (Emory Department of Biology); Andres Manrique (University of Florida); Bryan Delius (Duquesne University); and Roger Nisbet (University of California, Santa Barbara).</p><p>The work was supported by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.</p>','2022-02-28 23:48:47.449708','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Emory University','A new study shows that schistosome transmission can actually be highest when freshwater snail populations are low. This study demonstrates how the size of a freshwater snail population relates to its parasitic infection rate.',1,88,'<li>David J. Civitello, Teckla Angelo, Karena H. Nguyen, Rachel B. Hartman, Naima C. Starkloff, Moses P. Mahalila, Jenitha Charles, Andres Manrique, Bryan K. Delius, L. M. Bradley, Roger M. Nisbet, Safari Kinung’hi, Jason R. Rohr. <strong>Transmission potential of human schistosomes can be driven by resource competition among snail intermediate hosts</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (6): e2116512119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116512119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2116512119</a>\r\n</li>'),(139,'Bark of neem tree may protect against coronavirus variants, study finds','bark-of-neem-tree-may-protect-against-coronavirus-variants-study-finds','2022-03-01 02:40:33.241474','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Extract from the bark of the Neem tree may help treat and reduce the spread of coronavirus, according to a new study led by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.</p><p>The study, reported recently in the journal <em>Virology</em>, shows that components of Neem bark may target a wide range of viral proteins, suggesting its potential as an antiviral agent against emerging variants of coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2).</p><p>The Neem tree, indigenous to India, has been used for thousands of years for its anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial and antiviral properties. The bark extract has helped treat malaria, stomach and intestinal ulcers, skin diseases and many other diseases.</p><p>\"The goal of this research is to develop a Neem-based medication that can reduce the risk of serious illness when someone is infected with coronaviruses,\" said study co-author Maria Nagel, MD, research professor in the department of neurology and ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.</p><p>\"We hope that scientists won\'t have to continuously develop new therapies every time a new SARS-CoV-2 variant emerges,\" she said. \"Just like how we take penicillin for strep throat, we envision taking the Neem-based drug for COVID, allowing us to resume our normal lives without fear of hospitalization and death.\"</p><p>The scientists investigated the impact of the bark extract against coronaviruses in their laboratories. In India, researchers tested it in animal models and showed that it had antiviral properties against coronavirus. Using computer modeling, the researchers predicted that Neem bark extract will bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at various locations, preventing virus entry to host cells.</p><p>At CU Anschutz, Nagel\'s lab tested the Neem bark extract in SARS-CoV-2 human lung cells. It proved as effective as a preventive drug for infection and also decreased virus replication and spread after infection.</p><p>\"The next step in our research is to identify the specific components in Neem bark extract that are antiviral. Because these components bind to various regions of SARS-CoV-2, we believe that it will be effective on emerging variants with spike mutations,\" said Nagel. \"We will then determine the formulation of dosage for an antiviral drug to treat coronavirus infections.\"</p><p>The scientists said this research could guide new antiviral therapeutic efforts to combat the ongoing pandemic, while holding out the promise for treating new coronavirus strains.</p>','2022-02-28 23:48:52.294334','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus','Extract from the bark of the Neem tree may help treat and reduce the spread of coronavirus, according to a new study. The research shows that components of Neem bark may target a wide range of viral proteins, suggesting its potential as an antiviral agent against emerging variants of coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2).',1,52,'<li>Lucky Sarkar, Lauren Oko, Soham Gupta, Andrew N. Bubak, Bishnu Das, Parna Gupta, Abass Alao Safiriyu, Chirag Singhal, Ujjwal Neogi, David Bloom, Arup Banerjee, Ravi Mahalingam, Randall J. Cohrs, Michael Koval, Kenneth S. Shindler, Debnath Pal, Maria Nagel, Jayasri Das Sarma. <strong>Azadirachta indica A. Juss bark extract and its Nimbin isomers restrict β-coronaviral infection and replication</strong>. <em>Virology</em>, 2022; 569: 13 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2022.01.002\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.virol.2022.01.002</a>\r\n</li>'),(140,'Spintronics: Innovative crystals for future computer electronics','spintronics-innovative-crystals-for-future-computer-electronics','2022-03-01 02:42:10.185877','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While modern computers are already very fast, they also consume vast amounts of electricity. For some years now a new technology has been much talked about, which although it is still in its infancy could one day revolutionise computer technology -- spintronics. The word is a portmanteau meaning \"spin\" and \"electronics,\" because with these components electrons no longer flow through computer chips, but the spin of the electrons serves as the information carrier. A team of researchers with staff from Goethe University Frankfurt has now identified materials that have surprisingly fast properties for spintronics. The results have been published in the specialist magazine \"<em>Nature Materials</em>.\"</p><p>\"You have to imagine the electron spins as if they were tiny magnetic needles which are attached to the atoms of a crystal lattice and which communicate with one another,\" says Cornelius Krellner, Professor for Experimental Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt. How these magnetic needles react with one another fundamentally depends on the properties of the material. To date ferromagnetic materials have been examined in spintronics above all; with these materials -- similarly to iron magnets -- the magnetic needles prefer to point in one direction. In recent years, however, the focus has been placed on so-called antiferromagnets to a greater degree, because these materials are said to allow for even faster and more efficient switchability than other spintronic materials.</p><p>With antiferromagnets the neighbouring magnetic needles always point in opposite directions. If an atomic magnetic needle is pushed in one direction, the neighbouring needle turns to face in the opposite direction. This in turn causes the next but one neighbour to point in the same direction as the first needle again. \"As this interplay takes place very quickly and with virtually no friction loss, it offers considerable potential for entirely new forms of electronic componentry,\" explains Krellner.</p><p>Above all crystals with atoms from the group of rare earths are regarded as interesting candidates for spintronics as these comparatively heavy atoms have strong magnetic moments -- chemists call the corresponding states of the electrons 4<em>f</em> orbitals. Among the rare-earth metals -- some of which are neither rare nor expensive -- are elements such as praseodymium and neodymium, which are also used in magnet technology. The research team has now studied seven materials with differing rare-earth atoms in total, from praseodymium to holmium.</p><p>The problem in the development of spintronic materials is that perfectly designed crystals are required for such components as the smallest discrepancies immediately have a negative impact on the overall magnetic order in the material. This is where the expertise in Frankfurt came into play. \"The rare earths melt at about 1000 degrees Celsius, but the rhodium that is also needed for the crystal does not melt until about 2000 degrees Celsius,\" says Krellner. \"This is why customary crystallisation methods do not function here.\"</p><p>Instead the scientists used hot indium as a solvent. The rare earths, as well as the rhodium and silicon that are required, dissolve in this at about 1500 degrees Celsius. The graphite crucible was kept at this temperature for about a week and then gently cooled. As a result the desired crystals grew in the form of thin disks with an edge length of two to three millimetres. These were then studied by the team with the aid of X-rays produced on the Berlin synchrotron BESSY II and on the Swiss Light Source of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland.</p><p>\"The most important finding is that in the crystals which we have grown the rare-earth atoms react magnetically with one another very quickly and that the strength of these reactions can be specifically adjusted through the choice of atoms,\" says Krellner. This opens up the path for further optimisation -- ultimately spintronics is still purely fundamental research and years away from the production of commercial components.</p><p>There are still a great many problems to be solved on the path to market maturity, however. Thus, the crystals -- which are produced in blazing heat -- only deliver convincing magnetic properties at temperatures of less than minus 170 degrees Celsius. \"We suspect that the operating temperatures can be raised significantly by adding iron atoms or similar elements,\" says Krellner. \"But it remains to be seen whether the magnetic properties are then just as positive.\" Thanks to the new results the researchers now have a better idea of where it makes sense to change parameters, however.</p>','2022-02-28 23:48:57.182125','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Goethe University Frankfurt','Computer chips and storage elements are expected to function as quickly as possible and be energy-saving at the same time. Innovative spintronic modules are at an advantage here thanks to their high speed and efficiency, as there is no lossy electrical current, rather the electrons couple with one another magnetically -- like a series of tiny magnetic needles which interact with almost no friction loss. A team of scientists has now found promising properties with crystals grown from rare-earth atoms, which offer hope on the long path towards usage as spintronic components.',1,61,'<li>Y. W. Windsor, S.-E. Lee, D. Zahn, V. Borisov, D. Thonig, K. Kliemt, A. Ernst, C. Schüßler-Langeheine, N. Pontius, U. Staub, C. Krellner, D. V. Vyalikh, O. Eriksson, L. Rettig. <strong>Exchange scaling of ultrafast angular momentum transfer in 4f antiferromagnets</strong>. <em>Nature Materials</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01206-4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41563-022-01206-4</a>\r\n</li>'),(141,'Cholesterol-lowering drugs may slow down metastases','cholesterol-lowering-drugs-may-slow-down-metastases','2022-03-01 02:43:19.650184','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Many people have to take statins to lower their cholesterol levels. But statins may be able to do even more: Researchers report that these drugs inhibit a gene that promotes cancer cell metastasis.</p><p>Cancer patients rarely die from the primary tumor but rather from the metastases -- even after successful tumor surgery. This is because cancer cells sometimes spread to other parts of body early in the disease, when the tumor is still very small and may not have even been discovered yet. To do this they must break away from the extracellular matrix and migrate into neighboring lymphatic vessels or blood vessels that transport them to new tissue, where they settle and proliferate.</p><p>Understanding the molecular mechanisms of metastasis is therefore a key piece of the puzzle in the fight against cancer. More than ten years ago, Professor Ulrike Stein and her lab at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) were able to discover an important driver of this process in human colorectal cancer: the metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) gene. The ECRC is a joint institution of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and Charité -- Universitätsmedizin Berlin.</p><p><strong>Drug screening identified statins</strong></p><p>When cancer cells express MACC1, their ability to proliferate, move around the body, and invade other tissues is enhanced. \"Many types of cancers spread only in patients with high MACC1 expression,\" Stein explains. MACC1\'s role as a key factor and biomarker of tumor growth and metastasis -- not only in colorectal cancer, but in more than 20 solid tumors such as gastric, liver and breast cancer -- has since been studied by many other researchers worldwide and confirmed in more than 300 publications. Now together with Dr. Robert Preißner of Charité, Stein has discovered what could disrupt metastatic progression in such cases: Statins, which are prescribed as cholesterol-lowering drugs, inhibit MACC1 expression in tumor cells. The scientists are presenting their findings in the journal <em>Clinical and Translational Medicine</em>.</p><p>In their search for MACC1 inhibitors, the researchers conducted high-throughput drug screening with colleagues at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. They independently hit upon statins. They tested this discovery on various tumor cell lines, with favorable results: All seven drugs tested reduced MACC1 expression in the cells but to varying degrees. The scientists then administered the cholesterol inhibitors to genetically modified mice with increased MACC1 expression. This almost completely suppressed the formation of tumors and metastases in the animals. \"What is particularly remarkable is that the benefits continued in the animals even after we reduced the dose relative to the amount that humans normally ingest,\" Stein says.</p><p><strong>Statins have one big advantage: they are already approved</strong></p><p>Robert Preißner and scientists at the University of Virginia also examined data from a total of 300,000 patients who had been prescribed statins. This analysis found a correlation: \"Patients taking statins had only half the incidence of cancer compared to the general population,\" Preißner explains.</p><p>Stein advises against taking statins as a preventive measure without consulting a doctor and having their lipid levels checked, so as to ensure no serious side effects occur. \"We are still at the very beginning,\" the scientist stresses. \"Cell lines and mice are not human beings, so we cannot directly transfer the results.\" The experimental studies and retrospective data analysis will now be followed up by a clinical trial, she says. Only after that will it be possible to say with certainty whether statins actually prevent or reduce metastasis in patients with high MACC1 expression.</p>','2022-02-28 23:49:00.659104','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association','Many people have to take statins to lower their cholesterol levels. But statins may be able to do even more: Researchers report that these drugs inhibit a gene that promotes cancer cell metastasis.',1,89,'<li>Bjoern‐O Gohlke, Fabian Zincke, Andreas Eckert, Dennis Kobelt, Saskia Preissner, Juliane Maria Liebeskind, Nikolas Gunkel, Kerstin Putzker, Joe Lewis, Sally Preissner, Benedikt Kortüm, Wolfgang Walther, Cameron Mura, Philip E. Bourne, Ulrike Stein, Robert Preissner. <strong>Real‐world evidence for preventive effects of statins on cancer incidence: A trans‐Atlantic analysis</strong>. <em>Clinical and Translational Medicine</em>, 2022; 12 (2) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.726\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/ctm2.726</a>\r\n</li>'),(142,'Healthy gut microbiome improves success of cancer treatment','healthy-gut-microbiome-improves-success-of-cancer-treatment','2022-03-01 02:44:35.303155','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The largest study to date has confirmed the link between the gut microbiome and the response to cancer immunotherapy therapy for melanoma.</p><p>The study is published today in <em>Nature Medicine</em> and co-ordinated by King\'s College London, CIBIO Department of the University of Trento and European Institute of Oncology in Italy, University of Groningen in the Netherlands and funded by the Seerave Foundation.</p><p>Dr Karla Lee, clinical researcher at King\'s College London and first author of the study, said: \"Preliminary studies on a limited number of patients have suggested that the gut microbiome, as an immune system regulator, plays a role in the response of each patient to cancer immunotherapy, and particularly in the case of melanoma. This new study could have a major impact on oncology and medicine in general.\"</p><p>The microbiome, the set of microorganisms that live in the intestines, can be altered through dietary changes, next generation probiotics and faecal transplantation. This change is in turn modifying the microbiome\'s action on the immune system. Understanding the characteristics of the microbiome can enable treating clinicians to alter a patient\'s microbiome accordingly before starting treatment. Less than 50% of patients respond positively to immunotherapy for melanoma so finding strategies to increase the number of positive responders is crucial.</p><p>The study put together the largest cohort of patients with melanoma and samples of their gut microbiome from five clinical centres in the UK, the Netherland and Spain. Researchers carried out a large-scale metagenomic study -- sequencing of the gut microbiome -- to investigate whether there is an association between the composition and function of the gut microbiome and response to immunotherapy.</p><p>Results confirmed a complex association as it involves different bacterial species in different patient cohorts. The presence of three types of bacteria (<em>Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum</em>, <em>Roseburia</em> spp. and <em>Akkermansia muciniphila</em>) seem to be associated with a better immune response. An additional finding was that the microbiome itself is strongly influenced by factors including patient constitution, use of proton pump inhibitors and diet that should be considered in future longitudinal studies.</p><p>Co-author Professor Tim Spector from King\'s College London said: \"This study shows the chances of survival based on healthy microbes nearly doubled between subgroups. The ultimate goal is to identify which specific features of the microbiome are directly influencing the clinical benefits of immunotherapy to exploit these features in new personalised approaches to support cancer immunotherapy. But in the meantime, this study highlights the potential impact of good diet and gut health on chances of survival in patients undergoing immunotherapy.\"</p><p>Co-author Professor Nicola Segata from University of Trento said: \"Our study shows that studying the microbiome is important to improve and personalise immunotherapy treatments for melanoma. However, it also suggests that because of the person-to-person variability of the gut microbiome, even larger studies must be carried out to understand the specific gut microbial features that are more likely to lead to a positive response to immunotherapy.\"</p>','2022-02-28 23:49:20.304557','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'King\'s College London','The largest study to date has confirmed the link between the gut microbiome and the response to cancer immunotherapy therapy for melanoma.',1,90,'<li>Karla A. Lee, Andrew Maltez Thomas, Laura A. Bolte, Johannes R. Björk, Laura Kist de Ruijter, Federica Armanini, Francesco Asnicar, Aitor Blanco-Miguez, Ruth Board, Neus Calbet-Llopart, Lisa Derosa, Nathalie Dhomen, Kelly Brooks, Mark Harland, Mark Harries, Emily R. Leeming, Paul Lorigan, Paolo Manghi, Richard Marais, Julia Newton-Bishop, Luigi Nezi, Federica Pinto, Miriam Potrony, Susana Puig, Patricio Serra-Bellver, Heather M. Shaw, Sabrina Tamburini, Sara Valpione, Amrita Vijay, Levi Waldron, Laurence Zitvogel, Moreno Zolfo, Elisabeth G. E. de Vries, Paul Nathan, Rudolf S. N. Fehrmann, Véronique Bataille, Geke A. P. Hospers, Tim D. Spector, Rinse K. Weersma, Nicola Segata. <strong>Cross-cohort gut microbiome associations with immune checkpoint inhibitor response in advanced melanoma</strong>. <em>Nature Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01695-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41591-022-01695-5</a>\r\n</li>'),(143,'How a two-faced molecule can silence problematic genes','how-a-two-faced-molecule-can-silence-problematic-genes','2022-03-01 02:45:56.029475','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">T and B lymphocytes, which are part of a group of immune cells commonly called white blood cells, work together to eliminate foreign invaders in the body such as viruses. However, certain diseases can arise when T and B cells are activated at inappropriate times, including autoimmune disorders and various cancers. In a recent article published in <em>Nature Communications</em>, a team led by researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) describe a technology called a heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO) that they developed to deliver to lymphocytes and regulate their functions.</p><p>Gene expression is at the root of controlling cellular activity. Disease can result when certain genes are either improperly turned off or are uncontrollably expressed. Therefore, scientists have aimed to develop therapeutic methods to restore gene expression levels to their healthy state, ideally only in the abnormal cells. One such modality is delivering specifically engineered DNA or RNA molecules that can locate the misexpressed gene messages and direct the cell to lower them back to normal levels. However, the most difficult part of this is ensuring the therapeutic molecules can efficiently reach their proper destination without being degraded by the cell.</p><p>\"Our team designed a DNA/RNA hybrid molecule called an HDO,\" says lead author of the study Masaki Ohyagi. \"The specific sequence of the HDO can be altered to target a particular gene of interest, while its backbone makes it stable within cells.\"</p><p>A key part of the team\'s HDO design is the addition of a molecule called α-tocopherol, which is crucial to its proper delivery. Because α-tocopherol is essential for proper lymphocytic immune responses, adding this allows the HDO to be delivered within peripheral blood and directed to lymphocytes. The team designed HDOs for several mouse genes and then intravenously injected them into lab mice.</p><p>\"We found that our HDO technology was able to specifically silence these genes in mouse lymphocytes more robustly and stably, and also with less toxicity, than other previous versions of this method,\" states Takanori Yokota, senior author of the article. \"Our studies also showed that the HDOs enter these cells through a process called endocytosis.\"</p><p>After finding that their technology was effective at gene silencing, the TMDU team investigated if it could be useful as a disease treatment. They designed an HDO targeting a gene called <em>Itga4</em>, which is central to the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model for multiple sclerosis (MS).</p><p>\"Intravenously injecting these mice with an <em>Itga4</em>-targeting HDO delayed the onset and improved EAE symptoms and reduced both inflammatory cell infiltration and spinal cord demyelination,\" explains Ohyagi.</p><p>This work demonstrates the powerful gene silencing effects of the HDO technology, as well as its superior delivery capabilities relative to other similar methods. Most significantly, the <em>Itga4</em>-specific HDO was able to improve outcomes in an MS mouse model, suggesting it may be useful as a novel therapeutic that could be developed for human immune-mediated diseases.</p>','2022-02-28 23:49:22.954181','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Tokyo Medical and Dental University','Researchers have developed a technology, heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO), that silences certain genes whose high expression levels fuel disease. Adding a specific molecular tag allowed them to target the HDO to immune cells called lymphocytes safely and efficiently. Doing so with an HDO specific to a gene called Itga4 improved symptoms in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, suggesting this technology may be developed to use in human immune disorders.',1,91,'<li>Masaki Ohyagi, Tetsuya Nagata, Kensuke Ihara, Kie Yoshida-Tanaka, Rieko Nishi, Haruka Miyata, Aya Abe, Yo Mabuchi, Chihiro Akazawa, Takanori Yokota. <strong>DNA/RNA heteroduplex oligonucleotide technology for regulating lymphocytes in vivo</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26902-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-021-26902-8</a>\r\n</li>'),(144,'Clues to better batteries emerge from tracking lithium','clues-to-better-batteries-emerge-from-tracking-lithium','2022-03-01 02:46:42.754270','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Pure lithium metal is a promising replacement for the graphite-based anodes currently used in electric vehicle batteries. It could tremendously reduce battery weights and dramatically extend the driving range of electric vehicles relative to existing technologies. But before lithium metal batteries can be used in cars, scientists must first figure out how to extend their lifetimes.</p><p>A new study led by Peter Khalifah -- a chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy\'s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University -- tracked lithium metal deposition and removal from a battery anode while it was cycling to find clues as to how failure occurs. The work is published in a special issue of the <em>Journal of the Electrochemical Society</em> honoring the contributions of Nobel Prize-winning battery researcher John Goodenough, who like Khalifah is a member of the Battery 500 Consortium research team.</p><p>\"In a good battery, the rate of lithium plating (deposition) and stripping (removal) will be the same at all positions on the surface of electrodes,\" Khalifah said. \"Our results show that it\'s harder to remove lithium at certain places, which means there are problems there. By identifying the cause of the problems, we can figure out how to get rid of them and make better batteries with higher capacities and longer lifetimes.\"</p><p>Khalifah and his collaborators conducted the study using intense x-rays at the Advanced Photon Source, a DOE Office of Science user facility at DOE\'s Argonne National Laboratory. They tracked lithium as it shuttled from cathode to anode and back during one complete charge and discharge cycle.</p><p>\"The x-rays can see right through the battery and allow us to make many measurements very quickly to track what happens as the battery changes,\" Khalifah said. \"To the best of our knowledge, no one has ever been able to use x-rays to map lithium shuttling while it happens.\"</p><p>One challenge: Lithium atoms are difficult to see using x-rays. The weak signal from the small number of lithium atoms that move between the cathode and anode can easily get obscured by stronger signals emitted by other materials that make up the battery -- including the signal that would come from the large amount of lithium on a pure lithium metal anode.</p><p>To address that challenge, Khalifah\'s team designed a battery cell using a \"bare\" anode -- at least bare with respect to the presence of pre-existing lithium. This makes the signal of the shuttling lithium ions easier to measure. They then did a study comparing two different anode materials -- copper and molybdenum -- on which lithium ions were deposited as pure lithium metal after being extracted from the cathode material during operation of these batteries. This allowed the researchers to follow how uniformly lithium metal was added to and removed from anode surfaces. Comparing this process using copper and molybdenum anodes also offered an opportunity to identify differences between these two metals that might prove fruitful in designing improved batteries. Using this setup, the team mapped out how much lithium was present across the electrode while the cell was maintained at various stages of charge and discharge.</p><p>It took about an hour to collect maps with hundreds of data points. That mapping data could be used to identify changes that had occurred as a result of charging and discharging the battery, but the process of data collection was too slow to be useful for following the changes as they occurred. So, to track changes as they happened, the scientists used a more rapid data collection procedure to scan a small subset of 10 pixel-specific locations over and over again during battery cycling.</p><p>\"We made the maps while the battery was in a resting state, starting at zero capacity, then took pixel measurements as we charged to half capacity. Then we stopped charging and made another map, then resumed pixel-specific measurements while charging to full capacity. We then discharged the cell while continuing to alternate mapping and pixel scans, stopping to collect maps at half discharge and full discharge,\" Khalifah explained.</p><p><strong>Results reveal variations</strong></p><p>For the copper anode, all the points behaved as they should during charging: half the lithium capacity was deposited on the anode up to the half-charged state, and all possible lithium was deposited by the full charge state.</p><p>On discharge, large differences developed between pixels. In some pixels, the lithium was removed proportional to the discharge (half the lithium was stripped by the half discharge state, and all was gone by full discharge). Other pixels showed a lag in lithium removal, where stripping was slow during the first half of discharge, then sped up to complete the process by full discharge. In still other spots the lagging was so severe that most of the lithium remained on the anode even when the battery had been fully discharged.</p><p>\"If the lithium is left behind, that reduces the capacity of the cell,\" Khalifah said. \"Each lithium atom left behind means one less electron flowing through the external circuit powered by the battery. You can\'t extract all the capacity of the cell.\"</p><p>The finding that these irregularities arose due to incomplete stripping of lithium was somewhat surprising. Prior to this study, many scientists had believed that lithium plating was the source of the worst problems in lithium metal batteries.</p><p>\"In general, one expects it is more difficult to deposit lithium metal as the atoms have to be organized in the specific arrangement of the crystal structure of this metal,\" Khalifah explained. \"Removing lithium should be easier because any atom on the surface can be taken away without having to follow any specific pattern. Furthermore, if lithium is added more quickly than the atoms can be deposited homogenously across the surface, the growth tends to occur in the form of needle-like dendrites that can cause electrical shorts (and potentially fires) in the battery.\"</p><p>The molybdenum anode showed a bit more variation during plating than copper, but less variation during stripping.</p><p>\"Since the lithium behavior was better during the stripping step that caused the most overall irregularities in the anode, it implies that batteries using molybdenum foil substrates instead of copper substrates might yield higher capacity batteries,\" Khalifah said.</p><p>However, it is not yet clear if the choice of metal is responsible for the better performance of the molybdenum anode. Another factor could be the distribution of electrolyte -- the liquid through which the lithium ions travel as they shuttle back and forth between anode and cathode.</p><p>The mapping data showed that the regions of poor performance occurred in spots that were about five millimeters across. The size and shape of those spots and comparisons with other experiments suggest that poor spreading of the liquid electrolyte throughout the battery cell might be responsible for the local loss of capacity in those regions. If this is the case, Khalifah said, then the performance of the battery can likely be improved by finding a better method for distributing the electrolyte across the cathode.</p><p>\"Follow-up experiments aimed at distinguishing between metal and solvent effects, and for testing the effectiveness of strategies for mitigating potential problems such as electrolyte inhomogeneity, will help advance the broader goal of developing high-capacity lithium metal anode batteries with long lifetimes,\" Khalifah said.</p>','2022-03-01 01:01:27.867031','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory','A new study tracked lithium metal deposition and removal from a battery anode while it was cycling to find clues as to how failure occurs. The research could help improve the use of pure lithium metal in anodes for electric vehicle batteries, which would reduce battery weights and dramatically extend driving range.',1,72,'<li>Monty R. Cosby, Gia M. Carignan, Zhuo Li, Corey M. Efaw, Charles C. Dickerson, Liang Yin, Yang Ren, Bin Li, Eric J. Dufek, Peter G. Khalifah. <strong>Operando Synchrotron Studies of Inhomogeneity during Anode-Free Plating of Li Metal in Pouch Cell Batteries</strong>. <em>Journal of The Electrochemical Society</em>, 2022; 169 (2): 020571 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac5345\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1149/1945-7111/ac5345</a>\r\n</li>'),(145,'New data analysis tool uncovers important COVID-19 clues','new-data-analysis-tool-uncovers-important-covid-19-clues','2022-03-01 03:28:57.218823','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new data analysis tool developed by Yale researchers has revealed the specific immune cell types associated with increased risk of death from COVID-19, they report Feb. 28 in the journal <em>Nature Biotechnology.</em></p><p>Immune system cells such as T cells and antibody-producing B cells are known to provide broad protection against pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. And large-scale data analyses of millions of cells have given scientists a broad overview of the immune system response to this particular virus. However, they have also found that some immune cell responses -- including by cell types that are usually protective -- can occasionally trigger deadly inflammation and death in patients.</p><p>Other data analysis tools that allow for examination down to the level of single cells have given scientists some clues about culprits in severe COVID cases. But such focused views often lack the context of particular cell groupings that might cause better or poorer outcomes.</p><p>The Multiscale PHATE tool, a machine learning tool developed at Yale, allows researchers to pass through all resolutions of data, from millions of cells to a single cell, within minutes. The technology builds on an algorithm called PHATE, created in the lab of Smita Krishnaswamy, associate professor of genetics and computer science, which overcomes many of the shortcomings of existing data visualization tools.</p><p>\"Machine learning algorithms typically focus on a single resolution view of the data, ignoring information that can be found in other more focused views,\" said Manik Kuchroo, a doctoral candidate at Yale School of Medicine who helped develop the technology and is co-lead author of the paper. \"For this reason, we created Multiscale PHATE which allows users to zoom in and focus on specific subsets of their data to perform more detailed analysis.\"</p><p>Kuchroo, who works in Krishnaswamy\'s lab, used the new tool to analyze 55 million blood cells taken from 163 patients admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital with severe cases of COVID-19. Looking broadly, they found that high levels T cells seem to be protective against poor outcomes while high levels of two white blood cell types known as granulocytes and monocytes were associated with higher levels of mortality.</p><p>However, when the researchers drilled down to a more granular level they discovered that TH17, a helper T cell, was also associated with higher mortality when clustered with the immune system cells IL-17 and IFNG.</p><p>By measuring quantities of these cells in the blood, they could predict whether the patient lived or died with 83% accuracy, the researchers report.</p><p>\"We were able to rank order risk factors of mortality to show which are the most dangerous,\" Krishnaswamy said.</p><p>In theory, the new data analytical tool could be used to fine tune risk assessment in a host of diseases, she said.</p><p>Jessie Huang in the Yale Department of Computer Science and Patrick Wong in the Department of Immunobiology are co-lead authors of the paper. Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology, is co-corresponding author.</p>','2022-03-01 08:48:36.683820','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Yale University','A new data analysis tool has revealed the specific immune cell types associated with increased risk of death from COVID-19.',1,91,'<li>Manik Kuchroo, Jessie Huang, Patrick Wong, Jean-Christophe Grenier, Dennis Shung, Alexander Tong, Carolina Lucas, Jon Klein, Daniel B. Burkhardt, Scott Gigante, Abhinav Godavarthi, Bastian Rieck, Benjamin Israelow, Michael Simonov, Tianyang Mao, Ji Eun Oh, Julio Silva, Takehiro Takahashi, Camila D. Odio, Arnau Casanovas-Massana, John Fournier, Abeer Obaid, Adam Moore, Alice Lu-Culligan, Allison Nelson, Anderson Brito, Angela Nunez, Anjelica Martin, Anne L. Wyllie, Annie Watkins, Annsea Park, Arvind Venkataraman, Bertie Geng, Chaney Kalinich, Chantal B. F. Vogels, Christina Harden, Codruta Todeasa, Cole Jensen, Daniel Kim, David McDonald, Denise Shepard, Edward Courchaine, Elizabeth B. White, Eric Song, Erin Silva, Eriko Kudo, Giuseppe DeIuliis, Haowei Wang, Harold Rahming, Hong-Jai Park, Irene Matos, Isabel M. Ott, Jessica Nouws, Jordan Valdez, Joseph Fauver, Joseph Lim, Kadi-Ann Rose, Kelly Anastasio, Kristina Brower, Laura Glick, Lokesh Sharma, Lorenzo Sewanan, Lynda Knaggs, Maksym Minasyan, Maria Batsu, Maria Tokuyama, M. Cate Muenker, Mary Petrone, Maxine Kuang, Maura Nakahata, Melissa Campbell, Melissa Linehan, Michael H. Askenase, Michael Simonov, Mikhail Smolgovsky, Nathan D. Grubaugh, Nicole Sonnert, Nida Naushad, Pavithra Vijayakumar, Peiwen Lu, Rebecca Earnest, Rick Martinello, Roy Herbst, Rupak Datta, Ryan Handoko, Santos Bermejo, Sarah Lapidus, Sarah Prophet, Sean Bickerton, Sofia Velazquez, Subhasis Mohanty, Tara Alpert, Tyler Rice, Wade Schulz, William Khoury-Hanold, Xiaohua Peng, Yexin Yang, Yiyun Cao, Yvette Strong, Shelli Farhadian, Charles S. Dela Cruz, Albert I. Ko, Matthew J. Hirn, F. Perry Wilson, Julie G. Hussin, Guy Wolf, Akiko Iwasaki, Smita Krishnaswamy. <strong>Multiscale PHATE identifies multimodal signatures of COVID-19</strong>. <em>Nature Biotechnology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01186-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41587-021-01186-x</a>\r\n</li>'),(147,'Freshwater from thin air','freshwater-from-thin-air','2022-03-01 03:29:43.991617','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Hydrogels have an astonishing ability to swell and take on water. In daily life, they are used in dressings, nappies, and more to lock moisture away. A team of researchers has now found another use: quickly extracting large amounts of freshwater from air using a specially developed hydrogel containing a hygroscopic salt. The study, published in the journal <em>Angewandte Chemie</em>, shows that the salt enhances the moisture uptake of the gel, making it suitable for water harvesting in dry regions.</p><p>Hydrogels can absorb and store many times their weight in water. In so doing, the underlying polymer swells considerably by incorporating water. However, to date, use of this property to produce freshwater from atmospheric water has not been feasible, since collecting moisture from the air is still too slow and inefficient.</p><p>On the other hand, moisture absorption could be enhanced by adding hygroscopic salts that can rapidly remove large amounts of moisture from the air. However, hygroscopic salts and hydrogels are usually not compatible, as a large amount of salt influences the swelling capability of the hydrogel and thus degrades its properties. In addition, the salt ions are not tightly coordinated within the gel and are easily washed away.</p><p>The materials scientist Guihua Yu and his team at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, have now overcome these issues by developing a particularly \"salt-friendly\" hydrogel. As their study shows, this gel gains the ability to absorb and retain water when combined with a hygroscopic salt. Using their hydrogel, the team were able to extract almost six liters of pure water per kilo of material in 24 hours, from air with 30% relative humidity.</p><p>The basis for the new hydrogel was a polymer constructed from zwitterionic molecules. Polyzwitterions carry both positive and negative charged functional groups, which helped the polymer to become more responsive to the salt in this case. Initially, the molecular strands in the polymer were tightly intermingled, but when the researchers added the lithium chloride salt, the strands relaxed and a porous, spongy hydrogel was formed. This hydrogel loaded with the hygroscopic salt was able to incorporate water molecules quickly and easily.</p><p>In fact, water incorporation was so quick and easy that the team were able to set up a cyclical system for continuous water separation. They left the hydrogel for an hour each time to absorb atmospheric moisture, then dried the gel in a condenser to collect the condensed water. They repeated this procedure multiple times without it resulting in any substantial loss of the amount of water absorbed, condensed, or collected.</p><p>Yu and the team say that the as-prepared hydrogel \"should be optimal for efficient moisture harvesting for the potential daily water yield.\" They add that polyzwitterionic hydrogels could play a fundamental role in the future for recovering atmospheric water in arid, drought-stricken regions.</p>','2022-03-01 08:48:49.489640','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Wiley','Hydrogels have an astonishing ability to swell and take on water. In daily life, they are used in dressings, nappies, and more to lock moisture away. A team of researchers has now found another use: quickly extracting large amounts of freshwater from air using a specially developed hydrogel containing a hygroscopic salt. The study shows that the salt enhances the moisture uptake of the gel, making it suitable for water harvesting in dry regions.',1,88,'<li>Chuxin Lei, Youhong Guo, Weixin Guan, Hengyi Lu, Wen Shi, Guihua Yu. <strong>Polyzwitterionic Hydrogels for Efficient Atmospheric Water Harvesting</strong>. <em>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202200271\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/anie.202200271</a>\r\n</li>'),(149,'Suspending syringe services programs will result in an increase of HIV infections','suspending-syringe-services-programs-will-result-in-an-increase-of-hiv-infections','2022-03-01 03:37:39.291177','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Syringe services programs -- sites where people who use drugs can access sterile syringes and dispose of injection equipment -- often face political backlash. But a new study shows the effectiveness of these programs in both curbing HIV transmission among people who use drugs and preventing future outbreaks.</p><p>In a rural American setting that had previously experienced one of the largest HIV outbreaks among people who use drugs, a simulation suggested that closing the existing syringe services programs would likely lead to a rebound HIV outbreak, with an almost 60% increase in infections among people who use drugs in five years.</p><p>Even closing the program temporarily would lead to an increase in cases of HIV, the study showed.</p><p>\"Our work shows that shutting down syringe services programs has immediate and detrimental impacts on people who use drugs and the broader community,\" said senior author Brandon Marshall, an associate professor of epidemiology at Brown University. \"We should be expanding access and increasing sustainable funding to these programs to prevent future outbreaks.\"</p><p>The analysis, published in the journal <em>AIDS</em>, presents the first study to the researchers\' knowledge to quantitatively examine the impact of syringe services program closure on HIV incidence.</p><p>Syringe services programs are community-based prevention programs that provide services such as referrals to substance use disorder treatment, access to and disposal of sterile syringes and injection equipment, and vaccination, testing and connections to care for infectious diseases. They\'re effective in curbing the transmission of HIV -- as long as they remain in operation, the researchers said.</p><p>In 2015, Scott County, Indiana, experienced one of the largest outbreaks in the U.S. of HIV among people who use drugs: Out of fewer than 24,000 residents, 181 people were diagnosed with HIV infection, corresponding to an incidence rate over 50 times the national average.</p><p>In response, the county implemented a syringe services program that had to be renewed every two years. As the two-year deadline approached and the Scott County commissioners voted to end the program, researchers from Brown, in collaboration with scientists from Boston University, Yale University, New York University and Simon Fraser University in Canada, set up a simulation modeling study to estimate the impact of the program closure.</p><p>The team created a model to simulate HIV risk behaviors and transmission in adults in Scott County who inject drugs as well as those who do not. They projected HIV incidence and prevalence between 2020 and 2025 for four scenarios: persistent program operation (no pause; no closure); permanent closure; delayed closure (after two years); and temporary closure (for 12 months).</p><p>According to lead study author Xiao Zang, a postdoctoral research associate in epidemiology at Brown, the idea underlying the model was to replicate the epidemic in Scott County, including the number of people participating in the syringe services program and the benefits they received.</p><p>The researchers worked with the Scott County Department of Health to obtain local data for the program, and also used behavioral data to find estimates of how often people who inject drugs share injections. To make sure the model was accurately replicating reality, Zang said that the team made substantial efforts to calibrate their model against local surveillance data from the Indiana State Department of Health, which reports the number of new HIV diagnoses each year as well as mortality among people with HIV.</p><p>The analysis found that compared to sustained operation, permanently closing the syringe services program would result in an average increase of 63.5 HIV infections over a five-year period, an increase of 58.4%. Among people who inject drugs, suspending the program permanently would result in an average of 60.2 more infections (an increase of 161%), growing the existing high level of prevalence (48% in 2019 based on model estimates) to even higher at 60.8%.</p><p>If the program closure was delayed by two years, the researchers estimated 42.4 additional HIV infections (a 38.9% increase) compared with sustaining operation. In the model of temporary closure for one year (April 2020 to March 2021), they estimated an average of 11.6 (35.3%) more infections during 2020-2021.</p><p>\"Our analysis shows that even a short-term service disruption may cause a spike in HIV incidence,\" Zang said.</p><p>The implications of the research can be generalized to other rural counties across the U.S., Zang said, especially those identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as vulnerable to rapid HIV transmission. Zang added that this type of simulation can help communities make health policy decisions in the absence of timely data.</p><p>\"This simulation model provides another way of examining and evaluating health policy impact of interventions in the real world,\" Zang said. \"We hope that these results will help decision-makers understand the devastating impact that closing a center will have on the community.\"</p><p>Additional Brown researchers who contributed to this study include Williams C. Goedel, S.E. Bessey and Mark Lurie. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers DP2DA040236 and R25MH083620).</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-01 08:48:55.645851','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Brown University','A new study shows the effectiveness of syringe services programs in both curbing HIV transmission among people who use drugs and preventing future outbreaks.',1,88,'<li>Xiao Zang, Williams C. Goedel, S.E. Bessey, Mark N. Lurie, Sandro Galea, Alison P. Galvani, Samuel R. Friedman, Bohdan Nosyk, Brandon D.L. Marshall. <strong>The impact of syringe services program closure on the risk of rebound HIV outbreaks among people who inject drugs</strong>. <em>AIDS</em>, 2022; Publish Ahead of Print DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000003199\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1097/QAD.0000000000003199</a>\r\n</li>'),(151,'Your lunchtime walks in the summer could be making you less productive','your-lunchtime-walks-in-the-summer-could-be-making-you-less-productive','2022-03-01 03:39:45.574961','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Studies have shown that being in a hot environment reduces cognitive performance, whereas a brief walk enhances cognition. But what happens when you go for a brief walk on a hot summer\'s day, as so many students and office workers do during lunch or an afternoon break? Turns out, you might be better off avoiding the heat.</p><p>In a study published this month in <em>Building and Environment</em>, researchers from the University of Tsukuba discovered that just 15 minutes of walking outside on a hot day impaired cognitive performance, and this was most striking in men who don\'t get enough sleep.</p><p>Those who work or study in urban heat islands, such as large cities in Japan, generally have the convenience of air-conditioning indoors over the summer months, which largely counters the negative impact of heat on learning and productivity. However, brief exposure to hot environments during commuting or breaks is inevitable, and whether such exposure affects cognition has not been known. \"Previous experiments have used specialized climate chambers to test these effects. However, outdoor thermal environment differs significantly from indoor thermal environments in terms of radiation and wind,\" says senior author Professor Hiroyuki Kusaka. \"Radiation and wind have significant effects on thermal perception. Therefore, in order to assess the effects of outdoor heat stress on cognitive performance, experiments should be conducted in real outdoor environments.\"</p><p>Researchers simulated a real-world scenario during the Japanese summer in which workers or students leave an air-conditioned indoor environment to walk or have a break in a hot outdoor urban environment. Ninety-six students completed a simple arithmetic test in an air-conditioned room before either staying indoors, walking outside, or resting outside for 15 minutes. They then returned indoors to complete a second arithmetic test, and any changes in performance were measured. Walking in a hot outdoor environment impaired cognitive performance; however, it was not simply the exposure to the hot environment that impaired cognition. Rather, it was the combination of walking and being outside in the summer heat that had impacted cognitive performance. Furthermore, this effect was more pronounced in people, specifically men, who were sleep deprived, having slept less than 5 hours.</p><p>\"Japanese office workers and students, especially men, need to be aware of this situation as they work and study,\" says Kusaka. The team hopes that their findings will help guide ways to improve productivity and learning in workers and students in Japan, and perhaps even further afield as the impact of climate change moves to the forefront.</p><p>Get a free digital \"<strong>Metabolism Myths</strong>\" issue of <em>New Scientist</em> and discover the 7 things we always get wrong about diet and exercise. <a href=\"https://landing.newscientist.com/what-is-new-scientist-sd/?utm_source=sciencedaily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_freeissue\">Claim yours now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a></p>','2022-03-01 08:49:11.453570','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Tsukuba','Researchers discovered that a brief 15-minute walk in a hot outdoor environment impairs cognitive function. Moreover, this effect was most pronounced in sleep-deprived men and could negatively impact the productivity and learning of workers and students in urban cities in the summer months.',1,92,'<li>Yuki Asano, Yusuke Nakamura, Asuka Suzuki-Parker, Shohei Aiba, Hiroyuki Kusaka. <strong>Effect of walking in heat-stressful outdoor environments in an urban setting on cognitive performance indoors</strong>. <em>Building and Environment</em>, 2022; 213: 108893 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.108893\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.108893</a>\r\n</li>'),(153,'Discovery of an innate immunological memory in the intestine','discovery-of-an-innate-immunological-memory-in-the-intestine','2022-03-01 04:38:41.771026','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The innate immune system plays a crucial role in regulating host-microbe interactions, and especially in providing protection against pathogens that invade the mucosa. Using an intestinal infection model, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm discovered that innate effector cells -- group 3 innate lymphoid cells -- act not only during the early stages of infection but can also be trained to develop an innate form of immunological memory that can protect the host during reinfection. The study was published in the journal <em>Science</em> on February 25, 2022.</p><p>Combating Escherichia coli infections, which are responsible for intestinal diseases or gastrointestinal bleeding, is a major public health challenge. These bacteria, which are present in drinking water or food, can cause persistent diarrhea associated with acute intestinal inflammation. Consequently, enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli are responsible for nearly 9% of child deaths worldwide.</p><p>The gut mucosa harbors a complex defense system that allows it to combat pathogen infection while maintaining tolerance to commensal microbiota, which are essential for the normal bodily function. This constant surveillance is performed by the innate immune system, which provides early defense in the initial hours after infection. The adaptive immune system then develops a memory for the pathogens that it encounters by activating specific receptors expressed at the surface of B and T lymphocytes, thereby enabling the production of protective antibodies and inflammatory cytokines. Unlike the clearly established function of the adaptive system in long-term tolerance and protection, the role of the innate system in immune memory remains to be determined.</p><p>In 2008, the team led by Inserm scientist James Di Santo (Innate Immunity Unit, Institut Pasteur/Inserm) described group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) as a novel family of lymphocytes that were distinct from adaptive T and B lymphocytes. ILC3s play an essential role in the innate immune response, especially in the gut mucosa, by producing pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-22. The cytokine release activates the production of antimicrobial peptides by epithelial cells, thereby reducing the bacterial load in order to maintain the integrity of the intestinal barrier.</p><p>In this study, scientists from the Innate Immunity Unit (Institut Pasteur/Inserm) used an innovative protocol to expose the immune system to a time-restricted enterobacterial challenge based on Citrobacter rodentium (a mouse model of E. coli infection). They observed that ILC3s persist for several months in an activated state after exposure to C. rodentium. During a second infection, the \"trained\" ILC3s have a superior capacity to control infection through an enhanced proliferation and massive production of IL-22. \"Our research demonstrates that intestinal ILC3s acquire a memory to strengthen gut mucosal defenses against repeated infections over time,\" explains Nicolas Serafini, first author of the study and an Inserm scientist in the Innate Immunity Unit (Institut Pasteur/Inserm).</p><p>\"The ability to \"train\" the innate immune system in the mucosa paves the way for improvements to the body\'s defenses against a variety of pathogens that cause human diseases,\" comments James Di Santo, last author of the study and Head of the Innate Immunity Unit (Institut Pasteur/Inserm).</p><p>This discovery demonstrates a new antibacterial immune defense mechanism and could lead, in the long term, to novel therapeutic approaches to treat intestinal diseases (IBD or cancer).</p>','2022-03-01 10:01:18.940826','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Institut Pasteur','The innate immune system plays a crucial role in regulating host-microbe interactions, and especially in providing protection against pathogens that invade the mucosa. Using an intestinal infection model, scientists discovered that innate effector cells -- group 3 innate lymphoid cells -- act not only during the early stages of infection but can also be trained to develop an innate form of immunological memory that can protect the host during reinfection.',1,91,'<li>Nicolas Serafini, Angélique Jarade, Laura Surace, Pedro Goncalves, Odile Sismeiro, Hugo Varet, Rachel Legendre, Jean-Yves Coppee, Olivier Disson, Scott K. Durum, Gad Frankel, James P. Di Santo. <strong>Trained ILC3 responses promote intestinal defense</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 375 (6583): 859 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz8777\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.aaz8777</a>\r\n</li>'),(155,'Overlooked channels influence water flow and flooding along Gulf Coast','overlooked-channels-influence-water-flow-and-flooding-along-gulf-coast','2022-03-01 07:07:32.832015','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An unnoticed network of channels is cutting across the coastal plain landscape along the Gulf Coast and influencing how water flows, according to research from The University of Texas at Austin that could help predict flooding from major storms in the future.</p><p>The coastal plains are relatively flat, which has kept most research on flood risk and water flow focused on large rivers in the region. But the new research led by scientists with UT Austin and the Water Institute of the Gulf revealed that although the surface elevation is steady, the landscape is covered in narrow but deep channels that play an important role in moving water.</p><p>\"Typically, flood risk has been characterized in Texas and Louisiana based on how close you are to a river,\" said the study\'s lead author, John Swartz, who started the research as a doctoral student at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences and is now a research scientist at the Water Institute of the Gulf. \"But we see through things like Hurricane Harvey that what is happening to the broader landscape when there is a lot of water present is really important.\"</p><p>The research is published in the journal <em>Nature Geoscience</em>.</p><p>Scientists said that understanding the specifics of how the channels move water -- especially during floods -- in different areas will require more research, and ultimately the findings will need to be incorporated in national and regional flood models.</p><p>Channels on their own are not an uncommon sight along the coastal plain. However, researchers were able to show the full extent of the branching networks they form by creating a high-resolution elevation map spanning the Gulf Coast from Texas to Mississippi.</p><p>The data for the map came from state and federal agencies -- including the Texas General Land Office Natural Resources Information Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- which collected the information over the years for local and regional use.</p><p>As it became public, Swartz and his collaborators used the chance to piece it together and get the most comprehensive and detailed look yet at coastal plain topography.</p><p>The map captured every 3 meters of the coastal plain and measured elevation changes within a few centimeters. At this scale, a complex array of channel networks emerged.</p><p>The channel networks covered more than 12,000 square miles, or about one-third of the study region, and were separated into more than 40 distinct drainage basins. The depth of these basins can be as large as 22-32 feet, which is comparable to the depths of the larger rivers in the area.</p><p>\"The surface is far from flat,\" said co-author David Mohrig, a professor at the Jackson School. \"And how the topography is distributed has significant consequences for how extreme precipitation is routed across the landscape.\"</p><p>The study has already led to important geological insights about how these channel networks form and evolve.</p><p>For example, in most geological settings drainage basins are formed by erosion hollowing out a landscape over millions of years. But in the case of the coastal plain networks, the basins are built up at their edges by accumulated sediment, which was deposited on the landscape by the region\'s rivers when they followed different paths hundreds to thousands of years ago. As the rivers\' paths change in the future, the sediments they leave behind will likely define the edges to new drainage basins -- and a reshaping of the drainage channels and coastal plain landscape.</p><p>According to Douglas Edmonds, an associate professor at Indiana University Bloomington who was not part of the study, these findings indicate that the coastal plain is a much more dynamic landscape than many geoscientists thought.</p><p>\"It\'s really thought provoking,\" he said. \"I think it challenges a lot of our models for how we think water sculpts the land surface and how it organizes into drainage basins.\"</p><p>Mohrig said that this study exemplifies a growing research stream at the Jackson School called \"environmental sedimentology,\" which focuses on how the dispersal and buildup of sediments over time affects human communities and larger ecosystems.</p><p>The study\'s other co-authors include scientists from UT Austin and the California Institute of Technology.</p>','2022-03-01 12:11:36.605901','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Texas at Austin','An unnoticed network of channels is cutting across the coastal plain landscape along the Gulf Coast and influencing how water flows, according to new research that could help predict flooding from major storms in the future.',1,93,'<li>John M. Swartz, Benjamin T. Cardenas, David Mohrig, Paola Passalacqua. <strong>Tributary channel networks formed by depositional processes</strong>. <em>Nature Geoscience</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00900-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41561-022-00900-x</a>\r\n</li>'),(156,'Under pressure: A new theory lets us predict when soft materials will fail','under-pressure-a-new-theory-lets-us-predict-when-soft-materials-will-fail','2022-03-01 07:08:14.462585','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers led by a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced a major theoretical and experimental breakthrough that allows scientists to predict, with an unprecedented precision, when a soft material will crack and fail. The findings, published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, have immediate implications for the engineering and manufacture of a wide range of polymers. They also provide insights into how natural soft materials -- such as the connective tissues in our bodies and even our brains -- break down.</p><p>It has proved devilishly complex to predict when a soft material, such as a gel or elastomer, will crack and fail. \"It\'s been a mystery,\" says Alfred Crosby, professor of polymer science and engineering at UMass Amherst and one of the paper\'s senior authors. Because scientists haven\'t been able to accurately predict when a soft material will fail, designers typically over-engineer their products and recommend replacing them earlier rather than later, just to be safe. \"But if we could predict exactly when a product would fail, and under what conditions,\" says Crosby, \"we could engineer materials in the most efficient way to meet those conditions.\"</p><p>Cracking this particular nut, which was supported by the Office of Naval Research\'s Naval Force Health Protection program, involved a multi-disciplinary effort between Alfred Crosby, Gregory Tew, also a professor of polymer science at UMass Amherst, and Robert Riggleman, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. With a combination of highly precise chemistry, detailed and innovative computer modeling, and fine-grained experimental data, the group modified an older theory, called the Lake-Thomas Theory, with the help of a newer molecular model known as Real Elastic Network Theory (RENT). \"As a result,\" says Ipek Sacligil, graduate student in polymer science at UMass Amherst, and one of the paper\'s co-lead authors, \"using only the molecular ingredients, we can now accurately predict when a soft material will fail at both the molecular and product levels.\"</p><p>Christopher Barney, one of the paper\'s other co-lead authors and a graduate student at UMass at the time he completed this research says that \"this project highlights the importance of addressing modern scientific problems from multiple perspectives. By combining our efforts, we were able to craft a comprehensive story that is far greater than the sum of its parts.\"</p><p>\"This advance provides a missing link between chemistry and materials science and engineering for polymer networks,\" says Crosby, who notes that this research is part of a much larger, ongoing project to understand the mechanics of cavitation or the sudden, unstable crack-causing expansions within soft materials and tissues.</p>','2022-03-01 12:11:40.244204','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Massachusetts Amherst','Researchers recently announced a major theoretical and experimental breakthrough that allows scientists to predict, with an unprecedented precision, when a soft material will crack and fail. The findings have immediate implications for the engineering and manufacture of a wide range of polymers. They also provide insights into how natural soft materials -- such as the connective tissues in our bodies and even our brains -- break down.',1,25,'<li>Christopher W. Barney, Ziyu Ye, Ipek Sacligil, Kelly R. McLeod, Han Zhang, Gregory N. Tew, Robert A. Riggleman, Alfred J. Crosby. <strong>Fracture of model end-linked networks</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (7): e2112389119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112389119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2112389119</a>\r\n</li>'),(157,'Physicists bring a once-theoretical effect of quantum matter into observable reality','physicists-bring-a-once-theoretical-effect-of-quantum-matter-into-observable-reality','2022-03-01 07:09:06.728754','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Physicists at UC Santa Barbara have become the first to experimentally observe a quirky behavior of the quantum world: a \"quantum boomerang\" effect that occurs when particles in a disordered system are kicked out of their locations. Instead of landing elsewhere as one might expect, they turn around and come back to where they started and stop there.</p><p>\"It\'s really a fundamentally quantum mechanical effect,\" said atomic physicist David Weld, whose lab produced the effect and documented it in a paper published in <em>Physical Review X</em>. \"There\'s no classical explanation for this phenomenon.\"</p><p>The boomerang effect has its roots in a phenomenon that physicist Philip Anderson predicted roughly 60 years ago, a disorder-induced behavior called Anderson localization which inhibits transport of electrons. The disorder, according to the paper\'s lead author Roshan Sajjad, can be the result of imperfections in a material\'s atomic lattice, whether they be impurities, defects, misalignments or other disturbances.</p><p>\"This type of disorder will keep them from basically dispersing anywhere,\" Sajjad said. As a result, the electrons localize instead of zipping along the lattice, turning what would otherwise be a conducting material into an insulator. From this rather sticky quantum condition, the quantum boomerang effect was predicted a few years ago to arise.</p><p>Launching disordered electrons away from their localized position and following them to observe their behavior is extremely difficult if not currently impossible, but the Weld Lab had a few tricks up its sleeve. Using a gas of 100,000 ultracold lithium atoms suspended in a standing wave of light and \"kicking\" them, emulating a so-called quantum kicked rotor (\"similar to a periodically kicked pendulum,\" both Weld and Sajjad said), the researchers were able to create the lattice and the disorder, and observe the launch and return of the boomerang. They worked in momentum space, a method that evades some experimental difficulties without changing the underlying physics of the boomerang effect.</p><p>\"In normal, position space, if you\'re looking for the boomerang effect, you\'d give your electron some finite velocity and then look for whether it came back to the same spot,\" Sajjad explained. \"Because we\'re in momentum space, we start with a system that is at zero average momentum, and we look for some departure followed by a return to zero average momentum.\"</p><p>Using their quantum kicked rotor they pulsed the lattice a few dozen times, noting an initial shift in average momentum. Over time and despite repeated kicks, however, average momentum returned to zero.</p><p>\"It\'s just a really very fundamentally different behavior,\" Weld said. In a classical system, he explained, a rotor kicked in this way would respond by constantly absorbing energy from the kicks. \"Take a quantum version of the same thing, and what you see is that it starts gaining energy at short times, but at some point it just stops and it never absorbs any more energy. It becomes what\'s called a dynamically localized state.\"</p><p>This behavior, he said, is due to the wave-like nature of quantum systems.</p><p>\"That chunk of stuff that you\'re pushing away is not only a particle, but it\'s also a wave, and that\'s a central concept of quantum mechanics,\" Weld explained. \"Because of that wave-like nature, it\'s subject to interference, and that interference in this system turns out to stabilize a return and dwelling at the origin.\" In their experiment, the researchers showed that periodic kicks exhibiting time-reversal symmetry would produce the boomerang effect, but randomly timed kicks would destroy both the symmetry and, as a result, the boomerang effect.</p><p>Up next for the Weld Lab: If individual boomerang effects are cool, how much more of a party would it be to have several interacting boomerang effects?</p><p>\"There are a lot of theories and questions about what should happen -- would interactions destroy the boomerang? Are there interesting many-body effects?\" Sajjad said. \"The other exciting thing is that we can actually use the system to study the boomerang in higher dimensions.\"</p><p>Research on this project was also conducted by Jeremy L. Tanlimco, Hector Mas, Eber Nolasco-Martinez and Ethan Q. Simmons at UCSB; Tommaso Macrì at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte and Patrizia Vignolo at Université Côte d\'Azur.</p>','2022-03-01 12:11:43.174514','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Santa Barbara','Physicists have experimentally observed a quirky behavior of the quantum world: a \'quantum boomerang\' effect that occurs when particles in a disordered system are kicked out of their locations. Instead of landing elsewhere as one might expect, they turn around and come back to where they started and stop there.',1,94,'<li>Roshan Sajjad, Jeremy L. Tanlimco, Hector Mas, Alec Cao, Eber Nolasco-Martinez, Ethan Q. Simmons, Flávio L. N. Santos, Patrizia Vignolo, Tommaso Macrì, David M. Weld. <strong>Observation of the Quantum Boomerang Effect</strong>. <em>Physical Review X</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.011035\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevX.12.011035</a>\r\n</li>'),(158,'Scaling laws in enzymes may help predict life ‘as we don’t know it\'','scaling-laws-in-enzymes-may-help-predict-life-as-we-dont-know-it','2022-03-01 15:45:46.773261','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The only references we have for \"life\" are the forms we know on Earth. Astrobiologists suspect that the search for alien life, and even for the origins of life on Earth, may require a broader scope. A NASA-funded team of researchers is developing tools to predict the features of life as we <em>don\'t</em> know it. In a new study published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, the team identifies universal patterns in the chemistry of life that do not appear to depend on specific molecules.</p><p>\"We want to have new tools for identifying and even predicting features of life as we don\'t know it,\" says Santa Fe Institute External Professor Sara Imari Walker (Arizona State University), a co-author on the paper. \"To do so, we are aiming to identify the universal laws that should apply to any biochemical system. This includes developing quantitative theory for the origins of life, and using theory and statistics to guide our search for life on other planets.\"</p><p>On Earth, life emerges from the interplay of hundreds of chemical compounds and reactions. Some of these compounds and reactions are found universally across Earth\'s organisms. Using the Integrated Microbial Genomes and Microbiomes database, the team investigated the enzymes -- the functional drivers of biochemistry -- found in bacteria, archaea, and eukarya to reveal a new kind of biochemical universality.</p><p>Enzymes can be categorized into a taxonomy of broad functional classes -- groups designated by what they do, from using water molecules to break chemical bonds (hydrolases) to rearranging molecular structures (isomerases) to joining large molecules together (ligases). The team compared how the abundance of enzymes in each of these functional categories changed in relation to the overall abundance of enzymes in an organism. They discovered various scaling laws -- almost algorithmic relationships -- between the number of enzymes in different enzyme classes and the size of an organism\'s genome. They also found that these laws don\'t depend on the particularenzymes in those classes.</p><p>\"Here we find that you get these scaling relationships without needing to conserve exact membership. You need a certain number of transferases, but not <em>particular</em> transferases,\" says SFI Professor Chris Kempes, a co-author on the paper. \"There are a lot \'synonyms,\' and those synonyms scale in systematic ways.\"</p><p>On Earth, organisms use DNA and, through RNA, create proteins. But will the macromolecules of DNA, RNA, and proteins help us identify life across the universe, understand the origins of life on Earth, or develop synthetic biology? \"As a team, we think that\'s not likely,\" says Kempes. The <em>functions</em> those macromolecules serve, however, and the metabolic scaling relationships observed in organic, Earth-based life, just might be. \"Even if life elsewhere used really different molecules, these sort of functional categories and scaling laws might be conserved throughout the universe,\" says Kempes.</p><p>Additional authors on this study are first author Dylan Gagler (New York University Langone Health); Hyunju Kim, Bradley Karas, John Malloy, and Veronica Mierzejewski (Arizona State University); and Aaron Goldman (Oberlin College and the Blue Marble Space Institute for Science).</p><p><em>Adapted from a press release published by Arizona State University: <a href=\"https://news.asu.edu/20220228-new-astrobiology-research-predicts-life-we-dont-know-it\">https://news.asu.edu/20220228-new-astrobiology-research-predicts-life-we-dont-know-it</a> </em></p>','2022-03-01 13:21:19.878088','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Santa Fe Institute','A team of researchers is developing tools to predict the features of life as we don\'t know it.',1,53,'<li>Dylan C. Gagler, Bradley Karas, Christopher P. Kempes, John Malloy, Veronica Mierzejewski, Aaron D. Goldman, Hyunju Kim, Sara I. Walker. <strong>Scaling laws in enzyme function reveal a new kind of biochemical universality</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (9): e2106655119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106655119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2106655119</a>\r\n</li>'),(159,'Scientists discover a new molecular pathway shared by two neurodegenerative disorders','scientists-discover-a-new-molecular-pathway-shared-by-two-neurodegenerative-disorders','2022-03-01 15:46:28.499465','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers from two independent research teams have discovered how the mislocalization of a protein, known as TDP-43, alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A, providing a possible therapeutic target that could also have implications in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other forms of dementia. ALS and FTD are two neurodegenerative disorders in which many cases are linked by mislocalization of TDP-43, where instead of being primarily located in the nucleus of the cell where genes are activated, it forms aggregates outside the nucleus in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Rare mutations in the TDP-43 gene are known to cause ALS, but almost all cases of ALS show mislocalization of TDP-43. The studies were published in <em>Nature</em>.</p><p>\"ALS and FTD patients have long participated in genetic studies looking for changes in genes that might contribute to risk for disease,\" said Thomas Cheever, Ph.D., program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). \"Here, we see two independent research teams converging to explain how one of these changes can be a critical factor contributing to an entire class of neurodegenerative diseases, as well as a potential therapeutic target.\"</p><p>One study, which is a collaboration between the labs of Michael Ward, M.D., Ph.D., scientist at the National Institutes of Health\'s NINDS, and Pietro Fratta, Ph.D., professor at the University College London Queen Square Motor Neuron Disease Centre in the United Kingdom, initially looked at lab-grown neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) -- stem cells created from a patient\'s tissue sample, often skin or blood. Using powerful genetic tools, the researchers created neurons that made much less TDP-43 protein than normal, and this resulted in the appearance of abnormal mRNA sequences inserted into the instructions used to make several other proteins. These abnormally inserted sequences, called cryptic exons, can result in a defective protein or can even prevent the protein from being made at all.</p><p>The UNC13A gene is important for maintaining the connections between neurons and has been shown to be a risk factor for both ALS and FTD. UNC13A is also one of the mRNA sequences that contained cryptic exons when TDP-43 was reduced, and cryptic exons were also seen in neurons taken from postmortem tissue of ALS and FTD patients. These findings directly link a well-established risk factor for ALS and FTD with the loss of TDP-43.</p><p>\"We have built on years of genetic research that identified that UNC13A was implicated in motor neuron disease and FTD and supported it with a new molecular biology finding that confirms that the gene is absolutely fundamental to the disease process,\" said Dr. Ward.</p><p>At the same time, Aaron Gitler, Ph.D., professor at Stanford University in Stanford, California, and his lab, along with a team led by Len Petrucelli, Ph.D., professor at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, were also looking at the effects caused by a loss of TDP-43 as they pertained to FTD and ALS. They first analyzed existing datasets in which postmortem neurons from patients with FTD or ALS were sorted based on whether their nucleus contained TDP-43. When genes were compared between neurons with and without TDP-43, UNC13A again emerged as one that was significantly affected by TDP-43 loss. Knocking down TDP-43 in otherwise healthy cells also introduced cryptic exons into the UNC13A gene, suggesting that this is a direct effect on the gene itself. They also show that the genetic code differences in the variants of UNC13A that are associated with FTD and ALS occur where the cryptic exon is located. It is known that mislocalization of TDP-43 similarly causes cryptic exon splicing into another gene that encodes the protein stathmin 2, which is depleted in the motor neuron and implicated in neurodegeneration. Both studies suggest that developing means to increase the levels of UNC13A or stathmin 2 may be effective in preventing the death of neurons in these tragic disorders.</p><p>TDP-43 mislocalization is seen in other degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer\'s disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), limbic predominant, age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE), and inclusion body myopathy, suggesting that these findings could be extended to those conditions as well.</p><p>The studies were supported in part by the Intramural Research Program at NINDS, and grants from NINDS (NS097263, NS097273, NS123743, NS084974, NS104437, NS120992, and NS113636) and the National Institute on Aging (AG071326, AG06267, and AG006786).</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-01 13:21:22.969429','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke','Researchers from two independent research teams have discovered how the mislocalization of a protein, known as TDP-43, alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A, providing a possible therapeutic target that could also have implications in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other forms of dementia. ALS and FTD are two neurodegenerative disorders in which many cases are linked by mislocalization of TDP-43, where instead of being primarily located in the nucleus of the cell where genes are activated, it forms aggregates outside the nucleus in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Rare mutations in the TDP-43 gene are known to cause ALS, but almost all cases of ALS show mislocalization of TDP-43.',1,95,'<li>Anna-Leigh Brown, Oscar G. Wilkins, Matthew J. Keuss, Sarah E. Hill, Matteo Zanovello, Weaverly Colleen Lee, Alexander Bampton, Flora C. Y. Lee, Laura Masino, Yue A. Qi, Sam Bryce-Smith, Ariana Gatt, Martina Hallegger, Delphine Fagegaltier, Hemali Phatnani, Hemali Phatnani, Justin Kwan, Dhruv Sareen, James R. Broach, Zachary Simmons, Ximena Arcila-Londono, Edward B. Lee, Vivianna M. Van Deerlin, Neil A. Shneider, Ernest Fraenkel, Lyle W. Ostrow, Frank Baas, Noah Zaitlen, James D. Berry, Andrea Malaspina, Pietro Fratta, Gregory A. Cox, Leslie M. Thompson, Steve Finkbeiner, Efthimios Dardiotis, Timothy M. Miller, Siddharthan Chandran, Suvankar Pal, Eran Hornstein, Daniel J. MacGowan, Terry Heiman-Patterson, Molly G. Hammell, Nikolaos. A. Patsopoulos, Oleg Butovsky, Joshua Dubnau, Avindra Nath, Robert Bowser, Matthew Harms, Eleonora Aronica, Mary Poss, Jennifer Phillips-Cremins, John Crary, Nazem Atassi, Dale J. Lange, Darius J. Adams, Leonidas Stefanis, Marc Gotkine, Robert H. Baloh, Suma Babu, Towfique Raj, Sabrina Paganoni, Ophir Shalem, Colin Smith, Bin Zhang, Brent Harris, Iris Broce, Vivian Drory, John Ravits, Corey McMillan, Vilas Menon, Lani Wu, Steven Altschuler, Yossef Lerner, Rita Sattler, Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, Orit Rozenblatt-Rosen, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Katharine Nicholson, Peter Gregersen, Jeong-Ho Lee, Sulev Kokos, Stephen Muljo, Jia Newcombe, Emil K. Gustavsson, Sahba Seddighi, Joel F. Reyes, Steven L. Coon, Daniel Ramos, Giampietro Schiavo, Elizabeth M. C. Fisher, Towfique Raj, Maria Secrier, Tammaryn Lashley, Jernej Ule, Emanuele Buratti, Jack Humphrey, Michael E. Ward, Pietro Fratta. <strong>TDP-43 loss and ALS-risk SNPs drive mis-splicing and depletion of UNC13A</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04436-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04436-3</a>\r\n</li>'),(160,'Immunotherapy drug bolsters head and neck cancer treatment','immunotherapy-drug-bolsters-head-and-neck-cancer-treatment','2022-03-01 15:50:27.132616','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A University of Cincinnati clinical trial that added an immunotherapy drug to standard of care treatment regimens has shown increased survival rates for head and neck cancer patients with intermediate risk features.</p><p>Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, led the trial and was the lead author on a paper detailing its findings that was recently published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.</p><p><strong>Targeting the immune checkpoint</strong></p><p>Wise-Draper said the trial focused on adding a drug, pembrolizumab, to patients\' typical standard care of treatments. Pembrolizumab, sold under the brand name Keytruda, is an antibody used in cancer immunotherapy that treats a variety of cancers, including head and neck. The drug targets a pair of receptors that usually work to turn off the human immune system when the immune system has finished a job of fighting off a foreign substance that causes sickness.</p><p>\"Once the virus or infection is cleared, you have to have a way to turn your own immune system off, to tell it that the infection is gone and it\'s time to calm down,\" explained Wise-Draper, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology in UC\'s College of Medicine, Head and Neck Center of Excellence co-leader, medical director of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office and Lab and a UC Health physician.</p><p>Tumor cells have learned to kick the receptors that shut the immune system system off into overdrive, which blocks immune cells from recognizing that tumor cells are foreign objects that the body should attack. Pembrolizumab, however, blocks the interaction and keeps immune cells working, which in turn leads to the immune cells attacking cancerous cells like they are supposed to.</p><p>The drug has been developed as a treatment for multiple cancers, and Wise-Draper said it has shown early success as a treatment for head and neck cancers that have spread or returned after initial treatment, with early studies reporting effectiveness for about 20% of patients treated.</p><p>\"And although we\'re careful to say cure, it does result in what is called \'durable responses,\'\" she said, explaining that means patients have a good response to treatment much longer than expected, sometimes for years, \"which was a huge advancement over chemotherapy where they may have only been effective for say nine to 10 months at most,\" Wise-Draper said.</p><p><strong>The hypothesis</strong></p><p>With the early data looking promising, the UC clinical trial was seeking to find if the drug would work as an initial treatment that would prevent the cancer from recurring. Patients with head and neck cancer -- that are treated with the standard surgery, radiation and potentially chemotherapy if risk factors warrant it -- typically see the cancers return about 30%-50% of the time, Wise-Draper said.</p><p>\"So instead of waiting for them to come back, could we try to prevent them from coming back? If the cancer came back, they were much harder to cure the second time and had a lot of failure in that group,\" she said. \"So we asked if we could add this immunotherapy, the pembrolizumab, and decrease that risk of cancer coming back.\"</p><p>Wise-Draper said the trial was also designed to examine why some patients respond to pembrolizumab while others do not. To accomplish this goal, tissue and blood samples were collected before and after administering the drug to analyze factors that contributed to patients responding to the treatment.</p><p><strong>The trial</strong></p><p>Patients enrolled in the trial were given one dose of the drug before surgery and were evaluated for risk status and grouped into intermediate- and high-risk groupings after surgery. A patient is considered high risk if part of the tumor is still left behind after surgery or is not contained in a lymph node.</p><p>All patients continued to receive the appropriate standard of care (radiation alone for intermediate risk or radiation and chemotherapy for high risk), with six more doses of pembrolizumab also administered after surgery.</p><p>Wise-Draper said the drug caused tumors to begin to die before surgery in nearly 50% of patients, a better rate than what was found when the drug was given for metastatic or recurrent head and neck cancer.</p><p>\"We could see that a lot of these tumors were dying even after that first dose of pembrolizumab,\" Wise-Draper said. \"That was pretty exciting, because that was higher than we expected.\"</p><p>Less than 70% of patients in the intermediate group who were treated with radiation alone after surgery were typically disease free one year following treatment, but more than 95% of patients in the trial reported one-year disease-free survival when treated with both radiation and pembrolizumab.</p><p>\"We had a huge improvement in that, so we saw that pembrolizumab was definitely increasing their chance of survival, at least compared to historical controls,\" Wise-Draper said.</p><p>In the group of patients where the drug began to kill the tumor prior to surgery, 100% reported one-year disease-free survival.</p><p>\"It was a really strong predictor of patients who are going to do well on this treatment,\" Wise-Draper said. \"Hopefully that is going to help us design trials to better understand who is going to respond and who is not.\"</p><p>A reliable predictor for patients that will likely do well on the treatment will also help determine how treatments can be adjusted for patients who receive surgery, pembrolizumab, chemotherapy and radiation and do not respond well to the treatment.</p><p>\"That\'s really where the research is going now is trying to understand what are those biomarkers between the responders versus the nonresponders and how we can develop new and better targeted therapies,\" Wise-Draper said. \"We have a couple of identified markers that will help us going forward, but we\'re still doing a lot of research in that area.\"</p><p><strong>Next steps</strong></p><p>Harvard University researchers have conducted a study similar to UC\'s that showed similar success, and the successful findings of these trials show that a randomized Phase III clinical trial is worth pursuing. Pharmaceutical company Merck is in the process of conducting a randomized trial comparing patients who receive pembrolizumab in addition to their standard of care versus patients who receive the standard of care only.</p><p>\"That will be a much larger study that will help show if pembrolizumab truly benefits these groups,\" Wise-Draper said of the Merck study.</p><p>Research at UC into pembrolizumab as a head and neck cancer treatment is ongoing, with a next round of research being designed to learn how treatments can be more personalized to each patient. Tumor characteristics and biomarkers that can help predict whether a patient will respond to a certain treatment can be analyzed before surgery, with more specific treatment plans hopefully leading to better results.</p><p>\"It\'s been extremely exciting to see patients do well on this study and seeing their survival increase knowing what the historical rates were, as well as just being able to have a successful study in general is pretty exciting,\" Wise-Draper said. \"A lot of these developments I didn\'t expect to happen so quickly in my career, so it\'s really been an exciting process for all of us. Hopefully there\'s more to come.\"</p><p>If the drug continues to prove safe and effective, Wise-Draper said it will mark a \"huge improvement\" compared to the current standard of care that can still lead to a 50% recurrence rate. There is even a possibility that patients would not need their treatment plan to include surgery, she said.</p><p>\"If we have a treatment that is less toxic, maybe we can cut down on the morbidity of surgery and radiation as well as the chemotherapy,\" Wise-Draper said.</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-01 14:13:35.550891','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Cincinnati','A clinical trial has shown that the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab increased survival rates for head and neck cancer patients with intermediate risk.',1,5,'<li>Trisha M. Wise-Draper et al. <strong>Phase II Clinical Trial of Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Resectable Local–Regionally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma</strong>. <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-3351\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-3351</a>\r\n</li>'),(161,'Researchers establish first-of-its-kind framework to diagnose 3D-printing errors','researchers-establish-first-of-its-kind-framework-to-diagnose-3d-printing-errors','2022-03-01 15:49:36.680190','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, can create custom parts for electromagnetic devices on-demand and at a low cost. These devices are highly sensitive, and each component requires precise fabrication. Until recently, though, the only way to diagnose printing errors was to make, measure and test a device or to use in-line simulation, both of which are computationally expensive and inefficient.</p><p>To remedy this, a research team co-led by Penn State created a first-of-its-kind methodology for diagnosing printing errors with machine learning in real time. The researchers describe this framework -- published in <em>Additive Manufacturing</em> -- as a critical first step toward correcting 3D-printing errors in real time. According to the researchers, this could make printing for sensitive devices much more effective in terms of time, cost and computational bandwidth.</p><p>\"A lot of things can go wrong during the additive manufacturing process for any component,\" said Greg Huff, associate professor of electrical engineering at Penn State. \"And in the world of electromagnetics, where dimensions are based on wavelengths rather than regular units of measure, any small defect can really contribute to large-scale system failures or degraded operations. If 3D printing a household item is like tuning a tuba -- which can be done with broad adjustments -- 3D-printing devices functioning in the electromagnetic domain is like tuning a violin: Small adjustments really matter.\"</p><p>In a previous project, the researchers had attached cameras to printer heads, capturing an image every time something was printed. While not the primary purpose of that project, the researchers ultimately curated a dataset that they could combine with an algorithm to classify types of printing errors.</p><p>\"Generating the dataset and figuring out what information the neural network needed was at the heart of this research,\" said first author Deanna Sessions, who received her doctorate in electrical engineering from Penn State in 2021 and now works for UES Inc. as a contractor for the Air Force Research Laboratory. \"We\'re using this information -- from cheap optical images -- to predict electromagnetic performance without having to do simulations during the manufacturing process. If we have images, we can say whether a certain element is going to be a problem. We already had those images, and we said, \'Let\'s see if we can train a neural network to (identify the errors that create problems in performance).\' And we found that we could.\"</p><p>When the framework is applied to the print, it can identify errors as it prints. Now that the electromagnetic performance impact of errors can be identified in real time, the possibility of correcting the errors during the printing process is much closer to becoming a reality.</p><p>\"As this process is refined, it can start creating that kind of feedback control that says, \'The widget is starting to look like this, so I made this other adjustment to let it work,\' so we can keep on using it,\" Huff said.</p><p>The other authors of the paper were: Venkatesh Meenakshisundaram of UES Inc. and the Air Force Research Laboratory; Andrew Gillman and Philip Buskohl of the Air Force Research Laboratory; Alexander Cook of NextFlex; and Kazuko Fuchi of the University of Dayton Research Institute and the Air Force Research Laboratory.</p><p>Funding was provided by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Minority Leadership Program.</p>','2022-03-01 14:25:37.895687','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, can create custom parts for electromagnetic devices on-demand and at a low cost. These devices are highly sensitive, and each component requires precise fabrication. Until recently, though, the only way to diagnose printing errors was to make, measure and test a device or to use in-line simulation, both of which are computationally expensive and inefficient.',1,96,'<li>Deanna Sessions, Venkatesh Meenakshisundaram, Andrew Gillman, Alexander Cook, Kazuko Fuchi, Philip R. Buskohl, Gregory H. Huff. <strong>Mapping geometric and electromagnetic feature spaces with machine learning for additively manufactured RF devices</strong>. <em>Additive Manufacturing</em>, 2022; 50: 102549 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.102549\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.addma.2021.102549</a>\r\n</li>'),(162,'New optical tweezers put on the pressure to change color','new-optical-tweezers-put-on-the-pressure-to-change-color','2022-03-01 16:16:45.919476','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">One big stumbling block in the field of photonics is that of color control. Until now, to control color, i.e. the wavelength of light emission, researchers would have to alter the chemical structure of the emitter or the concentration of the solvent -- all of which require direct contact, greatly limiting their application.</p><p>\"Such conditions make it impossible to change color quickly, use it as a light source in microscopic spaces like a cell, or in closed systems where exchange is not an option,\" says Yasuyuki Tsuboi and professor of the Department of Chemistry, Osaka City University. With \"optical tweezers,\" a technology he developed in previous research, Prof. Tsuboi led a team of researchers to show it possible to control the luminescence color remotely, using only the effect of light pressure.</p><p>Their findings were recently published online in the German international journal <em>Angewandte Chemie Intl.</em></p><p>For years, Professor Tsuboi and his colleagues have been conducting research on a technology that can capture and manipulate nano- and micrometer-sized materials with a laser. In exploring this \"optical tweezers\" technology, they found that when a silicon crystal with a special needle-shaped nanostructure, called black silicon, was submerged in a sample solution, the optical field enhancement effect of the nanostructure trapped a perylene-modified polymer, causing a local concentration of the solution to increase and form an aggregate of polymers.</p><p>\"When the concentration of the perylene increases, it forms a dimeric excited complex called an excimer,\" explains lead author Ryota Takao. These excimers emit fluorescence that changes color depending on the degree of concentration.</p><p>This is what the research team investigated in prior trapping experiments that did not employ a trapping laser. Here they found that as the laser beam intensity increased, light pressure did as well, which caused the concentration of the polymer aggregate on the black silicon to become denser -- and vice versa.</p><p>\"We observed the color of the fluorescence emitted by the polymer aggregate change in response to this,\" explains Prof, Tsuboi, \"with low intensities producing blue, and then changing to green, yellow, green yellow, to orange as the intensity increases.\" As the laser intensity is what is being controlled, the color change is fully reversible and able to be done remotely.</p><p>While the research is still in its infancy, it relies on excited complexes and excitation energy transfer, which means potential applications in ultraviolet and near-infrared regions, in addition to the visible realm. The research team is currently promoting further research in the direction of encapsulating the perylene-modified polymer solution to be used as a light source in micromachine components and intracellular bioimaging.</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-01 14:25:49.879799','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Osaka City University','Scientists demonstrate an optical trapping technique using nanotextured black silicon that can efficiently trap polymer chains. By adjusting the laser intensity, these \'optical tweezers\' can control the florescence color emitted through a local concentration of a perylene-modified polymer solution. From a low intensity blue to high intensity orange, this reversible and fully remote technology can almost reach the entire RGB spectrum.',1,97,'<li>Ryota Takao, Kenta Ushiro, Hazuki Kusano, Ken‐ichi Yuyama, Tatsuya Shoji, Denver P. Linklater, Elena Ivanova, Saulius Juodkazis, Yasuyuki Tsuboi. <strong>Fluorescence Colour Control in Perylene‐Labeled Polymer Chains Trapped by Nanotextured Silicon</strong>. <em>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</em>, 2022; 61 (11) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202117227\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/anie.202117227</a>\r\n</li>'),(163,'Surprising semiconductor properties revealed with innovative new method','surprising-semiconductor-properties-revealed-with-innovative-new-method','2022-03-02 02:35:42.433080','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A research team probing the properties of a semiconductor combined with a novel thin oxide film have observed a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside.</p><p>Scott Chambers, a materials scientist at the Department of Energy\'s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, reported the team\'s discovery at the Spring 2022 meeting of the American Physical Society. The research finding is described in detail in the journal <em>Physical Review Materials</em>.</p><p>The discovery has broad implications for understanding the role of thin oxide films in future semiconductor design and manufacture. Specifically, semiconductors used in modern electronics come in two basic flavors -- n-type and p-type -- depending on the electronic impurity added during crystal growth. Modern electronic devices use both n- and p-type silicon-based materials. But there is ongoing interest in developing other types of semiconductors. Chambers and his team were testing germanium in combination with a specialized thin crystalline film of lanthanum-strontium-zirconium-titanium-oxide (LSZTO).</p><p>\"We are reporting on a powerful tool for probing semiconductor structure and function,\" said Chambers. \"Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed in this case that atoms of oxygen, an impurity in the germanium, dominate the properties of the material system when germanium is joined to a particular oxide material. This was a big surprise.\"</p><p>Using the Diamond Light Source on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, England, the research team discovered they could learn a great deal more about the electronic properties of the germanium/LSZTO system than was possible using the typical methods.</p><p>\"When we tried to probe the material with conventional techniques, the much higher conductivity of germanium essentially caused a short circuit,\" Chambers said. \"As a result, we could learn something about the electronic properties of the Ge, which we already know a lot about, but nothing about the properties of the LSZTO film or the interface between the LSZTO film and the germanium -- which we suspected might be very interesting and possibly useful for technology.\"</p><p>A new role for hard X-rays</p><p>The so-called \"hard\" X-rays produced by the Diamond Light Source could penetrate the material and generate information about what was going on at the atomic level.</p><p>\"Our results were best interpreted in terms of oxygen impurities in the germanium being responsible for a very interesting effect,\" Chambers said. \"The oxygen atoms near the interface donate electrons to the LSZTO film, creating holes, or the absence of electrons, in the germanium within a few atomic layers of the interface. These specialized holes resulted in behavior that totally eclipsed the semiconducting properties of both n- and p-type germanium in the different samples we prepared. This, too, was a big surprise.\"</p><p>The interface, where the thin-film oxide and the base semiconductor come together, is where interesting semiconducting properties often emerge. The challenge, according to Chambers, is to learn how to control the fascinating and potentially useful electric fields that forms at these interfaces by modifying the electric field at the surface. Ongoing experiments at PNNL are probing this possibility.</p><p>While the samples used in this research do not likely have the immediate potential for commercial use, the techniques and scientific discoveries made are expected to pay dividends in the longer term, Chambers said. The new scientific knowledge will help materials scientists and physicists better understand how to design new semiconductor material systems with useful properties.</p><p>PNNL researchers Bethany Matthews, Steven Spurgeon, Mark Bowden, Zihua Zhu and Peter Sushko contributed to the research. The study was supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science. Some experiments and sample preparation were performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy Office of Science user facility located at PNNL. Electron microscopy was performed in the PNNL Radiochemical Processing Laboratory. Collaborators Tien-Lin Lee and Judith Gabel performed experiments at the Diamond Light Source. Additional collaborators included the University of Texas at Arlington\'s Matt Chrysler and Joe Ngai, who prepared the samples.</p>','2022-03-01 23:41:43.285013','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory','Semiconductor experiments reveal a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside the material.',1,25,'<li>S. A. Chambers, M. Chrysler, J. H. Ngai, T.-L. Lee, J. Gabel, B. E. Matthews, S. R. Spurgeon, M. E. Bowden, Z. Zhu, P. V. Sushko. <strong>Mapping hidden space-charge distributions across crystalline metal oxide/group IV semiconductor interfaces</strong>. <em>Physical Review Materials</em>, 2022; 6 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.6.015002\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.6.015002</a>\r\n</li>'),(164,'Tiny tire particles inhibit growth of organisms in freshwater, coastal estuaries, studies find','tiny-tire-particles-inhibit-growth-of-organisms-in-freshwater-coastal-estuaries-studies-find','2022-03-02 02:37:09.142952','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Small particles from tires inhibited the growth and caused adverse behavioral changes in organisms found in freshwater and coastal estuary ecosystems, two new research papers from Oregon State University scientists found.</p><p>The findings are part of a continued effort by scientists to unravel the impacts of microplastics and nanoplastics on aquatic ecosystems and aquatic organisms. Tire particles are one of the most common microplastic types in aquatic ecosystems.</p><p>Harper, Brander and several other graduate students and a post-doctoral scholars in their labs, including Brittany Cunningham, Samreen Siddiqui, recently published two papers on the tire particle research in <em>Chemosphere</em> and the <em>Journal of Hazardous Materials</em>.</p><p>\"The focus on microplastics and now nanoplastics is still relatively new,\" said Stacey Harper, an Oregon State professor who studies the environmental health and safety impacts of nanomaterials and led the research on tire particles in freshwater organisms. \"We\'re now at the point of making policy decisions that we don\'t have the science for. That\'s why we are scrambling to supply that science.\"</p><p>California is at the forefront of this issue, with a statewide microplastics strategy adopted last week. Similar efforts at the federal level and potentially among other states are anticipated, said Susanne Brander, an assistant professor and ecotoxicologist at Oregon State who led the coastal study on tire particles and was also co-chair for one of the several science advisory teams that helped develop the California strategy.</p><p>Tire particles are composed of materials including synthetic rubber, filling agents, oils and other additives. The particles themselves and chemicals they leach, known as leachate, may have detrimental effects on aquatic organisms they come in contact with, the researchers note.</p><p>The researchers cite studies that show during the lifetime of an automobile tire about 30% of its tread erodes and enters the environment. They also cite a recent study that estimated more than 1.5 million metric tons of tire wear particles flow into the environment each year in the United States.</p><p>\"I feel in particular with tire particles that everyone is measuring how much is out there, but very few groups are measuring what impact they are having,\" Brander said. \"That\'s really the gap we were trying to patch up here.\"</p><p>To do that, the Oregon State scientists exposed two model organisms in both the freshwater and estuary ecosystems to different concentrations of micro and nano tire particles and to leachate created by the breakdown of the tire particles. Microparticles are fragments less than 5 millimeters (0.20 inches) in length. Nanoparticles are so small that are not visible to the naked eye or under a simple microscope.</p><p>In the estuary ecosystem paper, led by post-doctoral scholar Samreen Siddiqui, the model organisms were Inland Silverside and mysid shrimp. Findings by the researchers included:</p><p>These findings led the researchers to conclude that even at current environmental levels of tire-related pollution, which are expected to increase, aquatic ecosystems may be experiencing negative impacts.</p><p>In the freshwater ecosystem paper, led by graduare student Brittany Cunningham, embryonic zebrafish and the crustacean Daphnia magna were the model organisms. Among the findings:</p><p>These findings led the researchers to conclude that while toxicity from tire particles was observed in both organisms, overall sensitivity to tire particles differed. They believe that it is important to understand these differences to identify levels at which these pollutants become toxic. This knowledge, they note, is crucial for the creation of risk assessments, which inform policy decisions.</p><p>The researchers also mentioned several ways to limit tire particles from entering the environment. These include installing rain gardens on the sides of roads to capture tire particles, installing particle capture devices on cars, developing tires that last longer and investing in green infrastructure, such as public transit, that allows people to drive less.</p><p>The research is supported by a National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research Big Idea grant. The grant supports the Oregon State-based Pacific Northwest Consortium of Plastics, which Harper and Brander co-lead.</p><p>Harper and Brander are based in the Oregon State College of Agricultural Sciences. Other co-authors of the papers include Bryan Harper, Sarah Hutton, John Dickens and Emily Pedersen.</p>','2022-03-01 23:41:50.892012','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Oregon State University','Small particles from tires inhibited the growth and caused adverse behavioral changes in organisms found in freshwater and coastal estuary ecosystems, two new research papers found.',1,98,'<li>S. Siddiqui, J.M. Dickens, B.E. Cunningham, S.J. Hutton, E.I. Pedersen, B. Harper, S. Harper, S.M. Brander. <strong>Internalization, reduced growth, and behavioral effects following exposure to micro and nano tire particles in two estuarine indicator species</strong>. <em>Chemosphere</em>, 2022; 133934 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133934\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133934</a>\r\n</li>'),(165,'Face masks play a crucial role, new COVID research confirms','face-masks-play-a-crucial-role-new-covid-research-confirms','2022-03-02 02:38:10.437158','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An international research team from universities including Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, the University of Padua and the University of Udine in Italy, and the University of Vienna, Austria, has developed a new theoretical model to better assess the risks of spreading viruses such as Covid-19 -- with and without a face mask. The results show how the standard \'safe\' distance of two meters does not always apply but varies greatly depending on a range of environmental factors, and that face masks can indeed play a crucial role.</p><p>The current recommendations and understanding around the transmission of respiratory infectious diseases are often based on a diagram developed by the American scientist William Firth Wells in 1934. But this model is very simplified and does not account for the true complexity of transmission.</p><p>Now, in the new study \"Modelling the direct virus exposure risk associated with respiratory events,\" the researchers developed a more advanced model to show that it is possible to more efficiently calculate the direct risk of spreading Covid infection by including a number of factors, such as interpersonal distance, temperature, humidity levels, viral load and type of exhalation. They also managed to demonstrate how these risks change with and without a face mask.</p><p>The study revealed, for example, that a person talking without a face mask can spread infected droplets one meter away. Should the same person cough, the drops can be spread up to three meters and if the person sneezes, the spread distance can be up to seven meters. But using a face mask, the risk of spreading the infection decreases significantly.</p><p>\"If you wear a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask, the risk of infection is reduced to such an extent that it is practically negligible -- even if you\'re only standing one meter away from an infected person,\" explains Gaetano Sardina, Associate Professor of Fluid Mechanics at the Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences at Chalmers University of Technology, who is one of the researchers behind the study.</p><p>In the study, published in the <em>Journal of the Royal Society Interface, </em>the researchers tested the new model using data from recent numerical experiments on droplet emissions. This allowed them to take several factors into account and quantify the risk of infection, with and without a face mask.</p><p><strong>Size a factor in droplet behavior </strong></p><p>Viruses, such as SARS-COV-2, are spread from an infected individual to other susceptible individuals through virus-filled droplets that are released when talking, coughing, or sneezing. Droplets emitted from the salivary glands are sprayed out through the exhaled air. Once out of the mouth, these drops can either evaporate, settle or remain floating. Larger and heavier droplets tend to fall in a ballistic motion before evaporating, while smaller droplets behave like aerosols that spray and remain airborne.</p><p>The results show that a surgical face mask and, to an even greater extent, an FFP2 mask provide excellent protection that significantly reduces the risk of infection. Provided that the face mask is worn correctly, the risk of infection is negligible even at distances as short as one meter, regardless of environmental conditions and if the person is talking, coughing or sneezing.</p><p><strong>Next step -- a study on airborne spread</strong></p><p>With this study complete, the research team is now already working on a new study aiming to explore the airborne spread of the disease.</p><p>\"The published study addresses direct droplet transmission of Covid -- another important transmission path is the indirect and airborne route in poorly ventilated rooms. We are currently working on this aspect and our preliminary results show the effectiveness of face masks in also preventing the airborne spread of the disease,\" says Gaetano Sardina.</p><p>The international study was led by the University of Padua, Italy, and conducted in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Udine, Italy, and the University of Vienna, Austria. The scientific article was written by Jietuo Wang, Federico Dalla Barba, Alessio Roccon, Gaetano Sardina, Alfredo Soldati and Francesco Picano.</p>','2022-03-01 23:41:56.331053','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Chalmers University of Technology','Researchers have developed a new theoretical model to better assess the risks of spreading viruses such as COVID-19 -- with and without a face mask. The results show how the standard \'safe\' distance of two meters does not always apply but varies greatly depending on a range of environmental factors, and that face masks can indeed play a crucial role.',1,52,'<li>Jietuo Wang, Federico Dalla Barba, Alessio Roccon, Gaetano Sardina, Alfredo Soldati, Francesco Picano. <strong>Modelling the direct virus exposure risk associated with respiratory events</strong>. <em>Journal of The Royal Society Interface</em>, 2022; 19 (186) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0819\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1098/rsif.2021.0819</a>\r\n</li>'),(166,'What’s happening in the depths of distant worlds?','whats-happening-in-the-depths-of-distant-worlds','2022-03-02 02:40:05.656962','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The physics and chemistry that take place deep inside our planet are fundamental to the existence of life as we know it. But what forces are at work in the interiors of distant worlds, and how do these conditions affect their potential for habitability?</p><p>New work led by Carnegie\'s Earth and Planets Laboratory uses lab-based mimicry to reveal a new crystal structure that has major implications for our understanding of the interiors of large, rocky exoplanets. Their findings are published by <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</p><p>\"The interior dynamics of our planet are crucial for maintaining a surface environment where life can thrive -- driving the geodynamo that creates our magnetic field and shaping the composition of our atmosphere,\" explained Carnegie\'s Rajkrishna Dutta, the lead author. \"The conditions found in the depths of large, rocky exoplanets such as super-Earths would be even more extreme.\"</p><p>Silicate minerals make up most of the Earth\'s mantle and are thought to be a major component of the interiors of other rocky planets, as well, based on calculations of their densities. On Earth, the structural changes induced in silicates under high pressure and temperature conditions define key boundaries in Earth\'s deep interior, like that between the upper and lower mantle.</p><p>The research team -- which included Carnegie\'s Sally June Tracy, Ron Cohen, Francesca Miozzi, Kai Luo, and Jing Yang, as well as Pamela Burnley of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Dean Smith and Yue Meng of Argonne National Laboratory, Stella Chariton and Vitali Prakapenka of the University of Chicago, and Thomas Duffy of Princeton University -- was interested in probing the emergence and behavior of new forms of silicate under conditions mimicking those found in distant worlds.</p><p>\"For decades, Carnegie researchers have been leaders at recreating the conditions of planetary interiors by putting small samples of material under immense pressures and high temperatures,\" said Duffy.</p><p>But there are limitations on scientists\' ability to recreate the conditions of exoplanetary interiors in the lab. Theoretical modeling has indicated that new phases of silicate emerge under the pressures expected to be found in the mantles of rocky exoplanets that are at least four times more massive than Earth. But this transition has not yet been observed.</p><p>However, germanium is a good stand-in for silicon. The two elements form similar crystalline structures, but germanium induces transitions between chemical phases at lower temperatures and pressures, which are more manageable to create in laboratory experiments.</p><p>Working with magnesium germanate, Mg<sub>2</sub>GeO<sub>4</sub>, analogous to one of the mantle\'s most abundant silicate minerals, the team was able to glean information about the potential mineralogy of super-Earths and other large, rocky exoplanets.</p><p>Under about 2 million times normal atmospheric pressure a new phase emerged with a distinct crystalline structure that involves one germanium bonded with eight oxygens.</p><p>\"The most interesting thing to me is that magnesium and germanium, two very different elements, substitute for each other in the structure,\" Cohen said.</p><p>Under ambient conditions, most silicates and germanates are organized in what\'s called a tetrahedral structure, one central silicon or germanium bonded with four other atoms. However, under extreme conditions, this can change.</p><p>\"The discovery that under extreme pressures, silicates could take on a structure oriented around six bonds, rather than four, was a total game-changer in terms of scientists\' understanding of deep Earth dynamics,\" Tracy explained. \"The discovery of an eightfold orientation could have similarly revolutionary implications for how we think about the dynamics of exoplanet interiors.\"</p><p>This research was supported by the U.S National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing and the endowment of the Carnegie Institution for Science,</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-02 03:15:36.635563','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Carnegie Institution for Science','The physics and chemistry that take place deep inside our planet are fundamental to the existence of life as we know it. But what forces are at work in the interiors of distant worlds, and how do these conditions affect their potential for habitability? New work uses lab-based mimicry to reveal a new crystal structure that has major implications for our understanding of the interiors of large, rocky exoplanets.',1,99,'<li>Rajkrishna Dutta, Sally June Tracy, R. E. Cohen, Francesca Miozzi, Kai Luo, Jing Yang, Pamela C. Burnley, Dean Smith, Yue Meng, Stella Chariton, Vitali B. Prakapenka, Thomas S. Duffy. <strong>Ultrahigh-pressure disordered eight-coordinated phase of Mg2GeO4: Analogue for super-Earth mantles</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (8): e2114424119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2114424119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2114424119</a>\r\n</li>'),(167,'Intestinal cells change functions during their lives','intestinal-cells-change-functions-during-their-lives','2022-03-02 02:41:06.004025','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Intestinal cells can change specializations during their lives. The BMP signaling pathway -- an important communication mechanism between cells -- appears to be the driver of these changes. That is wat scientists from the groups of Hans Clevers (Hubrecht Instituut) and Ye-Guang Chen (Tshinghua University, Beijing) have concluded after research with organoids and mice. The study will be published in<em> Cell Reports</em> on 1 March 2022 and offers new insights into potential targets for the treatment of metabolic diseases.</p><p>The intestinal wall is made up of different types of cells. Some are for instance responsible for the uptake of nutrients, while others produce hormones. It was long thought that after their formation, intestinal cells specialize in one function that they continuously perform until they die. However, recent studies show that these cells can change specializations. Researchers from the groups of Hans Clevers and Ye-Guang Chen (Tsinghua University, Beijing) now discovered that these changes are driven by the BMP signaling pathway.</p><p><strong>Driver of change</strong></p><p>The BMP signaling pathway is one of many signaling pathways in the body. Such pathways form lines of communications between cells: with the production of a protein by one cell, it gives a signal to the next cell, which in turn produces proteins. Eventually, this whole cascade of protein production triggers certain processes -- for example processes that are important during embryonic development. Joep Beumer, one of the researchers on the project, explains: \"We knew that BMP signaling plays an important role in the initial specialization of intestinal cells. What we now discovered, is that it is also the driver of changes in the specializations of these cells over their lifetimes.</p><p><strong>Migration</strong></p><p>Intestinal cells arise from stem cells that lie in indentations (i.e. the crypts) of the intestinal wall. These intestinal cells then migrate up the intestinal villi. During their migration, they perform a certain function, for example the absorption of nutrients or the production of hormones. Once they reach the top of the villi, they die. \"The function of intestinal cells changes during their migration along the villi. They for example produce antimicrobial components in the lower parts of the villi (at the start), while they are involved in absorbing fats later on in their journey,\" says Beumer. This gradual change in the function of the cells is called zonation. \"At the same time, the BMP signaling pathway is not very active in the crypts and in the lower parts of the villi, while it becomes more and more active higher up in the villi.</p><p><strong>Human organoids</strong></p><p>The scientists at the Clevers lab used intestinal organoids for their research. These are tiny 3D structures that can be grown in the lab and that mimic the function of the gut. In these miniature guts, the researchers were able to mimic conditions of low or high BMP signaling, similar to the altering environment along the intestinal villi. Using \'Single cell RNA sequencing\', a technique that makes it possible to see which genes are active and which ones are not, they made a surprising discovery. Jens Puschhof explains: \"When BMP was active in the organoids, the cells in these miniature guts were identical to the cells located in the top of the villi, while inactivation of BMP made the cells in the organoids resemble the cells located in the lower parts of the villi. In other words, zonation turned out to be dependent on the BMP signaling pathway.\"</p><p><strong>Mouse model</strong></p><p>The results found in organoids had to be confirmed in living organisms. Colleagues from the group of Ye-Guang Chen used a mouse model in which BMP signaling could be turned off in the gut. In mice with an inactive BMP signaling pathway in the gut, intestinal cells no longer changed specializations during their migration from the crypts to the villi. \"That confirmed our conclusion: BMP signaling is the driver behind zonation of intestinal cells,\" says Beumer.</p><p><strong>Methodological implications</strong></p><p>The study, to be published in Cell Reports, has important implications for the use of organoids for research. \"Normally, researchers inhibit BMP signaling in organoids,\" says Fjodor Yousef Yengej. \"Although this proved beneficial for growth, not all functions of the gut are represented in these cultures.\" Activation of BMP signaling may be required for research into certain topics, such as fat absorption.</p><p><strong>Treatment of metabolic diseases</strong></p><p>In addition to providing these new fundamental insights into the functions of intestinal cells during their lives, the study may ultimately contribute to the development of new treatments for metabolic diseases. \"In certain metabolic diseases, there is an accumulation of fat in parts of the body such as the liver, or an imbalance in gut hormones. We now know that active BMP signaling stimulates fat absorption, so if we can inhibit signaling in these patients, we can also influence fat absorption,\" Beumer concludes. BMP inhibitors targeting the gut are yet to be developed, but would have broad beneficial effects on metabolism.</p>','2022-03-02 03:15:44.169561','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Hubrecht Institute','Intestinal cells can change specializations during their lives. The BMP signaling pathway -- an important communication mechanism between cells -- appears to be the driver of these changes, according to research with organoids and mice. The study offers new insights into potential targets for the treatment of metabolic diseases.',1,29,'<li>Joep Beumer, Jens Puschhof, Fjodor Yousef Yengej, Lianzheng Zhao, Adriana Martinez-Silgado, Marloes Blotenburg, Harry Begthel, Charelle Boot, Alexander van Oudenaarden, Ye-Guang Chen, Hans Clevers. <strong>BMP gradient along the intestinal villus axis controls zonated enterocyte and goblet cell states</strong>. <em>Cell Reports</em>, 2022; 38 (9): 110438 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110438\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110438</a>\r\n</li>'),(168,'Machine learning improves human speech recognition','machine-learning-improves-human-speech-recognition','2022-03-02 02:42:57.343141','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Hearing loss is a rapidly growing area of scientific research as the number of baby boomers dealing with hearing loss continues to increase as they age.</p><p>To understand how hearing loss impacts people, researchers study people\'s ability to recognize speech. It is more difficult for people to recognize human speech if there is reverberation, some hearing impairment, or significant background noise, such as traffic noise or multiple speakers.</p><p>As a result, hearing aid algorithms are often used to improve human speech recognition. To evaluate such algorithms, researchers perform experiments that aim to determine the signal-to-noise ratio at which a specific number of words (commonly 50%) are recognized. These tests, however, are time- and cost-intensive.</p><p>In <em>The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</em>, published by the Acoustical Society of America through AIP Publishing, researchers from Germany explore a human speech recognition model based on machine learning and deep neural networks.</p><p>\"The novelty of our model is that it provides good predictions for hearing-impaired listeners for noise types with very different complexity and shows both low errors and high correlations with the measured data,\" said author Jana Roßbach, from Carl Von Ossietzky University.</p><p>The researchers calculated how many words per sentence a listener understands using automatic speech recognition (ASR). Most people are familiar with ASR through speech recognition tools like Alexa and Siri.</p><p>The study consisted of eight normal-hearing and 20 hearing-impaired listeners who were exposed to a variety of complex noises that mask the speech. The hearing-impaired listeners were categorized into three groups with different levels of age-related hearing loss.</p><p>The model allowed the researchers to predict the human speech recognition performance of hearing-impaired listeners with different degrees of hearing loss for a variety of noise maskers with increasing complexity in temporal modulation and similarity to real speech. The possible hearing loss of a person could be considered individually.</p><p>\"We were most surprised that the predictions worked well for all noise types. We expected the model to have problems when using a single competing talker. However, that was not the case,\" said Roßbach.</p><p>The model created predictions for single-ear hearing. Going forward, the researchers will develop a binaural model since understanding speech is impacted by two-ear hearing.</p><p>In addition to predicting speech intelligibility, the model could also potentially be used to predict listening effort or speech quality as these topics are very related.</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-02 03:15:53.140564','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','To understand how hearing loss impacts people, researchers study people\'s ability to recognize speech, and hearing aid algorithms are often used to improve human speech recognition. Researchers explore a human speech recognition model based on machine learning and deep neural networks. They calculated how many words per sentence a listener understands using automatic speech recognition. The study consisted of eight normal-hearing and 20 hearing-impaired listeners who were exposed to a variety of complex noises that mask the speech.',1,100,'<li>Jana Roßbach, Birger Kollmeier, Bernd T. Meyer. <strong>A model of speech recognition for hearing-impaired listeners based on deep learning</strong>. <em>The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</em>, 2022; 151 (3): 1417 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/10.0009411\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1121/10.0009411</a>\r\n</li>'),(169,'These solar panels pull in water vapor to grow crops in the desert','these-solar-panels-pull-in-water-vapor-to-grow-crops-in-the-desert','2022-03-02 03:16:40.601828','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Using a unique hydrogel, scientists in Saudi Arabia created a solar-driven system that successfully grows spinach by using water drawn from the air while producing electricity. The proof-of-concept design, described March 1 in the journal <em>Cell Reports Physical Science</em>, offers a sustainable, low-cost strategy to improve food and water security for people living in dry-climate regions.</p><p>\"A fraction of the world\'s population still doesn\'t have access to clean water or green power, and many of them live in rural areas with arid or semi-arid climate,\" says senior author Peng Wang (@pengwang2003), a professor of environmental science and engineering at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). \"Our design makes water out of air using clean energy that would\'ve been wasted and is suitable for decentralized, small-scale farms in remote places like deserts and oceanic islands.\"</p><p>The system, called WEC<sup>2</sup>P, is composed of a solar photovoltaic panel placed atop a layer of hydrogel, which is mounted on top of a large metal box to condense and collect water. Wang and his team developed the hydrogel in their prior research, and the material can effectively absorb water vapor from ambient air and release the water content when heated.</p><p>The researchers used the waste heat from solar panels when generating electricity to drive absorbed water out of the hydrogel. The metal box below collects the vapor and condenses the gas into water. Alternatively, the hydrogel increases the efficiency of solar photovoltaic panels by as much as 9% by absorbing the heat and lowering the panels\' temperature.</p><p>The team conducted a plant-growing test by using WEC<sup>2</sup>P in Saudi Arabia for two weeks in June, when the weather was very hot. They used the water solely collected from air to irrigate 60 water spinach seeds planted in a plastic plant-growing box. Over the course of the experiment, the solar panel, with a size similar to the top of a student desk, generated a total of 1,519 watt-hours of electricity, and 57 out of 60 of the water spinach seeds sprouted and grew normally to 18 centimeters. In total, about 2 liters of water were condensed from the hydrogel over the two-week period.</p><p>\"Our goal is to create an integrated system of clean energy, water, and food production, especially the water-creation part in our design, which sets us apart from current agrophotovoltaics,\" says Wang. To turn the proof-of-concept design into an actual product, the team plans to create a better hydrogel that can absorb more water from the air.</p><p>\"Making sure everyone on Earth has access to clean water and affordable clean energy is part of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations,\" Wang says. \"I hope our design can be a decentralized power and water system to light homes and water crops.\"</p><p>The researchers received financial support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.</p>','2022-03-02 03:15:57.300562','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cell Press','Using a unique hydrogel, scientists have created a solar-driven system that successfully grows spinach by using water drawn from the air while producing electricity. The proof-of-concept design offers a sustainable, low-cost strategy to improve food and water security for people living in dry-climate regions.',1,101,'<li>Renyuan Li, Mengchun Wu, Sara Aleid, Chenlin Zhang, Wenbin Wang, Peng Wang. <strong>An integrated solar-driven system produces electricity with fresh water and crops in arid regions</strong>. <em>Cell Reports Physical Science</em>, 2022; 100781 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100781\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100781</a>\r\n</li>'),(170,'Wild baboons sacrifice sleep to meet pressing demands','wild-baboons-sacrifice-sleep-to-meet-pressing-demands','2022-03-02 03:17:33.334618','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The first study ever to examine sleeping behavior in a wild group of primates has challenged a central tenet of sleep science: that we must make up for lost sleep. Even after sleeping poorly, wild baboons still spent time on other priorities, such as socializing with group-mates or looking out for predators, rather than catching up on lost sleep. The team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of California, Davis used non-invasive technology to monitor sleep patterns across almost an entire group of individuals at once. The findings lay bare the competing priorities that suppress sleep homeostasis in wild primate societies -- raising the possibility that humans have navigated sleep deprivation throughout our evolutionary history.</p><p>Studies of sleep have revealed that animals of every species, from honey bees to humans, put aside a portion of each day to rest. But, with some notable exceptions, all sleep studies share the same thing in common: they were conducted on animals in the laboratory. In laboratory settings, animals perform the phenomenon known as sleep homeostasis -- an animal with an accumulated sleep debt will later sleep longer or more deeply than usual. Sleep homeostasis has long been considered a key criterion in the very definition of sleep.</p><p>But the new study published in <em>eLife</em> demonstrates that animals in the wild face a slew of ecological and social demands that can disrupt sleep homeostasis. Specifically, baboons sacrificed sleep to stay awake in new environments and to remain close to their group-mates, regardless of how much they had slept the prior night or how much they had exerted themselves the preceding day.</p><p>The study was led by PhD student Carter Loftus from the University of California, Davis. He said: \"The competing priorities that lead humans to accumulate sleep debt might seem unique to a modern, industrialized society like ours. But our findings demonstrate that non-human primates also sacrifice sleep, even when it might be unhealthy to do so, to partake in other activities. The tradeoff between sleep and other pressing demands on our time is, therefore, one that we have likely been navigating throughout our evolution.\"</p><p>\"Baboons are highly vulnerable to night-time predation and their fitness depends on maintaining strong social bonds. Trading off sleep to maintain alertness in novel, risky environments and to remain close to group-mates during the night may therefore represent an essential adaptation.\"</p><p>To identify when animals were sleeping and when they were awake, the team collected high resolution movement data from GPS trackers and accelerometers attached to almost all baboons in a troop. As the first study to investigate collective sleeping behavior in wild primates, the findings bring to light the unknown social costs and benefits associated with sleep in animal societies. Baboons experienced shorter, more fragmented sleep when sleeping near more of their group-mates. However, they also synchronized periods of nocturnal awakening with nearby individuals, suggesting that baboons may have actually been interacting with each other and strengthening their social bonds over night.</p><p>Meg Crofoot, director of the Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and Professor at the University of Konstanz, is the senior author of this study and was the first to apply GPS tracking and accelerometry technology to study social behavior in primate societies.</p><p>\"We discovered that sleep is a collective behavior in baboon groups. Group-mates were highly coordinated in their patterns of awakening during the night, which in turn led to shorter and more fragmented sleep. Our results show that these highly gregarious animals are balancing their physiological need for sleep with the social pressures of group living.\"</p><p>Working at the at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya, the team fitted 26 wild baboons with GPS and accelerometry collars. In contrast to well-established methods used in sleep studies, which typically involve surgically implanting electrodes to measure brain activity via electroencephalography, the technique used in the present study represents a non-invasive alternative that can identify periods of sleep and wakefulness in wild, free ranging animals. The GPS trackers provided information on where the animals moved. This enabled the researchers to answer questions such as: how far the animals had traveled during the day, in which sleep site they slept, and with whom they slept. The accelerometers, which are similar to smartwatch and Fitbit technology, gave ultra high-resolution information on body movements. By applying an algorithm adapted from studies of human sleep, the researchers used accelerometry data to determine when the baboons were asleep or when they were awake. They then used thermal video recordings of sleeping baboons to validate their findings.</p><p>\"This study opens an exciting new frontier of scientific inquiry into the dynamics of sleep,\" adds Crofoot. \"The accelerometry-based method can be easily and cheaply integrated into studies tracking animals in their natural habitats, allowing us to massively expand what we know about sleep across a range of species. In the same way, the technique can be applied to many individuals at the same time, paving the way for understanding how sleeping in groups shapes the structures of animal societies.\"</p>','2022-03-02 03:16:12.790561','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max-Planck-Gesellschaft','Sleep study on a troop of wild baboons reveals that sacrificing sleep to meet pressing demands is common -- and might even be part of our evolutionary history.',1,102,'<li>J Carter Loftus, Roi Harel, Chase L Núñez, Margaret C Crofoot. <strong>Ecological and social pressures interfere with homeostatic sleep regulation in the wild</strong>. <em>eLife</em>, 2022; 11 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.73695\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.7554/eLife.73695</a>\r\n</li>'),(171,'For new insights into aerodynamics, scientists turn to paper airplanes','for-new-insights-into-aerodynamics-scientists-turn-to-paper-airplanes','2022-03-02 03:18:53.399998','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A series of experiments using paper airplanes reveals new aerodynamic effects, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings enhance our understanding of flight stability and could inspire new types of flying robots and small drones.</p><p>\"The study started with simple curiosity about what makes a good paper airplane and specifically what is needed for smooth gliding,\" explains Leif Ristroph, an associate professor at New York University\'s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and an author of the study, which appears in the <em>Journal of Fluid Mechanics</em>. \"Answering such basic questions ended up being far from child\'s play. We discovered that the aerodynamics of how paper airplanes keep level flight is really very different from the stability of conventional airplanes.\"</p><p>\"Birds glide and soar in an effortless way, and paper airplanes, when tuned properly, can also glide for long distances,\" adds author Jane Wang, a professor of engineering and physics at Cornell University. \"Surprisingly, there has been no good mathematical model for predicting this seemingly simple but subtle gliding flight.\"</p><p>Since we can make complicated modern airplanes fly, the researchers say, one might think we know all there is to know about the simplest flying machines.</p><p>\"But paper airplanes, while simple to make, involve surprisingly complex aerodynamics,\" notes Ristroph.</p><p>The paper\'s authors began their study by considering what is needed for a plane to glide smoothly. Since paper airplanes have no engine and rely on gravity and proper design for their movement, they are good candidates for exploring factors behind flight stability.</p><p>To investigate this phenomenon, the researchers conducted lab experiments by launching paper airplanes with differing centers of mass through the air. The results, along with those from studying plates falling in a water tank, allowed the team to devise a new aerodynamic model and also a \"flight simulator\" capable of predicting the motions.</p><p>To find the best design, the researchers placed different amounts of thin copper tape on the front part of the paper planes, giving them varied center of mass locations. Lead weights added to the plates in water served the same purpose.</p><p>\"The key criterion of a successful glider is that the center of mass must be in the \'just right\' place,\" Ristroph explains. \"Good paper airplanes achieve this with the front edge folded over several times or by an added paper clip, which requires a little trial and error.\"</p><p>In the experiments, the researchers found that the flight motions depended sensitively on the center of mass location. Specifically, if the weight was at the center of the wing or only displaced somewhat from the middle, it underwent wild motions, such as fluttering or tumbling. If the weight was displaced too far toward one edge, then the flier quickly dove downwards and crashed. In between, however, there was a \"sweet spot\" for the center of mass that gave stable gliding.</p><p>The researchers coupled the experimental work with a mathematical model that served as the basis of a \"flight simulator,\" a computer program that successfully reproduced the different flight motions. It also helped explain why a paper airplane is stable in its glide. When the center of mass is in the \"sweet spot,\" the aerodynamic force on the plane\'s wing pushes the wing back down if the plane moves upward and back up if it moves downward.</p><p>\"The location of the aerodynamic force or center of pressure varies with the angle of flight in such a way to ensure stability,\" explains Ristroph.</p><p>He notes that this dynamic does not occur with conventional aircraft wings, which are airfoils -- structures whose shapes work to generate lift.</p><p>\"The effect we found in paper airplanes does not happen for the traditional airfoils used as aircraft wings, whose center of pressure stays fixed in place across the angles that occur in flight,\" Ristroph says. \"The shifting of the center of pressure thus seems to be a unique property of thin, flat wings, and this ends up being the secret to the stable flight of paper airplanes.\"</p><p>\"This is why airplanes need a separate tail wing as a stabilizer while a paper plane can get away with just a main wing that gives both lift and stability,\" he concludes. \"We hope that our findings will be useful in small-scale flight applications, where you may want a minimal design that does not require a lot of extra flight surfaces, sensors, and controllers.\"</p><p>The paper\'s other authors were Huilin Li, a doctoral candidate at NYU Shanghai, and Tristan Goodwill, a doctoral candidate at the Courant Institute\'s Department of Mathematics.</p><p>The work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (DMS-1847955, DMS-1646339).</p>','2022-03-02 03:16:15.984562','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'New York University','A series of experiments using paper airplanes reveals new aerodynamic effects, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings enhance our understanding of flight stability and could inspire new types of flying robots and small drones.',1,103,'<li>Huilin Li, Tristan Goodwill, Z. Jane Wang, Leif Ristroph. <strong>Centre of mass location, flight modes, stability and dynamic modelling of gliders</strong>. <em>Journal of Fluid Mechanics</em>, 2022; 937 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2022.89\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1017/jfm.2022.89</a>\r\n</li>'),(172,'Why multiple myeloma returns','why-multiple-myeloma-returns','2022-03-02 03:19:26.366255','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Multiple myeloma is a cancer which affects \'plasma cells\', a type of immune cell found in the bone marrow. This cancer can weaken the immune system, cause kidney damage, and weaken bones, which may lead to fractures. Average survival rates have improved considerably thanks to new treatment options. These include lenalidomide and pomalidomide, drugs which are often successful in forcing the cancer into remission. In nearly all cases, however, the cancer will become increasingly less susceptible to these drugs, meaning it develops drug resistance. When cancer growth eventually resumes despite treatment, the patient\'s prognosis is poor.</p><p>Using latest improvements for a method known as proteomics, an interdisciplinary team of researchers in Berlin was able to decode a previously unknown mechanism which can cause this type of relapse. \"We were able to show that production of CDK6, a cell division-promoting cell cycle regulator, is particularly high once the cancer has become resistant to treatment,\" explains one of the study\'s two co-leads, Prof. Dr. Jan Krönke of the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cancer Immunology on Campus Benjamin Franklin. \"Based on our data, we believe that CDK6 inhibition could represent a new treatment approach in relapsed multiple myeloma.\"</p><p>Despite extensive DNA sequencing studies, treatment resistance in multiple myeloma has only rarely been linked to changes at the genetic level, such as gene mutations or gene deletions. \"This suggests that the changes taking place within the cancer cell which would explain this relapse must take place at a different level,\" says the study\'s second co-lead, Dr. Philipp Mertins, an MDC researcher who heads the Proteomics Platform at both the MDC and the BIH. He continues: \"The cancer cells\' growth potential may also be subject to various means of control at the protein level. Here, we observed this type of effect in relation to the protein CDK6.\" The researchers employed cutting-edge mass spectrometry technology in order to establish whether changes at the protein level are responsible for the cancer becoming resistant to treatment. Using both pre- and post-relapse samples from patients with multiple myeloma, the researchers were able to quantify more than 6,000 different proteins.</p><p>Comparing cancer cells collected before and after relapse, the researchers found that a range of proteins were present at either higher or lower concentrations post-relapse. Using statistical and bioninformatics analyses, the researchers were able to trace the majority of these effects back to a single protein: cyclin-dependent kinase 6, or CDK6, an enzyme which controls the cell\'s entry into the cell division phase of the cell cycle.</p><p>As a first step, the researchers used cell cultures to demonstrate that CDK6 plays a key role in the development of treatment resistance in multiple myeloma. \"When we artificially increased the amount of CDK6 present inside cultured myeloma cells, they lost their susceptibility to the drugs lenalidomide and pomalidomide,\" explains the study\'s first author, Dora Ng, a researcher at the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cancer Immunology on Campus Benjamin Franklin. She adds: \"However, when we also added a CDK6 inhibitor, the drugs became effective again and the cancer cells died. This shows that CDK6 inhibition enables at least a partial reversal of the myeloma cells\' treatment resistance.\"</p><p>The researchers were then able to confirm this effect in an animal model, where the combination of pomalidomide with a CDK6 inhibitor significantly improved the odds of survival. \"These data suggest that patients with treatment-resistant multiple myeloma may also benefit from the addition of CDK6 inhibitors,\" says Prof. Krönke, a researcher at the German Cancer Consortium\'s (DKTK) translational research center in Berlin, who is being funded via the DFG\'s Emmy Noether Program. \"Further studies will be needed in order to test this hypothesis. One advantage is that some CDK6 inhibitors have already been authorized for use in the treatment of breast cancer.\"</p><p>The study\'s second first author, Dr. Evelyn Ramberger, was responsible for performing the project\'s protein analyses. A postdoc at Charité and the MDC/BIH Proteomics Platform, she is convinced that the technology holds enormous benefits for the field of cancer research: \"We want to continue pursuing this new approach of using modern, comprehensive protein analyses to study cancer tissues -- both in multiple myeloma and other cancers. We hope this will unveil further treatment targets and biomarkers for use in personalized cancer medicine,\" she says.</p>','2022-03-02 03:16:18.369562','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin','Multiple myeloma, the most common type of bone marrow cancer in Germany, almost always returns, even after initial treatment success. In the majority of cases, the reasons behind this treatment resistance (e.g., genetic mutations) and the subsequent return of the disease, remain unknown. According to new research, it is the increased production of a specific protein which diminishes the cancer\'s sensitivity to treatment.',1,69,'<li>Yuen Lam Dora Ng, Evelyn Ramberger, Stephan R. Bohl, Anna Dolnik, Christian Steinebach, Theresia Conrad, Sina Müller, Oliver Popp, Miriam Kull, Mohamed Haji, Michael Gütschow, Hartmut Döhner, Wolfgang Walther, Ulrich Keller, Lars Bullinger, Philipp Mertins, Jan Krönke. <strong>Proteomic profiling reveals CDK6 upregulation as a targetable resistance mechanism for lenalidomide in multiple myeloma</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28515-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28515-1</a>\r\n</li>'),(173,'Study could help to defend humans and crops from yeast infection','study-could-help-to-defend-humans-and-crops-from-yeast-infection','2022-03-02 03:19:58.969312','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Clues to the mechanism of yeast infections, which present risks to both humans and crops, have been identified in research co-led at the University of Strathclyde.</p><p>The study has focused on a family of proteins, known as Mep-Amt-Rh, which enable them to transport ammonium, a significant compound involved in growth and differentiation of yeasts.</p><p>Three proteins of the family are found in baker\'s yeast but only one of these, Mep2, is capable of triggering filamentation, the process of cell growth which can lead to infection by pathogenic fungi.</p><p>The research has discovered that variations in Mep-Amt-Rh proteins affect the specificity and the type of mechanism for transporting ammonium. When two mechanisms co-exist within Mep2, they disrupt the signalling function which brings about filamentation and impede its progress.</p><p>The research could improve understanding of yeast infection in both humans and crop plants, enabling better defence against its effects.</p><p>The collaborative research was led by Dr Arnaud Javelle at Strathclyde, Professor Anna Maria Marini and Professor Mélanie Boeckstaens at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Professor Ulrich Zachariae at the University of Dundee. It has been published in the journal <em>mBio</em>.</p><p>Dr Javelle, of Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, said: \"Pathogenic yeasts represent a significant threat to human health and wellbeing. This can be direct, with yeast infection causing sickness or even death in humans, or indirect, through infection of crop plants severely limiting production and resulting in food shortages.</p><p>\"According to a Nature Microbiology editorial published in 2017, more than 300 million people suffer from serious fungal-related diseases and fungi collectively kill over 1.6 million people annually, which is more than malaria and similar to the tuberculosis death toll. Fungi and the oomycetes organism destroy a third of all food crops each year, which would be sufficient to feed 600 million people.</p><p>\"Our work brings new light to the understanding of the contribution of ammonium transporters to fungal pathogenicity and may help manage infection in the future.\"</p><p>Dr Gordon Williamson, one of the lead authors from Dr Javelle\'s laboratory, said: \"This work exemplifies the need for collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach when trying to build understanding of these complex molecular machines.\"</p><p>The research about filamentation process considered a particular infection, Candidiasis, caused by the fungal species named Candida, which is widely recognised as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the healthcare environment. The attributable mortality among all patients with bloodstream infection may be 10-20%, with the risk of death being closely related to increasing age.</p><p>The research groups are pursuing several follow-up projects, including translating their research to the human Rhesus proteins. Aside from their well-known role in blood-typing, malfunction of mammalian Rhesus proteins has also been associated with a range of diseases, from haemolytic anemia to reduction in male fertility and early-onset depressive disorders. It is hoped that the results of this work could form the basis of future therapeutic development.</p><p>Researchers in the project received funding from Tenovus Scotland, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Fund for Scientific Research, WELBIO (Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology) and the Brachet Funds.</p>','2022-03-02 03:16:39.336594','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Strathclyde','Clues to the mechanism of yeast infections, which present risks to both humans and crops, have been identified in new research.',1,7,'<li>Gordon Williamson, Ana Sofia Brito, Adriana Bizior, Giulia Tamburrino, Gaëtan Dias Mirandela, Thomas Harris, Paul A. Hoskisson, Ulrich Zachariae, Anna Maria Marini, Mélanie Boeckstaens, Arnaud Javelle. <strong>Coexistence of Ammonium Transporter and Channel Mechanisms in Amt-Mep-Rh Twin-His Variants Impairs the Filamentation Signaling Capacity of Fungal Mep2 Transceptors</strong>. <em>mBio</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02913-21\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1128/mbio.02913-21</a>\r\n</li>'),(174,'New technique unlocks ancient history of Earth from grains of sand','new-technique-unlocks-ancient-history-of-earth-from-grains-of-sand','2022-03-02 03:20:49.671829','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Curtin researchers have developed a new technique by studying the age of ancient grains of sand from beaches, rivers and rocks from around the world to reveal previously hidden details of the Earth\'s distant geological past.</p><p>Lead researcher Dr Milo Barham, from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group within Curtin\'s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the team devised a metric, which determines the \'age distribution fingerprint\' of minerals known as zircon within sand, shedding new light on the evolution of the Earth\'s surface over the last few billion years.</p><p>\"While much of the original geological record is lost to erosion, durable minerals like zircon form sediments that effectively gather information from these lost worlds to paint a vivid picture of the planet\'s history, including changing environments, the development of a habitable biosphere, the evolution of continents, and the accumulation of mineral resources at ancient plate boundaries,\" Dr Barham said.</p><p>\"This new approach allows a greater understanding of the nature of ancient geology in order to reconstruct the arrangement and movement of tectonic plates on Earth through time.</p><p>\"The world\'s beaches faithfully record a detailed history of our planet\'s geological past, with billions of years of Earth\'s history imprinted in the geology of each grain of sand and our technique helps unlock this information.\"</p><p>Co-author Professor Chris Kirkland, also from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group within Curtin\'s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the new method can be used to trace the Earth\'s history with greater detail than previously achievable.</p><p>\"Zircons contain chemical elements that allow us to date and reconstruct the conditions of mineral formation. Much like human population demographics trace the evolution of countries, this technique allows us to chart the evolution of continents by identifying the particular age population demographics of zircon grains in a sediment,\" Professor Kirkland said.</p><p>\"The way the Earth recycles itself through erosion is tracked in the pattern of ages of zircon grains in different geological settings. For example, the sediment on the west and east coasts of South America are completely different because there are many young grains on the west side that were created from crust plunging beneath the continent, driving earthquakes and volcanoes in the Andes. Whereas, on the east coast, all is relatively calm geologically and there is a mix of old and young grains picked up from a diversity of rocks across the Amazon basin.\"</p><p>Dr Barham and Professor Kirkland are affiliated with The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Curtin\'s flagship Earth Sciences research institute and the research was funded by the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia.</p>','2022-03-02 03:16:56.698590','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Curtin University','Researchers have developed a new technique by studying the age of ancient grains of sand from beaches, rivers and rocks from around the world to reveal previously hidden details of the Earth\'s distant geological past.',1,104,'<li>M. Barham, C.L. Kirkland, A.D. Handoko. <strong>Understanding ancient tectonic settings through detrital zircon analysis</strong>. <em>Earth and Planetary Science Letters</em>, 2022; 583: 117425 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117425\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117425</a>\r\n</li>'),(175,'Small water samples can find really big animals','small-water-samples-can-find-really-big-animals','2022-03-02 03:21:27.868426','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A team of scientists used an emerging genetic tool that analyzes DNA in water samples to detect whales and dolphins in New York waters.</p><p>Called environmental DNA or eDNA, the technique searches for trace amounts of genetic material left behind by wildlife.</p><p>The scientists, from California State University, CUNY, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Columbia University, published their results in the journal <em>Frontiers</em>.</p><p>The scientists say that eDNA can be used to complement other methods to locate whales and dolphins such as visual observations and acoustic monitoring, and their eDNA detections are some of the most promising to date for detecting whales and dolphins from seawater in the open ocean.</p><p>Said the study\'s lead author Dr. Elizabeth Alter of California State University: \"Determining how cetaceans and other threatened marine animals use coastal habitats is critical to their effective conservation. By generating eDNA data in parallel with survey data, it will be possible to gain a clearer understanding of how this tool can be used in management and conservation contexts to monitor species of conservation concern over large marine ecosystems.\"</p><p>In addition to finding whales and dolphins, the technique detected baitfish present in the area preyed on by whales and dolphins. The authors say the technique could eventually be used to identify individual animals.</p><p>Said Dr. Howard C. Rosenbaum, Director of WCS\'s Ocean Giants Program/Senior Scientist NY Aquarium and a co-author of the study: \"Innovation and application of new techniques, such as the possibility of using eDNA, that leads to having better information about distribution of whales, dolphins and their prey is so important today, especially where potential impacts in these habitats may be increasing human activities.\"</p><p>The authors say that eDNA drops to lower levels over time and that additional research is needed to better understand how factors such as behavior and oceanographic conditions contribute to the longevity of eDNA signals.</p><p>Though there are some signs of promising recovery for many whale species and populations, whales continue to face a range of modern day threats ranging from ship strikes, to entanglement with nets, to ocean noise.</p><p>The Biden-Harris administration, New York State and other states on the eastern seaboard are scaling up massive renewable energy projects to meet energy demands and help address climate change, including a wind energy auction for more than 488,000 acres in the New York Bight. There are many potential impacts from these developments to whales that the environmental community, industry, and state/federal authorities are aiming to address. WCS has been involved at state and national level dialogues as well as developing best practice guidance through the IUCN.</p><p>The use of emerging and novel techniques such as eDNA as demonstrated by the results of the current study in the NY Bight and other approaches can offer new insights as to whale presence and their prey in and around lease areas as offshore wind scales up along the eastern seaboard. More broadly, WCS increasingly uses eDNA in its conservation work, detecting critically endangered wildlife such as Swinhoe\'s softshell turtle, in the Bolivian Amazon, and in some of the most rugged areas on the planet including Mt. Everest.</p>','2022-03-02 03:16:59.072594','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Wildlife Conservation Society','Scientists used an emerging genetic tool that analyzes DNA in water samples to detect whales and dolphins in New York waters.',1,73,'<li>S. Elizabeth Alter, Carissa D. King, Emily Chou, Sam Chew Chin, Melinda Rekdahl, Howard C. Rosenbaum. <strong>Using Environmental DNA to Detect Whales and Dolphins in the New York Bight</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Conservation Science</em>, 2022; 3 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.820377\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fcosc.2022.820377</a>\r\n</li>'),(176,'Investigating the effects of critical illness in early childhood on neurocognitive outcomes','investigating-the-effects-of-critical-illness-in-early-childhood-on-neurocognitive-outcomes','2022-03-02 03:22:16.471754','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Approximately 23,700 children in the U.S. undergo invasive mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure annually. Although most survive, little is known if they have worse long-term neurocognitive function than children who do not undergo such procedures. There are concerns about neurotoxic effects of critical illness and its treatment on the developing brain. Therefore, infants and young children may be uniquely susceptible to adverse neurocognitive outcomes after invasive mechanical ventilation.</p><p>A four-year sibling-matched cohort study conducted at 31 U.S. PICUs and associated neuropsychology testing centers sheds light on the subject. Researchers found that children who survived PICU hospitalization for respiratory failure and were discharged without severe cognitive dysfunction had significantly lower subsequent IQ scores than their matched siblings.</p><p>\"While the difference in IQ scores between patients and unexposed siblings was small, the data provide strong evidence of the existence and epidemiology of pediatric post-intensive care syndrome (PICS-p) after a single typical episode of acute respiratory failure necessitating invasive ventilation among generally healthy children,\" says Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) and the study\'s lead researcher.</p><p>The study reaffirms the importance of assessing long-term outcomes as part of any trial evaluating acute interventions in pediatric critical care. It also underscores the importance of further study to understand which children may be at highest risk, what modifiable factors could cause it, and how it can be prevented. The results of the study have been published in <em>JAMA</em>. The article \"Association of Acute Respiratory Failure in Early Childhood With Long-Term Neurocognitive Outcomes\" is available online.</p><p>Co-authors of the article include R. Scott Watson, MD, MPH, of the University of Washington, Seattle; Lisa A. Asaro, MS, of Boston Children\'s Hospital; Cheryl Burns, MS, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; David Wypij, PhD and Min Jung Koh, MS. both of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Mallory A. Perry, RN, PhD, the Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Sue R. Beers, PhD and Derek C. Angus, MD. MPH, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Funding for the study included grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for RESTORE-Cognition (RO1 HD074757; MPI: Curley and Watson) and for the RESTORE trial from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health (U01 HL086622; Curley and U01 HL086649; Wypij).</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-02 06:25:04.849182','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing','Approximately 23,700 children in the U.S. undergo invasive mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure annually. Although most survive, little is known if they have worse long-term neurocognitive function than children who do not undergo such procedures. There are concerns about neurotoxic effects of critical illness and its treatment on the developing brain. Therefore, infants and young children may be uniquely susceptible to adverse neurocognitive outcomes after invasive mechanical ventilation.',1,105,'<li>R. Scott Watson, Sue R. Beers, Lisa A. Asaro, Cheryl Burns, Min Jung Koh, Mallory A. Perry, Derek C. Angus, David Wypij, Martha A.Q. Curley, Joseph Ackerson, Mary Best, Alanna A. Conder, Natalie Z. Cvijanovich, Rachyll Dempsey, Monica D. Dowling, Susanne W. Duvall, Andrea Fabricatore, Chaya B. Gopin, Lana L Harder, Abbey Herringshaw, Kate Herrington, James H. Hertzog, Scott J. Hunter, Nicolle Ionascu, Gad E. Klein, Roger E. Lauer, Jonathan D. Lichtenstein, Margaret M. Manning, Ryan Martin, Joan W. Mayfield, Megan M Morse, Edward M. Moss, Grace A. Mucci, Ana Ramirez, Syndey A. Rice, Marivelisse Rodriquez-Rivera, Cynthia F. Salorio, Anabela D. Smith, Julien T. Smith, Nina H. Thomas, Allison Thomas, J. Robin Timm, LuAnn VanDetta, Marion Wallace, Seth A. Warschausky, William J. Warzak, Desiree A. White, Elizabeth J. Willen, Lisa J. Woodcock-Burroughs, Maya M. Zayat. <strong>Association of Acute Respiratory Failure in Early Childhood With Long-term Neurocognitive Outcomes</strong>. <em>JAMA</em>, 2022; 327 (9): 836 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.1480\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1001/jama.2022.1480</a>\r\n</li>'),(177,'Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domains may result in escape variants resistant to therapeutics and vaccines','mutations-in-sars-cov-2-spike-protein-receptor-binding-domains-may-result-in-escape-variants-resistant-to-therapeutics-and-vaccines','2022-03-02 03:22:45.407635','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The SARS-CoV-2 virus is continuously evolving and structural changes to the virus may impact the efficacy of antibody therapies and vaccines. A study publishing Feb. 17 in <em>PLOS Pathogens</em> by Anshumali Mittal at the University of Pittsburgh, USA and colleagues describes the structural and functional landscape of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and discuss the effects of mutations on the virus spike protein that may allow it to evade antibody responses.</p><p>All viruses mutate as they evolve, and most mutations have either negative or neutral effects on viral fitness. However, some mutations give viruses a selective advantage, making them more infectious, transmittable, and resistant to antibody responses and therapeutics. To better understand the relationship between immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 virus and how mutations may allow the virus to escape neutralization, researchers conducted a review of the literature, comprising approximately 139 studies. They synthesized research on emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, described the structural basis of how antibodies may neutralize SARS-CoV-2, and mapped out the spike protein mutations or \"escape variants\" that resist antibody binding and neutralization.</p><p>The researchers summarized the structure-based classification of the spike protein receptor-binding domains (RBD) that target antibodies to better understand the molecular mechanisms of neutralization. They also further described the RBD escape mutations for several antibodies that resist vaccine-elicited and therapeutically relevant antibodies binding. Future studies are needed, however, to better understand how these mutations may affect illness severity and mortality.</p><p>According to the authors, \"The potency of therapeutic antibodies and vaccines partly depends on how readily the virus can escape neutralization. The SARS-CoV-2 virus will continue to evolve resulting in the emergence of escape variants; therefore, worldwide genomic surveillance, better vaccination drive, development of broadly neutralizing antibodies, and new drugs are vital to combat COVID-19.\"</p><p>Mittal adds, \"Structure-based escape maps combined with computational modelling are valuable tools to understand how mutations at each residue affect the binding of an antibody, and can be utilized to facilitate the rational design of escape-resistant antibody therapeutics, vaccines and other countermeasures.\"</p>','2022-03-02 06:25:07.384181','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','The SARS-CoV-2 virus is continuously evolving and structural changes to the virus may impact the efficacy of antibody therapies and vaccines. A study describes the structural and functional landscape of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and discuss the effects of mutations on the virus spike protein that may allow it to evade antibody responses.',1,74,'<li>Anshumali Mittal, Arun Khattri, Vikash Verma. <strong>Structural and antigenic variations in the spike protein of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong>. <em>PLOS Pathogens</em>, 2022; 18 (2): e1010260 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010260\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.ppat.1010260</a>\r\n</li>'),(178,'COVID in a cat','covid-in-a-cat','2022-03-02 03:23:16.792729','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Since being identified in people in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has gone on to infect a wide range of animal species, wild and domestic. Concerns abound that these species jumps could lead to novel mutations and even harmful new variants.</p><p>In a new report, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania\'s School of Veterinary Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine find that, for at least one example of apparent interspecies transmission, this crossing the species boundary did not cause the virus to gain a significant number of mutations.</p><p>Writing in the journal <em>Viruses</em>, the scientists identified a domestic house cat, treated at Penn Vet\'s Ryan Hospital, that was infected with the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 subsequent to an exposure from its owner. The full genome sequence of the virus was a close match to viral sequences circulating in people in the Philadelphia region at the time.</p><p>\"SARS-CoV-2 has a really incredibly wide host range,\" says Elizabeth Lennon, senior author on the work, a veterinarian, and assistant professor at Penn Vet. \"What this means to me is that, as SARS-CoV-2 continues to be prevalent in the human population, we need to watch what\'s happening in other animal species as well.\"</p><p>The find is the first published example of the delta variant occurring in a domestic cat in the United States. Notably, the cat\'s infection was only identified by testing its fecal matter. A nasal swab did not result in a positive test.</p><p>\"This did highlight the importance of sampling at multiple body sites,\" says Lennon. \"We wouldn\'t have detected this if we had just done a nasal swab.\"</p><p>Lennon and colleagues have been sampling dogs and cats for SARS-CoV-2 since early in the pandemic. This particular pet cat, an 11-year-old female, was brought to Ryan Hospital in September with gastrointestinal symptoms. It had been exposed to an owner who had COVID-19 -- though that owner had been isolating from the cat for 11 days prior to its hospitalization, another household member doing the cat care in the interim.</p><p>Working through the Penn Center for Research on Coronaviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens and Perelman School of Medicine microbiologist Frederic Bushman\'s laboratory, the team obtained a whole genome sequence of the cat\'s virus.</p><p>Sequencing revealed the delta variant, more specifically, the AY.3 lineage. The researchers did not have a sample from the infected owner. Comparing the sequence to the database kept by the Bushman laboratory, however, the cat\'s virus was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of the sequences of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the Delaware Valley region at the time.</p><p>\"When we looked at a random sampling of human sequences from our geographic area, there wasn\'t anything dramatically different about our cat\'s sample,\" Lennon says. \"So, our takeaway was that the cat was not infected by a virus that was somehow highly different.\"</p><p>Not all variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been equally able to infect a wide range of hosts. For example, the original Wuhan strain could not naturally infect mice; later variants gained that ability. Scientists began seeing infections in cats and dogs from the early days of the pandemic, presumably infected through close contact with their owners.</p><p>\"A main takeaway here is that as different variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge, they seem to be retaining the ability to infect a wide range of species,\" Lennon says.</p><p>While this particular case does not raise alarms for the virus acquiring significant numbers of mutations as it moved between species, Lennon and colleagues, including Bushman and Susan Weiss of Penn\'s medical school, hope to continue studying other examples to see how SARS-CoV-2 evolves. Penn Vet\'s Institute for Infectious and Zoonotic Disease will facilitate this look at human-animal interactions when it comes to pathogen transmission.</p><p>\"We know that the SARS-CoV-2 is undergoing changes as it passes between to become more and more transmissible over time,\" says Lennon. \"We saw that with the omicron variant. It\'s host-adapting to people. We also want to know, when other animal species get infected, does the virus start to adapt to those species? And for those viruses that may adapt to a different species, do they still infect humans?\"</p><p>Elizabeth Lennon is the Pamela Cole Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.</p><p>Lennon\'s coauthors on the study were Penn Vet\'s Oliva C. Lenz and Stephen D. Cole and the Perelman School of Medicine\'s Andrew D. Marques, Brendan J. Kelly, Kyle G. Rodino, Ranawaka A. P. M. Perera, Susan R. Weiss, and Frederic D. Bushman.</p><p>Lenz and Marques were co-first authors and Lennon is the corresponding author.</p><p>Support for the study came from the Penn Vet COVID-19 Research Fund, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grants BAA 200-2021-10986 and 75D30121C11102/000HCVL1-2021-55232), philanthropic donations to the Penn Center for Research on Coronaviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens, and the National Institutes of Health (grants HL137063, AI140442, and AI121485).</p>','2022-03-02 06:25:12.048186','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Pennsylvania','A study has confirmed what is believed to be the first published account of the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a house cat. The viral sequence was a close match to strains circulating in the Philadelphia area at the same time, underscoring the virus\'s ability to jump from one species to another without acquiring significant mutations.',1,88,'<li>Olivia C. Lenz, Andrew D. Marques, Brendan J. Kelly, Kyle G. Rodino, Stephen D. Cole, Ranawaka A. P. M. Perera, Susan R. Weiss, Frederic D. Bushman, Elizabeth M. Lennon. <strong>SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant (AY.3) in the Feces of a Domestic Cat</strong>. <em>Viruses</em>, 2022; 14 (2): 421 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14020421\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3390/v14020421</a>\r\n</li>'),(182,'New epigenetic biomarkers found that potentially predict preterm birth','new-epigenetic-biomarkers-found-that-potentially-predict-preterm-birth','2022-03-02 03:25:39.194289','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A signature found in the cheek cells of mothers and fathers of preterm infants may help develop a test to determine whether a pregnancy may end too early. Such a test could help prevent premature births and the many resulting health impacts on infants by alerting medical providers to the need for early intervention measures.</p><p>In a study published in <em>Scientific Reports </em>on March 1, researchers documented more than 100 epigenetic biomarkers in mothers of preterm babies that were distinct from mothers of babies carried to term. Fathers had fewer biomarkers but enough to indicate a likely paternal role in preterm birth.</p><p>\"The signature we found was present in all the parents we analyzed,\" said senior author Michael Skinner, a professor in Washington State University\'s School of Biological Sciences. \"This is likely to lead eventually to a very useful test. We used buccal cells, which are collected by a cheek swab. It\'s very non-invasive and easy to do.\"</p><p>Epigenetics are molecular factors and processes around DNA that determine how genes behave. While independent of DNA sequence, epigenetic modifications, which can be caused by things such as toxicant exposure, poor nutrition and alcohol use, can also be inherited.</p><p>In this study, researchers found that the preterm female babies carried more than 100 of these biomarkers, indicating the propensity to have a preterm baby may be passed down. That transgenerational capacity is also supported by the fact the signature is found in cheek cells, Skinner said. If an epigenetic modification is present in both sperm and ovum, the resulting baby will have that modification present in every cell of their body -- including their cheek cells.</p><p>For this study, the researchers took cheek swabs from two groups of mother-father-infant triads shortly after the babies were born. In one set of 19 triads, the infants were born premature and in another group of 21 triads, the babies were carried to full term. The epigenetic analysis revealed the signature in the mothers, fathers and female preterm babies, but none in the male preterm infants.</p><p>This is a \"proof of concept\" study, and the researchers note that the next step would be to test this with greater numbers of parents and children.</p><p>Early birth before 37 weeks of gestation can be fatal for infants, and many who survive face a host of health issues, some of which can follow them their entire lives, including cognitive disabilities and cardiovascular problems. There are many risk factors that can cause preterm birth such as a twin or multiple pregnancy and the high-blood pressure condition known as preclampsia -- but some early births are unexpected. Having a diagnostic test in the first-term of pregnancy can allow caregivers to take steps to delay or prevent a preterm birth, Skinner said.</p><p>Skinner\'s lab has previously published studies on other potential epigenetic biomarkers, including one for autism and rheumatoid arthritis, paving the way for earlier treatment.</p><p>\"Although we may not be able to fix the problem, if we know that it\'s going to develop because of these diagnostics, we can treat it,\" said Skinner. \"This could help with the transition from reactionary medicine to preventive medicine.\"</p><p>In addition to Skinner, co-authors on this paper include Paul Winchester at Indiana University as well as Eric Nilsson and Daniel Beck from WSU. This study was supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation.</p>','2022-03-02 06:42:02.135865','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Washington State University','A signature found in the cheek cells of mothers and fathers of preterm infants may help develop a test to determine whether a pregnancy may end too early. Such a test could help prevent premature births and the many resulting health impacts on infants by alerting medical providers to the need for early intervention measures. In a proof of concept study, researchers documented more than 100 epigenetic biomarkers in mothers of preterm babies that were distinct from mothers of babies carried to term. Fathers had fewer biomarkers but enough to indicate a likely paternal role in preterm birth. They also found that the preterm female babies carried more than 100 of these biomarkers, indicating the propensity to have a preterm baby may be passed down.',1,106,'<li>Paul Winchester, Eric Nilsson, Daniel Beck, Michael K. Skinner. <strong>Preterm birth buccal cell epigenetic biomarkers to facilitate preventative medicine</strong>. <em>Scientific Reports</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07262-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41598-022-07262-9</a>\r\n</li>'),(183,'Researchers develop procedure to interpret x-ray emission spectra of liquid water','researchers-develop-procedure-to-interpret-x-ray-emission-spectra-of-liquid-water','2022-03-02 03:26:35.919508','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Water is an abundant and essential compound, found everywhere on Earth. Yet despite its familiarity and simple structure, water displays many unusual physical properties. For more than a century, scientists have turned their attention to the study of water, attempting to better interpret its structure. An international team of researchers, led by a scholar from Hiroshima University, has developed a procedure allowing them to reproduce the double peak feature of x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) spectra in liquid water.</p><p>The study helping to advance the understanding of the structure of water, led by Osamu Takahashi, an associate professor at Hiroshima University\'s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, is published on February 25 in <em>Physical Review Letters.</em></p><p>Through the years, as scientists have worked to better understand the structure of liquid water, some have studied water using a two-structure model. Other scientists, in a wide range of fields, have used a uniform, continuous liquid model. XES has proven to be a useful tool for researchers studying substances whose features are not homogeneous.</p><p>For over a decade, scientists have debated how to interpret XES spectra of liquid water. To solve this problem the research team performed molecular dynamics calculations to create the model structures of liquid water. Their next step was to estimate XES spectra for the liquid water, using first principles of quantum mechanical calculations.</p><p>The team was able to theoretically reproduce the double 1b<sub>1</sub> feature, present in liquid water\'s x-ray emission spectroscopy. They explored different effects, such as geometry and dynamics, to determine the shape of the XES spectra.</p><p>Adopting classical molecular dynamics simulations, the team was able to construct the water\'s structure in the liquid phase. In these simulations, the researchers worked at various temperature points with the bond length and water molecule angles fixed. In the spectra they calculated, the researchers were able to reproduce the features, such as the double peaks of the 1b<sub>1</sub> state, that had been previously observed by other scientists in experimental XES spectra.</p><p>To better understand the features they were seeing, the research team classified the XES spectra they calculated based on the different types of hydrogen bonds. They observed the double peak feature in the XES spectra in all the different types of hydrogen bonds they studied.</p><p>After examining the spectra related to the hydrogen bonds, the team studied the effect of thermally excited vibrational modes on the XES spectra. They obtained nine independent vibrational modes and studied their effects on the spectra.</p><p>The researchers were able to successfully reproduce the XES spectra of liquid water by examining the effect of full vibrational modes, O-H stretching, bending, and rotational modes. They explained both the temperature and isotope dependence by examining the hydrogen-bond configuration around the excited water molecule and core-hole induced dynamics. \"Our procedure is general and can be applicable for various systems related to the phenomena including liquid water,\" Takahashi said.</p><p>The team is hopeful that their research may help to resolve some of the long-standing debates surrounding the interpretation of liquid water\'s structure. Looking to the future, the researchers see various potential applications for their procedure. \"Development of new materials such as electrodes used in batteries, biomaterials such as artificial blood vessels, and functional polymers such as water treatment membranes may be fascinating projects, which are related to the structure of liquid water,\" Takahashi said.</p><p>The research team led by Osamu Takahashi, included Ryosuke Yamamura from the Department of Chemistry, Hiroshima University, Japan; Takashi Tokushima from MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University, Sweden; and Yoshihisa Harada from the Institute for Solid State Physics and Synchrotron Radiation Research Organization, University of Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science funded this research.</p>','2022-03-02 06:42:06.247824','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Hiroshima University','Water is an abundant and essential compound, found everywhere on Earth. Yet despite its familiarity and simple structure, water displays many unusual physical properties. For more than a century, scientists have turned their attention to the study of water, attempting to better interpret its structure.',1,45,'<li>Osamu Takahashi, Ryosuke Yamamura, Takashi Tokushima, Yoshihisa Harada. <strong>Interpretation of the X-Ray Emission Spectra of Liquid Water through Temperature and Isotope Dependence</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (8) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.086002\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.086002</a>\r\n</li>'),(184,'Harmless or deadly? New study examines evolution of E. coli bacteria','harmless-or-deadly-new-study-examines-evolution-of-e-coli-bacteria','2022-03-02 03:28:04.575130','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Genetic material from E. coli bacteria in farm animals could be contributing to the evolution of deadly pandemic strains of E. coli in humans, new research shows.</p><p>E. coli usually live as harmless bacteria in the gastrointestinal tracts of birds and mammals, including humans. They also reside, independent of a host, in environments such as water and soil, and in food products including chicken and turkey meat, raw milk, beef, pork and mixed salad.</p><p>These bacteria can cause disease if they possess or acquire factors that allow them survive in areas of the human body outside the gut.</p><p>E. coli is the primary source of urinary tract infections, a common reason for hospital admissions. It can also lead to sepsis, which kills 11 million people globally each year, and meningitis, an infection that affects the brain and spinal cord.</p><p>Dr Cameron Reid, from the University of Technology Sydney, said the aim of the study, recently published in<em> Nature Communications,</em> was to better understand the evolution and genomic characteristics of an emerging strain of E. coli known as ST58.</p><p>ST58 has been isolated from bloodstream infections in patients around the world, including France, where the number of infections with this strain was shown to have doubled over a 12 year period. ST58 is also more drug resistant than other strains.</p><p>\"Our team analysed E. coli ST58 genomes from more than 700 human, animal and environmental sources around the world, to look for clues as to why it is an emerging cause of sepsis and urinary tract infections,\" said Dr Reid.</p><p>\"We found that E. coli ST58 from pigs, cattle and chickens contain pieces of genetic material, called ColV plasmids, which are characteristic of this strain of disease causing E. coli,\" he said.</p><p>Plasmids are tiny double-stranded DNA molecules, separate from the bacterial chromosome, that can replicate independently and transfer across different E. coli strains, aiding the evolution of virulence.</p><p>Acquisition of ColV plasmids may prime E. coli strains to cause extra-intestinal infections in humans, and also increase the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance, the research suggests.</p><p>\"Zoonosis, particularly in relation to E. coli, should not be viewed simply as the transfer of a pathogen from an animal to a human,\" said research co-author Professor Steven Djordjevic.</p><p>\"Rather, it should be understood as a complex phenomenon arising from a vast network of interactions between groups of E. coli (and other bacteria), and the selective pressures they encounter in both humans and animals,\" he said.</p><p>The findings suggest all three major sectors of food animal production (cattle, chickens and pigs), have acted as backgrounds for the evolution and emergence of this pathogen.</p><p>\"The contribution of non-human sources to infectious disease in humans is typically poorly understood and its potential importance under-appreciated, as the debate regarding the ecological origins of the SARS-CoV2 virus attest,\" said Dr Reid.</p><p>\"In a globalised world, eminently susceptible to rapid dissemination of pathogens, the importance of pro-active management of microbial threats to public health cannot be understated.\"</p><p>The study has broad implications for public health policy that spans across food industry, veterinary and clinical settings.</p><p>\"To date, infectious disease public health has been a reactive discipline, where action can only be taken after a pathogen has emerged and done some damage,\" said Dr Reid.</p><p>\"Ideally, with the advent and widespread uptake of genome sequencing technology, future infectious disease public health can transition to a primarily pro-active discipline, where genomic surveillance systems are able to predict pathogen emergence and inform effective interventions.\"</p><p>Dr Reid said for such a system to work, it requires ongoing research and collaboration with government, public health bodies, food producers and clinicians, and it would involve surveillance of a variety of non-human sources of microbes.</p><p>\"This would include domestic and wild animals -- particularly birds -- food products, sewerage and waterways, in what is referred to as a \'One Health\' approach. Some microbes, like ST58 E. coli, know very few barriers between these increasingly interconnected hosts and environments.</p><p>\"A One Health genomic pathogen surveillance system would be a revolution within public health and do much to break down historically human-centric approaches devoid of connection with the world around us.\"</p>','2022-03-02 06:42:09.192825','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Technology Sydney','A new study suggests genetic material from E. coli bacteria in farm animals could be contributing to the evolution of deadly strains of E. coli in humans.',1,107,'<li>Cameron J. Reid, Max L. Cummins, Stefan Börjesson, Michael S. M. Brouwer, Henrik Hasman, Anette M. Hammerum, Louise Roer, Stefanie Hess, Thomas Berendonk, Kristina Nešporová, Marisa Haenni, Jean-Yves Madec, Astrid Bethe, Geovana B. Michael, Anne-Kathrin Schink, Stefan Schwarz, Monika Dolejska, Steven P. Djordjevic. <strong>A role for ColV plasmids in the evolution of pathogenic Escherichia coli ST58</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28342-4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28342-4</a>\r\n</li>'),(185,'Sustainable groundwater use could be answer to Africa’s water issues','sustainable-groundwater-use-could-be-answer-to-africas-water-issues','2022-03-02 04:15:45.179706','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Tapping into groundwater can help communities in Africa diversify their water supply and strengthen their drought defenses, according to a study led by The University of Texas at Austin.</p><p>The research, which was published in <em>Environmental Research Letters, </em>tracked long term water storage gains and losses across Africa\'s 13 major aquifers and found opportunities for sustainably withdrawing groundwater across much of the continent.</p><p>The data showed that even though certain Sub-Saharan aquifers sometimes faced water level declines, the levels consistently and quickly recovered during rainy periods, which helps guard against overuse, said lead author Bridget Scanlon, a senior research scientist at the UT Bureau of Economic Geology.</p><p>\"Groundwater levels go up and down,\" said Scanlon. \"People need to know the dynamics of this resource and optimize for its use.\"</p><p>The researchers used data from NASA\'s GRACE satellites to track total water storage in the aquifers from 2002-2020. The result is an 18-year timeline that provides a longer-term perspective on water trends and what drives them.</p><p>Most cities in Africa rely on surface water from lakes, rivers and human-made reservoirs. But there is an abundance of groundwater across the continent, with annual groundwater recharge being comparable to the volume of water that flows through the Congo, Nile, Niger, and Zambezi rivers each year combined.</p><p>The study highlighted different regional trends for groundwater across the continent.</p><p>In Sub-Saharan Africa, the study found that most aquifers increased their water supply over the time period. However, the data show that water levels frequently underwent big swings, too. The study found that these swings closely tracked with climate patterns that are known to influence rainfall in the region, such as El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and La Niña. El Niño and IOD generally increase rainfall in east Africa and decrease rainfall in south Africa whereas La Niña generally has the opposite effect.</p><p>This pattern means that although years with little rainfall can cause sharp declines in water storage, the rain eventually returns and readily refills the aquifers when it does. This helps protect the groundwater from long-term depletion, Scanlon said.</p><p>\"We can more confidently say that these recharge events occur and you can depend on them over the long term,\" Scanlon said. \"You can assume then that you\'re going to get that recharge every several years.\"</p><p>Western Africa also saw an overall increase in water levels in most aquifers. But here the increase was relatively steady and probably due to land use changes. The researchers cite other studies that have linked rising groundwater levels in the area to the clearing of deep-rooted shrubland for crops with shallower roots.</p><p>And even in North Africa, where groundwater showed a steady decline in water storage due to all three of its aquifers being tapped for irrigation, the study notes that the sheer volume of water held in these aquifers provides an extra buffer. However, sharp declines may occur locally, impacting groundwater supplies in local wells and oases.</p><p>\"Having visited Africa several times, and looked directly at the challenge with limited access to water for basic drinking and agricultural needs, results from this study could be important for long-term planning as the population of Africa continues to emerge from poverty into prosperity,\" said Dr. Scott Tinker, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology.</p><p>Jude Cobbing, a water, sanitation and hygiene advisor for the humanitarian organization Save the Children, has experience working on water development projects in Africa. He said that the study provides a data-driven perspective that can help assuage concerns about overuse, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.</p><p>\"We need better use of groundwater, a better understanding of groundwater, and we need to start taking groundwater more seriously,\" he said. \"I think a paper like this helps advance that argument.\"</p><p>The study was co-authored by Ashraf Rateb, a research scientist associate at the bureau, and scientists from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the British Geological Survey, the University College London, and the International Food Policy Research Institute.</p><p>The Bureau of Economic Geology is a research unit of the Jackson School of Geosciences.</p>','2022-03-02 09:29:14.762273','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Texas at Austin','Tapping into groundwater can help communities in Africa diversify their water supply and strengthen their drought defenses, according to a new study.',1,18,'<li>Bridget R Scanlon, Ashraf Rateb, Assaf Anyamba, Seifu Kebede, Alan M MacDonald, Mohammad Shamsudduha, Jennifer Small, Alexander Sun, Richard G Taylor, Hua Xie. <strong>Linkages between GRACE water storage, hydrologic extremes, and climate teleconnections in major African aquifers</strong>. <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>, 2022; 17 (1): 014046 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3bfc\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1088/1748-9326/ac3bfc</a>\r\n</li>'),(188,'Cloth masks inferior for protection against airborne viral spread','cloth-masks-inferior-for-protection-against-airborne-viral-spread','2022-03-02 06:55:40.512231','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Like many other viruses, COVID-19 is transmitted primarily via particles carried in the air. An infected person breathes out particles containing the virus into the air, which can then be inhaled by another person, who then becomes infected.</p><p>Masks are widely considered an important first-line defense against airborne transmission of the disease, as is supported by a preponderance of evidence. Fueled by the omicron variant, the latest wave of the pandemic prompted public health officials to recommend more protective face coverings because not all masks are created equal.</p><p>In <em>Physics of Fluids</em>, by AIP Publishing, researchers from England, Germany, and Francefocus their expertise -- and their microscopes -- on examining the efficacy of particle filtration by woven fabric, which, unlike material used in standard air filters and masks, consists of fibers twisted together into yarns. There are, therefore, two lengthscales: the diameters of the fiber and the yarn.</p><p>Using 3D imagery produced by confocal microscopy to see the air flow channels, the scientists simulate the airflow through these channels and calculate filtration efficiency for particles a micrometer and larger in diameter. The study concludes for particles in this size range, the filtration efficiency is low.</p><p>\"Masks are air filters, and woven fabrics, such as cotton, make for good jeans, shirts, and other apparel, but they are lousy air filters,\" said co-author Richard Sear, from the University of Surrey. \"So, use woven fabric for clothing, and N95s or FFP2s or KF94s for masks.\"</p><p>Indeed, the flow simulations suggest when a person breathes through cloth, most of the air flows through the gaps between the yarns in the woven fabric, bringing with it with more than 90% of the particles.</p><p>\"In other words, these relatively large gaps are responsible for cloth being a bad material to make air filters from,\" said Sear. \"In contrast, the filtering layer of an N95 mask is made from much smaller, 5-micrometer fibers with gaps that are 10 times smaller, making it much better for filtering nasty particles from the air, such as those containing virus.\"</p><p>While earlier research revealed similar findings, this study represents the first to simulate particles going directly through the gaps in woven fabric.</p><p>Sear added good masks should feature the \"two Fs: good filtration and good fit.\"</p><p>\"Surgical masks fit badly, so a lot of air goes unfiltered past the edges of the mask by the cheeks and nose,\" said Sear.</p><p>The article \"Modelling the filtration efficiency of a woven fabric: The role of multiple lengthscales\" is authored by Ioatzin Rios de Anda, Jake W. Wilkins, Joshua F. Robinson, C. Patrick Royall, and Richard P. Sear. The article will appear in <em>Physics of Fluids </em>on March 1, 2022.</p>','2022-03-02 10:15:50.009485','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','A new study examines the efficacy of particle filtration by woven fabric, which consists of fibers twisted together into yarns. There are, therefore, two lengthscales: the diameters of the fiber and the yarn. Using 3D imagery produced by confocal microscopy to see the air flow channels, the scientists simulate the airflow through these channels and calculate filtration efficiency for particles a micrometer and larger in diameter. The study concludes for particles in this size range, the filtration efficiency is low.',1,21,'<li>Ioatzin Rios de Anda, Jake W. Wilkins, Joshua F. Robinson, C. Patrick Royall, Richard P. Sear. <strong>Modeling the filtration efficiency of a woven fabric: The role of multiple lengthscales</strong>. <em>Physics of Fluids</em>, 2022; 34 (3): 033301 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0074229\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1063/5.0074229</a>\r\n</li>'),(190,'Booster critical as COVID-19 vaccine-induced antibodies wane in 6 months, don\'t protect against omicron, researchers find','booster-critical-as-covid-vaccine-induced-antibodies-wane-in-months-dont-protect-against-omicron-researchers-find','2022-03-02 06:58:25.404121','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study using serum from human blood samples suggests neutralizing antibody levels produced by two-dose mRNA vaccines against the original and early variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus wane substantially over time, and offer essentially no protection against the omicron variant.</p><p>The same Ohio State University lab found in a previous study, posted on the preprint server bioRxiv, that a third COVID-19 mRNA vaccine booster shot did produce effective levels of neutralizing antibodies against omicron. This study has not yet been peer-reviewed.</p><p>\"Our new work shows that two doses of mRNA vaccine do not offer protection against omicron, and even having a breakthrough infection on top of vaccine does not help much. But our earlier study showed that the booster can really rescue the shortcomings of the two doses,\" said Shan-Lu Liu, the senior author of both studies and a virology professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences at Ohio State.</p><p>The new research is published online as a First Release paper in the journal <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.</p><p>The researchers examined antibodies in serum samples from 48 health care professionals with experimental versions of the parent virus and the alpha, beta, delta and omicron variants. Serum samples were collected pre-vaccination, three to four weeks after a first vaccine dose, three to four weeks after a second vaccine dose and six months after the second vaccine.</p><p>\"There was a substantial increase in neutralizing antibodies after the second dose against every variant except the omicron variant,\" said first study author John Evans, a PhD student in Ohio State\'s Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Program who works in Liu\'s lab. \"From the second dose to six months later, there was an at least five-fold drop in immunity, even against the parent virus.\"</p><p>Neutralizing antibodies that block viral particles\' entry into host cells are considered the gold standard of protection against COVID-19 infection.</p><p>Twelve of the samples came from people suspected to have had a COVID-19 infection -- at time points ranging from before vaccination to after two vaccine doses -- based on a different kind of antibody testing. And though the findings suggested a breakthrough COVID-19 infection on top of vaccination increased immunity against most versions of the virus, antibodies from only one individual with previous infection reached levels that could put up a reasonable fight against omicron.</p><p>\"Overall, nobody in this study had good immunity against omicron,\" said Liu, also an investigator in the university\'s Center for Retrovirus Research and a program co-director of the Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program in Ohio State\'s Infectious Diseases Institute.</p><p>The experimental viruses were what are called pseudoviruses -- a non-infectious viral core decorated with different SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins on the surface structured to match known mutations in the variants studied.</p><p>The researchers used a special method to detect neutralizing antibodies in the health professionals\' blood samples to account for the varying levels of antibodies produced by individuals.</p><p>\"Individuals did respond very differently to the first dose, and the same was true for the second dose,\" Liu said.</p><p>Results also showed that people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine produced about two-fold lower levels of neutralizing antibodies than those who received the Moderna vaccine. Men also had significantly higher antibody levels compared to women against all variants over the post-vaccination time points.</p><p>Liu said the dramatic reduction in immunity six months after two vaccine doses and the earlier paper\'s finding that a booster protects against omicron highlight how important a third shot is to avoiding infection.</p><p>\"After the second vaccine dose, the neutralizing antibodies effective against omicron dropped 23-fold, but with a booster shot, immunity dropped only three- to four-fold -- which is comparable to booster effectiveness previously reported against the delta variant,\" he said. \"Similar observations have been made by other labs.\"</p><p>Additional co-authors of the <em>Science Translational Medicine</em> study, all from Ohio State, include Cong Zeng, Claire Carlin, Gerard Lozanski, Linda Saif, Eugene Oltz and Richard Gumina. Additional co-authors in the <em>bioRxiv</em> preprint include Panke Qu, Julia Faraone, Yi-Min Zheng, Joseph S. Bednash, Rama Mallampalli, Peter Mohler and Kai Xu of Ohio State and Tongqing Zhou from NIH.</p><p>This work was supported by anonymous donor funds, grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Glenn Barber Fellowship from Ohio State\'s College of Veterinary Medicine, the National Cancer Institute and the Robert J. Anthony Fund for Cardiovascular Research.</p>','2022-03-02 10:15:59.098451','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Ohio State University','A new study using serum from human blood samples suggests neutralizing antibody levels produced by two-dose mRNA vaccines against the original and early variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus wane substantially over time, and offer essentially no protection against the omicron variant.',1,74,'<li>John P. Evans, Cong Zeng, Claire Carlin, Gerard Lozanski, Linda J. Saif, Eugene M. Oltz, Richard J. Gumina, Shan-Lu Liu. <strong>Neutralizing antibody responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination wane over time and are boosted by breakthrough infection</strong>. <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abn8057\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/scitranslmed.abn8057</a>\r\n</li>'),(194,'SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals could have different variants hidden in different parts of the body','sars-cov-2-infected-individuals-could-have-different-variants-hidden-in-different-parts-of-the-body','2022-03-02 06:59:35.727992','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People suffering from COVID-19 could have several different SARS-CoV-2 variants hidden away from the immune system in different parts of the body, finds new research published in <em>Nature Communications</em> by an international research team. The study\'s authors say that this may make complete clearance of the virus from the body of an infected person, by their own antibodies, or by therapeutic antibody treatments, much more difficult.</p><p>COVID-19 continues to sweep the globe causing hospitalisations and deaths, damaging communities and economies worldwide. Successive variants of concern (VoC), replaced the original virus from Wuhan, increasingly escaping immune protection offered by vaccination or antibody treatments.</p><p>In new research, comprising two studies published in parallel in <em>Nature Communications</em>, an international team led by Professor Imre Berger at the University of Bristol and Professor Joachim Spatz at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg , both Directors of the Max Planck Bristol Centre of Minimal Biology, show how the virus can evolve distinctly in different cell types, and adapt its immunity, in the same infected host.</p><p>The team sought to investigate the function of a tailor-made pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the infection cycle of the virus. The pocket, discovered by the Bristol team in an earlier breakthrough, played an essential role in viral infectivity.</p><p>\"An incessant series of variants have completely replaced the original virus by now, with Omicron and Omicron 2 dominating worldwide.\" said Professor Imre Berger. \"We analysed an early variant discovered in Bristol, BrisDelta. It had changed its shape from the original virus, but the pocket we had discovered was there, unaltered.\" Intriguingly, BrisDelta, presents as a small subpopulation in the samples taken from patients, but appears to infect certain cell-types better than the virus that dominated the first wave of infections.</p><p>Dr Kapil Gupta, lead author of the BrisDelta study, explains: \"Our results showed that one can have several different virus variants in one\'s body. Some of these variants may use kidney or spleen cells as their niche to hide, while the body is busy defending against the dominant virus type. This could make it difficult for the infected patients to get rid of SARS-CoV-2 entirely.\"</p><p>The team applied cutting-edge synthetic biology techniques, state-of-the-art imaging and cloud computing to decipher viral mechanisms at work. To understand the function of the pocket, the scientists built synthetic SARS-CoV-2 virions in the test tube, that are mimics of the virus but have a major advantage in that they are safe, as they do not multiply in human cells.</p><p>Using these artificial virions, they were able to study the exact mechanism of the pocket in viral infection. They demonstrated that upon binding of a fatty acid, the spike protein decorating the virions changed their shape. This switching \'shape\' mechanism effectively cloaks the virus from the immune system.</p><p>Dr Oskar Staufer, lead author of this study and joint member of the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg and the Max Planck Centre in Bristol, explains: \"By \'ducking down\' of the spike protein upon binding of inflammatory fatty acids, the virus becomes less visible to the immune system. This could be a mechanism to avoid detection by the host and a strong immune response for a longer period of time and increase total infection efficiency.\"</p><p>\"It appears that this pocket, specifically built to recognise these fatty acids, gives SARS-CoV-2 an advantage inside the body of infected people, allowing it to multiply so fast. This could explain why it is there, in all variants, including Omicron\" added Professor Berger. \"Intriguingly, the same feature also provides us with a unique opportunity to defeat the virus, exactly because it is so conserved -- with a tailormade antiviral molecule that blocks the pocket.\" Halo Therapeutics, a recent University of Bristol spin-out founded by the authors, pursues exactly this approach to develop pocket-binding pan-coronavirus antivirals.</p><p>The team included experts from Bristol UNCOVER Group, the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, Bristol University spin-out Halo Therapeutics Ltd and further collaborators in UK and in Germany. The studies were supported by funds from the Max Planck Gesellschaft, the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council, with additional support from Oracle for Research for high-performance cloud computing resources. The authors are grateful for the generous support by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute of the University of Bristol.</p>','2022-03-02 10:16:23.445195','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Bristol','People suffering from COVID-19 could have several different SARS-CoV-2 variants hidden away from the immune system in different parts of the body, finds new research. The study\'s authors say that this may make complete clearance of the virus from the body of an infected person, by their own antibodies, or by therapeutic antibody treatments, much more difficult.',1,88,'<li>Kapil Gupta, Christine Toelzer, Maia Kavanagh Williamson, Deborah K. Shoemark, A. Sofia F. Oliveira, David A. Matthews, Abdulaziz Almuqrin, Oskar Staufer, Sathish K. N. Yadav, Ufuk Borucu, Frederic Garzoni, Daniel Fitzgerald, Joachim Spatz, Adrian J. Mulholland, Andrew D. Davidson, Christiane Schaffitzel, Imre Berger. <strong>Structural insights in cell-type specific evolution of intra-host diversity by SARS-CoV-2</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27881-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-021-27881-6</a>\r\n</li>'),(195,'Study finds lower oxidative stress in children who live and study near green spaces','study-finds-lower-oxidative-stress-in-children-who-live-and-study-near-green-spaces','2022-03-02 07:00:46.966163','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the \"la Caixa\" Foundation, has analysed, for the first time, the relationship between exposure to different green spaces and oxidative stress in children. The study concluded that greater exposure to vegetation is associated with lower levels of oxidative stress and that this association is observed regardless of the children\'s physical activity.</p><p>Oxygen is essential for numerous biochemical reactions that keep us alive, but its oxidation process generates harmful reactive substances that the body cannot always neutralise quickly or which cause damage that the body is unable to repair. This results in what is known as oxidative stress, which causes ageing or even illness.</p><p>To date, various studies have shown that having green spaces in the vicinity of one\'s home has a positive effect on health, especially because greenness improves mental health and encourages physical exercise, thereby reducing the risk of overweight or obesity. But less attention has been paid to the direct effects of vegetation on biological processes, such as inflammation and oxidative stress. This is particularly important for understanding the role that green spaces can play in respiratory and allergic diseases.</p><p><strong>Study Analysed Over 300 Italian Children</strong></p><p>In order to determine whether green spaces might be associated with lower levels of oxidative stress in children, and also whether physical activity plays a role in this possible association, the researchers analysed 323 healthy children aged 8-11 years from five primary schools in Asti, a small city in north-western Italy.</p><p>Parents completed a questionnaire on how often their children engaged in physical activity. Oxidative stress was quantified in urine by measuring the concentration of the compound isoprostane. Residential and school greenness were defined according to the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and vegetated portion was also estimated. Multisite exposures were obtained accounting for NDVI around the children\'s homes and schools, weighted for the time spent in each location.</p><p><strong>Possible Explanations</strong></p><p>Several biological mechanisms could explain this direct link between green space and oxidative stress in children. Firstly, \"increased exposure to these areas may contribute to children\'s immune development by bringing them into contact with organisms that tend to colonise natural environments,\" commented last author Judith Garcia-Aymerich, researcher and head of the Non-Communicable Diseases and Environment Programme at ISGlobal. Secondly, contact with green spaces can increase vitamin D synthesis due to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight. Vitamin D acts as an antioxidant that prevents the negative effects of oxidative stress and inflammation. Finally, vegetation improves air quality in urban areas.</p><p><strong>No Effect Found for Physical Activity</strong></p><p>Although proximity to green space has been associated with increased physical activity, which in turn affects oxidative stress, the study found no evidence that exercise was involved in the association between green space and oxidative stress.</p><p>Garcia-Aymerich concluded: \"The short- and long-term health effects of excess oxidative stress are unknown, so we need to conduct further research and support city and public-health strategies that favour greenness.\"</p><p>Get a free digital \"<strong>Metabolism Myths</strong>\" issue of <em>New Scientist</em> and discover the 7 things we always get wrong about diet and exercise. <a href=\"https://landing.newscientist.com/what-is-new-scientist-sd/?utm_source=sciencedaily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_freeissue\">Claim yours now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a></p>','2022-03-02 10:16:26.857628','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)','A study has analyzed the relationship between exposure to different green spaces and oxidative stress in children. The study concluded that greater exposure to vegetation is associated with lower levels of oxidative stress and that this association is observed regardless of the children\'s physical activity.',1,39,'<li>Giulia Squillacioti, Anne-Elie Carsin, Valeria Bellisario, Roberto Bono, Judith Garcia-Aymerich. <strong>Multisite greenness exposure and oxidative stress in children. The potential mediating role of physical activity</strong>. <em>Environmental Research</em>, 2022; 209: 112857 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.112857\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.envres.2022.112857</a>\r\n</li>'),(197,'Green chemistry: Scientists develop new process for more eco-friendly liquid crystals','green-chemistry-scientists-develop-new-process-for-more-eco-friendly-liquid-crystals','2022-03-02 07:02:02.390310','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Liquid crystals could soon be produced more efficiently and in a more environmentally friendly way. A new process has been developed by researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany, Bangalore University in India and Cairo University in Egypt. Compared to conventional methods, it is faster, more energy-efficient and promises a high yield as the team reports in the <em>Journal of Molecular Liquids</em>. Liquid crystals are used in most smartphone, tablet and computer displays.</p><p>The production of liquid crystals is a complex process with many intermediate steps. \"Often it requires various solvents and expensive catalysts,\" says Dr Mohamed Alaasar, a chemist at MLU. The team from Germany, India and Egypt was looking for a way to simplify the process and make it more environmentally friendly. The idea: instead of the chemical reactions taking place one after the other, certain steps could be combined in a so-called multicomponent reaction in which several substances react directly with one another.</p><p>The team developed an approach for producing liquid crystals which does not require environmentally harmful solvents and relies on cheaper catalysts. \"We were able to achieve a yield of about 90 per cent. This means that most of the chemicals are used in the process and relatively few residues are produced,\" explains Alaasar. This saves energy and ultimately also money. At room temperature the newly created liquid crystals are in a nematic phase -- a special arrangement of molecules used in most liquid crystal displays or LCDs.</p><p>So far, the researchers have only tested their new process in the laboratory. However, Alaasar is confident that it could also be implemented on an industrial scale. \"However, manufacturers would have to rebuild parts of their manufacturing. This has not happened in the past with other promising materials,\" says the scientist. However, consumers started valuing sustainability and more environmentally friendly products of the last years. That could be an additional argument in favour for the new approach.</p>','2022-03-02 10:16:42.178071','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg','Liquid crystals could soon be produced more efficiently and in a more environmentally friendly way. A new process has been developed. Compared to conventional methods, it is faster, more energy-efficient and promises a high yield. Liquid crystals are used in most smartphone, tablet and computer displays.',1,45,'<li>G. Shanker, M.K. Srinatha, D. Sandhya Kumari, B.S. Ranjitha, M. Alaasar. <strong>Novel green synthetic approach for liquid crystalline materials using multi-component reactions</strong>. <em>Journal of Molecular Liquids</em>, 2022; 346: 118244 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.118244\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.molliq.2021.118244</a>\r\n</li>'),(199,'Disentangling interactions across brain areas','disentangling-interactions-across-brain-areas','2022-03-02 07:04:01.432111','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Exploring how brain areas communicate with each other is the focus of a long-standing research collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Champalimaud Research. The cross-continental team is simultaneously recording populations of neurons across multiple brain areas in the visual system and utilizing novel statistical methods to observe neural activity patterns being conveyed between the areas. Their latest findings reveal that feedforward and feedback signaling involve different neural activity patterns, lending fresh understanding into how the brain processes visual information.</p><p>A myriad of brain functions, such as seeing, hearing, and making decisions, require multiple brain areas to communicate with one another. Researchers have previously studied pairs of neurons or some aggregate metric of neuronal activity across areas to assess how information is taken in, processed, and then acted upon in everyday life. Few groups have studied, in such detail, populations of neurons together to see what type of activity patterns are being communicated across brain areas.</p><p>\"The idea of this study was to investigate how information flows across two areas in the visual cortex, V1 and V2,\" says João D. Semedo, first author of the work published in <em>Nature Communications</em> and former electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student. \"We had strong reasons to believe that the areas communicated with one another, based on anatomy, but tracking the flow of signals between areas has proven to be really difficult.\"</p><p>Semedo continues, \"Using pioneering technology from Dr. Kohn\'s lab, we have been able to record multiple brain areas at the same time, and within each of those brain areas, record many neurons. It is the activity of a group of neurons together that tells us what is specifically going on. Then, we applied statistical methods in a creative way to pull out signals that haven\'t been extracted before.\"</p><p>In their analysis, the group identified directed interactions between brain areas and confirmed that patterns of activity in feedforward interactions (from V1 to V2), differed from patterns of activity in feedback interactions (from V2 to V1). Weekly meetings and a tight-knit, teamwork-driven approach has enabled the collaborators to stay connected on all aspects of the work and contributed to their success.</p><p>\"Understanding what is communicated from one brain area to another is tough to disentangle, because signals are flowing in all directions, all the time,\" explains Adam Kohn, professor of neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. \"The thing that is most exciting to me about this work is the perspectives it opens for the future. If we can pinpoint the activity patterns that are involved in different signaling directions, it will be a big step forward in understanding how the brain works.\"</p><p>More broadly, these methods could be applied to investigate the flow of communication in other areas of the brain, outside of the visual system.</p><p>\"Studies like these increase our basic scientific understanding of how the brain works,\" says Byron Yu, professor of biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering. \"Many brain disorders involve a breakdown of communication between brain areas. This pioneering work could lead to novel treatments for such disorders, and even help us develop new methods to aid brain development and ways to learn.\"</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-02 10:17:04.097083','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University','Researchers are simultaneously recording populations of neurons across brain areas in the visual system and utilizing novel statistical methods to observe neural activity patterns being conveyed.',1,14,'<li>João D. Semedo, Anna I. Jasper, Amin Zandvakili, Aravind Krishna, Amir Aschner, Christian K. Machens, Adam Kohn, Byron M. Yu. <strong>Feedforward and feedback interactions between visual cortical areas use different population activity patterns</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28552-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28552-w</a>\r\n</li>'),(200,'Vaccines are effective in preventing COVID-19-related emergency department and urgent care visits for both children and adolescents','vaccines-are-effective-in-preventing-covid-19-related-emergency-department-and-urgent-care-visits-for-both-children-and-adolescents','2022-03-02 07:29:03.021590','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Using data from 10 states, a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the first real-world studies to show that two doses of an mRNA vaccine provide protection against COVID-19 associated emergency department and urgent care visits among children ages 5 to 11.</p><p>The study also found that two doses of an mRNA vaccine provide protection against COVID-19 associated emergency department and urgent care visits as well as very high protection against hospitalization among adolescents aged 12 to 17.</p><p>\"A positive pattern, similar to what we have reported in adults is emerging,\" said study co-author Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., vice president for data and analytics at Regenstrief Institute and professor of family medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. \"Prevention of emergency department and urgent care visits shows that the vaccines are thwarting moderate COVID-19 in both children and adolescents; prevention of hospitalizations in 12- to-17-year-olds indicates vaccine effectiveness against more serious disease in this age group, which we hope to also see in 5-to-11-year-olds when there is sufficient data.</p><p>\"We now have compelling evidence that vaccines and, for 16- and 17-year-olds, boosters, provide important protection for both children and adolescents -- data-driven information that parents should take into consideration when making decisions for their family,\" said Dr. Grannis.</p><p>The study was conducted by the CDC\'s VISION Network which includes, in addition to the Regenstrief Institute (Indiana), Baylor Scott &amp; White Health (Texas), Columbia University Irving Medical Center (New York), HealthPartners (Minnesota and Wisconsin), Intermountain Healthcare (Utah), Kaiser Permanente Northern California (California), Kaiser Permanente Northwest (Oregon and Washington) and University of Colorado (Colorado).</p><p>\"Effectiveness of COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccination in Preventing COVID-19-associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Non-Immunocompromised Children and Adolescents Aged 5-17 Years -- VISION Network, Ten States, April 2021-January 2022\" is published in the CDC\'s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.</p><p>Regenstrief Institute authors of the study, in addition to Dr. Grannis, are William F. Fadel, PhD and Brian E. Dixon, PhD, MPA, Regenstrief and IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health; Nimish Ramesh Valvi, DrPH, MBBS, a Regenstrief fellow; and Peter J. Embi, M.D., M.S., former Regenstrief president, and a current affiliate scientist.</p><p>All authors on this paper are Nicola P. Klein, M.D., Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; Melissa Stockwell, M.D., Division of Child and Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York-Presbyterian Hospital; Maria Demarco, PhD, Westat; Manjusha Gaglani, MBBS, Baylor Scott &amp; White Health, Texas A&amp;M University College of Medicine; Anupam B. Kharbanda, M.D., Children\'s Minnesota; Stephanie A. Irving, MHS, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest; Suchitra Rao, MBBS, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Shaun J. Grannis, M.D., Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine; Kristin Dascomb, M.D., Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, Intermountain Healthcare; Kempapura Murthy, MBBS, Baylor Scott &amp; White Health; Elizabeth A. Rowley, DrPH, Westat; Alexandra F. Dalton, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Malini B. DeSilva, M.D., HealthPartners Institute; Brian E. Dixon, PhD, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute, Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University; Karthik Natarajan, PhD, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Edward Stenehjem, M.D., Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, Intermountain Healthcare; Allison L. Naleway, PhD, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest; Ned Lewis, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; Toan C. Ong, PhD, Children\'s Minnesota; Palak Patel, MBBS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Deepika Konatham, Baylor Scott &amp; White Health; Peter J. Embi, M.D., Indiana University School of Medicine, Regenstrief Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Sarah E. Reese, PhD, Westat; Jungmi Han, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Nancy Grisel, MPP, Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, Intermountain Healthcare; Kristin Goddard, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; Michelle A. Barron, M.D., School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Monica Dickerson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; I-Chia Liao, MPH, Baylor Scott &amp; White Health; William F. Fadel, PhD, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute, Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University; Duck-Hye Yang, PhD, Westat; Julie Arndorfer, MPH, Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, Intermountain Healthcare; Bruce Fireman, Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; Eric P. Griggs, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Nimish R. Valvi, DrPH, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute; Carly Hallowell, MPH, Westat; Ousseny Zerbo, PhD, Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; Sue Reynolds, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Jill Ferdinands, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Mehiret H. Wondimu, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Jeremiah Williams, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Catherine H. Bozio, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Ruth Link-Gelles, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, M.D., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Stephanie J. Schrag, DPhil, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Mark G. Thompson, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Jennifer R. Verani, M.D., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team.</p>','2022-03-02 11:17:44.819445','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Regenstrief Institute','A new study shows that two doses of an mRNA vaccine provide protection against COVID-19 associated emergency department and urgent care visits among children ages 5 to 11. The study also finds that two doses of an mRNA vaccine provide protection against COVID-19 associated emergency department and urgent care visits as well as very high protection against hospitalization among adolescents aged 12 to 17.',1,108,'<li>Nicola P. Klein, Melissa S. Stockwell, Maria Demarco, Manjusha Gaglani, Anupam B. Kharbanda, Stephanie A. Irving, Suchitra Rao, Shaun J. Grannis, Kristin Dascomb, Kempapura Murthy, Elizabeth A. Rowley, Alexandra F. Dalton, Malini B. DeSilva, Brian E. Dixon, Karthik Natarajan, Edward Stenehjem, Allison L. Naleway, Ned Lewis, Toan C. Ong, Palak Patel, Deepika Konatham, Peter J. Embi, Sarah E. Reese, Jungmi Han, Nancy Grisel, Kristin Goddard, Michelle A. Barron, Monica Dickerson, I-Chia Liao, William F. Fadel, Duck-Hye Yang, Julie Arndorfer, Bruce Fireman, Eric P. Griggs, Nimish R. Valvi, Carly Hallowell, Ousseny Zerbo, Sue Reynolds, Jill Ferdinands, Mehiret H. Wondimu, Jeremiah Williams, Catherine H. Bozio, Ruth Link-Gelles, Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, Stephanie J. Schrag, Mark G. Thompson, Jennifer R. Verani. <strong>Effectiveness of COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccination in Preventing COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Nonimmunocompromised Children and Adolescents Aged 5–17 Years &amp;#82</strong>. <em>MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</em>, 2022; 71 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7109e3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.15585/mmwr.mm7109e3</a>\r\n</li>'),(201,'Feeding small fish to people instead of to farmed salmon could make seafood production more sustainable','feeding-small-fish-to-people-instead-of-to-farmed-salmon-could-make-seafood-production-more-sustainable','2022-03-02 07:30:11.304813','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Farming Atlantic salmon requires a high volume of wild-caught fish as feed, but produces only a small percentage of the world\'s farmed fish supply. A study published March 1 in <em>PLOS Sustainability and Transformation</em> by David F. Willer at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and colleagues suggests redirecting wild-caught fish towards human consumption instead of salmon farming could relieve pressure on fish stocks while increasing seafood production.</p><p>Increased demand for seafood has driven an expansion in aquaculture. However, 90 percent of commercial fish feed is made from food-grade fish such as sardines and anchovies that are edible to humans. To analyze the efficiency of aquaculture in terms of net nutrient production, researchers first quantified the volume of micronutrients and wild fish retained by fish-fed farmed salmon using 2014 data on Scotland\'s farmed salmon production. They calculated the volume of micronutrients used as aquaculture inputs and compared it to salmon aquaculture nutrient outputs. Using these data, the researchers modeled several seafood production scenarios to assess potential sustainability benefits of alternative seafood systems.</p><p>The researchers found that in 2014, 460,000 tonnes of wild-caught fish were used to produce 179,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon. 76 percent of the wild-caught fish were edible for human consumption. The data also suggest that multiple alternative seafood production models would be more efficient in terms of net nutrient production, so could significantly reduce wild fish capture while increasing global seafood supply. However, these data were limited to only one year (2014). Future studies are needed to better understand how to operationalize a global shift away from farmed fish toward sustainable fisheries.</p><p>According to the authors, \"Feed production now accounts for 90% of the environmental footprint of salmonid production. Allowing salmonid production to expand further via its current approach will place exceptional stress on global fish stocks already at their limit. Our results suggest that limiting the volume of wild-caught fish used to produce farmed salmon feed may relieve pressure on wild fish stocks while increasing supply of nutritious wild fish for human consumption.\"</p><p>The authors add: \"Nutritious fish stocks are being squandered by salmon farming. Scientists reveal that eating the wild-caught fish destined for salmon farms would allow nearly 4 million tons of fish to be left in the sea while providing an extra 6 million tons of seafood.\"</p>','2022-03-02 11:18:14.168451','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','Farming Atlantic salmon requires a high volume of wild-caught fish as feed, but produces only a small percentage of the world\'s farmed fish supply. A study suggests redirecting wild-caught fish towards human consumption instead of salmon farming could relieve pressure on fish stocks while increasing seafood production.',1,109,'<li>David F. Willer, James P. W. Robinson, Grace T. Patterson, Karen Luyckx. <strong>Maximising sustainable nutrient production from coupled fisheries-aquaculture systems</strong>. <em>PLOS Sustainability and Transformation</em>, 2022; 1 (3): e0000005 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000005\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pstr.0000005</a>\r\n</li>'),(202,'Researchers show early developmental delays predict poor long-term outcomes in Leigh syndrome patients','researchers-show-early-developmental-delays-predict-poor-long-term-outcomes-in-leigh-syndrome-patients','2022-03-02 07:31:12.047196','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers from the Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program at Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found that developmental delays associated with Leigh syndrome, the most common pediatric mitochondrial disorder, may occur earlier than previously recognized -- even before metabolic stroke and regression -- which could provide clinicians with an opportunity for earlier diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. The findings were recently published online by the journal <em>Molecular Genetics and Metabolism</em>.</p><p>Leigh syndrome has been characterized by neurodevelopmental regression, when a child loses previously achieved skills and developmental milestones, with metabolic strokes occurring in their deep brain regions typically early in life. Currently, no FDA-approved therapies or cures exist, and developmental delays associated with Leigh syndrome are often the primary symptom studied in clinical trials.</p><p>Historically, developmental disabilities were thought to mainly occur after the onset of metabolic stroke and neurologic regression. However, some rare instances have been reported in which primary developmental delays occurring prior to neurologic regression were observed in Leigh syndrome patients. The CHOP researchers decided to examine existing data to see if primary developmental delays were more common than previously believed.</p><p>\"By looking at the pre-regression history of these patients, we were hoping to see signs that would allow us to diagnose Leigh syndrome at an earlier stage prior to their acute decompensation,\" said co-senior author Rebecca Ganetzky, MD, an attending physician, Assistant Professor, and Director of Biochemical Test Development in the Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program at CHOP. \"Since we found that developmental delays were the presenting symptom for many of these cases, our study demonstrates that mitochondrial energetics impact developmental trajectories prior to their first episode of neurodevelopmental regression.\"</p><p>Among a cohort of 69 Leigh syndrome patients, 47 had a history of primary developmental delays prior to any regression and 53 had neurodevelopmental regression. The study team identified three distinct phenotypes among these patients: those with primary developmental delays followed by regression (31 patients), primary developmental delays without subsequent regression (16 patients), and regression without primary developmental delays (22 patients). Those with a history of primary developmental delays were more likely to have earlier disease onset and worse long-term educational outcomes.</p><p>\"This study demonstrates that Leigh syndrome disorders should be considered a diagnostic possibility at the time when a child is recognized to have early developmental delays, even if the child hasn\'t yet had a serious regression episode that is often the trigger to begin the diagnostic process,\" said study co-author Marni Falk, MD, an attending physician, Professor, Distinguished Chair, and Executive Director of the Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program at CHOP. \"We hope our findings will lead to prospective natural history studies that examine specific neurodevelopmental outcomes to help us design future clinical trials for therapies to help these patients at as early a stage in their disease course as possible.\"</p><p>This study was supported by the North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortium (NAMDC) Gateway to Mitochondrial Medicine Grant from the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, the CHOP Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program, the National Institutes of Health grants K08-DK113250, R35-GM134863, and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at CHOP/UPENN per NIH/NICHD grants P50 HD105354 and U54-HD086984.</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-02 12:28:34.937513','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia','Researchers have found that developmental delays associated with Leigh syndrome, the most common pediatric mitochondrial disorder, may occur earlier than previously recognized -- even before metabolic stroke and regression -- which could provide clinicians with an opportunity for earlier diagnosis and therapeutic interventions.',1,110,'<li>Rory J. Tinker, Marni J. Falk, Amy Goldstein, Ibrahim George-Sankoh, Rui Xiao, Laura Adang, Rebecca Ganetzky. <strong>Early developmental delay in Leigh syndrome spectrum disorders is associated with poor clinical prognosis</strong>. <em>Molecular Genetics and Metabolism</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ymgme.2022.02.006\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.ymgme.2022.02.006</a>\r\n</li>'),(203,'Hyperspectral sensing and AI pave new path for monitoring soil carbon','hyperspectral-sensing-and-ai-pave-new-path-for-monitoring-soil-carbon','2022-03-02 07:33:11.497165','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Just how much carbon is in the soil? That\'s a tough question to answer at large spatial scales, but understanding soil organic carbon at regional, national, or global scales could help scientists predict overall soil health, crop productivity, and even worldwide carbon cycles.</p><p>Classically, researchers collect soil samples in the field and haul them back to the lab, where they analyze the material to determine its makeup. But that\'s time- and labor-intensive, costly, and only provides insights on specific locations.</p><p>In a recent study, University of Illinois researchers show new machine-learning methods based on laboratory soil hyperspectral data could supply equally accurate estimates of soil organic carbon. Their study provides a foundation to use airborne and satellite hyperspectral sensing to monitor surface soil organic carbon across large areas.</p><p>\"Soil organic carbon is a very important component for soil health, as well as for cropland productivity,\" says lead study author Sheng Wang, research assistant professor in the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) at U of I. \"We did a comprehensive evaluation of machine learning algorithms with a very intensive national soil laboratory spectral database to quantify soil organic carbon.\"</p><p>Wang and his collaborators leveraged a public soil spectral library from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service containing more than 37,500 field-collected records and representing all soil types around the U.S. Like every substance, soil reflects light in unique spectral bands which scientists can interpret to determine chemical makeup.</p><p>\"Spectra are data-rich fingerprints of soil properties; we\'re talking thousands of points for each sample,\" says Andrew Margenot, assistant professor in the Department of Crop Sciences and co-author on the study. \"You can get carbon content by scanning an unknown sample and applying a statistical method that\'s been used for decades, but here, we tried to screen across pretty much every potential modeling method,\" he adds.</p><p>\"We knew some of these models worked, but the novelty is the scale and that we tried the full gamut of machine learning algorithms.\"</p><p>Kaiyu Guan, principal investigator, ASC founding director, and associate professor at NRES, says, \"This work established the foundation for using hyperspectral and multispectral remote sensing technology to measure soil carbon properties at the soil surface level. This could enable scaling to possibly everywhere.\"</p><p>After selecting the best algorithm based on the soil library, the researchers put it to the test with simulated airborne and spaceborne hyperspectral data. As expected, their model accounted for the \"noise\" inherent in surface spectral imagery, returning a highly accurate and large-scale view of soil organic carbon.</p><p>\"NASA and other institutions have new or forthcoming hyperspectral satellite missions, and it\'s very exciting to know we will be ready to leverage new AI technology to predict important soil properties with spectral data coming back from these missions,\" Wang says.</p><p>Chenhui Zhang, an undergraduate student studying computer science at Illinois, also worked on the project as part of an internship with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications\' Students Pushing Innovation (SPIN) program.</p><p>\"Hyperspectral data can provide rich information on soil properties. Recent advances in machine learning saved us from the nuisance of constructing hand-crafted features while providing high predictive performance for soil carbon,\" Zhang says. \"As a leading university in computer sciences and agriculture, U of I gives a great opportunity to explore interdisciplinary sciences on AI and agriculture. I feel really excited about that.\"</p><p>The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy\'s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) SMARTFARM and SYMFONI projects, Illinois Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE), and College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Future Interdisciplinary Research Explorations (ACES FIRE), Center for Digital Agriculture (CDA-NCSA), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This work was also partially funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability grant.</p><p>The Departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and Crop Sciences are in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.</p>','2022-03-02 12:28:41.254370','uploads/news/hyperspectral-sensing.jpg',1,'University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences','Just how much carbon is in the soil? That\'s a tough question to answer at large spatial scales, but understanding soil organic carbon at regional, national, or global scales could help scientists predict overall soil health, crop productivity, and even worldwide carbon cycles.',1,111,'<li>Sheng Wang, Kaiyu Guan, Chenhui Zhang, DoKyoung Lee, Andrew J. Margenot, Yufeng Ge, Jian Peng, Wang Zhou, Qu Zhou, Yizhi Huang. <strong>Using soil library hyperspectral reflectance and machine learning to predict soil organic carbon: Assessing potential of airborne and spaceborne optical soil sensing</strong>. <em>Remote Sensing of Environment</em>, 2022; 271: 112914 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.112914\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.rse.2022.112914</a>\r\n</li>'),(207,'A \'greener\' way to clean wastewater treatment filters','a-greener-way-to-clean-wastewater-treatment-filters','2022-03-02 18:15:15.454483','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Membrane filters don\'t require much energy to purify water, making them popular for wastewater treatment. To keep these materials in tip-top condition, they\'re commonly cleaned with large amounts of strong chemicals, but some of these agents destroy the membranes in the process. Now, researchers reporting in <em>ACS Applied Materials &amp; Interfaces</em> have developed reusable nanoparticle catalysts that incorporate glucose to help efficiently break down contaminants inside these filters without damaging them.</p><p>Typically, dirty wastewater filters are unclogged with strong acids, bases or oxidants. Chlorine-containing oxidants such as bleach can break down the most stubborn organic debris. But they also damage polyamide membranes, which are in most commercial nanofiltration systems, and they produce toxic byproducts. A milder alternative to bleach is hydrogen peroxide, but it decomposes contaminants slowly. Previously, scientists have combined hydrogen peroxide with iron oxide to form hydroxyl radicals that improve hydrogen peroxide\'s efficiency in a process known as the Fenton reaction. Yet in order for the Fenton reaction to clean filters, extra hydrogen peroxide and acid are needed, increasing financial and environmental costs. One way to avoid these additional chemicals is to use the enzyme glucose oxidase, which simultaneously forms hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid from glucose and oxygen. So, Jianquan Luo and colleagues wanted to combine glucose oxidase and iron oxide nanoparticles into a system that catalyzes the Fenton-based breakdown of contaminants, creating an efficient and delicate cleaning system for membrane filters.</p><p>First, the researchers compared the removal of organic contaminants from polyamide filters by the glucose oxidase enzyme and iron oxide nanoparticles to other cleaning methods, including the traditional Fenton reaction. They found this approach was superior at breaking down the common contaminants bisphenol A and methylene blue, while also preserving more of the membrane structure. Encouraged by their initial results, the team combined glucose oxidase and iron oxide into a single nanoparticle, connecting them with an amino bridge. Finally, they tested the new nanoparticle\'s ability to clean methylene blue-soaked nanofiltration membranes, which they fouled and cleaned for three cycles. After each cleaning cycle, the nanoparticles were retrieved with a magnet and reused with fresh glucose to activate the catalyst. The nanoparticles were highly effective at cleaning the membranes, returning them to 94% of their initial water filtration capacity. Because the nanoparticles don\'t require strong chemicals and are easily recoverable, the researchers say their new system is a \"greener\" and more cost-effective approach for cleaning nanofiltration membranes.</p><p>The authors acknowledge funding from the Beijing Natural Science Foundation and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.</p>','2022-03-02 23:31:50.688555','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Chemical Society','Membrane filters don\'t require much energy to purify water, making them popular for wastewater treatment. To keep these materials in tip-top condition, they\'re commonly cleaned with large amounts of strong chemicals, but some of these agents destroy the membranes in the process. Now, researchers have developed reusable nanoparticle catalysts that incorporate glucose to help efficiently break down contaminants inside these filters without damaging them.',1,115,'<li>Jinxuan Zhang, Huiru Zhang, Yinhua Wan, Jianquan Luo. <strong>Chemoenzymatic Cascade Reaction for Green Cleaning of Polyamide Nanofiltration Membrane</strong>. <em>ACS Applied Materials &amp; Interfaces</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c23466\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsami.1c23466</a>\r\n</li>'),(208,'\'Closest black hole\' system found to contain no black hole','closest-black-hole-system-found-to-contain-no-black-hole','2022-03-02 18:06:01.751967','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In 2020 a team led by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other researchers, including by an international team based at KU Leuven, Belgium. In a paper published today, these two teams have united to report that there is in fact no black hole in HR 6819, which is instead a \"vampire\" two-star system in a rare and short-lived stage of its evolution.</p><p>The original study on HR 6819 received significant attention from both the press and scientists. Thomas Rivinius, a Chile-based ESO astronomer and lead author on that paper, was not surprised by the astronomy community\'s reception to their discovery of the black hole. \"Not only is it normal, but it should be that results are scrutinised,\" he says, \"and a result that makes the headlines even more so.\"</p><p>Rivinius and his colleagues were convinced that the best explanation for the data they had, obtained with the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, was that HR 6819 was a triple system, with one star orbiting a black hole every 40 days and a second star in a much wider orbit. But a study led by Julia Bodensteiner, then a PhD student at KU Leuven, Belgium, proposed a different explanation for the same data: HR 6819 could also be a system with only two stars on a 40-day orbit and no black hole at all. This alternative scenario would require one of the stars to be \"stripped,\" meaning that, at an earlier time, it had lost a large fraction of its mass to the other star.</p><p>\"We had reached the limit of the existing data, so we had to turn to a different observational strategy to decide between the two scenarios proposed by the two teams,\" says KU Leuven researcher Abigail Frost, who led the new study published today in <em>Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</em>.</p><p>To solve the mystery, the two teams worked together to obtain new, sharper data of HR 6819 using ESO\'s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). \"The VLTI was the only facility that would give us the decisive data we needed to distinguish between the two explanations,\" says Dietrich Baade, author on both the original HR 6819 study and the new <em>Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</em> paper. Since it made no sense to ask for the same observation twice, the two teams joined forces, which allowed them to pool their resources and knowledge to find the true nature of this system.</p><p>\"The scenarios we were looking for were rather clear, very different and easily distinguishable with the right instrument,\" says Rivinius. \"We agreed that there were two sources of light in the system, so the question was whether they orbit each other closely, as in the stripped-star scenario, or are far apart from each other, as in the black hole scenario.\"</p><p>To distinguish between the two proposals, the astronomers used both the VLTI\'s GRAVITY instrument and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO\'s VLT.</p><p>\"MUSE confirmed that there was no bright companion in a wider orbit, while GRAVITY\'s high spatial resolution was able to resolve two bright sources separated by only one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Sun,\" says Frost. \"These data proved to be the final piece of the puzzle, and allowed us to conclude that HR 6819 is a binary system with no black hole.\"</p><p>\"Our best interpretation so far is that we caught this binary system in a moment shortly after one of the stars had sucked the atmosphere off its companion star. This is a common phenomenon in close binary systems, sometimes referred to as \"stellar vampirism\" in the press,\" explains Bodensteiner, now a fellow at ESO in Germany and an author on the new study. \"While the donor star was stripped of some of its material, the recipient star began to spin more rapidly.\"</p><p>\"Catching such a post-interaction phase is extremely difficult as it is so short,\" adds Frost. \"This makes our findings for HR 6819 very exciting, as it presents a perfect candidate to study how this vampirism affects the evolution of massive stars, and in turn the formation of their associated phenomena including gravitational waves and violent supernova explosions.\"</p><p>The newly formed Leuven-ESO joint team now plans to monitor HR 6819 more closely using the VLTI\'s GRAVITY instrument. The researchers will conduct a joint study of the system over time, to better understand its evolution, constrain its properties, and use that knowledge to learn more about other binary systems.</p><p>As for the search for black holes, the team remains optimistic. \"Stellar-mass black holes remain very elusive owing to their nature,\" says Rivinius. \"But order-of-magnitude estimates suggest there are tens to hundreds of millions of black holes in the Milky Way alone,\" Baade adds. It is just a matter of time until astronomers discover them.</p><p>More information</p><p>This research was presented in the paper \"HR 6819 is a binary system with no black hole: Revisiting the source with infrared interferometry and optical integral field spectroscopy\" to appear in <em>Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</em>.</p><p>It has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\'s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 772225: MULTIPLES; PI: Hugues Sana).</p><p>The team is composed of A. J. Frost (Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Belgium [KU Leuven]), J. Bodensteiner (European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany [ESO]), Th. Rivinius (European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile [ESO Chile]), D. Baade (ESO), A. Mérand (ESO), F. Selman (ESO Chile), M. Abdul-Masih (ESO Chile), G. Banyard (KU Leuven), E. Bordier (KU Leuven, ESO Chile), K. Dsilva (KU Leuven), C. Hawcroft (KU Leuven), L. Mahy (Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium), M. Reggiani (KU Leuven), T. Shenar (Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), M. Cabezas (Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic [ASCR]), P. Hadrava (ASCR), M. Heida (ESO), R. Klement (The CHARA Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson Observatory, Mount Wilson, USA) and H. Sana (KU Leuven).</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-02 23:32:08.727283','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'ESO','In 2020, astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other researchers. In a new paper, these two teams have united to report that there is in fact no black hole in HR 6819, which is instead a \'vampire\' two-star system in a rare and short-lived stage of its evolution.',1,56,'<li>A. J. Frost, J. Bodensteiner, Th. Rivinius, D. Baade, A. Merand, F. Selman, M. Abdul-Masih, G. Banyard, E. Bordier, K. Dsilva, C. Hawcroft, L. Mahy, M. Reggiani, T. Shenar, M. Cabezas, P. Hadrava, M. Heida, R. Klement, H. Sana. <strong>HR 6819 is a binary system with no black hole</strong>. <em>Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</em>, 2022; 659: L3 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202143004\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1051/0004-6361/202143004</a>\r\n</li>'),(210,'New lab model simulates effects of exercise on muscles','new-lab-model-simulates-effects-of-exercise-on-muscles','2022-03-02 18:07:59.263063','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A team of researchers at Tohoku University have developed a simple lab-based system for growing human muscle cells that are capable of vigorously contracting. The team used the model, which was described in the journal<em> Scientific Reports,</em> to investigate the properties of muscle cells from patients with sporadic inclusion body mitosis (sIBM).</p><p>sIBM is a degenerative disease that causes muscles to get progressively weaker. It typically affects patients aged over 50, predominantly impacting muscles in the fingers and knees. Observing how muscle cells from sIBM patients work during exercise is crucial to understanding more about this disease.</p><p>This can be achieved using \'in vitro exercise models,\' which involve growing elongated muscle cells called myotubes in a petri dish and applying electrical pulses to them to simulate the effects of muscle contraction. However, these widely used models are limited; the human myotubes do not contract very well because they are flat in shape and attach firmly to the material they are grown on. In comparison, myotubes obtained from other species, such as mice, contract much more strongly under the same conditions.</p><p>\"We set out to develop a new model that could help not only basic muscle research, but also the diagnostic use of muscle cells obtained from patient biopsy samples, which are a very limited resource,\" said Dr. Makoto Kanzaki, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University.</p><p>To aid the growth of human myotubes, the researchers used muscle cells taken from a mouse cell line to create a population of nourishing connective tissues. The mouse cells, known as \'feeder cells,\' supply essential proteins to encourage the growth of the human cells. They used this method to nurture human myotubes grown from muscle stem cells obtained from sIBM patients.</p><p>They found that without the mouse feeder cells, the human myotubes showed very little contraction in response to electrical stimulation. However, once the mouse cells were added, the human myotubes showed obvious contraction-related activity when electrically stimulated.</p><p>The researchers used several different imaging techniques to examine the properties of the muscle cells from sIBM patients and to compare them with those from healthy humans. They found that sIBM myotubes have basically the same muscular properties as normal myotubes. Both contracted vigorously upon electrical stimulation, showed the development of muscle fibre structures called sarcomeres and had raised levels of a skeletal muscle protein called myokine.</p><p>However, they found that myotubes from sIBM patients had raised levels of a protein called TDP-43 after contraction, while healthy muscle cells did not. This suggests that TDP-43 may be involved in the disease.</p><p>\"The use of feeder cells expands the usefulness of existing lab-based exercise models, and our system could potentially be used to evaluate the effects of exercise on patient muscle cells,\" explains Dr. Kanzaki.</p><p>This muscle cell model may help to improve our understanding of muscle cell conditions, particularly in response to muscle contractions. This could provide important diagnostic information to aid the development of customized therapies.</p>','2022-03-02 23:32:11.856964','uploads/news/download_23.jfif',1,'Tohoku University','A team of researchers has developed a simple lab-based system for growing human muscle cells that are capable of vigorously contracting.',1,29,'<li>Yuqing Li, Weijian Chen, Kazumi Ogawa, Masashi Koide, Tadahisa Takahashi, Yoshihiro Hagiwara, Eiji Itoi, Toshimi Aizawa, Masahiro Tsuchiya, Rumiko Izumi, Naoki Suzuki, Masashi Aoki, Makoto Kanzaki. <strong>Feeder-supported in vitro exercise model using human satellite cells from patients with sporadic inclusion body myositis</strong>. <em>Scientific Reports</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05029-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41598-022-05029-w</a>\r\n</li>'),(212,'Bonding exercise: Quantifying biexciton binding energy','bonding-exercise-quantifying-biexciton-binding-energy','2022-03-02 18:09:35.796854','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A rare spectroscopy technique performed at Swinburne University of Technology directly quantifies the energy required to bind two excitons together, providing for the first time a direct measurement of the biexciton binding energy in WS<sub>2</sub>.</p><p>As well as improving our fundamental understanding of biexciton dynamics and characteristic energy scales, these findings directly inform those working to realise biexciton-based devices such as more compact lasers and chemical-sensors.</p><p>The study also brings closer exotic new quantum materials, and quantum phases, with novel properties.</p><p>The study is a collaboration between FLEET researchers at Swinburne and the Australian National University.</p><p><strong>Understanding Excitons</strong></p><p>Particles of opposite charge in close proximity will feel the \'pull\' of electrostatic forces, binding them together. The electrons of two hydrogen atoms are pulled in by opposing protons to form H<sub>2</sub>, for example, while other compositions of such electrostatic (Coulomb-mediated) attraction can result in more exotic molecular states.</p><p>The optical properties of semiconductors are frequently dominated by the behaviour of \'excitons\'. These compound quasi-particles can be created via the excitation of an electron from the valence to the conduction band, with the negatively-charged conduction electron then electrostatically binding to the positively-charged vacancy (known as a hole) its excitation left in the valence band.</p><p>Understanding the interactions between excitons is crucial for realising many of the proposed device applications, and in bulk materials they are quite well understood. However, when things are reduced to two dimensions, the ways they can interact change, and important quantum effect can come into play. Monolayer semiconductors such as WS<sub>2</sub> are introducing a materials revolution due to the novel properties uncovered by research like this.</p><p><strong>A Materials Revolution</strong></p><p>Due to the reduced dimensionality of two-dimensional materials, the binding energy of excitons and exciton complexes like biexcitons are greatly enhanced. This increased binding energy makes the biexcitons more accessible, even at room temperature, and introduces the possibility of using biexcitons flowing in novel materials as the basis for a range of low-energy future technologies.</p><p>Atomically-thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) like WS<sub>2</sub> are a family of semiconducting, insulating and semi-metallic materials that have gained a significant amount of attention from researchers in recent years for use in a future generation of \'beyond CMOS\' electronics.</p><p>\"Before we can apply these two-dimensional materials to the next generation of low-energy electronic devices, we need to quantify the fundamental properties that drive their functionality,\" says lead author Mitchell Conway, a PhD student from Swinburne University of Technology (Australia).</p><p><strong>A New Way to Quantify Biexciton Binding Energy</strong></p><p>The need to understand the properties of biexcitons has driven significant conjecture and investigation in the semiconductor research community of their presence, binding energy, and nature. Attempts have been made to investigate how much energy is required to separate the two excitons in a biexciton, the obvious way being a comparison between the energy of the bound and unbound excitons. Yet, this is not what is typically done.</p><p>The Swinburne-led study has identified the optically-accessible biexciton in the atomically-thin TMDC tungsten disulphide (WS<sub>2</sub>). To unambiguously measure biexcitonic signatures, the team of researchers employed a specific sequence of ultrashort optical pulses with a precisely controlled phase relation and well-defined wave-vectors.</p><p>\"By using multiple pulses with a high degree of precision we can selectively and directly probe the doubly excited biexciton state, while eliminating any contributions from singly excited exciton states,\" says corresponding author Prof Jeff Davis (Swinburne).</p><p>\"This ability to directly excite the biexciton is inaccessible to more common techniques such as photoluminescence spectroscopy,\" says Prof Davis.</p><p>The technique the team used is known as \'two-quantum multidimensional coherent spectroscopy\' (2Q-MDCS), which enables a direct experimental measurement of the biexciton binding energy. When the biexciton is observed using 2Q-MDCS, a signal from an exciton pair that is interacting but unbound is also generated, referred to as \'correlated excitons\'.</p><p>\"The energy difference between the biexciton peak and the correlated two-exciton peak is the best means to measure biexciton binding energy,\" Mitchell explains. \"This was an exciting observation, since other spectroscopic techniques don\'t observe these correlated excitons.\"</p><p>Techniques previously used to identify the biexciton are limited to measuring photons from the biexciton to exciton transition. These transitions may not reflect the precise energy of either relative to the ground state.</p><p>In addition, the study identified the nature of the biexciton in monolayer WS<sub>2</sub>. The biexciton they observed was composed of two bright excitons with opposite spin, which in WS<sub>2</sub> is referred to as a \'bright-bright intervalley\' biexciton. In contrast, photoluminescence measurements reporting biexcitons in monolayer WS<sub>2</sub> are unable to identify the specific excitons involved, but are typically assumed to involve bright exciton and one \"dark\" exciton, due to the rapid relaxation into these lower energy exciton states that don\'t absorb or emit light.</p><p>The ability to accurately identify biexciton signatures in monolayer semiconductors may also play a key role in the development of quantum materials and quantum simulators. Higher-order electrostatic correlations provide a platform to construct coherent combinations of quantum states and potentially tune the interactions in order to realise quantum phases of matter that are still not well understood.</p>','2022-03-02 23:32:24.729807','uploads/news/42005_2019_178_Fig1_HTML.png',1,'ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies','A rare spectroscopy technique directly quantifies the energy required to bind two excitons together. The experiment harnessed interactions between real and virtual states to \'switch\' the electronic state of an atomically-thin (2D) material. As well as improving fundamental understanding of biexciton dynamics and exotic new quantum materials, the study aids work towards biexciton-based devices such as compact lasers and chemical-sensors, and the search for future low-energy electronics based on topological materials.',1,68,'<li>M A Conway, J B Muir, S K Earl, M Wurdack, R Mishra, J O Tollerud, J A Davis. <strong>Direct measurement of biexcitons in monolayer WS2</strong>. <em>2D Materials</em>, 2022; 9 (2): 021001 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/ac4779\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1088/2053-1583/ac4779</a>\r\n</li>'),(214,'How to make a \'computer\' out of liquid crystals','how-to-make-a-computer-out-of-liquid-crystals','2022-03-02 18:11:29.296727','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have shown for the first time how to design the basic elements needed for logic operations using a kind of material called a liquid crystal -- paving the way for a completely novel way of performing computations.</p><p>The results, published Feb. 23 in <em>Science Advances</em>, are not likely to become transistors or computers right away, but the technique could point the way towards devices with new functions in sensing, computing and robotics.</p><p>\"We showed you can create the elementary building blocks of a circuit -- gates, amplifiers, and conductors -- which means you should be able to assemble them into arrangements capable of performing more complex operations,\" said Juan de Pablo, the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering and senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, and the senior corresponding author on the paper. \"It\'s a really exciting step for the field of active materials.\"</p><p><strong>The details in the defect</strong></p><p>The research aimed to take a closer look at a type of material called a liquid crystal. The molecules in a liquid crystal tend to be elongated, and when packed together they adopt a structure that has some order, like the straight rows of atoms in a diamond crystal -- but instead of being stuck in place as in a solid, this structure can also shift around as a liquid does. Scientists are always looking for these kinds of oddities because they can utilize these unusual properties as the basis of new technologies; liquid crystals, for example, are in the LCD TV you may already have in your home or in the screen of your laptop.</p><p>One consequence of this odd molecular order is that there are spots in all liquid crystals where the ordered regions bump up against each other and their orientations don\'t quite match, creating what scientists call \"topological defects.\" These spots move around as the liquid crystal moves.</p><p>Scientists are intrigued by these defects, wondering if they could be used to carry information -- similar to the functions that electrons serve in the circuits of your laptop or phone. But in order to make technology out of these defects, you\'d need to be able to shepherd them around where you want them, and it\'s proved very difficult to control their behavior. \"Normally, if you look through a microscope at an experiment with an active liquid crystal, you would see complete chaos -- defects shifting around all over the place,\" said de Pablo.</p><p>But last year, an effort from de Pablo\'s lab headed by Rui Zhang, then a postdoctoral scholar at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, in collaboration with Prof. Margaret Gardel\'s lab from UChicago and Prof. Zev Bryant\'s lab from Stanford, figured out a set of techniques to control these topological defects. They showed that if they controlled where they put energy into the liquid crystal by shining a light only on specific areas, they could guide the defects to move in specific directions.</p><p>In a new paper, they took it a logical step further and determined that it should be theoretically possible to use these techniques to make a liquid crystal perform operations like a computer.</p><p>\"These have many of the characteristics of electrons in a circuit -- we can move them long distances, amplify them, and shut or open their transport as in a transistor gate, which means we could use them for relatively sophisticated operations,\" said Zhang, now an assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.</p><p>Though calculations suggest these systems could be used for computations, they are more likely to be uniquely useful in applications such as the field of soft robotics, the scientists said. Researchers are interested in soft robots -- robots with bodies that aren\'t made out of hard metal or plastic, but rather stretchy and soft materials -- because their flexibility and gentle touch means they can perform functions that hard-bodied robots cannot. The team can imagine creating such robots that can do some of their own \"thinking\" using active liquid crystals.</p><p>They can also imagine using topological defects to ferry small amounts of liquid or other materials from place to place inside tiny devices. \"For example, perhaps one could perform functions inside a synthetic cell,\" said Zhang. It\'s possible that nature already uses similar mechanisms to transmit information or perform behaviors inside cells, he said.</p><p>The research team, which also includes co-author and UChicago postdoctoral researcher Ali Mozaffari, is working with collaborators to carry out experiments to confirm the theoretical findings.</p><p>\"It\'s not often that you are able to see a new way to do computing,\" de Pablo said.</p><p>This work used resources of the University of Chicago Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.</p>','2022-03-02 23:32:33.402797','uploads/news/download_24.jfif',1,'University of Chicago','Researchers have shown for the first time how to design the basic elements needed for logic operations using a kind of material called a liquid crystal -- paving the way for a completely novel way of performing computations.',1,112,'<li>Rui Zhang, Ali Mozaffari, Juan J. de Pablo. <strong>Logic operations with active topological defects</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (8) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg9060\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abg9060</a>\r\n</li>'),(216,'A solar illusion: Coronal loops may not be what they seem','a-solar-illusion-coronal-loops-may-not-be-what-they-seem','2022-03-02 18:12:36.783805','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Many coronal loops -- ropey strands of plasma that scientists have long thought existed in the Sun\'s atmosphere -- may actually be optical illusions, according to a new paper that challenges prevailing assumptions of what we know, and don\'t know, about the Sun.</p><p>The research, led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and published in <em>The Astrophysical Journal</em>, relied on a cutting-edge, realistic 3D simulation of the solar corona. The simulation, carried out at NCAR several years ago, allowed the scientists to slice the corona in distinct sections in an effort to isolate individual coronal loops.</p><p>What they found is that many of the loops weren\'t loops at all.</p><p>While the research team was able to pinpoint some of the coronal loops they were looking for, they also found that in many cases what appear to be loops in images taken of the Sun may actually be wrinkles of bright plasma in the solar atmosphere. As sheets of bright plasma fold over themselves, the folds look like bright thin lines, mimicking the look of distinct and self-contained strands of plasma.</p><p>The findings, which the research team is calling the \"coronal veil\" hypothesis, have significant implications for our understanding of the Sun, since the presumed coronal loops have been used for decades as a way to infer information about density, temperature, and other physical characteristics of the solar atmosphere.</p><p>\"I have spent my entire career studying coronal loops,\" said NCAR scientist Anna Malanushenko, who led the study. \"I was excited that this simulation would give me the opportunity to study them in more detail. I never expected this. When I saw the results, my mind exploded. This is an entirely new paradigm of understanding the Sun\'s atmosphere.\"</p><p>The research was funded by NASA and included collaborators from NCAR\'s High Altitude Observatory, Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, the Southwest Research Institute, and NASA Goddard. NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.</p><p><strong>Challenging intuition</strong></p><p>What appears to be coronal loops can be seen in images taken of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light. The assumption that they exist is a natural one for scientists because it fits our most basic understanding of magnetism.</p><p>Most schoolchildren have at some point seen what happens when iron filings are sprinkled near a bar magnet. The filings orient themselves along magnetic field lines that loop from one pole of the bar magnet to the other. These curving lines spread out, becoming weaker and less dense, the further they are from the magnet.</p><p>The apparent coronal loops in images of the Sun look strikingly similar, and since there is a significant magnetic field in the Sun, the existence of magnetic field lines that could trap a rope of plasma between them and create loops seems like an obvious explanation. And in fact, the new study confirms that such loops likely exist.</p><p>However, the coronal loops seen on the Sun have never behaved exactly as they should, based on our understanding of magnets. For example, scientists would expect the magnetic field lines on the Sun to spread apart, just as in the iron filings experiment, as you move higher in the corona. If this happened, the plasma trapped between the field lines would also spread out between the boundaries, creating thicker, less bright loops. But images of the Sun do not show this phenomenon. Instead, the loops further out still appear thin and bright.</p><p>The possibility that these loops are instead wrinkles in a coronal veil helps explain this and other discrepancies with our expectations of the loops -- but it also asks new questions. For example, what determines the shape and thickness of the folds? And how many of the apparent loops in images of the Sun are actually real strands, and how many are optical illusions?</p><p>\"This study reminds us as scientists that we must always question our assumptions and that sometimes our intuition can work against us,\" Malanushenko said.</p><p><strong>Innovative model offers new view of the Sun</strong></p><p>The discovery that coronal loops may be illusions was made possible thanks to an extremely detailed simulation of the solar corona produced by MURaM, a radiative magnetohydrodynamic model that was extended to model the solar corona in an effort led by NCAR.</p><p>The simulation was groundbreaking when it was first produced because it was able to simultaneously model what was happening in multiple regions of the Sun, from the upper part of the convective zone -- about 10,000 kilometers below the Sun\'s surface -- through the solar surface and beyond, up to nearly 40,000 kilometers into the solar corona. These varied regions of the Sun cover a vast range of physical conditions, including differences in density and pressure, and so scientists had not previously figured out a way to mathematically represent these regions in a unified simulation.</p><p>Among other results, the new simulation was able to capture the entire life cycle of a solar flare for the first time, from the build up of energy below the solar surface to the emergence of flare at the surface, and finally to the explosive release of energy.</p><p>The model also produced 3-dimensional data sets that contain the structure of the magnetic field and plasma, which can be used to generate \"synthetic\" observations. Because the solar corona is optically thin -- meaning it\'s relatively easy to see through it -- structures in the corona overlap one another in images of the Sun. This makes it difficult to tell whether a \"loop\" that is overlapping other loops is in front or behind. It\'s also difficult to tell whether the loop itself has a compact cross section, like a garden hose, or resembles a long ribbon viewed edge on. It\'s also possible that what appears to be a thin strand may be an optical artifact caused by a fold in a sheet of bright plasma.</p><p>The cubes of data produced by MURaM provide scientists the opportunity to dissect the solar atmosphere and study the overlapping structures separately, something that is not possible with the observatories and instruments we currently have.</p><p>While the MURaM simulation is one of the most realistic ever created of the solar corona, it\'s still just a model. Understanding how many coronal loops are actually optical illusions will require carefully designed observational methods that probe the corona and new data analysis techniques.</p><p>\"We know that designing such techniques would be extremely challenging, but this study demonstrates that the way we currently interpret the observations of the Sun may not be adequate for us to truly understand the physics of our star,\" Malanushenko said.</p>','2022-03-02 23:32:44.172031','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research','Many coronal loops -- ropey strands of plasma that scientists have long thought existed in the sun\'s atmosphere -- may actually be optical illusions, according to a new paper that challenges prevailing assumptions of what we know, and don\'t know, about the sun.',1,113,'<li>A. Malanushenko, M. C. M. Cheung, C. E. DeForest, J. A. Klimchuk, M. Rempel. <strong>The Coronal Veil</strong>. <em>The Astrophysical Journal</em>, 2022; 927 (1): 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac3df9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3847/1538-4357/ac3df9</a>\r\n</li>'),(218,'Individuals in England reduced social contacts by up to 75 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic','individuals-in-england-reduced-social-contacts-by-up-to-75-percent-during-the-covid-19-pandemic','2022-03-02 18:13:53.086696','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Transmission of respiratory viruses depends partly on the rate of close social contacts in a population. A study publishing March 1 in <em>PLOS Medicine </em>by Amy Gimma at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom, and colleagues suggests that during the most restrictive period of lockdown in the United Kingdom, the number of reported contacts decreased by 75% from pre-pandemic levels.</p><p>Public health policies imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic aimed to curb virus transmission through reduced social contact. However, the impact of these policies over time has not been quantified. To estimate social interactions in England from March 2020-March 2021, researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of 19,914 participants aged 18-59, as well as parents completing the survey on behalf of their children under age 18, who voluntarily responded to online surveys about their demographics, behavior, and perceptions of personal risk with regard to the pandemic. They then used statistical analyses to calculate the average number of daily contacts reported by participants.</p><p>The researchers found that during the most restrictive lockdowns in the UK, adults over 17 years of age reduced the number of people they were in contact with by 75%. Throughout the year, during less stringent policies, people continued to reduce their social contacts, and only ever reached 50% of pre-pandemic levels. However, the study had some limitations; all data were self-reported, which may have contributed to over- or underestimating individuals\' number of contacts. In addition, future research is needed to apply these findings to transmission data from 2021-2022.</p><p>According to the authors, \"We launched the CoMix social contact and behavioural study on 24th March 2020 to capture the changes in social contacts, risk perception, and other behaviours. This study quantifies changes in epidemiologically relevant contact behaviour for one full year of the COVID-19 pandemic in England and can be used to inform future outbreak response and can be applied to transmission of other infectious diseases, particularly for a large-scale pandemic.\"</p><p>Gimma adds, \"Social contacts play a key role in the transmission of respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19, and data from the CoMix survey helps researchers, policymakers, and the general public understand how people have changed their social contacts throughout the pandemic. Understanding how and where people are making the most contacts, such as at work or in educational settings, provides insight into where contacts can be reduced when we need to slow transmission.\"</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-02 23:32:50.444374','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','Transmission of respiratory viruses depends partly on the rate of close social contacts in a population. A study suggests that during the most restrictive period of lockdown in the United Kingdom, the number of reported contacts decreased by 75 percent from pre-pandemic levels.',1,114,'<li>Amy Gimma, James D. Munday, Kerry L. M. Wong, Pietro Coletti, Kevin van Zandvoort, Kiesha Prem, Petra Klepac, G. James Rubin, Sebastian Funk, W. John Edmunds, Christopher I. Jarvis. <strong>Changes in social contacts in England during the COVID-19 pandemic between March 2020 and March 2021 as measured by the CoMix survey: A repeated cross-sectional study</strong>. <em>PLOS Medicine</em>, 2022; 19 (3): e1003907 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003907\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pmed.1003907</a>\r\n</li>'),(221,'Substance derived from tire debris is toxic to two trout species, not just coho salmon','substance-derived-from-tire-debris-is-toxic-to-two-trout-species-not-just-coho-salmon','2022-03-03 04:48:40.817903','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Every time it rains, fish living downstream of storm drains are exposed to pollutants, including the tire-derived compound 6PPD-quinone, in the runoff. Recently, this substance has been linked to massive die-offs of coho salmon across the U.S. West Coast. Now, researchers in ACS\' <em>Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters</em> report that exposure to 6PPD-quinone at environmentally relevant levels can also be deadly for rainbow and brook trout, though not for Arctic char or white sturgeon.</p><p>Rubber tires are fortified with protectants, such as N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N\'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine or simply 6PPD, so they can be safely driven for a long time. However, as the treads wear down and pieces flake off over time, small rubber particles scatter across roads. There, they react with oxidants such as ozone in the air, converting 6PPD to 6PPD-quinone, which washes into waterways along with the source tire particles in stormwater runoff. Previous studies reported that exposure to small amounts of 6PPD-quinone is toxic to coho salmon -- a popular fish among recreational fishers and an environmentally important species -- and likely caused the phenomenon in urban streams called urban runoff mortality syndrome. Conversely, another study indicated that zebrafish and Japanese medaka can withstand even very high amounts of 6PPD-quinone. So, Markus Brinkmann, Markus Hecker, Steve Wiseman and colleagues wanted to see whether this contaminant poses a risk to a broader range of commercially, culturally and ecologically important fish species.</p><p>The researchers exposed juvenile brook trout, rainbow trout, Arctic char and white sturgeon to varying levels of 6PPD-quinone. They found that even small concentrations, such as those regularly occurring in surface waters after stormwater runoff events, were fatal to brook and rainbow trout. For both trout species, the researchers observed an increased blood glucose level after 6PPD-quinone exposure, suggesting it affected the fish\'s energy metabolism pathways. However, none of the Arctic char and white sturgeon died after four days of exposure to a high level of the contaminant that was similar to the maximum amount previously observed in stormwater runoff. The results indicate mortality from exposure to 6PPD-quinone varies among fish species, but for animals that don\'t die, possible non-lethal effects could be occurring and need further examination, the team says.</p><p>This project was supported partially by a financial contribution from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The authors acknowledge additional funding from the Discovery Grants program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Western Economic Diversification Canada (WED), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program of NSERC, the Canada First Research Excellence Funds (CFREF) and the Canada Research Chairs Program.</p>','2022-03-02 20:01:49.574779','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Chemical Society','Every time it rains, fish living downstream of storm drains are exposed to pollutants, including the tire-derived compound 6PPD-quinone, in the runoff. Recently, this substance has been linked to massive die-offs of coho salmon across the U.S. West Coast. Now, researchers report that exposure to 6PPD-quinone at environmentally relevant levels can also be deadly for rainbow and brook trout, though not for Arctic char or white sturgeon.',1,116,'<li>Markus Brinkmann, David Montgomery, Summer Selinger, Justin G. P. Miller, Eric Stock, Alper James Alcaraz, Jonathan K. Challis, Lynn Weber, David Janz, Markus Hecker, Steve Wiseman. <strong>Acute Toxicity of the Tire Rubber-Derived Chemical 6PPD-quinone to Four Fishes of Commercial, Cultural, and Ecological Importance</strong>. <em>Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00050\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00050</a>\r\n</li>'),(222,'Gradual evolution is back: Darwinian theory of gradual process explained in new research','gradual-evolution-is-back-darwinian-theory-of-gradual-process-explained-in-new-research','2022-03-03 04:50:54.870624','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Abrupt shifts in the evolution of animals -- short periods of time when an organism rapidly changes size or form -- have long been a challenge for theorists including Darwin. Now a newly published research paper supports the idea that even these abrupt changes are underpinned by a gradual directional process of successive incremental changes, as Darwin\'s theory of evolution assumes.</p><p>Published in <em>Nature Communications</em> today (Wednesday 2 March), evolutionary biologists from the University of Reading propose a new statistical model which seeks to explain these sudden changes and long periods of stasis that have been seen in the evolutionary history of some species.</p><p>The team led by Professor Mark Pagel along with colleagues Dr Ciara O\'Donovan and Dr Andrew Meade, developed a statistical model that reconstructed the body-size changes which occurred throughout the 170-million-year history of more than 2800 mammal species.</p><p>The authors found that despite there being periods for some mammals during which abrupt changes in size occur, these occurrences can be understood as \'normal\' changes that draw on the natural variability that evolution routinely adds to natural populations.</p><p>Prof Mark Pagel, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Reading and lead author of the paper said:</p><p>\"Our statistical model provides a basis for accommodating what has previously been a thorn in the side of theorists such as Darwin.</p><p>\"Darwin\'s theory of evolution by natural selection predicts gradual and incremental changes to organisms occurring over very long timespans. But the fossil record frequently shows very abrupt changes in the sizes, shapes, colours and other features of organisms, and these have been used for at least fifty years to challenge the Darwinian orthodoxy.</p><p>\"We show in this paper that even these abrupt changes are easily explained as cases of what is known as \'directional selection\' -- when natural selection strongly pulls a trait in one direction. No special extra-Darwinian mechanisms are required.\"</p><p>Many of these abrupt changes occurred around 60-70 million years ago, a period that saw the rise of many different mammal groups from earlier forms. For example, over a 100,000 year period an early small grazing animal (<em>Conacodon entoconus</em>), ancestral to today\'s modern cows, antelopes, and giraffes, increased in size over 70-fold. More recently, the baleen whales (e.g., humpback, blue and sperm whales) have increased over 100-fold in size from a small dolphin-like ancestor in the same amount of time (~ 7 million years) that separates modern humans from their common ancestor with the chimpanzees.</p>','2022-03-02 20:02:03.377240','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Reading','Abrupt shifts in the evolution of animals -- short periods of time when an organism rapidly changes size or form -- have long been a challenge for theorists including Darwin. Now a newly published research paper supports the idea that even these abrupt changes are underpinned by a gradual directional process of successive incremental changes, as Darwin\'s theory of evolution assumes.',1,64,'<li>Mark Pagel, Ciara O’Donovan, Andrew Meade. <strong>General statistical model shows that macroevolutionary patterns and processes are consistent with Darwinian gradualism</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28595-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28595-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(229,'Plasma accelerators recover in a FLASH','plasma-accelerators-recover-in-a-flash','2022-03-03 04:54:46.728772','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An international team of researchers led by DESY scientists has demonstrated for the first time at the FLASHForward experiment that in principle it is possible to operate plasma accelerators at the repetition rates desired by particle physicists and photon scientists. This opens the opportunity to utilise such high-gradient accelerators as booster stages in existing high-repetition-rate facilities, such as the large-scale X-ray free-electron lasers FLASH and European XFEL, in order to significantly increase the energy of long trains of particles in short distances. The team presents the results of their studies in the journal <em>Nature </em>today.</p><p>Plasma acceleration is an innovative technology for application to the next generation of particle accelerators due to both its compactness and versatility, with the aim being to utilise the accelerated electrons for various fields of application in science, industry, and medicine. The acceleration takes place in an extremely thin channel -- typically only a few centimetres long -- which is filled with an ionised gas, the plasma. A high-energy laser or particle beam fired through the plasma can excite a strong electromagnetic field -- a kind of \'wake\' -- which can be used to accelerate charged particles. In this way, plasma accelerators can achieve acceleration gradients up to a thousand times higher than the most powerful accelerators in use today. They could thus drastically reduce the size of kilometre-scale facilities such as particle colliders or free-electron lasers.</p><p>Modern accelerators for cutting-edge science must also meet high requirements in terms of efficiency, beam quality, and number of bunches accelerated per second. In order to generate a particularly large number of light flashes or particle collisions in the shortest possible time, thousands or even millions of densely packed particle bunches must be propelled through accelerators in a single second. Plasma accelerators would, therefore, have to achieve a similar repetition rate in order to be competitive with state-of-the-art particle-accelerator technology. Current test facilities for plasma acceleration are usually operated at much slower repetition rates in the range of one to ten accelerations per second. The team led by DESY researcher Jens Osterhoff has now proven that much higher rates are possible. \"At FLASHForward we were able to show for the first time that, in principle, repetition rates in the megahertz range are supported by the plasma acceleration processes,\" says Osterhoff.</p><p>At FLASHForward the accelerating wave -- the so-called wakefield in the plasma -- is generated by an electron bunch from the FLASH accelerator that ploughs through the plasma at almost the speed of light. The electrons of this \'drive beam\' cause the freely moving electrons of the plasma to oscillate in its wake and thus generate very strong electric fields. These fields accelerate the electrons of a particle packet flying directly behind the driver bunch. \"Unlike in conventional accelerators, where long-living electromagnetic waves stored in a resonating cavity can accelerate several particle bunches in quick succession, the electromagnetic fields generated in plasma decay very quickly after each acceleration process,\" explains Richard D\'Arcy, first author of the study. \"To start a new similar acceleration process, the plasma electrons and ions must then have \'recovered\' to approximately their initial state such that the acceleration of the next pair of particle bunches is not modified by that of the previous one.\"In their experiments, the scientists took advantage of the highly flexible superconducting FLASH accelerator to generate particle bunches with extremely short temporal spacings.</p><p>The first bunch generated ploughed through the plasma, driving a high-strength wakefield and thus perturbing the plasma in its wake. At variable intervals thereafter, pairs of particle bunches were sent through the plasma cell; the first driving a second wakefield and the second being accelerated by the resulting fields. The properties of these subsequent bunches were precisely measured by the experimenters and compared with those of bunches that had experienced this process in an undisturbed plasma. The result: after about 70 billionths of a second (70 nanoseconds), it was no longer possible to distinguish whether the second acceleration had taken place in a previously disturbed or undisturbed plasma. \"We were able to precisely observe the decay of the perturbation, which reached completion within the first 70 nanoseconds, and to explain it exactly in simulations,\" says D\'Arcy. \"In subsequent measurements, we want to check how different framework conditions in the setup influence the recovery time of the plasma wave.\" For example, the heating of the plasma medium due to high-frequency operation may have an influence on how quickly the plasma takes to replenish.</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-02 21:40:50.846412','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY','Scientists have demonstrated at the FLASHForward experiment that in principle it is possible to operate plasma accelerators at the repetition rates desired by particle physicists and photon scientists. This opens the opportunity to utilize such high-gradient accelerators as booster stages in existing high-repetition-rate facilities, such as the large-scale X-ray free-electron lasers FLASH and European XFEL, in order to significantly increase the energy of long trains of particles in short distances.',1,68,'<li>R. D’Arcy, J. Chappell, J. Beinortaite, S. Diederichs, G. Boyle, B. Foster, M. J. Garland, P. Gonzalez Caminal, C. A. Lindstrøm, G. Loisch, S. Schreiber, S. Schröder, R. J. Shalloo, M. Thévenet, S. Wesch, M. Wing, J. Osterhoff. <strong>Recovery time of a plasma-wakefield accelerator</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; 603 (7899): 58 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04348-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-021-04348-8</a>\r\n</li>'),(230,'Powerful warm winds seen blowing from a neutron star as it rips up its companion','powerful-warm-winds-seen-blowing-from-a-neutron-star-as-it-rips-up-its-companion','2022-03-03 04:57:05.967046','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Using the most powerful telescopes on Earth and in space, a team of astronomers has found for the first time blasts of hot, warm and cold winds from a neutron star whilst it consumes matter from a nearby star. The discovery provides new insight into the behaviours of some of the most extreme objects in the universe.</p><p>Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are systems containing a neutron star or black hole. They are fuelled by material ripped from a neighbouring star, a process known as accretion. Most accretion occurs during violent eruptions where the systems brighten dramatically. At the same time, some of the material that spirals in is propelled back into space in the form of disc winds and jets.</p><p>The most common signs of outflowing material from astronomical objects are associated with \"warm\" gas. Despite this, only winds of \"hot\" or \"cold\" gas have been observed in transient X-ray binaries, until now.</p><p>In this new study, a team of researchers from eleven countries, led by the University of Southampton, studied the recent eruption of the X-ray binary known as Swift J1858. They used a combination of telescopes, including NASA\'s Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the European Space Agency\'s XMM-Newton satellite, the European Southern Observatory Organisation\'s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Spanish Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC).</p><p>The results, published in the journal <em>Nature</em>, showed persistent signatures of a warm wind at ultraviolet wavelengths occurring at the same time as signatures of a cold wind at optical wavelengths. This is the first time that winds from such a system have been seen across different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.</p><p>Lead author Dr Noel Castro Segura, of the University of Southampton said: \"Eruptions like this are rare, and each of them is unique. Normally they are heavily obscured by interstellar dust, which makes observing them really difficult. Swift J1858 was special, because even though it is located on the other side of our galaxy, the obscuration was small enough to allow for a full multiwavelength study.\"</p><p>\"Only one other system -- the black hole X-ray binary, V404 Cyg -- has shown similar properties. However, our attempt to perform the same experiment on that system was unsuccessful, because the eruption ended before we could get the ground-based and space-based telescopes to observe it simultaneously,\" co-Author Dr Hernández Santisteban from University of St Andrews said.</p><p>Swift J1858 is a newly discovered X-ray transient event that displays extreme variability across the electromagnetic spectrum, which presented a rare opportunity.</p><p>\"All the astronomers in the field were incredibly excited, to the point that we combined our efforts to cover the full spectrum, from radio to X-ray using state-of-art observatories on Earth and in space,\" Dr Castro Segura continued.</p><p>Co-author Nathalie Degenaar, from the University of Amsterdam added, \"Neutron stars have an immensely strong gravitational pull that allows them to gobble up gas from other stars. The stellar cannibals are, however, messy eaters and much of the gas that neutron stars pull towards them is not consumed, but flung into space at high speed. This behaviour has a large impact both on the neutron star itself, and on its immediate surroundings. In this paper we report on a new discovery that provides key information about the messy eating patterns of these cosmic cookie monsters.\"</p><p>\"This time we had cosmic luck on our side, as we were able to co-ordinate ten telescopes and point them towards the J1858, all while it was fully active. This allows us to obtain much more information, since we can use different techniques at different wavelengths,\" Dr Hernández Santisteban said.</p><p>Dr Degenaar added, \"designing such an ambitious observing campaign -- built around the best telescopes on Earth and in space -- was a huge challenge. So, it is incredibly exciting that all this work has paid off and allowed us to make a key discovery that would not have been possible otherwise.\"</p><p>As well as discovering the different types of winds, the team were able to study the temporal evolution of the gas that flows out. They found that the warm wind was not affected by the strong variations in the brightness of the system. The absence of such a response had previously been an unconfirmed theoretical prediction based on sophisticated simulations.</p><p>\"In this research we combined the unique capabilities of the HST with the best ground-based telescopes, such as the VLT and GTC, to obtain a complete picture of the dynamics of the gas in the system, from the near-infrared to ultraviolet wavelengths. This allowed us to unveil for first time the true nature of these powerful outflows,\" Dr Castro Segura said.</p><p>\"The new insights provided by our results are key to understanding how these objects interact with their environment. By shedding energy and matter into the galaxy, they contribute to the formation of new generations of stars, and to the evolution of the galaxy itself,\" Dr Castro Segura concluded.</p><p>The study was funded by grants from agencies including the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and NASA among others.</p>','2022-03-02 21:40:52.883898','uploads/news/download.jpg',1,'University of Southampton','Black holes and neutron stars are some of the most extreme objects in the Universe, ripping up neighboring stars. But they are messy eaters and much of they take in gets flung back into space. Scientists have now observed a neutron star blasting out warm and cold wind as it devoured another star. The findings shed new light on the behavior of these stellar cannibals and how they influence the evolution of galaxies.',1,117,'<li>N. Castro Segura, C. Knigge, K. S. Long, D. Altamirano, M. Armas Padilla, C. Bailyn, D. A. H. Buckley, D. J. K. Buisson, J. Casares, P. Charles, J. A. Combi, V. A. Cúneo, N. D. Degenaar, S. del Palacio, M. Díaz Trigo, R. Fender, P. Gandhi, M. Georganti, C. Gutiérrez, J. V. Hernandez Santisteban, F. Jiménez-Ibarra, J. Matthews, M. Méndez, M. Middleton, T. Muñoz-Darias, M. Özbey Arabacı, M. Pahari, L. Rhodes, T. D. Russell, S. Scaringi, J. van den Eijnden, G. Vasilopoulos, F. M. Vincentelli, P. Wiseman. <strong>A persistent ultraviolet outflow from an accreting neutron star binary transient</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; 603 (7899): 52 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04324-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-021-04324-2</a>\r\n</li>'),(231,'Archaeologists discover innovative 40,000-year-old culture in China','archaeologists-discover-innovative-40000-year-old-culture-in-china','2022-03-03 04:59:22.348773','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The discovery of a new culture suggests processes of innovation and cultural diversification occurring in Eastern Asia during a period of genetic and cultural hybridization. Although previous studies have established that <em>Homo sapiens</em> arrived in northern Asia by about 40,000 years ago, much about the lives and cultural adaptations of these early peoples, and their possible interactions with archaic groups, remains unknown. In the search for answers, the Nihewan Basin in northern China, with a wealth of archaeological sites ranging in age from 2 million to 10,000 years ago, provides one of the best opportunities for understanding the evolution of cultural behavior in northeastern Asia.</p><p>A new article published in the journal <em>Nature</em> describes a unique 40,000-year-old culture at the site of Xiamabei in the Nihewan Basin. With the earliest known evidence of ochre processing in Eastern Asia and a set of distinct blade-like stone tools, Xiamabei contains cultural expressions and features that are unique or exceedingly rare in northeastern Asia. Through the collaboration of an international team of scholars, analysis of the finds offers important new insights into cultural innovation during the expansion of <em>Homo sapiens</em> populations.</p><p>\"Xiamabei stands apart from any other known archaeological site in China, as it possesses a novel set of cultural characteristics at an early date,\" says Dr. Fa-Gang Wang of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, whose team first excavated the site.</p><p><strong>Cultural Adaptations at Xiamabei </strong></p><p>\"The ability of hominins to live in northern latitudes, with cold and highly seasonal environments, was likely facilitated by the evolution of culture in the form of economic, social and symbolic adaptations,\" says Dr. Shixia Yang, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, in Jena, Germany. \"The finds at Xiamabei are helping us to understand these adaptations and their potential role in human migration.\"</p><p>One of the significant cultural features found at Xiamabei is the extensive use of ochre, as shown by artefacts used to process large quantities of pigment. The artefacts include two pieces of ochre with different mineral compositions and an elongated limestone slab with smoothed areas bearing ochre stains, all on a surface of red-stained sediment. Analysis by researchers from the University of Bordeaux, led by Prof. Francesco d\'Errico, indicates that different types of ochre were brought to Xiamabei and processed through pounding and abrasion to produce powders of different color and consistency, the use of which impregnated the habitation floor. Ochre production at Xiamabei represents the earliest known example of this practice in Eastern Asia.</p><p>The stone tools at Xiamabei represent a novel cultural adaptation for northern China 40,000 years ago. Because little is known about stone tool industries in Eastern Asia until microblades became the dominant technology about 29,000 years ago, the Xiamabei finds provide important insights into toolmaking industries during a key transition period. The blade-like stone tools at Xiamabei were unique for the region, with the large majority of tools being miniaturized, more than half measuring less than 20 millimeters. Seven of the stone tools showed clear evidence of hafting to a handle, and functional and residue analysis suggests tools were used for boring, hide scraping, whittling plant material and cutting soft animal matter. The site inhabitants made hafted and multipurpose tools, demonstrative of a complex technical system for transforming raw materials not seen at older or slightly younger sites.</p><p><strong>A Complex History of Innovation</strong></p><p>The record emerging from Eastern Asia shows that a variety of adaptations were taking place as modern humansentered the region roughly 40,000 years ago. Although no hominin remains were found at Xiamabei, the presence of modern human fossils at the contemporary site of Tianyuandong and the slightly younger sites of Salkhit and Zhoukoudian Upper Cave, suggests that the visitors to Xiamabei were <em>Homo sapiens. </em>A varied lithic technology and the presence of some innovations, such as hafted tools and ochre processing, but not other innovations, such as formal bone tools or ornaments, may reflect an early colonization attempt by modern humans. This colonization period may have included genetic and cultural exchanges with archaic groups, such as the Denisovans, before ultimately being replaced by later waves of <em>Homo sapiens</em> using microblade technologies.</p><p>Given the unique nature of Xiamabei, the authors of the new paper argue that the archaeological record does not fit with the idea of continuous cultural innovation, or of a fully formed set of adaptations which enabled early humans to expand out of Africa and around the world. Instead, the authors argue that we should expect to find a mosaic of innovation patterns, with the spread of earlier innovations, the persistence of local traditions, and the local invention of new practices all taking place in a transitional phase.</p><p>\"Our findings show that current evolutionary scenarios are too simple,\" says Professor Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute in Jena, \"and that modern humans, and our culture, emerged through repeated but differing episodes of genetic and social exchanges over large geographic areas, rather than as a single, rapid dispersal wave across Asia.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-02 21:40:55.840235','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History','When did populations of Homo sapiens first arrive in China and what happened when they encountered the Denisovans or Neanderthals who lived there? A new study opens a window into hunter-gatherer lifestyles 40,000 years ago. Archaeological excavations at the site of Xiamabei in the Nihewan Basin of northern China have revealed the presence of innovative behaviors and unique toolkits.',1,85,'<li>Fa-Gang Wang, Shi-Xia Yang, Jun-Yi Ge, Andreu Ollé, Ke-Liang Zhao, Jian-Ping Yue, Daniela Eugenia Rosso, Katerina Douka, Ying Guan, Wen-Yan Li, Hai-Yong Yang, Lian-Qiang Liu, Fei Xie, Zheng-Tang Guo, Ri-Xiang Zhu, Cheng-Long Deng, Francesco d’Errico, Michael Petraglia. <strong>Innovative ochre processing and tool use in China 40,000 years ago</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04445-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04445-2</a>\r\n</li>'),(232,'We should be eating more insects and using their waste to grow crops, says plant ecologist','we-should-be-eating-more-insects-and-using-their-waste-to-grow-crops-says-plant-ecologist','2022-03-03 05:01:29.117218','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Marcel Dicke already knew that insects are an excellent source of protein for humans, but he didn\'t expect to learn that they have such a positive impact on plants. In an Opinion paper published on March 2 in the journal <em>Trends in Plant Science</em>, Dicke, a researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and colleagues discuss the benefits of using the waste from insect-as-food-and-feed production to promote sustainable crops. The authors argue this approach could enhance plant growth, health, pollination, and resilience.</p><p>The leftovers from insect production come in two main forms: exuviae, the exoskeletons left behind after molting, and frass, named for the German word for eating. Frass is \"basically insect poop and unconsumed food,\" says Dicke.</p><p>When added to soil, the exuviae and frass promote both plant growth and health. Insect feces are rich in nitrogen, a nutrient that is pivotal to plant growth but is scarce in most soils; therefore, it is often added to crops in synthetic fertilizer. The insect exoskeletons are rich in chitin, a polymer that is difficult for most organisms to digest.</p><p>\"There is, however, a set of bacteria that can metabolize chitin, and those microbes help plants to be more resilient to diseases and pests,\" says Dicke. \"When exuviae are added to soil, the populations of those beneficial bacteria increase.\"</p><p>Dicke and his team see the application of insect-rearing byproducts to crops as a novel step towards a circular food system in which there is very little waste. The insects are fed waste streams from crop farming or food production, and the insects then provide humans with food. Using the leftovers from insect production to bolster crop growth could close this circle. Now, he just needs to get people on board.</p><p>Insects, which Dicke refers to as \"mini-livestock,\" are already efficient to farm, especially when compared to more traditional livestock. It takes roughly 25 kilograms of grass to produce one kilogram of beef. The same amount of grass can produce ten times as much edible insect protein. This is due to the higher conversion rate of insects and because up to 90% of an insect\'s body mass is edible, as opposed to only 40% of a cow.</p><p>\"I have eaten crickets, mealworms, and locusts,\" says Dicke. \"Many people in in our part of the world need to get used to eating insects, but I can tell you that I\'ve eaten many other insect species around the globe, and I\'ve always had a wonderful meal on them.\"</p><p>The researchers plan to continue to investigate the potential for exuviae to work as a pest control. When a plant is attacked by an insect, its leaves can produce volatiles that attract the predators of the pest. \"I call it the plant\'s cry for help,\" says Dicke. \"They are recruiting bodyguards.\"</p><p>Dicke thinks that a similar process might be happening through the plants\' roots and that the microbes that are digesting the chitin in the insect waste might also be acting as security for the plants by breaking down pathogenic fungi and making the plant resilient to pests. \"Studies have already shown that microbes associated with the roots help plants by protecting against diseases,\" says Dicke. \"Now we\'re investigating whether plant roots recruit microbes that help them in defending against pests.\"</p>','2022-03-02 21:40:59.157460','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cell Press','Researchers already knew that insects are an excellent source of protein for humans, but they didn\'t expect to learn that they have such a positive impact on plants. Researchers discuss the benefits of using the waste from insect-as-food-and-feed production to promote sustainable crops.',1,118,'<li>Katherine Y. Barragán-Fonseca, Azkia Nurfikari, Els M. van de Zande, Max Wantulla, Joop J.A. van Loon, Wietse de Boer, Marcel Dicke. <strong>Insect frass and exuviae to promote plant growth and health</strong>. <em>Trends in Plant Science</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.01.007\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.tplants.2022.01.007</a>\r\n</li>'),(233,'Study maps stress changes around fault activated by hydraulic fracturing','study-maps-stress-changes-around-fault-activated-by-hydraulic-fracturing','2022-03-03 05:02:29.727331','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers were able to observe stress changes before and during an earthquake induced by hydraulic fracturing in Alberta, Canada, with the help of a phenomenon called seismic anisotropy.</p><p>Seismic anisotropy refers to changes in the velocity of seismic waves dependent on the \"fabric\" of the rocks that the waves pass through. The pattern of anisotropy changes at the Canadian site was most likely created by a network of tensile hydraulic fractures created during fluid injection, the scientists conclude in <em>Seismological Research Letters.</em></p><p>By mapping changes in anisotropy, the researchers hope to monitor the processes that take place when hydraulic fracturing causes induced earthquakes, said Nadine Igonin of the University of Texas at Austin and colleagues.</p><p>The international research team analyzed anisotropy changes observed in 300 seismic events that were recorded on a dense seismic array of 98 geophone stations put in place to monitor hydraulic fracturing of the Duvernay Shale Formation in Alberta\'s Fox Creek area. Hydraulic fracturing in the region has produced several induced earthquakes, including a magnitude 4.1 earthquake that took place during the study.</p><p>\"This case study was particularly interesting because, while the hydraulic fracturing took place in the Duvernay Shale formation, the observed seismicity occurred in the overlying Wabamun formation, 300 meters above the hydraulic fracturing zone,\" Igonin explained.</p><p>\"Hence, there were important unanswered questions as to how the hydraulic fracturing had managed to reactivate a fault so far above the reservoir unit.\"</p><p>The geophone arrays were buried at the bottom of shallow, near-surface wells, instead of the deeper, downhole arrays often used for seismic monitoring. \"Our findings required detailed monitoring of anisotropy changes across the entire area of hydraulic fracturing, which could only be achieved with a surface or near surface array, with monitoring stations spread over a wide area,\" said Igonin.</p><p>The researchers found that the strength of seismic anisotropy increased in some regions and decreased in others systematically, surrounding the hydraulic fracturing injection well. They then compared the observed anisotropy to models of stress change caused by different processes, including tensile hydraulic fracturing opening, microseismic events on existing faults or fractures and aseismic slip.</p><p>The anisotropy changes were most like those that would be observed in the case of a network of hydraulic fractures formed after fluid injection, the researchers found, especially a case where the growth of those fractures was limited by intersecting with an existing fault in the region.</p><p>Using this information to assess stress changes at the hypocenter of the magnitude 4.1 fault, Igonin and colleagues\' model showed a significant stress change associated with fault failure 24 hours before the earthquake.</p><p>Being able to resolve these kinds of stress changes over time, Igonin said, could be useful information for managing and mitigating induced seismicity not just in hydraulic fracturing, but also in wastewater disposal, carbon storage, and enhanced geothermal energy production.</p><p>\"We have observed a range of different mechanisms by which faults have been reactivated by injection, including direct flow of injected fluids into faults, as well as more complex effects involving the geomechanical transfer of stress through the subsurface, as described in this paper,\" she said.</p><p>\"If we are to produce more effective strategies to mitigate induced seismicity, then we need to fully understand the relative contributions of these different effects in reactivating subsurface faults.\"</p>','2022-03-02 21:41:04.054178','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Seismological Society of America','Researchers were able to observe stress changes before and during an earthquake induced by hydraulic fracturing in Alberta, Canada, with the help of a phenomenon called seismic anisotropy.',1,119,'<li>Nadine Igonin, James P. Verdon, David W. Eaton. <strong>Seismic Anisotropy Reveals Stress Changes around a Fault as It Is Activated by Hydraulic Fracturing</strong>. <em>Seismological Research Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1785/0220210282\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1785/0220210282</a>\r\n</li>'),(234,'Mucus could explain why SARS-CoV-2 doesn\'t spread easily from surfaces','mucus-could-explain-why-sars-cov-2-doesnt-spread-easily-from-surfaces','2022-03-03 05:16:22.364467','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Early in the pandemic, many people fastidiously disinfected surfaces because laboratory studies predicted that SARS-CoV-2 could be easily transmitted in this way. Now, researchers reporting in <em>ACS Central Science </em>have found a possible explanation for why the predictions didn\'t pan out: Sugar-decorated proteins in mucus could bind to the coronavirus on surfaces, keeping it from infecting cells. The findings could also hint at why some people are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than others.</p><p>Although experiments have shown that coronaviruses can persist on surfaces for days or weeks, it is now apparent that SARS-CoV-2 is much more likely to infect people through airborne droplets carrying the virus. The surface studies typically used viruses suspended in buffers or growth media, whereas in the real world, SARS-CoV-2 is coated in mucus when someone coughs or sneezes. With this in mind, Jessica Kramer and colleagues wondered if mucus components could explain the discrepancy between the lab predictions and reality. In addition to water, salts, lipids, DNA and other proteins, mucus contains proteins called mucins, which are heavily modified with sugar molecules known as glycans. To infect cells, the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds glycan molecules with sialic acid at their ends on the cell surface. So, the researchers wondered if the coronavirus also recognizes sialic acid-containing glycans in mucins. If the spike protein is already bound to glycans in mucus, perhaps it couldn\'t bind to the ones on cells, they reasoned.</p><p>For safety reasons, the researchers chose to study a human coronavirus called OC43, which evolved relatively recently from a cow coronavirus and causes mostly mild respiratory infections. The team deposited droplets of the virus in buffer or growth medium supplemented with 0.1-5% mucins, which corresponds to the concentration range of mucins found in nasal mucus and saliva, onto a plastic surface and let the drops dry. Then, they rehydrated the viral residue and measured its ability to infect cells. In comparison to the buffer or growth medium alone, the solutions supplemented with mucins were dramatically less infectious. The team also tested steel, glass and surgical mask surfaces, finding similar results.</p><p>The researchers showed that, as the droplets dried, mucins moved to the edge and concentrated there in a coffee-ring effect, bringing the virus with them. This brought mucins and virus particles close together, where they could more easily interact. Cutting off sialic acid glycans from mucins with an enzyme eliminated viral binding and destroyed the glycoproteins\' protective effect. Because SARS-CoV-2, like OC43, binds to sialic acid glycans on cell surfaces, mucins would also likely reduce its infectivity, the researchers suspect. The levels and types of sugar molecules on mucins can vary with diet and certain diseases, which could possibly explain the vulnerability of certain people to COVID-19, they say.</p><p>The authors acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation.</p>','2022-03-02 21:41:10.124782','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Chemical Society','Early in the pandemic, many people fastidiously disinfected surfaces because laboratory studies predicted that SARS-CoV-2 could be easily transmitted in this way. Now, researchers have found a possible explanation for why the predictions didn\'t pan out: Sugar-decorated proteins in mucus could bind to the coronavirus on surfaces, keeping it from infecting cells. The findings could also hint at why some people are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than others.',1,120,'<li>Casia L. Wardzala, Amanda M. Wood, David M. Belnap, Jessica R. Kramer. <strong>Mucins Inhibit Coronavirus Infection in a Glycan-Dependent Manner</strong>. <em>ACS Central Science</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.1c01369\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acscentsci.1c01369</a>\r\n</li>'),(235,'Cocoa does not appear to reduce exercise-related digestive distress','cocoa-does-not-appear-to-reduce-exercise-related-digestive-distress','2022-03-03 05:21:19.766631','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Impressive athleticism was on display during the Winter Olympics, but being at the top of one\'s game doesn\'t necessarily protect against digestive distress resulting from exercise. Surprisingly, some people are adding cocoa to their diets to reduce these symptoms. Now, researchers in ACS\' <em>Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry</em> report that long-term daily consumption of cocoa doesn\'t appear to improve exercise-related digestive issues in male athletes and induces only minimal changes to their gut microbiomes.</p><p>Performing vigorous or intense exercise can cause digestive upset for some people. The symptoms can include nausea, heartburn, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. In the worst cases, symptoms are so bad that athletes stop what they\'re doing and drop out of competitions. Previous studies have suggested that long-term cocoa consumption could alleviate these issues because of the tasty substance\'s high level of flavonoids. These compounds can enhance antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and have been shown to have prebiotic effects on beneficial gut microbes in animal studies. However, chronic consumption of cocoa powder by humans to reduce exercise-related digestive problems hasn\'t been investigated in a standardized way. So, François Fenaille, Mar Larrosa, and colleagues wanted to develop a highly controlled but also realistic human trial to assess whether cocoa could help.</p><p>Using the gold standard format for human trials, the researchers conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled study of 54 physically fit male athletes who followed a strict training routine over 10 weeks. During that time, participants supplemented their regular diets with either flavonoid-rich cocoa or a placebo starch powder mixed into semi-skim milk, which they drank daily at breakfast. At the beginning and the end of the training period, the athletes underwent a high-endurance running test. The participants\' gastrointestinal symptoms did not change in either supplementation group, indicating the cocoa did not improve exercise-induced digestive complaints. Finally, the researchers found only slight effects on the composition of the gut microbiome and plasma and fecal metabolites. Although the athletes\' diets, which included a high amount of fruits and vegetables, could have masked a small effect of the cocoa, the researchers conclude that cocoa is not an effective exercise supplement for suppressing gastrointestinal problems or changing the overall gut microbiome of endurance athletes.</p><p>The authors acknowledge funding from the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spain); European Molecular Biology Organization; Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (Spain); and MetaboHUB infrastructure (France).</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-02 21:41:14.325689','uploads/news/images.jpg',1,'American Chemical Society','Impressive athleticism was on display during the Winter Olympics, but being at the top of one\'s game doesn\'t necessarily protect against digestive distress resulting from exercise. Surprisingly, some people are adding cocoa to their diets to reduce these symptoms. Now, researchers report that long-term daily consumption of cocoa doesn\'t appear to improve exercise-related digestive issues in male athletes and induces only minimal changes to their gut microbiomes.',1,121,'<li>Mariangela Tabone, Jose Angel García-Merino, Carlo Bressa, Nuria Elizabeth Rocha Guzman, Karen Herrera Rocha, Emeline Chu Van, Florence A. Castelli, François Fenaille, Mar Larrosa. <strong>Chronic Consumption of Cocoa Rich in Procyanidins Has a Marginal Impact on Gut Microbiota and on Serum and Fecal Metabolomes in Male Endurance Athletes</strong>. <em>Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry</em>, 2022; 70 (6): 1878 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.1c07547\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.jafc.1c07547</a>\r\n</li>'),(236,'Taking a systems approach to cyber security','taking-a-systems-approach-to-cyber-security','2022-03-03 05:23:27.075607','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The frequency and severity of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure is a subject of concern for many governments, as are the costs associated with cyber security, making the efficient allocation of resources paramount. A new study proposes a framework featuring a more holistic picture of the cybersecurity landscape, along with a model that explicitly represents multiple dimensions of the potential impacts of successful cyberattacks.</p><p>As critical infrastructure such as electric power grids become more sophisticated, they are also becoming increasingly more reliant on digital networks and smart sensors to optimize their operations, and thus more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Over the past couple of years, cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure have become ever more complex and disruptive, causing systems to shut down, disrupting operations, or enabling attackers to remotely control affected systems. Importantly, the impacts of successful attacks on critical cyber-physical systems are multidimensional in nature, which means that impacts are not only limited to losses incurred by the operators of the compromised system, but also economic losses to other parties relying on their services as well as public safety or environmental hazards.</p><p>According to the study just published in the journal <em>Risk Analysis</em>, this makes it important to have a tool that distinguishes between different dimensions of cyber-risks and also allows for the design of security measures that are able to make the most efficient use of limited resources. The authors set out to answer two main questions in this regard: first, whether it is possible to find vulnerabilities, the exploitation of which opens ways for several attack scenarios to proceed; and second, if it is possible to take advantage of this knowledge and deploy countermeasures to simultaneously protect the system from several threats.</p><p>One of the ways in which cyber threats are commonly managed, is to conduct an analysis of individual attack scenarios through risk matrices, prioritizing the scenarios according to their perceived urgency (depending on their likelihoods of occurrence and severity of potential impacts), and then addressing them in order until all the resources available for cybersecurity are spent. According to the authors, this approach may however lead to suboptimal resource allocations, given that potential synergies between different attack scenarios and among available security measures are not taken into consideration.</p><p>\"Existing assessment frameworks and cybersecurity models assume the perspective of the operator of the system and support her cost-benefit analysis, in other words, the cost of security measures versus potential losses in the case of a successful cyber-attack. Yet, this approach is not satisfactory in the context of security of critical infrastructure, where the potential impacts are multidimensional and may affect multiple stakeholders. We endeavored to address this problem by explicitly modeling multiple relevant impact dimensions of successful cyber-attacks,\" explains lead author Piotr Żebrowski a researcher in the Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program.</p><p>To overcome this shortcoming, the researchers propose a quantitative framework that features a more holistic picture of the cybersecurity landscape that encompasses multiple attack scenarios, thus allowing for a better appreciation of vulnerabilities. To do this, the team developed a Bayesian network model representing a cybersecurity landscape of a system. This method has gained popularity in the last few years due to its ability to describe risks in probabilistic terms and to explicitly incorporate prior knowledge about them into a model that can be used to monitor the exposure to cyber threats and allow for real-time updates if some vulnerabilities have been exploited.</p><p>In addition to this, the researchers built a multi-objective optimization model on top of the Bayesian network that explicitly represents multiple dimensions of the potential impacts of successful cyberattacks. The framework adopts a broader perspective than the standard cost-benefit analysis and allows for the formulation of more nuanced security objectives. The study also proposes an algorithm that is able to identify a set of optimal portfolios of security measures that simultaneously minimize various types of expected cyberattack impacts, while also satisfying budgetary and other constraints.</p><p>The researchers note that while the use of models like this in cybersecurity is not entirely unheard of, the practical implementation of such models usually requires extensive study of systems vulnerabilities. In their study, the team however suggests how such a model can be built based on a set of attack trees, which is a standard representation of attack scenarios commonly used by the industry in security assessments. The researchers demonstrated their method with the help of readily available attack trees presented in security assessments of electric power grids in the US.</p><p>\"Our method offers the possibility to explicitly represent and mitigate the exposure of different stakeholders other than system operators to the consequences of successful cyber-attacks. This allows relevant stakeholders to meaningfully participate in shaping the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure,\" notes Żebrowski.</p><p>In conclusion, the researchers highlight that it is important to have a systemic perspective on the issue of cyber security. This is crucial both in terms of establishing a more accurate landscape of cyber threats to critical infrastructure and in the efficient and inclusive management of important systems in the interest of multiple stakeholders.</p>','2022-03-02 21:41:17.250411','uploads/news/download_1.jpg',1,'International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis','A new study proposes a framework featuring a more holistic picture of the cybersecurity landscape, along with a model that explicitly represents multiple dimensions of the potential impacts of successful cyberattacks.',1,122,'<li>Piotr Żebrowski, Aitor Couce‐Vieira, Alessandro Mancuso. <strong>A Bayesian Framework for the Analysis and Optimal Mitigation of Cyber Threats to Cyber‐Physical Systems</strong>. <em>Risk Analysis</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/risa.13900\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/risa.13900</a>\r\n</li>'),