(237,'7,000-year-old grains hints at origin of Swiss pile dwellings','7000-year-old-grains-hints-at-origin-of-swiss-pile-dwellings','2022-03-03 05:25:03.426375','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">There is no other place where so many Neolithic pile dwellings have been uncovered as around the Alps. It is a mystery, however, how this \"building boom\" came to be. Researchers at the University of Basel have now uncovered new clues, and say that settlers at Lake Varese in northern Italy may have played a leading role.</p><p>When workers discovered the first pile-dwelling settlement on Lake Zurich in the mid-19th century, a whole new area of archaeological research was born. Since then, 111 pile-dwelling villages in the Alpine region have been made UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but it has so far been unclear where this unique construction method came from. Experts assumed until a few years ago that it was a local phenomenon.</p><p>Researchers led by Professor Ferran Antolín from the subject area of Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS) at the University of Basel, however, have found new clues as to how pile-dwelling culture came to the areas north of the Alps. Prehistoric plant remains from a settlement from Lake Varese in northern Italy show the same composition as the crops from the oldest Swiss pile-dwelling settlements in Zurich and Egolzwil, Canton Lucerne. The researchers have reported their findings in the <em>Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports</em>.</p><p><strong>Durum wheat, barley, opium poppy and flax</strong></p><p>The team took sediment cores around a prehistoric settlement on Isolino Virginia, and determined the age of the crops in the deposits using radiocarbon dating. According to these results, this artificial island appears to have been inhabited as early as 4950 to 4700 BCE. The oldest known pile-dwelling settlements in Switzerland date back to around 4300 BCE.</p><p>Comparisons with IPNA\'s reference collection enabled the archaeobotanists to identify the composition of the approximately 7,000-year-old plant material from this earliest phase of occupation on Isolino Virginia: durum wheat, barley, opium poppy and flax. The same plant species as those cultivated by the inhabitants of the oldest Swiss pile-dwelling settlements.</p><p><strong>Links to the western Mediterranean</strong></p><p>These plant species are atypical of the northeastern Italian population of the time, however, whose agriculture was focused on the cultivation of hulled wheats such as emmer. The crops found at Lake Varese tended to be cultivated in the western Mediterranean region. The research team concluded on this basis that the settlement on Isolino di Varese might well have been established by groups that came from the western Mediterranean or were closely linked to it through trade. \"These groups probably played a key role in the spread of the pile-dwelling phenomenon north of the Alps,\" says Antolín, an archaeobotanist.</p><p>The period between 4700 BCE, when the settlement on Isolino di Varese was temporarily abandoned, and 4300 BCE, when the first pile-dwelling villages north of the Alps were established, continues to raise various questions. The researchers suspect that other archaeological evidence, such as further settlements, may still remain undiscovered or could have been lost.</p><p>In addition, current research shows that there is plenty of evidence of prehistoric pile dwellings in other areas of Europe, such as the central Balkans. Here, too, the team from the University of Basel is involved in the research of Neolithic pile dwellings. These sites have a different agricultural tradition, however, making a direct connection to the pile dwellings of Switzerland unlikely.</p><p>The origin of the pile dwellings remains a complex phenomenon that is almost impossible to clarify based on the remains of the buildings themselves, says Antolín. \"Analysis of crop remains can make an important contribution here, though.\"</p>','2022-03-02 21:41:30.136008','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Basel','There is no other place where so many Neolithic pile dwellings have been uncovered as around the Alps. It is a mystery, however, how this \'building boom\' came to be. Researchers have now uncovered new clues, and say that settlers at Lake Varese in northern Italy may have played a leading role.',1,70,'<li>F. Antolín, H. Martínez-Grau, B.L. Steiner, F. Follmann, R. Soteras, S. Häberle, G. Prats, M. Schäfer, M. Mainberger, I. Hajdas, D.G. Banchieri. <strong>Neolithic occupations (c. 5200-3400 cal BC) at Isolino Virginia (Lake Varese, Italy) and the onset of the pile-dwelling phenomenon around the Alps</strong>. <em>Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports</em>, 2022; 42: 103375 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103375\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103375</a>\r\n</li>'),(238,'Virology: Equine hepatitis viruses and hepatitis C','virology-equine-hepatitis-viruses-and-hepatitis-c','2022-03-03 05:25:57.428088','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As of today, there is no vaccine against hepatitis C. To improve the search for it, researchers are looking for a so-called surrogate model: an animal that can also suffer from viral hepatitis and whose course of infection allows conclusions about the behavior of the hepatitis C virus in humans. They found what they were looking for in the horse.</p><p><strong>Virus escapes the immune system</strong></p><p>More than 70 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C. The disease is treatable, but it is often not recognised. In 80 per cent of cases, it takes chronic courses and can lead to liver damage and even liver cancer. So far, there is no effective vaccine. \"The reason why the disease often doesn\'t clear up is that the virus is constantly changing and thus escapes the immune system,\" explains Dr. Daniel Todt from the RUB Virology Department. \"The immune system forms antibodies that always lag behind the virus for a while and have the ability to combat a variant that was in the body about two weeks before.\" This evolution of the virus within the host is therefore of particular interest to the researchers.</p><p>To date, there have been no suitable models to deal with these questions in animal experiments. In their quest for a so-called surrogate model for research into the human hepatitis C virus, the scientists analysed samples from horses that were taken in cooperation with the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo). \"If you compare hepatitis viruses that can infect different species, it is striking that the human virus and the virus that is infectious for horses are genetically close relatives,\" explains André Gömer, PhD student at the TiHo Research Training Group VIPER and lead author of the paper. The researchers analysed the surface proteins of viruses from humans and horses in the course of infection and compared the results.</p><p><strong>A better understanding of the virus\' tactics</strong></p><p>\"In the horse virus, a region that we call hypervariable is missing,\" explains Gömer. It changes particularly quickly and protects an area of the virus that helps it infect host cells. This could be one reason why the infection in horses, unlike in humans, is rarely chronic. \"These findings help us to better understand the tactics of the hepatitis C virus and to find out which areas of the virus are the most relevant,\" says Todt. The equine hepatitis virus infection of horses could represent a powerful model to gain insights into hepaciviral evolution and hepatitis C virus immune evasion.</p>','2022-03-02 21:41:37.249744','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Ruhr-University Bochum','As of today, there is no vaccine against hepatitis C. To improve the search for it, researchers are looking for a so-called surrogate model: an animal that can also suffer from viral hepatitis and whose course of infection allows conclusions about the behavior of the hepatitis C virus in humans. They found what they were looking for in the horse.',1,21,'<li>André Gömer, Richard J P Brown, Stephanie Pfaender, Katja Deterding, Gábor Reuter, Richard Orton, Stefan Seitz, C- Thomas Bock, Jessika M V Cavalleri, Thomas Pietschmann, Heiner Wedemeyer, Eike Steinmann, Daniel Todt. <strong>Intra-host analysis of hepaciviral glycoprotein evolution reveals signatures associated with viral persistence and clearance</strong>. <em>Virus Evolution</em>, 2022; 8 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ve/veac007\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/ve/veac007</a>\r\n</li>'),(239,'Gene Editing gets safer thanks to redesigned Cas9 protein','gene-editing-gets-safer-thanks-to-redesigned-cas9-protein','2022-03-03 05:27:57.416563','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists have redesigned a key component of a widely used CRISPR-based gene-editing tool, called Cas9, to be thousands of times less likely to target the wrong stretch of DNA while remaining just as efficient as the original version, making it potentially much safer.</p><p>One of the grand challenges with using CRISPR-based gene editing on humans is that the molecular machinery sometimes makes changes to the wrong section of a host\'s genome, creating the possibility that an attempt to repair a genetic mutation in one spot in the genome could accidentally <em>create </em>a dangerous new mutation in another.</p><p>But now, scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have redesigned a key component of a widely used CRISPR-based gene-editing tool, called Cas9, to be thousands of times less likely to target the wrong stretch of DNA while remaining just as efficient as the original version, making it potentially much safer. The work is described in a paper published today in the journal <em>Nature</em><em>.</em></p><p>\"This really could be a game changer in terms of a wider application of the CRISPR Cas systems in gene editing,\" said Kenneth Johnson, a professor of molecular biosciences and co-senior author of the study with David Taylor, an assistant professor of molecular biosciences. The paper\'s co-first authors are postdoctoral fellows Jack Bravo and Mu-Sen Liu.</p><p>Other labs have redesigned Cas9 to reduce off-target interactions, but so far, all these versions improve accuracy by sacrificing speed. SuperFi-Cas9, as this new version has been dubbed, is 4,000 times less likely to cut off-target sites but just as fast as naturally occurring Cas9. Bravo says you can think of the different lab-generated versions of Cas9 as different models of self-driving cars. Most models are really safe, but they have a top speed of 10 miles per hour.</p><p>\"They\'re safer than the naturally occurring Cas9, but it comes at a big cost: They\'re going extremely slowly,\" said Bravo. \"SuperFi-Cas9 is like a self-driving car that has been engineered to be extremely safe, but it can still go at full speed.\"</p><p>So far, the researchers have demonstrated the use of SuperFi-Cas9 on DNA in test tubes. They\'re now collaborating with other researchers who plan to test SuperFi-Cas9 for gene editing in living cells. They\'re also working to develop still safer and more active versions of Cas9.</p><p>CRISPR-based gene-editing tools are adapted from naturally occurring systems in bacteria. In nature, a Cas9 protein floats around in the environment, searching for DNA with a very specific sequence of 20 letters, like the X on a pirate map that indicates \"dig here.\" Sometimes, when most of the letters are correct, except those in spots 18 through 20, Cas9 still goes ahead and digs in. This is called a mismatch, and it can have disastrous consequences in gene editing.</p><p>Taylor and Johnson developed a technique called kinetics-guided structure determination that used a cryo-electron microscope in the Sauer Structural Biology Lab to take snapshots of Cas9 in action as it interacted with this mismatched DNA.</p><p>They were surprised to discover that when Cas9 encounters this type of mismatch in positions 18 through 20, instead of giving up and moving on, it has a finger-like structure that swoops in and holds on to the DNA, making it act as if it were the correct sequence. Normally, a mismatch leaves the DNA a bit floppy; this finger-like structure stabilizes it.</p><p>\"It\'s like if you had a chair and one of the legs was snapped off and you just duct taped it together again,\" Bravo said. \"It could still function as a chair, but it might be a bit wobbly. It\'s a pretty dirty fix.\"</p><p>Without that added stability in the DNA, Cas9 doesn\'t take the other steps needed to cut the DNA and make edits. No one had ever observed this extra finger doing this stabilization before.</p><p>\"This was something that I could never have, in a million years, imagined in my mind would have happened,\" Taylor said.</p><p>Based on this insight, they redesigned the extra finger on Cas9 so that instead of stabilizing the part of the DNA containing the mismatch, the finger is instead pushed away from the DNA, which prevents Cas9 from continuing the process of cutting and editing the DNA. The result is SuperFi-Cas9, a protein that cuts the right target just as readily as naturally occurring Cas9, but is much less likely to cut the wrong target.</p><p>Other authors are Grace Hibshman, Tyler Dangerfield, Kyungseok Jung and Ryan McCool, also of The University of Texas at Austin.</p><p>Bravo, Liu, Hibshman, Dangerfield, Johnson and Taylor are inventors on a patent application covering novel Cas9 designs based on this work. The UT Austin Office of Technology Commercialization is managing the intellectual property and working to find industry partners that can help realize the vast potential of the technology.</p><p>This work was supported in part by The Welch Foundation and the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation. Taylor is a CPRIT scholar supported by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Taylor is also supported by the David Taylor Excellence Fund in Structural Biology, made possible with support from Judy and Henry Sauer.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-02 21:41:40.393380','uploads/news/gene-editing-gets-safe.jpg',1,'University of Texas at Austin','Scientists have redesigned a key component of a widely used CRISPR-based gene-editing tool, called Cas9, to be thousands of times less likely to target the wrong stretch of DNA while remaining just as efficient as the original version, making it potentially much safer.',1,123,'<li>Jack P. K. Bravo, Mu-Sen Liu, Grace N. Hibshman, Tyler L. Dangerfield, Kyungseok Jung, Ryan S. McCool, Kenneth A. Johnson, David W. Taylor. <strong>Structural basis for mismatch surveillance by CRISPR–Cas9</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04470-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04470-1</a>\r\n</li>'),(240,'Capturing the many facets of evolvability','capturing-the-many-facets-of-evolvability','2022-03-03 05:30:02.507026','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">All life evolves: microorganisms can become resistant to drugs, viruses evade our vaccines, and species may adapt to climate change. Even the ability to evolve can evolve. If we were to understand how this happens and which mechanisms play a role, it may be possible to predict evolution to some extent. This is why the concept of evolvability is now very popular in various areas of the life sciences. However, it turns out that this concept is used in very different ways within the scientific community. Theoretical biologists from the University of Groningen have now written a paper that should create some order in discussions on evolvability. It was published online in <em>Trends in Ecology and Evolution</em> on 10 February.</p><p>It all started with a journal club, organized by three PhD students in evolutionary biology. They could not always agree on whether a paper under discussion was really about evolvability and eventually realized that this could be due to their different backgrounds: the emergence of antibiotic resistance, the evolution of gene networks, and the evolution of vertebrates living in social systems. \'The confusion that we experienced is also reflected in the literature,\' says Jana Riederer, joint first author of the paper together with journal club members Stefano Tiso and Timo van Eldijk. \'We wanted to sort this out for ourselves at first,\' she continues. \'But then we thought that it might be useful to others too.\'</p><p><strong>Timescale</strong></p><p>The result of their discussions is a paper that describes different facets of evolvability. \'We identified three types of mechanisms underlying evolvability,\' explains Van Eldijk. These are determinants providing variation, determinants shaping the effect of variation on fitness, and determinants shaping the selection process.</p><p>Furthermore, evolvability depends on the timescale. Pathogens, such as bacteria or viruses, often reproduce asexually by cloning themselves, while many hosts, such as humans, reproduce sexually. Therefore, questions regarding the arms race between hosts and pathogens are closely related to a longstanding debate in evolutionary biology: which type of reproduction facilitates evolution best? Riederer: \'We concluded that they each work best at their own time scale.\'</p><p><strong>Sexual reproduction</strong></p><p>Asexually reproducing organisms evolve fast, which is better in the short term but they typically do not reach the highest level of adaptation. In contrast, sexual reproduction slows down evolution but allows for a more thorough exploration of all options and, in the long-term, achieves a higher level of adaptation. Van Eldijk: \'Evolutionary scientists often choose an endpoint for their studies and will, for example, look at which bacterial strain is best adapted after a hundred generations. But they might get a different outcome if their experiment were to continue for a thousand generations.\'</p><p>A final aspect of evolvability is a difference in scope: some mechanisms work for many different environments, for example an increased mutation rate. Others, such as the presence of a specific enzyme that could evolve to confer resistance to a particular antibiotic, are limited in their scope. But both mechanisms can help to shape evolvability.</p><p><strong>Influence</strong></p><p>In conclusion, the three PhD students, who wrote the paper together with their supervisor Professor Franjo Weissing, identified many different facets of evolvability. Tiso: \'We had a lot of discussions; it took us about two years. We had to consider many points that are outside our different disciplines.\' Their hope is that this paper will stimulate communication between evolutionary biologists and perhaps lead to practical applications. After all, once the mechanisms of evolvability are clearer, it may become possible to better predict the course of evolution. \'In a probabilistic manner, of course,\' adds Van Eldijk. \'But if we understand the mechanism by which an organism adapts, it will perhaps become possible to influence this process,\' Tiso agrees.</p><p>The framework that is described in the paper lays down clear recommendations for future research and can clarify discourse on evolvability. The authors conclude that this may help to resolve long standing discrepancies and debates in the field of evolutionary biology.</p>','2022-03-02 22:05:53.889403','uploads/news/capturing-the-many-fac.jpg',1,'University of Groningen','All life evolves: microorganisms can become resistant to drugs, viruses evade our vaccines, and species may adapt to climate change. Even the ability to evolve can evolve. If we were to understand how this happens and which mechanisms play a role, it may be possible to predict evolution to some extent.',1,64,'<li>Jana M. Riederer, Stefano Tiso, Timo J.B. van Eldijk, Franz J. Weissing. <strong>Capturing the facets of evolvability in a mechanistic framework</strong>. <em>Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.01.004\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.tree.2022.01.004</a>\r\n</li>'),(241,'The interplay between topology and magnetism has a bright future','the-interplay-between-topology-and-magnetism-has-a-bright-future','2022-03-03 05:31:56.438540','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The new review paper on magnetic topological materials of Andrei Bernevig, Princeton University, USA, Haim Beidenkopf, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and Claudia Felser, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany, introduces the new theoretical concept that interweave magnetism and topology. It identifies and surveys potential new magnetic topological materials, mentions their possible future applications in spin and quantum electronics and as materials for efficient energy conversion. The review discusses the connection between topology, symmetry and magnetism at a level suitable for graduate students in physics, chemistry and materials science that have a basic knowledge of condensed matter physics.</p><p>Magnetic topological materials represent a class of compounds whose properties are strongly influenced by the topology of the electronic wavefunctions coupled with their spin configuration. Topology is a simple concept dealing with the surfaces of objects. The topology of a mathematical structure is identical if it is preserved under continuous deformation. A pancake has the same topology as a cube, a donut as a coffee cup, and a pretzel as a board with three holes. Adding spin offers additional structure -- a new degree of freedom -- for the realization of new states of matter that are not known in non-magnetic materials. Magnetic topological materials can support chiral channels of electrons and spins, and can be used for an array of applications from information storage, control of dissipationless spin and charge transport, to giant responses under external stimuli such as temperature and light.</p><p>The review summarizes the theoretical and experimental progress achieved in the field of magnetic topological materials beginning with the theoretical prediction of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect without Landau levels, and leading to the recent discoveries of magnetic Weyl semimetals and antiferromagnetic topological insulators. Recent theoretical progress that resulted in the tabulation of all magnetic symmetry group representations and topology is outlined. As a result of this, all known magnetic materials -- including future discoveries -- can be fully characterized by their topological properties. The identification of materials for a specific technological application (e.g. Quantum Anomalous Hall) is straightforward. Using this approach magnetic topological materials with magnetic transition temperatures above room temperature can be identified or if necessary, designed for classical applications such as thermoelectric devices, Hall sensors or efficient catalysts but they are also useful for quantum applications at low temperatures, including computing and sensing.</p><p>Andrei Bernevig comments that \"The realization of the QAHE at room temperature would be revolutionary, overcoming limitations of many data-based technologies, which are affected by power losses from Joule heating,\" and his colleague Stuart Parkin, Max PIanck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle, Germany, \"can imagine how the novel properties of this new class of magnetic materials can pave the way to new generations of low energy consuming quantum electronic and spintronic devices and even novel superconducting spintronic devices.\" Claudia Felser, MPI CPfS is most excited about their potential applications in chemistry. She says \"if we can design a magnetic catalyst for water splitting we might be able to change the catalytic properties with an external field, which would allow us to switch on and off catalysis.\" For Haim Beidenkopf, the quantum computer is perhaps the most exciting direction in science today: \"The design of a material that exhibits a high temperature quantum anomalous Hall via quantum confinement of a magnetic Weyl semimetal, and its integration into quantum devices is my main goal for the future.\" The field of magnetic topological materials clearly has and will have impact in both the scientific and technological worlds.</p>','2022-03-02 22:05:59.934659','uploads/news/the-interplay-between-topology-and-magnetism-has-a-bright-future-640x357.jpg',1,'Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids','A new review paper on magnetic topological materials introduces the new theoretical concept that interweave magnetism and topology.',1,61,'<li>B. Andrei Bernevig, Claudia Felser, Haim Beidenkopf. <strong>Progress and prospects in magnetic topological materials</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; 603 (7899): 41 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04105-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-021-04105-x</a>\r\n</li>'),(242,'Cerebrospinal fluid may be able to identify aggressive brain tumors in children','cerebrospinal-fluid-may-be-able-to-identify-aggressive-brain-tumors-in-children','2022-03-03 05:37:59.799449','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It may be possible to identify the presence of an aggressive brain tumor in children by studying their cerebrospinal fluid, according to new research led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators.</p><p>Comparing cerebrospinal fluid samples from 40 patients with medulloblastoma -- the most common malignant brain tumor in children, accounting for 10% to 15% of pediatric central nervous system tumors -- and from 11 healthy children without the disease, investigators identified 110 genes, 10 types of RNA -- the machinery that translates proteins -- called circular RNAs, 14 lipids and several metabolites that were expressed differently between the two groups. While these details were not specific enough to distinguish among the four subtypes of medulloblastoma, they could be used to identify the presence of cancer versus normal fluid.</p><p>A description of the work was published Feb. 24 in the journal <em>Acta Neuropathologica Communications</em>.</p><p>\"We believe this is the first comprehensive, integrated molecular analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid in medulloblastoma patients,\" says senior study author Ranjan Perera, Ph.D., director of the Center for RNA Biology at Johns Hopkins All Children\'s Hospital (JHACH) in St. Petersburg, Florida. Perera is also a senior scientist at the JHACH Cancer &amp; Blood Disorders Institute and an associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has a secondary affiliation with the JHACH Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research.</p><p>\"Our study provides proof of principle that all three molecular approaches -- studying RNA, lipids and metabolites -- can be successfully applied to cerebrospinal fluid samples, not only to differentiate medulloblastoma patients from those without the disease, but also to provide new insights into the pathobiology of the disease,\" Perera adds.</p><p>\"This study provides data for novel biomarkers to detect and track medulloblastoma, which are very much needed to enable improved patient outcomes,\" says Chetan Bettegowda, M.D., Ph.D., Jennison and Novak Families Professor of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. \"This work also forms the theoretical basis for examining similar biomarkers for other types of brain cancers and other neurological disorders.\"</p><p>Current diagnosis is based on clinical assessment, imaging and biopsies from tumor tissue. There is an unmet need for diagnostic tests to detect the disease sensitively during the initial presentation and especially during any recurrences, because recurrences are not always seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Perera says.</p><p>Liquid biopsy -- the molecular analysis of biofluids -- is a minimally invasive method that shows promise for disease detection and monitoring by measuring circulating tumor cells, DNA, RNA or other substances in the urine, cerebrospinal fluid and blood samples. Because cerebrospinal fluid bathes the brain and spinal cord, it was considered a way to provide a window to tumors arising in the central nervous system and disseminating in the fluid, Perera says.</p><p>During the study, Perera and colleagues used gene sequencing, metabolic and lipid profiling laboratory techniques to tease out the differences in RNA, metabolites and lipids in cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with medulloblastoma and healthy controls. Patients with medulloblastoma were found to have a unique RNA metabolic and lipid landscape in their fluid that might be helpful for diagnosis and monitoring, and that reflects biological changes consistent with the presence of medulloblastoma in the central nervous system, Perera says. The metabolite and lipid profiles both contained indicators of tumor hypoxia -- a condition in which tumor cells were deprived of oxygen.</p><p>More studies in larger patient populations are necessary to confirm the findings, Perera says. The analysis provides several biomarkers that can be studied further.</p><p>The work was supported in part by the Schamroth Project funded by Ian\'s Friends Foundation, the Hough Family Foundation, Susan and Robb Hough, and the National Cancer Institute (grant 1R37CA230400).</p><p>In addition to Perera and Bettegowda, study co-authors were Bongyong Lee, Rudramani Pokhrel, Menglang Yuan, Stacie Stapleton, George Jallo and Charles Eberhart of Johns Hopkins; Iqbal Mohamad and Timothy Garrett of the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville and Rabi Murad of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California.</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-02 23:26:05.892761','uploads/news/Ranjan_Perera_SE.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','It may be possible to identify the presence of an aggressive brain tumor in children by studying their cerebrospinal fluid, according to new research.',1,124,'<li>Bongyong Lee, Iqbal Mohamad, Rudramani Pokhrel, Rabi Murad, Menglang Yuan, Stacie Stapleton, Chetan Bettegowda, George Jallo, Charles G. Eberhart, Timothy Garrett, Ranjan J. Perera. <strong>Medulloblastoma cerebrospinal fluid reveals metabolites and lipids indicative of hypoxia and cancer-specific RNAs</strong>. <em>Acta Neuropathologica Communications</em>, 2022; 10 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40478-022-01326-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s40478-022-01326-7</a>\r\n</li>'),(243,'Engineers reveal how to optimize processes for transforming sulfur in wastewater to valuable materials','engineers-reveal-how-to-optimize-processes-for-transforming-sulfur-in-wastewater-to-valuable-materials','2022-03-03 05:40:20.073658','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">One person\'s wastewater is another person\'s treasure. A new Stanford University study paves the way to mining sewage for valuable materials used in fertilizers and batteries that could someday power smartphones and airplanes. The analysis, published recently in <em>ACS ES&amp;T Engineering</em>, reveals how to optimize electrical processes for transforming sulfur pollution, and could help lead to affordable, renewable energy-powered wastewater treatment that creates drinkable water.</p><p>\"We are always looking for ways to close the loop on chemical manufacturing processes,\" said study senior author Will Tarpeh, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Stanford. \"Sulfur is a key elemental cycle with room for improvements in efficiently converting sulfur pollutants into products like fertilizer and battery components.\"</p><p><strong>A better solution</strong></p><p>As fresh water supplies dwindle, particularly in arid regions, focus has intensified on developing technologies that convert wastewater to drinkable water. Membrane processes that use anaerobic or oxygen-free environments to filter wastewater are particularly promising because they require relatively little energy. However, these processes produce sulfide, a compound that can be toxic, corrosive and malodorous. Strategies for dealing with <em>that</em> problem, such as chemical oxidation or the use of certain chemicals to convert the sulfur into separable solids, can generate byproducts and drive chemical reactions that corrode pipes and make it harder to disinfect the water.</p><p>A tantalizing solution for dealing with anaerobic filtration\'s sulfide output lies in converting the sulfide to chemicals used in fertilizer and cathode material for lithium-sulfur batteries, but the mechanisms for doing so are still not well understood. So, Tarpeh and his colleagues set out to elucidate a cost-effective approach that would create no chemical byproducts.</p><p>The researchers focused on electrochemical sulfur oxidation, which requires low energy input and enables fine-tuned control of final sulfur products. (Whereas some products, such as elemental sulfur, can deposit on electrodes and slow down chemical reactions, others, like sulfate, can be easily captured and reused.) If it worked effectively, the process could be powered by renewable energy and adapted to treat wastewater collected from individual buildings or entire cities.</p><p>Making novel use of scanning electrochemical microscopy -- a technique that facilitates microscopic snapshots of electrode surfaces while reactors are operating -- the researchers quantified the rates of each step of electrochemical sulfur oxidation along with the types and amounts of products formed. They identified the main chemical barriers to sulfur recovery, including electrode fouling and which intermediates are hardest to convert. They found, among other things, that varying operating parameters, such as the reactor voltage, could facilitate low-energy sulfur recovery from wastewater.</p><p>These and other insights clarified trade-offs between energy efficiency, sulfide removal, sulfate production and time. With them, the researchers outlined a framework to inform the design of future electrochemical sulfide oxidation processes that balance energy input, pollutant removal and resource recovery. Looking toward the future, the sulfur recovery technology could also be combined with other techniques, such as recovery of nitrogen from wastewater to produce ammonium sulfate fertilizer. The Codiga Resource Recovery Center, a pilot-scale treatment plant on Stanford\'s campus, will likely play a large role in accelerating future design and implementation of these approaches.</p><p>\"Hopefully, this study will help accelerate adoption of technology that mitigates pollution, recovers valuable resources and creates potable water all at the same time,\" said study lead author Xiaohan Shao, a PhD student in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFEOR9E01iA\">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFEOR9E01iA</a></p><p><em>Tarpeh is also an assistant professor (by courtesy) of </em><em>civil and environmental engineering</em><em>, a center fellow (by courtesy) of the </em><em>Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment</em><em>, an affiliated scholar with Stanford\'s </em><em>Program on Water, Health and Development</em><em>, and a member of </em><em>Stanford Bio-X</em><em>. Additional author Sydney Johnson was an undergraduate student in chemical engineering at Stanford at the time of the research.</em></p><p><em>The research was funded by Stanford\'s </em><em>Department of Chemical Engineering</em><em>, the National Science Foundation </em><em>Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation\'s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt)</em><em> and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment </em><em>Environmental Venture Projects program</em><em>.</em></p>','2022-03-02 23:48:31.392201','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Stanford University','Promising technologies for converting wastewater into drinkable water produce a chemical compound that can be toxic, corrosive and malodorous. An analysis of one possible solution reveals ways to optimize it for maximum energy efficiency, pollutant removal and resource recovery.',1,87,'<li>Xiaohan Shao, Sydney R. Johnson, William A. Tarpeh. <strong>Quantifying and Characterizing Sulfide Oxidation to Inform Operation of Electrochemical Sulfur Recovery from Wastewater</strong>. <em>ACS ES&amp;T Engineering</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.1c00376\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsestengg.1c00376</a>\r\n</li>'),(244,'New study reveals small-scale renewable energy sources could cause power failures','new-study-reveals-small-scale-renewable-energy-sources-could-cause-power-failures','2022-03-03 05:43:49.886145','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Renewable energy that feeds into the main power grid could destabilise the system and potentially cause power failures according to a new study.</p><p>Mathematicians from the University of Nottingham used data from smart meters to track how grid composition changes over time and found resilience varies over the course of a day and that a high uptake of solar panels can leave the grid more susceptible to failure. Their findings have been published today in <em>Science Advances.</em></p><p>Domestic renewable energy generation is growing rapidly with just over one million small-scale solar Photo-Voltaic(PV) systems in the UK. These small-scale, renewable generators are low- output and intermittent and often distributed across and embedded within power grids in large numbers.</p><p>Household generation forms a key component of the integration of renewables and includes the \'feed in tariff\' which pays the producer for supplying their stored power back upstream to the grid. This supply of power is unpredictable with generators coming on and off-line intermittently and households adopting the role of consumers or producers asdaily and seasonal usage, and meteorological conditions vary. These fluctuations can put the grid at risk of system failures.</p><p>Oliver Smith, researcher at the University of Nottingham led the study, he explains: \"The increasing proliferation of small, intermittent renewable power sources is causing a rapid change in the structure and composition of the power grid. Indeed, the grid\'s effective structure can change over the course of a day as consumers and small-scale generators come on- and off-line. Using data from smart meters in UK households we tracked how grid composition varies over time. We then used a dynamical model to assess how these changes impact the resilience of power grids to catastrophic failures. We found that resilience varies over the course of a day and that a high uptake of solar panels can leave the grid more susceptible to failure.\"</p><p>The first part of the research investigated the theory around changing the proportion and size of generators by modelling a system using many small-scale generators and in all cases it showed that the grid should be more robust than if using one power source. However, when the real-world smart meter data was incorporated the researchers found that the reality for a network with many small-scale generators operating at different times means the grid doesn\'t reach optimum levels for this resilience to be achieved leaving it susceptible to failures.</p><p>The researchers found that renewable energy stored in household batteries is used only to minimise household power costs and does little to minimise the risk of network failure.</p><p>They recommend that the supply of power from these batteries should be scheduled to also optimise for power grid resilience.</p><p>Oliver continues: \"The main problem is the amount of fluctuation there is in small-scale renewable energy supply. A cost-effective way to overcome this would be to intelligently schedule the release of stored PV energy from household batteries at specified times. This would provide much greater control and reduce the risk of system failures.\"</p>','2022-03-03 01:36:48.286600','uploads/news/powergrid.jpg',1,'University of Nottingham','Renewable energy that feeds into the main power grid could destabilize the system and potentially cause power failures according to a new study.',1,125,'<li>Oliver Smith, Oliver Cattell, Etienne Farcot, Reuben D. O’Dea, Keith I. Hopcraft. <strong>The effect of renewable energy incorporation on power grid stability and resilience</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj6734\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abj6734</a>\r\n</li>'),(245,'Exposure to great outdoors boosted mental health during pandemic','exposure-to-great-outdoors-boosted-mental-health-during-pandemic','2022-03-03 05:45:27.031760','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People exposed to more green space during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reported significantly less depression and anxiety, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research published March 2 in the journal <em>PLOS One.</em></p><p>The study also found that, at a time when mental health problems soared due to financial woes, supply shortages and nonstop news coverage of the virus, people sought solace in the great outdoors, with one-third spending more time there than they did pre-COVID.</p><p>\"This research shows how critical it is to keep parks and green spaces open in times of crisis,\" said senior author Colleen Reid, an assistant professor of geography in the Institute for Behavioral Science. \"It also shows that, as a public health measure, more effort should be made to put in green spaces and make them accessible.\"</p><p>For the study, the authors presented about 1,200 Denver-area residents with a 30-minute survey gauging their mental health and their perceptions of green space near their home, including: how much there was, whether they could see it, whether it was accessible, how much they used it and its quality. They also collected aerial satellite imagery to objectively quantify greenery in respondents\' neighborhoods.</p><p>The survey ran from November 2019 to January 2021.</p><p>Once COVID-19 emerged and lockdowns ensued, Reid added additional questions, providing a rare opportunity to also look at how the pandemic influenced mental health over time and what was most stressful about it.</p><p>\"Not surprisingly, we found that the pandemic impacted mental health negatively,\" said co-author Emma Rieves, a master\'s student in the Department of Geography. \"But we also found that green space could have a powerful protective effect, even at a time of such extraordinary stressors.\"</p><p><strong>Supply shortages and job losses stressed people out</strong></p><p>Surprisingly, the study found no association between being diagnosed with COVID and having poor mental health. But respondents reported that having symptoms, no diagnosis and no way to test was distressing.</p><p>Those who lost income or felt they were working in an unsafe environment were also more likely to be stressed or depressed, while the strongest source of mental health problems was a fear of supply shortages (including toilet paper and food).</p><p>People who spent a lot of time scrolling the internet looking at the news reported poorer mental health. In contrast, merely having abundant green space nearby, as measured by satellite images, was associated with lower depression scores.</p><p>To get the most benefit out of nearby green space, the study found, people had to get out and use it. Those who used green space most had significantly lower anxiety and depression.</p><p>\"There are many dimensions of green space, and our study looked closely at how these dimensions impact mental health,\" said Rieves, noting that policymakers often rely solely on objective measures, like satellite images or proximity to parks when assessing whether to invest in more greenery in a community.</p><p>On a satellite image, Rieves points out, a large patch of greenery could actually be a weed-filled lot. A \'nearby park\' could be on the other side of a busy highway.</p><p>\"It\'s not just about being able to see trees from your home. The amount, quality and accessibility of that green space matters,\" said Rieves.</p><p>Many public agencies closed public green spaces, including neighborhood playgrounds and national parks, at the onset of the pandemic for fear that the virus could be easily spread via surfaces. Once parks reopened, with places like gyms, bars and churches still closed, Coloradans flocked to the outdoors: 33% of respondents reported spending more time in parks or on trails than the year before.</p><p><strong>The \'biophilia hypothesis\'</strong></p><p>The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that green space can have a measurable impact on health.</p><p>According to one theory, known as the \'biophilia hypothesis,\' humans innately tend to seek connections with green spaces, where the calming environment influences stress hormones in a way that promotes healing and fends off disease.</p><p>\"The idea is that we have evolved with nature, and only in the recent past have we been living in the concrete jungle,\" said Reid.</p><p>One famous 1984 study even found that when hospital patients had rooms with a window looking out on green space, their wounds healed faster and they required less pain medication than those looking out on a brick wall.</p><p>Reid cautioned that correlations between green space and health have been scrutinized, in part because people with higher incomes and, thus, better access to healthy food and health care may also be more able to afford to live near green spaces.</p><p>To address that, Reid\'s study took sociodemographic factors into account, along with the many unique circumstances that have emerged during COVID.</p><p>After controlling for all the factors, the benefits still remained clear: \"Spend more time outside,\" Rieves said. \"Pandemic or no pandemic, it\'s good for your mental health.\"</p><p>Get a free digital \"<strong>Metabolism Myths</strong>\" issue of <em>New Scientist</em> and discover the 7 things we always get wrong about diet and exercise. <a href=\"https://landing.newscientist.com/what-is-new-scientist-sd/?utm_source=sciencedaily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_freeissue\">Claim yours now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a></p>','2022-03-03 01:38:29.968933','uploads/news/great-outdoors.jpg',1,'University of Colorado at Boulder','New research has found that people who spent more time in green spaces reported less anxiety and depression during the first year of the pandemic. Merely having abundant green space nearby, as measured by satellite images, was associated with lower depression scores.',1,39,'<li>Colleen E. Reid, Emma S. Rieves, Kate Carlson. <strong>Perceptions of green space usage, abundance, and quality of green space were associated with better mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among residents of Denver</strong>. <em>PLOS ONE</em>, 2022; 17 (3): e0263779 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263779\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pone.0263779</a>\r\n</li>'),(246,'Vision scientists discover new angle on path of light through photoreceptors','vision-scientists-discover-new-angle-on-path-of-light-through-photoreceptors','2022-03-03 05:47:24.687037','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have discovered that power-producing organelles in the eye\'s photoreceptor cells, called mitochondria, function as microlenses that help channel light to these cells\' outer segments where it\'s converted into nerve signals. The discovery in ground squirrels provides a more precise picture of the retina\'s optical properties and could help detect eye disease earlier. The findings<em>, </em>published today in <em>Science Advances</em>, also shed light on the evolution of vision<em>. </em>NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.</p><p>\"We were surprised by this fascinating phenomenon that mitochondria appear to have a dual purpose: their well-established metabolic role producing energy, as well as this optical effect,\" said the study\'s lead investigator, Wei Li, Ph.D./B.M., who leads the NEI Retinal Neurophysiology Section.</p><p>The findings also address a long-standing mystery about the mammalian retina. Despite evolutionary pressure for light to be translated into signals and pass instantly from the retina to the brain, the trip is hardly direct. Once light reaches the retina, it must pass through multiple neural layers before reaching the outer segment of photoreceptors, where phototransduction (the conversion of light\'s physical energy into cellular signals) occurs. Photoreceptors are long, tube-like structures divided into inner and outer segments. The last obstacle a photon must traverse before moving from the inner to the outer segment is an unusually dense bundle of mitochondria.</p><p>Those bundles of mitochondria would seem to work against the process of vision either by scattering light or absorbing it. So, Li\'s team set out to investigate their purpose by studying cone photoreceptors from the 13-lined ground squirrel.</p><p>Unlike other animal models used for vision research, the 13-lined ground squirrel\'s retina comprises mostly cones, which see color, as opposed to rods that enable night vision. Li\'s team studies the 13-lined ground squirrel to better understand the causes of human eye diseases that primarily affect cone photoreceptors.</p><p>The researchers used a modified confocal microscope to observe the optical properties of living cone mitochondria exposed to light. Far from scattering light, the tightly packed mitochondria concentrated light along a thin, pencil-like trajectory onto the outer segment. Computational modeling using high-resolution mitochondrial reconstructions corroborated the live-imaging findings.</p><p>\"The lens-like function of mitochondria also may explain the phenomenon known as the Stiles Crawford effect,\" said first author of the paper, John Ball, Ph.D., a staff scientist in the Retinal Neurophysiology Section.</p><p>Scientists measuring retinal responses to light have long observed that when light enters the eye near the center of the pupil, it appears brighter compared to light of equal intensity entering the eye near the edge of the pupil.</p><p>In this study, Li found that the lens-like effect of mitochondria followed a similar directional light intensity profile. That is, depending on light source location, the mitochondria focused light into the outer segment of the cell along trajectories that mirrored those observed from the Stiles-Crawford effect.</p><p>Linking mitochondria\'s lens-like function to the Stiles-Crawford effect has potential clinical implications. The long-observed effect may now be used as the basis for non-invasively detecting retinal diseases, many of which are thought to involve mitochondrial dysfunction at their origin. For example, patients with retinitis pigmentosa have been reported to have abnormal Stiles-Crawford effect even when they have good visual acuity. More research is needed to explore the structural and functional changes in cone mitochondria and their manifestations in detectable optic features.</p><p>Finally, the findings provide new insights into how our eyes may have evolved.</p><p>Like the mitochondria in Li\'s study, within the photoreceptors of birds and reptiles, tiny oil droplets are located in the portion of the inner segment closest to the outer segment, and they are thought to serve an optical role. Furthermore, the mitochondrial \"microlens\" in mammalian cone photoreceptors confers a functionality reminiscent of that achieved by the compound eye of arthropods like flies and bumblebees.</p><p>\"This insight conceptually bridges compound eyes in arthropods with the camera eyes of vertebrates, two independently evolved image-forming systems, demonstrating the power of convergent evolution,\" Li said.</p><p>The study was funded by the NEI Intramural Research Program.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/BPWXpam_mcU\">https://youtu.be/BPWXpam_mcU</a></p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-03 01:38:49.021458','uploads/news/maxresdefault.jpg',1,'NIH/National Eye Institute','Researchers have discovered that power-producing organelles in the eye\'s photoreceptor cells, called mitochondria, function as microlenses that help channel light to these cells\' outer segments where it\'s converted into nerve signals. The discovery in ground squirrels provides a more precise picture of the retina\'s optical properties and could help detect eye disease earlier. The findings also shed light on the evolution of vision.',1,126,'<li>John M. Ball, Shan Chen, Wei Li. <strong>Mitochondria in cone photoreceptors act as microlenses to enhance photon delivery and confer directional sensitivity to light</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn2070\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abn2070</a>\r\n</li>'),(247,'\'Drug factory\' implants eliminate ovarian, colorectal cancer in mice','drug-factory-implants-eliminate-ovarian-colorectal-cancer-in-mice','2022-03-03 05:49:23.472966','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Rice University bioengineers have shown they can eradicate advanced-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer in mice in as little as six days with a treatment that could be ready for human clinical trials later this year.</p><p>The researchers used implantable \"drug factories\" the size of a pinhead to deliver continuous, high doses of interleukin-2, a natural compound that activates white blood cells to fight cancer. The drug-producing beads can be implanted with minimally invasive surgery. Each contains cells engineered to produce interleukin-2 that are encased in a protective shell.</p><p>The treatment and animal test results are described online today in a <em>Science Advances</em> study co-authored by Omid Veiseh, Amanda Nash and colleagues from Rice, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Virginia and others.</p><p>Veiseh, an assistant professor of bioengineering whose lab produced the treatment, said human clinical trials could begin as soon as this fall because one of his team\'s key design criteria was helping cancer patients as quickly as possible. The team chose only components that had previously proven safe for use in humans, and it has demonstrated the safety of the new treatment in multiple tests.</p><p>\"We just administer once, but the drug factories keep making the dose every day, where it\'s needed until the cancer is eliminated,\" Veiseh said. \"Once we determined the correct dose -- how many factories we needed -- we were able to eradicate tumors in 100% of animals with ovarian cancer and in seven of eight animals with colorectal cancer.\"</p><p>In the newly published study, researchers placed drug-producing beads beside tumors and within the peritoneum, a sac-like lining that supports intestines, ovaries and other abdominal organs. Placement within this cavity concentrated interleukin-2 within tumors and limited exposure elsewhere.</p><p>\"A major challenge in the field of immunotherapy is to increase tumor inflammation and anti-tumor immunity while avoiding systemic side effects of cytokines and other pro-inflammatory drugs,\" said study co-author Dr. Amir Jazaeri, professor of gynecologic oncology and reproductive medicine at MD Anderson. \"In this study, we demonstrated that the \'drug factories\' allow regulatable local administration of interleukin-2 and eradication of tumor in several mouse models, which is very exciting. This provides a strong rationale for clinical testing.\"</p><p>Interleukin-2 is a cytokine, a protein the immune system uses to recognize and fight disease. It is an FDA-approved cancer treatment, but Nash, a graduate student in Veiseh\'s group and the study\'s lead author, said the drug factories provoke a stronger immune response than existing interleukin-2 treatment regimens because the beads deliver higher concentrations of the protein directly to tumors.</p><p>\"If you gave the same concentration of the protein through an IV pump, it would be extremely toxic,\" Nash said. \"With the drug factories, the concentration we see elsewhere in the body, away from the tumor site, is actually lower than what patients have to tolerate with IV treatments. The high concentration is only at the tumor site.\"</p><p>Nash said the same general approach used in the study could be applied to treat cancers of the pancreas, liver, lungs and other organs. The drug factories could be placed next to tumors and within the linings that surround those organs and most others, she said. And if a different cytokine is needed to target a specific form of cancer, the beads can be loaded with engineered cells that make that immunotherapeutic compound.</p><p>The bead\'s outer shell shields its cytokine-producing cells from immune attacks. The shells are made of materials the immune system recognizes as foreign objects but not as immediate threats, and Veiseh\'s lab leveraged that in its design.</p><p>\"We found foreign body reactions safely and robustly turned off the flow of cytokine from the capsules within 30 days,\" he said. \"We also showed we could safely administer a second course of treatment should it become necessary in the clinic.\"</p><p>Avenge Bio, a Massachusetts-based startup co-founded by Veiseh, has licensed the cytokine-factory technology from Rice.</p><p>Additional co-authors include Maria Jarvis, Samira Aghlara-Fotovat, Sudip Mukherjee, Andrea Hernandez, Andrew Hecht, Yufei Cui, Shirin Nouraein, Jared Lee, David Zhang and Oleg Igoshin of Rice; Peter Rios, Sofia Ghani, Ira Joshi and Douglas Isa of CellTrans Inc.; Chunyu Xu and Weiyi Peng of the University of Houston; Rahul Sheth of MD Anderson; and José Oberholzer of both CellTrans Inc. and the University of Virginia.</p><p>The research was funded by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (RR160047), Avenge Bio, the Emerson Collective, the Welch Foundation, the Rice University Academy of Fellows, the National Science Foundation (1842494) and the National Institutes of Health (R01DK120459).</p><p>Jazaeri receives compensation as a consultant on Avenge Bio\'s scientific advisory board and has disclosed the relationship to MD Anderson in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policy. Nash, Jarvis, Aghlara-Fotovat, Mukherjee, Hecht, Igoshin, Zhang and Veiseh declared interests via patents filed by Rice on the cytokine factories. Igoshin, Veiseh and Oberholzer are paid consultants for Avenge Bio. Nash, Zhang, Sheth, Oberholzer, Jazaeri and Veiseh hold equity in Avenge Bio.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/8HegA8q807o\">https://youtu.be/8HegA8q807o</a></p>','2022-03-03 01:38:51.780364','uploads/news/drug-factory-implants.jpg',1,'Rice University','Bioengineers have shown they can eradicate advanced-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer in mice in as little as six days with a treatment that could be ready for human clinical trials later this year.',1,19,'<li>Amanda M. Nash, Maria I. Jarvis, Samira Aghlara-Fotovat, Sudip Mukherjee, Andrea Hernandez, Andrew D. Hecht, Peter D. Rios, Sofia Ghani, Ira Joshi, Douglas Isa, Yufei Cui, Shirin Nouraein, Jared Z. Lee, Chunyu Xu, David Y. Zhang, Rahul A. Sheth, Weiyi Peng, Jose Oberholzer, Oleg A. Igoshin, Amir A. Jazaeri, Omid Veiseh. <strong>Clinically translatable cytokine delivery platform for eradication of intraperitoneal tumors</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm1032\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abm1032</a>\r\n</li>'),(248,'Study reveals trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones','study-reveals-trade-offs-between-ecosystem-resistance-and-resilience-to-tropical-cyclones','2022-03-03 05:51:21.128483','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In a new study of the ecological impacts of hurricanes, an international research team addresses a question that people have asked for centuries: when confronted by a storm, is it better to be resistant like an oak or resilient like a willow?</p><p>The team\'s findings, reported in the March 2<sup>nd</sup> issue of <em>Science Advances</em>, can help guide managers as they plan for climate change and a growing coastal population threatened by tropical storms that are more intense and track farther into temperate latitudes. The findings also provide a framework for guiding management decisions related to other disturbances, such as nutrient pollution or wildfires.</p><p>The study\'s lead author, Dr. Christopher Patrick of William &amp; Mary\'s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, says \"We found that coastal ecosystems display consistent tradeoffs between resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones. Our findings emphasize that managing for increased resistance may result in decreased resilience, and vice versa. That knowledge is key for coastal decision making, particularly as climate change alters the risk profile with stronger, more frequent mid-latitude storms.\"</p><p>Patrick illustrates these management trade-offs with an example from his role as director of the Seagrass Monitoring and Restoration Program at VIMS. \"In the Chesapeake Bay,\" he says, \"eelgrass tends to be more stable through time than widgeon grass, but takes longer to recover from disturbances such as hurricanes. This trade-off, which would also apply to diebacks from water quality or heat stress, is an important consideration for coastal managers when choosing which species of seagrass to restore.\"</p><p>The research team comprises 23 scientists from 11 states, Puerto Rico, and Taiwan. Their study is linked to a research coordination network funded by the National Science Foundation to synthesize knowledge concerning ecosystem responses to hurricanes. Joining Patrick as co-authors and members of the network\'s leadership team are Drs. John Kominoski of Florida International University, Bill McDowell of the University of New Hampshire, and Beth Stauffer of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.</p><p><strong>A repeated pattern of resistance/resilience trade-offs</strong></p><p>All told, the researchers used pre- and post-storm monitoring surveys to analyze patterns of ecosystem resistance and resilience from 26 Northern Hemisphere storms. These made landfall between 1985 and 2018 in states from Texas to North Carolina, as well as in Puerto Rico and Taiwan.</p><p>The researchers gauged storm characteristics and impacts via total rainfall, maximum rainfall rate, and windspeed; then grouped their study areas into four ecosystems (freshwater, saltwater, wetland, and terrestrial) and five \"response categories,\" for a grand total of 4,138 time series. The response categories documented post-storm changes not only in the distribution and abundance of living things -- populations of mobile animals such as fishes, sedentary animals such as oysters, and vascular plants such as mangroves -- but in the ecosystem\'s biogeochemistry (e.g., salinity, nitrogen) and hydrography (e.g., depth and shoreline position).</p><p>\"Our study revealed a repeated pattern of trade-offs between resistance and resilience across categories,\" says Patrick. The authors note these patterns are likely the outcomes of evolutionary adaptation and conform to ecological-disturbance theories, suggesting that consistent rules govern ecosystem susceptibility to tropical cyclones.</p><p>As one example, the researchers cite the fate of Jamaican forests following Hurricane Gilbert. When this intense category 5 storm crossed the island in 1988, it devastated stout, normally resistant species such as the Jamaican treefern, allowing myrtles and other weedy, shrubby species to colonize now-open gaps in the canopy.</p><p>In another example, when Hurricane Harvey struck Texas in 2017, erosion from this category 4 storm cut deep channels within local coastal wetlands, favoring recovery by the taller saltmarsh cordgrass over shorter marsh species, while wetlands dominated by mangroves experienced less erosion than marshes.</p><p>Hurricane Harvey also decreased the biomass of coastal phytoplankton in the waters off the Texas coast, and shifted which groups were dominant. Such changes in the community structure of microscopic organisms -- the base of aquatic food webs -- can affect how much energy is available for larger organisms that are ecologically and economically important in the region.</p><p><strong>Knowledge to guide effective strategies</strong></p><p>The team\'s findings suggest that managers seeking to enhance both resistance and resilience in coastal ecosystems may face an impossible task. On the other hand, their findings provide valuable guidance for choosing the single most effective management strategy for a particular location.</p><p>\"If you can\'t manage for both resistance and resilience,\" asks Patrick, \"which should you focus on? The answer depends on both specific project goals and the expected intensity and frequency of disturbance events.\"</p><p>Under a relatively static, predictable climate, resistance would generally be the better restoration strategy in areas with infrequent disturbance. \"Under this scenario,\" says Patrick, \"managers would ideally select resistance as the main feature of their restoration strategy, so that the function you\'re interested in -- slowing coastal erosion, preserving water quality -- doesn\'t waver when it gets knocked by a big disturbance.\" Managers might, for instance, choose to plant mangroves rather than marsh grasses to protect against coastal erosion, as mangroves are more resistant to large storm waves.</p><p>However, when and where conditions are changing, resilience may emerge as a better option. Says Patrick, \"If disturbances are going to be more severe, more frequent, or both -- outstripping the potential resistance of a particular species -- managers might focus on resilience so that recovery time following disturbances is quick.\"</p><p>\"If it takes 25 years for one tree species to grow large enough to resist the average hurricane, but hurricanes now start impacting an area every 20 years, it\'s probably a waste of effort to try to cultivate it,\" he adds. \"The best restoration strategy depends on the frequency and intensity of disturbance events both now and in the future.\"</p><p><strong>Future Directions</strong></p><p>As one of the first comprehensive studies of the ecological impacts of tropical cyclones, the team\'s analysis raises as many questions as it answers, and points to several important areas for future research by the group, formally known as the Hurricane Ecosystem Response Synthesis Network, or HERS.</p><p>Future research areas -- guided by a HERS steering committee -- include studies of how species traits such as reproductive potential, dispersal mode and distance, and physiological tolerance might explain patterns of resistance and resilience at the population level; or how an ecosystem\'s long-term or recent environmental history might influence its response to subsequent disturbances. For instance, scientists believe 1972\'s Hurricane Agnes was particularly disruptive to seagrasses in the Chesapeake Bay because it arrived in June, before most species had gone to seed. With greater knowledge of previous conditions, managers could better evaluate an ecosystem\'s likely sensitivity to a forecast disruption.</p><p>Another key area for future HERS research is determining the stability of highly developed coastal ecosystems in the face of tropical cyclones. Says Patrick, \"Future studies will enhance our ability to understand how local human stressors like nutrient pollution might interact with global stressors like climate change to influence a specific ecosystem or locality, and thus help target efforts to enhance coastal resilience or resistance.\"</p>','2022-03-03 01:38:55.711108','uploads/news/study-reveals-trade-of.jpg',1,'Virginia Institute of Marine Science','An international study of the impacts of 26 landfalling tropical cyclones reveals trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience. The findings can help guide managers as they plan for climate change and its impacts to coastal ecosystems and economies.',1,98,'<li>Christopher J. Patrick, John S. Kominoski, William H. McDowell, Benjamin Branoff, David Lagomasino, Miguel Leon, Enie Hensel, Marc J. S. Hensel, Bradley A. Strickland, T. Mitchell Aide, Anna Armitage, Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, Victoria M. Congdon, Todd A. Crowl, Donna J. Devlin, Sarah Douglas, Brad E. Erisman, Rusty A. Feagin, Simon J. Geist, Nathan S. Hall, Amber K. Hardison, Michael R. Heithaus, J. Aaron Hogan, J. Derek Hogan, Sean Kinard, Jeremy J. Kiszka, Teng-Chiu Lin, Kaijun Lu, Christopher J. Madden, Paul A. Montagna, Christine S. O’Connell, C. Edward Proffitt, Brandi Kiel Reese, Joseph W. Reustle, Kelly L. Robinson, Scott A. Rush, Rolando O. Santos, Astrid Schnetzer, Delbert L. Smee, Rachel S. Smith, Gregory Starr, Beth A. Stauffer, Lily M. Walker, Carolyn A. Weaver, Michael S. Wetz, Elizabeth R. Whitman, Sara S. Wilson, Jianhong Xue, Xiaoming Zou. <strong>A general pattern of trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl9155\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abl9155</a>\r\n</li>'),(249,'Native American shell ring villages may have been occupied then abandoned because of climate change','native-american-shell-ring-villages-may-have-been-occupied-then-abandoned-because-of-climate-change','2022-03-03 05:52:39.009274','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Mollusk shells at 4,000-year-old Native American shell ring villages indicate that environmental change may have driven the formation and abandonment of these coastal communities, according to a study by Carey Garland and Victor Thompson in the open-access journal <em>PLOS ONE</em> on March 2, 2022.</p><p>Shell ring villages were coastal communities built around fishing, as indicated by their sitting next to shellfish estuaries, and their large mounds of mollusk shells which remain to this day. Shell rings formed some of the earliest human village settlements along the U.S. South Atlantic coast but were abandoned at the end of the Late Archaic around 4,000 years ago. While scholars have proposed socio-ecological explanations, there has been limited examination of the physical evidence for these.</p><p>Garland, Thompson and colleagues analyzed the biochemistry and paleobiology of mollusk shells found at three abandoned shell rings on Sapelo Island in Georgia, U.S. For example, they measured the size of oyster shells as an indicator of the health of the environment and compared oxygen isotope values to determine salinity conditions. They integrated their findings with chronological data -- such as tree ring analyses -- using a Bayesian chronological model, to determine environmental fluctuations over time.</p><p>The researchers found that the three Sapelo shell rings, known as Ring I, Ring II and Ring III, were occupied in the Late Archaic for varying, sometimes overlapping, periods. Ring II appeared to be the oldest and longest-lasting, founded around 4290 years ago and being occupied until 3950 years ago, with Ring I lasting around 150 years in the middle of this period. Ring III was the newest and outlasted the others, before abandonment around 3845 years ago. While Rings I and II featured large oyster shells, those at Ring III were significantly smaller, indicating a decrease in oyster shell size over time. Smaller oysters tend to be less healthy or younger, so this may indicate a depletion in oyster stocks and/or oyster health. Oxygen isotopes also indicated significantly lower salinity conditions by the time of Ring III as compared to Rings I and II.</p><p>The analysis suggests that the inhabitants of the shell ring villages experienced environmental fluctuations, especially around the occupation of Ring III. Coastal settlement may have initially been an adaptation to climate change as a way to effectively manage fisheries -- which are highly sensitive to such changes. However, by the time of occupation of Ring III, fishing may have become unsustainable, leading to dispersals to other settlements and other forms of subsistence.</p><p>The authors believe that their work provides \"comprehensive evidence for correlations between large-scale environmental change and societal transformations on the Georgia coast during the Late Archaic period.\"</p><p>The authors add: \"The emergence of village life and adaptation to coastal environments are significant transitions in human history that have occurred at various times and places across the globe. Our research shows that Indigenous peoples who established North America\'s first coastal shell ring villages some 4200 years ago were resilient and, through cooperation and collective action, were able to adapt to environmental instability and resource shortfalls.\"</p>','2022-03-03 01:39:04.955710','uploads/news/Native-American-shell-ring-villages-may-have-been-occupied-then.jpg',1,'PLOS','Mollusk shells at 4,000-year-old Native American shell ring villages indicate that environmental change may have driven the formation and abandonment of these coastal communities, according to a new study.',1,82,'<li>Carey J. Garland, Victor D. Thompson, Matthew C. Sanger, Karen Y. Smith, Fred T. Andrus, Nathan R. Lawres, Katharine G. Napora, Carol E. Colaninno, J. Matthew Compton, Sharyn Jones, Carla S. Hadden, Alexander Cherkinsky, Thomas Maddox, Yi-Ting Deng, Isabelle H. Lulewicz, Lindsey Parsons. <strong>A multi-proxy assessment of the impact of environmental instability on Late Holocene (4500-3800 BP) Native American villages of the Georgia coast</strong>. <em>PLOS ONE</em>, 2022; 17 (3): e0258979 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258979\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pone.0258979</a>\r\n</li>'),(250,'From \'boops\' to \'unks,\' how scientists are using fish sounds to conserve underwater ecosystems','from-boops-to-unks-how-scientists-are-using-fish-sounds-to-conserve-underwater-ecosystems','2022-03-03 05:55:19.698118','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Cows moo. Wolves howl. Birds tweet. And fish, it turns out, also make quite a ruckus.</p><p>\"People are often surprised to learn that fish make sounds,\" said Audrey Looby, a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida. \"But you could make the case that they are as important for understanding fish as bird sounds are for studying birds.\"</p><p>The sounds of many animals are well documented. Go online, and you\'ll find plenty of resources for bird calls and whale songs. However, a global library for fish sounds used to be unheard of.</p><p>That\'s why Looby, University of Victoria collaborator Kieran Cox and an international team of researchers created FishSounds.net, the first online, interactive fish sounds repository of its kind.</p><p>Site visitors can browse audio files, sound visualizations and more. Fish sounds are organized by species and sound name. Select the \"boop\" sound name, and you can listen to recordings of the Bocon toadfish, which also happens to be a close relative of the fish Looby is researching for her dissertation while based at the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station in Cedar Key, Florida.</p><p>\"There\'s no standard system yet for naming fish sounds, so our project uses the sound names researchers have come up with,\" Looby said. \"And who doesn\'t love a fish that boops?\"</p><p>The library\'s creators hope to add a feature that will allow people to submit their own fish sound recordings. Other interactive features, such as a world map with clickable fish sound data points, are also in the works.</p><p>Fish make sound in many ways. Some, like the toadfish, have evolved organs or other structures in their bodies that produce what scientists call active sounds. Other fish produce incidental or passive sounds, like chewing or splashing, but even passive sounds can still convey information.</p><p>Scientists think fish evolved to make sound because sound is an effective way to communicate underwater. Sound travels faster under water than it does through air, and in low visibility settings, it ensures the message still reaches an audience.</p><p>\"Fish sounds contain a lot of important information,\" said Looby, who is pursuing a doctorate in fisheries and aquatic sciences at the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. \"Fish may communicate about territory, predators, food and reproduction. And when we can match fish sounds to fish species, their sounds are a kind of calling card that can tell us what kinds of fish are in an area and what they are doing.\"</p><p>Knowing the location and movements of fish species is critical for environmental monitoring, fisheries management and conservation efforts. In the future, marine, estuarine or freshwater ecologists could use hydrophones -- special underwater microphones -- to gather data on fish species\' whereabouts. But first, they will need to be able to identify which fish they are hearing, and that\'s where the fish sounds database can assist.</p><p><a href=\"http://FishSounds.net\">FishSounds.net</a> emerged from the research team\'s efforts to gather and review the existing scientific literature on fish sounds. An article synthesizing that literature has just been published in <em>Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.</em></p><p>In the article, the researchers reviewed scientific reports of fish sounds going back almost 150 years. They found that a little under a thousand fish species are known to make active sounds, and several hundred species were studied for their passive sounds. However, these are probably both underestimates, Cox explained.</p><p>\"There are probably a lot of fish sounds that just haven\'t been recorded. That\'s why we\'ll continue to review new studies coming out and add to the repository. This is truly is an international and global project with much more to come,\" Cox said.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-03 02:22:49.590505','uploads/news/download_2.jpg',1,'University of Florida','FishSounds.net is the first online, interactive library for the sounds fish make when communicating or interacting with their environment. Fish sounds provide scientists valuable data for studying and conserving underwater ecosystems. An accompanying review study found that just under a 1,000 fish make sounds for communication, though this is likely an underestimate.',1,116,'<li>C. Boettiger, D. T. Lang, P. C. Wainwright. <strong>rfishbase: exploring, manipulating and visualizing FishBase data from R</strong>. <em>Journal of Fish Biology</em>, 2012; 81 (6): 2030 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03464.x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03464.x</a>\r\n</li>'),(251,'Blood pressure medications impact brain function','blood-pressure-medications-impact-brain-function','2022-03-03 06:00:27.107353','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Published in <em>Science</em>, University of Minnesota Medical School researchers found that blood pressure medications have an unanticipated effect on the brain.</p><p>The research team discovered that drugs used to treat blood pressure unexpectedly increase the effect of opioids that the brain naturally produces. This can fine-tune the function of a specific brain circuit and counteract the addictive properties of opiates like fentanyl, which are used to treat pain.</p><p>\"Our findings suggest a new strategy to boost opioid signaling in the brain in a way that is protective and beneficial, with a very low risk of dependence or addiction,\" said Patrick Rothwell, PhD, an assistant professor of neuroscience at the U of M Medical School and Medical Discovery Team on Addiction.</p><p>The study focused on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), which has long been known to regulate blood pressure. However, little is known about the function of ACE in the brain.</p><p>Based on the study findings, Rothwell recommends further research on ACE inhibitors, a safe class of drugs used to control blood pressure. ACE inhibitors have the potential to be redesigned to treat brain conditions.</p><p>This research was funded by Minnesota\'s Discovery, Research, and Innovation Economy (MnDRIVE) initiative, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The project was led by Brian Trieu, an MD/PhD candidate working in the Rothwell lab.</p><p>In collaboration with Dr. Swati More from the Center for Drug Design in the College of Pharmacy, Rothwell and University researchers are creating new ACE inhibitors in order to optimize their effect on brain function. This ongoing effort is supported by a Faculty Research Development Grant from the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs.</p><p>Explore the <strong>latest scientific research on sleep and dreams</strong> in this free online course from <em>New Scientist</em> — <a href=\"https://academy.newscientist.com/pages/free_course_science_daily?utm_source=science-daily&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=sciencedaily_native-ads-free-sleep-course\">Sign up now &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>\r\n</p>','2022-03-03 05:34:42.858435','uploads/news/download_3.jpg',1,'University of Minnesota Medical School','Researchers found that blood pressure medications have an unanticipated effect on the brain.',1,127,'<li>Brian H. Trieu et al. <strong>Angiotensin-converting enzyme gates brain circuit–specific plasticity via an endogenous opioid</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abl5130\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abl5130</a>\r\n</li>'),(252,'Corals can be \'trained\' to tolerate heat stress','corals-can-be-trained-to-tolerate-heat-stress','2022-03-03 06:01:50.233988','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found that corals that underwent a stressful temperature treatment in the laboratory for 90 days were more tolerant to increased water temperatures.</p><p>These findings offer coral restoration scientists with a new approach to potentially increase the success rate of planting nursery-raised staghorn coral onto degraded reefs as climate change continues to warm ocean temperatures, resulting in more frequent coral bleaching events. Staghorn coral (<em>Acropora cervicornis</em>) has died off throughout South Florida and the Caribbean, and is listed as \"threatened\" on the Endangered Species Act.</p><p>While previous \"stress-hardening\" experiments on corals have utilized exposures to short-term temperatures, the UM Rosenstiel School team assessed the effect of a long-term, variable treatment where temperatures reached a stressful level for a brief period of time, twice per day.</p><p>\"This \'training\' regime is akin to an athlete preparing for a race,\" said the study\'s lead author Allyson DeMerlis, a Ph.D. student at the UM Rosenstiel School. \"We were able to demonstrate that this temperature treatment can boost the corals\' stamina to heat stress.\"</p><p>To conduct the experiment, DeMerlis and scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\'s (NOAA) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and UM\'s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, collected coral fragments from six distinct genetic individuals of Caribbean staghorn coral from the UM Rosenstiel School\'s Rescue a Reef coral nursery and randomly assigned them to one of three groups: (1) field control, (2) laboratory control, and (3) variable temperature treatment. The laboratory control and variable temperature-treated corals were subjected to a three-month treatment period where the laboratory controls were kept at a constant 28 degrees Celsius while the variable temperature regime corals were subjected to fluctuating temperatures between 28 to 31 degrees Celsius, twice daily for three months.</p><p>The scientists then measured bleaching progression photographically as well as the number of days that a coral endured thermal stress before bleaching. They found that the variable temperature treatment significantly improved coral endurance in thermal stress, on the order of several days, in comparison to the untreated corals. In addition, they found that untreated corals were more likely to quickly succumb to disease-like signs of tissue loss.</p><p>The findings demonstrate the benefit of using a variable temperature treatment in the laboratory setting for maintaining staghorn coral over the traditional static temperatures. This may be translated in the field for restoration practitioners, specifically for identifying locations where their coral nurseries and outplanting sites can be exposed to more fluctuating temperatures.</p><p>\"We have unfortunately reached the point where active intervention and restoration are necessary to ensure that valuable coral reefs are able to persist for generations to come,\" said Ian Enochs, senior author of the study and a coral scientist at NOAA\'s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division. \"We want to increase the efficiency and efficacy of these efforts, and ultimately ensure that the corals that are placed back out on a reef have the greatest chance of enduring the stressful conditions they will face in the future.\"</p><p>\"Our findings bring a glimmer of hope to the uncertain future of corals, as we identified a treatment in which we can enhance their tolerance to heat stress,\" said DeMerlis.</p><p>The study was supported by a grant from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program.</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-03 05:34:48.415057','uploads/news/download_4.jpg',1,'University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science','A new study found that corals that underwent a stressful temperature treatment in the laboratory for 90 days were more tolerant to increased water temperatures.',1,82,'<li>Allyson DeMerlis, Amanda Kirkland, Madeline L. Kaufman, Anderson B. Mayfield, Nathan Formel, Graham Kolodziej, Derek P. Manzello, Diego Lirman, Nikki Traylor-Knowles, Ian C. Enochs. <strong>Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress</strong>. <em>Coral Reefs</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-022-02232-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s00338-022-02232-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(253,'Industrial sedimentation in the North Sea','industrial-sedimentation-in-the-north-sea','2022-03-03 06:03:26.496469','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers investigated changes in pollutant levels in the North Sea over an interval time. The results showed that a diverse cocktail of chemicals has been polluting the environment, especially during the last 100 years. They also found out that a decrease in pollution only became apparent in the environment decades after the substances were banned.</p><p>The North Sea\'s unique coastal region stands for a historical scene and the North\'s pride and joy. Beach and dune landscapes appeal for relaxation and function as industrial and business location besides a popular place for living. However, the ubiquitous pollution in this appreciated environment remains unseen. Contaminants enter the coastal ecosystems continuously via rivers, the atmosphere and through direct sources. While the North Sea\'s overall chemical stress originating from old known pollutants declined within the past 100 years, Ongoing human activities cause the continuous deposition of new contaminant groups within this unique environment.</p><p><strong>The chemical cocktail of our industrial society</strong></p><p>The main reasons for the deposition of pollutants in the North Sea are attributed to industrial inputs, which occur on a regular basis since the industrial revolution began. Subsequent prohibitions and governmental regulations on the use of environmentally-critical substances reduced the pollution considerably. Indeed, new substance groups are permanently released into the environment. These new substances are characterised by poor degradability and toxic effects -- they are referred to as PBT substances. Additionally, there is a deficit of international regulations providing limit values.</p><p>\"In order to fully understand the state of the North Sea and its changing environmental pressures, we have embarked on a kind of \'chemical time travel\' into the past using modern analytical equipment,\" says Dr. Daniel Pröfrock, head of the Department of Inorganic Environmental Chemistry. As part of the study, sediment cores from the Skagerrak were subjected to elaborate chemical analysis. The Skagerrak is a section of the North Sea between the coasts of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Since most pollutants like to attach to fine sediments, they can be transported over long distances.</p><p>Due to the prevailing currents in the North Sea, the fine sediments are continuously transported to the Skagerrak region. Here they are deposited as a result of the high water\'s depth. Consequently, a strong accumulation of sediments containing pollutants causes the seabed to grow by several millimetres per year. Sediments are also called the memory of a watershed, as the varying exposure during different times is reflected in their deposited layers.</p><p><strong>Sedimentary history</strong></p><p>The researchers revealed that the lowest examined sediment layers were over 100 years old. In the laboratories of the project partners, around 90 different pollutants and their content in the different sediment layers were determined . This provided the chemical fingerprint of each epoch. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and per- and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds (PFASs) as well as various metals such as lead or arsenic were among the analysed pollutants. The declining concentrations of different organic pollutant groups recorded in the younger sediment layers indicate the effectiveness of the newly introduced restrictions and bans.</p><p>A significantly increased concentration of arsenic in the younger sediment layers refers to possible emissions from corroded ordonance. This material was disposed on a large scale in the study area after the World War II.</p><p><strong>Positive prohibition</strong></p><p>\"Altogether, the results highlight the importance, effectiveness and justification of legislative measures and its positive impact regarding the achievement of a good environmental status in the marine ecosystem\" explains Dr. Tristan Zimmermann, co-author of the study.</p><p>It has been demonstrated that even after the early introduction of regulatory measures, long periods of time are required until pollutant concentrations return to their natural background levels. Moreover, even a short-term use of certain chemical compounds can subsequently lead to long-term deposition of such substances in marine sediments. Their poor degradability results in a slow concentration decline within the environment.</p><p>This imbalance between application and deposition emphasizes the need for significantly improved and flexible governmental monitoring programs that cover known and ideally also new pollutants. These monitoring programs should be able to collect relevant data in a short time, which in turn should be used to set sediment quality guidelines. Without legally defined environmental targets, measures to protect the environment lack legitimacy.</p><p>In addition, it is important that the monitoring programs are able to map the comprehensive mixture of substances present in the environment and the resulting toxicity for organisms. In the future, sustainable concepts (green chemistry or benign-by-design) should become mandatory to avoid the input of hazardous and persistent pollutants into the environment.</p><p>The study was part of the NOAH project (North Sea Observation and Assessment of Habitats) funded with 2.5 Million Euro by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project was one of twelve projects of the Coastal Research Agenda for the North Sea and Baltic Sea (KüNO) of the BMBF Framework Program \"Research for Sustainable Development\" (FONA) and was coordinated at the Helmholtz-ZentrumHereon between 2013 and 2019.</p>','2022-03-03 05:34:50.442128','uploads/news/1-s2.0-S0012821X21002259-gr008.jpg',1,'Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon','Researchers investigated changes in pollutant levels in the North Sea over an interval time. The results showed that a diverse cocktail of chemicals has been polluting the environment, especially during the last 100 years. They also found out that a decrease in pollution only became apparent in the environment decades after the substances were banned.',1,30,'<li>A. Logemann, M. Reininghaus, M. Schmidt, A. Ebeling, T. Zimmermann, H. Wolschke, J. Friedrich, B. Brockmeyer, D. Pröfrock, G. Witt. <strong>Assessing the chemical anthropocene – Development of the legacy pollution fingerprint in the North Sea during the last century</strong>. <em>Environmental Pollution</em>, 2022; 119040 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119040\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119040</a>\r\n</li>'),(254,'Study details how some fish cope with parasites, with implications for human health','study-details-how-some-fish-cope-with-parasites-with-implications-for-human-health','2022-03-03 06:05:12.287743','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">They thrive everywhere from bustling cities to remote rainforests -- even in our own backyards. Pervasive and unapologetic mooches, parasites rely on other organisms for their survival.</p><p>How parasites impact their host varies broadly, from causing minor irritation to death. Even among host populations that are closely related, the response to an infection by a parasite can differ dramatically. Frequently, populations are classified as either \"resistant\" or \"susceptible\" to a parasite. However, this simplified framework doesn\'t tell the whole story.</p><p>In a recent study published in Evolution Letters, a team of researchers led by Amanda Hund, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Minnesota\'s College of Biological Sciences, details how parasite resistance in hosts arises.</p><p>To understand how related hosts respond differently to parasitic infection, researchers closely monitored threespine stickleback fish that live in isolated lakes on the western coast of Canada.</p><p>\"Mature tapeworms can make it difficult for the fish to swim or reproduce. It can even manipulate the fish\'s behavior to increase the odds that it will be eaten by a bird, where the tapeworm reproduces,\" says Hund.</p><p>The interaction between a host and a parasite can be broken down into several different steps. Understanding where populations differ in these steps shows scientists where evolution is happening and often determines whether the population is resistant or susceptible to the parasite. Researchers found the ability to detect a parasite and launch an immune response quickly is the most important factor in determining if the host can resist the parasite or limit parasite growth. \"Applying this approach to more hosts and parasites will allow us to better understand why parasite resistance varies and how it evolves,\" says Hund.</p><p>The findings could have further implications for human conditions that generate scar tissue which is similar to the mesh of tissue that resistant fish use to trap the parasite. Hund\'s collaborator Daniel Bolnick, a professor at the University of Connecticut, is continuing work in this system to better understand how it connects with human diseases such as cystic fibrosis and liver fibrosis.</p><p>\"We found naturally-evolved genetic variation in how quickly fish initiate and recover from a self-harming immune response. That same harmful immune response exists in humans, so the discoveries in fish have the potential to teach us how our own bodies might recover faster from damaging conditions\" says Bolnick.</p><p>Funding and support for this work was provided by a James S. McDonnell Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (to AKH), an American Association of Immunologists Intersect Postdoctoral Fellowship (to LEF), University of Connecticut (startup to DIB), and National Institutes of Health NIAID grant 1R01AI123659-01A1 (to DIB).</p>','2022-03-03 05:34:52.416719','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Minnesota','Parasitic tapeworms have a complex life cycle moving from plankton to fish and then fish-eating birds. New research on how parasite resistance in threespine stickleback fish may lead to a better understanding of human diseases such as cystic and liver fibrosis.',1,128,'<li>Amanda K. Hund, Lauren E. Fuess, Mariah L. Kenney, Meghan F. Maciejewski, Joseph M. Marini, Kum Chuan Shim, Daniel I. Bolnick. <strong>Population‐level variation in parasite resistance due to differences in immune initiation and rate of response</strong>. <em>Evolution Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evl3.274\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/evl3.274</a>\r\n</li>'),(255,'The physics of fire ant rafts could help engineers design swarming robots','the-physics-of-fire-ant-rafts-could-help-engineers-design-swarming-robots','2022-03-03 06:06:22.532945','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Noah rode out his flood in an ark. Winnie-the-Pooh had an upside-down umbrella. Fire ants (<em>Solenopsis invicta</em>), meanwhile, form floating rafts made up of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of individual insects.</p><p>A new study by engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder lays out the simple physics-based rules that govern how these ant rafts morph over time: shrinking, expanding or growing long protrusions like an elephant\'s trunk. The team\'s findings could one day help researchers design robots that work together in swarms or next-generation materials in which molecules migrate to fix damaged spots.</p><p>The results appeared recently in the journal <em>PLOS Computational Biology</em>.</p><p>\"The origins of such behaviors lie in fairly simple rules,\" said Franck Vernerey, primary investigator on the new study and professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering. \"Single ants are not as smart as one may think, but, collectively, they become very intelligent and resilient communities.\"</p><p>Fire ants form these giant floating blobs of wriggling insects after storms in the southeastern United States to survive raging waters.</p><p>In their latest study, Vernerey and lead author Robert Wagner drew on mathematical simulations, or models, to try to figure out the mechanics underlying these lifeboats. They discovered, for example, that the faster the ants in a raft move, the more those rafts will expand outward, often forming long protrusions.</p><p>\"This behavior could, essentially, occur spontaneously,\" said Wagner, a graduate student in mechanical engineering. \"There doesn\'t necessarily need to be any central decision-making by the ants.\"</p><p><strong>Treadmill time</strong></p><p>Wagner and Vernerey discovered the secrets of ant rafts almost by accident.</p><p>In a separate study published in 2021, the duo dropped thousands of fire ants into a bucket of water with a plastic rod in the middle -- like a lone reed in the middle of stormy waters. Then they waited.</p><p>\"We left them in there for up to 8 hours to observe the long-term evolution of these rafts,\" Wagner said. \"What we ended up seeing is that the rafts started forming these growths.\"</p><p>Rather than stay the same shape over time, the structures would compress, drawing in to form dense circles of ants. At other points, the insects would fan out like pancake batter on a skillet, even building bridge-like extensions.</p><p>The group reported that the ants seemed to modulate these shape changes through a process of \"treadmilling.\" As Wagner explained, every ant raft is made up of two layers. On the bottom, you can find \"structural\" ants who cling tight to each other and make up the base. Above them are a second layer of ants who walk around freely on top of their fellow colony-members.</p><p>Over a period of hours, ants from the bottom may crawl up to the top, while free-roaming ants will drop down to become part of the structural layer.</p><p>\"The whole thing is like a doughnut-shaped treadmill,\" Wagner said.</p><p><strong>Bridge to safety</strong></p><p>In the new study, he and Vernerey wanted to explore what makes that treadmill go round.</p><p>To do that, the team created a series of models that, essentially, turned an ant raft into a complicated game of checkers. The researchers programmed roughly 2,000 round particles, or \"agents,\" to stand in for the ants. These agents couldn\'t make decisions for themselves, but they did follow a simple set of rules: The fake ants, for example, didn\'t like bumping into their neighbors, and they tried to avoid falling into the water.</p><p>When they let the game play out, Wagner and Vernerey found that their simulated ant rafts behaved a lot like the real things.</p><p>In particular, the team was able to tune how active the agents in their simulations were: Were the individual ants slow and lazy, or did they walk around a lot? The more the ants walked, the more likely they were to form long extensions that stuck out from the raft -- a bit like people funneling toward an exit in a crowded stadium.</p><p>\"The ants at the tips of these protrusions almost get pushed off of the edge into the water, which leads to a runaway effect,\" he said.</p><p>Wagner suspects that fire ants use these extensions to feel around their environments, searching for logs or other bits of dry land.</p><p>The researchers still have a lot to learn about ant rafts: What makes ants in the real world, for example, opt to switch from sedate to lazy? But, for now, Vernerey says that engineers could learn a thing or two from fire ants.</p><p>\"Our work on fire ants will, hopefully, help us understand how simple rules can be programmed, such as through algorithms dictating how robots interact with others, to achieve a well-targeted and intelligent swarm response,\" he said.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/IrLc-uDv7GU\">https://youtu.be/IrLc-uDv7GU</a></p><p><br></p>','2022-03-03 05:34:54.152056','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Colorado at Boulder','Fire ants survive floods by forming rafts made up of thousands of wriggling insects. New research reveals how these creepy-crawly lifeboats change shape over time.',1,129,'<li>Robert J. Wagner, Franck J. Vernerey. <strong>Computational exploration of treadmilling and protrusion growth observed in fire ant rafts</strong>. <em>PLOS Computational Biology</em>, 2022; 18 (2): e1009869 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009869\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009869</a>\r\n</li>'),(257,'How the gut microbiome processes seaweed','how-the-gut-microbiome-processes-seaweed','2022-03-03 06:08:17.621501','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The next time you get a craving for sushi rolls, you may feel a renewed appreciation for the ocean -- it\'s to thank not only for your fish and seaweed wrapper, but, as a new Michigan Medicine study suggests, for the bacteria in your gut that digest seaweed.</p><p>The ocean is one of the largest reservoirs of carbon on the planet, much of it locked inside seaweed. Marine bacteria play a critical role in the carbon cycle by breaking down seaweed. A little over a decade ago, researchers found the genes that enable ocean bacteria to degrade the complex carbohydrate known as porphyran, found in cold-water seaweed, in a microbiome sample from a Japanese adult.</p><p>The new study, led by Nicolas Pudlo, Ph.D., Gabriel Vasconcelos Pereira, Ph.D., and Eric Martens, Ph.D., of the U-M Medical School, has found that these genes of oceanic origin are more common than previously recognized, entering the human gut microbiome through a process known as lateral gene-transfer.</p><p>During digestion, gut bacteria in humans break down dietary fiber, or polysaccharides, found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. However, the polysaccharides found in seaweed have different chemical structures than land-sourced foods. Somehow, genes from the ocean-dwelling Bacteroidetes -- a genus of bacteria that is a key player in the microbiome -- found their way into the human gut.</p><p>\"Whether they came directly from an oceanic bacterium someone just happened to consume or through a more complex path into the human gut is still a mystery,\" said Martens, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.</p><p>To examine just how extensive the seaweed gene clusters are in gut Bacteroidetes, the team turned to an unusual source: stool samples from U-M undergraduate students.</p><p>\"We received the samples in small glass tubes and did all of our culturing within the lab\'s anaerobic chamber,\" commented Ahmed Ali, one of the student researchers on the study. \"I remember working in the chamber was hot and somewhat difficult, but this was definitely offset by the fact that we did not have to \'smell the scientific process\' at work,\" he quipped.</p><p>They then analyzed the bacteria\'s ability to degrade several seaweed-derived polysaccharides, including porphyran, laminarin, alginate and carrageenan.</p><p>The team found that genes for processing laminarin were broadly represented in the samples, possibly linked to the related ability to process beta-glucans, sugars also found in oats and whole grains. Yet, the other seaweed polysaccharides were used by fewer bacterial species and present in fewer samples.</p><p>\"The genes to process agarose and porphyran, two of the more commonly consumed seaweeds in Southeast Asia, tended to be enriched in the people living there,\" said Martens. Taking a closer look at the geographic distribution of the gene clusters, the team referenced genomic surveys from samples taken from more than 2000 people in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe.</p><p>The genes for degrading porphyran were indeed enriched in samples from China and Japan. Genes for processing carrageenan, consumed since 400 B.C in China, and now widely used as a food additive in everything from oat milk to infant formula in the United States, were also enriched in samples from China, Japan and North America.</p><p>Adding further intrigue to the evolution of seaweed digestion, the team fortuitously discovered that the bacteria Firmicutes, which are even more prevalent in the human gut than Bacteroidetes, also have picked up the genetic ability to grow on seaweed polysaccharides.</p><p>\"Firmicutes are known to live in fish intestines and the closest ancestors of the genes that appear to have jumped into human gut Firmicutes were ones found in fish,\" said Martens.</p><p>The study, notes the team, opens new questions about the complex interplay between diet and the adaptation of the human gut microbiome in populations around the world.</p><p>Additional authors on the paper include Jaagni Parnami, Melissa Cid, Stephanie Markert, Jeffrey P. Tingley, Frank Unfried, Austin Campbell, Karthik Urs, Yao Xiao, Ryan Adams, Duña Martin, David N. Bolam, Dörte Becher, Thomas M. Schmidt, Wade Abbott, Thomas Schweder and Jan Hendrik Hehemann.</p>','2022-03-03 05:34:57.564636','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan','A new study provides insights into how the microbiome processes seaweed, consumed in sushi and as a common food additive.',1,130,'<li>Nicholas A. Pudlo, Gabriel Vasconcelos Pereira, Jaagni Parnami, Melissa Cid, Stephanie Markert, Jeffrey P. Tingley, Frank Unfried, Ahmed Ali, Neha J. Varghese, Kwi S. Kim, Austin Campbell, Karthik Urs, Yao Xiao, Ryan Adams, Duña Martin, David N. Bolam, Dörte Becher, Emiley A. Eloe-Fadrosh, Thomas M. Schmidt, D. Wade Abbott, Thomas Schweder, Jan Hendrik Hehemann, Eric C. Martens. <strong>Diverse events have transferred genes for edible seaweed digestion from marine to human gut bacteria</strong>. <em>Cell Host &amp; Microbe</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.02.001\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.chom.2022.02.001</a>\r\n</li>'),(258,'Discovered: An easier way to create \'flexible diamonds\'','discovered-an-easier-way-to-create-flexible-diamonds','2022-03-03 06:10:48.206678','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As hard as diamond and as flexible as plastic, highly sought-after diamond nanothreads would be poised to revolutionize our world -- if they weren\'t so difficult to make.</p><p>Recently, a team of scientists led by Carnegie\'s Samuel Dunning and Timothy Strobel developed an original technique that predicts and guides the ordered creation of strong, yet flexible, diamond nanothreads, surmounting several existing challenges. The innovation will make it easier for scientists to synthesize the nanothreads -- an important step toward applying the material to practical problems in the future. The work was recently published in the <em>Journal of the American Chemical Society.</em></p><p>Diamond nanothreads are ultra-thin, one-dimensional carbon chains, tens of thousands of times thinner than a human hair. They are often created by compressing smaller carbon-based rings together to form the same type of bond that makes diamonds the hardest mineral on our planet.</p><p>However, instead of the 3D-carbon lattice found in a normal diamond, the edges of these threads are \"capped\" with carbon-hydrogen bonds, which make the whole structure flexible.</p><p>Dunning explains: \"Because the nanothreads only have these bonds in one direction, they can bend and flex in ways that normal diamonds can\'t.\"</p><p>Scientists predict that the unique properties of carbon nanothreads will have a range of useful applications from providing sci-fi-like scaffolding on space elevators to creating ultra-strong fabrics. However, scientists have had a hard time creating enough nanothread material to actually test their proposed superpowers.</p><p>\"If we want to design materials for specific applications,\" says Dunning, \"it\'s essential for us to precisely understand the structure and bonding of the nanothreads we\'re making. This thread directing method really allows us to do that!\"</p><p>One of the biggest challenges is getting the carbon atoms to react in a predictable way. In nanothreads made from benzene and other six-atom rings, each carbon atom can undergo chemical reactions with different neighbors. This leads to many possible reactions competing with one another and many different nanothread configurations. This uncertainty is one of the biggest hurdles scientists face to synthesize nanothreads where the precise chemical structure can be determined.</p><p>Dunning\'s team determined that adding nitrogen to the ring in place of carbon might help guide the reaction down a predictable pathway. They chose to start their work with pyridazine -- a six atom ring made up of four carbons and two nitrogens -- and began working on a computer model. Dunning worked with Bo Chen, Donostia International Physics Center, and Li Zhu, Assistant Professor at Rutgers and Carnegie Alum, to simulate how pyridazine molecules behave at high pressure.</p><p>\"In our system, we use two nitrogen atoms to remove two possible reaction sites from the ring system. This dramatically reduces the number of possible reactions,\" says Dunning.</p><p>After running several computer simulations showing successful nanothread formation at high pressure, they were ready to take the experiment to the lab.</p><p>The team took a drop of pyridazine and loaded it into a diamond anvil cell -- a device that allows scientists to produce extreme pressures by compressing samples between the tiny tips of more traditional diamonds. Using infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, they monitored changes in the pyridazine\'s chemical structure up to about 300,000 times normal atmospheric pressure looking for the creation of new bonds.</p><p>When they saw the bonds forming, they realized they had successfully predicted and created the first pyridazine diamond nanothread in the lab.</p><p>\"Our reaction pathway produces an incredibly orderly nanothread,\" said Dunning. \"The ability to incorporate other atoms into the nanothread backbone, guide the reaction, and understand the nanothread\'s chemical environment will save researchers invaluable time in developing nanothread technology.\"</p><p>This process of using these non-carbon atoms to guide the formation of nanothreads, which Dunning calls \"thread directing,\" is a significant step towards a future where scientists can predictably create these materials and use them for advanced applications. Now that this synthetic strategy has been discovered, Dunning plans to identify and test the many possible nanothread precursors.</p><p>He also can\'t wait to start putting the pyridazine nanothreads through their paces.</p><p>Dunning concluded, \"Now that we know we can make this material, we need to start making enough to learn enough to determine mechanical, optical, and electronic properties!\"</p>','2022-03-03 05:34:59.104862','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Carnegie Institution for Science','As hard as diamond and as flexible as plastic, highly sought-after diamond nanothreads would be poised to revolutionize our world -- if they weren\'t so difficult to make. Recently, a team of scientists developed an original technique that predicts and guides the ordered creation of strong, yet flexible, diamond nanothreads, surmounting several existing challenges. The innovation will make it easier for scientists to synthesize the nanothreads -- an important step toward applying the material to practical problems in the future.',1,131,'<li>Samuel G. Dunning, Li Zhu, Bo Chen, Stella Chariton, Vitali B. Prakapenka, Maddury Somayazulu, Timothy A. Strobel. <strong>Solid-State Pathway Control via Reaction-Directing Heteroatoms: Ordered Pyridazine Nanothreads through Selective Cycloaddition</strong>. <em>Journal of the American Chemical Society</em>, 2022; 144 (5): 2073 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c12143\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/jacs.1c12143</a>\r\n</li>'),(260,'Study of algae in Acadia National Park lakes shows recovery from acidification','study-of-algae-in-acadia-national-park-lakes-shows-recovery-from-acidification','2022-03-03 06:12:52.225410','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Acadia National Park is known for its beautiful lakes -- and they can tell scientists a lot about the health of the environment. New research shows that regulations to reduce human-caused sulfur in the atmosphere have made a difference for lakes in Acadia National Park, though climate change may slow that recovery.</p><p>Research from the 1990s showed that human-caused atmospheric pollution in the 20th century caused the acidification of lakes across eastern North America starting in the 1940s. Acidification of lakes causes the decrease of dissolved organic carbon in lakes, which impacts lake ecology and makes water appear clearer.</p><p>Since the Clean Air Act Amendments were federally enacted in 1990, the northeastern United States has received significantly less atmospheric acid depositions with the goal of restoring ecosystems like lakes that were impacted by the pollution. However, climate change can also impact lake water clarity, as rising temperatures drive the production and release of dissolved organic carbon, while shifts in precipitation caused by climate change also can bring in more organic matter.</p><p>Researchers from the University of Maine and the National Park Service wanted to see how these changing acidification dynamics were affecting the ecosystems in different types of lakes in Maine. In an article published in the <em>Journal of Paleolimnology</em>, scientists reconstructed historical pigment records of algae and diatoms -- a particular type of algae with a silica shell, which is usually negatively impacted by acidification -- from two lakes in Acadia National Park, Jordan Pond and Seal Cove Pond.</p><p>Despite being close geographically, the two lakes are very different. Jordan Pond is considered a \"clear-water\" or oligotrophic lake, meaning its waters are relatively low in plant nutrients with abundant oxygen at its depths. Seal Cove Pond is a \"brown-water\" or mesotrophic lake with a moderate amount of nutrients.</p><p>\"Recovery from acidification is partially dependent on water clarity, which is impacted by climate change. Across North America and northern and central Europe, there is an ongoing trend toward \'brownification\' of lakes. Several studies have described ecological changes in clear- vs. brown-water lakes in response to reductions in acid deposition and browning, and our paleolimnological study provides long-term context for interpreting those changes,\" says Rachel Fowler, biology lab coordinator who served as the principal investigator of the project for her Ph.D. in the University of Maine Climate Change Institute.</p><p>The researchers took sediment cores from the deepest parts of both ponds and analyzed the concentrations of different types of algae and the way they varied over time. The results showed the algae in the lakes responded differently over time to acidification. Despite their differences, both ecosystems are recovering since environmental regulations have reduced the amount of atmospheric sulfur in the area, with many types of algae returning where they had once been pushed out by acidification.</p><p>\"An exciting takeaway is that this study illustrates the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act Amendments. We can see signs of recovery from acid deposition using the remains of algae preserved in the sediments of Jordan Pond and Seal Cove Pond,\" says Fowler.</p><p>However, the results also suggested that clear-water lakes like Jordan Pond are more sensitive to climate warming than brown-water lakes like Seal Cove Pond. Recovery of the algal ecosystem has been slower for Jordan Pond, and may continue to be hampered by the effects of climate change.</p><p>\"Lake color and clarity are major regulators of lake ecology. They can alter the physical and chemical structure of lakes, and contribute to the types and amount of algae living in lakes, too. With the trend toward brownification of lakes due to climate change and other environmental factors, it\'s essential that we understand the ecological consequences for the lakes we value for drinking water, recreation and year-round natural beauty,\" says Fowler.</p><p>Fowler conducted the research with Jasmine Saros, associate director of the Climate Change Institute and professor in the School of Biology and Ecology; Kate Warner, Ph.D. in ecology and environmental sciences; and Bill Gawley, biologist at Acadia National Park. The research was funded in part by a Second Century Stewardship award from Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park.</p>','2022-03-03 05:35:06.197719','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Maine','Research shows that federal regulations to reduce human-caused sulfur in the atmosphere have aided in the recovery of algal ecosystems for two lakes in Acadia National Park. However, the study also shows that the warming climate negatively impact certain types of lakes more than others, which could affect future ecosystem recovery.',1,98,'<li>Rachel A. Fowler, Kate A. Warner, William G. Gawley, Jasmine E. Saros. <strong>Paleolimnological comparison of algal changes in a clear-versus a brown-water lake over the last two centuries in the northeastern U.S.A</strong>. <em>Journal of Paleolimnology</em>, 2022; 67 (3): 289 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-022-00233-0\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s10933-022-00233-0</a>\r\n</li>'),(262,'Whole-genome sequencing reveals new secrets about killer fungus','whole-genome-sequencing-reveals-new-secrets-about-killer-fungus','2022-03-03 08:12:29.882270','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research from the University of Exeter reports the largest ever whole-genome sequencing project for the potentially fatal yeast infection <em>Candida glabrata</em> from hospitals across Scotland.</p><p><em>Candida glabrata</em> is a type of yeast that can cause disease in humans. It most commonly affects the urinary tract, genitals, mouth, and the bloodstream. If it is not caught, these infections can become deadly. It also has a very high resistance to certain antifungal drugs, so understanding why resistance occurs is key to knowing how to treat it effectively.</p><p>The new research, published in <em>Genetics</em>, used samples from eight hospitals in Scotland to sequence the genome of <em>Candida glabrata</em>. This led to the discovery of a variety of new information on the species. This includes information on how they reproduce and the genetic diversity. It also found that genes that make it more likely to be infectious have an advantage for survival, and the drug-resistance genes often evolve within patients.</p><p>The discovery of this information gives scientists an advantage when it comes to <em>treating candida glabrata</em>. A better understanding of the genes involved allows researchers to focus their work in ways that were not possible before. It also helps aid understanding on how the pathogen spreads, which is important to identifying infections.</p><p>Dr Rhys Farrer, one of the Principal Investigators at the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter, said: \"Our study sheds new light on the genetic diversity of <em>Candida glabrata</em>. We have demonstrated that this deadly human fungal pathogen is being spread between continents, probably by humans, and recombining to form new populations, which is likely contributing to its high virulence and increasing drug resistance.\"</p><p>The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.</p>','2022-03-03 07:35:07.253348','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Exeter','New research reports the largest ever whole-genome sequencing project for the potentially fatal yeast infection Candida glabrata from hospitals across Scotland.',1,7,'<li>Nicolas Helmstetter, Aleksandra D Chybowska, Christopher Delaney, Alessandra Da Silva Dantas, Hugh Gifford, Theresa Wacker, Carol Munro, Adilia Warris, Brian Jones, Christina A Cuomo, Duncan Wilson, Gordon Ramage, Rhys A Farrer. <strong>Population genetics and microevolution of clinical Candida glabrata reveals recombinant sequence types and hyper-variation within mitochondrial genomes, virulence genes and drug-targets</strong>. <em>Genetics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyac031\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/genetics/iyac031</a>\r\n</li>'),(263,'Mummification in Europe may be older than previously known','mummification-in-europe-may-be-older-than-previously-known','2022-03-12 12:07:04.774872','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Mummification of the dead probably was more common in prehistory than previously known. This discovery is made at the hunter-gatherer burial sites in the Sado Valley in Portugal, dating to 8,000 years ago. A new study, headed by archaeologists at Uppsala University and Linnaeus University in Sweden and University of Lisbon in Portugal, presents new evidence for pre-burial treatments such as desiccation through mummification, which has not been suggested for the European Mesolithic before. The results are now published in<em> European Journal of Archaeology</em>.</p><p>Until now, the oldest cases of intentional mummification were known from the Chinchorro hunter-gatherers living in the coastal region of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile with examples of mummified bodies buried in shell middens around 7,000 years ago still preserving soft tissue. However, most surviving mummies worldwide are more recent, dating between a few hundred years and 4,000 years old.</p><p>Mummification in prehistory is a challenging topic for researchers because it is difficult to detect if a body was preserved through mummification when soft tissue is no longer visible. An additional difficulty is the lack of written reports for these early periods. Unlike bone, finding soft tissue in archaeological sites is rare due to issues of preservation, and without it, it is difficult to recognize if the remains have been curated soon after death. This is particularly challenging in temperate and wetter climates, such as in most of Europe, where soft tissues and fabrics do not normally survive in archaeological sites.</p><p>Using recently discovered photographs of the skeletal remains of thirteen individuals excavated in the 1960s in the Sado Valley Mesolithic shell middens in Portugal, the researchers were able to reconstruct the positions in which the bodies were buried providing a unique opportunity to learn more about mortuary rituals taking place 8,000 years ago.</p><p>The study combined the approach of archaeothanatology with human decomposition experiments. Archaeothanatology is an approach used by archaeologists to document and analyse human remains in archaeological sites that combines observations of the spatial distribution of the bones in the grave with knowledge about how the human body decomposes after death. Archaeologists can then reconstruct how the dead body was handled after death and buried, even if several millennia have passed. In this study, the archaeothanatology was also informed by results from human decomposition experiments on mummification and burial at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility at Texas State University.</p><p>Based on the results from the experiments, an observable signature for a mummy could be proposed that combines several observations: a hyperflexion of the limbs, an absence of disarticulation in significant parts of the skeleton, and a rapid infilling of sediment around the bones. These were all clearly present in at least one of the burials in this study. The analysis showed that some bodies were buried in extremely flexed positions with the legs flexed at the knees and placed in front of the chest.</p><p>During decomposition, the bones usually become disarticulated at weak joints, such as at the feet, but in these cases, the articulations were maintained. The researchers propose that this pattern of hyperflexion and lack of disarticulation could be explained if the body was not placed in the grave as a fresh cadaver, but in a desiccated state as a mummied corpse. Desiccation not only maintains some of these otherwise weak articulations, but also allows for a strong flexion of the body since the range of movement increases when the volume of soft tissue is smaller. Because the bodies were desiccated before burial, there is very little or no sediment present between the bones and the articulations are maintained by the continuous infilling of the surrounding soil supporting the bones and preventing the collapse of the articulations.</p><p>The researchers suggest that the observed patterns could be the product of a guided natural mummification process. The manipulation of the body during mummification would have taken place over an extended period of time, during which the body gradually would become desiccated to maintain its bodily integrity, and simultaneously contracted by trussing with rope or bandages to compress it into a desired position. When the process was finished, the body would have been easier to transport (being more contracted and significantly lighter than the fresh cadaver) while ensuring that it was buried while retaining its appearance and anatomical integrity.</p><p>If mummification in Europe was older than previously known, a range of insights relating to the mortuary practices of Mesolithic communities arise, including a central concern for maintaining the integrity of the body and its physical transformation from a cadaver to a curated mummy. These practices would also underscore the significance of the burial places and the importance of bringing the dead to these locations in a manner that contained and protected the body, following principles that were culturally regulated, highlighting the significance of both the body and the burial place in Mesolithic Portugal 8,000 years ago.</p>','2022-03-03 20:31:32.091143','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Uppsala University','Mummification of the dead probably was more common in prehistory than previously known. This discovery is made at the hunter-gatherer burial sites in the Sado Valley in Portugal, dating to 8,000 years ago. A recent study presents new evidence for pre-burial treatments such as desiccation through mummification, which has not been suggested for the European Mesolithic before.',1,170,'<li>Rita Peyroteo-Stjerna, Liv Nilsson Stutz, Hayley Louise Mickleburgh, João Luís Cardoso. <strong>Mummification in the Mesolithic: New Approaches to Old Photo Documentation Reveal Previously Unknown Mortuary Practices in the Sado Valley, Portugal</strong>. <em>European Journal of Archaeology</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2022.3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1017/eaa.2022.3</a>\r\n</li>'),(264,'Higher education and language skills may help ward off dementia','higher-education-and-language-skills-may-help-ward-off-dementia','2022-03-12 12:08:18.172821','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research has found that people with mild cognitive impairment may not inevitably develop dementia and, in fact, having higher education and advanced language skills more than doubles their chances of returning to normal.</p><p>The study, led by researchers at the University of Waterloo, may reassure those with mild cognitive impairment as it contradicts a common assumption that the condition is simply an early stage of dementia. People with mild cognitive impairment show signs of cognitive decline, but not enough to prevent them from performing typical daily tasks. They have been considered at higher risk of progressing to the more severe cognitive decline seen in dementia.</p><p>\"Possessing high cognitive reserve -- based on education, high academic grades, and written language skills -- may predict what happens years after someone receives a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment,\" said Suzanne Tyas, a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences at Waterloo and lead author. \"Even after considering age and genetics -- established risk factors for dementia -- we found that higher levels of education more than doubled the chances that people with mild cognitive impairment would return to normal cognition instead of progressing to dementia.\"</p><p>The study also found that language skills, whether reflected in high grades in English in school or in strong writing that was grammatically complex and full of ideas, were also protective.</p><p>The researchers discovered that almost one-third of 472 women diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment reverted to normal cognition at least once over an average of eight-and-a-half years following their diagnosis, with more than 80 per cent of them never developing dementia.</p><p>Almost another third of the total number progressed to dementia without ever reverting to normal cognition, while three per cent stayed in the mild cognitive impairment stage, and 36 per cent died. None of the participants reverted from dementia to mild cognitive impairment.</p><p>The researchers also highlighted that reverse transitions are much more common than progressing to dementia in relatively younger individuals who didn\'t carry a certain genetic risk factor and had high levels of education and language skills.</p><p>\"We can\'t do much about age and genetics, so it\'s encouraging that our findings show that there are other ways to reduce the risk of dementia, such as building cognitive reserve through education and language skills earlier in life,\" Tyas said.</p><p>The study\'s findings have implications for treatment and research in people with mild cognitive impairment.</p><p>\"If individuals with higher cognitive reserve are more likely to improve even without treatment, then this needs to be taken into consideration when recruiting participants for clinical trials of prospective treatments and when interpreting the results of these trials,\" Tyas said, adding there\'s no cure for most causes of dementia, so prevention is key.</p><p>For the analysis, researchers used complex modelling with data drawn from a longitudinal study called the Nun Study, which looked at older, highly educated religious sisters. The participants were mostly homogeneous, with similar socioeconomic status and marital and reproductive history, strengthening the conclusions of this work.</p><p>The study, published in <em>Neurology</em>, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Co-authors include researchers from Nankai University in China, University of Kentucky, University of Manitoba and University of New Mexico.</p>','2022-03-03 20:31:34.485728','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Waterloo','New research has found that people with mild cognitive impairment may not inevitably develop dementia and, in fact, having higher education and advanced language skills more than doubles their chances of returning to normal.',1,186,'<li>Maryam Iraniparast, Yidan Shi, Ying Wu, Leilei Zeng, Colleen J Maxwell, Richard J Kryscio, Philip D St. John, Karen S SantaCruz, Suzanne L Tyas. <strong>Cognitive Reserve and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Predictors and Rates of Reversion to Intact Cognition vs Progression to Dementia</strong>. <em>Neurology</em>, 2022; 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200051 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000200051\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1212/WNL.0000000000200051</a>\r\n</li>'),(265,'Evidence links e-cigarette use with increased odds of prediabetes','evidence-links-e-cigarette-use-with-increased-odds-of-prediabetes','2022-03-03 20:31:36.478386',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An analysis of data from a large, nationally representative survey of the US population shows that e-cigarette use is associated with increased odds of prediabetes. The findings, which are reported in the <em>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</em>, published by Elsevier, add important evidence about the health effects of e-cigarettes and can help shape public health best practices.</p><p>\"Our study demonstrated a clear association of prediabetes risk with the use of e-cigarettes,\" explained lead investigator Shyam Biswal, PhD, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. \"With both e-cigarette use and prevalence of prediabetes dramatically on the rise in the past decade, our discovery that e-cigarettes carry a similar risk to traditional cigarettes with respect to diabetes is important for understanding and treating vulnerable individuals.\"</p><p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traditional cigarette smokers are 30% to 40% more likely than non-smokers to develop type 2 diabetes, which increases their risk for cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerotic disorders, stroke, and peripheral vascular diseases. E-cigarettes are sometimes promoted as a risk reduction product for current traditional cigarette smokers. The use of e-cigarettes is rising among younger population, which remains a public health concern.</p><p>To determine the association between e-cigarette use and prediabetes, the investigators analyzed 2016-2018 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). It is the largest annual nationally representative health survey of US adults with data on health outcomes, health-related risk behaviors, preventive services, and chronic medical conditions. Among the 600,046 respondents, 9%, more than 66,000 individuals, were current e-cigarette users who self-reported prediabetes diagnoses. The data also showed that e-cigarette users have a higher prevalence of high-risk lifestyle factors and worse self-related mental and physical health status than non-smokers.</p><p>Survey respondents were 50.4% female, 67.7% non-Hispanic White, 12.2% non-Hispanic Black, 5% Hispanic, and 28.6% were age 35 or older. In this representative sample of US adults, e-cigarette use was associated with greater odds of prediabetes compared to those who did not use e-cigarettes or traditional cigarettes.</p><p>The association of e-cigarettes with prediabetes heightens significant concerns for public health officials. \"We were surprised by the findings associating prediabetes with e-cigarettes because they are touted as a safer alternative, which we now know is not the case,\" commented Dr. Biswal. \"In the case of cigarette smoking, nicotine has a detrimental effect on insulin action, and it appears that e-cigarettes may also have the same effect.\"</p><p>Prediabetes is reversible with lifestyle management. Based on these findings, the authors make a compelling recommendation for targeting the reduction in e-cigarette use and education of young adults as a therapeutic lifestyle management strategy for the reduction of diabetes risk.</p><p>\"Our effort for smoking cessation has led to a decrease in smoking traditional cigarettes. With this information, it is time for us to ramp up our public health efforts to promote the cessation of e-cigarettes,\" cautioned Dr. Biswal.</p><p>Prediabetes is defined as the presence of impaired fasting glucose (greater than 100-125 mg/dL), impaired glucose tolerance (greater than 140-199 mg/dL two hours after a 75-g oral intake of glucose), or hemoglobin A1c between 5.7&amp;-6.4%), which indicate an intermediate glycemic state between normal glycemia and diabetes. The CDC has reported that prediabetes has become increasingly common in the past few decades, and recent estimates indicate that 38% of American adults have this condition. It is also on the rise among an increasingly younger population. Projections estimate that by 2030, more than 470 million people worldwide will be diagnosed with prediabetes.</p>','2022-03-03 20:31:36.478386','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Elsevier','An analysis of data from a large, nationally representative survey of the US population shows that e-cigarette use is associated with increased odds of prediabetes. The findings add important evidence about the health effects of e-cigarettes and can help shape public health best practices.\n',1,27,'<li>Zhenyu Zhang, Zhihua Jiao, Michael J. Blaha, Albert Osei, Venkataramana Sidhaye, Jr Murugappan Ramanathan, Shyam Biswal. <strong>The Association Between E-Cigarette Use and Prediabetes: Results From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2016–2018</strong>. <em>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.12.009\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.amepre.2021.12.009</a>\n</li>'),(266,'Rainfall strongly affects infectious Vibrio bacteria in Ala Wai Canal','rainfall-strongly-affects-infectious-vibrio-bacteria-in-ala-wai-canal','2022-03-03 20:31:41.373020',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In the Ala Wai Canal in Waikiki, Hawai\'i, the abundance of <em>Vibrio vulnificus</em>, an infectious bacterium, is strongly influenced by the amount of rainfall in the surrounding areas, according to a recently published study by oceanographers at the University of Hawai\'i (UH) at Mānoa and Hawai\'i Pacific University (HPU).</p><p>Study authors Olivia Nigro, then a graduate student in the oceanography at UHM and now an assistant professor at HPU, and Grieg Steward, professor in the UHM School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), first assessed <em>Vibrio</em> in 2006 when Oliver Johnson died from a <em>V. vulnificus</em> infection after having cuts and scrapes exposed to Ala Wai Harbor water.</p><p>\"His exposure occurred after many days of heavy rainfall, which, given our results, suggests this may have been an exacerbating factor,\" said Steward. \"At the time, we realized there was almost no data on the ecology of <em>V</em><em>.</em><em> vulnificus</em> in the canal, or in Hawai\'i generally, and remarkably, very little in tropical waters anywhere.\"</p><p>After a quick pilot study in 2006 that showed the bacteria are present in high, but not unexpected numbers, the team geared up for a year-long study in 2008-2009 with better methods to understand the variability in abundance over a seasonal cycle.</p><p>At higher latitudes, the abundance of <em>V. vulnificus</em> shows a very strong seasonal cycle -- nearly disappearing in winter when temperatures are cold. In Hawai\'i, temperatures are warm year-round, so freshwater input becomes a more important control.</p><p>\"<em>V.</em> <em>vulnificus</em> occurs naturally in warm, brackish waters,\" said Nigro. \"So we expect to find this bacterium anywhere that temperatures are warm and freshwater and seawater mix in about equal proportions. When conditions are right, the Ala Wai Canal can be a great incubator for this bacterium!\"</p><p>The researchers observed that rainfall has a variable effect depending on the amount of precipitation.</p><p>\"Too little rainfall means much of the canal is saltier than optimum for <em>V. vulnificus</em> growth, too much rainfall and the canal is fresher than the bacterium likes,\" said Nigro. \"We also found that, because of the flushing effect of intense rainfall, the highest abundance of <em>V. vulnificus</em> shifted from within the canal out into the harbor.\"</p><p>They observed the highest canal-wide average abundances, among the highest recorded anywhere, during a time of modest rainfall, moderate salinities and a moderate flushing of the canal.</p><p>The researchers noted that, although rainfall is more frequent in winter on average, significant rainfall can also occur in summer, so spikes in <em>V. Vulnificus</em> can be a problem any time of year. This makes it challenging to predict precisely when and where there will be high concentrations of this pathogen. However, based on a few variables -- rainfall and resulting salinity and flushing of the canal -- the relative risk of exposure to this pathogen could be predicted as an average for the system.</p><p>With additional years of data to better understand how <em>V. vulnificus</em> varies in space and time, it may be possible to provide real-time predictions of when and where the bacterium is likely to be at unusually high concentrations, which is one component in assessing the risk of infection.</p><p>\"Although <em>V. vulnificus</em> can cause serious or even lethal infections, it usually only becomes a problem for individuals with underlying medical issues,\" said Steward. \"So people should not panic about incidental exposure to canal water. But it is wise to wash off with soap and water after exposure and one should avoid exposing open wounds to canal water, especially if one is immunocompromised.\"</p><p>This project was supported by funding to UH Mānoa from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and from the National Science Foundation.</p>','2022-03-03 20:31:41.373020','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Hawaii at Manoa','In the Ala Wai Canal in Waikiki, Hawai\'i, the abundance of Vibrio vulnificus, an infectious bacterium, is strongly influenced by the amount of rainfall in the surrounding areas, according to a recently published study.\n',1,27,'<li>Olivia D. Nigro, La’Toya I. James-Davis, Eric Heinen De Carlo, Yuan-Hui Li, Grieg F. Steward. <strong>Variable freshwater influences on the abundance of            Vibrio vulnificus            in a tropical urban estuary</strong>. <em>Applied and Environmental Microbiology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01884-21\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1128/AEM.01884-21</a>\n</li>'),(267,'Bull ant evolves new way to target pain','bull-ant-evolves-new-way-to-target-pain','2022-03-03 20:31:47.483061',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Australian bull ants have evolved a venom molecule perfectly tuned to target one of their predators -- the echidna -- that also could have implications for people with long-term pain, University of Queensland researchers say.</p><p>Dr Sam Robinson and David Eagles from UQ\'s Institute for Molecular Bioscience found a bull ant venom component that exploits a pain pathway in mammals, which they believe evolved to stop echidnas attacking the ant\'s nests.</p><p>\"Venoms are complex cocktails and while bull ant venom contains molecules similar to those found in honey bee stings which cause immediate pain, we also found an intriguing new molecule that was different,\" Dr Robinson said.</p><p>Whilst searching databases for similar amino-acid sequences, Dr Robinson found that the molecule matched the sequence of mammalian hormones related to Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), and of these, was most closely related to that of the echidna.</p><p>\"We tested the venom molecule on mammalian EGF receptors and it was very potent -- this convinced us that the venom molecule was there to defend against mammals,\" he said.</p><p>\"We went on to show that while it didn\'t cause direct pain, the molecule did cause long-lasting hypersensitivity.</p><p>\"Many small carnivorous marsupials, like bandicoots, eat individual ants, but only the echidna is known to attack bull ant nests and target their young -- we think that making the echidna sensitive to pain, in tandem with the immediate \'bee-sting\' pain, may dissuade it from returning to the nests.</p><p>\"You can see clearly in the ant\'s DNA that it is producing a molecule that mimics a hormone of its natural enemy and is using it as a weapon against it -- it brings to mind the ancient proverb \'to know your enemy, you must become your enemy.\'\"</p><p>The team believes the links between EGF signalling and chronic pain are building momentum and is confident this study could inspire new ways to treat long-term pain.</p><p>EGF-inhibitor drugs are readily available on the market and used in anti-cancer therapy to slow tumour growth, with evidence suggesting patients that take them experience less long-term pain.</p><p>\"We hope that by highlighting the role of this signalling pathway in pain, we can encourage different strategies for pain treatment, especially long-term pain for which treatment is currently limited,\" Dr Robinson said.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/Gh7iwGemJeo\">https://youtu.be/Gh7iwGemJeo</a></p>','2022-03-03 20:31:47.483061','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Queensland','Researchers found a bull ant venom component that exploits a pain pathway in mammals, which they believe evolved to stop echidnas attacking the ant\'s nests.\n',1,27,'<li>David A. Eagles, Natalie J. Saez, Bankala Krishnarjuna, Julia J. Bradford, Yanni K.-Y. Chin, Hana Starobova, Alexander Mueller, Melissa E. Reichelt, Eivind A. B. Undheim, Raymond S. Norton, Walter G. Thomas, Irina Vetter, Glenn F. King, Samuel D. Robinson. <strong>A peptide toxin in ant venom mimics vertebrate EGF-like hormones to cause long-lasting hypersensitivity in mammals</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (7): e2112630119 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112630119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2112630119</a>\n</li>'),(268,'First potential immunization against RSV for healthy infants found highly effective in phase 3 trial','first-potential-immunization-against-rsv-for-healthy-infants-found-highly-effective-in-phase-3-trial','2022-03-03 20:31:54.533277',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Nirsevimab showed 74.5 percent efficacy against medically attended lower respiratory tract infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in healthy infants, according to an international, randomised, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial. It is the first potential immunization against RSV in the general infant population, with a single dose providing safe protection across the entire RSV season. Results were published in the <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>.</p><p>\"These exciting data show that nirsevimab has the potential to offer RSV protection for all infants, which would be a paradigm shift in the approach to this disease,\" said site Principal Investigator and co-author William Muller, MD, PhD, Scientific Director of Clinical and Community Trials at Stanley Manne Children\'s Research Institute at Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children\'s Hospital of Chicago, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.</p><p>RSV is a common, contagious virus that causes seasonal epidemics of lower respiratory tract infections, leading to bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants. It is also a leading cause of hospitalizations in all infants.</p><p>The trial involved healthy term and late preterm (gestational age ?35 weeks) infants entering their first RSV season. Lurie Children\'s was among the highest enrolling US sites in the trial.</p><p>Nirsevimab is an investigational long-acting monoclonal antibody, being developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi, designed to protect all infants through their first RSV season with a single dose. Monoclonal antibodies do not require the activation of the immune system to help offer rapid and direct protection against disease.</p><p>Currently, the only available preventative option for RSV is palivizumab, which is limited to high-risk infants and provides one-month protection, requiring five injections to cover an RSV season.</p><p>A separate Phase 2/3 trial, also published in the <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>, which evaluated the safety of nirsevimab in infants with congenital heart disease, chronic lung disease and prematurity entering their first RSV season, demonstrated that nirsevimab had a similar safety and tolerability profile compared to palivizumab.Results in this population of infants indicated similar protection against RSV to that in the healthy term and late preterm infants.</p><p>\"We know that RSV has seen a resurgence with the easing of COVID-19 public health measures. This shows us a broad immunization approach is needed to help mitigate the substantial global burden RSV places on infants, their families and healthcare services,\" said Dr. Muller.</p><p>Research at Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children\'s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through the Stanley Manne Children\'s Research Institute. The Manne Research Institute is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children\'s is ranked as one of the nation\'s top children\'s hospitals by <em>U.S. News &amp; World Report. </em>It is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.</p>','2022-03-03 20:31:54.533277','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children\'s Hospital of Chicago','Nirsevimab showed 74.5 percent efficacy against medically attended lower respiratory tract infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in healthy infants, according to an international, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial. It is the first potential immunization against RSV in the general infant population, with a single dose providing safe protection across the entire RSV season.\n',1,27,'<li>Laura L. Hammitt, Ron Dagan, Yuan Yuan, Manuel Baca Cots, Miroslava Bosheva, Shabir A. Madhi, William J. Muller, Heather J. Zar, Dennis Brooks, Amy Grenham, Ulrika Wählby Hamrén, Vaishali S. Mankad, Pin Ren, Therese Takas, Michael E. Abram, Amanda Leach, M. Pamela Griffin, Tonya Villafana. <strong>Nirsevimab for Prevention of RSV in Healthy Late-Preterm and Term Infants</strong>. <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>, 2022; 386 (9): 837 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2110275\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1056/NEJMoa2110275</a>\n</li>');
INSERT INTO `news_news` VALUES (269,'Ensuring sustainable recreational fisheries in the face of social change','ensuring-sustainable-recreational-fisheries-in-the-face-of-social-change','2022-03-03 20:31:57.071862',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The observation that \'the fishing\'s not what it used to be\' ranks up there with \'the one that got away\' as a story that has crossed over from folk wisdom to folklore. But what if there is truth in it? New research published in <em>Fish and Fisheries </em>suggests that slow but steady degradation of recreational fisheries may be common, and points to actions that anglers and fisheries managers can take to help stabilize and improve fisheries today and for future generations.</p><p>Fishery biologist Dr. Chelsey Nieman led the study when they were a postdoctoral researcher at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. They explain, \"For too long, recreational fisheries were seen as self-regulating. We now know that their sustainability depends on both natural and human features. When these conditions change, it can have big implications for fish populations and the quality of the fishing experience.\"</p><p>Nieman and co-author Dr. Chris Solomon, an ecologist at Cary Institute, focused on the human side of fisheries. Their study is one of the first to explore the role that slow social change plays in the resilience of recreational fisheries. \"When change happens over many years or generations, it can be hard for people to perceive it or summon the will to act on it,\" Solomon notes. \"Yet our work shows that slow social changes that can degrade fisheries may be quite common and widespread.\"</p><p>Using a mathematical model of open access recreational fisheries, and data from Wisconsin, the western Pacific, and British Columbia, they considered the impacts of three kinds of social change on fish abundance: the cost of going fishing, the effectiveness of fishing technology, and the importance of catch to angler satisfaction. \"These are three key determinants of fish abundance,\" says Nieman, \"and there is reason to believe that each of them might be changing in ways that gradually drive fish abundance lower.\"</p><p>Travel tends to be a major \'cost\' of going fishing. Improvements in road infrastructure that accumulate over many years can reduce travel time and encourage more fishing. The authors highlight evidence that fishing destinations are becoming easier to reach. An <em>Ecological Applications </em>study in a region of northern Wisconsin where lake access is one of the primary uses of roads found that road density more than doubled between 1937 and 1999.</p><p>Similarly, gradual advancements in fishing technology -- from improved fishing gear to wider use of electronics and faster spread of fishing knowledge via apps and social media -- mean that each hour spent fishing can yield more fish caught. \"This \'technological creep\' has been well documented in commercial fisheries,\" says Nieman, \"and it\'s occurring in recreational fisheries as well.\"</p><p>The importance of catch to angler satisfaction may also change over time. Anglers value many aspects of the fishing experience beyond just catching fish, such as spending time in nature, socializing, and mastering angling-related challenges. \"Because catching fish is only one of many reasons that people go fishing,\" Solomon says, \"they may continue to enjoy going fishing even as catch rates decline.\"</p><p>For instance, a study looking at motivations for fishing in British Columbia found that from 1990-2005, catch-related motivations declined while non-catch motivations changed very little. \"It\'s like the old story about boiling a frog,\" says Solomon. \"If anglers gradually become accustomed to lower catch rates, they may not notice the signal that it\'s time to jump out of the water. Ultimately, that can be bad for the fishery, because fishing pressure continues even as fish populations drop to dangerously low levels.\"</p><p>Despite these concerns, the authors emphasize a positive message: \"There are concrete actions that anglers and managers can take to help ensure sustainable fisheries, even in the face of slow social change,\" says Nieman. They and Solomon emphasize five actions -- three for anglers, and two for fisheries managers -- as particularly important.</p><p>First, anglers can embrace the challenge of fishing, to fight technological creep. \"Limitations on fishing methods are commonly accepted or even adopted by anglers out of a sense of fair play and a desire for challenge,\" says Solomon. \"Extending these limitations -- for instance, by voluntarily avoiding the use of technologies like fish finders -- could go a long way.\" Voluntary behavior change may be essential for counteracting the negative effects that gradual technological improvement can have on fish populations.</p><p>Second, anglers can take steps to reduce fishing mortality by using best practices to release captured fish whenever possible. \"Limiting fish mortality helps to sustain good fishing opportunities,\" says Nieman. Third, anglers can support and advocate for adequate funding for fisheries monitoring by state management agencies, who play an essential role in understanding and conserving fish populations in the face of social and environmental change. Improvements in monitoring lead to more effective responses by managers -- and better outcomes for fish populations.</p><p>For managers, the authors recommend actions that are already in use in some places. First, some fishing opportunities should be managed for high catch rates. \"Many waterbodies are managed to support high fishing effort,\" says Nieman. \"This is important for making sure that people have opportunities to fish, but because it\'s hard to have lots of people fishing and high catch rates at the same time, it may contribute to decreases in the importance of catch to angler satisfaction. If some waterbodies are managed for high catch rates instead of high effort, it should help counteract slow but insidious changes in the importance of catch,\" Nieman advises.</p><p>Second, the authors urge careful consideration of the long-term impacts of investments in infrastructure such as boat launches; once access improves, fishing pressure ramps up. \"Everyone wants good and equitable access to fishing opportunities,\" says Solomon, \"Providing that access while ensuring long-term fisheries sustainability will take careful thought.\"</p><p>\"If anglers and managers can work together to confront the challenges posed by gradual social and environmental change,\" concludes Nieman, \"we can hope to sustain good fishing opportunities and healthy fish populations for many generations to come.\"</p>','2022-03-03 20:31:57.071862','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies','The observation that \'the fishing\'s not what it used to be\' ranks up there with \'the one that got away\' as a story that has crossed over from folk wisdom to folklore. But what if there is truth in it? New research suggests that slow but steady degradation of recreational fisheries may be common, and points to actions that anglers and fisheries managers can take to help stabilize and improve fisheries today and for future generations.\n',1,27,'<li>Chelsey L. Nieman, Christopher T. Solomon. <strong>Slow social change: Implications for open access recreational fisheries</strong>. <em>Fish and Fisheries</em>, 2021; 23 (1): 195 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/faf.12608\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/faf.12608</a>\n</li>'),(271,'Women with irregular periods may be at risk for liver disease','women-with-irregular-periods-may-be-at-risk-for-liver-disease','2022-03-03 20:32:00.245389',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Women with long or irregular periods are known to have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but researchers found these women may also be at risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society\'s <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism</em>.</p><p>About 24% of U.S. adults have NAFLD, a chronic disease in which excess fat builds up in your liver. This buildup of fat is not caused by heavy alcohol use. NAFLD can progress to chronic liver damage and is associated with a higher risk of death. Diet and exercise are the standard of care for NAFLD as no medicines have been approved to treat the disease.</p><p>\"Our study results show that long or irregular menstrual cycles may be associated with an increased risk of developing NAFLD, and this link was not explained by obesity,\" said Seungho Ryu, M.D., Ph.D., of the Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea. \"Previous studies have shown that long or irregular menstrual cycles are associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but our study is the first to find a link between long or irregular menstrual cycles and NAFLD.\"</p><p>The researchers studied a data set of 72,092 women under 40 years old. About 28% of these women had long or irregular menstrual cycles, and 7% had NAFLD. The researchers followed up four years later and found new cases of NAFLD occurred in almost 9% of the women. The researchers concluded that there was an association between long or irregular menstrual cycles in young, premenopausal women and an increased risk of NAFLD.</p><p>\"Young women with long or irregular menstrual cycles may benefit from lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of NAFLD as well as other cardiometabolic diseases,\" Ryu said.</p><p>Other authors of this study include: In Young Cho, Yoosoo Chang, Jae-Heon Kang, Yejin Kim, Eunju Sung and Hocheol Shin of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea; Sarah Wild of the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, U.K; and Christopher Byrne of the University of Southampton and the University Hospital Southampton in Southampton, U.K.</p><p>The study received funding from Sungkyunkwan University and the Southampton NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.</p>','2022-03-03 20:32:00.245389','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Endocrine Society','Women with long or irregular periods are known to have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but researchers found these women may also be at risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).\n',1,27,'<li>In Young Cho, Yoosoo Chang, Jae-Heon Kang, Yejin Kim, Eunju Sung, Hocheol Shin, Sarah H Wild, Christopher D Byrne, Seungho Ryu. <strong>Long or Irregular Menstrual Cycles and Risk of Prevalent and Incident Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease</strong>. <em>The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgac068\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1210/clinem/dgac068</a>\n</li>'),(272,'An oral medication shows benefits treating Type 1 diabetes for at least two years after diagnosis','an-oral-medication-shows-benefits-treating-type-1-diabetes-for-at-least-two-years-after-diagnosis','2022-03-03 20:32:05.228256',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Use of the drug verapamil to treat Type 1 diabetes continues to show benefits lasting at least two years, researchers report in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>. Patients taking the oral blood pressure medication not only required less daily insulin two years after first diagnosis of the disease, but also showed evidence of surprising immunomodulatory benefits.</p><p>Continuing medication was necessary. In the two-year study, subjects who stopped daily doses of verapamil at one year saw their disease at two years worsen at rates similar to those of the control group of diabetes patients who did not use verapamil at all.</p><p>Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes loss of pancreatic beta cells, which produce endogenous insulin. To replace that, patients must take exogenous insulin by shots or pump and are at risk of dangerous low blood sugar events. There is no current oral treatment for this disease.</p><p>The suggestion that verapamil might serve as a potential Type 1 diabetes drug was the serendipitous discovery of study leader Anath Shalev, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This finding stemmed from more than two decades of her basic research into a gene in pancreatic islets called TXNIP. In 2014, Shalev\'s UAB research lab reported that verapamil completely reversed diabetes in animal models, and she announced plans to test the effects of the drug in a human clinical trial. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved verapamil for the treatment of high blood pressure in 1981.</p><p>In 2018, Shalev and colleagues reported the benefits of verapamil in a one-year clinical study of Type 1 diabetes patients, finding that regular oral administration of verapamil enabled patients to produce higher levels of their own insulin, thus limiting their need for injected insulin to regulate blood sugar levels.</p><p>The current study extends on that finding and provides crucial mechanistic and clinical insights into the beneficial effects of verapamil in Type 1 diabetes, using proteomics analysis and RNA sequencing.</p><p>To examine changes in circulating proteins in response to verapamil treatment, the researchers used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry of blood serum samples from subjects diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes within three months of diagnosis and at one year of follow-up. Fifty-three proteins showed significantly altered relative abundance over time in response to verapamil. These included proteins known to be involved in immune modulation and autoimmunity of Type 1 diabetes.</p><p>The top serum protein altered by verapamil treatment was chromogranin A, or CHGA, which was downregulated with treatment. CHGA is localized in secretory granules, including those of pancreatic beta cells, suggesting that changed CHGA levels might reflect alterations in beta cell integrity. In contrast, the elevated levels of CHGA at Type 1 diabetes onset did not change in control subjects who did not take verapamil.</p><p>CHGA levels were also easily measured directly in serum using a simple ELISA assay after a blood draw, and lower levels in verapamil-treated subjects correlated with better endogenous insulin production as measured by mixed-meal-stimulated C-peptide, a standard test of Type 1 diabetes progression. Also, serum CHGA levels in healthy, non-diabetic volunteers were about twofold lower compared to subjects with Type 1 diabetes, and after one year of verapamil treatment, verapamil-treated Type 1 diabetes subjects had similar CHGA levels compared with healthy individuals. In the second year, CHGA levels continued to drop in verapamil-treated subjects, but they rose in Type 1 diabetes subjects who discontinued verapamil during year two.</p><p>\"Thus, serum CHGA seems to reflect changes in beta cell function in response to verapamil treatment or Type 1 diabetes progression and therefore may provide a longitudinal marker of treatment success or disease worsening,\" Shalev said. \"This would address a critical need, as the lack of a simple longitudinal marker has been a major challenge in the Type 1 diabetes field.\"</p><p>Other labs have identified CHGA as an autoantigen in Type 1 diabetes that provokes immune T cells involved in the autoimmune disease. Thus, Shalev and colleagues asked whether verapamil affected T cells. They found that several proinflammatory markers of T follicular helper cells, including CXCR5 and interleukin 21, were significantly elevated in monocytes from subjects with Type 1 diabetes, as compared to healthy controls, and they found that these changes were reversed by verapamil treatment.</p><p>\"Now our results reveal for the first time that verapamil treatment may also affect the immune system and reverse these Type 1 diabetes-induced changes,\" Shalev said. \"This suggests that verapamil, and/or the Type 1 diabetes improvements achieved by it, can modulate some circulating proinflammatory cytokines and T helper cell subsets, which in turn may contribute to the overall beneficial effects observed clinically.\"</p><p>To assess changes in gene expression, RNA sequencing of human pancreatic islet samples exposed to glucose, with or without verapamil was performed and revealed a large number of genes that were either upregulated or downregulated. Analysis of these genes showed that verapamil regulates the thioredoxin system, including TXNIP, and promotes an anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic and immunomodulatory gene expression profile in human islets. Such protective changes in the pancreatic islets might further explain the sustained improvements in pancreatic beta cell function observed with continuous verapamil use.</p><p>Shalev and colleagues caution that their study, with its small number of subjects, needs to be confirmed by larger clinical studies, such as a current verapamil-Type 1 diabetes study ongoing in Europe.</p><p>But the preservation of some beta cell function is promising. \"In humans with Type 1 diabetes, even a small amount of preserved endogenous insulin production -- as opposed to higher exogenous insulin requirements -- has been shown to be associated with improved outcomes and could help improve quality of life and lower the high costs associated with insulin use,\" Shalev said. \"The fact that these beneficial verapamil effects seemed to persist for two years, whereas discontinuation of verapamil led to disease progression, provides some additional support for its potential usefulness for long-term treatment.\"</p>','2022-03-03 20:32:05.228256','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Alabama at Birmingham','Use of the drug verapamil to treat Type 1 diabetes continues to show benefits lasting at least two years, researchers report. Patients taking the oral blood pressure medication not only required less daily insulin two years after first diagnosis of the disease, but also showed evidence of surprising immunomodulatory benefits.\n',1,27,'<li>Guanlan Xu, Tiffany D. Grimes, Truman B. Grayson, Junqin Chen, Lance A. Thielen, Hubert M. Tse, Peng Li, Matt Kanke, Tai-Tu Lin, Athena A. Schepmoes, Adam C. Swensen, Vladislav A. Petyuk, Fernando Ovalle, Praveen Sethupathy, Wei-Jun Qian, Anath Shalev. <strong>Exploratory study reveals far reaching systemic and cellular effects of verapamil treatment in subjects with type 1 diabetes</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28826-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28826-3</a>\n</li>'),(274,'Researchers reconstruct ancient fish lizard','researchers-reconstruct-ancient-fish-lizard','2022-03-03 21:02:55.309790',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Geologists at Lund University in Sweden have mapped 300 years of research on the prehistoric marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs. Using a uniquely well-preserved fossil, the team has also created the scientifically most up-to-date reconstruction of an ichthyosaur currently available.</p><p>Fish lizards, or ichthyosaurs, were a very successful group of animals that, much like today\'s whales, migrated from land to the oceans where they thrived for about 160 million years. These dolphin-like reptiles lived from the Early Triassic to the Late Cretaceous, about the same time as dinosaurs ruled the Earth.</p><p>The fish lizards, who sustained themselves on a diet of turtles and octopuses, among other things, have left behind a rich fossil record. This consists mostly of bones and teeth, but recently the discovery of soft tissues -- such as skin, muscles, fat and pigment -- has opened up new opportunities for understanding the biology and ecology of these animals.</p><p>In a new study published in <em>Earth-Science Reviews</em>, a group of geologists at Lund University has analyzed existing fish lizard research -- something that will benefit future paleontologists.</p><p>\"This research history spans 300 years. It is worth noting that the term ichthyosaur was coined in 1814, i.e. almost 30 years before the term dinosaur,\" says Mats E. Eriksson, professor of paleontology at Lund University.</p><p>Based on the world\'s collective knowledge of these primordial animals, as well as hard and soft fossil parts, the researchers enlisted the help of the Danish sculpture company 10 Tons, to create a scientifically correct life size reconstruction.</p><p>\"Our reference point was a fish lizard that was found in Holzmaden, Germany. This fossil has previously been the subject of an extensive study on the biology and coloration of fish lizards, which I did together with Mats and several other colleagues, and was published in Nature,\" explains Johan Lindgren, geology researcher at Lund University.</p><p>A variety of techniques, including clay sculpturing and 3D printing, were used in the work, something that took just over a year. The sculpture initiative, which could be carried out with support from the Crafoord Foundation, aims to reflect the current state of research. The sculpture is now on public display at the Department of Geology in Lund.</p><p>\"Our reconstruction is the scientifically most modern, and hopefully correct, interpretation of what these animals looked like. It will be valuable for students and researchers who want to learn more about the iconic fish lizard,\" concludes Mats E. Eriksson.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-03 21:02:55.309790','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Lund University','Scientists have mapped 300 years of research on the prehistoric marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs. Using a uniquely well-preserved fossil, the team has also created the scientifically most up-to-date reconstruction of an ichthyosaur currently available.\n',1,27,'<li>Mats E. Eriksson, Randolph De La Garza, Esben Horn, Johan Lindgren. <strong>A review of ichthyosaur (Reptilia, Ichthyopterygia) soft tissues with implications for life reconstructions</strong>. <em>Earth-Science Reviews</em>, 2022; 226: 103965 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.103965\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.103965</a>\n</li>'),(275,'NGI uses twist to engineer 2D semiconductors with built-in memory functions','ngi-uses-twist-to-engineer-2d-semiconductors-with-built-in-memory-functions','2022-03-03 21:02:57.624940',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A team of researchers at The University of Manchester\'s National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has demonstrated that slightly twisted 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) display room-temperature ferroelectricity.</p><p>This characteristic, combined with TMDs\' outstanding optical properties, can be used to build multi-functional optoelectronic devices such as transistors and LEDs with built-in memory functions on nanometre length scale.</p><p>Ferroelectrics are materials with two or more electrically polarisable states that can be reversibly switched with the application of an external electric field. This material property is ideal for applications such as non-volatile memory, microwave devices, sensors and transistors. Until recently, out-of-plane switchable ferroelectricity at room temperature had been achieved only in films thicker than 3 nanometres.</p><p><strong>2D heterostructures</strong></p><p>Since the isolation of graphene in 2004, researchers across academia have studied a variety of new 2D materials with a wide range of exciting properties. These atomically thin 2D crystals can be stacked on top of one another to create so-called heterostructures -- artificial materials with tailored functions.</p><p>More recently, a team of researchers from NGI, in collaboration with NPL, demonstrated that below a twist angle of 2<sup>o</sup>, atomic lattices physically reconstruct to form regions (or domains) of perfectly stacked bilayers separated by boundaries of locally accumulated strain. For two monolayers stacked parallel to each other, a tessellated pattern of mirror-reflected triangular domains is created. Most importantly, the two neighbouring domains have an asymmetric crystal symmetry, causing an asymmetry in their electronic properties.</p><p><strong>Ferroelectric switching at room temperature</strong></p><p>In the work, published in <em>Nature Nanotechnology</em><em>, </em>the team demonstrated that the domain structure created with low-angle twisting hosts interfacial ferroelectricity in bilayer TMDs. Kelvin probe force microscopy revealed that neighbouring domains are oppositely polarised and electrical transport measurements demonstrated reliable ferroelectric switching at room temperature.</p><p>The team went on to develop a scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique with enhanced contrast, using signal from back-scattered electrons. This made it possible to apply an electric field <em>in-situ </em>while imaging changes to the domain structure in a non-invasive manner, providing essential information on how the domain switching mechanism works. The boundaries separating the oppositely polarised domains were found to expand and contract depending on the sign of the applied electric field and led to a significant redistribution of the polarised states.</p><p>This work clearly demonstrates that the twist degree of freedom can allow the creation of atomically thin optoelectronics with tailored and multi-functional properties.</p><p><strong>Wide scope for tailored 2D materials</strong></p><p>Lead author Astrid Weston (pictured right) said: \"It\'s very exciting that we can demonstrate that this simple tool of twisting can engineer new properties in 2D crystals. With the wide variety of 2D crystals to choose from, it provides us with almost unlimited scope to create perfectly tailored artificial materials.\"</p><p>Co-author Dr Eli G Castanon added: \"Being able to observe the pattern and behaviour of ferroelectric domains in structures that have nanometre thickness with KPFM and SEM was very exciting. The advancement of characterisation techniques together with the extensive possibilities for the formation of novel heterostructures of 2D materials paves the way to achieve new capabilities at the nanoscale for many industries.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-03 21:02:57.624940','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Manchester','A team of researchers has demonstrated that slightly twisted 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) display room-temperature ferroelectricity.\n',1,27,'<li>Astrid Weston, Eli G. Castanon, Vladimir Enaldiev, Fábio Ferreira, Shubhadeep Bhattacharjee, Shuigang Xu, Héctor Corte-León, Zefei Wu, Nicholas Clark, Alex Summerfield, Teruo Hashimoto, Yunze Gao, Wendong Wang, Matthew Hamer, Harriet Read, Laura Fumagalli, Andrey V. Kretinin, Sarah J. Haigh, Olga Kazakova, A. K. Geim, Vladimir I. Fal’ko, Roman Gorbachev. <strong>Interfacial ferroelectricity in marginally twisted 2D semiconductors</strong>. <em>Nature Nanotechnology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01072-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41565-022-01072-w</a>\n</li>'),(276,'Dark energy: Neutron stars will tell us if it\'s only an illusion','dark-energy:-neutron-stars-will-tell-us-if-it\'s-only-an-illusion','2022-03-03 21:55:14.878711',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A huge amount of mysterious dark energy is necessary to explain cosmological phenomena, such as the accelerated expansion of the Universe, with Einstein\'s theory. But what if dark energy was just an illusion and general relativity itself had to be modified? A new SISSA study, published in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, offers a new approach to answer this question. Thanks to huge computational and mathematical effort, scientists produced the first simulation ever of merging binary neutron stars in theories beyond general relativity that reproduce a dark- energy like behavior on cosmological scales. This allows the comparison of Einstein\'s theory and modified versions of it, and, with sufficiently accurate data, may solve the dark energy mystery.</p><p>For about 100 years now, general relativity has been very successful at describing gravity on a variety of regimes, passing all experimental tests on Earth and the solar system. However, to explain cosmological observations such as the observed accelerated expansion of the Universe, we need to introduce dark components, such as dark matter and dark energy, which still remain a mystery.</p><p>Enrico Barausse, astrophysicist at SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati) and principal investigator of the ERC grant GRAMS (GRavity from Astrophysical to Microscopic Scales) questions whether dark energy is real or, instead, it may be interpreted as a breakdown of our understanding of gravity. \"The existence of dark energy could be just an illusion,\" he says, \"the accelerated expansion of the Universe might be caused by some yet unknown modifications of general relativity, a sort of \'dark gravity\'.\"</p><p>The merger of neutron stars offers a unique situation to test this hypothesis because gravity around them is pushed to the extreme. \"Neutron stars are the densest stars that exist, typically only 10 kilometers in radius, but with a mass between one or two times the mass of our Sun,\" explains the scientist. \"This makes gravity and the spacetime around them extreme, allowing for abundant production of gravitational waves when two of them collide. We can use the data acquired during such events to study the workings of gravity and test Einstein\'s theory in a new window.\"</p><p>In this study, published in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, SISSA scientists in collaboration with physicists from Universitat de les Illes Balears in Palma de Mallorca, produced the first simulation of merging binary neutron stars in theories of modified gravity relevant for cosmology: \"This type of simulations is extremely challenging,\" clarifies Miguel Bezares, first author of the paper, \"because of the highly non-linear nature of the problem. It requires a huge computational effort -months of run in supercomputers -- that was made possible also by the agreement between SISSA and CINECA consortium as well as novel mathematical formulations that we developed. These represented major roadblocks for many years till our first simulation.\"</p><p>Thanks to these simulations, researchers are finally able to compare general relativity and modified gravity. \"Surprisingly, we found that the \'dark gravity\' hypothesis is equally good as general relativity at explaining the data acquired by the LIGO and Virgo interferometers during past binary neutron star collisions. Indeed, the differences between the two theories in these systems are quite subtle, but they may be detectable by next-generation gravitational interferometers, such as the <em>Einstein telescope</em> in Europe and <em>Cosmic Explorer</em> in USA. This opens the exciting possibility of using gravitational waves to discriminate between dark energy and \'dark gravity\',\" Barausse concludes.</p>','2022-03-03 21:55:14.878711','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati','Scientists provide the first simulation of neutron star collisions in extensions of general relativity relevant for cosmology, offering a new approach to test gravity.\n',1,27,'<li>Miguel Bezares, Ricard Aguilera-Miret, Lotte ter Haar, Marco Crisostomi, Carlos Palenzuela, Enrico Barausse. <strong>No Evidence of Kinetic Screening in Simulations of Merging Binary Neutron Stars beyond General Relativity</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.091103\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.091103</a>\n</li>'),(277,'Taller adults may be at increased risk for colorectal cancer','taller-adults-may-be-at-increased-risk-for-colorectal-cancer','2022-03-03 21:57:06.352092',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new meta-analysis, or data examination of several independent studies, by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers adds to evidence that taller adults may be more likely than shorter ones to develop colorectal cancer or colon polyps that can later become malignant. While the association between taller height and colorectal cancer has been previously investigated, the Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say those studies offered conflicting results, carried inconsistent measures of height and failed to include the risk of adenomas, which are precancerous colon polyps.</p><p>\"This is the largest study of its kind to date. It builds on evidence that taller height is an overlooked risk factor, and should be considered when evaluating and recommending patients for colorectal cancer screenings,\" says Gerard Mullin, M.D., associate professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Johns Hopkins Medicine. He and his team cautioned that the study does not prove causal effect, or that taller stature is as dominant a risk factor as age or genetics. However, the Johns Hopkins study strengthens long-observed links between taller stature and colorectal cancer risk.</p><p>\"One possible reason for this link is that adult height correlates with body organ size. More active proliferation in organs of taller people could increase the possibility of mutations leading to malignant transformation,\" says Elinor Zhou, M.D., co-first author of the published study report.</p><p>The authors of the meta-analysis, published March 2 in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &amp; Prevention</em>, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, first identified 47 international, observational studies involving 280,660 cases of colorectal cancer and 14,139 cases of colorectal adenoma. They also included original data from the Johns Hopkins Colon Biofilm study, which recruited 1,459 adult patients undergoing outpatient colonoscopies to explore the relationship between cancer and bacteria stuck to the walls of the colon, known as biofilm.</p><p>Because the definition of tallness is different around the world, the Johns Hopkins team compared the highest versus the lowest height percentile of various study groups. \"The findings suggest that, overall, the tallest individuals within the highest percentile of height had a 24% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than the shortest within the lowest percentile. Every 10-centimeter increase (about 4 inches) in height was found to be associated with a 14% increased risk of developing colorectal cancer and 6% increased odds of having adenomas,\" says Mullin.</p><p>According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average height in the U.S. for men is 5 feet, 9 inches, and for women it is 5 feet, 4 inches. This means men who are 6 feet, 1 inch and women who are 5 feet, 8 inches (4 inches/10 centimeters above the average U.S. height) or taller are at a 14% increased risk of colorectal cancer and a 6% increased risk of adenomas.</p><p>The percentage results were adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral and other known risk factors of colorectal cancer. Those risk factors include so-called non-modifiable factors such as age, a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or adenomas, and a personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. In the U.S., more than half of all colorectal cancers are linked to modifiable lifestyle factors, including unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity, smoking and high alcohol consumption. Although not directly comparable because of the difference in measurement scale, tallness may impart an order of magnitude of colorectal cancer risk similar to better-known modifiable factors such as cigarette smoking, moderate alcohol consumption and high processed red meat intake. Currently, gastroenterologists focus on genetic and age-related risks for recommending colorectal cancer screenings.</p><p>According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. The rate at which people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year has dropped overall since the mid-1980s, mainly because of primary prevention such as lifestyle improvement and secondary prevention such as early detection through screening. However, the downward trend is mostly in older adults. Deaths from colorectal cancer among individuals younger than 50 have increased 2% per year from 2007 to 2016 for reasons that are not yet clear.</p><p>\"Greater awareness by the public and government will help promote more interest and funding for more research, which ultimately could change guidelines for physicians to consider height as a risk for cancer,\" says Mullin. \"There are well-known modifiable dietary associations for colorectal cancer, such as processed red meats and smoking, but guidelines currently are fixated on family history, and height is clinically neglected when it comes to risk screening.\"</p><p>Zhou says more research is needed to define particular taller populations at risk for colon cancer. \"For instance, tall athletes and individuals with inherited tallness, such as those with Marfan syndrome, could be screened earlier and the impact of height further explored,\" she says. \"We need more studies before we can definitively say at what height you would need earlier colorectal cancer screening.\"</p><p>March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; promoting early detection of colorectal cancer is part of President Biden\'s Cancer Moonshot initiative, which aims to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% in the next 25 years.</p><p>Other researchers involved in this study include Celina Santiago, Julie Nanavati, Emma Spence, Linda Hyland, Joell Gills, Julia Drewes, Cynthia Sears and Francis Giardiello of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; David Kafonek and David Cromwell of Johns Hopkins Health Care &amp; Surgery Center -- Green Spring Station; Samara Rifkin of the University of Michigan; and Louis La Luna of Digestive Disease Associates.</p><p>The authors report no conflicts of interest.</p><p>This study was supported by grants R01CA196845, Bloomberg Philanthropies, T32DK007632, intramural funds and the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center Support Grant, NCIP30CA006973.</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:06.352092','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','A new meta-analysis, or data examination of several independent studies, adds to evidence that taller adults may be more likely than shorter ones to develop colorectal cancer or colon polyps that can later become malignant.\n',1,27,'<li>Elinor Zhou et al. <strong>Adult-Attained Height and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Cohort Study, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis</strong>. <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &amp; Prevention</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-21-0398\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-21-0398</a>\n</li>'),(278,'Meta-analysis of 15 studies reports new findings on how many daily walking steps needed for longevity benefit','meta-analysis-of-15-studies-reports-new-findings-on-how-many-daily-walking-steps-needed-for-longevity-benefit','2022-03-03 21:57:07.369041',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A meta-analysis of 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the amount of daily walking steps that will optimally improve adults\' health and longevity -- and whether the number of steps is different for people of different ages.</p><p>The analysis represents an effort to develop an evidence-based public health message about the benefits of physical activity. The oft-repeated 10,000-steps-a-day mantra grew out of a decades-old marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer, with no science to back up the impact on health.</p><p>Led by University of Massachusetts Amherst physical activity epidemiologist Amanda Paluch, an international group of scientists who formed the Steps for Health Collaborative found that taking more steps a day helps lower the risk of premature death. The findings are reported in a paper published March 2 in Lancet Public Health.</p><p>More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of premature death leveled off at about 6,000-8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity. Adults younger than 60 saw the risk of premature death stabilize at about 8,000-10,000 steps per day.</p><p>\"So, what we saw was this incremental reduction in risk as steps increase, until it levels off,\" Paluch says. \"And the leveling occurred at different step values for older versus younger adults.\"</p><p>Interestingly, the research found no definitive association with walking speed, beyond the total number of steps per day, Paluch notes. Getting in your steps -- regardless of the pace at which you walked them -- was the link to a lower risk of death.</p><p>The new research supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch, published last September in JAMA Network Open, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people\'s risk of premature death.</p><p>The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, updated in 2018, recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity each week. Paluch is among the researchers seeking to help establish the evidence base to guide recommendations for simple, accessible physical activity, such as walking.</p><p>\"Steps are very simple to track, and there is a rapid growth of fitness tracking devices,\" Paluch says. \"It\'s such a clear communication tool for public health messaging.\"</p><p>The research group combined the evidence from 15 studies that investigated the effect of daily steps on all-cause mortality among adults age 18 and older. They grouped the nearly 50,000 participants into four comparative groups according to average steps per day. The lowest step group averaged 3,500 steps; the second, 5,800; the third, 7,800; and the fourth, 10,900 steps per day.</p><p>Among the three higher active groups who got more steps a day, there was a 40-53% lower risk of death, compared to the lowest quartile group who walked fewer steps, according to the meta-analysis.</p><p>\"The major takeaway is there\'s a lot of evidence suggesting that moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity,\" Paluch says. \"More steps per day are better for your health. And the benefit in terms of mortality risk levels off around 6,000 to 8,000 for older adults and 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults.\"</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:07.369041','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Massachusetts Amherst','A meta-analysis of 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the amount of daily walking steps that will optimally improve adults\' health and longevity -- and whether the number of steps is different for people of different ages.\n',1,27,'<li>Amanda E Paluch, Shivangi Bajpai, David R Bassett, Mercedes R Carnethon, Ulf Ekelund, Kelly R Evenson, Deborah A Galuska, Barbara J Jefferis, William E Kraus, I-Min Lee, Charles E Matthews, John D Omura, Alpa V Patel, Carl F Pieper, Erika Rees-Punia, Dhayana Dallmeier, Jochen Klenk, Peter H Whincup, Erin E Dooley, Kelley Pettee Gabriel, Priya Palta, Lisa A Pompeii, Ariel Chernofsky, Martin G Larson, Ramachandran S Vasan, Nicole Spartano, Marcel Ballin, Peter Nordström, Anna Nordström, Sigmund A Anderssen, Bjørge H Hansen, Jennifer A Cochrane, Terence Dwyer, Jing Wang, Luigi Ferrucci, Fangyu Liu, Jennifer Schrack, Jacek Urbanek, Pedro F Saint-Maurice, Naofumi Yamamoto, Yutaka Yoshitake, Robert L Newton, Shengping Yang, Eric J Shiroma, Janet E Fulton. <strong>Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts</strong>. <em>The Lancet Public Health</em>, 2022; 7 (3): e219 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00302-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00302-9</a>\n</li>'),(279,'Computer games in the classroom: Educational success depends on the teacher','computer-games-in-the-classroom:-educational-success-depends-on-the-teacher','2022-03-03 21:57:11.089103',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Future teachers see educational potential in computer games, study shows. Teacher training should therefore address their potential in the classroom.</p><p>New study results by a research team at the University of Cologne show that future teachers increasingly want to use computer games in the classroom. The study identifies particularly relevant aspects that should be addressed in teacher training programmes in order to support this intention. The study results have been published under the title \'Teaching with digital games: How intentions to adopt digital game-based learning are related to personal characteristics of pre-service teachers\' in the <em>British Journal of Educational Technology</em>.</p><p>Computer games play a major role in the lives and media use of children and adolescents people. However, current school teaching rarely takes this medium into account. The future generation of teachers currently being trained at universities could change this. \'In our current study, we focused on the teachers of tomorrow and how they can be better prepared to employ computer games in the classroom because computer games have great potential for teaching\', said Marco Rüth from the University of Cologne\'s Psychology Department.</p><p>In previous studies, the authors had already shown that as a learning tool in the classroom, computer games can support students\' skills development. They also found that after using computer games in class, students can reflect critically and constructively on their experiences with the medium. Based on this, the researchers surveyed 402 teacher trainees from German-speaking universities online about their intention to integrate computer games as learning tools and as an object of reflection in their future school lessons. The team examined 21 personal characteristics, including perceived effectiveness of computer games, knowledge about computer games, and fear of using computer games in the classroom. \'Above all, the perceived effectiveness of computer games and perceived connections of computer games to curricula play a central role in the intention of teacher trainees to actually want to use them in school lessons,\' Professor Kai Kaspar explained.</p><p>The current survey also revealed differences between the scenarios in which computer games are used: \'If teacher trainees want to use computer games to promote the competencies of students, they pay particular attention to their own fear of using computer games and the extent to which people important to them think they should use computer games,\' explained Marco Rüth. \'If, on the other hand, they want to use computer games for media-critical discussions, the focus was instead on the effort involved for them.\'</p><p>Since computer games are currently rarely included as a relevant medium in teacher training programmes, the researchers recommend that, above all, insights into the effectiveness of computer games and their relevance to curricula should be included in teacher training programmes. Likewise, teacher trainees should be aware of potential pitfalls in practical implementation and be able to deal with them ,so that teaching competencies with computer games are promoted in the long term. \'This would require not only adjustments to the curriculum of the teacher training programme, but also further support services and research findings so that teachers in their later school practice know exactly when and how they can use computer games effectively in the classroom,\' said Professor Kaspar.</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:11.089103','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Cologne','Future teachers see educational potential in computer games, study shows. Teacher training should therefore address their potential in the classroom.\n',1,27,'<li>Marco Rüth, Adrian Birke, Kai Kaspar. <strong>Teaching with digital games: How intentions to adopt digital game‐based learning are related to personal characteristics of pre‐service teachers</strong>. <em>British Journal of Educational Technology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13201\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/bjet.13201</a>\n</li>'),(280,'New method to produce chemically modified mRNA developed','new-method-to-produce-chemically-modified-mrna-developed','2022-03-03 21:57:13.043015',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\"></p><p style=\"text-align:justify\">In a recent study, the research group at the University of Cologne’s Institute of Organic Chemistry led by Professor Dr Stephanie Kath-Schorr describes a novel method for the enzymatic production of synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA). While natural base modifications of mRNA are already being used – for example by BioNTech/Pfizer for the production of their coronavirus vaccine – this newly developed mRNA additionally contains site-specifically introduced, non-natural nucleotides. Nucleotides are molecules that function as the basic building blocks of RNA. This new approach using non-natural nucleotides allows the scientists to study how mRNA is introduced into cells and to observe how the newly introduced information spreads at the cellular level. This in turn promises better therapeutic applications in the long run. The article ‘Stronger together for in cell translation: natural and unnatural base modified mRNA’ has appeared in <em>Chemical Science</em>.</p><p style=\"text-align:justify\">Previous methods did not allow for the production of mRNAs with chemically modified building blocks at specific positions because mRNAs are produced enzymatically due to their length of several thousands of building blocks. In the new method, the researchers use a so-called ‘expanded genetic alphabet’ during the enzymatic transcription of DNA to RNA. Where normally two base pairs are responsible for transcription, the team introduced a third base pair. This allowed them to introduce unnatural RNA nucleotides into specific mRNA segments, to modify protein production, and to study cellular application in detail.</p><p style=\"text-align:justify\">‘We investigated how stable this chemically modified mRNA is in cells, whether the artificially produced mRNA can be used in cells as a template for efficient protein production, and what influence the chemical modifications have on protein production,’ said Kath-Schorr. The results show that the new method is very powerful for monitoring the introduction of mRNA into cells, and for monitoring and influencing its spread at the cellular level as well as the efficiency of information transcription. This opens up new possibilities to develop efficient mRNA therapies – not only as vaccines, but also in cancer therapy.</p><p style=\"text-align:justify\">In principle, the method could be applied to any mRNA. However, this requires further research, which is currently in planning in cooperation with University Hospital Cologne. In a further step, clinical studies would have to be carried out. Kath-Schorr\'s team is currently also developing a more efficient method to package mRNAs before introducing them into cells. In this field, the Institute of Organic Chemistry is cooperating with other scientists from the Chemistry Department as well as the Faculty of Medicine within the framework of the UoC Forum ‘Transformative Nanocarriers for RNA Transport and Tracking - Advanced Concepts for Therapy and Diagnostic’ (iRNA Carriers).</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:13.043015','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Cologne','Chemists describe a new synthetically produced, highly modified messenger RNA that allows cells to more efficiently produce proteins. In the long term, this method could open up new therapeutic options.\n',1,27,'<li>Lisa Bornewasser, Christof Domnick, Stephanie Kath-Schorr. <strong>Stronger together for in cell translation: natural and unnatural base modified mRNA</strong>. <em>Chemical Science</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D2SC00670G\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1039/D2SC00670G</a>\n</li>'),(281,'Special shell protects Antarctic scallop from ice build-up','special-shell-protects-antarctic-scallop-from-ice-build-up','2022-03-03 21:57:15.389474',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Antarctic waters have conditions in which objects and living creatures can freeze even under water. This is a major problem for marine travel in polar regions. So-called supercooled water has a temperature just below the freezing point. Due to the high salt content, water in Antarctica has a freezing point of about -1.9 °C, but is about 0.05 °C colder. The smallest disturbances such as grains of sand or surfaces can cause this supercooled water to freeze -- with sometimes fatal consequences for creatures that cannot survive frozen.</p><p>The Antarctic scallop A<em>damussium colbecki </em>resists this, as chemist Konrad Meister knows. Meister is a professor at the University of Alaska and heads a research group in Mischa Bonn\'s department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz. During an expedition in Antarctica, divers drew his attention to the scallop with the efficient ice protection mechanism. \"Our divers reported that they had never observed large-scale ice on the surface of this native scallop species,\" Meister says.</p><p>The international research team, consisting of members of several MPI-P research groups as well as the University of Oregon, suspects that the scallop species developed a special surface structure during evolution that protects it from icing. While scallops in warmer regions have disordered or smooth shell surfaces, the Antarctic species has a microscopic, very regular structure.</p><p>The microscope reveals small ridges that run in a radiating pattern on their shell. These ridges ensure that water freezes preferentially there. If the freezing process continues, a continuous layer of ice forms, resting only on the ridges. Due to the low adhesion between ice and shell, the smallest underwater flow can therefore wash off the ice again and the scallop does not freeze.</p><p>In addition to microscope studies, the research team also conducted icing experiments with the Antarctic and with a scallop from warmer regions. It was found that far less force is needed to remove the ice layer on the Antarctic scallop than for the other species.</p><p>\"It is exciting how evolution has obviously given this scallop an advantage,\" says Konrad Meister. \"New technological applications based on the principle of bionics are conceivable from the knowledge of the ice-free shell. For example, non-icing surfaces could be highly interesting for polar shipping.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-03 21:57:15.389474','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research','Airplane wings that don\'t ice up or solar cells that generate electricity even in winter - ice-free surfaces are important for many applications. A team of scientists has now studied an Antarctic scallop species that opposes the icing process with the help of its shell surface. Due to their special structure, thin layers of ice adhere poorly and are easily washed away by the flow. The discovery could help in the development of ice-free bionic surfaces in the long term.\n',1,27,'<li>William S. Y. Wong, Lukas Hauer, Paul A. Cziko, Konrad Meister. <strong>Cryofouling avoidance in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki</strong>. <em>Communications Biology</em>, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03023-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s42003-022-03023-6</a>\n</li>'),(282,'Nocturnal teeth grinding can damage temporomandibular joints','nocturnal-teeth-grinding-can-damage-temporomandibular-joints','2022-03-03 21:57:18.336777',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Nocturnal teeth grinding and clenching of the upper and lower jaw are known as sleep bruxism and can have a number of consequences for health. In dental science, the question of whether sleep bruxism is associated with the development or progression of temporomandibular joint disorders is controversial. In a study conducted at the University Clinic of Dentistry of the Medical University of Vienna, it was found that certain tooth shapes and tooth locations could well lead to temporomandibular joint problems as a result of bruxism. The research findings of Benedikt Sagl\'s team were recently published in the <em>Journal of Advanced Research</em>.</p><p>Around 15% of the population grind their teeth while they are asleep. The problem is particularly common in younger people. The, often immense, pressure exerted on tooth surfaces and on the jaws is thought to cause various dental health problems and can also result in pain in the jaw muscles and headaches. Researchers led by Benedikt Sagl at the University Clinic of Dentistry of the Medical University of Vienna have now investigated whether sleep bruxism can also have a negative impact on the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) structures. Their research was based on the theory that specific combinations of tooth shape and tooth location during grinding have an influence on the mechanical load on the temporomandibular joint and can thus be considered a risk factor for TMJ disorders.</p><p><strong>Angle of inclination and location </strong></p><p>The studies were performed using a state-of-the-art computer model of the masticatory region, which includes bone, cartilage and muscular structures. Such computer models can be used to investigate research questions when direct studies on patients are not feasible on ethical grounds. The subject of the research was the interaction of two factors that coincide in the phenomenon of bruxism. The first of these is the shape of the affected tooth, more precisely the angle of inclination of the dental cusp that is in contact with its opposite number during grinding. The second is the location of the tooth contact (the so-called wear facet) during a dynamic grinding motion, which was considered by the research team. The study simulated the effects of lateral grinding on the first molar and on the canine with six different wear facet inclinations, resulting in a total of twelve simulated scenarios.</p><p>\"Our results show that both the inclination and location of the wear facets have an influence on the strength of the mechanical load on the temporomandibular joint,\" explains Benedikt Sagl. \"However, it would appear that the decisive factor is the steepness of the grinding facet. The flatter the tooth, the higher the loading on the joint and therefore the higher the risk of a TMJ disorder.\" Conversely, if the dental cusps involved in bruxism have a steeper angle of inclination, the calculated joint loading was lower, even with the same \"grinding force\" (bruxing force). Further research will now be conducted, coupled with clinical investigations, to establish whether this finding can be incorporated into the development of therapeutic interventions for sleep bruxism.</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:18.336777','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Medical University of Vienna','Nocturnal teeth grinding and clenching of the upper and lower jaw are known as sleep bruxism and can have a number of consequences for health. In dental science, the question of whether sleep bruxism is associated with the development or progression of temporomandibular joint disorders is controversial. New research shows that certain tooth shapes and tooth locations could well lead to temporomandibular joint problems as a result of bruxism.\n',1,27,'<li>Benedikt Sagl, Martina Schmid-Schwap, Eva Piehslinger, Michael Kundi, Ian Stavness. <strong>Effect of facet inclination and location on TMJ loading during bruxism: An in-silico study</strong>. <em>Journal of Advanced Research</em>, 2022; 35: 25 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2021.04.009\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jare.2021.04.009</a>\n</li>'),(283,'Why some bubbles move faster','why-some-bubbles-move-faster','2022-03-03 21:57:20.032381',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It is a puzzle long known among experts and very relevant in many industrial production processes: a jump discontinuity in the rise velocity of gas bubbles in so-called viscoelastic fluids. Viscoelastic fluids are substances that combine characteristics of liquid and elastic substances. Many hair shampoos are an example of this. If you turn a transparent, almost completely filled bottle of shampoo upside down, you will see the enclosed air rising as a bubble in an unusual shape. In many industrial processes, such liquids occur as solutions of polymers and often have to be enriched with oxygen by gassing. \"We have known for about 60 years that the rise velocity of gas bubbles in viscoelastic liquids undergoes a jump at a critical bubble diameter. The speed of the bubbles can then suddenly become up to ten times faster. This plays a fundamental role in the controlled gassing of these liquids. At the same time, it was unclear what was causing this sudden increase in velocity,\" explains Günter Brenn from the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer at TU Graz.</p><p>With a combination of simulation, experiment and theoretical analysis, the teams of Günter Brenn at TU Graz and Dieter Bothe at TU Darmstadt have now solved the puzzle together. They\'ve found that the interaction of the polymer molecules with the flow around the gas bubbles leads to the bubbles\' strange velocity behaviour. With this knowledge, the oxygen input into these solutions can now be predicted more accurately, which means that equipment in biotechnology, process engineering and the pharmaceutical industry, for example, can be better designed. The researchers currently explain their findings in the <em>Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics</em>.</p><p><strong>\"Relaxed\" state preferred</strong></p><p>Polymers often consist of huge molecules that interact in complex ways with the liquid in which they are dissolved. This interaction makes a liquid viscoelastic. What causes the jump in velocity that gas bubbles display in these liquids from the critical diameter onwards? Günter Brenn explains the latest findings: \"The flow around the bubble causes the dissolved polymer molecules to stretch. The molecules do not particularly like this state. They want to return to the relaxed, unstretched state as soon as possible.\" If this return to the relaxed state is faster than the transport of the molecules to the equator of the bubble, then the bubble remains slow. If, on the other hand, the return to the relaxed state takes longer than the journey to the bubbles\'s equator, then a tension is released in the fluid that \"pushes\" the bubble. This leads to a self-amplification, since subsequent polymer molecules position themselves below the equator and relax, unloading their elastic energy, releasing a \"propulsive force.\"</p><p>In addition to the high practical relevance of this finding, especially for the above-mentioned areas of application, there are also consequences in basic research. \"It turned out that another surprising property of the flow field of these solutions can be assigned to this molecular mechanism we showed: namely, the so-called \'negative wake\' of the gas bubble,\" says Dieter Bothe from the Analysis working group of the Department of Mathematics at TU Darmstadt. This is an area in the flow field below the bubble where the fluid normally \"follows\" the bubble at a low velocity. With polymeric liquids, however, it is the other way round: there, the movement of the liquid is oriented in the opposite direction to the movement of the bubble. This fluid movement is caused by the same tension that \"pushes\" the bubble. This understanding can lead to possibilities for controlling flow processes.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-03 21:57:20.032381','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Graz University of Technology','Why do large gas bubbles in viscoelastic liquids (such as polymer and protein solutions) rise so much faster than expected? An open question with great relevance for industrial production processes. Researchers have now found an explanation.\n',1,27,'<li>Dieter Bothe, Matthias Niethammer, Christian Pilz, Günter Brenn. <strong>On the molecular mechanism behind the bubble rise velocity jump discontinuity in viscoelastic liquids</strong>. <em>Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics</em>, 2022; 302: 104748 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnnfm.2022.104748\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jnnfm.2022.104748</a>\n</li>'),(285,'Weighing up: What’s the bottom line when it comes to weight loss?','weighing-up:-what’s-the-bottom-line-when-it-comes-to-weight-loss?','2022-03-03 21:57:34.419291',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When it comes to weight loss, many of us have dabbled in the latest diets. But whether you\'re cutting carbs or keeping to keto, new research from the University of South Australia shows that diet trends can cost more than your waistline and leave a hefty hole in your hip pocket.</p><p>In a new study, UniSA researchers have evaluated the affordability of popular diets, comparing them to the recommendations within the Australian Guide to Health Eating (AGHE), and the Mediterranean Diet, finding that costs of cutting your calories can vary by up to $300 per week.</p><p>The research shows that the most cost-effective diet was modelled from the AGHE and adapted for weight loss through calorie restriction. This meal plan included all five core food groups and a range of affordable staple items such as breads, pasta, and legumes, as well as lower amounts of animal products.</p><p>The diet plans that were most expensive typically restricted multiple food groups and included premium products such as organic produce, protein supplements, low-carbohydrate replacements, and high protein bread.</p><p>In Australia, more than 2.5 million Australians had tried a weight loss diet.</p><p>Lead researcher Associate Professor Karen Murphy says understanding the costs of weight loss programs is important, especially when people are facing financial struggles and reduced access to fresh produce amid COVID-19 and current floods.</p><p>\"In Australia, around 12.5 million adults are overweight or obese. That\'s two in every three adults, or 67 per cent of our adult population,\" Assoc Prof Karen Murphy says.</p><p>\"Not surprisingly, interest in weight loss diets continues to rise, yet very rarely are the associated costs of these programs reported.</p><p>\"In our research, we assessed the weekly costs of seven different meal plans and found that weekly grocery shopping of entire product units cost between $345-$625, which is substantially higher than more than what the average Australian spends on groceries each week.</p><p>\"Understanding the costs behind the range of diets on offer is important as the financial feasibility of sticking to these programs may be questionable for certain people, including low-income earners.</p><p>\"Additionally, there tends to be a misconception that consuming a healthy diet made up of the five key food groups, like the AGHE, is too expensive, which it\'s really not.\"</p><p>The study showed that some of the more expensive diets absorbed up to 13 per cent of disposable income*.</p><p>In addition to costs, UniSA PhD candidate, Ella Bracci, says nutrition is also key to starting a new diet.</p><p>\"It doesn\'t matter whether you chose keto or carb-free, weight loss is always linked to calorie intake -- if you reduce the number of calories you consume, you will lose weight,\" Bracci says.</p><p>\"Some diets purposely restrict certain food groups -- such breads and pasta -- to help change unhealthy habits. But it\'s also important to realise that the restrictive patterns of some diets can create unhealthy relationships with food and put you at risk of nutritional deficiency if followed without guidance from a qualified nutritionist or dietitian.</p><p>\"Healthy eating principles such as those within the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE) and the Mediterranean Diet place an emphasis on fresh produce and staple foods. While an incorrect perception exists that these can cost more, eating a healthy diet doesn\'t need to break the bank.</p><p>\"Shop for specials and mark-downs, buy in season or frozen, dried and canned produce, choose home-brand or non-premium products where possible, and buy in bulk where appropriate.</p><p>\"Weigh up your options wisely and you can reduce your waistline without cutting into your bottom line.\"</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:34.419291','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of South Australia','When it comes to weight loss, many of us have dabbled in the latest diets. But whether you\'re cutting carbs or keeping to keto, new research shows that diet trends can cost more than your waistline and leave a hefty hole in your hip pocket.\n',1,27,'<li>Ella L. Bracci, Rachel Milte, Jennifer B. Keogh, Karen J. Murphy. <strong>Developing and implementing a new methodology to test the affordability of currently popular weight loss diet meal plans and healthy eating principles</strong>. <em>BMC Public Health</em>, 2022; 22 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12447-4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s12889-021-12447-4</a>\n</li>'),(286,'Mussels\' underwater glue inspires synthetic cement','mussels\'-underwater-glue-inspires-synthetic-cement','2022-03-03 21:57:36.538270',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Those who have tried to pry a mussel from anything from wood to rock know how stubborn the underwater mollusks are -- and their gluey secret has long captivated scientists. For years, researchers have attempted to replicate the extraordinary adhesive and its properties in the lab, targeting some of the eight proteins that mussels secrete and use to coat an organ called a foot that mussels use to attach to surfaces.</p><p>Now, using a novel method to arrange molecules, researchers at Northwestern University have created a material that performs even better than the glue they were trying to mimic. Their findings, to be published March 3 in the <em>Journal of the American Chemical Society</em>, expand on how these protein-like polymers can be used as a platform to create new materials and therapeutics.</p><p>\"The polymer could be used as an adhesive in a biomedical context, which means now you could stick it to a specific tissue in the body,\" said Northwestern\'s Nathan Gianneschi. \"And keep other molecules nearby in one place, which would be useful in wound healing or repair.\"</p><p>Gianneschi led the study and is the Jacob and Rosaline Cohn Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.</p><p>Proteins like those secreted by mussel feet exist around nature. Evolution has made a habit of creating these long, linear chains of amino acids that repeat over and over (called tandem repeat proteins, or TRPs). Appearing at times stretchy, strong and sticky, the protein frameworks show up in insect wings and legs, spider silk and mussel feet. Scientists know the exact primary sequences of amino acids that make up many such proteins, yet have trouble replicating the complicated natural process while still maintaining the extraordinary qualities.</p><p>The paper\'s first author Or Berger, a postdoctoral researcher in Gianneschi\'s lab who studies peptides -- these very chains of amino acids -- came with an idea for how to arrange amino acid building blocks differently to replicate the properties rather than directly copy the structure of mussel proteins.</p><p>By taking the building block of one of the proteins (the repeat decapeptide, a 10-amino acid sequence that makes up the mussel foot protein), and plugging it into synthetic polymer, Berger thought the properties may be enhanced.</p><p>As associate director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology, Gianneschi has built much of his lab around the idea of mimicking proteins in function by using polymer chemistry. Within precision therapeutics, drug therapies like antibodies and other small molecules combat some diseases, where a nanocarrier is used to deliver a drug to a target more effectively. But Gianneschi says replicating proteins could approach biological problems differently, by changing interactions inside and between cells that are involved in the progression of disease, or between cells, tissues and materials.</p><p>\"Proteins arrange amino acids as chains, but instead we took them and arranged them in parallel, on a dense synthetic polymer backbone,\" Gianneschi said. \"This was the same thing we have begun to do for controlling specific biological interactions, so the same platform technology we will use for future therapeutics has really become potentially interesting in materials science.\"</p><p>The result was something that looks like a brush of peptides rather than looping together amino acids in a straight line as a chain. While the novel process may seem like adding an additional step, forming protein-like polymers (PLPs) skips several steps, requiring researchers to form peptides in a readily available synthesizer and insert them into the tightly packed backbone rather than going through tedious steps of protein expression.</p><p>To test the new material\'s efficacy, the researchers applied either the polymer material or the native mussel protein to glass plates. The researchers placed cells on the plates and then, after washing them, assessed how many cells were present, either attached or not, to gauge how well the materials performed. They found the PLP formed a cellular superglue, leaving the most cells attached compared to the native mixture and untreated plate.</p><p>\"We actually didn\'t mean to improve on the mussel\'s properties,\" Berger said. \"We only meant to mimic it, but when we went and tested it in several different assays, we actually got better properties than the native material in these settings.\"</p><p>The team hopes the model can be widely applicable across other proteins that repeat their sequence to gain function in a new way to replicate proteins. They hypothesize such a platform could perform better than their native counterparts because they are denser and scalable. Gianneschi said this is the first of many papers to discuss polymer-based protein mimics, and he is already thinking about applications for future materials.</p><p>Resilin, for example, a stretchy protein found in insect legs and wings, could be used to make flexible drones and other robotics.</p><p>\"When you talk about polymers, some people immediately think of plastic bags and bottles,\" said Gianneschi said. \"Instead, these are very functional, advanced precision materials, made accessible.\"</p><p>Gianneschi and Berger are inventors on pending intellectual property in this space. Gianneschi also is a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and a member of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Simpson Querrey Institute and Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. He is the co-founder of a company, Grove Biopharma, that seeks to develop versions of these materials as translational therapeutics.</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:36.538270','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Northwestern University','Researchers have used a novel method to replicate mussel-adhesive proteins, creating a stronger glue than the material they set out to mimic.\n',1,27,'<li>Or Berger, Claudia Battistella, Yusu Chen, Julia Oktawiec, Zofia E. Siwicka, Danielle Tullman-Ercek, Muzhou Wang, Nathan C. Gianneschi. <strong>Mussel Adhesive-Inspired Proteomimetic Polymer</strong>. <em>Journal of the American Chemical Society</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c10936\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/jacs.1c10936</a>\n</li>'),(287,'Attention! Brain scans can tell if you are paying it','attention!-brain-scans-can-tell-if-you-are-paying-it','2022-03-03 21:57:43.846324',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Data from brain scans can now answer an age-old question asked by parents and teachers everywhere: Are you paying attention?</p><p>Using a model of fMRI data collected from 92 individuals performing several types of attention-related tasks, the lab of Yale\'s Marvin Chun successfully predicted how well those individuals would perform on the tasks based on their brain scans alone.</p><p>This generalized model can also predict severity of an individual case of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.</p><p>The study was published March 3 in the journal <em>Nature Human Behavior</em>.</p><p>\"Attention is such a fundamentally important ability for school, sports, work, and even happiness, but it is hard to put a number on it like blood pressure or IQ,\" said Chun, the Richard M. Colgate Professor of Psychology, professor of neuroscience, and co-corresponding author of the paper. \"Now we can put people in a scanner and get a score that represents how well an individual will do on attention tasks relative to other people.\"</p><p>Attention has many dimensions, including the ability to sustain attention or retain focus when distracted, and the capacity to store upcoming tasks in working memory. For the new study, Chun and a research team led by Yale\'s Kwangsun Ray Yoo distilled data taken from brain scans of individuals as they performed a series of attention-related tasks, such as sustained focus exercises, and then linked that information to patterns of activity across different brain regions. They then created a computational model that it is so sensitive it can predict how well an individual will perform on an attention-related task even when the brain is resting.</p><p>\"The brain is all interconnected, and is always running like a beating heart,\" Chun said. \"What we can do is take all those complex patterns and analyze the data to create a fingerprint of the brain\'s ability to pay attention.\"</p><p>The measurement can help diagnose ADHD and be used as neurofeedback to help improve an individual\'s own focus.</p><p>The study builds on pioneering work conducted by Monica Rosenberg, a co-author and former postdoctoral fellow at Yale who is now an assistant professor at the University of Chicago.</p><p>Chun is a member of the Wu Tsai Institute.</p>','2022-03-03 21:57:43.846324','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Yale University','Using a model of fMRI data collected from 92 individuals performing several types of attention-related tasks, researchers successfully predicted how well those individuals would perform on the tasks based on their brain scans alone. This generalized model can also predict severity of an individual case of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. The study was published March 3 in the journal Nature Human Behavior.\n',1,27,'<li>Kwangsun Yoo, Monica D. Rosenberg, Young Hye Kwon, Qi Lin, Emily W. Avery, Dustin Sheinost, R. Todd Constable, Marvin M. Chun. <strong>A brain-based general measure of attention</strong>. <em>Nature Human Behaviour</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01301-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41562-022-01301-1</a>\n</li>'),(288,'Sense of belonging helps high school students engage with STEM','sense-of-belonging-helps-high-school-students-engage-with-stem','2022-03-03 22:42:39.571451',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study from North Carolina State University finds that one key to promoting STEM education, and to making students feel capable of working on STEM subjects outside of the classroom, is to find ways to make classrooms feel more inclusive.</p><p>\"We found that kids who feel their high school STEM classrooms are inclusive are more likely to feel like they belong,\" says Kelly Lynn Mulvey, first author of a paper on the work and an associate professor of psychology at NC State. \"That sense of belonging makes them more likely to engage in the classroom and more likely to feel like they can use STEM to tackle real-world problems.</p><p>\"We need workers in the STEM workforce, and we know that high school is when interest in STEM subjects declines for many students. We launched this study because we wanted to evaluate the role inclusivity may play in how students view STEM.\"</p><p>Inclusivity, in this context, refers to the extent to which students feel a classroom is welcoming to different genders and ethnic groups.</p><p>For the study, researchers conducted in-depth surveys of 523 students from five high schools: 34.2% of study participants identified as White/European-American; 33.4% as Black/African-American; 10.5% as Latino/Latina/Latine; 13.4% as biracial or other; and 8.5% of participants chose not to report their race/ethnicity. Meanwhile, 49.4% of study participants identified as female; 36.3% as male; 2.1% non-binary; 1.1% as unsure; and 11.1% chose not to report their gender identity.</p><p>In the survey, students were asked questions aimed at assessing how inclusive they felt their STEM classrooms were; the extent to which STEM teachers treated them unfairly; and the extent to which they felt like they personally belonged in their STEM classes. A separate set of questions in the survey assessed the extent to which students engaged with their STEM classes, and the extent to which students felt they could help solve real-world STEM problems in their communities. Examples of real-world STEM problems included lead contamination in drinking water and a lack of access to recycling facilities.</p><p>\"Most students felt their classrooms were inclusive, and that teachers treated them fairly,\" Mulvey says. \"However, the further students had progressed through high school, the less likely they were to view their STEM classrooms as inclusive, and the more likely they were to perceive unfair treatment from their teachers. That was true regardless of race and gender.\"</p><p>The researchers also found that the less fair a student felt their teacher was, the more likely the student was to avoid engaging in the class.</p><p>\"Similarly, students who felt classrooms <em>were </em>inclusive were more likely to feel that they belonged, increasing both their classroom engagement and their sense of being empowered to address STEM issues in their communities,\" Mulvey says.</p><p>\"In practical terms, this study highlights the fact that feeling like you belong matters. And the way to promote belonging is to make kids feel like their classrooms are inclusive. For example, teachers can take steps to make sure all students feel involved and discuss scientists from backgrounds that reflect the backgrounds of the students.</p><p>\"These findings are a first step, since this is an ongoing, longitudinal study,\" Mulvey says. \"We will continue to partner with teachers in the district to promote feelings of inclusion and belonging, and hope to identify additional ways to support students.\"</p><p>Another variable researchers will look at is the role COVID-19 and remote learning may have played in affecting study outcomes. For example, the data in this study was collected when many students were attending school online.</p><p>\"While the students reported high levels of inclusivity and low levels of unfair treatment on this survey, we want to see whether that changes now that students are all attending school in person again,\" Mulvey says.</p>','2022-03-03 22:42:39.571451','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'North Carolina State University','A new study finds one key to promoting STEM education, and to making students feel capable of working on STEM subjects outside of the classroom, is to find ways to make classrooms feel more inclusive.\n',1,27,'<li>Kelly Lynn Mulvey, Channing Mathews, Jerica Knox, Angelina Joy, Jaqueline Cerda‐Smith. <strong>The role of inclusion, discrimination, and belonging for adolescent            Science, Technology, Engineering and Math            engagement in and out of school</strong>. <em>Journal of Research in Science Teaching</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tea.21762\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/tea.21762</a>\n</li>'),(289,'Extending the longevity of stem cells','extending-the-longevity-of-stem-cells','2022-03-03 22:42:58.917875',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People are having children later than ever before. The average age of new parents in the United States has been rising for at least the past half century.</p><p>But time is tough on our bodies and our reproductive systems. For instance, as animals age, our stem cells are less effective at renewing our tissues. This is particularly true for germline stem cells, which turn into sperm and eggs.</p><p>What if there were a way to pause this process?</p><p>Biologists at UC Santa Barbara have published a study on the ability of fruit flies to extend the longevity of their germline stem cells. The paper, released in<em> Nature Communications</em>, describes a process that halts egg production in female flies. The scientists found that nearly every step was put on hold, extending the stem cells\' viability. The insights could inform future medical discoveries.</p><p>\"We\'re interested in extending the life of stem cells in general, and female germline stem cells in particular,\" said senior author Denise Montell, the Duggan Professor and a distinguished professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.</p><p>When fruit flies emerge in their adult form into cold, dark conditions, they enter a dormancy called diapause. It\'s a seasonal response to save energy for reproduction when success is more likely: in warmer times of the year. Diapause can double a fly\'s lifespan and significantly extend their reproductive period. Flies in diapause eat less, are less active and suspend their reproductive processes; however, they don\'t actually hibernate.</p><p>Scientists have investigated this phenomenon before, but mostly from a behavioral perspective. \"That\'s what\'s novel about this study,\" Montell said. \"We were looking in detail at the cell biology, which proved to be very interesting.\"</p><p>\"Studying this process in detail can give us clues as to how to slow down stem cell aging,\" added lead author Sreesankar Easwaran, a project scientist in the Montell Lab.</p><p>Female flies under stress will pause oogenesis -- the production of egg cells -- at a specific stage of egg development. Montell, Easwaran and their team found this during diapause as well, but it went beyond just this stage. The arrest of oogenesis was much more complete during diapause than under other stressful situations, like when predators were present or protein was scarce. Not only was the arrest more complete, but recovery of reproductive capacity was stronger as well.</p><p>If growing egg cells is like installing new software, then the stress response is like pausing the download to take care of an errand. In contrast, diapause is like quitting the installation and restarting the process at a later point.</p><p>\"One of the reasons the arrest is so complete is that every stage of development was put on hold,\" Montell explained. For instance, a germline stem cell will normally split into two daughter cells. One of these continues dividing to become an egg, while the other remains a stem cell, ready to repeat the process later.</p><p>The team found that in diapause, this process is frozen just before the daughter cells pinch off from each other in the stage known as cytokinesis. The conjoined cells have two distinct nuclei, but remain attached. This resolves once favorable conditions return and the fly emerges from diapause.</p><p>The researchers also found an accumulation of DNA damage that activated P53, a genetic-damage checkpoint protein that prevents a cell from replicating. Cells typically have a set amount of replication potential: \"They can divide only so many times before they get tired and quit,\" Montell said. By preventing replication, P53 preserves the potential for that cell to repair itself and resume dividing later.</p><p>Montell and Easwaran were curious whether they could hack this system to prolong the longevity of germline stem cells under normal conditions. They targeted a molecule called juvenile hormone. This compound plays a role in egg production, and the researchers found its levels were reduced during diapause.</p><p>They removed the cells that create juvenile hormone, which stopped egg production, and then reintroduced the hormone into the animals\' food six weeks later. They found that temporarily removing the hormone extended the flies\' reproductive potential, similar to diapause, and egg production recovered when the compound was reintroduced.</p><p>Montell stressed that this is just the start of their investigation into phenomena like diapause, and the results could find applications in human medicine. \"We know that it\'s possible to find things in very simple organisms that hold true in humans as well,\" she said. For example, her research on cell motility in fruit flies developed into a strong model for the way in which cancers spread throughout the body.</p><p>\"We have a National Institute on Aging grant to study this process of diapause because the agency is absolutely convinced that this kind of fundamental study in a simple animal can tell us things that turn out to be true in humans,\" she said.</p><p>Easwaran is convinced as well. \"The results we show in the paper could help reduce age-related diseases or conditions,\" he said, \"helping us to age gracefully.\"</p>','2022-03-03 22:42:58.917875','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Santa Barbara','People are having children later than ever before. The average age of new parents in the United States has been rising for at least the past half century. But time is tough on our bodies and our reproductive systems. For instance, as animals age, our stem cells are less effective at renewing our tissues. This is particularly true for germline stem cells, which turn into sperm and eggs. What if there were a way to pause this process?\n',1,27,'<li>Sreesankar Easwaran, Matthew Van Ligten, Mackenzie Kui, Denise J. Montell. <strong>Enhanced germline stem cell longevity in Drosophila diapause</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28347-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28347-z</a>\n</li>'),(290,'New tool reveals function of enigmatic gene sequences','new-tool-reveals-function-of-enigmatic-gene-sequences','2022-03-03 22:43:01.413524',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While the large proportion of our genome that does not instruct our cells to form proteins has been harder to study than protein-coding genes, it has been shown to have vital physiological functions. Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now developed new high-precision tools able to identify what these noncoding sequences do. The study, which is published in the journal <em>Nature Genetics, </em>may eventually contribute to the development of new, targeted drugs.</p><p>Only a small proportion of our genome comprises genes that instruct the cells to make specific proteins; the majority are so-called noncoding DNA, sometimes called \"junk DNA\" given that their function has been largely unknown. However, recent research has shown that some of these sequences can give rise to RNA which affects vital cellular processes. It transpires that most of the genetic changes linked to different diseases lie in these very noncoding parts of patients\' DNA.</p><p>\"This has come as a great surprise and we now need to understand in detail how these genetic changes affect different diseases in order to eventually be able to develop more accurate drugs,\" says the study\'s first author Per Johnsson, researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet. \"Generally speaking we don\'t know that much about this interaction, but we believe that noncoding RNA will one day be a source of attractive drug candidates. It\'s therefore extremely important that we speed up the characterisation of these RNA molecules.\"</p><p>For this study, the researchers combined single-cell sequencing with mathematical calculations to show that it is possible in this way to identify the function of noncoding RNA, something that has proved very difficult before. Using these tools, they were then able to identify an entirely new mechanism for how the RNA molecules regulate the activity of protein-coding genes in their vicinity.</p><p>\"After many years of development, single-cell sequencing has now reached a stage where we can isolate individual cells and study regulating mechanisms with high precision,\" says principal investigator Rickard Sandberg, professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet. \"This is multidisciplinary research that we believe will contribute significantly to our basic understanding of cell biology and that, in the long run, can give us new insights into how cellular function can be influenced through the agency of small drug substances.\"</p><p>The group has so far used the method to study the function of a handful of noncoding RNA molecules, but there are thousands of similar molecules waiting to be characterised. They now plan to do similar work on RNA molecules with a possible role in the development of disease, such as cancer.</p><p>\"We\'ll be applying larger-scale methods to study hundreds to thousands of similar genes in parallel, thus greatly advancing our understanding of these interesting RNA molecules,\" says Dr Johnsson.</p><p>The study was financed by the Swedish Research Council, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Göran Gustafsson Foundation and the Vallee Foundation.</p>','2022-03-03 22:43:01.413524','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Karolinska Institutet','While the large proportion of our genome that does not instruct our cells to form proteins has been harder to study than protein-coding genes, it has been shown to have vital physiological functions. Scientists have now developed new high-precision tools able to identify what these noncoding sequences do. The study may eventually contribute to the development of new, targeted drugs.\n',1,27,'<li>Per Johnsson, Christoph Ziegenhain, Leonard Hartmanis, Gert-Jan Hendriks, Michael Hagemann-Jensen, Björn Reinius, Rickard Sandberg. <strong>Transcriptional kinetics and molecular functions of long noncoding RNAs</strong>. <em>Nature Genetics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01014-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41588-022-01014-1</a>\n</li>'),(291,'Time off after high school makes college less likely','time-off-after-high-school-makes-college-less-likely','2022-03-03 23:25:19.123610',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Academic breaks after high school -- even those lasting just a few months -- can cause some students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to forgo enrolling in college altogether, according to new Cornell University research.</p><p>In the paper, \"Disrupted academic careers: The returns to time off after high school,\" Evan Riehl, assistant professor in the ILR School, and co-author Nicolás de Roux of the Universidad de los Andes found that even a brief academic break led to an 8% reduction in college enrollment rates in two regions of Colombia. The researchers found that among those students, the break had the largest impact on those from disadvantaged academic and socioeconomic backgrounds.</p><p>The researchers also found that the academic break reduced the early-career earnings of high-ability students, but had little impact on the earnings for less-prepared students.</p><p>\"In Colombia, as in many countries, college dropout rates are really high,\" Riehl said. \"There is wide variation in the quality of colleges and the amount of resources that colleges have to help students graduate. So students must be academically prepared and motivated to earn a degree.</p><p>\"We find that individuals who were prepared to succeed in college would have had large returns to attending college, and in this sense they made a \'mistake\' by not enrolling,\" he said. \"Other students, however, may have dropped out of college anyway, and so forgoing college did not have a big impact on their careers.\"</p><p>To conduct their study, Riehl and de Roux took advantage of a policy change that altered academic calendars in two Colombian regions, requiring nearly 30,000 high school graduates to wait an extra semester to start college. For data, they merged records from a national standardized high school exit exam to college enrollment and earnings records from the Ministries of Education and Social Protection.</p><p>The results of the study suggest that a variety of \"mistakes\" can arise in the transition from high school to college, and that there can be benefits to education systems, like those used in some European countries, that track students into appropriate postsecondary options.</p><p>\"In the U.S. and Colombia, students have more flexibility in choosing which colleges to apply to after high school,\" wrote the authors. \"More flexible education systems can lead to indecision in the transition from high school to college, and thus create breaks in students\' academic careers. … The returns to college may be low if students are less prepared or less motivated.\"</p>','2022-03-03 23:25:19.123610','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cornell University','Academic breaks after high school -- even those lasting just a few months -- can cause some students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to forgo enrolling in college altogether, according to new research.\n',1,27,'<li>Nicolás de Roux, Evan Riehl. <strong>Disrupted academic careers: The returns to time off after high school</strong>. <em>Journal of Development Economics</em>, 2022; 156: 102824 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102824\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102824</a>\n</li>'),(292,'Vaccine and antibody treatment effectiveness blunted by all three Omicron subvariants','vaccine-and-antibody-treatment-effectiveness-blunted-by-all-three-omicron-subvariants','2022-03-03 23:25:22.354142',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Only one currently authorized antibody treatment retains its activity against all Omicron subvariants, according to new research by scientists at Columbia University and the University of Hong Kong. The study also shows that the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines is reduced against all three subvariants of Omicron.</p><p>The findings were published in <em>Nature </em>on March 2 by David D. Ho, MD, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Clyde\'56 and Helen Wu Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.</p><p>Omicron is a highly transmissible variant of SARS-CoV-2 that has caused the biggest surge in COVID cases so far in many countries. Researchers have identified three subvariants of Omicron that share 21 mutations in the spike protein, and named them BA.1, BA.1.1 and BA.2.</p><p>When Omicron was first identified in November 2021, the dominant variant was BA.1. Since December, BA.1 cases have declined, while BA1.1 cases have risen and now make up around 40% of all Omicron cases sequenced globally. The BA.2 subvariant currently represents only 10% of all Omicron cases globally but is increasing in prevalence.</p><p>In laboratory experiments, Ho and his team studied the ability of 19 monoclonal antibodies and the sera from individuals immunized with one of two available mRNA vaccines to neutralize the three known subvariants of Omicron.</p><p>Consistent with their previous study on the BA.1 variant, the researchers observed a similar loss of neutralization activity against BA.1.1 and BA.2 in blood samples from individuals who had received two mRNA shots. However, the decline in neutralization was less prominent in blood samples from individuals who had received three mRNA shots, reinforcing the importance of booster shots for sustaining immunity.</p><p>In neutralization experiments, all three variants exhibited a strong resistance to most of the monoclonal antibodies tested. Of 19 antibodies, 17 were ineffective against the BA.2 subvariant. The researchers found that bebtelovimab, the latest monoclonal antibody to receive FDA Emergency Use Authorization, is the only currently available antibody therapy that can adequately treat all three Omicron subvariants.</p><p>\"The emergence of new variants is narrowing our treatment options and challenging the effectiveness of our current vaccines,\" says Ho. \"It is critical that we don\'t relax prematurely and continue to devise novel strategies to contain this ever-evolving pathogen.\"</p>','2022-03-03 23:25:22.354142','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Columbia University Irving Medical Center','A new study finds that COVID vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments offer less protection against new Omicron subvariants.\n',1,27,'<li>Sho Iketani, Lihong Liu, Yicheng Guo, Liyuan Liu, Jasper F.-W. Chan, Yiming Huang, Maple Wang, Yang Luo, Jian Yu, Hin Chu, Kenn K.-H. Chik, Terrence T.-T. Yuen, Michael T. Yin, Magdalena E. Sobieszczyk, Yaoxing Huang, Kwok-Yung Yuen, Harris H. Wang, Zizhang Sheng, David D. Ho. <strong>Antibody evasion properties of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04594-4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04594-4</a>\n</li>'),(293,'Working, studying in \'off\' hours can harm motivation','working,-studying-in-\'off\'-hours-can-harm-motivation','2022-03-03 23:25:25.225291',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The traditional 9-to-5 work week has been replaced in many cases by hybrid hours tailored to individual needs.</p><p>But working a nontraditional schedule, and checking in at all hours of the day, night and weekends, is not necessarily beneficial for the 21st-century workforce, according to new Cornell University research.</p><p>\"Even if you\'re still working 40 hours a week, you\'re working during time that you\'ve mentally encoded as time off, or as time that should be for a vacation, and that can make you feel suddenly that your work is less enjoyable,\" said Kaitlin Woolley, associate professor of marketing in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.</p><p>Woolley and Laura Giurge, assistant professor of behavioral science at London School of Economics and a former postdoctoral research fellow at Cornell, address the issue in \"Working During Non-Standard Work Time Undermines Intrinsic Motivation,\" which published Feb. 26 in <em>Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.</em></p><p>Woolley and Giurge wanted to examine the effect of working -- and studying, among college students -- during nontraditional hours on job satisfaction and motivation. \"We had this feeling that sometimes the ability to work when we want to could also impact how we feel about our work,\" Woolley said.</p><p>In one study, the researchers approached Cornell students studying in a campus library on President\'s Day. They reminded half the participants that they were studying during a federal holiday; the other half did not receive this reminder. They then measured students\' intrinsic motivation for their schoolwork -- asking them how enjoyable, engaging, interesting and fun they found their materials to be. Students who were reminded the day was a federal holiday reported that their work was 15% less enjoyable.</p><p>In another study, the researchers measured whether a simple calendar reminder on a federal holiday (MLK Day) would alter full-time workers\' perception of work enjoyment. They found that work was 9% less enjoyable on the holiday Monday, compared with a typical Monday, despite engaging in similar work-related activities on both days.</p><p>In the third study, participants were surveyed on a Tuesday, with no reminder that it\'s a typical work day, then again on a Saturday. Some participants were reminded that it was Saturday, \"a weekend day,\" while others were given no reminder. Both groups reported lower levels of work satisfaction on the weekend day, although the effect was stronger in the reminder group.</p><p>Woolley and Giurge think part of this discrepancy has to do with the idea of \"collective time off\" -- having free time when friends and family are also off.</p><p>\"The real benefit of time off on the weekend or on holidays is that it\'s not just that I have time off, but my family and friends have time off, too,\" Woolley said. \"And so one thing that we suggest for managers is, can you create a \'weekend shift\' so people feel like they\'re in it together with other people?\"</p><p>The idea of \"work-life balance\" -- setting boundaries between work and \"play\" times -- has been a priority for many employers and employees recently. Woolley said it can be hard for workers who feel pressured to achieve to commit to striking that balance.</p><p>\"It\'s hard sometimes for workers who aren\'t in a position of power, whereas I think managers have the responsibility to create that environment for their employees,\" she said. \"I do think people are becoming more aware of the importance of that, and shaping their jobs and their life choices to allow for it.\"</p>','2022-03-03 23:25:25.225291','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cornell University','Working a nontraditional schedule, and checking in at all hours of the day, night and weekends, is not necessarily beneficial for the 21st-century workforce, according to new research.\n',1,27,'<li>Laura M. Giurge, Kaitlin Woolley. <strong>Working during non-standard work time undermines intrinsic motivation</strong>. <em>Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes</em>, 2022; 170: 104134 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104134\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104134</a>\n</li>'),(294,'Changing your mind based on information, or simply to conform? Brain activity differentiates between types of social influence','changing-your-mind-based-on-information,-or-simply-to-conform?-brain-activity-differentiates-between-types-of-social-influence','2022-03-04 00:46:43.847484',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers led by Ali Mahmoodi at the University of Freiburg in Germany have characterized brain activity that occurs when we are socially influenced to change our minds. Publishing in <em>PLOS Biology</em> on March 3, the study shows how the brain distinguishes between different types of social conformity when revising one\'s opinions.</p><p>Changing one\'s mind after learning additional information from another person is an example of informational social influence. On the other hand, if it\'s because of the desire to be socially accepted, it\'s an example of normative social influence. Until now, no study of the underlying brain mechanisms has differentiated between these two situations.</p><p>The current study used a computer-based game in which people tried to remember the location of a dot presented on the screen. The participants provided confidence ratings for their responses and were then allowed to revise their estimations after seeing a computer\'s response or the response of a \"partner\" whom they had met before the experiment. In reality, all the responses were made by computers. Brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while people played the game.</p><p>People conformed more when their confidence was low, regardless of whether they thought their partner was human or not. This informational influence was tracked by activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) of the brain. The participants also conformed more when conformity was reciprocated by their partner. This normative influence only occurred when participants thought that their partners were human, as did the correlation with dACC activity. Additionally, normative influence, but not informational influence, was associated with stronger functional connections to the dACC from other social processing regions of the brain.</p><p>Reciprocal conformity is a behavior indicative of the desire for social acceptance, and understanding its neural basis is crucial when confronting instances of excessive conformity. Future studies should explore the limits of normative conformity with respect to non-human machines.</p><p>Mahmoodi adds, \"Human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex tracks the weight of others\' opinion in social interaction. This brain signal treats advice from humans and from artificial intelligence similarly in matters of information. In matters of social norms such as reciprocity, however, this brain area gives no weight to AI.\"</p>','2022-03-04 00:46:43.847484','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','Researchers have characterized brain activity that occurs when we are socially influenced to change our minds. The study shows how the brain distinguishes between different types of social conformity when revising one\'s opinions.\n',1,27,'<li>Ali Mahmoodi, Hamed Nili, Dan Bang, Carsten Mehring, Bahador Bahrami. <strong>Distinct neurocomputational mechanisms support informational and socially normative conformity</strong>. <em>PLOS Biology</em>, 2022; 20 (3): e3001565 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001565\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pbio.3001565</a>\n</li>'),(295,'Lipid profiling can predict risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease decades before onset','lipid-profiling-can-predict-risk-of-diabetes,-cardiovascular-disease-decades-before-onset','2022-03-04 00:46:45.685297',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Simultaneous measurement of dozens of types of fats in the blood (\"lipidomics\") can predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) years in the future, according to a new study publishing March 3<sup>rd</sup> in the open-access journal <em>PLOS Biology</em> from Chris Lauber of Lipotype, Germany, and colleagues. Such early prediction through lipidomic profiling may provide the basis for recommending diet and lifestyle interventions before disease develops.</p><p>Current assessment of risk for T2D and CVD relies largely on patient history and current risk behaviors, and the levels and ratio of two major blood lipids, high- and low-density cholesterol. But the blood contains over one hundred other types of lipids, which are thought to reflect at least in part aspects of metabolism and homeostasis throughout the body.</p><p>To assess whether a more comprehensive measure of blood lipids could increase the accuracy of risk prediction, the authors drew on data and blood samples from a longitudinal health study of over 4,000 healthy, middle-aged Swedish residents, first assessed from 1991 to 1994, and followed until 2015. Using baseline blood samples, the concentrations of 184 lipids were assessed with high-throughput, quantitative mass spectrometry. During the follow-up period, 13.8% of participants developed T2D, and 22% developed CVD.</p><p>To develop the lipid-based risk profile, the authors performed repeated training/test rounds on the data, using a randomly chosen two-thirds of lipid data to create a risk model, and then seeing if the model accurately predicts risk in the remaining third. Once the model was developed, individuals were clustered into one of six subgroups based on their lipidomics profile.</p><p>Compared to the group averages, the risk for T2D in the highest-risk group was 37%, an increase in risk of 168%. The risk for CVD in the highest-risk group was 40.5%, an increase in risk of 84%. Significant reductions in risk compared to the averages were also seen in the lowest-risk groups. The increased risk for either disease was independent of known genetic risk factors, and independent of the number of years until disease onset.</p><p>There are several potentially important implications of these findings. On an individual level, it may be possible to define risk decades before disease onset, possibly in time to take steps to avert disease. Lipidomics, either in combination with genetics and patient history or independent of them, may provide new insights into when and why disease begins. In addition, by identifying those lipids that contribute most to risk, it may be possible to identify new drug candidates.</p><p>\"The lipidomic risk, which is derived from only one single mass-spectrometric measurement that is cheap and fast, could extend traditional risk assessment based on clinical assay,\" Lauber said. In addition, individual lipids in blood may be the consequences of or contribute to a wide variety of metabolic processes, which may be individually significant as markers of those processes. If that is true, Lauber said, \"the lipidome may provide insights much beyond diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk.\"</p><p>Lauber adds, \"Strengthening disease prevention is a global joint effort with many facets. We show how lipidomics can expand our toolkit for early detection of individuals at high risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.\"</p>','2022-03-04 00:46:45.685297','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','Simultaneous measurement of dozens of types of fats in the blood (\'lipidomics\') can predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) years in the future, according to a new study. Such early prediction through lipidomic profiling may provide the basis for recommending diet and lifestyle interventions before disease develops.\n',1,27,'<li>Chris Lauber, Mathias J. Gerl, Christian Klose, Filip Ottosson, Olle Melander, Kai Simons. <strong>Lipidomic risk scores are independent of polygenic risk scores and can predict incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in a large population cohort</strong>. <em>PLOS Biology</em>, 2022; 20 (3): e3001561 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001561\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pbio.3001561</a>\n</li>'),(296,'Seeing is believing when it comes to health risk and behavior change','seeing-is-believing-when-it-comes-to-health-risk-and-behavior-change','2022-03-04 00:46:50.476018',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">They say a picture can convey a thousand words, and researchers have found that using medical imaging technologies that can visualize health may discourage risk-related behaviors more than non-visual information. The meta-analysis, publishing March 3 in the open access journal <em>PLOS Medicine</em>, finds that when individuals undergo an imaging procedure and are shown visual personalized information about their own risk of disease, they may be more likely to reduce risky behaviors.</p><p>Non-communicable diseases are estimated to account for over two-thirds of deaths worldwide each year and are linked to behaviors such as smoking, poor diet, and lack of physical exercise. Behavior change can reduce risks and many interventions intend to motivate such change. Researchers are keen to understand whether the growing use of medical imaging technologies could help.</p><p>Gareth Hollands and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, UK conducted a meta-analysis of 21 randomized controlled trials involving over 9,000 adult participants. Participants were either shown visual examples of personalized risk information following an imaging procedure, such as computed tomography, ultrasound, or radiography, in addition to health information or advice, or they received health information or advice with no visual feedback. The trials reported on behaviors including smoking, medication use, physical activity, diet, oral hygiene, sun protection, tanning booth use, blood glucose testing, skin self-examination, and foot care.</p><p>The strongest evidence was for smoking reduction, a healthier diet, increased physical activity, and increased oral hygiene behaviors. Single studies also reported increased skin self-examination and foot care following visualized feedback. The other behaviors were improved by visual interventions, but results were not statistically significant. The authors conclude that the growth of medical imaging technology could be capitalized on to help people change and reduce disease risks.</p><p>Hollands adds, \"Medical imaging scans are used ever more widely by healthcare professionals. By gathering together the existing research, this study suggests that showing the scan results to patients to highlight the state of their health could motivate them to behave in a healthier way.\"</p>','2022-03-04 00:46:50.476018','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','Using medical imaging technologies that can visualize health may discourage risk-related behaviors more than non-visual information. A new meta-analysis finds that when individuals undergo an imaging procedure and are shown visual personalized information about their own risk of disease, they may be more likely to reduce risky behaviors.\n',1,27,'<li>Gareth J. Hollands, Juliet A. Usher-Smith, Rana Hasan, Florence Alexander, Natasha Clarke, Simon J. Griffin. <strong>Visualising health risks with medical imaging for changing recipients’ health behaviours and risk factors: Systematic review with meta-analysis</strong>. <em>PLOS Medicine</em>, 2022; 19 (3): e1003920 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003920\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pmed.1003920</a>\n</li>'),(297,'Physics race pits Usain Bolt against Jurassic Park dinosaur','physics-race-pits-usain-bolt-against-jurassic-park-dinosaur','2022-03-04 00:47:09.205674',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">With each new semester, thousands of students dive into introductory classes in physics. One persistent problem that dogs instructors, however, is keeping students engaged in math-heavy classes.</p><p>Scott Lee is a physics professor at the University of Toledo who has developed numerous learning activities to help intro-level students get enthusiastic about the topic. His latest innovative activity, published in <em>The Physics Teacher</em>, by AIP Publishing, poses the question: Is Usain Bolt faster than a 900-pound dinosaur?</p><p>The exercise asks students to apply concepts of 1D kinematics -- displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration -- to determine if the Jamaican sprinter could beat <em><em>Dilophosaurus wetherilli</em></em> in a 100-meter race using spreadsheets.</p><p>\"One big issue in physics education is to generate student enthusiasm for the course material,\" Lee said. \"These dinosaur problems really spark a lot of interest among the students.\"</p><p>Lee\'s interest in dinosaurs began with finding fossils with his family growing up. Years later, after discovering an approachable book on the physics of dinosaur motion with his daughter, he developed a general education course for nonscience majors based on dinosaurs.</p><p>\"A number of physics majors have, over the years, taken this general education course just because they think dinosaurs are so cool,\" he said. \"I then realized that physics majors would be excited to work on dinosaur examples of physics principles.\"</p><p>To make the exercise work in introductory physics, Lee needed to find just the right dinosaur. Students might recognize the Dilophosaurus genus from the original Jurassic Park novel and movie, where it was fictionally given a rattling neck frill and venom to spit at a hapless DNA thief.</p><p>\"The maximum running speeds of the other dinosaurs were significantly different from Usain Bolt\'s average speed and, therefore, would not make an interesting race,\" he said. \"Sadly, the more famous <em><em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em></em> is believed to have been slower than Usain Bolt.\"</p><p>The activity includes discussion on Newton\'s second law, where acceleration is determined by a combination of mass and force. Being smaller, for example, gives Bolt an early advantage.</p><p>After calculating the winner of the race, Lee\'s exercise guides students through discussion on similar tests of speed that take place today, such as how lionesses use their acceleration to catch faster prey.</p><p>In the end, Bolt leverages Newton\'s second law and his own acceleration to leave Dilophosaurus in the dust by 2 seconds.</p><p>Lee hopes the paper will inspire other physicists to think outside the box to get new students excited about the problems physics is able to solve.</p>','2022-03-04 00:47:09.205674','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','Scott Lee is a physics professor at the University of Toledo who has developed numerous learning activities to help intro-level students get enthusiastic about the topic. His latest innovative activity poses the question: Is Usain Bolt faster than a 900-pound dinosaur?\n',1,27,'<li>Scott A. Lee. <strong>Would Usain Bolt Beat the Dinosaur Dilophosaurus Wetherilli in a 100-Meter Race</strong>. <em>The Physics Teacher</em>, 2022; 60 (3): 169 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/5.0041057\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1119/5.0041057</a>\n</li>'),(299,'Two-faced orchestrator: Tis gene regulates positive and negative immune responses in plants','two-faced-orchestrator:-tis-gene-regulates-positive-and-negative-immune-responses-in-plants','2022-03-04 00:47:16.594093',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In a discovery important for agriculture and food safety, scientists report the genetic regulation of a model plant\'s immune response.</p><p>The mechanism of plant defense mediated by the non-expressor of pathogenesis-related (NPR) genes in monocots (plants having a single embryonic leaf) is not well-documented. Now, scientists from Tokyo University of Science have discovered how the NPR family of genes regulate immune responses in the model monocot Brachypodium distachyon. These findings provide a blueprint for plants\' defense systems and might contribute to more research towards resilient crop species, boosting pesticide-free cereal crop cultivation.</p><p>Plants can be largely divided into dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous ones. These groups, apart from differing in their embryonic structure, have numerous other distinguishing factors. Which is why, it\'s quite possible that their immune responses to certain threats would be different as well.</p><p>Immune responses in plants? Leaves you confused? Well, though their immune systems are structured and function much differently than ours, plants, like humans, do respond to external threat. These immune responses have been studied extensively in dicot models, but lesser so in monocots.</p><p>The non-expressor of pathogenesis-related (NPR) family of genes are known to control defensive signaling during a pathogen attack. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a dicot, NPR1 (AtNPR1) serves as a binding site for salicylic acid (SA) and interacts with the TGA group of transcription factors (TFs)-which are responsible for turning genes \'on\' or \'off\' as needed. This activates defense genes, such as pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR-1), which ultimately control the plant\'s immunological response. Does this happen in monocots as well? A research team, led by Prof. Gen-ichiro Arimura from Tokyo University of Science in Japan decided to find out.</p><p>They knew that some monocots, like rice and wheat, display a similar NPR1-mediated immune response on facing a pathogen attack. However, the team believed that other monocots may respond differently, and also wanted to investigate other NPRs, such as AtNPR3/AtNPR4, which might have the opposite effect of NPR1. Hence, Prof. Arimura and his colleagues chose to investigate NPR function and immune response in the model monocot Brachypodium distachyon, often known as the southern duckweed.</p><p>Their study, which was published in <em>The Plant Journal</em>, explains how NPR genes in B. distachyon regulate TGA-promoted transcription of defense-responsive genes.</p><p>The researchers first identified and cloned sequences of monocot B. distachyon\'s NPR genes-BdNPR1, 2, and 3-which were similar to the NPR sequences of other dicot species, including Arabidopsis. On methyl salicylate treatment, the expression of BdNPR2 rose significantly, but not BdNPR1/BdNPR3, indicating its positive role in plant defense response. The researchers also confirmed that one of the BdNPRs (BdNPR2) activated BdTGA-1 in B. distachyon (just like other plants), by observing gene expression and molecular interactions in B. distachyon protoplasts. These experiments revealed that BdTGA1 and BdNPR2 interacted with each other to upregulate PR-1 expression, thereby cementing the role of NPR2 in B. distachyon\'s immune response.</p><p>Was this response mediated by SA? Another pertinent question, which the team answered by creating a created a mutant NPR2 gene. Prof. Arimura points out: \"Certain amino acid residues-especially those of arginine (Arg)-are responsible for SA binding in Arabidopsis NPRs. So, our mutant NPR2 was missing a specific arginine residue-Arg<sup>468</sup>.\" This mutant was less effective than the normal wild-type NPR2 at increasing PR-1 expression, implying that Arg<sup>468</sup> was critical for SA binding on NPR2, which, in turn, upregulated PR-1. Interestingly, their experimental assays also found that BdNPR1 suppressed this upregulation, suggesting its role as an immune inhibitor in B. distachyon.</p><p>Prof. Arimura sums it all up for us. \"When the plant is in a healthy state, BdNPR1 may stop BdNPR2 from activating BdTGA1, keeping the PR1 gene turned off. But when the plant is attacked by a pathogen, SA levels rise and stimulate BdNRP2 expression, which then cascades, and \'turns on\' the PR1 gene.\" Surprised by how functionally unique BdNRP2 is, Prof. Arimura explains that the \"sequence similarities between NPR2 from B. distachyon and other plants does not affect their functions which are distinctively different for every plant species.\"</p><p>But how does this genetic research translate into real-life applications? Many important crops, such as wheat and rice, are monocots. These plants, which are susceptible to microbial pathogens and pests, are treated with pesticides to avoid damage. The pesticides then cause environmental degradation. \"This vicious cycle can be broken by understanding monocots\' defense systems, and addressing their susceptibility in a more sustainable way, with pesticide-free cultivation,\" says Prof. Arimura, who hopes this research will be used to further plant biotechnology. It puts us one step closer to resolving the global environment and food security issues, allowing us to work towards a more sustainable society.</p>','2022-03-04 00:47:16.594093','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Tokyo University of Science','The mechanism of plant defense mediated by the non-expressor of pathogenesis-related (NPR) genes in monocots (plants having a single embryonic leaf) is not well-documented. Now, scientists have discovered how the NPR family of genes regulate immune responses in the model monocot Brachypodium distachyon. These findings provide a blueprint for plants\' defense systems and might contribute to more research towards resilient crop species, boosting pesticide-free cereal crop cultivation.\n',1,27,'<li>Kohei Shimizu, Hitomi Suzuki, Takuya Uemura, Akira Nozawa, Yoshitake Desaki, Ryosuke Hoshino, Ayako Yoshida, Hiroshi Abe, Makoto Nishiyama, Chiharu Nishiyama, Tatsuya Sawasaki, Gen‐ichiro Arimura. <strong>Immune gene activation by            NPR            and            TGA            transcriptional regulators in the model monocot            Brachypodium distachyon</strong>. <em>The Plant Journal</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15681\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/tpj.15681</a>\n</li>'),(300,'Energy-harvesting wearable device made from recycled waste','energy-harvesting-wearable-device-made-from-recycled-waste','2022-03-04 16:24:49.247660','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Wearable devices could soon be entirely made of recycled waste materials -- and powered by human movement, thanks to a new energy-harvesting device developed at the University of Surrey.</p><p>Scientists have unveiled a wrist device made from discarded paper wipes and plastic cups that runs on energy harvested by the wearer\'s movements. The prototype device can transmit Morse code, and the team is now focusing on plans to use this technology in smart watches.</p><p>Dr Bhaskar Dudem, project lead and Research Fellow at the University of Surrey\'s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), said:</p><p>\"It won\'t be long until we have to ask ourselves which of the items we own are not connected to the internet. However, the current internet-of-things (IoT) revolution highlights the simple fact that our planet doesn\'t have the raw resources to continue to make these devices which are in such high demand.</p><p>\"Our research demonstrates that there is a path to creating sustainable technology that runs on electricity powered by us, the users of that technology.\"</p><p>Surrey\'s device is \'self-powered\' thanks to materials that become electrically charged after they come into contact with one another. These materials (also known as Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs)) use static charge to harvest energy from movement through a process called electrostatic induction.</p><p>The developers believe their energy-harvesting wearable device could be a future game-changer for the consumer, medical and security sectors.</p><p>Professor Ravi Silva, Director of ATI at the University of Surrey, said:</p><p>\"The core mission of the Advanced Technology Institute is to help build a world where clean energy is available to all. Our energy-harvesting technology embodies this key mission, and we stand ready to work with industry to ensure this technology reaches its full potential.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-04 00:47:21.290058','uploads/news/14.jpg',1,'University of Surrey','Wearable devices could soon be entirely made of recycled waste materials -- and powered by human movement, thanks to a new energy-harvesting device.',1,137,'<li>Bhaskar Dudem, R. D. Ishara G. Dharmasena, Raheel Riaz, Venkateswaran Vivekananthan, K. G. U. Wijayantha, Paolo Lugli, Luisa Petti, S. Ravi P. Silva. <strong>Wearable Triboelectric Nanogenerator from Waste Materials for Autonomous Information Transmission via Morse Code</strong>. <em>ACS Applied Materials &amp; Interfaces</em>, 2022; 14 (4): 5328 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c20984\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsami.1c20984</a>\r\n</li>'),(302,'Rapid evolution fuels transcriptional plasticity in fish species to cope with ocean acidification','rapid-evolution-fuels-transcriptional-plasticity-in-fish-species-to-cope-with-ocean-acidification','2022-03-04 16:22:59.844485','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A research team led by Dr Celia Schunter at School of Biological Sciences (area of Ecology and Biodiversity) &amp; The Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with researchers from The University of Adelaide, James Cook University in Australia, IRD Institute in New Caledonia, and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan, revealed the basis to variability across different fish species and uncovered that some species evolve more rapidly, providing them with evolved molecular toolkits and allowing them able to cope with future ocean acidification. The journal paper was recently published in <em>Global Change Biology</em>.</p><p>Global ocean surface pH is projected to decline with the ongoing uptake of anthropogenic atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> by the oceans, a process termed ocean acidification (OA). A decade of laboratory experiments indicate that predicted OA conditions affect some marine fishes\' physiological performance, growth, survival, and crucial behaviours for the survival of the fish.</p><p>To test how marine life will respond and whether adaptation to this rapid acidification is possible, researchers went to a remote place on this planet to study <em>in situ</em> exposure to elevated partial pressure of carbon dioxide (<em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub>, the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in water) and be able to predict how in the wild fish can cope with these environmental conditions predicted to exist across the globe by the end of this century. With rapidly changing environments due to human activities, it is crucial to be able to predict what will happen to marine organisms and in particular fish populations to optimise our conservation and management efforts.</p><p>The study here indicated some fish species that evolve more rapidly may have a flexible way to cope with OA, which should be helpful for these species to maintain their population size and biodiversity. However, for some other species evolving slowly, OA will be difficult for them once the OA level is beyond their tolerance levels.</p><p><strong>Natural laboratories with elevated <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> </strong></p><p>Volcanic CO<sub>2</sub> seeps can be used as natural laboratories where CO2 rises from the substratum and acidifies the surrounding seawater to levels similar to, or sometimes beyond, the projections for ocean acidification by the end of this century. Six adult coral reef fish species including damselfishes and a cardinalfish species from a reef within the Upa-Upasina CO<sub>2</sub> seep in Papua New Guinea (pH 7.77, <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> 846 µatm) and an adjacent reef (500 m distance) with ambient <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> (pH 8.01, <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> 443 µatm) were sampled, tissues were extracted, analysed and sequenced for their cellular response to elevated CO<sub>2</sub> in their brains. The six fish species in this study are common coral reef fish but exhibit slightly different ecologies including differences in parental care and being active during the day or night, and therefore we can, to a certain extent, extrapolate the found patterns also to other fishes.</p><p><strong>Common responses to OA across species</strong></p><p>Elevated <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> induced common molecular responses related to circadian rhythm as well as the immune system several of the species, revealing that these are important processes that are affected by elevated CO<sub>2</sub> for many species. Circadian rhythms are the drivers of our 24-h biological clocks and exist in human, other animals and plants. They drive our sleep patterns and also our metabolism, and this shows that the circadian rhythm core genes affect many other downstream functions and can also affect behaviour. The adjustment here of the Circadian genes with elevated CO<sub>2</sub> seemed to drive gene expression changes of other genes in the brain, which may allow the fish to flexibly react to the CO<sub>2</sub>.</p><p>Immune regulation appears to further be an important function involved in the response to elevated <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub>. Interestingly, while this was the case across numerous species of reef fish, the nocturnal species exhibited an elevation in immune genes, whereas other species supressed the immune genes with elevated CO2. This is a phenomenon not previously studies and hint to the fact that nocturnal and diurnal species may respond differently and this warrant further study.</p><p><strong>A fish species possessing evolved molecular toolkits to cope with future OA</strong></p><p>The spiny damselfish, <em>A.</em> <em>polyacanthus</em>, can regulate the pH levels within its cells through the gene expression changes to respond the environmental elevated <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> at the CO<sub>2</sub> seep. We originally thought that an elevation in the <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> to end-of-century predictions would not be a large impact to fishes, as they know how to regulate the pH, however we see that these coral fish species induced significant expression changes in many genes, especially <em>A.</em> <em>polyacanthus</em>, hence showing the need to regulate the cells in the brain in response to the CO<sub>2</sub> levels in the ocean waters.</p><p>For a brain to function properly and signalling to occur in the brain, providing the different neurons with essential information, ions such as calcium, sodium, potassium and chloride need to be transported. Here we found that such transporter genes changed their expression, especially for <em>A. polyacanthus</em> when living in the seeps, which shows that neural signal transductions needs to be altered in response to elevated CO<sub>2</sub>. Interestingly, during our sample collection at the remote reef a storm arose for 24 hours, which moved a lot of water of the CO<sub>2</sub> seep site and increased the pH temporarily. We were able to collect some spiny damselfish during this time and now see that all the cellular changes are reversible as they changed quickly back to the levels of what we see at the control reef with current day CO<sub>2</sub> levels. These results indicated <em>A.</em> <em>polyacanthus</em> may be able to switch their gene expression to respond rapidly changing pH levels.</p><p>The spiny damselfish species, <em>A. polyacanthus</em>, evolve more rapidly than the other species over the past 15 million years, which leaves this species with an enhanced potential to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In particular, the genes seen to be important in the response to living in elevated <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub>, such as genes involved in intracellular pH regulation, circadian rhythm (can adjust the expression of many other genes), and ion transport (have impact on the neural signal transduction), also indicated an increased evolutionary rate. This can lead to increased gene expression alteration accordingly to environmental change namely transcriptional plasticity -- to ocean acidification in <em>A.</em> <em>polyacanthus</em>. As such, this species may possess evolved molecular toolkits to cope with future ocean acidification.</p><p>\"It has been quite puzzling why some species struggle more than others with ocean acidification conditions. Our expedition to this remote CO<sub>2</sub> vent site allowed us to look at many fish species that live naturally in these elevated CO<sub>2</sub> conditions and complete parts of the puzzle,\" Dr Celia Schunter remarked, \"we see that possibly limited by slow evolution, some fish species may not be flexible when responding to elevated CO<sub>2</sub> conditions and struggle more.\"</p><p>\"Species that evolve more rapidly may have a flexible way to cope with ocean acidification, which should be helpful for these species to maintain their population size and biodiversity. However, for some other species evolving more slowly, ocean acidification will be difficult for them once the pH level beyond their abilities to maintain their acid-base balance. Previously we did not understand why some species struggled and others didn\'t as much and understanding why some may be \'winners\' or \'losers\' is important so we can protect especially the ones that will not be able to cope and to keep the balance in the ecosystem,\" added Dr Schunter.</p><p>This study uncovered that some wild fish species may be equipped with inherent molecular tools via rapid evolution to cope with elevated <em>p</em>CO<sub>2</sub> predicted to occur by the end of this century. The next goal for the research team is to validate if other ecosystems exhibit the same findings. Meanwhile, ocean acidification still is a threat for the fish species evolving slowly once the level of ocean acidification rises beyond their regulation ability. As such, slowing the decreasing global pH is key to maintaining high biodiversity of fish.</p>','2022-03-04 00:47:24.303858','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The University of Hong Kong','A research team has revealed the basis to variability across different fish species and uncovered that some species evolve more rapidly, providing them with evolved molecular toolkits and allowing them able to cope with future ocean acidification.',1,116,'<li>Jingliang Kang, Ivan Nagelkerken, Jodie L. Rummer, Riccardo Rodolfo‐Metalpa, Philip L. Munday, Timothy Ravasi, Celia Schunter. <strong>Rapid evolution fuels transcriptional plasticity to ocean acidification</strong>. <em>Global Change Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/gcb.16119</a>\r\n</li>'),(304,'Communication defect in psychotic disorders','communication-defect-in-psychotic-disorders','2022-03-04 16:21:35.362069','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Communication between brain areas is crucial for the brain to correctly process sensory signals and adopt an appropriate behavioural response. Yet, dysfunctions in these communication pathways could be strongly correlated with the onset of schizophrenia. For the first time, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, within the framework of the Synapsy National Centre of Competence in Research, has succeeded in demonstrating this phenomenon in human beings. By carrying out analyses of the brain activity of children, adolescents and young adults with a genetic risk of the disease, the research team has demonstrated that a reduction in the activation of gamma waves, that are known for their role in the proper transmission of information in the brain, was correlated with the emergence of psychotic symptoms even before full-blown disorders appear. This work, published in the <em>American Journal of Psychiatry</em>, makes it possible to envisage a very early diagnosis.</p><p>In the mammalian brain, the electrical activity of neurons responds to oscillatory rhythms that can be detected by electroencephalography. The coordinated activation of these different waves, which governs, for example, the processing of sensory inputs or the consolidation of memories, enables the brain to function correctly. \"We suspected that gamma waves, the highest frequency of the brain rhythms, play a decisive role in the development of schizophrenia symptoms,\" say Stephan Eliez, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and Christoph Michel, professor in the Department of Basic Neuroscience, who co-directed the research. \"However, we still had to confirm that this impaired synchronisation of neural communication pathways observed in mice does indeed exist in humans.\"</p><p><strong>Genetic predisposition</strong></p><p>People with a chromosomal microdeletion 22q11 have a 25 to 30% risk of developing schizophrenia in adulthood. \"They are therefore a particularly relevant at-risk population for studying the cerebral development of this disease,\" says Valentina Mancini, a doctoral student in Stephan Eliez\'s laboratory and the first author of this study. People with schizophrenia often suffer from reduced capacity to process auditory information; in order to detect any disturbance in brain communication, the scientists therefore measured gamma wave activation following an auditory stimulus in 22q11 patients of all ages, compared with people without this microdeletion.</p><p>\"Children and adolescents at genetic risk of schizophrenic disorders but without visible symptoms showed the same patterns of gamma wave disruption as patients actually suffering from the disease,\" explains Vincent Rochas, a scientific collaborator in Christoph Michel\'s laboratory. In addition, a linear growth of the gamma-band oscillations was observed in people with no genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, showing a progressive maturation of communication between the cerebral areas during development. \"However, this maturation is absent in 22q11 patients, whatever their age, suggesting an abnormal development of circuits underlying neural oscillations in adolescence,\" stresses Valentina Mancini.</p><p><strong>Intervening as early as possible</strong></p><p>The research team also identified a strong correlation between the gamma-band activation deficit and the severity of psychotic symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations, thus confirming the existence of a neurobiological progression of the disease. \"Our results confirm that this dysfunction appears very early,\" the authors emphasise. \"We now want to identify the best time during the child\'s development to intervene in relation to this pathological shift.\" Moreover, studies on mice show that targeted neuroleptic treatments succeed in correcting neural dysfunctions; in addition, the gamma-band impairments identified here could be restored using techniques of non-invasive neurostimulation targeting the affected brain regions, thus opening the way to completely new therapeutic perspectives for treating an often devastating disease.</p>','2022-03-04 00:47:27.640761','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Université de Genève','Communication between brain areas is crucial for the brain to correctly process sensory signals and adopt an appropriate behavioural response. Yet, dysfunctions in these communication pathways could be strongly correlated with the onset of schizophrenia. For the first time, a team has succeeded in demonstrating this phenomenon in human beings. By carrying out analyses of the brain activity of children, adolescents and young adults with a genetic risk of the disease, the research team has demonstrated that a reduction in the activation of gamma waves, that are known for their role in the proper transmission of information in the brain, was correlated with the emergence of psychotic symptoms even before full-blown disorders appear.',1,14,'<li>Valentina Mancini, Vincent Rochas, Martin Seeber, Nicolas Roehri, Tonia A. Rihs, Victor Ferat, Maude Schneider, Peter J. Uhlhaas, Stephan Eliez, Christoph M. Michel. <strong>Aberrant Developmental Patterns of Gamma-Band Response and Long-Range Communication Disruption in Youths With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome</strong>. <em>American Journal of Psychiatry</em>, 2022; 179 (3): 204 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21020190\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21020190</a>\r\n</li>'),(305,'Joro spiders likely to spread beyond Georgia, US','joro-spiders-likely-to-spread-beyond-georgia-us','2022-03-04 16:08:25.359973','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">If you live in Georgia, it\'s hard not to notice the state\'s latest resident.</p><p>The bright yellow, blue-black and red spiders\' golden webs will be all over power lines, in trees around town and even on your front porch come summer.</p><p>The Joro spider first arrived stateside around 2013 and has since spread across the state and Southeast. But new research from the University of Georgia suggests the invasive arachnids could spread through most of the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S.</p><p>There\'s really nothing we can do to stop them. But that\'s not necessarily bad news.</p><p>Joros don\'t appear to have much of an effect on local food webs or ecosystems, said Andy Davis, corresponding author of the study and a research scientist in the Odum School of Ecology. They may even serve as an additional food source for native predators like birds.</p><p>\"People should try to learn to live with them,\" he said. \"If they\'re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they\'re just going to be back next year.\" \"The way I see it, there\'s no point in excess cruelty where it\'s not needed,\" added Benjamin Frick, co-author of the study and an undergraduate researcher in the School of Ecology. \"You have people with saltwater guns shooting them out of the trees and things like that, and that\'s really just unnecessary.\"</p><p><strong>High metabolism, heart rate and ability to withstand cold may help joros spread</strong></p><p>Published in<em> Physiological Entomology</em>, the study contrasts the Joro spider with its relative, the golden silk spider, which first moved to the Southeast from the tropics around 160 years ago. The golden silk spider hasn\'t been able to spread beyond the Southeast due to its vulnerability to cold.</p><p>Before the study, scientists didn\'t know whether the Joro spider faced similar geographical limitations.</p><p>The researchers used records from iNaturalist to track sightings of the spiders across Georgia throughout the year. iNaturalist is a joint venture from the National Geographic Society and California Academy of Sciences that plots user reports of animals to create location data on a variety of species. They also performed tests to compare the species\' cold tolerance, including measuring the arachnids\' metabolic, heart and survival rates during a brief freeze.</p><p>The study found that despite their similarities, the Joro spider has about double the metabolism of its relative, has a 77% higher heart rate and can survive a brief freeze that kills off many of its cousins. These findings mean the Joro spider\'s body functions better than its relative in a cold environment.</p><p>And that means the Joros can likely exist beyond the borders of the Southeast.</p><p><strong>Humans likely to transport Joro beyond current borders</strong></p><p>It\'s not just cold-hardiness that makes the Joro likely to spread beyond its current region.</p><p>In their native Japan, Joro spiders colonize most of the country. Japan has a very similar climate to the U.S. and is approximately the same latitude.</p><p>\"Just by looking at that, it looks like the Joros could probably survive throughout most of the Eastern Seaboard here, which is pretty sobering,\" Davis said.</p><p>Joros can also use their silks to carry them across the wind to new locations, a behavior called ballooning. It\'s part of the reason why joros were able to spread so rapidly across the state of Georgia. When hatchlings emerged in the spring, they\'d ride along to someplace new. Their offspring did the same the next year.</p><p>But humans also factor into the equation.</p><p>\"The potential for these spiders to be spread through people\'s movements is very high,\" Frick said. \"Anecdotally, right before we published this study, we got a report from a grad student at UGA who had accidentally transported one of these to Oklahoma.\"</p><p>The first Joros to arrive in the U.S. were likely stowaways on shipping containers. Now that they\'re here, the chances of Joros hitching a ride to a new locale on a car or in luggage are high.</p><p>But that\'s still no reason to panic. The spiders are relatively harmless to people and pets, making their presence more of a nuisance than dangerous. Joros won\'t bite unless cornered, and their fangs are often not large enough to break human skin.</p><p>\"There\'s really no reason to go around actively squishing them,\" Frick said. \"Humans are at the root of their invasion. Don\'t blame the Joro spider.\"</p>','2022-03-04 01:16:44.211054','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Georgia','The Joro spider first arrived stateside around 2013 and has since spread across the state and Southeast. But new research suggests the invasive arachnids could spread through most of the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S.',1,136,'<li>Andrew K. Davis, Benjamin L. Frick. <strong>Physiological evaluation of newly invasive jorō spiders (            Trichonephila clavata            ) in the southeastern            USA            compared to their naturalized cousin,            Trichonephila clavipes</strong>. <em>Physiological Entomology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/phen.12385\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/phen.12385</a>\r\n</li>'),(306,'Brain stimulation shows promise as treatment for cannabis use disorder in people with schizophrenia','brain-stimulation-shows-promise-as-treatment-for-cannabis-use-disorder-in-people-with-schizophrenia','2022-03-04 16:05:29.681538','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was associated with a reduction in self-reported cannabis use by up to 60 per cent among people with schizophrenia who have cannabis use disorder (CUD), according to a CAMH-led study just published in the journal <em>NPJ Schizophrenia</em>.</p><p>The double-blind study is the first of its kind to investigate the effectiveness of rTMS in treating CUD in people with schizophrenia, and was supported by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the CAMH Foundation.</p><p>\"People with schizophrenia have very high rates of cannabis use disorder compared to the general population, and there is strong evidence that cannabis use worsens psychiatric symptoms and quality of life in these people,\" said senior author CAMH clinician scientist Dr. Tony George. \"Despite the known harmful effects, there is currently no approved treatment for CUD with or without schizophrenia. These results indicate rTMS may be a safe and effective way to reduce cannabis among people with schizophrenia.\"</p><p>Until relatively recently, brain stimulation technologies like rTMS were used primarily for treatment-resistant depression. However, studies have now found rTMS to be effective in reducing drug use and cravings for several substance use disorders in the general population.</p><p>Study participants were given rTMS treatment at the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at CAMH five times a week for four weeks targeting the brain\'s the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which is associated with the brain\'s reward system and executive function.</p><p>Those who were given rTMS reported a reduction in cannabis use by up to 60 per cent after 28 days as well as reduced cravings, compared to controls receiving sham rTMS.</p><p>The authors state that one of the reasons there is currently no effective treatment for CUD in people with schizophrenia is that people with schizophrenia or other mental illnesses are usually excluded from CUD clinical trials. Dr. George says that CAMH is uniquely positioned to do this kind of research:</p><p>\"In addition to our ability to conduct clinical trials with brain stimulation at the Temerty Centre, CAMH also has one of the largest schizophrenia outpatient clinics in North America as well as state-of-the-art addiction treatment programs,\" said Dr. George. \"All those factors make CAMH one of the few places in the world that can lead a study like this.\"</p><p>\"It was a difficult study to recruit for given the intensity of time commitment required by patients,\" said study lead author Dr. Karolina Kozak Bidzinski. \"However, the awareness patients had of the negative effects cannabis was having on their lives, the expected benefits of reducing their use and noticing the various positive outcomes that would surface throughout the duration of the trial, enabled such a high number of patients to complete the study. Hopefully this work paves the way for more research into investigating the effects of rTMS as a treatment for cannabis use disorder in people with schizophrenia.\"</p>','2022-03-04 01:16:46.948617','uploads/news/Patient-Becomes-Dr-PKG_WCCO129H_2.webp',1,'Centre for Addiction and Mental Health','Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was associated with a reduction in self-reported cannabis use by up to 60 per cent among people with schizophrenia who have cannabis use disorder (CUD), according to a new study.',1,39,'<li>Karolina Kozak Bidzinski, Darby J. E. Lowe, Marcos Sanches, Maryam Sorkhou, Isabelle Boileau, Michael Kiang, Daniel M. Blumberger, Gary Remington, Clement Ma, David J. Castle, Rachel A. Rabin, Tony P. George. <strong>Investigating repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on cannabis use and cognition in people with schizophrenia</strong>. <em>Schizophrenia</em>, Feb. 24, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41537-022-00210-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41537-022-00210-6</a>\r\n</li>'),(307,'The future of data storage is double-helical, research indicates','the-future-of-data-storage-is-double-helical-research-indicates','2022-03-04 16:04:03.949406','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Imagine Bach\'s \"Cello Suite No. 1\" played on a strand of DNA.</p><p>This scenario is not as impossible as it seems. Too small to withstand a rhythmic strum or sliding bowstring, DNA is a powerhouse for storing audio files and all kinds of other media.</p><p>\"DNA is nature\'s original data storage system. We can use it to store any kind of data: images, video, music -- anything,\" said Kasra Tabatabaei, a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and a coauthor on this study.</p><p>Expanding DNA\'s molecular makeup and developing a precise new sequencing method enabled a multi-institutional team to transform the double helix into a robust, sustainable data storage platform.</p><p>The team\'s paper appeared in <em>Nano Letters</em> in February 2022.</p><p>In the age of digital information, anyone brave enough to navigate the daily news feels the global archive growing heavier by the day. Increasingly, paper files are being digitized to save space and protect information from natural disasters.</p><p>From scientists to social media influencers, anyone with information to store stands to benefit from a secure, sustainable data lock box -- and the double helix fits the bill.</p><p>\"DNA is one of the best options, if not the best option, to store archival data especially,\" said Chao Pan, a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a coauthor on this study.</p><p>Its longevity rivaled only by durability, DNA is designed to weather Earth\'s harshest conditions -- sometimes for tens of thousands of years -- and remain a viable data source. Scientists can sequence fossilized strands to uncover genetic histories and breathe life into long-lost landscapes.</p><p>Despite its diminutive stature, DNA is a bit like Dr. Who\'s infamous police box: bigger on the inside than it appears.</p><p>\"Every day, several petabytes of data are generated on the internet. Only one gram of DNA would be sufficient to store that data. That\'s how dense DNA is as a storage medium,\" said Tabatabaei, who is also a fifth-year Ph.D. student.</p><p>Another important aspect of DNA is its natural abundance and near-infinite renewability, a trait not shared by the most advanced data storage system on the market today: silicon microchips, which often circulate for just decades before an unceremonious burial in a heap of landfilled e-waste.</p><p>\"At a time when we are facing unprecedented climate challenges, the importance of sustainable storage technologies cannot be overestimated. New, green technologies for DNA recording are emerging that will make molecular storage even more important in the future,\" said Olgica Milenkovic, the Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a co-PI on the study.</p><p>Envisioning the future of data storage, the interdisciplinary team examined DNA\'s millennia-old MO. Then, the researchers added their own 21st-century twist.</p><p>In nature, every strand of DNA contains four chemicals -- adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine -- often referred to by the initials A, G, C, and T. They arrange and rearrange themselves along the double helix into combinations that scientists can decode, or sequence, to make meaning.</p><p>The researchers expanded DNA\'s already broad capacity for information storage by adding seven synthetic nucleobases to the existing four-letter lineup.</p><p>\"Imagine the English alphabet. If you only had four letters to use, you could only create so many words. If you had the full alphabet, you could produce limitless word combinations. That\'s the same with DNA. Instead of converting zeroes and ones to A, G, C, and T, we can convert zeroes and ones to A, G, C, T, and the seven new letters in the storage alphabet,\" Tabatabaei said.</p><p>Because this team is the first to use chemically modified nucleotides for information storage in DNA, members innovated around a unique challenge: not all current technology is capable of interpreting chemically modified DNA strands. To solve this problem, they combined machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop a first-of-its-kind DNA sequence readout processing method.</p><p>Their solution can discern modified chemicals from natural ones, and differentiate each of the seven new molecules from one another.</p><p>\"We tried 77 different combinations of the 11 nucleotides, and our method was able to differentiate each of them perfectly,\" Pan said. \"The deep learning framework as part of our method to identify different nucleotides is universal, which enables the generalizability of our approach to many other applications.\"</p><p>This letter-perfect translation comes courtesy of nanopores: proteins with an opening in the middle through which a DNA strand can easily pass. Remarkably, the team found that nanopores can detect and distinguish each individual monomer unit along the DNA strand -- whether the units have natural or chemical origins.</p><p>\"This work provides an exciting proof-of-principle demonstration of extending macromolecular data storage to non-natural chemistries, which hold the potential to drastically increase storage density in non-traditional storage media,\" said Charles Schroeder, the James Economy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and a co-PI on this study.</p><p>DNA literally made history by storing genetic information. By the looks of this study, the future of data storage is just as double-helical.</p><p>Additional UIUC collaborators include Aleksei Aksimentiev, the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology; and Alvaro Hernandez, the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center. Partner institutions include the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Stanford University. For a full list of collaborators and their affiliations, please consult the published work.</p>','2022-03-04 02:55:31.132162','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology','Researchers added seven new letters to DNA\'s molecular alphabet and developed a precise, letter-perfect sequencing method. These innovations helped transform the double helix into a robust, sustainable data storage platform fit for the Information Age and built to last well beyond the 21st century.',1,135,'<li>S. Kasra Tabatabaei, Bach Pham, Chao Pan, Jingqian Liu, Shubham Chandak, Spencer A. Shorkey, Alvaro G. Hernandez, Aleksei Aksimentiev, Min Chen, Charles M. Schroeder, Olgica Milenkovic. <strong>Expanding the Molecular Alphabet of DNA-Based Data Storage Systems with Neural Network Nanopore Readout Processing</strong>. <em>Nano Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04203\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04203</a>\r\n</li>'),(308,'Temperature variation could help new touchscreen technology simulate virtual shapes','temperature-variation-could-help-new-touchscreen-technology-simulate-virtual-shapes','2022-03-04 16:02:14.528695','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">High-fidelity touch has the potential to significantly expand the scope of what we expect from computing devices, making new remote sensory experiences possible. The research on these advancements, led by a pair of researchers from the J. Mike Walker \'66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&amp;M University, could help touchscreens simulate virtual shapes.</p><p>Dr. Cynthia Hipwell is studying friction at the finger-device level, while Dr. Jonathan Felts is researching friction in the interaction between single skin cells and the glass of the touchscreen interface. The two are bringing together their respective areas of expertise to apply friction principles at the microscopic level to finger-device interaction mechanics.</p><p>Hipwell highlighted the significance of the pursuit by comparing it to the technologies currently available for conveying immersive and accurate information through high-fidelity audio and video.</p><p>\"We can view digitally recorded or remotely transmitted audio and video on a screen with great detail,\" said Hipwell, Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. \'45 Chair II professor. \"We do not yet have that same capability with touch on a touchscreen. Imagine you could feel the skin of a snake that lives on another continent or the fabric of clothes you want to buy online.\"</p><p>Another application of this technology, which has received high levels of interest recently, is the augmentation of immersive virtual environments, such as the proposed metaverse.</p><p>\"The touch sensations that would be required to really immerse yourself into a reality that is fully digital requires huge advancements in touch perception,\" said Felts, associate professor and Steve Brauer, Jr. \'02 Faculty Fellow. \"What we\'ve done is essentially created an entirely new way to modulate the perception of touch that hasn\'t existed before.\"</p><p>The team is working to show that it is possible to mimic the unique mechanical and thermal sensations associated with different surface textures and shapes. Their recent publication in the journal <em>Science Robotics</em> demonstrates the potential for translating these sensations on a touchscreen by using temperature variation alone, rather than expressing them through ultrasonic vibrations or electroadhesion methods.</p><p>\"We were actually surprised by the magnitude of the friction increase we were able to achieve,\" Hipwell said. \"Its magnitude is competitive with current surface haptic devices, meaning that there is another option for friction modulation in surface-haptic device rendering.\"</p><p>Another exciting development, Hipwell said, is that their research has shown that it is possible to localize the friction to the outer layer of the skin and, at least at swipe speeds, control friction without making the device feel hot.</p><p>As the research continues, Felts said many of the questions remaining involve how readily the approach can be incorporated into consumer devices and commercialized.</p><p>\"Can it be scaled down? Can it respond quickly enough? Can it mimic a wide range of surfaces? Can it be affordable? We think these are fair criticisms, yet we look forward to using this phenomenon to improve our basic understanding of haptic feedback and pursuing miniaturization and commercialization avenues,\" he said.</p><p>The team is continuing their work to address challenges facing the approach by further exploring the complexities of the finger-device interface and variations that occur due to environmental and skin-property differences. They also hope to look at design improvements for miniaturization and integration into touchscreens.</p>','2022-03-04 02:55:37.665449','uploads/news/download_26.jfif',1,'Texas A&M University','High-fidelity touch has the potential to significantly expand the scope of what we expect from computing devices, making new remote sensory experiences possible. The research on these advancements could help touchscreens simulate virtual shapes.',1,134,'<li>Changhyun Choi, Yuan Ma, Xinyi Li, Sitangshu Chatterjee, Sneha Sequeira, Rebecca F. Friesen, Jonathan R. Felts, M. Cynthia Hipwell. <strong>Surface haptic rendering of virtual shapes through change in surface temperature</strong>. <em>Science Robotics</em>, 2022; 7 (63) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abl4543\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/scirobotics.abl4543</a>\r\n</li>'),(309,'Magnetic excitations could provide information transfer without heat loss','magnetic-excitations-could-provide-information-transfer-without-heat-loss','2022-03-04 16:00:02.338576','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Just as electrons flow through an electrical conductor, magnetic excitations can travel through certain materials. Such excitations, known in physics as \"magnons\" in analogy to the electron, could transport information much more easily than electrical conductors. An international research team has now made an important discovery on the road to such components, which could be highly energy-efficient and considerably smaller.</p><p>At present the transport and control of electrical charges forms the basis for most electronic components. A major disadvantage of this technology is that the flow of electric currents generates heat due to the electrical resistance. Considering the gargantuan number of electronic components in use worldwide, the loss of energy is immense.</p><p>An energy-efficient alternative may be the use of spin waves to transport and process information, because they do not produce nearly as much waste heat. Such components could also be much more compact. Scientists around the world are thus looking for materials in which magnetic spin waves can be used to transport information.</p><p>An international research consortium with significant participation of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now taken an important step forward in this search. Their observations of spin waves on circular paths in certain magnetic materials could also represent a breakthrough for quantum technologies that use waves to transport information.</p><p><strong>Propagation of magnetic waves in materials</strong></p><p>When you throw a stone into water, you bring the water molecules out of their equilibrium position. They start to oscillate, and a circular wave spreads out. In a very similar way, the magnetic moments in some materials can be made to oscillate. In this process, the magnetic moment performs a gyroscopic motion with respect to its rest position. The precession of one moment affects the vibration of its neighbor, and so the wave propagates.</p><p>For applications utilizing these magnetic waves, controlling properties such as wavelength or direction is important. In conventional ferromagnets -- in which the magnetic moments all point in the same direction -- magnetic waves generally propagate in a straight line.</p><p>The propagation of such waves is quite different in a new class of magnetic materials, which, like a box of uncooked spaghetti, consist of a tight arrangement of magnetic vortex tubes. This magnetic order was discovered nearly fifteen years ago by a team led by Christian Pfleiderer and Peter Böni at the Technical University of Munich using neutron experiments.</p><p>Because of their non-trivial topological properties and in recognition of the theoretical-mathematical developments of the British nuclear physicist Tony Skyrme, these vortex tubes are known as skyrmions.</p><p><strong>Propagation of magnetic waves on a circular path</strong></p><p>Since neutrons carry a magnetic moment, they are particularly well suited for the study of magnetic materials. Like a compass needle, they respond sensitively to magnetic fields. Neutron scattering proved to be the only technique capable of detecting spin waves on circular orbits since it provides the requisite resolution over very large length and time scales.</p><p>Using polarized neutron scattering, Tobias Weber and his team from the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France have now proven that the propagation of magnetic waves perpendicular to such skyrmions does not occur in a straight line, but rather on a circular path.</p><p>The reason for this is that the direction of neighboring magnetic moments, and thus the direction of the axis about which the precessional motion occurs, changes continuously perpendicular to the magnetic vortex tube. Analogously, when the precessional motion propagates from one magnetic moment to the next, the direction of propagation also changes continuously. The radius and the direction of the circular path of the propagation direction of the spin waves depends on the strength and the direction of the magnetic moments\' tilt.</p><p><strong>Quantization of circular orbits</strong></p><p>\"But there is even more to it,\" says Markus Garst of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), who had developed the theoretical description of spin waves in skyrmions and their coupling to neutrons some time ago. \"There is a close analogy between the circular propagation of spin waves perpendicular to a skyrmion lattice and the motion of an electron perpendicular to a magnetic field caused by the Lorentz force.\"</p><p>At very low temperatures, when the circular orbits are closed, their energy is quantized. Predicted almost a hundred years ago by Russian physicist Lev Landau, well-known for electrons this phenomenon is called Landau quantization. In analogy, the influence of the vortex-like character of the skyrmions on the spin waves can be elegantly interpreted as a fictitious magnetic field. In other words, the very complicated interplay of the spin waves with the skyrmion structure is actually very simple and can be described just like the motion of electrons transverse to a real magnetic field.</p><p>Moreover, the propagation of spin waves perpendicular to skyrmions also displays a quantization of the circular orbits. The characteristic energy of the spin wave is thus also quantized, which opens the door to completely new applications. In addition, the circular orbit carries a subtle twist, somewhat similar to a so-called Möbius strip. It is topologically non-trivial: The twist can only be removed by cutting and reconnecting the strip. All of this leads to a particularly stable spin wave motion.</p><p><strong>Successful international cooperation</strong></p><p>\"The experimental determination of spin waves in skyrmion lattices required both a combination of world-leading neutron spectrometers and a massive advancement of the software to interpret the data,\" explains TUM physicist Peter Böni.</p><p>The research team employed instruments of the Institut Laue-Langevin in France, the spallation source SINQ at the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute, the UK\'s ISIS neutron and muon source, and the Research Neutron Source Heim Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technical University of Munich. Further work on theory and data analysis was carried out at the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.</p><p>Marc Janoschek, who now works at the Paul Scherrer Institute, emphasizes: \"It is simply great to see that, after countless experiments at world-leading spectrometers and the clarification of major experimental and theoretical challenges during my time at Los Alamos, the microscopic detection of Landau quantization at the world\'s unique beamline RESEDA at TUM\'s FRM II in Garching closes a circle that began almost fifteen years ago with my first measurements at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching.\"</p><p>However, the motion of spin waves on circular orbits, which are quantized to boot, is a breakthrough not only from the perspective of fundamental research. Christian Pfleiderer, managing director of the newly founded Center for QuantumEngineering at TUM, emphasizes: \"The spontaneous motion of spin waves on circular orbits, whose radius and direction arise from the vortex-like structure of skyrmions, opens up a new perspective for realizing functional devices for information processing in quantum technologies, such as simple couplers between qubits in quantum computers.\"</p>','2022-03-04 02:55:42.777296','uploads/news/magnetic-excitations-c.jpg',1,'Technical University of Munich (TUM)','Just as electrons flow through an electrical conductor, magnetic excitations can travel through certain materials. Such excitations, known in physics as \'magnons\' in analogy to the electron, could transport information much more easily than electrical conductors. An international research team has now made an important discovery on the road to such components, which could be highly energy-efficient and considerably smaller.',1,61,'<li>T. Weber, D. M. Fobes, J. Waizner, P. Steffens, G. S. Tucker, M. Böhm, L. Beddrich, C. Franz, H. Gabold, R. Bewley, D. Voneshen, M. Skoulatos, R. Georgii, G. Ehlers, A. Bauer, C. Pfleiderer, P. Böni, M. Janoschek, M. Garst. <strong>Topological magnon band structure of emergent Landau levels in a skyrmion lattice</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 375 (6584): 1025 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abe4441\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abe4441</a>\r\n</li>'),(310,'Agreeableness a helpful trait for general success in life, study finds','agreeableness-a-helpful-trait-for-general-success-in-life-study-finds','2022-03-04 15:58:39.332373','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Following a major study of the effects of personality on job performance, researchers zoomed in on one personality trait -- agreeableness -- and found that it has a desirable effect on hundreds of physical, psychological and occupational metrics that impact not only job performance but general life success.</p><p>Michael Wilmot, assistant professor of management at the University of Arkansas, and Deniz Ones, professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, examined a wide range of variables, from psychological and physical health to interpersonal relationships, and from leadership effectiveness to performance in academic and organizational settings.</p><p>To better understand the impact of agreeableness, the researchers summarized results from 142 meta-analyses reporting effects for 275 variables. In all, the results comprised more than 1.9 million participants from roughly 3,900 studies. Meta-analysis is a process used to systematically merge multiple independent findings using statistical methods to calculate an overall effect.</p><p>Wilmot and Ones found that agreeableness had a desirable effect on 93% of variables and outcomes.</p><p>\"We wanted to do a quantitative summary and synthesis of what we have learned about relations between agreeableness, one of the so-called Big 5 personality traits, and its consequences,\" Wilmot said. \"We know this is important -- perhaps now more than ever -- because agreeableness is the personality trait primarily concerned with helping people and building positive relationships, which is not lost on organizational leaders.\"</p><p>In their previous study, Wilmot and Ones combined multiple meta-analyses of the five big personality traits -- conscientiousness, extraversion, openness and neuroticism, in addition to agreeableness -- and examined their effect on job performance. They found that relationships between personality traits and performance varied greatly across nine major occupational groups.</p><p>To clarify and emphasize the importance of agreeableness, the researchers organized the 275 variables into broader conceptual categories. These included physical and psychological health, performance, motivation and success.</p><p>Wilmot and Ones also synthesized eight themes that captured the characteristic functioning of agreeableness across all variables and categories. The themes illustrated the essence of how agreeableness is helpful to both individuals and organizations. The themes were:</p><p>\"Taken altogether, the interaction among the themes became clear,\" Wilmot said. \"Agreeableness was marked by work investment, but this energy was best directed at helping or cooperating with others. In other words, teamwork.\"</p><p>The researchers\' findings have been published in the Spring issue of <em>Personality and Social Psychology Review</em>.</p>','2022-03-04 05:49:59.507082','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Arkansas','Agreeableness has desirable effect on hundreds of physical, psychological, occupational metrics that impact more than just job performance.',1,133,'<li>Michael P. Wilmot, Deniz S. Ones. <strong>Agreeableness and Its Consequences: A Quantitative Review of Meta-Analytic Findings</strong>. <em>Personality and Social Psychology Review</em>, 2022; 108886832110730 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10888683211073007\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1177/10888683211073007</a>\r\n</li>'),(311,'Researchers identify potential approaches to modify the vaginal microbiome','researchers-identify-potential-approaches-to-modify-the-vaginal-microbiome','2022-03-04 15:56:26.764735','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The female genital tract is naturally colonized by mixed communities of bacteria, known as the vaginal microbiome. When these communities are dominated by species such as <em>Lactobacillus crispatus</em>, they provide important protective functions in genital health. But overgrowth of certain other bacterial species is linked to a condition known as bacterial vaginosis (BV). BV affects nearly 30% of women around the world, carrying increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and -- in pregnant individuals -- premature birth. Unfortunately, current antibiotic-based treatments for BV are poorly effective with high rates of recurrence.</p><p>One reason for BV recurrence may be that treatment often causes the microbiome to become dominated by a species called <em>Lactobacillus iners</em> instead of by <em>L. crispatus</em>. In a paper published this week in <em>Nature Microbiology</em>, researchers at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and colleagues show that <em>L. iners</em> has unique nutritional requirements that distinguish it from <em>L. crispatus</em>, potentially allowing it to be targeted using novel therapeutic strategies.</p><p>\"<em>L. iners</em> is the most abundant and common vaginal bacterial species worldwide, but it is poorly studied because scientists have had difficulty growing it in lab under conditions used to culture species like <em>L. crispatus</em>,\" explains Seth Bloom, MD, PhD, an Instructor in the Infectious Diseases division at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School who was lead author on the study. Bloom and colleagues found that adding the amino acid cysteine to standard <em>Lactobacillus </em>culture media allowed them to grow <em>L. iners</em> strains from samples collected from U.S. and South African women.</p><p>Surprisingly, when the researchers analyzed a novel collection of more than 1,200 vaginal <em>Lactobacillus </em>genomes from more than 300 women across four continents, they found that none of the species were able to make their own cysteine. This finding was confirmed in experiments conducted with Ben Woolston, PhD, and Emily Balskus, PhD, at the Harvard Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The team therefore hypothesized that all vaginal <em>Lactobacillus</em> species require external cysteine sources. They measured cysteine concentrations in vaginal fluid samples from South African women with high rates of BV, finding that higher vaginal cysteine levels were linked to <em>Lactobacillus</em>-dominant microbiomes while BV was associated with low cysteine levels.</p><p>\"The results suggested all vaginal lactobacilli acquire cysteine from their environment, but <em>L. iners</em>\'s ability to do so was more limited than other species,\" says Bloom. \"Indeed, when we looked at the genomes, we saw that all species except <em>L. iners</em> had multiple systems that are predicted to transport cysteine or its oxidized form, cystine.\" The team therefore tested effects of compounds known to inhibit cystine uptake, finding that cystine uptake inhibitors selectively blocked growth of <em>L. iners</em> in the lab, but not other <em>Lactobacillus</em> species.</p><p>\"These findings were exciting because they suggested a way to improve BV treatment by blocking <em>L. iners</em> growth in favor of more health-associated species like <em>L. crispatus</em>,\" explains co-author Nomfuneko Mafunda, an MPH candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who contributed to this study while working as a technician at the Ragon Institute. To test this idea, Bloom and Mafunda constructed mixed bacterial communities including <em>L. iners</em>, <em>L. crispatus</em>, and various BV-associated bacteria in the laboratory. They then treated the communities with an antibiotic commonly used for BV therapy, with a cystine uptake inhibitor, or a combination of the two. Their results showed that the combination allowed <em>L. crispatus</em> to outcompete other species more effectively than the antibiotic alone.</p><p>The researchers believe these results suggest a path to better therapies. \"One reason it\'s been difficult to develop effective BV treatments is that we haven\'t had the correct tools to study the vaginal microbiome in the lab,\" says Doug Kwon, MD, PhD, Ragon core member and senior author on the study. \"Here, developing the right tool to cultivate <em>L. iners </em>in the lab immediately translated into an important finding that will hopefully lead to improved therapies for BV.\"</p><p>The team emphasizes that several important questions remain. It isn\'t yet clear how <em>L. iners</em> takes up cysteine from its environment, and more potent versions of the inhibitors may need to be developed before the strategy can be used to treat patients. Even so, the study is a promising step forward for this common but difficult-to-treat condition.</p><p>Study co-authors include: Seth M. Bloom, Nomfuneko A. Mafunda, Benjamin M. Woolston, Matthew R. Hayward, Josephine F. Frempong, Aaron B. Abai, Jiawu Xu, Alissa J. Mitchell, Xavier Westergaard, Fatima A. Hussain, Nondumiso Xulu, Mary Dong, Krista L. Dong, Thandeka Gumbi, F. Xolisile Ceasar, Justin K. Rice, Namit Choksi, Nasreen Ismail, Thumbi Ndung\'u, Musie S. Ghebremichael, David A. Relman, Emily P. Balskus, Caroline M. Mitchell, and Douglas S. Kwon.</p><p>The study was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health; the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR); the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; the Burroughs Wellcome Trust; Vincent Memorial Research Funds; the South African Research Chairs Initiative through the National Research Foundation and the Victor Daitz Foundation; the Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Endowment at Stanford; the Harvard Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE); and the Harvard Microbial Sciences Initiative.</p>','2022-03-04 05:50:02.764581','uploads/news/uterus.jpg',1,'Massachusetts General Hospital','Study shows that L. iners has unique nutritional requirements that distinguish it from L. crispatus, potentially allowing it to be targeted using novel therapeutic strategies.',1,7,'<li>Seth M. Bloom, Nomfuneko A. Mafunda, Benjamin M. Woolston, Matthew R. Hayward, Josephine F. Frempong, Aaron B. Abai, Jiawu Xu, Alissa J. Mitchell, Xavier Westergaard, Fatima A. Hussain, Nondumiso Xulu, Mary Dong, Krista L. Dong, Thandeka Gumbi, F. Xolisile Ceasar, Justin K. Rice, Namit Choksi, Nasreen Ismail, Thumbi Ndung’u, Musie S. Ghebremichael, David A. Relman, Emily P. Balskus, Caroline M. Mitchell, Douglas S. Kwon. <strong>Cysteine dependence of Lactobacillus iners is a potential therapeutic target for vaginal microbiota modulation</strong>. <em>Nature Microbiology</em>, 2022; 7 (3): 434 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01070-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41564-022-01070-7</a>\r\n</li>'),(312,'New species of stegosaur is oldest discovered in Asia, and possibly the world','new-species-of-stegosaur-is-oldest-discovered-in-asia-and-possibly-the-world','2022-03-04 15:54:08.123015','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Relatively small, but fearsome-looking stegosaur measured about 2.8 metres (9 feet) from nose to tail -- but scientists can\'t tell whether the remains are those of an adult or juvenile.</p><p>A new species of one of the most recognisable types of dinosaur is the oldest stegosaur ever found in Asia, and one of the earliest unearthed anywhere in the world, according to research published today in the peer-reviewed <em>Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology</em>.</p><p>Remains of the stegosaur, which included bones from the back, shoulder, thigh, feet, and ribs, as well as several armour plates, date to the Bajocian stage of the Middle Jurassic period -- much earlier than most known stegosaurs.</p><p>A team from the Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development in China and London\'s Natural History Museum named it <em>Bashanosaurus primitivus </em>- \"Bashan\" in reference to the ancient name for the area of Chongqing in China where the dinosaur was found, and the Latin for \'first\' -- primitivus.</p><p>The new dinosaur, which roamed the planet 168 million years ago, plays a part in uncovering how the stegosaurs evolved -- of which, to this day, little is known.</p><p>It has a smaller and less developed should blade, narrower and thicker bases to its armour plates and other features that are different from all other Middle Jurassic stegosaurs discovered so far. However, it does have similarities with some of the first armoured dinosaurs, which are over 20 million years older.</p><p>\"All these features are clues to the stegosaurs\' place on the dinosaur family tree,\" says Dr Dai Hui from Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development who led the research. \"<em>Bashanosaurus </em>can be distinguished fromother Middle Jurassic stegosaurs, and clearly represents a new species.</p><p>\"What\'s more, our analysis of the family tree indicates that it is one of the earliest-diverging stegosaurs along with the Chongqing Lizard (<em>Chungkingosaurus)</em> and <em>Huayangosaurus</em>. These were all unearthed from the Middle to Late Jurassic Shaximiao Formation in China, suggesting that stegosaurs might have originated in Asia,\" adds Hui.</p><p>Instantly recognisable by the huge back plates, long tail spikes and tiny head, stegosaurs were four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. Stegosaur fossils have been found on all continents except for Antarctica and Australia, and 14 species of stegosaur have been identified so far.</p><p>Well-known members of Stegosauria include <em>Huayangosaurus</em> (one of the most primitive stegosaurs), <em>Gigantspinosaurus</em>, notable for its enormous shoulder spines, and <em>Miragaia</em> for its extremely long neck. However, the fragmentary fossil material has hindered attempts to understand how the stegosaurs evolved and how they relate to one another.</p><p>With the discovery of this new species the mystery has started to clear up. <em>Bashanosaurus primitivus</em> has several primitive features that are similar to the earliest stegosaurs like <em>Huayangosaurus</em> and <em>Gigantspinosaurus</em> and early-branching thyreophorans (armoured dinosaurs). These include longer tail vertebrae, a shoulder blade that is narrower and flares out, and features of the back vertebrae that are similar to the early armoured dinosaur <em>Scelidosaurus, </em>which lived during the Early Jurassic.</p><p>The fossilised remains of <em>Bashanosaurus</em> also reveal a host of features that make it unique from other known stegosaurs. For example, the bony point at the end of the shoulder blade is small and less well developed than in other stegosaurs; a bony projection of the thighbone (fourth trochanter) is positioned below the middle of the shaft; and the bases of the armour plates curve outwards and are thicker than the plates on the backs of its later relatives.</p><p>\"The discovery of this stegosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China adds to an increasing body of evidence that the group evolved in the early Middle Jurassic, or perhaps even in the Early Jurassic, and as such represent some of the earliest known bird-hipped dinosaurs,\" says Dr Susannah Maidment, co-author and palaeontologist at London\'s Natural History Museum.</p><p>\"China seems to have been a hotspot for stegosaur diversity, with numerous species now known from the Middle Jurassic right the way through until the end of the Early Cretaceous period.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-04 08:33:23.651284','uploads/news/download_25.jfif',1,'Taylor & Francis Group','Relatively small, but fearsome-looking stegosaur measured about 2.8 meters (9 feet) from nose to tail -- but scientists can\'t tell whether the remains are those of an adult or juvenile.',1,132,'<li>Dai Hui, Li Ning, Susannah C. R. Maidment, Wei Guangbiao, Zhou Yuxuan, Hu Xufeng, Ma Qingyu, Wang Xunqian, Hu Haiqian, Peng Guangzhao. <strong>New Stegosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Lower Member of the Shaximiao Formation of Chongqing, China</strong>. <em>Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1995737\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1080/02724634.2021.1995737</a>\r\n</li>'),(313,'Cutting losses: Engineering research equips solar industry for improved performance','cutting-losses-engineering-research-equips-solar-industry-for-improved-performance','2022-03-05 04:07:22.524003','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Solar electricity is produced almost entirely by panels, or modules, constructed with light-absorbing cells made from silicon. Silicon is the industry standard because it is reliable and inexpensive, with structure and performance that are well understood.</p><p>But silicon cell modules are little more than 20% efficient in converting sunlight into electricity, and their production is relatively expensive and complicated. Efforts to lower technology costs relative to yield therefore include different materials or combinations of materials. One such mix is cadmium, selenium and telluride, abbreviated as CdSeTe and spoken colloquially as \"CadTel.\"</p><p>\"CadTel makes up only about 5% of the photovoltaics market, but it has significant potential,\" says Arthur Onno, an assistant research professor with the Holman Research Group in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. \"For example, the absorbers are approximately 40 times thinner than those in silicon cells. Also, CadTel cells can be applied directly onto the front glass of a module through a more efficient production process called vapor transport deposition, which is the not the case for silicon. These differentiations can significantly change the manufacturing and cost structures for solar panels.\"</p><p>However, current CdSeTe devices display poorly understood voltage deficits that compromise their performance. Onno says the research community working with CdSeTe lacks the tools and techniques necessary to examine voltage losses and guide optimization in ways that are commonplace for improving silicon-based solar cells.</p><p>\"It means issues are often associated with \'this part\' or \'that part\' of a device without any clear quantification of the losses or the mechanisms at play,\" Onno says. \"It\'s sort of \'flying blind,\' so there is a real opportunity to bring important contributions to this field.\"</p><p>To seize that opportunity, Onno has been running a three-year project to develop a means of understanding why CdSeTe solar cell voltages are not higher -- and thereby illuminate the way forward to improved performance.</p><p>The effort has been led by the Holman Research Group, which is part of the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the seven Fulton Schools at ASU, in partnership with the Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics at Colorado State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and First Solar Inc. of Tempe, Arizona. Their research has been supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Solar Energy Technologies Office within the U.S. Department of Energy.</p><p>\"We have succeeded in identifying a technique that works. The measurement is called external radiative efficiency, or ERE,\" Onno says. \"We started using it on solar cells produced by our project partners, and we found a lot of hidden potential.</p><p>\"We also learned that the main mechanism limiting voltage is not necessarily linked to defects within the bulk of the cell nor at the interfaces between different materials comprising the cell,\" he says. \"That\'s usually what is assumed in the CadTel community. But instead, it\'s an issue with selectivity, which is when electrons within the cell go the wrong way and cancel each other.\"</p><p>Selectivity losses correspond to a drop between the internal and external voltages of the cell. Internal voltage is a measure of how defects within the bulk of the absorber and at its interfaces reduce voltage below an ideal thermodynamic limit. External voltage corresponds to internal voltage minus losses due to non-ideal behavior in the semipermeable membranes that sandwich or wrap the cell absorber and direct the electron flow in and out of the cell to generate an electric current.</p><p>The very presence of selectivity losses means these semipermeable membranes are imperfect, and Onno says the CdSeTe community has long assumed that semipermeable membranes were not an issue and therefore overlooked these losses.</p><p>The team\'s new research shows that things are more complicated than assumed, and more precise accounting is required because different devices exhibit different types of voltage losses. Consequently, the ability to measure internal voltage through ERE is an important innovation.</p><p>Onno says that the \"doping\" of absorbers through the addition of elements like arsenic helps to reduce selectivity losses. It does so because absorbers engineered in this way can support the role of the semipermeable membrane by letting electrons flow only one way through them.</p><p>This means altering the fabrication of the absorber with doping can change overall selectivity even when semipermeable membranes are left unchanged. Onno says this is important because it shows that there are multiple ways to achieve low selectivity losses and improve the efficiency of CdSeTe devices.</p><p>These new findings are revealed in \"Understanding what limits the voltage of polycrystalline CdSeTe solar cells,\" a new paper written by Onno with his colleagues and published in the research journal <em>Nature Energy</em>.</p><p>Moving forward, the team will apply the measurement technique to help improve solar cells produced from other advanced materials such as perovskites, a class of compounds that absorb light from a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum than the range for silicon.</p><p>The research results will also be applied to work with traditional silicon solar cells. The Holman Research Group is supporting a project led by Mariana Bertoni, an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Fulton Schools, to monitor device degradation in the field. The ERE technique works through glass, so solar cells already packaged inside commercial modules can be evaluated in ways that are not currently possible using a standard method known as quasi-steady-state photoconductance, or QSSPC.</p><p>\"We\'re also focused on getting this technology into the hands of industry,\" says Zachary Holman, director of the Holman Research Group and an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Fulton Schools. \"We have already built replicates of this measurement technique for a couple of domestic solar cell and module manufacturers.\"</p><p>Each company purchased components from a list supplied by the Holman Research Group. The ASU team then assembled the ERE unit and conducted lab training with an engineer from the manufacturer before shipping everything to their site.</p><p>Holman says his group plans to continue distribution of the new capability, with added drive from the launch of Arizona\'s New Economy Initiative, or NEI, to position Phoenix and the state for success in cultivating high-tech industry.</p><p>\"The NEI\'s Science and Technology Center for Advanced Materials, Processes and Energy Devices, or AMPED, has photovoltaics as a thrust area,\" he says. \"And it has recently extended support for further commercialization of this innovation, which is really going to help us get it out in the world and create impact.\"</p>','2022-03-04 20:38:45.479609','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Arizona State University','Researchers have succeeded in identifying a technique that makes cadmium, selenium and telluride (CdSeTe) solar cells more efficient than silicon cells.',1,138,'<li>Arthur Onno, Carey Reich, Siming Li, Adam Danielson, William Weigand, Alexandra Bothwell, Sachit Grover, Jeff Bailey, Gang Xiong, Darius Kuciauskas, Walajabad Sampath, Zachary C. Holman. <strong>Understanding what limits the voltage of polycrystalline CdSeTe solar cells</strong>. <em>Nature Energy</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-00985-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41560-022-00985-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(314,'Henipavirus glycoprotein architecture suggests therapeutic strategies','henipavirus-glycoprotein-architecture-suggests-therapeutic-strategies','2022-03-05 04:08:43.904891','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Recent molecular findings offer new details on how Nipah and Hendra viruses attack cells, and the immune responses that try to counter this onslaught. The results point toward multi-pronged tactics to prevent and treat these deadly illnesses.</p><p>This research is reported today in<em> Science </em>as a First Release peer-reviewed paper, published rapidly online.</p><p>Both Nipah virus and Hendra virus are carried by bats native to certain parts of the world. These henipaviruses jump species and can infect many other mammals, including humans. The viruses cause brain inflammation and respiratory symptoms. People acquiring either of these diseases stand a 50% to 100% chance of succumbing.</p><p>There is a vaccine approved for use in horses and a modified version entered a human clinical trial.</p><p>Horses can spread Hendra, possibly contracted from eating bat-contaminated fruit, to their caretakers through saliva and nasal secretions. An experimental, but not yet approved, cross-reactive antibody expected to work against both Nipah and Hendra viruses has been given to fifteen people who had a high-risk exposure. This was done under emergency compassionate use guidelines. This antibody is in a clinical trial in Australia, where it has just completed the Phase 1 stage of testing. There are no approved vaccines or therapies for use in humans against these henipaviruses, other than supportive care in the limited hope that the patient can overcome the virus.</p><p>New attempts to design life-saving preventatives and treatments became even more urgent after a new strain of Hendra was discovered a few months ago. Outbreaks of Nipah virus have appeared nearly every year over the past two decades in Bangladesh. The disease also has been seen in India and the Philippines. Henipavirus antibodies have been detected in people and Pteropus bats in Africa. It\'s estimated that 2 billion people live in the parts of the world where henipavirus spillovers from bats, or intermediary animal vectors, could be a threat.</p><p>The senior author of the latest henipavirus paper in Science is David Veesler, associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator. He studies bat immunity to many dangerous viruses, and conducts molecular structure and function studies of the infectivity machinery in coronaviruses, other related viruses, and henipaviruses. His lab also researches antibody and virus interactions that hold clues for designing antivirals and vaccines for these two families of viruses.</p><p>The lead author is Zhaoqian Wang, a UW graduate student in biochemistry. Christopher Broder\'s lab collaborated on the research at the Uniformed Services University and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.</p><p>The researchers explained that Nipah and Hendra viruses enter into cells through attachment and fusion glycoproteins, which work in a coordinated fashion. These glycoproteins are the key targets for the antibody defense system.</p><p>Through cryoelectron microscopy, the scientists were able to determine the structure of a critical component of the Nipah viruses\' infection mechanism in an interaction with a fragment of a broadly neutralizing antibody. They also observed that a mixture or \"cocktail\" of antibodies work better together to disarm Nipah viruses. Similar synergistic effects were seen in a set of antibodies against Hendra viruses. This combining of forces also helped keep escape mutants from emerging to sidestep the antibody response.</p><p>Examining the antibody response in laboratory animals inoculated with a critical section of the Nipah virus infection machinery provided vital information. The analysis indicated which area of the virus receptor binding protein was dominant in eliciting an immune response.</p><p>Before this study, the researchers said, nothing was available on the structure of a critical portion of henipaviruses responsible for eliciting antibody response, called the HNV G protein. This lack of information was an obstacle to understanding immunity and to improving the design of vaccine candidates.</p><p>Now that the researchers have uncovered the 3D organization and some of the conformational dynamics of the HNV G protein, science may be closer to creating a template for building new and improved vaccines.</p><p>In a simplified description of the more complex findings, an important part of the attachment structure has a neck and four heads. Only one of the four heads turns its receptor binding site in the direction of the potential host cell; the other three turn away toward the virus\' membrane. This gives the viral structure the freedom to re-orient the head domain to engage with the host receptor.</p><p>The scientists noted that the architecture then \"adopts a unique two heads up and two heads down conformation that is different from any other paramyxovirus attachment glycoprotein.\" The paramyxovirus is a large family of single-strand RNA viruses. They cause several distinct types of diseases, most of which are transmitted on respiratory droplets. They include measles, mumps, distemper, parainfluenza, and the henipavirus diseases that have more recently crossed from animals to humans.</p><p>In investigating the nature of antibody responses to the Nipah virus and Hendra virus attachment protein G, the scientists examined two animals that were immunized with that glycoprotein. A potent, diverse neutralizing antibody response ensued. The head domain was found to be the main, if not exclusive target, of the immunization-induced antibody neutralization, even though the full tetramer was used. This indicated that the antibody response narrowed in on the receptor-binding area.</p><p>These findings, the researchers noted, \"provide a blueprint for engineering next-generation vaccine candidates with improved stability and immunogenicity.\" The s would focus on the vulnerability of the head domain. They anticipate a design approach like that employed for newer computer-engineered SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus candidates. A mosaic of head antigens would be presented to the body in an ordered array on a multivalent display. Using only the head domain rather than the full G protein could also make manufacturing large supplies of vaccine simpler.</p><p>This study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (DP1AI158186 and HHSN272201700059C, AI077995, U19AI142764), the National Institute of Health Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Grant (T32GM007270), a Pew Biomedical Scholars Award, an Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Awards from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the University of Washington Arnold and Mabel Beckman cryoEM center and a National Institute of Health grant S10OD032290 (to D.V.). The scientists also acknowledged the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) for their support of the Nipah virus vaccine program.</p>','2022-03-04 20:38:48.354467','uploads/news/Coronavirus.webp',1,'University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine','3D structural findings are reported on a critical component of the Nipah virus\' infection mechanism, and how antibodies home in on an important part of the machinery that attaches the virus to host cells. The results point to multipronged strategies for preventing and treating the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses, which are carried by bats, but which have jumped species to infect other animals and people. The results of this latest research suggest a blueprint for computer-engineered, next-generation vaccine candidates,',1,21,'<li>Zhaoqian Wang, Moushimi Amaya, Amin Addetia, Ha V. Dang, Gabriella Reggiano, Lianying Yan, Andrew C. Hickey, Frank DiMaio, Christopher C. Broder and David Veesler. <strong>Architecture and antigenicity of the Nipah virus attachment glycoprotein</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm5561\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abm5561</a>\r\n</li>'),(315,'More alcohol, less brain: Association begins with an average of just one drink a day','more-alcohol-less-brain-association-begins-with-an-average-of-just-one-drink-a-day','2022-03-05 04:09:48.927555','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Even light-to-moderate drinking is associated with harm to the brain, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from more than 36,000 adults that found a link between drinking and reduced brain volume that begins at an average consumption level of less than one alcohol unit a day -- the equivalent of about half a beer -- and rises with each additional drink.</p><p>The research, using a dataset of more than 36,000 adults, revealed that going from one to two drinks a day was linked with changes in the brain equivalent to aging two years. Heavier drinking was associated with an even greater toll. The science on heavy drinking and the brain is clear: The two don\'t have a healthy relationship. People who drink heavily have alterations in brain structure and size that are associated with cognitive impairments.</p><p>But according to a new study, alcohol consumption even at levels most would consider modest -- a few beers or glasses of wine a week -- may also carry risks to the brain. An analysis of data from more than 36,000 adults, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, found that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reductions in overall brain volume.</p><p>The link grew stronger the greater the level of alcohol consumption, the researchers showed. As an example, in 50-year-olds, as average drinking among individuals increases from one alcohol unit (about half a beer) a day to two units (a pint of beer or a glass of wine) there are associated changes in the brain equivalent to aging two years. Going from two to three alcohol units at the same age was like aging three and a half years. The team reported their findings in the journal <em>Nature Communications.</em></p><p>\"The fact that we have such a large sample size allows us to find subtle patterns, even between drinking the equivalent of half a beer and one beer a day,\" says Gideon Nave, a corresponding author on the study and faculty member at Penn\'s Wharton School. He collaborated with former postdoc and co-corresponding author Remi Daviet, now at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Perelman School of Medicine colleagues Reagan Wetherill -- also a corresponding author on the study -- and Henry Kranzler, as well as other researchers.</p><p>\"These findings contrast with scientific and governmental guidelines on safe drinking limits,\" says Kranzler, who directs the Penn Center for Studies of Addiction. \"For example, although the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that women consume an average of no more than one drink per day, recommended limits for men are twice that, an amount that exceeds the consumption level associated in the study with decreased brain volume,\"</p><p>Ample research has examined the link between drinking and brain health, with ambiguous results. While strong evidence exists that heavy drinking causes changes in brain structure, including strong reductions in gray and white matter across the brain, other studies have suggested that moderate levels of alcohol consumption may not have an impact, or even that light drinking could benefit the brain in older adults.</p><p>These earlier investigations, however, lacked the power of large datasets. Probing massive quantities of data for patterns is the specialty of Nave, Daviet, and colleagues, who have conducted previous studies using the UK Biobank, a dataset with genetic and medical information from half a million British middle-aged and older adults. They employed biomedical data from this resource in the current study, specifically looking at brain MRIs from more than 36,000 adults in the Biobank, which can be used to calculate white and gray matter volume in different regions of the brain.</p><p>\"Having this dataset is like having a microscope or a telescope with a more powerful lens,\" Nave says. \"You get a better resolution and start seeing patterns and associations you couldn\'t before.\"</p><p>To gain an understanding of possible connections between drinking and the brain, it was critical to control for confounding variables that could cloud the relationship. The team controlled for age, height, handedness, sex, smoking status, socioeconomic status, genetic ancestry, and county of residence. They also corrected the brain-volume data for overall head size.</p><p>The volunteer participants in the Biobank had responded to survey questions about their alcohol consumption levels, from complete abstention to an average of four or more alcohol units a day. When the researchers grouped the participants by average-consumption levels, a small but apparent pattern emerged: The gray and white matter volume that might otherwise be predicted by the individual\'s other characteristics was reduced.</p><p>Going from zero to one alcohol units didn\'t make much of a difference in brain volume, but going from one to two or two to three units a day was associated with reductions in both gray and white matter.</p><p>\"It\'s not linear,\" says Daviet. \"It gets worse the more you drink.\"</p><p>Even removing the heavy drinkers from the analyses, the associations remained. The lower brain volume was not localized to any one brain region, the scientists found.</p><p>To give a sense of the impact, the researchers compared the reductions in brain size linked with drinking to those that occur with aging. Based on their modeling, each additional alcohol unit consumed per day was reflected in a greater aging effect in the brain. While going from zero to a daily average of one alcohol unit was associated with the equivalent of a half a year of aging, the difference between zero and four drinks was more than 10 years of aging.</p><p>In future work, the authors hope to tap the UK Biobank and other large datasets to help answer additional questions related to alcohol use. \"This study looked at average consumption, but we\'re curious whether drinking one beer a day is better than drinking none during the week and then seven on the weekend,\" Nave says. \"There\'s some evidence that binge drinking is worse for the brain, but we haven\'t looked closely at that yet.\"</p><p>They\'d also like to be able to more definitively pin down causation rather than correlation, which may be possible with new longitudinal biomedical datasets that are following young people as they age.</p><p>\"We may be able to look at these effects over time and, along with genetics, tease apart causal relationships,\" Nave says.</p><p>And while the researchers underscore that their study looked only at correlations, they say the findings may prompt drinkers to reconsider how much they imbibe.</p><p>\"There is some evidence that the effect of drinking on the brain is exponential,\" says Daviet. \"So, one additional drink in a day could have more of an impact than any of the previous drinks that day. That means that cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain aging.\"</p><p>In other words, Nave says, \"the people who can benefit the most from drinking less are the people who are already drinking the most.\"</p><p><em>Reagan R. Wetherill</em><em> is a research assistant professor of psychiatry in the </em><em>University of Pennsylvania</em><em>Perelman School of Medicine</em><em>. </em></p><p><em>Henry R. Kranzler</em><em> is the Benjamin Rush Professor in Psychiatry and director of the </em><em>Penn Center for Studies of Addiction</em><em> at Penn\'s Perelman School of Medicine.</em></p><p><em>Gideon Nave</em><em> is the Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz Assistant Professor in the </em><em>Wharton School</em><em>Department of Marketing</em><em> and the </em><em>Wharton Neuroscience Initiative</em><em> at Penn.</em></p><p><em>Remi Daviet</em><em> is an assistant professor of marketing in the </em><em>Wisconsin School of Business</em><em> at the </em><em>University of Wisconsin-Madison</em><em>.</em></p><p><em>Daviet was first author and Wetherill, Nave, and Daviet were co-corresponding authors on the paper.</em></p><p><em>Other coauthors were Kanchana Jagannathan, Nathaniel Spilka, and Henry R. Kranzler of Penn\'s Perelman School of Medicine; Gökhan Aydogan of the University of Zurich; and Philipp D. Koellinger of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.</em></p><p><em>The study was supported by the European Research Council (Grant 647648), National Science Foundation (Grant 1942917), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Grant AA023894), and Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the Crescenz VA Medical Center</em></p>','2022-03-04 20:38:49.352653','uploads/news/Alcohol-Brain-777x466.webp',1,'University of Pennsylvania','Even light-to-moderate drinking is associated with harm to the brain, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from more than 36,000 adults that found a link between drinking and reduced brain volume that begins at an average consumption level of less than one alcohol unit a day -- the equivalent of about half a beer -- and rises with each additional drink.',1,124,'<li>Remi Daviet, Gökhan Aydogan, Kanchana Jagannathan, Nathaniel Spilka, Philipp D. Koellinger, Henry R. Kranzler, Gideon Nave, Reagan R. Wetherill. <strong>Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28735-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28735-5</a>\r\n</li>'),(317,'New treatment to combat obesity and heart disease','new-treatment-to-combat-obesity-and-heart-disease','2022-03-05 04:10:58.170857','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An interdisciplinary research team at The University of Texas at San Antonio has successfully developed an innovative inhibitor that shows promise in fighting obesity and potentially preventing heart disease. Francis Yoshimoto, an assistant professor in the UTSA College of Sciences\' Department of Chemistry, is leading a team that developed an anti-obesity drug that blocks the effects of cytochrome P450 8B1, the enzyme linked to cholesterol absorption and obesity.</p><p>Yoshimoto collaborated with Eunhee Chung, an associate professor in the UTSA College of Health, Community and Policy\'s Department of Kinesiology to test the new drug. After designing and synthesizing it, Yoshimoto sent test samples to Chung\'s National Institutes of Health-funded laboratory, where she and her research team are conducting research on the effects of bioactive compounds -- chemicals found in small amounts in plants and certain foods -- and how exercise can be used to treat obesity and associated metabolic disorders.</p><p>Their research findings were published in the February 2022 issue of the scientific journal, <em>Steroids</em>.</p><p>\"Growing up, I dreamed of helping my family members, who were affected by obesity and heart disease and other medical conditions,\" Yoshimoto said. \"This dream is now turning into a reality, as we have developed a small molecule that can be used to fight obesity, a problem seen in many families around the world.\"</p><p>\"As an exercise physiologist, I truly believe exercise is the best medicine to fight against noncommunicable diseases,\" added Chung. \"Unfortunately, the adherence to exercise is quite low, and the prevalence of obesity is continuously rising. Based on promising data, I have high hopes of further testing Dr. Yoshimoto\'s inhibitor.\"</p><p>UTSA\'s drug has the potential to stop the activity of P450 8B1, the enzyme that creates cholic acid in the body. This inhibition, in turn, decreases cholesterol absorption. This process may hold the key to treating obesity-associated metabolic disorders and other diseases linked to obesity, such as heart disease and diabetes.</p><p>The team\'s research included treating mice with the inhibitor drug for seven days. The result was a decrease in the levels of glucose in their blood -- despite having been fed a high-fat and high-sucrose diet -- without affects to their body weight. The results demonstrate how a P450 8B1 inhibitor could lead to a healthier metabolic profile and its potential could lead to developing a therapeutic strategy to treat obesity-associated insulin resistance.</p><p>Yoshimoto and Chung\'s work is representative of UTSA\'s mission to develop solutions for complex challenges that will improve the health and well-being of society. Creating a drug effective in preventing obesity could improve quality of life around the world.</p><p>According to the World Health Organization, 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight in 2016, and 650 million were classified as obese. Closer to home, one in every four deaths in the U.S. is due to heart disease, of which obesity is a major contributor. Locally, 71% of adults are overweight or obese, according to a recent report from the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.</p><p>\"These results show how our research in synthetic chemistry can significantly contribute to the well-being of society by treating obesity and heart disease,\" Yoshimoto said.</p><p>Yoshimoto\'s medicinal chemistry research was made possible by the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund, which contributed $450k in 2019 to support anti-obesity research.</p><p><em>Chung\'s research was supported by the National Institutes of Health [NIH, NIGMS, grant GM125603].</em></p>','2022-03-04 20:38:52.889471','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Texas at San Antonio','An interdisciplinary research team has successfully developed an innovative inhibitor that shows promise in fighting obesity and potentially preventing heart disease. The team developed an anti-obesity drug that blocks the effects of cytochrome P450 8B1, the enzyme linked to cholesterol absorption and obesity.',1,139,'<li>Eunhee Chung, Samuel D. Offei, U-Ter Aondo Jia, Juan Estevez, Yessenia Perez, Hadi D. Arman, Francis K. Yoshimoto. <strong>A synthesis of a rationally designed inhibitor of cytochrome P450 8B1, a therapeutic target to treat obesity</strong>. <em>Steroids</em>, 2022; 178: 108952 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.steroids.2021.108952\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.steroids.2021.108952</a>\r\n</li>'),(318,'Bendy robotic arm twisted into shape with help of augmented reality','bendy-robotic-arm-twisted-into-shape-with-help-of-augmented-reality','2022-03-05 04:13:51.642534','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The flexible arm, which was designed and created at Imperial College London, can twist and turn in all directions, making it readily customisable for potential applications in manufacturing, spacecraft maintenance, and even injury rehabilitation.</p><p>Instead of being constrained by rigid limbs and firm joints, the versatile arm is readily bendable into a wide variety of shapes. In practice, people working alongside the robot would manually bend the arm into the precise shape needed for each task, a level of flexibility made possible by the slippery layers of mylar sheets inside, which slide over one another and can lock into place. However, configuring the robot into specific shapes without guidance has proven to be difficult for users.</p><p>To enhance the robot\'s user-friendliness, researchers at Imperial\'s REDS (Robotic manipulation: Engineering, Design, and Science) Lab have designed a system for users to see in AR how to configure their robot. Wearing mixed reality smartglasses and through motion tracking cameras, users see templates and designs in front of them superimposed onto their real-world environment. They then adjust the robotic arm until it matches the template, which turns green on successful configuration so that the robot can be locked into place.</p><p>Senior author of the paper Dr Nicolas Rojas, of Imperial\'s Dyson School of Design Engineering, said: \"One of the key issues in adjusting these robots is accuracy in their new position. We humans aren\'t great at making sure the new position matches the template, which is why we looked to AR for help.</p><p>\"We\'ve shown that AR can simplify working alongside our malleable robot. The approach gives users a range of easy-to-create robot positions, for all sorts of applications, without needing so much technical expertise.\"</p><p>The researchers tested the system on five men aged 20-26 with experience in robotics but no experience with manipulating malleable robots specifically. The subjects were able to adjust the robot accurately, and the results are published in<em> Robotics &amp; Automation Magazine.</em></p><p>Although the pool of participants was narrow, the researchers say their initial findings show that AR could be a successful approach to adapting malleable robots following further testing and user training.</p><p><strong>Bent into shape </strong></p><p>Potential applications include manufacturing, and building and vehicle maintenance. Because the arm is lightweight, it could also be used on spacecraft where low-weight instruments are preferred. It is also gentle enough that it could be used in injury rehabilitation, helping a patient perform an exercise while their physiotherapist performs another.</p><p>Co-first authors PhD researchers Alex Ranne and Angus Clark, also of the Dyson School of Design Engineering, said: \"In many ways it can be seen as a detached, bendier, third arm. It could help in many situations where an extra limb might come in handy and help to spread the workload.\"</p><p>The researchers are still in the process of perfecting the robot as well as its AR component. Next, they will look into introducing touch and audio elements to the AR to boost its accuracy in configuring the robot.</p><p>They are also looking into strengthening the robots. Although their flexibility and softness makes them easier to configure and maybe even safer to work alongside humans, they are less rigid while in the locked position, which could affect precision and accuracy.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-04 21:44:49.096939','uploads/news/bendy-robotic-arm-twis.webp',1,'Imperial College London','Researchers have designed a malleable robotic arm that can be guided into shape by a person using augmented reality (AR) goggles.',1,140,'<li>Alex Ranne, Angus Benedict Clark, Nicolas Rojas. <strong>Augmented Reality-Assisted Reconfiguration and Workspace Visualization of Malleable Robots: Workspace Modification Through Holographic Guidance</strong>. <em>IEEE Robotics &amp; Automation Magazine</em>, 2022; 2 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2022.3141973\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1109/MRA.2022.3141973</a>\r\n</li>'),(319,'Predicting solar cell performance from terahertz and microwave spectroscopy','predicting-solar-cell-performance-from-terahertz-and-microwave-spectroscopy','2022-03-05 04:14:57.415756','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Many semiconducting materials are possible candidates for solar cells. In recent years, perovskite semiconductors in particular have attracted attention, as they are both inexpensive and easy to process and enable high efficiencies. Now a new study shows how terahertz (TRTS) and microwave spectroscopy (TRMC) can be used to reliably determine the mobility and lifetime of the charge carriers in new semiconducting materials. Using these measurement data it is possible to predict the potential efficiency of the solar cell in advance and to classify the losses in the finished cell.</p><p>The most important properties of a semiconductor to be used as a solar cell include the mobility and lifetime of electrons and \"holes.\" Both quantities can be measured without contacts with spectroscopic methods using terahertz or microwave radiation. However, measurement data found in literature often differ by orders of magnitude. This has made it difficult to use them for reliable assessments of material quality.</p><p><strong>Reference samples measured</strong></p><p>\"We wanted to get to the bottom of these differences, and contacted experts from a total of 15 international laboratories to analyse typical sources of error and problems with the measurements,\" says Dr. Hannes Hempel from the HZB team led by Dr. Thomas Unold. The HZB physicists sent reference samples produced by the team of Dr. Martin Stolterfoht at University Potsdam to each laboratory with the perovskite semiconductor compound (Cs,FA,MA)Pb(I,Br)<sub>3</sub>) optimised for stability.</p><p><strong>Better data for better prediction</strong></p><p>One result of the joint work is the significantly more precise determination of the transport properties with terahertz or microwave spectroscopy. \"We could identify some neuralgic points that have to be considered before the actual measurements takes place, which allows us to arrive at significantly better agreement of the results,\" Hempel emphasises.</p><p>Another result of the study: With reliable measurement data and a more advanced analysis, the characteristics of the solar cell can also be calculated more precisely. \"We believe that this analysis is of great interest for photovoltaic research, because it predicts the maximum possible efficiency of the material in a solar cell and reveals the influence of various loss mechanisms, such as transport barriers,\" says Unold. This applies not only to the material class of perovskite semiconductors, but also to other new semiconducting materials, which can thus be tested more quickly for their potential suitability.</p>','2022-03-04 21:44:56.331087','uploads/news/predicting-solar-cell.jpg',1,'Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie','Many semiconducting materials are possible candidates for solar cells. In recent years, perovskite semiconductors in particular have attracted attention, as they are both inexpensive and easy to process and enable high efficiencies. Now a new study shows how terahertz (TRTS) and microwave spectroscopy (TRMC) can be used to reliably determine the mobility and lifetime of the charge carriers in new semiconducting materials. Using these measurement data it is possible to predict the potential efficiency of the solar cell in advance and to classify the losses in the finished cell.',1,138,'<li>Hannes Hempel, Tom J. Savenjie, Martin Stolterfoht, Jens Neu, Michele Failla, Vaisakh C. Paingad, Petr Kužel, Edwin J. Heilweil, Jacob A. Spies, Markus Schleuning, Jiashang Zhao, Dennis Friedrich, Klaus Schwarzburg, Laurens D.A. Siebbeles, Patrick Dörflinger, Vladimir Dyakonov, Ryuzi Katoh, Min Ji Hong, John G. Labram, Maurizio Monti, Edward Butler‐Caddle, James Lloyd‐Hughes, Mohammad M. Taheri, Jason B. Baxter, Timothy J. Magnanelli, Simon Luo, Joseph M. Cardon, Shane Ardo, Thomas Unold. <strong>Predicting Solar Cell Performance from Terahertz and Microwave Spectroscopy</strong>. <em>Advanced Energy Materials</em>, 2022; 2102776 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202102776\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/aenm.202102776</a>\r\n</li>'),(320,'AI helped protect businesses from COVID-19 risks','ai-helped-protect-businesses-from-covid-19-risks','2022-03-05 04:16:26.480510','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study has found that artificial intelligence (AI) apps helped protect small and medium-sized businesses against many of the risks that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic -- yet only a quarter of small firms currently use them.</p><p>The research, undertaken by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and published in the journal <em>Information Systems Frontiers</em>, surveyed 317 small and medium sized firms based in London. The study found the use of AI-powered apps was associated with a 3.1% reduced risk to business during the pandemic.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has created risks for economies and business operations, with customers stopping, reducing, or postponing purchases, thereby affecting supply chains and resulting in difficulties in sourcing alternative suppliers.</p><p>Business risks were defined by a 60-point scale developed by the International Labor Organization\'s (ILO) that measures the pandemic\'s impact on staffing, processes such as working patterns, reduced profits, and threats to partnerships.</p><p>AI software utilised by businesses include chatbots to allow swift interaction with customers, apps that identify damaging fake reviews, and apps that use algorithms to improve customer targeting based on their habits, social media activities and profiles, online activities, and past transactions.</p><p>The study found the use of AI apps to offer personalised shopping suggestions was associated with 2% lower business risks to profits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of AI apps to target audience online was associated with 1.2% lower overall business risk.</p><p>However, the research revealed that only 26% of small enterprises were utilising AI applications, considerably lower than the 70.4% of medium-sized businesses.</p><p>Lead author Professor Nick Drydakis, Director of the Centre for Pluralist Economics at Anglia Ruskin University, said: \"SMEs can invest in AI technologies to track users\' habits and provide recommendations, improve customer\'s purchasing decisions, search results, media communication, trade raise sales, improve organisational performance, and lower costs.</p><p>\"AI can help SMEs to adapt to unprecedented conditions, meaning they can leverage technology to meet new types of demand, move at speed to pivot business operations, boost efficiency and reduce their business risks.</p><p>\"We found that SMEs\' business risks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic declined with the use of AI applications across a ten-item scale including marketing, sales, communication, predictions, pricing and cash flow, fake reviews, cybersecurity, recruitment, and legal services.</p><p>\"The outcomes proved true regardless of enterprise size, turnover, and years of operation, indicating that AI applications have helped SMEs to adapt to unprecedented conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>\"It seems investment in AI apps could be a smart move for the three quarters of small businesses that do not currently utilise them.\"</p>','2022-03-04 21:44:59.441896','uploads/news/image4.png',1,'Anglia Ruskin University','A new study has found that artificial intelligence (AI) apps helped protect small and medium-sized businesses against many of the risks that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic -- yet only a quarter of small firms currently use them.',1,141,'<li>Nick Drydakis. <strong>Artificial Intelligence and Reduced SMEs’ Business Risks. A Dynamic Capabilities Analysis During the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong>. <em>Information Systems Frontiers</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10796-022-10249-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s10796-022-10249-6</a>\r\n</li>'),(321,'\'Fingerprint\' machine learning technique identifies different bacteria in seconds','fingerprint-machine-learning-technique-identifies-different-bacteria-in-seconds','2022-03-05 04:17:42.019585','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Bacterial identification can take hours and often longer, precious time when diagnosing infections and selecting appropriate treatments. There may be a quicker, more accurate process according to researchers at KAIST. By teaching a deep learning algorithm to identify the \"fingerprint\" spectra of the molecular components of various bacteria, the researchers could classify various bacteria in different media with accuracies of up to 98%.</p><p>Their results were made available online on Jan. 18 in <em>Biosensors and Bioelectronics</em>, ahead of publication in the journal\'s April issue.</p><p>Bacteria-induced illnesses, those caused by direct bacterial infection or by exposure to bacterial toxins, can induce painful symptoms and even lead to death, so the rapid detection of bacteria is crucial to prevent the intake of contaminated foods and to diagnose infections from clinical samples, such as urine. \"By using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis boosted with a newly proposed deep learning model, we demonstrated a markedly simple, fast, and effective route to classify the signals of two common bacteria and their resident media without any separation procedures,\" said Professor Sungho Jo from the School of Computing.</p><p>Raman spectroscopy sends light through a sample to see how it scatters. The results reveal structural information about the sample -- the spectral fingerprint -- allowing researchers to identify its molecules. The surface-enhanced version places sample cells on noble metal nanostructures that help amplify the sample\'s signals.</p><p>However, it is challenging to obtain consistent and clear spectra of bacteria due to numerous overlapping peak sources, such as proteins in cell walls. \"Moreover, strong signals of surrounding media are also enhanced to overwhelm target signals, requiring time-consuming and tedious bacterial separation steps,\" said Professor Yeon Sik Jung from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.</p><p>To parse through the noisy signals, the researchers implemented an artificial intelligence method called deep learning that can hierarchically extract certain features of the spectral information to classify data. They specifically designed their model, named the dual-branch wide-kernel network (DualWKNet), to efficiently learn the correlation between spectral features. Such an ability is critical for analyzing one-dimensional spectral data, according to Professor Jo.</p><p>\"Despite having interfering signals or noise from the media, which make the general shapes of different bacterial spectra and their residing media signals look similar, high classification accuracies of bacterial types and their media were achieved,\" Professor Jo said, explaining that DualWKNet allowed the team to identify key peaks in each class that were almost indiscernible in individual spectra, enhancing the classification accuracies. \"Ultimately, with the use of DualWKNet replacing the bacteria and media separation steps, our method dramatically reduces analysis time.\"</p><p>The researchers plan to use their platform to study more bacteria and media types, using the information to build a training data library of various bacterial types in additional media to reduce the collection and detection times for new samples.</p><p>\"We developed a meaningful universal platform for rapid bacterial detection with the collaboration between SERS and deep learning,\" Professor Jo said. \"We hope to extend the use of our deep learning-based SERS analysis platform to detect numerous types of bacteria in additional media that are important for food or clinical analysis, such as blood.\"</p><p>The National R&amp;D Program, through a National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, supported this research.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-04 21:45:05.941754','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)','Bacterial identification can take hours and often longer -- precious time when diagnosing infections and selecting appropriate treatments. There may be a quicker, more accurate process. By teaching a deep learning algorithm to identify the \'fingerprint\' spectra of the molecular components of various bacteria, the researchers could classify various bacteria in different media with accuracies up to 98%.',1,130,'<li>Eojin Rho, Minjoon Kim, Seunghee H. Cho, Bongjae Choi, Hyungjoon Park, Hanhwi Jang, Yeon Sik Jung, Sungho Jo. <strong>Separation-free bacterial identification in arbitrary media via deep neural network-based SERS analysis</strong>. <em>Biosensors and Bioelectronics</em>, 2022; 202: 113991 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2022.113991\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.bios.2022.113991</a>\r\n</li>'),(322,'Mindfulness meditation can reduce guilt, leading to unintended negative social consequences, study finds','mindfulness-meditation-can-reduce-guilt-leading-to-unintended-negative-social-consequences-study-finds','2022-03-05 04:19:12.188700','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Mindfulness meditation is a stress-management practice with ancient lineage that cultivates nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment, often by directing attention to the physical sensations of breathing. Initially inspired by centuries-old Buddhist practices consisting of philosophies and meditations together, today a secular version of mindfulness -- consisting of meditations alone -- is becoming increasingly popular.</p><p>There are phone apps that help generate self-awareness and many big corporations are folding mindfulness training programs into their curriculums. But there may be an unanticipated downside to secular mindfulness meditation practices, according to new research led by the University of Washington\'s Foster School of Business, and published in the <em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</em>.</p><p>\"Meditating can reduce feelings of guilt, thus limiting reactions like generosity that are important to human relationships,\" said lead author Andrew Hafenbrack, an assistant professor in the Foster School who studies mindfulness.</p><p>Researchers wanted to know how mindfulness meditation reduces negative emotions, like anger and guilt.</p><p>\"Negative emotions may not be pleasant, but they can help us navigate social situations and maintain relationships,\" Hafenbrack said.</p><p>\"If someone gets really angry and they yell at their boss, or something, and they get fired or make people feel unsafe, then you know that\'s a bad thing,\" Hafenbrack said. \"Not all negative emotions are the same in terms of the kinds of behaviors that they queue up, though.\"</p><p>When people feel guilty, it tends to make them focus outward, on other people, which can promote reparative actions.</p><p>\"Meditating for short periods of time is a tool that can make people feel better, like popping an aspirin when they have a headache,\" Hafenbrack said. \"We have a responsibility as researchers to share not only the many positive effects of meditation, but also the inadvertent side effects, such as the potential for it to occasionally relax one\'s moral compass.\"</p><p>To better understand meditation practices, the researchers conducted eight experiments with more than 1,400 participants in the U.S. and Portugal. Participants varied for each experiment -- some were U.S. adults recruited online, some were graduate students attending a university in Portugal, while another group was mostly undergraduates at the Wharton School of Business.</p><p>In their first study, the researchers demonstrated that mindfulness does reduce feelings of guilt. Participants were randomly assigned to either write about a past situation that made them feel guilty or write about their previous day. Then, they listened to either an eight-minute guided mindfulness meditation recording that instructed them to focus on the physical sensations of breathing or an eight-minute control condition recording in which they were instructed to let their minds wander. Participants who listened to the mindfulness recording reported feeling less guilt compared to those in the mind-wandering control group. This was true whether they had written about a guilty situation or their previous day.</p><p>The team then ran six other experiments to test whether mindfulness meditation would influence prosocial reparative behaviors, like making up with a friend after doing something that caused harm.</p><p>For example, in two experiments all participants were asked to recall and write about a time they wronged someone and felt guilty, before being randomly assigned to meditate or not. After that, they were asked to allocate a hypothetical $100 between a birthday gift for the person they had wronged, a charity for African flood victims, and themselves. Participants who had meditated allocated approximately 17% less to the person they had wronged compared to those who had not meditated.</p><p>The psychological process behind these allocation differences was reduced guilt. These and three other, similar experiments established that mindfulness meditation reduces the tendency to make amends for harming others.</p><p>\"This research serves as a caution to people who might be tempted to use mindfulness meditation to reduce emotions that are unpleasant, but necessary to support moral thoughts and behavior,\" said co-author Isabelle Solal, an assistant professor at ESSEC Business School in Cergy-Pointoise, France.</p><p>While focused breathing meditation is the most popular form of meditation, used in mindfulness programs such as the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction approach and Google\'s Search Inside Yourself, the study also explored loving kindness meditation, which appears in those programs as well. Loving kindness meditation consists of imagery exercises in which one evokes other people and sends wishes that each is happy, well and free from suffering.</p><p>In the final experiment, participants once again wrote about a time they wronged someone and felt guilty, before listening to either a focused breathing mindfulness meditation recording or a loving kindness meditation recording. Participants in the loving kindness group reported higher intentions to contact, apologize to, and make up with people they had harmed compared to participants in the focused breathing meditation group. The difference was explained by participants\' increased focus on others and feelings of love.</p><p>\"Our research suggests that loving kindness meditation may allow people to have the stress-reduction benefits of meditation without the cost of reducing repair, because it increases focus on others and feelings of love,\" said co-author Matthew LaPalme, who was a research scientist at Yale University and now works at Amazon.</p><p>The study first appeared online on Dec. 23, 2021. The research was supported by the Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, the Wharton Behavioral Lab, INSEAD and the University of Washington Foster School.</p>','2022-03-04 21:45:09.052762','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Washington','Mindfulness meditation is a stress-management practice with ancient lineage that cultivates nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment, often by directing attention to the physical sensations of breathing. But there may be an unanticipated downside to secular mindfulness meditation practices, according to new research.',1,142,'<li>Andrew C. Hafenbrack, Matthew L. LaPalme, Isabelle Solal. <strong>Mindfulness meditation reduces guilt and prosocial reparation.</strong>. <em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</em>, 2021; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000298\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1037/pspa0000298</a>\r\n</li>'),(323,'Nealtican lava flow field, Popocatépetl volcano: A window to the past and future hazards','nealtican-lava-flow-field-popocatepetl-volcano-a-window-to-the-past-and-future-hazards','2022-03-05 04:21:56.668093','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The Popocatépetl volcano, located southeast of Mexico City, stands as the second highest peak in Mexico and is considered to be one of the potentially most dangerous volcanoes in the world, given its record of highly explosive eruptions over the last 23,000 years.</p><p>Scientists have been studying the record of past eruptions from Popocatépetl to better understand possible future eruption scenarios and to mitigate potential risks. A new study published 25 February in GSA Bulletin took a focused look at one of the largest lava flows from Popocatépetl -- the Nealtican lava flow -- to evaluate its emplacement mechanisms and assess future volcanic hazards.</p><p>Researchers studied the lava flow in its entirety by mapping units of the lava flow, analyzing its forms and features, and performing chemical and mineral analyses of the rocks.</p><p>\"All of this work helps us to reconstruct the eruptive history of this flow and to determine exactly what the basic characteristics were for this eruption to occur,\" said Israel Ramírez-Uribe, the lead author of this study. \"It\'s important to study these phenomena so that we can better anticipate future scenarios and mitigate the risks.\"</p><p>Co-author Dr. Claus Siebe said, \"We can determine the areas that have been affected by past eruptions and then speculate on areas that may be affected in the future. And if these areas are inhabited by people, we can tell whether they might suffer the consequences of an eruption in the future.\"</p><p>The Nealtican lava flow covers an area of ~70 km2 to the east of Popocatépetl and was formed shortly after a highly explosive eruption known as the Lorenzo Pumice, which is dated between 350-50 BCE. From examining the layers of volcanic material, the Nealtican lava flow likely erupted only months to years after the explosive Lorenzo Pumice eruption.</p><p>Unlike the oozing, low-viscosity lava flows we often see from volcanoes in Hawaii, researchers determined that the Nealtican lava flows would have had a much higher viscosity, traveling at a rate of only 1-33 meters per day. Based on reconstructed eruption rates, it likely took ~35 years for the whole Nealtican lava field to be emplaced.</p><p>While a lava flow moving this slowly would not pose a direct risk for loss of human life, it would fully destroy existing structures and permanently render agricultural areas useless.</p><p>The Nealtican lava flows and the preceding explosive Lorenzo Pumice eruption would have significantly impacted pre-Hispanic settlements, burying villages under volcanic material and causing an exodus of the local population. Part of the pre-Hispanic Tetimpa settlement is currently buried under ash and 30-100 m of lava, but the full impact of the eruption on settlements closer to the volcano isn\'t known.</p><p>\"The archeological site of Tetimpa seems to be the outskirts of settlements that are buried under tens of meters of lava flows, so the main archeological material is still lying under the lavas and won\'t be easy to access.\" said Siebe.</p><p>Notably, the rise and fall of large Mesoamerican cities like Teotihuacán and Cholula coincide with the last major explosive eruptions from Popocatépetl. The population exodus and subsequent relocation as a result of the volcanic eruptions may have led to the rise of these important cities in central Mexico.</p><p>If Popocatépetl produced a lava flow today similar to the extent of the Nealtican lava field, it could severely damage the infrastructure of existing towns in the vicinity of the volcano and displace local residents, as it has in the past.</p><p>The millions of residents in the vicinity of Popocatépetl should be prepared and aware of these volcanic hazards, as it is not a question of if the volcano will erupt, but when.</p><p>\"This volcano is an active volcano, and we don\'t know when it will have a high magnitude eruption again, but it will certainly have one, and we should be ready for that,\" said Siebe.</p><p>Ramírez-Uribe noted that \"we must work with the communities at risk and try to explain volcanic hazards and their effects not only from a technical perspective, but also considering the socio-cultural aspects, religious beliefs, and the worldview of inhabitants.\"</p>','2022-03-04 21:45:12.175198','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Geological Society of America','The Popocatépetl volcano, located southeast of Mexico City, stands as the second highest peak in Mexico and is considered to be one of the potentially most dangerous volcanoes in the world, given its record of highly explosive eruptions over the last 23,000 years.',1,143,'<li>Israel Ramírez-Uribe, Claus Siebe, Magdalena Oryaëlle Chevrel, Dolors Ferres, Sergio Salinas. <strong>The late Holocene Nealtican lava-flow field, Popocatépetl volcano, central Mexico: Emplacement dynamics and future hazards</strong>. <em>GSA Bulletin</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B36173.1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1130/B36173.1</a>\r\n</li>'),(324,'Microneedle approach to address peanut allergy shows promise in mice','microneedle-approach-to-address-peanut-allergy-shows-promise-in-mice','2022-03-05 04:23:22.132983','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Treating peanut allergy with microneedles could significantly improve desensitization by directly targeting the allergen to the skin, providing greater protection from severe allergic reactions for millions of people, a new study suggests.</p><p>Investigators at Michigan Medicine, in collaboration with researchers from Moonlight Therapeutics, tested a dermal stamp containing peanut-coated microneedles on mice by applying it to the skin for five minutes once a week over five weeks. They compared that to mice receiving epicutaneous immunotherapy, which involves wearing a patch on the skin for 24 hours over the same time period.</p><p>The results, published in <em>Immunotherapy</em>, reveal mice that received the five weekly microneedle treatments had significant increased rates of desensitization to peanut allergy compared with EPIT, which required two months of treatment to achieve protection. The microneedle treatment success was achieved despite applying a dose of peanut protein 10-times lower than the dose delivered by EPIT.</p><p>\"While our pre-clinical results are from studies in animal models, they demonstrate the potential for peanut microneedles to improve food allergen immunotherapy through the skin,\" said Jessica O\'Konek, Ph.D., senior author of the paper and research assistant professor at the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at Michigan Medicine. \"Treatment options for food allergy are limited, so there is a lot of motivation for the development of novel therapeutics. It will be exciting to watch the clinical development of this technology,\" she said.</p><p>Around 6 million Americans have a peanut allergy, with symptoms that can range from mild hives to potentially fatal anaphylactic reactions. Currently, orally administered immunotherapy is the only treatment for peanut allergy approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. However, it requires that patients follow a strict long-term protocol for ingesting each dose.</p><p>EPIT has been demonstrated to be safe in clinical trials, but the treatment showed variability in efficacy. O\'Konek believes this could be due to the barrier provided by the skin surface, which may limit the amount of allergen taken up by the body. Targeted delivery of peanut protein with microneedle patches may offer more controlled delivery of allergen.</p><p>\"This is a very interesting technology that could provide a unique method to desensitize people with food allergies,\" said James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., co-author of the paper and director of the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center. \"These successful animal results argue for further development of this platform.\"</p><p>Additional authors include: Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center: Jeffrey Landers, Katarzyna Janczak; Akhilesh Kumar Shakya &amp; Harvinder Singh Gill, Texas Tech University Department of Chemical Engineering; Vladimir Zarnitsyn &amp; Samirkumar R. Patel, Moonlight Therapeutics, Inc.</p><p><em>The microneedle device used in the study was based on the proprietary treatment platform TASIS (Targeted Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy within the Skin) developed by Atlanta-based Moonlight Therapeutics.</em></p><p><em>Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under award numbers R42AI143011 and R01AI135197. <br/></em></p><p><em>Gill and Shakya are co-inventors on a patent related to coated microneedles for allergen immunotherapy. Moonlight Therapeutics is pursuing this technology for developing microneedles for peanut and other food allergy immunotherapies. Gill and Shakya have equity in Moonlight Therapeutics. Patel and Zarnitsyn are employees of Moonlight Therapeutics and have equity in the company.</em></p>','2022-03-04 22:55:16.233926','uploads/news/peanut.jpg',1,'Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan','Mice that received treatments with peanut-coated microneedles had significant increased rates of desensitization to peanut allergy compared with epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT), a new study found. The microneedle treatment success was achieved despite applying a dose of peanut protein 10-times lower than the dose delivered by EPIT. Researchers say the findings demonstrate the potential for peanut microneedles to improve food allergen immunotherapy through the skin.',1,144,'<li>Jeffrey J Landers, Katarzyna W Janczak, Akhilesh Kumar Shakya, Vladimir Zarnitsyn, Samirkumar R Patel, James R Baker Jr, Harvinder Singh Gill, Jessica J O\'Konek. <strong>Targeted allergen-specific immunotherapy within the skin improves allergen delivery to induce desensitization to peanut</strong>. <em>Immunotherapy</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/imt-2021-0206\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.2217/imt-2021-0206</a>\r\n</li>'),(326,'Greater greenhouse gas reductions for pickup truck electrification than for other light-duty vehicles','greater-greenhouse-gas-reductions-for-pickup-truck-electrification-than-for-other-light-duty-vehicles','2022-03-05 04:25:35.691971','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Major automotive manufacturers are ramping up production of electric trucks as a key strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their vehicles.</p><p>Light-duty vehicles, including sedans, SUVs and pickup trucks, are currently responsible for 58% of U.S. transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions. Pickup trucks accounted for 14% of light-duty vehicle sales in the United States in 2020, and the market share of both pickups and SUVs has grown in recent years.</p><p>But what does pickup truck electrification mean for the decarbonization of the transportation industry?</p><p>University of Michigan and Ford Motor Co. researchers addressed this question in a new study and evaluated the savings in greenhouse gas emissions relative to gasoline-powered pickup trucks. The study was published online March 1 in the journal <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>.</p><p>\"This is an important study to inform and encourage climate action. Our research clearly shows substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions that can be achieved from transitioning to electrified powertrains across all vehicle classes,\" said study senior author Greg Keoleian, a professor at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability and director of the Center for Sustainable Systems.</p><p>In the study, researchers conducted a cradle-to-grave assessment of the life cycle of pickup trucks and compared the implications of pickup truck electrification to those of sedan and SUV electrification.</p><p>With a focus on evaluating greenhouse gas emissions, researchers looked at three different model-year 2020 powertrain options -- internal-combustion-engine vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles and battery-electric vehicles -- for midsize sedans, midsize SUVs and full-size pickup trucks, accounting for differences in fuel economy, annual mileage, vehicle production and vehicle lifetime across vehicle classes.</p><p>They found that for sedans, SUVs and pickup trucks, battery-electric vehicles have approximately 64% lower cradle-to-grave life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than internal-combustion-engine vehicles on average across the United States.</p><p>\"This study can help us to understand the potential impact of electrification from an emissions-reduction perspective, particularly as we introduce new electric vehicles, and how we can continue to accelerate our progress towards carbon neutrality. We\'re proud to partner with U-M in this critical work,\" said Cynthia Williams, global director of sustainability, homologation and compliance at Ford.</p><p>The study offers several key findings. Researchers, for instance, found that replacing an internal-combustion-engine vehicle with a battery-electric vehicle results in greater total tonnage of greenhouse gas emissions reductions as the vehicle size increases, due to the greater fuel consumption of larger vehicles.</p><p>Though the percentage savings is about the same across vehicle classes, on average, replacing an internal-combustion-engine sedan with a battery-electric sedan saves 45 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; replacing an internal-combustion-engine SUV with a battery-electric SUV saves 56 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; and replacing an internal-combustion-engine pickup with a battery-electric pickup saves 74 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent over the lifetime of the vehicles, said study first author Max Woody, research specialist at U-M\'s Center for Sustainable Systems.</p><p>The researchers also found that battery-electric vehicles have larger greenhouse gas emissions in their manufacturing than internal-combustion-engine vehicles, due to battery production, but this impact is offset by savings in their operation. For battery-electric vehicles and internal-combustion-engine vehicles, the break-even time is 1.2 to 1.3 years for sedans, 1.4 to 1.6 years for SUVs and 1.3 years for pickup trucks, based on the average U.S. grid and vehicle miles traveled.</p><p>\"This study expands upon previous studies that have focused on comparing battery-electric vehicle sedans to their internal-combustion-engine or hybrid counterparts,\" Keoleian said. \"We report emissions for vehicle production, use and end-of-life stages on a per-mile basis and over the total vehicle lifetime.</p><p>\"In addition, we analyzed the regional variation in emissions considering differences in electricity grid mixes and ambient temperatures, and we also explored the effects of the rate of grid decarbonization on emission reduction.\"</p><p>Vehicle emissions vary across the country, as different temperatures and different drive cycles affect a vehicle\'s fuel economy. For electric vehicles, the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of the local electricity grid is also an important factor. The study developed maps to show the lifetime grams of carbon dioxide equivalent/mile for each powertrain (internal-combustion-engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles and battery-electric vehicles) and vehicle type (sedan, SUV and pickup truck) by county across the United States.</p><p>Researchers found that public concerns about battery-electric vehicles having higher emissions than internal-combustion-engine vehicles or hybrids are largely unfounded, as battery-electric vehicles outperform hybrids in 95%-96% of counties, while battery-electric vehicles outperform internal-combustion-engine vehicles in 98%-99% of counties, even assuming only modest progress towards grid decarbonization.</p><p>Charging strategies can further reduce battery-electric vehicle emissions. The study found that charging during the hours of the day with the lowest grid emissions intensity can reduce emissions by 11% on average.</p><p>\"Deployment of electric vehicles and expansion of renewable energy resources like solar and wind should be done at the same time,\" Woody said. \"The benefit of each is increased by the development of the other.\"</p><p>The other authors of the study are Parth Vaishnav of the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability and Center for Sustainable Systems, and Robert De Kleine, Hyung Chul Kim, James Anderson and Timothy Wallington of Ford Motor Company\'s Research and Innovation Center.</p><p>The study was supported by Ford Motor Co. through a Ford-University of Michigan Alliance Project Award.</p>','2022-03-04 22:55:18.616194','uploads/news/greater-greenhouse-gas-reductions-for-pickup.jpg',1,'University of Michigan','Major automotive manufacturers are ramping up production of electric trucks as a key strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their vehicles.',1,145,'<li>Maxwell Woody, Parth Vaishnav, Gregory A Keoleian, Robert De Kleine, Hyung Chul Kim, James E Anderson, Timothy J Wallington. <strong>The role of pickup truck electrification in the decarbonization of light-duty vehicles</strong>. <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>, 2022; 17 (3): 034031 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5142\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1088/1748-9326/ac5142</a>\r\n</li>'),(327,'A new study relates liquid fructose intake to fatty liver disease','a-new-study-relates-liquid-fructose-intake-to-fatty-liver-disease','2022-03-05 04:28:48.063661','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A high-fat diet is not enough to cause short-term fatty liver disease. However, if this diet is combined with the intake of beverages sweetened with liquid fructose, the accumulation of fats in the liver accelerates and hypertriglyceridemia -- a cardiovascular risk factor -- can appear.</p><p>This is explained in a study on a mouse experimental model, published in the journal <em>Molecular Nutrition and Food Research </em>and led by Professor Juan Carlos Laguna, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) and the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEROBN).</p><p>The study counts on the collaboration of the researchers Aleix Sala-Vila and Iolanda Lázaro, from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), and José Rodríguez-Morató, from IMIM-Hospital del Mar and MELIS-Pompeu Fabra University, among other experts.</p><p><strong>Fructose and lipid metabolism</strong></p><p>Fructose is one of the most common sweeteners in the food industry. This simple sugar (monosaccharide) is industrially obtained from corn syrup, a product derived from this gramineae. With a great sweetener power and low production costs, fructose is used by the food industry to sweeten beverages, sauces and processed foods, despite the scientific evidence that associates it with metabolic diseases which are risk factors of cardiovascular pathologies.</p><p>According to the new study, the effect caused by fructose in the increase in the synthesis of fatty acids in the liver is more decisive than the external introduction of fats through the diet. \"In high-fat diets which are supplemented with liquid fructose, this monosaccharide is able to induce an increase in the de novo lipogenesis -- that is, the formation of fats through sugar -- and an inhibition of the lipid oxidation in the liver,\" says Professor Juan Carlos Laguna, from the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutical Chemistry.</p><p>\"In particular, fructose intake affects directly the expression and activity of the nuclear factor ChREBP. Once activated, this factor causes an increase in the expression of enzymes that control the hepatic synthesis of fatty acids,\" he continues. \"Parallelly, fructose intake reduces the activity of the nuclear receptor PPARalfa, which is the main responsible for the controlling of the expression of genes that code the enzymes involved in the fatty acid oxidation (mitochondrial and peroxisome) in the liver.\"</p><p>As stated in the preclinical study, the combination of the saturated fat from dietary origin and the induction of the endogen synthesis of fatty acids is what causes the emergence of the fatty liver. \"Moreover, we are describing for the first time that fructose -- unlike high-fat diets -- increases the expression of the PNPLA3 protein, associated with the appearance of hypertriglyceridemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases,\" notes Núria Roglans, co-author of the study and member of the mentioned Department.</p><p><strong>Fatty liver disease in humans </strong></p><p>Several epidemiologic studies related the consumption of drinks that are sweetened with fructose to the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a pathology for which there is no specific pharmacological therapy. In these patients, de novo lipogenesis contributes up to a 30% of the lipids accumulated in the liver, while in healthy people, this synthesis brings only the 5% of hepatic lipids.</p><p>The animal model characterized by the team will be of potential interest to study future drugs to treat the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). \"People with this pathology have a higher endogenous synthesis of lipids in the liver than healthy people. Therefore, the effects described in this study might appear in humans as well,\" note the experts.</p><p>\"Unfortunately, -- they continue -- the fatty liver is the starting point for more serious pathologies, such as steatohepatitis and cirrhosis. It is a practically asymptomatic pathology, although in some cases, some mild unspecific digestive disorders can appear. Apart from following a healthy diet and physical activity, there is no efficient treatment against this pathology for now.\"</p><p>The effects described in the study are only observable if fructose is taken in its liquid form. \"Regarding sweetened beverages, fructose is quickly absorbed and it reaches the liver massively, producing the described metabolic alterations. To find a comparison, we could talk about the appearance of a fructose overdose when this is taken in sweetened drinks,\" notes the team.</p><p>\"However, when we eat fruit, the amount of taken fructose is a lot lower compared to a sweetened drink. Also, the process of chewing it and the presence of other elements in the fruit, such as fiber, slows down the absorption of fructose and its arrival to the liver,\" conclude the authors.</p>','2022-03-04 22:55:24.508621','uploads/news/a-new-study-relates-li.jpg',1,'University of Barcelona','A high-fat diet is not enough to cause short-term fatty liver disease. However, if this diet is combined with the intake of beverages sweetened with liquid fructose, the accumulation of fats in the liver accelerates and hypertriglyceridemia -- a cardiovascular risk factor -- can appear, according to researchers.',1,146,'<li>Ana Magdalena Velázquez, Roger Bentanachs, Aleix Sala‐Vila, Iolanda Lázaro, Jose Rodríguez‐Morató, Rosa M. Sánchez, Marta Alegret, Núria Roglans, Juan Carlos Laguna. <strong>ChREBP‐driven DNL and PNPLA3 Expression Induced by Liquid Fructose are Essential in the Production of Fatty Liver and Hypertriglyceridemia in a High‐Fat Diet‐Fed Rat Model</strong>. <em>Molecular Nutrition &amp; Food Research</em>, 2022; 2101115 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.202101115\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/mnfr.202101115</a>\r\n</li>'),(328,'During droughts, thirstier mountain forests could mean less water downstream','during-droughts-thirstier-mountain-forests-could-mean-less-water-downstream','2022-03-05 04:29:56.366095','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Using data gathered by satellite, North Carolina State University researchers found that higher elevation forests in the Blue Ridge Mountains are often maintaining, and sometimes even increasing, their water use during extreme droughts.</p><p>Published in the journal <em>Landscape Ecology</em>, the findings suggest upstream forests\' increased water consumption could leave less water downstream for forests, cities and wildlife during drought.</p><p>\"We\'re expecting that droughts will become more severe and frequent, so it\'s important to understand how that\'s going to influence the amount of water we have available,\" said the study\'s lead author Katie McQuillan, a graduate student in the Center for Geospatial Analytics at NC State. \"We found that these forests are using more water on average during droughts, and that leads to less water ending up downstream.\"</p><p>In the study, researchers analyzed how trees use water and release it as vapor based on thermal infrared remote sensing data gathered by satellites between 1984 and 2020. They used that data to understand trends in forest water use for more than 15,000 square miles of forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains across Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia.</p><p>\"Forested mountain regions are super important for the quality and quantity of water that we have downstream,\" McQuillan said. \"Mountain forests produce some of the cleanest and most stable sources of water, and have an impact on how much water is available downstream for people and aquatic species.\"</p><p>In part of their analysis, they tracked whether forests used more or less water than normal for each pixel of mapped land -- averaged based on elevation -- in moderate, severe and extreme droughts.</p><p>They found that higher elevation forests\' average water use was generally unchanged or slightly increased during extreme droughts. Those forests, which made up about 22% of the forest area they studied, tended to be located above 3,280 feet. Meanwhile, they found that lower elevation forests reduced their water use on average.</p><p>\"Higher elevations are finding droughts more stressful, so they\'re using more water every time there\'s a drought,\" said the study\'s senior author Katherine L. Martin, assistant professor of forestry and environmental resources at NC State. \"These high elevation and ridge forests are able to increase water use because they have first access to precipitation. With less runoff, that makes dry conditions for trees at lower topographic positions worse, leading to larger declines in forest water use in low elevation and valley forests.\"</p><p>Lower water consumption by lower elevation forests could mean they are less adapted to drought.</p><p>\"The processes of tree water use and growth are coupled, so when a tree reduces its water use it is also reducing growth,\" McQuillan said. \"More drought-adapted trees are typically able to continue using water, and growing, under greater water stress than less drought-adapted trees.\"</p><p>Overall, across all elevations, researcher saw that mountain forests drank above average amounts of water at the droughts\' peak. Researchers said rising temperatures due to climate change likely play a role.</p><p>\"We think that increasing temperatures are behind greater water use during droughts,\" McQuillan said. \"When it\'s hotter, forests use more water to keep themselves cool.\"</p><p>Changes in the types of trees found in the forests -- due to fire suppression and changes in precipitation or other trends -- could also be playing a role in their findings, researchers said. Drought sensitive species like maples and tulip poplars, which have historically been found at lower elevations, are now more common throughout the landscape.</p><p>\"There are species that use a lot more water than others,\" McQuillan said. \"If those are in the high elevation or upslope areas, that exacerbates what we\'re seeing.\"</p><p>The findings could mean that changes in the way forests use water would make water shortages more severe.</p>','2022-03-04 22:55:26.055546','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'North Carolina State University','Researchers found upstream forests\' increased water consumption during droughts could leave less water downstream for forests, cities and wildlife during drought.',1,101,'<li>Katie A. McQuillan, Mirela G. Tulbure, Katherine L. Martin. <strong>Forest water use is increasingly decoupled from water availability even during severe drought</strong>. <em>Landscape Ecology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01425-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s10980-022-01425-9</a>\r\n</li>'),(330,'Artificial intelligence predicts algae potential as alternative energy source','artificial-intelligence-predicts-algae-potential-as-alternative-energy-source','2022-03-05 04:31:03.088014','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Research scientists are using artificial intelligence to set a new world record for producing algae as a reliable, economic source for biofuel that can be used as an alternative fuel source for jet aircraft and other transportation needs.</p><p>Joshua Yuan, Ph.D., AgriLife Research scientist, professor and chair of Synthetic Biology and Renewable Products in the Texas A&amp;M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, is leading the research project.  The project team includes Bin Long, a graduate student from the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology; Bart Fischer, Ph.D., co-director of the Texas A&amp;M Agricultural and Food Policy Center and Texas A&amp;M Department of Agricultural Economics; Henry Bryant, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural Economics; and Yining Zeng, Ph.D., staff scientist with the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory.</p><p><strong>Solving the algae limitations as a biofuel</strong></p><p>\"The commercialization of algal biofuel has been hindered by the relatively low yield and high harvesting cost,\" Yuan said. \"The limited light penetration and poor cultivation dynamics both contributed to the low yield.\"</p><p>Overcoming these challenges could enable viable algal biofuels to reduce carbon emissions, mitigate climate change, alleviate petroleum dependency and transform the bioeconomy, Yuan said.</p><p>Yuan has previously been successful at finding methods to convert corn stubble, grasses and mesquite into biodegradable, lightweight materials and bioplastics. His latest project utilizes a patented artificial intelligence advanced learning model to predict algae light penetration, growth and optimal density. The prediction model allows for continual harvest of synthetic algae using hydroponics to maintain the rapid growth at the optimal density to allow best light availability.</p><p>Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Research scientists are using artificial intelligence for producing algae as a reliable, economic source for biofuel. This illustration depicts integration of machine learning-informed semi-continuous algal cultivation (SAC) and aggregation-based sedimentation (ABS) for biofuel production. (Illustration: Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Research)</p><p>The method Yuan and team have successfully achieved in an outdoor experiment is 43.3 grams per square meter per day of biomass productivity, which would be a world record. The latest DOE target range is 25 grams per square meter per day.</p><p>\"Algae can be used as an alternative energy source for many industries, including biofuel and as jet fuel,\" Yuan said. \"Algae is a good alternative fuel source for this industry. It\'s an alternate feedstock for bioethanol refinery without the need for pretreatment. It\'s lower cost than coal or natural gas. It also provides for a more efficient way of carbon capture and utilization.\"</p><p>Yuan said algae can also be used as a source for animal feed. AgriLife Research has previously investigated algae as a source of livestock protein.</p><p><strong>Algae as a renewable energy</strong></p><p>Algae biofuel is regarded as one of the ultimate solutions for renewable energy, but its commercialization is hindered by growth limitations caused by mutual shading and high harvest costs.</p><p>\"We overcome these challenges by advancing machine learning to inform the design of a semi-continuous algal cultivation (SAC) to sustain optimal cell growth and minimize mutual shading,\" he said.</p><p>Yuan said he is using an aggregation-based sedimentation strategy designed to achieve low-cost biomass harvesting and economical SAC.</p><p>\"The aggregation-based sedimentation is achieved by engineering a fast-growing blue-green algae strain, Synechococcus elongatus UTEX2973, to produce limonene, which increases cyanobacterial cell surface hydrophobicity and enables efficient cell aggregation and sedimentation,\" he said.</p><p><strong>Making algae economical energy</strong></p><p>Scaling-up the SAC with an outdoor pond system achieves a biomass yield of 43.3 grams per square meter per day, bringing the minimum biomass selling price down to approximately $281 per ton, according to the journal article. In comparison, the standard low-cost feedstock for biomass in ethanol is corn, which is currently approximately $6 per bushel or $260 per ton. However, Yuan\'s process does not call for costly pre-treatment before fermentation. Corn must be ground and the mash must be cooked before fermentation.</p><p>\"Algae as a renewable fuel source was a hot topic a decade ago,\" Fischer said. \"As a result, there\'s a lot of skepticism. I was even skeptical. However, the work that Joshua is doing is incredibly innovative. We were excited to partner on this project. At the productivity levels they obtain -- and given the low-cost harvest that the strain allows -- it shows a lot of promise.\"</p><p>Yuan said despite significant potential and extensive efforts, the commercialization of algal biofuel has been hindered by limited sunlight penetration, poor cultivation dynamics, relatively low yield, and the absence of cost-effective industrial harvest methods.</p><p>\"This technology is proven to be affordable and help propel algae as a true alternative form of energy,\" he said.</p><p>The team\'s findings were published in January in <em>Nature Communications</em>.  Ongoing research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Fossil  Energy Office. The work is also being funded by a gift from Dr. John \'90  and Sally \'92 Hood, who recently met with Yuan to discuss his biofuels  research program. The gift is managed by the Texas A&amp;M Foundation.</p>','2022-03-05 00:15:08.895561','uploads/news/1-algae.jpg',1,'Texas A&M AgriLife Communications','Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists are using artificial intelligence to set a new world record for producing algae as a reliable, economic source for biofuel that can be used as an alternative fuel source for jet aircraft and other transportation needs.',1,70,'<li>Bin Long, Bart Fischer, Yining Zeng, Zoe Amerigian, Qiang Li, Henry Bryant, Man Li, Susie Y. Dai, Joshua S. Yuan. <strong>Machine learning-informed and synthetic biology-enabled semi-continuous algal cultivation to unleash renewable fuel productivity</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27665-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-021-27665-y</a>\r\n</li>'),(331,'Researchers map magnetic fields in 3D, findings could improve device storage capacity','researchers-map-magnetic-fields-in-3d-findings-could-improve-device-storage-capacity','2022-03-05 04:31:57.616306','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers from the University of New Hampshire have mapped magnetic fields in three dimensions, a major step toward solving what they call the \"grand challenge\" of revealing 3D magnetic configuration in magnetic materials. The work has implications for improving diagnostic imaging and capacity in storage devices.</p><p>\"The number three really represents a breakthrough in this field,\" said Jiadong Zang, associate professor of physics. \"Our brain is a three-dimensional object. It\'s ironic that all our devices are two-dimensional. They\'re underperforming compared to our brains.\"</p><p>The study, published recently in the journal <em>Nature Materials</em>, provides the results of three years of high-performance numerical simulations, mapping a three-dimensional structure of a 100 nanometer magnetic tetrahedron sample using only three projection angles of electron beams. Zang points to computed tomography medical imaging, or CT scans, as an example. Instead of sending multiple beams of X-rays to map tissues in the body the same images could be produced with only three beams.</p><p>Reducing electron beam exposure in fast three-dimensional magnetic imaging is one potential application for this collaborative research. The researchers\' findings also have implications for improving storage capacity of magnetic memory devices, which currently deposit circuits onto two-dimensional panels that are approaching maximum density.</p><p>The method offered by this research will be a useful tool to detect and characterize three-dimensional magnetic circuits.</p><p>Zang and Alexander Booth, a former UNH doctoral student, conducted the theoretical analysis. Researchers from Japan and the University of Wisconsin performed the physical experiments. Funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES) under award number DE-SC0020221 helped support Zang and Booth\'s contributions to this research.</p><p>The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. A Carnegie Classification R1 institution, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and received $260 million in competitive external funding in FY21 to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-05 00:15:16.095548','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of New Hampshire','Researchers have mapped magnetic fields in three dimensions, a major step toward solving what they call the \'grand challenge\' of revealing 3D magnetic configuration in magnetic materials. The work has implications for improving diagnostic imaging and capacity in storage devices.',1,147,'<li>Kodai Niitsu, Yizhou Liu, Alexander C. Booth, Xiuzhen Yu, Nitish Mathur, Matthew J. Stolt, Daisuke Shindo, Song Jin, Jiadong Zang, Naoto Nagaosa, Yoshinori Tokura. <strong>Geometrically stabilized skyrmionic vortex in FeGe tetrahedral nanoparticles</strong>. <em>Nature Materials</em>, 2022; 21 (3): 305 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-01186-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41563-021-01186-x</a>\r\n</li>'),(332,'Changing the standard of care for stage III melanoma surgery','changing-the-standard-of-care-for-stage-iii-melanoma-surgery','2022-03-05 04:33:03.531703','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">For years, surgery for patients with stage III melanoma -- melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes -- involved removing those lymph nodes along with the primary tumor. Known as completion lymph node dissection (CLND), the surgery was meant to ensure that no cancer remained after surgery.</p><p>More recently, however, cancer surgeons have discovered that CLND has the potential to cause more problems than it solves. In most cases, patients do better on immunotherapy alone than they do when their surgery involves removal of the lymph nodes, due to potential complications from lymph node surgery.</p><p>In a paper published in February in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>, University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center members Martin McCarter, MD, Camille Stewart, MD, Karl Lewis, MD, William Robinson, MD, Ana Gleisner, MD, PhD, and Rene Gonzalez, MD -- along with CU School of Medicine resident Robert Torphy, MD, PhD -- reviewed their patient data to determine if immunotherapy alone resulted in better outcomes than CLND.</p><p>\"In the few years prior to immunotherapy being available, some surgical trials were done asking if regional node dissection by itself improves overall survival for the patients,\" says McCarter, a professor of surgical oncology at the CU School of Medicine. \"And the answer came back: no, it did not improve survival. That had been the standard forever, because we didn\'t have other effective therapies, but once the definitive trials were done, we learned that CLND wasn\'t helping, it wasn\'t improving survival. Subsequent trials demonstrated that immunotherapy can improve survival in metastatic melanoma.\"</p><p><strong>Better outcomes with immunotherapy</strong></p><p>For the study, Torphy, working with McCarter and the other researchers, looked at data on 90 patients who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (a procedure to determine if a skin melanoma has spread microscopically) only for stage III melanoma but did not undergo CLND. Of those patients, 56 received immunotherapy and 34 did not. Those who received immunotherapy had better rates of distant metastasis-free survival, meaning their cancer was less likely to come back.</p><p>\"As treatments for melanoma have evolved, the standard of care may be evolving as well,\" McCarter says. \"This study took a look at the patients who had a sentinel lymph node biopsy, so we knew the patient had a positive melanoma metastasis to their regional node. Those folks historically used to go on and get the completion lymph node dissection, but recently, people started to forego doing that lymph node dissection, which did not improve survival, and instead moved directly to immunotherapy, which did improve survival in other clinical trials. We proved that this is acceptable, that we\'re not causing more harm to patients by doing it, and that those who do go on to get the immunotherapy seem to benefit from it.\"</p><p><strong>The de-escalation movement</strong></p><p>Forgoing CLND is part of a recent movement in cancer treatment known as de-escalation (or de-implementation) -- giving patients only the surgery absolutely necessary to treat their immediate disease. It\'s especially important when it comes to lymph node surgery, McCarter says, as on top of the risks inherent to all surgeries, CLND has a 20% to 30% risk of permanent lymphedema, potentially harmful tissue swelling caused by an accumulation of protein-rich fluid that\'s usually drained through the body\'s lymphatic system.</p><p>\"If you could avoid that complication and not compromise a patient\'s survival, that would be beneficial,\" McCarter says. \"That\'s what we guessed was happening outside of definitive clinical trial evidence, and that\'s what we were able to show. We know that we often overtreat patients, and this fits in that paradigm of finding ways to de-escalate unnecessary therapies, which has been done in breast cancer and other cancers as well.\"</p><p><strong>Changing course</strong></p><p>The CU researchers hope the study begins to move the needle for cancer surgeons for whom CLND is still routine, despite the earlier studies showing that the additional surgery was not improving survival.</p><p>\"Previous clinical trials with the use of adjuvant immunotherapy for melanoma had required a CLND,\" McCarter says. \"This study used real-world data from our stage III melanoma patients who were treated with immunotherapy without having a prior CLND.</p><p>\"It takes years to change people\'s practice patterns. I still have conversations with community surgeons who treat melanoma, asking me, \'Should I be doing these regional node dissections?\' even though this data has been out for five to 10 years now,\" McCarter continues. \"They\'re afraid to give up what they used to do, and they\'re afraid that they are doing a disservice to the patients or not giving them the best chance, when in reality, our understanding of cancer biology has evolved. We now have effective immunotherapy, which is overcoming some of the limitations of surgery while improving outcomes.\"</p>','2022-03-05 00:15:17.816655','uploads/news/Visceral-surgery-Gut-bacteria-aggravate-adhesions-after-abdominal-surgery.webp',1,'University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus','For years, surgery for patients with stage III melanoma -- melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes -- involved removing those lymph nodes along with the primary tumor. Known as completion lymph node dissection (CLND), the surgery was meant to ensure that no cancer remained after surgery. More recently, however, cancer surgeons have discovered that CLND has the potential to cause more problems than it solves. In most cases, patients do better on immunotherapy alone than they do when their surgery involves removal of the lymph nodes, due to potential complications from lymph node surgery.',1,90,'<li>Robert J. Torphy, Chloe Friedman, Felix Ho, Laura D. Leonard, Daniel Thieu, Karl D. Lewis, Theresa M. Medina, William A. Robinson, Rene C. Gonzalez, Camille L. Stewart, Nicole Kounalakis, Martin D. McCarter, Ana Gleisner. <strong>Adjuvant Therapy for Stage III Melanoma Without Immediate Completion Lymph Node Dissection</strong>. <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>, 2021; 29 (2): 806 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1245/s10434-021-10775-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1245/s10434-021-10775-8</a>\r\n</li>'),(333,'Making diversity, equity, inclusion integral part of physics education','making-diversity-equity-inclusion-integral-part-of-physics-education','2022-03-05 04:34:15.497448','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While many physics instructors are beginning to incorporate lessons on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the classroom, it can often feel like an add-on rather than an integral component of becoming a physicist.</p><p>In The Physics Teacher, by AIP Publishing, scientists from Carleton College and the University of Colorado Boulder are helping to change this narrative by presenting discussions and activities on DEI as a fundamental and essential part of physics training beyond the introductory physics level.</p><p>\"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are a part of being a physicist, just as much as knowing about quantum mechanics or using an oscilloscope,\" said author Martha-Elizabeth Baylor.</p><p>The team created two separate approaches for DEI curriculum at the intermediate level in 30-person and 75- to 120-person classrooms. The former replaced one question on a weekly homework assignment with a reflection essay on a topic important to physicists. The latter included activities and discussions during a two-day unit on representation.</p><p>\"On the whole, students respond positively to covering this material in a physics class,\" said author Jessica Hoehn. \"They are eager for these conversations.\"</p><p>The reflection essays in the first approach were a small component of a larger \"Practicing Professionalism\" framework, which explored what physicists know, do, and care about. Meanwhile, the second approach tested students on the ideas within their DEI activities and discussions, just as it would with other course content.</p><p>Baylor said students began the term by writing themselves out of the definition of a physicist. However, that changed by the end of the class.</p><p>\"Many students come to see that the physics community thinks about the things that they think about, the things they care about,\" said Baylor. \"They find that anybody can be a physicist. They just have to care about physics, choose to do physics, and choose that as part of their identity.\"</p><p>For women in these classes in particular, a large theme emerged: Their feelings about being in physics were particular to the cultural environment in the U.S.</p><p>The authors believe instructors can look at each curriculum and design their own lessons that they are comfortable enacting. The individual reflection activities in the first approach may be an easier start for instructors who want to engage with students on an individual basis, rather than lead a class discussion.</p><p>The researchers recommend looking at their resources for ideas, then gathering feedback and iteratively improving the curriculum. They hope to help other instructors frame physics as a human endeavor.</p><p>\"We\'re doing this, because if you enter the physics community, you need to be able to engage intelligently and respectfully in these conversations,\" said Baylor.</p>','2022-03-05 00:15:20.287567','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','While many physics instructors are beginning to incorporate lessons on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom, it can often feel like an add-on rather than an integral component of becoming a physicist. Scientists are helping to change this by presenting discussions and activities on DEI as a fundamental and essential part of physics training. The team created two approaches for DEI curriculum, replacing a question on a weekly homework assignment with a reflection essay on a topic important to physicists and including activities and discussions during a two-day unit on representation.',1,68,'<li>Martha-Elizabeth Baylor, Jessica R. Hoehn, Noah Finkelstein. <strong>Infusing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Throughout Our Physics Curriculum: (Re)defining What It Means to Be a Physicist</strong>. <em>The Physics Teacher</em>, 2022; 60 (3): 172 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/5.0032998\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1119/5.0032998</a>\r\n</li>'),(335,'Visualizing the invisible: New fluorescent DNA label reveals nanoscopic cancer features','visualizing-the-invisible-new-fluorescent-dna-label-reveals-nanoscopic-cancer-features','2022-03-05 04:35:26.629492','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers have developed a new fluorescent label that gives a clearer picture of how DNA architecture is disrupted in cancer cells. The findings could improve cancer diagnoses for patients and classification of future cancer risk.</p><p>Published today in <em>Science Advances</em>, the study found that the DNA-binding dye performed well in processed clinical tissue samples and generated high-quality images via superresolution fluorescence microscopy.</p><p>\"My lab is focused on developing microscopy techniques to visualize the invisible,\" said senior author Yang Liu, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. \"We are one of the first groups to explore the capabilities of superresolution microscopy in the clinical realm. Previously, we improved its throughput and robustness for analysis of clinical cancer samples. Now, we have a DNA dye that is easy to use, which solves another big problem in bringing this technology to patient care.\"</p><p>Inside the cell\'s nucleus, DNA strands are wound around proteins like beads on a string. Pathologists routinely use traditional light microscopes to visualize disruption to this DNA-protein complex, or chromatin, as a marker of cancer or precancerous lesions.</p><p>\"Although we know that chromatin is changed at the molecular scale during cancer development, we haven\'t been able to clearly see what those changes are. This has bothered me for more than 10 years,\" said Liu, who is also a member of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. \"To improve cancer diagnosis, we need tools to visualize nuclear structure at much greater resolution.\"</p><p>In 2014, the Nobel Prize-winning invention of superresolution fluorescence microscopy was a major step towards making Liu\'s vision reality. A molecule of interest is labelled with a special fluorescent dye that flashes on and off like a blinking star. Unlike traditional fluorescence microscopy, which uses labels that glow constantly, this approach involves switching on only a subset of the labels at each moment. When several images are overlayed, the complete picture can be reconstructed -- at a much higher resolution than previously possible.</p><p>Until now, the problem was that fluorescent dyes didn\'t work well on DNA or in processed clinical cancer samples. So, Liu and her team formulated a new label called Hoechst-Cy5 by combining the DNA-binding molecule Cy5 and a fluorescent dye called Hoechst with ideal blinking properties for superresolution microscopy.</p><p>After showing that the new label produced higher resolution images than other dyes, the researchers compared colorectal tissue from normal, precancerous and cancerous lesions. In normal cells, chromatin is densely packed, especially at the edges of the nucleus. Condensed DNA glows brightly because a higher density of labels emits a stronger signal, while loosely packed chromatin produces a dimmer signal.</p><p>The images show that as cancer progresses, chromatin becomes less densely packed, and the compact structure at the nuclear border is severely disrupted. While these findings indicate that the new label can distinguish normal tissue from precancerous and cancerous lesions, Liu said that superresolution microscopy is unlikely to replace traditional microscopes for such routine clinical diagnoses. Instead, this technology could shine in risk stratification.</p><p>\"Early-stage lesions can have very different clinical outcomes,\" said Liu. \"Some people develop cancer very quickly, and others stay at the precursor stage for a long time. Stratifying cancer risk is a major challenge in cancer prevention.\"</p><p>To see if chromatin structure could hold clues about future cancer risk, Liu and her team evaluated patients with Lynch syndrome, a heritable condition that increases the risk of several cancer types, including colon cancer. They looked at non-cancerous colorectal tissue from healthy people without Lynch syndrome and Lynch patients with or without a personal history of cancer.</p><p>The differences were striking. In Lynch patients who previously had colon cancer, chromatin was much less condensed than in healthy samples, suggesting that chromatin disruption could be an early sign of cancer development -- even in tissue that looks completely normal to pathologists.</p><p>For Lynch patients without a personal history of cancer, some will go on to develop cancer, while others will not.</p><p>\"We see a much larger spread in this group, which is very interesting,\" said Liu. \"Some patients resemble healthy controls, and some are closer to Lynch patients who previously had cancer. We think that patients with more open chromatin are those who are more likely to develop cancer. We need to follow these patients over time to measure outcomes, but we\'re pretty excited that chromatin disruption in normal cells could potentially predict cancer risk.\"</p><p>In future work, Liu and her team are interested in examining chromatin structure in endometrial tissue from Lynch patients, who also have elevated risk of endometrial cancer. The researchers also received funding recently to look at sputum samples from smokers for early detection of lung cancer.</p><p>Other authors who contributed to this study were Jianquan Xu, Ph.D., Xuejiao Sun, M.S., Hongqiang Ma, Ph.D., Rhonda M. Brand, Ph.D., Douglas Hartman, M.D., and Randall E. Brand, M.D., all of Pitt; and Mingfeng Bai, Ph.D., and Kwangho Kim, Ph.D., both of Vanderbilt University.</p><p>This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01CA254112, R33CA225494 and R01CA232593).</p>','2022-03-05 02:21:43.674031','uploads/news/visualizing-the-invisi.jpg',1,'University of Pittsburgh','Researchers have developed a new fluorescent label that gives a clearer picture of how DNA architecture is disrupted in cancer cells. The findings could improve cancer diagnoses for patients and classification of future cancer risk.',1,19,'<li>Jianquan Xu, Xuejiao Sun, Kwangho Kim, Rhonda M. Brand, Douglas Hartman, Hongqiang Ma, Randall E. Brand, Mingfeng Bai, Yang Liu. <strong>Ultrastructural visualization of chromatin in cancer pathogenesis using a simple small-molecule fluorescent probe</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm8293\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abm8293</a>\r\n</li>'),(336,'Single test for over 50 genetic diseases will cut diagnosis from decades to days','single-test-for-over-50-genetic-diseases-will-cut-diagnosis-from-decades-to-days','2022-03-05 04:36:28.165836','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new DNA test, developed by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney and collaborators from Australia, UK and Israel, has been shown to identify a range of hard-to-diagnose neurological and neuromuscular genetic diseases quicker and more-accurately than existing tests.</p><p>\'We correctly diagnosed all patients with conditions that were already known, including Huntington\'s disease, fragile X syndrome, hereditary cerebellar ataxias, myotonic dystrophies, myoclonic epilepsies, motor neuron disease and more,\' says Dr Ira Deveson, Head of Genomics Technologies at the Garvan Institute and senior author of the study.</p><p>The diseases covered by the test belong to a class of over 50 diseases caused by unusually-long repetitive DNA sequences in a person\'s genes -- known as \'Short Tandem Repeat (STR) expansion disorders\'.</p><p>\'They are often difficult to diagnose due to the complex symptoms that patients present with, the challenging nature of these repetitive sequences, and limitations of existing genetic testing methods,\' says Dr Deveson.</p><p>The study, published today in <em>Science Advances</em>, shows that the test is accurate, and allows the team to begin validations to make the test available in pathology services around the world.</p><p>A patient who participated in the study, John, first realised something wrong when he experienced unusual problems balancing during a ski lesson.</p><p>\'It was very worrying having symptoms that, over the years, increased in severity; from being active and mobile to not being able to walk without support. I had test after test for over ten years and absolutely no answers as to what was wrong,\' says John, who was eventually diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called CANVAS, which affects the brain.</p><p>\'It was reassuring to finally confirm my diagnosis genetically, and it\'s exciting to know that, in the near future, others with these types of conditions will be able to get a diagnosis quicker than I did,\' he says.</p><p>\'For patients like John, the new test will be a game-changer, helping to end what can often be a taxing diagnostic odyssey,\' says Dr Kishore Kumar, a co-author of the study and clinical neurologist at the Concord Hospital.</p><p>Repeat expansion disorders can be passed on through families, can be life threatening and generally involve muscle and nerve damage, as well as other complications throughout the body.</p><p><strong>Quicker, more-accurate diagnosis for patients avoids \'diagnostic odyssey\'</strong></p><p>Current genetic testing for expansion disorders can be \'hit and miss\', says Dr Kumar. \'When patients present with symptoms, it can be difficult to tell which of these 50-plus genetic expansions they might have, so their doctor must decide which genes to test for based on the person\'s symptoms and family history. If that test comes back negative, the patient is left without answers. This testing can go on for years without finding the genes implicated in their disease. We call this the \'diagnostic odyssey\', and it can be quite stressful for patients and their families,\' he says.</p><p>\'This new test will completely revolutionise how we diagnose these diseases, since we can now test for all the disorders at once with a single DNA test and give a clear genetic diagnosis, helping patients avoid years of unnecessary muscle or nerve biopsies for diseases they don\'t have, or risky treatments that suppress their immune system,\' says Dr Kumar.</p><p>Although repeat expansion disorders cannot be cured, a quicker diagnosis can help doctors identify and treat disease complications earlier, such as heart issues associated with Friedreich\'s ataxia.</p><p><strong>Scanning for known and novel diseases</strong></p><p>Using a single DNA sample, usually extracted from blood, the test works by scanning a patient\'s genome using a technology called Nanopore sequencing.</p><p>\'We\'ve programmed the Nanopore device to hone in on the roughly 40 genes known to be involved in these disorders and to read through the long, repeated DNA sequences that cause disease,\' he says. \'By unravelling the two strands of DNA and reading the repeated letter sequences (combinations of A, T, G or C), we can scan for abnormally long repeats within the patient\'s genes, which are the hallmarks of disease.\'</p><p>\'In the one test, we can search for every known disease-causing repeat expansion sequence, and potentially discover novel sequences likely to be involved in diseases that have not yet been described,\' says Dr Deveson.</p><p><strong>Upscaling to wider use in the next five years</strong></p><p>The Nanopore technology used in the test is smaller and cheaper than standard tests, which the team hopes will smooth its uptake into pathology labs. \'With Nanopore, the gene sequencing device has been reduced from the size of a fridge to the size of a stapler, and costs around $1000, compared with hundreds of thousands needed for mainstream DNA sequencing technologies\' says Dr Deveson.</p><p>The team expects to see their new technology used in diagnostic practice within the next two to five years. One of the key steps towards that goal is to gain appropriate clinical accreditation for the method.</p><p>Once accredited, the test will also transform research into genetic diseases, says Dr Gina Ravenscroft, a co-author of the study and a researcher working on rare disease genetics at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.</p><p>\'Adult-onset genetic disorders haven\'t received as much research attention as those that appear in early life,\' she says. \'By finding more people with these rare adult-onset diseases, and those who may be pre-symptomatic, we\'ll be able to learn more about a whole range of rare diseases through cohort studies, which would otherwise be hard to do.\'</p><p><em>The work was supported predominantly by </em><em>philanthropic funding from The Kinghorn Foundation.</em></p>','2022-03-05 02:21:47.040169','uploads/news/Ira-Deveson.jpg',1,'Garvan Institute of Medical Research','A single DNA test has been developed that can screen a patient\'s genome for over 50 genetic neurological and neuromuscular diseases such as Huntington\'s disease, muscular dystrophies and fragile X syndrome. The new test avoids a \'diagnostic odyssey\' for patients that can take decades. The team has shown that the test is accurate. They are now working on validations to make it available in pathology labs. They expect it to be standard in global pathology labs within five years.',1,108,'<li>Igor Stevanovski, Sanjog R. Chintalaphani, Hasindu Gamaarachchi, James M. Ferguson, Sandy S. Pineda, Carolin K. Scriba, Michel Tchan, Victor Fung, Karl Ng, Andrea Cortese, Henry Houlden, Carol Dobson-Stone, Lauren Fitzpatrick, Glenda Halliday, Gianina Ravenscroft, Mark R. Davis, Nigel G. Laing, Avi Fellner, Marina Kennerson, Kishore R. Kumar, Ira W. Deveson. <strong>Comprehensive genetic diagnosis of tandem repeat expansion disorders with programmable targeted nanopore sequencing</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm5386\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abm5386</a>\r\n</li>'),(337,'Meddling with metals: Escaping the tyranny of copper','meddling-with-metals-escaping-the-tyranny-of-copper','2022-03-05 08:24:59.061102','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It may seem counterintuitive to many, but metal ions play a critical role in life, carrying out some of the most important biological processes. Think of hemoglobin -- a metalloprotein responsible for carrying oxygen to the body\'s organs via red blood cells. Metalloproteins are proteins bound by at least one metal ion. In the case of hemoglobin, that metal is iron.</p><p>For metalloproteins to work properly, they must be paired with the correct metal ion -- hemoglobin can only function with iron Yet, protein-metal binding is normally governed by a strict order, called the Irving-Williams Series, which dictates that copper ions should bind to proteins over other metals.</p><p>In other words, if a cell contained equal amounts of different metal ions, most cellular proteins and other components would bind to copper, clogging up cellular machinery in the process. This is why organisms spend considerable energy keeping very strict controls over how much free copper is present in cells.</p><p>Now researchers in the University of California San Diego\'s Division of Physical Sciences have reported a new protein-design strategy to sidestep the Irving-Williams Series. The findings were published earlier this week in the journal <em>Nature</em><em>.</em></p><p>Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Akif Tezcan and postdoctoral scholar Tae Su Choi designed a flexible protein that selectively binds other metal ions over copper, paving the way for the design of novel functional proteins and metal sequestration agents. Choi and Tezcan discovered that selective binding to non-copper metals required the artificial protein to present a very specific combination of amino acids and geometries to discriminate against copper. This discovery required an uncommon design approach.</p><p>\"Protein design typically involves trying to craft a discrete protein structure that can perform a certain function, such as catalysis. This approach is inherently deterministic and follows the sequence of one design-one structure-one function,\" stated Tezcan. \"Best case scenario, you obtain the structure and function that is designed. However, this approach doesn\'t leave much room for the discovery of new design principles or unexpected outcomes, which are potentially more significant than what was originally planned.\"</p><p>Tezcan and Choi took a probabilistic approach instead. At the outset, their designed protein wasn\'t engineered to possess a singular structure that selectively binds to a certain type of metal. They created a flexible system that could arrange itself in multiple ways to bind different metal ions in different geometries. It was this flexibility that led them to an outcome they did not originally plan for.</p><p>\"In analyzing these systems, we saw that proteins were binding to cobalt and nickel ions ahead of copper, which is not the natural order of things,\" stated Choi. \"We created an hypothesis and tested new variants. After extensive analysis, we realized we could construct a protein environment where copper was disfavored.\"</p><p>\"This is an example of designing a pathway rather that a target,\" explained Tezcan. \"I personally think that this is a more exciting way to go about the protein design problem. By incorporating an element of flexibility into the design, we leave open the possibility of different outcomes and new design principles we couldn\'t have known beforehand.\"</p><p>Research on selective metal binding and protein design has importance beyond a better understanding of the fundamentals of life. It can also lay the foundation for more efficient processes during environmental remediation, such as when certain metals need to be sequestered in contaminated water. Protein design is also a critical part of pharmaceutical research and development.</p><p>\"We were intrigued by the question \'Can we design proteins that can selectively bind to metals or have catalytic reactions in ways that evolution has not yet invented?\'\" said Choi. \"Just because biology doesn\'t do it, it doesn\'t mean it\'s not possible.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-05 06:04:39.752821','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - San Diego','Researchers have reported a new protein-design strategy to sidestep the Irving-Williams Series, allowing proteins to behind to other metals ahead of copper.',1,50,'<li>Tae Su Choi, F. Akif Tezcan. <strong>Overcoming universal restrictions on metal selectivity by protein design</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04469-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04469-8</a>\r\n</li>'),(338,'Event horizons are tunable factories of quantum entanglement','event-horizons-are-tunable-factories-of-quantum-entanglement','2022-03-05 08:25:57.367534','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">LSU physicists have leveraged quantum information theory techniques to reveal a mechanism for amplifying, or \"stimulating,\" the production of entanglement in the Hawking effect in a controlled manner. Furthermore, these scientists propose a protocol for testing this idea in the laboratory using artificially produced event horizons. These results have been recently published in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, \"Quantum aspects of stimulated Hawking radiation in an analog white-black hole pair,\" where Ivan Agullo, Anthony J. Brady and Dimitrios Kranas present these ideas and apply them to optical systems containing the analog of a pair white-black hole.</p><p>Black holes are some of the most mystifying objects in our universe, largely due to the fact that their inner-workings are hidden behind a completely obscuring veil -- the black hole\'s event horizon.</p><p>In 1974, Stephen Hawking added more mystique to the character of black holes by showing that, once quantum effects are considered, a black hole isn\'t really black at all but, instead, emits radiation, as if it was a hot body, gradually losing mass in the so-called \"Hawking evaporation process.\" Further, Hawking\'s calculations showed that the emitted radiation is quantum mechanically entangled with the bowels of the black hole itself. This entanglement is the quantum signature of the Hawking effect. This astounding result is difficult, if not impossible, to be tested on astrophysical black holes, since the faint Hawking radiation gets overshined by other sources of radiation in the cosmos.</p><p>On the other hand, in the 1980\'s, a seminal article by William Unruh established that the spontaneous production of entangled Hawking particles occurs in any system that can support an effective event horizon. Such systems generally fall under the umbrella of \"analog gravity systems\" and opened a window for testing Hawking\'s ideas in the laboratory.</p><p>Serious experimental investigations into analog gravity systems -- made of Bose-Einstein condensates, non-linear optical fibers, or even flowing water -- have been underway for more than a decade. Stimulated and spontaneously-generated Hawking radiation has recently been observed in several platforms, but measuring entanglement has proved elusive due to its faint and fragile character.</p><p>\"We show that, by illuminating the horizon, or horizons, with appropriately chosen quantum states, one can amplify the production of entanglement in Hawking\'s process in a tunable manner,\" said Associate Professor Ivan Agullo. \"As an example, we apply these ideas to the concrete case of a pair of analog white-black holes sharing an interior and produced within a non-linear optical material.\"</p><p>\"Many of the quantum information tools used in this research were from my graduate research with Professor Jonathan P. Dowling,\" said 2021 PhD alumnus Anthony Brady, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona. \"Jon was a charismatic character, and he brought his charisma and unconventionality into his science, as well as his advising. He encouraged me to work on eccentric ideas, like analog black holes, and see if I could meld techniques from various fields of physics -- like quantum information and analog gravity -- in order to produce something novel, or \'cute,\' as he liked to say.\"</p><p>\"The Hawking process is one of the richest physical phenomena connecting seemingly unrelated fields of physics from the quantum theory to thermodynamics and relativity,\" said Dimitrios Kranas, LSU graduate student. \"Analog black holes came to add an extra flavor to the effect providing us, at the same time, with the exciting possibility of testing it in the laboratory. Our detailed numerical analysis allows us to probe new features of the Hawking process, helping us understand better the similarities and differences between astrophysical and analog black holes.\"</p>','2022-03-05 06:04:46.637659','uploads/news/event-horizons-are-tun.jpg',1,'Louisiana State University','Physicists have leveraged quantum information theory techniques to reveal a mechanism for amplifying, or \'stimulating,\' the production of entanglement in the Hawking effect in a controlled manner. Furthermore, these scientists propose a protocol for testing this idea in the laboratory using artificially produced event horizons.',1,56,'<li>Ivan Agullo, Anthony J. Brady, Dimitrios Kranas. <strong>Quantum Aspects of Stimulated Hawking Radiation in an Optical Analog White-Black Hole Pair</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.091301\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.091301</a>\r\n</li>'),(339,'Possible common thread between many neurodegenerative diseases','possible-common-thread-between-many-neurodegenerative-diseases','2022-03-05 08:26:53.055245','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Take a cell-deep tour of a brain afflicted with Alzheimer\'s disease, and you will find minuscule clumps of protein that seem suspicious. Ever since the 1980s, when neuroscientists began identifying these protein tangles, researchers have discovered that other brain diseases have their own tangled-protein signatures.</p><p>\"Each of these diseases has a unique protein tangle, or fibril, associated with it,\" said Anthony Fitzpatrick, PhD, principal investigator at Columbia\'s Zuckerman Institute. \"These proteins associated with diseases have their own shapes and behaviors,\" added Dr. Fitzpatrick, also an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and a member of Columbia\'s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer\'s Disease and the Aging Brain.</p><p>Published today in <em>Cell</em>, the research by Dr. Fitzpatrick and an international team of 22 collaborators reveals a new fibril in diseased brains, one formed by a protein normally busy cleaning cells.</p><p>\"We have a surprising and provocative result that we hope could have some bearing on managing neurodegenerative diseases,\" said undergraduate Andrew Chang, a co-first author on the paper in the Fitzpatrick lab. Drug researchers have long pursued the tangle-forming proteins as targets for new medicines, but this pursuit so far has largely delivered disappointing results.</p><p>Fibril-associated diseases, some common and some rare, collectively affect millions of people around the world. Their incidence is slated to increase as the population grows and people live longer. Untangling what is going on in these neurodegenerative diseases has a personal facet for Dr. Fitzpatrick: He lost an uncle to one of them, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).</p><p>\"We have found that a protein called TMEM106B can form fibrils, and this behavior was not known before,\" said Xinyu Xiang, formerly a member of the Fitzpatrick lab at the Zuckerman Institute and now a graduate student at Stanford University\'s Department of Structural Biology. \"This protein is a core component of lysosomes and endosomes, which are organelles that clean up the junk that builds up in our cells as we get older.\"</p><p>Normally, TMEM106B molecules span the membranes of those waste-management organelles. In a feat of laboratory sleuthing, Fitzpatrick\'s team discovered that TMEM106B molecules can split into two fragments. Fragments inside the organelles can then self-assemble into what the researchers suspect could be cell-hobbling fibrils.</p><p>To make this discovery, the researchers first extracted proteins from brain tissue donated by 11 patients who had died from three neurodegenerative diseases associated with misfolded proteins: PSP, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). FTLD is the most prevalent form of dementia for those under 60 years of age.</p><p>\"It\'s so motivating to remember that the only way we can do this research is because of people who generously donated their brains,\" said Marija Simjanoska, a co-first author and one of the three undergraduates working on the project.</p><p>Co-corresponding author Ian Mackenzie, MD, of the University of British Columbia, and co-authors Dennis Dickson, MD, and Leonard Pertrocelli, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Florida, helped procure this precious research resource. Joining Drs. Fitzpatrick and Mackenzie as co-corresponding authors on the paper is Michael Stowell, PhD, of the University of Colorado, Boulder. Filling out the 23-member team are researchers from several other institutions, including three in Belgium.</p><p>With a world-class cryogenic electron microscope (cryo-EM), the team took snapshots of individual protein molecules at many different angles. From these, the researchers constructed three-dimensional models of the protein in atomic detail. Those models, in turn, helped the researchers identify TMEM106B by making educated guesses about the exact sequence of the protein\'s amino-acid building blocks. Much in the way letters string into words with specific meanings, different amino-acid molecules build into proteins, each with its own shape and function.</p><p>The researchers fully expected that one of the long-known fibril-forming proteins, such as the tau protein in Alzheimer\'s disease, would end up matching with the models from the cryo-EM data. Instead, the matching exercise, which involved searching in a massive database of protein sequences, delivered a head-turning result.</p><p>The researchers found that the mysterious protein matched a 135-amino-acid fragment of TMEM106B. That was an exciting revelation because this same protein was identified more than a decade ago in a broad hunt for genes potentially associated with FTLD.</p><p>So far, the data in hand shows only that TMEM106B fibrils are present in diseased brain tissue, not that the fibrils cause the diseases. Still, Dr. Fitzpatrick points out, the prevalence of TMEM106B fibrils in tissue from different brain diseases, combined with the protein\'s normal place in lysosomes and endosomes, points toward a possible disease-causing role.</p><p>In their <em>Cell</em> paper, the researchers speculate that the formation of TMEM106B fibrils disrupts lysosome function, which, in turn, promotes the formation of fibrils made of the other known fibril-forming proteins. These malfunctions could kill brain cells, leading to dementia, movement problems, speech pathologies and other symptoms of Alzheimer\'s, PSP, FTLD and other brain diseases with telltale protein tangles.</p><p>\"We now have a promising new lead,\" said Dr. Fitzpatrick. \"It could point towards a common thread linking a range of neurodegenerative diseases and could open the way to new interventions.\"</p><p>This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke (UO1NS110438, U54NS110435); the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration; Canadian Institutes of Health Research (74580); and MCDB Neurodegenerative Disease Fund.</p>','2022-03-05 06:04:48.490664','uploads/news/columbia-study-suggest.jpg',1,'Columbia University','Researchers reveal a new fibril in diseased brains, one formed by a protein normally busy cleaning cells.',1,108,'<li>Andrew Chang, Xinyu Xiang, Jing Wang, Carolyn Lee, Tamta Arakhamia, Marija Simjanoska, Chi Wang, Yari Carlomagno, Guoan Zhang, Shikhar Dhingra, Manon Thierry, Jolien Perneel, Bavo Heeman, Lauren M. Forgrave, Michael DeTure, Mari L. DeMarco, Casey N. Cook, Rosa Rademakers, Dennis W. Dickson, Leonard Petrucelli, Michael H.B. Stowell, Ian R.A. Mackenzie, Anthony W.P. Fitzpatrick. <strong>Homotypic fibrillization of TMEM106B across diverse neurodegenerative diseases</strong>. <em>Cell</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.02.026\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cell.2022.02.026</a>\r\n</li>'),(340,'Scientists identify areas of high marine mammal diversity','scientists-identify-areas-of-high-marine-mammal-diversity','2022-03-05 08:28:22.341542','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Sightings of more than 1 million marine mammals in the federally protected Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and sites along the Atlantic Coast have been used to identify areas of high marine mammal diversity. These findings underscore the importance of ocean conservation as these waters face increasing impacts from human activities.</p><p>In a new study published in <em>Conservation Science and Practice</em>, New England Aquarium scientists reviewed marine mammal sightings to gain a better understanding of habitat use along the U.S. East Coast. The research team used North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium data from aerial and boat surveys conducted by 49 organizations between 1979 and 2020 to calculate marine mammal species diversity in the North Atlantic Ocean between Florida and Nova Scotia, Canada. The data set contained 189,175 sightings of more than 1 million animals from 30 unique species or species groupings.</p><p>High species diversity occurred more frequently in the northern part of the Atlantic Coast, particularly around the Monument, on the edge of the continental shelf, and across the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, they found. \"It was very exciting to see these results,\" said Brooke C. Hodge, the study\'s lead author and Associate Scientist in the Spatial Ecology, Mapping, and Assessment (EcoMap) Program for the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.. \"Our research shows us that the Monument is diverse compared to the East Coast. It is clearly well-sited and protects a unique and diverse marine mammal community.\"</p><p>Last October, the Biden-Harris Administration reinstated the Monument\'s federal protection status, which had been removed by the previous administration. The nearly 5,000-square mile underwater sanctuary is located 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod and is home to vibrant deep-sea ecosystems that include coral reefs, fish, and endangered whales. In 2016, Aquarium scientists provided strong scientific evidence that helped the Monument\'s initial designation under President Obama. In 2021, Aquarium scientists explored the consequences of removing protections from the Monument and demonstrated that opening the Monument to fishing increased the risk of entanglement, bycatch, and habitat destruction for species from the sea surface to sea floor.</p><p>In this study, scientists found that species diversity was highest in the northern and mid-Atlantic regions with steep continental shelf edges. Canyons and areas with high salinity and low temperatures also had a high diversity of marine mammals. \"Well designed and effectively managed marine protected areas can lead to conservation success,\" Hodge said. In the study, the authors wrote: \"Our analyses contribute to efforts to designate MPAs (marine protected areas) to conserve habitat that is important for protecting species by identifying drivers of biodiversity and potential sites for protecting 30 percent of the plant by 2030.\" The Biden-Harris Administration aims to protect 30 percent of federal U.S. lands and waters by 2030.</p><p>\"Identifying MPAs in our study area is critical because U.S. East Coast waters face intensive human use from fishing, shipping, planned wind energy development, and features that support marine mammal foraging are subject to specific threats,\" researchers wrote in the study. \"The Gulf of Maine is one of the most rapidly warming marine ecosystems in the world, and evidence of changes in productivity have already been observed. Designating MPAs and establishing effective management measures to meet the goal of protecting areas of particular importance to biodiversity are needed to protect marine mammals and the ecosystems on which they depend.\" However, the authors acknowledge that further research is needed to more fully characterize marine mammal species diversity in these areas and to assess the biodiversity of the full wildlife community and the habitat, such as seabirds, deep-self invertebrates, deep-sea corals, sponges, and fish.</p><p>The study\'s coauthors include several New England Aquarium scientists: Daniel E. Pendleton, Research Scientist; Laura C. Ganley, Postdoctoral Associate Research Scientist; Orfhlaith \"Orla\" O\'Brien, Associate Scientist; Scott D. Kraus, Emeritus Scientist; and Jessica V. Redfern, Senior Scientist and Chair of the Spatial Ecology, Mapping, and Assessment Program. Ester Quintana-Rizzo of Simmons University also contributed to the research.</p>','2022-03-05 06:04:53.098109','uploads/news/using-data-and-surveys.jpg',1,'New England Aquarium','Sightings of more than 1 million marine mammals in the federally protected Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and sites along the Atlantic Coast have been used to identify areas of high marine mammal diversity. These findings underscore the importance of ocean conservation as these waters face increasing impacts from human activities.',1,116,'<li>Brooke C. Hodge, Daniel E. Pendleton, Laura C. Ganley, Orfhlaith O’Brien, Scott D. Kraus, Ester Quintana‐Rizzo, Jessica V. Redfern. <strong>Identifying predictors of species diversity to guide designation of marine protected areas</strong>. <em>Conservation Science and Practice</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12665\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/csp2.12665</a>\r\n</li>'),(341,'Higher risk of temperature-related death if global warming exceeds 2°C','higher-risk-of-temperature-related-death-if-global-warming-exceeds-2c','2022-03-07 19:52:04.616856','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The death rate linked to extreme temperatures will increase significantly under global warming of 2°C, finds a report by researchers from UCL and the University of Reading.</p><p>Temperature-related mortality -- where a death is directly linked to climate temperature -- in England and Wales during the hottest days of the year will increase by 42% under a warming scenario of 2°C from pre-industrial levels. This means an increase from present-day levels of around 117 deaths per day, averaged over the 10 hottest days of the year, to around 166 deaths per day. The findings underline the importance of keeping global warming levels to below 2°C.</p><p>At current global warming levels of around 1.21°C we see a slight decrease in temperature-related mortality in winter and a minimal net effect in summer, meaning that overall, at this level of warming we see a slight decrease in temperature-related mortality rate.</p><p>In the paper, published in <em>Environmental Research Letters,</em> the team examined the impact of climate change on temperature-related mortality rates in England and Wales, focusing on the risk from heat in summer and cold in winter. They found that as the global mean temperature increases, temperature-related mortality in summer will increase at a much faster, non-linear rate.</p><p>The rate of increase particularly speeds up at 2°C of warming, with a much higher risk appearing beyond 2.5°C. The researchers say that 3°C warming could lead to a 75% increase in mortality risk during heatwaves.</p><p>When plotted on a graph, the relationship between temperature and mortality is roughly u-shaped, meaning that at extremely high temperatures, which the population is not used to, the mortality risk increases sharply for each degree rise of daily mean temperature.</p><p>The rate in winter will continue to decrease, although this doesn\'t take side effects of extreme weather -- such as storms -- into account.</p><p>Lead author Dr Katty Huang (UCL Civil, Environmental &amp; Geomatic Engineering) said: \"The increase in mortality risk under current warming levels is mainly notable during heatwaves, but with further warming, we would see risk rise on average summer days in addition to escalating risks during heatwaves. What this means is that we shouldn\'t expect past trends of impact per degree of warming to apply in the future. One degree of global warming beyond 2°C would have a much more severe impact on health in England and Wales than one degree warming from pre-industrial levels, with implications for how the NHS can cope.\"</p><p>In England and Wales, temperature is associated with around 9% of total population mortality, meaning that 9% of all deaths during 2021 could be associated with the temperature. Most of those deaths are related to the side effects of cold weather.</p><p>The team analysed the 2018 UK Climate Projections (UKCP18) with data on present-day temperature and mortality in order to predict changes in temperature-related mortality relative to degrees of global warming.</p><p>In order to isolate the effects of global warming on mortality risk, the researchers looked at the potential impact for the current population, without taking into account future changes such as average age and health conditions.</p><p>Project lead Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez (University of Reading) said: \"As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change impacts report recently showed, it is increasingly common to examine how different levels of mean global warming raise the risk of significant harm to people and society. Our study shows that because death rates will go up significantly if countries experience very high temperatures, limiting the average global rise in temperatures is likely to have substantial benefits for the overall health of the population.\"</p><p>The research was supported by the UK Climate Resilience programme, UKRI, the Met Office and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).</p>','2022-03-07 19:46:23.113736','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University College London','The death rate linked to extreme temperatures will increase significantly under global warming of 2°C, finds a new report. Temperature-related mortality -- where a death is directly linked to climate temperature -- in England and Wales during the hottest days of the year will increase by 42% under a warming scenario of 2°C from pre-industrial levels. This means an increase from present-day levels of around 117 deaths per day, averaged over the 10 hottest days of the year, to around 166 deaths per day. The findings underline the importance of keeping global warming levels to below 2°C.',1,148,'<li>Wan Ting Katty Huang, Isobel Braithwaite, Andrew Charlton-Perez, Christophe Sarran, Ting Sun. <strong>Non-linear response of temperature-related mortality risk to global warming in England and Wales</strong>. <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>, 2022; 17 (3): 034017 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac50d5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1088/1748-9326/ac50d5</a>\r\n</li>'),(342,'Pig grunts reveal their emotions','pig-grunts-reveal-their-emotions','2022-03-07 19:53:48.579147','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">We can now decode pigs\' emotions. Using thousands of acoustic recordings gathered throughout the lives of pigs, from their births to deaths, an international team of researchers is the first in the world to translate pig grunts into actual emotions across an extended number of conditions and life stages. The research is led by the University of Copenhagen, the ETH Zurich and the France\'s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), and can be used to improve animal welfare in the future.</p><p>Is a pig grunt worth a thousand words? Perhaps so. In a new study, an international team of researchers from Denmark, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway and the Czech Republic have translated pig grunts into emotions. The findings have been published today in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.</p><p>Using more than 7000 audio recordings of pigs, the researchers designed an algorithm that can decode whether an individual pig is experiencing a positive emotion (\'happy\' or \'excited\'), a negative one (\'scared\' or \'stressed\') or somewhere in between. The recordings were collected in a wide range of situations encountered by commercial pigs, both positive and negative, from when they are born until their deaths.</p><p>\"With this study, we demonstrate that animal sounds provide great insight into their emotions. We also prove that an algorithm can be used to decode and understand the emotions of pigs, which is an important step towards improved animal welfare for livestock,\" says Associate Professor Elodie Briefer of the University of Copenhagen\'s Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen, who co-led the study.</p><p><strong>Short grunts are \'happy\' grunts</strong></p><p>The researchers recorded pig sounds in both commercial and experimental scenarios, which based on the behavior of the pigs, are either associated with a positive and negative emotion. Positive situations included, for example, those when piglets suckle from their mothers or when they arere united with their family after being separated. The emotionally negative situations included, among others, separation, fights between piglets, castration and slaughter.</p><p>In experimental stables, the researchers also created various mock scenarios for the pigs, designed to evoke more nuanced emotions in the middle of the spectrum. These included an arena with toys or food and a corresponding arena without any stimuli. The researchers also placed new and unfamiliar objects in the arena for the pigs to interact with. Along the way, the pigs\' calls, behavior and heartrates were monitored and recorded when possible.</p><p>The researchers then analyzed the more than 7000 audio recordings to see if there was a pattern in the sounds as a function of the emotions, and if they could discern the positive situations and emotions from the negative ones. As already revealed in previous research, the researchers collected more high-frequency calls (such as screams and squeals) in negative situations. At the same time, low-frequency calls (such as barks and grunts) occurred both in situations where the pigs experienced positive or negative emotions.</p><p>The situations between the extremes were particularly interesting. With an even more thorough analysis of the sound files, the researchers found a new pattern that revealed what the pigs experienced in certain situations in even greater detail.</p><p>\"There are clear differences in pig calls when we look at positive and negative situations. In the positive situations, the calls are far shorter, with minor fluctuations in amplitude. Grunts, more specifically, begin high and gradually go lower in frequency. By training an algorithm to recognize these sounds, we can classify 92% of the calls to the correct emotion,\" explains Elodie Briefer.</p><p><strong>Farmers can monitor animal emotions</strong></p><p>The study of animal emotions is a relatively new field that has come about over the last 20 years. Today, it is widely accepted that the mental health of livestock is important for their overall well-being. Nevertheless, today\'s animal welfare focuses primarily on the physical health of livestock. Indeed, several systems exist that can automatically monitor an animal\'s physical health for a farmer.</p><p>Analogous systems to monitor the mental health of animals have yet to be developed. The researchers of the study hope their algorithm might pave the way for a new platform for farmers to keep an eye on their animals\' psychological well-being.</p><p>\"We have trained the algorithm to decode pig grunts. Now, we need someone who wants to develop the algorithm into an app that farmers can use to improve the welfare of their animals,\" says Elodie Briefer.</p><p>She adds that, with enough data to train the algorithm, the method could also be used to better understand the emotions of other mammals.</p><p><strong>Facts:</strong></p>','2022-03-07 19:46:25.565180','uploads/news/Happy-Pig-on-Floor-scaled.jpg',1,'University of Copenhagen - Faculty of Science','We can now decode pigs\' emotions. Using thousands of acoustic recordings gathered throughout the lives of pigs, from their births to deaths, an international team of researchers has translated pig grunts into the emotions they appear to express.',1,149,'<li>Elodie F. Briefer, Ciara C. -R. Sypherd, Pavel Linhart, Lisette M. C. Leliveld, Monica Padilla de la Torre, Eva R. Read, Carole Guérin, Véronique Deiss, Chloé Monestier, Jeppe H. Rasmussen, Marek Špinka, Sandra Düpjan, Alain Boissy, Andrew M. Janczak, Edna Hillmann, Céline Tallet. <strong>Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production</strong>. <em>Scientific Reports</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07174-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41598-022-07174-8</a>\r\n</li>'),(343,'People with heart defects may be at greater risk for severe COVID-19 illness','people-with-heart-defects-may-be-at-greater-risk-for-severe-covid-19-illness','2022-03-07 19:55:15.266312','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People with a congenital heart defect who were hospitalized with COVID-19 infection were at higher risk for severe illness or death than those without a heart defect, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association\'s flagship, peer-reviewed journal <em>Circulation</em>. Researchers found people with a congenital heart defect who contracted COVID-19 were also more likely to require treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) or need a ventilator.</p><p>Among those at the highest risk for the most severe COVID-19 illness were patients who had a heart defect and another health condition, were ages 50 and older, or were men, according to the study.</p><p>There are more than a dozen types of congenital heart defects, which result when the heart, or blood vessels near the heart don\'t develop normally before birth. According to the American Heart Association\'s Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics -- 2022 Update, congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect worldwide, with a global prevalence of 157 per 100,000 in 2017.</p><p>\"Data comparing COVID-19 outcomes among individuals with and without congenital heart defects has been limited,\" said lead author Karrie Downing, M.P.H., an epidemiologist at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and the COVID-19 Response Team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.</p><p>Researchers examined data on hospitalized COVID-19 patients from March 2020 to January 2021, collected in the Premier Healthcare Database Special COVID-19 Release, a database representing approximately 20% of all U.S. hospitalizations. The COVID-19 patients with and without heart defects in this study received care in the same hospitals. Differences in age, gender, race/ethnicity, health insurance types and other high-risk conditions (specifically heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, Down syndrome, diabetes and obesity) were accounted for across those populations.</p><p>During this period, the database had more than 235,000 patients, ages 1 to 64 years old, who were hospitalized for COVID-19. Patients were divided into two groups: those who had a congenital heart defect and those who did not. Across these two categories, researchers then determined how many required an admission to the ICU, needed a ventilator to help with breathing or died. Researchers also reviewed other characteristics including other health conditions.</p><p>Of the 235,638 hospitalized COVID-19 patients evaluated for this study, 421 or 0.2% had a congenital heart defect. The analysis found:</p><p>In addition, people with congenital heart defects consistently remained at high-risk for severe COVID-19 illness, even when divided into categories by age or other health conditions noted in the study, according to the researchers.</p><p>Downing believes these findings have immediate, practical relevance for health care professionals as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve: \"People with heart defects should be encouraged to receive the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters and to continue to practice additional preventive measures for COVID-19, such as mask-wearing and physical distancing. People with heart defects should also consult with their health care teams about additional steps to manage personal risks related to COVID-19, given the significantly increased risk of severe infection and serious complications.\"</p><p>Downing noted that not all patients with heart defects who were hospitalized with COVID-19 had poor outcomes. \"More work is needed to identify why the clinical course of COVID-19 disease results in significantly worse outcomes for some hospitalized patients with risk factors for critical COVID-19 illness, like heart defects, and not for others,\" she said.</p><p>There are several limitations to this study. Only people already hospitalized with COVID-19 were included, the clinical details about the underlying heart defect were not available, and lab testing to identify and/or confirm COVID-19 diagnoses may vary by hospital. Lastly, COVID-19 vaccination status was not considered, since the vaccines became available in the U.S. starting in December 2020.</p><p>Co-authors are Regina Simeone, Ph.D.; Matthew Oster, M.D., M.P.H.; and Sherry Farr, Ph.D. Authors\' disclosures are listed in the manuscript.</p>','2022-03-07 19:46:27.654704','uploads/news/42188d56-9cc3-11ec-83d6-87b98f84b7b9_1646513017752_1646655504688.webp',1,'American Heart Association','People with congenital heart defects who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were up to twice as likely to suffer severe illness or death from the virus compared to people who were not born with a heart defect, according to a new study. People with a heart defect plus another underlying medical condition, including heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, Down syndrome, diabetes or obesity, were among those most at risk of having severe COVID-19 illness.',1,150,'<li>Karrie F. Downing, Regina M. Simeone, Matthew E. Oster, Sherry L. Farr. <strong>Critical Illness Among Patients Hospitalized With Acute COVID-19 With and Without Congenital Heart Defects</strong>. <em>Circulation</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.057833\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.057833</a>\r\n</li>'),(344,'Cooler waters created super-sized Megalodon','cooler-waters-created-super-sized-megalodon','2022-03-07 19:56:06.131262','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study reveals that the iconic extinct Megalodon or megatooth shark grew to larger sizes in cooler environments than in warmer areas.</p><p>DePaul University paleobiology professor Kenshu Shimada and coauthors take a renewed look through time and space at the body size patterns of <em>Otodus megalodon</em>, the fossil shark that lived nearly worldwide roughly 15 to 3.6 million years ago. The new study appears in the international journal <em>Historical Biology</em>.</p><p><em>Otodus megalodon</em> is commonly portrayed as a gigantic, monstrous shark in novels and films, such as the 2018 sci-fi thriller \"The Meg.\" In reality, this species is only known from teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record, although it is generally accepted scientifically that the species was indeed quite gigantic, growing to at least 50 feet (15 meters) and possibly as much as 65 feet (20 meters). The new study re-examined published records of geographic occurrences of Megalodon teeth along with their estimated total body lengths.</p><p>\"Our findings suggest a previously unrecognized body size pattern for the fossil shark, notably following a geography-driven ecological pattern known as Bergmann\'s rule,\" said Shimada.</p><p>Introduced by a German biologist Carl Bergmann in the mid-1800s, Bergmann\'s rule is a broad generalization explaining that larger animals thrive in cooler climates because their size helps them retain heat more efficiently compared to animals with smaller bodies. \"Scientists constantly search for rules of life that help us predict natural patterns, and it seems that Bergmann\'s rule applied to <em>Otodus megalodon</em>,\" noted coauthor Victor Perez, a paleontologist at the Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland.</p><p>Some Megalodon sites were previously identified as possible nursery areas of the fossil shark because those sites yield smaller Megalodon teeth on average relative to other Megalodon localities. However, the new study found that the previously identified nursery areas for Megalodon are located near the equator, where water is warmer. \"It is still possible that <em>O. megalodon</em> could have utilized nursery areas to raise young sharks. But our study shows that fossil localities consisting of smaller Megalodon teeth may instead be a product of individual sharks attaining smaller overall body sizes simply as a result of warmer water,\" said coauthor Harry Maisch, a faculty member at Bergen Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.</p><p>\"The idea of this new study originated from casual conversation that took place during a recent fishing trip to the Florida Keys by the lead author, his family and me, stemming from a basic question: where do large fish live?\" said coauthor Martin Becker, a professor of environmental science at William Paterson University in New Jersey. Despite being initiated by this simple question, \"the results of this study have important implications for understanding how modern climate change is rapidly accelerating marine habitat shifts to more polar latitudes in apex predators such as sharks,\" noted coauthor Michael Griffiths and another professor of environmental science at William Paterson University.</p><p>\"The main conclusion of this study is that not all geographically different Megalodon individuals grew to gigantic sizes equally. The common notion that the species reached 18-20 m TL should be applied primarily to populations that inhabited cooler environments,\" said Shimada.</p>','2022-03-07 19:46:37.844789','uploads/news/800px-2016_megalodon-740x483.jpg',1,'Taylor & Francis Group','A new study reveals that the iconic extinct Megalodon or megatooth shark grew to larger sizes in cooler environments than in warmer areas.',1,116,'<li>Kenshu Shimada, Harry M. Maisch, Victor J. Perez, Martin A. Becker, Michael L. Griffiths. <strong>Revisiting body size trends and nursery areas of the Neogene megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), reveals Bergmann’s rule possibly enhanced its gigantism in cooler waters</strong>. <em>Historical Biology</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2032024\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1080/08912963.2022.2032024</a>\r\n</li>'),(346,'Is it working? Scientists say gene variant indicates effectiveness of immunotherapy for allergies','is-it-working-scientists-say-gene-variant-indicates-effectiveness-of-immunotherapy-for-allergies','2022-03-08 07:55:41.921836','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Seasonal allergies are very widespread in certain parts of the world. In Japan, it is estimated that about one third of the population is allergic to the pollen of the Japanese cedar, a native tree species, making Japanese cedar pollinosis one of the most common allergic diseases in the country. Luckily, allergen immunotherapy has progressed much over the past few decades, becoming the closest thing we have to a cure for both seasonal and year-round allergies. In sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), patients can gradually develop immunity to a given allergen by regularly placing small, concentrated doses of it under their tongue. After several months, a good percentage of patients find themselves reacting much less severely when exposed to the same allergens in their daily lives.</p><p>While SLIT is beneficial for most people with allergic rhinitis -- that is, those who suffer from inflammation of the inside of the nose after allergen exposure -- the treatment is ineffective for about 20-30% of them. Unfortunately, there is currently no way of telling if SLIT will be effective for a patient short of trying it out and observing their response over a period of as long as two years, meaning that 20-30% of patients would have to tolerate all the side effects of the treatment for no benefit, for that long a period.</p><p>Against this backdrop, a team of researchers from Japan set out to find a biomarker that could be used to predict the responsiveness of a person to SLIT for Japanese cedar pollinosis. In their most recent paper, published online on 12<sup>th</sup> February 2022 in <em>Allergy</em>, they report a newly discovered association between a specific variant of the HLA-DPB1 gene and poor response to SLIT. This work was the result of a collaborative effort led by Prof. Shigeharu Fujieda and Dr. Masanori Kidoguchi of the University of Fukui, and Prof. Emiko Noguchi of the University of Tsukuba.</p><p>So, what is the <em>HLA-DPB1</em> gene and why would it be related to one\'s responsiveness to SLIT? This gene provides instructions for making a protein that plays a critical role in the immune system: helping it distinguish the body\'s own proteins from proteins made by foreign invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. The protein encoded by the <em>HLA-DPB1</em> gene forms a functional protein complex with the protein encoded by the <em>HLA-DPA1</em> gene. However, these genes are highly polymorphic, meaning that a large number of genetic variants (alleles) exist. In previous studies, this research team had discovered that certain structural differences in the antigen-binding pockets between <em>HLA-DPB1</em> alleles could make an individual more susceptible to Japanese cedar pollinosis and sensitization.</p><p>This led them to think that there might also be a connection between the alleles of <em>HLA-DPB1</em> and an individual\'s responsiveness to SLIT. To test their hypothesis, they enrolled over 200 patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis who underwent SLIT. The researchers determined the <em>HLA-DPB1</em> alleles in these patients and conducted statistical analyses to see if they were related to their responsiveness to SLIT. \"O<em>ur results suggest that patients carrying at least one </em>HLA-DPB1*05:01<em> allele have an increased risk of being non-responders to SLIT in their second season of the immunotherapy</em>,\" says Prof. Fujieda. \"<em>This implies that differences in the antigen-binding pocket on the HLA-DPB1 protein may influence the effect of allergen immunotherapy,</em>\" he adds.</p><p>It is worth noting that this may be the first study ever to find an association between a genetic biomarker and an individual\'s response to allergen immunotherapy. Genotyping the <em>HLA-DPB1</em> gene could serve as a cost-effective biomarker to predict the responsiveness of a given patient to SLIT for Japanese cedar pollinosis, saving valuable time. Moreover, these findings may help researchers worldwide rethink how genetic biomarkers can be used both in research and clinical practice, as Prof. Fujieda remarks: \"<em>Our study could prompt updates in current international guidelines and consensus documents on the potential of genetic biomarkers.</em>\"</p><p>Let us hope immunotherapy keeps advancing until no one has to suffer the consequences of severe allergies.</p>','2022-03-07 20:40:16.891414','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Fukui','Although sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has become an effective treatment option for many allergies, about 20-30 percent of patients don\'t respond to SLIT for Japanese cedar pollinosis -- a highly common disease. In a recent study, scientists reported that a specific variant of the HLA-DPB1 gene is associated with poor response to this treatment, highlighting the potential of this and similar genes as relevant biomarkers in clinical practice for predicting one\'s responsiveness to allergen immunotherapy.',1,144,'<li>Masanori Kidoguchi, Wataru Morii, Emiko Noguchi, Atsushi Yuta, Yukiko Ogawa, Takako Nakamura, Hirotaka Kikuoka, Hideaki Kouzaki, Hiroyuki Arai, Rieko Ii, Naoto Adachi, Keisuke Koyama, Takahiro Ninomiya, Yoshimasa Imoto, Masafumi Sakashita, Shigeharu Fujieda. <strong>HLA‐DPB1*05:01            genotype is associated with poor response to sublingual immunotherapy for Japanese cedar pollinosis</strong>. <em>Allergy</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/all.15254\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/all.15254</a>\r\n</li>'),(347,'Cameras reveal snowshoe hare density','cameras-reveal-snowshoe-hare-density','2022-03-08 07:56:54.305760','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The number of hares in a forest is a good indicator of how healthy that ecosystem is -- and now there\'s a better way to find out.</p><p>A new study in the <em>Journal of Mammalogy</em> shows recently developed camera-trapping methods could be a viable alternative to live-trapping for determining the density of snowshoe hares and potentially other small mammals that play a critical role in any forest ecosystem.</p><p>\"Snowshoe hares are considered a keystone, boreal forest species and there\'s been some evidence that hare populations are changing as the climate warms,\" said Dan Thornton, study coauthor and assistant professor in the WSU School of the Environment. \"Currently, the only really reliable method of determining how many snowshoe hares are in a forest is live-trapping which is expensive, requires a lot of manpower and can potentially harm the animals.\"</p><p>Using cameras to determine the number of animals in any given area isn\'t new in and of itself. Scientists like Thornton have used cameras to detect the presence and population density of large cats such as the Canadian lynx for years.</p><p>However, this work has been possible because large cats have distinguishing spots and other markings on their fur that enable scientists to differentiate between individuals. On the other hand, snowshoe hares and many other mammals have unmarked coats which has made it extremely difficult to determine one individual from another with traditional camera-trapping methods.</p><p>Recently developed analytical models that extract information from photographs such as animal speed and location have shown promise in estimating the density of unmarked animals such as hares.</p><p>However, these methods have not been validated in many wild ecosystems, leaving the question of whether or not they will prove reliable open to debate.</p><p>To answer this question, Thornton and Paul Jensen, a former master\'s student in the WSU School of the Environment, designed a large-scale field test to determine the density of snowshoe hares at 13 different sites located in the Loomis State Forest and Colville National Forest on the eastern edge of the North Cascades in Washington.</p><p>The researchers trekked deep into the wilderness to set up live traps and camera traps for the experiment, which was conducted during the summer of 2019. In addition to trapping some 770 snowshoe hares, they collected 13,608 camera trap photos.</p><p>\"We had to live trap the hares to establish a baseline population estimate for our experiment. It\'s an incredible amount of work and involves a lot of people,\" Thornton said. \"Even just getting out to these remote areas where there are no roads is exceedingly difficult. The process really makes you appreciate how manpower- and cost-intensive this kind of work actually is.\"</p><p>Thornton and colleagues then analyzed both their live-trapping and camera-trapping data to determine an average number of snowshoe hares in each plot of forestland. Overall, their work showed that density estimates from the cameras had an 86% correlation with live trapping data.</p><p>\"Until now, cameras could only really tell us if the hares are there or not there,\" Thornton said. \"This study really kind of opens up the door to using cameras to get population estimates for snowshoe hares and potentially a whole lot of other unmarked, small animal species.\"</p><p>Moving forward, the researchers plan to validate their camera trapping methods in an even larger scale experiment and possibly in different ecosystems as well.</p><p>Their work could ultimately play a critical role in helping to map out not only the health of snowshoe hares but also other animal communities as well as the forests themselves.</p><p>\"This study comes out as rapidly changing climatic conditions are altering our natural plant and animal communities worldwide,\" Thornton said. \"Having an inexpensive and non-invasive way to monitor the health of snowshoe hares and other animal populations will give us a window into forest health that will prove valuable in the years ahead.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-07 20:40:18.927004','uploads/news/download_16.jpg',1,'Washington State University','The number of hares in a forest is a good indicator of how healthy that ecosystem is -- and now there\'s a better way to find out. A new study shows recently developed camera-trapping methods could be a viable alternative to live-trapping for determining the density of snowshoe hares and potentially other small mammals that play a critical role in any forest ecosystem.',1,98,'<li>Paul O Jensen, Aaron J Wirsing, Daniel H Thornton. <strong>Using camera traps to estimate density of snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus): a keystone boreal forest herbivore</strong>. <em>Journal of Mammalogy</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyac009\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/jmammal/gyac009</a>\r\n</li>'),