(1429,'COVID-19 pandemic fueled massive growth in green industry','covid-19-pandemic-fueled-massive-growth-in-green-industry','2022-03-21 18:12:53.179420',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Most people would say the COVID-19 pandemic hasn\'t been a great couple of years. But for the green industry, like plant nurseries and greenhouses, it\'s been a boon.</p><p>But will the uptick in gardening last once the last coronavirus restrictions are lifted?</p><p>Probably not to the same extreme levels, according to new research from the University of Georgia. But for some, the introduction to gardening may have been just what they needed to dive into a new hobby.</p><p>Of its more than 4,200 participants, the study found about one out of every three people began gardening in 2020 because they were home more. Many also put in new grass lawns and did outdoor renovations, such as installing new plant beds and other landscaping.</p><p>\"You had low interest rates, so you had a lot of people refinancing, which gave them money to invest in their homes,\" said Benjamin Campbell, lead author of the study and an associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. \"You had people at home looking for something to do, whether by themselves or with their kids. That led to a huge demand for plants.\"</p><p>Just under half of respondents said they didn\'t plan to garden in the future, even if they had in 2020. But one out of 10 said they gardened in 2020 and planned to keep it up going forward, including 11% of Gen Xers and 13% of millennials and younger.</p><p>\"We saw a lot of younger consumers come into the market because of the pandemic and because they were having to stay home,\" Campbell said. \"Plants have been shown to help with a lot of different things related to people\'s psyche. Gardening not only gave people something to do, but it also gave them a little bit more happiness.\"</p><p><strong>Food insecurity may drive gardening uptake for some</strong></p><p>Some respondents had a more practical reason for picking up gardening: food.</p><p>About 14% of participants said they planned to garden in the future because they were concerned about food shortages. As supply chain issues and worker shortages continue to cause problems, those empty grocery shelves may not be full to their pre-pandemic level anytime soon.</p><p>Food costs in general are going up, in part due to inflation, which could be another driver for people to pick up gardening. But fertilizer and plants aren\'t immune from inflation and are rising as well.</p><p>\"Plants are not really a necessity, but if I\'m thinking about building a bunker in the backyard, I\'m buying seeds,\" Campbell said. \"If I go and buy a tomato plant, I have to keep it alive. If I have a seed, I just leave it in the bag until I need it.\"</p><p>Published by the American Society for Horticultural Science, the study was co-authored by David San Fratello, a master\'s of agribusiness graduate from the University of Georgia; William Secor, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics; and Julie Campbell, assistant research scientist in the Department of Horticulture.</p>','2022-03-21 18:12:53.179420','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Georgia','The COVID-19 pandemic hasn\'t been a great couple of years. But for the green industry, like plant nurseries and greenhouses, it\'s been a boon. But will the uptick in gardening last once the last coronavirus restrictions are lifted? Probably not to the same extreme levels, according to new research. But for some, the introduction to gardening may have been just what they needed to dive into a new hobby.\n',1,209,'<li>David San Fratello, Benjamin L. Campbell, William G. Secor, Julie H. Campbell. <strong>Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gardening in the United States: Postpandemic Expectations</strong>. <em>HortTechnology</em>, 2022; 32 (1): 32 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04911-21\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.21273/HORTTECH04911-21</a>\n</li>'),(1430,'Booster for immune protection after coronavirus infection','booster-for-immune-protection-after-coronavirus-infection','2022-03-21 18:12:54.320148',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When our immune system comes into contact with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, it fights back and produces antibodies. A similar immune response is triggered by Corona vaccines. However, there is still little data available on the strength and durability of immune protection. A team led by Prof. Carsten Watzl from the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors Institute for Occupational Research (IfADo), in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (MPI) and the Klinikum Dortmund, has now been able to detect high levels of neutralising antibodies in test persons even 300 days after a coronavirus infection with the original variant of the coronavirus. And what\'s more: after complete vaccination, the recovered probands showed antibody levels about 5 times higher than those vaccinated without prior infection. This would provide much better protection against a severe course of the disease in the event of a new infection with other coronavirus variants.</p><p>Our immune protection is provided by two systems working hand in hand. When infected with a virus, the immune system reacts by producing antibodies that can prevent the virus from infecting further cells. At the same time, so-called T-killer cells can recognise the foreign virus components and thus kill already infected cells. During the immune reaction, the antibodies constantly improve and are finally tailor-made for the pathogen. The amount of these neutralising antibodies indicates how well a new infection can be fought off by the body.</p><p><strong>Unique collaboration between biochemists, immunologists, clinicians and the Dortmund health department</strong></p><p>\"When the corona pandemic broke out, we as immunologists were of course interested in how our immune system defends itself against the corona virus. That\'s why, together with our colleagues from the Max Planck Institute and the Dortmund Hospital, we developed a reliable test system to detect neutralising antibodies,\" IfADo Director Carsten Watzl says. In order to be able to fish antibodies out of the blood in a targeted manner, you need an appropriate bait. One of the main targets of the immune system is the spike protein, which is used by the virus to bind to human cells and then infect them. \"We have been able to produce a part of this protein, or more precisely the area that docks with the cell, in high purity in the test tube,\" reports Jan-Erik Hoffmann, head of protein production at the MPI Dortmund. With this exact copy and blood samples from the \"Klinikum Dortmund\" the researchers at IfADo were able to develop a reliable and meaningful detection system for coronavirus antibodies. In close exchange with the Dortmund health department and the Dortmund hospital, the scientists used this system to perform a study with about 140 volunteers from a Dortmund health facility with several documented cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020)</p><p><strong>5 times higher antibody levels after vaccination in recovered patients</strong></p><p>Effective amounts of neutralising antibodies against the spike protein could be detected in almost all of the subjects tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. And even after 300 days, the antibody levels had hardly decreased in three out of four subjects. However, test persons were infected with the original variant of the coronavirus and neutralising antibodies against the original spike protein were measured. As we know, the virus has now evolved in such a way that immunity to the original virus currently offers significantly less protection. Therefore, the researchers also investigated the effect of vaccination with the vaccines from AstraZeneca and BioNTech on the immune system. The astonishing result: After complete vaccination, recovered test persons developed up to five times more neutralising antibodies than vaccinated persons without prior infection. This should also provide better protection against current variants.</p><p>\"There are now several studies on the immune response after a COVID-19. Our study differs from this in that we had blood samples before and from the first weeks of the pandemic. So we knew exactly whether a test person was already infected or not. In addition to this unbiased data, the long period of the study of almost one year is also remarkable,\" Watzl says. \"The rules of the game have changed in the meantime, of course, because there are new variants like Omikron. However, it is important to know how long immunity actually lasts, because this can also protect against a severe course of the disease in the case of a new infection with other coronavirus variants. Currently, we are also using our jointly developed test systems to study the immune response to the COVID-19 vaccines and their protection against different coronavirus variants.\"</p><p>\"This study is a prime example of successful interdisciplinary cooperation that not only yields important scientific findings but is also highly relevant to society,\" emphasises PD Dr. Bernhard Schaaf, Director of the Department of Pneumology and Infectious Diseases at Klinikum Dortmund. \"This is transfer of knowledge into everyday life and at the same time transparent cooperation at eye level.\"</p>','2022-03-21 18:12:54.320148','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology','When our immune system comes into contact with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, it fights back and produces antibodies. A similar immune response is triggered by coronavirus vaccines. However, there is still little data available on the strength and durability of immune protection. Researchers have now been able to detect high levels of neutralizing antibodies in test persons even 300 days after a coronavirus infection with the original variant of the coronavirus.\n',1,91,'<li>Doris Urlaub, Natalie Wolfsdorff, Jan‐Erik Hoffmann, Stefanie Dorok, Markus Hoffmann, Moritz Anft, Naomi Pieris, Patrick Günther, Bernhard Schaaf, Uwe Cassens, Peter Bröde, Maren Claus, Lea K. Picard, Sabine Wingert, Simone Backes, Deniz Durak, Nina Babel, Stefan Pöhlmann, Frank Renken, Stefan Raunser, Carsten Watzl. <strong>Neutralizing antibody responses 300 days after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and induction of high antibody titers after vaccination</strong>. <em>European Journal of Immunology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eji.202149758\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/eji.202149758</a>\n</li>'),(1431,'Characterizing super-semi sandwiches for quantum computing','characterizing-super-semi-sandwiches-for-quantum-computing','2022-03-21 18:13:04.424116',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">\"There is an international race to identify the best platform for controlling and processing quantum information for quantum computers, where superconductors play a prominent role,\" says Duc Phan, PhD student at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and first author of a new paper now published in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>. \"Microsoft is working on topological qubits using superconductor-semiconductor sandwiches. However, before we can use them, we must understand the fundamental physics behind them.\"</p><p>Phan and his ISTA colleagues Jorden Senior and Andrew Higginbotham from the Condensed Matter and Quantum Circuits group conducted this study in close collaboration with partners from New York University and with theory support from Areg Ghazaryan and Maksym Serbyn from ISTA\'s Quantum Dynamics group. They developed a technique to probe the quantum interactions in super-semi sandwiches paving the way for new applications like topological quantum bits based on so-called Majorana zero modes.</p><p><strong>Cold Environment</strong></p><p>For their experiment, the researchers created a microscopic sandwich made of an aluminium (Al) superconductor on top of an indium-arsenic (InAs) semiconductor. Superconductors are materials that have no electrical resistance. For that to happen, they are cooled down to close to absolute zero temperature. Semiconductors like InAs or silicon can be insulating or conduct electricity depending on their environment and applied electric field.</p><p>Just like in a conventional sandwich that becomes more than the sum of its parts, the combined properties of Al and InAs become modified in super-semi sandwiches. At the interface between the Al superconductor and the InAs semiconductor, the proximity effect spills the superconductivity into the semiconductor creating new quantum states there. However, until now researchers had a hard time studying them because they could not be probed directly because of being concealed by a presence of the Al superconducting layer.</p><p>\"We found that by sending a current alternating billions of times a second through the vicinity of the sandwich, we could make the superconductor\'s veil partially transparent and get feedback about the properties of the semiconductor,\" explains Senior. \"We also applied a magnetic field to create new quantum states we were looking for and developed a new model that explained our observations.\"</p><p><strong>A new level of detail</strong></p><p>This first experimental result of the Higginbotham group since its establishment at ISTA lays the groundwork to study superconductor-semiconductor hybrid structures at a new level of detail. \"The parameters we can infer from this could provide much-needed guidance to construct topological quantum bits based on Majorana zero modes,\" says Jorden. He also highlights that \"ISTA is very well placed in this developing field because here experimental expertise, theoretical understanding, as well as excellent infrastructure provided by the state-of-the-art clean room -- the kitchen for sandwich production -- come together.\"</p><p>Phan and his colleagues are excited about what insights they will gain with their novel probing technique and what future applications may become possible once the fundamental physics of this exotic sandwich has been understood.</p>','2022-03-21 18:13:04.424116','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Institute of Science and Technology Austria','Semiconductors are the foundation of modern technology while superconductors with their zero electrical resistance could become the basis for future technologies, including quantum computers. So-called \'hybrid structures\' -- carefully crafted sandwiches made from superconductors and semiconductors -- may lead to new quantum effects. However, convincing observations have remained elusive. Now, researchers have found a way to probe such \'super-semi sandwiches\' and to reveal what is going on.\n',1,68,'<li>D. Phan, J. Senior, A. Ghazaryan, M. Hatefipour, W. M. Strickland, J. Shabani, M. Serbyn, A. P. Higginbotham. <strong>Detecting Induced p±ip Pairing at the Al-InAs Interface with a Quantum Microwave Circuit</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (10) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.107701\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.107701</a>\n</li>'),(1432,'Study shows that intranasal Rx halts memory decay in experimental Alzheimer’s model','study-shows-that-intranasal-rx-halts-memory-decay-in-experimental-alzheimer’s-model','2022-03-21 18:13:09.528455',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A research collaboration between scientists at LSU Health New Orleans and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has found that applying specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators intranasally arrested memory loss and brain degeneration in an experimental model of Alzheimer\'s Disease (AD). The results are published in the Nature journal, <em>Communications Biology</em>.</p><p>Neuroinflammation is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer\'s Disease. Specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators are bioactive compounds composed of fatty acids like omega-3 or their derivatives that resolve inflammation. Neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1), discovered by Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor and Director of the LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, and colleagues is one. Previous studies by the Bazan lab demonstrated that NPD1 is protective in experimental stroke as well as retinal damage and that it is in short supply in the memory area of the brains from AD donors.</p><p>Resolving inflammation is a complex process involving mediators, cell subtypes and communication pathways. Response includes cell communications that order the activation of protective, pro-survival mechanisms and silence pro-inflammatory signaling pathways. Specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators such as NPD1 are the key signaling molecules in the process.</p><p>The paper discloses solid data on microglial activation, pro-inflammatory signaling, chronic inflammation and neuronal damage in Alzheimer\'s disease. The study uses the <em>App<sup>NL-G-F/NL-G-F</sup></em> mouse model for AD. The paper extensively studied amyloid load, cognition, neuronal network oscillations, glial activation, receptors and inflammatory factors.</p><p>The authors conclude that the noninvasive administration route, intranasal delivery, of biologically active lipid messengers opens avenues for therapeutic exploration for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.</p><p>\"AD lacks prevention or cure and exerts a horrendous toll on patients and their families due to crippling progression and devastating adverse events,\" notes Dr. Bazan, who led the research at LSU Health. \"Millions of Americans currently suffer from AD, and the number is expected to escalate rapidly in the coming years.\"</p><p>Bazan has been collaborating with Marianne Schultzberg, Senior Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at the Karolinska Institutet (KI). Projects include looking at the novel signals that protect the brain in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) of the early stages of Alzheimer\'s disease.</p><p>\"This productive collaboration is uncovering important aspects of early stages of Alzheimer\'s Disease, and the novel evolving mechanisms are promising paths for innovative therapies like the one disclosed in the current paper,\" says Professor Schultzberg.</p><p>According to the National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer\'s disease is currently ranked as the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and is the most common cause of dementia among older adults.</p><p>Other members of the LSU Health New Orleans research team include Drs. Khanh V. Do, Bokkyoo Jun and Megan L. Cothern. Ceren Emre, who recently completed her PhD at the Karolinska Institutet, was co-supervised by Dr. Bazan and worked at LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence for eight months just before the pandemic.</p>','2022-03-21 18:13:09.528455','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center','A research collaboration has found that applying specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators intranasally arrested memory loss and brain degeneration in an experimental model of Alzheimer\'s Disease (AD).\n',1,179,'<li>Ceren Emre, Luis E. Arroyo-García, Khanh V. Do, Bokkyoo Jun, Makiko Ohshima, Silvia Gómez Alcalde, Megan L. Cothern, Silvia Maioli, Per Nilsson, Erik Hjorth, André Fisahn, Nicolas G. Bazan, Marianne Schultzberg. <strong>Intranasal delivery of pro-resolving lipid mediators rescues memory and gamma oscillation impairment in AppNL-G-F/NL-G-F mice</strong>. <em>Communications Biology</em>, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03169-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s42003-022-03169-3</a>\n</li>'),(1433,'Bacteria-shredding insect wings inspire new antibacterial packaging','bacteria-shredding-insect-wings-inspire-new-antibacterial-packaging','2022-03-21 18:13:11.648232',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The lab-made nanotexture from an Australian-Japanese team of scientists kills up to 70% of bacteria and retains its effectiveness when transferred to plastic.</p><p>More than 30% of food produced for human consumption becomes waste, with entire shipments rejected if bacterial growth is detected.</p><p>The research sets the scene for significantly reducing waste, particularly in meat and dairy exports, as well as extending the shelf life and improving the quality, safety and integrity of packaged food on an industrial scale.</p><p>Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said the research team had successfully applied a natural phenomenon to a synthetic material -- plastic.</p><p>\"Eliminating bacterial contamination is a huge step in extending the shelf life of food,\" she said.</p><p>\"We knew the wings of cicadas and dragonflies were highly-efficient bacteria killers and could help inspire a solution, but replicating nature is always a challenge.</p><p>\"We have now created a nanotexturing that mimics the bacteria-destroying effect of insect wings and retains its antibacterial power when printed on plastic.</p><p>\"This is a big step towards a natural, non-chemical, antibacterial packaging solution for the food and manufacturing industry.\"</p><p>The research, published in <em>ACS Applied Nano Materials</em>, is a collaboration between RMIT, Tokyo Metropolitan University and Mitsubishi Chemical\'s The KAITEKI Institute.</p><p>In 2015, Australia exported $US3.1 billion of food and agricultural exports to Japan, making it the 5th largest exporter of such products to the country.</p><p><strong>How it works</strong></p><p>Dragonfly and cicada wings are covered by a vast array of nanopillars -- blunted spikes of similar size to bacteria cells.</p><p>When bacteria settle on a wing, the pattern of nanopillars pulls the cells apart, rupturing their membranes and killing them.</p><p>\"It\'s like stretching a latex glove,\" Ivanova said. \"As it slowly stretches, the weakest point in the latex will become thinner and eventually tear.\"</p><p>Ivanova\'s team developed their nanotexture by replicating insects\' nanopillars and developing nanopatterns of their own.</p><p>To assess the pattern\'s antibacterial ability, bacteria cells were monitored at RMIT\'s world-class Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility.</p><p>The best antibacterial patterns were shared with the Japan team, who developed a way to reproduce the patterns on plastic polymer.</p><p>Back in Australia, Ivanova\'s team tested the plastic nanopatterns and found the one which best replicated insect wings but is also easiest to fabricate and scale up.</p><p>Ivanova said dealing with plastic was more difficult than other materials like silicon and metals, because of its flexibility.</p><p>\"The nanotexturing created in this study holds its own when used in rigid plastic. Our next challenge is adapting it for use on softer plastics,\" she said.</p><p>Since Ivanova and her colleagues discovered the bacteria killing nature of insect wings a decade ago, they\'ve been working to design the optimal nanopattern to harness insects\' bacteria-killing powers and use it on a range of materials.</p><p>Until recently, it was difficult to find suitable technology to reproduce this nanotexturing on a scale suitable for manufacturing.</p><p>But now technology exists to scale up and apply antibacterial properties to packaging, among a range of other potential applications, like personal protective equipment.</p><p>Their new research builds on a 2020 study into using insect-inspired nanomaterials to fight superbugs.</p><p>The team is keen to collaborate with potential partners in the next stage of the research -- upscaling the technology and determining the best ways to mass manufacture the antibacterial packaging.</p><p>A pioneer in biomimetic antibacterial surfaces, Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova leads the Mechano-bactericidal Materials Research Group in the School of Science at RMIT.</p><p>The research was supported by the Foundation for Australia-Japan Studies under the Rio Tinto Australia-Japan Collaboration Project.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/CyIrF5Jbrs8\">https://youtu.be/CyIrF5Jbrs8</a></p>','2022-03-21 18:13:11.648232','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'RMIT University','Inspired by the bacteria-killing wings of insects like cicadas, scientists have developed a natural antibacterial texture for use on food packaging to improve shelf life and reduce waste.\n',1,130,'<li>Denver P. Linklater, Soichiro Saita, Takaaki Murata, Takashi Yanagishita, Chaitali Dekiwadia, Russell J. Crawford, Hideki Masuda, Haruhiko Kusaka, Elena P. Ivanova. <strong>Nanopillar Polymer Films as Antibacterial Packaging Materials</strong>. <em>ACS Applied Nano Materials</em>, 2022; 5 (2): 2578 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.1c04251\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsanm.1c04251</a>\n</li>'),(1434,'The secret to staying young: New research highlights power of life long exercise to keep muscles healthy','the-secret-to-staying-young:-new-research-highlights-power-of-life-long-exercise-to-keep-muscles-healthy','2022-03-21 18:13:18.343643',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Lifelong physical activity could protect against age-related loss of muscle mass and function, according to research published in <em>The Journal of Physiology</em><em>. </em>Individuals aged 68 and above who were physically active throughout their life have healthier ageing muscle that has superior function and is more resistant to fatigue compared to inactive individuals, both young and old.</p><p>This is the first study to investigate muscle, stem cell and nerve activity in humans. The researchers from University of Copenhagen, Denmark, found that elderly individuals who keep physically active throughout their adult life, whether by taking part in resistance exercise, ball games, racket sports, swimming, cycling, running and/or rowing had a greater number of muscle stem cells, otherwise known as satellite cells in their muscle. These cells are important for muscle regeneration and long-term growth and protect against nerve decay.</p><p>46 male participants took part in the study. They were divided into three groups: young sedentary (15), elderly lifelong exercise (16) and elderly sedentary (15). They performed a heavy resistance exercise, sitting in a mechanical chair performing a knee extension movement to evaluate muscle function. The amount of force produced was measured. Blood samples were taken, and muscle biopsies were analysed from both legs. The researchers found elderly lifelong exercisers outperformed both the elderly and young sedentary adults.</p><p>Lead author, Casper Soendenbroe, University of Copenhagen, Denmark said:</p><p>\"This is the first study in humans to find that lifelong exercise at a recreational level could delay some detrimental effects of ageing. Using muscle tissue biopsies, we\'ve found positive effects of exercise on the general ageing population. This has been missing from the literature as previous studies have mostly focused on master athletes, which is a minority group. Our study is more representative of the general population aged 60 and above, as the average person is more likely to take part in a mixture of activities at a moderate level. That\'s why we wanted to explore the relation between satellite cell content and muscle health in recreationally active individuals. We can now use this as a biomarker to further investigate the link between exercise, ageing and muscle health.\"</p><p>\"The single most important message from this study, is that even a little exercise seems to go a long way, when it comes to protecting against the age-related decline in muscle function. This is an encouraging finding which can hopefully spur more people to engage in an activity that they enjoy. We still have much to learn about the mechanisms and interactions between nerves and muscles and how these change as we age. Our research takes us one step closer.\"</p><p>It is worth noting that the study was only carried out in males and the average age was 73. As the effects of ageing on muscle health become more pronounced at 80+ years, follow up studies are needed to see if the benefits of lifelong exercise are maintained later in life. Further, investigation on recreational activity and muscle health need to be carried out in females.</p>','2022-03-21 18:13:18.343643','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Physiological Society','Lifelong physical activity could protect against age-related loss of muscle mass and function, according to new research. Individuals aged 68 and above who were physically active throughout their life have healthier aging muscle that has superior function and is more resistant to fatigue compared to inactive individuals, both young and old. This is the first study to investigate muscle, stem cell and nerve activity in humans. The researchers from University of Copenhagen, Denmark, found that elderly individuals who keep physically active throughout their adult life, whether by taking part in resistance exercise, ball games, racket sports, swimming, cycling, running and/or rowing had a greater number of muscle stem cells, otherwise known as satellite cells in their muscle. These cells are important for muscle regeneration and long-term growth and protect against nerve decay.\n',1,22,'<li>Casper Soendenbroe, Christopher L. Dahl, Christopher Meulengracht, Michal Tamáš, Rene B. Svensson, Peter Schjerling, Michael Kjaer, Jesper L. Andersen, Abigail L. Mackey. <strong>Preserved stem cell content and innervation profile of elderly human skeletal muscle with lifelong recreational exercise</strong>. <em>The Journal of Physiology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/JP282677\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1113/JP282677</a>\n</li>'),(1435,'Vegetable oil emissions study reveals urgent need for greener growing solutions','vegetable-oil-emissions-study-reveals-urgent-need-for-greener-growing-solutions','2022-03-21 19:33:38.379028',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new global study has revealed the extent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by vegetable oil production, highlighting the need for more sustainable growing solutions.</p><p>Scientists from the University of Nottingham\'s Future Food Beacon carried out the first analysis to consider GHG emissions from almost all possible systems that are currently used to produce palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oil around the world. The study was a meta-analysis, that incorporated all relevant studies concerning the environmental impact of oil production published between 2000 and 2020. The findings have been published today in<em> Science of the Total Environment.</em></p><p>This new study reflects almost 6,000 producers in 38 countries, and is representative of over 71% of global vegetable oil production. Across all oil crop systems, median GHG emissions were 3.81 kg CO<sub>2</sub><em>e</em> per kg refined oil. Crop specific median emissions ranged from 2.49 kg CO<sub>2</sub><em>e</em> for rapeseed oil to 4.25 kg CO<sub>2</sub><em>e</em> for soybean oil per kg refined oil.</p><p>Median emissions from soybean oil were higher than for palm oil, despite palm oil getting more negative attention. However, median rapeseed and sunflower oil systems had fewer emissions than both palm and soybean oil, so appear to be more sustainable choices.</p><p>When a forest is cut down to make space for agriculture, the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation is released to the atmosphere as CO<sub>2</sub>. A lot of the carbon stored in the soil is often also released. The researchers analysed the impact of this type of deforestation on crop sustainability. They also considered the carbon costs of agricultural land occupation even in cases where deforestation happened more than 100 years ago (as is likely the case for most of Europe). This is because even though there may be no land-use change carbon being released through using the land for agriculture today, the opportunity to store carbon, such as through re-growing trees, is lost. The researchersshowed that land use made a significant contribution to GHG emissions, generally making up half of the total overall emissions.</p><p>Dr Thomas Alcock, Future Food Beacon research fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Technical University of Munich led the research. He says: \"The strength of having lots of different production systems included in this study is that we can identify the most sustainable systems for each crop type, and push for these to be adopted more widely. The results, particularly around land use, show that we should target production on low carbon storage potential land, although we also need to consider other sustainability indicators such as biodiversity. Most previous studies only considered recent land use change, but in this study we considered the impacts of continuing to grow crops on an area of land as well, instead of setting it aside for regeneration of forests.\"</p><p>The study highlights the need and scope to improve sustainability within current production systems, including through increasing yields whilst limiting application of inputs with high carbon footprints, and in the case of palm oil through more widespread adoption of methane capture technologies in processing stages.</p><p>Dr Alcock explains: \"This means reducing application of synthetic nitrogen to crops as much as possible. On-farm, this is generally the biggest source of GHG emissions. This is tricky, as crops need a lot of nitrogen to be productive, but there are ways to reduce this, such as through choosing crop cultivars that are more nitrogen-use efficient, and by including leguminous plants in the crop rotations, as these provide nitrogen to the soil more naturally.\"</p>','2022-03-21 19:33:38.379028','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Nottingham','A new global study has revealed the extent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by vegetable oil production, highlighting the need for more sustainable growing solutions.\n',1,27,'<li>Thomas D. Alcock, David E. Salt, Paul Wilson, Stephen J. Ramsden. <strong>More sustainable vegetable oil: Balancing productivity with carbon storage opportunities</strong>. <em>Science of The Total Environment</em>, 2022; 829: 154539 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154539\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154539</a>\n</li>'),(1436,'Tiny magnets could hold the secret to new quantum computers','tiny-magnets-could-hold-the-secret-to-new-quantum-computers','2022-03-21 19:33:40.847706',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Magnetic interactions could point to miniaturizable quantum devices.</p><p>From MRI machines to computer hard disk storage, magnetism has played a role in pivotal discoveries that reshape our society. In the new field of quantum computing, magnetic interactions could play a role in relaying quantum information.</p><p>In new research from the U.S. Department of Energy\'s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, scientists have achieved efficient quantum coupling between two distant magnetic devices, which can host a certain type of magnetic excitations called magnons. These excitations happen when an electric current generates a magnetic field. Coupling allows magnons to exchange energy and information. This kind of coupling may be useful for creating new quantum information technology devices.</p><p>\"Remote coupling of magnons is the first step, or almost a prerequisite, for doing quantum work with magnetic systems,\" said Argonne senior scientist Valentine Novosad, an author of the study. ​\"We show the ability for these magnons to communicate instantly with each other at a distance.\"</p><p>This instant communication does not require sending a message between magnons limited by the speed of light. It is analogous to what physicists call quantum entanglement.</p><p>Following on from a 2019 study, the researchers sought to create a system that would allow magnetic excitations to talk to one another at a distance in a superconducting circuit. This would allow the magnons to potentially form the basis of a type of quantum computer. For the basic underpinnings of a viable quantum computer, researchers need the particles to be coupled and stay coupled for a long time.</p><p>In order to achieve a strong coupling effect, researchers have built a superconducting circuit and used two small yttrium iron garnet (YIG) magnetic spheres embedded on the circuit. This material, which supports magnonic excitations, ensures efficient and low-loss coupling for the magnetic spheres.</p><p>The two spheres are both magnetically coupled to a shared superconducting resonator in the circuit, which acts like a telephone line to create strong coupling between the two spheres even when they are almost a centimeter away from each other -- 30 times the distance of their diameters.</p><p>\"This is a significant achievement,\" said Argonne materials scientist Yi Li, lead author of the study. ​\"Similar effects can also be observed between magnons and superconducting resonators, but this time we did it between two magnon resonators without direct interaction. The coupling comes from indirect interaction between the two spheres and the shared superconducting resonator.\"</p><p>One additional improvement over the 2019 study involved the longer coherence of the magnons in the magnetic resonator. ​\"If you speak in a cave, you may hear an echo,\" said Novosad. ​\"The longer that echo lasts, the longer the coherence.\"</p><p>\"Before, we definitely saw a relationship between magnons and a superconducting resonator, but in this study their coherence times are much longer because of the use of the spheres, which is why we can see evidence of separated magnons talking to each other,\" Li added.</p><p>According to Li, because the magnetic spins are highly concentrated in the device, the study could point to miniaturizable quantum devices. ​\"It\'s possible that tiny magnets could hold the secret to new quantum computers,\" he said.</p>','2022-03-21 19:33:40.847706','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Argonne National Laboratory','Scientists have discovered a type of magnetic behavior that could help enable magnetically based quantum devices.\n',1,193,'<li>Yi Li, Volodymyr G. Yefremenko, Marharyta Lisovenko, Cody Trevillian, Tomas Polakovic, Thomas W. Cecil, Peter S. Barry, John Pearson, Ralu Divan, Vasyl Tyberkevych, Clarence L. Chang, Ulrich Welp, Wai-Kwong Kwok, Valentine Novosad. <strong>Coherent Coupling of Two Remote Magnonic Resonators Mediated by Superconducting Circuits</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (4) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.047701\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.047701</a>\n</li>'),(1437,'Classifying weather to tease out how aerosols influence storms','classifying-weather-to-tease-out-how-aerosols-influence-storms','2022-03-21 19:33:53.582712',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study used artificial intelligence to analyze 10 years of weather data collected over southeastern Texas to identify three major categories of weather patterns and the continuum of conditions between them. The study, just published in the <em>Journal of Geophysics Research: Atmospheres</em>, will help scientists seeking to understand how aerosols -- tiny particles suspended in Earth\'s atmosphere -- affect the severity of thunderstorms.</p><p>Do these tiny particles -- emitted in auto exhaust, pollution from refineries and factories, and in natural sources such as sea spray -- make thunderstorms worse? It\'s possible, said Michael Jensen, a meteorologist at the U.S. Department of Energy\'s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and a contributing author on the paper.</p><p>\"Aerosols are intricately connected with clouds; they\'re the particles around which water molecules condense to make clouds form and grow,\" Jensen explained.</p><p>As principal investigator for the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) -- a field campaign taking place in and around Houston, Texas, from October 2021 through September 2022 -- Jensen is guiding the collection and analysis of data that may answer this question. TRACER uses instruments supplied by DOE\'s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility to gather measurements of aerosols, weather conditions, and a wide range of other variables.</p><p>\"During TRACER, we are aiming to determine the influence of aerosols on storms. However, those influences are intertwined with those of the large-scale weather systems (think of high- or low-pressure systems) and local conditions,\" Jensen said.</p><p>To tease out the effects of aerosols, the scientists have to disentangle those influences.</p><p>Dié Wang, an assistant meteorologist at Brookhaven Lab and lead author of the paper looking back at 10 years of data prior to TRACER, explained the approach for doing just that.</p><p>\"In this study, we used a machine learning approach to determine the dominant summertime weather condition states in the Houston region,\" she explained. \"We will use this information in our TRACER analysis and modeling studies by comparing storm characteristics that occur during similar weather states but varying aerosol conditions.\"</p><p>\"That will help us to minimize the differences that are due to the large-scale weather conditions, to help isolate the effects of the aerosols,\" she said.</p><p>The project is the first step toward fulfilling the goals supported by DOE Early Career funding awarded to Wang in 2021.</p><p><strong>Bringing students on board</strong></p><p>The study also provided an opportunity for several students involved in virtual internships at Brookhaven Lab to contribute to the research. Four co-authors were participants in DOE\'s Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program, and one was interning as part of Brookhaven\'s High School Research Program (HSRP).</p><p>Each intern investigated the variability of different cloud and precipitation properties among the weather categories using datasets from radar, satellite, and surface meteorology measurement networks.</p><p>\"This work was well suited to the virtual internship as it was largely driven by computational data analysis and visualization,\" Jensen said. \"The interns gained valuable experience in computer programming, real-world scientific data analysis, and the complexities of Earth\'s atmospheric system.\"</p><p>Dominic Taylor, a SULI intern from Pennsylvania State University, wrote about his experience for an ARM blog:</p><p>\"At first, I faced a lot of challenges…with my computer being able to handle the size and number of data files I was using….Dié, Mike, and my fellow interns were always there when I needed help,\" he said.</p><p>\"Given my passion for meteorology, I was psyched to have this position in the first place, but writing code and spending probably way too long formatting plots didn\'t feel like work because I found the topic so fascinating,\" he added.</p><p>In the same blog post, Amanda Rakotoarivony, an HSRP intern from Longwood High School, said, \"this internship allowed me to truly connect the topics I\'ve learned in school to the real-world research that\'s being done….[and] showed me how research and collaboration is interdisciplinary at the core.\"</p><p><strong>Details of the data</strong></p><p>The southeastern Texas summer weather is largely driven by sea- and bay-breeze circulations from the nearby Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay. These circulations, in conjunction with those from larger-scale weather systems, affect the flow of moisture and aerosol particles into the Houston region and impact the development of thunderstorms and their associated rainfall. Understanding how these flows affect clouds and storms is important to improving models used for weather forecasts and climate predictions. Categorizing patterns can help scientists assess the effects of other influences, including aerosols.</p><p>To characterize the weather patterns, the scientists used a form of artificial intelligence to analyze 10 years of data that combines climate model results with meteorological observations.</p><p>\"The combined data produces a complete, long-term description of three-dimensional atmospheric properties including pressure, temperature, humidity, and winds,\" said Wang.</p><p>The scientists used a machine-learning program known as \"Self-Organizing Map\" to sort these data into three dominant categories, or regimes, of weather patterns with a continuum of transitional states between them. Overlaying additional satellite, radar, and surface-based observations on these maps allowed the scientists to investigate the characteristics of cloud and precipitation properties in these different regimes.</p><p>\"The weather regimes we identified pull together complex information about the dominant large-scale weather patterns, including factors important for the formation and development of storms. By looking at how the storm cloud and precipitation properties vary under different aerosol conditions but similar weather regimes, we are able to better isolate the effects of the aerosols,\" Wang said.</p><p>The team will use high-resolution weather modeling to incorporate additional local-scale meteorology measurements -- for example, the sea-breeze circulation -- and detailed information about the number, sizes, and composition of aerosol particles.</p><p>\"This approach should allow us to determine exactly how aerosols are affecting the clouds and storms -- and even tease out the differing effects of industrial and natural sources of aerosols,\" Wang said.</p><p>Brookhaven Lab\'s role in this work and TRACER and SULI internships are funded by the DOE Office of Science (BER, WDTS). The HSRP program is supported by Brookhaven Science Associates, the organization that manages Brookhaven Lab of behalf of DOE.</p>','2022-03-21 19:33:53.582712','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory','A new study used artificial intelligence to analyze 10 years of weather data collected over southeastern Texas to identify three major categories of weather patterns and the continuum of conditions between them. The study will help scientists seeking to understand how aerosols -- tiny particles suspended in Earth\'s atmosphere -- affect the severity of thunderstorms.\n',1,151,'<li>Dié Wang, Michael P. Jensen, Domenic Taylor, Grace Kowalski, Marcie Hogan, Brian M. Wittemann, Amanda Rakotoarivony, Scott E. Giangrande, J. Minnie Park. <strong>Linking Synoptic Patterns to Cloud Properties and Local Circulations Over Southeastern Texas</strong>. <em>Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</em>, 2022; 127 (5) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035920\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1029/2021JD035920</a>\n</li>'),(1438,'Taste, temperature and pain sensations are neurologically linked','taste,-temperature-and-pain-sensations-are-neurologically-linked','2022-03-21 19:34:01.686032',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">If you have eaten a chili pepper, you have likely felt how your body reacts to the spicy hot sensation. New research published by biologists at the University of Oklahoma shows that the brain categorizes taste, temperature and pain-related sensations in a common region of the brain. The researchers suggest the brain also groups these sensations together as either pleasant or aversive, potentially offering new insights into how scientists might better understand the body\'s response to and treatment of pain.</p><p>\"The spicy hot sensation you get from a chili pepper is actually a pain sensation…this follows activation of pain-related fibers that innervate the tongue and are heat sensitive,\" said Christian H. Lemon, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Biology in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences at OU. \"What happens is a chemical in chili peppers, called capsaicin, causes activation of pain fibers and \'tricks\' the neurons to react like there is a heat stimulus in your mouth, so you\'ll notice when you eat spicy foods, your body will react to try to remove the heat - your blood vessels can dilate and you can start to sweat because your body \'thinks\' it\'s overheating.\"</p><p>Lemon, who is also a member of the OU Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology, and researchers in his lab, Jinrong Li, Ph.D., and?Md Sams Sazzad Ali, Ph.D., published an article in <em>The Journal of Neuroscience</em> that examines how taste, temperature and pain-related sensations interact in the brain. Their article was also selected for the journal\'s Featured Research section.</p><p>\"Neural messages associated with pain are partly carried by neural circuits involved with sensing temperature,\" Lemon said. \"This would explain, for example, why when you touch a hot stove, it\'s a burning pain. There are intimate ties between temperature and pain, and there are intimate ties between temperature and taste…just about everything we eat is either warmed or cooled, and that\'s known to have a fairly robust effect on the way we perceive certain tastes.\"</p><p>The research team wanted to better understand how temperature and pain intersect with taste neurologically. Building on their previous research that had shown that temperature and taste signals come together in a particular section of the midbrain, Lemon\'s research group used mouse models under anesthesia to artificially stimulate temperature and pain-related fibers, combined with a physiological method to monitor the actions occurring in the brain to determine the connection between these senses.</p><p>\"It\'s been known that temperature and taste can activate some of the same cells in the brain, but this was rarely systematically studied,\" he said. \"We wanted to know if the temperature responses that we were seeing in this part of the brain were actually attributable to activation of thermal and pain-related fibers that innervate the head, face and mouth. To do this we used a modern genetic technology where we could insert a protein into these \'temperature/pain\' cells that allowed us to control these cells with blue light -- we could turn the cells on with a light, like a light switch.\"</p><p>\"What we found is that these neurons that scientists have studied for a long time as taste neurons actually respond to artificial stimulation of these temperature/pain cells,\" he added. \"This is significant because most scientists that have looked at taste, they\'re usually only studying neural circuits from the perspective of taste. Pain scientists are usually only looking at pain-related responses, but they actually come together in this part of the midbrain, and not only do they come together, they do so in a very systematic way where preferred tastes and preferred temperatures are separated from adverse taste and temperatures in terms of the way that the responses are happening in this part of the brain.\"</p><p>The researchers categorize preferred or pleasurable tastes as something sweet, like sugar, whereas adverse tastes are bitter -- which can signify that something may be toxic or harmful. Similarly, people, and mice, have preferred temperatures, like a comfortably warmed or cooled environment as compared to an extreme cold or extreme heat stimulus.</p><p>Through this artificial stimulation of temperature/pain cells and the corresponding taste neurons, they discovered the brain segregated preferable tastes and temperatures from adverse tastes and temperatures. This finding offers new insights into how these senses interact, which could have implications for how scientists understand the brain\'s responses to stimuli that cause pain.</p><p>\"What our results show is that in a midbrain circuit there\'s a very orderly representation of taste and temperature hedonics -- whether or not something is pleasurable or aversive -- dependent on input from these temperature/pain cells,\" Lemon said. \"These findings suggest that the brain is actually using common cells to represent information from different senses where there are relationships between the senses. Since pain has ties to temperature sensing, these results might provide clues as to how temperature or pain signals might interact with other senses, which could be important for developing novel therapeutic strategies for pain management.\"</p>','2022-03-21 19:34:01.686032','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Oklahoma','Biologists have found that the brain categorizes taste, temperature and pain-related sensations in a common region of the brain and that the brain also groups these sensations together as either pleasant or aversive, potentially offering new insights into how scientists might better understand the body\'s response to and treatment of pain.\n',1,182,'<li>Jinrong Li, Md Sams Sazzad Ali, Christian H. Lemon. <strong>TRPV1-Lineage Somatosensory Fibers Communicate with Taste Neurons in the Mouse Parabrachial Nucleus</strong>. <em>The Journal of Neuroscience</em>, 2022; 42 (9): 1719 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0927-21.2021\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0927-21.2021</a>\n</li>'),(1439,'Wind, solar could replace coal power in Texas','wind,-solar-could-replace-coal-power-in-texas','2022-03-21 19:34:04.745624',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Texas can be a model for the nation on how to effectively replace coal with wind and solar for the state\'s energy needs while meeting environmental goals, according to new research by Rice University engineers.</p><p>The new work led by environmental engineer Daniel Cohan and senior computer science major Richard Morse of Rice\'s George R. Brown School of Engineering uses optimization modeling to identify the least-cost combinations of proposed wind and solar projects with the potential to replace coal-fired power generation in Texas.</p><p>As the authors state in the paper, which appears in the journal <em>Renewables: Wind, Water, and Solar</em>, \"Simply put, it\'s not always windy and not always sunny, but it\'s almost always windy or sunny somewhere in Texas.\"</p><p>Cohan said that could enable wind and solar to replace nearly all coal output, especially if wind and solar projects are sited in locations that provide complementary output. The new paper builds upon a 2018 study from his lab.</p><p>\"This paper is really about how we can transition away from coal as quickly as possible,\" said Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. \"Texas still burns more coal and emits more sulfur dioxide and other pollution than any other state. Even though a transition is inevitable, it\'s urgent that we move off coal as quickly as possible to improve air quality and health.\"</p><p>\"Cleaning up the energy that we use to power society is one of the most important things we need to do,\" said Morse, who won the Malcolm Verdict Memorial Poster Competition at the Texas Energy Summit in 2020 for his work on the project. \"Professor Cohan advertised it as a math-leaning project, and that\'s my background, so being able to help with a clean-energy integration project was very interesting to me.\"</p><p>Several large Texas coal plants closed in 2018, and most remaining plants have operated far below capacity, including amid outages during the February 2021 freeze. The team\'s research found that just a third of the wind and solar projects already proposed to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas by June 2020 could replace almost all of the state\'s coal generation. Since June 2020, dozens of those projects have been built, and the queue of proposed solar projects has doubled.</p><p>The key to success for wind and solar will be an expansion of transmission lines connecting the windiest and sunniest parts of the state to cities.</p><p>\"In Texas, that\'s the biggest bottleneck slowing the growth of wind and solar,\" Cohan said. \"The bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed last year is a good start, but doesn\'t have nearly enough funding for transmission. Also, by not connecting to other grids, Texas has missed out on opportunities to sell surplus wind and solar power to other states.\"</p><p>Cohan noted natural gas will continue to be critical to Texas\' electric reliability in the near term, especially as ERCOT works to recover from the freeze of 2021. However, complementary siting of wind and solar farms can reduce the need for natural gas and storage and eliminate the need for coal, he said. The study shows that wind power from West Texas tends to peak overnight, whereas South Texas wind peaks with sea breezes on summer afternoons and evenings. Together with daytime solar, these complementary sources can cover most but not all hours of the year.</p><p>\"Even with complementary siting, there will still be hours when the sun isn\'t shining and the wind isn\'t blowing,\" Cohan said. \"Historically, the main challenge has been summer afternoons when air conditioners are running full blast, and the occasional deep freeze. Solar and coastal winds perform well during summer peaks, but can have lulls on some evenings when we\'ll need something else to kick in.\"</p><p>He said eliminating coal from the Texas grid is just a matter of time. \"I think none of the power companies want to run coal plants long-term,\" Cohan said. \"They\'re dirtier and costlier to operate than building wind and solar projects from scratch, and most utilities companies now have plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, if not before.</p><p>\"Perhaps because of that, they haven\'t been investing in upgrades to their coal plants, many of which are more than 40 years old and aren\'t very efficient,\" he said.</p><p>Co-authors of the paper are Rice undergraduate civil engineering major Sarah Salvatore and alumna Joanna Slusarewicz, now a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University.</p><p>The Energy Foundation supported the research.</p>','2022-03-21 19:34:04.745624','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Rice University','A fraction of the wind and solar projects already proposed in Texas could eliminate the state\'s remaining coal power plants and their emissions, according to engineers.\n',1,210,'<li>Richard Morse, Sarah Salvatore, Joanna H. Slusarewicz, Daniel S. Cohan. <strong>Can wind and solar replace coal in Texas?</strong> <em>Renewables: Wind, Water, and Solar</em>, 2022; 9 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40807-022-00069-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s40807-022-00069-2</a>\n</li>'),(1440,'Identifying toxic materials in water with machine learning','identifying-toxic-materials-in-water-with-machine-learning','2022-03-21 20:42:29.121778',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Waste materials from oil sands extraction, stored in tailings ponds, can pose a risk to the natural habitat and neighbouring communities when they leach into groundwater and surface ecosystems. Until now, the challenge for the oil sands industry is that the proper analysis of toxic waste materials has been difficult to achieve without complex and lengthy testing. And there\'s a backlog. For example, in Alberta alone, there are an estimated 1.4 billion cubic metres of fluid tailings, explains Nicolás Peleato, an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia\'s Okanagan campus (UBCO).</p><p>His team of researchers at UBCO\'s School of Engineering has uncovered a new, faster and more reliable, method of analyzing these samples. It\'s the first step, says Dr. Peleato, but the results look promising.</p><p>\"Current methods require the use of expensive equipment and it can take days or weeks to get results,\" he adds. \"There is a need for a low-cost method to monitor these waters more frequently as a way to protect public and aquatic ecosystems.\"</p><p>Along with masters student María Claudia Rincón Remolina, the researchers used fluorescence spectroscopy to quickly detect key toxins in the water. They also ran the results through a modelling program that accurately predicts the composition of the water.</p><p>The composition can be used as a benchmark for further testing of other samples, Rincón explains. The researchers are using a convolutional neural network that processes data in a grid-like topology, such as an image. It\'s similar, she says, to the type of modelling used for classifying hard to identify fingerprints, facial recognition and even self-driving cars.</p><p>\"The modelling takes into account variability in the background of the water quality and can separate hard to detect signals, and as a result it can achieve highly accurate results,\" says Rincón.</p><p>The research looked at a mixture of organic compounds that are toxic, including naphthenic acids -- which can be found in many petroleum sources. By using high-dimensional fluorescence, the researchers can identify most types of organic matter.</p><p>\"The modelling method searches for key materials, and maps out the sample\'s composition,\" explains Peleato. \"The results of the initial sample analysis are then processed through powerful image processing models to accurately determine comprehensive results.\"</p><p>While results to date are encouraging, both Rincón and Dr. Peleato caution the technique needs to be further evaluated at a larger scale -- at which point there may be potential to incorporate screening of additional toxins.</p><p>Peleato explains this potential screening tool is the first step, but it does have some limitations since not all toxins or naphthenic acids can be detected -- only those that are fluorescent. And the technology will have to be scaled up for future, more in-depth testing.</p><p>While it will not replace current analytical methods that are more accurate, Dr. Peleato says this approach will allow the oil sands industry to accurately screen and treat its waste materials. This is a necessary step to continue to meet the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment standards and guidelines.</p><p>The research appears in the <em>Journal of Hazardous Materials</em>, and is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant program.</p>','2022-03-21 20:42:29.121778','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of British Columbia Okanagan campus','Waste materials from oil sands extraction, stored in tailings ponds, can pose a risk to the natural habitat and neighboring communities when they leach into groundwater and surface ecosystems. Until now, the challenge for the oil sands industry is that the proper analysis of toxic waste materials has been difficult to achieve without complex and lengthy testing. And there\'s a backlog. For example, in Alberta alone, there are an estimated 1.4 billion cubic meters of fluid tailings.\n',1,49,'<li>María Claudia Rincón Remolina, Ziyu Li, Nicolás M. Peleato. <strong>Application of machine learning methods for rapid fluorescence-based detection of naphthenic acids and phenol in natural surface waters</strong>. <em>Journal of Hazardous Materials</em>, 2022; 430: 128491 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128491\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128491</a>\n</li>'),(1441,'How the Chagas pathogen changes the intestinal microbiota of predatory bugs','how-the-chagas-pathogen-changes-the-intestinal-microbiota-of-predatory-bugs','2022-03-21 20:56:31.895359',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), between six and seven million people worldwide, predominantly in Central and South America, are infected with the <em>Trypanosoma cruzi</em> species of trypanosome. This single-celled (protozoan) parasite causes Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis), which in the acute phase is inconspicuous: only in every third case does the infected person develop any symptoms at all, which can then be unspecific, such as fever, hives and swollen lymph nodes. However, the parasites remain in the body, and many years later chronic Chagas disease can become life-threatening, with pathological enlargement of the heart and progressive paralysis of the gastrointestinal tract.</p><p>There is no vaccine against the pathogen and treating the disease in the advanced stage is difficult. That is why the focus in Latin America is rather on controlling the bug that transmits Chagas trypanosomes: the predatory blood-sucking bug of the insect subfamily <em>Triatominae</em>. It ingests the trypanosomes during the sting, which then colonize its intestine. Through its faeces that it mostly deposited next to the bite, the bug excretes the pathogen, which is often rubbed into the wound when scratching the extremely itchy bite.</p><p>Although the number of new infections has dropped in various regions where insecticides are sprayed on a wide scale, problems are emerging: over the last decade, resistance to common insecticides by several species of predatory bugs has been increasingly observed. These insecticides also have a negative impact on the environment and the local population.</p><p>Researchers worldwide are making intense efforts to find alternative methods to help control <em>Trypanosoma cruzi</em>. One possibility might be to modify bacteria in the predatory bug\'s intestine in such a way that they eliminate the Chagas trypanosomes or inhibit their development.</p><p>In collaboration with scientists at the Instituto René Rachou in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, parasitologists and infection biologists Fanny Eberhard and Professor Sven Klimpel from Goethe University, the Senckenberg -- Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN) and the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics have now investigated how Chagas trypanosomes change the bacterial community in the predatory bug\'s intestine. To do so, they used genome analysis, which allowed them to compare the composition of the bacterial community in the bug\'s intestine, the microbiome, before and after infection with the pathogen (metagenomic shotgun sequencing).</p><p>The result: after the infection, the range of bacterial strains in the bug\'s intestine significantly decreased. Certain strains, including the potentially pathogenic bacterium <em>Enterococcus faecalis</em>, profited from the parasites\' presence. Moreover, the researchers succeeded in identifying four bacterial species that probably take on functions important for the bug, such as the synthesis of B vitamins.</p><p>Fanny Eberhard explains: \"Vitamin B is one of the nutrients that blood-sucking insects do not obtain through their blood meals. Bacteria that produce vitamin B are therefore very important for the bug, are found in practically all individuals and stay in the predatory bug\'s intestine even across generations. Hence, such bacteria are potentially suitable recipients for genes that produce defensive substances against Chagas trypanosomes.\"</p><p>Professor Sven Klimpel elaborates: \"Ultimately, our goal is for the predatory bug to defend itself against Chagas trypanosomes and, in this way, to prevent infection in humans. However, before we can produce bacteria with such properties and then release predatory bugs containing them, we need to understand better how the ecology of the bug\'s intestine is structured and how the extensive interactions between host, pathogen and microbiome function. Our work is delivering an essential contribution to this.\"</p>','2022-03-21 20:56:31.895359','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Goethe University Frankfurt','In Central and South America, predatory blood-sucking bugs transmit the causative agent of the widely prevalent Chagas disease. As the disease can induce severe symptoms and to date there is no vaccine against the Trypanosoma parasites, the main approach at present is to control the bug using insecticides. A research team has now studied how trypanosomes change the bug\'s intestinal microbiota. The long-term goal: to change the bacterial community in the predatory bug\'s intestine in such a way that it can defend itself against the trypanosomes.\n',1,121,'<li>Fanny E. Eberhard, Sven Klimpel, Alessandra A. Guarneri, Nicholas J. Tobias. <strong>Exposure to Trypanosoma parasites induces changes in the microbiome of the Chagas disease vector Rhodnius prolixus</strong>. <em>Microbiome</em>, 2022; 10 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40168-022-01240-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s40168-022-01240-z</a>\n</li>'),(1442,'Cryo-EM reveals how \'911\' molecule helps fix damaged DNA','cryo-em-reveals-how-\'911\'-molecule-helps-fix-damaged-dna','2022-03-21 20:56:34.071356',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When something goes wrong during DNA replication, cells call their own version of 911 to pause the process and fix the problem -- a failsafe that is critical to maintaining health and staving off disease.</p><p>Now, scientists at Van Andel Institute and The Rockefeller University have for the first time revealed how a key piece of this repair process -- appropriately called the 911 DNA checkpoint clamp -- is recruited to the site of DNA damage. The findings, published today in <em>Nature Structural and Molecular Biology</em>,illuminate new insights into the way cells ensure genetic instructions are properly passed from one generation of cells to the next. The project was led by the study\'s co-corresponding authors Huilin Li, Ph.D., of VAI, and Michael E. O\'Donnell, Ph.D., of The Rockefeller University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.</p><p>\"DNA damage can have severe consequences, including cancer and other diseases. Because of this, our cells have a host of checks and balances to ensure DNA integrity,\" Li said. \"Our high-resolution structure of the 911 DNA checkpoint clamp as it interacts with the molecule that loads it onto the DNA strand gives us a detailed look at the essential process of DNA repair. We hope these insights can be leveraged toward the development of new therapeutic strategies for diseases linked to DNA damage.\"</p><p>Each day, billions of cells in the human body are replaced through cell division, a process by which one cell splits into two. This fundamental function drives growth and facilitates maintenance of tissues such as skin and muscle. A central part of this system is DNA replication, in which our genetic instruction manual is carefully replicated to ensure each cell has an accurate copy.</p><p>DNA damage can result from mistakes in this process or through other factors that directly harm DNA, such as exposure to UV light from the sun or carcinogens such as tobacco smoke. When damage occurs, cells have emergency response systems to either stop replication until the problem can be repaired or to kill the cell, thus preventing the incorrect information from being passed on.</p><p>This is where the 911 DNA checkpoint clamp comes in. When DNA damage is detected, the ring-shaped clamp is loaded on the DNA and transported to the site of the error. Once there, it sends a signal to halt cell division while also flagging other repair molecules to remove the damaged DNA and replace it with a corrected sequence.</p><p>The structure was determined through use of VAI\'s cryo-electron microscopes (cryo-EM), which allow scientists to visualize molecular structures at the atomic level. In the case of the 911 DNA checkpoint clamp, cryo-EM also revealed a surprise: rather than loading onto DNA from the 3\' (or \"three prime\") end like all other known DNA clamps, the 911 clamp is loaded onto DNA from the opposite end, called the 5\' (\"five prime\") end. This novel and unexpected finding reshapes what we know about DNA replication and sets the stage for further studies in this area.</p><p>Other study authors are Fengwei Zheng, Ph.D., of VAI; and Roxana E. Georgescu, Ph.D., and Nina Y. Yao, Ph.D., of The Rockefeller University. Cryo-EM data were collected in collaboration with VAI\'s Cryo-EM Core and the David Van Andel Advanced Cryo-Electron Microscopy Suite.</p>','2022-03-21 20:56:34.071356','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Van Andel Research Institute','When something goes wrong during DNA replication, cells call their own version of 911 to pause the process and fix the problem -- a failsafe that is critical to maintaining health and staving off disease. Now, scientists have for the first time revealed how a key piece of this repair process -- appropriately called the 911 DNA checkpoint clamp -- is recruited to the site of DNA damage. The findings illuminate new insights into the way cells ensure genetic instructions are properly passed from one generation of cells to the next.\n',1,123,'<li>Zheng, F., Georgescu, R.E., Yao, N.Y. et al. <strong>DNA is loaded through the 9-1-1 DNA checkpoint clamp in the opposite direction of the PCNA clamp</strong>. <em>Nat Struct Mol Biol</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00742-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41594-022-00742-6</a>\n</li>'),(1443,'Microbial communities where cells cooperate have increased drug tolerance','microbial-communities-where-cells-cooperate-have-increased-drug-tolerance','2022-03-21 20:56:41.895936',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Research from the Francis Crick Institute has revealed a key mechanism which increases tolerance to drugs amongst microbial communities. The findings could help the development of more effective antifungal treatments.</p><p>Antimicrobial drug resistance and tolerance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites no longer respond, or have less sensitivity, to treatments. It is a major issue within medicine, for example, invasive fungal infections are responsible for 1.6 million deaths annually.</p><p>\"Around the world, more people die each year from invasive fungal species than from malaria. There are currently only three classes of antifungal drugs in clinical use and in an increasing number of cases, these antifungals fail. Understanding the mechanisms which increase or decrease the chance of a drug working is crucial to aid the developments of new treatments,\" explains Jason Yu, co-first author and postdoctoral training fellow in the Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory at the Crick.</p><p>In their study, published in <em>Nature Microbiology</em> today (Monday 21 March), the scientists analysed data from 12,000 microbial communities from all over the world, provided by the Earth Microbiome Project.</p><p>Within these groups of different microorganisms, which live together producing and absorbing materials they all need to survive and grow, the researchers found one type in particular was highly prevalent. Auxotrophs, which are unable to create essential metabolites, like amino acids, vitamins or fatty acids, were present in 99.95% of the 12,538 communities they studied.</p><p>Clara Correia-Melo, co-first author and researcher in the Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory at the Crick and the Department of Biochemistry at University of Cambridge, says: \"The widespread nature of auxotrophs has been considered a paradox, a fundamental problem in our understanding of microbiology. This is because they must absorb metabolites from the environment and so they have been thought of as weaker than other cells which can create these chemical compounds themselves. They have been seen as scrounger cells, a drain on communal resources.\"</p><p>By analysing drug exposure data from the project, the scientists found that communities with auxotrophs are more likely to have tolerance against hundreds of drugs, than communities without these cells. Moreover, the research showed that they are not scrounger cells, but rather cooperative partners as, in exchange for taking up metabolites that are essential for them, they return other metabolites to the community.</p><p>Further experiments using a yeast model showed that this increased tolerance is because cells that cooperate in metabolism, have increased levels of metabolic export, the movement of metabolites out of cells. As a side-effect, this also causes drugs to be moved out of cells at a higher rate.</p><p>Clara Correia-Melo adds: \"This work solves a paradox around auxotroph success by revealing how auxotrophs are very valuable to their communities. They increase the metabolic interactions within the communities, and by doing so, increase the tolerance to drugs. Additionally, the increase in metabolic flow also leads to an enrichment of the shared environment, with more supplies available that can be used for growth and survival.\"</p><p>Markus Ralser, senior author and group leader of the Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory at the Crick and head of the Institute of Biochemistry at Charité, a leading university hospital in Berlin adds: \"Our observations go beyond microbial ecology, they open a whole field of research exploring the contribution of metabolism and the metabolic environment to antimicrobial resistance.</p><p>\"We hope that this will allow the design of new generations of antifungals, that target not only cell growth but also tolerance, and hence will be more effective than the currently available treatments.\"</p><p>The researchers will continue this work, collecting clinically relevant fungal species and analysing their response to antimicrobials.</p>','2022-03-21 20:56:41.895936','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Francis Crick Institute','Research has revealed a key mechanism which increases tolerance to drugs amongst microbial communities. The findings could help the development of more effective antifungal treatments.\n',1,203,'<li>Yu, J.S.L., Correia-Melo, C., Zorrilla, F. et al. <strong>Microbial communities form rich extracellular metabolomes that foster metabolic interactions and promote drug tolerance</strong>. <em>Nat Microbiol</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01072-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41564-022-01072-5</a>\n</li>'),(1444,'Twisted vibrations enable quality control for chiral drugs and supplements','twisted-vibrations-enable-quality-control-for-chiral-drugs-and-supplements','2022-03-21 20:56:57.184370',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It\'s not easy to be sure that drugs and supplements with twisted -- or chiral -- structures are turning in the correct direction. Now, twirling infrared light can probe both the structures of molecular crystals and their twists, research led by the University of Michigan has shown.</p><p>The researchers hope that the technique could also help diagnose harmful accumulations of twisted molecules in the body, including bladder stones, insulin fibrils and amyloid aggregations such as the plaques that appear in Alzheimer\'s disease.</p><p>In a world of curled molecules, biology often favors right- or left-handed versions. Walking along the supplement aisle, you might notice that some have an L or D in front of the names. L and D denote the direction in which the molecule twists, clockwise or counterclockwise -- the human body typically only uses one version. Molecules with the wrong twist can be nuisance fillers or cause side effects that can be unpleasant or dangerous. But quality control for twisted molecules is tough, and monitoring the chiral structures of drugs and supplements kept in storage isn\'t usually done.</p><p>\"The methods most commonly used at pharmaceutical companies are very sensitive to impurities, but measuring chirality is expensive,\" said Wonjin Choi, a research fellow in chemical engineering at U-M and first author of the paper in Nature Photonics.</p><p>The new method can quickly recognize wrong twists and wrong chemical structures in packaged drugs using terahertz radiation, a portion of the infrared part of the spectrum. It was developed by an international team, including researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil; Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory; University of Notre Dame; and Michigan State University.</p><p>\"Biomolecules support twisting, long-range vibrations also known as chiral phonons. These vibrations are very sensitive to the structure of molecules and their nanoscale assemblies, creating the fingerprint of a particular chiral structure,\" said Nicholas Kotov, the Irving Langmuir Distinguished University Professor of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at U-M and co-corresponding author.</p><p>The team was able to measure these phonons in the spectra of twisted terahertz light that passed through tested materials. One of these, L-carnosine, is currently used as a nutritional supplement.</p><p>\"If the twist of the molecule is wrong, if the twist in the way the molecules pack together is not right, or if different materials were mixed in, all of that could be inferred from the spectra,\" Kotov said.</p><p>John Kruger, professor of veterinary medicine at Michigan State University and co-author of the paper, provided bladder stones from dogs, and the team discovered their chiral signature. The team hopes that the findings could help enable rapid diagnostics for pets and perhaps later humans. In addition, they studied insulin as it grew into nanofibers that make it inactive. If the terahertz light technology can be adapted for home healthcare, it could verify the quality of insulin.</p><p>The team also explored how light can influence structures, rather than just measure them. Calculations carried out by André Farias de Moura, professor of chemistry at the Federal University of São Carlos and co-corresponding author, show that multiple biomolecules vigorously twist and vibrate when terahertz light generates chiral phonons.</p><p>\"We foresee new roads ahead -- for instance using terahertz waves with tailored polarization to manipulate large molecular assemblies. It might replace microwaves in many synthesis applications in which the handedness of the molecules matters,\" said de Moura.</p><p>Based on de Moura\'s calculations, Kotov and Choi believe that the twisting vibrations of chiral phonons caused by terahertz light may make disease-causing nanofibers more vulnerable to medical interventions. Future work will explore whether that interaction can be used to break them up.</p><p>This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and National Science Foundation; Brazilian funding agencies CAPES and FAPESP; Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and Yoshida Foundation; and U-M.</p><p>The materials were studied at the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization. Kotov is also the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor of Engineering and professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, and macromolecular science and engineering.</p>','2022-03-21 20:56:57.184370','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Michigan','It\'s not easy to be sure that drugs and supplements with twisted -- or chiral -- structures are turning in the correct direction. Now, twirling infrared light can probe both the structures of molecular crystals and their twists.\n',1,179,'<li>Choi, W.J., Yano, K., Cha, M. et al. <strong>Chiral phonons in microcrystals and nanofibrils of biomolecules</strong>. <em>Nat. Photon</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-00969-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41566-022-00969-1</a>\n</li>'),(1445,'Scientists determine structure of a DNA damage \'first responder\'','scientists-determine-structure-of-a-dna-damage-\'first-responder\'','2022-03-21 20:57:11.063190',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">DNA is often likened to a blueprint. The particular sequence of As, Cs, Gs, and Ts in DNA provides information for building an organism.</p><p>What\'s not captured by this analogy is the fact that our DNA requires constant upkeep to maintain its integrity. Were it not for dedicated DNA repair machinery that routinely fixes mistakes, the information within DNA would be rapidly degraded.</p><p>This repair happens at cell cycle checkpoints that are activated in response to DNA damage. Like a quality assurance agent on an assembly line, proteins that participate in the DNA damage checkpoint assess the cell\'s DNA for mistakes and, if necessary, pause cell division and make repairs. When this checkpoint breaks down -- which can happen as a result of genetic mutations -- DNA damage builds up, and the result is often cancer.</p><p>Though scientists have learned much about DNA damage and repair over the past 50 years, important outstanding questions remain. One particularly bedeviling puzzle is how a repair protein called the 9-1-1 clamp -- a DNA damage \"first responder\" -- attaches itself to the site of a broken DNA strand to activate of the DNA damage checkpoint.</p><p>\"We know that this attachment is a pivotal step necessary for initiating an effective repair program,\" says Dirk Remus, a molecular biologist at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) who studies the fundamentals of DNA replication and repair. \"But the mechanisms involved are completely obscure.\"</p><p>Now, thanks to a collaboration between Dr. Remus\' lab and that of SKI structural biologist Richard Hite, a clear picture of how the 9-1-1 clamp is recruited to sites of DNA damage has emerged. The results, which challenge conventional wisdom in the field, were published March 21, 2022, in the journal <em>Nature Structural and Molecular Biology</em>.</p><p><strong>Complementary Expertise Yields Surprising Results</strong></p><p>The startling discoveries grew out of a collaboration between two labs with complementary expertise. Dr. Remus\' lab uses biochemical methods to study the process of DNA replication and repair. A primary goal of his research over the past several years has been to reconstitute the entire DNA replication-and-repair process in a test tube, apart from a surrounding cell.</p><p>As a result of this effort, his lab has purified several components of the repair machinery, including 9-1-1 proteins and proteins that facilitate the binding of 9-1-1 to DNA.</p><p>Dr. Remus realized that if these complexes could be viewed at atomic resolution, they would provide a set of freeze-frame images of the individual steps in the repair process. That\'s when he turned to Dr. Hite\'s lab for help.</p><p>\"I said, \'We have this complex; can you help us determine its molecular structure to figure out how it works?\' And that\'s what he did.\"</p><p>Dr. Hite is a structural biologist with expertise in using a technique called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which enables the study of proteins and protein assemblies by visualizing their fine-grain movements at resolutions that can reveal the positions of individual amino acids within the proteins. Much like the gears and levers of a machine, it\'s these movements of amino acids that allow proteins to serve as the workhorses of the cell, including those that repair DNA.</p><p>\"When Dirk came to us, we realized that many of the tools that our lab has developed over the past few years were perfectly suited to answering this question,\" Dr. Hite says. \"Using cryo-EM, we\'re able to not only determine one structure but an ensemble of structures. By putting these structures together in a logical pattern, based on the new data and previous biochemical data, we can come up with a proposal for how this clamp works.\"</p><p>They did, and the results were surprising.</p><p>\"The model we developed had interesting features that contradicted what had been previously thought to be the way these types of clamps are being loaded onto DNA,\" Dr. Hite says.</p><p>\"When Rich first produced the structure, I thought he got it wrong because it was against all the expectations,\" Dr. Remus adds. \"Now, in hindsight, it all makes perfect sense.\"</p><p><strong>A New Model for Opening and Closing a DNA Clamp Around DNA</strong></p><p>The 9-1-1 clamp is shaped like a ring. To carry out its function, it needs to surround the broken DNA at the junction between an exposed end of one strand of a double-stranded piece of DNA abutting a single-stranded one. Consequently, the ring structure of the 9-1-1 clamp must open to allow the single-stranded DNA to swing into the center of the clamp and then reclose around it. This does not occur spontaneously but is facilitated by another protein complex, called the clamp loader complex.</p><p>\"It had been thought from all studies prior to this that clamps would open in the manner of lock washer, where basically the two open ends of the clamp would rotate out of plane to create a narrow gap,\" Dr. Remus says. \"But what Rich observed is that the 9-1-1 clamp opens much more widely than anticipated, and it opens completely in plane -- there\'s no twisting like in the lock-washer scenario.\"</p><p>The scientists point out that the lock-washer model has been around for two decades and has been the guiding paradigm in the field for how a clamp gets loaded around DNA. But in this case, it\'s wrong.</p><p>Another surprise was that the 9-1-1 clamp loader complex was observed to bind DNA in the opposite orientation from other clamp loader complexes that act on undamaged DNA during normal DNA replication. This observation explained how 9-1-1 is specifically recruited to sites of DNA damage.</p><p><strong>From Basic to Translational Research</strong></p><p>Aside from providing a satisfying answer to a fundamental biological puzzle, Dr. Remus thinks the research may eventually lead to better cancer drugs.</p><p>Many existing chemotherapy drugs work by interfering with DNA replication of cancer cells and generating the type of DNA damage that is normally fixed by repair processes elicited by the 9-1-1 clamp. Because cancer cells already have a reduced ability to repair DNA damage, the addition of DNA-damaging chemotherapy drugs can overwhelm the cells\' ability to fix their DNA, and so they die. (This is how drugs called PARP inhibitors work, for example.)</p><p>With this new knowledge about how 9-1-1 interacts with other repair proteins and with DNA, scientists could potentially design drugs that interfere specifically with this step of the repair process, making chemotherapy drugs even more effective.</p><p>\"One of the great things about working here at SKI is that a basic scientist\'s research can be the starting point for translational studies that ultimately lead to better treatments,\" Dr. Hite says.</p><p><em>This research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA008748, NIGMS R01-GM107239, NIGMS R01-GM127428), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the Josie Robertson Investigators Program. The study authors declare that they have no competing interests.</em></p>','2022-03-21 20:57:11.063190','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center','The results of this collaborative project overturn some conventional wisdom about how the DNA repair process works.\n',1,123,'<li>Juan C. Castaneda, Marina Schrecker, Dirk Remus, Richard K. Hite. <strong>Mechanisms of loading and release of the 9-1-1 checkpoint clamp</strong>. <em>Nature Structural &amp; Molecular Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00741-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41594-022-00741-7</a>\n</li>'),(1446,'New enzyme discovery is another leap towards beating plastic waste','new-enzyme-discovery-is-another-leap-towards-beating-plastic-waste','2022-03-21 22:39:09.691826',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists who helped to pioneer the use of enzymes to eat plastic have taken an important next step in developing nature-based solutions to the global plastics crisis.</p><p>They have characterised an enzyme that has the remarkable capacity to help break down terephthalate (TPA), one of the chemical building blocks of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is used to make single-use drinks bottles, clothing and carpets.</p><p>The research, which is published in<em> The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)</em>, was co-led by Professor Jen DuBois, Montana State University, and Professor John McGeehan from the University of Portsmouth, who in 2018 led the international team that engineered a natural enzyme that could break down PET plastic. The enzymes (PETase and MHETase) break the PET polymer into the chemical building blocks ethylene glycol (EG) and TPA. This new research describes the next steps, specifically for managing TPA.</p><p>Professor DuBois said: \"While EG is a chemical with many uses -- it\'s part of the antifreeze you put into your car, for example -- TPA does not have many uses outside of PET, nor is it something that most bacteria can even digest. However, the Portsmouth team revealed that an enzyme from PET-consuming bacteria recognises TPA like a hand in a glove. Our group at MSU then demonstrated that this enzyme, called TPADO, breaks down TPA and pretty much only TPA, with amazing efficiency.\"</p><p>With more than 400 million tons of plastic waste produced each year, the overwhelming majority of which ends up in landfills, it is hoped this work will open the door to improve bacterial enzymes, such as TPADO. This will help tackle the challenge of plastic pollution and develop biological systems that can convert waste plastic into valuable products.</p><p>Professor McGeehan, who is the Director of the University\'s Centre for Enzyme Innovation, said: \"The last few years have seen incredible advances in the engineering of enzymes to break down PET plastic into its building blocks. This work goes a stage further and looks at the first enzyme in a cascade that can deconstruct those building blocks into simpler molecules. These can then be utilised by bacteria to generate sustainable chemicals and materials, essential making valuable products out of plastic waste.</p><p>\"Using powerful X-ray at the Diamond Light Source, we were able to generate a detailed 3D structure of the TPADO enzyme, revealing how it performs this crucial reaction. This provides researchers with a blueprint for engineering faster and more efficient versions of this complex enzyme.\"</p><p>The study was undertaken as part of the BOTTLE Consortium, an international collaboration between the US and UK, bringing together researchers from across a wide range of scientific areas to tackle plastic recycling and upcycling.</p>','2022-03-21 22:39:09.691826','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Portsmouth','Scientists who helped to pioneer the use of enzymes to eat plastic have taken an important next step in developing nature-based solutions to the global plastics crisis. They have characterized an enzyme that has the remarkable capacity to help break down terephthalate (TPA), one of the chemical building blocks of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is used to make single-use drinks bottles, clothing and carpets.\n',1,25,'<li>William M. Kincannon, Michael Zahn, Rita Clare, Jessica Lusty Beech, Ari Romberg, James Larson, Brian Bothner, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan, Jennifer L. DuBois. <strong>Biochemical and structural characterization of an aromatic ring–hydroxylating dioxygenase for terephthalic acid catabolism</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (13) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121426119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2121426119</a>\n</li>'),(1447,'Genomic analysis supports ancient Muwekma Ohlone connection','genomic-analysis-supports-ancient-muwekma-ohlone-connection','2022-03-21 22:39:13.022297',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new genetic comparison study between ancient people buried east of San Francisco Bay and modern members of California\'s Muwekma Ohlone people supports the tribe\'s assertion -- backed by family histories, government records and records from the Bay Area Spanish missions -- that they and their ancestors have lived in this area longer than many archaeologists have estimated.</p><p>In 2014, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission proposed the creation of an educational facility near the Water Temple in Sunol, California. When it was determined that the site would likely uncover human remains, the Muwekma Ohlone tribe was contacted. The Tribal Council requested a study of two settlement sites found on the land, which date as far back as 490 BCE, or more than 2,500 years ago.</p><p>The Tribe brought in the Far Western Anthropological Research Group, with archaeology principal investigator Brian F. Byrd, to direct the archaeological excavations, analysis and reporting as a collaborative endeavor with the Tribe, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology Professor Ripan Malhi to design a genomic project on any remains identified there. Researchers from Stanford University also joined the collaboration to analyze the genomic data.</p><p>\"It\'s a project with the participation of both researchers and tribal leadership from beginning to end,\" said Noah Rosenberg, the Stanford Professor in Population Genetics and Society in the School of Humanities and Sciences and co-author of the paper.</p><p>The results of that genomic analysis, published this week in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, reveal a thread that connects the ancient genomes and genomes from modern-day Muwekma Ohlone. This continuity affirms beliefs held by the Tribe but was somewhat surprising from the point of view of the researchers, given the impacts of European colonization and what is currently hypothesized about the diversity and movement of populations of people who have lived in and around California throughout this time.</p><p>One site, which the tribe has named <em>Síi Túupentak</em> (<em>Place of the Water Round House Site</em> -- named after the Sunol Water Temple), dates from between 1345-1850 CE and 76 individuals were buried there. The second site, called <em>Rummey Ta Ku??uwiš Tiprectak </em>(<em>Place of the Stream of the Lagoon Site</em>), dates back 490 BCE-1775 CE and contained burials for 29 individuals.</p><p>Stanford News spoke with three of the co-authors of this paper: Rosenberg, Alissa Severson and Alan Leventhal. Severson was a doctoral student in Rosenberg\'s lab during this work and is lead author of the paper. Leventhal is an emeritus lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at San Jose State University and an ethnohistorian and archaeologist for the Muwekma Ohlone tribe.</p>','2022-03-21 22:39:13.022297','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Stanford University','A research collaboration with the Muwekma Ohlone tribe -- whose ancestral lands include the Stanford campus -- shows a genetic relationship between modern-day Tribe members and individuals buried nearby who lived more than 1,900 years ago.\n',1,170,'<li>Alissa L. Severson, Brian F. Byrd, Elizabeth K. Mallott, Amanda C. Owings, Michael DeGiorgio, Alida de Flamingh, Charlene Nijmeh, Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, Noah A. Rosenberg, Ripan S. Malhi. <strong>Ancient and modern genomics of the Ohlone Indigenous population of California</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (13) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111533119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2111533119</a>\n</li>'),(1448,'Finding ways to turn down the heat in cities','finding-ways-to-turn-down-the-heat-in-cities','2022-03-21 22:39:21.726541',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Rooftop gardens and greenery can help ease some of the severe heat in cities, according to research from climate scientists at NASA\'s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. For several decades, researchers have promoted replacing black tar and other dark-colored roofing materials with bright, Sun-reflecting surfaces or \"green roofs\" full of plant cover. Now they have used freely available satellite data to measure how effective these changes are.</p><p>Heat is often intensified or amplified in cities, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. Asphalt, concrete, and similar materials absorb and retain significantly more heat than vegetation, so temperatures in urban areas are often 10 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than surrounding suburbs or rural regions. In neighborhoods with fewer trees and green spaces, this heat often disproportionately affects older adults, low-income communities and some communities of color.</p><p>Green roofs are designed to harness the cooling power of plants to lower the temperature in city spaces. The greenery may be extensive (shallow soil, low-maintenance plants) or intensive (deeper soil, more diverse plants and trees).</p><p>The GISS team studied three sites in Chicago to see how green roofs affected surface temperatures around those buildings, and whether there was a difference between those sites and others nearby without green roofs. Two of three green roofs in the study reduced temperatures, but results indicated that effectiveness may depend on location and plant diversity, among other factors. The results were recently published in the journal <em>Sustainable Cities and Society.</em></p><p><strong>Studying green roofs in urban jungles</strong></p><p>\"As cities grow and develop, they need to make good decisions about their infrastructure, because these decisions often last for 30 or 50 years or longer,\" said Christian Braneon, a climate scientist and civil engineer at Columbia University and GISS. \"In the context of more frequent heat waves and more extreme heat, it\'s important to understand how these urban design interventions can be effective.\"</p><p>Braneon and the GISS team partnered with Chicago\'s Public Health and Planning and Development departments to study three sites that had installed green roofs in the early 2000s: Millennium Park, City Hall, and a Walmart shopping center. Using imagery captured by the Landsat 5 satellite between 1990 and 2011, the researchers compared changes in land surface temperatures and vegetation abundance at the study sites as well as nearby control sites without green roofs.</p><p>Results from the three sites were mixed. Millennium Park, which has an intensive mix of plants and is located near Lake Michigan, showed significantly lower average temperatures after its green roof was installed in 2004. It was the only site where the roof fully mitigated climate warming over the study period.</p><p>City Hall, also an intensive site, had a green roof installed in 2002. Its temperatures after green roof installation were lower than those at the control site, but they were rising toward the end of the study period.</p><p>The Walmart site told a different story. While the green roofs at Millennium Park and City Hall were added onto existing buildings, the supermarket was newly built during the study period. Even though the Walmart installed an extensive green roof, the conversion of the land from a vacant, grassy lot to a store meant the vegetation index for the landscape decreased.</p><p>\"In a lot of places, you might be developing an area that didn\'t have something there before; it just had overgrown vegetation,\" said Braneon, who co-leads urban research for the Climate Impacts Group at GISS. \"You might think that putting a green roof on your new building would make a significant impact. But what we see is that a lot of impervious material may also be added there -- such as a parking lot around the building. As a result, you might reduce the impact of the parking lot, but you certainly haven\'t created the cooling effect that the overgrown vegetation had.\"</p><p>The benefits of green roofs depend on a variety of factors -- from geographic region and plant diversity to rooftop structure and the cooling efficiency of the building itself, the scientists said.</p><p>Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to tease apart these details, but this study represents a promising start. With urban heat island effects expected to intensify as Earth\'s climate warms, it will become more important to understand these variables.</p><p>The study method is designed to be used by other cities for further research, said lead author Kathryn McConnell, a doctoral candidate at Yale University\'s School of the Environment. The simple analysis, publicly available data, and model for working directly with cities could help urban planners assess the viability of green roofs in their own areas.</p><p>\"My hope would be that the methods we proposed show a low-cost way for folks working in less-resourced cities -- who maybe don\'t have access to a university or government researcher -- to study their own communities,\" McConnell said.</p><p>\"Traditionally, civil engineers and urban planners assumed a stationary climate,\" Braneon added. \"The whole practice is built on the premise that we can look at the past to assess risk in the future. Everything is being flipped on its head due to climate change, so I\'m hoping to do more work that changes how civil engineers and urban planners practice.\"</p>','2022-03-21 22:39:21.726541','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center','Rooftop gardens and greenery can help ease some of the severe heat in cities, according to research from climate scientists.\n',1,54,'<li>Kathryn McConnell, Christian V. Braneon, Equisha Glenn, Natasha Stamler, Evan Mallen, Daniel P. Johnson, Raaghav Pandya, Jacob Abramowitz, Gabriel Fernandez, Cynthia Rosenzweig. <strong>A quasi-experimental approach for evaluating the heat mitigation effects of green roofs in Chicago, Illinois</strong>. <em>Sustainable Cities and Society</em>, 2022; 76: 103376 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103376\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.scs.2021.103376</a>\n</li>'),(1449,'Harnessing the power of AI to advance knowledge of Type 1 diabetes','harnessing-the-power-of-ai-to-advance-knowledge-of-type-1-diabetes','2022-03-21 22:39:25.940447',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Missouri, Children\'s Mercy Kansas City and Texas Children\'s Hospital has used a new data-driven approach to learn more about persons with Type 1 diabetes, who account for about 5-10% of all diabetes diagnoses. The team gathered its information through health informatics and applied artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand the disease.</p><p>In the study, the team analyzed publicly available, real-world data from about 16,000 participants enrolled in the T1D Exchange Clinic Registry.By applying a contrast pattern mining algorithm developed at the MU College of Engineering, the team was able to identify major differences in health outcomes among people living with Type 1 diabetes who do or do not have an immediate family history of the disease.</p><p>Chi-Ren Shyu, the director of the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics (MUIDSI), led the AI approach used in the study, and said the technique is exploratory in nature.</p><p>\"Here we let the computer do the work of connecting millions of dots in the data to identify only major contrasting patterns between individuals with and without a family history of Type 1 diabetes, and to do the statistical testing to make sure we are confident in our results,\" said Shyu, the Paul K. and Dianne Shumaker Professor in the MU College of Engineering.</p><p>Erin Tallon, a graduate student in the MUIDSI and the lead author on the study, said the team\'s analysis resulted in some unfamiliar findings.</p><p>\"For instance, we found individuals in the registry who had an immediate family member with Type 1 diabetes were more frequently diagnosed with hypertension, as well as diabetes-related nerve disease, eye disease and kidney disease,\" Tallon said. \"We also found a more frequent co-occurrence of these conditions in individuals who had an immediate family history of Type 1 diabetes. Additionally, individuals who had an immediate family history of Type 1 diabetes also more frequently had certain demographic characteristics.\"</p><p>Tallon\'s passion for this project began with a personal connection, and quickly grew as a result of her experience working as a nurse in an intensive critical care unit (ICU). She would often see patients with Type 1 diabetes who were also dealing with other co-existing conditions such as kidney disease and high blood pressure. Knowing that a person\'s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis often occurs only when the disease is already very advanced, she wanted to find better ways for prevention and diagnosis, starting with finding a way to analyze the large amounts of publicly available data already collected about the disease.</p><p>In 2019, Mark Clements, who is a pediatric endocrinologist at Children\'s Mercy Kansas City, professor of pediatrics at University of Missouri-Kansas City and corresponding author on the study, was invited to speak at the Midwest Bioinformatics Conference hosted by BioNexus KC. While Tallon wasn\'t able to attend Clements\' presentation, she followed up with a phone call to share her proposal for helping people better understand Type 1 diabetes. He was intrigued. Eventually, Tallon introduced Clements to Shyu, and an ongoing research collaboration was born.</p><p>Tallon said the results of the collaboration speak to the power and value of using real-world data.</p><p>\"Type 1 diabetes is not a single disease that looks the same for everybody -- it looks different for different people -- and we\'re working on the cutting-edge to address that issue,\" Tallon said. \"By analyzing real-world data, we can better understand risk factors that may cause someone to be at higher risk for developing poor health outcomes.\"</p><p>While the results are promising, Tallon said researchers were limited by not having a population-based data set to work with.</p><p>\"It is important to note here that our findings do have a limitation that we hope to address in the future by using larger, population-based data sets,\" Tallon said. \"We\'re looking to build larger patient cohorts, analyze more data and use these algorithms to help us do that.\"</p><p><strong>Personalizing medicine</strong></p><p>Clements hopes the approach can be adopted as a way to help develop personalized treatment options for people with diabetes.</p><p>\"In order to get the right treatment to the right patient at the right time, we first need to understand how to identify the patients who are at a higher risk for the disease and its complications -- by asking questions such as if there are characteristics early in someone\'s life that can help identify an individual with high risk for an outcome years down the road,\" Clements said. \"Having all of this information could one day help us establish a more complete picture of a person\'s risk, and we can use that information to develop a more personalized approach for both prevention and treatment.\"</p><p>\"Contrast pattern mining with the T1D Exchange Clinic Registry reveals complex phenotypic factors and comorbidity patterns associated with familial versus sporadic Type 1 diabetes,\" was published in <em>Diabetes Care</em>, a journal of the American Diabetes Association. MU graduate students Danlu Liu and Katrina Boles, and Maria Redondo at Texas Children\'s Hospital, also contributed to the study.</p><p>The study\'s authors would like to thank the funding agency of the T1D Exchange Clinic Registry, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, the investigators located across the country who drove the data collection for the registry, as well as all of the registry\'s participants and their families who were willing to share their medical information.</p><p>The researchers would also like to acknowledge the support provided by grants from the National Institutes of Health (5T32LM012410) and the National Science Foundation (CNS-1429294). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.</p><p>Potential conflicts of interest are also noted by two of the study\'s authors -- Clements and Shyu. Clements is the chief medical officer at Glooko, and receives support from Dexcom and Abbot Diabetes Care. Shyu is a consultant for Curant Health.</p>','2022-03-21 22:39:25.940447','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Missouri-Columbia','An interdisciplinary team of researchers has used a new data-driven approach to learn more about persons with Type 1 diabetes, who account for about 5-10% of all diabetes diagnoses. The team gathered its information through health informatics and applied artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand the disease.\n',1,46,'<li>Erin M. Tallon, Maria J. Redondo, Chi-Ren Shyu, Danlu Liu, Katrina Boles, Mark A. Clements. <strong>Contrast Pattern Mining With the T1D Exchange Clinic Registry Reveals Complex Phenotypic Factors and Comorbidity Patterns Associated With Familial Versus Sporadic Type 1 Diabetes</strong>. <em>Diabetes Care</em>, 2022; 45 (3): e56 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc21-2239\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.2337/dc21-2239</a>\n</li>'),(1450,'COVID-19 Increases risk of type 2 diabetes, study finds','covid-19-increases-risk-of-type-2-diabetes,-study-finds','2022-03-21 23:21:35.647207',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People who have had Covid-19 are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is the result of a study by DDZ, DZD and IQVIA, which has now been published in <em>Diabetologia</em>.</p><p>Studies show that the human pancreas can also be a target of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 virus). Following a Covid-19 infection, reduced numbers of insulin secretory granules in beta cells and impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion have been observed. In addition, after Covid-19 disease, some patients developed insulin resistance and had elevated blood glucose levels although they had no previous history of diabetes. SARS-CoV-2 infection may lead to a strong release of pro-inflammatory signaling substances (cytokines). Activation of the immune system may persist for months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and impair insulin effectiveness (muscle, fat cells, liver).</p><p>To date, however, it is unclear whether these metabolic changes are transient or whether Covid-19 disease increases the risk of persisting diabetes. To investigate this question, researchers from the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and IQVIA (Frankfurt) conducted a retrospective cohort study.</p><p>The cohort study included a representative panel of 1,171 physician practices across Germany (March 2020 to January 2021: 8.8 million patients). Follow-up continued until July 2021. \"The aim of our study was to investigate the incidence of diabetes after infection with SARS-CoV-2,\" said first author Wolfgang Rathmann, head of the Epidemiology Research Group at the DDZ. As a control group, the researchers selected people with acute upper respiratory tract infections (AURI), which are also frequently caused by viruses. The two cohorts were matched for sex, age, health insurance, month of Covid-19 or AURI diagnosis, and comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart attack, stroke). Patients on corticosteroid therapy were excluded from the study.</p><p>During the study period, 35,865 people were diagnosed with Covid-19. \"Our analyses showed that patients with Covid-19 developed type 2 diabetes more frequently than people with AURI. The incidence of diabetes with Covid-19 infection was 15.8 compared to 12.3 per 1000 people per year with AURI. Statistical analysis resulted in an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 1.28. Put simply, this means that the relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes was 28% higher in the Covid-19 group than in the AURI group,\" Rathmann said, summarizing the results.</p><p>Although type 2 diabetes is unlikely to be a problem for the vast majority of people with mild Covid-19 disease, the authors recommend that anyone who has recovered from Covid-19 be alert to the warning signs and symptoms, such as fatigue, frequent urination and increased thirst and seek immediate treatment.</p>','2022-03-21 23:21:35.647207','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Deutsches Zentrum fuer Diabetesforschung DZD','People who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.\n',1,46,'<li>Wolfgang Rathmann, Oliver Kuss, Karel Kostev. <strong>Incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes after Covid-19</strong>. <em>Diabetologia</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00125-022-05670-0\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s00125-022-05670-0</a>\n</li>'),(1451,'Staying alive: How \'self-pollen\' can cheat death','staying-alive:-how-\'self-pollen\'-can-cheat-death','2022-03-21 23:21:44.053206',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new gene that controls self-fertilization has been identified in an engineered version of the model plant <em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em> bred by scientists at the University of Birmingham..</p><p>In a study published today (21 March 2022) in <em>Current Biology</em>, the team identified a new gene, named \"Highlander,\" that regulates self-incompatibility, making a previously self-incompatible plant completely self-fertile.</p><p>Pollination and fertilization of flowers results in seed production, which is crucial for food production. Production of cereals, fruits, vegetables and nuts depends entirely upon pollination. A problem that plants have, however, is that most flowers are hermaphrodite and have the male pollen sitting next to the female stigma. This risks self-fertilization, which can result in unhealthy plants.</p><p>The ability to control whether or not a plant can self-fertilize has enormous potential for ensuring stronger, more resilient crops. F1 hybrids are made by plant breeders to be more productive than their parents, and a long-term goal is engineering self-incompatibility in crops, which could aid their production.</p><p>Major progress has been made in this area by a team led by Professor Noni Franklin-Tong in the University\'s School of Biosciences, which has been working to understand the mechanisms by which the field poppy, <em>Papaver rhoeas</em>, avoids the problems of self-fertilization. In poppies the plant\'s own pollen is recognized and killed by triggering a cell suicide programme. This provides a neat, targeted way to eliminate unwanted pollen grains. Professor Franklin-Tong was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2021 for her work in this area.</p><p>In the current study, the team used the model plant, <em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em> (Thale cress) as a basis for their research. This inconspicuous small weed is a relative of crops like cabbage and oilseed rape, and is a \"self-compatible\" plant, used by many plant scientists to better understand the basis of how plants function.</p><p>The huge genetic resources and short generation time (a month to produce seed compared to 6 months for wheat) of this model plant mean that it is a great system to identify genes of fundamental importance that can then potentially be fed into translational studies in crop species.</p><p>The current study used genetic screening in this model plant to identify a new gene that is critical for regulating self-incompatibility. Using an engineered self-incompatible Arabidopsis plant line, the team identified a gene that when removed, abolished SI, allowing the plant to self-fertilize.</p><p>This gene, which was named \"Highlander\" after the immortal warrior in the 1986 film, encodes an protein called PGAP1, which is found in all higher organisms, from yeast to humans, and now including plants. This is the first time that a function for it has been identified in plants.</p><p>The modified Arabidopsis plants had no obvious developmental defects, but self-incompatibility was completely abolished and high levels of self-seed set were observed.</p><p>Professor Franklin-Tong comments: \"This is a major breakthrough, as it not only identifies a new mechanism that is critical for achieving self-rejection of incompatible pollen, but it also implicates a role for specific proteins, called GPI-APs in this process for the first time.\"</p><p>The GPI-APS family of proteins play a pivotal role in other systems such as enhancing innate immunity by increasing the interactions between certain proteins. By identifying a role for these proteins in regulating self-fertilization, the team may also have uncovered evidence that this system may have evolved from other systems such as immunity from pathogens.</p><p>Professor Franklin-Tong adds: \"We are very excited by the unexpected and novel findings of this study, as it opens up new avenues, leading research into completely new areas, such as the involvement of GPI-APs and possibly accessory proteins, that help cell-cell interactions, in interactions between pollen and pistil in self-incompatibility.\"</p><p>The study is a collaborative project led by Professor Moritz Nowack at the University of Ghent, involving Prof Noni Franklin-Tong at UoB and Dr Maurice Bosch at the University of Aberystwyth. The lead author, Dr Zongcheng Lin, obtained his PhD with Prof Noni Franklin-Tong at the University of Birmingham, working on the poppy project. He now has a position at the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University in China.</p>','2022-03-21 23:21:44.053206','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Birmingham','A new gene that controls self-fertilization has been identified in an engineered version of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.\n',1,54,'<li>Zongcheng Lin, Fei Xie, Marina Triviño, Tao Zhao, Frederik Coppens, Lieven Sterck, Maurice Bosch, Vernonica E. Franklin-Tong, Moritz K. Nowack. <strong>Self-incompatibility requires GPI anchor remodeling by the poppy PGAP1 ortholog HLD1</strong>. <em>Current Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.072\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.072</a>\n</li>'),(1452,'With land grabs comes competition for water — and local farmers are likely to lose','with-land-grabs-comes-competition-for-water-—-and-local-farmers-are-likely-to-lose','2022-03-22 00:02:08.240265',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Water from Ethiopia\'s Omo River, which flows for 472 miles along the country\'s southwest side, has helped sustain the livelihood of tribal populations for hundreds of years. Human rights organizations have estimated 200,000 people from various tribes in the region rely on the Omo\'s water for cattle and to grow crops like sorghum and maize.</p><p>But new research shows large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in the region could threaten water resources downstream to the local farmers and Indigenous populations living along the Omo -- just one example of how a decades-long \"global land rush\" could intensify water scarcity around the world.</p><p>Researchers at the University of Notre Dame, the Polytechnic University of Milan, the University of California, Berkeley, Colorado State University, the University of Delaware and Vrije University Amsterdam studied 160 land deals made between 2005 and 2015 across Europe, South America, Africa and Asia for the study, published in <em>Nature Communications</em>. Hydrological models used to simulate future cultivation of those deals found close to two-thirds of those deals are unsustainable.</p><p>\"The idea of this study was to quantify how many of these deals, how much of this land acquisition would cause competition and water grabbing -- and how much is actually beneficial. We found that the majority of those land acquisitions actually cause competition,\" said Marc Müller, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Notre Dame and co-author of the study. \"We looked at the crops being planted and the water needed for those crops, and what we found is that if the acquisitions go as planned, if these crops and the area of irrigated land changes the way investors have said they plan to change it -- there\'s not enough water for everybody.\"</p><p>More than 220 million acres of land in middle-income and developing countries were purchased through LSLAs to increase production of local staple crops and to produce export-bound crops such as wheat and those that could be utilized for biofuel, such as palm oil and sugar cane.</p><p>\"You need a lot of water to produce these foods,\" said Müller. Some of that need is met by rainfall, or green water. When green water isn\'t enough to meet the needs of the crop, the next step is supplemental irrigation using blue water, or water that can be redirected or taken from one source and used elsewhere. But supplemental irrigation is unsustainable when it depletes blue water resources -- leaving independently owned farmlands and local populations hurting.</p><p>\"If you have blue water scarcity -- if there is not enough water to irrigate after the land acquisition -- that creates competition with local water users,\" Müller said. \"All the communities that rely on the same water -- now they don\'t have enough for their own crops.\"</p><p>An outcome those living along the Omo River could very well face.</p><p>As part of the study, Müller and his co-authors closely examined development of two land deals, simulating the need for surface water irrigation in Western Ethiopia, and found increases in water scarcity downstream. \"That was surprising,\" Müller said. \"If you withdraw the water from the system upstream, it clearly affects how much stream flow is available downstream. All the people along the river that rely on that water -- they will feel it. There will be less water available for use. You can see the broad effects downstream. It goes way further than I actually expected.\"</p><p>The study highlights how the globalization of land and food systems can put additional stress on water resources and limit water access at the local level.</p><p>\"By increasing how much water is necessary at any given locations, these deals shift the balance and water becomes very limited locally,\" said Müller. \"One of the arguments of this project is, are these agricultural transitions from small-holder, traditional farming to large, mechanized agriculture beneficial? You want to determine when evaluating the impact of an impending deal whether the benefits are going to outweigh the costs.\"</p><p>The research is part of a series of studies the team has done to examine the impact of LSLAs on a broad scale, identifying global patterns and observations. A previous study focused on the impacts on food security.</p><p>Müller is an affiliated faculty member of Notre Dame\'s Environmental Change Initiative. Co-authors of the study include Gopal Penny, then a postdoctoral student at Notre Dame and currently assistant professor at the National University of Singapore; Davide Danilo Chiarelli and Maria Cristina Rulli at the Polytechnic University of Milan; Paolo D\'Odorico at the University of California, Berkeley; Nathaniel D. Mueller at Colorado State University; Kyle Frankel Davis at the University of Delaware; and Jampel Dell\'Angelo at Vrije University Amsterdam.</p><p>The National Science Foundation partially funded the study.</p>','2022-03-22 00:02:08.240265','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Notre Dame','New research shows large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in Ethiopia\'s Omo River region could threaten water resources downstream to the local farmers and Indigenous populations living along the Omo -- just one example of how a decades-long \'global land rush\' could intensify water scarcity around the world.\n',1,27,'<li>Davide Danilo Chiarelli, Paolo D’Odorico, Marc F. Müller, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Kyle Frankel Davis, Jampel Dell’Angelo, Gopal Penny, Maria Cristina Rulli. <strong>Competition for water induced by transnational land acquisitions for agriculture</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28077-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28077-2</a>\n</li>'),(1453,'Researchers discover that anti-malaria drugs can fight pulmonary disease','researchers-discover-that-anti-malaria-drugs-can-fight-pulmonary-disease','2022-03-22 00:02:17.134173',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A research team at Colorado State University has discovered that drugs used to treat malaria are also effective at treating a pulmonary disease similar to tuberculosis.</p><p>Their findings were featured on the cover of the Feb. 23 issue of <em>Science Translational Medicine.</em></p><p>The study is a significant development in the fight against infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria, or NTM, which are now more common than tuberculosis in the United States and often attack people who have a weakened immune system or preexisting conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or cystic fibrosis.</p><p>\"There are currently very few antibiotics available to treat NTM infections, and some patients fail to respond to any treatment,\" said Professor Mary Jackson of CSU\'s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, one of the lead authors. \"The perspective that antimalarial drugs that already have undergone advanced clinical trials may become part of the arsenal of drugs available to fight these infections could have an immediate impact in the clinic.\"</p><p>The research, which was led by Jackson and lead author Juan Manuel Belardinelli, a research scientist in CSU\'s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, targeted an NTM known as <em>Mycobacterium abscessus</em>. Few drugs are effective against this mycobacterium, and the ones that are tend to be toxic and cause bad side effects, Jackson said.</p><p><strong>Targeting disease\'s defense mechanism</strong></p><p>Jackson and Belardinelli worked with other members of CSU\'s Mycobacteria Research Laboratories to target one of the key defense mechanisms that this mycobacterium deploys to fight off our immune system and antibiotics.</p><p>The researchers believe that the bacterium is capable of sensing and responding to threats in its environment, such as lowered oxygen levels, oxidative stress and acidic pH, which are our body\'s natural ways of fighting disease. It does so by activating, among other things, a regulator known as DosRS which controls many essential functions in the bacterium such as its respiration, ability to form biofilms and ability to enter a dormant state when the conditions are not favorable to bacterial multiplication.</p><p>They found that in mice, two existing antimalarial drugs were able to prevent DosRS from responding to stresses, meaning that the bacterium struggled to fight off antibiotics and the immune system\'s natural disease response.</p><p>\"It blocked the regulator and kept it from doing its job,\" Jackson explained. \"One of the things the treatment did, in particular, was to lower the bacterium\'s ability to form biofilms, thereby reducing its ability to resist killing by antibiotics.\"</p><p>The treatment alone was just as effective at dropping bacterial loads in the lungs as the combination of antibiotics currently used to treat the disease.</p><p>The lead authors are now working with doctors at National Jewish Health to administer the drug that proved most effective -- OZ439 -- to humans, particularly those with cystic fibrosis.</p><p>\"Treatment of <em>M. abscessus</em> is especially challenging because a minimum of three to four antibiotics are needed in combination, and there are few available options,\" said Dr. Jerry Nick, a pulmonologist at National Jewish Health. \"The repurposing of antibiotics developed for other infections for use in the treatment of <em>M. abscessus</em> has proven to be the most successful route to increasing available therapies for this serious disease. This report is especially exciting because these compounds were both effective against the infection and also increased the effectiveness of other antibiotics. The repurposing strategy reduces the time needed to test these compounds in clinical trials, as often there is a proven track record of safety and clinical experience.\"</p>','2022-03-22 00:02:17.134173','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Colorado State University','A research team has discovered that drugs used to treat malaria are also effective at treating a pulmonary disease similar to tuberculosis.\n',1,120,'<li>Juan Manuel Belardinelli, Deepshikha Verma, Wei Li, Charlotte Avanzi, Crystal J. Wiersma, John T. Williams, Benjamin K. Johnson, Matthew Zimmerman, Nicholas Whittel, Bhanupriya Angala, Han Wang, Victoria Jones, Véronique Dartois, Vinicius C. N. de Moura, Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero, Camron Pearce, Alan R. Schenkel, Kenneth C. Malcolm, Jerry A. Nick, Susan A. Charman, Timothy N. C. Wells, Brendan K. Podell, Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, Diane J. Ordway, Robert B. Abramovitch, Mary Jackson. <strong>Therapeutic efficacy of antimalarial drugs targeting DosRS signaling in            Mycobacterium abscessus</strong>. <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, 2022; 14 (633) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj3860\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/scitranslmed.abj3860</a>\n</li>'),(1454,'Computational approach enables spatial mapping of single-cell data within tissues','computational-approach-enables-spatial-mapping-of-single-cell-data-within-tissues','2022-03-22 00:44:43.454676',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new computational approach developed by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center successfully combines data from parallel gene-expression profiling methods to create spatial maps of a given tissue at single-cell resolution. The resulting maps can provide unique biological insights into the cancer microenvironment and many other tissue types.</p><p>The study was published today in <em>Nature Biotechnology</em> and will be presented at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022 (Abstract 2129).</p><p>The tool, called CellTrek, uses data from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) together with that of spatial transcriptomics (ST) assays -- which measure spatial gene expression in many small groups of cells -- to accurately pinpoint the location of individual cell types within a tissue. The researchers presented findings from analysis of kidney and brain tissues as well as samples of ductal carcincoma in situ (DCIS) breast cancer.</p><p>\"Single-cell RNA sequencing provides tremendous information about the cells within a tissue, but, ultimately, you want to know where these cells are distributed, particularly in tumor samples,\" said senior author Nicholas Navin, Ph.D., professor of Genetics and Bioinformatics &amp; Computational Biology. \"This tool allows us to answer that question with an unbiased approach that improves upon currently available spatial mapping techniques.\"</p><p>Single-cell RNA sequencing is an established method to analyze the gene expression of many individual cells from a sample, but it cannot provide information on the location of cells within a tissue. On the other hand, ST assays can measure spatial gene expression by analyzing many small groups of cells across a tissue but are not capable of providing single-cell resolution.</p><p>Current computational approaches, known as deconvolution techniques, can identify different cell types present from ST data, but they are not capable of providing detailed information at the single-cell level, Navin explained.</p><p>Therefore, co-first authors Runmin Wei, Ph.D., and Siyuan He of the Navin Laboratory led the efforts to develop CellTrek as a tool to combine the unique advantages of scRNA-seq and ST assays and create accurate spatial maps of tissue samples.</p><p>Using publicly available scRNA-seq and ST data from brain and kidney tissues, the researchers demonstrated that CellTrek achieved the most accurate and detailed spatial resolution of the methods evaluated. The CellTrek approach also was able to distinguish subtle gene expression differences within the same cell type to gain information on their heterogeneity within a sample.</p><p>The researchers also collaborated with Savitri Krishnamurthy, M.D., professor of Pathology, to apply CellTrek to study DCIS breast cancer tissues. In an analysis of 6,800 single cells and 1,500 ST regions from a single DCIS sample, the team learned that different subgroups of tumor cells were evolving in unique patterns within specific regions of the tumor. Analysis of a second DCIS sample demonstrated the ability of CellTrek to reconstruct the spatial tumor-immune microenvironment within a tumor tissue.</p><p>\"While this approach is not restricted to analyzing tumor tissues, there are obvious applications for better understanding cancer,\" Navin said. \"Pathology really drives cancer diagnoses and, with this tool, we\'re able to map molecular data on top of pathological data to allow even deeper classifications of tumors and to better guide treatment approaches.\"</p><p>This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (RO1CA240526, RO1CA236864, CA016672), the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) (RP180684), the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative SEED Network Grant, and the PRECISION Cancer Grand Challenges Grant. Navin is supported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Martin and Rose Wachtel Cancer Research Award, the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, the Andrew Sabin Family Fellowship, and the Jack and Beverly Randall Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research. Wei is supported by a Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award.</p><p>Collaborating MD Anderson authors include Shanshan Bai, Emi Sei, Ph.D., and Min Hu, all of Genetics; and Ken Chen, Ph.D., of Bioinformatics. Additional authors include Alastair Thompson, M.D., of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. The authors have no conflicts of interest.</p>','2022-03-22 00:44:43.454676','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center','A new computational approach successfully combines data from parallel gene-expression profiling methods to create spatial maps of a given tissue at single-cell resolution. The resulting maps can provide unique biological insights into the cancer microenvironment and many other tissue types.\n',1,41,'<li>Runmin Wei, Siyuan He, Shanshan Bai, Emi Sei, Min Hu, Alastair Thompson, Ken Chen, Savitri Krishnamurthy, Nicholas E. Navin. <strong>Spatial charting of single-cell transcriptomes in tissues</strong>. <em>Nature Biotechnology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01233-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41587-022-01233-1</a>\n</li>'),(1455,'Ape \'vocabularies\' shaped by social mingling — like in humans','ape-\'vocabularies\'-shaped-by-social-mingling-—-like-in-humans','2022-03-22 00:44:49.514422',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Social mingling shapes and transforms the \'vocabularies\' of apes, just like in humans, according to new research led by the University of Warwick.</p><p>In a paper published by <em>Nature Ecology and Evolution</em>, researchers have proved that wild orangutans demonstrate distinct \'vocal personalities\' that are moulded depending on the social groups in which individuals live and communicate -- as opposed to a fixed repertoire of instinctive, automated calls as traditionally presumed.</p><p>This breakthrough, led by Dr Adriano R. Lameira from Warwick\'s Department of Psychology, further establishes a direct developmental vocal continuum between us and our evolutionary ancestors.</p><p>Living alongside orangutan communities in the swamps and low rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia, Dr Lameira and his research team recorded the calls of around 70 individual apes across six populations (the largest sample ever analysed in this type of study on the vocal behaviour of great apes).</p><p>The orangutan populations differed naturally in population density, from groups that socialised intensely to those that were more dispersed. In high-density populations, the orangutans communicated using a large variety of original calls, trying out lots of novel sound variants that were continually modified or dropped.</p><p>By contrast, the orangutans in sparser, lower density populations favoured more established, conventional calls. While these more dispersed groups did not experiment with such a huge number of novel sounds, when they did introduce a new call variant, they kept it, and therefore their call repertoire was richer that orangutans in high-density populations who continuous discard new call variants.</p><p>If orangutan call communication is socially shaped, then this was also likely the case with our direct, extinct ape-like ancestors. Social influence -- though predictably modest at first before the rise of a fully operational primitive language -- could have then increased steadily, ultimately leading to the myriad ways in which language is determined by those who surround us.</p><p>Dr Adriano R. Lameira, lead author and Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick\'s Department of Psychology, commented:</p><p>\"Great apes, both in the wild and captivity, are finally helping us to resolve one of the longest-standing puzzles in science -- the origin and evolution of language. We can now start conceiving of a gradual path that likely led to the rise of the talking ape, us, instead of having to attribute our unique verbal skills and advanced cognition to divine intervention or random genetic jackpot.</p><p>\"Many more clues await us in the lives of our closest living relatives, as long as we manage to guarantee their protection and their preservation in the wild. Each disappearing population will take with it unretrievable glimpses of the evolutionary history of our species.\"</p>','2022-03-22 00:44:49.514422','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Warwick','Social mingling shapes and transforms the \'vocabularies\' of apes, just like in humans, according to new research.\n',1,27,'<li>Lameira, A.R., Santamaría-Bonfil, G., Galeone, D. et al. <strong>Sociality predicts orangutan vocal phenotype</strong>. <em>Nat Ecol Evol</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01689-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41559-022-01689-z</a>\n</li>'),(1456,'A whale’s tale: The story hidden in their mouths','a-whale’s-tale:-the-story-hidden-in-their-mouths','2022-03-22 12:12:58.067939',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists from UNSW Sydney have uncovered the secrets locked in the jawlines of humpback and southern right whales. Baleen plates -- the signature bristle-like apparatus toothless whales use to feed -- reveal how these large aquatic mammals adapt to environmental changes over time.</p><p>Baleen from filter-feeding whales -- that is, the bristle-like structures toothless whales like the humpback and southern rights rely on to feed -- holds a chemical record of their feeding patterns, which can help researchers understand changes in the whales\' movements and behaviours over time.</p><p>Researchers have now shown how the changes in the dietary habits of whales going back almost 60 years correspond with changing climate cycles. The research, published in <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em>, shows it\'s possible to link feeding patterns with climate conditions using whale baleen, which could help us understand how these large aquatic mammals may react to climate events in the future.</p><p>\"What is incredible is that all of this information about dietary and spatial patterns has been unlocked just through analysing plates in their mouths,\" says Adelaide Dedden, the lead author of the study and a PhD candidate at UNSW Science.</p><p>In the study, the researchers compared the information stored in the baleen of humpback and right whales in the Pacific and Indian Ocean with environmental data to see whether their behaviours reflected changes in climate conditions over time.</p><p>\"We found that the same conditions -- the La Niña events -- that bring us these devastating floods are also not good for the humpbacks that migrate along the east coast of Australia,\" says UNSW Professor Tracey Rogers, marine ecologist and senior author of the study.</p><p>Using baleen samples from museum archives, strandings and previously published data from other studies they discovered humpback whales migrating along the east coast of Australia showed signs of poorer feeding opportunities during La Niña phases -- a large-scale climate cycle that drives food availability within the Southern Ocean.</p><p>\"Baleen whales are enormous and need huge amounts of food. This makes them vulnerable to changes in the environment, but this is also compounded by their survival strategy,\" Prof. Rogers says. \"They fast for the long periods when they leave their productive feeding grounds to breed. That\'s why they\'re extremely susceptible to changes in ocean-atmospheric cycles as they can drive food availability.\"</p><p><strong>Whalebone whispers</strong></p><p>An animal the size of a whale isn\'t exactly easy to analyse in a lab environment. Instead, researchers can look at smaller hard tissues that keep a more detailed record of the animal\'s activity.</p><p>For filter-feeding whales, the long, slender keratin plates that hang from their upper jaw known as baleen allow them to take in many small prey at one time -- but they also lay down chemical clues known as stable isotopes that give clues about their eating habits.</p><p>\"As the baleen grows, biochemical signals from their food are trapped. Like the information on the pages in a book, they don\'t change with time,\" says Prof. Rogers. \"These signals allow us to reconstruct the behaviour of the whales through time -- what they ate, and the general area they were at the time.\"</p><p>The study found that the variability in the stable isotopes within baleen for the humpbacks matched the changes in climate cycles -- implying that the whales\' feeding patterns change with climate-driven resource availability.</p><p>\"Oscillation patterns in isotopes assimilated along their baleen plates are known to reflect changes in the whale\'s physiology, but we also found links between this isotope variability and changes in the environment happening at the time,\" Ms Dedden says.</p><p><strong>Feast or famine</strong></p><p>Humpbacks spend their winter months in warm tropical waters to breed before travelling back to southern Antarctic waters during summer to feed. Amid this migration to the tropics, they\'re away from reliable food sources and must depend on their body\'s reserves and opportunistic prey off Australia to survive.</p><p>\"As filter feeders, they rely on big aggregations of krill because it is energetically costly for them to feed,\" Ms Dedden says.</p><p>Antarctic krill need sea ice to thrive. Following La Niña phases, other research has found there is less sea ice concentration where these whales feed, meaning there are fewer krill for whales to consume and sustain them through their migration months.</p><p>\"[With] humpbacks from the east coast of Australia showing signs of reduced feeding following La Niña periods, it means they\'re potentially struggling to build up the energy reserves required during summer,\" Ms Dedden says.</p><p>Previous research found links between increased whale strandings on the Australian coast following La Niña years, which the researchers say can be attributed to less feeding success.</p><p>\"Our colleagues have shown humpbacks are leaner -- a sign they\'re experiencing poor feeding conditions -- and have a higher chance of stranding in the years following La Niña events,\" Prof. Rogers says.</p><p>\"With La Niña events predicted to increase in intensity and frequency, it unfortunately means these whales may continue to have more of these poorer feeding prospects, and we could see more strandings in the future.\"</p><p><strong>Hopes for the future</strong></p><p>While it\'s not clear waters for east coast humpbacks, the study found that humpbacks from the west coast of Australia who feed in the Indian Ocean showed increased feeding success during La Niña periods. In promising signs, the researchers also say their counterparts on the east coast are developing alternative feeding strategies in more temperate waters.</p><p>\"East coast humpbacks have shown signs of adapting to different feeding strategies in other known productive regions on their migration route…something that future research could look at,\" Ms Dedden says.</p><p>The researchers hope to use the study\'s findings to develop models that can help predict whale behaviour in the future.</p><p>\"We\'ve worked out patterns from the historical trends from the past, and now we can use those models to make predictions into the future to see what it might look like for our whales,\" Prof. Rogers says.</p><p>\"The information from the study will also be useful for managers now, to know ahead of time those years whales are likely to be more vulnerable so they can be prepared and, if needed, change their management strategies around whale entanglement and stranding.\"</p><p>While humpback whales are no longer listed as endangered, climate change still poses a significant long-term threat to the species.</p><p>Prof. Rogers says our actions today to address climate change will make a big difference for whale populations now and in the future, just like they will for us.</p><p>\"We need to act now while we still can,\" she says.</p><p>\"Acting on climate change now is good for whales but also for all of us.\"</p>','2022-03-22 12:12:58.067939','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of New South Wales','Baleen plates -- the signature bristle-like apparatus toothless whales use to feed -- reveal how these large aquatic mammals adapt to environmental changes over time.\n',1,73,'<li>Adelaide V. Dedden and Tracey L. Rogers. <strong>Stable Isotope Oscillations in Whale Baleen Are Linked to Climate Cycles, Which May Reflect Changes in Feeding for Humpback and Southern Right Whales in the Southern Hemisphere</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.832075\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fmars.2022.832075</a>\n</li>');
INSERT INTO `news_news` VALUES (1457,'Study shows effectiveness of pill form of remdesivir to treat COVID-19 in mice','study-shows-effectiveness-of-pill-form-of-remdesivir-to-treat-covid-19-in-mice','2022-03-22 18:47:27.654205',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are testing a new route for remdesivir, a pill form of the COVID-19 treatment that\'s given to half of all hospitalized patients with the disease.</p><p>In <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, researchers describe laboratory tests that show a modification of remdesivir was as effective as molnupiravir, another oral antiviral, at reducing disease in mice. Further, the new drug compound can be adapted into a pill designed to halt coronaviruses before they multiply and cause severe disease.</p><p>The current form of remdesivir must be given intravenously. But an oral version could extend its reach and benefits to patients outside of the hospital, said senior study author Timothy Sheahan, a virologist at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.</p><p>\"Oral antiviral medications have the potential to shorten the duration of disease, potentially diminish transmission and prevent hospitalization if taken early enough,\" Sheahan said.</p><p>Remdesivir works by blocking the machinery the virus needs to make copies of itself and spread throughout the body.</p><p>The compound tested at UNC-Chapel Hill is a prodrug named GS-621763 which can quickly turn into remdesivir inside the body. It was most protective against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but was also very effective against MERS-CoV, a related virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.</p><p>\"We saw protective effects, like reduced lung damage, viral load in the lungs, and improved lung function in infected mice, when we administered the drug at 12 hours or even at 24 hours after infection in mice,\" said lead study author Alexandra Schäfer, assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.</p><p>In early 2020, UNC-Chapel Hill virologist Ralph Baric and Gilead Sciences Inc. identified remdesivir as a potential COVID-19 treatment. For nearly two years, remdesivir has been used in hospitals to treat very sick patients with COVID-19.</p><p>While the drug has shown mixed results in clinical studies, it\'s been surprisingly effective in treating patients early in the disease.</p><p>The results of using remdesivir early in the course of disease in outpatients were dramatic. A three-day course resulted in an 87% lower risk of hospitalization and death.</p><p>Additional study is needed of the compound\'s safety and effectiveness, but the new study opens the door for remdesivir to take a place among the growing number of oral COVID-19 treatment options.</p><p>\"Oral drugs that can be formulated as pills have potential to make a big impact on reducing the disease burden caused the COVID pandemic,\" said David R. Martinez, a viral immunologist and postdoctoral researcher at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. \"People can safely take a round of pills at home while in isolation, and reduce community spread.\"</p><p>The National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory helped fund the study conducted with scientists at Gilead Sciences Inc.</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:27.654205','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill','Scientists are testing a new route for remdesivir, a pill form of the COVID-19 treatment that\'s given to half of all hospitalized patients with the disease.\n',1,108,'<li>Alexandra Schäfer, David R. Martinez, John J. Won, Rita M. Meganck, Fernando R. Moreira, Ariane J. Brown, Kendra L. Gully, Mark R. Zweigart, William S. Conrad, Samantha R. May, Stephanie Dong, Rao Kalla, Kwon Chun, Venice Du Pont, Darius Babusis, Jennifer Tang, Eisuke Murakami, Raju Subramanian, Kimberly T. Barrett, Blake J. Bleier, Roy Bannister, Joy Y. Feng, John P. Bilello, Tomas Cihlar, Richard L. Mackman, Stephanie A. Montgomery, Ralph S. Baric, Timothy P. Sheahan. <strong>Therapeutic treatment with an oral prodrug of the remdesivir parental nucleoside is protective against SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in mice</strong>. <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abm3410\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/scitranslmed.abm3410</a>\n</li>'),(1458,'Kids with rare autoimmune disease show these symptoms before blood clots','kids-with-rare-autoimmune-disease-show-these-symptoms-before-blood-clots','2022-03-22 18:47:39.549831',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is rare in children and known to cause inflammation and recurring, potentially fatal, blood clots. Researchers found that two-thirds of children with the autoimmune disease experienced additional symptoms not formally associated with APS, including low platelet counts, hemolytic anemia and livedo reticularis, a rash indicating abnormal blood flow to the skin. Investigators say the findings underscore the importance of creating pediatric-specific criteria for the diagnosis of APS.</p><p>Each year, around two of every 100,000 American adults receive a new diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome, or APS, an autoimmune disease known to cause inflammation and recurring, potentially fatal, blood clots. The number of children with APS is likely much smaller but unknown -- and for kids with the disease, it\'s often not identified until destructive clotting has already occurred.</p><p>To find common features of pediatric APS, researchers at University of Michigan Health, Michigan Medicine, reviewed hundreds of potential cases from the last 20 years, which only amounted to 21 children with a definite diagnosis.</p><p>They found that two-thirds of the children experienced additional symptoms not formally associated with antiphospholipid syndrome in adults, including low platelet counts, hemolytic anemia and livedo reticularis, a rash indicating abnormal blood flow to the skin. The results are published in <em>Pediatric Rheumatology.</em></p><p>\"Beyond clots, there is not one definitive feature of this rare disease in children; rather, there is a constellation of symptoms we found among these patients,\" said Jacqueline Madison, M.D., lead author of the paper and a rheumatologist at University of Michigan Health. \"If we can prove these symptoms are related to the condition, then physicians should be able to test for APS sooner and diagnose the disease earlier to prevent potentially catastrophic clots.\"</p><p>Nearly half of the children suffered recurrent blood clots, many of them not taking full-dose anti-coagulants. Researchers believe this may have occurred because the patients were either not adhering to treatment or were only prescribed smaller, preventative doses.</p><p>\"We found that some children with APS develop significant damage to their bodies from the disease over time, too, and it will be important to try to prevent that damage going forward,\" Madison said.</p><p>Almost half of the patients were first diagnosed with lupus, another autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own immune system, before receiving an APS diagnosis. Lupus is a lot more common among children than APS, Madison says, and rheumatologists need to be educated to test for antiphospholipid syndrome after making a lupus diagnosis.</p><p>\"These findings underscore the importance of creating pediatric-specific criteria for the diagnosis of APS,\" said Madison, who is also an assistant professor of rheumatology at University of Michigan Medical School. \"We have already started a prospective study of this young patient population to better understand how the disease presents in the earliest stages and to try to find even better diagnostic markers in the blood. These are major steps towards limiting blood clots and potential hospitalizations or deaths due to APS in kids.\"</p><p>Additional authors include Kelsey Gockman, B.S., Claire Hoy, B.S., Ajay Tambralli, M.D., Yu Zuo, M.D., MSCS, Jason Knight, M.D., Ph.D.</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:39.549831','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan','Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is rare in children and known to cause inflammation and recurring, potentially fatal, blood clots. Researchers found that two-thirds of children with the autoimmune disease experienced additional symptoms not formally associated with APS, including low platelet counts, hemolytic anemia and livedo reticularis, a rash indicating abnormal blood flow to the skin. Investigators say the findings underscore the importance of creating pediatric-specific criteria for the diagnosis of APS.\n',1,105,'<li>Jacqueline A. Madison, Kelsey Gockman, Claire Hoy, Ajay Tambralli, Yu Zuo, Jason S. Knight. <strong>Pediatric antiphospholipid syndrome: clinical features and therapeutic interventions in a single center retrospective case series</strong>. <em>Pediatric Rheumatology</em>, 2022; 20 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12969-022-00677-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s12969-022-00677-8</a>\n</li>'),(1459,'100g of cranberries a day improves cardiovascular health, study finds','100g-of-cranberries-a-day-improves-cardiovascular-health,-study-finds','2022-03-22 18:47:45.493597',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new clinical trial found daily consumption of cranberries for one month improved cardiovascular function in healthy men.</p><p>The new study, published today in <em>Food &amp; Function</em>, included 45 healthy men who consumed whole cranberry powder equivalent to 100g of fresh cranberries per day (9 g powder) or a placebo for one month. Those consuming cranberry had a significant improvement in flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which signals improvement of heart and blood vessel function. FMD is considered a sensitive biomarker of cardiovascular disease risk and measures how blood vessels widen when blood flow increases.</p><p>Dr. Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King\'s College London and senior author of the study, said: \"The increases in polyphenols and metabolites in the bloodstream and the related improvements in flow-mediated dilation after cranberry consumption emphasise the important role cranberries may play in cardiovascular disease prevention. The fact that these improvements in cardiovascular health were seen with an amount of cranberries that can be reasonably consumed daily makes cranberry an important fruit in the prevention of cardiovascular disease for the general public.\"</p><p>Low consumption of fruits and vegetables is one of the top modifiable risk factors associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Growing evidence continues to link the polyphenols from berries with heart health benefits. Cranberries are rich in unique proanthocyanidins that have distinct properties compared to polyphenols found in other fruits.</p><p>This study explored whole cranberry freeze-dried powder, equivalent to 100g of fresh cranberries, and its impact on cardiovascular health. The results demonstrated that consumption of cranberries as part of a healthy diet can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by improving blood vessel function.</p><p>An initial pilot study was completed with five healthy young men to confirm the biological activity of the whole cranberry freeze-dried powder. The pilot concluded that cranberry consumption increased FMD and confirmed dosing. The main study was a gold standard study design examining 45 healthy men each consuming two packets of whole cranberry freeze-dried powder equivalent to 100g of fresh cranberries, or a placebo, daily for one month. The study found significant improvements in FMD two hours after first consumption and after one month of daily consumption showing both immediate and chronic benefit. In addition, metabolites were also identified and predicted the positive effects seen in FMD. These results conclude that cranberries can play an important role in supporting cardiovascular health and good blood vessel function.</p><p>Dr. Christian Heiss, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Surrey and co-author of the study said: \"Our findings provide solid evidence that cranberries can significantly affect vascular health even in people with low cardiovascular risk. This study further indicates that specific metabolites present in blood after cranberry consumption are related to the beneficial effects.\"</p><p>The study was supported by The Cranberry Institute, the Research Committee of the Medical Faculty of Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf and a Susanne Bunnenberg Heart Foundation grant to Dusseldorf Heart Centre.</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:45.493597','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'King\'s College London','A new clinical trial found daily consumption of cranberries for one month improved cardiovascular function in healthy men.\n',1,150,'<li>Christian  Heiss , Geoffrey  Istas , Rodrigo Feliciano, Timon Weber, Brian  Wang , Claudia Favari, Pedro Mena, Daniele Del Rio, Ana Rodriguez-Mateos. <strong>Daily consumption of cranberry improves endothelial function in healthy adults: a double blind randomized controlled trial</strong>. <em>Food &amp; Function</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D2FO00080F\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1039/D2FO00080F</a>\n</li>'),(1460,'Team identifies compound with potent antiseizure effects','team-identifies-compound-with-potent-antiseizure-effects','2022-03-22 18:47:47.901731',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe -- the most common type of epilepsy -- discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice.</p><p>The scientists report their findings in the journal <em>Epilepsia.</em></p><p>\"We found that TC-2153 ultimately reduces seizure severity in mice by decreasing the activity of hippocampal neurons,\" said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign doctoral candidate Jennifer Walters, who led the research with U. of I. molecular and integrative physiology professor Hee Jung Chung.</p><p>\"In most temporal lobe epilepsy, the seizures start in the medial temporal lobe, which includes the hippocampus,\" Chung said. \"And 60% or more of patients who have medial temporal lobe epilepsy develop drug-resistant seizures, which correlate with the extent of neuronal death and inflammation in the hippocampus.\"</p><p>The hippocampus plays a central role in learning and memory, so anything that damages it can have devastating consequences for the individual, she said.</p><p>The strength of synaptic communication between neurons and the excitability of individual neurons can affect the likelihood that seizures occur, Chung said.</p><p>The finding that TC-2153 lessened the occurrence of seizures was a surprise, the researchers said, because it is known primarily as an inhibitor of a brain-specific protein called STEP that reduces the strength of synaptic communication between neurons.</p><p>\"We hypothesized that seizure activity would increase when we used TC-2153 because STEP inhibition would increase synaptic communication,\" Walters said. \"But we found that it actually reduced seizure severity in both male and female mice.\"</p><p>The female mice responded more to treatment with the compound than the males did. To determine whether TC-2153 interacted with sex hormones, the team repeated the experiment in female mice that had their ovaries removed.</p><p>\"That completely abolished the effect from the TC-2153,\" Walters said. \"Therefore, female sex hormones play a role in its efficacy.\" This finding may be relevant to sex differences seen in temporal lobe epilepsy, she said.</p><p>Follow-up experiments in mouse brains and in neuronal culture revealed a possible mechanism by which TC-2153 decreases seizure severity. The team found that the compound reduced the excitability of individual neurons, suggesting a novel function of STEP, Chung said.</p><p>\"TC-2153 is a STEP inhibitor,\" she said. \"So far, STEP has been known as a negative regulator of neuronal communication but was never implicated in regulating the excitability of individual neurons.\"</p><p>Further studies will explore how TC-2153 works and will test its effects in human neurons, the researchers said.</p><p>Chung is also a faculty affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois.</p><p>The National Institutes of Health, University of Illinois Campus Research Board and Carle Illinois Collaborative supported this research.</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:47.901731','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau','Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe -- the most common type of epilepsy -- discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice.\n',1,27,'<li>Jennifer M. Walters, Eung Chang Kim, Jiaren Zhang, Han Gil Jeong, Archit Bajaj, Brian C. Baculis, Gregory C. Tracy, Baher Ibrahim, Catherine A. Christian‐Hinman, Daniel A. Llano, Graham R. Huesmann, Hee Jung Chung. <strong>Pharmacological inhibition of STriatal‐Enriched protein tyrosine Phosphatase by TC‐2153 reduces hippocampal excitability and seizure propensity</strong>. <em>Epilepsia</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/epi.17192\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/epi.17192</a>\n</li>'),(1461,'Switching social identities happens seamlessly','switching-social-identities-happens-seamlessly','2022-03-22 18:47:51.370708',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People can switch seamlessly between different social identities, new research shows.</p><p>Each person has multiple social identities, such as: employee, parent, young person, friend or even fan of a particular sports team.</p><p>Previous research has shown that frequently switching task tends to result in lower performance: longer completion times and reduced accuracy.</p><p>The new study by the University of Exeter finds that identity switching may pose less difficulty.</p><p>\"Our lives have sped up a lot in recent years and decades, so we have to switch more often between different identities,\" said Anna Zinn, of the University of Exeter.</p><p>\"Due to the pandemic, many more people now work from home -- so they no longer have the slow switch of a commute separating home from work.</p><p>\"Our research aimed to find whether rapidly activating different identities comes with a cost.</p><p>\"We were surprised to find that these switches are extremely effective -- people can switch quite rapidly with no apparent difficulty.\"</p><p>The researchers note, however, that this ability might come with a downside.</p><p>\"We might have little control over these switches,\" Zinn explained.</p><p>\"For someone working from home, it may be important to stay in a professional identity -- but our findings suggest you could easily be drawn away from it.</p><p>\"The next stage of our research is to examine these possible drawbacks, and whether steps such as having a dedicated workspace at home can limit them.\"</p><p>The researchers conducted several studies using the \"Implicit Association Test,\" in which participants have to quickly sort words and images into categories.</p><p>Using this method, participants were made to think about a certain identity -- for example, the researchers encouraged them to think of themselves as \"young people\" by asking them to sort images of faces by age.</p><p>It was then possible to make people switch to a different identity -- or at other times stay in the same identity -- to observe the effects.</p><p>One study also created a new \"minimal group\" identity, by asking participants to remember images of people\'s faces as members of a newly formed group (the participant was encouraged to think of these people and themselves as part of the \"blue group\").</p><p>Switching between this new identity and existing identities was also seamless.</p><p>The study, carried out by a team including Lancaster University, was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:51.370708','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Exeter','People can switch seamlessly between different social identities, new research shows. Each person has multiple social identities, such as: employee, parent, young person, friend or even fan of a particular sports team.\n',1,27,'<li>Anna K. Zinn, Aureliu Lavric, Mark Levine, Miriam Koschate. <strong>Social identity switching: How effective is it?</strong> <em>Journal of Experimental Social Psychology</em>, 2022; 101: 104309 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104309\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104309</a>\n</li>'),(1462,'Study identifies new protection mechanism in breast cancer','study-identifies-new-protection-mechanism-in-breast-cancer','2022-03-22 18:47:53.654083',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a protein that protects against breast tumour growth and that can be linked to a better prognosis in breast cancer patients. The results, which are published in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>, may contribute to the development of new therapies for difficult-to-treat forms of breast cancer.</p><p>Breast cancer affects about 10 per cent of women during their lifetime and is a major medical and societal burden. Fewer treatment options are available for ER-negative breast cancers, which lack oestrogen receptors (ER) and thus do not respond to hormone therapy. Particularly difficult to treat are so-called triple-negative breast cancers, which lack not only ER but also the progesterone receptor and HER2 receptor.</p><p>\"Identification of new molecular mechanisms that regulate the growth of ER-negative breast cancer is warranted, as these mechanisms may represent novel therapeutic targets,\" says Per Uhlén, professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet.</p><p>Professor Uhlén and colleagues have identified a novel mechanism by which the ubiquitous protein GIT1 regulates so-called Notch signalling, affecting the initiation and growth of ER-negative breast cancer.</p><p><strong>Associated with better prognosis</strong></p><p>Studies of tumour cells from breast cancer patients showed that high levels of GIT1 inhibited Notch signalling and protected against tumour growth, while low levels of GIT1 enhanced tumour growth. ER-negative breast tumours from patients had lower levels of GIT1 than ER-positive breast tumours. The results also showed that ER-negative breast cancer patients with high levels of GIT1 have a better prognosis than those with low levels.</p><p>Notch signalling is an evolutionarily conserved cell-cell communication mechanism that has been shown to regulate cell fate decisions in most organs of the body and at different steps during cell development. Overactive Notch signalling in breast cancer patients has previously been linked to a worse prognosis.</p><p>\"Our results provide important information about a mechanism that controls the initiation and growth of breast tumours,\" says Professor Uhlén. \"We hope that these findings will inform the development of new therapies for patients with difficult-to-treat breast cancer.\"</p><p><strong>Collaboration with the clinic</strong></p><p>His research group is actively collaborating with clinicians treating patients with cancer to focus on research topics that are crucial for the treatment of patients.</p><p>\"We want to conduct research that can benefit patients with severe diseases,\" says Professor Uhlén. \"At Karolinska Institutet, we have state-of-the-art tools and equipment that can push the development of new therapies.\"</p><p>The research was carried out at Karolinska Institutet with funding from, among others, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society and the Wallenberg Academy Fellow grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The authors declare no competing interests.</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:53.654083','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Karolinska Institutet','Researchers have identified a protein that protects against breast tumor growth and that can be linked to a better prognosis in breast cancer patients. The results may contribute to the development of new therapies for difficult-to-treat forms of breast cancer.\n',1,35,'<li>Songbai Zhang, Ayako Miyakawa, Malin Wickström, Cecilia Dyberg, Lauri Louhivuori, Manuel Varas-Godoy, Kati Kemppainen, Shigeaki Kanatani, Dagmara Kaczynska, Ivar Dehnisch Ellström, Lotta Elfman, Pauliina Kronqvist, Heli Repo, Katsuhiko Mikoshiba, Cecilia Sahlgren, John Inge Johnsen, Per Uhlén. <strong>GIT1 protects against breast cancer growth through negative regulation of Notch</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28631-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28631-y</a>\n</li>'),(1463,'Qubits: Developing long-distance quantum telecommunications networks','qubits:-developing-long-distance-quantum-telecommunications-networks','2022-03-22 18:47:58.708028',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Computers, smartphones, GPS: quantum physics has enabled many technological advances. It is now opening up new fields of research in cryptography (the art of coding messages) with the aim of developing ultra-secure telecommunications networks. There is one obstacle, however: after a few hundred kilometers within an optical fiber, the photons that carry the qubits or \'quantum bits\' (the information) disappear. They therefore need \'repeaters\', a kind of \'relay\', which are partly based on a quantum memory. By managing to store a qubit in a crystal (a \"memory\") for 20 milliseconds, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has set a world record and taken a major step towards the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications networks. This research can be found in the journal <em>npj Quantum Information</em>.</p><p>Developed during the 20th century, quantum physics has enabled scientists to describe the behavior of atoms and particles as well as certain properties of electromagnetic radiation. By breaking with classical physics, these theories generated a real revolution and introduced notions without equivalent in the macroscopic world such as superposition, which describes the possibility for a particle to be in several places at once, or entanglement, which describes the ability of two particles to affect each other instantaneously even at a distance (\'spooky action at a distance\').</p><p>Quantum theories are now at the heart of much research in cryptography, a discipline that brings together techniques for encoding a message. Quantum theories make it possible to guarantee perfect authenticity and confidentiality for information (a qubit) when it is transmitted between two interlocutors by a particle of light (a photon) within an optical fiber. The phenomenon of superposition let the sender know immediately whether the photon conveying the message has been intercepted.</p><p><strong>Memorizing the signal</strong></p><p>However, there is a major obstacle to the development of long-distance quantum telecommunication systems: beyond a few hundred kilometers, the photons are lost and the signal disappears. Since the signal cannot be copied or amplified -- it would lose the quantum state that guarantees its confidentiality -- the challenge is to find a way of repeating it without altering it by creating \'repeaters\' based, in particular, on a quantum memory.</p><p>In 2015, the team led by Mikael Afzelius, a senior lecturer in the Department of Applied Physics at the Faculty of Science of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), succeeded in storing a qubit carried by a photon for 0.5 milliseconds in a crystal (a \'memory\'). This process allowed the photon to transfer its quantum state to the atoms of the crystal before disappearing. However, the phenomenon did not last long enough to allow the construction of a larger network of memories, a prerequisite for the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications.</p><p><strong>Storage record</strong></p><p>Today, within the framework of the European Quantum Flagship program, Mikael Afzelius\' team has managed to increase this duration significantly by storing a qubit for 20 milliseconds. \"This is a world record for a quantum memory based on a solid-state system, in this case a crystal. We have even managed to reach the 100 millisecond mark with a small loss of fidelity,\" enthuses the researcher. As in their previous work, the UNIGE scientists used crystals doped with certain metals called \'rare earths\' (europium in this case), capable of absorbing light and then re-emitting it. These crystals were kept at -273,15°C (absolute zero), because beyond 10°C above this temperature, the thermal agitation of the crystal destroys the entanglement of the atoms.</p><p>\"We applied a small magnetic field of one thousandth of a Tesla to the crystal and used dynamic decoupling methods, which consist in sending intense radio frequencies to the crystal. The effect of these techniques is to decouple the rare-earth ions from perturbations of the environment and increase the storage performance we have known until now by almost a factor of 40,\" explains Antonio Ortu, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Applied Physics at UNIGE. The results of this research constitute a major advance for the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications networks. They also bring the storage of a quantum state carried by a photon to a time scale that can be estimated by humans.</p><p><strong>An efficient system in ten years</strong></p><p>However, there are still several challenges to be met. \"The challenge now is to extend the storage time further. In theory, it would be enough to increase the duration of exposure of the crystal to radio frequencies, but for the time being, technical obstacles to their implementation over a longer period of time prevent us from going beyond 100 milliseconds. However, it is certain that these technical difficulties can be resolved,\" says Mikael Afzelius.</p><p>The scientists will also have to find ways of designing memories capable of storing more than a single photon at a time, and thus of having \'entangled\' photons which will guarantee confidentiality. \"The aim is to develop a system that performs well on all these points and that can be marketed within ten years,\" concludes the researcher.</p>','2022-03-22 18:47:58.708028','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Université de Genève','Computers, smartphones, GPS: quantum physics has enabled many technological advances. It is now opening up new fields of research in cryptography (the art of coding messages) with the aim of developing ultra-secure telecommunications networks. There is one obstacle, however: after a few hundred kilometers within an optical fiber, the photons that carry the qubits or \'quantum bits\' (the information) disappear. They therefore need \'repeaters\', a kind of \'relay\', which are partly based on a quantum memory. By managing to store a qubit in a crystal (a \'memory\') for 20 milliseconds, a team has now taken a major step towards the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications networks.\n',1,68,'<li>Antonio Ortu, Adrian Holzäpfel, Jean Etesse, Mikael Afzelius. <strong>Storage of photonic time-bin qubits for up to 20 ms in a rare-earth doped crystal</strong>. <em>npj Quantum Information</em>, 2022; 8 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41534-022-00541-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41534-022-00541-3</a>\n</li>'),(1464,'Things are heating up for superconductors','things-are-heating-up-for-superconductors','2022-03-22 18:48:03.675985',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at Linköping University have, by way of a number of theoretical calculations, shown that magnesium diboride becomes superconductive at a higher temperature when it is stretched. The discovery is a big step toward finding superconductive materials that are useful in real-world situations.</p><p>\"Magnesiumdiboride or MgB2 is an interesting material. It\'s a hard material that is used for instance in aircraft production and normally it becomes superconductive at a relatively high temperature, 39 K, or -234 C°,\" says Erik Johansson, who recently completed his doctorate at the Division of Theoretical Physics.</p><p>Erik Johansson is also principal author of an article published in the Journal of Applied Physics that have attracted broad attention. The results have been identified by the editor as particularly important for the future.</p><p>\"Magnesium boride has an uncomplicated structure which means that the calculations on the supercomputers here at the National Supercomputer Centre in Linköping can focus on complex phenomena like superconductivity,\" he says.</p><p>Access to renewable energy is fundamental for a sustainable world, but even renewable energy disappears in the form of losses during transmission in the electrical networks. These losses are due to the fact that even materials that are good conductors have a certain resistance, resulting in losses in the form of heat. For this reason, scientists worldwide are trying to find materials that are superconductive, that is, that conduct electricity with no losses at all. Such materials exist, but superconductivity mostly arises very close to absolute 0, i.e. 0 K or -273,15 °C. Many years of research have resulted in complicated new materials with a maximum critical temperature of maybe 200 K, that is, -73 °C. At temperatures under the critical temperature, the materials become superconductive. Research has also shown that superconductivity can be achieved in certain metallic materials at extremely high pressure.</p><p>If the scientists are successful in increasing the critical temperature, there will be greater opportunities to use the phenomenon of superconductivity in practical applications.</p><p>\"The main goal is to find a material that is superconductive at normal pressure and room temperature. The beauty of our study is that we present a smart way of increasing the critical temperature without having to use massively high pressure, and without using complicated structures or sensitive materials. Magnesium diboride behaves in the opposite way to many other materials, where high pressure increases the ability to superconduct. Instead, here we can stretch the material by a few per cent and get a huge increase in the critical temperature,\" says Erik Johansson.</p><p>In the nanoscale, the atoms vibrate even in really hard and solid materials. In the scientists\' calculations of magnesium diboride, it emerges that when the material is stretched, the atoms are pulled away from each other and the frequency of the vibrations changes. This means that in this material, the critical temperature increases -- in one case from 39 K to 77 K. If magnesium diboride is instead subjected to high pressure, its superconductivity decreases.</p><p>The discovery of this phenomenon paves the way for calculations and tests of other similar materials or material combinations that can increase the critical temperature further.</p><p>\"One possibility could be to mix magnesium diboride with another metal diboride, creating a nanolabyrinth of stretched MgB2 with a high superconductive temperature,\" says Björn Alling, docent and senior lecturer at the Division of Theoretical Physics and director of the National Supercomputer Centre at Linköping University.</p><p>The research has been funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, among others. It has been conducted with support from the government\'s strategic venture, Advanced Functional Materials, AFM, at Linköping University.</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:03.675985','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Linköping University','Researchers have, by way of a number of theoretical calculations, shown that magnesium diboride becomes superconductive at a higher temperature when it is stretched. The discovery is a big step toward finding superconductive materials that are useful in real-world situations.\n',1,25,'<li>Erik Johansson, Ferenc Tasnádi, Annop Ektarawong, Johanna Rosen, Björn Alling. <strong>The effect of strain and pressure on the electron-phonon coupling and superconductivity in MgB2—Benchmark of theoretical methodologies and outlook for nanostructure design</strong>. <em>Journal of Applied Physics</em>, 2022; 131 (6): 063902 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0078765\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1063/5.0078765</a>\n</li>'),(1465,'Novel quantum sensing possibilities with nonlinear optics','novel-quantum-sensing-possibilities-with-nonlinear-optics','2022-03-22 18:48:13.253059',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists from the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of Tsukuba have developed a method for monitoring the temperature using the naturally occurring atom-like defects in diamonds. They found that increased heat led to reduced intensity of the nonlinear harmonic generation of light. This work may lead to highly accurate nano-sized thermometers.</p><p>Nanotechnology is playing an increasingly important role in new devices, and the ability to measure temperatures at small scales grows ever more vital. Conventional thermometers are often too large or not practical for many applications that involve length scales smaller than a few hundred nanometers. Thus, new approaches are needed for tiny, non-contact temperature sensors.</p><p>Now, a team of researchers from the University of Tsukuba and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have taken advantage of the nonlinear optical properties of a particular kind of defect in diamonds which are made of carbon atoms arranged in a diamond cubic lattice. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects are naturally occurring flaws in diamonds in which two adjacent carbon atoms have been replaced by a nitrogen atom and a hole. They have attracted a great deal of attention because they are easy to obtain and have unusual quantum and nonlinear optical properties. Among them is the ability to combine two or even three photons together into a single high-energy photon in a process called harmonic generation.</p><p>Using infrared ultrashort pulse laser stimulation, the team found that the harmonic generation decreased with temperature over the range of 20-300°C. \"This study presents an efficient and viable way for creating diamond-based nonlinear optical temperature sensing,\" first author Dr. Aizitiaili Abulikemu says. This temperature-dependent change was explained by mismatch due to the speed of different colors of light in the diamond. That is, as the atomic lattice heats up, the difference in the index of refraction between the original light and the higher energy light created by harmonic generation grows larger, which decreases the efficiency of harmonic generation.</p><p>\"Diamonds can be processed into a tiny tip for a probe as part of a nanometer-scale temperature sensor,\" senior author Professor Muneaki Hase says. Future applications might even include a thermometer small enough to find inside a living cell, which could be detected remotely with a laser.</p><p>Funding: This research received funding from the Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology program of the Japan Science and Technology (Grant Number: JPMJCR1875).</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:13.253059','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Tsukuba','Researchers used the nonlinear optical response of atom-like defects in a diamond to build a tiny thermometer. This research may lead to temperature sensors that can work inside living cells and other nanoscale applications.\n',1,97,'<li>Aizitiaili Abulikemu, Yuta Kainuma, Toshu An, Muneaki Hase. <strong>Temperature-dependent second-harmonic generation from color centers in diamond</strong>. <em>Optics Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.455437\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1364/OL.455437</a>\n</li>'),(1466,'Tomographic measurement of dielectric tensors?','tomographic-measurement-of-dielectric-tensors?','2022-03-22 18:48:15.897433',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A research team reported the direct measurement of dielectric tensors of anisotropic structures including the spatial variations of principal refractive indices and directors. The group also demonstrated quantitative tomographic measurements of various nematic liquid-crystal structures and their fast 3D nonequilibrium dynamics using a 3D label-free tomographic method. The method was described in <em>Nature Materials</em>.</p><p>Light-matter interactions are described by the dielectric tensor. Despite their importance in basic science and applications, it has not been possible to measure 3D dielectric tensors directly. The main challenge was due to the vectorial nature of light scattering from a 3D anisotropic structure. Previous approaches only addressed 3D anisotropic information indirectly and were limited to two-dimensional, qualitative, strict sample conditions or assumptions.</p><p>The research team developed a method enabling the tomographic reconstruction of 3D dielectric tensors without any preparation or assumptions. A sample is illuminated with a laser beam with various angles and circularly polarization states. Then, the light fields scattered from a sample are holographically measured and converted into vectorial diffraction components. Finally, by inversely solving a vectorial wave equation, the 3D dielectric tensor is reconstructed.</p><p>Professor YongKeun Park said, \"There were a greater number of unknowns in direct measuring than with the conventional approach. We applied our approach to measure additional holographic images by slightly tilting the incident angle.\"</p><p>He said that the slightly tilted illumination provides an additional orthogonal polarization, which makes the underdetermined problem become the determined problem. \"Although scattered fields are dependent on the illumination angle, the Fourier differentiation theorem enables the extraction of the same dielectric tensor for the slightly tilted illumination,\" Professor Park added.</p><p>His team\'s method was validated by reconstructing well-known liquid crystal (LC) structures, including the twisted nematic, hybrid aligned nematic, radial, and bipolar configurations. Furthermore, the research team demonstrated the experimental measurements of the non-equilibrium dynamics of annihilating, nucleating, and merging LC droplets, and the LC polymer network with repeating 3D topological defects.</p><p>\"This is the first experimental measurement of non-equilibrium dynamics and 3D topological defects in LC structures in a label-free manner. Our method enables the exploration of inaccessible nematic structures and interactions in non-equilibrium dynamics,\" first author Dr. Seungwoo Shin explained.</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:15.897433','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)','A research team reported the direct measurement of dielectric tensors of anisotropic structures including the spatial variations of principal refractive indices and directors. The group also demonstrated quantitative tomographic measurements of various nematic liquid-crystal structures and their fast 3D nonequilibrium dynamics using a 3D label-free tomographic method.\n',1,97,'<li>Seungwoo Shin, Jonghee Eun, Sang Seok Lee, Changjae Lee, Herve Hugonnet, Dong Ki Yoon, Shin-Hyun Kim, Joonwoo Jeong, YongKeun Park. <strong>Tomographic measurement of dielectric tensors at optical frequency</strong>. <em>Nature Materials</em>, 2022; 21 (3): 317 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01202-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41563-022-01202-8</a>\n</li>'),(1467,'Agricultural expansion a major cause to doubling of annual tropical carbon loss over past two decades','agricultural-expansion-a-major-cause-to-doubling-of-annual-tropical-carbon-loss-over-past-two-decades','2022-03-22 18:48:20.925136',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Using multiple high-resolution satellite datasets, researchers from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) found that tropical carbon loss has doubled over the past two decades due to excessive forest removal in the tropics.</p><p>The tropics are an important ecosystem as they store massive amounts of carbon in their woody vegetation and soil -- but they have suffered from extensive forest clearance since 2001. The researchers analysed the gross forest carbon loss associated with forest removal in the tropics (between 23.5° N and 23.5 S but excluding northern Australia) during the 21st century. They revealed a two-fold increase in gross tropical forest carbon loss worldwide from 0.97 gigatons of carbon per year in 2001-2005 to 1.99 gigatons of carbon per year in 2015-2019 due to rapid forest loss.</p><p>The study has been published in the academic journal <em>Nature Sustainability</em> in an article entitled \"Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century.\"</p><p>Given the key role of the tropics in the carbon cycle, the study poses serious implications. \"The findings are critical because they suggest that existing strategies to reduce forest loss are questionable; this failure underscores the importance of monitoring deforestation trends following one of the new pledges made -- to halt and reverse deforestation -- by UN climate summit-the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021,\" said Professor Ji CHEN from HKU\'s Department of Civil Engineering.</p><p>Tropical forests are the largest terrestrial component of the global carbon cycle, storing about 250 gigatons of biomass carbon in its woody vegetation and absorbing about 70 gigatons of atmospheric carbon per year through photosynthesis. The rapid and steady loss of forests could be devastating because it leads to the loss of stored carbon in biomass and soil. Deforestation also obstructs carbon sequestration or the process of capturing and retaining carbon dioxide.</p><p>\"The doubling and acceleration in the loss of forest carbon, including biomass and soil organic carbon, is primarily driven by agricultural expansion which differs from current estimates of land-use change emissions in the assessments of the global carbon budget that shows a flat or decreasing trend. In addition to carbon, conversion of forests to agricultural lands also induces other environmental consequences, like biodiversity extinction and land degradation,\" said Yu FENG, a PhD candidate of the HKU and SUSTech joint programme.</p><p>Most of the tropical forest carbon loss (82%) was set off by agricultural expansion, for example shifting cultivation, particularly in Africa.</p><p>\"While some agricultural lands may reappear as forested due to abandonment or policies, we still observed about 70% of former forest lands converted to agriculture in 2001-2019 remained so in 2020, confirming a dominant role of agriculture in long-term pan-tropical carbon reductions on formerly forested landscapes,\" said research team member Dr Zhenzhong Zeng, Associate Professor at SUSTech.</p><p>\"The 2014 New York Declaration on Forests promised to halve tropical deforestation by 2020. However, our results demonstrate a failure to the commitment and highlight the colossal challenge posed by the 2021 Glasgow Leaders\' Declaration on Forests and Land Use, which pledges to halt forest loss by 2030,\" said Dr Chunmiao Zheng, Chair Professor at SUSTech and a member of the research team.</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:20.925136','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The University of Hong Kong','Using multiple high-resolution satellite datasets, researchers found that tropical carbon loss has doubled over the past two decades due to excessive forest removal in the tropics. The tropics are an important ecosystem as they store massive amounts of carbon in their woody vegetation and soil -- but they have suffered from extensive forest clearance since 2001. The researchers analyzed the gross forest carbon loss associated with forest removal in the tropics during the 21st century.\n',1,98,'<li>Yu Feng, Zhenzhong Zeng, Timothy D. Searchinger, Alan D. Ziegler, Jie Wu, Dashan Wang, Xinyue He, Paul R. Elsen, Philippe Ciais, Rongrong Xu, Zhilin Guo, Liqing Peng, Yiheng Tao, Dominick V. Spracklen, Joseph Holden, Xiaoping Liu, Yi Zheng, Peng Xu, Ji Chen, Xin Jiang, Xiao-Peng Song, Venkataraman Lakshmi, Eric F. Wood, Chunmiao Zheng. <strong>Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century</strong>. <em>Nature Sustainability</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3</a>\n</li>'),(1468,'Hawaiian-Emperor undersea mystery revealed with supercomputers','hawaiian-emperor-undersea-mystery-revealed-with-supercomputers','2022-03-22 18:48:23.597810',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain spans almost four thousand miles from the Hawaiian Islands to the Detroit Seamount in the north Pacific, an L- shaped chain that goes west then abruptly north. The 60-degree bend in the line of mostly undersea mountains and volcanic islands has puzzled scientists since it was first identified in the 1940s from the data of numerous echo sounding ships.</p><p>A team of scientists have now used supercomputers allocated by the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) to model and reconstruct the dynamics of Pacific tectonic plate motion that might explain the mysterious mountain chain bend.</p><p><strong>Major Findings</strong></p><p>\"We\'ve shown with computer models for the first time how the Pacific plate can abruptly change direction from the north to the west,\" said Michael Gurnis, professor of Geophysics at the California Institute of Technology.</p><p>\"It\'s been a holy grail to figure out why this change happened,\" he said. Gurnis co-authored the study on the origins of the seamount chain that was published in <em>Nature Geoscience</em> in January 2022.</p><p>Besides Gurnis, the team consisted of geoscientists Jiashun Hu, a post-doctoral scholar at Caltech, and Dietmar Mu?ller of Sydney University in Australia and computational scientists Johann Rudi of Argonne National Laboratory and Georg Stadler of New York University.</p><p><strong>Plate Motion Clues</strong></p><p>The plate motion provides a key to understanding how the seamount chain reflects plate motions. Gigantic tectonic plates in Earth\'s crust basically move over the hot, weak rock of the mantle.</p><p>The Pacific Plate is one of the largest. The plate spans about 40 million square miles undersea, outlined by the mountains and volcanos of the \'Ring of Fire\' that are created by the return of the plates to the mantle.</p><p>But the volcanos of Hawaii and the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain weren\'t caused by this process. Instead, scientists theorize that plumes of Earth\'s hottest rock, from its core, travel upward through the mantle to generate a volcanic hotspot. And it\'s theorized that the seamount chain was created by the plate moving over the hot plume, something like a trail of burn marks on a paper moved over a candle.</p><p>About 80 million years ago, the Pacific plate traveled mostly north for about 30 million years, as evidenced by the line of Emperor seamounts. But about 50 million years ago, something odd happened. The Pacific plate apparently changed direction, and the mantle plume also shifted.</p><p>\"Maybe there\'s an underlying physical reason why they would happen simultaneously,\" Gurnis said.</p><p><strong>Prior Gordon Bell Prize</strong></p><p>He pointed to previous work using techniques such as adaptive mesh refinement on the dynamics of mantle convection, computational work that scales well to a large number of CPUs and used the Stampede1 system of TACC and earned the team spearheaded by Johann Rudi the Gordon Bell Prize in 2015.</p><p>\"Moreover, earlier work with Mu?ller, Gurnis and others showed how the physics of plumes could work inside the mantle such that the you could have a plume which rapidly migrated to the south and then stopped at 50 million years ago,\" Gurnis said.</p><p>\"These two studies are complementary because going into the present study, we actually had a model which could explain the motion of the plume to the south and then stop abruptly, but we didn\'t have a model that could explain how the plate could change its direction,\" he added.</p><p>The team\'s computations of the physics of tectonic plates had to account for the faults at their boundaries but yet allow the movement of plates.</p><p><strong>Computational Challenges</strong></p><p>The challenge of getting both of those pieces of physics computed simultaneously meant that they needed computational methods that can handle vast changes in the mechanical properties from one plate to another plate as well as their faults.</p><p>Yet, the traditional ideas of plate motion failed to add up to enough force in the models to pull the Pacific Plate to the west and explain the bend.</p><p>\"We discovered that there was another idea that had existed in the literature, but it wasn\'t getting much attention,\" Gurnis said.</p><p><strong>New Factor</strong></p><p>The new factor accounted for in the study was a subduction zone in the Russian Far East, a Kronotsky arc that terminated at about 50 million years ago. They built new plate tectonic reconstructions with these subduction zones.</p><p>When they put the zones in the models, they discovered that they could make the Pacific plate go to the north. And when that subduction terminated, the Pacific plate started to move to the west, slowly building up other subduction zones that over time provided more force to pull the Pacific plate.</p><p>\"It\'s a new hypothesis that\'s much firmer in terms of the physics which it\'s based upon,\" Gurnis concluded. \"It will allow other scientists to see if it will hold up to further scrutiny and if there are other ideas that can be tested on its assumptions.\"</p><p><strong>Computational Resources</strong></p><p>For the study, Gurnis was awarded access to the Stampede2 supercomputer at TACC through XSEDE funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). He was also awarded access to the NSF-funded Frontera system also at TACC, the most powerful supercomputer in academia and the first phase of the NSF \"Towards a Leadership Class Computing Facility\" program.</p><p>\"Both XSEDE and Frontera are absolutely vital for our research,\" Gurnis said.</p><p>\"This capability computing is essential,\" he added. \"We\'re spinning up projects with this collaboration that will be substantially larger than this, that are going to require something even beyond Frontera to compute.\"</p><p>This basic research aims to investigate mysteries about the dynamics of the past and present Earth.</p><p>\"When you deal with some of the most fundamental processes in the earth, it\'s important to correctly figure out how they work,\" Gurnis said.</p><p><strong>New Directions</strong></p><p>He also highlighted the interplay between domain science and the applied work with computational scientists.</p><p>\"The algorithms we\'ve developed for adaptive mesh refinement can be applied to many pure and applied problems,\" Gurnis added. \"That was a huge breakthrough.\"</p><p>Said Gurnis: \"We now have algorithms which could move us in new directions. I wasn\'t thinking about the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount problem when we started this project. But then, new ideas and capabilities came forward. Suddenly new science questions could emerge. The use of supercomputers essentially allows us to discover and uncover the basic phenomenon which govern some of most important processes shaping the earth.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-22 18:48:23.597810','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center','Kinematic plate reconstructions and high-resolution global dynamic models developed to quantify the amount of Pacific Plate motion change associated with the Hawaiian -- Emperor Bend. Scientists are hopeful this basic research into Pacific Plate motion can be applied to other associated phenomena such as large earthquakes.\n',1,104,'<li>Jiashun Hu, Michael Gurnis, Johann Rudi, Georg Stadler, R. Dietmar Müller. <strong>Dynamics of the abrupt change in Pacific Plate motion around 50 million years ago</strong>. <em>Nature Geoscience</em>, 2021; 15 (1): 74 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00862-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41561-021-00862-6</a>\n</li>'),(1469,'Much more than average, single-cell analysis reveals heterogeneity in metal adsorption','much-more-than-average,-single-cell-analysis-reveals-heterogeneity-in-metal-adsorption','2022-03-22 18:48:28.387005',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Biosorption is the removal of contaminants from a sample by adsorbing them onto the surface of a biological material. It is expected to provide environmental and economic benefits compared with conventional separation techniques. A team of scientists including a researcher from the University of Tsukuba has analyzed the interaction of <em>Galdieria sulphuraria</em> algae with precious metals to better understand the biosorption process. Their findings are published in<em> Journal of Hazardous Materials</em>.</p><p>Precious metals -- including gold, platinum, and palladium -- have been detected in the environment at trace levels and the associated health and ecological risks are not well understood. Removing these metals using standard approaches can be challenging because other contaminant elements with generally higher concentrations -- iron and copper, for example -- provide competition.</p><p>Biosorption is a potential alternative that could also present financial benefits through recycling of the expensive elements. Understanding and optimizing the biosorption of precious metals is therefore an important research area.</p><p>Massive datasets that consider both the sorption efficiency and capacity of the biomaterials have been accumulated. However, so far, the findings have been averaged over the entire cell population and it has not been possible to assess adsorption at the single-cell level.</p><p>Now, the team has combined X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy -- which has been used to analyze the way metals adsorb onto cells -- with single-cell inductively couple plasma mass spectrometry (scICP-MS) to provide the link between the behavior of the cell population and the nature of the interactions between the metals and the cells at the cell surface.</p><p>\"Combining XAFS and scICP-MS, and using low metal concentrations, meant that we could get a really close look at the specific interactions taking place at the cell surface,\" explains lead author Professor Ayumi Minoda. \"We found that the amount of metal adsorbed depended on the metal in question and the acidity of the solution.\"</p><p>In low acidity conditions gold, platinum, and palladium all adsorbed to the cells. The gold was found to interact with sulfur containing groups at the cell surface, whereas platinum and palladium interacted with both sulfur and nitrogen containing groups.</p><p>Interestingly, at high acidity, only gold and palladium adsorbed onto the cells and only through interaction with sulfur. The distribution pattern of the palladium-adsorbing cells -- both the number of cells that adsorbed palladium and the amount of palladium adsorbed -- changed drastically. This is the first report to link such interactions to changes in the behavior of the cell population and clearly demonstrates a differential adsorption mechanism under different environmental conditions.</p><p>\"The insight achieved is expected to contribute to future engineering of cell surfaces to provide enhanced metal adsorption,\" says Professor Minoda. \"Optimizing the performance of biologically-derived precious metal adsorbents is expected to significantly improve the environmental sustainability of metal recycling and remediation.\"</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:28.387005','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Tsukuba','A research team has reported an in-depth analysis of precious metal adsorption onto Galdieria sulphuraria algae. The combination of X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and single-cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry allowed the cell population behavior to be related to chemical interactions that occurred between the metals and the cell surface. The insight is expected to contribute to the development of environmentally friendly cell-derived approaches for metal recycling and wastewater treatment.\n',1,50,'<li>Ayumi Minoda, Shin-ichi Miyashita, Shin-ichiro Fujii, Kazumi Inagaki, Yoshio Takahashi. <strong>Cell population behavior of the unicellular red alga Galdieria sulphuraria during precious metal biosorption</strong>. <em>Journal of Hazardous Materials</em>, 2022; 432: 128576 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128576\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128576</a>\n</li>'),(1470,'Could the asteroid Ryugu be a remnant of an extinct comet? Scientists now answer','could-the-asteroid-ryugu-be-a-remnant-of-an-extinct-comet?-scientists-now-answer','2022-03-22 18:48:31.542726',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Asteroids hold many clues about the formation and evolution of planets and their satellites. Understanding their history can, therefore, reveal much about our solar system. While observations made from a distance using electromagnetic waves and telescopes are useful, analyzing samples retrieved from asteroids can yield much more detail about their characteristics and how they may have formed. An endeavor in this direction was the Hayabusa mission, which, in 2010, returned to Earth after 7 years with samples from the asteroid Itokawa.</p><p>The successor to this mission, called Hayabusa2, was completed near the end of 2020, bringing back material from Asteroid 162173 \"Ryugu,\" along with a collection of images and data gathered remotely from close proximity. While the material samples are still being analyzed, the information obtained remotely has revealed three important features about Ryugu. Firstly, Ryugu is a rubble-pile asteroid composed of small pieces of rock and solid material clumped together by gravity rather than a single, monolithic boulder. Secondly, Ryugu is shaped like a spinning top, likely caused by deformation induced by quick rotation. Third, Ryugu has a remarkably high organic matter content.</p><p>Of these, the third feature raises a question regarding the origin of this asteroid. The current scientific consensus is that Ryugu originated from the debris left by the collision of two larger asteroids. However, this cannot be true if the asteroid is high in organic content (which will confirmed once the analyses of the returned samples are complete). What could, then, be the true origin of Ryugu?</p><p>In a recent effort to answer this question, a research team led by Associate Professor Hitoshi Miura of Nagoya City University, Japan, proposed an alternative explanation backed up by a relatively simple physical model. As explained in their paper published in <em>The Astrophysical Journal Letters</em>, the researchers suggest that Ryugu, as well as similar rubble-pile asteroids, could, in fact, be remnants of extinct comets. This study was carried out in collaboration with Professor Eizo Nakamura and Associate Professor Tak Kunihiro from Okayama University, Japan.</p><p>Comets are small bodies that form on the outer, colder regions of the solar system. They are mainly composed of water ice, with some rocky components (debris) mixed in. If a comet enters the inner solar system -- the space delimited by the asteroid belt \"before\" Jupiter -- heat from the solar radiation causes the ice to sublimate and escape, leaving behind rocky debris that compacts due to gravity and forms a rubble-pile asteroid.</p><p>This process fits all the observed features of Ryugu, as Dr. Miura explains, \"Ice sublimation causes the nucleus of the comet to lose mass and shrink, which increases its speed of rotation. As a result of this spin-up, the cometary nucleus may acquire the rotational speed required for the formation of a spinning-top shape. Additionally, the icy components of comets are thought to contain organic matter generated in the interstellar medium. These organic materials would be deposited on the rocky debris left behind as the ice sublimates.\"</p><p>To test their hypothesis, the research team conducted numerical simulations using a simple physical model to calculate the time it would take for the ice to sublimate and the increase in rotational speed of the resulting asteroid due to it. The results of their analysis suggested that Ryugu has likely spent a few tens of thousands of years as an active comet before moving into the inner asteroid belt, where the high temperatures vaporized its ice and turned it into a rubble-pile asteroid.</p><p>Overall, this study indicates that spinning top-shaped, rubble-pile objects with high organic content, such as Ryugu and Bennu (the target of the OSIRIS-Rex mission) are comet-asteroid transition objects (CATs). \"CATs are small objects that were once active comets but have become extinct and apparently indistinguishable from asteroids,\" explains Dr. Miura. \"Due to their similarities with both comets and asteroids, CATs could provide new insights into our solar system.\"</p><p>Hopefully, detailed compositional analyses of the samples from both Ryugu and Bennu will shed more light on these issues. Make sure to stay tuned!</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-22 18:48:31.542726','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Nagoya City University','The Hayabusa2 mission has recently uncovered information on the physical characteristics of the asteroid \'Ryugu,\' which, according to the conventional theory, forms from a collision between larger asteroids. Now, a study by scientists from Japan suggests that Ryugu is, in fact, an extinct comet. With a simple physical model that fits currently available observations, the study provides a better understanding of comets, asteroids, and the evolution of our solar system.\n',1,44,'<li>Hitoshi Miura, Eizo Nakamura, Tak Kunihiro. <strong>The Asteroid 162173 Ryugu: a Cometary Origin</strong>. <em>The Astrophysical Journal Letters</em>, 2022; 925 (2): L15 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac4bd5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3847/2041-8213/ac4bd5</a>\n</li>'),(1471,'Striking lane-like patterns found in bacteria populations','striking-lane-like-patterns-found-in-bacteria-populations','2022-03-22 18:48:33.530181',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It\'s well understood that populations of species don\'t distribute at random. Rather, as populations grow, individuals are organized around barriers in the landscape. This organization can be seen in, for example, the growth of the cells around the outer layer of plants and how bacteria arrange themselves in microspores in soil. In both these cases, barriers impact the underlying genetic diversity of the populations. These dynamics have been well researched in larger species -- from the way plants disperse to how barnacles spread across a rock, but they have not before been thoroughly studied in smaller systems, like that of bacteria.</p><p>Now, by combining theoretical models and experiments, scientists from the Biological Complexity Unit and the Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have shown that, when constrained to a channel, the bacteria <em>Escherichia coli</em> will form lanes of genetically similar individuals that run parallel to the barriers. This study was published in <em>PNAS</em>.</p><p>\"If populations grow in the presence of spatial barriers, the barriers can constrain the movement of individuals and affect the evolution of a population,\" explained first author Ms. Anzhelika Koldaeva, PhD candidate in the Biological Complexity Unit. \"We found that in a channel, the bacteria tend to align along the barriers and form patterns in their populations. Other biological systems present similar structures -- for example, bacteria in porous soil and cells growing in certain body tissues -- so these findings can have implications for a range of research.\"</p><p><em>Escherichia coli</em>, also known as<em> E. coli</em>, are rod-shaped, single-celled bacteria that are found in many different environments, including the food and intestines of healthy people and animals. <em>E. coli</em> reproduce asexually with a \"mother\" cell splitting apart to create two \"daughter\" cells. To observe the population structure, two strains of <em>E. coli </em>were used, which had different fluorescence -- one was red and the other, green. This way, the researchers could identify which daughter came from which mother. The two strains were the same in terms of size, the length of the reproductive cycle, and other measures of fitness.</p><p>Researchers from the Biological Complexity Unit first developed a model for the dynamics of the colony. They simulated the growth of the populations over several generations with the aim of experimental validations as the next step. Then, the Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit teamed up with them and took on the experimental challenge.</p><p>\"We created a microfluidic platform with a temperature and humidity control, which contained tiny microchannels to house the bacteria,\" explained Prof. Amy Shen, Principle Investigator of the Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit. \"This was very difficult and a lot more complicated than a standard cell experiment. We had to feed bacteria and the system was susceptible to contamination.\"</p><p>This process was so challenging that it took former OIST PhD student Dr. Paul Hsieh-Fu Tsai (now an Assistant Professor at Chang Gung University in Taiwan) almost a year to build a reliable platform for long-term imaging of the bacterial growth. For the experiments, individual bacteria from each strain were placed approximately in the center of the microchannel and videos were recorded over an 80-hour period to observe the patterns that formed. These videos were then analyzed and the growth dynamics from these experiments was compared to the simulations.</p><p>Both the simulations and the experiments confirmed that, within a few generations, in the first 12 hours, the two strains of bacteria started to form the distinctive lane-like patterns.<em> E. coli</em> are elongated and thus aligned themselves parallel to the sides of the microchannel. However, the two different strains did not become mixed but rather, as time went on, they became more segregated into their own lanes.</p><p>Prof. Simone Pigolotti, Principle Investigator of the Biological Complexity Unit, concluded, \"by using a combination of theory and experiments, we found something unexpected in the <em>E. coli </em>system, which is used by a lot of researchers across the world.\"</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:33.530181','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University','Researchers have found that competing strains of Escherichia coli bacteria form distinctive lane-like patterns as their populations grow.\n',1,130,'<li>Anzhelika Koldaeva, Hsieh-Fu Tsai, Amy Q. Shen, Simone Pigolotti. <strong>Population genetics in microchannels</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (12) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120821119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2120821119</a>\n</li>'),(1472,'Blowing bubbles in dough to bake perfect yeast-free pizza','blowing-bubbles-in-dough-to-bake-perfect-yeast-free-pizza','2022-03-22 18:48:38.509605',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In typical breads, yeast produces bubbles via a biochemical process, causing dough to rise and develop into light, airy, and tasty treats. Without that yeast, it is difficult to make morsels with the same characteristic taste and texture. The perfect, yeast-free pizza, as such a food, presents an important challenge for bakers and yeast-intolerant crust enthusiasts across the globe.</p><p>In <em>Physics of Fluids</em>, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of Naples Federico II developed a method to leaven pizza dough without yeast.</p><p>The team, which included its very own professional pizza-maker/graduate student, prepared the dough by mixing water, flour, and salt and placing it in a hot autoclave, an industrial device designed to raise temperature and pressure.</p><p>From there, the process is like the one used to produce carbonation in soda. Gas is dissolved into the dough at high pressure, and bubbles form in the dough as pressure is released during baking. In comparison to other scientific experiments, the pressures involved were mild. They can be obtained by a typical at-home coffee maker.</p><p>However, the scientists-turned-bakers had to be cautious with the pressure release. Compared to soda, pizza dough does not respond as nicely to an abrupt change in pressure.</p><p>\"The key to the process is to design the pressure release rate not to stress the dough, which likes to expand gently,\" said author Ernesto Di Maio.</p><p>The authors evaluated their dough with rheology, which measures the flow and deformation of a material. Fine-tuning the pressure release through rheological analysis made it possible to gently inflate bubbles to the desired extent.</p><p>\"We mainly studied how dough behaves with and without yeast. How the softness changes with leavening, and how the dough responds to a temperature program during baking,\" said author Rossana Pasquino. \"This was fundamental to designing the pressure protocol for the dough without yeast.\"</p><p>After many unofficial taste tests, the researchers are purchasing a larger, food-grade autoclave that will make full-sized pizzas in future experiments. They hope to see their idea used in pizza shops.</p><p>\"We had a lot of fun applying things we know well to delicious polymers, instead of our typical and sometimes boring smelly plastics,\" said Pasquino. \"The idea of approaching food samples with the same technologies and knowledge used for thermoplastic polymers was surprisingly successful!\"</p><p>As a person with a yeast allergy, Di Maio is also excited about applications for other leavened products like bread, cakes, and snacks.</p><p>\"This new technology can drive the development of new products, new dough formulations, and specific recipes for food intolerance, hopefully helping people enjoy healthy and tasty food,\" he said.</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:38.509605','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','Researchers have developed a method to leaven pizza dough without yeast. The team, which included its very own professional pizza-maker/graduate student, prepared the dough by mixing water, flour, and salt and placing it in a hot autoclave, an industrial device designed to raise temperature and pressure. From there, the process is like the one used to produce carbonation in soda. Gas is dissolved into the dough at high pressure, and bubbles form in the dough as pressure is released during baking.\n',1,127,'<li>Pietro Renato Avallone, Paolo Iaccarino, Nino Grizzuti, Rossana Pasquino, Ernesto Di Maio. <strong>Rheology-driven design of pizza gas foaming</strong>. <em>Physics of Fluids</em>, 2022; 34 (3): 033109 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0081038\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1063/5.0081038</a>\n</li>'),(1473,'Bionic wing flaps improve wind energy efficiency','bionic-wing-flaps-improve-wind-energy-efficiency','2022-03-22 18:48:41.544512',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Wind energy relies on efficient wind turbine blades, which act as airfoils, structures akin to an airplane wing. Air flow control accessories similar to those found in aircraft improve the turbine blade\'s aerodynamic performance.</p><p>In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, by AIP Publishing, scientists from China show a bionic approach combining features of a seagull\'s wing with an engineered flow control accessory, known as a Gurney flap, can greatly improve wind turbine performance.</p><p>A Gurney flap is a small tab projecting at right angles from the trailing edge of a wing. Its presence disturbs wind flow patterns and is especially effective at improving performance at low angles of attack. In aerodynamics, the angle of attack is the angle between a line through the center of an aircraft wing and the oncoming flow of air.</p><p>Although Gurney flaps improve performance of airfoils at low attack angles, they are not ideal for large angles of attack. Research has shown although Gurney flaps can significantly improve the performance of wind turbines in some situations, the turbine speed will be reduced.</p><p>Bionic flow control is a relatively new approach that imitates biological flight control systems -- in other words, wings and feathers. The idea comes from the observation that during landing or in a gust of wind, the feathers on the top of a bird\'s wings will pop out, creating a natural flap.</p><p>Computational and experimental studies show bionic feather-inspired flaps can increase lift and delay the onset of stalling at high angles of attack. Despite their advantages, adding bionic flaps can also reduce lift, particularly before a stall sets in. Therefore, the investigators tried an approach combining Gurney flaps with bionic features.</p><p>To achieve the best aerodynamic performance, the scientists simulated the use of the combined flow control accessory in a variety of situations, including high and low angle of attack and pre- and post-stall scenarios. They compared their computational simulations to experimental results for an aircraft wing undergoing a dynamic stall.</p><p>\"The overall trend of the calculated lift curve is in good agreement with the experimental measurement results. Therefore, our simulation accuracy is considered acceptable, because the dynamic stall and its control are notoriously difficult to predict,\" author Xiaomin Liu said.</p><p>The combined flow control accessory effectively improves the lift coefficient of the airfoil according to Liu. \"For angles of attack in the range 16 to 24 degrees, the maximum lift coefficient of the airfoil is increased by 15% when a combination of Gurney flap and bionic flap is used.\"</p>','2022-03-22 18:48:41.544512','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','Scientists show a bionic approach combining features of a seagull\'s wing with an engineered flow control accessory, known as a Gurney flap, can greatly improve wind turbine performance. To achieve the best aerodynamic performance, the scientists simulated the use of the combined flow control accessory in a variety of situations, including high and low angle of attack and pre- and post-stall scenarios. They compared their computational simulations to experimental results for an aircraft wing undergoing a dynamic stall.\n',1,210,'<li>Liming Wu, Xiaomin Liu, Yang Liu, Guang Xi. <strong>Using the combined flow control accessory to the aerodynamic performance enhancement of bio-inspired seagull airfoils</strong>. <em>Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy</em>, 2022; 14 (2): 023302 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0079060\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1063/5.0079060</a>\n</li>'),(1474,'Environmentally conscious consumers more likely to buy chicken raised on insects or algae','environmentally-conscious-consumers-more-likely-to-buy-chicken-raised-on-insects-or-algae','2022-03-22 20:00:28.141628',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Consumers who are environmentally aware will likely warm up to the idea of using alternative proteins like insect meal in poultry feed if they\'re given enough information about the health and environmental benefits, a new University of Alberta study shows.</p><p>Alternative poultry feed can make noticeable differences in the look of the meat -- in this case more intense red and yellow hues -- which makes consumer education important.</p><p>The use of the unusual proteins is still experimental, but when they eventually become commercially viable alternatives, food producers and policy makers need to be ready, said study co-author Sven Anders, an agricultural economist and professor in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life &amp; Environmental Sciences.</p><p>\"Producers need to get the labelling sorted out as these feeds are developed. If you want consumers to believe in these alternative products, you have to educate them about it, then they can decide -- and hopefully we can overcome their rejection,\" he said.</p><p>Anders said there are currently no regulations governing mandatory labelling of feed ingredients in the European Union or any other market, including the United States and Canada, but interest is growing in finding alternative sources of protein for animal feed.</p><p>Soybeans feed the majority of the world\'s livestock but also gobble up massive amounts of arable land and water resources. Insects and algaecan be grown muchmore sustainably. But people won\'t start digesting the idea of insects or algae as part of their food chain if they aren\'t given reliable information up front, Anders added. It\'s a crucial step in getting consumer buy-in.</p><p>In the study, 1,197 German consumers were shown photographs of raw chicken breasts. Some of the chickens had been fed a standard diet of soybean meal. Others had been fed with either insect meal containing blackfly larvae or spirulina, a known dietary supplement made of blue-green algae. The two alternative protein sources produced more intense red and yellow hues in the meat.</p><p>Half of the participants were also given information about the nutritional and environmental benefits associated with each feed. The other half received no such information. Both groups were asked to choose repeatedly among random pairs of chicken products that differed in price, feed diets and labels with information about sustainability and health attributes.</p><p>Although participants\' preferences were mixed, those who were already interested in sustainability and who received information about the insect and algae-fed meat were more inclined to buy it, said Anders. Those environmentally aware consumers were also drawn to package labelling that promoted elevated levels of beneficial omega-3 acids in the alternatively fed chicken samples. When told about the insect meal or spirulina in the chicken, consumers who didn\'t identify as environmentally conscious said they wouldn\'t buy it.</p><p>\"The findings show that providing information is a double-edged sword,\" Anders said. \"It can cause mainstream western consumers to react with disgust around insect- or algae-derived foods.\"</p><p>Package labelling paired with widespread education campaigns would help raise consumer awareness, he suggested.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:28.141628','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Alberta','Eating chicken raised on a diet of bugs or algae may sound downright unappetizing to some, but there are ways to make the idea more palatable to at least one type of food shopper. Consumers who are environmentally aware will likely warm up to the idea of using alternative proteins like insect meal in poultry feed if they\'re given enough information about the health and environmental benefits, a new study shows.\n',1,27,'<li>Brianne A. Altmann, Sven Anders, Antje Risius, Daniel Mörlein. <strong>Information effects on consumer preferences for alternative animal feedstuffs</strong>. <em>Food Policy</em>, 2022; 106: 102192 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102192\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102192</a>\n</li>'),(1475,'First-pass metabolism of alcohol occurs in women\'s stomachs, study finds','first-pass-metabolism-of-alcohol-occurs-in-women\'s-stomachs,-study-finds','2022-03-22 20:00:31.420730',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While scientists have broadly agreed that a fraction of the alcohol people consume is broken down before it reaches the bloodstream in a process called first-pass metabolism, they have been uncertain whether this process occurs in the stomach or the liver.</p><p>Published online in the journal JAMA Network Open, a new study of alcohol metabolism in women who underwent sleeve gastrectomy and peers who had not had weight loss surgery indicates that this process occurs in the stomach.</p><p>In addition to clarifying where FPM occurs, the findings also explain why some patients\' sensitivity to alcohol increases dramatically after bariatric surgery, significantly heightening their risks of alcohol-related disorders.</p><p>A team of researchers led by food science and human nutrition professor M. Yanina Pepino at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign compared alcohol metabolism in 12 sleeve gastrectomy patients with that of nine women of similar ages, body mass indices and drinking habits who had not undergone weight loss surgery.</p><p>Once absorbed, most of the alcohol a person ingests is broken down in the liver by an enzymatic process that is saturable.</p><p>The challenge in identifying the site of FPM was that the stomach could play dual roles, both serving as the site where alcohol was broken down before being released to the liver and affecting a saturable FPM in the liver by modulating the speed at which the dose of alcohol was being delivered, if the liver were the site where FPM was occurring instead, Pepino said.</p><p>That is, the slower the stomach emptied, the more efficient the liver would be in metabolizing alcohol during FPM, she said. If, however, FPM occurred in the stomach, the slower the gastric emptying, the more time the stomach would have to break down the alcohol.</p><p>Previous findings from this research team and other laboratories showed that sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass surgery decreased the FPM of alcohol by accelerating gastric emptying, causing more rapid and higher peak blood alcohol concentrations than those patients experienced when they drank the same amount of alcohol prior to their surgeries.</p><p>In the current study, the researchers took advantage of sleeve gastrectomy to determine the site of FPM. Sleeve gastrectomy removes 80% of the patient\'s stomach but preserves the pylorus, the valve that controls the passage of stomach contents to the intestine.</p><p>\"The data help clarify where alcohol FPM occurs and provide a plausible mechanism for the observed increase in alcohol-related diseases among many patients who have undergone bariatric surgery,\" Pepino said.</p><p>Co-authors of the paper included Dr. Blair Rowitz, the associate dean for clinical affairs of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine; Vijay A. Ramchandani, the senior principal investigator of human psychopharmacology with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; and Dr. Martin H. Plawecki, a professor of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine.</p><p>A week apart, the women in the study participated in two experiments that assessed their metabolism of alcohol -- an oral challenge in which they drank alcohol, and an alcohol clamp session in which it was administered through an IV catheter so their blood alcohol concentrations could be precisely controlled by removing the variable process of absorption.</p><p>For the oral challenge, after fasting overnight the participants drank 0.5 grams of alcohol per kilogram of their fat-free body mass over a 10-minute period. Through an IV catheter inserted in a hand vein, the scientists obtained blood samples at regular intervals to measure participants\' blood alcohol concentration and the time it took for each person to reach peak concentration.</p><p>In the alcohol clamp session, participants were administered 6% alcohol in a saline solution through an IV catheter. Using a computer-assisted alcohol infusion system developed by Indiana University\'s Neural Systems Laboratory, participants reached a target breath alcohol concentration of 60 mg/dl within 15 minutes.</p><p>That level was maintained for the next 135 minutes, allowing the researchers to estimate how quickly each person was eliminating the alcohol from their bloodstream, Pepino said.</p><p>The alcohol clamp session helped ensure that the differences found between the two groups of women during the ingested alcohol session were not due to variations in their livers\' alcohol elimination rates.</p><p>\"Despite the overnight fast, which minimizes alcohol FPM, the amount of the ingested alcohol dose that reached their bloodstreams -- that is, the alcohol bioavailability -- increased by 34% in the gastrectomy patients compared with their peers in the control group,\" said lead author Neda Seyedsadjadi, a postdoctoral researcher at the U. of I.</p><p>\"This increased bioavailability was not explained by a decrease in their alcohol elimination rate or gastric emptying rate -- differences between the groups remained when subsets of the participants were matched on the time it took to reach peak blood alcohol concentrations.\"</p><p>A limitation of the current study was that the participants were all women, who represent the majority of patients undergoing these surgeries. The researchers said future research should include men to determine if sex differences exist in the site of alcohol FPM.</p><p>Additional co-authors of the current paper were postdoctoral research associate Maria Belen Acevedo and doctoral student Raul Alfaro Leiva, both of the U. of I.</p><p>The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Indiana Alcohol Research Center. Ramchandani\'s work was supported by the NIAAA Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:31.420730','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau','Research identifies the stomach, not the liver, as the site of alcohol first-pass metabolism in women who underwent sleeve gastrectomy surgery.\n',1,27,'<li>Neda Seyedsadjadi, M. Belen Acevedo, Raul Alfaro, Vijay A. Ramchandani, Martin H. Plawecki, Blair Rowitz, Marta Yanina Pepino. <strong>Site of Alcohol First-Pass Metabolism Among Women</strong>. <em>JAMA Network Open</em>, 2022; 5 (3): e223711 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3711\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3711</a>\n</li>'),(1476,'Salt marsh grass on Georgia’s coast gets nutrients for growth from helpful bacteria in its roots','salt-marsh-grass-on-georgia’s-coast-gets-nutrients-for-growth-from-helpful-bacteria-in-its-roots','2022-03-22 20:00:33.982315',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Salt marshes cover much of the state of Georgia\'s coast and perform key \"ecosystem services\" for people. They clean the water, protect coastlines against storm surges, and provide a habitat for fish and shellfish. A new study from a team of Georgia Tech School of Biological Sciences researchers finds that a species of grass that dominates those marshes has bacteria in its roots and surrounding soil that affects productivity by providing nutrients, highlighting the importance of soil microorganisms in the entire ecosystem.</p><p>The study, \"The core root microbiome of <em>Spartina alterniflora</em> is predominated by sulfur-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in Georgia saltmarshes, USA\" is published in <em>Microbiome</em><em>. </em>The research team includes Georgia Tech Ph.D. students Jose Rolando (the study\'s lead author) and Tianze Song; Max Kolton, a former postdoctoral researcher, now senior lecturer and principal investigator with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel; and corresponding author Joel Kostka, professor and associate chair for Research in the School of Biological Sciences with a joint appointment in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, who is also a member of Georgia Tech\'s Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection<em>.</em></p><p>The study shows that diverse and abundant microbes associated with spartina cordgrass help mineralize sediment organic matter and release bioavailable nutrients to the plant, suggesting that the microbes help support plant productivity.</p><p>The work could assist efforts to restore salt marshes that will help to strengthen the coastline to be more resilient in the face of sea level rise and climate change.</p><p>Kostka says about 40% of salt marshes have disappeared in the U.S. over the past 100 years. \"So coastal ecosystem restoration has become a huge field, with an important goal to manage or restore marshes so that they continue to provide critical ecosystem services to people,\" he explains.</p><p>Kostka adds that certain bacteria benefit plants not only by removing potentially toxic sulfide from the root zone, but also by giving the plant nutrients and potentially carbon. \"In other words, this is an example of how we think the classic lines might be blurred by what we generally think of as autotrophs (plants that grow via photosynthesis) and heterotrophs (microbes) in ecosystems.\"</p><p><strong>Sulfur in the roots </strong></p><p>The study was conducted at salt marshes near Sapelo and Skidaway Islands on the Georgia coast in 2018 and 2019. There, ocean water washes over the salt marsh grasses, and that water is rich in sulfate. \"Sulfide is a phytotoxin or plant toxin,\" Kostka says. \"A lot of sulfide will kill plants or at least stress them out, but when you add just a little bit (to <em>Spartina alterniflora</em>), it fuels microbial factories in the plant roots.\"</p><p>Kostka\'s team found that <em>Spartina alterniflora</em> has concentrated sulfur bacteria in its roots, and those bacteria are in two categories: sulfur oxidizers, which use sulfide as an energy source -- \"then you have sulfate reducers which breathe or respire sulfate from seawater, producing sulfide.\"</p><p>In this microbial cell factory, bacteria are using sulfide as an energy source to fix nitrogen -- and possibly carbon -- which then is passed to the grasses. Nitrogen fixation happens when a microbe takes nitrogen gas from air or water and makes usable ammonium out of it. In nature, soil microbes primarily perform this process -- occasionally lightning in the atmosphere can also spark it.</p><p>The study\'s findings suggest that fixation is happening via chemoautotrophy (using chemical reactions for energy) by bacteria living inside the plant roots.</p><p>\"The next chapter of this story is to learn <em>how</em> the plant and bacteria exchange nitrogen and the environmental controls of that exchange,\" Kostka says. \"We also know these bacteria can fix carbon, and could potentially be passing carbon to the plant. The plant may have a cell factory that\'s making biomass from chemical energy rather than photosynthesis.\"</p><p><strong>Finding climate clues in plants</strong></p><p>The new study\'s research in salty wetlands is similar to climate-related work Kostka leads on peat mosses in freshwater bogs at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) research facility in northern Minnesota. The facility is managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s Forest Service and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.</p><p>A study Kostka and his team published in 2021 showed that warming peat bogs are releasing higher amounts of the greenhouse gas methane that is trapped inside them. Peatlands comprise just about 3% of the Earth\'s landmass, but they store around one-third of the planet\'s soil carbon. As they warm, bogs may also start releasing more carbon along with their methane into ecosystems, a harmful one-two punch for the environment.</p><p>The saltwater marshes that Kostka\'s team studies have also been termed \"blue carbon\" sinks because they act to mitigate climate change by sequestering large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere on a global scale. \"Salt marshes or coastal marshes are not only critical as habitat for fish and shellfish that we like to eat -- along with other vegetated coastal ecosystems -- they store as much or more carbon as the remainder of the seafloor,\" Kostka says.</p><p><strong>A triumph for omics, and what\'s next </strong></p><p>Kostka credits \'omics\', technologies which allow for the study of microbes in the environment without cultivation, for advances in uncovering microbiomes -- all the microorganisms in a specific environment. Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics, the sequencing of all genes or expressed genes in the environment, allows scientists to chart the potential for microbes to carry out important ecosystem functions like nitrogen fixation. This is critical since very few microbes out of the large diversity that is out there can be grown in the lab, Kostka explains.</p><p>\"The work is another example of how we are uncovering plant microbiomes -- the microbes that live inside or on the tissues of environmentally relevant plants that help the plants to grow better,\" Kostka adds. \"If we can add microbes to the roots when we plant them, and therefore increase the survival of those plants, we can improve restoration efforts.\"</p><p>This work was supported in part by an institutional grant (NA18OAR4170084) to the Georgia Sea Grant College Program from the National Sea Grant Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce, and by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DEB 1754756).</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-22 20:00:33.982315','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Georgia Institute of Technology','A new Georgia Tech study points to possible help for restoring marine ecosystems -- and provides more data on the role microbes play in marsh plant health and productivity.\n',1,12,'<li>Jose L. Rolando, Max Kolton, Tianze Song, Joel E. Kostka. <strong>The core root microbiome of Spartina alterniflora is predominated by sulfur-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in Georgia salt marshes, USA</strong>. <em>Microbiome</em>, 2022; 10 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01187-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s40168-021-01187-7</a>\n</li>'),(1477,'Leveraging AI to work with cells','leveraging-ai-to-work-with-cells','2022-03-22 20:00:36.037353',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">One of the ultimate goals of medical science is to develop personalized disease diagnostics and therapeutics. With a patient\'s genetic information, doctors could tailor treatments to individuals, leading to safer and more effective care.</p><p>Recent work from a team of Northwestern Engineering researchers has moved the field closer to realizing this future.</p><p>Led by Professor Horacio Espinosa, the research team developed a new version of its Nanofountain Probe Electroporation (NFP-E), a tool used to deliver molecules into single-cells using electricity. The enhanced method leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to execute cell engineering tasks such as cell nuclei localization and probe detection. Other processes such as probe motion, probe-to-cell contact detection, and electroporation-mediated delivery of foreign cargo into single cells are also automated, minimizing user intervention.</p><p>\"NFP-E can handle small starting samples without any significant cell loss in the entire protocol,\" said Espinosa, James N. and Nancy J. Farley Professor in Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship at the McCormick School of Engineering and the study\'s corresponding author. \"This is an advantage over other cell engineering methods such as bulk electroporation, which require millions of cells and lead to significant cell losses. The automated NFP-E, combined with its ability to selectively target and manipulate single cells in micro-arrays, can be useful in fundamental research, such as deciphering intracellular dynamics and cell-to-cell communication studies as well as biological applications such as cell line generation.\"</p><p>Espinosa and graduate students Prithvijit Mukherjee, Cesar A. Patino, and Nibir Pathak reported their work in the paper \"Deep Learning Assisted Automated Single Cell Electroporation Platform for Effective Genetic Manipulation of Hard-to-Transfect Cells\" published March 21 in <em>Small</em>.</p><p>\"Genetic manipulation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) by introducing exogenous cargo has a wide range of applications in disease diagnostics, therapeutic discovery, and regenerative medicine,\" said Mukherjee, a PhD student in the Espinosa group who is joining the microfluidics group at Illumina.</p><p>Probe-based, microfluidic methods, like NFP-E, use hollow nanopipettes or atomic-force microscopy tips to deliver materials into cells. NFP-E also allows researchers to selectively manipulate cells of interest, work with very small starting samples, and deliver both proteins and plasmids in a variety of animal and human cell types with dosage control.</p><p>\"The challenge with probe methods, however, is that they require manual operation and produce low throughputs, making them unsuitable for common cell engineering workflows,\" said Patino, a PhD student in the Espinosa group.</p><p>\"Selective cell manipulation at sufficient throughput is challenging,\" Espinosa said. \"Most methods either provide high throughput at the expense of individual cell control or sacrifice throughput for single cell selectivity and control.\"</p><p>This new work changes that.</p><p>The research team\'s automated NFP-E enables selective cell engineering at higher-throughputs than manual probe-based methods while also reducing experimental variability and enabling more efficient engineering of hiPSCs. Using the automated platform NFP-E, Espinosa and his colleagues delivered clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) RNP to hiPSCs for efficient knockout of genes in a variety of culture formats: culture plates, micro-patterns, and micro-wells arrays. The automated engineering of cells in micro-arrays using the NFP-E has potential applications such as isogenic cell line generation from single cells and studying dynamic cellular processes such as intracellular signaling cascades and cell-cell communication.</p><p>Espinosa and his team will next work to automate NFP-E\'s entire workflow, which includes steps such as automated cell imaging, cell tracking, switching probes, and media exchange for cell culture.</p><p>\"The idea is to establish a fully automated cell line generation workflow using the combination of the NFP-E and the micro-well arrays,\" Espinosa said. \"The AI can be further trained to recognize and target specific cell types in multi-cell co-cultures. This can be useful in understanding dynamics such as disease progression or cell communication.\"</p><p>The research was supported by two NIH grants, awards number 1R43GM128500-01 and 1R21GM132709-01.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:36.037353','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Northwestern University','New research is moving medical science closer to personalized care by using artificial intelligence to more efficiently engineer stem cells.\n',1,29,'<li>Prithvijit Mukherjee, Cesar A. Patino, Nibir Pathak, Vincent Lemaitre, Horacio D. Espinosa. <strong>Deep Learning‐Assisted Automated Single Cell Electroporation Platform for Effective Genetic Manipulation of Hard‐to‐Transfect Cells</strong>. <em>Small</em>, 2022; 2107795 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smll.202107795\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/smll.202107795</a>\n</li>'),(1478,'Study points to strategies for closing the participation gender gap in engineering courses','study-points-to-strategies-for-closing-the-participation-gender-gap-in-engineering-courses','2022-03-22 20:00:39.082254',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Students\' identities can play a key role in how comfortable they feel and how often they speak up in the classroom, especially in STEM fields. For instance, women generally speak far less than men in undergraduate engineering classes, but this is not always the case, according to Princeton researchers. When classes are taught by women instructors, the gender gap practically disappears.</p><p>Another major factor in women\'s class participation is participation by other women -- the researchers found that women are much more likely to speak after another woman has spoken in class.</p><p>\"That was one of the findings that I was most excited about, because it felt like something that could really be leveraged to change teaching practices,\" said study coauthor Nikita Dutta, who completed a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton in 2021 and is now a Director\'s Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. \"It\'s kind of like a waterfall effect once one woman starts to participate.\"</p><p>While much progress has been made in recent decades, women remain significantly underrepresented in engineering and other STEM fields. In 2018, women earned 22.2% of engineering bachelor\'s degrees in the United States. (Princeton Engineering\'s current undergraduate population is 41% women.) Previous work has shown that experiences with mentors, peer groups and classroom climates play critical roles in undergraduate women\'s success in engineering.</p><p>The study, published online March 1 in IEEE Transactions on Education, included observations of 1,387 student comments over 89 class periods in 10 different courses in Princeton\'s engineering school. Five of the courses were taught by women and five were taught by men, although only 30 of the observed class periods were taught by women. While the students observed in the courses were 45.5% women and 54.5% men, only 20.3% of the classroom comments came from women. (The study setup did not allow for students to self-identify their gender; the observers noted the perceived gender of each student as \"man,\" \"woman\" or \"non-binary.\")</p><p>This gender gap widened slightly when the researchers considered only courses taught by men (17.1% of comments came from women in classes taught by men versus 20.3% overall), but almost disappeared with a woman instructor. In classes taught by women, comments from women students increased to 47.3%.</p><p>Investigating the timing of students\' comments, the researchers found that after one woman participated in class, during the next minute the proportion of comments by women rose to 32.4% -- an effect that decayed over time but lasted for nine minutes after the initial comment.</p><p>Dutta conducted her dissertation research with Craig Arnold, the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and director of the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials. In fall 2018, she also served as an assistant in instruction for Arnold\'s course, \"Structure and Properties of Materials.\"</p><p>During lectures, she noticed that women seemed to answer questions and offer comments less often than men; she started tracking students\' participation informally, and found variability from one class session to the next. She became curious about what might be behind these fluctuations, and whether other engineering courses might reveal larger trends. At the semester\'s end, Dutta presented her findings to Arnold and the rest of his research group during their weekly meeting.</p><p>\"My jaw dropped. I thought, \'This is remarkable; this is incredible.\' She started talking about her plans … and ultimately it turned into a real scientific study,\" said Arnold, who coauthored the paper with Dutta.</p><p>Dutta and Arnold submitted a proposal to Princeton\'s Institutional Review Board, which oversees research on human subjects. They also consulted with pedagogy and educational assessment experts at Princeton\'s McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, where Dutta had been trained as a graduate teaching fellow.</p><p>During the next two semesters, they enlisted other graduate students to assist with observations in lecture courses representing different class sizes and levels. Although the study was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, they were able to gather sufficient data to draw some meaningful conclusions.</p><p>Besides recording student commenters\' genders, observers labeled comments as \"unprompted,\" \"solicited\" or \"involuntary.\" The gender gaps in unprompted and solicited participation were similar to the overall gender gap. The number of involuntary comments was small, since only three of the 10 instructors called on students who had not raised a hand, but the observations suggest that instructors called on men and women equally.</p><p>Observers also classified comments as \"concept questions,\" \"clarifiers,\" \"answers\" or \"general comments\" unrelated to course content. Women participated more frequently after another woman\'s comment, regardless of comment type, which points to icebreaker questions as a strategy that instructors can employ to promote participation and refresh students\' attention.</p><p>\"I think the fact that the conversational comments still had the effect of increasing participation by women is a really empowering result, because it means that you can solicit less intimidating forms of participation,\" said Dutta. \"For instance, in a materials class, you can ask students where they have observed these kinds of properties in real life. That is a technique that some professors are already using, but I think this shows how it can be helpful not just for encouraging more participation, but for encouraging more equitable participation.\"</p><p>The researchers also noted that involving more women as co-instructors, guest lecturers and teaching assistants could help close the participation gender gap by tapping into the effect seen in courses taught by women. It could be especially useful to draw on early-career researchers as instructors and role models, given the long timespan of changing gender representation among university faculty.</p><p>For women and students from other underrepresented groups in STEM fields, decades of research have shown the importance of \"feeling like they\'re part of that community, that they can be part of the conversation and speak in a group setting, get clarity or answer a question with confidence,\" said Kelly Godfrey, assistant director of educational and program assessment at the McGraw Center, who advised on the research. \"Being part of the community is the end goal, and this is one of the ways that we can clear that path.\"</p><p>\"The challenges of inclusive teaching often seem so big: How are we going to fight systematic oppression and hundreds of years of patterns; how can we make a difference in that?\" said Sarah Schwarz, senior associate director for graduate pedagogy at the McGraw Center. \"I think there\'s often really compelling small touches that make a difference in creating classrooms that are more inclusive, and this is one of many powerful examples of that.\"</p><p>Dutta and Arnold said they hope educators at Princeton and other institutions will implement some of the strategies they suggest, as well as expand on this initial study by examining participation patterns in a broader range of students and courses, including the participation of students from other underrepresented groups.</p><p>\"The results we found are just the beginning -- there is much more learn,\" said Arnold. \"I hope this paper gets people thinking about some of the small things you can do in the classroom that can make a big difference.\"</p><p>Dutta\'s work was supported in part by Princeton\'s Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Honorific Fellowship.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:39.082254','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Princeton University, Engineering School','Students\' identities can play a key role in how comfortable they feel and how often they speak up in the classroom, especially in STEM fields. For instance, women generally speak far less than men in undergraduate engineering classes, but this is not always the case, according to Princeton researchers. When classes are taught by women instructors, the gender gap practically disappears.\n',1,177,'<li>Nikita S. Dutta, Craig B. Arnold. <strong>Illuminating the Role of Classmates in Reducing the Participation Gender Gap in Lecture-Based Engineering Classes</strong>. <em>IEEE Transactions on Education</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TE.2022.3151824\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1109/TE.2022.3151824</a>\n</li>'),(1479,'Chronologically young, biologically old: DNA linked to cancer survivors premature aging','chronologically-young,-biologically-old:-dna-linked-to-cancer-survivors-premature-aging','2022-03-22 20:00:42.208460',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists from St. Jude Children\'s Research Hospital have identified variants in two genes that are associated with accelerated aging in childhood cancer survivors. Their research looked at the difference between their biological age and chronological age. The study, published today in Genome Medicine, is the first to identify genetic risk factors for accelerated aging in pediatric cancer survivors.</p><p>Today a majority of children with cancer in the U.S. survive. However, some survivors develop diseases that typically occur in older adults. It is not totally clear why some patients are more susceptible to developing age-related conditions than others.</p><p>\"This is one of a series of studies my lab has undertaken to investigate aging biomarkers in childhood cancer survivors,\" said corresponding author Zhaoming Wang, Ph.D., of the Departments of Epidemiology and Cancer Control and Computational Biology. \"We previously evaluated non-genetic risk factors including cancer treatments, health behaviors, and chronic health conditions that contribute to age acceleration. This study focuses on the underlying genetic factors among these patients.\"</p><p>St. Jude follows over 6,000 childhood cancer survivors enrolled in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE). As part of SJLIFE, scientists have characterized genetic variations by conducting whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of survivors\' DNA. Wang\'s group analyzed the link between common genetic variants derived from the WGS data with epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in SJLIFE participants. EAA is a measure of the difference between \"biological\" and chronological age for each survivor, and it strongly correlates with the development of age-related diseases.</p><p>Finding the Premature Aging Needle in a Genetic Haystack</p><p>Wang\'s group found variants in two genomic regions associated with the development of accelerated aging. One variant was in the SELP gene and the other in the HLA region. These genes are both involved in age-related diseases. For example, SELP is upregulated in Alzheimer\'s disease.</p><p>The scientists found the variants by employing an agnostic Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) approach. In this technique, the researchers compare the DNA variants present in survivors and community controls with different levels of biological aging (i.e., EAA). In the 3 billion base pair DNA genome, over 8 million variants were tested, and there were two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that appeared significantly different between individuals with different levels of biological aging. These SNPs in combination with other non-genetic risk factors may allow physicians in the future to identify the survivors at higher risk of accelerated aging before they develop premature aging symptoms.</p><p>\"Our work can help determine subgroups at the highest risk for accelerated aging among childhood cancer survivors,\" Wang said. \"The findings can also identify potential drug targets for future invention studies. For example, the protein produced by the SELP gene, p-selectin, already has an inhibitor used in other diseases.\"</p><p>All data analyzed in the paper is publicly available for other researchers in the St. Jude Cloud, which provides data and analysis resources to the global research community.</p><p>The study\'s co-first authors are Qian Dong and Nan Song, both of St. Jude. The study\'s other authors are Cheng Chen, of Shanghai Jiaotong University; Zhenghong Li, Xiaojun Sun, John Easton, Heather Mulder, Emily Plyler, Geoffrey Neale, Emily Walker, Qian Li, Xiaotu Ma, Xiang Chen, I-Chan Huang, Yutaka Yasui, Kirsten K. Ness, Jinghui Zhang, Melissa M. Hudson, and Leslie L. Robison of St. Jude. The study was funded by grants (CA021765 and CA195547) from the National Institutes of Health, the V Foundation and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:42.208460','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'St. Jude Children\'s Research Hospital','Scientists have identified variants in two genes that are associated with accelerated aging in childhood cancer survivors.\n',1,27,'<li>Qian Dong, Nan Song, Na Qin, Cheng Chen, Zhenghong Li, Xiaojun Sun, John Easton, Heather Mulder, Emily Plyler, Geoffrey Neale, Emily Walker, Qian Li, Xiaotu Ma, Xiang Chen, I-Chan Huang, Yutaka Yasui, Kirsten K. Ness, Jinghui Zhang, Melissa M. Hudson, Leslie L. Robison, Zhaoming Wang. <strong>Genome-wide association studies identify novel genetic loci for epigenetic age acceleration among survivors of childhood cancer</strong>. <em>Genome Medicine</em>, 2022; 14 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13073-022-01038-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s13073-022-01038-6</a>\n</li>'),(1480,'\'Off label\' use of imaging databases could lead to bias in AI algorithms','\'off-label\'-use-of-imaging-databases-could-lead-to-bias-in-ai-algorithms','2022-03-22 20:00:43.848984',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) over the past decade have relied upon extensive training of algorithms using massive, open-source databases. But when such datasets are used \"off label\" and applied in unintended ways, the results are subject to machine learning bias that compromises the integrity of the AI algorithm, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin.</p><p>The findings, published this week in the<em> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, highlight the problems that arise when data published for one task are used to train algorithms for a different one.</p><p>The researchers noticed this issue when they failed to replicate the promising results of a medical imaging study. \"After several months of work, we realized that the image data used in the paper had been preprocessed,\" said study principal investigator Michael Lustig, UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences. \"We wanted to raise awareness of the problem so researchers can be more careful and publish results that are more realistic.\"</p><p>The proliferation of free online databases over the years has helped support the development of AI algorithms in medical imaging. For magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in particular, improvements in algorithms can translate into faster scanning. Obtaining an MR image involves first acquiring raw measurements that code a representation of the image. Image reconstruction algorithms then decode the measurements to produce the images that clinicians use for diagnostics.</p><p>Some datasets, such as the well-known ImageNet, include millions of images. Datasets that include medical images can be used to train AI algorithms used to decode the measurements obtained in a scan. Study lead author Efrat Shimron, a postdoctoral researcher in Lustig\'s lab, said new and inexperienced AI researchers may be unaware that the files in these medical databases are often preprocessed, not raw.</p><p>As many digital photographers know, raw image files contain more data than their compressed counterparts, so training AI algorithms on databases of raw MRI measurements is important. But such databases are scarce, so software developers sometimes download databases with processed MR images, synthesize seemingly raw measurements from them, and then use those to develop their image reconstruction algorithms.</p><p>The researchers coined the term \"implicit data crimes\" to describe biased research results that result when algorithms are developed using this faulty methodology. \"It\'s an easy mistake to make because data processing pipelines are applied by the data curators before the data is stored online, and these pipelines are not always described. So, it\'s not always clear which images are processed, and which are raw,\" said Shimron. \"That leads to a problematic mix-and-match approach when developing AI algorithms.\"</p><p><strong>Too good to be true</strong></p><p>To demonstrate how this practice can lead to performance bias, Shimron and her colleagues applied three well-known MRI reconstruction algorithms to both raw and processed images based on the fastMRI dataset. When processed data was used, the algorithms produced images that were up to 48% better -- visibly clearer and sharper -- than the images produced from raw data.</p><p>\"The problem is, those results were too good to be true,\" said Shimron.</p><p>Other co-authors on the study are Jonathan Tamir, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and Ke Wang, UC Berkeley Ph.D. student in Lustig\'s lab. The researchers did further tests to demonstrate the effects of processed image files on image reconstruction algorithms.</p><p>Starting with raw files, the researchers processed the images in controlled steps using two common data-processing pipelines that affect many open-access MRI databases: use of commercial scanner software and data storage with JPEG compression. They trained three image reconstruction algorithms using those datasets, and then they measured the accuracy of the reconstructed images versus the extent of data processing.</p><p>\"Our results showed that all the algorithms behave similarly: When implemented to processed data, they generate images that seem to look good, but they appear different from the original, non-processed images,\" said Shimron. \"The difference is highly correlated with the extent of data processing.\"</p><p><strong>\'Overly optimistic\' results</strong></p><p>The researchers also investigated the potential risk of using pre-trained algorithms in a clinical setup, taking the algorithms that had been pre-trained on processed data and applying them to real-world raw data.</p><p>\"The results were striking,\" said Shimron. \"The algorithms that had been adapted to processed data did poorly when they had to handle raw data.\"</p><p>The images may look excellent, but they are inaccurate, the study authors said. \"In some extreme cases, small, clinically important details related to pathology could be completely missing,\" said Shimron.</p><p>While the algorithms might report crisper images and faster image acquisitions, the results cannot be reproduced with clinical, or raw scanner, data. These \"overly optimistic\" results reveal the risk of translating biased algorithms into clinical practice, the researchers said.</p><p>\"No one can predict how these methods will work in clinical practice, and this creates a barrier to clinical adoption,\" said Tamir, who earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley and was a former member of Lustig\'s lab. \"It also makes it difficult to compare various competing methods, because some might be reporting performance on clinical data, while others might be reporting performance on processed data.\"</p><p>Shimron said that revealing such \"data crimes\" is important since both industry and academia are rapidly working to develop new AI methods for medical imaging. She said that data curators could help by providing a full description on their website of the techniques used to process the files in their dataset. Additionally, the study offers specific guidelines to help MRI researchers design future studies without introducing these machine learning biases.</p><p>Funding from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the National Science Foundation Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning helped support this research.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:43.848984','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Berkeley','Significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) over the past decade have relied upon extensive training of algorithms using massive, open-source databases. But when such datasets are used \'off label\' and applied in unintended ways, the results are subject to machine learning bias that compromises the integrity of the AI algorithm, according to a new study.\n',1,147,'<li>Efrat Shimron, Jonathan I. Tamir, Ke Wang, Michael Lustig. <strong>Implicit data crimes: Machine learning bias arising from misuse of public data</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (13) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117203119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2117203119</a>\n</li>'),(1481,'Active video games provide alternative workout','active-video-games-provide-alternative-workout','2022-03-22 20:00:47.261374',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Working out isn\'t known for being fun. But new active video and virtual reality games may help change that.</p><p>Exergaming, or active video gaming, may be the perfect introduction to helping people be more active, according to new research from the University of Georgia.</p><p>Just about anyone can find an exergame to match their interests. Dance Dance Revolution, EA Sports Active and Beat Saber are some of the more popular exergames. Active gaming options exist for most gaming consoles, like Xbox and Nintendo. And previous research has shown that exergaming can have physical benefits, particularly when it takes the place of traditional sedentary video gaming.</p><p>This study showed that exergamers felt high levels of satisfaction and a sense of autonomy over their exercise regimen.</p><p>\"When an individual feels autonomous, they\'re more likely to exercise or exergame on their own,\" said Sami Yli-Piipari, co-author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology in the Mary Frances Early College of Education. \"They feel ownership over what they are doing, and they\'re doing it for themselves, so it\'s more likely they will keep up the activity.\"</p><p>Traditional exercise, such as weightlifting or running, doesn\'t appeal to some people. But they might be open to active video gaming because it doesn\'t seem like exercise. It\'s just fun.</p><p>That desire to play might help people dip their toes in physical activity without the pressures or boredom that sometimes come with heading to the gym, said Yongju Hwang, corresponding author of the study and doctoral student in kinesiology.</p><p><strong>Exergaming can serve as introduction to increased physical activity</strong></p><p>Published in the <em>International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology</em>, the study followed 55 people whose daily physical activity was below the recommended 150 minutes per week.</p><p>Participants were randomly assigned to either exergame or participate in traditional aerobics classes three times a week for six weeks. Exergamers could choose from a variety of games including Just Dance, Kinect Sports and Zumba Fitness World Party over the course of the study.</p><p>The study measured physical activity and exertion during the exercise sessions with accelerometers, heart rate monitors and a scale that measures how hard participants believed they were working out. The researchers also used a variety of scales to assess participants\' enjoyment of their workouts and their motivation for working out, among other things.</p><p>The individuals assigned to the traditional classes worked out harder than their counterparts in the exergaming group. The supportive group environment of these types of classes has been shown to encourage people to give their all and holds them accountable for showing up.</p><p>\"That makes sense because you probably will push yourself harder if somebody is looking over your shoulder rather than playing a game alone,\" Yli-Piipari said.</p><p>But the exergamers had a better time. And that, coupled with a sense of ownership over their exercise routine, makes it more likely that they\'ll keep it up and possibly be more open to other physical activity in the future.</p><p>\"I see exergaming and technology-enhanced exercise as a stepping stone,\" Yli-Piipari said. \"It\'s the first step in the right direction, especially for people who are not involved in any kind of exercise.\"</p><p><strong>Use video games to decrease sedentary time</strong></p><p>But active video games and their positive health effects aren\'t just for adults.</p><p>Exergames are also an easy way for parents to increase their children\'s physical activity, the researchers said.</p><p>\"When you are buying games for your children or for yourself, try to buy games that have some activity in them,\" Yli-Piipari said. \"If you try to force your children to be active, they may do it because you\'re telling them to. But the likelihood they continue to be active when you turn your back is low.\"</p><p>For kids and many adults, playing a video game doesn\'t feel like exercise.</p><p>\"We forget sometimes that it\'s really hard for inactive people to take that first step,\" Yli-Piipari said. \"These games may be able to address that problem.\"</p><p>The study was co-authored by YangYang Deng, a graduate student in kinesiology; Mika Manninen, a doctoral graduate and Fulbright Scholar from the Department of Kinesiology; Sophie Waller, a doctoral student in kinesiology; Ellen Evans, associate dean for research and graduate education for the Mary Frances Early College of Education and director of UGA\'s Center for Physical Activity and Health; Michael Schmidt, associate professor of kinesiology; and Senlin Chen, of Louisiana State University.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:47.261374','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Georgia','Working out isn\'t known for being fun. But new active video and virtual reality games may help change that. Exergaming, or active video gaming, may be the perfect introduction to helping people be more active, according to new research.\n',1,22,'<li>Yongju Hwang, Yangyang Deng, Mika Manninen, Sophie Waller, Ellen M. Evans, Michael D. Schmidt, Senlin Chen, Sami Yli-Piipari. <strong>Short- and longer-term psychological and behavioral effects of exergaming and traditional aerobic training: A randomized controlled trial</strong>. <em>International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2021.2025135\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1080/1612197X.2021.2025135</a>\n</li>'),(1482,'Novel heart ultrasound measures can be used to predict risk of developing dementia','novel-heart-ultrasound-measures-can-be-used-to-predict-risk-of-developing-dementia','2022-03-22 20:00:57.542422',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Published in JAMA, research from the University of Minnesota assessed if there is a link between heart health and dementia.</p><p>Using echocardiography -- visual ultrasound of the heart -- the research team was able to identify novel measures that are linked to a higher dementia risk.</p><p>\"Atrial myopathy, a condition characterized by abnormal left atrial function and size, is an independent risk factor for dementia,\" said Dr. Lin Yee Chen, director of the cardiac electrophysiology section at the U of M Medical School and M Health Fairview, and principal investigator of the NIH grant that funded this study. \"In this community-based cohort study, lower left atrial function was associated with higher risk of dementia.\"</p><p>The study observed a cohort of 4,096 participants with an average age of 35 years. Participants were 60% women, 22% Black and 78% white. Of the cohort, there were 531 participants who developed dementia over a six year period.</p><p>When comparing the lowest to the highest quintile of left atrial function measures (reservoir strain, conduit strain, and contractile strain), the lowest quintile was significantly associated with 1.5 to 2.0-fold higher risk of developing dementia. These associations were independent of cardiovascular disease and atrial fibrillation. The research team found that the more common measures of left atrial size were not significantly associated with dementia.</p><p>\"Results of this epidemiological study improve our understanding of the link between cardiovascular disease and increased risk of dementia,\" said Jacqueline D. Wright, Dr.P.H., a program officer in the division of cardiovascular sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. \"This study suggests that atrial myopathy increases risk of dementia, independently of atrial fibrillation. Further research may confirm this finding, help us to better define and diagnose atrial myopathy, and ultimately lead to improved treatments that reduce the chance of developing dementia later in life.\"</p><p>Researchers recommend additional studies to confirm their findings and to establish a robust definition for atrial myopathy.</p><p>This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; National Institute on Aging; and National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.</p><p>Research reported in this release was supported by the NIH under the following grant numbers: HHSN268201700001I,HHSN268201700002I, HSN268201700003I, HHSN268201700005I, and HHSN268201700004I; U01 2U01HL096812, 2U01HL096814, 2U01HL096899, 2U01HL096902, and 2U01HL096917; R01-HL70825; T32GM132063; P30AG066511; K24HL148521; R01HL126637, R01HL141288, and K24HL155813; and R01HL135008, R01HL143224, R01HL150342, R01HL148218, K24HL152008.</p>','2022-03-22 20:00:57.542422','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Minnesota Medical School','New research assessed if there is a link between heart health and dementia.\n',1,179,'<li>Wendy Wang, Michael J. Zhang, Riccardo M. Inciardi, Faye L. Norby, Michelle C. Johansen, Romil Parikh, Jeremy R. Van’t Hof, Alvaro Alonso, Elsayed Z. Soliman, Thomas H. Mosley, Rebecca F. Gottesman, Amil M. Shah, Scott D. Solomon, Lin Yee Chen. <strong>Association of Echocardiographic Measures of Left Atrial Function and Size With Incident Dementia</strong>. <em>JAMA</em>, 2022; 327 (12): 1138 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.2518\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1001/jama.2022.2518</a>\n</li>'),(1483,'Our sleep shows how risk-seeking we are','our-sleep-shows-how-risk-seeking-we-are','2022-03-22 20:03:01.756333',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Each person has their own individual sleep profile which can be identified by the electrical brain activity during sleep. Researchers at the University of Bern have now demonstrated that the brain waves during periods of deep sleep in a specific area of the brain can be used to determine the extent of an individual\'s propensity for risk during their everyday life.</p><p>Each day, we make countless decisions in which we take different risks -- in road traffic, when buying shares or in our sexual behavior, for example. The propensity for risk varies from one individual to the next. Researchers led by Daria Knoch, Professor of Social Neuroscience at the University of Bern, have demonstrated that clues in the brain concerning an individual\'s propensity for risk can be gathered as they sleep: \"The fewer slow waves an individual has over their right prefrontal cortex during deep sleep, the greater their propensity for risk. Among other functions, this region of the brain is important to control one\'s own impulses,\" explains the neuroscientist. The results have recently been published in the journal<em> NeuroImage.</em></p><p><strong>High data density and sleep investigation at participant\'s home</strong></p><p>Slow waves occur during deep sleep and indicate good sleep quality and regeneration. The topographical distribution of slow waves in the brain is highly individual and is highly stable over time; this means each individual has their own personal neuronal sleep profile. To determine whether this profile reveals anything about an individual\'s propensity for risk, the research team studied 54 \"good sleepers,\" who typically sleep for seven to eight hours. These were identified using actigraphs, which track the patterns of movement during sleep. Because: \"The individual slow-wave profile can only be interpreted correctly during normal sleep,\" explains leader of the study, Lorena Gianotti.</p><p>In the next step, sleep data was collected at participants\' home using a portable polysomnographic system with 64 electrodes placed at their scalp. \"The undisturbed measurement of the brain activity during sleep in a familiar environment and the high density of data collected by the 64 electrodes are rather rare as a constellation in sleep research. This allows the participants to sleep naturally and allows us to collect a large quantity of data,\" explains doctoral student and first author, Mirjam Studler.</p><p><strong>Less deep sleep in the right prefrontal cortex</strong></p><p>And this data is very meaningful and significant: participants who show lower slow-wave activity over their right prefrontal cortex generally demonstrate a greater propensity for risk than individuals with more slow-wave activity. The propensity to take risks was elicited in a computer game where they could win actual money: the participants had to decide how far they would drive a car in the knowledge that at some point, a wall would appear with which the car would collide. Each meter driven earned them more money, but also increased their risk of crashing. \"Interestingly, the sleep duration had no impact in terms of propensity for risk, at least in our study with good sleepers. Rather, it is crucial that deep sleep takes place in the \'right\' brain regions -- in this case, in the right prefrontal cortex,\" explains Lorena Gianotti.</p><p><strong>Possible implications</strong></p><p>Health economics research has demonstrated that risky behavior can have both considerable health-related and financial consequences. According to the researchers, gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the propensity for risky behaviour is therefore important. \"Our findings can be incorporated into targeted interventions. Sleep researchers are now developing techniques to specifically modulate slow waves,\" says Daria Knoch.</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:01.756333','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Bern','Each person has their own individual sleep profile which can be identified by the electrical brain activity during sleep. Researchers have now demonstrated that the brain waves during periods of deep sleep in a specific area of the brain can be used to determine the extent of an individual\'s propensity for risk during their everyday life.\n',1,27,'<li>Mirjam Studler, Lorena R.R. Gianotti, Katharina Koch, Jan Hausfeld, Leila Tarokh, Angelina Maric, Daria Knoch. <strong>Local slow-wave activity over the right prefrontal cortex reveals individual risk preferences</strong>. <em>NeuroImage</em>, 2022; 253: 119086 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119086\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119086</a>\n</li>'),(1484,'Fundamental cancer metabolism dogma revisited','fundamental-cancer-metabolism-dogma-revisited','2022-03-22 20:03:04.027465',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Accelerated glucose uptake and metabolism, known as the Warburg effect, is a feature of a small group of non-dividing cells within a colon cancer tumor. Intestinal cancer cells rely on Warburg glycolysis to eliminate toxic reactive oxidative species, not to provide energy to rapidly dividing cells. Since cancer metabolism is a heterogeneous feature within cancer cells, new research and study tools are needed.</p><p>A new paper in <em>Nature Communications </em>reveals new insights into adaptations made by cancer cells to rewire their metabolism to achieve growth and survive. Among the discoveries include a challenge to a well-known feature in cancer metabolism, raising the call for tools to study cancer cell metabolism on a nearly single-cell level.</p><p>In the 1920s, Otto Warburg observed that cancer cells metabolically adapt their glucose pathway in unusual ways. Normally, glucose -- the main nutrient needed for cells to function -- is sent to the cell\'s mitochondria to be broken down for energy, a process that requires oxygen. However, cancer cells appear to rapidly increase their glucose uptake and directly ferment it into lactate, even in the presence of oxygen and functional mitochondria. \"He called it aerobic glycolysis, but we know it as the Warburg effect,\" says author Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD, scientific co-director of the Mass General Cancer Center and the Laurel Schwartz Professor of Oncology (Medicine) at Harvard Medical School. For nearly 15 years researchers have been trying to explain why cancer cells do this.</p><p>In this paper, Mostoslavsky\'s team studied colon cancer tumors to learn more. They developed a fluorescent reporter that stained only a marker of glycolysis in cells of the tumor. Using this reporter and a mass spectrometry imaging approach developed by collaborator Nathalie Agar of Brigham and Women\'s Hospital, the researchers found that not all cells within the colon cancer cell relied on Warburg glycolysis. \"We found that this metabolic adaptation does not happen in the whole tumor, only in a heterogeneous group that were not dividing,\" says Mostoslavsky. His team had published this heterogeneous feature in squamous cell carcinoma but this is the first time it has been shown in colon cancer, and in non-dividing cells.</p><p>\"What really surprised us is that when we stained the tumor cells with a marker of cell proliferation, they were mutually exclusive,\" adds Mostoslavsky. Within fully transformed colon cancers, the cells that were doing Warburg glycosis were not dividing. \"This completely challenges the dogma of the Warburg effect,\" he adds. For the past 10 to 15 years, most researchers working in cancer metabolism have held that cancer cells do Warburg glycolysis to send glucose for biomass production, or rapid proliferation. \"Instead, we found that the main reason they were doing it was to reduce reactive oxygen species, or ROS.\" Reactive oxygen species damage cells during glucose breakdown and energy production: \"The cells do Warburg metabolism to protect against accumulation of ROS.\"</p><p>This research showed that indeed Warburg glycolysis is real and functional in cancer cells as a needed adaptation. \"But it\'s not for the reason we used to think,\" says Mostoslavsky. \"This means we need to rethink how we are studying cancer metabolism.\" Much of the advancements made in the past 10 years studying cancer metabolism come from mass spectrometry analysis of metabolomics, which require many cells. The problem is a lack of means for analyzing cellular heterogeneity. \"If metabolic adaptation happens in some cancer cells or not in others, you will not be able to determine that with the current technologies that exist,\" he says. \"We now know Warburg glycolysis is a heterogeneous feature happening in tumors so we need to develop tools that will allow us to investigate tumors in a single-cell fashion.\"</p><p>In this paper, the team relied on a novel mass spectrometry imaging tool developed to achieve data almost at a single cell resolution. Says Mostoslavsky: \"It is clear that cancer metabolism is highly heterogeneous so we will need new tools like this to study and define these metabolic features in tumors.\"</p><p>Other authors of the study include Carlos Sebastian, Christina Ferrer, Maria Serra, Jee-Eun Choi, Nadia Ducano, Alessia Mira, Manasvi Shah, Sylwia Stopka, Andrew Perciaccante, Claudio Isella, Daniel Moya-Rull, Marianela Vara-Messler, Silvia Giordano, Elena Maldi, Niyata Desai, Diane Capen, Enzo Medico, Murat Cetinbas, Ruslan Sadreyev, Dennis Brown, Miguel Rivera, Anna Sapino, and David Breault.</p><p>This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, FPRC 5 per mille 2011 MIUR, FPRC 5 per mille 2014 MIUR, RC 2018 Ministero della Salute, and the European Union\'s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program.</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:04.027465','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts General Hospital','Accelerated glucose uptake and metabolism, known as the Warburg effect, is a feature of a small group of non-dividing cells within a colon cancer tumor. Intestinal cancer cells rely on Warburg glycolysis to eliminate toxic reactive oxidative species, not to provide energy to rapidly dividing cells. Since cancer metabolism is a heterogeneous feature within cancer cells, new research and study tools are needed.\n',1,19,'<li>Carlos Sebastian, Christina Ferrer, Maria Serra, Jee-Eun Choi, Nadia Ducano, Alessia Mira, Manasvi S. Shah, Sylwia A. Stopka, Andrew J. Perciaccante, Claudio Isella, Daniel Moya-Rull, Marianela Vara-Messler, Silvia Giordano, Elena Maldi, Niyati Desai, Diane E. Capen, Enzo Medico, Murat Cetinbas, Ruslan I. Sadreyev, Dennis Brown, Miguel N. Rivera, Anna Sapino, David T. Breault, Nathalie Y. R. Agar, Raul Mostoslavsky. <strong>A non-dividing cell population with high pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity regulates metabolic heterogeneity and tumorigenesis in the intestine</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29085-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29085-y</a>\n</li>'),(1485,'New research sheds light on causes of reproductive disorders, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects','new-research-sheds-light-on-causes-of-reproductive-disorders,-infertility,-miscarriage,-birth-defects','2022-03-22 20:03:07.715697',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at Rutgers University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, and Cornell University are teaming up to examine how the processes that regulate gene expression and chromosome behaviors can lead to health issues, including cancer, birth defects, miscarriage, and infertility.</p><p>Cells undergo a remarkable transformation process to form eggs and sperm, which upon fertilization can form an entire organism. A key step of this transformation involves meiosis, a cell division that halves the genome content of cells. During early stages of egg and sperm development, cells divide by mitosis, the process used by most cells in our body. They then undergo a complete remodeling of the gene expression landscape, and switch to meiosis. Mis-regulation of the mitosis-to-meiosis switch can lead to tumor-like growth, depletion of the reproductive cell pool or failure to complete meiosis.</p><p>In the new Rutgers-led study in the journal <em>Genes &amp; Development</em>, the researchers applied powerful methods for mapping genome-wide protein-RNA interactions and innovative genetic mouse mutants to define how the RNA helicase, YTHDC2, binds RNA and controls gene expression to regulate meiosis. YTHDC2 and its interacting protein partners form an essential pathway that controls the mitosis-to-meiosis switch. Prior to this study, little was known about the mechanisms regulating this switch in mammals.</p><p>\"Our work sheds light on the genetic and molecular mechanisms that are required for normal meiosis, which is an essential step towards understanding how and why these processes go wrong and lead to reproductive disorders,\" said Devanshi Jain, a principal investigator of the study and an Assistant Professor of Genetics at the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. \"Additionally, as YTHDC2 has been implicated in multiple diseases, especially cancers, our work will have broad implications on those fields as well.\"</p><p>Jain said this new study, along with ongoing research at the Rutgers-housed Jain Lab, explores the genetic and molecular mechanisms of meiosis, and the processes that regulate gene expression and chromosome behaviors. Researchers at the Jain Lab use the mouse model system to explore these fundamental aspects of cell biology.</p><p>\"Understanding meiosis is of paramount importance to reproductive health as errors in meiosis can lead to reproductive cell death and infertility,\" said Jain. \"Going forward, we plan to delve deeper into the molecular mechanisms of the YTHDC2 pathway and its control of gene expression. We also continue to study other fundamental aspects of how meiosis is regulated.\"</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:07.715697','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Rutgers University','Researchers are examining how the processes that regulate gene expression and chromosome behaviors can lead to health issues, including cancer, birth defects, miscarriage, and infertility.\n',1,36,'<li>Yuhki Saito, Ben R. Hawley, M. Rhyan Puno, Shreya N. Sarathy, Christopher D. Lima, Samie R. Jaffrey, Robert B. Darnell, Scott Keeney, Devanshi Jain. <strong>YTHDC2 control of gametogenesis requires helicase activity but not m6A binding</strong>. <em>Genes &amp; Development</em>, 2022; 36 (3-4): 180 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gad.349190.121\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1101/gad.349190.121</a>\n</li>'),(1486,'New tool to accelerate drug discovery','new-tool-to-accelerate-drug-discovery','2022-03-22 20:03:17.554199',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Inside your body on the surface of cell membranes, a metaphorical communication and traffic network is underway as hormones -- or chemical messengers -- bind to cell membrane receptors to fine tune how the cell behaves. Once bound together, this hormone-receptor complex works to carry out a variety of functions by ferrying chemical signals from outside the cell and translating those signals into action inside the cell. The process of moving into the cell is called trafficking.</p><p>Now, for the first time, new technology developed at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy will be able to peer inside and get a close look at the trafficking in real-time. Bradley McConnell, professor of pharmacology, has devised a way to watch the membrane protein trafficking using bioluminescence, the production and emission of light inside living organisms, replacing the need for complicated protocols, methods or highly automated equipment.</p><p>\"We describe a powerful unrestricted and universal technology of drug discovery that is based on trafficking properties of plasma membrane receptors,\" reports McConnell in <em>Communications Biology,</em> a Nature journal. The paper\'s lead author is Arfaxad Reyes-Alcaraz, a postdoctoral fellow in McConnell\'s laboratory. \"This technology can be applied to monitoring the effectiveness of a potential new therapeutic drug that is targeted to a cell receptor and then internalized into the cell. It can also be used to monitor the SARS-CoV-2 viral entry into the cell.\"</p><p>Ultimately, the researchers expect the process to be used for drug development for heart disease, metabolic disorders, cancer, infectious diseases, COVID-19 and others.</p><p>The process monitors how cell receptors are internalized into the cell as part of their normal function in response to a hormone, or a therapeutic drug, interacting with its receptor -- a powerful tool to understand how the body works. Scientists have successfully studied this process for years using complex and expensive biological tools, but highly sensitive and versatile technologies have been lacking to study such processes in real-time living systems.</p><p>\"Now imagine studying this process simply and inexpensively with a method that is even more informative than is currently available,\" said McConnell. \"The ability to selectively generate a bioluminescent signal when the membrane receptor is in the early endosome to monitor receptor internalization (i.e., membrane trafficking) is novel.\"</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:17.554199','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Houston','New technology will accelerate drug development by allowing researchers a better look inside the cell membrane to observe how cells react to drugs.\n',1,41,'<li>Arfaxad Reyes-Alcaraz, Emilio Y. Lucero Garcia-Rojas, Elizabeth A. Merlinsky, Jae Young Seong, Richard A. Bond, Bradley K. McConnell. <strong>A NanoBiT assay to monitor membrane proteins trafficking for drug discovery and drug development</strong>. <em>Communications Biology</em>, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03163-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s42003-022-03163-9</a>\n</li>'),(1487,'Seen and ‘herd’: Collective motion in crowds is largely determined by participants’ field of vision','seen-and-‘herd’:-collective-motion-in-crowds-is-largely-determined-by-participants’-field-of-vision','2022-03-22 20:03:20.833829',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Like flocks of birds or schools of fish, crowds of humans also tend to move en masse -- almost as if they\'re thinking as one. Scientists have proposed different theories to explain this type of collective pedestrian behavior.</p><p>A new model from researchers at Brown University takes the point of view of an individual crowd member, and is remarkably accurate at predicting actual crowd flow, its developers say.</p><p>The model, described in a Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper, illustrates the role of visual perception in crowd movement. It shows how crowd members who are visible from a participant\'s viewpoint determine how that participant follows the crowd and what path they take.</p><p>That approach is a departure from previous models, which operate from the point of view of an \"omniscient observer,\" said study author William H. Warren, a professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown. In other words, the movement of the crowd was analyzed in prior studies from the perspective of someone observing the crowd from a distance.</p><p>\"Most omniscient models were based on physics -- on forces of attraction and repulsion -- and didn\'t fully explain why humans in a group interact in the way that they do,\" Warren said.</p><p>In a series of experiments led by members of Warren\'s lab, which involved tracking the movements of people wearing virtual reality headsets, researchers could predict an individual\'s movement based on their view of a virtual crowd.</p><p>\"We are the first group to provide a sensory basis for this type of coordinated movement,\" Warren said. \"The model provides a better understanding of what individuals in a crowd are experiencing visually, so we can make better predictions about how an entire group of people will behave.\"</p><p>Warren said that models on crowd movement have a variety of applications and can be used to inform the design of public spaces, transportation infrastructure and emergency response plans.</p><p><strong>Tracking an individual to understand a group</strong></p><p>In human crowds, as in many other animal groups, \"flocking\" behavior emerges from interactions between individuals, Warren explained. Understanding these interactions involves identifying rules of engagement that govern how an individual responds to their neighbors in a crowd, and how multiple neighbors are combined.</p><p>To produce a realistic individual trajectory of movement, the team conducted experiments through Warren\'s Virtual Environment Navigation Lab (VENLab). Study participants in a large open room wore virtual reality headsets that showed animated 3D virtual humans who were manipulated to move in different ways -- for example, some people within the virtual crowd might turn in one direction, while others continued as a group. The participants were instructed to walk with the crowd, while researchers tracked their movements and their path.</p><p>The researchers knew from their previous work on pairs of pedestrians that a follower tends to match the walking direction and speed of a leader. From their new experiments, they found that each pedestrian controls their walking direction and speed by using two visual motions. First, they walk in a way that reduces the sideways motion of neighbors in the field of view. At the same time, they walk to reduce the expansion and contraction in the field of view, which happens when a neighbor gets closer or farther away. By using these two variables to control walking, they end up matching the average direction and speed of the crowd.</p><p>They also found that pedestrian participants responded less to virtual humans that were farther away, as might be expected, but that was driven by two visual factors, Warren said: the law of optics (things that are farther away in space have smaller visual motions) and the principle of occlusion (neighbors who are farther away are likely to be partially blocked by nearer neighbors, making them harder to see -- and harder to follow).</p><p>Previous models had taken into account the effect of distance on crowd behavior, but not from a visual perspective. \"We found that responses decrease with distance for two reasons that weren\'t previously fully understood or appreciated,\" Warren said, \"and they both have to do with who the people in the crowd can see.\"</p><p>When the researchers used the experiment results to create a new theory of collective motion, it successfully predicted individual trajectories in both virtual crowd experiments and real crowd data.</p><p>Warren explained that people in a group use visual information to guide their own walking -- to turn left or right, or speed up or slow down to avoid collisions. The way they use that information to control their movements is referred to as the visual coupling, he said. The other individuals in the group are also behaving according to the same principles.</p><p><strong>Collective behavior in online crowds and virtual spaces</strong></p><p>Warren added that the findings from case studies like this could be extrapolated to other situations in which people or animals unconsciously coordinate their behavior -- such as on social media.</p><p>Instead of being visually coupled as in a crowd in a public space, people in social networks are electronically coupled through the internet. In both situations, there is the same strong tendency for a person to imitate others around them, and follow those who are moving in a similar direction (ideologically as well as physically). But, as Warren and Brown graduate student Trent Wirth found in other experiments, when one group starts to diverge too much from a person\'s current \"direction,\" the person will reject that group and follow another group moving in a less divergent direction.</p><p>\"The visual network among people in a crowd isn\'t that dissimilar from a social network on social media, in terms of how people are interacting,\" he said. \"You see analogous kinds of consensus and polarization.\"</p><p>Warren said that future studies from his lab will continue to explore crowd networks and collective decision-making, especially how groups decide to split or bifurcate to take different paths in physical space or in an online social network.</p><p>\"There are all sorts of decisions being made at the individual level, but also collectively in groups,\" Warren said. \"Our new study is just one case study of this self-organized collective behavior.\"</p><p>The paper is based on an idea developed by Gregory Dachner, who earned his Ph.D. at Brown in 2020, and is a study co-author.</p><p>This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01EY010923, R01EY029745 and T32 EY018080) and the National Science Foundation (grants BCS-1431406 and BCS-1849446).</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:20.833829','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Brown University','Researchers have developed a new model to predict human flocking behavior based on optics and other sensory data.\n',1,27,'<li>Gregory C. Dachner, Trenton D. Wirth, Emily Richmond, William H. Warren. <strong>The visual coupling between neighbours explains local interactions underlying human ‘flocking\'</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</em>, 2022; 289 (1970) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2089\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1098/rspb.2021.2089</a>\n</li>'),(1488,'Researchers use ultrasound to predict ovarian cancer','researchers-use-ultrasound-to-predict-ovarian-cancer','2022-03-22 20:03:22.654262',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The appearance of ovarian lesions on ultrasound is an effective predictor of cancer risk that can help women avoid unnecessary surgery, according to a new study published in the journal <em>Radiology</em>.</p><p>Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers, killing about 15,000 women every year in the United States. Characterization of adnexal lesions, or lumps near the uterus, on ultrasound examination is crucial for appropriate patient management, as some adnexal lesions can progress to cancer, while many others are benign and do not require treatment.</p><p>\"Based on the characteristics that we see on ultrasound, we try to evaluate if a finding needs further workup and where the patient should go from there,\" said study lead author Akshya Gupta, M.D., from the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. \"There is a lot of nuance to it because the lesions can be challenging to assess.\"</p><p>Current risk stratification systems perform well, but their multiple sub-categories and multifaceted approach may make them difficult for radiologists in busy clinical practices to master.</p><p>In the new study, Dr. Gupta and colleagues assessed a method that uses ultrasound images to classify adnexal lesions into one of two categories: classic or non-classic. Classic lesions are the commonly detected ones such as fluid-filled cysts that carry a very low risk of malignancy. Non-classic lesions include lesions with a solid component and blood flow detected on Doppler ultrasound. A classic versus non-classic approach to these lesions could help radiologists in a busy clinical practice more quickly assess a lesion.</p><p>The researchers looked at 970 isolated adnexal lesions in 878 women, mean age 42 years, at average risk of ovarian cancer, meaning they had no family history or genetic markers linked with the disease.</p><p>Of the 970 lesions, 53 (6%) were malignant. The classic versus non-classic ultrasound-based categorization approach achieved a sensitivity of 92.5% and a specificity of 73.1% for diagnosing malignancy in ovarian cancer.</p><p>The frequency of malignancy was less than 1% in lesions with classic ultrasound features. In contrast, lesions that had a solid component with blood flow had a malignancy frequency of 32% in the overall study group and 50% in study participants who were more than 60 years old.</p><p>\"If you have something that follows the classic imaging patterns described for these lesions, then the risk of cancer is really low,\" Dr. Gupta said. \"If you have something that\'s not classic in appearance, then the presence of solid components and particularly the presence of Doppler blood flow is really what drives the risk of malignancy.\"</p><p>When a classic benign lesion is encountered, patients may be reassured a benign lesion is present, avoiding extensive further work-up. If additional research supports the study findings, then the system could end up being a useful tool for radiologists that would spare many women the costs, stress and complications of surgery.</p><p>\"Ultimately, we\'re hoping that by using the ultrasound features we can triage which patients need follow-up imaging with ultrasound or MRI and which patients should be referred to surgery,\" Dr. Gupta said.</p><p>While these findings on diagnostic ultrasound exams offer valuable triaging information, ultrasound has not been proven beneficial specifically as a screening exam for ovarian cancer.</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:22.654262','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Radiological Society of North America','The appearance of ovarian lesions on ultrasound is an effective predictor of cancer risk that can help women avoid unnecessary surgery, according to a new study.\n',1,27,'<li>Akshya Gupta, Priyanka Jha, Timothy M. Baran, Katherine E. Maturen, Krupa Patel-Lippmann, Hanna M. Zafar, Aya Kamaya, Neha Antil, Lisa Barroilhet, Elizabeth Sadowski. <strong>Ovarian Cancer Detection in Average-Risk Women: Classic- versus                     Nonclassic-appearing Adnexal Lesions at US</strong>. <em>Radiology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1148/radiol.212338\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1148/radiol.212338</a>\n</li>'),(1489,'Could diet modification make chemotherapy drugs more effective for patients with pancreatic cancer?','could-diet-modification-make-chemotherapy-drugs-more-effective-for-patients-with-pancreatic-cancer?','2022-03-22 20:03:31.227649',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The findings of a new study suggest that a ketogenic diet -- which is low in carbohydrates and protein, but high in fat -- helps to kill pancreatic cancer cells when combined with a triple-drug therapy developed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope.</p><p>In laboratory experiments, the ketogenic diet decreased glucose (sugar) levels in the tumor, suggesting the diet helped starve the cancer. In addition, this diet elevated ketone bodies produced by the liver, which put additional stress on the cancer cells. The study published in the journal <em>Med</em>.</p><p>By destabilizing the cancer cells, the ketogenic diet created a microenvironment in which the triple-drug therapy designed by TGen -- a combination of gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel and cisplatin -- was more effective at knocking out the tumor, according to the study.</p><p>\"By limiting glucose availability, the ketogenic diet may promote chemotherapy efficacy,\" said TGen Distinguished Professor Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., considered one of the nation\'s foremost authorities on pancreatic cancer. Dr. Von Hoff is one of the study authors and designers of the therapy.</p><p>In addition, the ketogenic diet was shown to have a favorable impact on antitumor immunity by inducing pro-inflammatory tumor gene expression, which further weakened the cancer.</p><p><strong>Clinical trials at five locations</strong></p><p>To test these laboratory findings, researchers initiated a clinical trial of up to 40 patients at five centers nationwide: HonorHealth in Scottsdale, USC in Los Angeles, Nuvance Health in Connecticut, Atlantic Health System in New Jersey, and South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics in San Antonio.</p><p>The clinical trial will test whether adding a ketogenic diet to the triple-drug therapy will increase overall survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. This clinical trial began in late 2020 and is anticipated to continue to accrue patients through June 2023. Patients will be randomly assigned to either receive the triple-drug regimen while on a standard diet, while the other half will receive a ketogenic diet and the triple-drug therapy. The dietary aspects of the study are being carefully monitored.</p><p>\"Our laboratory experiments show that a ketogenic diet changes pancreatic cancer metabolism and its response to chemotherapy,\" said Haiyong Han, Ph.D., a Professor in TGen\'s Molecular Medicine Division, and one of the study authors and a designer of the study\'s experiments.</p><p>Also contributing to this study were: Princeton University, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Rutgers Cancer Institute and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.</p><p>The preclinical study was funded by: Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), the National Institutes of Health, Ludwig Cancer Research, the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research, New Jersey Health Foundation, a Rutgers Busch Biomedical Grant, the Lustgarten Foundation, the Don and Lorraine Freeberg Foundation, and the David C. Copley Foundation.</p><p>The clinical trial is being funded by the Purple Pansies and the John E. Sabga Foundation.</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:31.227649','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Translational Genomics Research Institute','The findings of a new study suggest that a ketogenic diet -- which is low in carbohydrates and protein, but high in fat -- helps to kill pancreatic cancer cells when combined with a triple-drug therapy. In laboratory experiments, the ketogenic diet decreased glucose (sugar) levels in the tumor, suggesting the diet helped starve the cancer. In addition, this diet elevated ketone bodies produced by the liver, which put additional stress on the cancer cells.\n',1,35,'<li>Lifeng Yang, Tara TeSlaa, Serina Ng, Michel Nofal, Lin Wang, Taijin Lan, Xianfeng Zeng, Alexis Cowan, Matthew McBride, Wenyun Lu, Shawn Davidson, Gaoyang Liang, Tae Gyu Oh, Michael Downes, Ronald Evans, Daniel Von Hoff, Jessie Yanxiang Guo, Haiyong Han, Joshua D. Rabinowitz. <strong>Ketogenic diet and chemotherapy combine to disrupt pancreatic cancer metabolism and growth</strong>. <em>Med</em>, 2022; 3 (2): 119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.medj.2021.12.008\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.medj.2021.12.008</a>\n</li>'),(1490,'Using quantum methods to predict next-gen lithium-metal battery reactivity','using-quantum-methods-to-predict-next-gen-lithium-metal-battery-reactivity','2022-03-22 20:03:33.555501',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Lithium-metal (Li-metal) batteries show great potential for packing more significant amounts of energy than the current lithium-ion batteries. For example, a Li-metal electric battery in a car could travel more miles, and a Li-metal phone battery could have longer battery life. However, the metal surface of Li-metal batteries is highly reactive, and there is limited understanding of the chemistry of these reactions.</p><p>Dr. Perla Balbuena, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&amp;M University, is using quantum chemical methods to track specific reactions that occur on the surfaces inside Li-metal batteries. Understanding Li-metal battery reactions and predicting products will enhance usability by decreasing their reactivity.</p><p>This research was recently published in the American Chemical Society\'s<em> ACS Applied Materials &amp; Interfaces</em> journal and was co-authored by graduate student Dacheng Kuai from the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&amp;M.</p><p>\"We need to understand what type of reactions happen, how to slow down the reactions, what the components are, what the morphology of the evolving products is and how the ions and electrons move through the surface,\" said Balbuena. \"Understanding these critical issues will allow us to commercialize Li-metal batteries in the near future.\"</p><p>When Li-metal batteries are manufactured, a thin film forms on the anode, commonly referred to as solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI). This film is made of multiple components and produced by electrolyte decomposition. The chemical makeup of the SEI is critical for ensuring peak performance from the battery and extending its lifespan. Through experimental efforts, theoretical predictions can reveal the details in this phenomenon at the atomistic and electronic levels.</p><p>In this study, the researchers targeted a polymer that develops due to electrolyte reactions on the battery\'s internal surfaces. Pinpointing this specific polymer reaction is challenging but necessary to optimize the SEI. The researchers simulated the interface at the atomistic level and solved accurate quantum chemical equations to map a time evolution of the polymer formation reaction.</p><p>\"What differentiates this research is starting from the microscopic-level description and letting the system evolve according to its electronic redistribution upon chemical reaction,\" Balbuena said. \"There are many experimental techniques that can follow and monitor the reactions, but they\'re challenging. With this simulation, we can get new insights. We isolate the part of the system that is responsible for important chemical events. We follow that specific group of molecules and analyze the reactions spontaneously occurring at the surface of electrodes.\"</p><p>Unique to this research, the computational tools used can determine the minimum energy configurations and the arrangement of the molecules during the reaction, thus charting the reaction from beginning to end.</p><p>The researchers found that the species polymerizing in the SEI could be beneficial for Li-metal batteries because they can aid in controlling the level of reactivity of the battery materials.</p><p>\"We are pleased about the results, as they provide insight into what could happen when using real electrodes,\" said Balbuena.</p><p>These findings illustrate the use of computational tools that can contribute to creating batteries that are more friendly to the environment, have longer lifespans and are cheaper to produce. As better chemistries evolve, Balbuena hopes the methodologies found in her research will be helpful for years to come.</p><p>\"This research can be a driving force for batteries in a greener, more efficient direction,\" she said. \"I know that this work will be helpful 10 years from now because 10 years ago, we made our initial contributions on Li-ion batteries and our findings helped on the development of today\'s successful technology. It is a cycle of continuous improvement.\"</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:33.555501','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Texas A&M University','Lithium-metal (Li-metal) batteries show great potential for packing more significant amounts of energy than the current lithium-ion batteries. For example, a Li-metal electric battery in a car could travel more miles, and a Li-metal phone battery could have longer battery life. However, the metal surface of Li-metal batteries is highly reactive, and there is limited understanding of the chemistry of these reactions.\n',1,72,'<li>Dacheng Kuai, Perla B. Balbuena. <strong>Solvent Degradation and Polymerization in the Li-Metal Battery: Organic-Phase Formation in Solid-Electrolyte Interphases</strong>. <em>ACS Applied Materials &amp; Interfaces</em>, 2022; 14 (2): 2817 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c20487\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsami.1c20487</a>\n</li>'),(1491,'How sugar promotes inflammation','how-sugar-promotes-inflammation','2022-03-22 20:03:36.446508',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People who consume sugar and other carbohydrates in excess over a long period of time have an increased risk of developing an autoimmune disease. In affected patients, the immune system attacks the body\'s own tissue and the consequences are, for example, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn\'s disease and ulcerative colitis, type 1 diabetes and chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland.</p><p><strong>New targets for therapy</strong></p><p>The underlying molecular mechanisms that promote autoimmune diseases are multilayered and complex. Now, scientists at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg (JMU) have succeeded in deciphering new details of these processes. Their work support the notion that excessive consumption of glucose directly promotes the pathogenic functions of certain cells of the immune system and that, conversely, that a calorie-reduced diet can have a beneficial effect on immune diseases. Based on these findings, they also identified new targets for therapeutic interventions: A specific blockade of glucose-depended metabolic processes in these immune cells can suppress excessive immune reactions.</p><p>Dr. Martin Väth is responsible for the study, which has now been published in the journal <em>Cell Metabolism</em>. He is a junior research group leader at the Institute of Systems Immunology -- a Max Planck research group under the umbrella of JMU that focusses on the interplay of the immune system with the organism. Collaborators from Amsterdam, Berlin, Freiburg and Leuven were also involved in this study.</p><p><strong>Glucose transporter with a side job</strong></p><p>Martin Väth explains: \"Immune cells need large amounts of sugar in the form of glucose to perform their tasks. With the help of specialized transporters at their cell membrane, they can take up glucose from the environment.\" Together with his team, Väth has showed that a specific glucose transporter -- scientifically named GLUT3 -- fulfills additional metabolic functions in T cells besides the generating energy from sugar.</p><p>In their study, the scientists focused on a group of cells of the immune system that have not been known for very long: T helper cells of type 17, also called Th17 lymphocytes, which play an important role in regulating (auto-) inflammatory processes.</p><p>\"These Th17 cells express lots of GLUT3 protein on their cell surface,\" Väth explains. Once taken up, glucose is readily converted to citric acid in the mitochondria before it is metabolized into acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) in the cytoplasm. Acetyl-CoA is involved in numerous metabolic processes, including the biosynthesis of lipids.</p><p><strong>Influence on proinflammatory genes</strong></p><p>However, acetyl-CoA fulfills additional functions in inflammatory Th17 cells. Väth and his team showed that this metabolic intermediate can also regulate the activity of various gene segments. Thus, glucose consumption has a direct influence on the activity of proinflammatory genes.</p><p>According to the researchers, theses new findings pave the way for the development of targeted therapy of autoimmune diseases. For example, blocking GLUT3-dependent synthesis of acetyl-CoA by the dietary supplement hydroxycitrate, which is used to treat obesity, can mitigate the pathogenic functions of Th17 cells and reduce inflammatory-pathological processes. The so-called \"metabolic reprogramming\" of T cells opens new possibilities to treat autoimmune diseases without curtailing protective immune cell functions.</p>','2022-03-22 20:03:36.446508','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Würzburg','Excessive sugar consumption can promote inflammatory processes in the body and facilitate the development of autoimmune diseases. A research team has now deciphered new details of these processes.\n',1,91,'<li>Sophia M. Hochrein, Hao Wu, Miriam Eckstein, Laura Arrigoni, Josip S. Herman, Fabian Schumacher, Christian Gerecke, Mathias Rosenfeldt, Dominic Grün, Burkhard Kleuser, Georg Gasteiger, Wolfgang Kastenmüller, Bart Ghesquière, Jan Van den Bossche, E. Dale Abel, Martin Vaeth. <strong>The glucose transporter GLUT3 controls T helper 17 cell responses through glycolytic-epigenetic reprogramming</strong>. <em>Cell Metabolism</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.02.015\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cmet.2022.02.015</a>\n</li>'),(1492,'Quantum dots shine bright to help scientists see inflammatory cells in fat','quantum-dots-shine-bright-to-help-scientists-see-inflammatory-cells-in-fat','2022-03-22 20:35:28.479791',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">To accurately diagnose and treat diseases, doctors and researchers need to see inside bodies. Medical imaging tools have come a long way since the humble x-ray, but most existing tools remain too coarse to quantify numbers or specific types of cells inside deep tissues of the body.</p><p>Quantum dots can do that, according to new research in mice from the University of Illinois.</p><p>\"Quantum dots can measure things in the body that are very, very dynamic and complicated and that we can\'t see currently. They give us the ability to count cells, detect their exact locations, and observe changes over time. I think it is really a huge advance,\" says Andrew Smith, professor in the Department of Bioengineering at U of I and co-author on the <em>ACS Nano</em> study.</p><p>Quantum dots are lab-grown nanoparticles -- just a few hundred atoms in size -- with special optical properties detectable by standard microscopy, tomography (e.g., PET/CT scanners), and fluorescence imaging. Depending on their size and composition, bioengineers like Smith can make them glow in specific colors and emit light in the infrared spectrum.</p><p>\"Emitting light in the infrared is rare. Very little light is emitted by tissues in the infrared, so if you put them in the body, they appear very bright. We can see deeply into the body and can more accurately measure things than we could using technology in the visible range,\" Smith says.</p><p>In the <em>ACS Nano</em> study, Smith and colleagues let quantum dots loose on macrophages.</p><p>When our bodies need to gobble up pathogens or clean up cellular debris, macrophages go to work. One of their jobs is to initiate inflammation, making the environment inhospitable to harmful microbes. But sometimes they do that job too well. Depending on the tissue they\'re in, chronic inflammation due to macrophage activity can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular issues, cancers, and more.</p><p>The U of I team was particularly interested in macrophages in fat, or adipose tissue.</p><p>\"With weight gain and obesity, macrophage numbers are known to increase in adipose tissue and tend to shift towards an inflammatory phenotype, which contributes to the development of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. The number and location of macrophages in adipose tissue are poorly described, especially in vivo,\" says Kelly Swanson, Kraft Heinz Company Endowed Professor in Human Nutrition in the Department of Animal Sciences at U of I and study co-author.</p><p>\"The quantum dots our group developed allow for better quantification and characterization of the cells present in adipose tissue and their spatial distribution,\" he adds.</p><p>The team created quantum dots coated with dextran, a sugar molecule that also targets macrophages in adipose tissue. As a proof-of-concept, they injected these quantum dots into obese mice and compared imaging results against dextran alone, the current standard for imaging macrophages.</p><p>Quantum dots outperformed dextran alone across all imaging platforms, including simple optical techniques.</p><p>\"Quantum dots put out a huge amount of light, giving us the ability to measure specific cell types to a greater degree and identify where they are,\" Smith says. \"That degree of light output allows the use of optical techniques, which are much more accessible than other imaging technologies. Compared with MRI and PET scanners, they\'re cheap instruments that can be put into a small clinic. Everybody could have one.\"</p><p>Although quantum dots haven\'t been used yet in humans, Swanson sees a future in which a simple optical technology like ultrasound could be used to non-invasively diagnose and track inflammatory macrophages in overweight patients.</p><p>\"There could be a device like an ultrasound where you scan somebody, and even if a patient\'s weight hasn\'t changed, a doctor could tell if the cell types are changing. More inflammatory cells could predict insulin resistance and other issues,\" he says. \"That\'s why I\'m interested in it, for its diagnostic properties.\"</p><p>Quantum dots aren\'t used in humans because they are typically made with heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury, and scientists still haven\'t figured out how they\'re metabolized and removed from the body. Smith and his team are working on quantum dots made with safer elements, but until then, they remain an invaluable research tool. For example, their long circulation time -- nine times as long as dextran in the current study -- could give diagnosticians a way to go beyond a snapshot in time.</p><p>\"There\'s a huge level of variability of macrophages even across a day. Adipose tissue may have a very high number in the middle of the day, and then it drops way down,\" Smith says. \"In animal studies, we can sacrifice animals at the start and end of a day to study the trend, but with quantum dots, we might not have to do that. You could track one animal over time to see its progression.</p><p>\"Quantum dots offer a huge amount of value in animal studies. So even if quantum dots don\'t make it to humans, if we never find a way to make them non-toxic, the value is still really great.\"</p><p>Smith, Swanson, and other colleagues were recently awarded a National Institutes of Health grant to expand their work with quantum dots to target dozens of different cell types.</p><p>The Department of Animal Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.</p>','2022-03-22 20:35:28.479791','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences','To accurately diagnose and treat diseases, doctors and researchers need to see inside bodies. Medical imaging tools have come a long way since the humble x-ray, but most existing tools remain too coarse to quantify numbers or specific types of cells inside deep tissues of the body. Quantum dots can do that, according to new research in mice.\n',1,71,'<li>Hongping Deng, Christian J. Konopka, Suma Prabhu, Suresh Sarkar, Natalia Gonzalez Medina, Muhammad Fayyaz, Opeyemi H. Arogundade, Hashni Epa Vidana Gamage, Sayyed Hamed Shahoei, Duncan Nall, Yeoan Youn, Iwona T. Dobrucka, Christopher O. Audu, Amrita Joshi, William J. Melvin, Katherine A. Gallagher, Paul R. Selvin, Erik R. Nelson, Lawrence W. Dobrucki, Kelly S. Swanson, Andrew M. Smith. <strong>Dextran-Mimetic Quantum Dots for Multimodal Macrophage Imaging In Vivo, Ex Vivo, and In Situ</strong>. <em>ACS Nano</em>, 2022; 16 (2): 1999 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c07010\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsnano.1c07010</a>\n</li>'),(1493,'Breakthrough hospitalizations \'extremely uncommon\' after COVID-19 immunity, study finds','breakthrough-hospitalizations-\'extremely-uncommon\'-after-covid-19-immunity,-study-finds','2022-03-22 20:35:32.449973',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Fewer than 1 in 1,000 people who have been vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19 were hospitalized with a new breakthrough infection, Mayo Clinic research finds. The study, which is published in <em>Clinical Infectious Diseases</em>, supports previous studies that show vaccination is the best way to prevent severe COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.</p><p>\"In the general primary care patient population, those who have been vaccinated have very low risk of subsequent hospitalization for breakthrough COVID-19,\" says lead author Benjamin Pollock, Ph.D., a researcher in the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. \"Our study shows that while it can and does happen, that these occurrences are extremely uncommon.\"</p><p>The researchers created a longitudinal study of 106,349 primary care patients at Mayo Clinic in Rochester who were 18 or older and tested positive for COVID-19, and/or were vaccinated for COVID-19. Of those patients, only 69 were hospitalized because of a breakthrough COVID-19 infection.</p><p>The researchers found the hospitalization rate was:</p><p>While there were slight differences between the three groups, the researchers note the difference is not statistically significant.</p><p>\"We found these results to be in line with previous studies, although the interpretation shouldn\'t necessarily be that natural immunity provides the same protection as vaccination,\" says Dr. Pollock. \"Rather, this study found that among our primary care population, both natural immunity and vaccine immunity appeared to lead to very low rates of breakthrough hospitalizations.\"</p><p>The researchers looked at breakthrough cases that resulted in hospitalization, but they did not compare immunity after infection and vaccination rates among mild or asymptomatic breakthrough cases.</p><p>\"We know that vaccination remains the safest route to protection from COVID-19 infection and severe disease,\" says Aaron Tande, M.D., a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases physician, and a co-author of the study. \"I explain to my patients that a COVID-19 vaccine provides additional protection, even if they have been previously infected. For those who have not been infected, vaccination remains the safest and most reliable route of protection.\"</p><p>Previous studies have shown similar results, the researchers note. Some studies have shown that immunity after infection prevents the most hospitalizations. Other studies have shown that vaccination prevents the most hospitalizations. In both cases, breakthrough hospitalizations are similarly rare.</p><p>\"Because it\'s impossible to tell in advance how severe a first infection may be, or who among vulnerable populations the virus may spread to, waiting for natural immunity is a gamble and not a safe alternative,\" Dr. Tande says.</p><p>The research was supported by the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. The center\'s research focuses on transforming clinical practice. Its researchers seek to discover new ways to improve health; translate those discoveries into evidence-based, actionable treatments, processes and procedures; and apply this new knowledge to improve patient care.</p><p>The senior author of the study is Priya Sampathkumar, M.D., a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases physician and head of Mayo\'s Infection Prevention and Control Program. In addition to Dr. Tande, the study\'s co-author is Curtis Storlie, Ph.D., a researcher in the Mayo Clinic Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.</p><p>The research was funded by Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. The team reports no conflicts of interest.</p>','2022-03-22 20:35:32.449973','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Mayo Clinic','Fewer than 1 in 1,000 people who have been vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19 were hospitalized with a new breakthrough infection, research finds. The study supports previous studies that show vaccination is the best way to prevent severe COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.\n',1,74,'<li>Benjamin D Pollock, Curtis B Storlie, Aaron J Tande, Priya Sampathkumar. <strong>Real-world incidence of breakthrough COVID-19 hospitalization after vaccination versus natural infection in a large, local, empaneled primary care population using time-to-event analysis</strong>. <em>Clinical Infectious Diseases</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciac186\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/cid/ciac186</a>\n</li>'),(1494,'The opto-ionic effect: Light may increase performance of fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries','the-opto-ionic-effect:-light-may-increase-performance-of-fuel-cells-and-lithium-ion-batteries','2022-03-22 20:35:35.090134',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells and many other devices depend on the high mobility of ions in order to work properly. But there a large number of obstacles to such mobility. A research team led by Jennifer L. M. Rupp of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Harry L. Tuller of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have now shown for the first time that light can be used to increase the mobility of ions and improve the performance of such devices.</p><p>A charge can be transported by a material in a number of different ways. The most familiar is the electrical conductivity of metals, where the charge is borne by electrons. In many devices, however, ions transport the charge. One example is lithium-ion batteries in which lithium ions move during charging and discharging. Similarly, fuel cells rely on the transport of hydrogen and oxygen ions in order to conduct electricity.</p><p>Ceramics are currently being investigated as solid electrolytes for transporting oxygen ions. But: \"What we find is that the ionic conductivity -- the rate at which the ions can move and, therefore, how efficient the resulting device can be -- is often markedly degraded by the fact that the ions get blocked at grain boundaries,\" says Prof. Harry L. Tuller of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</p><p><strong>Light puts ions on the go</strong></p><p>In their current publication Tuller and his colleague Jennifer L. M. Rupp, Professor for solid-state electrolyte chemistry at the Technical University of Munich, show how light can be used to reduce the barriers encountered by ions at ceramic grain boundaries.</p><p>Many devices based on ion conductivity, such as solid-oxide fuel cells, have to operate at very high temperatures in order for the ions to be able to overcome the grain boundary barriers. Operating temperatures of up to 700° Celsius, however, present their own challenges: Materials age faster and the infrastructure for maintaining these high temperatures is costly.</p><p>\"Our dream was to see if we could overcome the barriers using something that doesn\'t require heat. Could we get the same conductivities with another tool?\" says lead author and PhD student Thomas Defferriere. This tool turned out to be light, which had never been investigated in this context before.</p><p><strong>Higher efficiency levels in energy conversion and storage</strong></p><p>\"Our research shows that illumination of ceramic materials for fuel cells and possibly for batteries in the future can significantly increase ion mobility,\" says Rupp. \"In gadolinium-doped cerium oxide, a ceramic used as a solid-state electrolyte in fuel cells, illumination increased conductivity at the grain boundaries by a factor of 3.5.\"</p><p>This newly discovered \"opto-ionic effect\" could find a wide range of applications in the future. For example, it could improve the performance of solid-state electrolytes in tomorrow\'s lithium-ion batteries and thus facilitate higher charging speeds, or could pave the way to the development of new electrochemical storage and conversion technologies that work at lower temperatures and achieve higher efficiency levels.</p><p>Light can also be precisely focused, making it possible to spatially control the ion flow at exactly defined points or to switch conductivity in ceramic materials.</p><p>The research was supported by the US Department of Energy as a part of the Basic Energy Services program, the National Science Foundation of the USA, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science as a part of the Core-to-Core program, the Swiss National Science Foundation, two Kakenhi Grants-In-Aid for young scientists and Equinor ASA.</p><p>Part of the research was conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\'s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and another part at the Center for Nanoscale Systems, which belongs to the National Science Foundation\'s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure Network.</p>','2022-03-22 20:35:35.090134','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Technical University of Munich (TUM)','Lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells and many other devices depend on the high mobility of ions in order to work properly. But there a large number of obstacles to such mobility. Researchers have now shown that light can be used to increase the mobility of ions and improve the performance of such devices.\n',1,72,'<li>Thomas Defferriere, Dino Klotz, Juan Carlos Gonzalez-Rosillo, Jennifer L. M. Rupp, Harry L. Tuller. <strong>Photo-enhanced ionic conductivity across grain boundaries in polycrystalline ceramics</strong>. <em>Nature Materials</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-01181-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41563-021-01181-2</a>\n</li>'),(1495,'Tackling large data sets and many parameter problems in particle physics','tackling-large-data-sets-and-many-parameter-problems-in-particle-physics','2022-03-22 21:05:58.358383',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">One of the major challenges in particle physics is how to interpret large data sets that consist of many different observables in the context of models with different parameters.</p><p>A new paper published in <em>EPJ Plus</em>, authored by Ursula Laa from the Institute of Statistics at BOKU University, Vienna, and German Valencia from the School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Clayton, Australia, looks at the simplification of large data set and many parameter problems using tools to split large parameter spaces into a small number of regions.</p><p>\"We applied our tools to the so-called B-anomaly problem. In this problem there is a large number of experimental results and a theory that predicts them in terms of several parameters,\" Laa says. \"The problem has received much attention because the preferred parameters to explain the observations do not correspond to those predicted by the standard model of particle physics, and as such the results would imply new physics.\"</p><p>Valencia continues by explaining the paper shows how the Pandemonium tool can provide an interactive graphical way to study the connections between characteristics in the observations and regions of parameter space.</p><p>\"In the B-anomaly problem, for example, we can clearly visualise the tension between two important observables that have been singled out in the past,\" Valencia says. \"We can also see which improved measurements would be best to address that tension.</p><p>\"This can be most helpful in prioritising future experiments to address unresolved questions.\"</p><p>Laa elaborates by explaining that the methods developed and used by the duo are applicable to many other problems, in particular for models and observables that are less well understood than the applications discussed in the paper, such as multi Higgs models.</p><p>\"A challenge is the visualization of multidimensional parameter spaces, the current interface only allows the user to visualise high dimensional data spaces interactively,\" Laa concludes. \"The challenge is to automate this, which will be addressed in future work, using techniques from dimension reduction.\"</p>','2022-03-22 21:05:58.358383','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Springer','A new tool to break down and segment large data set problems and problems with many parameters in particle physics could have a wide range of applications.\n',1,94,'<li>Ursula Laa, German Valencia. <strong>Pandemonium: a clustering tool to partition parameter space—application to the B anomalies</strong>. <em>The European Physical Journal Plus</em>, 2022; 137 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-02310-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-02310-1</a>\n</li>'),(1496,'Scientists hunt for neurons responsible for alcohol withdrawal','scientists-hunt-for-neurons-responsible-for-alcohol-withdrawal','2022-03-22 21:46:28.046093',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When a heavy alcohol drinker tries to take a night off, their body protests, with shaky hands, heart palpitations, anxiety and headaches. These acute symptoms of alcohol withdrawal -- but even more so the enduring emotional distress that lingers into protracted abstinence -- are one reason people with alcohol use disorders have a hard time quitting. Now, scientists at Scripps Research have made new headway in understanding the basis of alcohol withdrawal in the brain.</p><p>Previously, a signaling molecule called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) was linked to alcohol withdrawal; when researchers block CRF in rats or mice addicted to alcohol, the animals drink less. Scientists believed that the suspect CRF is produced by neurons in a brain area called the central nucleus of the amygdala. But in the new study, published in the journal <em>Molecular Psychiatry</em> in March 2022, the team found that -- at least in mice -- these cells aren\'t required for alcohol withdrawal or alcohol dependence.</p><p>\"Understanding the basis of withdrawal is incredibly important for treating alcohol addiction in humans, because this is one of the motivational drivers of excessive alcohol drinking,\" says Candice Contet, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research. \"These findings weren\'t what we expected, but help us get closer to understanding alcohol addiction and the role of CRF.\"</p><p>Many studies have established that CRF levels increase in the central nucleus of the amygdala of rats and mice during alcohol withdrawal as well as in response to other psychological stressors. Pharmaceutical companies are actively investigating how to target CRF signaling to treat a variety of psychological diseases including alcohol addiction. But results in humans have been inconclusive, and scientists have not been able to pin down which cells in the brain release CRF during alcohol withdrawal.</p><p>Contet\'s group wanted to test the hypothesis that cells in the central amygdala produce the CRF necessary for alcohol withdrawal. In the new study, the researchers activated and blocked these amygdala-residing neurons in mice dependent on alcohol. First, they activated the neurons in various patterns designed to replicate cycles of repetitive drinking and withdrawal. However, activating these CRF-producing neurons had no effect on the drinking behavior of the mice, even though other experiments confirmed that CRF was getting released in the central amygdala. Next, the team showed that blocking these neurons also had no effect on the behavior of mice with alcohol dependence, which was surprising because it meant that the CRF known to signal in the amygdala to promote alcohol drinking wasn\'t being produced in that area.</p><p>\"We basically saw that activating these neurons within the central amygdala is not sufficient nor necessary for the escalation of drinking in mice,\" says Contet. \"So it means that the CRF is coming to the central amygdala from somewhere else in the brain.\" Other neurons in the brain are known to produce CRF, but the team doesn\'t yet know which might be involved in alcohol dependence.</p><p>\"These findings were surprising but highlight the complexity of the CRF system and the changes in brain circuitry that occur following chronic alcohol exposure,\" says Melissa Herman, a former Scripps Research postdoctoral research associate and co-first author of the new paper.</p><p>When the team looked at the spatial patterns of organization of the amygdala neurons they were studying, they made another unexpected observation -- the CRF neurons weren\'t organized the same way in mice brains as they are in rat brains. The observation, Contet says, suggests that there might be some variation in CRF between species. This also could explain why the amygdala neurons in question have been found to be necessary for alcohol withdrawal in rats but, according to the new data, not in mice.</p><p>\"Our data has to be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to implications for humans,\" she says. \"Since there\'s this important difference between rats and mice, more work is definitely needed to figure out the relevance to humans.\"</p><p>The group is planning experiments to further understand the differences in CRF between rats and mice, as well as pin down which other neurons in the brain might be involved in its production during alcohol withdrawal.</p><p><em>This work was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (AA024198, AA026685, AA027636, AA027372, AA006420, AA021491, AA015566, AA02300, and AA024952). </em></p>','2022-03-22 21:46:28.046093','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Scripps Research Institute','When a heavy alcohol drinker tries to take a night off, their body protests, with shaky hands, heart palpitations, anxiety and headaches. These acute symptoms of alcohol withdrawal -- but even more so the enduring emotional distress that lingers into protracted abstinence -- are one reason people with alcohol use disorders have a hard time quitting. Now, scientists have made new headway in understanding the basis of alcohol withdrawal in the brain.\n',1,9,'<li>Max Kreifeldt, Melissa A. Herman, Harpreet Sidhu, Agbonlahor Okhuarobo, Giovana C. Macedo, Roxana Shahryari, Pauravi J. Gandhi, Marisa Roberto, Candice Contet. <strong>Central amygdala corticotropin-releasing factor neurons promote hyponeophagia but do not control alcohol drinking in mice</strong>. <em>Molecular Psychiatry</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01496-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41380-022-01496-9</a>\n</li>'),(1497,'Engineers develop a ‘magnetic tentacle robot’ to pass into the narrow tubes of the lung','engineers-develop-a-‘magnetic-tentacle-robot’-to-pass-into-the-narrow-tubes-of-the-lung','2022-03-22 22:29:11.977332',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Engineers and scientists have developed proof of concept for a robot that can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs -- to take tissue samples or deliver cancer therapy.</p><p>Known as a magnetic tentacle robot, it measures just 2 millimetres in diameter, about twice the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen.</p><p>Magnets on the outside of the patient will be used to guide the tentacle robot into place.</p><p>The device has been developed by a team of engineers, scientists and clinicians based at the STORM Lab at the University of Leeds, which is pioneering the use of robotic systems to assist in endoscopy and catheter procedures, where a fine tube is inserted into body.</p><p>The researchers have published their findings in the journal <em>Soft Robotics</em>.</p><p>The proof of concept was based on laboratory tests involving a 3-D replica of a bronchial tree modelled from anatomical data. The next phase of the research will investigate the effectiveness of the device in navigating lungs taken from a cadaver.</p><p><strong>Limits of existing technology </strong></p><p>Currently, doctors use an instrument called a bronchoscope to carry out an examination of the lungs and air passages. The procedure involves passing a flexible tube-like instrument, about 3.5 to 4 millimetres in diameter, through the nose or mouth and into the bronchial passages.</p><p>Because of its size, the bronchoscope can only travel as far as the upper levels of the bronchial tree.</p><p>To delve deeper into the lungs, a catheter or fine tube -- measuring about 2 millimetres in diameter -- is passed through the bronchoscope and then into the smaller tubes of the lungs.</p><p>But doctors are limited in how they can move a bronchoscope, making it difficult to navigate the instrument and the catheter to where they are needed.</p><p>The magnetic tentacle robot, however, has been developed to be much more manoeuvrable and uses a robotic guidance system that is personalised for each procedure.</p><p>Professor Pietro Valdastri, Director of the STORM Lab who supervised the research, said: \"A magnetic tentacle robot or catheter that measures 2 millimetres and whose shape can be magnetically controlled to conform to the bronchial tree anatomy can reach most areas of the lung, and would be an important clinical tool in the investigation and treatment of possible lung cancer and other lung diseases.</p><p>\"Our system uses an autonomous magnetic guidance system which does away for the need for patients to be X-rayed while the procedure is carried out.\"</p><p><strong>Innovative technology </strong></p><p>To develop the robotic system, the research team had to overcome two major challenges.</p><p>Firstly, they had to make a device that was small, flexible and able to navigate the twists and turns of the anatomy of the bronchial tree.</p><p>Secondly, they needed an autonomous system to guide the magnetic tentacle robot into place, doing away with the need for a doctor to manually manoeuvre an instrument into place, which often involves the patient being exposed to x-rays, and can be technically challenging for medical staff.</p><p><strong>Small and flexible robot</strong></p><p>To reduce the size of the robot while retaining controllability of motion, the researchers manufactured it from a series of interlinked cylindrical segments, each 2 millimetres in diameter and around 80 millimetres in length. The segments were made of a soft elastomeric or rubber-like material which had been impregnated with tiny magnetic particles.</p><p>Because of the presence of the magnetic particles, the interlinked segments can move somewhat independently under the effect of an external magnetic field. The result is a magnetic tentacle robot which is highly flexible, able to shape shift and small enough to avoid snagging on anatomical structures in the lungs.</p><p><strong>Guidance system </strong></p><p>Magnets mounted on robotic arms on the outside of the patient would be used to guide the device into the lungs in a process that would be tailor-made for each procedure.</p><p>The route through the bronchial tree is planned from pre-operative scans of a patient\'s lungs and programmed into the robotic system. As the magnets outside of the patient move, they develop forces on the magnetic particles in the segments of the catheter, causing them to change shape or direction -- enabling the robot to be manoeuvred through the lungs and to a site of a suspicious lesion.</p><p>Once at the target location, the robot is used to take a tissue sample or deliver treatment.</p><p>It may be several years before \"magnetic tentacle\" technology is available in a hospital setting.</p><p>The STORM lab at the University of Leeds is revolutionising the technology used in endoscopic and catheter investigations.</p><p>They have created a protype of a low-cost endoscope -- used to investigate the upper gastrointestinal tract -- which could be used in low to middle income countries where lack of access to expensive equipment is hampering screening programmes.</p><p>Magnetic technology is also at the heart of a robotic colonoscopy system that is easier for staff to operate and kinder for patients.</p><p>The STORM lab is part of the Leeds Centre for Cancer Research which was launched earlier in the year.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/CP8BYFwsYSo\">https://youtu.be/CP8BYFwsYSo</a></p>','2022-03-22 22:29:11.977332','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Leeds','Engineers and scientists have developed proof of concept for a robot that can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs - to take tissue samples or deliver cancer therapy. Known as a magnetic tentacle robot, it measures just 2 millimeters in diameter, about twice the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Magnets on the outside of the patient will guide the tentacle robot into place.\n',1,137,'<li>Giovanni Pittiglio, Peter Lloyd, Tomas da Veiga, Onaizah Onaizah, Cecilia Pompili, James H. Chandler, Pietro Valdastri. <strong>Patient-Specific Magnetic Catheters for Atraumatic Autonomous Endoscopy</strong>. <em>Soft Robotics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/soro.2021.0090\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1089/soro.2021.0090</a>\n</li>'),(1498,'U.S. seafood workers at increased risk for COVID-19 during pandemic, research finds','u.s.-seafood-workers-at-increased-risk-for-covid-19-during-pandemic,-research-finds','2022-03-22 22:29:58.052139',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The dramatic toll that COVID-19 has taken on the U.S. is apparent, but as caseloads come down and mandates are loosened it has become increasingly obvious how much of an impact the pandemic had on food service workers in industries like the fisheries. A study from the University of New Hampshire looked at the direct and indirect effects of the global pandemic on U.S. seafood workers by tracking cases and outbreaks and found seafood workers were twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as workers in other food industries.</p><p>\"The U.S. seafood industry was hit pretty hard, especially workers in high-density workplaces like seafood processing plants where social distancing was difficult,\" said Easton White, assistant professor of biological sciences. \"Even though COVID-19 precautions were set in place reducing the number of workers on processing lines it meant longer shifts and increased exposure overall. Fishing vessels had similar issues, where crews on crowded boats faced challenges wearing PPE, or masks, in wet and windy conditions.\"</p><p>In the study, recently published in the journal <em>PeerJ Life &amp; Environment</em>, researchers show how U.S. seafood workers were disproportionally affected by COVID-19, highlighting the various direct and indirect effects of the virus and tracking the number of cases and outbreaks. They reviewed news reports, scientific articles and white papers and found most cases of COVID-19 among the seafood workers were reported during the height of the pandemic, in the summer of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, and the majority were among workers involved in seafood processing who tend to work in close proximity to each other for long hours. Cases of COVID-19 were found in all U.S. coastal areas however Alaska, home to 60% of the U.S. commercial fisheries, experienced the largest number of outbreaks. Researchers also noticed more physical and mental taxing conditions like concerns about workplace safety, contracting COVID-19, access to medical services, vaccination and paid sick leave. They also took into consideration the economic consequences of the pandemic including changes in markets, supply and demand, in addition to revenue loss, price fluctuations, supply chain issues and labor shortages.</p><p>The researchers point to the effectiveness of the preemptive response to COVID-19 from the Massachusetts town of New Bedford which contains a massive shipping port and compare it to pandemic practices in Dutch Harbor and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, home of the two largest commercial fisheries in the country. New Bedford was one of the first to open both testing centers and vaccination sites specifically for seafood workers leading to limited number of cases and outbreaks while the fishing industry in Alaska reportedly had trouble managing the virus.</p><p>\"We hope this research sets the foundation for future practices in the seafood sector in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, improving the overall workplace and recognizing the importance of collecting systematic social and economic data about workers,\" said White.</p>','2022-03-22 22:29:58.052139','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of New Hampshire','A recent study looked at the direct and indirect effects of the global pandemic on U.S. seafood workers by tracking cases and outbreaks and found seafood workers were twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as workers in other food industries.\n',1,148,'<li>Easton R. White, Jill Levine, Amanda Moeser, Julie Sorensen. <strong>The direct and indirect effects of a global pandemic on US fishers and seafood workers</strong>. <em>PeerJ</em>, 2022; 10: e13007 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13007\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.7717/peerj.13007</a>\n</li>'),(1499,'COVID-19 has left GPs struggling around the world, new study shows','covid-19-has-left-gps-struggling-around-the-world,-new-study-shows','2022-03-22 22:30:04.250798',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The pandemic left many GPs around the world feeling depressed, anxious and in some cases burned out, a review of global studies has revealed.</p><p>The review, published in the British Journal of General Practice and led by the University of York, also found that women doctors in primary care reported more psychological problems, whilst those who are older reported greater stress and burnout.</p><p>Researchers reviewed research literature and identified 31 studies evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of doctors in primary care.</p><p>Healthcare systems vary across countries and this review identified only three studies of GPs working in the UK. Studies used a wide variety of measures to assess psychological wellbeing and lacked measurements from before the pandemic, which makes comparisons difficult.</p><p>There were, though, common themes highlighting the difficulties faced by doctors working in primary care settings (similar to NHS GPs) around the world.</p><p>Sources of stress during the pandemic included changed working practices, exposure to COVID-19 and inadequate PPE, information overload, lack of preparedness for the pandemic and poor communication across health sectors.</p><p>The studies demonstrated an impact on primary care doctors\' psychological wellbeing, with some also experiencing a fear of COVID-19 and lower job satisfaction. A third of the studies also explored physical symptoms -- with GPs reporting migraines and headaches, tiredness and exhaustion, sleep disorders and increased eating, drinking and smoking.</p><p>One UK study which focused on GPs with symptoms of long COVID found GPs felt \'let down\' and expressed frustration at the lack of support and recognition for the condition.</p><p>Study author, Dr Laura Jefferson from the Department of Health Sciences said: \"Many GPs have reported stress and burnout over recent years, which is potentially damaging not just to doctors themselves, but also to patients and healthcare systems.</p><p>\"The COVID-19 pandemic has presented additional challenges for GPs, including rapid change, risks of infection, remote working, pent-up demand and reductions in face-to-face patient care.</p><p>\"While there has been a tendency for research like this to focus on hospital roles, there was a need to synthesise evidence and explore factors associated with GPs\' mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic.</p><p>\"This is the first systematic review exploring the psychological wellbeing of primary care doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic.\"</p><p>Seven studies reported statistically significant differences in outcomes for women GPs, including higher stress levels, greater reporting of burden, burnout and anxiety. Older age was associated with higher stress levels in three studies.</p><p>The research concluded that policy and infrastructure are needed to support GPs and further research is needed to explore gender and age differences; identifying interventions targeted to these groups.</p><p>This report was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care NIHR Policy Research Programme, exploring the impact of COVID-19 on GPs\' wellbeing.</p><p>The paper called, \"General practitioner wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review,\" is published in the <em>British Journal of General Practice</em>.</p>','2022-03-22 22:30:04.250798','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of York','The pandemic left many GPs around the world feeling depressed, anxious and in some cases burned out, a review of global studies has revealed.\n',1,39,'<li>Laura Jefferson, Su Golder, Claire Heathcote, Ana Castro Avila, Veronica Dale, Holly Essex, Christina van der Feltz Cornelis, Elizabeth McHugh, Thirimon Moe-Byrne, Karen Bloor. <strong>GP wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review</strong>. <em>British Journal of General Practice</em>, 2022; BJGP.2021.0680 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0680\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3399/BJGP.2021.0680</a>\n</li>'),(1500,'Shining a light on protein aggregation in Parkinson\'s disease','shining-a-light-on-protein-aggregation-in-parkinson\'s-disease','2022-03-22 22:32:39.025195',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A novel system to control protein aggregation in a model of Parkinson\'s disease may answer longstanding questions about how the disease begins and spreads, according to a new study published March 9 in the open-access journal <em>PLOS Biology</em> by Abid Oueslati of Laval University, Quebec, Canada, and colleagues. Initial results suggest that aggregation of the protein alpha-synuclein plays a critical role in disrupting neuronal homeostasis and triggering neurodegeneration.</p><p>Parkinson\'s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, marked clinically by tremor, stiffness, and slowed movements, as well as a host of nonmotor symptoms. Within affected neurons, molecules of a protein called alpha-synuclein can be seen to clump together, forming characteristic aggregates called Lewy bodies. But it has been hard to answer whether alpha-synuclein aggregation contributes to disease development or progression, and when it may act in the toxic disease cascade, or whether instead the aggregates are innocent bystanders to some other malevolent process, or are even protective. These elements have been difficult to determine, in part because aggregation in cellular and animal models has not been controllable in either time or space.</p><p>To address that problem, the authors turned to optobiology, a technique in which a protein of interest is fused to another protein that changes its conformation in response to light, allowing the behavior of the target protein to be manipulated selectively and reversibly. Here, the authors fused alpha-synuclein to a protein known as cryptochrome protein 2, from a mustard plant. They found that when light of the correct wavelength fell on the mustard protein, its conformational change triggered aggregation of its alpha-synuclein partner.</p><p>The aggregates that formed were reminiscent of Lewy bodies in multiple important ways, including that they included several other key proteins besides alpha-synuclein found in Lewy bodies in people with Parkinson\'s disease, and that the alpha-synuclein in the aggregates adopted the characteristic beta-sheet conformation seen in many diseases of misfolded proteins. The aggregates induced dislocation of multiple cellular organelles, as Lewy bodies have been recently reported to do as well. They also induced misfolding in alpha-synuclein molecules not attached to the cryptochrome protein, mimicking the prion-like spread of aggregation seen with alpha-synuclein in the diseased brain and animal models.</p><p>Finally, the authors delivered the genes for the alpha-synuclein-cryptochrome fusion protein to mice, directly into the substantia nigra, the structure in the brain that is most prominently affected by Parkinson\'s disease, and surgically placed an optic fiber to deliver light to the targeted cells. Light treatment led to formation of alpha-synuclein aggregates, neurodegeneration, disruption of calcium activity in downstream neuronal targets, and Parkinson-like motor deficits.</p><p>\"Our results demonstrate the potential of this optobiological system to reliably and controllably induce formation of Lewy body-like aggregations in model systems, in order to better understand the dynamics and timing of Lewy body formation and spread, and their contribution to the pathogenesis of Parkinson\'s disease,\" Oueslati said.</p><p>Oueslati adds, \"How do alpha-synuclein aggregates contribute to neuronal damage in Parkinson\'s disease? To help address this question, we developed a new optogenetic-based experimental model allowing for the induction and real-time monitoring of alpha-synuclein clustering in vivo.\"</p>','2022-03-22 22:32:39.025195','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','A novel system to control protein aggregation in a model of Parkinson\'s disease may answer longstanding questions about how the disease begins and spreads, according to a new study. Initial results suggest that aggregation of the protein alpha-synuclein plays a critical role in disrupting neuronal homeostasis and triggering neurodegeneration.\n',1,154,'<li>Morgan Bérard, Razan Sheta, Sarah Malvaut, Raquel Rodriguez-Aller, Maxime Teixeira, Walid Idi, Roxanne Turmel, Melanie Alpaugh, Marilyn Dubois, Manel Dahmene, Charleen Salesse, Jérôme Lamontagne-Proulx, Marie-Kim St-Pierre, Omid Tavassoly, Wen Luo, Esther Del Cid-Pellitero, Raza Qazi, Jae-Woong Jeong, Thomas M. Durcan, Luc Vallières, Marie-Eve Tremblay, Denis Soulet, Martin Lévesque, Francesca Cicchetti, Edward A. Fon, Armen Saghatelyan, Abid Oueslati. <strong>A light-inducible protein clustering system for in vivo analysis of α-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson disease</strong>. <em>PLOS Biology</em>, 2022; 20 (3): e3001578 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001578\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pbio.3001578</a>\n</li>'),(1501,'Tiny, cheap solution for quantum-secure encryption','tiny,-cheap-solution-for-quantum-secure-encryption','2022-03-22 22:43:36.091679',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It\'s fairly reasonable to assume that an encrypted email can\'t be seen by prying eyes. That\'s because in order to break through most of the encryption systems we use on a day-to-day basis, unless you are the intended recipient, you\'d need the answer to a mathematical problem that\'s nearly impossible for a computer to solve in a reasonable amount of time.</p><p>Nearly impossible for modern-day computers, at least.</p><p>\"If quantum computing becomes a reality, however, some of those problems are not hard anymore,\" said Shantanu Chakrabartty, the Clifford W. Murphy Professor and vice dean for research and graduate education in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical &amp; Systems Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering.</p><p>Already these new computing paradigms are becoming a reality and could soon be deployable. Hackers are already preparing by storing encrypted transactions now with the expectation they can decipher the information later.</p><p>Chakrabartty\'s lab at Washington University in St. Louis proposes a security system that is not only resistant to quantum attacks, but is also inexpensive, more convenient, and scalable without the need for fancy new equipment.</p><p>This research will appear in the <em>IEEE Transactions of Information Forensics Science</em>. </p><p>Security is often managed today by key distribution systems in which one person sends information hidden behind a key, maybe a long string of seemingly unassociated numbers. The receiver of that information can access the information if they possess another specific key. The two keys are related in a mathematical way that is nearly impossible to guess, but can be easily solved with the right algorithm or using a quantum computer.</p><p>There have been potential solutions for securing data against a \"quantum attack.\" Some technologies have been commercialized already. But they are computationally very expensive or require dedicated optical fibers or satellite links via lasers.</p><p>The new protocol for Symmetric Key Distribution, which Chakrabartty and Mustafizur Rahman, a PhD student in Chakrabartty\'s lab and first author on the research paper, refer to as SPoTKD, doesn\'t require lasers or satellites or miles of new cable. It relies on tiny microchips embedded with even tinier clocks that run without batteries.</p><p>The clocks are really electrons that seem to magically transport themselves between two locations on the chip using quantum tunneling; the \"time\" refers to the motion of the electrons. When the chips are created, their initial state is also recorded on a computer server.</p><p>If someone wants to create a secure channel, they note the time on a subset of the clocks and send that information to the server, which can use its knowledge of the initial state to determine what time the clocks read at the time they were sent. The server lets the person know what the times were and, if correct, a secure channel of communication has been opened.</p><p>The quantum nature of the electrons\' transport adds some extra layers of security; if they are measured, the clock collapses. It will disappear forever and neither a spy nor the recipient can access the information.</p><p>And, as Chakrabartty has shown in the past, these kinds of systems can also power themselves for extended periods of time with the slightest energy input at the outset, thanks to the properties of quantum tunneling. This is another security advantage of his SPoTKD: it doesn\'t rely on outside energy to power it.</p><p>\"A big vulnerability would be if you could tap into the power source,\" Chakrabartty said. \"You would be able to monitor the fluctuations in power consumption to get secret information.\"</p><p>Chakrabartty is working on some additional features for these chips, including the ability to self-destruct after a specified period of time. A provisional US patent for the technology has been filed by the Office of Technology Management.</p><p>Ultimately, SPoTKD could be used to make sure medical records are destroyed after being read by a doctor, or to enforce time limits on software licenses. They can secure voting records or validate NFTs or just make sure no one is reading your email.</p>','2022-03-22 22:43:36.091679','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Washington University in St. Louis','Engineers propose a new kind of encryption to protect data in the age of quantum computers.\n',1,27,'<li>Mustafizur Rahman, Liang Zhou, Shantanu Chakrabartty. <strong>SPoTKD: A Protocol for Symmetric Key Distribution over Public Channels Using Self-Powered Timekeeping Devices</strong>. <em>IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TIFS.2022.3158089\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1109/TIFS.2022.3158089</a>\n</li>'),(1502,'Study reconsiders name of Peru\'s Machu Picchu','study-reconsiders-name-of-peru\'s-machu-picchu','2022-03-22 22:43:40.853167',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Machu Picchu is among the most recognized archaeological sites in the world. A lasting symbol of the Inca Empire, it\'s one of the most visited attractions in Latin America and at the heart of the Peruvian tourist industry.</p><p>However, when Hiram Bingham first visited the ruins in 1911 and then brought them to the world\'s attention, they were little known -- even among those who lived in Peru\'s Cusco region.</p><p>More than 110 years after Bingham\'s first visit to the site, historian Donato Amado Gonzales from the Ministry of Culture of Peru (Cusco) and archeologist Brian S. Bauer from the University of Illinois Chicago reviewed Bingham\'s original field notes, early 20th century maps of the region, and centuries-old land documents from different archives. Their findings suggest that less was known about the site than what was previously thought.</p><p>In their paper, published by <em>Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology</em>, the researchers conclude that the Incas originally called it Huayna Picchu, for the rocky summit that lies nearest to the site, and not Machu Picchu, which is the name of the highest mountain near the ancient city.</p><p>\"We began with the uncertainty of the name of the ruins when Bingham first visited them and then reviewed several maps and atlases printed before Bingham\'s visit to the ruins,\" said Bauer, UIC professor of anthropology. \"There is significant data which suggest that the Inca city actually was called Picchu or more likely, Huayna Picchu.\"</p><p>The researchers found that the ruins of an Inca town called Huayna Picchu is mentioned in a 1904 atlas that was published seven years before Bingham arrived in Peru. Additionally, they detail that Bingham was told in 1911 of ruins called Huayna Picchu along the Urubamba River before he left Cusco to search for the remains. A landowner\'s son later told Bingham in 1912 that the ruins were called Huayna Picchu.</p><p>According to Bauer, the most definitive connections to the original name of the Inca city are preserved within accounts written by Spaniards relatively soon after the region came under their control in the late 16th century.</p><p>\"We end with a stunning, late 16th-century account when the indigenous people of the region were considering returning to reoccupy the site which they called Huayna Picchu,\" he said.</p>','2022-03-22 22:43:40.853167','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois Chicago','More than 110 years after Hiram Bingham\'s first visit to the site, researchers reviewed Bingham\'s original field notes, early 20th century maps of the region, and centuries-old land documents from different archives. Their findings suggest that less was known about the site than what was previously thought.\n',1,170,'<li>Donato Amado Gonzales, Brian S. Bauer. <strong>The Ancient Inca Town Named Huayna Picchu</strong>. <em>Ñawpa Pacha</em>, 2021; 42 (1): 17 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00776297.2021.1949833\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1080/00776297.2021.1949833</a>\n</li>'),(1503,'Nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine could target future infectious diseases','nanoparticle-based-covid-19-vaccine-could-target-future-infectious-diseases','2022-03-22 22:43:50.101583',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Just one dose of a new nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine was enough to produce an immune response in animals on track with vaccines currently in clinical use. And with minor changes, Northwestern University researchers hope the same vaccine platform could target other infectious diseases.</p><p>In a new study, 100% of mice who received the protein-based immunization survived when challenged with lethal doses of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. None of the mice experienced lung damage due to SARS-CoV-2 exposure. All mice who did not receive this nanoparticle vaccine died in a 14-day trial.</p><p>The results, published this week in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, outline the structure-function relationships between the first spherical nucleic acid (SNA) vaccine developed to protect against viral infections.</p><p>\"What makes this vaccine different than other vaccines is the approach we take to design them,\" said Dr. Michelle Teplensky, co-first author of the paper. \"Even as recently as a few years ago people focused on selecting the right target to train the immune system and the right stimulant to activate it, not on how those components were arranged structurally and presented to the body.\"</p><p>Called SNAs, the nanoparticles that house the immune target are a form of globular DNA that can enter and stimulate immune cells with extreme efficiency. SNAs have been tested in more than 60 cell types. Researchers experimentally determined the ideal ratio between the SNA\'s shell and core density that produces the most potent response.</p><p>SNA vaccines have been used to treat mice with triple negative breast cancer -- and more vaccines for other cancers are in development.</p><p>Chad A. Mirkin, the inventor of SNAs and the paper\'s corresponding author, led the study and said the platform can translate to infectious diseases.</p><p>\"This is a remarkable demonstration of rational vaccinology -- the idea that the structure of a vaccine, as opposed to just components, can have a profound influence on efficacy,\" Mirkin said. \"While we have previously shown this to be the case for cancer immunotherapies, this is the first demonstration for an infectious disease.\"</p><p>Mirkin is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in Northwestern\'s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, director of the International Institute of Nanotechnology and member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.</p><p><strong>Making the drug</strong></p><p>Vaccines typically take years to develop. But with COVID-19 came astonishing advancements in this arena. Mirkin challenged Teplensky, a postdoctoral fellow in Mirkin\'s lab, to work with Ph.D. student and co-first author Max Distler, to evaluate whether the SNA platform could be used to create a potent vaccine, and expand its scope of impact. The two finished the project in just nine months -- roughly the same amount of time as commercial developers.</p><p>Typical viral immunizations consist of a mixture of molecules from the virus (called antigens) that tell the immune system what its target will be (the virus), and other molecules (called adjuvants) stimulate the immune system to boost the body\'s ability to tackle that target when it appears later. Because the mixture isn\'t traditionally packaged together, researchers predict that cells within patients are not getting a potent dose of both antigens and adjuvants.</p><p>That\'s where structure comes into play. Mirkin coined the term \"rational vaccinology\" to describe how co-delivery and timing of these two drugs via one nanoparticle can make vaccines more effective. Tiny changes at the nanoscale can have big implications for a vaccine\'s efficacy and predictability.</p><p>Mirkin\'s team packaged the antigen (a portion from COVID-19\'s infamous spike protein) inside the core of an SNA, and used a specific sequence of DNA known to stimulate the immune system (adjuvant) as the radial shell surrounding the core. The researchers injected mice under the skin, causing an immune response to the spike protein, and then monitored antibody production in the weeks following injection.</p><p><strong>Challenging the results</strong></p><p>Two weeks following the injection, mice vaccinated with the SNA vaccine had the highest antibody production compared to those vaccinated with a simple saline mixture of the same components, even outperforming other formulations containing commercially used adjuvants (which have been used in formulations of shingles, Hepatitis B and flu vaccinations) by 14-fold.</p><p>Antibodies correlate to protection against infection, establishing the platform\'s potential in the COVID-19 and infectious disease space. Protein-based vaccines also have fewer side effects and can be stored at normal refrigerator temperature, lowering production and distribution costs considerably.</p><p>The researchers looked at papers from commercially available COVID-19 vaccinations and found other studies\' final antibody production at two weeks was \"right on track\" with their own.</p><p>Just to be sure, the team sent their vaccine off to Argonne National Laboratory and allowed them to be put to the test by vaccinating mice and then infecting them with high doses of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a double-blind study. One hundred percent of mice dosed with the SNA vaccine survived through the end of the trial with no lung damage caused by COVID-19 pneumonia.</p><p><strong>Stopping future viruses</strong></p><p>Using COVID-19 as a case study to compare how well the vaccine worked was mainly practical. But it also calls attention to the broader implications of the SNA as an infectious disease platform.</p><p>Teplensky says that COVID-19 caused a shift in behavior toward infectious diseases. \"People didn\'t recognize and appreciate the emergent power that infectious disease can have,\" Teplensky said. \"We saw an opportunity to use COVID as a case study to shed light on the shortcomings in the vaccination space.\"</p><p>Distler said, \"with this case study, although the results are quite impressive, the goal was not to compete with existing COVID vaccines. We\'re preparing for the next mutation, or the next disease in need of a highly structured vaccine because eventually there will be another emergent disease.\" According to the researchers, the platform could even be used to target something as complex as HIV.</p><p>\"The modularity of this approach implies that a quick tweak might only be required to make a new vaccine for a future virus, especially if what we\'ve observed previously with the cancer vaccine works,\" Mirkin said. \"All we\'d need to do is change what we\'re teaching the immune system to target.\"</p><p>The paper, \"Spherical Nucleic Acids as an Infectious Disease Vaccine Platform,\" came together as a collaboration between Northwestern scientists, physicians, and engineers, the Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago. The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (award FA9550-17-1-0348), the Polsky Urologic Cancer Institute of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (under awards R01CA208783 and P50CA221747).</p>','2022-03-22 22:43:50.101583','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Northwestern University','Just one dose of a new nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine was enough to produce an immune response in animals on track with vaccines currently in clinical use. And with minor changes, researchers hope the same vaccine platform could target other infectious diseases.\n',1,74,'<li>Michelle H. Teplensky, Max E. Distler, Caroline D. Kusmierz, Michael Evangelopoulos, Haley Gula, Derek Elli, Anastasia Tomatsidou, Vlad Nicolaescu, Ian Gelarden, Anjana Yeldandi, Daniel Batlle, Dominique Missiakas, Chad A. Mirkin. <strong>Spherical nucleic acids as an infectious disease vaccine platform</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (14) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119093119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2119093119</a>\n</li>'),(1504,'Trial use of soybean waste to tackle obesity','trial-use-of-soybean-waste-to-tackle-obesity','2022-03-22 22:43:52.770721',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An international team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Waseda University in Japan have found that fermented soybean waste, or okara, could improve fat metabolism and mitigate effects of diet-induced obesity.</p><p>Through laboratory experiments reported in the peer-reviewed scientific journal <em>Metabolites </em>in February, the scientists from NTU Singapore and Waseda showed that mice on a high fat diet supplemented with fermented okara gained less body mass and had lower levels of fat and cholesterol after three weeks as compared to mice on the same diet but not fed any fermented okara.</p><p>With 14 million tonnes of okara generated every year, and nearly a third of the world\'s population overweight or obese, the scientists hope their findings can pave the way for fermented okara to be integrated into health foods one day, addressing the problems of food waste and obesity at the same time.</p><p>Dr Ken Lee, senior lecturer at the NTU School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and co-lead author of the paper, said: \"Using a process akin to what is used to produce miso and soy sauce, we fermented okara and fed it to mice on a high-fat diet. Three weeks later, we found that these mice gained less weight as compared to mice on a high-fat diet but without fermented okara. The mice that were fed fermented okara also had less fat and lower cholesterol levels.</p><p>\"Our findings suggest that fermented okara could help to mitigate the harmful effects of a high-fat diet, and could potentially be integrated in the diets of obese patients who find it difficult to make immediate lifestyle changes.\"</p><p>Dr Shigenobu Shibata, Professor at the Waseda University Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering and co-lead author of the paper, said: \"<em>Aspergillus oryzae </em>and <em>Aspergillus sojae, </em>whichare typical aspergillus fungi used to produce soy sauce and miso, were successfully combined to ferment okara. Compared to unfermented okara, fermented okara was found to be able to reduce obesity and improve abnormal lipid metabolism in mice. Tofu and soymilk are now widely accepted as health foods not only in Japan but in the world, and the effective use of okara, which is an industrial waste, is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I hope NTU and Waseda University, each with their unique strength, will continue to promote such joint research centred on graduate students and young researchers.\"</p><p>The okara study supports the goals of the NTU 2025 five-year strategic plan, which prioritises the University\'s commitment to sustainability, as well as its focus on health and society as one of the research clusters with potential for significant intellectual and societal impact.</p><p><strong>Enhancing okara\'s nutrition</strong></p><p>To enhance the nutritional profile of okara, the research team from NTU and Waseda first fermented okara collected from a Singapore beancurd manufacturer using a process traditionally used in Asian countries to make fermented soybean food products such as miso, soy sauce, and tempeh.</p><p>Enhancing the nutritional profile of okara increases its potential as a desirable ingredient in the human diet, the scientists explained.</p><p>For this study, the team added a mix of <em>Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) </em>and <em>Aspergillus sojae (A. sojae)</em> -- food-grade microbes -- to okara and left it to ferment in the dark at 25°C for four days.</p><p>Compared to unfermented okara, the scientists found that fermented okara had more protein and a higher total phenolic content -- an indication of higher antioxidant properties -- and less insoluble dietary fibre.</p><p><strong>Fermented okara improves fat metabolism</strong></p><p>The scientists then investigated the anti-obesity effects of fermented okara on mice put on a three-week high fat diet compared to mice put on three other types of diet: a normal diet, a high-fat diet, and a diet supplemented with unfermented okara.</p><p>At the end of three weeks, mice that were fed fermented okara every day gained the least body mass (3g) as compared to other three groups of mice that gained between 6g to 10g.</p><p>The mice that were fed fermented okara also had less visceral and subcutaneous fat (30g and 19g respectively) than mice on a high-fat diet without any fermented okara (67g and 53g respectively).</p><p>The scientists also found lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels in mice on a fermented okara-supplemented diet compared to those without. Triglycerides are a type of fat in the blood that has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease.</p><p>Further investigation revealed that the reduction in triglycerides was in part due to a significant dip in proteins involved in fatty acid synthesis.</p><p>These findings indicate the fermented okara\'s potential to suppress diet-induced obesity, said the scientists.</p><p>The study builds on the NTU-Waseda team\'s earlier research on other uses for okara. For instance, the scientists showed that fermented okara could help to bring down blood sugar levels. They have also worked with a local brewery to integrate okara into modern dishes.</p><p>Working with collaborators in Singapore, the NTU team has also successfully repurposed okara into an eco-friendly 3D-printing ink, highlighting the potential use of 3D food printing to improve food sustainability.</p><p>The NTU-Waseda team is now reaching out to industry partners to translate this work into healthy snacks and exploring how it can be integrated into other food products.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-22 22:43:52.770721','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Nanyang Technological University','Scientists have found that fermented soybean waste, or okara, could improve fat metabolism and mitigate effects of diet-induced obesity.\n',1,139,'<li>Natsumi Ichikawa, Li Shiuan Ng, Saneyuki Makino, Luo Lin Goh, Yun Jia Lim,  Ferdinandus, Hiroyuki Sasaki, Shigenobu Shibata, Chi-Lik Ken Lee. <strong>Solid-State Fermented Okara with Aspergillus spp. Improves Lipid Metabolism and High-Fat Diet Induced Obesity</strong>. <em>Metabolites</em>, 2022; 12 (3): 198 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/metabo12030198\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3390/metabo12030198</a>\n</li>'),(1505,'Social media data could help predict the next COVID surge','social-media-data-could-help-predict-the-next-covid-surge','2022-03-22 22:44:00.608371',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In the summer of 2021, as the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic wore on in the United States, infectious disease forecasters began to call attention to a disturbing trend.</p><p>The previous January, as models warned that U.S. infections would continue to rise, cases plummeted instead. In July, as forecasts predicted infections would flatten, the Delta variant soared, leaving public health agencies scrambling to reinstate mask mandates and social distancing measures.</p><p>\"Existing forecast models generally did not predict the big surges and peaks,\" said geospatial data scientist Morteza Karimzadeh, an assistant professor of geography at CU Boulder. \"They failed when we needed them most.\"</p><p>New research from Karimzadeh and his colleagues suggests a new approach, using artificial intelligence and vast, anonymized datasets from Facebook could not only yield more accurate COVID-19 forecasts, but also revolutionize the way we track other infectious diseases, including the flu.</p><p>Their findings, published in the <em>International Journal of Data Science and Analytics</em>, conclude this short-term forecasting method significantly outperforms conventional models for projecting COVID trends at the county level.</p><p>Karimzadeh\'s team is now one of about a dozen, including those from Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), submitting weekly projections to the COVID-19 Forecast Hub, a repository that aggregates the best data possible to create an \"ensemble forecast\" for the Centers for Disease Control. Their forecasts generally rank in the top two for accuracy each week.</p><p>\"When it comes to forecasting at the county level, we are finding that our models perform, hands-down, better than most models out there,\" Karimzadeh said.</p><p><strong>Analyzing friendships to predict viral spread</strong></p><p>Most COVID-forecasting techniques in use today hinge on what is known as a \"compartmental model.\" Simply put, modelers take the latest numbers they can get about infected and susceptible populations (based on weekly reports of infections, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations), plug them into a mathematical model and crunch the numbers to predict what happens next.</p><p>These methods have been used for decades with reasonable success but they have fallen short when predicting local COVID surges, in part because they can\'t easily take into account how people move around.</p><p>That\'s where Facebook data comes in.</p><p>Karimzadeh\'s team draws from data generated by Facebook and derived from mobile devices to get a sense of how much people travel from county to county and to what degree people in different counties are friends on social media. That matters because people behave differently around friends.</p><p>\"People may mask up and social distance when they go to work or shop, but they may not adhere to social distancing or masking when spending time with friends,\" Karimzadeh said.</p><p>All this could influence how much, for instance, an outbreak in Denver County might spread to Boulder County. Often, counties that are not next to each other can heavily influence each other.</p><p>In a previous paper in <em>Nature Communications</em><em>,</em> the team found that social media data was a better tool for predicting viral spread than simply monitoring people\'s movement via their cell phones. With 2 billion Facebook users worldwide, there is abundant data to draw from, even in remote regions of the world where cell phone data is not available.</p><p>Notably, the data is privacy-protected, stressed Karimzadeh.</p><p>\"We are not individually tracking anyone.\"</p><p><strong>The promise of AI</strong></p><p>The model itself is also novel, in that it builds on established machine-learning techniques to improve itself in real-time, capturing shifting trends in the numbers that reflect things like new lockdowns, waning immunity or masking policies.</p><p>Over a four-week forecast horizon, the model was on average 50 cases per county more accurate than the ensemble forecast from the COViD-19 Forecast Hub.</p><p>\"The model learns from past circumstances to forecast the future and it is constantly improving itself,\" he said.</p><p>Thoai Ngo, vice president of social and behavioral science research for the nonprofit Population Council, which helped fund the research, said accurate forecasting is critical to engender public trust, assure that communities have enough tests and hospital beds for surges, and enable policy makers to implement things like mask mandates before it\'s too late.\"The world has been playing catch-up with COVID-19. We are always 10 steps behind,\" Ngo said.</p><p>Ngo said that traditional models undoubtedly have their strengths, but, in the future, he\'d like to see them combined with newer AI methods to reap the unique benefits of both.</p><p>He and Karimzadeh are now applying their novel forecast techniques to predicting hospitalization rates, which they say will be more useful to watch as the virus becomes endemic.</p><p>\"AI has revolutionized everything, from the way we interact with our phones to the development of autonomous vehicles, but we really have not taken advantage of it all that much when it comes to disease forecasting,\" said Karimzadeh. \"There is a lot of untapped potential there.\"</p><p>Other contributors to this research include: Benjamin Lucas, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Geography, Behzad Vahedi, Phd student in the Department of Geography, and Hamidreza Zoraghein, research associate with the Population Council.</p>','2022-03-22 22:44:00.608371','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Colorado at Boulder','New research suggests that a novel, short-term forecasting method, using machine learning and vast, anonymized datasets from social media accounts, significantly outperforms conventional models for projecting COVID trends at the county level.\n',1,52,'<li>Benjamin Lucas, Behzad Vahedi, Morteza Karimzadeh. <strong>A spatiotemporal machine learning approach to forecasting COVID-19 incidence at the county level in the USA</strong>. <em>International Journal of Data Science and Analytics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/S41060-021-00295-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/S41060-021-00295-9</a>\n</li>'),(1506,'Nature study: Ocean life may adapt to climate change, but with hidden costs','nature-study:-ocean-life-may-adapt-to-climate-change,-but-with-hidden-costs','2022-03-22 22:44:06.162812',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Suppose that we could watch twenty generations of whales or sharks adapting to climate change -- measuring how they evolve and how their biology changes as temperatures and carbon dioxide levels rise. That could tell us a lot about how resilient life in the oceans might be to a warmer world. But it would also take hundreds of years -- not very useful to scientists or policymakers trying to understand our warming world today.</p><p>Instead, consider the life of the copepod<em> Acartia tonsa</em>, a tiny and humble sea creature near the bottom of the food web. It reproduces, matures, and creates a new generation in about twenty days. Twenty copepod generations pass in about one year.</p><p>A team of six scientists, led by University of Vermont biologist Melissa Pespeni and postdoctoral scientist Reid Brennan, did just that: in a first-of-its kind laboratory experiment, they exposed thousands of copepods to the high temperatures and high carbon dioxide levels that are predicted for the future of the oceans. And watched as twenty generations passed. Then they took some of the copepods and returned them to the baseline conditions -- the temperature and CO<sub>2</sub> levels that the first generation started in, which are like ocean conditions today. And then they kept watching as three more generations passed.</p><p>The results, published in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>, \"show that there is hope,\" Pespeni says, \"but also complexity in how life responds to climate change.\"</p><p><strong>The price of plasticity</strong></p><p>Her hope comes from the team\'s observation that the copepods did not die in the climate-change conditions. Instead, they persisted and even thrived. The scientists -- from UVM; University of Connecticut; GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Germany; and University of Colorado, Boulder -- recorded many changes in the copepods\' genes related to how they manage heat stress, grow their skeletons in more acidic waters, produce energy, and other cellular processes affected by climate change. This shows that these creatures have the capacity in their genetic make-up -- using the variation that exist in natural populations -- to adapt over twenty generations, evolving to maintain their fitness in a radically changed environment. The team\'s observations support the idea that copepods -- a globally-distributed group of crustaceans eaten by many commercially important fish species -- could be resilient to the unprecedented rapid warming and acidification now being unleashed in the oceans by human fossil-fuel use.</p><p>The complexity -- \"it\'s a caution, really,\" Pespeni says -- comes from the team\'s observation of what happened to the copepods that were returned to the baseline conditions. These creatures revealed the hidden cost of the earlier twenty generations of adaptation. The flexibility that helped the copepods to evolve over twenty generations -- what the scientists call \"phenotypic plasticity\" -- was eroded when they tried to return to what had previously been benign conditions. Brought \"home,\" in a sense, the copepods were less healthy and produced smaller populations. They were able, after three generations, to re-evolve back to their ancestral conditions -- but they had lost the ability to tolerate limited food supply and showed reduced resilience to other new forms of stress.</p><p>\"If copepods or other creatures have to go down this adaptive path -- and spend some of their genetic variation to deal with climate change -- will they be able to tolerate some new environmental stressor, some other change in the environment?\" Pespeni wonders. Copepods are among a broad group of species predicted to be resilient to rapid climate change -- and this new study, supported by the National Science Foundation, upholds that view.</p><p>\"But we need to be careful of overly simple models -- about how well species will do and which ones will persist into the future -- that look at just one variable,\" said Reid Brennan who completed this study in Melissa Pespeni\'s lab at the University of Vermont and is now at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. And the scientists\' new study of copepods points to a larger truth about the intricate economy of evolution: There may be unforeseen costs to quickly evolving in a suddenly-hot world.</p>','2022-03-22 22:44:06.162812','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Vermont','A new study shows that some ocean animals may be able evolve their way out of troubles caused by climate change -- but at a high cost. By artificially evolving 23 generations of a marine copepod, Acartia tonsa, a team of scientists found that the tiny creatures could adapt to the high temperatures and carbon dioxide levels forecast for the warming oceans. But to get there, the populations had to spend a lot of their genetic flexibility -- leaving them vulnerable to new stresses, like low food.\n',1,34,'<li>Reid S. Brennan, James A. deMayo, Hans G. Dam, Michael B. Finiguerra, Hannes Baumann, Melissa H. Pespeni. <strong>Loss of transcriptional plasticity but sustained adaptive capacity after adaptation to global change conditions in a marine copepod</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28742-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28742-6</a>\n</li>'),(1507,'Researchers control brain circuits from a distance using infrared light','researchers-control-brain-circuits-from-a-distance-using-infrared-light','2022-03-22 22:44:10.615451',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Imagine the brain as a giant switchboard covered with thousands of buttons, knobs, dials and levers that control aspects of our thought, emotions, behavior, and memory. (You can think of the movie <em>Inside Out</em>, if you like).</p><p>For more than a century, neuroscientists have been methodically flipping these switches on and off, alone or in combination, to try to understand how the machine works as a whole. But this is easier said than done. The cellular circuits that control mind and behavior tangle together throughout the opaque, gelatinous mass of our brain tissue and don\'t come with handy on/off switches for easy reverse engineering.</p><p>Now, scientists at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University have developed the first non-invasive technique for controlling targeted brain circuits in behaving animals from a distance. The tool has the potential to solve one of the biggest unmet needs in neuroscience: a way to flexibly test the functions of particular brain cells and circuits deep in the brain during normal behavior -- such as mice freely socializing with one another.</p><p>The research was published March 21, 2022 in <em>Nature Biomedical Engineering</em> by Guosong Hong and colleagues at Stanford and Singapore\'s Nanyang Technological University. Hong is a Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Faculty Scholar and assistant professor of materials science and engineering in the Stanford School of Engineering who uses his background in chemistry and materials science to devise biocompatible tools and materials to advance the study of the brain.</p><p>The newly published technique builds on the foundation laid down by optogenetics, a technique first developed at Stanford by Wu Tsai Neuro affiliate Karl Deisseroth and collaborators that introduces light-sensitive algal proteins into neurons to let researchers turn them on or off in response to different colors of light.</p><p>\"Optogenetics has been a transformative tool in neuroscience, but there are limitations on what can be done with existing techniques -- in part due to their reliance on light in the visible spectrum,\" Hong said. \"The brain is quite opaque to visible light, so getting the light to the cells you want to stimulate typically requires invasive optical implants that can cause tissue damage and skull-mounted fiber optic tethers that make it hard to study many kinds of natural behavior.\"</p><p>Thinking as a materials scientist about ways to overcome these challenges, Hong recognized that biological tissues -- including the brain and even the skull -- are essentially transparent to infrared light, which could make it possible to deliver the light much deeper into the brain.</p><p>Since existing optogenetic tools don\'t respond to infrared light, Hong\'s team turned to a molecule that evolved to detect infrared\'s other form: heat. By artificially outfitting specific neurons in the mouse brain with a heat-sensitive molecule called TRPV1, his team found that it was possible to stimulate the modified cells by shining infrared light through the skull and scalp from up to a meter away.</p><p>TRPV1 is the molecular heat sensor that allows us to feel heat-related pain -- as well as the spicy burn of a chili pepper -- the discovery of which led to the 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine. A similar receptor gives rattlesnakes and other pit vipers the \"heat vision\" that lets them hunt warm-blooded prey in the dark, and a recent study succeeded in giving mice the ability to see in the infrared spectrum by adding TRPV1 to their retinal cone cells.</p><p>The new technique also relies on an engineered \"transducer\" molecule that can be injected into targeted brain regions to absorb and amplify the infrared light penetrating through the brain tissue. These nano-scale particles, dubbed MINDS (for \"macromolecular infrared nanotransducers for deep-brain stimulation\"), work a bit like the melanin in our skin that absorbs harmful UV rays from the sun, and are crafted from biodegradable polymers used to produce organic solar cells and LEDs.</p><p>\"We first tried stimulating cells with TRPV1 channels alone, and it didn\'t work at all,\" said Hong. \"It turns out that rattlesnakes have a much more sensitive way of detecting infrared signals than we could manage in the mouse brain. Fortunately, we had materials science to help us.\"</p><p>Hong\'s team first demonstrated their technique by adding TRPV1 channels to neurons on one side of mouse motor cortex -- a region that orchestrates body movements -- and injecting MINDS molecules into the same region. At first the mice explored their enclosures at random, but when the researchers flipped on an infrared light over the enclosure, the mice immediately started walking in circles, driven by the one-sided stimulation of their motor cortex.</p><p>\"That was a great moment when we knew this was going to work,\" Hong said. \"Of course it was only the beginning of validating and testing what this technology could do, but from that point on I was confident we had something.\"</p><p>In another key experiment, the researchers showed that MINDS could enable infrared stimulation of neurons through the entire depth of the mouse brain. They inserted TRPV1 channels into the dopamine-expressing neurons of the brain\'s reward centers, which are located near the base of the brain in mice, followed by an injection of MINDS into the same region. They then positioned a focused infrared light over one of the three arms of a standard radial arm maze and showed that mice became \"addicted\" to the invisible infrared light tickling their dopamine neurons -- spending nearly all their time in the maze under its beams.</p><p>This experiment demonstrated that the new technique makes it possible to stimulate neurons anywhere in the brain through the intact scalp and skull -- with hardly any of the light-scattering that would make this impossible with light in the visual spectrum. Remarkably, this worked even when the beam of infrared light was positioned as far as a meter above animals\' heads.</p><p>Hong sees immediate applications of the technique for the growing movement in neuroscience to study the brain circuits involved in natural social behavior in mice in order to better understand the systems that underlie social cognition in humans.</p><p>\"Like us, mice are a social species, but studying an animal\'s natural behavior within a social group is challenging with a head-mounted fiber-optic tether,\" Hong said. \"This approach makes it possible for the first time to modulate specific neurons and circuits in freely behaving animals. One could just shine invisible infrared light over an enclosure with cohoused mice to study the contributions of particular cells and circuits to an animal\'s behavior within a social group.\"</p><p>Hong and collaborators are continuing to refine the technique to make it simpler and easier to implement, he said. \"In future we\'d like to combine our current two-stage approach into a single molecular machine -- perhaps by encoding some infrared-absorbing pigment into TRP-expressing neurons themselves.\"</p><p>The work is one of several approaches Hong is involved in to make it possible for researchers -- and perhaps one day clinicians -- to non-invasively modulate neural circuits across the brain. For example, Hong and colleagues are also developing nanoscopic beads that can convert focused beams of ultrasound into light, and which can be injected directly into the bloodstream, making it possible to optogenetically target cells anywhere in the brain and to change this targeting at will within a single experiment.</p><p>\"Conventional neuromodulation approaches gave us the ability to flip a few of the switches at a time in the brain to see what different circuits do,\" Hong said. \"Our goal is to take these techniques a step further to give us precise control over the entire switchboard at the same time.\"</p><p><em>This research was funded by a seed grant from the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford, Stanford Bio-X, and a Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship; by a Nanyang Technological University startup grant and Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund; and by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the NIH National Institute on Aging, the Rita Allen Foundation, and the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation.</em></p>','2022-03-22 22:44:10.615451','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Stanford University School of Engineering','Scientists have developed the first non-invasive technique for controlling targeted brain circuits in behaving animals from a distance. The tool has the potential to solve one of the biggest unmet needs in neuroscience: a way to flexibly test the functions of particular brain cells and circuits deep in the brain during normal behavior.\n',1,182,'<li>Xiang Wu, Yuyan Jiang, Nicholas J. Rommelfanger, Fan Yang, Qi Zhou, Rongkang Yin, Junlang Liu, Sa Cai, Wei Ren, Andrew Shin, Kyrstyn S. Ong, Kanyi Pu, Guosong Hong. <strong>Tether-free photothermal deep-brain stimulation in freely behaving mice via wide-field illumination in the near-infrared-II window</strong>. <em>Nature Biomedical Engineering</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00862-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41551-022-00862-w</a>\n</li>'),(1508,'Studies of endangered animals on border of China and Vietnam stress need for transboundary conservation','studies-of-endangered-animals-on-border-of-china-and-vietnam-stress-need-for-transboundary-conservation','2022-03-22 22:44:16.190171',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A series of studies on endangered species that make their homes on the border of Vietnam and China underscores the growing importance of transboundary conservation efforts in the face of climate change. As the world warms, many plant and animal species migrate from their traditional habitats, increasing the likelihood of local and global extinctions. A special issue of the journal <em>Frontiers of Biogeography</em> co-edited by the American Museum of Natural History\'s Director of Biodiversity Informatics Research Mary Blair stresses that strategic, coordinated approaches toward managing transboundary species and landscapes is essential to preventing biodiversity loss.</p><p>\"Biodiversity is undergoing dramatic loss on the global level, and we know that it is essential to human health and wellbeing -- and that one of the most complex and challenging threats to biodiversity is climate change,\" said Blair, who works in the Museum\'s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation and co-edited the special issue along with collaborators Minh Le from Vietnam National University and Ming Xu from Henan University in China. \"There\'s an urgent need for more information about how climate change is already affecting the distributions of key endangered species and habitats to inform conservation action planning, especially in areas where there may be limited capacity or resources for management, such as Southeast Asia.\"</p><p>Globally, more than half of all terrestrial birds, mammals, and amphibians have distributions that cross national borders. In addition to threats such as deforestation and hunting, these species may be harmed by the construction of border infrastructure and the lack of coordination of conservation activities on either side of the border. These threats are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. A previously conducted study predicts that most areas climatically suitable as habitat for about one-third of mammal and bird species will have shifted to a different country by the 2070s.</p><p>To further investigate this issue, in 2018, with funding from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Blair, Le, and Xu began a project focused on a suite of ecologically and culturally important species that live near the China-Vietnam border and are at risk from climate change. These include one of the most endangered animals in the world, the Cao Vit gibbon, which is found in only one small forest patch; one of the world\'s most threatened trees, <em>Magnolia grandis</em>, with a total population of fewer than 120 adult trees; and the Francois\' langur, a monkey that thrives in a special type of forest that grows over limestone.</p><p>\"Our analyses show that suitable habitat for species like the Cao Vit gibbon and the Owston\'s civet will significantly shrink and become highly fragmented, whereas habitat for the endangered crocodile lizard will substantially shift under future climate scenarios. The results of the study will play a crucial role in formulating appropriate transboundary conservation measures,\" said Minh Le. \"The special issue is published almost concurrently with the approval of the new Vietnam National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which highlights the importance of assessing impacts of climate change on biodiversity, especially highly endangered species, in the country and designing transboundary conservation measures in collaboration with neighboring countries.\"</p><p>\"The project is also timely and important to China\'s national biodiversity conservation plan. China is reforming its protected areas by establishing a more efficient conservation network to better protect species and ecosystems in the country, including the \'new immigrants\' expected to arrive under future climate change,\" said Ming Xu. \"Results of the project have also been used to support China\'s National Spatial Planning Initiative, which requires delimitation and implementation along three control lines, namely the ecological protection boundaries, permanently protected farmlands, and urban development boundaries.\"</p><p>The special journal issue includes these detailed studies as well as commentary from the three editors on best practices for using species distribution models (SDMs), which can identify how a species\' range might shift under climate change. They authors agree that, especially in transboundary conservation contexts, SDMs should be collaboratively developed from the outset with all of the stakeholders.</p><p>\"Borders often exemplify complex sociopolitical contexts and histories between countries,\" Blair said. \"So conservation scientists, practitioners, and managers have an obligation to understand those contexts and know how they relate to our work and the goals of conservation. As global changes, including climate change, continue, we will have to increasingly work across borders to achieve biodiversity conservation goals and to do better science.\"</p><p>This project benefitted from the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. Technical support was received from Cologne Zoo, Fauna and Flora International, and the Center for Plan Conservation, among others.</p>','2022-03-22 22:44:16.190171','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Museum of Natural History','A series of studies on endangered species that make their homes on the border of Vietnam and China underscores the growing importance of transboundary conservation efforts in the face of climate change. As the world warms, many plant and animal species migrate from their traditional habitats, increasing the likelihood of local and global extinctions.\n',1,34,'<li>Hai Ngoc Ngo, Huy Quoc Nguyen, Tien Quang Phan, Truong Quang Nguyen, Laurenz R. Gewiss, Dennis Rödder, Thomas Ziegler. <strong>Modeling the environmental refugia of the endangered Lichtenfelder’s Tiger Gecko (Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi) towards implementation of transboundary conservation</strong>. <em>Frontiers of Biogeography</em>, 2022; 14 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.21425/F5FBG51167\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.21425/F5FBG51167</a>\n</li>'),(1509,'Investigators uncover small molecule to engineer intestinal cell types','investigators-uncover-small-molecule-to-engineer-intestinal-cell-types','2022-03-22 22:44:18.843036',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Investigators at the Brigham and the Broad Institute have created specialized, tissue-like structures in the laboratory to model barrier tissues, such as the intestines, to identify new targets for treatment. Barrier tissues are exposed to substances from the outside world but serve as a layer of protection. Over the years, researchers have developed more sophisticated, three-dimensional models of epithelial barrier tissues, such as the intestine. These models are known as intestinal organoids. In a new study, investigators discovered a tissue-modifying molecule that can target intestinal stem cells and signal them to create Paneth cells, a rare but important cell type that can alter the gut microbiota. Previous studies have shown that Paneth cells are depleted in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and graft-versus-host disease. Replenishing these rare cells could represent a new therapeutic pathway. The team\'s approach could also be used to identify molecules that could target other intestinal cell types.</p><p>\"Our paper provides the first approach to engineering our barrier tissues like the intestine by targeting and activating stem cells <em>in situ </em>and causing new important cell types to form,\" said co-lead author Benjamin Mead, PhD, of the Broad Institute. \"This could be used to potentially treat a wide range of diseases by manipulating the cell composition of the intestine.\"</p><p>\"This approach has wide ranging implications and can be used to manipulate the cellular makeup of the intestine, including cells that can enhance barrier function, produce gut hormones, or that have key roles in coordinating insulin levels as well as food digestion and absorption,\" said co-corresponding author Jeff Karp, PhD, Distinguished Chair in Clinical Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine. \"This approach also enables a completely new strategy to manipulate gut microbiota and thus offer insights into the treatment of a wide range of diseases.\"</p>','2022-03-22 22:44:18.843036','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Brigham and Women\'s Hospital','Investigators have created specialized, tissue-like structures in the laboratory to model barrier tissues, such as the intestines, to identify new targets for treatment.\n',1,29,'<li>Benjamin E. Mead, Kazuki Hattori, Lauren Levy, Shinya Imada, Norihiro Goto, Marko Vukovic, Daphne Sze, Conner Kummerlowe, Juan D. Matute, Jinzhi Duan, Robert Langer, Richard S. Blumberg, Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Ömer H. Yilmaz, Jeffrey M. Karp, Alex K. Shalek. <strong>Screening for modulators of the cellular composition of gut epithelia via organoid models of intestinal stem cell differentiation</strong>. <em>Nature Biomedical Engineering</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00863-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41551-022-00863-9</a>\n</li>'),(1510,'Drug use beliefs found to be strongest predictor of youth substance use','drug-use-beliefs-found-to-be-strongest-predictor-of-youth-substance-use','2022-03-22 22:45:20.053584',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">What are the most important factors to consider for developing effective drug use prevention programs? Many current programs for adolescents focus on elements including peer and family relationships, school connection, and youth\'s self-confidence and self-assertion. However, a new study from the University of Illinois suggests another factor may be equally -- or even more -- influential: whether the youth believes drug use is wrong.</p><p>\"Inherent to the success of drug use prevention programs is ensuring activities are targeting those risks and protective factors that are most influential and salient for youth substance use,\" says Allen Barton, assistant professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at U of I and lead author on the study.</p><p>\"As we aim to develop more effective drug use prevention programming, we have to ask whether any pertinent factors have been overlooked.\"</p><p>Barton and his colleagues found individual beliefs that drug use is wrong had twice the magnitude of impact compared to other risk and protective factors examined in the study. Thus, influencing adolescents\' beliefs about drug use may be an important, but relatively underemphasized, key to modifying their behavior.</p><p>The researchers based their work on cognitive dissonance theory, which has not been used commonly to inform drug prevention efforts.</p><p>\"The basic idea of cognitive dissonance theory is that individuals strive for harmony or agreement between their beliefs and their behavior. When there\'s a disconnect or dissonance, they try to reconcile either by changing their behavior to match their beliefs, or by changing their beliefs to allow for their behavior,\" Barton explains.</p><p>The researchers analyzed information from the 2018 Illinois Youth Survey, which measured risk behaviors among middle and high school students. The study included more than 128,000 youths in grades 8, 10, and 12 from schools across Illinois. Respondents noted whether, and how frequently, they had used alcohol, cannabis, or tobacco in the past year. They also answered a range of questions about their attitudes, school, family, and health.</p><p>\"It is not surprising that drug use beliefs are linked to behavior; we certainly would expect a correlation between them. What\'s most noticeable is the magnitude of the effect, particularly in comparison to more established factors included in the analyses,\" Barton states.</p><p>In the survey, youth were asked how wrong they think it is for someone their age to consume alcohol or drugs, ranking from \"not wrong at all\" to \"very wrong\" on a four-point scale. For each unit increase in response, the likelihood of past-year drug abstinence increased by 39% for 8th graders, 50% for 10th graders, and 53% for 12th graders.</p><p>Beliefs not only correlated strongly with past usage, but also with frequency of use.</p><p>\"Even among individuals who used drugs in the past year, individual beliefs that drug use is wrong were associated with less frequent use,\" Barton says.</p><p>The researchers found parents\' beliefs also had a protective effect, albeit smaller than individual beliefs, while peer acceptance of drug usage was a risk factor. Perhaps more surprisingly, parental communication about drugs was associated with higher usage.</p><p>\"These conversations may be happening because parents are already suspicious that youth are using drugs or trying to experiment,\" Barton notes. He suggests parents might want to speak with their kids about drugs at an earlier age, perhaps during the middle school years, rather than wait until they perceive a problem.</p><p>The study\'s findings can inform research and prevention efforts in various ways, the scientists say. First steps are to investigate how youths\' beliefs about drug use are formed and influenced. Practitioners might also consider how they can support parents and caregivers in transmitting their beliefs to youth.</p><p>\"Our work suggests this is a construct that warrants more attention in both the research and practice communities as it demonstrates a strong protective effect when it comes to drug use,\" Barton says. \"As we are trying to improve drug use prevention programming for youth, these results suggest it may be useful to think about how educators, mentors, and parents can help instill the belief that drug use is wrong.\"</p><p>The Illinois Youth Survey is administered every other year to schools across Illinois. Reports are available at the Illinois Youth Survey website. Schools can also register online for participation.</p><p>The article, \"Adolescent substance use and individual beliefs that drug use is wrong: A statewide epidemiological study\" is published in <em>Substance Use &amp; Misuse</em>. Authors include Allen Barton, Qiujie Gong, Naya Sutton, Jordan Davis, and Doug Smith.</p><p>Funding was provided by the Illinois Department of Human Services.</p>','2022-03-22 22:45:20.053584','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences','What are the most important factors to consider for developing effective drug use prevention programs? Many current programs for adolescents focus on elements including peer and family relationships, school connection, and youth\'s self-confidence and self-assertion. However, a new study suggests another factor may be equally -- or even more -- influential: whether the youth believes drug use is wrong.\n',1,203,'<li>Allen W. Barton, Qiujie Gong, Naya C. Sutton, Jordan P. Davis, Doug C. Smith. <strong>Adolescent Substance Use and Individual Beliefs That Drug Use Is Wrong: A Statewide Epidemiological Study</strong>. <em>Substance Use &amp; Misuse</em>, 2022; 57 (4): 640 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2034877\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1080/10826084.2022.2034877</a>\n</li>'),(1511,'Research suggests interrupting immune response improves multiple sclerosis outcomes','research-suggests-interrupting-immune-response-improves-multiple-sclerosis-outcomes','2022-03-22 22:45:22.598375',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A human immune system is a lot like the board game Mouse Trap: it\'s a Rube Goldberg system of interacting parts. Only instead of a falling ball causing a tiny diver to leap into a tub -- which, in turn, springs a trap on some plastic mice -- proteins trigger other proteins to activate immune cells and direct them toward germs. But if those proteins mistakenly direct immune cells toward healthy tissue, autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis -- which attacks neurons -- can arise.</p><p>A new study led by Kelly Monaghan -- a researcher with the West Virginia University School of Medicine -- suggests that part of the \"Rube Goldberg\" immune system shows promise as a potential target for MS therapies.</p><p>\"Anytime you have any kind of central nervous system issues, you have to go through a series of steps to have cells get into the brain or spinal cord,\" said Monaghan, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology. \"Gaining a better understanding of those immune mechanisms associated with MS can help to inform novel therapies.\"</p><p>Her findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.</p><p>Her study -- funded by the National Institutes of Health -- focused on STAT5, one of the many proteins circulating in the body that can metaphorically turn genes on or off.</p><p>\"STAT5 is a transcription factor,\" Monaghan said. \"It is a member of the STAT protein family, and it has a lot of different roles in cell proliferation and inflammation. Importantly, STAT5 proteins must form dimers to regulate gene expression. The interaction of two dimers results in the formation of tetramers, which regulate an independent set of target genes.\"</p><p>Monaghan and her colleagues wanted to know if STAT5 tetramers played a role in signaling white blood cells to interact and move through the meninges. If they did play such a role, the researchers wanted to learn more about it.</p><p>\"The meninges, if you don\'t know, are a series of three membranes that surround the central nervous system,\" she said. \"They act as a sort of checkpoint, if you will, to regulate the migration of cells into the actual brain or spinal cord.\"</p><p>The infiltration of immune cells into the meninges is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis.</p><p>In particular, Monaghan wanted to investigate the molecular chain of events that might cause STAT5 tetramers to command another protein -- called CCL17-to tell T cells, a type of white blood cell, to attack the central nervous system through \"friendly fire.\"</p><p>Monaghan and her team used two groups of mice to explore this topic. The first group had been genetically modified so that its STAT5 tetramer proteins could not rearrange themselves in ways that would trigger the problematic CCL17 response. The second group was genetically normal.</p><p>The researchers injected both groups of mice with myelin-reactive T cells to induce an experimental form of MS called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, or EAE.</p><p>In response, the genetically-normal mice developed EAE in the conventional way, but the genetically modified mice didn\'t. Interrupting their STAT5 tetramer \"chain reaction\" protected them against the disease.</p><p>\"It wasn\'t completely ablated, but it was significantly reduced in severity,\" Monaghan said. \"It was quite convincing that they developed less severe disease, suggesting that CCL17 is the pathogenic protein acting downstream of STAT5 tetramers.\"</p><p>Not only did the genetically modified mice display milder and delayed paralysis, but a later examination of their spinal cords revealed healthier nerves that were better at transducing signals.</p><p>\"MS is very complicated,\" Monaghan said. \"We found that the complex immune interactions between the cells is really what contributes to the difficulty in understanding this disease.\"</p><p>Insights like the ones gleaned from this study can point to future treatments for MS, a condition that more than 2.3 million people have worldwide, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.</p><p>\"Patients diagnosed with MS suffer for a lifetime, and unfortunately, their clinical symptoms get worst when the disease progresses,\" said Edwin Wan, Monaghan\'s mentor and an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology. \"Current drugs for MS treatments are quite effective at reducing the rate of relapse but cannot stop disease progression. The bottleneck of developing more effective drugs is that we do not have a complete picture about how the disease is initiated and progresses.\"</p><p>The study\'s findings help to fill in that picture, bringing hypothetical MS treatments closer to reality.</p><p>\"I think these findings may also have broader implications to other autoimmune diseases, too,\" Monaghan said, \"because there may be several other autoimmune diseases that are regulated by STAT5 tetramers and the downstream signaling pathway, which is quite exciting.\"</p><p>Research reported in this publication was supported by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P20GM109098. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.</p>','2022-03-22 22:45:22.598375','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'West Virginia University','Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that damages neurons. New research looks at the role that a protein, STAT5, plays in the development of MS.\n',1,91,'<li>Kelly L. Monaghan, Drake Aesoph, Amanda G. Ammer, Wen Zheng, Shokofeh Rahimpour, Breanne Y. Farris, Camille A. Spinner, Peng Li, Jian-Xin Lin, Zu-Xi Yu, Vanja Lazarevic, Gangqing Hu, Warren J. Leonard, Edwin C. K. Wan. <strong>Tetramerization of STAT5 promotes autoimmune-mediated neuroinflammation</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2021; 118 (52) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116256118\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2116256118</a>\n</li>'),(1512,'Design tweak helps prevent malfunction in yarns designed to store energy','design-tweak-helps-prevent-malfunction-in-yarns-designed-to-store-energy','2022-03-22 23:17:16.893314',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In a new study, North Carolina State University researchers found a way to prevent electrical malfunctions in yarns designed to store electrical energy. Ultimately, the findings could help advance the development of \"smart textiles\" that would capture energy from the wearer\'s movements and power sensors and wearable electronics.</p><p>The researchers reported in <em>npj Flexible Electronics</em> that they were able to prevent short-circuiting in yarns that act as supercapacitors -- which are electrical devices that store energy -- by wrapping the yarns with an insulating thread. They also tested the strength and durability of the yarns to make sure they could still work after going through knitting and weaving processes.</p><p>\"A supercapacitor functions like a battery, but in this case, we\'re working on a flexible battery shaped as a textile yarn that you could weave or knit into your T-shirt or sweater,\" said Wei Gao, associate professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science and a University Faculty Scholar at NC State. \"In this study, we have woven this yarn into a piece of fabric so that it can store electrical energy, and eventually we want to use it to power whatever electronic devices you need, whether it be a sensor, a light or even a cell phone.\"</p><p>While research into these so-called \"yarn-shaped supercapacitors\" is promising, researchers say developers face a consistent problem with their design: the yarn-shaped supercapacitors are more likely to short circuit as their length increases. Short-circuiting is when the electric current flows through an unintended path. It is a safety concern because a short circuit can result in a burst of heat energy or even a fire.</p><p>\"Everybody is trying to make smart electronics that can be incorporated into cloth or fabric,\" Gao said. \"What we found is if you try to make a supercapacitor yarn longer than 8 inches, it\'s pretty easy for this device to short-circuit. It\'s pretty dangerous, and it\'s something nobody wants to encounter when wearing a smart suit.\"</p><p>To solve that problem, the researchers tested what would happen when they wrapped the super-capacitor yarn electrodes with insulating threads. The idea was that the threads would act as a physical barrier, keeping the opposite electrodes from contacting each other and preventing short-circuiting. They tested their device\'s performance by connecting the electrodes to a power source and recording the device\'s current response. They also tested how well the yarns were able to hold a charge. They found that the yarns kept 90% of the initial energy after charging and discharging them 10,000 times.</p><p>The researchers also tested to see if they could withstand bending and stretching by weaving their yarn-shaped supercapacitors into a fabric.</p><p>\"The yarns need to be flexible and strong enough so that when you bend, stretch and press them, they keep their original electrical performance after all of those mechanical deformations,\" said the study\'s lead author Nanfei He, postdoctoral research scholar in textile engineering, chemistry and science at NC State. \"The yarns all kept their original performance, even after going through weaving and knitting.\"</p><p>Researchers said they made the yarn-shaped supercapacitor using processes that are conventional in textile manufacturing.</p><p>\"All of these processes can be scaled up very easily,\" He said.</p><p>In future work, the researchers want to incorporate their design into a garment, and to try to integrate it with other energy-generating devices.</p><p>\"Materials innovation and process engineering are critical to the scalability and device performance,\" said Feng Zhao, CEO of Storagenergy Technologies Inc., the industrial partner of the project. \"We have developed a process to produce thousands of meters of high-performance yarns in a continuous manner.\"</p><p>The study, \"Separator Threads in Yarn-Shaped Super-capacitors,\" was published online in <em>npj Flexible Electronics</em>. In addition to He and Gao, the other authors were Junhua Song, Jinyun Liao and Feng Zhao of Storagenergy Technologies Inc. The study was supported by Storagenergy Technologies Inc., and funded by the United States Army under contract numbers W911NF19C0074 and W911NF18C0086.</p>','2022-03-22 23:17:16.893314','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'North Carolina State University','Findings in a recent study could advance the development of \'smart textiles\' that would capture energy from the wearer\'s movements.\n',1,27,'<li>Nanfei He, Junhua Song, Jinyun Liao, Feng Zhao, Wei Gao. <strong>Separator threads in yarn-shaped supercapacitors to avoid short-circuiting upon length</strong>. <em>npj Flexible Electronics</em>, 2022; 6 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41528-022-00150-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41528-022-00150-2</a>\n</li>'),(1513,'Getting fuel to an invading cell\'s front line','getting-fuel-to-an-invading-cell\'s-front-line','2022-03-22 23:17:22.986361',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Invading armies need a steady supply of fuel and armaments. That\'s just as true when the invaders are cells, such as when tumor cells break away from their neighbors and spread to other parts of the body in a process called metastasis -- the most deadly part of cancer.</p><p>Now, a Duke University-led study in the tiny worm <em>C. elegans</em> provides new insight into how invading cells amass and deploy fuel to the front lines of invasion to power their cellular break-through machinery.</p><p>In a study in the journal <em>Developmental Cell</em>, Duke biology professor David Sherwood and colleagues have identified two glucose transporters that, when deactivated, disrupt the energy supply to invading worm cells and even stop some of them in their tracks.</p><p>The findings could eventually lead to new ways to cut the supply lines that allow cancer cells to metastasize in humans.</p><p>\"This is a big deal because it gives us a new aspect of invasive cells to target therapeutically,\" Sherwood said.</p><p>Metastatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat. Most cancer drugs work by destroying tumor cells or slowing their growth. But very few of the more than 200 anti-cancer drugs that have been approved for clinical use actually prevent cancer from breaking off from the original tumor and spreading to other organs -- the culprit behind the vast majority of cancer-related deaths.</p><p>\"We have no therapies to target this step as we don\'t have a good understanding of how cells breach tissue barriers,\" said Sherwood, the senior author of the paper. \"It\'s ironic, because it\'s the most lethal aspect of cancer, but the one that we understand the least.\"</p><p>Part of the reason is the process has been hard to study. Cancer\'s spread is unpredictable, and most cancer cells metastasize deep within the body, beyond the reach of light microscopes.</p><p>\"It\'s hard to spot an invasive cell in the act,\" Sherwood said.</p><p>So Sherwood\'s lab studies a similar process in millimeter-long transparent worms called <em>C. elegans</em>. Before a developing worm can finish building its reproductive tract, a specialized cell called the anchor cell must break through the dense, sheet-like mesh that separates the worm\'s uterus from its vulva to clear a path for mating and laying eggs.</p><p>Both worm cells and human cancer cells use the same invasive machinery: a barrage of piston-like projections that sprout from the cell surface and pummel their way through tissue barriers to clear a path for cells to pass through, like punching out an escape tunnel.</p><p>The question is, \"what\'s fueling these machines?\" said first author Aastha Garde, a doctoral student in cell biology at Duke. \"And can we target that instead of the machines themselves, to deprive them of their source of energy so the machines stop working?\"</p><p>The researchers used a camera attached to a powerful microscope to peer inside tiny worm cells hundreds of times smaller than a grain of sand and watch their \"break-ins\" in action.</p><p>Garde showed off a time-lapse of an invading cell as it pushed and wedged its way into neighboring tissues. The cell had been engineered with a sensor that lights up whenever an energy-carrying molecule called ATP reaches a certain level, like a cellular fuel gauge. Just as the cell was about to break through, a burst of light appeared behind the cell\'s front lines, revealing an outpouring of ATP at the time of the breach.</p><p>This ATP is produced by organelles called mitochondria -- the energy factories of the cell -- that are guided to the cell\'s front lines of invasion by a molecular cue called netrin, the researchers show.</p><p>The researchers also screened some 8,300 of the worm\'s roughly 20,000 genes, silencing them one by one using a technique called RNA interference to see if the worm cells were still able to break through.</p><p>They identified two genes that encode gate-like proteins called FGT-1 and FGT-2. These build up along the cell\'s borders just before invasion and let more glucose into the cell, where it is broken down to make ATP.</p><p>When the researchers deactivated these genes, glucose and ATP levels dropped, and the worm cells stalled their spread. Through the microscope, they could see cells making a feeble effort to put out new piston-like projections, to push through, but most were delayed, and a third of the cells stopped advancing altogether.</p><p>\"Without glucose, basically the entire machinery that the anchor cell uses to bust through the basement membrane is impaired,\" Garde said.</p><p>There\'s a lot scientists still don\'t know about what makes cancer cells metastasize. But the researchers hope their work on worms will help them \"find out the Achilles heel of cell invasion,\" Sherwood said.</p><p>\"This is an aspect of how cells breach that\'s been largely overlooked,\" Sherwood said. \"If we can halt this burst of ATP, we can limit or stop cell invasion.\"</p><p>This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R35GM118049-06, R01AG045183, R01AT009050, DP1DK113644, P40 OD010440), March of Dimes Foundation, Welch Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.</p>','2022-03-22 23:17:22.986361','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Duke University','Invading armies need a steady supply of fuel and armaments. That\'s just as true when the invaders are cells, such as when tumor cells break away and spread to other parts of the body in a process called metastasis -- the most deadly part of cancer. Now, a study in C. elegans worms provides new insight into how invading cells deploy fuel to the front lines of invasion to power their break-through machinery.\n',1,29,'<li>Aastha Garde, Isabel W. Kenny, Laura C. Kelley, Qiuyi Chi, Ayse Sena Mutlu, Meng C. Wang, David R. Sherwood. <strong>Localized glucose import, glycolytic processing, and mitochondria generate a focused ATP burst to power basement-membrane invasion</strong>. <em>Developmental Cell</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2022.02.019\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.devcel.2022.02.019</a>\n</li>'),(1514,'Rapid peptide discovery and ‘plug-and-play’ technology could make personalized cancer vaccines reality','rapid-peptide-discovery-and-‘plug-and-play’-technology-could-make-personalized-cancer-vaccines-reality','2022-03-22 23:48:53.273675',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists have created a pipeline for identifying, prioritising and evaluating potential tumour antigens for the fast generation of cancer vaccines, according to a report published today in <em>eLife.</em></p><p>The new approach could help researchers quickly identify tumour-specific antigens recognised by cytotoxic T cells, generating a powerful, durable and highly specific response against an individual\'s tumour. This could lead in turn to a quicker and easier way to generate effective, personalised cancer vaccines based on the identified antigens.</p><p>\"For a cancer vaccine to be effective, we need to select target antigens that elicit a strong immune response, are exclusively present on cancer cells and are tailored to an individual\'s unique tumour type,\" explains first author Sara Feola, Postdoctoral Researcher at the ImmunoViroTherapy Lab (IVTLab), University of Helsinki, Finland. \"However, only a few, if any, of the antigens on a tumour meet those characteristics, making it very difficult to identify and prioritise potentially effective candidates. Our pipeline comprises all the essential steps for the optimal development of a therapeutic cancer vaccine, but which could be carried out much more quickly on an individual patient basis, enabling true personalised therapy.\"</p><p>\"Developing personalised cancer vaccines needs several different technologies working together and working fast,\" adds senior author Vincenzo Cerullo, Professor of Biological Drug Development at the University of Helsinki and group leader at IVTLab. \"We need fast and reliable methods to identify and prioritise antigens, as well as rapid, inexpensive and feasible approaches to deliver these antigens to patients. During the past six years, we\'ve been working on a project supported by the European Research Council (ERC) to make all the pieces of this complex puzzle work together, creating the pipeline that has been partially described in this work.</p><p>\"Our research, which builds on previous work, involves developing a novel approach to identify tumour-specific antigens from very small samples, creating a novel algorithm to prioritise peptides based on their similarity to pathogen-derived peptides, and building several different plug-and-play technologies to deliver these peptides together with viruses or bacteria that kill cancer cells.\"</p><p>In the current study, the team began by investigating the antigen landscape of a tumour cell -- that is, all the different peptides on the cell surface. They studied a mouse model of colon cancer and used state-of-the-art technologies, such as an immunopeptidomic approach based on mass spectrometry analysis, to explore surface antigens on the cell. This generated a list of thousands of peptide candidates and presented a challenge of how to prioritise them.</p><p>The team used two parallel lines of investigation: first, they looked at the relative amounts of the peptides on cancer cells compared with normal cells. This gave them clues as to whether the antigen was truly tumour specific. Second, they used a software tool previously developed in their lab to identify tumour antigens that are similar to known pathogen antigens, exploiting their potential ability to cause a similar immune response to the pathogen antigens.</p><p>Using these methods, the team narrowed their candidate list down from thousands to 26 antigen candidates. They then studied the potential of these antigens further by testing how well they stimulated T cells, and how effectively they bind to an adenoviral vector that would form the basis of the vaccine. All the candidate antigen peptides interacted with the viral vector, but six peptides performed best and were taken forward for further tests.</p><p>The next stage was to see whether a vaccine carrying these target antigens could stimulate enough of an immune response to control or halt tumour growth. To test this, the team used mice with colon tumours on their left and right flanks. They then treated one side of the mice with the vaccine coated with each of the candidate peptide antigens. As hoped, they found that vaccines carrying the peptides improved anti-tumour growth in the treated tumour, but one of the vaccines improved anti-tumor growth in the untreated tumours -- suggesting that the peptide antigen in this vaccine had mounted a powerful systemic immune response against the tumours.</p><p>\"We have developed and validated a pipeline that covers for the first time all the stages of personalised cancer vaccine development, starting with isolating peptides from a primary tumour to analysing them to identify the best candidates,\" Cerullo concludes. \"This pipeline is currently being validated in human cancer patients under our flagship project on precision cancer medicine, iCAN.</p><p>\"Together, our findings demonstrate the feasibility of applying the pipeline to generate a tailored cancer vaccine by focusing on the prioritisation and selection criteria and adopting quick plug-and-play technology, called PeptiCRAd, through decorating a clinically approved adenovirus vector with the selected peptides. This opens up the possibility of rapidly generating vaccines for clinical use, where effective personalised therapies represent a major goal of successful treatment.\"</p>','2022-03-22 23:48:53.273675','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'eLife','Scientists have created a pipeline for identifying, prioritizing and evaluating potential tumor antigens for the fast generation of cancer vaccines, according to a new report.\n',1,90,'<li>Sara Feola, Jacopo Chiaro, Beatriz Martins, Salvatore Russo, Manlio Fusciello, Erkko Ylösmäki, Chiara Bonini, Eliana Ruggiero, Firas Hamdan, Michaela Feodoroff, Gabriella Antignani, Tapani Viitala, Sari Pesonen, Mikaela Grönholm, Rui MM Branca, Janne Lehtiö, Vincenzo Cerullo. <strong>A novel immunopeptidomic-based pipeline for the generation of                    personalized oncolytic cancer vaccines</strong>. <em>eLife</em>, 2022; 11 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71156\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.7554/eLife.71156</a>\n</li>'),(1515,'Early evolution of sea urchins','early-evolution-of-sea-urchins','2022-03-22 23:48:56.186848',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New insight on the origins and early evolution of echinoids, a group that includes the sea urchins, the sand dollars, and their relatives, has been published today in the journal <em>eLife.</em></p><p>The study suggests that modern echinoids emerged approximately 300 million years ago, survived the Permo-Triassic mass extinction event -- the most severe biodiversity crisis in Earth\'s history -- and rapidly diversified in its aftermath. These findings help address a gap in knowledge caused by the relative lack of fossil evidence for this early diversification.</p><p>There are more than 1,000 living species of echinoids, including sea urchins, heart urchins, sand dollars and sea biscuits, which live across different ocean environments ranging from shallow waters to abysses. Throughout history, the hard spine-covered skeletons of these creatures have left an impressive number of fossils. However, despite this remarkable fossil record, their emergence is documented by few fossil specimens with unclear affinities to living groups, making their early history uncertain.</p><p>\"There are still debates among scientists about when the ancestors of echinoids emerged and what role the mass extinction event that occurred between the Permian and Triassic periods may have played in their evolution,\" says first author Nicolás Mongiardino Koch, who completed the work while he was at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, US, and is now a postdoctoral fellow at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, US.</p><p>\"We set out to help resolve these debates by combining genomic and paleontological data to disentangle their evolutionary relationships. The extraordinary fossil record of echinoids and the ease with which these fossils can be incorporated in phylogenetic analyses make them an ideal system to explore their early evolution using this approach.\"</p><p>Mongiardino Koch and the team built upon available molecular resources with 18 novel genomic datasets, creating the largest existing molecular matrix for echinoids. Using this dataset, they were able to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of the major lineages of living echinoids and place their diversification within broader evolutionary history. They did so by applying a \'molecular clock\' technique to their dataset, whereby the rate at which mutations accumulated in the echinoid genomes is translated into geological time with the use of fossil evidence, allowing researchers to determine when different lineages first diversified.</p><p>Their analyses suggest that the ancestors of modern echinoids likely emerged during the Early Permian, and rapidly diversified during the Triassic period in the aftermath of a mass extinction event, even though this evolutionary radiation does not seem to have been captured by the fossil record.</p><p>Additionally, the results suggest that sand dollars and sea biscuits likely emerged much earlier than thought, during the Cretaceous period about 40 to 50 million years before the first documented fossils of these creatures. The authors say this result is remarkable, as the tough skeleton of the sand dollars, their buried lifestyles, and their extremely distinct morphologies imply that their fossil record should faithfully reflect their true evolutionary history.</p><p>The team also developed a multivariate statistical approach called a \'chronospace\' to help them visualise and assess the robustness of their evolutionary timeline to different choices in their analyses. They found that different implementations of the molecular clock model had the strongest impact on divergence times, while other decisions showed minimal effects.</p><p>\"Our work greatly expands the genomic data available for echinoids and helps resolve some of the long-standing questions around their evolutionary history,\" concludes senior author Greg Rouse, Professor of Marine Biology at Scripps Oceanography. \"Together, the results suggest that we need to re-evaluate the echinoid fossil record, with future studies of overlooked fossil remnants potentially providing further support to our findings.\"</p>','2022-03-22 23:48:56.186848','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'eLife','New insight on the origins and early evolution of echinoids, a group that includes the sea urchins, the sand dollars, and their relatives, has been published.\n',1,64,'<li>Nicolás Mongiardino Koch, Jeffrey R Thompson, Avery S Hiley, Marina F McCowin, A Frances Armstrong, Simon E Coppard, Felipe Aguilera, Omri Bronstein, Andreas Kroh, Rich Mooi, Greg W Rouse. <strong>Phylogenomic analyses of echinoid diversification prompt a re-evaluation of their fossil record</strong>. <em>eLife</em>, 2022; 11 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72460\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.7554/eLife.72460</a>\n</li>'),(1516,'Nearby star could help explain why our Sun didn’t have sunspots for 70 years','nearby-star-could-help-explain-why-our-sun-didn’t-have-sunspots-for-70-years','2022-03-22 23:51:12.889556',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The number of sunspots on our Sun typically ebbs and flows in a predictable 11-year cycle, but one unusual 70-year period when sunspots were incredibly rare has mystified scientists for three hundred years. Now a nearby Sun-like star seems to have paused its own cycles and entered a similar period of rare starspots, according to a team of researchers at Penn State. Continuing to observe this star could help explain what happened to our own Sun during this \"Maunder Minimum\" as well as lend insight into the Sun\'s stellar magnetic activity, which can interfere with satellites and global communications and possibly even affect climate on Earth.</p><p>The star -- and a catalog of 5 decades of starspot activity of 58 other Sun-like stars -- is described in a new paper that appears online in the <em>Astronomical Journal</em>.</p><p>Starspots appear as a dark spot on a star\'s surface due to temporary lower temperatures in the area resulting from the star\'s dynamo -- the process that creates its magnetic field. Astronomers have been documenting changes in starspot frequency on our Sun since they were first observed by Galileo and other astronomers in the 1600s, so there is a good record of its 11-year cycle. The exception is the Maunder Minimum, which lasted from the mid 1600s to early 1700s and has perplexed astronomers ever since.</p><p>\"We don\'t really know what caused the Maunder Minimum, and we have been looking to other Sun-like stars to see if they can offer some insight,\" said Anna Baum, an undergraduate at Penn State at the time of the research and first author of the paper. \"We have identified a star that we believe has entered a state similar to the Maunder Minimum. It will be really exciting to continue to observe this star during, and hopefully as it comes out of, this minimum, which could be extremely informative about the Sun\'s activity three hundred years ago.\"</p><p>The research team pulled data from multiple sources to stitch together 50 to 60 years of starspot data for 59 stars. This included data from the Mount Wilson Observatory HK Project -- which was designed to study stellar surface activity and ran from 1966 to 1996 -- and from planet searches at Keck Observatory which include this kind of data as part of their ongoing search for exoplanets from 1996 to 2020. The researchers compiled a database of stars that appeared in both sources and that had other readily available information that might help explain starspot activity. The team also made considerable efforts to standardize measurements from the different telescopes to be able to compare them directly and otherwise clean up the data.</p><p>The team identified or confirmed that 29 of these stars have starspot cycles by observing at least two full periods of cycles, which often last more than a decade. Some stars did not appear to have cycles at all, which could be because they are rotating too slowly to have a dynamo and are magnetically \'dead\' or because they are near the end of their lives. Several of the stars require further study to confirm whether they have a cycle.</p><p>\"This continuous, more than 50-year time series allows us to see things that we never would have noticed from the 10-year snapshots that we were doing before,\" said Jason Wright, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and an author of the paper. \"Excitingly, Anna has found a promising star that was cycling for decades but appears to have stopped.\"</p><p>According to the researchers, the star -- called HD 166620 -- was estimated to have a cycle of about 17 years but has now entered a period of low activity and has shown no signs of starspots since 2003.</p><p>\"When we first saw this data, we thought it must have been a mistake, that we pulled together data from two different stars or there was a typo in the catalog or the star was misidentified,\" said Jacob Luhn, a graduate student at Penn State when the project began who is now at the University of California, Irvine. \"But we double and triple checked everything. The times of observation were consistent with the coordinates we expected the star to have. And there aren\'t that many bright stars in the sky that Mount Wilson observed. No matter how many times we checked, we always come to the conclusion that this star has simply stopped cycling.\"</p><p>The researchers hope to continue studying this star throughout its minimum period and potentially as it comes out of its minimum and begins to cycle once again. This continued observation could provide important information about how the Sun and stars like it generate their magnetic dynamos.</p><p>\"There\'s a big debate about what the Maunder Minimum was,\" said Baum, who is now a doctoral student at Lehigh University studying stellar astronomy and asteroseismology . \"Did the Sun\'s magnetic field basically turn off? Did it lose its dynamo? Or was it still cycling but at a very low level that didn\'t produce many sunspots? We can\'t go back in time to take measurements of what it was like, but if we can characterize the magnetic structure and magnetic field strength of this star, we might start to get some answers.\"</p><p>A better understanding of the surface activity and magnetic field of the Sun could have several important implications. For example, strong stellar activity can disable satellites and global communications, and one particularly strong solar storm disabled a power grid in Quebec in 1989. It has also been suggested that sunspot cycles may have a connection to climate on Earth. Additionally, the researchers said that information from this star could impact our search for planets beyond our solar system.</p><p>\"Starspots and other forms of surface magnetic activity of stars interfere with our ability to detect the planets around them,\" said Howard Isaacson, a research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, and an author of the paper. \"Improving our understanding of a star\'s magnetic activity might help us improve our detection efforts.\"</p><p>The curated database of the 59 stars and their starspot activity from this research has been made available for researchers to further investigate.</p><p>\"This research is a great example of cross-generational astronomy, and how we continue to improve our understanding of the universe by building upon the many observations and dedicated research of astronomers that came before us,\" said Wright. \"I looked at starspot data from Mount Wilson and Keck Observatory for my thesis when I was a graduate student, Howard looked at starspot data from the California Planet Survey for his master\'s thesis, and now Anna has stitched together all the data for a more comprehensive look across the years. We are all excited to continue studying this and other promising stars.\"</p>','2022-03-22 23:51:12.889556','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','Astronomers identified a nearby star whose sunspot cycles appear to have stopped. Studying this star might help explain the unusual period from the mid 1600s to the early 1700s when our Sun paused its sunspot cycles.\n',1,192,'<li>Anna C. Baum, Jason T. Wright, Jacob K. Luhn, Howard Isaacson. <strong>Five Decades of Chromospheric Activity in 59 Sun-like Stars and New Maunder Minimum Candidate HD 166620</strong>. <em>The Astronomical Journal</em>, 2022; 163 (4): 183 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac5683\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3847/1538-3881/ac5683</a>\n</li>'),(1517,'Emotion, stress cues in social media posts might be early warnings in epilepsy deaths','emotion,-stress-cues-in-social-media-posts-might-be-early-warnings-in-epilepsy-deaths','2022-03-22 23:51:15.340692',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study from an international team of researchers -- including two from Binghamton University -- demonstrates that social media could be used to detect behaviors preceding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), the leading cause of death in people with uncontrolled epileptic seizures.</p><p>The findings, recently published in the journal <em>Epilepsy &amp; Behavior,</em> reveal that the activity of epilepsy patients in social media increased before their sudden deaths. These changes in digital behavior could be used as early warning signals to put preventive interventions for SUDEP into practice.</p><p>SUDEP occurs when a person with epilepsy dies suddenly and no reason for death is found. Although the physiological mechanisms underlying SUDEP are still a mystery, people with frequent seizures are known to be at higher risk. The best preventive strategy currently is to keep seizures under control through medication, but reducing stress and keeping triggers in check are also key to decreasing the risk. However, measuring stress and other mood states can be difficult.</p><p>A study developed by researchers at Binghamton University, Indiana University and the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) in Portugal explored the potential of using social media to identify behavior signatures that might predict SUDEP.</p><p>\"We instantly know when our best friend is not OK,\" said Rion Brattig Correia, co-first author of the study, a researcher at IGC and a visiting research scientist at Binghamton University. \"They are mumbling, talking too much or perhaps too little, eye contact is different, their tone is off -- we just know it. Sometimes we know it over the phone, only after a few words. What if by detecting this sudden behavioral change, we could save a friend\'s life?\"</p><p>Building on these thoughts, the study examined the Facebook timelines of six epilepsy patients who died from SUDEP, using various tools to decipher human emotion and any stress markers hidden in their posts.</p><p>\"The first thing we tried was simply to answer the question of whether the amount of written text was increased in the platform right before their death. And that\'s what we found,\" Correia said. \"For five subjects, the number of words written was significantly higher in their final days in comparison to the rest of their timeline.\"</p><p>In addition, the type of words used by the subjects changed and there were drastic sentiment shifts in their posts in the weeks preceding their death.</p><p>\"We found significant alterations in the patient\'s digital behavior that could be picked up as a signal by our algorithms,\" said Ian B. Wood from Indiana University and co-first author of the study.</p><p>These changes in the patient\'s social media engagement, as well as in the sentiment behind their publications, may serve as possible early-warning signals for SUDEP and guide preventive interventions.</p><p>\"We thought that machine learning could be very useful to uncover patient behaviors and outcomes from the wide array of unconventional data out there, such as social media,\" said Luís M. Rocha, George J. Klir Professor of Systems Science at Binghamton and principal investigator at IGC.</p><p>Rocha led the cross-university group for the study, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The interdisciplinary work involved informatics/complex systems researchers, clinical/behavioral epilepsy scientists and support from the Epilepsy Foundation of America.</p><p>\"In general, SUDEP studies do not consider digital behavioral data as we did here, but focus only on physiological and clinical data. As far as we know, this is the first time this kind of data was used in the study of SUDEP,\" said principal investigator Wendy Miller, an epilepsy specialist from the School of Nursing at IU who also contributed to the study.</p><p>She acknowledged that the inclusion of this digital data could offer a complementary view of patient behavior leading up to SUDEP that is often missed during clinical consultations: \"Any advances in this area are likely to have a significant impact on the lives of families affected.\"</p><p>To validate the predictive power of these behavioral signals extracted from social media, the researchers intend to mount clinical studies involving more people to collect more data. If the digital behavior of patients proves to be useful at predicting SUDEP, the analysis could be expanded to platforms in addition to Facebook and possibly prevent unnecessary deaths.</p><p>\"The method we employed could be applied to any digital behavior data, such as SMS or chat exchange, phone calls and other ways,\" Wood said.</p><p>Sponsored by the NIH\'s National Library of Medicine, the team is working on a personalized web service for epilepsy, myAura, which will include diverse clinical and non-clinical data, such as self-reported patient entries regarding seizures, medication adherence and physician encounters. The web service also will include the option for users to donate their social media timelines, making this data more easily accessible for larger studies.</p>','2022-03-22 23:51:15.340692','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Binghamton University','A new study from an international team of researchers demonstrates that social media could be used to detect behaviors preceding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), the leading cause of death in people with uncontrolled epileptic seizures.\n',1,27,'<li>Ian B. Wood, Rion Brattig Correia, Wendy R. Miller, Luis M. Rocha. <strong>Small cohort of patients with epilepsy showed increased activity on Facebook before sudden unexpected death</strong>. <em>Epilepsy &amp; Behavior</em>, 2022; 128: 108580 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108580\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108580</a>\n</li>'),(1518,'Biodegradable implant could help doctors monitor brain chemistry','biodegradable-implant-could-help-doctors-monitor-brain-chemistry','2022-03-23 00:40:28.526877',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A wireless, biodegradable sensor could offer doctors a way to monitor changes in brain chemistry without requiring a second operation to remove the implant, according to an international team of researchers.</p><p>In a minimally invasive procedure on mice, the researchers inserted a wireless, biodegradable device into the deep brain region of a mouse. The device collected data on levels of dopamine, an important neurotransmitter, and other properties of the brain, such as pH levels, temperature and electrophysiology before harmlessly dissolving back into the body.</p><p>Because dopamine is critical in many neural-related conditions, a biodegradable sensor to detect the neurotransmitter could be used by doctors for a range of treatments and operations.</p><p>\"The direct measurement of dopamine can be very significant because of the role that neurotransmitters play in a lot of neural related disease,\" said Larry Cheng, the Dorothy Quiggle Professor in Engineering and an associate of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences. \"I think people in the past have been looking at a lot of the other parameters in form of temperature, or fever, or sweating, among others. These related parameters can be very helpful when we don\'t have the direct measurement, but if we can have the direct measurement of this neurotransmitter at the target location, and in real time, that can be certainly more direct and even more helpful, because information can sometimes be very challenging to infer based on those other parameters.\"</p><p>The silicon-based implant includes a semiconductor called two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, or TMDCs, which are considered an emerging class of materials increasingly used in nanoelectronics and nanophotonics applications. The ability for these atomically thin TMDCs to be manipulated allowed the scientists to design the implant to be biodegradable yet maintain electrical and electrochemical performance.</p><p>To make this implantable, all of this equipment must be packed into a probe that measured about 13 or 14 millimeters long, said Cheng. For perspective, the diameter of a regular strength aspirin is about 14 millimeters.</p><p>\"That\'s really for the entire device, but, if we\'re talking about the sensor, itself, that is even smaller,\" said Cheng, who is also a member of the Materials Research Institute.</p><p>The team then tested the device by inserting the probe in a section of the mouse\'s brain called the basal ganglia.</p><p>In a clinical setting, Cheng said patients would wear a headband or other type of apparatus to relay the implant\'s signals to equipment that the medical staff could the use to monitor the patients\' condition.</p><p>According to the researchers, the main benefit of a biodegradable device is that it would require no further surgeries -- which add risks to recovery -- to remove the device.</p><p>\"Currently, after full recovery, the device has to be removed, or there will be just something inside we don\'t need to use,\" said Cheng. \"So that\'s why here, the device is designed to be biodegradable and after a certain amount of time and after it has fulfilled its function, it can safely dissolve. So, the patient won\'t need to have go through the second surgery operation to remove the device.</p><p>The sheer number of chemicals, materials and designs that could be used to make this device required advanced computing techniques, according to Cheng. He added that computers were used to simulate different chemicals and bioengineering schemes to find the ideal materials and design to detect and measure the target molecule, in this case, dopamine.</p><p>\"We have to introduce the material to model the 2D material and the dopamine and then you have to make sure they are stable,\" said Cheng. \"So, we\'ll have to optimize the initial structure and then we further study the interaction between the stabilized material and the dopamine.\"</p><p>Ultimately, the team hopes that the device will be used to help human patients, but they expect that an immediate need might be for doctors who are engaged in animal studies.</p><p>\"Some of the potential treatment options may first be available in animal studies where the implant could help scientists initially evaluate how a disease progresses, how a patient recovers from a treatment and how effective that treatment is,\" said Cheng. \"So, the implant can be very helpful to simply use in an animal model to better investigate these questions.\"</p><p>Future work could be aimed at creating a sensor that monitors other aspects of brain chemistry, beyond dopamine detection, Cheng said.</p>','2022-03-23 00:40:28.526877','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','A wireless, biodegradable sensor could offer doctors a way to monitor changes in brain chemistry without requiring a second operation to remove the implant, according to an international team of researchers.\n',1,162,'<li>Seung Min Yang, Jae Hyung Shim, Hyun‐U Cho, Tae‐Min Jang, Gwan‐Jin Ko, Jeongeun Shim, Tae Hee Kim, Jia Zhu, Sangun Park, Yoon Seok Kim, Su‐Yeon Joung, Jong Chan Choe, Jeong‐Woong Shin, Joong Hoon Lee, Yu Min Kang, Huanyu Cheng, Youngmee Jung, Chul‐Ho Lee, Dong Pyo Jang, Suk‐Won Hwang. <strong>Hetero‐Integration of Silicon Nanomembranes with 2D Materials for Bioresorbable, Wireless Neurochemical System</strong>. <em>Advanced Materials</em>, 2022; 2108203 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.202108203\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/adma.202108203</a>\n</li>'),(1519,'Tracking real-time atomic movement between crystal grains in metals','tracking-real-time-atomic-movement-between-crystal-grains-in-metals','2022-03-23 02:01:59.921078',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Metallic materials used in engineering must be strong and ductile -- capable of carrying high mechanical loads while able to withstand deformation without breaking. Whether a material is weak or strong, ductile or brittle, however, is not determined simply by the crystal grains that make up the material, but rather by what happens in the space between them known as the grain boundary. Despite decades of investigation, atomic-level deformation processes at the grain boundary remain elusive, along with the secret to making new and better materials.</p><p>Using advanced microscopy coupled with novel computer simulations that track atomic movement, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted real-time atomic-level observations of grain boundary deformation in poly-grained metallic materials called polycrystalline materials. The team observed previously unrecognized processes that affect material properties, such as atoms that hop from one plane to another across a grain boundary. Their work, published in <em>Science</em> this March, pushes the limits of atomic-level probing, and enables a deeper understanding of how polycrystalline materials deform. Their work opens new avenues for the smarter design of new materials for extreme engineering applications.</p><p>\"It is amazing to observe the step-by-step movements of atoms, and then use this information to decipher the dynamic sliding process of a grain boundary with complex structure,\" said Ting Zhu, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and one of the lead authors on the study, which included collaborators from Beijing University of Technology.</p><p>To develop new and better polycrystalline materials, it is critical to understand how they deform at an atomic level. The team sought to achieve real-time observation of grain boundary sliding, a well-known mode of deformation which plays an important role in governing the strength and ductility of polycrystalline materials. They chose to work with platinum because its crystal structure is the same as other widely used polycrystalline materials like steel, copper, and aluminum. Using platinum, their results and insights would be generally applicable to a wide range of materials.</p><p><strong>A Combination of Novel Methods</strong></p><p>Several key innovations were required to carry out the experiment. The team used a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to capture highly magnified images of atoms at grain boundaries. The TEM sends an electron beam through a film-like platinum specimen, processed by the team to be thin enough for electron transmission. They also developed a small, millimeter-sized testing device that applies mechanical force to a specimen and is affixed to the microscope. The TEM and device work in tandem to create atomic-level images of grain boundaries during deformation.</p><p>To observe the atomic-scale grain boundary sliding more clearly than through viewing the TEM images alone, the researchers developed an automated atom tracking method. This method automatically labels each atom in every TEM image and then correlates them between images, enabling the tracking of all atoms and their movement during grain boundary sliding. Finally, the team conducted computer simulations of grain boundary sliding using atomic structures extracted from the TEM images. The simulated sliding helped the team analyze and interpret events that happened at the atomic scale. By combining those methods, they were able to visualize how individual atoms move at a deforming grain boundary in real time.</p><p><strong>Results</strong></p><p>While it was known that grain boundaries slide during deformation of polycrystalline materials, real-time imaging and analysis by Zhu and his team revealed a rich variety of atomic processes, some of them previously unknown.</p><p>They noticed that, during deformation, two neighboring grains slid against each other and caused atoms from one side of the grain boundary plane to transfer to the other. This process, known as atomic plane transfer, was previously unrecognized. They also observed that local atomic processes can effectively accommodate transferred atoms by adjusting grain boundary structures, which can be beneficial for achieving higher ductility. Image analysis and computer simulations showed that mechanical loads were high during the atomic processes, and that this facilitated the transfer of atoms and atomic planes. Their findings suggest that engineering the grain boundaries of fine-grained polycrystals is an important strategy for making materials stronger and more ductile.</p><p><strong>Looking Ahead</strong></p><p>Zhu and his team\'s demonstrated ability to observe, track, and understand atomic-scale grain boundary deformation opens more research opportunities to further investigate interfaces and failure mechanisms in polycrystalline materials. Greater understanding of atomic-level deformation can inform how materials are evolved during grain boundary engineering, a necessity for creating exceptional strength and ductility combinations.</p><p>\"We are now extending our approach to visualize atomic-scale deformation at higher temperatures and deformation rates, in pursuit of better materials for extreme applications,\" said Xiaodong Han, another lead author of the paper and a professor at the Beijing University of Technology.</p><p>Zhu believes that the data-rich results from their real-time atomic-level observations and imaging could be integrated with machine learning for deeper investigation of material deformations, and this could accelerate the discovery and development of materials faster than previously thought possible.</p><p>\"Our work shows the importance of using very high-resolution microscopy to understand atomic-level material behavior. This advancement will enable researchers to tailor materials for optimal properties using atomic design,\" said Zhu.</p><p><strong>Funding</strong>: X.D.H. and L.W. acknowledge support by the Beijing Outstanding Young Scientists Projects (grant BJJWZYJH01201910005018), the Basic Science Center Program for Multiphase Evolution in Hypergravity of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 51988101), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (grant Z180014), and the Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 51771004, 51988101, and 91860202).</p>','2022-03-23 02:01:59.921078','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Georgia Institute of Technology','Using advanced microscopy coupled with novel computer simulations to track atomic movement, researchers conducted real-time atomic-level observations of grain boundary deformation in poly-grained metallic materials called polycrystalline materials. They observed previously unrecognized processes that affect material properties, such as atoms that hop from one plane to another across a grain boundary. Their work pushes the limits of atomic-level probing, and enables a deeper understanding of how polycrystalline materials deform, and smarter design of new materials for extreme engineering applications.\n',1,25,'<li>Lihua Wang, Yin Zhang, Zhi Zeng, Hao Zhou, Jian He, Pan Liu, Mingwei Chen, Jian Han, David J. Srolovitz, Jiao Teng, Yizhong Guo, Guo Yang, Deli Kong, En Ma, Yongli Hu, Baocai Yin, XiaoXu Huang, Ze Zhang, Ting Zhu, Xiaodong Han. <strong>Tracking the sliding of grain boundaries at the atomic scale</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 375 (6586): 1261 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm2612\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abm2612</a>\n</li>'),(1521,'Dominant form of heart failure caused by metabolic-immune interaction, review article suggests','dominant-form-of-heart-failure-caused-by-metabolic-immune-interaction,-review-article-suggests','2022-03-23 02:47:15.533395',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The dominant form of heart failure worldwide appears to be caused by a strong, bidirectional interaction between the body\'s response to metabolic stress and the immune system, according to a review article written by UT Southwestern researchers and colleagues. The article, published in <em>Nature Cardiovascular Research</em>, argues for more research into this root cause to develop truly effective treatments.</p><p>\"Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction affects millions of people around the globe, but we currently have little to offer these patients because the mechanisms behind it have been unknown. It\'s been called the single greatest unmet need in cardiovascular medicine,\" said the article\'s senior author Joseph Hill, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Biology and Chief of Cardiology at UT Southwestern. \"We now have insight into this condition that we didn\'t have even five years ago, observations that could lead to viable clinical targets.\"</p><p>Dr. Hill explained that heart failure -- the heart\'s inability to effectively pump blood -- comes in two broad types: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), in which the amount of blood that leaves the heart with each beat declines, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), in which the heart is unable to fill with blood to capacity. While HFrEF has long been the most common form, HFpEF -- which is associated with obesity, diabetes, and other components of metabolic syndrome -- has grown in prevalence over the last several decades and overtaken HFrEF as the most common form.</p><p>Numerous treatments exist for various types of HFrEF, but these interventions have no discernible effect on HFpEF. This is because the two conditions are caused by different underlying mechanisms, said Dr. Hill, a topic that his lab has studied for years. Although HFpEF can be improved through weight loss, losing weight is something that many individuals struggle with, he added, prompting the need for treatments.</p><p>In the review article, Hill and his colleagues outline findings made over the past several years that point to joint metabolic and immune dysfunction as the root cause of HFpEF. For example, fat tissue secretes inflammatory molecules that migrate to the heart, recruiting immune cells evident in heart biopsy samples from individuals with HFpEF. At the same time, heart toxicity caused by overuse of fatty acids as fuel in individuals with metabolic syndrome appears to stimulate an immune response, leading to a vicious cycle.</p><p>Crosstalk between fat tissue, the immune system, and the heart appears to amplify both immune and metabolic stress, ultimately causing the heart to fail over time. But how this crosstalk occurs, the effects it produces, and how to block them remain unclear, Dr. Hill said. Research into this new field of immunometabolism is shedding some light on these questions, but more research will be necessary to produce effective interventions for HFpEF patients, he added.</p><p>\"Research from our lab and others is raising possibilities of therapeutic targets that need to be investigated,\" Dr. Hill said. \"There\'s a reasonable chance that we could have therapies available for this intractable condition within the next decade.\"</p><p><em>U.S. News and World Report </em>ranks UT Southwestern as the No.1 hospital in Texas for Cardiology and Heart Surgery and No.11 in the nation.</p><p>Dr. Hill holds the James T. Willerson, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Diseases and the Frank M. Ryburn Jr. Chair in Heart Research.</p><p>Thomas G. Gillette, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern, contributed to the review article.</p><p>This work was supported by grants from the DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research); the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, SFB-1470-A02), IMI2-CARDIATEAM (no. 821508); the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative, Dutch Cardiovascular Alliance CVON2016-Early HFPEF, 2015-10, CVON She-PREDICTS, no. 2017-21; National Institutes of Health (HL144477, HL122309, HL126012, HL128215, HL120732, HL147933 and HL155765), and the American Heart Association (19TPA34910006).</p>','2022-03-23 02:47:15.533395','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'UT Southwestern Medical Center','The dominant form of heart failure worldwide appears to be caused by a strong, bidirectional interaction between the body\'s response to metabolic stress and the immune system, according to a review article. The article argues for more research into this root cause to develop truly effective treatments.\n',1,150,'<li>Gabriele G. Schiattarella, Pilar Alcaide, Gianluigi Condorelli, Thomas G. Gillette, Stephane Heymans, Elizabeth A. V. Jones, Marinos Kallikourdis, Andrew Lichtman, Federica Marelli-Berg, Sanjiv J. Shah, Edward B. Thorp, Joseph A. Hill. <strong>Immunometabolic mechanisms of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction</strong>. <em>Nature Cardiovascular Research</em>, 2022; 1 (3): 211 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44161-022-00032-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s44161-022-00032-w</a>\n</li>'),(1522,'Artificial intelligence tool may help predict heart attacks','artificial-intelligence-tool-may-help-predict-heart-attacks','2022-03-23 05:53:27.565285',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Investigators from Cedars-Sinai have created an artificial intelligence-enabled tool that may make it easier to predict if a person will have a heart attack.</p><p>The tool, described in <em>The Lancet Digital Health</em>, accurately predicted which patients would experience a heart attack in five years based on the amount and composition of plaque in arteries that supply blood to the heart.</p><p>Plaque buildup can cause arteries to narrow, which makes it difficult for blood to get to the heart, increasing the likelihood of a heart attack. A medical test called a coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) takes 3D images of the heart and arteries and can give doctors an estimate of how much a patient\'s arteries have narrowed. Until now, however, there has not been a simple, automated and rapid way to measure the plaque visible in the CTA images.</p><p>\"Coronary plaque is often not measured because there is not a fully automated way to do it,\" said Damini Dey, PhD, director of the quantitative image analysis lab in the Biomedical Imaging Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai and senior author of the study. \"When it is measured, it takes an expert at least 25 to 30 minutes, but now we can use this program to quantify plaque from CTA images in five to six seconds.\"</p><p>Dey and colleagues analyzed CTA images from 1,196 people who underwent a coronary CTA at 11 sites in Australia, Germany, Japan, Scotland and the United States. The investigators trained the AI algorithm to measure plaque by having it learn from coronary CTA images, from 921 people, that already had been analyzed by trained doctors.</p><p>The algorithm works by first outlining the coronary arteries in 3D images, then identifying the blood and plaque deposits within the coronary arteries. Investigators found the tool\'s measurements corresponded with plaque amounts seen in coronary CTAs. They also matched results with images taken by two invasive tests considered to be highly accurate in assessing coronary artery plaque and narrowing: intravascular ultrasound and catheter-based coronary angiography.</p><p>Finally, the investigators discovered that measurements made by the AI algorithm from CTA images accurately predicted heart attack risk within five years for 1,611 people who were part of a multicenter trial called the SCOT-HEART trial.</p><p>\"More studies are needed, but it\'s possible we may be able to predict if and how soon a person is likely to have a heart attack based on the amount and composition of the plaque imaged with this standard test,\" said Dey, who is also professor of Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai.</p><p>Dey and colleagues are continuing to study how well their AI algorithm quantifies plaque deposits in patients who undergo coronary CTA.</p><p><em>Funding: The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute under award number 1R01HL148787-01A1.</em></p>','2022-03-23 05:53:27.565285','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cedars-Sinai Medical Center','Investigators have created an artificial intelligence-enabled tool that may make it easier to predict if a person will have a heart attack.\n',1,150,'<li>Andrew Lin, Nipun Manral, Priscilla McElhinney, Aditya Killekar, Hidenari Matsumoto, Jacek Kwiecinski, Konrad Pieszko, Aryabod Razipour, Kajetan Grodecki, Caroline Park, Yuka Otaki, Mhairi Doris, Alan C Kwan, Donghee Han, Keiichiro Kuronuma, Guadalupe Flores Tomasino, Evangelos Tzolos, Aakash Shanbhag, Markus Goeller, Mohamed Marwan, Heidi Gransar, Balaji K Tamarappoo, Sebastien Cadet, Stephan Achenbach, Stephen J Nicholls, Dennis T Wong, Daniel S Berman, Marc Dweck, David E Newby, Michelle C Williams, Piotr J Slomka, Damini Dey. <strong>Deep learning-enabled coronary CT angiography for plaque and stenosis quantification and cardiac risk prediction: an international multicentre study</strong>. <em>The Lancet Digital Health</em>, 2022; 4 (4): e256 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00022-X\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00022-X</a>\n</li>'),(1524,'Plant-based omega-3s may boost heart health, reduce risk of heart disease','plant-based-omega-3s-may-boost-heart-health,-reduce-risk-of-heart-disease','2022-03-23 16:43:38.142037',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People often think of salmon when they think of omega-3 fatty acids, but a new research review found that the major plant-based version of the nutrient, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), can benefit heart health and reduce the risk of heart disease for those who don\'t eat seafood.</p><p>In a comprehensive literature review, the researchers found that consuming ALA that is found in plant-based foods like walnuts and flaxseeds was associated with a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 20% reduced risk of fatal coronary heart disease.</p><p>Penny Kris-Etherton, Evan Pugh University Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State, said the review suggests there are multiple ways of meeting the recommendations for omega-3 fatty acids.</p><p>\"People may not want to eat seafood for a variety of reasons, but it\'s still important for them to consume omega-3s to reduce the risk of heart disease and to promote overall health,\" Kris-Etherton said. \"Plant-based ALA in the form of walnuts or flaxseeds can also provide these benefits, especially when incorporated into a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.\"</p><p>Jennifer Fleming, assistant teaching professor of nutrition at Penn State, said they also found evidence that for people who do eat seafood, they could get extra benefits from eating plant-based omega-3s.</p><p>\"When people with low levels of omega-3s in their diet ate ALA, they saw a benefit in terms of cardiovascular health,\" Fleming said. \"But when people with high levels of omega-3s from other sources ate more ALA, they also saw a benefit. It could be that ALA works synergistically with other omega-3s.\"</p><p>The review was recently published in <em>Advances in Nutrition</em>.</p><p>Previous research has linked omega-3s with a lower risk of heart disease. However, this conclusion was based on a large evidence base from marine-derived omega-3s, and there was less evidence for the benefits of ALA.</p><p>For the review, the researchers analyzed data from previous studies to evaluate the effects of ALA on heart disease and heart disease risk factors like blood pressure and inflammation. The studies analyzed included both randomized controlled trials and observational studies.</p><p>While some of the observational studies relied on the participants reporting how often they ate certain foods to determine how much ALA they were consuming, others used biomarkers -- a way of measuring levels of ALA in the blood -- as a more accurate measure.</p><p>\"With the advent of precision nutrition and personalized medicine, we are more aware than ever of the need to identify and target individuals who might get the largest benefit from increasing their consumption of ALA-rich foods,\" said Aleix Sala-Vila, lead author on the paper and researcher at the Institut Hospital del Mar d\'Investigacions Mèdiques-Barcelona. \"Paying close attention to the amount of ALA in the blood and how it affects heart health could help in this effort.\"</p><p>After analyzing the studies, the researchers found that ALA had beneficial effects on reducing atherogenic lipids and lipoproteins -- for example, total cholesterol, low density-lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides -- as well as blood pressure and inflammation. This could help explain ALA\'s benefits to heart health, according to Emilio Ros, emeritus investigator at Institut d\'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi Sunyer, a research institution linked to Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and Barcelona University.</p><p>\"We were able to find evidence supporting current dietary guidelines that ALA should provide about 0.6%-1% of total energy in a day, which is about 1.1 grams a day for women and 1.6 grams a day for men,\" Ros said, \"and can be incorporated into the diet with foods such as walnuts, flaxseeds, and cooking oils such as canola and soybean oils.</p><p>These recommendations are equal to about 1/2 ounce of walnuts or just under one teaspoon of flaxseed oil.</p><p>The researchers said that future studies are needed to help better understand the effects of ALA on other major chronic diseases. In addition, there is a need to evaluate whether the recent scientific literature supports new, higher dietary recommendations for ALA.</p><p>The California Walnut Commission helped support this research.</p>','2022-03-23 16:43:38.142037','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','Researchers found that consuming ALA that is found in plant-based foods like walnuts and flaxseeds was associated with a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 20 percent reduced risk of fatal coronary heart disease.\n',1,27,'<li>Aleix Sala-Vila, Jennifer Fleming, Penny Kris-Etherton, Emilio Ros. <strong>Impact of Alpha-linolenic Acid, the Vegetable Omega-3 Fatty Acid, on Cardiovascular Disease and Cognition</strong>. <em>Advances in Nutrition</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmac016\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/advances/nmac016</a>\n</li>'),(1525,'Migrants from south carrying maize were early Maya ancestors','migrants-from-south-carrying-maize-were-early-maya-ancestors','2022-03-23 17:47:10.044449',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research published this week by University of New Mexico archaeologist Keith Prufer shows that a site in Belize was critical in studying the origins of the ancient Maya people and the spread of maize as a staple food.</p><p>According to the paper \"South-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region,\" published this week in <em>Nature Communications</em> and co-led by Prufer, excavations in Belize, along with ancient DNA analysis, indicate a previously unknown migration of people-carrying maize-from an area of South America northward to the Maya region.</p><p>Prufer and his colleagues excavated 25 burials dating from 10,000 to 3,700 years ago from two cave or rock shelter sites located in the remote Maya Mountains of Belize, Central America. These sites were located below the overhang of tall limestone cliffs that sheltered the people living below and protected the deposits of the everyday debris and burials of the dead for over 7,000 years.</p><p>The excavated skeletons revealed a range of ancient DNA information on the movements of early populations in the Americas: An early southward migration of people from the north by 9,600 to 7,300 years ago show only distant relatedness to present-day Mesoamericans, including Maya-speaking populations; Then, a previously unknown movement from the south starting about 5,600 years ago made a major demographic impact on the region, contributing more than 50 percent of the ancestry of all later individuals. This new ancestry derived from a source ancestral to present-day Chibchan speakers living from Costa Rica to Colombia, according to Prufer, whose lab led the archaeological and isotope research.</p><p>The genetic prehistory of human populations in Central America was largely unexplored, leaving an important gap in our knowledge of the global expansion of humans, which is why this research is really exciting and ground-breaking, Prufer remarked.</p><p>The excavations and DNA analysis \"support a scenario in which Chibchan-related horticulturalists moved northward into the southeastern Yucatan carrying improved varieties of maize, and possibly also manioc and chili peppers, and mixed with local populations to create new horticultural traditions that ultimately led to more intensive forms of maize agriculture much later in time…\"</p><p>\"We see the migration of these people as fundamentally important for development of farming and, eventually, large Maya speaking communities,\" Prufer said, noting that maize provided essential protein and sugar energy, and could be stored in a dry place. Once people had a reliable source of food in maize, they tended to farm and stay in one place, leading to larger, established communities.</p><p>Maize wasn\'t always an important part of the diet of these people, Prufer said. The earliest migrants likely gathered and ate the tiny cobs of a grass known as <em>teosinte</em>, as well as the earliest maize domesticates, even though the cobs were very small, along with other plants, shellfish, and game. By selecting the biggest and best seeds, they began to domesticate the plant, growing larger cobs, and increasingly altering the landscape and biodiversity, a process that likely occurred largely in South America.</p><p>Eventually the consumption of maize grew until it became a diet staple, much like the Europeans used wheat, Prufer said. The dispersal of maize grew, moving from the south, northward to the Maya population, and eventually across both continents so that when the Spanish arrived around 1500 AD, maize, or corn, was a staple of every Native American group\'s diet.</p>','2022-03-23 17:47:10.044449','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of New Mexico','Archaeologists show that a site in Belize was critical in studying the origins of the ancient Maya people and the spread of maize as a staple food.\n',1,70,'<li>Douglas J. Kennett, Mark Lipson, Keith M. Prufer, David Mora-Marín, Richard J. George, Nadin Rohland, Mark Robinson, Willa R. Trask, Heather H. J. Edgar, Ethan C. Hill, Erin E. Ray, Paige Lynch, Emily Moes, Lexi O’Donnell, Thomas K. Harper, Emily J. Kate, Josue Ramos, John Morris, Said M. Gutierrez, Timothy M. Ryan, Brendan J. Culleton, Jaime J. Awe, David Reich. <strong>South-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29158-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29158-y</a>\n</li>'),(1526,'New advances in the protein folding process thermodynamics','new-advances-in-the-protein-folding-process-thermodynamics','2022-03-23 17:47:25.094609',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In biophysics, the kinetic states of molecules play a determining role in the metabolic and physiological processes in which they take part. Now, a paper published in the journal <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences </em>(PNAS) specifies for the first time the levels of energy, the entropy and the enthalpy of protein folding. To do so, the team used a device with optical tweezers that enables changing the experimental temperature between 5ºC and 40ºC.</p><p>The study was led by Professor Fèlix Ritort, from the Faculty of Physics and the Institute of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology of the University of Barcelona (IN2UB). Its first author is the researcher Marc Rico-Pasto (UB) and it counts with the collaboration of teams from the University of Padova (Italy), the Institute of Bioengineering in Lausanne (Switzerland) and the company SpliceBio, whose headquarters are in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB).</p><p><strong>Optical tweezers to unravel the complexity of living matter</strong></p><p>The emergence of innovative techniques such as optical and magnetic tweezers has revolutionized research in biophysics, and specifically, the study of thermodynamic properties in macromolecules: proteins, nucleic acids, etc. This type of technology enables the manipulation of individual molecules with nanometre precision (10<sup>-9</sup> meters) applying forces in the piconewton range (10<sup>-12</sup> newtons). Therefore, researchers can characterize the thermodynamic properties of complex biomolecules with unprecedented resolution. The application of such techniques provides with new scenarios for the experimental studies in the field of thermodynamics from a statistical approach, an interpretation of thermodynamics that was only possible from a theoretical perspective to date.</p><p>However, these techniques have limitations that prevent researchers from differentiating the origins of the measured forces. At the moment, combining different techniques to expand the number of control parameters is a challenge in biophysics. This is precisely what the team in charge of this study has done: introducing a temperature monitor in the optical tweezers to determine, for the first time, the entropy and enthalpy of protein folding.</p><p><strong>Energy landscapes in protein folding </strong></p><p>During the folding process of proteins and other macromolecules, different kinetic states take place between the native state and the denatured state. Examples are transition states, molecular intermediates and misfolded structures, which have a transient nature that makes thermodynamical characterization more difficult in experiments with a high number of molecules -- from the 10<sup>23</sup> molecule order, the value known as the Avogadro\'s number -- which are analysed simultaneously. Particularly relevant to protein folding are transition states due to their extremely short lifetime.</p><p>\"Our results reveal that, during the transition state, the protein skeletal structure is already built. However, most of the van der Waals interactions -- weak forces -- among the residues are not stabilized,\" notes Professor Fèlix Ritort, member of the Department of Condensed Matter Physics of the UB.</p><p>\"Conclusions show that protein folding can be understood as a process defined by two steps. In the first one, the protein reaches the transition state in which the native skeletal structure is built, and water is expelled from the inside of the polypeptide chain,\" continues Ritort. \"In the second step, the protein collapses, the interactions between protein residues are stabilized, and the protein reaches the native state,\" concludes the researcher.</p><p>A first reading of the results reveals that there is a change of enthalpy and entropy during the transition state corresponding to 20% approximately of the total measured in the folding. \"This phenomenon shows that the protein skeletal structure requires a 20% of the interactions between residues. The reading we make from the protein folding goes in line with the most recent hypotheses in the field of protein folding,\" notes Marc Rico-Pasto, also member of the Department of Condensed Matter Physics.</p><p>Despite having stated that the protein skeletal structure is built during the transition state, authors say that they cannot conclude the amount of native interactions that exist in this state. \"We can make a first estimation -- they say -- , but quantifying this result requires some experimental variable that allows us to measure or identify the number of bonds built during the molecular folding in real time.\"</p><p>The team led by Professor Fèlix Ritort, head of the Small Biosystems Lab of the Faculty of Physics, made significant contributions to the study of the thermodynamic properties of complex systems in biomolecules. In previous studies, the team used the model of the barnase protein -- a globular biomolecule secreted by <em>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</em> -- separated by a transition state. The barnase, which does not show intermediate states with a lifetime of more than a millisecond during the folding, is also the reference model for the characterization method of transition states during the protein folding process (phi-value analysis).</p>','2022-03-23 17:47:25.094609','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Barcelona','In biophysics, the kinetic states of molecules play a determining role in the metabolic and physiological processes in which they take part. Now, a new article specifies for the first time the levels of energy, the entropy and the enthalpy of protein folding. To do so, the team used a device with optical tweezers that enables changing the experimental temperature between 5ºC and 40ºC.\n',1,184,'<li>Marc Rico-Pasto, Annamaria Zaltron, Sebastian J. Davis, Silvia Frutos, Felix Ritort. <strong>Molten globule–like transition state of protein barnase measured with calorimetric force spectroscopy</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (11) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112382119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2112382119</a>\n</li>'),