(1720,'Head-mounted microscope reaches deeper into mouse brains','head-mounted-microscope-reaches-deeper-into-mouse-brains','2022-03-29 22:00:40.088680',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers have developed a miniature microscope that is designed for high-resolution 3D images inside the brains of living mice. By imaging deeper into the brain than previously possible with miniature widefield microscopes, the new lightweight microscope could help scientists better understand how brain cells and circuits operate.</p><p>\"With further development, our microscope will be able to image neural activity over time while an animal is in a naturalistic environment or performing different tasks,\" said lead author Omkar Supekar from the University of Colorado Boulder. \"We show that it can be used to study cells that play an important role in neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis.\"</p><p>In the Optica Publishing Group journal <em>Biomedical Optics Express</em>, the researchers describe their new SIMscope3D, which images fluorescence emitted from tissue or fluorescent tags after the sample is exposed to certain wavelengths of light. The new device is the first miniature microscope to use structured illumination to remove out-of-focus and scattered light, which allowed imaging as deep as 260 microns on fixed brain tissue with an LED light source.</p><p>\"Developing new treatments for neurological disorders requires understanding the brain at the cellular and circuit-level,\" said research team lead Emily Gibson from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. \"New optical imaging tools -- particularly those that can image deep into brain tissue like the microscope our team developed -- are important for achieving this goal.\"</p><p><strong>Seeing deeper</strong></p><p>Head mounted microscopes are used to image the brains of small rodents through transparent windows implanted into their skulls. Researchers have previously developed head-mounted widefield fluorescence microscopes, but light scattered by tissue prevents imaging deep into the brain. Miniature two-photon microscopes can overcome this drawback by eliminating out-of-focus light in each focal plane -- a process known as optical sectioning -- but typically require expensive pulsed lasers and complex mechanical scanning components.</p><p>To design the new microscope, Andrew Sias, Sean Hansen, Gabriel Martinez and Emily Gibson from the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Douglas Shepherd from the Department of Physics at Arizona State University; Omkar Supekar and Juliet Gopinath from the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, and Victor Bright from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder collaborated closely with neuroscientists Graham Peet, Diego Restrepo and Ethan Hughes from the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Xiaoyu Peng and Cristin Welle from the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to optimize it for studying the brain.</p><p>Volumetric imaging is accomplished by using an imaging fiber to deliver spatially patterned light to the miniature microscope objective. This process also removes out-of-focus light, enabling optical sectioning similar to that accomplished with two-photon approaches but without the complex components or expensive laser.</p><p>The microscope includes a compact tunable electrowetting lens that allows 3D visualization of brain structures by changing the microscope\'s focal depth without requiring any moving parts. The researchers also integrated a CMOS camera directly into the microscope. This enables imaging with high lateral resolution while avoiding artifacts that might be induced if the images traveled through the fiber bundle. Using an LED light source, the new microscope can produce sharp contrast even when imaging deeply into highly scattering tissue.</p><p><strong>Capturing glial cells</strong></p><p>The researchers demonstrated their new system by imaging oligodendrocytes and microglia labeled with a fluorescent protein in mice that were awake but placed in a device that kept their head stationary. In people with multiple sclerosis, oligodendrocytes -- which form an insulating layer around axons -- are destroyed. This causes the connections in the brain to slow down, leading to impairment of vision, motor skills and other problems.</p><p>\"We used our miniature microscope to record a time series of glial cell dynamics in awake mice at depths up to 120 microns in the brain,\" said Supekar. \"Scientists don\'t fully understand exactly how these cells work or their repair processes. Our microscope opens the possibility of long-term studies examining how these cells migrate and are repaired.\"</p><p>The researchers are now working to improve the microscope\'s acquisition speed and weight. With minor upgrades, the microscope will be able to image faster dynamics, such as neuronal electrical activity, while the mouse performs different tasks. The researchers say that because the microscope does not require expensive components it could be easily developed into a commercial system for use in neuroscience labs.</p>','2022-03-29 22:00:40.088680','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Optica','Researchers have developed a miniature microscope that is designed for high-resolution 3D images inside the brains of living mice. The new, lightweight design could help scientists understand how brain cells operate by imaging deeper into the brain than previously possible with miniature widefield microscopes.\n',1,137,'<li>Omkar D. Supekar, Andrew Sias, Sean R. Hansen, Gabriel Martinez, Graham C. Peet, Xiaoyu Peng, Victor M. Bright, Ethan G. Hughes, Diego Restrepo, Douglas P. Shepherd, Cristin G. Welle, Juliet T. Gopinath, Emily A. Gibson. <strong>Miniature structured illumination microscope for in vivo 3D imaging of brain structures with optical sectioning</strong>. <em>Biomedical Optics Express</em>, 2022; 13 (4): 2530 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/BOE.449533\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1364/BOE.449533</a>\n</li>'),(1721,'Researchers identify key complex for ribosome generation','researchers-identify-key-complex-for-ribosome-generation','2022-03-29 22:00:51.479025',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">UT Southwestern researchers have identified a four-protein complex that appears to play a key role in generating ribosomes -- organelles that serve as protein factories for cells -- as well as a surprising part in neurodevelopmental disorders. These findings, published in <em>Cell Reports</em>, could lead to new ways to manipulate ribosome production, which could impact a variety of conditions that affect human health.</p><p>\"Ribosomes are fundamental for life, but we\'ve had an incomplete understanding of how they\'re put together and how the process of ribosome production is regulated,\" said lead author Michael Buszczak, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern. \"Our findings shed significant light on these questions.\"</p><p>Dr. Buszczak explained that ribosomes are present in varying amounts in every cell of every organism on Earth. Because of their key role as protein producers, he added, variations from these natural set points can have deleterious consequences. For example, cancer cells tend to increase ribosome production to boost protein production necessary for unchecked cell division. In addition, a group of rare diseases known as ribosomopathies -- characterized by abnormal ribosome production -- manifests with a variety of symptoms including anemia, craniofacial defects, and intellectual disability.</p><p>Although every species has ribosomes, most of what\'s known about ribosome biogenesis has come from the popular lab model, yeast. The basics of this process are the same for human ribosome biogenesis, Dr. Buszczak said, but the specifics are not. Consequently, the details that make human ribosome generation unique have been unknown.</p><p>To learn more about this process, Dr. Buszczak, Chunyang Ni, a graduate student in the Buszczak lab, and their colleagues, including Jun Wu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at UTSW, started by developing a technique that prompted old ribosomes to glow red and newly generated ribosomes to glow green. The researchers used this tool on several different human cell types, confirming different rates of ribosome production in each.</p><p>Using the gene editing tool called CRISPR, the researchers inactivated individual genes to identify those that might be key players in ribosome biogenesis. Their search turned up four genes known as <em>CINP</em>, <em>SPATA5L1</em>, <em>C1orf109</em>, and <em>SPATA5</em>. Further research showed that these genes come together into a complex that strips a placeholder protein from ribosomes when assembly is almost complete, allowing a different protein to take its place for ribosome maturation.</p><p>Previously, <em>SPATA5</em>\'s function in cells had been unknown; however, mutations in this gene have been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders including microcephaly, hearing loss, epilepsy, and intellectual disability. When the researchers inserted two of these mutations into cells, causing them to create a mutant SPATA5 protein, the cells couldn\'t generate the normal level of functional ribosomes -- suggesting that these neurodevelopmental disorders could stem from ribosome problems.</p><p>Dr. Buszczak said that he and his colleagues plan to study why the central nervous system appears to be more sensitive than other cell types to ribosomal disruptions. He added that these findings could eventually lead to new treatments for cancer, ribosomopathies, and other conditions affected by over- or under-production of proteins.</p><p>This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM125812 and GM144043) and funding from the Simmons Cancer Center.</p><p>Other UTSW researchers who contributed to this study include Daniel A. Schmitz, Jeon Lee, and Krzysztof Paw?owski.</p><p>Dr. Buszczak is the E.E. and Greer Garson Fogelson Scholar in Medical Research. Dr. Wu is a Virginia Murchison Linthicum Scholar in Medical Research and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar.</p>','2022-03-29 22:00:51.479025','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'UT Southwestern Medical Center','Researchers have identified a four-protein complex that appears to play a key role in generating ribosomes -- organelles that serve as protein factories for cells -- as well as a surprising part in neurodevelopmental disorders. The findings could lead to new ways to manipulate ribosome production, which could impact a variety of conditions that affect human health.\n',1,108,'<li>Chunyang Ni, Daniel A. Schmitz, Jeon Lee, Krzysztof Pawłowski, Jun Wu, Michael Buszczak. <strong>Labeling of heterochronic ribosomes reveals C1ORF109 and SPATA5 control a late step in human ribosome assembly</strong>. <em>Cell Reports</em>, 2022; 38 (13): 110597 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110597\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110597</a>\n</li>'),(1722,'Zebra finch males sing in dialects and females pay attention','zebra-finch-males-sing-in-dialects-and-females-pay-attention','2022-03-29 23:03:21.581879',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that dialects do not exist in zebra finches. However, with the help of an artificial intelligence technique, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (Biological Intelligence, in foundation), have now been able to show that the songs of four different zebra finch populations differ systematically. They also discovered that these \"cryptic dialects\" are decisive for the females\' choice of mate. Thus, female zebra finches pay more attention to a cultural trait than to male appearance.</p><p>To us, bird song may just sound pretty. However, if we want to understand why birds sing, we have to consider that song may have multiple functions. A male\'s song may serve to repel a male neighbor, or to attract a female. In either case it should be clear from the signal who the sender of the message is. Which species is it, and which individual?</p><p>Songbirds vary widely in how they sing. In some of the &gt;5000 songbird species, the males are real \'virtuosos\'. Throughout their life, they acquire new sounds and thus can vary their songs accordingly, possibly because this impresses the females the most. In other species, such as the yellowhammer, males are a lot more stereotypic and uniform. They copy the sounds of their conspecifics as closely as possible, and thereby make it easy for anyone to recognize the species. However, such species with \'uniformist\' song often show variation at a larger geographic scale. Within a region, all males sing their song in the same way, but between regions, songs differ and obvious borders can be identified where two dialects meet.</p><p><strong>Each male zebra finch devlops his own song</strong></p><p>Zebra finches belong to a third singing type. Males also learn their song from conspecifics and only at an early age, but they do this in an individual-specific manner. Each male develops his own little song which he then uses for a lifetime -- as if he wanted to communicate his identity, his name. Because of these individual signatures in songs, it has long been assumed that dialect formation is not possible in zebra finches. However, together with collaborators, their doctoral student Daiping Wang and other members of their research group, Wolfgang Forstmeier and Bart Kempenaers have now been able to detect dialects in zebra finch songs using artificial intelligence.</p><p>To do this, the researchers trained a \"Sound Classifier\" with the songs of males from four different, separately kept zebra finch populations. When the scientists fed the program with the songs of subsequent generations, the program assigned them to the correct population with remarkable accuracy. Wolfgang Forstmeier, one of the two lead authors of the study, explains: \"We were indeed surprised by this result. It appears that there are cryptic dialects in zebra finches, which remained undetected by conventional analysis methods.\"</p><p><strong>Foster parents with different dialect and appearance</strong></p><p>Importantly, the new study also shows that these dialects are biologically highly relevant, as they play a key role in mate choice. The researchers conducted so-called \"cross-fostering\" experiments to tease apart the roles of genes and culture in mate choice. For this purpose, zebra finch chicks of one population were raised by zebra finch parents from another population. This led to zebra finches with different combinations of genetic traits (e.g. body size) and culturally acquired traits (e.g. dialect). All zebra finches were fitted with a small backpack carrying a QR code and released together in a large aviary. Using a camera-based system that detected the QR codes allowed the scientists to automatically track all social interactions. As it turned out, females preferred partners who sang the same dialect as the males with whom these females grew up. This effect of dialect preference was much stronger than the tendency to choose a mate based on his appearance.</p><p>\"What I find particularly fascinating about this study is that the application of artificial intelligence is not just used to confirm existing knowledge. Like an interpreter, the Sound Classifier helped us to discover something about zebra finch communication,\" says Wolfgang Forstmeier. \"That is the more remarkable, because zebra finches have been a model system for song learning for so long\" adds Bart Kempenaers. \"Just because we can\'t distinguish these dialects, doesn\'t mean they don\'t exist.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-29 23:03:21.581879','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max-Planck-Gesellschaft','Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that dialects do not exist in zebra finches. However, with the help of an artificial intelligence technique, researchers have now been able to show that the songs of four different zebra finch populations differ systematically. They also discovered that these \'cryptic dialects\' are decisive for the females\' choice of mate. Thus, female zebra finches pay more attention to a cultural trait than to male appearance.\n',1,132,'<li>Daiping Wang, Wolfgang Forstmeier, Damien R. Farine, Adriana A. Maldonado-Chaparro, Katrin Martin, Yifan Pei, Gustavo Alarcón-Nieto, James A. Klarevas-Irby, Shouwen Ma, Lucy M. Aplin, Bart Kempenaers. <strong>Machine learning reveals cryptic dialects that explain mate choice in a songbird</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28881-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28881-w</a>\n</li>'),(1723,'Unravelling the mystery of parrot longevity','unravelling-the-mystery-of-parrot-longevity','2022-03-29 23:03:27.110571',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Parrots are famous for their remarkable cognitive abilities and exceptionally long lifespans. Now, a study led by Max Planck researchers has shown that one of these traits has likely been caused by the other. By examining 217 parrot species, the researchers revealed that species such as the scarlet macaw and sulphur-crested cockatoo have extremely long average lifespans, of up to 30 years, which are usually seen only in large birds. Further, they demonstrated a possible cause for these long lifespans: large relative brain size. The study is the first to show a link between brain size and lifespan in parrots, suggesting that increased cognitive ability may have helped parrots to navigate threats in their environment and to enjoy longer lives.</p><p>Despite the fact that parrots are well known for their long lives and complex cognition, with lifespans and relative brain size on par with primates, it remains unknown whether the two traits have influenced each other.</p><p>\"The problem has been sourcing good quality data,\" says Simeon Smeele, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and lead author on the study, published in <em>Proceedings of the Royal Society B</em>. Understanding what has driven parrot longevity is only possible by comparing living parrots. \"Comparative life-history studies require large sample sizes to provide certainty, because many processes are a play at once and this creates a lot of variation,\" says Smeele.</p><p>To generate an adequate sample size, scientists from the MPI-AB and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EvA) teamed up with Species360, which draws on animal records from zoos and aquaria. Together, they compiled data from over 130,000 individual parrots sourced from over 1000 zoos. This database allowed the team to gain the first reliable estimates of average life span of 217 parrot species -- representing over half of all known species.</p><p>The analysis revealed an astonishing diversity in life expectancy, ranging from an average of two years for the fig parrot up to an average of 30 years for the scarlet macaw. Other long-lived species include the sulphur crested cockatoo from Australia, which lives on average 25 years.</p><p>\"Living an average of 30 years is extremely rare in birds of this size,\" says Smeele who worked closely with Lucy Aplin from MPI-AB and Mary Brooke McElreath from MPI-EvA on the study. \"Some individuals have a maximum lifespan of over 80 years, which is a respectable age even for humans. These values are really spectacular if you consider that a human male weights about 100 times more.\"</p><p>Next, the team employed a large-scale comparative analysis to determine whether or not parrots\' renowned cognitive abilities had any influence on their longevity. They examined two hypotheses: First, that having relatively larger brains enable longer lifespans. In other words, smarter birds can better solve problems in the wild, thus enjoying longer lives. Second, that relatively larger brains take longer to grow, and therefore require longer lifespans. For each species, they collected data on relative brain size, as well as average body weight and developmental variables.</p><p>They then combined the data and ran models for each hypothesis, looking at which model best explained the data. Their results provide the first support that increased brain size has enabled longer lifespans in parrots. Because brain size relative to body size can be an indicator for intelligence, the findings suggest that the parrots with relatively large brains had cognitive capabilities that allowed them to solve problems in the wild that could otherwise kill them, and this intelligence enabled them to live longer lives.</p><p>\"This supports the idea that in general larger brains make species more flexible and allow them to live longer,\" says Smeele. \"For example, if they run out of their favourite food, they could learn to find something new and thus survive.\"</p><p>The scientists are surprised that factors such as diet, or the greater developmental time required to develop larger brains, did not lead to longer average lifespans. \"We would have expected the developmental path to play a more important role because in primates it is this developmental cost that explains the link between brain size and longevity,\" says Smeele.</p><p>In the future, the team plan to explore if sociality and cultural learning in parrots might have also contributed to long lifespans. Says Smeele: \"Large-brained birds might spend more time socially learning foraging techniques that have been around for multiple generations. This increased learning period could potentially also explain the longer life spans, as it takes more time but also makes the foraging repertoire more adaptive.\"</p><p>\"One thing that makes us humans special is the vast body of socially learned skills. We are really excited to see if long-lived parrots also have a \'childhood\' in which they have to learn everything from finding and opening nuts to avoid upsetting the dominant male. Ultimately, we would like to understand which evolutionary drivers create a species with a life-history very similar to our ancestors.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-29 23:03:27.110571','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max-Planck-Gesellschaft','Bigger brains have led some species of parrot to live surprisingly long lives, new research shows.\n',1,27,'<li>Simeon Q. Smeele, Dalia A. Conde, Annette Baudisch, Simon Bruslund, Andrew Iwaniuk, Johanna Staerk, Timothy F. Wright, Anna M. Young, Mary Brooke McElreath, Lucy Aplin. <strong>Coevolution of relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</em>, 2022; 289 (1971) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2397\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1098/rspb.2021.2397</a>\n</li>'),(1724,'\'An underutilized tool:\' UV-LED lights can kill coronaviruses and HIV with the flip of a switch, study finds','\'an-underutilized-tool:\'-uv-led-lights-can-kill-coronaviruses-and-hiv-with-the-flip-of-a-switch,-study-finds','2022-03-29 23:03:32.286192',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The same light bulbs used in offices and public spaces can destroy coronaviruses and HIV, according to a new study from U of T Scarborough.</p><p>Researchers killed both viruses using UV-LED lights, which can alternate between white light and decontaminating ultraviolet (UV) light. With a cheap retrofit, they could also be used in many standard lighting fixtures, giving them a \"unique appeal\" for public spaces, says Christina Guzzo, senior author of the study.</p><p>\"We\'re at a critical time where we need to use every single possible stop to get us out of this pandemic,\" says Guzzo, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences. \"Every mitigation strategy that can be easily implemented should be used.\"</p><p>UV lights kill viruses through radiation. Guzzo, alongside PhD students Arvin T. Persaud and Jonathan Burnie, first tested the lights on bacterial spores notorious for their resistance to this radiation (known as Bacillus pumilus spores).</p><p>\"If you\'re able to kill these spores, then you can reasonably say you should be able to kill most other viruses that you would commonly encounter in the environment,\" says Guzzo, principal investigator at the Guzzo Lab.</p><p>Within 20 seconds of UV exposure, the spores\' growth dropped by 99 per cent.</p><p>The researchers then created droplets containing coronaviruses or HIV, to mimic typical ways people encounter viruses in public, such as from coughing, sneezing and bleeding. The droplets were then exposed to UV light and placed in a culture to see if any of the virus remained active. With just 30 seconds of exposure, the virus\' ability to infect dropped by 93 per cent.</p><p>Upon testing the viruses at different concentrations, they found samples with more viral particles were more resistant to the UV lights. But even with a viral load so high Guzzo calls it \"the worst-case scenario,\" infectivity dropped 88 per cent.</p><p>Though it wasn\'t included in the study, Guzzo and her students also compared UV light to two heavy duty disinfectants used in lab research. They found the lights were similarly effective in their ability to deactivate viruses.</p><p>\"I was really surprised that UV could perform on the same level of those commonly used lab chemicals, which we regard as the gold standard,\" she says. \"That made me think, \'Oh, my gosh, this is a legitimate tool that\'s really underutilized.\'\"</p><p><strong>Balance UV\'s pros and cons with clever use, researchers say</strong></p><p>While the lights still left a small percentage of the virus viable, Guzzo references the \"Swiss cheese model\" of defence against COVID. Every strategy to fight the spread has its holes, but every layer is another chance to stop straggling virus particles.</p><p>Repeated exposure to UV light is key to catching those missed particles -- fortunately, it\'s as easy as flipping a switch. It\'s also simpler to change a light bulb than an air filtration system. Guzzo notes that UV-LEDs are cheap and could be easy to retrofit in existing light fixtures, and that the bulbs are long-lasting and simple to maintain.</p><p>\"You could disinfect in a way that wouldn\'t be infringing on people\'s enjoyment of that everyday \'normal\' life that they long for,\" Guzzo says.</p><p>The lights also benefit from automation. A standardized, germicidal dose of light can be delivered each time, while the process of wiping down spaces with disinfectants leaves room for human error. Chemicals and waste from these disinfectants also end up in watersheds and landfills as hands are washed and wipes thrown away.</p><p>But the lights aren\'t harmless, and there\'s a reason for wearing sunscreen and sunglasses -- UV radiation damages nucleic acid, and repeated, prolonged exposure is harmful. That\'s why Guzzo says the lights should be used when public spaces are empty, such as vacated buses that have finished their routes, or empty elevators travelling between floors. Escalator handrails could be continuously disinfected by putting UV lights in the underground part of the track, cleaning it with each rotation.</p><p>Safe Antivirus Technologies, Inc., a Toronto-based start-up company that partnered with Guzzo for the study, is developing unique UV-LED lighting modules. With motion sensors, the lights automatically switch to UV light when a room is empty, then turn back to regular light with movement.</p><p>Funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Alliance COVID-19 Grant and published in the<em> Virology Journal</em>, this study highlights UV-LEDs as a tool that could be used beyond the pandemic, ideally to help prevent another.</p><p>\"Worldwide events like the COVID-19 pandemic, as terrible as they are, hopefully can still be learned from,\" Guzzo says. \"One thing we learned is that this is an underutilized tool we should think more about implementing.\"</p>','2022-03-29 23:03:32.286192','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Toronto','The same light bulbs used in offices and public spaces can destroy coronaviruses and HIV, according to a new study.\n',1,21,'<li>Arvin T. Persaud, Jonathan Burnie, Laxshaginee Thaya, Liann DSouza, Steven Martin, Christina Guzzo. <strong>A UV-LED module that is highly effective at inactivating human coronaviruses and HIV-1</strong>. <em>Virology Journal</em>, 2022; 19 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12985-022-01754-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s12985-022-01754-w</a>\n</li>'),(1725,'Folding design leads to heart sensor with smaller profile','folding-design-leads-to-heart-sensor-with-smaller-profile','2022-03-29 23:09:52.069753',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As advances in wearable devices push the amount of information they can provide consumers, sensors increasingly have to conform to the contours of the body. One approach applies the principles of kirigami to give sensors the added flexibility.</p><p>Researchers want to leverage the centuries-old art of cutting paper into designs to develop a sensor sheet that can stretch and breathe with the skin while collecting electrocardiographic data. In Applied Physics Reviews, by AIP Publishing, the sensor made by researchers in Japan uses cuts in a film made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) printed with silver electrodes to fit on a person\'s chest to monitor his or her heart.</p><p>\"In terms of wearability, by applying kirigami structure in a PET film, due to PET deformation and bending, the film can be stretchable, so that the film can follow skin and body movement like a bandage,\" said author Kuniharu Takei, from Osaka Prefecture University. \"In addition, since kirigami structure has physical holes in a PET film, skin can be easily breathed through the holes.\"</p><p>Unlike the related origami, which involves strictly paper folding, the art of kirigami extends its methods to paper cutting as well. Such a technique allows relatively stiff materials, like PET, to adapt to their surfaces.</p><p>As companies push for less noticeable wearables, attention has turned to optimizing picking out electrical signals from the heart out of background noise. Devices like the group\'s that ensure a snugger fit are an attractive solution.</p><p>The team found the optimal size of the sensor is roughly 200 square millimeters with a distance of 1.5 centimeters between electrodes. At that size, they were able to detect enough signal from the heart to be used in a smartphone app.</p><p>\"The major challenge was how to realize the kirigami structure without using a precise alignment process between the silver electrodes and kirigami cutting,\" Takei said.</p><p>Their device with the sensor could accurately and reliably relay heart data across multiple people doing many types of everyday movements, such as walking or working while seated in a chair.</p><p>The group next aims to integrate more sensors to measure multiple types of data from the surface of the skin to help with early diagnosis of disease, including future medical trials.</p><p>\"We understand that the new mechanism or new material developments makes better impact to the field,\" Takei said. \"However, without improving the stability, it cannot be used for the practical applications, even if the sensor performance is excellent.\"</p>','2022-03-29 23:09:52.069753','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','Researchers want to leverage the centuries-old art of cutting paper, kirigami, into designs to develop a sensor sheet that can stretch and breathe with the skin while collecting electrocardiographic data. Scientists in Japan use cuts in a film made of polyethylene terephthalate printed with silver electrodes to fit a sensor on a person\'s chest to monitor his or her heart. At the optimal size found, they were able to detect enough signal from the heart to be used in a smartphone app.\n',1,150,'<li>Yan Xuan, Hyuga Hara, Satoko Honda, Yanpeng Li, Yusuke Fujita, Takayuki Arie, Seiji Akita, Kuniharu Takei. <strong>Wireless, minimized, stretchable, and breathable electrocardiogram sensor system</strong>. <em>Applied Physics Reviews</em>, 2022; 9 (1): 011425 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0082863\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1063/5.0082863</a>\n</li>'),(1726,'New approach needed for forecasting corrosion within bridges, concrete structures','new-approach-needed-for-forecasting-corrosion-within-bridges,-concrete-structures','2022-03-29 23:09:53.866582',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The most common cause of degradation and failures of reinforced concrete structures is chloride-induced corrosion of its embedded steel. This is a pervasive, urgent problem that requires immediate attention and public awareness.</p><p>An underlying concept of a chloride threshold is widely used, and all existing models to forecast corrosion performance of reinforced concrete structures exposed to chloride environments are based on this one common theoretical concept.</p><p>In <em>Applied Physics Reviews</em>, from AIP Publishing, researchers from Switzerland, the United States, Canada, and Norway advocate for a paradigm change in the science of forecasting corrosion damage within reinforced concrete structures.</p><p>Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the international group of scientists met and discussed the severe flaws in using the chloride threshold concept for forecasting corrosion. They say change is needed to address the growing challenges of aging structures losing functionality and potentially collapsing, greenhouse gas emissions, and the economy at large.</p><p>\"Corrosion of steel within concrete is a complex phenomenon,\" said Ueli Angst, from ETH Zürich in Switzerland. \"In the generally very high alkaline environment of concrete, where the pH may be higher than 13, steel is considered passive, which means it is covered by a thin layer of protective oxides and its corrosion rate is negligibly low.\"</p><p>But concrete is porous, and when exposed to salts, such as seawater or road salts, chloride ions can eventually penetrate the concrete and reach the steel. At some point, the protective passive layer will be destroyed, and corrosion may start. Depending on actual exposure conditions, corrosion may occur at a faster or slower pace.</p><p>In reality, steel corrosion within concrete is a continuous process rarely separable into uncoupled, sequential phases. The researchers say the focus should be placed on the quantification of the time- and space-variant corrosion rate from the moment steel is placed within concrete until it reaches the end of its service life.</p><p>To achieve this, a multiscale, multidisciplinary approach combining scientific and practical contributions from materials science, corrosion science, cement/concrete research, and structural engineering is needed. Angst and his colleagues propose scientific research evolve away from the chloride threshold concept.</p><p>\"Despite huge amounts of research, no clear chloride threshold could be found, and the influencing factors are complex,\" said Burkan Isgor, from Oregon State University. \"Unfortunately, mainstream research is still in search of this threshold, which presents a major barrier to developing reliable corrosion forecast models.\"</p>','2022-03-29 23:09:53.866582','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','Researchers advocate for a paradigm change in the science of forecasting corrosion damage within reinforced concrete structures. They discuss the severe flaws in using the chloride threshold concept for forecasting corrosion and say change is needed to address the growing challenges of aging structures losing functionality and potentially collapsing, greenhouse gas emissions, and the economy at large. To achieve this, a multiscale, multidisciplinary approach combining scientific and practical contributions from materials science, corrosion science, cement/concrete research, and structural engineering is needed.\n',1,27,'<li>Ueli M. Angst, O. Burkan Isgor, Carolyn M. Hansson, Alberto Sagüés, Mette Rika Geiker. <strong>Beyond the chloride threshold concept for predicting corrosion of steel in concrete</strong>. <em>Applied Physics Reviews</em>, 2022; 9 (1): 011321 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0076320\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1063/5.0076320</a>\n</li>'),(1727,'Researchers redefine the mechanisms of Dravet syndrome','researchers-redefine-the-mechanisms-of-dravet-syndrome','2022-03-29 23:09:56.382165',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers from Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found that dysfunction in an important cell subtype in the brain\'s neuronal network contribute to chronic symptoms in the neurodevelopmental disorder Dravet syndrome. The findings were published today in the journal <em>Cell Reports</em>.</p><p>Dravet syndrome is a form of genetic epilepsy that is characterized by seizures that begin in the first year of life, along with differences in childhood development and features of autism spectrum disorder. Children with Dravet syndrome are also at an increased chance of early death, making proper diagnosis and treatment of the disorder critical. More than 90% of children with Dravet syndrome have a pathogenic, or disease-causing, variant in the <em>SCN1A</em> gene, which makes the protein Nav1.1, a sodium channel that is important for the activity of seizure-suppressing cells called interneurons and, in particular, a subtype of interneuron called the parvalbumin interneuron.</p><p>\"Dravet syndrome affects 1 in 14,000 children in the world and has a profound impact on children and their families,\" said Ethan Goldberg, MD, PhD, a pediatric neurologist and Director of the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN) at CHOP and lead author of the study. \"We can model Dravet syndrome in the laboratory to understand precisely how the loss of <em>SCN1A</em> produces the clinical features characteristic of the disease to drive development of novel therapies, and, one day, a cure.\"</p><p>Prior work from the Goldberg lab showed that abnormal electrical activity of these parvalbumin neurons in a preclinical experimental model of Dravet syndrome was only transient, with these neurons recovering normal activity in the chronic phase of the disorder. This created a conundrum for the research community: why do patients with Dravet syndrome continue to have seizures, cognitive impairment, and features of autism spectrum disorder?</p><p>In this study, the researchers developed a method to assess parvalbumin interneuron function at two different points in time. Early disease severity is caused by abnormalities in parvalbumin interneuron electrical activity, which allows neurons to send a message to neighboring neurons. However, chronic dysfunction was due instead to impaired synaptic transmission; while parvalbumin interneurons recovered the ability to generate electrical activity, this activity did not spread down the nerve or \"axon\" to the synapse to inhibit of other neurons, which is required for seizure suppression.</p><p>While more work is needed to translate this research into direct human applications, the researchers note that <em>SCN1A</em> may be a viable therapeutic target for Dravet syndrome patients, particularly if there are ways to increase its expression in the axon to overcome impaired signaling and synaptic transmission.</p><p>\"A prediction of our work is that the success of therapies under development may depend on the ability to increase expression of Nav1.1 at the parvalbumin interneuron axon,\" Goldberg said.</p><p>This study was supported by the Dravet Syndrome Foundation and the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health under grants K08NS097633, R01NS110869, and F31NS111803,</p>','2022-03-29 23:09:56.382165','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia','Researchers have found that dysfunction in an important cell subtype in the brain\'s neuronal network contribute to chronic symptoms in the neurodevelopmental disorder Dravet syndrome.\n',1,9,'<li>Kaneko et al. <strong>Developmentally-regulated impairment of parvalbumin interneuron synaptic transmission in an experimental model of Dravet syndrome</strong>. <em>Cell Rep</em>, 2022 [<a href=\"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.454042v1.abstract\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">abstract</a>]</li>'),(1728,'Spiders use webs to extend their hearing','spiders-use-webs-to-extend-their-hearing','2022-03-29 23:10:14.897336',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Everyone knows that humans and most other vertebrate species hear using eardrums that turn soundwave pressure into signals for our brains. But what about smaller animals like insects and arthropods? Can they detect sounds? And if so, how?</p><p>Distinguished Professor Ron Miles, a Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty member at Binghamton University\'s Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science, has been exploring that question for more than three decades, in a quest to revolutionize microphone technology.</p><p>A newly published study of orb-weaving spiders -- the species featured in the classic children\'s book \"Charlotte\'s Web\" -- has yielded some extraordinary results: The spiders are using their webs as extended auditory arrays to capture sounds, possibly giving spiders advanced warning of incoming prey or predators.</p><p>The paper, \"Outsourced Hearing in an Orb-Weaving Spider that Uses its Web as an Auditory Sensor,\" published March 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the first evidence that a spider can outsource hearing to its web.</p><p>It is well-known that spiders respond when something vibrates their webs, such as potential prey. In these new experiments, researchers for the first time show that spiders turned, crouched or flattened out in response to sounds in the air.</p><p>The study is the latest collaboration between Miles and Ron Hoy, a biology professor from Cornell, and it has implications for designing extremely sensitive bio-inspired microphones for use in hearing aids and cell phones.</p><p>Jian Zhou, who earned his PhD in Miles\' lab and is doing postdoctoral research at the Argonne National Laboratory, and Junpeng Lai, a current PhD student in Miles\' lab, are co-first authors. Miles, Hoy and Associate Professor Carol I. Miles from the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences\' Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton are also authors for this study. Grants from the National Institutes of Health to Ron Miles funded the research.</p><p>A single strand of spider silk is so thin and sensitive that it can detect the movement of vibrating air particles that make up a soundwave, which is different from how eardrums work. Ron Miles\' previous research has led to the invention of novel microphone designs that are based on hearing in insects.</p><p>\"The spider is really a natural demonstration that this is a viable way to sense sound using viscous forces in the air on thin fibers,\" he said. \"If it works in nature, maybe we should have a closer look at it.\"</p><p>Spiders can detect miniscule movements and vibrations through sensory organs on their tarsal claws at the tips of their legs, which they use to grasp their webs. Orb-weaver spiders are known to make large webs, creating a kind of acoustic antennae with a sound-sensitive surface area that is up to 10,000 times greater than the spider itself.</p><p>In the study, the researchers used Binghamton University\'s anechoic chamber, a completely soundproof room under the Innovative Technologies Complex. Collecting orb-weavers from windows around campus, they had the spiders spin a web inside a rectangular frame so they could position it where they wanted.</p><p>The team began by using pure tone sound 3 meters away at different sound levels to see if the spiders responded or not. Surprisingly, they found spiders can respond to sound levels as low as 68 decibels. For louder sound, they found even more types of behaviors.</p><p>They then placed the sound source at a 45-degree angle, to see if the spiders behaved differently. They found that not only are the spiders localizing the sound source, but they can tell the sound incoming direction with 100% accuracy.</p><p>To better understand the spider-hearing mechanism, the researchers used laser vibrometry and measured over one thousand locations on a natural spider web, with the spider sitting in the center under the sound field. The result showed that the web moves with sound almost at maximum physical efficiency across an ultra-wide frequency range.</p><p>\"Of course, the real question is, if the web is moving like that, does the spider hear using it?\" Miles said. \"That\'s a hard question to answer.\"</p><p>Lai added: \"There could even be a hidden ear within the spider body that we don\'t know about.\"</p><p>So the team placed a mini-speaker 5 centimeters away from the center of the web where the spider sits, and 2 millimeters away from the web plane -- close but not touching the web. This allows the sound to travel to the spider both through air and through the web. The researchers found that the soundwave from the mini-speaker died out significantly as it traveled through the air, but it propagated readily through the web with little attenuation. The sound level was still at around 68 decibels when it reached the spider. The behavior data showed that four out of 12 spiders responded to this web-borne signal.</p><p>Those reactions proved that the spiders could hear through the webs, and Lai was thrilled when that happened: \"I\'ve been working on this research for five years. That\'s a long time, and it\'s great to see all these efforts will become something that everybody can read.\"</p><p>The researchers also found that, by crouching and stretching, spiders may be changing the tension of the silk strands, thereby tuning them to pick up different frequencies. By using this external structure to hear, the spider could be able to customize it to hear different sorts of sounds.</p><p>Future experiments may investigate how spiders make use of the sound they can detect using their web. Additionally, the team would like to test whether other types of web-weaving spiders also use their silk to outsource their hearing.</p><p>\"It\'s reasonable to guess that a similar spider on a similar web would respond in a similar way,\" Ron Miles said. \"But we can\'t draw any conclusions about that, since we tested a certain kind of spider that happens to be pretty common.\"</p><p>Lai admitted he had no idea he would be working with spiders when he came to Binghamton as a mechanical engineering PhD student.</p><p>\"I\'ve been afraid of spiders all my life, because of their alien looks and hairy legs!\" he said with a laugh. \"But the more I worked with spiders, the more amazing I found them. I\'m really starting to appreciate them.\"</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/PIrotdSIxG4\">https://youtu.be/PIrotdSIxG4</a></p>','2022-03-29 23:10:14.897336','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Binghamton University','A newly published study of orb-weaving spiders has yielded some extraordinary results: The spiders are using their webs as extended auditory arrays to capture sounds, possibly giving spiders advanced warning of incoming prey or predators.\n',1,27,'<li>Jian Zhou, Junpeng Lai, Gil Menda, Jay A. Stafstrom, Carol I. Miles, Ronald R. Hoy, Ronald N. Miles. <strong>Outsourced hearing in an orb-weaving spider that uses its web as an auditory sensor</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (14) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122789119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2122789119</a>\n</li>'),(1729,'Researchers expand target range of CRISPR/Cas Systems','researchers-expand-target-range-of-crispr/cas-systems','2022-03-29 23:10:29.178251',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a genome editing technology that allows for slight variations in target DNA but retains local specificity, and which could help realize the potential of CRISPR/Cas-based gene therapy and pathogen diagnosis.</p><p>Scientists program current CRISPR/Cas systems to recognize and cut precise DNA sequences, to avoid effects such as snipping the wrong sequence or encouraging unwanted mutations. But that specificity makes it hard for the systems to identify common variants of a given DNA sequence, which has partly limited their application.</p><p>\"A lot of work has gone into making CRISPR/Cas systems more specific,\" said Basil Hubbard, principal investigator on the research who is an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology in U of T\'s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. \"But for certain applications there is also the need for more flexible targeting in these systems, and our study shows a possible way to meet that need.\"</p><p>The journal <em>Nature Communications</em> published the findings recently.</p><p>CRISPR-Cas systems contain two main molecules: a CRISPR guide-RNA, which contains nucleotide base pairs (adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine in various combinations) that guide the system to a complementary stretch of DNA; and a Cas enzyme that cuts the DNA to allow for manipulation of other genetic code.</p><p>The new approach substitutes universal bases for one or more of the four bases that make up CRISPR guide-RNAs.</p><p>\"It functions like an asterisk or wildcard in a digital search, in areas where we expect variation or don\'t have data,\" said Hubbard. \"With therapeutics, we can target common variants of the same gene from person to person, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms. For diagnostics, we can detect multiple evolved variants of the same pathogen.\"</p><p>Experimental CRISPR therapies have shown potential to eliminate genetic disorders, including sickle cell anemia and muscular dystrophy. But these therapies do not always work in part due to natural genetic variations among individuals, according to some studies.</p><p>Hubbard said his group\'s approach could help address this problem, but that it currently works best in vitro and it would need to run faster in the cellular environment, perhaps with a re-engineered Cas enzyme.</p><p>The technology shows more promise for immediate application in diagnostics. Hubbard\'s lab tested the system\'s function in eight variants of HIV, each with differing resistance to current anti-viral drugs. A standard guide-RNA without universal bases detected only three of the eight variants, while a system with just three universal-base substitutions found all eight variants.</p><p>\"There is tremendous diversity among pathogens, especially viruses and bacteria, and they evolve very quickly,\" said Hubbard. \"The system works very well to detect that kind of variation, and we think it could be useful across clinical conditions.\"</p><p>Hubbard conceived the idea of using universal bases while working to make CRISPR/Cas systems more specific. His lab, then based at the University of Alberta, showed that insertion of synthetic or \'xeno\' nucleic acids into guide-RNAs could dramatically reduce off-target gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9.</p><p>Off-target effects that cut an incorrect gene could have detrimental health consequences in a patient, including the development of cancers.</p><p>\"Our current study gives us more options for tailoring CRISPR specificity,\" said Hubbard, who moved his lab to U of T last fall. \"Importantly, the specificity of this system is disrupted only at the region where we incorporate universal bases and is preserved in other areas of the sequence, thereby keeping off-target effects to a minimum.\"</p><p>Hubbard\'s lab has filed a patent on the technology and is looking to partner with a company that specializes in CRISPR diagnostics. He is hopeful the system will help provide a fast, accurate and cost-effective way to diagnose several diseases including COVID-19.</p>','2022-03-29 23:10:29.178251','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Toronto','Researchers have created a genome editing technology that allows for slight variations in target DNA but retains local specificity, and which could help realize the potential of CRISPR/Cas-based gene therapy and pathogen diagnosis.\n',1,123,'<li>Amanda R. Krysler, Christopher R. Cromwell, Tommy Tu, Juan Jovel, Basil P. Hubbard. <strong>Guide RNAs containing universal bases enable Cas9/Cas12a recognition of polymorphic sequences</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29202-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29202-x</a>\n</li>'),(1730,'Newly discovered drug candidate increased insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes','newly-discovered-drug-candidate-increased-insulin-secretion-in-type-2-diabetes','2022-03-29 23:10:41.153136',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at Lund University have discovered increased levels of of a microRNA in type 2 diabetes, which has a negative effect on insulin secretion. Their experiments on human insulin producing cells in the pancreas also demonstrates that it is possible to increase the insulin secretion by reducing the levels of this microRNA. An important goal of the research is to develop new treatments for people with the disease.</p><p>In type 2 diabetes, the ability of the pancreas to produce and release insulin is impaired. Previous studies have demonstrated that microRNAs are involved in this deterioration process. MicroRNAs are non-coding RNAs that regulate the number of genes and proteins in a cell. Reducing the amount of microRNA could be a possible treatment for patient with type 2 diabetes.</p><p>Research has shown that a certain microRNA, called miR-200c, seems to affect the insulin secretion in diabetic mice. Until now, there has been a lack of knowledge about the role of miR-200c when it comes to the insulin secretion in humans.</p><p>\"Our study demonstrates that the levels of miR-200c differs between people with and without the disease. Few studies within this area have been conducted with a similar amount of human material as in this study,\" says Lena Eliasson, a diabetes researcher at Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC) and corresponding author for the study, published in the scientific journal Diabetes.</p><p><strong>Increased insulin secretion</strong></p><p>Their measurements of miR-200c in islets of Langerhans from 34 deceased donors with and without type 2 diabetes demonstrated increased levels of miR-200c in people with the disease. The researchers also carried out experiments in islets of Langerhans from deceased donors with type 2 diabetes in order to determine whether it is possible to increase the insulin secretion by reducing the levels of miR-200c in the cells. The experiments resulted in an increased insulin secretion in the islets of Langerhans of the three donors.</p><p>\"The increase was approximately threefold in all the donors. We would have liked to carry out this experiment in more donors, but it is difficult to come across newly donated material. We are of course very grateful to the donors who have contributed to the study in different ways. It is important to understand what happens to the insulin secretion and how it is regulated in human beings to develop new treatments,\" says Jones Ofori, one of the main authors of the study and a researcher in diabetes and epigenetics at LUDC.</p><p><strong>Improved treatments</strong></p><p>The researchers behind the study are planning to confirm their results in diabetic rats to better understand what happens with the insulin secretion when they reduce the levels of miR-200c. An important research objective is to develop new treatments of type 2 diabetes. Previous research at Lund University Diabetes Centre has shown that diabetes can be divided into different subgroups based on disease progression, and that there are some groups of patients who are experiencing more problems with insulin secretion than others.</p><p>\"Current treatment options of type 2 diabetes are not optimal for all. Several studies have shown that there is a need for more individualised treatments of type 2 diabetes. It may be interesting for us to target a treatment towards groups who are having severe impairment in insulin secretion. In the long-term perspective, we hope that our research will lead to treatments that may contribute to better control of blood sugar levels,\" says Lena Eliasson.</p><p>The research group is currently carrying out a mapping of microRNAs that may be involved in the secretion of insulin in type 2 diabetes. This knowledge is of importance in the development of precise treatments.</p><p>\"In our mapping of microRNAs, we can see that miR-200c is strong candidate for targeted treatments, that also appears in other studies. A challenge that is lying ahead of us is to develop an insulin treatment that will only affect the islets of Langerhans and no other tissues,\" says Lena Eliasson, professor in experimental diabetes research at Lund University.</p><p><strong>MikroRNA and islets of Langerhans</strong></p><p>MicroRNA are small, non-coding RNA molecules that regulate the production of proteins. A single microRNA can regulate many proteins in a cell or signaling pathway. MicroRNA are involved in the development of type 2 diabetes and the ability of the pancreas to secrete insulin.</p><p>The islets of Langerhans contain mainly beta cells that produce insulin and alpha cells that produce glucagon. These hormones regulate the blood sugar and metabolism. The islets of Langerhans are difficult to study because of their inaccessible placement.</p><p><strong>Human tissue lab</strong></p><p>The study has been carried out on islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, donated to the Human tissue lab (HTL), an important biobank for diabetes research which has been established as a part of the strategic research area Excellence of diabetes research in Sweden (EXODIAB). HTL collects insulin producing cells, as well as liver, muscle and fat tissues in humans. The biobank stores blood samples, urine and stool samples and information about individuals and their disease history. HTL has been established in collaboration between Lund University and Uppsala University, the two universities that are a part of the research collaboration EXODIAB.</p>','2022-03-29 23:10:41.153136','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Lund University','Researchers have discovered increased levels of of a microRNA in type 2 diabetes, which has a negative effect on insulin secretion. Their experiments on human insulin producing cells in the pancreas also demonstrates that it is possible to increase the insulin secretion by reducing the levels of this microRNA. An important goal of the research is to develop new treatments for people with the disease.\n',1,46,'<li>Jones K. Ofori, Alexandros Karagiannopoulos, Mototsugu Nagao, Efraim Westholm, Shaima Ramadan, Anna Wendt, Jonathan L.S. Esguerra, Lena Eliasson. <strong>Human Islet MicroRNA-200c Is Elevated in Type 2 Diabetes and Targets the Transcription Factor ETV5 to Reduce Insulin Secretion</strong>. <em>Diabetes</em>, 2022; 71 (2): 275 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/db21-0077\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.2337/db21-0077</a>\n</li>'),(1731,'Universal flu vaccine candidate','universal-flu-vaccine-candidate','2022-03-30 02:28:33.536180',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists have leveraged on a novel vaccine platform to deliver M2e to immune cells. This allowed them to prove that a single shot immunization containing M2e was able to trigger long-lasting immune responses that could protect effectively against multiple strains of the flu.</p><p>Influenza, commonly referred to as \"flu,\" is a major global public health concern and a huge economic burden to societies. Seasonal influenza epidemics afflict between 13 to 100 million individuals annually, including three to five million cases of severe illness and 300,000 to 600,000 deaths worldwide. This represents a top global public health concern and an extraordinary economic burden to all societies. Pandemics are less frequent, but are generally more severe and pose a greater threat. Over the past century, there have been at least four devastating pandemics caused by the Influenza A virus which took the lives of hundreds of millions of individuals.</p><p>Although vaccination arguably represents the most effective way to prevent influenza, current vaccination strategies suffer from certain limitations, chief of which require current influenza vaccines to be updated annually to match circulating strains. This results in low vaccination take-up rates and poor coverage due to inaccurate prediction of circulating strains. Broadly protective, \"universal\" flu vaccines that do not need to be updated annually have therefore been pursued.</p><p>The highly conserved M2e peptide is a leading universal flu candidate; this peptide shares a conserved sequence with nearly all known human Influenza A strains. However, its limited ability to trigger a strong and long-lasting immune response has represented a major roadblock in its clinical development.</p><p>Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and Monash University in Melbourne have published a paper in the latest issue of <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</em> where they successfully leveraged on a novel vaccine platform to deliver M2e to immune cells. This allowed them to prove that a single shot immunisation containing M2e was able to trigger long-lasting immune responses that could protect effectively against multiple strains of the flu.</p><p>The team was also able to demonstrate that this vaccination approach significantly enhanced protective immune responses in the context of pre-existing flu immunity. This scenario is particularly relevant in adult and elderly populations, where individuals have been exposed to flu viruses multiple times in the past and have low levels of M2e-specific antibodies in their blood circulation.</p><p>This vaccine approach has the potential to minimise the amount of M2e vaccine antigen (substance that triggers the body\'s immune response against that itself) and the number of injections required for effective and long-lasting protection. It also removes the need for strong adjuvants (a substance which enhances the body\'s immune response to an antigen), reducing potential side-effects, particularly in more vulnerable populations.</p><p>Beyond the flu, this vaccine platform could be employed to tackle a multitude of diseases, including infectious diseases such as COVID-19. The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of developing versatile, powerful platforms for the rapid deployment of vaccines against any highly virulent diseases. This new finding could lend itself to further development of vaccines for this, or any future, novel diseases. The team is currently working on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate using the same strategy.</p>','2022-03-30 02:28:33.536180','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine','Scientists have leveraged on a novel vaccine platform to deliver M2e to immune cells. This allowed them to prove that a single shot immunization containing M2e was able to trigger long-lasting immune responses that could protect effectively against multiple strains of the flu. The team was also able to demonstrate that this vaccination approach significantly enhanced protective immune responses in the context of pre-existing flu immunity. This scenario is particularly relevant in adult and elderly populations, where individuals have been exposed to flu viruses multiple times in the past and have low levels of M2e-specific antibodies in their blood circulation.\n',1,114,'<li>Ranmali Kavishna, Tha Yang Kang, Maurizio Vacca, Benson Yen Leong Chua, Hae-Young Park, Peck Szee Tan, Vincent TK Chow, Mireille H Lahoud, Sylvie Alonso. <strong>A single-shot vaccine approach for the universal influenza A vaccine candidate M2e</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (13) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025607119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2025607119</a>\n</li>'),(1732,'Drought alters Mammoth Mountain’s carbon dioxide emissions','drought-alters-mammoth-mountain’s-carbon-dioxide-emissions','2022-03-30 02:29:41.055261',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Thirty years ago, on the flanks of a volcano in California\'s Sierra Nevada range, trees began to die en masse, suffocated at their roots by carbon dioxide seeping up from the mountain\'s depths after a swarm of small earthquakes.</p><p>The wave of tree deaths on Mammoth Mountain, which lies within one of the nation\'s largest active volcanic systems, prompted scientists to start monitoring the volcano\'s emissions more closely.</p><p>Now, researchers led by Stanford University geologist George Hilley have made a surprising discovery in the long-running record: The ebb and flow of carbon dioxide emissions from Mammoth Mountain are strongly linked to the weight of snow and ice atop the Sierra Nevada, and to the amount of water that percolates from ground level down into the volcano\'s plumbing.</p><p>\"This really shows how the solid Earth is coupled to climate and the things that go on at the surface,\" said Hilley, professor of geological sciences in Stanford\'s School of Earth, Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). \"Droughts can change the way in which volcanoes breathe.\"</p><p>The research, published March 9 in <em>Geophysical Research Letters</em>, comes amid a dry winter that has left California snowpack well below average for this time of year, with less than a week remaining in the state\'s wet season and no major snowstorms in the forecast.</p><p>By the end of this century, state officials predict the Sierra Nevada snowpack will decline by 48 to 65 percent from the historical April 1 average. \"Changes in Earth\'s hydrology due to climate change could actually impact something like the tempo at which gases are emitted from volcanic systems,\" Hilley said.</p><p><strong>Horseshoe Lake</strong></p><p>Hilley and coauthors analyzed measurements of carbon dioxide emissions taken every 30 minutes for six years from Horseshoe Lake, the best-studied tree kill area on Mammoth Mountain. The mountain rises along the southwest rim of Long Valley Caldera, a crater formed by a supervolcano eruption 760,000 years ago.</p><p>The results reveal a persistent 20 percent reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide seeping up from the ground during the spring of 2017. The downshift coincides with the region\'s emergence from intense drought and the pileup of the biggest Sierra Nevada snowpack in decades.</p><p>The study builds upon research by USGS volcanologist Jennifer Lewicki showing that carbon dioxide emissions in the Horseshoe Lake tree-kill area changed seasonally and across multiple years for reasons unrelated to a brewing eruption.</p><p>Seeking an explanation for these variations, Lewicki and Hilley -- with coauthor Curtis Baden of Stanford -- developed mathematical models to test out plausible mechanisms. Snowmelt and rainfall can wash away carbon dioxide that might otherwise seep from the ground, for example. But their calculations show Mammoth Mountain receives far too little precipitation to account for the low springtime CO<sub>2 </sub>levels observed in 2017.</p><p>The most likely explanation for the seasonal changes in Mammoth Mountain\'s carbon dioxide emissions has to do with an underground crack, or fault, which to a trained eye is evident in the vegetation patterns and topography of the landscape. Changes in the distribution of stress across the whole mountain range seem to open and close the fault like a valve, or like the tiny gaps between old floorboards that flex under shifting weight.</p><p>Using GPS data and snow depth measurements, the authors found compressive force on the fault between 2014 and 2020 generally peaked in winter as snowpack accumulated across the Sierra Nevada and eased during snow-free summer months. Carbon dioxide emission levels dipped during periods when the weight of snow and water in the mountains flexed Earth\'s crust, squeezing together the rocks on either side of the Mammoth Mountain fault.</p><p>One limitation of the study is that it does not provide a physics-based model of the fault\'s movement and how gas flows through it. \"We\'re using stress changes as proxies for the opening and closing of a conduit,\" Hilley said. \"An interesting study would run a three-dimensional model of gas transport through a conduit that you could actually open and close, and then run that model many times to see if its predictions quantitatively match the carbon dioxide measurements we\'re making.\"</p><p><strong>Predicting future eruptions</strong></p><p>The ability to distinguish between CO<sub>2</sub> fluctuations driven by climate from those driven by an impending eruption will enable better hazard forecasts, which are based partly on signs that rising magma is triggering earthquakes, deforming the ground surface or ushering gases upward. \"The alignment of all three of those is generally a clue that an eruption might be about to happen,\" Hilley said.</p><p>For decades, ground deformation and seismicity around some of the United States\' active volcanoes have been monitored continuously using GPS and satellites, and scientists can view the data in close to real time. But they have a murkier view on volcanic gas. \"In the past, at most volcanoes, scientists had to go into a volcanic area in advance of an eruption, or even between eruptions, and go collect this gas for later analysis. It\'s real Indiana Jones-type stuff,\" said Hilley.</p><p>The difficulty of collecting volcanic gases has resulted in limited records, sometimes with only a single snapshot of a volcano\'s degassing in any given year, which makes it challenging to detect changes that may warn of an eruption -- or to understand patterns linked to Earth\'s climate system.</p><p>The new study offers a glimpse of insights to come as scientists gain access to more volcanic emission data, thanks in part to the development of less expensive and more durable instruments.</p><p>\"The hope is, in the next couple years, we can have a record of what the gas is doing in near real time,\" Hilley said. \"When you look in detail, you can see there are seasonal fluctuations that probably have nothing to do with the actual volcanic state.\"</p>','2022-03-30 02:29:41.055261','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Stanford University','A study suggests the weight of snow and ice atop the Sierra Nevada affects a California volcano\'s carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main signs of volcanic unrest.\n',1,143,'<li>George E. Hilley, Jennifer L. Lewicki, Curtis W. Baden. <strong>Seasonal and Multiyear Changes in CO            2            Degassing at Mammoth Mountain Explained by Solid‐Earth‐Driven Fault Valving</strong>. <em>Geophysical Research Letters</em>, 2022; 49 (6) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096595\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1029/2021GL096595</a>\n</li>'),(1733,'Immune cells produce chemical messenger that prevents heart disease–related inflammation','immune-cells-produce-chemical-messenger-that-prevents-heart-disease–related-inflammation','2022-03-30 02:29:45.539456',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The immune system\'s white blood cells, which are produced in the bone marrow, mostly help to defend against bacteria and injury, but sometimes they can turn against the body -- for example, in cardiovascular disease, their inflammatory aggression can harm arteries and the heart. New research in <em>Nature Immunology </em>that was led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) provides insights into the pathways that increase or decrease the bone marrow\'s output of these cells. The findings may lead to new treatments for conditions that arise when the balance of white blood cell production goes awry.</p><p>Senior author Matthias Nahrendorf, MD, PhD, an investigator in MGH\'s Center for Systems Biology and The Richard Moerschner professor at the MGH Research Institute and Harvard Medical School, explains that the nervous system plays a role in controlling blood cell production through chemical messengers or neurotransmitters. \"This is for instance important in people exposed to stress, where stress hormones -- part of the \'fight-or-flight\' response controlled by the sympathetic nervous system -- may increase bone marrow activity and cardiovascular inflammation in response to the neurotransmitter noradrenaline,\" he says. The sympathetic nerves have a counter player -- the parasympathetic nerves, which slow down responses and bring about a state of calm to the body, mainly through the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.</p><p>Because acetylcholine can have a protective effect against inflammation and heart disease, the researchers studied this neurotransmitter in the bone marrow. \"When we looked into how acetylcholine acts on the production of blood cells, we found that it does the expected -- it reduces white blood cells, as opposed to noradrenaline, which increases them,\" says Nahrendorf. \"What was unexpected though was the source of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.\"</p><p>The team found no evidence in the bone marrow of the typical nerve fibers that are known to release acetylcholine. Instead, B cells, which are themselves a type of white blood cell (most known for making antibodies), supplied the acetylcholine in the bone marrow. \"Thus, B cells counter inflammation -- even in the heart and the arteries -- via dampening white blood cell production in the bone marrow. Surprisingly, they use a neurotransmitter to do so,\" says Nahrendorf.</p><p>Tapping into this process may help investigators develop strategies to block inflammation in cardiovascular conditions such as atherosclerosis. \"Ultimately this may lead to new therapeutics that combat myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure,\" says Nahrendorf.</p><p>Additional study authors include Maximilian J. Schloss, Maarten Hulsmans, David Rohde, I-Hsiu Lee, Nicolas Severe, Brody H. Foy, Fadi E. Pulous, Shuang Zhang, Konstantinos D. Kokkaliaris, Vanessa Frodermann, Gabriel Courties, Chongbo Yang, Yoshiko Iwamoto, Anders Steen Knudsen, Cameron S. McAlpine, Masahiro Yamazoe, Stephen P. Schmidt, Gregory R. Wojtkiewicz, Gustavo Santos Masson, Karin Gustafsson, Diane Capen, Dennis Brown, John M. Higgins, David T. Scadden, Peter Libby, Filip K. Swirski, and Kamila Naxerova.</p><p>This work was supported in part by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health (grant HL142494) and the MGH Research Scholar program.</p>','2022-03-30 02:29:45.539456','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts General Hospital','In the bone marrow, B cells produce a chemical messenger called acetylcholine that prevents inflammation in the heart and blood vessels by blocking white blood cell production. Tapping into this process may help scientists target inflammation in cardiovascular conditions.\n',1,69,'<li>Maximilian J. Schloss, Maarten Hulsmans, David Rohde, I-Hsiu Lee, Nicolas Severe, Brody H. Foy, Fadi E. Pulous, Shuang Zhang, Konstantinos D. Kokkaliaris, Vanessa Frodermann, Gabriel Courties, Chongbo Yang, Yoshiko Iwamoto, Anders Steen Knudsen, Cameron S. McAlpine, Masahiro Yamazoe, Stephen P. Schmidt, Gregory R. Wojtkiewicz, Gustavo Santos Masson, Karin Gustafsson, Diane Capen, Dennis Brown, John M. Higgins, David T. Scadden, Peter Libby, Filip K. Swirski, Kamila Naxerova, Matthias Nahrendorf. <strong>B lymphocyte-derived acetylcholine limits steady-state and emergency hematopoiesis</strong>. <em>Nature Immunology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41590-022-01165-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41590-022-01165-7</a>\n</li>'),(1734,'Researchers discover source of super-fast electron \'rain\'','researchers-discover-source-of-super-fast-electron-\'rain\'','2022-03-30 02:52:23.198319',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">UCLA scientists have discovered a new source of super-fast, energetic electrons raining down on Earth, a phenomenon that contributes to the colorful aurora borealis but also poses hazards to satellites, spacecraft and astronauts.</p><p>The researchers observed unexpected, rapid \"electron precipitation\" from low-Earth orbit using the ELFIN mission, a pair of tiny satellites built and operated on the UCLA campus by undergraduate and graduate students guided by a small team of staff mentors.</p><p>By combining the ELFIN data with more distant observations from NASA\'s THEMIS spacecraft, the scientists determined that the sudden downpour was caused by whistler waves, a type of electromagnetic wave that ripples through plasma in space and affects electrons in the Earth\'s magnetosphere, causing them to \"spill over\" into the atmosphere.</p><p>Their findings, published March 25 in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>, demonstrate that whistler waves are responsible for far more electron rain than current theories and space weather models predict.</p><p>\"ELFIN is the first satellite to measure these super-fast electrons,\" said Xiaojia Zhang, lead author and a researcher in UCLA\'s department of Earth, planetary and space sciences. \"The mission is yielding new insights due to its unique vantage point in the chain of events that produces them.\"</p><p>Central to that chain of events is the near-Earth space environment, which is filled with charged particles orbiting in giant rings around the planet, called Van Allen radiation belts. Electrons in these belts travel in Slinky-like spirals that literally bounce between the Earth\'s north and south poles. Under certain conditions, whistler waves are generated within the radiation belts, energizing and speeding up the electrons. This effectively stretches out the electrons\' travel path so much that they fall out of the belts and precipitate into the atmosphere, creating the electron rain.</p><p>One can imagine the Van Allen belts as a large reservoir filled with water -- or, in this case, electrons, said Vassilis Angelopolous, a UCLA professor of space physics and ELFIN\'s principal investigator. As the reservoir fills, water periodically spirals down into a relief drain to keep the basin from overflowing. But when large waves occur in the reservoir, the sloshing water spills over the edge, faster and in greater volume than the relief drainage. ELFIN, which is downstream of both flows, is able to properly measure the contributions from each.</p><p>The low-altitude electron rain measurements by ELFIN, combined with the THEMIS observations of whistler waves in space and sophisticated computer modeling, allowed the team to understand in detail the process by which the waves cause rapid torrents of electrons to flow into the atmosphere.</p><p>The findings are particularly important because current theories and space weather models, while accounting for other sources of electrons entering the atmosphere, do not predict this extra whistler wave-induced electron flow, which can affect Earth\'s atmospheric chemistry, pose risks to spacecraft and damage low-orbiting satellites.</p><p>The researchers further showed that this type of radiation-belt electron loss to the atmosphere can increase significantly during geomagnetic storms, disturbances caused by enhanced solar activity that can affect near-Earth space and Earth\'s magnetic environment.</p><p>\"Although space is commonly thought to be separate from our upper atmosphere, the two are inextricably linked,\" Angelopoulos said. \"Understanding how they\'re linked can benefit satellites and astronauts passing through the region, which are increasingly important for commerce, telecommunications and space tourism.\"</p><p>Since its inception in 2013, more than 300 UCLA students have worked on ELFIN (Electron Losses and Fields investigation), which is funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The two microsatellites, each about the size of a loaf of bread and weighing roughly 8 pounds, were launched into orbit in 2018, and since then have been observing the activity of energetic electrons and helping scientists to better understand the effect of magnetic storms in near-Earth space. The satellites are operated from the UCLA Mission Operations Center on campus.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-30 02:52:23.198319','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Los Angeles','Scientists have discovered a new source of super-fast, energetic electrons raining down on Earth\'s atmosphere, a phenomenon that contributes to the colorful aurora borealis and poses hazards to satellites, spacecraft and astronauts.\n',1,27,'<li>Xiao-Jia Zhang, Anton Artemyev, Vassilis Angelopoulos, Ethan Tsai, Colin Wilkins, Satoshi Kasahara, Didier Mourenas, Shoichiro Yokota, Kunihiro Keika, Tomoaki Hori, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Iku Shinohara, Ayako Matsuoka. <strong>Superfast precipitation of energetic electrons in the radiation belts of the Earth</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29291-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29291-8</a>\n</li>'),(1735,'Exercise may reduce depression symptoms, boost effects of therapy','exercise-may-reduce-depression-symptoms,-boost-effects-of-therapy','2022-03-30 17:52:35.722657',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Exercising for half an hour may reduce symptoms of depression for at least 75 minutes post-workout and amplify the benefits of therapy, according to two new studies led by researchers at Iowa State University.</p><p>\"A lot of previous research on the effects of exercise on mental health, in general, have used very broad measures of wellbeing. What we were interested in, specifically, is: how does acute exercise -- that is, one session of exercise in a day -- influence the primary symptoms of depression,\" said Jacob Meyer, a professor of kinesiology at ISU and the lead-author of both publications.</p><p>For the first study, the researchers recruited 30 adults who were experiencing major depressive episodes. The participants filled out electronic surveys immediately before, half-way-through and after a 30-minute session of either moderate-intensity cycling or sitting, and then 25-, 50- and 75-minutes post-workout. Those who cycled during the first lab visit came back a week later to run through the experiment again with 30-minutes of sitting, and vice versa.</p><p>Each survey included standard questions and scales used to measure symptoms of depression and several cognitive tasks, including the Stroop test; participants responded to the color of a particular font rather than the word itself (e.g., indicating red when they saw the word \'blue\' in red ink).</p><p>The researchers then used the survey data to track any changes in three characteristics of major depressive disorder: depressed mood state (e.g., sad, discouraged, gloomy), anhedonia (i.e., difficulty experiencing pleasure from activities previously enjoyed) and decreased cognitive function (e.g., difficulty thinking, juggling multiple pieces of information at once).</p><p>During the cycling experiment, participants\' depressed mood state improved over the 30 minutes of exercise and consistently up to 75 minutes afterward. The improvement to anhedonia started to drop off at 75 minutes post-exercise, but still was better than the participants\' levels of anhedonia in the group that did not exercise.</p><p>As for cognitive function, participants who cycled were faster on the Stroop test mid-exercise but relatively slower 25- and 50-minutes post-exercise compared to participants in the resting group. Meyer said more research is needed to understand the variation.</p><p>\"The cool thing is these benefits to depressed mood state and anhedonia could last beyond 75 minutes. We would need to do a longer study to determine when they start to wane, but the results suggest a window of time post-exercise when it may be easier or more effective for someone with depression to do something psychologically or cognitively demanding,\" said Meyer.</p><p>He said that could include giving a presentation, taking a test -- or going to therapy.</p><p>\"Can we synergize the short-term benefits we know that happen with exercise and the clear long-term benefits with therapy to deliver the most effective overall intervention?\" asked Meyer.</p><p>As part of the effort to answer that question, Meyer and his research team conducted a separate pilot study.</p><p>Half of the ten participants exercised on their own (e.g., cycled, jogged, walked) for 30 minutes at a pace they considered moderate intensity, which the researchers also verified with Fitbit data, before signing into an hour of virtual, cognitive behavior therapy each week. The other participants simply continued in their day-to-day activities prior to their therapy sessions.</p><p>At the end of the eight-week intervention program, participants in both groups showed improvements, but those who exercised before talking with a therapist had more pronounced reductions in symptoms of depression.</p><p>The researchers said the results indicate exercise could help amplify the benefits of therapy for adults with depression.</p><p>\"With such a small group, we did not perform formal statistical testing, but the results are promising,\" said Meyer. \"Overall, the pilot study showed people were interested and would stick with the combined approach, and that exercise seemed to have some effects on depression and a couple of the mechanisms of therapy.\"</p><p>One of those mechanisms relates to the relationship between a client and therapist. If someone feels a connection with their therapist, Meyer said, there\'s a higher chance they\'ll continue going to therapy and the sessions likely will have greater impact.</p><p>In the pilot study, participants who exercised before the cognitive behavior therapy session reported a quicker and stronger connection with their therapists. The researchers said the findings suggest exercise may be priming or \"fertilizing\" the brain to engage with more emotionally challenging work that can happen during therapy.</p><p>The researchers said they hope to expand on the innovative studies in the coming years to better understand how exercise could be incorporated into an effective treatment or intervention for people experiencing chronic depression.</p>','2022-03-30 17:52:35.722657','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Iowa State University','Exercising for half an hour may reduce symptoms of depression for at least 75 minutes post-workout and amplify the benefits of therapy, according to two new studies.\n',1,22,'<li>Jacob D. Meyer, Thomas A. Murray, Cassandra S. Brower, Gabriel A. Cruz-Maldonado, Maria L. Perez, Laura D. Ellingson, Nathaniel G. Wade. <strong>Magnitude, timing and duration of mood state and cognitive effects of acute moderate exercise in major depressive disorder</strong>. <em>Psychology of Sport and Exercise</em>, 2022; 61: 102172 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102172\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102172</a>\n</li>'),(1736,'Engineering the quantum states in solids using light','engineering-the-quantum-states-in-solids-using-light','2022-03-30 18:06:07.108797',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A POSTECH research team led by Professor Gil-Ho Lee and Gil Young Cho (Department of Physics) has developed a platform that can control the properties of solid materials with light and measure them.</p><p>Recognized for developing a platform to control and measure the properties of materials in various ways with light, the findings from the study were published in the top international academic journal <em>Nature</em> on March 15, 2022 (GMT).</p><p>The electrical properties of a material are determined by the movement of electrons in the material. For example, a material is defined as a metal if electrons can move freely, otherwise it is an insulator. In order to change the electrical properties of these solids, applying heat or pressure or adding impurities have been generally used. This is because the change in the position of the atoms in the solid changes the movement of electrons accordingly.</p><p>In contrast, the Floquet state, in which the original quantum state is replicated when light is irradiated on matters, has been proposed. By adopting such a concept, quantum states of the matters can be easily manipulated with light, which can be effectively used in quantum systems.</p><p>In previous experiments, the light intensity for realizing Floquet state in solids was enormous due to the high frequency of light. Also, Floquet states last only for a very short time of 250 femtoseconds (1 femtosecond is one trillionth of a second). Due to their transient nature, more quantitative studies of their characteristics have been limited.</p><p>POSTECH research team succeeded in the experimental realization of the steady Floquet state in a graphene Josephson junction (GJJ) and by irradiating continuous microwaves on it. The intensity of the light has been decreased to one trillionth the value of previous experiments, significantly reducing the heat generation and enabling continuously long-lasting Floquet states.</p><p>The research team also developed a novel superconducting tunneling spectroscopy to measure the Floquet states with high energy resolution. This is necessary to quantitatively verify the characteristics of the Floquet state that varies depending on the intensity, frequency and polarization of light applied to the device.</p><p>\"This study is significant in that we have created a platform that can study the Floquet state in detail,\" explained professors Gil-Ho Lee and Gil Young Cho who led the study. They added, \"We plan to further investigate the correlation between properties of light, such as polarization, and the Floquet states.\"</p><p>This study was conducted with the support from the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation, National Research Foundation of Korea, Institute for Basic Science, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and Elemental Strategy Initiative conducted by the MEXT.</p>','2022-03-30 18:06:07.108797','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)','A research team has developed a platform that can control the properties of solid materials with light and measure them.\n',1,97,'<li>Sein Park, Wonjun Lee, Seong Jang, Yong-Bin Choi, Jinho Park, Woochan Jung, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Gil Young Cho, Gil-Ho Lee. <strong>Steady Floquet–Andreev states in graphene Josephson junctions</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; 603 (7901): 421 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04364-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-021-04364-8</a>\n</li>'),(1737,'The Rule of Two helps make spaces sound better','the-rule-of-two-helps-make-spaces-sound-better','2022-03-30 18:07:03.190549',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Acoustics researchers of Aalto University have improved the most common method for measuring the acoustics of a room, the sine sweep technique. The new approach will make it easier and faster to design a room so that the right sounds reach the right spots.</p><p>In the sine sweep, a room\'s acoustics are tested by measuring the echoes of a continuous whistle that changes frequency logarithmically from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, the full range of human hearing. The sweep lasts for only a few seconds. Using a longer sweep would feed more energy to the room and reduce the proportion of other noises affecting the measurement, but it would also increase the chance of other disturbances or changes in the environments, adding uncertainty to the measurements.</p><p>The new method, which the researchers call the Rule of Two, uses multiple measurements to get around the problem. By repeating the sine sweep measurement until two runs pass the cleanliness criterion, automated measurements can reliably collect better data.</p><p>The Arni room at the Aalto Acoustics Lab in Otaniemi provided the tools to measure the thousands of combinations needed to develop this method. \"The measurement techniques of acoustics and audio technology have developed greatly over the years. In the early days, acousticians used to clap their hands or use a starting pistol in a room and then listen to how the echo decayed. Nowadays, measurements are done with a computer and accurate calculations tell us precisely how sound reverberates in different spaces,\" says Vesa Välimäki, a professor of acoustics.</p><p>Karolina Prawda, a doctoral researcher, explains that \"the name of our method, Rule of Two (Ro2), comes from the requirement that reliability calls for two clean measurements which correlate strongly. Later we learned that, by coincidence, there is also a rule of two in Star Wars. The acoustic measurement method has nothing to do with Star Wars, except for the same term.\"</p><p>The researchers believe that the new measurement technique will replace the 20-year-old single sine sweep method because the more reliable technique saves time in design work. Acoustic measurements are commonly used in the design of any interior spaces where speech, announcements or music have to be clearly audible, such as in movie theatres, metro stations, concert halls, lecture rooms, churches, and congress centers.</p><p>\"At Aalto University, we will immediately start using this method in teaching. I hope that the acoustics sector will notice its benefits as soon as possible,\" Professor Välimäki says.</p><p><strong>Learning from endless echoes</strong></p><p>The walls of the Arni room are covered in rotating panels. Each panel has a hard side and a soft side. The room can be made reverberant by exposing the hard surfaces and attenuated using the soft ones. A spherical loudspeaker plays sounds in all directions, and the acoustic properties can be measured with several microphones at the same time. By rotating the panels, researchers can modify the acoustic environment in the room almost endlessly.</p><p>\"The measurement method was discovered because of thousands of measurements. The walls can produce more combinations than there are ants in the world,\" explains Professor of Practice Sebastian Schlecht.</p><p>\"The wall panels open and close when the software commands them. Our task was to analyze the thousands of measurements and compare them with each other,\" Prawda says.</p>','2022-03-30 18:07:03.190549','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Aalto University','Researchers developed a new acoustic measurement technique in a room with more acoustic combinations than there are ants on Earth.\n',1,27,'<li>Karolina Prawda, Sebastian J. Schlecht, Vesa Välimäki. <strong>Robust selection of clean swept-sine measurements in non-stationary noise</strong>. <em>The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</em>, 2022; 151 (3): 2117 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/10.0009915\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1121/10.0009915</a>\n</li>'),(1738,'Americans love football, but differ on whether kids should play','americans-love-football,-but-differ-on-whether-kids-should-play','2022-03-30 18:07:04.518643',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Football may be America\'s most popular sport, but the nation is deeply divided about whether youth should play the tackle version of the game.</p><p>In a new study, about 45% of Americans agreed that tackle football is appropriate for kids, while 50% disagreed. The remainder didn\'t know.</p><p>The findings come as participation in youth tackle has declined with growing concern about the effects of concussions on young brains, said Mariah Warner, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in sociology at The Ohio State University.</p><p>\"We found that tackle football for kids has become a contentious issue in the United States,\" Warner said.</p><p>\"Football may still be very popular overall, but many people don\'t think it is appropriate for kids, most likely because of safety issues.\"</p><p>But support for and opposition to kids playing tackle football isn\'t evenly divided among all segments of society, the study showed.</p><p>Factors such as race and ethnicity, gender, belief in traditional values, socioeconomic status, family history and the community people grow up in all were linked to how Americans viewed youth football.</p><p>\"A lot of social and psychological factors shape our perceptions of whether kids should be hitting and tackling each other on the football field,\" said study co-author Chris Knoester, professor of sociology at Ohio State.</p><p>\"But it seems that Americans are now more wary than supportive of youth tackle football.\"</p><p>The study was published recently in the journal <em>Social Currents</em>.</p><p>Survey data came from the National Sports and Society Survey (NSASS), sponsored by Ohio State\'s Sports and Society Initiative.</p><p>The survey was completed by 3,993 adults who volunteered to participate through the American Population Panel, run by Ohio State\'s Center for Human Resource Research.</p><p>Participants, who live in all 50 states, answered the survey online between the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019. Because NSASS participants are disproportionately female, white and Midwestern, the researchers weighted the survey results to reflect the U.S. population more accurately.</p><p>Participants were asked to rate on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree) the statement \"Tackle</p><p>football is an appropriate sport for kids to play.\"</p><p>The issue divided Americans by race and class, results showed.</p><p>Black Americans and those with no more than a high school education were not as negative about tackle football for kids as were white people and the college educated. Higher-income adults were more likely to not support youth football.</p><p>\"For less-advantaged people, football is seen as one of the only ways they can get ahead in society, which may explain why they support it for kids,\" Warner said.</p><p>\"It\'s a way to get to college and maybe even play as a professional. They want to give their children that opportunity.\"</p><p>Men and heterosexuals were more likely to think youth football was appropriate, as were people with more traditionalist values: those who identified as more conservative, who believed in traditional gender roles, who especially perceived female athletes to be inferior to male athletes, who thought playing sports was part of being an American and those who said they were Christian all were more likely to support kids playing tackle football.</p><p>Beliefs about the value of sports participation played a role, results showed. Those who agreed that sports build character and that collision sports had health benefits were more supportive.</p><p>Support for youth football is tied to people\'s formative experiences growing up, Knoester said, including whether participants themselves played and whether their parents or friends were fans.</p><p>Where people lived was also a key: People in rural areas were more supportive than those in the suburbs. And the odds of strongly endorsing kids playing tackle football were 27% to 39% higher for adults from the Midwest and South compared to those from adults living in the West.</p><p>\"Being immersed in football cultures -- whether it is your family, your friends, your community -- played a major role in your beliefs about kids and football,\" Knoester said.</p><p>This study didn\'t specify the ages for youth football, but other evidence suggests Americans are much more concerned with kids under 13 playing football than those in high school, he said.</p><p>The largest decrease in tackle football participation has been among children ages 6 to 12, who showed more than a 20% decline from 2008 to 2018, according to one study.</p><p>\"We are learning more all the time about how the earlier in life that kids get head injuries, the more serious the health effects,\" Warner said.</p><p>\"That may be one reason why so many Americans are wary about kids playing tackle football.\"</p><p>One result of Americans\' changing attitudes could be that youth football may increasingly become a sport played mostly by people from lower-income families and racial and ethnic minorities, Knoester said.</p><p>Other changes may be ahead for youth football as people\'s views evolve, he said.</p><p>\"Football\'s popularity was created by people -- that means we can change it,\" Knoester said. \"We have seen the decline in sports like boxing when people\'s views change. That could happen with youth football.\"</p>','2022-03-30 18:07:04.518643','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Ohio State University','Football may be America\'s most popular sport, but the nation is deeply divided about whether youth should play the tackle version of the game.\n',1,27,'<li>Mariah K. Warner, Chris Knoester. <strong>When Kids Hitting Each Other Is Okay: Examining U.S. Adult Support for Youth Tackle Football</strong>. <em>Social Currents</em>, 2022; 232949652210740 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/23294965221074017\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1177/23294965221074017</a>\n</li>'),(1739,'Stabilizing low blood sugar in infancy prevents long-term brain damage','stabilizing-low-blood-sugar-in-infancy-prevents-long-term-brain-damage','2022-03-30 18:07:09.956012',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Low blood sugar in infancy is serious, but treatment can ward off long-term brain damage in infants, a new study has found.</p><p>The study from the University of Waterloo and the University of Auckland is the first research of its kind to declare stabilizing blood sugar levels in newborns with hypoglycemia prevents brain damage.</p><p>Low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, occurs when the level of glucose in the blood is too low. Low blood sugar is very common, affecting more than one in six babies. As glucose is the main source of fuel for the brain and the body, untreated low blood sugar can cause adverse effects on a child\'s neurodevelopment up to the age of 4.5 years old.</p><p>While it\'s known that exposure to hypoglycemia alters the shape of the early developmental course, there has been a significant gap in our understanding of how hypoglycemia can alter a child\'s development after early childhood. The team\'s new study examined the long-term consequences of a child\'s brain development in mid-childhood-nine to 10 years old-and found that there was no significant difference in academic outcomes for children exposed to hypoglycemia as newborns, as compared to their peers.</p><p>\"Rich pre-school and school experiences may help a child\'s brain to re-organize and improve their academic abilities up to the developmental milestones of their peers,\" said Ben Thompson, a professor from the School of Optometry &amp; Vision Science at Waterloo, CEO of the Centre for Eye and Vision Research in Hong Kong, and part of the team working on the groundbreaking research.</p><p>Following 480 children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycemia, researchers assessed each child at aged nine to 10 in five key areas: academic achievement, executive function, visual-motor function, psychosocial adaptation, and general health. All child participants were involved in previous studies, providing researchers with information on their neuro-development outcomes at two and 4.5 years old.</p><p>The research team says that this catch-up in neuro-cognitive function could be because of brain-plasticity -- the brain\'s ability to adapt, change and mature as a result of experience.</p><p>\"It\'s a big relief to know that babies who are born with and treated for a condition as common as hypoglycemia are not likely to suffer long-term brain damage,\" Thompson said.</p><p>Over the past decade, the research team has continued studying the efficacy of dextrose gel to treat low blood sugar in the first 48-hours of a newborn\'s life, avoiding the need for babies to go to newborn intensive care units immediately after delivery. Dextrose is a sugar that comes from corn or wheat that is chemically identical to blood sugar.</p><p>In an additional study published in the Journal for the American Medical Association, the team assesses the later risks of dextrose gel as a treatment for hypoglycemia in infancy, and found it caused no significant difference to the risk of neuro-sensory impairment at age two. This treatment continues to be widely used outside of New Zealand in a growing number of countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.</p><p>The studies, Association of neonatal hypoglycemia with academic performance in mid-childhood and Prophylactic oral dextrose gel and neurosensory impairment at 2-year follow-up of participants in the hPOD randomized trial, were published in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em> this month.</p>','2022-03-30 18:07:09.956012','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Waterloo','Low blood sugar in infancy is serious, but treatment can ward off long-term brain damage in infants, a new study has found.\n',1,106,'<li>Rajesh Shah, Darren W. T. Dai, Jane M. Alsweiler, Gavin T. L. Brown, J. Geoffrey Chase, Gregory D. Gamble, Deborah L. Harris, Peter Keegan, Samson Nivins, Trecia A. Wouldes, Benjamin Thompson, Jason Turuwhenua, Jane E. Harding, Christopher J. D. McKinlay, Heidi Feldman, William Hay, Robert Hess, Darrell Wilson, Jenny Rogers, Steven Miller, Eleanor Kennedy, Arijit Chakraborty, Jennifer Knopp, Tony Zhou, Jocelyn Ledger, Stephanie Macdonald, Alecia McNeill, Coila Bevan, Nataliia Burakevych, Robyn May, Safayet Hossin, Grace McKnight, Rashedul Hasan, Jessica Wilson. <strong>Association of Neonatal Hypoglycemia With Academic Performance in Mid-Childhood</strong>. <em>JAMA</em>, 2022; 327 (12): 1158 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.0992\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1001/jama.2022.0992</a>\n</li>'),(1740,'New algorithm will improve bowel-cancer patient care','new-algorithm-will-improve-bowel-cancer-patient-care','2022-03-30 18:07:18.846446',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An algorithm which can predict how long a patient might spend in hospital if they\'re diagnosed with bowel cancer could save the NHS millions of pounds and help patients feel better prepared.</p><p>Experts from the University of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have used artificial intelligence and data analytics to predict the length of hospital stay for bowel cancer patients, whether they will be readmitted after surgery, and their likelihood of death over a one or three-month period.</p><p>The intelligent model will allow healthcare providers to design the best patient care and prioritise resources.</p><p>Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the UK, with more than 42,000 people diagnosed every year.</p><p>Professor of Intelligent Systems, Adrian Hopgood, from the University of Portsmouth, is one of the lead authors on the new paper. He said: \"It is estimated that by 2035 there will be around 2.4 million new cases of bowel cancer annually worldwide. This is a staggering figure and one that can\'t be ignored. We need to act now to improve patient outcomes.</p><p>\"This technology can give patients insight into what they\'re likely to experience. They can not only be given a good indication of what their longer-term prognosis is, but also what to expect in the shorter term.</p><p>\"If a patient isn\'t expecting to find themselves in hospital for two weeks and suddenly they are, that can be quite distressing. However, if they have a predicted length of stay, they have useful information to help them prepare.</p><p>\"Or indeed if a patient is given a prognosis that isn\'t good or they have other illnesses, they might decide they don\'t want a surgical option resulting in a long stay in hospital.\"</p><p>Bowel cancer (also known a colorectal cancer) affects the large bowel, which is made up of the colon and rectum. The cost of diagnosing and treating patients is significant and the economic impact on healthcare systems is immense.</p><p>The study used data taken from a database of over 4,000 bowel cancer patients who underwent surgery between 2003 and 2019. It looked at 47 different variables including age, weight, fitness, surgical approaches, and mortality. The insights of consultant surgeon Jim Khan and his colleagues Samuel Stefan and Karen Flashman were complemented by the analytical expertise of Dr Shamsul Masum, under Professor Hopgood\'s direction.</p><p>Professor Hopgood said: \"We used a full set of data that included the 47 variables, but also predicted outcomes with just some of the most significant ones and found the two approaches showed very little difference. This is useful in itself because it shows that the algorithm is just as effective using a streamlined set of variables.\"</p><p>The technology could be rolled out straightaway in principle, but would need to be approved for use in a clinical setting. However, Professor Hopgood is keen to work with an even bigger dataset to improve the accuracy of predictions, which is already above 80 per cent.</p><p>\"If we could attract funding, we would love to get together with other bowel cancer centres so we have access to even bigger datasets. With machine learning, the simple rule is the more data the better,\" he said.</p><p>\"Everyone I\'ve spoken to in the health domain thinks that artificial intelligence will help them do a better job and we hope this research will do exactly that -- by providing more accurate predictions, the health service can allocate the best resources to each patient and improve patient care.\"</p>','2022-03-30 18:07:18.846446','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Portsmouth','An algorithm which can predict how long a patient might spend in hospital if they\'re diagnosed with bowel cancer could save the money and help patients feel better prepared.\n',1,27,'<li>Shamsul Masum, Adrian Hopgood, Samuel Stefan, Karen Flashman, Jim Khan. <strong>Data analytics and artificial intelligence in predicting length of stay, readmission, and mortality: a population-based study of surgical management of colorectal cancer</strong>. <em>Discover Oncology</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12672-022-00472-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s12672-022-00472-7</a>\n</li>'),(1741,'Study shows critical protein may play a role in origin of mesothelioma','study-shows-critical-protein-may-play-a-role-in-origin-of-mesothelioma','2022-03-30 18:07:47.783975',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and their international collaborators have discovered that a protein critical in the embryonic stages of life is reactivated in certain cases of mesothelioma, offering clues into the origin of this aggressive cancer.</p><p>The study published today in the journal Nature Communications.</p><p>\"Together with our basic research and clinical collaborators, we have discovered that in numerous mesothelioma tumors, the Hand2 protein has been turned back on, possibly altering the cells of the tumor,\" said Christian Mosimann, PhD, lead author of the study and associate professor of pediatrics in the section of developmental biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. \"Now we\'re investigating what causes this and what makes such mesothelioma tumors different from tumors that do not have Hand2 present.\"</p><p>Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in a thin layer of tissue called the mesothelium, which covers most internal organs. Its primary cause is exposure to asbestos.</p><p>The Hand2 protein, Mosimann said, binds to genes at the beginning of life to control them during cellular development. It usually goes dormant in many tissues after an embryo fully develops. The discovery that the protein reactivates in some cases of mesothelioma offers the chance to possibly manipulate it to influence the course of the disease.</p><p>Mosimann and his team are using zebrafish to study how different cell types form because their translucent nature helps them observe the entire course of cell development rapidly due to how fast the fish grow. Specifically, they have been observing the mesothelium, a membrane that already develops in the embryonic stage and covers the heart, abdomen, intestines and inner organs, such as the lungs in humans. Mosimann described the mesothelium as a protective shrink wrap that protects the inner organs.</p><p>The team\'s work now showed that the Hand2 protein helps in the first formation of the mesothelium in the embryo. The researchers then observed that mesothelioma tumors in adults can re-activate Hand2, possibly enabling these cells to grow and move as they did in the embryo.</p><p>Mesothelioma tumors, which sometimes appear decades after asbestos exposure, have been a mystery to medical professionals. This has made treatment challenging and the prognosis is usually fatal within a year of the diagnosis.</p><p>\"What has become apparent over time is that the dust asbestos produces is dangerous as it is made of a material that the body cannot break down. It can stay in your system and get lodged into your major organs like the lungs or heart,\" Mosimann said.</p><p>Asbestos is a mineral found in many construction and mining environments. Mosimann said many countries continue to use asbestos in building materials, making mesothelioma a global health concern.</p><p>\"Mesothelioma tumors also remain a particular concern in Colorado because of all of the years of mining and construction operations that have taken place in the state,\" he said.</p><p>The next step for Mosimann\'s team is to find out if they can influence the Hand2 protein and eventually create better treatments and therapeutic benefits in certain cases of mesothelioma without impacting other cellular functions. They will also study why not all cases of the cancer involve Hand2.</p><p>By continuing to observe zebrafish and using them to clarify where cells come from and what makes them tick, Mosimann and his team not only hope to discover new insights into mesothelioma tumors, but also into the causes of congenital problems with the mesothelium when an embryo first develops.</p><p>\"This could also eventually lead to better diagnosis and treatment for children who are born with conditions like congenital herniation and heart disease,\" he said.</p>','2022-03-30 18:07:47.783975','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus','Researchers have discovered that a protein critical in the embryonic stages of life is reactivated in certain cases of mesothelioma, offering clues into the origin of this aggressive cancer.\n',1,26,'<li>Karin D. Prummel, Helena L. Crowell, Susan Nieuwenhuize, Eline C. Brombacher, Stephan Daetwyler, Charlotte Soneson, Jelena Kresoja-Rakic, Agnese Kocere, Manuel Ronner, Alexander Ernst, Zahra Labbaf, David E. Clouthier, Anthony B. Firulli, Héctor Sánchez-Iranzo, Sundar R. Naganathan, Rebecca O’Rourke, Erez Raz, Nadia Mercader, Alexa Burger, Emanuela Felley-Bosco, Jan Huisken, Mark D. Robinson, Christian Mosimann. <strong>Hand2 delineates mesothelium progenitors and is reactivated in mesothelioma</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29311-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29311-7</a>\n</li>'),(1742,'Eating two servings of avocados a week linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease','eating-two-servings-of-avocados-a-week-linked-to-lower-risk-of-cardiovascular-disease','2022-03-30 18:07:50.377671',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Eating two or more servings of avocado weekly was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and substituting avocado for certain fat-containing foods like butter, cheese or processed meats was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease events, according to new research published today in the <em>Journal of the American Heart Association</em>, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.</p><p>Avocados contain dietary fiber, unsaturated fats especially monounsaturated fat (healthy fats) and other favorable components that have been associated with good cardiovascular health. Clinical trials have previously found avocados have a positive impact on cardiovascular risk factors including high cholesterol.</p><p>Researchers believe this is the first, large, prospective study to support the positive association between higher avocado consumption and lower cardiovascular events, such as coronary heart disease and stroke.</p><p>\"Our study provides further evidence that the intake of plant-sourced unsaturated fats can improve diet quality and is an important component in cardiovascular disease prevention,\" said Lorena S. Pacheco, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.N., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research fellow in the nutrition department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. \"These are particularly notable findings since the consumption of avocados has risen steeply in the U.S. in the last 20 years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.\"</p><p>For 30 years, researchers followed more than 68,780 women (ages 30 to 55 years) from the Nurses\' Health Study and more than 41,700 men (ages 40 to 75 years) from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. All study participants were free of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke at the start of the study and living in the United States. Researchers documented 9,185 coronary heart disease events and 5,290 strokes during more than 30 years of follow-up. Researchers assessed participants\' diet using food frequency questionnaires given at the beginning of the study and then every four years. They calculated avocado intake from a questionnaire item that asked about the amount consumed and frequency. One serving equaled half of an avocado or a half cup of avocado.</p><p>The analysis found:</p><p>The study\'s results provide additional guidance for health care professionals to share. Offering the suggestion to \"replace certain spreads and saturated fat-containing foods, such as cheese and processed meats, with avocado is something physicians and other health care practitioners such as registered dietitians can do when they meet with patients, especially since avocado is a well-accepted food,\" Pacheco said.</p><p>The study aligns with the American Heart Association\'s guidance to follow the Mediterranean diet -- a dietary pattern focused on fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, fish and other healthy foods and plant-based fats such as olive, canola, sesame and other non-tropical oils.</p><p>\"These findings are significant because a healthy dietary pattern is the cornerstone for cardiovascular health, however, it can be difficult for many Americans to achieve and adhere to healthy eating patterns,\" said Cheryl Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., FAHA, chair of the American Heart Association\'s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention.</p><p>\"We desperately need strategies to improve intake of AHA-recommended healthy diets -- such as the Mediterranean diet -- that are rich in vegetables and fruits,\" said Anderson, who is professor and dean of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego. \"Although no one food is the solution to routinely eating a healthy diet, this study is evidence that avocados have possible health benefits. This is promising because it is a food item that is popular, accessible, desirable and easy to include in meals eaten by many Americans at home and in restaurants.\"</p><p>The study is observational, so a direct cause and effect cannot be proved. Two other limitations of the research involve data collection and the composition of the study population. The study analyses may be affected by measurement errors because dietary consumption was self-reported. Participants were mostly white nurses and health care professionals, so these results may not apply to other groups . .</p><p>The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health and the Harvard Chan Yerby Fellowship at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.</p>','2022-03-30 18:07:50.377671','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Heart Association','A 30-year study of more than 110,000 health professionals found that participants who ate at least two servings of avocado a week had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who rarely ate avocados. Replacing animal products like butter, cheese or bacon with avocado was also associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease events.\n',1,150,'<li>Lorena S. Pacheco, Yanping Li, Eric B. Rimm, JoAnn E. Manson, Qi Sun, Kathryn Rexrode, Frank B. Hu, Marta Guasch‐Ferr&amp;#2013265929;. <strong>Avocado Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in US Adults</strong>. <em>Journal of the American Heart Association</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.121.024014\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1161/JAHA.121.024014</a>\n</li>'),(1743,'Programmed assembly of wafer-scale atomically thin crystals','programmed-assembly-of-wafer-scale-atomically-thin-crystals','2022-03-30 18:08:00.471154',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Lego blocks, beloved by both children and adults, can be assembled into set models like space shuttles or cool buildings, but also can be used to build any new structures. Like these blocks, a new technology has been proposed to assemble atomic-sized blocks into new materials.</p><p>A POSTECH research team led by Professor Cheol-Joo Kim and Ph.D. candidates Seong-Jun Yang and Ju-Hyun Jung (Department of Chemical Engineering) in collaboration with Dr. Chang Cuk Hwang and Dr. Eunsook Lee (Pohang Accelerator Laboratory) and Professor Pinshane Y. Huang and Ph.D. candidate Edmund Han (University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne) has developed a technology for assembling wafer-scale films at the atomic level. Recently published as the front cover paper of <em>Nano Letters</em>, the findings are a result of precisely designing the structure of materials at the atomic level.</p><p>Crystal films composed of atoms offer varying physical properties based on the modulation of their thickness or atomic structures. Varying the stacking configuration of these thin films -- layer-by-layer or twisted -- produces different physical properties. However, studies conducted so far have only enabled assembly of atomically thin crystals at a very small-scale because assembling large wafer-sized thin films easily contaminates their interfaces, hindering the emergence of new properties.</p><p>To overcome this, the researchers proposed a programmed crystal assembly of graphene and monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), assisted by van der Waals interactions. This new technique produces wafer-scale films of nearly 100% pristine interfaces.</p><p>Applying this new method enables large-scale production of wafer-size artificial crystalline films which have been difficult to use as actual devices due to their small size. This technology shows promise to help develop new materials that emit light or conduct electricity since it can program the structure of a material at the atomic level.</p><p>\"The atomic-level assembly method has been limited to very small sizes, limiting the discovery of properties and technology development to mere verification at the single-device level,\" remarked Professor Cheol-Joo Kim who led the study. He added, \"The findings from this study have demonstrated the atomic-level precision assembly of single-crystalline materials at the wafer-scale for the first time, which will be applicable to the development of nanodevices in the future.\"</p><p>This study was conducted with the support from the Young Researcher Program and the Creative Materials Discovery Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea.</p>','2022-03-30 18:08:00.471154','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)','A research team develops an assembly method for atomically thin crystals at the wafer-scale.\n',1,25,'<li>Seong-Jun Yang, Ju-Hyun Jung, Eunsook Lee, Edmund Han, Min-Yeong Choi, Daesung Jung, Shinyoung Choi, Jun-Ho Park, Dongseok Oh, Siwoo Noh, Ki-Jeong Kim, Pinshane Y. Huang, Chan-Cuk Hwang, Cheol-Joo Kim. <strong>Wafer-Scale Programmed Assembly of One-Atom-Thick Crystals</strong>. <em>Nano Letters</em>, 2022; 22 (4): 1518 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04139\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04139</a>\n</li>'),(1744,'Argon found in air of ancient atmosphere','argon-found-in-air-of-ancient-atmosphere','2022-03-30 18:08:05.283539',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers have discovered argon trapped in air-hydrate crystals in ice cores, which can be used to reconstruct past temperature changes and climate shifts.</p><p>On the massive sheets of ice that stretch across Greenland and Antarctica, the temperature is so low that not even the summer sun can melt the snow deposited onto them. As the snow accumulates without melting and settles deeper into the ice sheet, it traps air from the atmosphere, which forms small air bubbles when the snow transforms into ice. Over centuries or millennia, the ice builds up, increasing the pressure on and dropping the temperature in the bubbles, until the trapped atmospheric molecules convert into cage-like crystals, preserving the ancient air samples for hundreds of thousands of years. These crystals, called air-hydrate crystals, could reveal how the Earth\'s atmosphere, and climate, has changed over hundreds of thousands of years -- if their composition can be accurately measured.</p><p>Previous measurement methods were limited to a couple of elements, such as oxygen and nitrogen. Now, an international research team has developed a new approach to identify more elusive, previously unconfirmed constituents, such as argon, which could help reconstruct a more precise understanding of past climates. They published their approach and their findings -- including the first direct discovery of argon in air-hydrate crystals -- in the <em>Journal of Glaciology</em>.</p><p>\"The air bubbles in an ice core are the only known paleoenvironmental archive of the actual ancient atmosphere with a time axis in the depth direction,\" said first author Tsutomu Uchida, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University. He explained that argon could be extracted from the ice via melting or cutting, but its location in the undisturbed ice was a mystery. \"If we can understand where argon is located in ice, we can improve our understanding of the movement of gas molecules in ice and contribute to improving the accuracy of environmental reconstruction.\"</p><p>The researchers examined five air-hydrate crystals in an ice core extracted from Greenland and containing ice dating to about 130,000 years ago. They used a combination of scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to visualize and identify the molecules contained in the air-hydrate crystals. They found argon.</p><p>\"Argon was assumed to be in the air-hydrate crystals, but was never confirmed directly by microscopic analysis,\" said co-author Kumiko Goto-Azuma, a Professor with The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, and the National Institute of Polar Research. \"Such direct observation is difficult because it has a very small mixing ratio with neighboring elements and it is an inert gas, which makes it hard to measure by the common methods used for nitrogen and oxygen.\"</p><p>The researchers plan to refine their approach to better understand the distribution of argon in ice with the goal of elucidating the mechanism of changes and more accurately estimating the impact of human activities in the global environment.</p><p>\"With this new approach, we believe that we can improve the accuracy of ice core analysis to elucidate how much argon existed in the ancient atmosphere and how it has changed with the earth\'s environment,\" said co-author Tomoyuki Homma, an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Engineering at Nagaoka University of Technology.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-30 18:08:05.283539','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Hokkaido University','Researchers have discovered argon trapped in air-hydrate crystals in ice cores, which can be used to reconstruct past temperature changes and climate shifts.\n',1,164,'<li>Tsutomu Uchida, Wataru Shigeyama, Ikumi Oyabu, Kumiko Goto-Azuma, Fumio Nakazawa, Tomoyuki Homma, Kenji Kawamura, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen. <strong>Discovery of argon in air-hydrate crystals in a deep ice core using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy</strong>. <em>Journal of Glaciology</em>, 2021; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.115\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1017/jog.2021.115</a>\n</li>'),(1745,'Alzheimer‘s: Amyloid and tau are a perilous couple','alzheimer‘s:-amyloid-and-tau-are-a-perilous-couple','2022-03-30 18:08:20.048836',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In the course of Alzheimer\'s disease, two proteins called \"amyloid\" and \"tau\" accumulate in the brain. A DZNE study with more than 200 participants now provides insights into the interaction of these pathological phenomena. The data suggest that tau load in the brain impairs memory functions only when amyloid burden is also high. These findings therefore support therapeutic approaches aimed at removing amyloid from the brain in the early stages of Alzheimer\'s disease. A research team led by Prof. Emrah Düzel reports on this in the journal <em>Brain.</em></p><p>\"It has long been known that deposits of tau proteins in the so-called hippocampus and in neighboring brain areas impair memory. In the case of amyloid, on the other hand, no clear relationship to memory performance has been found to date. For this reason, among others, it is debated whether it makes sense at all to target amyloid therapeutically. Our current results suggest that this could indeed be helpful for memory function in the early stages of the disease,\" says brain researcher Emrah Düzel, speaker of the DZNE\'s Magdeburg site and director of the Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research of Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. \"The crucial aspect is that you don\'t look at tau in isolation, but together with amyloid pathology. This is where a link becomes apparent when you study a larger number of individuals and accordingly have solid statistics.\"</p><p><strong>Data Acquisition at Several Sites</strong></p><p>The data now evaluated come from a DZNE long-term study (DELCODE) in collaboration with university hospitals in which ten study centers across Germany are participating. The current investigations included data from 235 subjects over 60 years of age. This group included not only cognitively normal adults, but also individuals with memory problems that were either mild (\"mild cognitive impairment\") or only subjectively perceived -- i.e. common testing methods could not detect memory impairment. Data from individuals with dementia were not considered, because the focus was on early stages of Alzheimer\'s disease. Düzel\'s team analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the study subjects and examined their memory and brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).</p><p>Levels of amyloid and tau proteins in CSF are commonly used indicators for assessing the burden of these proteins on the brain. Since amyloid and tau proteins also occur in the CSF of cognitively healthy individuals, the study participants were grouped according to established thresholds into those with pathological, i. e. abnormal readings, and those with levels in the normal range. To assess memory by fMRI, study participants were given the task of memorizing photographic images while brain activity in the hippocampus -- the switchboard for memory -- was simultaneously registered. \"Using this task fMRI, we found that hippocampal activation to new images decreased with increasing tau load, and so did memory performance, only when amyloid load was high. In other words, high load by both proteins was the likely cause of memory impairment,\" Düzel says. \"This relationship has not been demonstrated in previous studies. The necessary technical harmonization across all study sites is very complex. Such studies require the kind of infrastructure that DZNE has established over the years.\"</p><p><strong>Backing for Anti-Amyloid Therapies</strong></p><p>\"Our data show several relevant associations. If amyloid levels are beyond the pathological threshold, and only then, we see that the higher the tau levels in the CSF, the worse the memory performance and the more pronounced the reduction in hippocampal activation,\" Düzel continues. \"And we also see that if you compare study participants with similar tau data, memory performance is more impaired in those with abnormal amyloid levels than in those with amyloid levels in the normal range.\" The causes of the interaction of amyloid and tau pathology are still largely unclear, Düzel acknowledges, but concludes: \"Our data show that it might be useful to reduce tau load if amyloid burden is also high. However, our findings also suggest that it might help to reduce or keep amyloid burden low in the early stages of the disease, even if tau load remains the same. One can infer from our results that memory could benefit from this.\"</p><p>This is where anti-amyloid therapies using \"monoclonal antibodies\" come in that are currently undergoing clinical trials and of which the drug \"Aducanumab\" (brand name: Aduhelm) is the first to have been approved in the USA. However, the approval is controversial. Düzel: \"Regardless of how well this particular drug is clinically effective, our study results provide additional support for the general concept of targeting amyloid. This approach should continue to be considered in therapy development.\"</p>','2022-03-30 18:08:20.048836','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DZNE - German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases','In the course of Alzheimer\'s disease, two proteins called \'amyloid\' and \'tau\' accumulate in the brain. A new study with more than 200 participants now provides insights into the interaction of these pathological phenomena. The data suggest that tau load in the brain impairs memory functions only when amyloid burden is also high. These findings therefore support therapeutic approaches aimed at removing amyloid from the brain in the early stages of Alzheimer\'s disease.\n',1,179,'<li>Emrah Düzel, Gabriel Ziegler, David Berron, Anne Maass, Hartmut Schütze, Arturo Cardenas-Blanco, Wenzel Glanz, Coraline Metzger, Laura Dobisch, Martin Reuter, Annika Spottke, Frederic Brosseron, Klaus Fliessbach, Michael T Heneka, Christoph Laske, Oliver Peters, Josef Priller, Eike Jakob Spruth, Alfredo Ramirez, Oliver Speck, Anja Schneider, Stefan Teipel, Ingo Kilimann, Wiltfang Jens, Björn-Hendrik Schott, Lukas Preis, Daria Gref, Franziska Maier, Matthias H Munk, Nina Roy, Tomasso Ballarini, Renat Yakupov, John Dylan Haynes, Peter Dechent, Klaus Scheffler, Michael Wagner, Frank Jessen. <strong>Amyloid pathology but not APOE ε4 status is permissive for tau-related hippocampal dysfunction</strong>. <em>Brain</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awab405\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/brain/awab405</a>\n</li>'),(1747,'Molecular \'blueprint\' illuminates how plants perceive light','molecular-\'blueprint\'-illuminates-how-plants-perceive-light','2022-03-30 18:48:24.518857',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Plants rely on their ability to sense light for survival. But unlike animals, plants don\'t have eyes full of photoreceptors to capture and convey messages from visual stimuli. Instead, plants are coated with a network of light-sensing photoreceptors that detect different wavelengths of light, allowing them to regulate their lifecycles and adjust to environmental conditions.</p><p>Now, Van Andel Institute and Washington University scientists have determined the molecular structure of one of these vital photoreceptors -- a protein known as PhyB -- revealing a wholly different structure than previously known. The findings, published today in <em>Nature</em>, may have implications for agricultural and \"green\" bioengineering practices.</p><p>\"Photoreceptors, such as PhyB, help plants sense and respond to the world around them by influencing life-sustaining processes such as shade avoidance, seed germination, determination of flowering time, and development of chloroplasts, which convert light into usable energy,\" said VAI Professor Huilin Li, Ph.D., co-corresponding author of the study. \"Our new structure sheds light onto how PhyB works and has potential for a host of applications in agriculture, renewable energy and even in cellular imaging.\"</p><p>Understanding the shape of PhyB is important because its structure directly impacts how PhyB interacts with other molecules to communicate shifts in light conditions and to help plants adapt by driving changes in gene expression. Previous research on PhyB provided only a truncated snapshot rather than a detailed rendering of the entire molecule.</p><p>To determine their near-atomic resolution image of PhyB, Li and study co-corresponding author Richard D. Vierstra, Ph.D., of Washington University, turned to one of the most studied plants on Earth -- a humble weed called <em>Arabidopsis thaliana. </em>This small flowering plant is an ideal model for research because it reproduces quickly, is small and is easy to grow.</p><p>UsingVAI\'s high-powered cryo-electron microscope, or cryo-EM, the research team snapped nearly 1 million particle images of PhyB connected to its natural chromophore -- a molecule that absorbs a certain color of light. They then narrowed the images down to 155,000, which they used to construct the full visualization of PhyB\'s structure at a near-atomic level of 3.3 Ångstrom. Their work revealed a surprise: rather than the parallel structure described by earlier studies, they found a complicated 3D structure with both parallel and anti-parallel sections. The findings suggest that PhyB may amplify small changes in light-sensing chromophore molecules and drastically change its shape in response -- a move that communicates the availability of light to the plant.</p><p>The discovery is the result of more than a decade of collaboration between Li and Vierstra, and revolutionizes what we know about PhyB and phytochromes, the family of receptors to which PhyB belongs. Until now, it was believed that PhyB and other phytochromes likely were similar to those used by single-celled organisms, such as certain bacteria. Today\'s findings upend that theory and lay the foundations for further studies into the intricate details of PhyB and phytochrome function.</p><p>Hua Li, Ph.D., of VAI and Sethe Burgie, Ph.D., of Washington University are co-first authors of the study. Zachary T.K. Gannam, Ph.D., of Washington University also is an author. Cryo-EM data were collected in collaboration with VAI\'s Cryo-EM Core and the David Van Andel Advanced Cryo-Electron Microscopy Suite.</p>','2022-03-30 18:48:24.518857','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Van Andel Research Institute','Plants rely on their ability to sense light for survival. But unlike animals, plants don\'t have eyes full of photoreceptors to capture and convey messages from visual stimuli. Instead, plants are coated with a network of light-sensing photoreceptors that detect different wavelengths of light, allowing them to regulate their lifecycles and adjust to environmental conditions. Now, scientists have determined the molecular structure of one of these vital photoreceptors -- a protein known as PhyB -- revealing a wholly different structure than previously known. The findings may have implications for agricultural and \'green\' bioengineering practices.\n',1,54,'<li>Li, H., Burgie, E.S., Gannam, Z.T.K. et al. <strong>Plant phytochrome B is an asymmetric dimer with unique signalling potential</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04529-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04529-z</a>\n</li>'),(1748,'Researchers discover new model for \'global\' DNA repair','researchers-discover-new-model-for-\'global\'-dna-repair','2022-03-30 18:48:26.190717',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Two studies provide a radically new picture of how bacterial cells continually repair damaged sections (lesions) in their DNA.</p><p>Led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the work revolves around the delicacy of DNA molecules, which are vulnerable to damage by reactive byproducts of cellular metabolism, toxins, and ultraviolet light. Given that damaged DNA can result in detrimental DNA code changes (mutations) and death, cells evolved to have DNA repair machineries. A major unresolved question in the field, however, is how do these machineries rapidly search for and find rare stretches of damage amid the \"vast fields\" of undamaged DNA.</p><p>Past studies had found that one important search mechanism -- transcription-coupled repair or TCR -- relies on RNA polymerase, the large protein machine (complex) that motors down the DNA chain, reading the code of DNA \"letters\" as it transcribes instructions into RNA molecules, which then direct protein building. Going into the current study, however, the TCR mechanism was misunderstood, say the study authors.</p><p>Widely accepted work, including studies that led to a 2015 Noble Prize, had argued that TCR played a relatively small role in repair because it relied on a putative TCR factor that made only a marginal contribution to DNA repair. A parallel process, global genome repair (GGR), was assumed to scan and fix most of DNA independent of transcription. Both processes were thought to set the stage for nucleotide excision repair (NER), in which a damaged stretch of DNA was snipped out and replaced by an accurate copy.</p><p>Now two new studies published online March 30 in the journals <em>Nature</em> and <em>Nature Communications</em> agree, based on the first-of-its kind, multi-stage analysis of DNA repair in living <em>E. coli</em> cells, that most, if not all, NER is coupled to RNA polymerase, which scans the entire bacterial genetic code for damage.</p><p>\"Based on our results, we need to rethink some of the basic theories in the DNA repair field,\" says senior study author Evgeny Nudler, PhD, the Julie Wilson Anderson Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Langone Health. \"A true understanding of such repair is a fundamental goal in medicine, as most antibiotics and chemotherapies kill disease-causing cells by damaging their DNA, and the ability to halt repairs would make such cells much more vulnerable to existing drugs,\" adds Nudler, also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.</p><p><strong>Discovery Pipeline</strong></p><p>Past studies could not fully capture the biological reality of NER in bacteria, say the current authors, because they used experiments that tried to re-create complex protein interactions outside of living cells. That led the field, for instance, to define a protein called Mfd as the central player in TCR, even as most DNA repair was found to proceed whether or not Mfd was present. This, in turn, suggested that TCR was a minor repair pathway. TCR was also thought to happen only within the DNA regions that are highly transcribed. Seldom-transcribed genomic locations, or parts of the genome assumed to be \"non-transcribed,\" were thought to be subject to GGR.</p><p>The study newly published in <em>Nature</em> used a groundbreaking technology called crosslinking mass spectrometry (XLMS) to map the distances between chemically linked proteins, and so determine the interacting surfaces of massive NER and polymerase complexes for the first time as they are assembled in living cells. The team then fed the spectrometry data into computer-driven simulations, culminating in realistic structural models.</p><p>Contrary to the conventional dogma, the study found that RNA polymerase serves as the scaffold for the assembly of the entire NER complex, and as the primary sensor of DNA lesions. It turned out that the principal NER enzymes UvrA and UvrB do not locate most lesions on their own, but are delivered to them by RNA polymerase. This fundamental TCR process is independent of Mfd, say the authors.</p><p>The second study, published in <em>Nature Communications</em>, again in living cells, used a high-throughput sequencing technology called CPD-seq to track the appearance of DNA lesions upon exposure to UV light, and the rate of repair with a resolution down to a single letter (nucleotide) in the DNA code. CPD-seq showed that interfering with bacterial transcription using the antibiotic rifampicin shuts down repair throughout the bacterial genome. The study findings argue that NER is tightly coupled to transcription everywhere in the bacterial chromosome, the DNA infrastructure that houses all the genes.</p><p>In another fascinating leap, experiments showed that bacterial cells, in the face of DNA damage, inhibit the action of the protein Rho, the global termination signal which tells RNA polymerase to stop reading. With the stop signals dialed down, RNA polymerases read on and on, delivering the repair enzymes to DNA damage anywhere it was encountered throughout the genome.</p><p>\"Given our findings, we theorize that eukaryotes, including human cells, also use RNA polymerase for efficient repair globally, as the bacterial TCR complexes described here have human analogs,\" says co-first author of the <em>Nature</em> study Binod Bharati, PhD, a post-doctoral scholar in Nudler\'s lab. \"Moving forward, our team plans to confirm the presence of global TCR in human cells, and if confirmed, to explore whether in the future repair might be safely boosted to counter diseases of aging.\"</p><p>Along with Nudler and Bharati, the authors of the study published in <em>Nature</em> from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Langone Health are co-first study author Manjunath Gowder, Khaled Alzoubi, Vladimir Svetlov, Venu Kamarthapu, Jacob Weaver, Vitaly Epshtein, and Nikita Vasilyev. Also authors were Fangfang Zheng, Liqiang Shen, and Yu Zhang of the Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, China. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant R01 GM126891, National Key Research and Development Program of China grant 2018YFA0903701, Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences grant XDB29020302, Chinese Natural Science Foundation of China grant 31822001, Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Program grant 19JC1415900.</p><p>The first author of the <em>Nature Communications</em> study from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology was Britney Martinez. Also authors of this study were Nudler, Bharati, and Epshtein. The work in this paper was supported by NIH grants F31 GM131516-02 and R01 GM126891.</p><p>Both studies were supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.</p>','2022-03-30 18:48:26.190717','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine','Two studies provide a radically new picture of how bacterial cells continually repair damaged sections (lesions) in their DNA.\n',1,135,'<li>Martinez, B., Bharati, B.K., Epshtein, V. et al. <strong>Pervasive Transcription-coupled DNA repair in E. coli</strong>. <em>Nat Commun</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28871-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28871-y</a>\n</li>'),(1749,'Where we grow up influences our sense of direction','where-we-grow-up-influences-our-sense-of-direction','2022-03-30 18:48:31.440568',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The streets, alleys, paths and parks of our childhood leave a strong mark on us, with heretofore unsuspected benefits. A research team led by scientists from the Laboratoire d\'Informatique en Image et Systèmes d\'Information (LIRIS, CNRS/INSA Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) and the Institute of Behavioural Neurosciences at University College London has found that where people grow up influences their sense of direction in adulthood. From a diverse set of origins, from rural to cities of varying complexity, they had uneven skills in terms of orienting themselves.</p><p>First, the scientists have found that, on average, people who grew up in the countryside have a better sense of direction than people who grew up in cities. This extent of this difference varies from country to country: very strong in Canada, the United States, Argentina and Saudi Arabia, much less so in Austria, France, India and Vietnam.</p><p>The research team then looked at the maps of the major cities in these countries to categorize them according to layout complexity. While cities like Chicago are arranged in grids, with most branch lines at a right angle, cities like Paris form a more heterogeneous network, with nearly every angle present. Thus, according to their results, growing up in a city with a complex topography confers a better sense of direction.</p><p>The research also shows that people generally orient themselves better when confronted with topographies close to those travelled during childhood: they are better at navigating great distances if they come from rural areas, and better on a grid plan if they grew up in a city \"with right angles.\"</p><p>These results were achieved with Sea Hero Quest, a video game developed to study Alzheimer\'s disease. After having memorized the game map, players are set objectives at several levels. It can be difficult to recruit participants to an experiment, and even more so to reproduce an experiment under identical conditions, and video gaming is a way to address these problems. For this study, from Sea Hero Quest we compared the sense of direction of nearly 400,000 people in 38 countries around the world.</p>','2022-03-30 18:48:31.440568','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'CNRS','New researcher has demonstrated that people\'s spatial navigation ability is influenced by their geographical origin. Growing up in rural or urban areas, or in cities of varying complexity, influences our sense of direction in adulthood. These results were obtained using data collected from the video game Sea Hero Quest.\n',1,27,'<li>Coutrot, A, Manley, E., Goodroe, S., Gahnstrom, C., Filomena, G., Yesiltepe, D., Dalton, R.C., Wiener, J. M., Hölscher, C., Hornberger, M. and Spiers, H. J. <strong>Entropy of city street networks linked to future spatial navigation ability</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04486-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04486-7</a>\n</li>'),(1750,'Oxytocin treatment can take lions from ferocious to friendly','oxytocin-treatment-can-take-lions-from-ferocious-to-friendly','2022-03-30 18:48:39.143161',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Lions typically aren\'t keen on making new friends. The giant cats guard their territory fiercely and can mortally wound a foe with a single swipe. While aggression is an advantage for apex predators in the wild, it poses real challenges for lions on reserves or in captivity, a number that is growing due to habitat loss. Researchers working on a wildlife reserve in Dinokeng, South Africa found that an intranasal application of the \"love hormone\" oxytocin could make lion meet-cutes less life-threatening. Their work appears March 30 in the journal <em>iScience</em>.</p><p>In the summers of 2018 and 2019, a team led by animal biologist Craig Packer and neuroscientist Sarah Heilbronner from the University of Minnesota spent their days using hunks of raw meat to lure lions up to a fence so they could spray oxytocin up their noses with a tool that looks like an antique perfume bottle.</p><p>\"By spraying the oxytocin directly up the nose, we know it can travel up the trigeminal nerve and the olfactory nerve straight up into the brain.\" says first author Jessica Burkhart. \"Otherwise the blood-brain barrier could filter it out.\"</p><p>After these treatments, Burkhart and her colleagues observed that the 23 lions who were given oxytocin were more tolerant of other lions in their space and displayed less vigilance towards intruders. \"You can see their features soften immediately, they go from wrinkled and aggressive to this totally calm demeanor,\" says Burkhart. \"They totally chill out. It\'s amazing.\"</p><p>Researchers measure social tolerance by seeing how close a lion who has possession of a desired object, in this case a toy, will let others approach it. \"After the lions were treated with oxytocin, and we gave them their favorite pumpkin toy to play with, we saw the average distance between them drop from about 7 meters with no treatment to about 3.5 meters after oxytocin was administered.\"</p><p>In a scenario where food was present, however, the big cats did not show an increased tolerance to each other, even after the hormone was given. Importantly for future introductions, the hormone-treated lions significantly decreased their vigilance toward potential intruders, never roaring in response to recorded roars of unfamiliar lions, whereas untreated lions always roared in response.</p><p>This kind of treatment may become particularly helpful as cities in Africa sprawl and encroach upon lions\' territory. In order to keep them safe and away from humans, many have been transported to private fenced reserves, which often results in lions from different prides being mixed in with one another. \"Currently we\'re working on introductions of animals who have been rescued from circuses or overseas or war zones that now live in sanctuaries,\" says Burkhart. \"The hope is that this will translate to animals being relocated in the wild, helping them to become more inclined to their new social environment so they\'re more curious and less fearful, leading to more successful bonding.\"</p>','2022-03-30 18:48:39.143161','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cell Press','Lions typically aren\'t keen on making new friends. The giant cats guard their territory fiercely and can mortally wound a foe with a single swipe. While aggression is an advantage for apex predators in the wild, it poses real challenges for lions on reserves or in captivity, a number that is growing due to habitat loss. Researchers working on a wildlife reserve in Dinokeng, South Africa found that an intranasal application of the \'love hormone\' oxytocin could make lion meet-cutes less life-threatening.\n',1,27,'<li>Burkhart et al. <strong>Oxytocin promotes social proximity and decreases vigilance in groups of African lions</strong>. <em>iScience</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104049\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.isci.2022.104049</a>\n</li>'),(1751,'Study shows that RNA can be targeted by small molecule drugs, creating new possibilities for disease treatment','study-shows-that-rna-can-be-targeted-by-small-molecule-drugs,-creating-new-possibilities-for-disease-treatment','2022-03-30 19:47:40.962471',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">RNA (ribonucleic acid) plays many roles in human health, and now a study in the journal <em>Nature</em> offers powerful evidence that RNA could also be a viable target for drug development. This work, led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), suggests that a new class of biological factors numbering in the thousands can be targeted and thereby heralds a new era in drug development.</p><p>Nearly all drugs currently available target one of approximately 700 disease-related proteins among the roughly 20,000 human proteins identified by the Human Genome Project. However, in recent years there has been growing interest in expanding the list of \"druggable\" targets to include RNA. In cells, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) carries the genetic code for forming proteins. A segment of DNA is copied, or transcribed, into a \"coding\" RNA, which is in turn translated into protein. However, the vast majority of RNA in the human genome -- 98 percent -- is \"noncoding.\"</p><p>\"These noncoding RNAs play very important roles in the genome, and we now understand that mutations in this noncoding space can result in disease,\" says the senior author of the <em>Nature</em> paper, Jeannie Lee, MD, PhD, of the Department of Molecular Biology at MGH. \"And there may be far more of these RNA genes than there are protein-coding genes. If we could target these RNAs, we would hugely increase the universe in which we can find drugs to treat patients.\"</p><p>However, the pharmaceutical industry has historically been hesitant to pursue RNA as a drug target. Proteins tend to have stable shapes, or conformations, which make them optimal targets: Drugs bind to proteins like a key in a lock. By contrast, explains Lee, RNA tends to be highly flexible, or \"floppy,\" and capable of assuming multiple conformations. \"If a lock is constantly changing shape, your key is not going to work,\" says Lee. Noncoding RNA\'s unstable nature has made companies reluctant to invest in trying to develop medications that target it. However, it\'s known that some regions on RNA retain stable conformations, despite all of that shape-shifting, but finding such regions has been a challenge.</p><p>Lee directs a molecular biology lab at MGH, where she and her team study RNA and its role in a biological process called X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), which deactivates one copy of the X chromosome in female mammals and is necessary for normal development. In a study led by postdoctoral fellow Rodrigo Aguilar, PhD, Lee\'s group collaborated with colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories to find out if RNA could be a viable drug target. The focus of the study was a form of noncoding RNA called Xist, which silences genes on the X chromosome. Finding a way to interfere with this process and reactivate a dormant X chromosome could help guide development of treatments for genetic disorders caused by mutations on the X chromosome (known as X-linked disorders), such as Rett syndrome and Fragile X syndrome.</p><p>Together with Merck scientists Kerrie Spencer and Elliott Nickbarg, the MGH team screened Xist against a library of 50,000 small molecule compounds and found several that bind to a region called Repeat A (RepA) on Xist. One compound, which Lee\'s team named X1, had particularly interesting qualities: It prevented several key proteins, PRC2 and SPEN, from binding to RepA, which is necessary for Xist to silence the X chromosome. \"As a result, X inactivation cannot take place,\" says Lee. To understand why, the team collaborated with structural biologists led by Trushar Patel of the University of Lethbridge in Canada. Normally, Xist\'s RepA can assume 16 different conformations, but X1 caused it to adopt a more uniform shape. This structural change prevented RepA from binding with PRC2 and SPEN.</p><p>The approach employed in this study could be used to identify other RNA-targeting drugs. \"This really opens up a large universe for new drug development,\" says Lee. \"Now we don\'t just have 700 proteins to target using small molecules. In the future, we may have tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of RNAs to target to cure disease.\"</p><p>Lee is also a professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Aguilar is now an assistant professor and researcher at Andres Bello University in Santiago, Chile.</p><p>Funding for this work came from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Pew Charitable Trust Latin American Fellows Program, and the MGH Fund for Medical Discovery.</p>','2022-03-30 19:47:40.962471','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts General Hospital','Until now, proteins have been the target of most medications for the prevention and treatment of human disease. Drug developers have perceived RNA to be too unstable to target with drug therapy. However, a screen of 50,000 compounds has revealed drug-like activity against an RNA prototype called Xist, a result that opens the door for development of new medications.\n',1,123,'<li>Rodrigo Aguilar, Kerrie B. Spencer, Barry Kesner, Noreen F. Rizvi, Maulik D. Badmalia, Tyler Mrozowich, Jonathan D. Mortison, Carlos Rivera, Graham F. Smith, Julja Burchard, Peter J. Dandliker, Trushar R. Patel, Elliott B. Nickbarg, Jeannie T. Lee. <strong>Targeting Xist with compounds that disrupt RNA structure and X inactivation</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04537-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04537-z</a>\n</li>'),(1752,'When worlds collide: Studying impact craters to uncover the secrets of the solar system','when-worlds-collide:-studying-impact-craters-to-uncover-the-secrets-of-the-solar-system','2022-03-30 19:48:54.728371',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While for humans the constants might be death and taxes, for planets the constants are gravity and collisions.</p><p>Brandon Johnson studies the latter, using information about impacts to understand the history and the composition of planets, moons, asteroids and meteorites throughout the solar system.</p><p>\"Impact cratering is the most ubiquitous surface process shaping planetary bodies,\" Johnson said. \"Craters are found on almost every solid body we\'ve ever seen. They are a major driver of change in planetary bodies. They drive the evolution of planetary crusts. All the planets and asteroids were built from a series of impacts. Studying impacts can help us determine the composition and structure of planets.\"</p><p>As an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in Purdue University\'s College of Science, Johnson has studied almost every major planetary body in the solar system. And the time scale of his research ranges from relatively recent impacts to nearly the beginning of the solar system itself.</p><p>Collecting clues about collisions helps Johnson reconstruct the environment in which the collisions took place, offering deep insights into how and when bodies formed. His research is helping humans explore the planetary bodies in the solar system with only physics, math and a computer. Space missions and laboratory analyses provide a constant supply of new data and questions to work on.</p><p>\"Most meteorites contain chondrules -- small, previously molten, particles,\" Johnson said. \"Essentially, by studying the formation of chondrules by impacts, we can better understand what was going on in the nascent solar system. For example, based on one impact, we were able to determine that Jupiter had already formed right around 5 million years after the first solar system solids, changing the timeline of our understanding of the solar system.\"</p><p>Johnson and his lab staff incorporate known factors about the composition and physics of planetary bodies into complex computer models, running the models through a range of conditions and comparing the results with observed phenomena. Analyzing movements and collisions can offer insights into the composition of asteroids and meteorites, helping scientists understand how elements like water and metal are distributed through a solar system. By studying impact craters and basins on places like Pluto, Venus and icy moons, and the mechanics of other processes occurring on Europa and asteroids like Psyche, his team can understand more about their interiors; whether they have molten cores and plate tectonics, for example, or whether they have liquid oceans.</p><p>His work doesn\'t just span the solar system. He studies impacts closer to home, too, including on Earth\'s own moon and terrestrial impacts that may have affected the way Earth\'s crust, atmosphere and biosphere evolved.</p><p>An online impact calculator tool developed by the late Jay Melosh, Johnson\'s mentor and former Distinguished Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, allows anyone to study the impacts of various rocks into the Earth. Johnson and his team are rebuilding the tool for a new generation of planetary students.</p>','2022-03-30 19:48:54.728371','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Purdue University','While for humans the constants might be death and taxes, for planets the constants are gravity and collisions. Astronomers are using information about impacts to understand the history and the composition of planets, moons, asteroids and meteorites throughout the solar system.\n',1,27,'<li>J.R. Elliott, H.J. Melosh, B.C. Johnson. <strong>The role of target strength on the ejection of martian meteorites</strong>. <em>Icarus</em>, 2022; 375: 114869 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114869\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114869</a>\n</li>'),(1753,'Hands, feet, and fins: The connection that explains acral melanoma','hands,-feet,-and-fins:-the-connection-that-explains-acral-melanoma','2022-03-30 19:49:03.212531',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">To understand cancer in humans, researchers at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) are turning to our distant relatives from 425 million years ago: fish.</p><p>A lot has evolved since then: Fish use their fins to swim, whereas we use our hands to play Wordle.</p><p>But there remains a deep similarity, explains Richard White, a physician-scientist in the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at SKI. \"The genes that determine how humans develop fingers are similar to the ones that determine how fish get fins,\" Dr. White says. \"This gene program has been deeply conserved throughout evolution.\"</p><p>Dr. White and his team are using this evolutionary relationship to solve a long-standing mystery about human melanoma: Why do some cases of the deadly skin cancer form only on the hands or feet -- and nowhere else?</p><p>Called acral melanoma, this type of skin cancer can be particularly aggressive. It killed reggae singer Bob Marley.</p><p>Until now, scientists have not fully understood what distinguishes acral melanoma from the more common cutaneous variety, which typically strikes the face, trunk, or back.</p><p>According to Dr. White, research from his lab shows that it is a certain program of these genes, called positional identity, that determines why the cancers arise in those locations.</p><p>The findings, which were reported March 30, 2022, in the journal <em>Nature</em>, have broad implications for how scientists understand cancer development, and even how individual patients with this form of melanoma should be treated.</p><p><strong>In a Single Patient, a Microcosm of Evolution</strong></p><p>The team\'s journey to discovery began with one patient -- a woman with acral melanoma who was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) more than a decade ago. When doctors analyzed the genetics of her tumor, they learned she had a DNA alteration in a gene called <em>CRKL</em> (pronounced \"crackle\"). This was an unusual finding. Melanomas in other parts of the body usually have DNA alterations in a different gene, <em>BRAF</em>.</p><p>An MD-PhD student in the White Lab, Joshua Weiss, was curious about why melanoma tumors in one part of the body tended to have <em>BRAF</em> alterations, but the acral tumors in the hands and feet had <em>CRKL</em> alterations. For the answer, he turned to zebrafish, used by the White Lab to study melanoma because the fish are transparent and their genes are easily manipulated.</p><p>Weiss engineered zebrafish to contain either extra <em>CRKL</em> genes or a mutant <em>BRAF</em> gene. After several months, he noticed something intriguing: Most of the fish with the <em>CRKL</em> genes developed tumors on their fins, rather than on their bodies. Remarkably, the <em>CRKL</em> genes behaved the same way in the fish as they did in their patient.</p><p>That\'s when the team started focusing on the evolutionary relationship between fish fins and human hands and feet.</p><p><strong>From Fins to Feet (and Paws and Claws)</strong></p><p>Humans and other four-limbed animals are known as tetrapods. Tetrapod limbs evolved from fish fins about 425 million years ago -- when water-dwelling creatures were taking their first tentative steps onto land.</p><p>Recent research has shown that the genes for making tetrapod limbs are the same as those that build fish fins. \"This shared evolutionary history helps explain how you can take a human cancer gene, put it in a fish, and have it cause cancer in the same place as the human,\" Weiss says.</p><p>Why is <em>CRKL</em> more likely to cause cancer in fins and limbs over other parts of the body? Dr. White\'s team hypothesized that perhaps the CRKL protein synergizes with the genes for positional identity in these areas. To find out, they looked at which genes were turned on in this tissue compared with body tissue. They found a striking difference: One set of <em>HOX</em> genes were active in fins, while another set were active in the body.</p><p><em>HOX</em> genes are well-known for influencing the development of an organism\'s body plan across a wide range of species, from fish to fruit flies to humans. They help determine that a fish\'s fins form on the body rather than on the head, for example.</p><p>Could <em>CRKL</em> be causing cancer in limbs because it synergizes with the <em>HOX</em> genes specifying limb positional identity? It seemed a strong possibility. To find out, they did further experiments in which they used the genome-editing tool CRISPR to interrupt this limb positional identity program. This intervention prevented the development of acral melanoma, even in fish with an amplified <em>CRKL</em> gene.</p><p><strong>Location, Location, Location</strong></p><p>This latest research adds to growing awareness among scientists of why DNA mutations by themselves don\'t always lead to cancer. In previous research published earlier this year, Dr. White and colleagues at SKI showed that the ability of a <em>BRAF</em> mutation in a cell to cause melanoma depended on the developmental state of that cell.</p><p>This new work now pushes forward the idea of oncogenic competence in an entirely new direction: the effect that location plays in influencing whether a particular mutation will lead to cancer or not.</p><p>\"Not only can a DNA mutation behave differently depending on the type of cell it finds itself in, but different parts of the body are susceptible to different mutations because of their hardwired positional identity,\" Dr. White says.</p><p>He adds that there are \"almost immediate therapeutic implications\" of the findings.</p><p><strong>Opening Doors for New Treatments</strong></p><p>The typical way of treating cancer is to target a mutated gene with a drug, for example, when a person with a <em>BRAF</em> mutation is prescribed the targeted drug vemurafenib.</p><p>But if oncogenic competence -- the ability of genes to cause cancer -- is also dependent upon position, then it stands to reason that blocking those positional cues in those cells could blunt cancer development.</p><p>\"It leads to the interesting idea that instead of only treating the oncogene, what you\'re really treating is the position,\" he says. \"We can potentially treat patients who have these tumors based on their anatomic location.\"</p><p>The lab is currently in the process of screening for drugs that can block these positional cues. The plan is to have them available for their original patient with acral melanoma should she experience a recurrence.</p><p>This research into the role of location in cancer development is an example of the sort of work that MSK\'s new Kravis Cancer Ecosystems Project will support in the coming years.</p>','2022-03-30 19:49:03.212531','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center','Scientists are using zebrafish to understand human skin cancer that attacks the hands and feet.\n',1,90,'<li>Weiss, J.M., Hunter, M.V., Cruz, N.M. et al. <strong>Anatomic position determines oncogenic specificity in melanoma</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04584-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04584-6</a>\n</li>'),(1754,'Engineering researchers develop porous nanoparticles for regenerative medicine','engineering-researchers-develop-porous-nanoparticles-for-regenerative-medicine','2022-03-30 19:49:13.217161',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Stem cells can develop into many different types of cells in the body. For instance, when a person is injured, stem cells come to the site of the injury and aid in healing damaged tissues. New nanotechnology developed by a team of researchers from Texas A&amp;M University could leverage the body\'s regenerative potential by directing stem cells to form bone tissue.</p><p>Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, associate professor and Presidential Impact Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, leads the team. The researchers have developed water-stable, 2D covalent organic framework (COF) nanoparticles that can direct the differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells into bone cells.</p><p>Significant research attention has been given to 2D COFs -- porous organic polymers -- due to their crystallinity, ordered and tunable porous structure, and high specific surface area. However, the difficulty of processing COFs into nanosized materials -- along with their poor stability -- has limited their application in regenerative medicine and drug delivery. There is a need for new approaches that provide these COFs with sufficient physiological stability while maintaining their biocompatibility.</p><p>Gaharwar\'s team has enhanced the hydrolytic (water) stability of COFs by integrating them with amphiphilic polymers, which are macromolecules that contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components. This approach, which has not been reported previously, gives water dispersibility to COFs, enabling biomedical application of these nanoparticles.</p><p>\"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the ability of COFs to direct stem cells toward bone tissue,\" Gaharwar said. \"This new technology has the potential to impact the treatment of bone regeneration.\"</p><p>The researchers found that 2D COFs do not affect a cell\'s viability and proliferation, even at higher concentrations. They observed that these 2D COFs exhibit bioactivity and direct stem cells towards bone cells. The preliminary study indicated that the shape and size of these nanoparticles can impart this bioactivity, and additional in-depth studies need to be carried out for mechanistic insights.</p><p>These nanoparticles are highly porous, and Gaharwar\'s team has leveraged this unique characteristic for drug delivery. They were able to load an osteo-inducing drug called dexamethasone into the porous structure of the COF to further enhance bone formation.</p><p>\"These nanoparticles could prolong delivery of drugs to human mesenchymal stem cells, which are commonly used in bone regeneration,\" said Sukanya Bhunia, senior author of the study and postdoc associate in the biomedical engineering department. \"The sustained delivery of the drug resulted in enhanced stem cell differentiation toward bone lineage, and this technique can be used for bone regeneration.\"</p><p>Gaharwar noted that, having provided a proof-of-concept, the team\'s next step in its research will be to evaluate this nanotechnology in a diseased model.</p><p>These findings are important for the future design of biomaterials that can give directions for tissue regeneration and drug delivery applications.</p><p>The results were published in <em>Advanced Healthcare Materials</em> journal. Other research contributors are Manish Jaiswal, Kanwar Abhay Singh and Kaivalya Deo from the biomedical engineering department at Texas A&amp;M. The research was supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health.</p>','2022-03-30 19:49:13.217161','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Texas A&M University','Stem cells can develop into many different types of cells in the body. For instance, when a person is injured, stem cells come to the site of the injury and aid in healing damaged tissues. New nanotechnology could leverage the body\'s regenerative potential by directing stem cells to form bone tissue.\n',1,29,'<li>Sukanya Bhunia, Manish K. Jaiswal, Kanwar Abhay Singh, Kaivalya A. Deo, Akhilesh K. Gaharwar. <strong>2D Covalent Organic Framework Direct Osteogenic Differentiation of Stem Cells</strong>. <em>Advanced Healthcare Materials</em>, 2022; 2101737 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202101737\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/adhm.202101737</a>\n</li>'),(1755,'Deserts \'breathe\' water vapor, study shows','deserts-\'breathe\'-water-vapor,-study-shows','2022-03-30 19:49:14.467133',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Deserts may seem lifeless and inert, but they are very much alive. Sand dunes, in particular, grow and move -- and according to a decades long research project, they also breathe humid air.</p><p>The findings show for the first time how water vapor penetrates powders and grains, and could have wide-ranging applications far beyond the desert -- in pharmaceutical research, agriculture and food processing, as well as planetary exploration.</p><p>The team\'s paper published in the <em>Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface</em>.</p><p>Wanting to measure matter with greater sensitivity, lead author Michel Louge, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University, developed a new form of instrumentation called capacitance probes, which use multiple sensors to record everything from solid concentration to velocity to water content, all with unprecedented spatial resolution.</p><p>In the early 2000s, Louge began collaborating with Ahmed Ould el-Moctar from University of Nantes, France, to use the probes to study the moisture content in sand dunes to better understand the process by which agricultural lands turn to desert -- an interest that has only become more urgent with the rise of global climate change.</p><p>The probe eventually revealed just how porous sand is, with a tiny amount of air seeping through it. Previous research hinted this type of seepage existed in sand dunes, but no one had been able to prove it until now.</p><p>\"The wind flows over the dune and as a result creates imbalances in the local pressure, which literally forces air to go into the sand and out of the sand. So, the sand is breathing, like an organism breathes,\" Louge said.</p><p>That \"breathing\" is what allows microbes to persist deep inside hyper-arid sand dunes, despite the high temperature. For much of the last decade, Louge has been collaborating with Anthony Hay, associate professor of microbiology at Cornell, to study how microbes can help stabilize the dunes and prevent them from encroaching into roads and infrastructure.</p><p>Louge and his team also determined that desert surfaces exchange less moisture with the atmosphere than expected, and that water evaporation from individual sand grains behaves like a slow chemical reaction.</p><p>The bulk of their data was gathered in 2011, but it still took Louge and his collaborators another decade to make sense of some of the findings, such as identifying disturbances at the surface level that force evanescent, or nonlinear, waves of humidity to propagate downward through the dunes very quickly.</p><p>The researchers anticipate their probe will have a number of applications -- from studying the way soils imbibe or drain water in agriculture, to calibrating satellite observations over deserts, to exploring extraterrestrial environments that may hold trace amounts of water. That wouldn\'t be the first time Louge\'s research made its way into space.</p><p>But perhaps the most immediate application is the detection of moisture contamination in pharmaceuticals. Since 2018, Louge has been collaborating with Merck to use the probes in continuous manufacturing, which is viewed as a faster, more efficient and less expensive system than batch manufacturing.</p><p>The research was supported by the Qatar Foundation.</p>','2022-03-30 19:49:14.467133','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cornell University','Deserts may seem lifeless and inert, but they are very much alive. Sand dunes, in particular, grow and move -- and according to a decades long research project, they also \'breathe\' humid air.\n',1,27,'<li>M. Y. Louge, A. Valance, J. Xu, A. Ould el‐Moctar, P. Chasle. <strong>Water vapor transport across an arid sand surface ‐ non‐linear thermal coupling, wind‐driven pore advection, subsurface waves, and exchange with the atmospheric boundary layer</strong>. <em>Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006490\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1029/2021JF006490</a>\n</li>'),(1756,'Record broken: Hubble spots farthest star ever seen','record-broken:-hubble-spots-farthest-star-ever-seen','2022-03-30 20:21:28.413613',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">NASA\'s Hubble Space Telescope has established an extraordinary new benchmark: detecting the light of a star that existed within the first billion years after the universe\'s birth in the big bang -- the farthest individual star ever seen to date.</p><p>The find is a huge leap further back in time from the previous single-star record holder; detected by Hubble in 2018. That star existed when the universe was about 4 billion years old, or 30 percent of its current age, at a time that astronomers refer to as \"redshift 1.5.\" Scientists use the word \"redshift\" because as the universe expands, light from distant objects is stretched or \"shifted\" to longer, redder wavelengths as it travels toward us.</p><p>The newly detected star is so far away that its light has taken 12.9 billion years to reach Earth, appearing to us as it did when the universe was only 7 percent of its current age, at redshift 6.2. The smallest objects previously seen at such a great distance are clusters of stars, embedded inside early galaxies.</p><p>\"We almost didn\'t believe it at first, it was so much farther than the previous most-distant, highest redshift star,\" said astronomer Brian Welch of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, lead author of the paper describing the discovery, which is published in the March 30 journal <em>Nature</em>. The discovery was made from data collected during Hubble\'s RELICS (Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey) program, led by co-author Dan Coe at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), also in Baltimore.</p><p>\"Normally at these distances, entire galaxies look like small smudges, with the light from millions of stars blending together,\" said Welch. \"The galaxy hosting this star has been magnified and distorted by gravitational lensing into a long crescent that we named the Sunrise Arc.\"</p><p>After studying the galaxy in detail, Welch determined that one feature is an extremely magnified star that he called Earendel, which means \"morning star\" in Old English. The discovery holds promise for opening up an uncharted era of very early star formation.</p><p>\"Earendel existed so long ago that it may not have had all the same raw materials as the stars around us today,\" Welch explained. \"Studying Earendel will be a window into an era of the universe that we are unfamiliar with, but that led to everything we do know. It\'s like we\'ve been reading a really interesting book, but we started with the second chapter, and now we will have a chance to see how it all got started,\" Welch said.</p><p><strong>When Stars Align</strong></p><p>The research team estimates that Earendel is at least 50 times the mass of our Sun and millions of times as bright, rivaling the most massive stars known. But even such a brilliant, very high-mass star would be impossible to see at such a great distance without the aid of natural magnification by a huge galaxy cluster, WHL0137-08, sitting between us and Earendel. The mass of the galaxy cluster warps the fabric of space, creating a powerful natural magnifying glass that distorts and greatly amplifies the light from distant objects behind it.</p><p>Thanks to the rare alignment with the magnifying galaxy cluster, the star Earendel appears directly on, or extremely close to, a ripple in the fabric of space. This ripple, which is defined in optics as a \"caustic,\" provides maximum magnification and brightening. The effect is analogous to the rippled surface of a swimming pool creating patterns of bright light on the bottom of the pool on a sunny day. The ripples on the surface act as lenses and focus sunlight to maximum brightness on the pool floor.</p><p>This caustic causes the star Earendel to pop out from the general glow of its home galaxy. Its brightness is magnified a thousandfold or more. At this point, astronomers are not able to determine if Earendel is a binary star, though most massive stars have at least one smaller companion star.</p><p><strong>Confirmation with Webb</strong></p><p>Astronomers expect that Earendel will remain highly magnified for years to come. It will be observed by NASA\'s James Webb Space Telescope. Webb\'s high sensitivity to infrared light is needed to learn more about Earendel, because its light is stretched (redshifted) to longer infrared wavelengths due to the universe\'s expansion.</p><p>\"With Webb we expect to confirm Earendel is indeed a star, as well as measure its brightness and temperature,\" Coe said. These details will narrow down its type and stage in the stellar lifecycle. \"We also expect to find the Sunrise Arc galaxy is lacking in heavy elements that form in subsequent generations of stars. This would suggest Earendel is a rare, massive metal-poor star,\" Coe said.</p><p>Earendel\'s composition will be of great interest for astronomers, because it formed before the universe was filled with the heavy elements produced by successive generations of massive stars. If follow-up studies find that Earendel is only made up of primordial hydrogen and helium, it would be the first evidence for the legendary Population III stars, which are hypothesized to be the very first stars born after the big bang. While the probability is small, Welch admits it is enticing all the same.</p><p>\"With Webb, we may see stars even farther than Earendel, which would be incredibly exciting,\" Welch said. \"We\'ll go as far back as we can. I would love to see Webb break Earendel\'s distance record.\"</p><p>The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA\'s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-30 20:21:28.413613','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center','NASA\'s Hubble Space Telescope has established an extraordinary new benchmark: detecting the light of a star that existed within the first billion years after the universe\'s birth in the big bang -- the farthest individual star ever seen to date.\n',1,192,'<li>Brian Welch, Dan Coe, Jose M. Diego, Adi Zitrin, Erik Zackrisson, Paola Dimauro, Yolanda Jiménez-Teja, Patrick Kelly, Guillaume Mahler, Masamune Oguri, F. X. Timmes, Rogier Windhorst, Michael Florian, S. E. de Mink, Roberto J. Avila, Jay Anderson, Larry Bradley, Keren Sharon, Anton Vikaeus, Stephan McCandliss, Maruša Bradač, Jane Rigby, Brenda Frye, Sune Toft, Victoria Strait, Michele Trenti, Soniya Sharma, Felipe Andrade-Santos, Tom Broadhurst. <strong>A highly magnified star at redshift 6.2</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; 603: 815-818 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y</a>\n</li>'),(1757,'Audio files are being used as \'digital drugs\', survey  suggests','audio-files-are-being-used-as-\'digital-drugs\',-survey--suggests','2022-03-30 20:40:20.789720',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A binaural beat is an illusionary tone created by the brain when presenting two tones separately to each ear that slightly differ in their frequency.</p><p>It\'s claimed binaural beats can have a psychoactive effect on the brain, although there\'s limited research on their efficacy and safety.</p><p>Now a new study published in <em>Drug and Alcohol Review</em> has captured how and why people use the tones.</p><p>Data comes from the <em>Global Drug Survey 2021</em>, which drew on responses from more than 30,000 people in 22 countries.</p><p>Respondents mainly used binaural beats to relax or fall asleep (72%) and to change their mood (35%), while 12% reported trying to get a similar effect to that of psychedelic drugs.</p><p>The study\'s lead author, Dr Monica Barratt of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said the latter motivation was more commonly reported among those who used classic psychedelics.</p><p>\"Much like ingestible substances, some binaural beats users were chasing a high,\" she said.</p><p>\"But that\'s far from their only use. Many people saw them as a source of help, such as for sleep therapy or pain relief.\"</p><p>The audio tracks are often named for their intended use -- everything from mindfulness and meditation to tracks named after ingestible drugs like MDMA and cannabis.</p><p>The survey revealed binaural beat users were more likely to be younger and to report recent use of all prohibited drugs, compared to rest of the sample.</p><p>Most respondents sought to connect with themselves or something bigger than themselves through the experience.</p><p>The use of binaural beats to experience altered states was reported by 5% of the total sample.</p><p>In the United States 16% of respondents said they\'d tried it, while in Mexico and Brazil countries reported use was also above average at 14% and 11.5% respectively.</p><p>Video streaming sites like YouTube and Vimeo were the most popular way to listen, followed by Spotify and other streaming apps.</p><p>Barratt said the illusionary tones had been accessible for more than a decade, but their popularity had only recently begun to grow.</p><p>\"It\'s very new, we just don\'t know much about the use of binaural beats as digital drugs,\" she said.</p><p>\"This survey shows this is going on in multiple countries.</p><p>\"We had anecdotal information, but this was the first time we formally asked people how, why and when they\'re using them.\"</p><p>Barratt said the binaural beats phenomenon challenges the overall definition of a drug.</p><p>\"We\'re starting to see digital experiences defined as drugs, but they could also be seen as complementary practices alongside drug use,\" she said.</p><p>\"Maybe a drug doesn\'t have to be a substance you consume, it could be to do with how an activity affects your brain.\"</p><p>Despite binaural beat listeners being younger, Barratt said they\'re not necessarily a gateway to the use of ingestible drugs.</p><p>\"In the survey, we found most people who listen were already using ingestible substances,\" she said.</p><p>\"But that doesn\'t discount the need for more research, particularly to document and negate possible harms.\"</p><p>On the flipside, Barratt said perhaps binaural beats could be used as a therapy method, alongside traditional treatment.</p><p>\"Evidence is mounting but it\'s still unclear, which is why more research is needed into any possible side effects,\" she said.</p><p>Although the Global Drug Survey is a non-representative sample, the self-reported use of binaural beats as digital drugs by respondents sets the course for more targeted research.</p><p>\'Who uses digital drugs? An international survey of \'binaural beat\' consumers\', with co-authors Monica Barratt, Alexia Maddox, Naomi Smith, Jenny Davis, Lachlan Goold, Adam Winstock and Jason Ferris is published in <em>Drug and Alcohol Review</em>.</p>','2022-03-30 20:40:20.789720','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'RMIT University','A new study sheds light on the little-known phenomenon of binaural beats, where sounds purportedly evoke psychoactive effects.\n',1,27,'<li>Monica J. Barratt, Alexia Maddox, Naomi Smith, Jenny L. Davis, Lachlan Goold, Adam R. Winstock, Jason A. Ferris. <strong>Who uses digital drugs? An international survey of ‘binaural beat’ consumers</strong>. <em>Drug and Alcohol Review</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dar.13464\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/dar.13464</a>\n</li>'),(1758,'SARS-CoV-2 spike protein more stable, slower changing than earlier version','sars-cov-2-spike-protein-more-stable,-slower-changing-than-earlier-version','2022-03-30 21:48:18.601677',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New computational simulations of the behavior of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins prior to fusion with human cell receptors show that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is more stable and slower changing than the earlier version that caused the SARS epidemic in 2003.</p><p>Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) have striking similarities, and researchers do not fully understand why the latter has been more infectious.</p><p>The spike proteins of each, which bind to host cell angiotensin converting enzyme 2, otherwise known as the human cell receptor, have been targeted as the potential source of the different transmissibility. Understanding the mechanistic details of the spike proteins prior to binding could lead to the development of better vaccines and medications.</p><p>The new finding does not necessarily mean that SARS-CoV-2 is more likely to bind to cell receptors, but it does mean that its spike protein has a better chance of effective binding.</p><p>\"Once it finds the cell receptor and binds to it, the SARS-CoV-2 spike is more likely to stay bound until the rest of the necessary steps are completed for full attachment to the cell and initiation of cell entry,\" said Mahmoud Moradi, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.</p><p>To determine differences in conformational behavior between the two versions of the virus, Moradi\'s research team performed an extensive set of equilibrium and nonequilibrium simulations of the molecular dynamics of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, leading up to binding with cell angiotensin converting enzyme 2. The 3D simulations were done on a microsecond-level, using computational resources provided by the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium.</p><p>Equilibrium simulations allow the models to evolve spontaneously on their own time, while nonequilibrium simulations use external manipulation to induce the desired changes in a system. The former is less biased, but the latter is faster and allows for many more simulations to run. Both methodological approaches provided a consistent picture, independently demonstrating the same conclusion that the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins were more stable.</p><p>The models revealed other important findings, namely that the energy barrier associated with activation of SARS-CoV-2 was higher, meaning the binding process happened slowly. Slow activation allows the spike protein to evade human immune response more efficiently, because remaining in an inactive state longer means the virus cannot be attacked by antibodies that target the receptor binding domain.</p><p>Researchers understand the importance of the so-called receptor-binding domain, or RBD, which is the critical part of a virus that allows it to dock to human cell receptors and thus gain entry into cells and cause infection. Models produced by Moradi\'s team confirm the importance of the receptor-binding domain but also suggest that other domains, such as the N-terminal domain, could play a crucial role in the different binding behavior of SARS-CoV-1 and -2 spike proteins.</p><p>N-terminal domain of a protein is a domain located at the N-terminus or simply the start of the polypeptide chain, as opposed to the C-terminus, which is the end of the chain. Though it is near the receptor-binding domain and is known to be targeted by some antibodies, function of the N-terminal domain in SARS-CoV-1 and -2 spike proteins is not completely understood. Moradi\'s team is the first to find evidence for potential interaction of the N-terminal domain and the receptor binding domain.</p><p>\"Our study sheds light on the conformational dynamics of the SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins,\" Moradi said. \"Differences in the dynamic behavior of these spike proteins almost certainly contribute to differences in transmissibility and infectivity.\"</p><p>The researchers\' study, \"Prefusion Spike Protein Conformational Changes Are Slower in SARS-CoV-2 than SARS-Cov-1,\" was published in<em> Journal of Biological Chemistry.</em></p>','2022-03-30 21:48:18.601677','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Arkansas','New computational simulations of the behavior of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins prior to fusion with human cell receptors show that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is more stable and slower changing than the earlier version that caused the SARS epidemic in 2003.\n',1,74,'<li>Vivek Govind Kumar, Dylan S. Ogden, Ugochi H. Isu, Adithya Polasa, James Losey, Mahmoud Moradi. <strong>Prefusion Spike Protein Conformational Changes Are Slower in SARS-CoV-2 than in SARS-CoV-1</strong>. <em>Journal of Biological Chemistry</em>, 2022; 101814 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101814\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101814</a>\n</li>'),(1759,'Tools reveal patterns of Neandertal extinction in the Iberian Peninsula','tools-reveal-patterns-of-neandertal-extinction-in-the-iberian-peninsula','2022-03-30 21:49:03.788117',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Neandertal populations in the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived, according to a study published March 30, 2022 in the open-access journal <em>PLOS ONE</em> by Joseba Rios-Garaizar of the Archaeological Museum of Bilbao, Spain and colleagues.</p><p>Neandertals disappeared around 40,000 years ago, but many details of their extinction remain unclear. To elucidate the situation, it is useful to explore how Neandertal populations were changing during their final millennia. In this study, researchers examined the distribution of a tool complex known as the Châtelperronian, which is thought to be unique to certain populations of Neandertals in France and the Iberian Peninsula.</p><p>The researchers examined over 5,000 remains of Châtelperronian tools from a site called Aranbaltza II in Barrika, in the Northern Iberian Peninsula, dating to around 45,500 years ago. Comparing this site with other nearby Neandertal tool sites, they document that the Châtelperronian system does not overlap in time with older Neandertal technologies in this region, suggesting that Châtelperronian tools were not developed from earlier Iberian technology, but instead originated elsewhere before migrating into the region. They also found that Châtelperronian tools appear earlier than the first Homo sapiens tools in the Iberian Peninsula.</p><p>Based on this evidence, the authors suggest that older Iberian Neandertal populations disappeared, taking their tool styles with them, and were replaced by different Neandertal groups using Châtelperronian tools, likely migrating from France, and these populations were in turn replaced by Homo sapiens. The researchers propose that these patterns of local Neandertal extinction and replacement will be an important area of future study, as they might have played a significant role in the decline and ultimate demise of Neandertals.</p><p>The authors add: \"Neandertals with Châtelperronian technology occupied the Northern Iberian Peninsula ca. 43,000 years ago. This territory was unoccupied at the time, following the earlier disappearance of local Neandertal groups, along with their Mousterian technology.\"</p>','2022-03-30 21:49:03.788117','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','Neandertal populations in the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived, according to a new study.\n',1,27,'<li>Joseba Rios-Garaizar, Eneko Iriarte, Lee J. Arnold, Laura Sánchez-Romero, Ana B. Marín-Arroyo, Aixa San Emeterio, Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Carflos Pérez-Garrido, Martina Demuro, Isidoro Campaña, Laurence Bourguignon, Alfonso Benito-Calvo, María J. Iriarte, Arantza Aranburu, Amaia Arranz-Otaegi, Diego Garate, María Silva-Gago, Christelle Lahaye, Illuminada Ortega. <strong>The intrusive nature of the Châtelperronian in the Iberian Peninsula</strong>. <em>PLOS ONE</em>, 2022; 17 (3): e0265219 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265219\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pone.0265219</a>\n</li>'),(1760,'Personality traits are associated with well-being and satisfaction in life after work','personality-traits-are-associated-with-well-being-and-satisfaction-in-life-after-work','2022-03-30 21:49:08.726401',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study has identified novel associations between older adults\' personality traits, the routes they took to leave their jobs, and their well-being after exiting the workforce. Dusanee Kesavayuth of Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal <em>PLOS ONE</em> on March 30, 2022.</p><p>As the world\'s population of older adults grows, communities and policy makers are increasingly interested in the well-being of those leaving the labor market. Researchers have begun to explore how different exit paths -- mandatory retirement versus voluntary retirement, for instance -- may be associated with subsequent life satisfaction. But few studies have addressed how such associations may vary depending on people\'s personality traits.</p><p>To help clarify, Kesavayuth and colleagues analyzed data from more than 2,000 adults aged 50 to 75 who participated in the British Household Panel Survey. The dataset included assessment of participants\' \"Big Five\" personality traits -- a standard evaluation of personality -- and subsequent life satisfaction after participants left their jobs, whether voluntarily or not, without plans to begin working again.</p><p>Statistical analysis of the data uncovered associations between the routes people took to exit their jobs and their subsequent satisfaction with life, income, and leisure. However, these associations did indeed vary according to their personality traits.</p><p>For example, the trait of conscientiousness was linked to increased satisfaction with leisure time for older adults who underwent mandatory retirement, and to increased life satisfaction for people who became unemployed. The authors suggest that conscientiousness might act as a \"psychological buffer,\" with conscientious individuals being more proactive in finding new fulfilling life patterns.</p><p>Among people who retired early, extraversion was linked to lower satisfaction with life, income, and leisure. However, for people who stopped working due to ill health or caregiving demands, extraversion was linked to higher satisfaction with leisure time. The authors speculate that extraverts might miss social relationships at work, but might also be motivated to find sociable, rewarding hobbies.</p><p>Associations were also found for the traits of agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism. These associations do not confirm any causal relationships between the various factors, and proposed explanations can only be speculative at this stage. However, the findings could help guide targeted interventions and policies to boost the well-being of aging adults. Such efforts could be especially relevant during the current mass exodus of workers from the labor force in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>The authors add: \"Our study uncovered associations between the routes people took to exit their jobs and their subsequent satisfaction with life, income, and leisure. These associations varied according to people\'s personality traits. Conscientious individuals were more proactive in finding new fulfilling life patterns.\"</p>','2022-03-30 21:49:08.726401','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'PLOS','A new study has identified novel associations between older adults\' personality traits, the routes they took to leave their jobs, and their well-being after exiting the workforce.\n',1,133,'<li>Dusanee Kesavayuth, Robert E. Rosenman, Vasileios Zikos. <strong>Leaving the labor market: Exit routes, personality traits and well-being</strong>. <em>PLOS ONE</em>, 2022; 17 (3): e0263670 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263670\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pone.0263670</a>\n</li>'),(1761,'When a band falls flat: Searching for flatness in materials','when-a-band-falls-flat:-searching-for-flatness-in-materials','2022-03-30 21:49:22.804172',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Finding the right ingredients to create materials with exotic quantum properties has been a chimera for experimental scientists, due to the endless possible combinations of different elements to be synthesized.</p><p>From now on, the creation of such materials could be less blindfolded thanks to an international collaboration led by Andrei Bernevig, Ikerbasque visiting professor at Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) and professor at Princeton University, and Nicolas Regnault, from Princeton University and the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, CNRS, including the participation of Luis Elcoro from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).</p><p>The team conducted a systematic search for potential candidates in a massive haystack of 55,000 materials. The elimination process started with the identification of the so-called flat band materials, that is, electronic states with constant kinetic energy. Therefore, in a flat band the behavior of the electrons is governed mostly by the interactions with other electrons. However, researchers realized that flatness is not the only requirement, because when electrons are too tightly bound to the atoms, even in a flat band, they are not able to move around and create interesting states of matter. \"You want electrons to see each other, something you can achieve by making sure they are extended in space. That\'s exactly what topological bands bring to the table,\" says Nicolas Regnault.</p><p>Topology plays a crucial role in modern condensed matter physics as suggested by the three Nobel prizes in 1985, 1997 and 2016. It enforces some quantum wave functions to be extended making them insensitive to local perturbation such as impurities. It might impose some physical properties, such as a resistance, to be quantized or lead to perfectly conducting surface states.</p><p>Fortunately, the team has been at the forefront of characterizing topological properties of bands through their approach known as \"topological quantum chemistry,\" thereby giving them a large database of materials, as well as the theoretical tools to look for topological flat bands.</p><p>By employing tools ranging from analytical methods to brute-force searches, the team found all the flat band materials currently known in nature. This catalogue of flat band materials is available online <a href=\"https://www.topologicalquantumchemistry.fr/flatbands\">https://www.topologicalquantumchemistry.fr/flatbands</a> with its own search engine. \"The community can now look for flat topological bands in materials. We have found, out of 55,000 materials, about 700 exhibiting what could potentially be interesting flat bands,\" says Yuanfeng Xu, from Princeton University and the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, one of the two lead authors of the study. \"We made sure that the materials we promote are promising candidates for chemical synthesis,\" emphasizes Leslie Schoop from the Princeton chemistry department. The team has further classified the topological properties of these bands, uncovering what type of delocalized electrons they host.</p><p>Now that this large catalogue is completed, the team will start growing the predicted materials to experimentally discover the potential myriad of new interacting states. \"Now that we know where to look, we need to grow these materials,\" says Claudia Felser from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids. \"We have a dream team of experimentalists working with us. They are eager to measure the physical properties of these candidates and see which exciting quantum phenomena will emerge.\"</p><p>The catalogue of flat bands, published in <em>Nature </em>on 30 March 2022, represents the end of years of research by the team. \"Many people, and many grant institutions and universities to which we presented the project said this was too hard and could never be done. It took us some years, but we did it,\" said Andrei Bernevig.</p><p>The publication of this catalogue will not only reduce the serendipity in the search for new materials, but it will allow for large searches of compounds with exotic properties, such as magnetism and superconductivity, with applications in memory devices or in long-range dissipationless transport of power.</p><p><strong>Funding</strong></p><p>Funding for the project was primarily provided by an advanced grant of the European Research Council (ERC) at DIPC (SUPERFLAT, ERC-2020-ADG).</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-30 21:49:22.804172','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids','The world\'s first catalog of flat band materials could reduce the serendipity in the search for new materials with exotic quantum properties, such as magnetism and superconductivity, with applications in memory devices or in long-range dissipationless transport of power.\n',1,25,'<li>Nicolas Regnault, Yuanfeng Xu, Ming-Rui Li, Da-Shuai Ma, Milena Jovanovic, Ali Yazdani, Stuart S. P. Parkin, Claudia Felser, Leslie M. Schoop, N. Phuan Ong, Robert J. Cava, Luis Elcoro, Zhi-Da Song, B. Andrei Bernevig. <strong>Catalogue of flat-band stoichiometric materials</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; 603 (7903): 824 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04519-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04519-1</a>\n</li>'),(1762,'Researchers’ novel tool to help develop safer pesticides','researchers’-novel-tool-to-help-develop-safer-pesticides','2022-03-30 21:49:34.350772',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers have developed a new computational approach to rapidly screen pesticides for safety, performance and how long they will endure in the environment. Moreover, and most importantly, the new approach will aid in the design of next-generation molecules to develop safer pesticides.</p><p>The majority of commercial chemicals that enter the market in the United States every year have insufficient health and safety data. For pesticides, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses a variety of techniques to fill data gaps in order to evaluate chemical hazard, exposure and risk. Nonetheless, public concern over the potential threat that these chemicals pose has grown in recent years, along with the realization that traditional animal-testing methods are not pragmatic by means of speed, economics or ethics. Now, researchers at the George Washington University have developed a new computational approach to rapidly screen pesticides for safety, performance and how long they will endure in the environment. Moreover, and most importantly, the new approach will aid in the design of next-generation molecules to develop safer pesticides.</p><p>\"In many ways, our tool mimics computational drug discovery, in which vast libraries of chemical compounds are screened for their efficacy and then tweaked to make them even more potent against specific therapeutic targets,\" Jakub Kostal, an assistant professor of chemistry at GW and principal investigator on the project, said. \"Similarly, we use our systems-based approach to modify pesticides to make them less toxic and more degradable, while, at the same time, making sure they retain good performance. It\'s a powerful tool for both industry and regulatory agencies that can help design new, safer analogs of existing commercial agrochemicals, and so protect human life, the environment and industry\'s bottom line.\"</p><p>Using their model, the team analyzed 700 pesticides from the EPA\'s pesticide registry. The model considered a pesticide\'s likely persistence or degradation in the environment over time, its safety, and how well it performed at killing, repelling or controlling the target problem.</p><p>They found that only 52, or 7%, of the chemical compounds analyzed fulfilled the criteria for a safe chemical. According to the researchers, while the results from the analysis suggest most pesticides are likely not safe, many could be made safer by modifying their molecular structure in ways that would reduce their toxicity without sacrificing performance.</p><p>\"Our analysis reveals there is definitely room for improvement when it comes to developing safer pesticides,\" Jessica Lewer, a graduate student at GW and lead author on the paper, said. \"Moreover, the computational approach we\'ve developed to better screen and design safe pesticides can be used as a blueprint and applied to other industries that rely on commercial chemicals, for example cosmetics and cleaning products.\"</p><p>Going forward, the team hopes to augment their model with pesticide design from biobased, renewable chemical building blocks to advance sustainability goals in chemical design.</p>','2022-03-30 21:49:34.350772','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'George Washington University','Researchers have developed a new computational approach to rapidly screen pesticides for safety, performance and how long they will endure in the environment. Moreover, and most importantly, the new approach will aid in the design of next-generation molecules to develop safer pesticides.\n',1,131,'<li>Jessica M. Lewer, Zachary R. Stickelman, Jessica H. Huang, John F. Peloquin, Jakub Kostal. <strong>Structure-to-process design framework for developing safer pesticides</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (13) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn2058\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abn2058</a>\n</li>'),(1763,'Common coronavirus infections don\'t generate effective antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, study finds','common-coronavirus-infections-don\'t-generate-effective-antibodies-against-sars-cov-2,-study-finds','2022-03-30 21:55:12.379442',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Although SARS-CoV-2 has taken the world by storm, it\'s not the only coronavirus that can infect humans. But unlike SARS-CoV-2, common human coronaviruses (HCoVs) generally cause only mild disease. Now, researchers reporting in <em>ACS Infectious Diseases </em>have shown that infections with two different HCoVs don\'t generate antibodies that effectively cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. So, prior infection with HCoVs is unlikely to protect against COVID-19 or worsen a SARS-CoV-2 infection through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), the researchers say.</p><p>Because SARS-CoV-2 shares significant sequence similarity with its HCoV cousins, researchers have wondered if the immune system might recognize the new coronavirus from prior bouts with HCoVs. This could re-activate memory B cells, causing them to produce antibodies that helped the person overcome previous HCoV infections, and might also help fight COVID-19. On the other hand, if the antibodies against HCoVs recognize SARS-CoV-2, but not strongly enough to generate an immune response, they could cause ADE. In this rare condition, sub-optimal antibodies actually help some viruses attach to and enter host cells, making the infection worse. Sebastien Fiedler, Tuomas Knowles and colleagues wanted to compare the strength and concentration of antibodies against HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2 in the sera of nine recovered COVID-19 patients and in three pre-pandemic sera.</p><p>The researchers used a technique called microfluidic antibody-affinity profiling, which unlike the traditionally used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (known as ELISA), can measure both antibody affinity and concentration independently. They found that all nine recovered COVID-19 sera samples contained moderate amounts of antibodies with high affinity to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In contrast, none of the pre-pandemic sera contained high-affinity antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. All 12 sera contained low amounts of very high-affinity antibodies against two common HCoVs, indicating previous infections. Other experiments showed that these antibodies did not bind to SARS-CoV-2. The results suggest that there is no significant cross-reactivity of antibodies against common HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2, and therefore, no expected protective or adverse effects of antibody cross-reactivity for these coronaviruses, the researchers say.</p><p>The authors acknowledge funding from the University of Zurich, the University Hospital of Zurich, the NOMIS Foundation, the European Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, the P.I. Terasaki Scholar program, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.</p>','2022-03-30 21:55:12.379442','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Chemical Society','Researchers have shown that infections with two different common human coronaviruses (HCoVs) don\'t generate antibodies that effectively cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. So, prior infection with HCoVs is unlikely to protect against COVID-19 or worsen a SARS-CoV-2 infection through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), the researchers say.\n',1,74,'<li>Viola Denninger, Catherine K. Xu, Georg Meisl, Alexey S. Morgunov, Sebastian Fiedler, Alison Ilsley, Marc Emmenegger, Anisa Y. Malik, Monika A. Piziorska, Matthias M. Schneider, Sean R. A. Devenish, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, Adriano Aguzzi, Heike Fiegler, Tuomas P. J. Knowles. <strong>Microfluidic Antibody Affinity Profiling Reveals the Role of Memory Reactivation and Cross-Reactivity in the Defense Against SARS-CoV-2</strong>. <em>ACS Infectious Diseases</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00486\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00486</a>\n</li>'),(1764,'Most face masks don\'t expose wearers to harmful levels of PFAS, study says','most-face-masks-don\'t-expose-wearers-to-harmful-levels-of-pfas,-study-says','2022-03-30 21:55:15.425173',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Face masks are important for slowing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting against smoke. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are added to many products to repel fluids, but their presence in face masks hasn\'t been thoroughly studied. Now, researchers reporting in ACS\' <em>Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters</em> found that most face masks tested contain low or negligible levels of PFAS, except for one marketed to firefighters, which could pose health risks in certain situations.</p><p>Manufacturers design face masks to not only prevent inhalation of particles and pathogens but also to repel fluids, so some companies could be adding PFAS coatings to their products. During the current pandemic, people have been wearing face masks for long periods, which could expose them to PFAS through inhalation, skin exposure or accidental ingestion. In addition, used masks end up in landfills, where the compounds might leach out into the environment. Ivan Titaley at Oregon State University and colleagues wanted to measure PFAS in different types of face masks and analyze the implications for human exposure and the environment.</p><p>The researchers used mass spectrometry to measure nonvolatile and volatile PFAS in nine types of face masks: one surgical, one N95, six reusable cloth and a heat-resistant fabric mask advertised to firefighters. Surgical and N95 masks had the lowest levels, whereas the firefighting mask had the highest amount. Next, the team estimated the dose of PFAS that could cause health problems from chronic exposure, based on prior animal studies. According to the calculations, regular wear of the surgical, N95 and cloth masks would not pose a risk. However, the higher PFAS levels in the firefighter mask exceeded the dose considered safe, but only when worn for a full day (10 hours) at a high activity level, such as exercising or working in ways that boost the wearer\'s respiration. Next, the researchers analyzed the environmental impact of PFAS from surgical and N95 masks (which comprise over 99% of masks discarded in landfills). They estimated that even if everyone in the U.S. over age 5 threw away one mask per day (90 billion masks per year), masks would be only a minor source of PFAS in landfill leachates and domestic water.</p><p>According to the researchers, this study should encourage the public to continue wearing face masks, especially during a pandemic. It could also help people make informed decisions about what type of masks to wear and encourage manufacturers to consider the chemicals used in masks, they explain.</p><p>The authors acknowledge funding or support from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture and the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory.</p>','2022-03-30 21:55:15.425173','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Chemical Society','Face masks are important for slowing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting against smoke. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are added to many products to repel fluids, but their presence in face masks hasn\'t been thoroughly studied. Now, researchers have found that most face masks tested contain low or negligible levels of PFAS, except for one marketed to firefighters, which could pose health risks in certain situations.\n',1,126,'<li>Derek J. Muensterman, Liliana Cahuas, Ivan A. Titaley, Christopher Schmokel, Florentino B. De la Cruz, Morton A. Barlaz, Courtney C. Carignan, Graham F. Peaslee, Jennifer A. Field. <strong>Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Facemasks: Potential Source of Human Exposure to PFAS with Implications for Disposal to Landfills</strong>. <em>Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00019\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00019</a>\n</li>'),(1765,'The worrying arrival of the invasive Asian needle ant in Europe','the-worrying-arrival-of-the-invasive-asian-needle-ant-in-europe','2022-03-30 21:55:39.866618',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Invasive exotic species are considered one of the main causes of the current biodiversity crisis. In recent years, humans have introduced 200 species of ant from outside of their natural area of distribution and some of them have become invasive. Such is the case of the Asian needle ant, <em>Brachyponera chinensis</em>, which has seen its area of distribution greatly expand in the last 80 years.</p><p>Its natural distribution includes coastal regions of mainland China, Taiwan, the Korean peninsula and Japan, while in the 1930s it was introduced to the United States, where it has become established and is now present in 17 states. In North America, <em>B. chinensis</em> invades native forest habitats and has had a strong negative effect on most native ant species. In addition, due to its bite and the properties of the poison it injects, <em>B. chinensis</em> has been identified as an emerging threat to public health in the US, as it can cause serious allergic reactions.</p><p>Now a research team led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint centre of the CSIC and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona, Spain, presents the first confirmed record of <em>Brachyponera chinensis</em> in Europe. One of the authors of the study and amateur entomologist, Vincenzo Gentile, collected an unidentified male of the genus <em>Brachyponera</em> that was attracted to the light of a streetlamp on 3 July 2020 in Torre Annunziata (Naples, Italy), in a residential area about 1 km from the city\'s port. The morphology of the specimen and subsequent genetic analysis confirmed that it was the first specimen of <em>Brachyponera chinensis</em> identified in European territory.</p><p>Initial morphological investigations revealed that the invasive ant did not belong to any of the most common invasive families -- <em>Formicinae</em>, <em>Dolichoderinae</em> and <em>Myrmicinae </em>subfamilies -- but belonged to the <em>Ponerinae</em>, subfamily that predominantly consists of predatory ants. However, the specimen identified -- particularly of the genus <em>Brachyponera</em> -- was different from any native Euro-Mediterranean ponerine.</p><p>Subsequent genetic analysis carried out by INPhINIT \"la Caixa\" predoctoral researcher Mattia Menchetti at the Butterfly Diversity and Evolution Laboratory at the IBE, led by principal investigator Roger Vila, confirmed that it was a male of the species <em>Brachyponera chinensis</em>. The study suggests that it may have originated from the US, or that the invasive species has been introduced to the two continents from the same place of origin.</p><p>\"The genetic barcode, also known as DNA barcoding, is a very useful tool. It involves using a short DNA sequence like a barcode exclusive to each species. In this way, we can identify any sample, which is useful both in basic science and in the control of invasive species, pests, illegal trading, in forensic analysis, etc.,\" Menchetti explains.</p><p>Like many other soil invertebrates, ants are often accidentally introduced into new environments due to globalization and in particular plant trade. Their frequent introduction to private gardens hinders detecting these species in the early stages, before they spread through a broad region, as is the case of <em>B. chinensis</em> in Torre Annunziata. Although the ants of the city of Naples had been studied between 2016 and 2021, no other individuals of this species had been found.</p><p>The fact that they have collected a flying male, in the process of swarming, indicates that at least one nest is already at an advanced stage following its introduction. \"The source nest may be in difficult-to-access private areas and the colony -- or colonies -- may have time to propagate without being detected,\" Menchetti adds. \"However, neither can it be ruled out that a colony without queens has been introduced and that the males have been produced by worker ants, which is exceptional but possible for <em>B. chinensis</em>.\"</p><p>The Mediterranean basin is home to a growing number of exotic species, but most have been limited to building interiors and greenhouses, or urban environments. However, the expansion of <em>B. chinensis </em>in North American forest habitats suggests that this species could invade European natural habitats, forests in particular, leading to possible negative effects on native ant communities and the health of the ecosystems.</p><p>\"This is an invasive species that is causing significant ecological and health problems in the United States and could have effects in Europe comparable to those of the Asian hornet or the Argentine ant. Experience tells us that, once the exponential phase of expansion of an invasive species has been reached, we do not have the means to eradicate it and at most, we can control it by investing huge amounts of public resources. Therefore, it is necessary to take advantage of the window of opportunity posed by the so-called latency phase: the time during which the invasive species becomes established in the new place and is still very localized. We must rethink the strategy of controlling invasive species and redirect resources towards biomonitoring, which will allow early detection, and the deployment of a rapid response team as soon as the alarm of a new introduction sounds,\" Vila advises.</p><p>In addition, the establishment of <em>B. chinensis</em> in urban areas could pose a public health problem, in the light of the documented reaction caused by the poison injected by this ant. \"We appeal for action at this early stage of the new biological invasion and propose a detailed survey of a large area around Torre Annunziata,\" Menchetti adds.</p><p>This research has received the support of the \"la Caixa\" Foundation, among others.</p>','2022-03-30 21:55:39.866618','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona','A research team has, for the first time in Europe, identified a specimen of Asian needle ant (Brachyponera chinensis), a highly invasive species.\n',1,132,'<li>Mattia Menchetti, Enrico Schifani, Vincenzo Gentile, Roger Vila. <strong>The worrying arrival of the invasive Asian needle ant Brachyponera chinensis in Europe (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)</strong>. <em>Zootaxa</em>, 2022; 5115 (1): 146 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5115.1.10\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.11646/zootaxa.5115.1.10</a>\n</li>'),(1766,'An automatic information extraction system for scientific articles on COVID-19','an-automatic-information-extraction-system-for-scientific-articles-on-covid-19','2022-03-30 21:55:59.022442',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The global bio-health research community is making a tremendous effort to generate knowledge relating to COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2. In practice, this effort means a huge, very rapid production of scientific publications, which makes it difficult to consult and analyse all the information. That is why experts and decision-making bodies need to be provided with information systems to enable them to acquire the knowledge they need.</p><p>This is precisely what has been explored in the VIGICOVID researchers project run by the UPV/EHU\'s HiTZ Centre, the UNED\'s NLP &amp; IR group, and Elhuyar\'s Artificial Intelligence and Language Technologies Unit, thanks to Fondo Supera COVID-19 funding awarded by the CRUE. In the study, under the coordination of the UNED research group they have created a prototype to extract information through questions and answers in natural language from an updated set of scientific articles on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 published by the global research community.</p><p>\"The information search paradigm is changing thanks to artificial intelligence,\" said Eneko Agirre, head of the UPV/EHU\'s HiTZ Centre. \"Until now, when searching for information on the internet, a question is entered, and the answer has to be sought in the documents displayed by the system. However, in line with the new paradigm, systems that provide the answer directly without any need to read the whole document are becoming more and more widespread.\"</p><p>In this system, \"the user does not request information using keywords, but asks a question directly,\" explained Elhuyar researcher Xabier Saralegi. The system searches for answers to this question in two steps: \"Firstly, it retrieves documents that may contain the answer to the question asked by using a technology that combines keywords with direct questions. That is why we have explored neural architectures,\" added Dr Saralegi. Deep neural architectures fed with examples were used: \"That means that search models and question answering models are trained by means of deep machine learning.\"</p><p>Once the set of documents has been extracted, they are reprocessed through a question and answer system in order to obtain specific answers: \"We have built the engine that answers the questions; when the engine is given a question and a document, it is able to detect whether or not the answer is in the document, and if it is, it tells us exactly where it is,\" explained Dr Agirre.</p><p><strong>A readily marketable prototype</strong></p><p>The researchers are satisfied with the results of their research: \"From the techniques and evaluations we analysed in our experiments, we took those that give the prototype the best results,\" said the Elhuyar researcher. A solid technological base has been established, and several scientific papers on the subject have been published. \"We have come up with another way of running searches for whenever information is urgently needed, and this facilitates the information use process. On the research level, we have shown that the proposed technology works, and that the system provides good results,\" Agirre pointed out.</p><p>\"Our result is a prototype of a basic research project. It is not a commercial product,\" stressed Saralegi. But such prototypes can be modelled easily within a short time, which means they can be marketed and made available to society. These researchers stress that artificial intelligence enables increasingly powerful tools to be made available for working with large document bases. \"We are making very rapid progress in this area. And what is more, everything that is investigated can readily reach the market,\" concluded the UPV/EHU researcher.</p>','2022-03-30 21:55:59.022442','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of the Basque Country','VIGICOVID is a system that uses natural language questions to get answers in the avalanche of information on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.\n',1,108,'<li>Arantxa Otegi, Iñaki San Vicente, Xabier Saralegi, Anselmo Peñas, Borja Lozano, Eneko Agirre. <strong>Information retrieval and question answering: A case study on COVID-19 scientific literature</strong>. <em>Knowledge-Based Systems</em>, 2022; 240: 108072 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2021.108072\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.knosys.2021.108072</a>\n</li>'),(1767,'Time to shift research focus from \'bikini medicine\' to what is really ailing women','time-to-shift-research-focus-from-\'bikini-medicine\'-to-what-is-really-ailing-women','2022-03-30 21:56:16.992716',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study has found that women\'s health research remains disproportionately focused on the reproductive years -- particularly on pregnancy -- with few articles on the major causes of illness and death in women.</p><p>Despite growing awareness of differences in how women experience medical conditions and the impact this can have on diagnosis and treatment, this research gap has widened over the last ten years, researchers found.</p><p>Lead author Laura Hallam from The George Institute for Global Health said that the focus on so-called \'bikini medicine\' stemmed from the mistaken belief that women\'s health only differs from men\'s in the parts of the body that a bikini would cover.</p><p>\"Historically, women\'s health research has focused on reproductive health. However, noncommunicable diseases are now the leading cause of death and disability for women in most countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries,\" she said.</p><p>\"Sex and gender bias in research and health care can lead to poorer health outcomes for women, particularly in conditions not recognised as women\'s health issues.\"</p><p>George Institute researchers analysed the main health content of articles published in six women\'s health journals and five leading general medical journals in 2010 and 2020, categorising the main medical area topics and the life stage under study. They then compared these findings with the leading causes of disease in women according to the well-established Global Burden of Disease study.</p><p>They found that, in 2010, just over one third (36 percent) of the women\'s health content in both sets of journals was focused on reproductive health, and by 2020 this had increased to just under half (49 and 47 percent for each journal type respectively).</p><p>The reverse was true for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with NCD content decreasing over this time frame in both types of journals.</p><p>Over both years combined, cancer was by far the most covered NCD topic in women\'s health journals at just over 40 percent, followed by mental illness and substance abuse at 22 percent. Cardiovascular disease made up just over 15 percent of NCD articles.</p><p>In general medical journals, just over half (51.5 percent) of NCD topics in women\'s health were on cancer, followed by disorders of nerves and the nervous system (9.7 percent), with cardiovascular disease at the lower end of the scale along with mental illness, substance abuse, and muscle and bone health (all 7.5 percent).</p><p>\"Overall, we found that many diseases that are actually contributing to considerable ill health and deaths in women, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic lung diseases, were poorly covered in women\'s health publications,\" said Ms Hallam.</p><p>\"Also, when we categorised the articles according to a woman\'s life stage, we found that most were on pregnancy or the reproductive years, with very few articles on menopause,\" she added.</p><p>\"While women\'s life expectancies are generally longer than men\'s, women have fewer healthier years and high rates of disability in older age, so it\'s important to look at health and well-being across the life span and study diseases that are more common in old age, that might impact women more.\"</p><p>The researchers found very few articles focused on a sex and/or gender-based analysis, reinforcing the need for it to be incorporated more routinely in health and medical research to gain a better understanding of how men and women experience disease differently.</p><p>\"Our study shows there is much work to be done by journals, funders, and researchers to broaden understanding of women\'s health, so that women of all ages are appropriately and effectively served by scientific research and the health benefits that result from it,\" said Ms Hallam.</p>','2022-03-30 21:56:16.992716','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'George Institute for Global Health','A new study has found that women\'s health research remains disproportionately focused on the reproductive years -- particularly on pregnancy -- with few articles on the major causes of illness and death in women.\n',1,27,'<li>Laura Hallam, Amy Vassallo, Ana-Catarina Pinho-Gomes, Cheryl Carcel, Mark Woodward. <strong>Does Journal Content in the Field of Women\'s Health Represent Women\'s Burden of Disease? A Review of Publications in 2010 and 2020</strong>. <em>Journal of Women\'s Health</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2021.0425\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1089/jwh.2021.0425</a>\n</li>'),(1768,'Flowers\' unseen colors can help ensure pollination, survival','flowers\'-unseen-colors-can-help-ensure-pollination,-survival','2022-03-30 21:56:25.278766',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">You can\'t see it, but different substances in the petals of flowers create a \"bulls-eye\" for pollinating insects, according to a Clemson University scientist whose research sheds light on chemical changes in flowers which helps them respond to environmental changes, including climate change, that might threaten their survival.</p><p>Matthew H. Koski, an assistant professor of biological sciences in the Clemson College of Science, led a research team that studied the bright, yellow flowers of <em>Argentina anserina</em> -- a member of the rose family commonly known as silverweed -- to learn how pigments in the petals that are visible only in the ultraviolet spectrum play an integral part in the plant\'s plasticity; that is, its ability to quickly respond to a changing environment. The team also included Clemson researchers Lindsay M. Finnell, Elizabeth Leonard and Nishanth Tharayil.</p><p>The journal <em>Evolution</em> featured the findings on the cover of its March edition.</p><p>The researchers studied silverweed growing at different elevations in southwestern Colorado to better understand the roles of the various UV-absorbing chemicals in the plants\' petals and how these chemicals work to aid in pollination and, thus, reproduction.</p><p>Koski explained that although humans cannot see the UV patterns on the flower\'s petals, many of its pollinators can.</p><p>\"I\'ve always been fascinated with how [color variation of flowers] arises and how it evolves and what factors drive the evolution of color variation,\" Koski said, \"so I got interested in thinking about how we perceive color versus how the organisms that interact more frequently with flowers perceive color.\"</p><p>\"Insects -- pollinators, for example -- see in the ultraviolet spectrum,\" he continued. \"So, flowers that reflect or absorb ultraviolet wavelengths give (to pollinators) the perception of different colors that we can\'t see. I\'ve been fascinated with uncovering what these UV signals might be doing functionally with respect to pollination. When I thought about the trait of interest in ultraviolet absorption, it is biochemistry. It\'s a biochemical trait that leads to different perceptions of UV absorption and reflectance.\"</p><p>Koski said a wide range of plants have concentrations of UV-absorbing chemicals at the base of the flower\'s petals, while the tips of the petals have more UV-reflecting chemicals. He said this creates an overall \"bulls-eye\" effect that guides insects in their search for pollen.</p><p>The team wanted to uncover more about how the plants adapt to thrive in different environments -- in this case, a difference in altitude of 1,000 meters. They found that flowers at different altitudes adapt to their environments by producing differing amounts of UV-blocking or UV-absorbing chemicals.</p><p>\"At higher elevations, there are always more UV-absorbing compounds or larger spatial area of UV absorption on the petals, compared to the low-elevation populations,\" Koski said.</p><p>The researchers said this demonstrates the plant\'s plasticity, which Koski defined as how differing traits arise in the same organisms under different environmental conditions. This is a critical step in understanding how organisms adapt to survive change.</p><p>\"What\'s important about plasticity is, when we think about climate change and global change, plasticity is one mechanism by which natural populations can respond really rapidly to changing climates and persist under those climates,\" he said. \"The process of evolution, where you\'re getting changes in the genetic code over time, is thought to proceed more slowly than just responding plastically to environmental change.\"</p><p>Koski said that one question raised by the research is whether plastic responses to environmental situations are adaptive. Do they offer any advantage to an organism, or are they changes in how a trait develops because of the environment without impacting plant fitness?</p><p>\"One thing this study found is that the plastic change in UV pigmentation benefited the plant, especially the ones at high elevations because increases in ultraviolet absorption on the petals resulted in increased pollen viability,\" he explained.</p><p>Koski went on to say the research will help scientists better understand how organisms respond to environmental changes and even predict if or how well some organisms would be able to survive rapid environmental change, such as from global climate change. The research could also be important for agriculture, he said, because some of the same UV-sensitive pigments at work in silverweed are also present in commercial crops such as mustard and sunflowers.</p><p>\"It\'s interesting to think about if abiotic factors like UV or temperature are shifting the expression of these traits, how is that going to impact how pollinators view the flowers, and how\'s that going to affect things like yield and seed production in crops, for example,\" Koski said.</p><p>The team\'s research could even be important for home gardeners trying to attract specific types of pollinators to their plants.</p><p>\"I think one thing people think about is planting a diversity of flowers with different colors and morphologies to attract many different types of pollinators, like a pollinator-friendly garden,\" Koski said. \"One thing to think about is that we often don\'t know all the details of what colors are perceived by pollinators, and how that could be changing with the seasons. Just because things may look very similar to us, they may actually be very diverse to pollinators and could attract a different suite of pollinators than we expect.\"</p>','2022-03-30 21:56:25.278766','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Clemson University','You can\'t see it, but different substances in the petals of flowers create a \'bulls-eye\' for pollinating insects, according to a scientist whose research sheds light on chemical changes in flowers which helps them respond to environmental changes, including climate change, that might threaten their survival.\n',1,34,'<li>Matthew H. Koski, Lindsay M. Finnell, Elizabeth Leonard, Nishanth Tharayil. <strong>Elevational divergence in pigmentation plasticity is associated with selection and pigment biochemistry</strong>. <em>Evolution</em>, 2022; 76 (3): 512 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evo.14422\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/evo.14422</a>\n</li>'),(1770,'Telehealth: Bridging or perpeatuating health inequities?','telehealth:-bridging-or-perpeatuating-health-inequities?','2022-03-30 22:36:41.690718',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Health inequities among Black Indigenous People of Color, immigrant and low-income communities is driven largely by inadequate healthcare access. Telehealth offers an opportunity to increase healthcare access and reduce health inequities. However, according to researchers from Boston University Questrom School of Business, Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), and Boston Medical Center (BMC), telehealth has unwittingly become a \"double-edged sword,\" whereby the technology with potential to reduce health inequities also holds the key to exacerbate structural inequities.</p><p>\"Using qualitative data and our own experiences as front line primary care physicians we discovered that while digital access is <em>necessary</em>, it is <em>not sufficient </em>in redressing disparate engagement with telehealth,\" says corresponding author Rebecca G. Mishuris, MD, MPH, MS, assistant professor of medicine at BUSM, and primary care physician and Chief Medical Information Officer of the BMC Health System.</p><p>According to the researchers, a key component of these structural inequities is the digital divide, driven partly by \"digital redlining.\" Digital redlining is the modern day manifestation of redlining that perpetuates health inequities and structural racism by maintaining barriers to technological access, further perpetuating lack of healthcare access.</p><p>Based on their experience as well as data about their patients\' access to healthcare, virtual and otherwise, Mishuris and her colleagues theorize that two additional barriers to equitable telehealth exist: digital fluency, the ability to use digital tools efficiently and effectively; and the capacity for health advocacy, a patients\' ability to advocate for their own health needs.</p><p>\"Without addressing these critical, less often discussed elements of telehealth implementation, it is our belief that telehealth will fall short of its promise and rather than mitigate health inequities, will perpetuate health inequities in the very communities that stand to benefit most from its implementation,\" says co-author Katherine Gergen Barnett, MD, clinical associate professor of family medicine at BUSM and Vice Chair of Primary Care Innovation and Transformation at BMC.</p><p>In an effort to overcome the barriers of device and broadband access, digital fluency and health advocacy to mitigate current inequities in digital health engagement, the researchers propose a three-pronged approach of creating federal and state policies to democratize access to telehealth. \"By establishing platform standards for accessing telehealth, and supporting societal and health system investments to increase health literacy, advocacy and technology fluency, we can begin to address the disparities in telehealth engagement and healthcare access,\" says Mishuris.</p><p>Collaborators include Jayakanth Srinivasan, PhD, research associate professor at Boston University\'s Questrom School of Business; Charles T. Williams, MD, BMC/BUSM family medicine; Alexa Bragg, BS, BMC/BUSM family medicine; Afi M. Semenya, MD, MPH, BMC/BUSM family medicine; Marielle Baldwin, MD, MPH, BMC/BUSM family medicine; Jessica Howard, MA, MPH, BMC/BUSM family medicine and Stephen A. Wilson, MD, MPH, BMC/BUSM family medicine.</p><p>These findings appear as a Perspective in the <em>Journal of General Internal Medicine</em>.</p><p>Funding was provided by the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.</p>','2022-03-30 22:36:41.690718','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Boston University School of Medicine','Health inequities among Black Indigenous People of Color, immigrant and low-income communities is driven largely by inadequate healthcare access. Telehealth offers an opportunity to increase healthcare access and reduce health inequities. However, according to researchers, telehealth has unwittingly become a \'double-edged sword,\' whereby the technology with potential to reduce health inequities also holds the key to exacerbate structural inequities.\n',1,153,'<li>Katherine Gergen Barnett, Rebecca Grochow Mishuris, Charles T. Williams, Alexa Bragg, Afi M. Semenya, Marielle Baldwin, Jessica Howard, Stephen A. Wilson, Jayakanth Srinivasan. <strong>Telehealth’s Double-Edged Sword: Bridging or Perpetuating Health Inequities?</strong> <em>Journal of General Internal Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-022-07481-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s11606-022-07481-w</a>\n</li>'),(1771,'Lottery luck in the light of physics: Researchers present theory on the dynamics of many-particle systems','lottery-luck-in-the-light-of-physics:-researchers-present-theory-on-the-dynamics-of-many-particle-systems','2022-03-30 22:36:52.175469',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Physicists at the University of Bayreuth are among the international pioneers of power functional theory. This new approach makes it possible for the first time to precisely describe the dynamics of many-particle systems over time. The particles can be atoms, molecules or larger particles invisible to humans. The new theory generalizes the classical density functional theory, which only applies to many-particle systems in thermal equilibrium. In the <em>Reviews of Modern Physics</em>, a research team led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt presents the basic features of the theory, which was significantly developed and elaborated in Bayreuth.</p><p>A many-particle system is in thermal equilibrium when the temperature in its interior is balanced and no heat flows take place. This does not necessarily mean that the system is in a rigid state of rest. Some many-particle systems can also be compared to a lottery draw machine, which rotates at a constant speed. The balls have a lot of freedom of movement in it and jump back and forth in a disorderly fashion. In a fluid many-particle system, the particles are packed considerably more densely than in the drum, which is why they constantly collide with each other at short distances and time intervals. Essential properties of such systems can be described completely and precisely with the density functional theory -- provided that a thermal equilibrium of the system is given.</p><p>In the case of the lottery draw machine, this equilibrium is lost as soon as the uniform rotation gradually slows down and the chamber goes into reverse. Then the balls with the winning numbers roll onto a rail inside the chamber and are finally ejected. In order to record such processes precisely and without gaps, the power functional theory is needed: it translates the luck of the winners into the language of physics.</p><p>\"The classical density functional theory is a very in-depth and at the same time aesthetically appealing theory. It is able to describe and relate the often very complex processes that take place in a system during thermal equilibrium. These processes include, for example, phase transitions, crystallizations, or phenomena such as hydrophobicity, which occurs when surfaces or particles avoid contact with water. Often, such processes are of great technological or biological relevance. The elegance and power of density functional theory has spurred us in Bayreuth for the past ten years to search for ways to make many-particle systems in thermal disequilibrium accessible to an equally precise and elegant physical description. Research partners at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland have contributed to this search with important studies. For example, our joint efforts have resulted in power functional theory, which extends density functional theory to time-dependent processes,\" reports Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt, who holds a chair in theoretical physics at the University of Bayreuth.</p><p>The presentation of power functional theory (PFT), which has now been published, incorporates research that was primarily located in two focus areas at the University of Bayreuth: Nonlinear Dynamics and Polymer &amp; Colloid Science. The Research Centre for Scientific Computing at the University of Bayreuth has provided substantial support and funding for many of these studies. Here, the power functional theory first proposed in 2013 was tested, further developed and applied to concrete physical problems. Among other things, the studies dealt with active particles that can self-propel, with shear and flow phenomena in colloids and liquids, or with the microscopic structure of liquids. A decisive factor for the successful development of the PFT was that the forces acting in many-body systems and their correlations with observable phenomena could be convincingly derived in this way. Here, methods of computer simulation and applications of statistical mechanics often proved indispensable.</p>','2022-03-30 22:36:52.175469','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Universität Bayreuth','Power functional theory is a new approach that makes it possible to describe precisely the dynamics of many-particle systems over time.\n',1,27,'<li>Matthias Schmidt. <strong>Power functional theory for many-body dynamics</strong>. <em>Reviews of Modern Physics</em>, 2022; 94 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.94.015007\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/RevModPhys.94.015007</a>\n</li>'),(1772,'Anti-cancer dream cream shrinks oral tumors','anti-cancer-dream-cream-shrinks-oral-tumors','2022-03-30 22:37:01.050260',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Modern medicine offers \"peel and stick\" solutions like nicotine or contraceptive patches that you can put right on your skin without needing to visit a doctor for an injection or procedure. Now, researchers have found that applying a topical ointment containing anti-tumor factor can increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment.</p><p>In a study that will be published soon in <em>Molecular Therapy Oncolytics</em>, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) reveal that treating oral cancer cells with <em>miR-634</em>, a microRNA that targets pro-tumor factors, can increase the effectiveness of treatment with cisplatin.</p><p>Over 90% of cases of oral cancer are a type of cancer called oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). While OSCC can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation, many patients develop resistance to cisplatin, the main drug used to treat it.</p><p>\"We recently found that <em>miR-634</em> counteracts some cell-protective processes, such as anti-apoptotic signaling and antioxidant scavenging, that are activated in cancer cells that are resistant to cisplatin,\" says Phuong Xuan Tran, lead author on the study. \"This suggests that increasing the amount of this small molecule in cells could increase their sensitivity to this drug.\"</p><p>To test whether <em>miR-634</em> can help increase tumor sensitivity to cisplatin, the researchers treated two different OSCC cell lines with both the miRNA and the drug and looked at how many of the cells survived.</p><p>\"The results were very clear,\" states Johji Inazawa, senior author of the study. \"Treatment with <em>miR-634</em> effectively increased cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity and overcame cisplatin resistance in OSCC cells, resulting in increased tumor cell killing.\"</p><p>To confirm these results, the researchers then tested the treatment combination in mice with experimental tumors. When the mice were injected with cisplatin and an <em>miR-634</em> ointment was applied to the tumors, the tumors shrank rapidly.</p><p>\"Our findings suggest that <em>miR-634</em>-mediated repression of pro-tumor factors can effectively increase the sensitivity of OSCC to existing chemotherapeutic options such as cisplatin,\" says Tran.</p><p>Taken together, the results from this study suggest that <em>miR-634</em> ointment could be useful for enhancing the effects of chemotherapy in patients with advanced OSCC. Given that the synergistic effects of <em>miR-634</em> and cisplatin were also seen in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and ovarian cancer cell lines, this treatment combination may also be effective across a variety of cancer types.</p>','2022-03-30 22:37:01.050260','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Tokyo Medical and Dental University','Researchers have found that treatment with miR-634 reduces the resistance of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells to cisplatin, resulting in increased tumor cell killing. An ointment containing miR-634 had a similar effect in mice, suggesting that this simple topical treatment could be used to improve the prognosis of patients with advanced oral cancer.\n',1,27,'<li>Phuong Xuan Tran, Jun Inoue, Hiroyuki Harada, Johji Inazawa. <strong>Potential for reversing miR-634-mediated cytoprotective processes to improve efficacy of chemotherapy against oral squamous cell carcinoma</strong>. <em>Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics</em>, 2022; 24: 897 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.omto.2022.02.002\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.omto.2022.02.002</a>\n</li>'),(1773,'Living donation opens new doors for colorectal cancer patients in need of liver transplants','living-donation-opens-new-doors-for-colorectal-cancer-patients-in-need-of-liver-transplants','2022-03-30 23:37:07.430711',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A study published in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association Surgery</em> is the first in North America to demonstrate that living-donor liver transplant is a viable option for patients who have systemically controlled colorectal cancer and liver tumors that cannot be surgically removed.</p><p>\"This study proves that transplant is an effective treatment to improve quality of life and survival for patients with colorectal cancer that metastasized to the liver,\" said senior study author Dr. Gonzalo Sapisochin, a transplant surgeon at the Ajmera Transplant Centre and the Sprott Department of Surgery at University Health Network (UHN).</p><p>\"As the first successful North American experience, it represents an important step towards moving this protocol from the research arena to standard of care,\" adds Dr. Sapisochin, who is also a clinician investigator at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at University of Toronto.</p><p>The study, which was conducted at UHN, the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), and the Cleveland Clinic, focused on colorectal cancer in part because of its tendency to spread to the liver. Nearly half of all patients with colorectal cancer develop liver metastases within a few years of diagnosis and 70 percent of liver tumors in these patients cannot be removed without removing the entire liver.</p><p>Unfortunately, deceased-donor liver transplant is not a viable option for most of these patients because, despite their tumors, their liver function is fairly normal, which lands them toward the bottom of the national organ transplant waiting list. In North America, one in six patients dies each year while waiting for an organ on this list.</p><p>Thanks to recent advances in cancer treatments, many of these patients are able to get their cancer under systemic control, which means their liver tumors are the only things standing between them and a \"cancer free\" label. It also increases the odds that these patients -- and their new livers -- will remain cancer free, which is crucial when balancing the benefit to the patient with the risk to a living donor.</p><p>\"I\'ve seen so many cancer patients, whose cancers were not spreading, but we couldn\'t remove the tumors from their livers and we knew they would die,\" said first study author Dr. Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, who is chief of the Abdominal Transplant and Liver Surgery Division at URMC. \"We hoped living-donor liver transplant could give them another chance.\"</p><p>Because it offered a last resort, the study attracted patients from near and far. All patients and donors went through a rigorous screening process to ensure they were good candidates for the procedure, and they were educated about the risks of the surgery and the possibility of cancer recurrence.</p><p>Patients and donors underwent staggered surgeries to fully remove patients\' diseased livers and replace them with half of their donors\' livers. Over time, both patients\' and donors\' livers regenerate and regain normal function.</p><p>Patients have been closely monitored via imaging and blood analysis for any signs of cancer recurrence and will continue to be followed for up to five years after their surgery. At the time the study was published, two patients had follow-up of two or more years and both remained alive and well, cancer-free.</p><p>\"This [study] brings hope for patients who have a dismal chance of surviving a few more months,\" said Dr. Hernandez-Alejandro, who is also an investigator at the Wilmot Cancer Institute. \"With this, we\'re opening opportunities for patients to live longer -- and for some of them, to be cured.\"</p><p>\"We have seen very good outcomes with this protocol, with 100 percent survival and 62 percent of patients remaining cancer free one year and a half after surgery,\" said study author Dr. Mark Cattral, surgical director of the Living Donor Liver Program at UHN\'s Ajmera Transplant Centre and a surgeon in the Sprott Department of Surgery at UHN. \"It is very strong data to support that we can offer this treatment safely and make appropriate use of scarce life-saving organs.\"</p><p>The authors have no competing interests to disclose.</p><p>This work was supported by generous donors to UHN Foundation.</p>','2022-03-30 23:37:07.430711','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University Health Network','A study is the first in North America to demonstrate that living-donor liver transplant is a viable option for patients who have systemically controlled colorectal cancer and liver tumors that cannot be surgically removed.\n',1,146,'<li>Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, Luis I. Ruffolo, Kazunari Sasaki, Koji Tomiyama, Mark S. Orloff, Karen Pineda-Solis, Amit Nair, Jennie Errigo, M. Katherine Dokus, Mark Cattral, Ian D. McGilvray, Anand Ghanekar, Steven Gallinger, Nazia Selzner, Marco P. A. W. Claasen, Ron Burkes, Koji Hashimoto, Masato Fujiki, Cristiano Quintini, Bassam N. Estfan, Choon Hyuck David Kwon, K. V. Narayanan Menon, Federico Aucejo, Gonzalo Sapisochin. <strong>Recipient and Donor Outcomes After Living-Donor Liver Transplant for Unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases</strong>. <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2022.0300\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1001/jamasurg.2022.0300</a>\n</li>'),(1774,'Why are people with allergic asthma less susceptible to severe COVID?','why-are-people-with-allergic-asthma-less-susceptible-to-severe-covid?','2022-03-31 00:20:45.279155',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The vast majority of people infected with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 experience mild cold-like symptoms, moderate flu-like symptoms, or no symptoms at all, but the virus is so transmissible that it still spread deep into lung tissue to cause severe disease and death in thousands of people in the United States in 2022 alone. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill revealed biological reasons for how disease progression happens and why a certain population of asthma patients are less susceptible to severe COVID.</p><p>This research, published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, illustrates the importance of a well-known cytokine called interleukin-13 (IL-13) in protecting cells against SARS-CoV-2, which helps explain the mystery of why people with allergic asthma fair better than the general population despite having a chronic lung condition. The same cannot be said for individuals with other diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema, who are at very high risk of severe COVID.</p><p>\"We knew there had to be a bio-mechanistic reason why people with allergic asthma seemed more protected from severe disease,\" said senior author Camille Ehre, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine and member of the UNC Marsico Lung Institute. \"Our research team discovered a number of significant cellular changes, particularly due to IL-13, leading us to conclude that IL-13 plays a unique role in defense against SARS-CoV-2 infection in certain patient populations.\"</p><p>Although cytokines like IL-13 cannot be used as therapies because they trigger inflammation, it is important to understand natural molecular pathways that cells use to protect themselves from pathogen invasion, as these studies have the potential to reveal new therapeutic targets.</p><p>There are many health factors that increase a person\'s risk of severe COVID, including chronic lung diseases such as COPD, but as the pandemic went on, epidemiologists found that people with allergic asthma were less susceptible to severe disease.</p><p>\"These are patients with asthma caused by allergens, such as mold, pollen, and dander,\" said Ehre, who is also a member of the UNC Children\'s Research Institute. \"To find out why they are less susceptible, we investigated specific cellular mechanisms in primary human airway epithelial cell cultures.\"</p><p>The experiments were led by co-first authors Cameron Morrison, a medical student in the Ehre lab, and Caitlin Edwards, a research assistant and MPH student in the lab of Ralph Baric, PhD, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and professor in the UNC Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the UNC School of Medicine.</p><p>The researchers used genetic analysis of human airway cell cultures infected with SARS-CoV-2 to discover that the expression of the human protein ACE2 governed which cell types were infected and the amount of virus found in this cell population (also known as \"viral load.\")</p><p>The scientists then used electron microscopy (EM) to identify an intense exodus of virus from infected ciliated cells, which are cells tasked with moving mucus along the airway surface. EM also revealed severe cytopathogenesis -- changes inside human cells due to viral infection. And these changes culminating in ciliated cells (packed with virions) shedding away from the airway surface.</p><p>\"This shedding is what provides a large viral reservoir for spread and transmission of SARS-CoV-2,\" Ehre said. \"It also seems to increase the potential for infected cells to relocate to deeper lung tissue.\"</p><p>Further experiments on infected airway cells revealed that a major mucus protein called MUC5AC was depleted inside cells, likely because the proteins were secreted to try to trap invading viruses. But the virus load kept increasing because the cells tasked with producing MUC5AC were overwhelmed in the face of a rampant viral infection.</p><p>The researchers knew from epidemiological studies that allergic asthma patients -- known to overproduce MUC5AC- were <em>less </em>susceptible to severe COVID. Ehre and colleagues also knew the cytokine IL-13 increased MUC5AC secretion in the lungs when asthma patients faced an allergen.</p><p>The scientists decided to mimic asthmatic airways by treating human airway cells with IL-13. They then measured viral titers, viral mRNA, the rate of infected cell shedding, and the overall number of infected cells. Each one was significantly decreased. They found this remained true even when mucus was removed from the cultures, suggesting other factors were involved in the protective effects of IL-13 against SARS-CoV-2.</p><p>Bulk RNA-sequencing analyses revealed that IL-13 upregulated genes that control glycoprotein synthesis, ion transport, and antiviral processes -- all of which are important in airway immune defense. They also showed that IL-13 reduced the expression of the viral receptor, ACE2, as well as reducing the amount of virus inside cells and cell-to-cell viral transmission.</p><p>Taken together, these findings indicate that IL-13 significantly affected viral entry into cells, replication inside cells, and spread of virus, thus limiting the virus\'s ability to find its way deeper into the airways to trigger severe disease.</p><p>\"We think this research further shows how important it is to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection as early as possible,\" Ehre said. \"And it shows just how important specific mechanisms involving ACE2 and IL-13 are, as we try our best to protect patients from developing severe infections.\"</p><p>Other authors of the PNAS paper are Kendall Shaffer, Kenza Araba, Jason Wykoff, Danielle Williams, Takanori Asakura, Hong Dang, Lisa Morton, Rodney Gilmore, Wanda O\'Neal, and Ric Boucher, all at UNC-Chapel Hill.</p><p>This research was funded through grants from the National Institutes of Health and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.</p>','2022-03-31 00:20:45.279155','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of North Carolina Health Care','Scientists show how cells packed with SARS-CoV-2 detach from the upper airway and spread deep into lungs where severe COVID can take root. They also discovered how an asthmatic reaction to allergens battles the virus to hold severe COVID at bay.\n',1,88,'<li>Cameron B. Morrison, Caitlin E. Edwards, Kendall M. Shaffer, Kenza C. Araba, Jason A. Wykoff, Danielle R. Williams, Takanori Asakura, Hong Dang, Lisa C. Morton, Rodney C. Gilmore, Wanda K. O’Neal, Richard C. Boucher, Ralph S. Baric, Camille Ehre. <strong>SARS-CoV-2 infection of airway cells causes intense viral and cell shedding, two spreading mechanisms affected by IL-13</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (16) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119680119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2119680119</a>\n</li>'),(1775,'Predicting sudden cardiac arrest','predicting-sudden-cardiac-arrest','2022-03-31 01:37:37.394041',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Clinician-scientists in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai developed a clinical algorithm that, for the first time, distinguishes between treatable sudden cardiac arrest and untreatable forms of the condition.</p><p>The findings, published today in the peer-reviewed <em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology</em>, have the potential to enhance prevention of sudden cardiac arrest -- unexpected loss of heart function -- based on key risk factors identified in this study.</p><p>\"All sudden cardiac arrest is not the same,\" explained Sumeet Chugh, MD, director of the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention and lead author of the study. \"Until now, no prior research has distinguished between potentially treatable sudden cardiac arrest versus untreatable forms that cause death in almost all instances.\"</p><p>Out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest claims at least 300,000 U.S. lives annually. For those affected, 90% will die within 10 minutes of cardiac arrest.</p><p>For this largely fatal condition, prevention would have a profound impact. The biggest challenge, however, lies in distinguishing between those who stand to benefit the most from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator -- and those who would not benefit from the electric jolt.</p><p>\"Defibrillators are expensive and unnecessary for individuals with the type of sudden cardiac arrest that will not respond to an electrical shock,\" said Chugh. \"However, for patients with treatable, or \'shockable,\' forms of the disease, a defibrillator is lifesaving.\"</p><p>Chugh, also a professor and the Pauline and Harold Price Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology Research, says this new research provides a clinical risk assessment algorithm that can better identify patients at highest risk of treatable sudden cardiac arrest -- and thus, a better understanding of those patients who would benefit from a defibrillator.</p><p>The risk assessment algorithm consists of 13 clinical, electrocardiogram, and echocardiographic variables that could put a patient at higher risk of treatable sudden cardiac arrest.</p><p>The risk factors include diabetes, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, stroke, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, seizure disorders, syncope -- a temporary loss of consciousness caused by a fall in blood pressure -- and four separate indicators found with an electrocardiogram test, including heart rate.</p><p>\"This first-of-its-kind algorithm has the potential to improve the way we currently predict sudden cardiac arrest,\" said Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute and the Mark S. Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Professor. \"If validated in clinical trials, we will be able to better identify high-risk patients and therefore, save lives.\"</p><p>The research study utilized data from two ongoing multiyear studies founded by Chugh. The Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study is a comprehensive assessment of sudden cardiac arrests among the 1 million residents of the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area.</p><p>The Ventura Prediction of Sudden Death in Multiethnic Communities (PRESTO) study is based in Ventura, California, with approximately 850,000 residents. Both studies are unique community partnerships with area residents, as well as first responders, medical examiners and hospital systems that deliver care within the two communities.</p><p>Both led by Chugh, the projects -- now ongoing in Oregon for nearly 20 years, and more recently in Ventura -- provides researchers with unique, community-based information to help determine how best to predict sudden cardiac arrest.</p><p>As a next step, Chugh plans to test their risk assessment algorithm, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL126938 and R01HL145675), in separate prospective studies, as well as randomized clinical trials.</p>','2022-03-31 01:37:37.394041','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cedars-Sinai Medical Center','Clinician-scientists have developed a clinical algorithm that, for the first time, distinguishes between treatable sudden cardiac arrest and untreatable forms of the condition.\n',1,150,'<li>Sumeet S. Chugh, Kyndaron Reinier, Audrey Uy-Evanado, Harpriya S. Chugh, David Elashoff, Christopher Young, Angelo Salvucci, Jonathan Jui. <strong>Prediction of Sudden Cardiac Death Manifesting With Documented Ventricular Fibrillation or Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia</strong>. <em>JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacep.2022.02.004\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jacep.2022.02.004</a>\n</li>'),(1776,'Critical signature sound when rocks crack','critical-signature-sound-when-rocks-crack','2022-03-31 04:08:36.123665',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Finding the specific sound a rock makes when it cracks and breaks seems impossible when surrounded by other subsurface noises. But Texas A&amp;M University researcher Dr. Siddharth Misra, the Ted H. Smith, Jr. \'75 and Max R. Vordenbaum \'73 DVG Associate Professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, discovered a way to hear and validate that sound in a project funded by the Basic Energy Sciences program of the Department of Energy (DOE).</p><p>\"The DOE calls sounds of specific events the \'signs of signature,\'\" said Misra. \"In this case, the signature identified the break or mechanical discontinuity of a rock in the earth\'s subsurface, especially as the breaks continued to grow or propagate into fractures.\"</p><p>Misra and his doctoral candidate Rui Liu published their preliminary findings in the May 2022 issue of the <em>Systems and Signals Processing </em>journal.</p><p>Why does Basic Energy Sciences want this signature identified? Sounds are often important clues to environmental and security changes. Threatening noises, such as underground explosions, are hard to mistake. But the small sounds of a high-rise building foundation cracking and failing are just as threatening. So, the fundamental sound of rock undergoing mechanical failure is a basic and critical clue worth finding.</p><p>\"This research goes to the heart of identifying something specific within a massive data set,\" said Misra. \"An example is credit card transactions. You cannot monitor the whole data set for fraud because the transactions are so varied. You must find some indicative sign, such as a credit card charge in one city to book an airline flight immediately after that same card pays for an Uber in another city. That discrepancy is a signature.\"</p><p>Previous attempts to pinpoint underground mechanical failures never brought reliable success, but Misra found that an unusual combination of three research methods -- supervised machine learning, causal discovery and rapid simulations -- could tackle the problem.</p><p>The supervised machine learning began with lab experiments in which a multipoint sensor system was placed on the surface of a rock and recorded sound wave-transmission measurements through the material as it cracked and finally failed. Computers monitored the information and were taught which data signatures meant initial, intermediate and end-stage damage. One tell-tale signature that repeatedly traveled up and down across the zero point between positive and negative measurements caught the computer\'s attention, once it knew what to look for.</p><p>\"I can only see the color or shape of something with my eyes,\" said Liu. \"But machine learning can pick out so many more characteristics from the data. It picked out those positive and negative turnings, and we used that sign to get further results.\"</p><p>Misra and Liu searched for the causation of each of these turnings to confirm their source. They couldn\'t rely on the computer to complete this step because machine learning is not the best interpreter.</p><p>\"During the heat of the summer, ice cream sales increase and drowning deaths increase,\" said Misra. \"If you use machine learning or simple statistical methods, they might say people are drowning because people eat ice cream. That\'s a correlation. Though they are both related to the summer heat, they are not connected to each other. They each have a different cause. We are looking for causation for these turnings because that\'s when they become meaningful.\"</p><p>Misra and Liu created a workflow that could generate scenarios of various fracture propagations and measured waveforms. Then, they increased the workflow\'s speed to rapidly run up to 20,000 different simulations of possibilities for each event. This allowed the researchers to discover the best cause-and-effect explanations.</p><p>\"We didn\'t control how the discontinuity propagated, so there\'s a lot of randomness,\" said Misra. \"Yet, as the fractures grew, despite the differences in direction or length, results showed a similar increase in amplifications or positive and negative turnings across the zero point in the waveforms. So, this is a definite signature of rock failure, which, to the best of my knowledge, was not known prior to this research.\"</p><p>While the signature discovery is exciting, the project still has several months to go. Misra intends to explore the limits of the data-driven simulations and causal discovery approach. He will also test other methods to see if similar or different results occur.</p><p>\"What we need to do as scientists, as engineers, is to find causality, find causation,\" said Misra. \"We tried a lot of different techniques to discover this signature and its causal relationships. A lot of approaches didn\'t work, but one did. Now we need to find the limits of what it can do.\"</p>','2022-03-31 04:08:36.123665','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Texas A&M University','Finding the specific sound a rock makes when it cracks and breaks seems impossible when surrounded by other subsurface noises. But researchers have now discovered a way to hear and validate that sound.\n',1,27,'<li>Rui Liu, Siddharth Misra. <strong>Monitoring the propagation of mechanical discontinuity using data-driven causal discovery and supervised learning</strong>. <em>Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing</em>, 2022; 170: 108791 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ymssp.2021.108791\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.ymssp.2021.108791</a>\n</li>'),(1777,'Device directs sperm to ‘go against the flow’ to help infertility','device-directs-sperm-to-‘go-against-the-flow’-to-help-infertility','2022-03-31 17:49:56.874714',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The female genital tract can be a hostile environment for conception. Out of about 100 million sperm, only a few hundred make it to the fallopian tubes. Guided by a directional movement called rheotaxis, sperm cells swim against the cervical mucus flow to reach the egg for fertilization. This journey, however, is even more critical when considering infertility. Sperm motility -- the ability to swim the right way -- is key.</p><p>By taking advantage of this natural rheotaxis behavior of sperm, researchers from Florida Atlantic University\'s College of Engineering and Computer Science have developed a microfluidic chip for sperm sorting that is fast, inexpensive, easy to operate and efficiently isolates healthy sperm directly from semen. Importantly, it effortlessly collects sorted sperm cells from the collecting chamber while minimizing contamination by deformed or dead sperm cells.</p><p>Assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination and intracytoplasmic sperm injection all require healthy sperm cells for a successful outcome. Current centrifugation methods for sperm sorting require multiple steps, multiple types of equipment and take about two hours to isolate sperm cells. These methods damage sperm during processing and induce significant DNA fragmentation and oxidative stress.</p><p>Results of the study, published in the journal <em>Analyst</em> of the Royal Society of Chemistry<em>, </em>showed that sperm cells isolated from the collecting chamber in this microfluidic chip exhibited significantly higher motility (almost 100 percent), a higher number of morphologically normal cells and substantially lower DNA fragmentation, which is a crucial parameter for the fertilization process. In addition, the developed chip provides more than enough cells required for a successful intracytoplasmic sperm injection due to the amount and quality of sperm cells isolated using the chip.</p><p>\"Operating our chip is very easy. Once the semen is loaded into the sample inlet chamber, the competent sperm cells start moving against the fluid flow toward the collecting chamber from where they can easily be collected,\" said Waseem Asghar, Ph.D., senior author, an associate professor in FAU\'s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and a member of the FAU Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention (I-Health) and FAU Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE). \"Furthermore, this chip offers a one-step, one-hour operational benefit, which an operator can use with minimal training.\"</p><p>The study also validates that rheotaxis selects the healthy, motile, and higher velocity sperm cells for the fertilization process.</p><p>\"The assembly of the microfluidic chip is low-cost, and the reagents used in the chip to separate sperm cells are only a few milliliters, therefore, the commercial cost of the chip would be less than $5,\" said Asghar. \"Moreover, this technology will considerably reduce the economic burden of fertility implementations and both the chip and the sperm cells isolated from it offer great clinical significance and applicability.\"</p><p>The microfluidic chip consists of four cylindrical chambers that are connected through the microchannels. The four chambers are the fluid inlet chamber, collecting chamber, sample inlet chamber, and waste collection chamber. The channel between the collecting chamber and sample inlet contains microgrooves to guide the sperm cells in addition to the fluid flow for the rheotaxis movement of the sperm cells towards the collecting chamber.</p><p>The shear stress inside the device is generated by fluid flow using a syringe pump. A raw semen sample is then added to the sample inlet chamber from where functional sperm cells will swim towards the collecting chamber, effectively separating themselves from dead and immotile sperm.</p><p>\"Conventional centrifugation often compromises the integrity of sperm cells. This research study demonstrates that the microfluidic chip developed by professor Asghar and his colleagues eliminates this issue,\" said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science. \"This novel technology offers a platform where the sperm cells experience different shear stress in different parts of the chip, which facilitates the isolation of competent sperm cells without impacting their integrity.\"</p><p>In the United States, an estimated 15 percent of couples have trouble conceiving. Globally, approximately 48.5 million couples experience infertility. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 percent of women of childbearing age have used an infertility service. All treatment costs for infertility can range from $5,000 to $73,000. The average patient goes through two IVF cycles, bringing the total cost of this procedure, including medications, between $40,000 and $60,000. An estimated 85 percent of IVF costs are often paid out-of- pocket.</p><p>Study co-authors are Sandhya Sharma and Md. Alam Kabir, Ph.D. candidates in the Asghar Laboratory, Micro and Nanotechnology in Medicine, FAU Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/SuxAZTVEB5Q\">https://youtu.be/SuxAZTVEB5Q</a></p>','2022-03-31 17:49:56.874714','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Florida Atlantic University','Out of about 100 million sperm, only a few hundred make it to the fallopian tubes. A directional movement called rheotaxis, guides sperm cells to swim against the cervical mucus flow to reach the egg for fertilization. Swimming the right way is key, especially for those combating infertility. Using this natural rheotaxis behavior of sperm, researchers have developed a microfluidic chip for sperm sorting that is fast, inexpensive, easy to operate and efficiently isolates healthy sperm directly from semen. Importantly, it effortlessly collects sorted sperm cells from the collecting chamber while minimizing contamination by deformed or dead sperm cells.\n',1,214,'<li>Sandhya Sharma, Md. Alamgir Kabir, Waseem Asghar. <strong>Selection of healthy sperm based on positive rheotaxis using a microfluidic device</strong>. <em>The Analyst</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d1an02311j\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1039/d1an02311j</a>\n</li>'),(1778,'Babies exposed to cannabis in the womb may be at risk for obesity, high blood sugar','babies-exposed-to-cannabis-in-the-womb-may-be-at-risk-for-obesity,-high-blood-sugar','2022-03-31 17:49:59.249634',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Cannabis use among pregnant women is on the rise and may be associated with negative health outcomes in children, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society\'s <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.</em></p><p>A 2016 study in Colorado revealed that up to 22% of pregnant women had detectable levels of cannabinoids in their body. Women who use cannabis, both tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), during pregnancy could be putting their child at risk for low birth weight and behavioral problems. Exposure to cannabinoids may also increase the child\'s future risk of obesity and high blood sugar.</p><p>Part of CBD\'s popularity is that it is marketing as being \"nonpsychoactive,\" and that consumers can reap health benefits from the plant without the high. CBD is advertised as providing relief for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It is also marketed to promote sleep.</p><p>\"We found that cannabis use during pregnancy was linked to increased fat mass percentage and fasting glucose levels in 5-year-old children,\" said Brianna Moore, Ph.D., of the Colorado School of Public Health in Aurora, Colo. \"We would encourage women to refrain from using any cannabis while pregnant or breastfeeding to minimize adverse health effects in the offspring.\"</p><p>The researchers studied urine samples from 103 pregnant women, 15% of whom had detectable levels of cannabinoids (such as THC and CBD) in their urine. These mothers\' 5-year-old children had higher fat mass and fasting glucose levels compared to children who were not exposed to cannabis during pregnancy.</p><p>\"More studies are needed to understand how exposure to different cannabinoids during pregnancy may impact the offspring,\" Moore said.</p><p>Other authors of this study include: Katherine Sauder and Dana Dabelea of the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colo.; Allison Shapiro of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora Colo.; and Tessa Crume and Gregory Kinney of the Colorado School of Public Health in Aurora Colo.</p><p>The study received funding from the National Institutes of Health.</p>','2022-03-31 17:49:59.249634','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Endocrine Society','Cannabis use among pregnant women is on the rise and may be associated with negative health outcomes in children, according to a new study.\n',1,13,'<li>Brianna F Moore, Katherine A Sauder, Allison L B Shapiro, Tessa Crume, Gregory L Kinney, Dana Dabelea. <strong>Fetal Exposure to Cannabis and Childhood Metabolic Outcomes: The Healthy Start Study</strong>. <em>The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgac101\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1210/clinem/dgac101</a>\n</li>'),(1779,'Rising parental expectations linked to perfectionism in college students','rising-parental-expectations-linked-to-perfectionism-in-college-students','2022-03-31 17:50:01.437080',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Rising parental expectations and criticism are linked to an increase in perfectionism among college students, which can have damaging mental health consequences, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.</p><p>Researchers analyzed data from more than 20,000 American, Canadian and British college students. They found that young people\'s perceptions of their parents\' expectations and criticism have increased over the past 32 years and are linked to an increase in their perfectionism.</p><p>\"Perfectionism contributes to many psychological conditions, including depression, anxiety, self-harm and eating disorders,\" said lead researcher Thomas Curran, PhD, an assistant professor of psychological and behavioral science at the London School of Economics and Political Science.</p><p>Study co-author Andrew P. Hill, PhD, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at York St John University, added that \"the pressure to conform to perfect ideals has never been greater and could be the basis for an impending public health issue.\"</p><p>Perfectionism often becomes a lifelong trait and prior research has shown that perfectionists become more neurotic and less conscientious as they get older. Perfectionism also can perpetuate through generations, with perfectionist parents raising perfectionist children.</p><p>Curran and Hill previously found that three types of perfectionism were increasing among young people in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. They suspected that one cause might be that parents are becoming more anxious and controlling, so they analyzed the findings of other published studies in two meta-analyses for this latest piece of research, which published online in the journal <em>Psychological Bulletin</em>.</p><p>The first meta-analysis included 21 studies with data from more than 7,000 college students. Parental expectations and criticism had moderate associations with self-oriented and other-oriented perfectionism and a large association with socially prescribed perfectionism.</p><p>Self-oriented perfectionism involves perfectionist standards about the self. Other-oriented perfectionism is perfectionism turned outward, where someone expects others to be perfectionist. Socially prescribed perfectionism is the perception that other people and society require perfection. The three types of perfectionism overlap and can exacerbate the effects of each other in negative ways.</p><p>Parental expectations had a larger impact than parental criticism on self-oriented and other-oriented perfectionism, so parental expectations may be more damaging than parental criticism.</p><p>\"Parental expectations have a high cost when they\'re perceived as excessive,\" Curran said. \"Young people internalize those expectations and depend on them for their self-esteem. And when they fail to meet them, as they invariably will, they\'ll be critical of themselves for not matching up. To compensate, they strive to be perfect.\"</p><p>Self-oriented perfectionism was higher for American college students than Canadian or British students, possibly because of more intense academic competition in the U.S.</p><p>\"These trends may help explain increasing mental health issues in young people and suggest this problem will only worsen in the future,\" Hill said. \"It\'s normal for parents to be anxious about their children, but increasingly this anxiety is being interpreted as pressure to be perfect.\"</p><p>The second meta-analysis included 84 studies conducted between 1989 and 2021 with a total of 23,975 college students. Parental expectations, criticism and their combined parental pressure increased during those 32 years, with parental expectations increasing at the fastest rate by far.</p><p>\"The rate of increase in young people\'s perceptions of their parents\' expectations is remarkable,\" up an average 40% compared with 1989, Curran said.</p><p>The studies were conducted in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, so the findings can\'t be generalized to other cultures. The research is correlational, so it can\'t prove that rising parental expectations or criticism caused an increase in perfectionism among college students, only that there is a link between them. However, the research suggests troublesome changes over time, according to the researchers.</p><p>So what are parents supposed to do? \"Parents are not to blame because they\'re reacting anxiously to a hyper-competitive world with ferocious academic pressures, runaway inequality and technological innovations like social media that propagate unrealistic ideals of how we should appear and perform,\" Curran said.</p><p>\"Parents are placing excessive expectations on their children because they think, correctly, that society demands it or their children will fall down the social ladder,\" Curran added. \"It\'s ultimately not about parents recalibrating their expectations. It\'s about society -- our economy, education system and supposed meritocracy -- recognizing that the pressures we\'re putting on young people and their families are unnecessarily overwhelming.\"</p><p>Parents can help their children navigate societal pressures in a healthy way by teaching them that failure, or imperfection, is a normal and natural part of life, Curran said. \"Focusing on learning and development, not test scores or social media, helps children develop healthy self-esteem, which doesn\'t depend on others\' validation or external metrics,\" he said.</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:01.437080','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Psychological Association','Rising parental expectations and criticism are linked to an increase in perfectionism among college students, which can have damaging mental health consequences, according to new research.\n',1,171,'<li>Thomas Curran, Andrew P. Hill. <strong>Young people’s perceptions of their parents’ expectations and criticism are increasing over time: Implications for perfectionism.</strong>. <em>Psychological Bulletin</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000347\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1037/bul0000347</a>\n</li>'),(1780,'Researchers outline bias in epidemic research -- and offer new simulation tool to guide future work','researchers-outline-bias-in-epidemic-research----and-offer-new-simulation-tool-to-guide-future-work','2022-03-31 17:50:04.483882',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A team of researchers unpacks a series of biases in epidemic research, ranging from clinical trials to data collection, and offers a game-theory approach to address them, in a new analysis. The work sheds new light on the pitfalls associated with technology development and deployment in combating global crises like COVID-19, with a look toward future pandemic scenarios.</p><p>\"Even today, empirical methods used by epidemic researchers suffer from defects in design and execution,\" explains Bud Mishra, a professor at New York University\'s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the senior author of the paper, which appears in the journal <em>Technology &amp; Innovation</em>. \"In our work, we illuminate common, but remarkably oft-overlooked, pitfalls that plague research methodologies -- and introduce a simulation tool that we think can improve methodological decision-making.\"</p><p>Even in an era when vaccines can be successfully developed in a matter of months, combatting afflictions in ways not imaginable in previous centuries, scientists may still be unwittingly hindered by flaws in their methods.</p><p>In the paper, Mishra and his co-authors, Inavamsi Enaganti and Nivedita Ganesh, NYU graduate students in computer science, explore some standard paradoxes, fallacies, and biases in the context of hypothesizing and show how they are relevant to work aimed at addressing epidemics. These include the Grue Paradox, Simpson\'s Paradox, and confirmation bias, among others:</p><p><strong>The Grue Paradox</strong></p><p>The authors note that research has often been hampered by errors linked to inductive reasoning, falling under what is known as the Grue Paradox. For example, if all emeralds observed during a given period are green, then all emeralds must be green. However, if we define \"grue\" as the property of being green up to a certain period in time and then blue thereafter, inductive evidence supports the conclusion that all emeralds are \"grue\" <em>and</em> supports the conclusion that all emeralds are green, preventing one from reaching a definitive conclusion on the color of emeralds.</p><p>\"While constructing and comparing hypotheses in the context of epidemics, it is vital to identify the temporal dependence of the predicate,\" the authors write. These include hypotheses on the mutation of a virus, inducement of herd immunity, or recurring waves of infection.</p><p><strong>Simpson\'s Paradox</strong></p><p><strong>\"</strong>Simpson\'s Paradox is a phenomenon where trends that are observed in data when stratified into different groups are reversed when combined,\" the authors write. \"This effect has widespread presence in academic literature and notoriously perverts the truth.\"</p><p>For instance, if in a clinical trial 100 subjects undergo Treatment 1 and 100 subjects undergo Treatment 2 with success rates of 40 percent and 37 percent, respectively, one would assume Treatment 1 is more effective. However, if you split these data by genetic markers -- say, Genetic Marker A and Genetic Marker B -- the efficacy of the treatments may yield different results. For example, Treatment 1 may look superior when you look at an aggregated population, but its worth may diminish for certain subgroups.</p><p><strong>Confirmation Bias</strong></p><p>The widely known Confirmation Bias, or the tendency to look for and recall data with greater emphasis when it supports a researcher\'s hypothesis, also plagues epidemic research, the authors note.</p><p>\"This phenomenon can already be seen in the COVID-19 context in the selective marshaling of data to paint a picture that supports popular belief,\" they write. \"For instance, evidence that supports countries practicing strict lockdown and social distancing improves public health has been given more weight than evidence suggesting countries relaxing their measures have a similar reduction in their caseloads. Additionally, other variables that could be as influential as lockdown, but are contextual and varied for different geographies, might have been ignored, such as population density or history of vaccinations.\"</p><p>In addressing these methodological challenges, the team created an open-source Epidemic Simulation platform (Episimmer) that seeks to provide decision support to help answer users\' questions related to policies and restrictions during an epidemic.</p><p>Episimmer, which the researchers tested under several simulated public-health emergencies, performs \"counterfactual\" analyses, measuring what would have happened to an ecosystem in the absence of interventions and policies, thereby helping users discover and hone the opportunities and optimizations they could make to their COVID-19 strategies (Note: The platform\'s python package is available on this page: <a href=\"https://pypi.org/project/episimmer/\">https://pypi.org/project/episimmer/</a> ). These could include decisions such as \"Which days to be remote or in-person\" for schools and workplaces as well as \"Which vaccination routine is more efficient given the local interaction patterns?\"</p><p>\"Faced with a rapidly evolving virus, inventors must experiment, iterate, and deploy both creative and effective solutions while avoiding pitfalls that plague clinical trials and related work,\" says Enaganti.</p><p>The team carried out its research as part of a self-assembled larger multi-disciplinary international research group, dubbed RxCovea, and enabled its tools\' deployment in India as part of Campus-Rakshak program.</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:04.483882','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'New York University','A team of researchers unpacks a series of biases in epidemic research, ranging from clinical trials to data collection, and offers a game-theory approach to address them, in a new analysis. The work sheds new light on the pitfalls associated with technology development and deployment in combating global crises like COVID-19, with a look toward future pandemic scenarios.\n',1,148,'<li>Inavamsi Enaganti, Nivedita Ganesh, Bud (Bhubaneswar) Mishra. <strong>Inventions of Interventions: Data Driven Strategies in Pandemic Research and Control</strong>. <em>Technology &amp; Innovation</em>, 2022; 22 (2): 233 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.21300/22.2.2021.12\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.21300/22.2.2021.12</a>\n</li>'),(1781,'Law enforcement seizures of pills containing fentanyl increased dramatically between 2018-2021, U.S. study finds','law-enforcement-seizures-of-pills-containing-fentanyl-increased-dramatically-between-2018-2021,-u.s.-study-finds','2022-03-31 17:50:09.296267',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Law enforcement seizures of pills containing illicit fentanyl increased dramatically between January 2018 and December 2021, according to a new study. The number of individual pills seized by law enforcement increased nearly 50-fold from the first quarter of 2018 to the last quarter of 2021 and the proportion of pills to total seizures more than doubled, with pills representing over a quarter of illicit fentanyl seizures by the end of 2021. The study also found an increase in the number of fentanyl-containing powder seizures during this time.</p><p>This study was published today in <em>Drug and Alcohol Dependence</em> and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. According to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the United States hit a record high in the number of overdose deaths ever recorded, estimating that nearly 106,000 people died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in October 2021. This rise is largely driven by illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.</p><p>Illicit fentanyl is highly potent, cheaply made and easily transported, making it a profitable narcotic. While people may seek out illicit fentanyl intentionally, many people are not aware that the drug they are using -- including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, or benzodiazepines -- may actually be fentanyl, or has been adulterated or contaminated with fentanyl. Because fentanyl is about 50 times more potent than heroin and a lethal dose may be as small as two milligrams, using a drug that has been laced with fentanyl can greatly increase overdose risk.</p><p>\"An increase in illicit pills containing fentanyl points to a new and increasingly dangerous period in the United States,\" said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. \"Pills are often taken or snorted by people who are more naïve to drug use, and who have lower tolerances. When a pill is contaminated with fentanyl, as is now often the case, poisoning can easily occur.\"</p><p>Illicitly manufactured powder fentanyl has been a known adulterant in drugs since 2013, but the extent that fentanyl is found in counterfeit pills has been largely unknown. To address this question, a team led by Joseph J. Palamar, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and co-investigator on the NIDA-funded National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS), analyzed data on drug seizures by law enforcement. The data were collected between January of 2018 and December of 2021 from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, a grant program aimed at reducing drug trafficking and misuse administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in which the Drug Enforcement Administration and the CDC play an active role.</p><p>Comparing data from the first quarter of 2018 with the last quarter of 2021, the team found that the number of seizures of pills containing fentanyl increased from 68 to 635, and the total number of individual pills seized by law enforcement increased from 42,202 to 2,089,186. Seizures of powder containing fentanyl also increased from 424 to 1,539, and the total weight of powder seized increased from 298.2 kg to 2,416.0 kg.</p><p>Unlike most survey data and surveillance systems which can be lagged for a year or more, HIDTA data are made available quarterly, allowing evaluation in almost real time. HIDTA also distinguish between the presence of fentanyl in pill or powder form. Analyzing these data can therefore help identify trends in availability of illicit substances and act as a type of early warning system to shift public health education or interventional resources more quickly.</p><p>HIDTA data does not differentiate between fentanyl and its analogs, nor estimate the amount of fentanyl present in seized substances; however, given the small amount necessary for an overdose, the authors note that the presence of any fentanyl is an important indicator of overdose risk. People who purchase counterfeit drugs, such as illicit oxycodone, hydrocodone, or benzodiazepines may be at risk for unintentional exposure to fentanyl, which is associated with increased risk of overdose death. Further, people who use these types of pills are less likely to have a tolerance built to opioids, and when coupled with the sedative effects of non-fentanyl opioids or benzodiazepines, may further increase risk of overdose and death.</p><p>\"For the first time we can see this rapid rise in pills adulterated with fentanyl, which raises red flags for increasing risk of harm in a population that is possibly less experienced with opioids,\" said Dr. Palamar. \"We absolutely need more harm reduction strategies, such as naloxone distribution and fentanyl test strips, as well as widespread education about the risk of pills that are not coming from a pharmacy. The immediate message here is that pills illegally obtained can contain fentanyl.\"</p><p>The researchers emphasize that drug seizure rates are not direct measures of actual drug availability. However, the increase in fentanyl-related drug seizures coincides with increasing synthetic opioid-related overdose death rates. These data also corroborate data from the DEA National Forensic Laboratory Information System showing a steady increase in fentanyl seizures in recent years, even across the earlier parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For additional NDEWS research and reports, visit: <a href=\"https://ndews.org/\">https://ndews.org/</a></p><p>\"To address the overdose crisis, you need real-time, high-quality drug surveillance data to inform the public health response,\" said Linda B. Cottler, Ph.D., M.P.H, principal investigator of NDEWS, and last author on the paper. \"Through collecting and sharing data on drug use trends as we do through our NIDA-funded NDEWS, we aim to guide strategies to curb the overdose crisis of today, while also keeping our eye on the horizon to prepare for the problems of tomorrow.\"</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:09.296267','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse','Law enforcement seizures of pills containing illicit fentanyl increased dramatically between January 2018 and December 2021, according to a new U.S. study. The number of individual pills seized by law enforcement increased nearly 50-fold from the first quarter of 2018 to the last quarter of 2021 and the proportion of pills to total seizures more than doubled, with pills representing over a quarter of illicit fentanyl seizures by the end of 2021. The study also found an increase in the number of fentanyl-containing powder seizures during this time.\n',1,203,'<li>Joseph J. Palamar, Daniel Ciccarone, Caroline Rutherford, Katherine M. Keyes, Thomas H. Carr, Linda B. Cottler. <strong>Trends in seizures of powders and pills containing illicit fentanyl in the United States, 2018 through 2021</strong>. <em>Drug and Alcohol Dependence</em>, 2022; 109398 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109398\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109398</a>\n</li>'),(1782,'New study solves mystery of how soft liquid droplets erode hard surfaces','new-study-solves-mystery-of-how-soft-liquid-droplets-erode-hard-surfaces','2022-03-31 17:50:21.874099',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A first-of-its-kind study led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers reveals why liquid droplets have the ability to erode hard surfaces. The discovery could help engineers design better, more erosion-resistant materials.</p><p>Using a newly developed technique, the researchers were able to measure hidden quantities such as the shear stress and pressure created by the impact of liquid droplets on surfaces, a phenomenon that has only ever been studied visually.</p><p>The paper is published in <em>Nature Communications, </em>a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal published by Nature Research.</p><p>Researchers have been studying the impact of droplets for years, from the way raindrops hit the ground to the transmission of pathogens such as COVID-19 in aerosols. It\'s common knowledge that slow-dripping water droplets can erode surfaces over time. But why can something seemingly soft and fluid make such a huge impact on hard surfaces?</p><p>\"There are similar sayings in both eastern and western cultures that \'Dripping water hollows out stone,\'\" explained Xiang Cheng, senior author on the paper and an associate professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. \"Such sayings intend to teach a moral lesson: \'Be persistent. Even if you\'re weak, when you keep doing something continuously, you will make an impact.\' But, when you have something so soft like droplets hitting something so hard like rocks, you can\'t help wondering, \'Why does the drop impact cause any damage at all?\' That question is what motivated our research.\"</p><p>In the past, droplet impact has only been analyzed visually using high-speed cameras. The University of Minnesota researchers\' new technique, called high-speed stress microscopy, provides a more quantitative way to study this phenomenon by directly measuring the force, stress, and pressure underneath liquid drops as they hit surfaces.</p><p>The researchers found that the force exerted by a droplet actually spreads out with the impacting drop -- instead of being concentrated in the center of the droplet -- and the speed at which the droplet spreads out exceeds the speed of sound at short times, creating a shock wave across the surface. Each droplet behaves like a small bomb, releasing its impact energy explosively and giving it the force necessary to erode surfaces over time.</p><p>Besides paving a new way to study droplet impact, this research could help engineers design more erosion-resistant surfaces for applications that must weather the outdoor elements. Cheng and his lab at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities already plan to expand this research to study how different textures and materials change the amount of force created by liquid droplets.</p><p>\"For example, we paint the surface of a building or coat wind turbine blades to protect the surfaces,\" Cheng said. \"But over time, rain droplets could still cause damage via impact. So, our research after this paper is to see if we can reduce the amount of shear stress of droplets, which would allow us to design special surfaces that can mitigate the stress.\"</p><p>In addition to Cheng, the research team included University of Minnesota chemical engineering Ph.D. student Ting-Pi Sun, University of Santiago, Chile Assistant Professor Leonardo Gordillo and undergraduate students Franco Álvarez-Novoa and Klebbert Andrade, and O\'Higgins University, Chile Assistant Professor Pablo Gutiérrez.</p><p>The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.</p><p>Slow-motion video of water droplet impacting sandy surface: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/6n4lsx5aXEQ\">https://youtu.be/6n4lsx5aXEQ</a></p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-31 17:50:21.874099','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Minnesota','A new study shows why liquid droplets have the ability to erode hard surfaces, a discovery that could help engineers design more erosion-resistant materials.\n',1,45,'<li>Ting-Pi Sun, Franco Álvarez-Novoa, Klebbert Andrade, Pablo Gutiérrez, Leonardo Gordillo, Xiang Cheng. <strong>Stress distribution and surface shock wave of drop impact</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29345-x\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29345-x</a>\n</li>'),(1783,'A scaffold with a twist: Cryo-EM reveals the building blocks of poxvirus','a-scaffold-with-a-twist:-cryo-em-reveals-the-building-blocks-of-poxvirus','2022-03-31 17:50:27.452083',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have revealed how poxviruses build their scaffold -- a temporary protein coat that forms and disappears as the virus matures.</p><p>Reporting today in <em>Nature Communications,</em> the scientists revealed the structure of a protein called D13, in near-atomic resolution, and showed how it assembles with other copies of D13 to form scaffold-like structures.</p><p>\"D13 is a key target for research, because if you know how the scaffold is assembled, you can design new drugs that prevent it from forming,\" said Professor Jaekyung Hyun, a former staff scientist in the OIST Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit, and now Assistant Professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. \"If the scaffold can\'t form, then replication of the virus stops.\"</p><p>D13 is a trimer protein, as it is formed from three identical protein chains. Once synthesized, it acts as a scaffold building block for the <em>Vaccinia virus</em> -- a harmless strain developed in the laboratory as a vaccine against smallpox. Researchers now use the <em>Vaccinia virus</em> as a model for all poxviruses.</p><p>\"Smallpox is the most famous and lethal disease caused by a poxvirus, with 1 in 3 infected people dying,\" said Professor Wolf, who leads the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit. \"But while smallpox has been eradicated in the wild, there are fears that it could be used as a bioweapon. Also, numerous other poxviruses still infect humans and livestock, so further research into how these viruses replicate is essential.\"</p><p>The scaffold seen in immature poxviruses is of particular interest to scientists, as the structure differs from the protein coats typically seen in viruses.</p><p>While most viruses have regular and symmetrical structures, poxvirus scaffolds have roughly spherical honeycomb lattices, which vary in shape between each viral particle.</p><p>To determine how these blocks assemble into these spherical honeycomb lattices, the research team used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) -- a technique in which samples are frozen in liquid nitrogen and probed by electrons -- to generate 3D images of both single D13 protein trimers and two connected D13 protein trimers, at the highest resolution seen so far.</p><p>They found that the two proteins joined together with a slight twist between their trimer axes, creating a curve that is key for forming a spherical shape. However, when the team used computer modelling to extend the interaction to multiple D13 proteins, they didn\'t fit together properly.</p><p>\"This told us that there must be at least one other way for the two proteins to interact, that we hadn\'t yet seen,\" said Prof. Hyun.</p><p>The researchers also found that when they compared the single D13 protein to the two D13 proteins joined together, a small helix structure at the end of the protein chains had shifted. Previously, the helix structure was buried deep into the pocket where the two proteins interact, suggesting that its repositioning was critical for the two proteins to connect.</p><p>To explore the role of the helix structure further, the research team made modified D13 proteins and then used cryo-electron tomography to look at how they self-assembled when placed in solution. When a purification tag was added to the helix, the proteins formed spherical structures similar to the immature poxvirus scaffold. And when the helix was completely removed, the researchers were surprised to see the formation of cylindrical tubes.</p><p>Using cryo-EM, the research team were able to capture high-res images of these cylinders and zoom in on the honeycomb structure. They identified a second way for the dimers to interact and found that when they modelled alternating patterns of interaction, the D13 proteins fit together to form the hexagonal honeycomb pattern.</p><p>Both modes of how the proteins interacted required the small helix structure to shift, with the proteins then held together by the attraction between positively and negatively charged amino acids.</p><p>Overall, the researchers proposed that displacement of the helix was essential for forming poxvirus scaffold, and likely acted as a trigger for the assembly to begin.</p><p>\"When the poxvirus replicates inside cells, the scaffold forms in association with a lipid membrane,\" explained Prof. Wolf. \"The helix structure is hydrophobic, which means that it would shift towards to the water-free environment of the lipid membrane, freeing up the pocket where the D13 proteins interact.\"</p><p>The discovery of the helix\'s role in assembly could be a promising new avenue of research for antiviral drug discovery, emphasized Prof. Hyun.</p><p>\"If we can design a drug that binds really strongly into the pocket where the helix usually sits, it would interfere with formation of the scaffold,\" he said. \"This is one of my next goals.\"</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:27.452083','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University','Researchers have revealed how poxviruses build their scaffold - a temporary protein coat that forms and disappears as the virus matures.\n',1,21,'<li>Jaekyung Hyun, Hideyuki Matsunami, Tae Gyun Kim, Matthias Wolf. <strong>Assembly mechanism of the pleomorphic immature poxvirus scaffold</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29305-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29305-5</a>\n</li>'),(1784,'Heart complications after a stroke increase the risk of future cardiovascular events','heart-complications-after-a-stroke-increase-the-risk-of-future-cardiovascular-events','2022-03-31 17:50:29.842654',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People who survive an ischemic stroke are much more likely to develop major heart complications during the first month after their stroke, and, as a result, they also have an increased risk of death, heart attack or another stroke within five years, compared to people who don\'t develop heart problems soon after a stroke, according to new research published today in <em>Stroke,</em> the peer-reviewed, flagship journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.</p><p>Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke -- accounting for 87% of all strokes -- and occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked. After a stroke, people often have cardiovascular complications, known as stroke-heart syndrome. Heart complications include acute coronary syndrome, angina (chest pain), heart rhythm issues such as atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia and ventricular fibrillation; heart attack; heart failure or Takotsubo syndrome (broken heart syndrome), a type of stress-induced temporary enlargement of a part of the heart that impacts its ability to pump effectively. These conditions increase the risk of disability or death in the short term, yet the long-term consequences for people with stroke-heart syndrome is unknown.</p><p>\"We know heart disease and stroke share similar risk factors, and there\'s a two-way relationship between the risk of stroke and heart disease. For example, heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation increase the risk of stroke, and stroke also increases the risk of heart conditions,\" said Benjamin J.R. Buckley, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research fellow in preventive cardiology at the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. \"We wanted to know how common newly diagnosed heart complications are after a stroke and, importantly, whether stroke-heart syndrome is associated with increased risk of long-term major adverse events.\"</p><p>Researchers analyzed the medical records of more than 365,000 adults treated for ischemic stroke at more than 50 health care sites predominantly in the United States, between 2002 and 2021. People who were diagnosed with stroke-heart complications within four weeks after a stroke were matched to an equal number of stroke survivors who did not have these heart complications within four weeks (the control group).</p><p>After adjusting for potential confounding factors, such as age, sex and race/ethnicity, and comparing the stroke survivors who had new heart complications to those who did not, the analysis found:</p><p>\"I was particularly surprised by how common stroke-heart syndrome was and the high rate of recurrent stroke in all subgroups of adults with stroke-heart syndrome\" Buckley said. \"This means that this is a high-risk population where we should focus more secondary prevention efforts.\"</p><p>The study\'s results build on the understanding of the two-way link between the brain and the heart and extend this understanding to long-term health outcomes. \"We are working on additional research to determine how stroke-heart syndrome may be better predicted,\" Buckley said.</p><p>\"We also need to develop and implement treatments to improve outcomes for people with stroke-heart syndrome,\" Buckley said. \"For example, comprehensive exercise-based rehabilitation may be helpful after a stroke, so for people with stroke and newly developed heart complications, it should also be beneficial, maybe even more so. I think this is an interesting area for future research.\"</p><p>Study limitations include that it is a retrospective analysis and knowing whether the heart complications diagnosed following an ischemic stroke were caused by stroke or rather contributed to the stroke, is unclear.</p><p>\"This research underscores why it\'s so important for neurologists and cardiologists to work hand-in-hand with their patients and each other to understand why the first stroke occurred and perform a comprehensive assessment to identify new risk factors for another stroke and for cardiovascular disease that may require initiation of prevention therapies,\" said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., volunteer chair of the American Stroke Association Advisory Committee and the C. Miller Fisher Chair in Vascular Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. \"The American Stroke Association recommends a personalized secondary stroke prevention plan for every stroke survivor.\"</p><p>Co-authors are Stephanie L. Harrison, Ph.D.; Andrew Hill, <a href=\"http://M.B.Ch\">M.B.Ch</a>.B.; Paula Underhill; Deirdre A. Lane, Ph.D.; and Gregory Y.H. Lip, M.D.</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:29.842654','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Heart Association','A large, observational study found that heart complications within one month after an ischemic stroke (blocked blood flow to the brain) are very common. This \'stroke-heart syndrome\' may put stroke survivors at higher risk for death, heart attack or another stroke within five years.\n',1,150,'<li>Benjamin J.R. Buckley, Stephanie L. Harrison, Andrew Hill, Paula Underhill, Deirdre A. Lane, Gregory Y.H. Lip. <strong>Stroke-Heart Syndrome: Incidence and Clinical Outcomes of Cardiac Complications Following Stroke</strong>. <em>Stroke</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.037316\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.037316</a>\n</li>'),(1785,'Married mothers who earn more than their husbands take on an even greater share of the housework, research finds','married-mothers-who-earn-more-than-their-husbands-take-on-an-even-greater-share-of-the-housework,-research-finds','2022-03-31 17:50:32.358239',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While new mothers frequently take on a greater share of housework than their spouses, this effect is even more pronounced in mothers who earn more than fathers, new research from the University of Bath shows.</p><p>Rational economic theory suggests parenthood and the resulting income and time pressure should lead to a more efficient sharing of household chores. However, the study of more than 6,000 heterosexual North American married households revealed this is not the case.</p><p>\"Of course, we understand why specialized division of labour exists, but there is no reason for this specialization to be gender-specific. Traditional division has been conventionally explained by men earning more and working longer hours and has a certain logical appeal,\" said Dr Joanna Syrda of the University\'s School of Management.</p><p>\"However, I found that the gender housework gap actually gets bigger for mothers who earned more than their spouses -- the more they earned over their partner, the more housework they did,\" she said.</p><p>Syrda said the findings might indicate that traditional gender identity norms -- the notion of the \'male breadwinner\' and its association with masculinity -- are so entrenched that couples may try to compensate for a situation where wives earn more than their husbands. She said she was interested to find the effect was stronger in married couples than in unmarried cohabiting parents.</p><p>\"Married couples that fail to replicate the traditional division of income may be perceived -- both by themselves and others -- to be deviating from the norm. What may be happening is that, when men earn less than women, couples neutralise this by increasing traditionality through housework -- in other words, wives do more and husbands do less as they try to offset this \'abnormal\' situation by leaning into other conventional gender norms,\" she said.</p><p>Syrda noted that the economic argument for mothers taking on a greater share of household chores was to free their higher-earning (male) partner up to focus on work and maximise the household\'s standards of living.</p><p>\"We would therefore expect the balance of domestic labour to shift as more women enter the workforce, work longer hours and gain higher salaries -- but that has not been the case! So, we need to look beyond economic theory to this traditionalising effect and couples following traditional gender norms,\" Syrda said.</p><p>Syrda said it was important to recognise that there are some childcare tasks where women have an obvious advantage. However, she noted that the research is about housework defined as \'time spent cooking, cleaning, and doing other work around the house\'.</p><p>\"Therefore, it doesn\'t necessarily follow that this should lead to gender-specific housework division -- if the wife is the relatively higher earner, transition to parenthood shouldn\'t result in a more traditional division of domestic labour as this wouldn\'t improve the household\'s overall quality of life. But this study suggests this is not the case.\"</p><p>Syrda said the study -- \"Gendered Housework: Spousal Relative Income, Parenthood and Traditional Gender Identity Norms\" -- is important for the understanding of a prime source of conflict for many married couples. She pointed to research from the U.S. Institute of Family Studies that found the most common area of contention among spouses with children to be chores and responsibilities, highlighting the clash between the traditional division of labour and the modern reality of high-earning, working mothers.</p><p>Syrda said that previous research showed that the transition to parenthood brought more of a change to the division of labour in couples than any other event, like getting married or having more children. At the same time, her research showed that this appears to strengthen norms regarding gender-typical behaviour or even shift individual gender role attitudes.</p><p>\"This is important, because how couples divide the increased domestic workload after becoming parents will be an important determinant of earnings inequalities between women and men over the course of their lives -- a pattern once settled upon is often difficult to renegotiate. And these norms may be passed to their children,\" she said.</p><p>Syrda reflected that one expectation of the \'gender revolution\' of the 1960s and 1970s was that women\'s increased level of employment and earnings would be accompanied by men\'s greater participation in domestic activities.</p><p>\"Sadly, however, it looks like married men and women -- especially married parents -- have still not equalised the level of housework they perform, leading many of us to wonder how to restart this \'stalled revolution\'?\" she said.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-31 17:50:32.358239','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Bath','While new mothers frequently take on a greater share of housework than their spouses, this effect is even more pronounced in mothers who earn more than fathers, new research shows.\n',1,177,'<li>Joanna Syrda. <strong>Gendered Housework: Spousal Relative Income, Parenthood and Traditional Gender Identity Norms</strong>. <em>Work, Employment and Society</em>, 2022; 095001702110697 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09500170211069780\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1177/09500170211069780</a>\n</li>'),(1786,'Classification of 16 adult sleep patterns based on large-scale sleep analysis','classification-of-16-adult-sleep-patterns-based-on-large-scale-sleep-analysis','2022-03-31 17:50:43.355464',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In recent years, the number of people worldwide who are dissatisfied or anxious about their sleep has been increasing due to the diversification of lifestyles. Simple sleep measurement and quantitative understanding of individual sleep patterns are very important not only in the field of healthcare but also from the medical perspective, such as in the diagnosis of sleep disorders.</p><p>A research group of The University of Tokyo led by Professor Hiroki Ueda (also a Riken team leader) and Machiko Katori, and Assistant Professor Shoi Shi (RIKEN) used ACCEL<sup>(1)</sup>, an original machine learning algorithm developed by their research laboratory, to determine sleep and waking states based on arm acceleration and converted the acceleration data of approximately 100,000 people in the UK Biobank<sup>(2)</sup> into sleep data, which was then analyzed in detail. They found that the sleep patterns of these 100,000 people could be classified into 16 different types.</p><p>The research group first focused on the arm acceleration data of approximately 100,000 people in the UK Biobank. This data was obtained from men and women in their 30s to 60s, mainly in the UK, who were measured for up to 7 days using wristband-type accelerometers. Using an algorithm (ACCEL) they had developed in 2022, the research group generated sleep data<sup>(3)</sup> for approximately 100,000 people from the acceleration data. The obtained sleep data were converted into 21 sleep indicators, and then, using dimension reduction<sup>(4)</sup> and clustering<sup>(5)</sup> methods, the sleep patterns were classified into 8 different clusters. These included clusters related to \"social jet lag\" and clusters characterized by mid-onset awakenings and considered insomnia, enabling the extraction of clusters related to lifestyles and to sleep disorders. Next, in order to examine sleep patterns associated with sleep disorders in more detail, the research group focused on 6 of the 21 sleep indicators, including sleep duration and intermediate waking time, which are known to be closely related to sleep disorders. By applying the same analysis to data where one indicator deviated significantly from general sleep (data in the upper 2.28th percentile or higher or the lower 2.28th percentile or lower<sup> (6) </sup>in the overall distribution), they were able to classify the data into 8 clusters. These included clusters related to morning-types and evening-types. They also identified several clusters associated with insomnia, and were able, along with the clustering using the entire dataset, to classify 7 types of sleep patterns associated with insomnia.</p><p>Thus, by analyzing sleep on a large scale, they have revealed the landscape of human sleep phenotype. This study has made it possible to quantitatively classify clusters related to lifestyle such as \"social jet lag\" and morning/evening types, which are usually difficult to determine with short-term PSG measurements<sup>(7)</sup>, In addition, detailed analysis of outlier and classification of sleep patterns revealed 7 clusters related to insomnia. These clusters are classified based on new indicators differing from conventional methods, and are expected to be useful in the construction of new methods in terms of diagnosing insomnia and proposing treatment methods.</p><p>These results were obtained through the \"Ueda Biological Timing Project,\" ERATO Program funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). In this project, JST develops \"systems biology that contributes to understanding human beings,\" using sleep-wake rhythms as a model system, and aims to understand in human sleep-wake behavior the \"biological time\" information that extends from molecules to individual humans living in society.</p><p>Notes:</p><p>(1) ACCEL : An original sleep determination algorithm developed by the research team. For details, refer to the following paper. \"A jerk-based algorithm ACCEL for the accurate classification of sleep-wake states from arm acceleration\" DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103727</p><p>(2) UK Biobank: A large research database containing genetic and health information on approximately 500,000 British participants. This study uses acceleration data for approximately 100,000 people as well as the linked gender and age data.</p><p>(3) Sleep data: Time-series data with intervals of 30 seconds labeled as sleeping or waking. PSG measurement uses diverse data measured by specialist technicians to create sleep data. In this study, sleep data was obtained by applying ACCEL to accelerometers.</p><p>(4) Dimension reduction method: A method to reduce the number of dimensions of data. This makes it possible to extract important information from the data and to capture the characteristics of the data. In this study, UMAP (Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection) is used.</p><p>(5) Clustering method: A method of classifying data into clusters based on similarities among the data. There are two types of clustering methods: supervised clustering, which uses correct data for clustering, and unsupervised clustering, which does not. In this study, the unsupervised clustering method, DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) is used.</p><p>(6) Upper and lower percentiles:?The value in any given percent when the values are arranged in descending order is called the upper percentile. Conversely, the value in any given percent when the values are listed in ascending order is called the lower percentile. For instance, data above the upper 2.28th percentile or below the lower 2.28th percentile in normal distribution refers to data deviating from the mean by more than twice the standard deviation (2SD).</p><p>(7) Polysomnography (PSG): In PSG measurements, multiple electrodes and sensors are attached to the examinee to measure brain waves, eye movements, respiratory status, and electrocardiogram status. It is currently the most accurate measurement method used to determine human sleep patterns. It is also used to diagnose sleep disorders.</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:43.355464','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Japan Science and Technology Agency','A research group found that the human sleep patterns could be classified into 16 types by combining ACCEL, their original machine learning algorithm for sleep-wake classification, the dimension reduction method and the clustering method. The acceleration data of approximately 100,000 people in the UK Biobank were analyzed in detail, and some life-style-related patterns and insomnia-like patterns were reported.\n',1,27,'<li>Machiko Katori, Shoi Shi, Koji L. Ode, Yasuhiro Tomita, Hiroki R. Ueda. <strong>The 103,200-arm acceleration dataset in the UK Biobank revealed a landscape of human sleep phenotypes</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (12) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116729119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2116729119</a>\n</li>'),(1787,'Scavenger nanoparticles could make fuel cell-powered vehicles a reality','scavenger-nanoparticles-could-make-fuel-cell-powered-vehicles-a-reality','2022-03-31 17:50:48.861952',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago are among a collaborative team that has developed a material that could give fuel cell systems a competitive edge over the battery systems that currently power most electric vehicles.</p><p>In contrast to lithium batteries, fuel cell technology relies on catalyst-driven chemical reactions to create energy. Lithium batteries can typically achieve a range of 100-300 miles on one charge, but they also are vulnerable to the high cost of cathode materials and manufacturing and require several hours to charge. Alternatively, fuel cell systems take advantage of abundant elements such as oxygen and hydrogen and can achieve more than 400 miles on a single charge -- which can be done in under five minutes. Unfortunately, the catalysts used to power their reactions are made of materials that are either too expensive (i.e., platinum) or too quickly degraded to be practical.</p><p>Until now, that is. With the development of the new additive material, scientists can make an inexpensive iron-nitrogen-carbon fuel cell catalyst more durable. When added to the chemical reactions, the additive material protects fuel cell systems from two of its most corrosive byproducts: unstable particles like atoms, molecules or ions called free radicals and hydrogen peroxide.</p><p>Findings from their experiments are reported in the science journal <em>Nature Energy</em>.</p><p>Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the UIC College of Engineering, and colleagues used advanced imaging techniques to investigate the reactions with the material, an additive comprised of tantalum-titanium oxide nanoparticles that scavenge and deactivate the free radicals. The high-resolution imaging of the atomic structures allowed the scientists to define the structural parameters needed for the additive to work.</p><p>\"In our lab, we are able to use electron microscopy to capture highly detailed, atomic-resolution images of the materials under a variety of service conditions,\" said study co-corresponding author Shahbazian-Yassar. \"Through our structural investigations, we learned what was happening in the atomic structure of additives and were able to identify the size and dimensions of the scavenger nanoparticles, the ratio of tantalum and titanium oxide. This led to an understanding of the correct state of the solid solution alloy required for the additive to protect the fuel cell against corrosion and degradation.\"</p><p>Experiments revealed that a solid solution of tantalum and titanium oxide is required and that the nanoparticles should be around five nanometers. The experiments also revealed that a 6-4 ratio of tantalum to titanium oxide is required.</p><p>\"The ratio is the key to the radical scavenging properties of the nanoparticle material and the solid-state solution helped sustain the structure of the environment,\" Shahbazian-Yassar said.</p><p>The experiments showed that when the scavenger nanoparticle material was added to the reactions of fuel cell systems, hydrogen peroxide yield was suppressed to less than 2% -- a 51% reduction -- and current density decay of fuel cells was reduced from 33% to only 3%.</p><p>\"Fuel cells are an attractive alternative to batteries because of their higher driving range, fast recharging capabilities, lighter weight, and smaller volume, provided that we can find more economical ways to separate and store hydrogen,\" Shahbazian-Yassar said. \"In this paper, we report on an approach that gets us much closer to making fuel cell-powered vehicles and other fuel cell technologies a reality.\"</p><p>The U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation and the Maryland Nanocenter supported the research.</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:48.861952','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois Chicago','Engineers have developed a material that could give fuel cell systems a competitive edge over the battery systems that currently power most electric vehicles.\n',1,115,'<li>Hua Xie, Xiaohong Xie, Guoxiang Hu, Venkateshkumar Prabhakaran, Sulay Saha, Lorelis Gonzalez-Lopez, Abhijit H. Phakatkar, Min Hong, Meiling Wu, Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, Vijay Ramani, Mohamad I. Al-Sheikhly, De-en Jiang, Yuyan Shao, Liangbing Hu. <strong>Ta–TiOx nanoparticles as radical scavengers to improve the durability of Fe–N–C oxygen reduction catalysts</strong>. <em>Nature Energy</em>, 2022; 7 (3): 281 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-00988-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41560-022-00988-w</a>\n</li>'),(1788,'Those who ogle also more likely to have harmful attitudes, study finds','those-who-ogle-also-more-likely-to-have-harmful-attitudes,-study-finds','2022-03-31 17:50:59.174184',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research examining \'eye gaze behaviour\' has found that looking at people\'s bodies, rather than their faces, is linked with harmful attitudes towards sexual assault.</p><p>The study, led by ECU psychology researcher Dr Ross Hollett, used eye tracking technology and self-report measures to examine how men and women look at the opposite sex.</p><p>Dr Hollett said an interesting finding was that excessive body gaze is one sign a person is likely to believe women tolerate or invite rough sexual conduct.</p><p>\"Gazing at someone\'s body instead of their face is one form of sexual objectification, or valuing people for their bodies over their minds or personality.</p><p>\"This sexually objectifying gaze behaviour can lead to more harmful attitudes and behaviours,\" he said.</p><p><strong>Where are people looking?</strong></p><p>Eye tracking technology was used to measure the gaze of 167 heterosexual participants towards partially and fully dressed images of men and women.</p><p>Researchers also asked more than 1,000 heterosexual participants to self-report their own body gaze behaviours towards the opposite sex. Participants rated statements such as \"once I notice an attractive man/woman\'s body, I have trouble not looking at it\" and \"no matter where I am, I typically find myself looking at the bodies of men/women.\"</p><p>\"Using eye tracking, we found male participants showed strong preferences for gazing at the bodies of partially and fully dressed women instead of their faces,\" Dr Hollett said.</p><p>\"By contrast, women did not show body gaze preferences for any of the male or female imagery. In fact, they largely showed balanced gaze profiles (similar gaze towards both the head and body), with the exception of a preference to gaze at the heads of fully clothed men.</p><p>\"Men were also more likely to self-report gazing at women\'s bodies more than women self-reported gazing at men\'s bodies.\"</p><p><strong>Attitudes towards sexual assault</strong></p><p>To provide further context, researchers also looked at participants\' relationship status, their responses to statements about whether women invite and/or tolerate sexual assault and whether they themselves have been the victim of a sexual assault.</p><p>Dr Hollett said an important finding was the strong associations between body gaze behaviour and sexual assault attitudes.</p><p>\"Specifically, men who tended to gaze at women\'s bodies were more likely to assume that women invite or tolerate rough sexual conduct. That is, they were more likely to agree with statements like \'women find forced sex a turn on\' and \'women secretly desire to be raped\',\" Dr Hollett said.</p><p><strong>Harmful signals</strong></p><p>Dr Hollett said the research demonstrated that excessive body gaze was an important social signal of potentially harmful attitudes and behaviours.</p><p>\"When we observe someone engaging in excessive body gaze, we can assume they are more likely to agree with certain sexual assault beliefs which might put them at higher risk of being a perpetrator,\" he said.</p><p>\"This study has shown that similar patterns of behaviour emerge when measuring gaze using self-report and eye tracking technology which suggests heterosexuals are largely aware of their gaze habits and possibly use them to communicate sexual interest and intentions to the opposite sex.</p><p>\"Understanding how women and men look at each other is important for explaining and predicting social behaviour, particularly those behaviours that have harmful consequences,\" Dr Hollett said.</p><p>The paper \'Body Gaze as a Marker of Sexual Objectification: A New Scale for Pervasive Gaze and Gaze Provocation Behaviours in Heterosexual Women and Men\' is published in the <em>Journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour</em>.</p>','2022-03-31 17:50:59.174184','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Edith Cowan University','New research examining \'eye gaze behavior\' has found that looking at people\'s bodies, rather than their faces, is linked with harmful attitudes towards sexual assault.\n',1,177,'<li>Ross C. Hollett, Shane L. Rogers, Prudence Florido, Belinda Mosdell. <strong>Body Gaze as a Marker of Sexual Objectification: A New Scale for Pervasive Gaze and Gaze Provocation Behaviors in Heterosexual Women and Men</strong>. <em>Archives of Sexual Behavior</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02290-y\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s10508-022-02290-y</a>\n</li>'),(1789,'Global disparities persist in opioid painkiller access','global-disparities-persist-in-opioid-painkiller-access','2022-03-31 17:51:12.439507',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Global opioid sales increased by an estimated 4% annually from 2015 to 2019, but massive disparities in access to essential pain relief medications persist between countries, finds a study led by UCL researchers.</p><p>Opioid use in some countries in Africa and South America was less than one tenth of 1% of the rates in wealthier countries in North America, Europe and Australia, according to the findings published in <em>The Lancet Public Health</em>.</p><p>Some countries are starting to catch up, as the overall picture is one of gradual geographic convergence in opioid consumption.</p><p>North America has seen a decline in opioid use, likely the result of efforts to reduce inappropriate prescribing to curb deadly opioid misuse, so multiple European countries, led by Switzerland, Germany, and Spain, have surpassed the United States in opioid sales.</p><p>Lead author Dr Wallis Lau (UCL School of Pharmacy) said: \"We found that while there is some improvement in a lot of countries, there are still concerningly low rates of opioid use in large parts of the world, even in numerous middle-income countries.</p><p>\"Opioids have been listed by the World Health Organization as an essential class of medicine for acute pain, cancer-related pain, and palliative care since 1977, so it is troubling that in many parts of the world, people are unable to access this medicine. There is an urgent need to tackle the global gap in opioid access.</p><p>\"Some countries have low opioid analgesic consumption despite a high cancer prevalence, which could suggest inadequate access to opioid analgesics as much-needed pain control.\"</p><p>The researchers analysed the global pharmaceutical sales data of 66 countries or regions from the IQVIA-Multinational Integrated Data Analysis System database on opioid analgesics (painkillers) between 2015 and 2019. This included medications such as morphine and codeine, and included both prescription and over-the-counter medications.</p><p>They found that across the surveyed countries, opioid analgesic sales increased from 27.52 milligram morphine equivalent per 1,000 inhabitants per day in 2015, to 29.51 in 2019.</p><p>The highest rate was found in Canada, at 988 MME per 1,000/day, which had gone down from 1,581 in 2015.</p><p>For comparison, the UK rate was at 639 MME per 1,000/day, a slight decline from 2015.</p><p>At the other end of the scale, a group of 12 West African countries reported only 0.01 MME per 1,000/day, while a few other countries, including three in South America, also reported rates below 1 MME per 1,000/day.</p><p>The researchers say the disparities go beyond factors such as wealth, overall healthcare network quality, or cancer rates, as there are differences in attitudes of doctors and patients towards the use of opioid pain killers. Some relatively wealthy countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia reported very low rates, at 0.79 and 1.24, respectively, while some countries like Kazakhstan reported low rates of opioid consumption (5.4) despite high cancer prevalence or cancer death rates.</p><p>Opioid consumption rates did increase across the study period in most areas that reported low use, including Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America, but not in Africa.</p><p>Joint senior author Professor Ian Wong (UCL School of Pharmacy and University of Hong Kong) said: \"These findings reinforce the need to recognise palliative care and pain relief as a global public health priority. In countries that already have good access to opioid analgesics, it is important to avoid opioid misuse and overprescribing, without leaving patients undertreated.\"</p><p>First author, PhD student Chengsheng Ju (UCL School of Pharmacy) said: \"Our data calls for global policies to improve the integration of palliative care and pain relief provision into healthcare systems, as well as the promotion of end-of-life care education and staff training.\"</p>','2022-03-31 17:51:12.439507','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University College London','Global opioid sales increased by an estimated 4% annually from 2015 to 2019, but massive disparities in access to essential pain relief medications persist between countries, a new study finds.\n',1,153,'<li>Chengsheng Ju, Li Wei, Kenneth K C Man, Zixuan Wang, Tian-Tian Ma, Adrienne Y L Chan, Ruth Brauer, Celine S L Chui, Esther W Chan, Yogini H Jani, Yingfen Hsia, Ian C K Wong, Wallis C Y Lau. <strong>Global, regional, and national trends in opioid analgesic consumption from 2015 to 2019: a longitudinal study</strong>. <em>The Lancet Public Health</em>, 2022; 7 (4): e335 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00013-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00013-5</a>\n</li>'),(1790,'Convalescent plasma can be effective early COVID-19 therapy, study finds','convalescent-plasma-can-be-effective-early-covid-19-therapy,-study-finds','2022-03-31 17:51:17.048762',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The <em>New England Journal of Medicine </em>(NEJM) today published final results of a nationwide multicenter study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that show plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and whose blood contains antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus, is an effective and safe option as an early outpatient treatment for the disease.</p><p>The research showed that high-titer (antibody-rich) COVID convalescent plasma -- when administered to COVID-19 outpatients within nine days after testing positive -- reduced the need for hospitalization for more than half of the study\'s predominantly unvaccinated outpatients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently authorizes this plasma as a treatment option for outpatients with immunocompromising diseases or receiving immunocompromising medications, and for all patients hospitalized with early-stage COVID-19.</p><p>The findings were first presented in a preprint posted to MedRxiv on Dec. 21, 2021. Details of the study, including authors and funding sources, may be found in the Johns Hopkins news release issued at that time (<a href=\"https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/early-use-of-convalescent-plasma-may-help-outpatients-with-covid-19-avoid-hospitalization\">https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/early-use-of-convalescent-plasma-may-help-outpatients-with-covid-19-avoid-hospitalization</a>).</p><p>\"Based on our findings and conclusions -- which are now validated through the peer-review process -- we encourage health care professionals to keep SARS-CoV-2 antibody-rich blood plasma available in their blood banks as part of the treatment arsenal against early-stage COVID-19,\" says study co-lead author David Sullivan, M.D., professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a joint appointment in infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.</p><p>\"We believe that the best role for convalescent plasma is extending its use to early outpatient treatment when other therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies or drugs, are either not readily available -- as in low- and middle-income countries -- or ineffective, as with SARS-CoV-2 variants that are resistant to certain monoclonal antibodies,\" Sullivan adds.</p><p>In the outpatient early-treatment study conducted between June 2020 and October 2021, the researchers provided 1,181 randomized patients with one dose each of either polyclonal high-titer convalescent plasma (containing a concentrated mixture of antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2) or placebo control plasma (with no SARS-CoV-2 antibodies). The patients were 18 and older, and had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 within eight days prior to transfusion. A successful therapy was defined as a patient not requiring hospitalization within 28 days after plasma transfusion.</p><p>The study found that 17 patients out of 592 (2.9%) who received the convalescent plasma required hospitalization within 28 days of their transfusion, compared with 37 out of 589 (6.3%) who received placebo control plasma. This translated to a relative risk reduction for hospitalization of 54%.</p><p>Timing of the convalescent plasma transfusion also is critical: \"The earlier the better,\" the researchers say.</p><p>\"Based on the findings of an analysis in the new paper that wasn\'t available when the preprint was posted, we found that if convalescent plasma is given within five days after diagnosis, the effectiveness at reducing hospitalization approximated 80%,\" says Sullivan.</p><p>\"We concluded that these results strongly support high-titer SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma as an effective early treatment for COVID-19 with advantages such as low cost, wide availability and rapid resilience to the virus\'s evolving variants,\" says study co-lead author Kelly Gebo, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.</p><p>The next step, the researchers say, is to make convalescent plasma for the outpatient treatment of COVID-19 easier to use, more efficiently administered and more accessible to those who might need it. As part of that effort, they have provided clinicians with a guide for implementing a plasma transfusion center for outpatients with COVID-19, including logistical, staffing and blood banking requirements. The guide appears in a paper published March 29, 2022, in the journal <em>Transfusion</em>.</p><p>The team also continues to seek more understanding of what else convalescent plasma can do for outpatients with COVID-19. A soon-to-be published study will look at the ability of plasma to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants, including delta and omicron, despite no previous donor exposure to those viruses.</p><p>Since the study findings were first announced last December, there have been three developments supporting the use of convalescent plasma for early-stage COVID-19:</p><p>\"These recent acknowledgements of high-titer convalescent plasma\'s benefit in treating early-stage COVID-19 -- in conjunction with our peer-reviewed findings and our new guide for more effective administration of the treatment -- provide clinicians with an additional option for outpatients,\" Gebo says.</p>','2022-03-31 17:51:17.048762','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','Research shows that high-titer (antibody-rich) COVID convalescent plasma -- when administered to COVID-19 outpatients within nine days after testing positive -- reduced the need for hospitalization for more than half of a study\'s predominantly unvaccinated outpatients.\n',1,27,'<li>David J. Sullivan, Kelly A. Gebo, Shmuel Shoham, Evan M. Bloch, Bryan Lau, Aarthi G. Shenoy, Giselle S. Mosnaim, Thomas J. Gniadek, Yuriko Fukuta, Bela Patel, Sonya L. Heath, Adam C. Levine, Barry R. Meisenberg, Emily S. Spivak, Shweta Anjan, Moises A. Huaman, Janis E. Blair, Judith S. Currier, James H. Paxton, Jonathan M. Gerber, Joann R. Petrini, Patrick B. Broderick, William Rausch, Marie-Elena Cordisco, Jean Hammel, Benjamin Greenblatt, Valerie C. Cluzet, Daniel Cruser, Kevin Oei, Matthew Abinante, Laura L. Hammitt, Catherine G. Sutcliffe, Donald N. Forthal, Martin S. Zand, Edward R. Cachay, Jay S. Raval, Seble G. Kassaye, E. Colin Foster, Michael Roth, Christi E. Marshall, Anusha Yarava, Karen Lane, Nichol A. McBee, Amy L. Gawad, Nicky Karlen, Atika Singh, Daniel E. Ford, Douglas A. Jabs, Lawrence J. Appel, David M. Shade, Stephan Ehrhardt, Sheriza N. Baksh, Oliver Laeyendecker, Andrew Pekosz, Sabra L. Klein, Arturo Casadevall, Aaron A.R. Tobian, Daniel F. Hanley. <strong>Early Outpatient Treatment for Covid-19 with Convalescent Plasma</strong>. <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2119657\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1056/NEJMoa2119657</a>\n</li>'),(1791,'Making physics instruction more equitable','making-physics-instruction-more-equitable','2022-03-31 17:51:32.548420',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">More equitable approaches to physics instruction are necessary, because the field has recognized many ways in which traditional approaches to instruction are inadequate for students of color or women. Part of this issue stems from physics teachers often being unsure how to begin making physics more equitable.</p><p>In <em>The Physics Teacher</em>, copublished by AIP Publishing and American Association of Physics Teachers, researchers from the University of Washington and Florida State University explore the goal of culturally relevant pedagogy, developed by Gloria Ladson-Billings, which is to center students\' cultural resources as a bridge to learning.</p><p>When they delved into the efforts of one physics teacher in particular, a Black woman who was successfully using the framework of culturally relevant pedagogy to attract students of color into physics and helping them thrive, they were in for a surprise.</p><p>\"While some of her efforts revolved around lesson plans, we also learned culturally relevant pedagogy isn\'t just about how teachers instruct,\" said Clausell Mathis, from the University of Washington and a co-author on the study. \"It also shapes extra-instructional factors, such as developing relationships with students, encouraging them to succeed, and the willingness to acknowledge and help students make sense of sociopolitical concerns that influence their lives.\"</p><p>Teachers who adopt culturally relevant pedagogy \"attempt to bridge students\' home and school life, in our case, within the realm of physics,\" said Mathis. \"The framework consists of three pillars: academic excellence, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. It also calls for teachers to explore their own conceptions of self and others, knowledge, and social relations.\"</p><p>Culturally relevant pedagogy encourages teachers to push their students toward using what they learn within the classroom to challenge injustices in society. For example, teachers introduce sociopolitical topics such as environmental issues, like global warming and fossil fuels, or mechanical issues, like energy efficiency or the damaging infrastructure of bridges.</p><p>\"Our case study taught us that even physics teachers must be willing to address issues such as racism, classism, sexism, and other issues to support their students,\" said Mathis. \"We ultimately want teachers to help students use what is learned within the classroom as a tool for creating positive change in society.\"</p><p>Mathis and Sherry Southerland, from Florida State University and another co-author, said students bring a wealth of resources into classrooms that can be fruitful for teachers to use toward helping them achieve productive learning.</p><p>\"Culturally relevant pedagogy in physics draws and influences far more than simply the activities or topics teachers select for instruction,\" said Mathis. \"It also requires teachers to develop relationships with their students, get to know them as people -- not just physics learners -- and be willing to step outside of physics at times to help them navigate vexing events in their lives.\"</p><p>These investments in students can be invaluable in turning classrooms into places where students recognize their worth.</p><p>\"Hopefully, our research will be useful for teachers interested in making their physics classrooms and teaching more equitable -- where all students, particularly students of color, are supported in learning physics,\" said Mathis. \"And also show how classrooms can really empower students to use physics to understand their community and societal issues, and then go work to make the world more equitable and just.\"</p>','2022-03-31 17:51:32.548420','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Institute of Physics','In The Physics Teacher, researchers explore the goal of culturally relevant pedagogy, which is to center students\' cultural resources as a bridge to learning. It relies on a framework of academic excellence, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness and encourages teachers to push their students toward using what they learn within the classroom to challenge injustices in society. These investments in students can be invaluable in turning classrooms into places where students recognize their worth.\n',1,68,'<li>Clausell Mathis, Sherry Southerland. <strong>Our Shifting Understandings of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Physics</strong>. <em>The Physics Teacher</em>, 2022; 60 (4): 260 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/5.0027583\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1119/5.0027583</a>\n</li>'),(1792,'Apples and other fruits can host drug-resistant, pathogenic yeasts on surfaces, study finds','apples-and-other-fruits-can-host-drug-resistant,-pathogenic-yeasts-on-surfaces,-study-finds','2022-03-31 19:46:50.070221',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When they\'re prepared for transport, apples and other fruits are often treated with a fungicide to prevent spoilage and extend shelf life. The practice preserves freshness, but it may be a double-edged sword: They may help select and boost the transmission of pathogenic yeasts that are multi-drug resistant. A study published this week in <em>mBio,</em> an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, offers new evidence for that idea.</p><p>Previous studies have examined the effect of fungicides on the human pathogen <em>Aspergillus fumigatus</em>, said mycologist Anuradha Chowdhary, M.D., Ph.D, at the University of Delhi, but the new work focuses on drug-resistant strains of <em>Candida auris</em>, a pathogenic yeast that spreads quickly in hospitals and has been isolated from nature. Fungicides used in agriculture may inadvertently select the drug resistant fungi, Chowdhary said.</p><p>She and her collaborators screened the surfaces of 84 fruits, representing 9 different tree fruit types, for pathogenic <em>C. auris</em> and other yeasts. The fruits were collected in 2020 and 2021 from areas of northern India and included 62 apples -- 20 picked in orchards and 42 purchased from a market in Delhi. Each fruit species hosted at least 1 type of yeast.</p><p>The scientists focused on the apples. They found drug-resistant strains of <em>C. auris</em> on a total of 8 apples (13%) and used whole genome sequencing to identify 16 distinct colonies. The apples included 5 \'Red Delicious\' and 3 \'Royal Gala\' varieties. All 8 of those apples had been stored before purchase, and none of the freshly-picked apples hosted<em> <em>C. auris</em>.</em></p><p>The group found other Candida strains on the packed apples, said microbiologist Jianping Xu, Ph.D, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Xu co-led the study with Chowdhary.</p><p><em>C. auris</em> is resistant to many drugs. It was first identified in 2009 in Japan, and since then it has emerged in or spread to all inhabited continents. Researchers have been investigating how the pathogen originates and spreads. \"We still don\'t really understand the forces that drive the simultaneous emergence of multiple distinct genetic clusters of <em>C. auris</em>,\" Xu said. A study led by Chowdhary and Xu published last year in mBio was the first to isolate <em>C. auris</em> from a natural environment, the marshes and sandy beaches of a natural coastal ecosystem in the Andaman Islands, India.</p><p>The new findings suggest the apples could be a selective force for the pathogen, and help it to spread. Although the study focused on fruits collected from northern India, Xu pointed out that the spread of <em>C. auris</em> is not an Indian-specific phenomenon. It\'s a global menace: In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified <em>C. auris</em> as 1 of 5 pathogens that pose an urgent threat to public health worldwide. To figure out how to respond to the pathogen\'s threat to humans, researchers need to know how it travels through other natural systems.</p><p>\"When we look at human pathogens, we tend to look at what\'s immediate to us,\" Xu said. \"But we have to look at it more broadly. Everything is connected, the whole system. Fruit is just 1 example.\"</p><p>Fungi are an important part of the environment, and Chowdhary said the new study shows how the environment, animals and humans are all connected -- the central tenet in the concept of One Health. \"The One Health concept warrants continuous efforts and our attention in preventing the transmission of infections,\" she said.</p>','2022-03-31 19:46:50.070221','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Society for Microbiology','Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission. Those pathogens include Candida auris, a drug-resistant pathogenic yeast found in stored apples in a recent study.\n',1,203,'<li>Anamika Yadav, Kusum Jain, Yue Wang, Kalpana Pawar, Hardeep Kaur, Krishan Kumar Sharma, Vandana Tripathy, Ashutosh Singh, Jianping Xu, Anuradha Chowdhary. <strong>Candida auris on Apples: Diversity and Clinical Significance</strong>. <em>mBio</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00518-22\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1128/mbio.00518-22</a>\n</li>'),(1793,'How is haze formed?','how-is-haze-formed?','2022-03-31 19:47:34.944157',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Haze is formed when a cocktail of various gaseous pollutants is oxidized and forms particulate matter diffusing sunlight. This process is mainly mediated by hydroxyl radicals (OH), and researchers have now discovered a new route to their formation. This newly discovered radical-building mechanism could also offer new perspectives for air purification and the energy industry, as the study published in <em>Angewandte Chemie</em> shows.</p><p>Haze consists of fine particulate matter containing soot. It is formed when gaseous pollutants, which are from industrial emissions, vehicle exhausts, and other sources, are converted to condensable matter. \"This condensation is remarkably accelerated under the action of OH radicals,\" says Joseph S. Francisco from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA, who is co-author of the study.</p><p>The commonly known sources for OH radicals, such as nitrogen oxide and ozone, only partly account for the vast haze events which keep occurring in haze-afflicted regions such as the megacities of East and South Asia.</p><p>In a cooperation, the teams of Hong He at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiao Cheng Zeng at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, and Francisco have now taken a closer look at the chemical activity of soot particles. Soot originates from diesel engine exhaust fumes or is spread by slash-and-burn practices or forest fires. However, to date, soot particles consisting of uncombusted carbon have been considered more as a sink of hydroxyl radicals, rather than a source.</p><p>Despite this, Francisco and the team\'s new experiments showed that soot particles can produce OH radicals if air and water vapor are blown over the particles while being irradiated with light.</p><p>It was expected, though, that hydroxyl species formed in this process would not leave the surface of the soot and would quickly react again. However, energy calculations showed that the hydroxyl exhibited \"roaming-like features,\" as the authors stated it: they migrated over the surface, ultimately leaving it.</p><p>The results of their study led the team to the conclusion that soot particles play an active role in smog formation. But the researchers aren\'t stopping there: since it seems that light radiation is sufficient to decompose water molecules into radicals, this material could potentially be used to develop metal-free carbocatalysts. Such soot-based catalysts could either help purify the air from pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or they could be used to generate chemical energy from light energy. This could pave the way for an environmentally friendly form of artificial photosynthesis.</p>','2022-03-31 19:47:34.944157','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Wiley','Haze is formed when a cocktail of various gaseous pollutants is oxidized and forms particulate matter diffusing sunlight. This process is mainly mediated by hydroxyl radicals (OH), and researchers have now discovered a new route to their formation. This newly discovered radical-building mechanism could also offer new perspectives for air purification and the energy industry, as the study shows.\n',1,45,'<li>Guangzhi He, Jinzhu Ma, Biwu Chu, Renzhi Hu, Hao Li, Meng Gao, Yuan Liu, Yonghong Wang, Qingxin Ma, Pinhua Xie, Guoxian Zhang, Xiao Cheng Zeng, Joseph S. Francisco, Hong He. <strong>Generation and Release of OH Radicals from the Reaction of H<sub>2</sub>O with O<sub>2</sub> over Soot</strong>. <em>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202201638\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/anie.202201638</a>\n</li>'),(1794,'Men with high blood pressure have a biased recognition of other people’s anger','men-with-high-blood-pressure-have-a-biased-recognition-of-other-people’s-anger','2022-03-31 19:47:36.599092',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Men with high blood pressure have a biased recognition of other people\'s anger, as shown in a new study.</p><p>Hypertension is a disease. However, in the majority of cases, there is no clear medical explanation, referred to as \"essential hypertension.\" Could psychological factors play a role? In this context, Konstanz biological health psychologists Alisa Auer and Professor Petra Wirtz conducted a study in male participants over several years together with colleagues from Konstanz (Germany) and Switzerland. The researchers wanted to better understand the psychobiosocial mechanisms in hypertension, since previous work in this area has left many questions open.</p><p>In an article published in the <em>Annals of Behavioral Medicine</em> on 22nd March 2022, they show that compared to a healthy control group, men with essential hypertension more often recognized angry expressions when they looked into the faces of others. In addition, this anger recognition bias seems to contribute to blood pressure increases over time if someone tends to frequently and intensively experience anger. This tendency is called \"trait anger.\"</p><p><strong>Recognition of mixed emotions</strong></p><p>In their study in 145 hypertensive and normotensive men, researchers presented different pictures of people who were angry. However, the pictures did not just display anger alone, but combined anger with one of three other emotions: fear, happiness, and sadness. The background for this approach is that, in everyday life, people\'s faces rarely show just one emotion. Mixed emotions are more prevalent. Each of the computer-morphed pictures showed two emotions with varying affect intensities. Participants were asked which emotion they saw in the pictures.</p><p>\"Hypertensive men recognized anger more often than any other emotion,\" Alisa Auer says. \"So, they overrated anger displayed in other people\'s faces as compared to our healthy control group.\" Petra Wirtz adds: \"Overrating anger displayed by other persons seems to affect whether high \'trait anger\' contributes to blood pressure increases over time.\" Hence, interpersonal factors seem to play a role in essential hypertension. The expectation of associations between hypertension and social aspects was one of the reasons why the study was supported by the Cluster of Excellence \"Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour.\"</p><p><strong>Improving treatment of essential hypertension </strong></p><p>Auer and Wirtz hope that their results will be examined and confirmed by other researchers. \"Then, a next step would be to offer people with essential hypertension a more targeted support,\" says Alisa Auer, who is currently completing her doctorate in Psychology. Auer is thinking of \"therapeutic treatments that address a person\'s perception of social environments in order to protect them from other people´s anger.\"</p><p>Such therapeutic interventions would be important, because blood pressure lowering medication only treats the consequences of hypertension, but does not address potential causes. In addition, hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In 2020, as in previous years, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) listed cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in Germany. \"338,001 deaths, or more than one third of all deaths (34%), can be attributed to cardiovascular disease,\" Destatis reports. Cardiovascular disease is especially deadly for older people: 93% of those who died of cardiovascular disease were 65 years or older.</p><p>What about women? The researchers hope that future studies will include women. Since women may possibly differ in their emotion recognition from men and as fewer women suffer from hypertension, the study initially focused on men.</p>','2022-03-31 19:47:36.599092','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Konstanz','Men with high blood pressure have a biased recognition of other people\'s anger, as shown in a new study.\n',1,127,'<li>Alisa Auer, Roland von Känel, Ilona Lang, Livia Thomas, Claudia Zuccarella-Hackl, Cathy Degroote, Angelina Gideon, Roland Wiest, Petra H Wirtz. <strong>Do Hypertensive Men Spy With an Angry Little Eye? Anger Recognition in Men With Essential Hypertension - Cross-sectional and Prospective Findings</strong>. <em>Annals of Behavioral Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaab108\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/abm/kaab108</a>\n</li>'),(1795,'Researchers identify new targets for immunotherapy in colon cancer','researchers-identify-new-targets-for-immunotherapy-in-colon-cancer','2022-03-31 19:47:38.261996',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Colon cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Particularly in advanced stages of disease, the treatment still largely relies on traditional chemotherapy. The new generation of cancer treatments, so-called immunotherapies, has only been effective in a small subgroup of colon cancers. TU Dresden scientists led by Prof. Sebastian Zeissig have now identified proteins that are promising targets for new immunotherapies against colon cancer. Their results also underline the central role of intestinal bacteria in the development of colon cancer. The study was published in the journal<em> Immunity </em>on March 31, 2022.</p><p>Our bodies can naturally clear cancerous cells. Every day our immune system may detect mutated cells in our bodies and destroy them. Once in a while though, cancerous cells can find a way to hide from the immune system. The cells develop molecular signals that block immune cells from recognizing them as a threat. This, among other strategies, allows cancer cells to multiply and grow into tumors. Understanding the molecular mechanism of this process allowed for the development of new cancer treatments, the so-called immunotherapies. These treatments can unleash the patient\'s immune system to target the tumor and limit its growth.</p><p>Unfortunately, current immunotherapies are not effective for all types of cancers. Most cases of colon cancer, one of the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer, do not respond to these treatments. Now, a team of researchers from TU Dresden described a new pathway that lets colon cancer hide from the immune system. Their results provide a potential first step towards the development of a new generation of immunotherapies.</p><p><strong>How Colon Cancer Hides from the Immune System</strong></p><p>Inhibition of immune cells is carried out by special signals present on the surface of cancer cells. \"These signals are known as checkpoint proteins,\" says Prof. Sebastian Zeissig from the University Hospital Dresden and the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) at TU Dresden who led the research team. Current immunotherapies use drugs called checkpoint inhibitors to target a small set of known checkpoint proteins. Unfortunately, this approach had only a very limited impact on colon cancer growth. \"This raised the question of whether there are other checkpoint proteins that may represent more promising targets for immunotherapy in colon cancer,\" says Dr. Kenneth Peuker, author of the study.</p><p>Researchers analyzed colon cancer samples and looked for signal proteins present in tumor cells but not in the healthy tissue. Two proteins caught their attention. CB7H3 and B7H4 were present in large number in colon cancer cells while almost undetectable in the healthy tissue.</p><p>\"We decided to block B7H3 and B7H4 in colon cancer cells,\" says Dr. Peuker. \"The result was startling. Tumor tissue in which these signals were disabled showed significantly slowed growth or even shrinking. We have observed that now the immune cells could invade the cancer tissue and started to control tumor cells.\" Additional tests confirmed that the B7H3 and B7H4 proteins are indeed working as checkpoint proteins. \"Blocking these signals suddenly allowed immune system to attack tumor cells,\" adds Prof. Zeissig.</p><p>Scientists found B7H3 and B7H4 to be present not only in the primary colon cancer tumors but also in their metastases in the liver. Turning these proteins off slowed the growth of the primary tumors but also their liver metastases. The team observed that some of the treated mice survived long-term despite having metastatic tumors.</p><p><strong>Runaway Bacteria Block Immune Responses</strong></p><p>The team characterized a broad cascade of events that allows colon cancer to develop its ability to block immune cells. They were able to show that breaking the intestinal barrier is a crucial step in the process. When the intestinal barrier breaks at sites of tumor development, bacteria that are normally present in the intestine can suddenly enter the surrounding tissue. This is considered an important early event in the development of colon cancer. Now, Prof. Zeissig\'s team could show that these bacterial runaways serve as an initial trigger for the colon cancer cells to hide from the immune system.</p><p>\"We found that cells present in the tissue can detect the invading bacteria. This, in turn, activates a full cascade of steps. The resulting molecular communication between the cells eventually leads the cancer cells to project B7H3 and B7H4 on their surface and hide from the immune system,\" says Dr. Peuker.</p><p>The team could show that using broad-spectrum antibiotics to destroy the invading intestinal bacteria also reduced the tumor size and decreased the extent of liver metastases. \"Our results provide a new link between microbiota and tumor growth in colon cancer. We would like to focus more on this angle in the future,\" says Prof. Zeissig.</p><p><strong>A Step Closer to New Colon Cancer Immunotherapies</strong></p><p>The results of the new study come predominantly from research in mice but offer a promising outlook for future cancer therapies for humans. \"Our analyses of human samples showed that B7H3 and B7H4 are also present in human colon cancer cells and that their presence correlates with poorer outcomes of colon cancer patients. These proteins are also barely detectable in healthy tissues in humans which suggests that their targeting may be safe,\" says Prof. Zeissig.</p><p>\"We hope that our work will serve as a foundation for new studies that address the efficacy of targeting of B7H3 and B7H4 in human colon cancer in the future,\" adds Prof. Zeissig.</p>','2022-03-31 19:47:38.261996','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Technische Universität Dresden','Scientists identify a pathway of immune cell inhibition that may provide the basis for novel approaches to immunotherapy of colon cancer. Their results also highlight important roles of the intestinal microbiota in the development of the disease.\n',1,19,'<li>Kenneth Peuker, Anne Strigli, Daniele V.F. Tauriello, Alexander Hendricks, Witigo von Schönfels, Greta Burmeister, Mario Brosch, Alexander Herrmann, Sandra Krüger, Jessica Nitsche, Lea Južnić, Marc Marius Geissler, Andreas Hiergeist, André Gessner, Jakob Wirbel, Ruby Priyadarshini Ponnudurai, Antje Tunger, Rebekka Wehner, Daniel E. Stange, Jürgen Weitz, Daniela E. Aust, Gustavo B. Baretton, Marc Schmitz, Christoph Röcken, Jochen Hampe, Sebastian Hinz, Georg Zeller, Triantafyllos Chavakis, Clemens Schafmayer, Eduard Batlle, Sebastian Zeissig. <strong>Microbiota-dependent activation of the myeloid calcineurin-NFAT pathway inhibits B7H3- and B7H4-dependent anti-tumor immunity in colorectal cancer</strong>. <em>Immunity</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2022.03.008\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.immuni.2022.03.008</a>\n</li>'),(1796,'Structure of a bacterial \'drug pump\' reveals new way to counter hospital-borne infection','structure-of-a-bacterial-\'drug-pump\'-reveals-new-way-to-counter-hospital-borne-infection','2022-03-31 19:47:41.933810',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">By revealing the structure of a protein used by bacteria to pump out antibiotics, a research team designed an early-stage therapeutic that sabotages the pump and restores the effectiveness of antibiotics.</p><p>Led by researchers from New York University, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and NYU Langone\'s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, the new study used advanced microscopy to \"see\" for the first time the structure of NorA, a protein that the bacterial species <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> uses to pump out widely used antibiotics before they can kill them.</p><p>Efflux pumps represent one mechanism by which <em>S. aureus</em> has evolved resistance to fluoroquinolones, a group of more than 60 approved antibiotics that includes norfloxacin (Noroxin), levofloxacin (Levaquin), and ciprofloxacin (Cipro). Fluoroquinolones are now ineffective against some drug-resistant bacterial strains, including methicillin-resistance <em>S. aureus</em> (MRSA), a major cause of death among hospitalized patients when infections become severe, the researchers say. For this reason, the field has sought to design efflux pump inhibitors, but early attempts have been hindered by side effects.</p><p>\"Instead of trying to find a new antibiotic, we hope to make the most widely used antibiotics over the last few decades, rendered ineffective by bacterial resistance, highly effective again,\" says first study author Doug Brawley, PhD. He completed his doctoral thesis in the laboratories of senior authors Nate Traaseth, PhD, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at New York University, and Da-Neng Wang, PhD, a professor in the Department of Cell Biology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.</p><p><strong>Antibodies to the Rescue</strong></p><p>Published online March 31 in the journal <em>Nature Chemical Biology</em>, the study builds on advances in antibody technology development in recent years. Invading bacteria trigger the body\'s immune system to make many slightly different antibodies, proteins shaped to attach to and neutralize specific invaders.</p><p>For the current study, the research team used antibodies to overcome a challenge that had kept the structure of NorA from being analyzed. Brawley worked for years to fine-tune the expression and purification conditions needed for this analysis, but the NorA molecule is compact and barely detectable even with advanced cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM).</p><p>As a solution, the researchers screened a large collection of synthetic antibodies -- assembled by the lab of senior study author Shohei Koide, PhD, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine -- to find the ones that attached most tightly to NorA. By attaching the antibodies to NorA, the team effectively doubled the size of the molecule, which enhanced the cryo-EM images and revealed the NorA pump\'s structure for the first time.</p><p>The work also revealed the site where the team\'s lead antibody docked into NorA, like a key into a lock. The team was surprised to find that the place where this antibody fit into NorA was the same place that NorA latches onto and removes antibiotics. These observations suggested that the antibody could block the pump, enable antibiotics to remain inside bacterial cells, and interfere with bacterial growth.</p><p>From the cryo-EM structure, the team also realized that the part of the antibody most deeply embedded in NorA\'s binding cavity was a short, looping peptide, a segment of protein building blocks. \"We became excited that an isolated peptide corresponding to the loop by itself might inhibit NorA,\" says Traaseth. The team found that this peptide (termed NPI-1) functioned as an efflux pump inhibitor (EPI) and reduced antibiotic-resistant <em>S. aureus </em>growth in dishes with nutrients (cultures) by more than 95 percent at high concentrations when combined with the antibiotic norfloxacin.</p><p>The structural analysis also showed that the EPI had many interactions with protein building blocks in the structural pocket where NorA attaches to antibiotic molecules. \"This makes it highly unlikely that bacteria could develop resistance to such a treatment, because they would have to randomly evolve to somehow defeat the EPI without taking away the ability of the efflux pump site to grab antibiotics,\" says Wang.</p><p>Moving forward, the team is working to improve the design of their EPI. Each residue of NPI-1 can be optimized for greater potency and to reduce any potential side effect, say the authors. Their strategy for developing synthetic antibodies to NorA-like efflux pumps may help to discover EPIs against other pathogens known to depend on pumps, which include<em> Streptococcus pneumonia</em> and <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis.</em></p><p>\"The discovery of this new way to inhibit MRSA demonstrates that five labs from four departments -- with complementary expertise in structural biology, protein engineering, peptide chemistry, and microbiology -- can collaborate to accomplish what none could alone,\" adds Koide.</p><p>Along with Brawley, Traaseth, Wang, and Koide, authors of the study were David Sauer and Jinmei Song of the Department of Cell Biology; Jianping Li, Ganesh Jedhe, Tiffany Suwatthee, and Paramjit Arora of the Department of Chemistry; Xuhui Zheng and Victor Torres in the Department of Microbiology, Akiko Koide in the Department of Medicine, and Zheng Liu in the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility.</p><p>This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01AI165782, R01AI108889, R01NS108151, R01GM121994, R01DK099023, R01AI099394, R01AI105129, R01AI137336, R01AI140754, R21AI149350, R35GM130333, and T32-GM088118; National Science Foundation award MCB 1506420; American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship 129844-PF-17-135-01-TBE, and Department of Defense Horizon Award W81XWH-16-1- 0153. The research team also acknowledges the investment by NYU Grossman School of Medicine in the cryo-EM Core facility, which was essential to the study\'s finding.</p><p>New York University has filed a patent application on the antibodies described in this work. Koide holds equity in and receives consulting fees from Black Diamond Therapeutics and receives research funding from Puretech Health and Argenx BVBA. Torres is an inventor on patents and patent applications filed by NYU, which are currently under commercial license to Janssen Biotech Inc. These relationships are being managed in accordance with the policies of NYU Langone Health.</p>','2022-03-31 19:47:41.933810','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine','By revealing the structure of a protein used by bacteria to pump out antibiotics, a research team designed an early-stage therapeutic that sabotages the pump and restores the effectiveness of antibiotics.\n',1,52,'<li>Douglas N. Brawley, David B. Sauer, Jianping Li, Xuhui Zheng, Akiko Koide, Ganesh S. Jedhe, Tiffany Suwatthee, Jinmei Song, Zheng Liu, Paramjit S. Arora, Shohei Koide, Victor J. Torres, Da-Neng Wang, Nathaniel J. Traaseth. <strong>Structural basis for inhibition of the drug efflux pump NorA from Staphylococcus aureus</strong>. <em>Nature Chemical Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41589-022-00994-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41589-022-00994-9</a>\n</li>'),(1797,'Meltwater drainage, break-away icebergs linked at shrinking Helheim Glacier','meltwater-drainage,-break-away-icebergs-linked-at-shrinking-helheim-glacier','2022-03-31 19:47:47.011787',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Dark patches of open sea that appear in the ice-choked water around Helheim Glacier may reveal new clues about how a rapidly changing Greenland glacier loses ice, according to a Penn State-led team of scientists.</p><p>\"Greenland is losing a lot of ice, and it drains from the interior of the ice sheet to the ocean through outlet glaciers like Helheim,\" said Sierra Melton, a doctoral candidate in geosciences at Penn State. \"Understanding what\'s happening at these glaciers is important.\"</p><p>During warm periods, enough meltwater drains from underneath Helheim that plumes of buoyant fresh water rise to the surface of the sea in front of the glacier and are visible as patches of open water, the scientists said.</p><p>Tracking these plumes using satellite and time-lapse images, the scientists found when the plumes were visible on the surface that large icebergs stopped breaking away, or calving, from the glacier near the plumes.</p><p>\"We\'d see a lot of calving happening, and then it would stop when the plume was visible and start again after the plume disappeared,\" Melton said. \"And when calving did occur, it happened away from the plume. They were always separated by space and time.\"</p><p>Calving at Helheim involves large chunks of ice breaking off from behind the cliff at the front of the glacier, which is up to 300-feet tall in some locations. Helheim once ended in a floating extension called an ice shelf or ice tongue, like larger Antarctic glaciers, but that ice has already broken off and melted, exposing the cliff. Calving accounts for about half of the ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and is a significant contributor to sea level rise, the scientists said.</p><p>\"Sierra\'s work, including this paper, is an important contribution to the larger effort to understand how iceberg calving really works and what controls its speed, so we can do a better job of projecting what will happen in Greenland, as well as Antarctica, and what that will mean for sea-level rise and costal people,\" said Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, Melton\'s adviser and a co-author on the paper.</p><p>While the relationship between the plumes and calving was previously observed at Helheim, making direct observations is difficult because of impassable terrane on the glacier and ice in the sea. The scientists conducted a more comprehensive study using high-resolution satellite images and thousands of time-lapse photos from cameras stationed around the glacier from 2011 to 2019.</p><p>The findings, reported in the <em>Journal of Glaciology</em>, suggest that changes in hydrology and pressure beneath the glacier are responsible for the relationship between meltwater discharge and calving.</p><p>During melt season, water begins pooling in crevasses and forms lakes on the glacier surface. Some meltwater drains to the glacier bed, where it begins to fill up cavities and form a network between them, the scientists said.</p><p>\"The way a subglacial drainage system evolves is if there\'s not very much water under the glacier, then there is low water pressure,\" Melton said. \"As the water increases under the glacier, the pressure starts to increase with it.\"</p><p>As more water flows to the bottom and the water pressure rises, the speed of the glacier\'s march toward the sea increases and cracks can form in the ice, making it more vulnerable for calving, the scientists said.</p><p>But eventually under this pressure, and if enough water is present at the glacier bed, the water can carve channels in the bottom of the ice that direct meltwater into the sea, acting as a kind of relief valve that reduces the water pressure under the glacier ice, the scientists said. These channels can release enough fresh water for plumes to be visible at the surface of the sea.</p><p>\"We think this lower pressure configuration inhibits the large calving because the fractures in the bottom of the ice can\'t form,\" Melton said. \"So basically, the system that supports the plume existence should suppress the calving.\"</p><p>Also contributing from Penn State were Sridhar Anandakrishnan, professor of geosciences and Melton\'s co-adviser, and Byron Parizek, professor of mathematics and geosciences.</p><p>Leigh Stearns, associate professor and Michael Shahin, doctoral candidate, at the University of Kansas, and Adam LeWinter, physical scientist, and David Finnegan, director of remote sensing, at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, also contributed.</p><p>The National Science Foundation, U.K. Natural Environment Research Council and Heising-Simons Foundation supported this research.</p>','2022-03-31 19:47:47.011787','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','Dark patches of open sea that appear in the ice-choked water around Helheim Glacier may reveal new clues about how a rapidly changing Greenland glacier loses ice, according to scientists.\n',1,163,'<li>Sierra M. Melton, Richard B. Alley, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Byron R. Parizek, Michael G. Shahin, Leigh A. Stearns, Adam L. LeWinter, David C. Finnegan. <strong>Meltwater drainage and iceberg calving observed in high-spatiotemporal resolution at Helheim Glacier, Greenland</strong>. <em>Journal of Glaciology</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.141\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1017/jog.2021.141</a>\n</li>'),(1798,'Increased heat and drought stunt tropical trees, a major carbon sink','increased-heat-and-drought-stunt-tropical-trees,-a-major-carbon-sink','2022-03-31 21:17:23.900696',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">For a long time, ecologists assumed tree rings to be absent in tropical trees because of a lack of temperature and rain fluctuations in the trees\' environment. But in recent decades, the formation of growth rings has been proven for hundreds of tropical tree species, which are sensitive to drought and usually experience at least a month or two of slightly reduced rainfall every year.</p><p>When scientists better understand how tropical trees respond to unusually dry and warm conditions, they can better predict how these trees will be affected by climate change.</p><p>A new study, co-authored by University of Arizona researchers and published in <em>Nature Geoscience</em>, has found that tropical trees\' trunk growth is reduced in years when the dry season is drier and warmer than normal. The study defines the tropics in a way that also includes the subtropics -- or anything between 30 degrees north latitude and 30 degrees south latitude.</p><p>The researchers also found that the effect of drier and warmer years is more dramatic in more arid or warm regions in the tropics. This suggests that climate change may increase the sensitivity of tropical trees to climatic fluctuations. Temperatures at the study sites are expected to increase by half a degree Celsius per decade in the future.</p><p>The results of the study help explain the large fluctuations in carbon uptake by tropical vegetation globally. Model simulations show that during hotter or drier years, tropical vegetation grows less and therefore takes up less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But actual measurements of vegetation growth have been lacking until now.</p><p>Research shows that slower growth increases the risk of topical tree death, so tropical vegetation may more frequently become a source of carbon dioxide instead of absorbing this greenhouse gas that causes climate change.</p><p>\"These (tropical) tree rings contain a wealth of information on the growth history of trees,\" said lead study author Pieter Zuidema of Wageningen University &amp; Research in the Netherlands. \"In this study, we exploit that potential. For the first time, we get a pantropical picture of how tropical tree growth reacts to climate fluctuations.\"</p><p>The study was an international collaborative effort that included University of Arizona dendrochronology Valerie Trouet, a professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, and Flurin Babst, an assistant research professor in the UArizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment. The findings are based on a new global network, created by the collaborators, of over 14,000 tree-ring data series from 350 locations across 30 tropical and sub-tropical countries.</p><p>The authors were surprised to find that during the dry season, climate had a stronger effect on tree growth than during the wet season.</p><p>\"We know that photosynthesis and wood production of tropical trees generally peak during the wet season,\" Trouet said. \"So, why do year-to-year fluctuations in trunk growth depend on the dry season? That surprised and puzzled us. Our explanation is that water is available for a longer period of time during years with wetter or cooler dry seasons. Put simply, the growing season is longer. This then leads to more trunk growth.\"</p><p>The study also fills an important gap in tree-ring data.</p><p>\"World maps showing the locations of tree-ring studies typically have a hole in the middle, in the tropics,\" Zuidema said. \"Our network fills that tropical data gap.\"</p><p>The tree-ring data from more than 100 study locations has been uploaded to the International Tree-ring Databank, the global database for tree-ring data.</p><p>\"In this way, the tree-ring data we\'ve put together will be freely available for everyone,\" Zuidema said.</p>','2022-03-31 21:17:23.900696','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Arizona','For a long time, ecologists assumed tree rings to be absent in tropical trees because of a lack of temperature and rain fluctuations in the trees\' environment. But in recent decades, the formation of growth rings has been proven for hundreds of tropical tree species, which are sensitive to drought and usually experience at least a month or two of slightly reduced rainfall every year.\n',1,42,'<li>Pieter A. Zuidema, Flurin Babst, Peter Groenendijk, Valerie Trouet, Abrham Abiyu, Rodolfo Acuña-Soto, Eduardo Adenesky-Filho, Raquel Alfaro-Sánchez, José Roberto Vieira Aragão, Gabriel Assis-Pereira, Xue Bai, Ana Carolina Barbosa, Giovanna Battipaglia, Hans Beeckman, Paulo Cesar Botosso, Tim Bradley, Achim Bräuning, Roel Brienen, Brendan M. Buckley, J. Julio Camarero, Ana Carvalho, Gregório Ceccantini, Librado R. Centeno-Erguera, Julián Cerano-Paredes, Álvaro Agustín Chávez-Durán, Bruno Barçante Ladvocat Cintra, Malcolm K. Cleaveland, Camille Couralet, Rosanne D’Arrigo, Jorge Ignacio del Valle, Oliver Dünisch, Brian J. Enquist, Karin Esemann-Quadros, Zewdu Eshetu, Ze-Xin Fan, M. Eugenia Ferrero, Esther Fichtler, Claudia Fontana, Kainana S. Francisco, Aster Gebrekirstos, Emanuel Gloor, Daniela Granato-Souza, Kristof Haneca, Grant Logan Harley, Ingo Heinrich, Gerd Helle, Janet G. Inga, Mahmuda Islam, Yu-mei Jiang, Mark Kaib, Zakia Hassan Khamisi, Marcin Koprowski, Bart Kruijt, Eva Layme, Rik Leemans, A. Joshua Leffler, Claudio Sergio Lisi, Neil J. Loader, Giuliano Maselli Locosselli, Lidio Lopez, María I. López-Hernández, José Luís Penetra Cerveira Lousada, Hooz A. Mendivelso, Mulugeta Mokria, Valdinez Ribeiro Montóia, Eddy Moors, Cristina Nabais, Justine Ngoma, Francisco de Carvalho Nogueira Júnior, Juliano Morales Oliveira, Gabriela Morais Olmedo, Mariana Alves Pagotto, Shankar Panthi, Gonzalo Pérez-De-Lis, Darwin Pucha-Cofrep, Nathsuda Pumijumnong, Mizanur Rahman, Jorge Andres Ramirez, Edilson Jimmy Requena-Rojas, Adauto de Souza Ribeiro, Iain Robertson, Fidel Alejandro Roig, Ernesto Alonso Rubio-Camacho, Ute Sass-Klaassen, Jochen Schöngart, Paul R. Sheppard, Franziska Slotta, James H. Speer, Matthew D. Therrell, Benjamin Toirambe, Mario Tomazello-Filho, Max C. A. Torbenson, Ramzi Touchan, Alejandro Venegas-González, Ricardo Villalba, Jose Villanueva-Diaz, Royd Vinya, Mart Vlam, Tommy Wils, Zhe-Kun Zhou. <strong>Tropical tree growth driven by dry-season climate variability</strong>. <em>Nature Geoscience</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00911-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41561-022-00911-8</a>\n</li>'),(1799,'Blood vessels are guides for stimulating implants','blood-vessels-are-guides-for-stimulating-implants','2022-03-31 21:17:27.603783',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An implant little bigger than a grain of rice, put gently in place alongside a strategically placed blood vessel, could replace much bulkier devices that stimulate nerves.</p><p>Rice University engineers in collaboration with a host of Texas Medical Center institutions have published the first proof-of-concept results from a yearslong program to develop tiny, wireless devices that can treat neurological diseases or block pain. The nerve stimulators require no batteries and instead draw both their power and programming from a low-powered magnetic transmitter outside the body.</p><p>The MagnetoElectric Bio ImplanT -- aka ME-BIT -- is placed surgically and an electrode is fed into a blood vessel toward the nerve targeted for stimulation. Once there, the device can be powered and securely controlled with a near-field transmitter worn close to the body.</p><p>The team led by Jacob Robinson and Kaiyuan Yang of the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative and the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Sunil Sheth of the University of Texas Health Science Center\'s McGovern Medical School successfully tested its technology on animal models and found it could charge and communicate with implants several centimeters below the skin.</p><p>The implant detailed in <em>Nature Biomedical Engineering</em> could replace more invasive units that now treat Parkinson\'s disease, epilepsy, chronic pain, hearing loss and paralysis.</p><p>\"Because the devices are so small, we can use blood vessels as a highway system to reach targets that are difficult to get to with traditional surgery,\" Robinson said. \"We\'re delivering them using the same catheters you would use for an endovascular procedure, but we would leave the device outside the vessel and place a guidewire into the bloodstream as the stimulating electrode, which could be held in place with a stent.\"</p><p>The ability to power the implants with magnetoelectric materials eliminates the need for electrical leads through the skin and other tissues. Leads like those often used for pacemakers can cause inflammation, and sometimes need to be replaced. Battery-powered implants can also require additional surgery to replace batteries.</p><p>ME-BIT\'s wearable charger requires no surgery. The researchers showed it could even be misaligned by several inches and still sufficiently power and communicate with the implant.</p><p>The programmable, 0.8-square-millimeter implant incorporates a strip of magnetoelectric film that converts magnetic energy to electrical power. An on-board capacitor can store some of that power, and a \"system-on-a-chip\" microprocessor translates modulations in the magnetic field into data. The components are held together by a 3D-printed capsule and further encased in epoxy.</p><p>The researchers said the magnetic field generated by the transmitter -- about 1 milliTesla -- is easily tolerated by tissues. They estimated the current implant can generate a maximum of 4 milliwatts of power, sufficient for many neural stimulation applications.</p><p>\"One of the nice things is that all the nerves in our bodies require oxygen and nutrients, so that means there\'s a blood vessel within a few hundred microns of all the nerves,\" Robinson said. \"It\'s just a matter of tracing the right blood vessels to reach the targets.</p><p>\"With a combination of imaging and anatomy, we can be pretty confident about where we place the electrodes,\" he said.</p><p>The research suggests endovascular bioelectronics like ME-BIT could lead to a wide range of low-risk, highly precise therapies. Having electrodes in the bloodstream could also enable real-time sensing of biochemical, pH and blood-oxygen levels to provide diagnostics or support other medical devices.</p><p>Robinson said the team ultimately hopes to employ multiple implants and communicate with them simultaneously. \"That way we could have a distributed network at multiple sites,\" he said. \"Other things we\'re looking to add are sensing, recording and back-channel communications so we can use the implants to both record and stimulate activity as part of a closed system.\"</p><p>Graduate students Joshua Chen and Zhanghao Yu of Rice and Peter Kan, a professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, are co-lead authors of the paper. Co-authors include graduate students Fatima Alrashdan and C.S. Edwin Lai, lab services specialist Ben Avants and postdoctoral researcher Amanda Singer, all of Rice; Jeffrey Hartgerink, a professor of chemistry and of bioengineering at Rice; UT Medical Branch research scientist Roberto Garcia and research associate Ariadna Robledo; Michelle Felicella, an associate professor of neuropathology, surgical pathology and autopsy at UT Medical Branch; and Scott Crosby of Neuromonitoring Associates.</p><p>Robinson is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and of bioengineering. Yang is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. Sheth is an associate professor and director of the Vascular Neurology Program at McGovern Medical School.</p><p>The National Institutes of Health (U18EB029353, R01DE021798) and the National Science Foundation supported the research.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-31 21:17:27.603783','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Rice University','A wireless neurostimulator a little bigger than a grain of rice can be put in place alongside blood vessels to treat neurological diseases and chronic pain.\n',1,137,'<li>Joshua C. Chen, Peter Kan, Zhanghao Yu, Fatima Alrashdan, Roberto Garcia, Amanda Singer, C. S. Edwin Lai, Ben Avants, Scott Crosby, Zhongxi Li, Boshuo Wang, Michelle M. Felicella, Ariadna Robledo, Angel V. Peterchev, Stefan M. Goetz, Jeffrey D. Hartgerink, Sunil A. Sheth, Kaiyuan Yang, Jacob T. Robinson. <strong>A wireless millimetric magnetoelectric implant for the endovascular stimulation of peripheral nerves</strong>. <em>Nature Biomedical Engineering</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00873-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41551-022-00873-7</a>\n</li>'),(1800,'Fruit flies adapt activity to \'white nights\'','fruit-flies-adapt-activity-to-\'white-nights\'','2022-03-31 21:17:30.009906',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Evolution takes place constantly, everywhere in nature. Nevertheless, it is always exciting for biologists to observe evolution \"in real time.\" One such opportunity for observation is currently being presented by the internal clock, i.e. the innate sleep-wake rhythm, of the fruit fly <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>. In fruit flies, a certain variant of a \"clock gene,\" which presumably first appeared in southern Europe 300 to 3000 years ago, is spreading northwards, for example to and within Scandinavia. Researchers have observed this phenomenon but have not yet been able to fully explain it. Based on laboratory studies, a team led by the neurobiologist Prof Ralf Stanewsky from the University of Münster (Germany) are the first to offer an explanation for this phenomenon.</p><p>The study, which has now been published in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>, focused on a clock gene called \"<em>timeless</em>.\" Together with a second clock gene (\"<em>period</em>\"), it controls the circadian rhythm of the fruit fly, which lasts about 24 hours. This rhythm is permanently synchronised with the environment using external zeitgebers such as light and temperature. The researchers investigated why a special variant of the <em>timeless</em> clock gene, namely the <em>ls-tim</em> allele, has spread so rapidly.</p><p>\"Like humans, Drosophila originated in sub-Saharan Africa and spread North, up to the Arctic Circle,\" explains first author Angélique Lamaze. \"There, the flies experience long summer days or even almost constant light, so-called white nights.\" Constant lighting disrupts the function of the internal clock because it triggers the permanent degradation of the clock protein TIMELESS via a molecular reaction chain. Thus, the circadian rhythm is lost.</p><p>However, temperature cycles can overcome the effects of constant illumination. Our experts have demonstrated that flies with the recently evolved <em>ls-tim</em> allele synchronise their circadian rhythm with the ambient temperature under light and temperature conditions that mimic a Scandinavian summer day. One indicator was the insects\' level of active movement. With constant lighting and a daily temperature cycle between 16 and 25 degrees Celsius, the flies with the <em>ls-tim</em> allele were particularly active in the second half of the warm phase. In contrast, when there was constant lighting and temperature, there was no behavioural rhythm. Unlike the <em>ls-tim</em> flies, those fruit flies carrying only the original gene variant (<em>s-tim</em>) showed no behavioural adaptation -- neither with temperature cycling nor a constant temperature.</p><p><strong>New gene variant increases reproductive success</strong></p><p>\"From an evolutionary biology point of view, the behavioural adaptation can be well explained,\" emphasizes Angélique Lamaze. \"Summer is the insects\' reproductive season. Animals that are synchronised in their behaviour and ready to mate at the same time of day have a better chance of meeting and reproducing. As <em>ls-tim</em> allows such synchronization even under extremely long summer days, this is most likely an important factor contributing to its ongoing northward spread and could explain its evolutionary success. \"</p><p>The research team also proved that even a single copy of the <em>ls-tim</em> allele is sufficient to enable synchronisation in \"Scandinavian conditions,\" which is further supporting the spreading of this allele. Like humans, for example, fruit flies possess two, either identical or similar, copies of each gene -- one copy from each parent.</p><p>The new gene variant produces a protein that deviates slightly from the original form, which is particularly stable under illumination and, therefore, interferes with the molecular reaction cascade that otherwise triggers the degradation of the clock protein TIMELESS. This, the team concluded, is a prerequisite required for the temperature cycle to restore the circadian rhythm of fruit flies under continuous illumination.</p><p>The neurobiologists used a combination of behavioural experiments as well as modern genetic and immunohistochemical methods in their study. Among other things, they compared fly strains with different genetic make-ups investigating their behaviour during simulated Scandinavian summer nights and the activity of their clock genes in different brain neurons.</p>','2022-03-31 21:17:30.009906','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Münster','Fruit flies with a new variant of a \'clock gene\' are spreading northwards. Neurobiologists have now found an explanation for this phenomenon.\n',1,27,'<li>Angelique Lamaze, Chenghao Chen, Solene Leleux, Min Xu, Rebekah George, Ralf Stanewsky. <strong>A natural timeless polymorphism allowing circadian clock synchronization in “white nights”</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29293-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29293-6</a>\n</li>'),(1801,'Can an image-based electrocardiographic algorithm improve access to care in remote settings?','can-an-image-based-electrocardiographic-algorithm-improve-access-to-care-in-remote-settings?','2022-03-31 21:17:31.900486',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at the Yale Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based model for clinical diagnosis that can use electrocardiogram (ECG) images, regardless of format or layout, to diagnose multiple heart rhythm and conduction disorders.</p><p>The team led by Dr. Rohan Khera, assistant professor in cardiovascular medicine, developed a novel multilabel automated diagnosis model from ECG images. ECG Dx © is the latest tool from the CarDS Lab designed to make AI-based ECG interpretation accessible in remote settings. They hope the new technology provides an improved method to diagnose key cardiac disorders. The findings were published in <em>Nature Communications </em>on March 24.</p><p>The first author of the study is Veer Sangha, a computer science major at Yale College. \"Our study suggests that image and signal models performed comparably for clinical labels on multiple datasets,\" said Sangha. \"Our approach could expand the applications of artificial intelligence to clinical care targeting increasingly complex challenges.\"</p><p>As mobile technology improves, patients increasingly have access to ECG images, which raises new questions about how to incorporate these devices in patient care. Under Khera\'s mentorship, Sangha\'s research at the CarDS Lab analyzes multi-modal inputs from electronic health records to design potential solutions.</p><p>The model is based on data collected from more than 2 million ECGs from more than 1.5 million patients who received care in Brazil from 2010 to 2017. One in six patients was diagnosed with rhythm disorders. The tool was independently validated through multiple international data sources, with high accuracy for clinical diagnosis from ECGs.</p><p>Machine learning (ML) approaches, specifically those that use deep learning, have transformed automated diagnostic decision-making. For ECGs, they have led to the development of tools that allow clinicians to find hidden or complex patterns. However, deep learning tools use signal-based models, which according to Khera have not been optimized for remote health care settings. Image-based models may offer improvement in the automated diagnosis from ECGs.</p><p>There are a number of clinical and technical challenges when using AI-based applications.</p><p>\"Current AI tools rely on raw electrocardiographic signals instead of stored images, which are far more common as ECGs are often printed and scanned as images. Also, many AI-based diagnostic tools are designed for individual clinical disorders, and therefore, may have limited utility in a clinical setting where multiple ECG abnormalities co-occur,\" said Khera. \"A key advance is that the technology is designed to be smart -- it is not dependent on specific ECG layouts and can adapt to existing variations and new layouts. In that respect, it can perform like expert human readers, identifying multiple clinical diagnoses across different formats of printed ECGs that vary across hospitals and countries.\"</p><p>This study was supported by research funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (K23HL153775).</p>','2022-03-31 21:17:31.900486','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Yale University','Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based model for clinical diagnosis that can use electrocardiogram (ECG) images, regardless of format or layout, to diagnose multiple heart rhythm and conduction disorders.\n',1,27,'<li>Veer Sangha, Bobak J. Mortazavi, Adrian D. Haimovich, Antônio H. Ribeiro, Cynthia A. Brandt, Daniel L. Jacoby, Wade L. Schulz, Harlan M. Krumholz, Antonio Luiz P. Ribeiro, Rohan Khera. <strong>Automated multilabel diagnosis on electrocardiographic images and signals</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29153-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29153-3</a>\n</li>'),(1802,'New study explores relationship between psychedelics and consciousness','new-study-explores-relationship-between-psychedelics-and-consciousness','2022-03-31 21:17:40.947146',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Psychedelic drugs, like psilocybin, an ingredient found in so-called magic mushrooms, have shown promise in treating a range of addictions and mental health disorders. Yet, there\'s something mysterious and almost mystical about their effects, and they are commonly believed to provide unique insights into the nature of consciousness.</p><p>Now, a new study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers addresses the question of whether psychedelics might change the attribution of consciousness to a range of living and nonliving things.</p><p>The findings, published March 28 in <em>Frontiers in Psychology</em>, reveal that higher ratings of mystical type experiences, which often include a sense that everything is alive, were associated with greater increases in the attribution of consciousness.</p><p>\"This study demonstrates that when beliefs change following a psychedelic experience, attributions of consciousness to various entities tend to increase,\" says Sandeep Nayak, M.D., postdoctoral research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and one of the researchers involved in the study. \"It\'s not clear why, whether that might be an innate drug effect, cultural factors or whether psychedelics might somehow expose innate cognitive biases that attribute features of the mind to the world.\"</p><p>For the study, the researchers analyzed data gathered between August 2020 and January 2021 on 1,606 people who have had a belief-changing psychedelic experience. Participants averaged 35 years of age and were predominately white (89%), male (67%) and from the United States (69%).</p><p>Study participants completed an internet-based survey that included questions focused on belief changes attributed to a single psychedelic experience with a classic psychedelic substance (e.g., psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, ayahuasca). The survey also included questions about demographics, psychedelic use, personality, and scientific knowledge and attitudes.</p><p>The study found that among people who have had a single psychedelic experience that altered their beliefs in some way, there were large increases in attribution of consciousness to a range of animate and inanimate things. For example, from before to after the experience, attribution of consciousness to insects grew from 33% to 57%, to fungi from 21% to 56%, to plants from 26% to 61%, to inanimate natural objects from 8% to 26% and to inanimate manmade objects from 3% to 15%.</p><p>\"On average, participants indicated the belief-changing experience in question occurred eight years prior to taking the survey, so these belief changes may be long-lasting,\" says Nayak.</p><p>Classic psychedelics -- the pharmacological class of compounds that includes psilocybin and LSD -- produce visual and auditory illusions and profound changes in consciousness, altering a person\'s awareness of their surroundings and of their thoughts and feelings. These substances produce unusual and compelling changes in conscious experience, which have prompted some to propose that psychedelics may provide unique insights into the nature of consciousness itself.</p><p>\"The results suggesting that a single psychedelic experience can produce a broad increase in attribution of consciousness to other things, raises intriguing questions about possible innate or experiential mechanisms underlying such belief changes,\" says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., the Oliver Lee McCabe III, Ph.D., Professor in the Neuropsychopharmacology of Consciousness at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. \"The topic of consciousness is a notoriously difficult scientific problem that has led many to conclude it is not solvable.\"</p>','2022-03-31 21:17:40.947146','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','A new study addresses the question of whether psychedelics might change the attribution of consciousness to a range of living and nonliving things.\n',1,142,'<li>Sandeep M. Nayak, Roland R. Griffiths. <strong>A Single Belief-Changing Psychedelic Experience Is Associated With Increased Attribution of Consciousness to Living and Non-living Entities</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Psychology</em>, 2022; 13 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.852248\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fpsyg.2022.852248</a>\n</li>'),(1803,'How e-scooters can safely operate in a city','how-e-scooters-can-safely-operate-in-a-city','2022-03-31 21:38:54.865790',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">E-scooters have become a familiar sight in cities worldwide in recent years, with many new companies renting them for use. But their arrival has also brought new safety concerns. Now, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, present a framework for comparing how different micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, and bicycles move in cities, a methodology that can benefit companies and local authorities alike, and -- most importantly -- contribute to improving traffic safety.</p><p>In recent years, e-scooters have proliferated in cities worldwide, offering citizens a novel and convenient way to get around, but their arrival has not been frictionless. Commonly voiced concerns are that e-scooter riders break traffic rules, ride too fast, and park inappropriately. Perhaps most concerning is that crash databases, as well as insurance claims, show a clear and disproportionate rise in crashes as the number of e-scooters increases. Local authorities have sought to address these concerns through measures such as speed restrictions, requiring users to wear helmets, designated parking areas, and limiting the number of scooters or operators allowed in the city -- or even outright bans.</p><p>\"E-Scooters are not necessarily more dangerous than bicycles, but they are often perceived as such, possibly because of their unfamiliarity and the behavior of their riders,\" explains Marco Dozza, Professor in Active Safety and Road-User Behaviour at Chalmers University of Technology, and lead author of the new study.</p><p>\"While bicycling benefits from established social norms, regulations, and infrastructure, the same is not true for newer micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, Segways, monowheels, electric skateboards and so on. The spread and usage of these vehicles is only likely to increase, so finding ways to safely integrate them in the transport system is a vital and urgent challenge.\"</p><p>To understand what makes riding new micromobility vehicles unsafe and how that compares to riding a more traditional bicycle, extensive data is needed. Scooter companies already have access to huge amounts of data, because they track every ride using GPS, but the quality of the data tends to only be useful for logistics and mapping services, while providing insufficient information about safety. Hospital admissions data and police reports may help appreciate the size of the safety problem -- but cannot explain <em>why</em> crashes happen.</p><p>What is missing is a framework for collecting and analysing data to understand what makes rider behavior unsafe and causes the crashes. Now, Marco Dozza and colleagues present exactly this.</p><p><strong>Two different strategies: braking or steering away</strong></p><p>The researchers outline a process for data-collection in the field and analysis, that is intended to be repeatable and adaptable for different vehicles -- from identifying useful test-maneuvers, to measuring and analysing the results of subsequent experiments. In their pilot study, the researchers compared bikes and e-scooters directly, equipping them with measuring instruments and testing the riders on various maneuvers, involving combinations of braking -- both planned, and in reaction to a random signal -- and steering at different speeds.</p><p>One of the most relevant findings of the new research was the fact that the braking performance of a bicycle proved consistently superior to the one of an e-scooter -- offering faster deceleration and up to two times shorter stopping distance. In contrast, the e-scooter performed better during the steering maneuvers, involving a slalom through traffic cones -- likely due to its shorter wheelbase and no need to pedal. The participants were also questioned about their experience and confirmed that braking felt more comfortable on the bicycle and steering more so on the e-scooter.</p><p>\"The two vehicles showed distinct advantages and disadvantages through the different scenarios,\" explains Marco Dozza. \"We can say that the best strategy for a cyclist and an e-scooterist to avoid the same crash may be different -- either braking or steering away.\"</p><p>The results from these experiments may inform how the infrastructure might be designed to benefit all riders -- for example, a winding path might be easier for e-scooterists than for cyclists, whereas a cyclist might find a narrower path, with low light less challenging than an e-scooterist.</p><p>\"Of course, this experiment was small, and the data far from conclusive. However, it demonstrates the potential for field data to describe rider behavior and help understand the causes of crashes. With more data, we may reach a comprehensive picture of the rider behaviors that make riding an e-scooter safe which could help authorities devise innovative safety measures and motivate their decisions to the public,\" explains Marco Dozza.</p><p><strong>Potential application in smart future cities</strong></p><p>The researchers will now, in collaboration with Scandinavian scooter company Voi, collect more field data to account for differences between riders and scenarios. Eventually, findings such as the one presented here could teach future automated vehicles and intelligent-transport-systems how to best interact with scooterists and cyclists by anticipating their behavior. Other safety measures that could be based on results from field-data analyses include dynamic geofencing -- limiting the scooters\' speed depending on how crowded an area is, or the time of the day or week.</p><p>Voi were not involved in the research project outlined here in any form, nor any other scooter company.</p>','2022-03-31 21:38:54.865790','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Chalmers University of Technology','E-scooters have become a familiar sight in cities worldwide in recent years, with many new companies renting them for use. But their arrival has also brought new safety concerns. Now, researchers present a framework for comparing how different micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, and bicycles move in cities, a methodology that can benefit companies and local authorities alike, and -- most importantly -- contribute to improving traffic safety.\n',1,145,'<li>Marco Dozza, Alessio Violin, Alexander Rasch. <strong>A data-driven framework for the safe integration of micro-mobility into the transport system: Comparing bicycles and e-scooters in field trials</strong>. <em>Journal of Safety Research</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.01.007\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jsr.2022.01.007</a>\n</li>'),(1804,'African network protects key turtle sites','african-network-protects-key-turtle-sites','2022-03-31 21:38:58.209461',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A network of West African Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covers key sites used by green turtles, new research shows.</p><p>The RAMPAO network runs along the coast of seven countries, from Cape Verde to Sierra Leone, protecting vital habitats for many species.</p><p>The new study tracked 45 female green turtles from Poilão Island, in Guinea-Bissau\'s Bijagós Archipelago, which hosts the largest population in the Eastern Atlantic.</p><p>The tracked turtles were found to spend most of their time during nesting and foraging periods inside the MPA network.</p><p>However, just 21% of key \"migration corridors\" are protected.</p><p>The study was carried out by a team including the University of Exeter (UK), MARE -- ISPA, Instituto Universitário (Portugal), the Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (Guinea Bissau) and the Banc d\'Arguin National Park (Mauritania). Additionally, youngsters of local Bijagós villages were engaged in fieldwork activities.</p><p>\"RAMPAO is a great example of an MPA network, with good connections between the MPAs and strong links between the organisations that oversee them,\" said Dr Rita Patrício, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter\'s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, and MARE.</p><p>\"West Africa has very rich marine ecosystems. Conservation efforts initially focussed on key habitats, such as seagrass, mangroves, estuaries and intertidal flats, which are used by populations of global importance of coastal and seabirds, and by charismatic species such as humpback dolphins, West African manatees and green turtles.</p><p>\"Our study is part of wider efforts to discover where species are distributed in the region, to ultimately find the most effective ways of protecting them.</p><p>\"Green turtles have complex life-cycles, involving large-scale migrations between breeding and feeding sites.</p><p>\"It is essential to understand the connectivity between these areas, to estimate the level of protection, and to ensure that conservation efforts on breeding sites are not cancelled out by lack of protection at feeding sites, and vice-versa.</p><p>\"In the case of green turtles, our study shows the MPA network in the region covers almost all marine areas used during the nesting period and most feeding areas too. This is hugely encouraging.</p><p>\"Our finding that most key corridors used by the turtles currently fall outside the MPA network suggests there is an opportunity to increase protection even further.\"</p><p>During the nesting period, turtles spent an average of 95% of their time within the limits of the MPA network, and among the 35 turtles successfully tracked into the foraging period, 28 of them used waters within MPAs.</p><p>Key migration corridors were mostly located close to the shore, where regionally important fisheries activities can make effective marine protection more challenging.</p><p>Dr Patrício said green turtle populations in this region \"look stable\" -- but this is \"conservation-dependent.\"</p><p>\"If you remove the conservation effort, the population could drop very quickly,\" she said.</p><p>The United Nations global target to protect 10% of the world\'s ocean by 2020 was not achieved, but the coverage of protected areas is increasing -- and there are now calls to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.</p><p>Balancing marine protection with the needs of human coastal communities is vital, and Dr Patricio said a key goal is to bring all parties together to improve conservation in a way that works for people and ecosystems.</p><p>Funders of the research included the MAVA Foundation, the Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM) and the La Caixa Foundation.</p><p>The paper, published in the journal <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em>, is entitled: \"Green turtles highlight connectivity across a regional marine protected area network in West Africa.\"</p>','2022-03-31 21:38:58.209461','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Exeter','A network of West African Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covers key sites used by green turtles, new research shows.\n',1,82,'<li>A. R. Patrício, M. Beal, C. Barbosa, D. Diouck, B. J. Godley, F. M. Madeira, A. Regalla, M. S. Traoré, C. Senhoury, E. Sidina, P. Catry. <strong>Green Turtles Highlight Connectivity Across a Regional Marine Protected Area Network in West Africa</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em>, 2022; 9 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.812144\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fmars.2022.812144</a>\n</li>'),(1805,'Mercury has magnetic storms','mercury-has-magnetic-storms','2022-03-31 21:39:04.381189',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">An international team of scientists has proved that Mercury, our solar system\'s smallest planet, has geomagnetic storms similar to those on Earth.</p><p>The research by scientists in the United States, Canada and China includes work by Hui Zhang, a space physics professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.</p><p>Their finding, a first, answers the question of whether other planets, including those outside our solar system, can have geomagnetic storms regardless of the size of their magnetosphere or whether they have an Earth-like ionosphere.</p><p>The research was published in two papers in February. Zhang is among the co-authors of each paper.</p><p>The first of those papers proves the planet has a ring current, a doughnut-shaped field of charged particles flowing laterally around the planet and excluding the poles. The second proves the existence of geomagnetic storms triggered by the ring current.</p><p>A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance in a planet\'s magnetosphere caused by the transfer of energy from the solar wind. Such storms in Earth\'s magnetosphere produce the aurora and can disrupt radio communications.</p><p>The geomagnetic storms finding was published Feb. 18 in the journal<em> Science China Technological Sciences</em>. QiuGang Zong of the Institute of Space Physics and Applied Technology at Peking University and the Polar Research Institute of China is the author.</p><p>That paper built on a finding published one day earlier that verified through data observation earlier suggestions that Mercury has a ring current. Earth also has a ring current.</p><p>The ring current paper, published in Nature Communications, is authored by Jiutong Zhao, also of the Institute of Space Physics and Applied Technology at Peking University.</p><p>Seven of the 14 scientists involved worked on both papers.</p><p>\"The processes are quite similar to here on Earth,\' Zhang said of Mercury\'s magnetic storms. \"The main differences are the size of the planet and Mercury has a weak magnetic field and virtually no atmosphere.\"</p><p>Confirmation about geomagnetic storms on Mercury results from research made possible by a fortuitous coincidence: a series of coronal mass ejections from the sun on April 8-18, 2015, and the end of NASA\'s Messenger space probe, which launched in 2004 and crashed into the planet\'s surface on April 30, 2015, at the expected end of its mission.</p><p>A coronal mass ejection, or CME, is an ejected cloud of the sun\'s plasma -- a gas made of charged particles. That cloud includes the plasma\'s embedded magnetic field.</p><p>The coronal mass ejection of April 14 proved to be the key for scientists. It compressed Mercury\'s ring current on the sun-facing side and increased the current\'s energy.</p><p>New analysis of data from Messenger, which had dropped closer to the planet, shows \"the presence of a ring current intensification that is essential for triggering magnetic storms,\" the second of the two papers reads.</p><p>\"The sudden intensification of a ring current causes the main phase of a magnetic storm,\" Zhang said.</p><p>But this doesn\'t mean Mercury has auroral displays like those on Earth.</p><p>On Earth, the storms produce aurora displays when solar wind particles interact with the particles of the atmosphere. On Mercury, however, solar wind particles don\'t encounter an atmosphere. Instead, they reach the surface unimpeded and may therefore be visible only through X-ray and gamma ray examination.</p><p>The results of the two papers show that magnetic storms are \"potentially a common feature of magnetized planets,\" the second of the papers reads.</p><p>\"The results obtained from Messenger provide a further fascinating insight into Mercury\'s place in the evolution of the solar system following the discovery of its intrinsic planetary magnetic field,\" it concludes.</p><p>Other institutions involved in the research include the University of Alberta, Edmonton; University of Michigan and the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA\'s Goddard Space Flight Center.</p>','2022-03-31 21:39:04.381189','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Alaska Fairbanks','An international team of scientists has proved that Mercury, our solar system\'s smallest planet, has geomagnetic storms similar to those on Earth. Their finding, a first, answers the question of whether other planets, including those outside our solar system, can have geomagnetic storms regardless of the size of their magnetosphere or whether they have an Earth-like ionosphere.\n',1,183,'<li>QiuGang Zong, JiuTong Zhao, JianJun Liu, SuiYan Fu, WeiJie Sun, Hui Zhang, Guan Le, Robert Rankin, Yong Wei. <strong>Magnetic storms in Mercury’s magnetosphere</strong>. <em>Science China Technological Sciences</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2009-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1007/s11431-022-2009-8</a>\n</li>'),(1806,'Light pollution increasing year round for some migrating birds','light-pollution-increasing-year-round-for-some-migrating-birds','2022-03-31 22:47:12.965477',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Nighttime light pollution levels are increasing the most in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America -- findings based on year-round data collected over the last two decades in the Western Hemisphere. This trend is a real concern for birds that fly at night during spring and fall migration and even during non-migratory seasons. Results of the study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Colorado State University are published in <em>Ecosphere</em>.</p><p>\"The southeastern United States, Mexico, and especially Central America are important migration corridors,\" said lead author Frank La Sorte at the Cornell Lab. \"Evidence that nocturnally migrating birds are encountering increasing light pollution levels within these regions is concerning. Birds largely avoid light during the breeding and non-breeding season. During migration, however, these associations break down as birds travel across a wide range of habitats, including populated areas that contain higher light pollution levels.\"</p><p>Light attracts and disorients birds during migration, often leading to injury and death after collisions with buildings. The authors found that light pollution levels during the past two decades have gone up over roughly 16% of the land area in the Western Hemisphere, with another 7% of land area experiencing a reduction in light pollution. Declines in light pollution are concentrated in the northeastern United States in conjunction with human population declines and urban decay in large cities (map).</p><p>The study used data from eBird to generate weekly estimates of relative abundance for the 42 study species. eBird is a Cornell Lab citizen-science program in which volunteer bird watchers enter their observations from anywhere in the world. The authors intersected the weekly abundance estimates with satellite-based measures of year-round light pollution compiled over a 22-year period.</p><p>Scientists found that all 42 bird species they studied occurred in regions with increasing light pollution levels. The strongest increases occurred during migration, especially for birds that migrated through Central America. The weakest increases occurred for birds that spent the summer breeding season in the northeastern United States.</p><p>\"Reversing light pollution trends in Central America, especially during the spring, and launching Lights Out programs during intense migration periods could save a substantial number of migrating birds,\" added study co-author Kyle Horton at Colorado State University. \"Reversing light pollution trends in the southeastern United States during the summer breeding season and in Central America during the winter non-breeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration periods.\"</p><p>The hope is that by determining where and when birds are likely to encounter existing or increasing light pollution will lead to more effective efforts to reduce risks and increase bird survival.</p>','2022-03-31 22:47:12.965477','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cornell University','Nighttime light pollution levels are increasing the most in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America--findings based on year-round data collected over the last two decades in the Western Hemisphere.\n',1,43,'<li>Frank A. La Sorte, Kyle G. Horton, Alison Johnston, Daniel Fink, Tom Auer. <strong>Seasonal associations with light pollution trends for nocturnally migrating bird populations</strong>. <em>Ecosphere</em>, 2022; 13 (3) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3994\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/ecs2.3994</a>\n</li>'),(1807,'Easier, faster assay enables many more laboratories to identify COVID-19 variants','easier,-faster-assay-enables-many-more-laboratories-to-identify-covid-19-variants','2022-03-31 22:49:38.937635',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study has found that the Novaplex SARS-CoV-2 Variant I, II, and IV real-time PCR assays (from Seegene Technology) can reliably detect SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples and identify known variants of interest and concern. Results from the PCR assays were comparable to those from the \"gold standard\" spike gene Sanger sequencing method. Researchers were also able to successfully streamline testing and reduce cost and turnaround time by processing samples without extracting RNA for testing. Their findings appear in <em>The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics</em><em>, </em>published by Elsevier.</p><p>\"Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) methodology for variant detection is accessible, rapid, simpler, and accurate compared to traditional sequencing,\" said lead investigator Ping Ren, PhD, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. \"Combining an extraction-free processing method with RT-PCR technology can help laboratories without sequencing capabilities track circulating variants and investigate variant-dependent effects on treatment efficacy and disease severity.\"</p><p>The I, II, and IV assays are designed to detect genetic mutations associated with the alpha, beta, delta, and epsilon variants of SARS-CoV-2. At the time of the study, the omicron variant had not yet emerged. RNA was extracted from each sample for testing by the Novaplex RT-PCR assays and Sanger sequencing. The samples were also directly tested without extraction of RNA by the Novaplex assays.</p><p>Of the 156 samples processed with RNA extraction, the RT-PCR assays identified 109 variants. The results were 100% in agreement with the Sanger sequencing test. The RNA extraction-free method was 91.7% as sensitive as the traditional RNA extraction method. In samples with a lower viral load, the extraction-free RT-PCR assays did not detect some mutations, presumably because of lower nucleic acid concentrations in the original samples.</p><p>\"A major limiting factor for molecular SARS-CoV-2 assays is the shortage of RNA extraction reagents,\" explained co-lead author Marisa C. Nielsen, PhD, Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. \"Conventional extraction remains a time-consuming aspect of molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Recent CDC guidance recommends sequencing only for cases with a cycle threshold (Ct) value lower than 28, which indicates a higher viral load, because sequencing is less reliable in samples with lower viral loads.\"</p><p>\"Although lower sensitivity was observed with the extraction-free method, it still represents a viable alternative,\" Dr. Nielsen added. \"Spike sequencing is still necessary for detecting new variants.\"</p><p>RT-PCR assays can be tailored to include additional representative genes as different variants emerge and allow for more accessible variant detection and monitoring to inform public health and treatment decisions. While not included in this study, assays are now available to identify omicron-specific mutations.</p><p>\"Determining the SARS-CoV-2 variant in individual patient samples can help guide treatment since some variants are more resistant to current treatment regimens,\" Dr. Ren observed. \"However, the potential impact extends beyond individual patients and into the public health realm. It is important to track variant spread as part of public health surveillance because of variant-dependent transmission, disease severity, and treatment decisions.</p>','2022-03-31 22:49:38.937635','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Elsevier','Using a commercially available test and simplified process, any laboratory that can run a real-time PCR assay can detect known SARS-CoV-2 variants in patient samples, researchers report.\n',1,65,'<li>Marisa C. Nielsen, Rafael R.G. Machado, Brooke M. Mitchell, Allan J. McConnell, Nehad I. Saada, Scott C. Weaver, Ping Ren. <strong>A Comparison of Seegene Technologies Novaplex SARS-CoV-2 Variants I, II, and IV Assays with Spike Gene Sequencing for Detection of Known Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants</strong>. <em>The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoldx.2022.02.001\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jmoldx.2022.02.001</a>\n</li>'),(1808,'NIH experts discuss controlling COVID-19 in commentary on herd immunity','nih-experts-discuss-controlling-covid-19-in-commentary-on-herd-immunity','2022-03-31 22:49:43.500027',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Achieving classical herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may not be attainable, according to a new perspective published in <em>The Journal of Infectious Diseases</em>. However, widespread use of currently available public health interventions to prevent and control COVID-19 will enable resumption of most activities of daily life with minimal disruption, the authors note. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, David M. Morens, M.D., senior scientific advisor to the NIAID director, and Gregory K. Folkers, chief of staff to the NIAID director, authored the perspective.</p><p>The general concept of herd immunity implies that transmission of an infectious agent can be blunted, except for sporadic outbreaks, because a certain proportion of the population is already protected through vaccination or prior infection. The authors explain how the scientific understanding of herd immunity and its applications to various diseases have evolved over time. High levels of herd immunity have enabled the United States to largely control polio and measles -- two diseases caused by viruses that have not undergone significant evolution. However, the authors note, the benefits of achieving herd immunity thresholds have been less successful with respiratory viruses such as influenza, which continually mutate.</p><p>Dr. Fauci and his colleagues write that achieving classical herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely, due to a combination of factors that include features of the virus as well as current societal dynamics. These include the virus\' ability to continually mutate to new variants; asymptomatic virus transmission, which complicates public health control strategies; the inability of prior infection or vaccination to provide durable protection against reinfection; suboptimal vaccination coverage; and adherence to non-pharmacologic interventions.</p><p>However, the authors note, controlling COVID-19 without major disruptions to society is now achievable because of widespread background immunity via prior infection or vaccination, booster shots, antiviral drugs, monoclonal antibody therapies and widely available diagnostic tests. Research to develop pan-coronavirus vaccines, which could protect against multiple coronaviruses or at least multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, remains crucial.</p><p>\"Living with COVID is best considered not as reaching a numerical threshold of immunity, but as optimizing population protection without prohibitive restrictions on our daily lives,\" the authors conclude.</p>','2022-03-31 22:49:43.500027','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases','Achieving classical herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may not be attainable, according to a new perspective article. However, widespread use of currently available public health interventions to prevent and control COVID-19 will enable resumption of most activities of daily life with minimal disruption, the authors note.\n',1,52,'<li>David M Morens, Gregory K Folkers, Anthony S Fauci. <strong>The Concept of Classical Herd Immunity May Not Apply to COVID-19</strong>. <em>The Journal of Infectious Diseases</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiac109\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/infdis/jiac109</a>\n</li>'),(1809,'Scientists bioprint tissue-like constructs capable of controlled, complex shape change','scientists-bioprint-tissue-like-constructs-capable-of-controlled,-complex-shape-change','2022-03-31 22:49:45.890599',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Where standard 3D printing uses a digital blueprint to manufacture an object out of materials like plastic or resin, 3D bioprinting manufactures biological parts and tissues out of living cells, or bioinks. A fourth dimension -- shape transformation over time -- can be achieved by incorporating materials that enable printed constructs to morph multiple times in a preprogrammed or on-demand manner in response to external signals.</p><p>Bioprinting 4D constructs provides opportunities for scientists to better mimic the shape changes that occur during the development, healing and normal function of real tissues and fabricate complex structures.</p><p>A new study in the science journal <em>Advanced Materials</em> describes the development of a new cell-laden bioink, comprised of tightly-packed, flake-shaped microgels and living cells, for bioprinting 4D constructs. This new system enables the production of cell-rich bioconstructs that can change shape under physiological conditions.</p><p>Titled \"Jammed Micro-Flake Hydrogel for Four-Dimensional Living Cell Bioprinting,\" the study is authored by engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago who created the bioink and conducted experiments of prototype hydrogels.</p><p>Their experiments resulted in a variety of complex bioconstructs with well-defined configurations and high cell viability, including a 4D?cartilage-like tissue formation. Further designs demonstrate complex, multiple 3D-to-3D shape transformations in bioconstructs fabricated in a single printing.</p><p>\"This bioink system provides the opportunity to print bioconstructs capable of achieving more sophisticated architectural changes over time than was previously possible. These cell-rich structures with pre-programmable and controllable shape morphing promise to better mimic the body\'s natural developmental processes and could help scientists conduct more accurate studies of tissue morphogenesis and achieve greater advances in tissue engineering,\" said study corresponding author Eben Alsberg, Richard and Loan Hill Chair, who has appointments in the departments of biomedical engineering, mechanical and industrial engineering, pharmacology and regenerative medicine, and orthopaedics.</p><p>Alsberg says the bioink advances previous technologies in several ways.</p><p>\"The bioinks have what are called shear-thinning and rapid self-healing properties that enable smooth extrusion-based printing with high resolution and high fidelity without a supporting bath. The printed bioconstructs, after further stabilization by light-based crosslinking, remain intact while, for example, bending, twisting or undergoing any number of multiple deformations. With this system, cartilage-like tissues with complex shapes that evolve over time could be bioengineered,\" Alsberg said. \"Another key achievement was engineering a system that enables fabrication of bioconstructs capable of undergoing complicated 3D-to-3D shape transformations.\"</p><p>\"This is the first system that meets the demanding requirements of bioprinting 4D constructs: load living cells in bioinks, enable printing of large complex structures, trigger shape transformation under physiological conditions, support long-term cell viability and facilitate desired cell functions such as tissue regeneration,\" said Aixiang Ding, postdoctoral research associate at UIC and the first author of the paper. \"We are endeavoring to translate this system into clinical applications of tissue engineering, as there is a critical shortage of available donor tissues and organs.\"</p><p>UIC\'s Oju Jeon, David Cleveland, Kaelyn Gasvoda, Derrick Wells and Sang Jin Lee are co-authors of the paper.</p><p>This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01AR069564, R01AR066193) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (R01EB023907).</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-31 22:49:45.890599','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Illinois Chicago','New cell-laden bioink, comprised of tightly-packed, flake-shaped microgels and living cells, the production of cell-rich 4D bioconstructs that can change shape under physiological conditions.\n',1,29,'<li>Aixiang Ding, Oju Jeon, David Cleveland, Kaelyn L. Gasvoda, Derrick Wells, Sang Jin Lee, Eben Alsberg. <strong>Jammed Micro‐Flake Hydrogel for Four‐Dimensional Living Cell Bioprinting</strong>. <em>Advanced Materials</em>, 2022; 2109394 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.202109394\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/adma.202109394</a>\n</li>'),(1810,'New technology solves mystery of respiration in Tetrahymena','new-technology-solves-mystery-of-respiration-in-tetrahymena','2022-03-31 22:49:50.952958',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Tetrahymena, a tiny single celled-organism, turns out to be hiding a surprising secret: it\'s doing respiration -- using oxygen to generate cellular energy -- differently from other organisms such as plants, animals or yeasts. The discovery, published March 31 in <em>Science</em>, highlights the power of new techniques in structural biology and reveals gaps in our knowledge of a major branch of the tree of life.</p><p>\"We thought we knew about respiration from studying other organisms, but this shows us how much we still don\'t know,\" said Maria Maldonado, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Davis and co-first author on the paper.</p><p>Tetrahymena is a genus of free-living, single-celled organisms usually found quietly swimming around ponds by beating their coat of tiny hairs, or cilia. Like us, they are eukaryotes, with their genetic material in a nucleus. They belong to a large and diverse group of organisms called the SAR supergroup. With a few exceptions, such as the malaria parasite Plasmodium, the SAR supergroup is little studied.</p><p>\"It\'s a huge proportion of the biosphere, but we don\'t think about them much,\" Maldonado said.</p><p>Like all other eukaryotes -- and some bacteria -- Tetrahymena consume oxygen to generate energy through respiration, said James Letts, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology in the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences.</p><p>Oxygen comes in at the end of the series of chemical reactions involved in respiration. Electrons are passed through a chain of proteins located in structures called cristae in the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. This drives formation of water from oxygen and hydrogen atoms, pumping protons across the membrane, which in turn drives formation of the ATP, a store of chemical energy for the cell. This electron transport chain is fundamental to oxygen-based respiration in humans and other eukaryotes.</p><p><strong>New approaches in structural biology</strong></p><p>There were clues that there is something different about the electron transport chain in Tetrahymena, Letts said. In the 1970s and 80s, scientists discovered that its electron-carrying protein -- cytochrome <em>c</em> -- and oxygen consuming enzyme at the end of the chain -- terminal oxidase -- function differently than those in plants and animals. Until now, it wasn\'t clear exactly how or why these enzymes differed in Tetrahymena when they were conserved across other studied eukaryotes.</p><p>Maldonado, Letts and co-first author Long Zhou used new approaches in structural biology to uncover the Tetrahymena electron transport chain. These included a cryo-electron microscopy structural proteomics approach -- working out the structures of large number of proteins in a mixed sample at the same time.</p><p>Cryo-electron microscopy freezes samples to extremely low temperatures, creating images at almost atomic resolution. Instead of imaging a single, purified protein, the team worked with mixed samples isolated from mitochondrial membranes and then taught an algorithm to recognize related structures.</p><p>In this way, they were able to scan through hundreds of thousands of protein images and identify the structures of 277 proteins in three large assemblies, representing the Tetrahymena electron transport chain at near atomic resolution. Some of these proteins have no matching gene in the known Tetrahymena genome database -- showing that there must be gaps in the available reference genome.</p><p>By revealing the gaps in our knowledge of a fairly common organism, the work shows our blind spots with respect to biodiversity, Letts said. It also shows the potential of these new methods in structural biology as a discovery tool, he said.</p><p>Part of the work was conducted with cryo-electron microscopes at the BioEM core facility at the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences. Additional authors on the paper are Abhilash Padavannil and Fei Guo, both at UC Davis. Zhou is now at Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. The work was supported by the NIH.</p>','2022-03-31 22:49:50.952958','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Davis','Tetrahymena, a tiny single celled-organism, turns out to be hiding a surprising secret: it\'s doing respiration -- using oxygen to generate cellular energy -- differently from other organisms such as plants, animals or yeasts. The discovery highlights the power of new techniques in structural biology and reveals gaps in our knowledge of a major branch of the tree of life.\n',1,51,'<li>Long Zhou, María Maldonado, Abhilash Padavannil, Fei Guo, James A. Letts. <strong>Structures of            Tetrahymena            ’s respiratory chain reveal the diversity of eukaryotic core metabolism</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7747\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abn7747</a>\n</li>'),(1811,'The human genome is, at long last, complete','the-human-genome-is,-at-long-last,-complete','2022-03-31 22:49:54.109129',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When scientists declared the Human Genome Project complete two decades ago, their announcement was a tad premature. A milestone achievement had certainly been reached, with researchers around the world gaining access to the DNA sequence of most protein-coding genes in the human genome. But even after 20 years of upgrades, eight percent of our genome still remained unsequenced and unstudied. Derided by some as \"junk DNA\" with no clear function, roughly 151 million base pairs of sequence data scattered throughout the genome were still a black box.</p><p>Now, a large international team led by Adam Phillippy at National Institutes of Health has revealed the final eight percent of the human genome in a paper published in <em>Science</em><em>. </em>These long<em>-</em>missing pieces of our genome contain more than mere junk. Within the new data are mysterious pockets of noncoding DNA that do not make protein, but still play crucial roles in many cellular functions and may lie at the heart of conditions in which cell division runs amok, such as cancer.</p><p>\"You would think that, with 92 percent of the genome completed long ago, another eight percent wouldn\'t contribute much,\" says Rockefeller\'s Erich D. Jarvis, a coauthor on the study who helped develop a number of techniques central to unlocking the final pieces of the human genome. \"But from that missing eight percent, we\'re now gaining an entirely new understanding of how cells divide, allowing us to study a number of diseases we had not been able to get at before.\"</p><p><strong>On the shoulders of the HGP</strong></p><p>The Human Genome Project essentially handed us the keys to euchromatin, the majority of the human genome, which is rich in genes, loosely packaged, and busy making RNA that will later be translated into protein. Left untouched, however, was a labyrinth of tightly wound, repetitive heterochromatin -- a smaller portion of the genome, which does not produce protein.</p><p>Scientists had good reasons for initially deprioritizing heterochromatin. The euchromatic regions contained more genes and were simpler to sequence. Just as a puzzle with distinct pieces is easier to put together than a puzzle composed of similar ones, the genomics tools of the day found euchromatic DNA easier to parse than its repetitive, heterochromatic cousin.</p><p>As a result, geneticists were left with a sizable hole in their knowledge of what drives some basic cellular functions. The heterochromatic sequences behind centromeres, which lie at the cruxes of chromosomes and conduct cell division, were all marked with longs runs of N for \"unknown base\" in the human reference genome. The sequences of the short arms of chromosomes 13, 14, 15, 21, and 22 were likewise omitted. \"Not even all of the euchromatic genome was sequenced properly,\" Jarvis adds. \"Errors, such as false duplications, needed to be fixed.\"</p><p>Then, about ten years ago, scientists began developing new techniques for producing longer sequence reads that filled in gaps in the genomes of humans and other species. One such initiative is the Vertebrate Genomes Project, helmed by Jarvis, which recently produced the first near error-free and near complete reference genomes for 25 animals. \"That study was part of an international effort to develop new tools that produce the highest-quality gene assemblies,\" he says. \"Compared to the methods that were used twenty years ago, modern genomics has high-fidelity long reads that are 99.9 percent accurate, better genome assembly tools, and more powerful algorithms that are better at distinguishing similar-looking puzzle pieces from one another.\"</p><p>With updated tools and renewed resolve, Jarvis and other scientists were able to help finish what the Human Genome Project started and describe, at long last, a truly complete human genome -- its euchromatic regions revised, and its heterochromatic regions on full display.</p><p>\"It\'s a big deal,\" Jarvis says. \"Every single base pair of a human genome is now complete.\"</p><p><strong>Meeting Merfin</strong></p><p>The flagship <em>Science</em> study was led by the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium, a group of researchers at various academic institutions and NIH. The Jarvis lab\'s contribution, published in <em>Nature Methods</em>, involved providing tools to help T2T refine messy genome sequences to produce error-free sequences.</p><p>One of these tools is Merfin, which they used to clean up some of the most difficult sequences in the human genome. \"Genomes that we generate in the lab can have many errors in them,\" says Giulio Formenti, a postdoc in Jarvis\' lab who developed Merfin. \"If even just one or a few base pairs are wrong, that can have big consequences for the overall accuracy of the genomic sequence.\" Merfin makes it possible to test the accuracy of a sequence, sensing code that may be out of place and automatically correcting mistakes. Because the technologies that generate modern sequences are more accurate, Merfin is reserved for only the trickiest cases.</p><p>\"Stretches of identical base pairs, such as AAA, are hard for existing technology to assess,\" Formenti says. \"There are often errors in those sequences, even now. Merfin corrects them.\"</p><p>Jarvis and Formenti hope that their contribution will not only help tie a bow on the Human Genome Project, but also inform research into diseases linked to the heterochromatic genome -- chief among them cancer, which is associated with centromere abnormalities. Cancer cells divide wildly when certain heterochromatic centromere genes are overexpressed, and a complete understanding of the centromere genome may open the door to novel therapies.</p><p>\"We are finally digging into what we once called junk DNA, because we could not understand it or look at it accurately,\" Formenti says. \"We now know that many diseases are linked to structural repeats in the centromere and, now that these sequences are no longer missing from the human reference genome, we can begin to map the origins of these diseases.\"</p><p>Other co-authors in the Merfin study are: Arang Rhie, Brian P. Walenz, Françoise Thibaud-Nissen, Kishwar Shafin, Sergey Koren, Eugene W. Myers, and Adam M. Phillippy.</p>','2022-03-31 22:49:54.109129','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Rockefeller University','Twenty years ago scientists declared the Human Genome Project complete, but eight percent of our genome remained unsequenced and unstudied. Now, the final missing pieces have been revealed, shedding light on many cellular functions.\n',1,36,'<li>Sergey Nurk, Sergey Koren, Arang Rhie, Mikko Rautiainen, Andrey V. Bzikadze, Alla Mikheenko, Mitchell R. Vollger, Nicolas Altemose, Lev Uralsky, Ariel Gershman, Sergey Aganezov, Savannah J. Hoyt, Mark Diekhans, Glennis A. Logsdon, Michael Alonge, Stylianos E. Antonarakis, Matthew Borchers, Gerard G. Bouffard, Shelise Y. Brooks, Gina V. Caldas, Nae-Chyun Chen, Haoyu Cheng, Chen-Shan Chin, William Chow, Leonardo G. de Lima, Philip C. Dishuck, Richard Durbin, Tatiana Dvorkina, Ian T. Fiddes, Giulio Formenti, Robert S. Fulton, Arkarachai Fungtammasan, Erik Garrison, Patrick G. S. Grady, Tina A. Graves-Lindsay, Ira M. Hall, Nancy F. Hansen, Gabrielle A. Hartley, Marina Haukness, Kerstin Howe, Michael W. Hunkapiller, Chirag Jain, Miten Jain, Erich D. Jarvis, Peter Kerpedjiev, Melanie Kirsche, Mikhail Kolmogorov, Jonas Korlach, Milinn Kremitzki, Heng Li, Valerie V. Maduro, Tobias Marschall, Ann M. McCartney, Jennifer McDaniel, Danny E. Miller, James C. Mullikin, Eugene W. Myers, Nathan D. Olson, Benedict Paten, Paul Peluso, Pavel A. Pevzner, David Porubsky, Tamara Potapova, Evgeny I. Rogaev, Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld, Steven L. Salzberg, Valerie A. Schneider, Fritz J. Sedlazeck, Kishwar Shafin, Colin J. Shew, Alaina Shumate, Ying Sims, Arian F. A. Smit, Daniela C. Soto, Ivan Sović, Jessica M. Storer, Aaron Streets, Beth A. Sullivan, Françoise Thibaud-Nissen, James Torrance, Justin Wagner, Brian P. Walenz, Aaron Wenger, Jonathan M. D. Wood, Chunlin Xiao, Stephanie M. Yan, Alice C. Young, Samantha Zarate, Urvashi Surti, Rajiv C. McCoy, Megan Y. Dennis, Ivan A. Alexandrov, Jennifer L. Gerton, Rachel J. O’Neill, Winston Timp, Justin M. Zook, Michael C. Schatz, Evan E. Eichler, Karen H. Miga, Adam M. Phillippy. <strong>The complete sequence of a human genome</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 376 (6588): 44 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abj6987\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abj6987</a>\n</li>'),(1812,'Some hard-to-crack genome areas carry genes that make us distinctly humans','some-hard-to-crack-genome-areas-carry-genes-that-make-us-distinctly-humans','2022-03-31 22:49:55.687212',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">UW Medicine genome scientists were among the leading contributors to the publication of the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome announced this week by the National Human Genome Research Institute.</p><p>The lab of Evan Eichler, professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, was one of the major contributors to the main paper, \"The complete sequence of the human genome,\" published in <em>Science</em> April 1. The achievement is the culmination of a large consortium, the Telomere-to-Telomere, or T2T, which aimed to obtain complete sequences of all 23 human chromosomes, end-to-end.</p><p>Eichler\'s team and collaborators from other institutions also produced a companion paper offering the first comprehensive view of highly identical, large repeat regions, called segmental duplications, and their variation in human genomes.</p><p>These areas of the human genome are critical to understanding human evolution and genetic diversity, as well as resistance or susceptibility to many diseases. Of the 20,000 genes in the human genome, about 950 originate in segmental duplications.</p><p>However, segmental duplications were among the last regions of the human genome assembly to be fully sequenced, due to their complexity.</p><p>The desire to resolve these regions was part of the impetus for advancing sequencing technologies, such as the ability to read long stretches of DNA. These technologies, along with many laboratory tools, computational biology approaches and other essential research resources, were not available during the first drafting of the human genome more than two decades ago.</p><p>The team led by the Eichler lab reported their results and analysis in a companion Science paper published this week, titled \"Segmental duplications and their variation in a complete human genome.\" The lead author on this paper is Mitchell R. Vollger, a postdoctoral fellow in genome sciences at the UW School of Medicine. He applied skills in computer science, data visualization, and mathematics to analyze the new genomic repeats to further our understanding of human variation within segmental duplications. Working with Phil Dishuck, a graduate student in the Eichler lab, they showed that the completion of the human genome added about 180 \"new\" protein-coding genes, almost all of which mapped to segmental duplications.</p><p>\"As a kid, I saw the magazine covers for a complete human genome in 2001,\" Vollger recalled. \"I remember thinking that was the coolest project, and how I was disappointed that I would never get to do something that cool. I\'ve thought about that a lot during this project, that I got to contribute sequence to the human genome, and that excites me a lot, that I had the opportunity to do that.\"</p><p>Several intriguing findings emerged from the recent accomplishments in sequencing these regions.</p><p>In addition to the medical research implications of the completed assembly, it also is helping to answer: What is contained in our genomes that makes us distinctly human? Some of the genes that were gaps in the original genome are now thought to be critically important in helping to make a bigger brain in humans compared to other apes.</p><p>Eichler\'s lab also generated long-read assemblies from other nonhuman primate genomes and compared them to the new gapless human genome assembly. They systematically reconstructed the evolution of some biomedically relevant genes, as well as certain human-specific duplicated genes.</p><p>These human-specific segmental duplications are reservoirs for new genes that drive the formation of more neurons in developing brains and increase connectivity of synapses in the frontal cortex -- the anatomical part of the brain where some of the higher-level thinking, reasoning, logic, and language functions that seem to be characteristically human take place.</p><p>In <em>TBC1D3</em>, a gene family related to the expansion of the human prefrontal cortex, analysis by Xavi Guitart, a graduate student in the Eichler lab, revealed that recurrent and independent expansions occurred at different points in primate evolution. The most recent was about 2 million to 2.6 million years ago, about when the genus <em>Homo</em> emerged. Surprisingly, the human <em>TBC1D3</em> gene family showed remarkable, large-scale structural variation in a subset of samples.</p><p>\"Different humans carry radically different complements and arrangements of the <em>TBC1D3</em> gene family,\" the researchers explained in their paper and that was unexpected for a gene thought to be so important to brain function. The scientists also found diversity in the complex structure of the <em>LPA</em> gene, in which variability in part of this lipoprotein gene underlies the most significant genetic risk factor for cardiovascular disease from abnormal lipid levels in the blood.</p><p>The researchers also looked at <em>SMN</em> (a motor neuron gene) whose mutations are linked to certain neuromuscular disorders. Having better sequence resolution of the spinal muscular atrophy region -- one of the most difficult regions to finish on chromosome 5 -- could be of practical advantage in both disease risk determinations and in treatment as the duplicate gene <em>SMN2</em> is a target for one of the most effective gene therapies.</p><p>Based on these and other findings, the scientists noted that the new reference genome \"reveals unprecedented levels of human genetic variation in genes important for neurodevelopment and human diseases.\"</p><p>In addition to being a source of new knowledge about human biology, the recently completed human genome also is likely to answer some basic questions about cell biology. For example, the assembly will help to better understand the differences in the centromeres present in each of the human chromosomes. Problems in centromeres can cause difficulties during in cell division.</p><p>Studying the sequences of the centromeres could get to the root of medical conditions where cell division, and the allocation of genetic material between cells, goes awry. These include cancer as well as abnormalities that affect prenatal development, such as Down syndrome or Robertsonian translocations.</p><p>Glennis A. Logsdon, a postdoctoral fellow in genome sciences at the UW School of Medicine, has made several discoveries related to centromere sequencing.</p><p>\"We had to develop new ways to target these regions,\" she explained. \"We took advantage of new technology that had been on the horizon, such as ultra-long-read sequencing, in order to get across these regions. We also put effort into polishing the genome sequence to make sure that it was highly accurate.\"</p><p>Eichler commented on the training and experience early-career human genome researchers received during the T2T projects.</p><p>\"I consider it a privilege to actually help build the next generation of scientists,\" he said. \"It\'s so much fun to see them start as students, contribute to a big project, and then carry it to the next level.\"</p><p>Eichler was part of the original Human Genome Project back in 2001. He was fascinated by regions of the genome that were complex from the perspective that they were highly repetitive, but also encoded genes.</p><p>When the conclusion of the human genome sequence project was declared, a lot of those regions weren\'t done.</p><p>Eichler added that, since then, he has had an intense desire to finish them.</p><p>\"I\'ve always come back to that point that, to understand genetic variation comprehensively, we need to have a reference that\'s complete. Otherwise, we\'re missing pieces of the puzzle. 95% of the puzzle being solved is good enough for some people. But I guess for me, getting that last 5% was so important because I believe so much of what we don\'t understand about disease, or we don\'t understand about evolution is disproportionately represented in that 5% of the of the genome that we didn\'t sequence first off.\"</p><p>This is not the end, he said. \"Even though people would say, \'Well, we\'re done with finishing the genome.\' We finished <strong>a</strong> genome. There will be hundreds, probably thousands of genomes over the next few years. I think our view of how humans differ from each other is going to be transformed, and how more complex genetic variation is important not only for making us human, but also making us different.\"</p><p>The work in this paper was supported, in part, by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health (5R01HG002385, 5U01HG0190971, 1U01HG010973, 1R01HG011274, 5R01HG009190, U4HGOO7234) and a grant from Futuro in Ricerca (2010-RBFR103CE3). Eichler is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.</p>','2022-03-31 22:49:55.687212','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine','As part of recent completion of first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome by Telomere- to-Telomere consortium, researchers at UW Medicine offered first comprehensive view of highly identical, large repeat regions, called segmental duplications, and their variation in human genomes. These areas are critical to understanding human evolution and genetic diversity, as well as resistance or susceptibility to many diseases. However, they were the last area of the human genome to be completed because of their complexity. Of particular interest is a gene family related to the expansion of the prefrontal cortex of the brain as humans diverged from other apes. This is the thinking, reasoning, logic and language region. Different humans carry radically different arrangements of this gene family.\n',1,36,'<li>Mitchell R. Vollger, Xavi Guitart, Philip C. Dishuck, Ludovica Mercuri, William T. Harvey, Ariel Gershman, Mark Diekhans, Arvis Sulovari, Katherine M. Munson, Alexandra P. Lewis, Kendra Hoekzema, David Porubsky, Ruiyang Li, Sergey Nurk, Sergey Koren, Karen H. Miga, Adam M. Phillippy, Winston Timp, Mario Ventura, Evan E. Eichler. <strong>Segmental duplications and their variation in a complete human genome</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 376 (6588) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abj6965\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abj6965</a>\n</li>'),(1813,'Study shows gaps in how STEM organizations collect demographic information','study-shows-gaps-in-how-stem-organizations-collect-demographic-information','2022-03-31 22:49:57.296599',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Professional organizations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields could more effectively collect data on underrepresented groups in their fields, according to a new survey published March 31 in<em> Science</em>. With more robust information, STEM organizations could better target efforts to recruit and retain a more diverse membership.</p><p>\"We want to start a conversation among STEM organizations,\" said Nicholas Burnett, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at the University of California, Davis. \"The ultimate goal is to increase representation of these groups, and you can\'t do that without knowing where to target resources.\"</p><p>Burnett\'s coauthors on the study are: Alyssa Hernandez, Harvard University; Emily King, UC Berkeley; Richelle Tanner, Chapman University; and Kathryn Wilsterman, University of Montana, Missoula.</p><p>The researchers surveyed 164 U. S.-based STEM organizations, drawn mostly from a list of societies affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The organizations were asked about the kinds of demographic information they collected on their members and conference attendees, and how they put it to use. Survey results were not associated with any particular organization, and the researchers did not ask for actual demographic information from the respondents: only what categories of information were collected.</p><p>Seventy-three organizations responded to the survey, representing over 700,000 constituents in a range of fields from life sciences and physical sciences to mathematics and technology.</p><p>While most organizations (80 percent) collected some demographic data, exactly what they collected varied. Many organizations followed the kind of breakdown used by federal agencies, offering a number of options for \"race and ethnicity\" but also lumping together several disparate groups under one category (such as \"Asian American and Pacific Islander\").</p><p><strong>Gaps in data</strong></p><p>Some groups were widely ignored. While 60 percent of respondents were collecting at least some information on \"gender identity\" and \"race and ethnicity,\" for example, just 15 percent collected data on \"disability status\" and \"sexual orientation.\" The omission of these groups is surprising given the well-documented discrimination against, and underrepresentation of these groups in STEM, the authors wrote.</p><p>The researchers suggested several models for guiding survey design. STEM organizations might seek to benchmark their own surveys against nationally collected data, for example from the National Science Foundation\'s Survey of Earned Doctorates, the U.S. Census Bureau\'s American Community Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\'s National Health Interview Survey. But these surveys also vary in the categories of information collected. For example, the NSF survey uses a single \"Asian\" category while the Census Bureau\'s survey and the National Health Interview Survey recognize seven distinct Asian identities.</p><p>The National Health Interview Survey did better than most in splitting out groups that are normally lumped together, Burnett said, but it still does not collect enough information on gender identity.</p><p>\"Organizations are stuck between following their federal funders, or responding to the social climate and collecting more accurate information,\" Burnett said.</p><p>Most respondents (87.5 percent) said they were collecting demographic data for some specific purpose, with the most common being \"monitoring\" and \"resource planning.\"</p><p>\"It\'s kind of shocking that some organizations are collecting data but aren\'t doing anything with it,\" Burnett said.</p><p>The researchers hope that the study will provoke discussion in the STEM community, further research and action.</p><p>\"Many organizations were genuinely interested in our study and want to do better,\" Burnett said.</p>','2022-03-31 22:49:57.296599','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Davis','Professional organizations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields could more effectively collect data on underrepresented groups in their fields, according to a new survey. With more robust information, STEM organizations could better target efforts to recruit and retain a more diverse membership.\n',1,27,'<li>Nicholas P. Burnett, Alyssa M. Hernandez, Emily E. King, Richelle L. Tanner, Kathryn Wilsterman. <strong>A push for inclusive data collection in STEM organizations</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 376 (6588): 37 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1599\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abo1599</a>\n</li>'),(1814,'First complete human genome poised to strengthen genetic analysis, study shows','first-complete-human-genome-poised-to-strengthen-genetic-analysis,-study-shows','2022-03-31 22:50:00.483978',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Alongside the newly updated human genome, which fills in long-standing gaps to fully spell out the more than 3 billion letters that compose our genetic code, a separate companion study has shown it can serve as an accurate template that improves our DNA sequencing capabilities by leaps and bounds.</p><p>A group within the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium -- the initiative that completed the genome -- led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, Davis, tested the full genome\'s ability to support the sequencing of DNA from thousands of people. In a new paper published in the journal <em>Science</em>, the researchers found that it corrected tens of thousands of errors produced by the previous rendition of the genome and was better for the analysis of more than 200 genes of medical relevance. The findings suggest that the T2T\'s genome could greatly propel research into genetic disorders, and that further in the future, patients might reap the benefits of more reliable diagnoses.</p><p>When clinicians and researchers sequence DNA to study or diagnose a genetic disorder, they use machines that produce strings of DNA, each mirroring a section of a patient\'s or research subject\'s genome. Then they compare those strings to a template, called a reference genome, to get an idea of what order to place them in.</p><p>\"If sequencing DNA is like putting together a puzzle, then the reference genome is like the picture of the finished puzzle on the box. It helps guide you in putting together the pieces,\" said NIST biomedical engineer Justin Zook, a co-author of the study.</p><p>The most advanced reference genome prior to the T2T version lacks 8% of the genome, and certain sections, which have proved difficult for sequencing technologies to decode in the past, are riddled with errors.</p><p>These imperfections made the reference akin to a puzzle box picture having blanks and showing pieces in the wrong place. But thanks to technological and scientific advances made in genomics over the past two decades, the T2T consortium was able to fill in and clean up the human reference genome.</p><p>Zook and the other study authors aimed to show just how much of a difference the finished reference would make in DNA sequencing.</p><p>The team found a proving ground for the reference in the 1000 Genomes Project (1KGP), an international effort that has amassed genetically diverse genome sequences from thousands of people from four different continents. Rather than starting from scratch and obtaining DNA from new subjects, the researchers were able to piece together the DNA segments already laid out by 1KGP.</p><p>The authors used computer programs to analyze 3,202 genomes with the T2T reference and compared the results to published work on these genomes that was performed with the previous reference. It became clear that genomes stitched together using one of the two references differed greatly in important regions.</p><p>The T2T reference genome brought millions of genetic variations -- stretches of DNA that differ from person to person -- to light that the other reference did not. And it also washed away tens of thousands of blemishes in sequences, such as incorrectly located variations. In other words, the new variations filled in the blanks on the puzzle box picture and the corrections showed the right puzzle pieces where thousands were out of place before.</p><p>\"What we found is that this new reference improved accuracy across the board. So, regardless of what the ancestry of the individual was, whether they were African, Caucasian or Asian, the new reference improved results for them,\" Zook said.</p><p>To understand the new reference\'s capabilities more thoroughly, the researchers attempted to use it to identify variation in 269 genes with either known or suspected connections to disease. These genes are tucked away in the regions of the genome that were previously challenging to decipher accurately.</p><p>The authors narrowed their focus to just one person characterized extensively by the NIST-led Genome in a Bottle Consortium, rather than thousands, to conduct this test. They performed a rigorous analysis of the genome of this individual, who had consented to publicizing their genetic code, using an array of powerful sequencing technologies backed by the new reference, Zook said.</p><p>For their efforts, they obtained a genomic benchmark -- a highly accurate digital readout of the DNA in genes of interest -- that can act as an answer key when evaluating sequencing methods.</p><p>The team paired the references with three different sequencing technologies each. But no matter the approach, T2T\'s genome always outperformed its predecessor, even decreasing error by as much as 12 times with one technology.</p><p>The T2T reference genome rounds out the mapping of our genetic blueprint, marking a pivotal milestone in the field of genomics. Researchers across the field will now be able to explore areas in the genome that were off limits in the past and begin to understand how scores of genes relate to different diseases. But according to Zook, there is still more work to do before clinics put it into practice.</p><p>By all indications thus far, the T2T reference is more accurate than the current reference. However, researchers have used the current reference to analyze millions of genomes, gaining a deep well of knowledge that is essential for properly interpreting results when using it. Experts will need to grasp the ins and outs of the new reference in the same way to move forward.</p><p>\"I think there\'ll definitely be a lot more work to understand the accuracy of DNA sequences of many individuals in regions of the genome that this reference now makes accessible,\" Zook said.</p>','2022-03-31 22:50:00.483978','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)','Alongside the newly updated human genome, which fills in long-standing gaps to fully spell out the more than 3 billion letters that compose our genetic code, a separate companion study has shown it can serve as an accurate template that improves our DNA sequencing capabilities by leaps and bounds.\n',1,123,'<li>Sergey Aganezov, Stephanie M. Yan, Daniela C. Soto, Melanie Kirsche, Samantha Zarate, Pavel Avdeyev, Dylan J. Taylor, Kishwar Shafin, Alaina Shumate, Chunlin Xiao, Justin Wagner, Jennifer McDaniel, Nathan D. Olson, Michael E. G. Sauria, Mitchell R. Vollger, Arang Rhie, Melissa Meredith, Skylar Martin, Joyce Lee, Sergey Koren, Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld, Benedict Paten, Ryan Layer, Chen-Shan Chin, Fritz J. Sedlazeck, Nancy F. Hansen, Danny E. Miller, Adam M. Phillippy, Karen H. Miga, Rajiv C. McCoy, Megan Y. Dennis, Justin M. Zook, Michael C. Schatz. <strong>A complete reference genome improves analysis of human genetic variation</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 376 (6588) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abl3533\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abl3533</a>\n</li>'),(1815,'Massive collaboration fills the gaps in the human genome','massive-collaboration-fills-the-gaps-in-the-human-genome','2022-03-31 22:50:02.827677',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It was like a map of New York missing all of Manhattan. The human reference genome finally has all its blank spots filled in, and seeing everything we missed the first time around is both repetitive -- and enlightening.</p><p>\"We\'re realizing there\'s a lot of human variation out there,\" says geneticist Rachel O\'Neill, director of UConn\'s Institute for Systems Genomics. And in a contra-intuitive twist of fate, the variation comes in large part from the repeats.</p><p>A significant amount of human genetic material turns out to be long, repetitive sections that occur over and over. Although every human has some repeats, not everyone has the same number of them. And the difference in the number of repeats is where most of human genetic variation is found.</p><p>This insight -- that the repeats are important -- is one of many significant findings from the Telomere-2-Telomere (T2T) project, a globe spanning collaboration of institutions that filled in the missing sections of the original human genome assembly. O\'Neill is a principal investigator on that project, and an author on four of the six T2T papers being published in <em>Science</em> on March 31.</p><p>\"It took the invention of new methods of DNA sequencing and computational analysis, and the dedication of a remarkable team of scientists, to complete the reading of the 8% of the human genome that was too complex and repetitive in its structure to be resolved 20 years ago. It was worth the wait -- a rich array of surprising architectural features is revealed, with major consequences for understanding human evolution, variation, and biological function,\" says Francis Collins, White House Science Advisor and former director of the National Institutes of Health.</p><p>As amazing as it was at the time, the original Human Genome Project left about 8% of the genome blank.</p><p>\"That\'s the equivalent of an entire chromosome in human DNA,\" O\'Neill says. That last 8% includes numerous genes and repetitive areas. Most of the newly added DNA sequences were near the repetitive telomeres (long, trailing ends of each chromosome) and centromeres (dense middle sections of each chromosome).</p><p>The blanks were a result of the \"short-read\" technology the Human Genome Project used. It was the only technology for genome mapping available 20 years ago, and it could only read the equivalent of a few words of the genetic code at a time. For example, imagine a section of the genome consisted of the sentence \"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,\" repeated nine times in a row. The short read technology would reveal only pieces of it such as \"All work,\" \"Jack a,\" \"makes Jack,\" et cetera. The researchers pieced those short sections together to make the sentence \"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,\" but they had no way to know it was repeated nine times.</p><p>The T2T project, however, had better tools. The new long-read DNA technology can read entire sentences, even paragraphs, at a time. So the researchers were able to see large chunks, or even full sections, of repeats.</p><p>\"Generating a truly gapless sequence of the human genome is a major milestone. We would have loved to have done this 20 years ago, but the technology had to advance. This new reference is a truly solid foundation, without cracks, on which to understand human biology. There are no missing pieces!\" says Bob Waterston, a biologist at the University of Washington who worked on the original Human Genome Project.</p><p>Many early-career researchers and trainees played pivotal roles in the T2T project. At UConn, Savannah Hoyt, Gabrielle Hartley, and Patrick Grady in Rachel O\'Neill\'s lab, and Luke Wojenski in Leighton Core\'s lab, were deeply involved in the work. One of their major contributions was developing a compendium of the repeats in the genome. They found the repetitive sections contained mobile elements, which are sections capable of jumping from one part of the genome to the other (the classic example is jumping genes that lead to color changes in corn kernels, such as from red to white); viruses; and new repeats no one had identified before, including some that carry genes. Some of the giant repeats with 10, 20, or 30 copies repeat back-to-back and contain genes that could account for much of human diversity. In the example sentence from earlier, imagine \"Jack\" is a gene. One person might have 5 copies of it. Another might have 25.</p><p>The T2T team got the first look at complete sequences for the central parts of every human chromosome. Called centromeres, they join the different arms of each X-shaped chromosome together. O\'Neill\'s team found that centromeres contain known mobile elements as well as new repeats. Much of the DNA in the centromere seems to be important for maintaining a cell\'s genetic information through the generations. Centromeres are already known to play a role in DNA replication when cells reproduce, and if they shift their position in the chromosome significantly they can give rise to entirely new species. The complete, gapless centromere sequences constructed by the T2T project will allow a much more nuanced understanding of human centromeres and what they do. The next steps in human genetics research can use the complete T2T genome assembly as a jumping off point to identify interesting areas of our DNA.</p><p>\"The next phase of research will sequence the genomes of many different people to fully grasp human diversity, diseases and our relationship to our closest relatives, the other primates,\" O\'Neill says.</p>','2022-03-31 22:50:02.827677','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Connecticut','A team of researchers from institutions around the globe has finally filled in the gaps in the Human Reference Genome--and repeated sections are more abundant and more important than previously realized.\n',1,36,'<li>Savannah J. Hoyt, Jessica M. Storer, Gabrielle A. Hartley, Patrick G. S. Grady, Ariel Gershman, Leonardo G. de Lima, Charles Limouse, Reza Halabian, Luke Wojenski, Matias Rodriguez, Nicolas Altemose, Arang Rhie, Leighton J. Core, Jennifer L. Gerton, Wojciech Makalowski, Daniel Olson, Jeb Rosen, Arian F. A. Smit, Aaron F. Straight, Mitchell R. Vollger, Travis J. Wheeler, Michael C. Schatz, Evan E. Eichler, Adam M. Phillippy, Winston Timp, Karen H. Miga, Rachel J. O’Neill. <strong>From telomere to telomere: The transcriptional and epigenetic state of human repeat elements</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 376 (6588) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abk3112\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abk3112</a>\n</li>'),(1816,'Researchers generate the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome','researchers-generate-the-first-complete,-gapless-sequence-of-a-human-genome','2022-03-31 22:50:17.796726',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists have published the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome, two decades after the Human Genome Project produced the first draft human genome sequence. According to researchers, having a complete, gap-free sequence of the roughly 3 billion bases (or \"letters\") in our DNA is critical for understanding the full spectrum of human genomic variation and for understanding the genetic contributions to certain diseases. The work was done by the Telomere to Telomere (T2T) consortium, which included leadership from researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health; University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of Washington, Seattle. NHGRI was the primary funder of the study.</p><p>Analyses of the complete genome sequence will significantly add to our knowledge of chromosomes, including more accurate maps for five chromosome arms, which opens new lines of research. This helps answer basic biology questions about how chromosomes properly segregate and divide. The T2T consortium used the now-complete genome sequence as a reference to discover more than 2 million additional variants in the human genome. These studies provide more accurate information about the genomic variants within 622 medically relevant genes.</p><p>\"Generating a truly complete human genome sequence represents an incredible scientific achievement, providing the first comprehensive view of our DNA blueprint,\" said Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., director of NHGRI. \"This foundational information will strengthen the many ongoing efforts to understand all the functional nuances of the human genome, which in turn will empower genetic studies of human disease.\"</p><p>The now-complete human genome sequence will be particularly valuable for studies that aim to establish comprehensive views of human genomic variation, or how people\'s DNA differs. Such insights are vital for understanding the genetic contributions to certain diseases and for using genome sequence as a routine part of clinical care in the future. Many research groups have already started using a pre-release version of the complete human genome sequence for their research.</p><p>The full sequencing builds upon the work of the Human Genome Project, which mapped about 92% of the genome, and research undertaken since then. Thousands of researchers have developed better laboratory tools, computational methods and strategic approaches to decipher the complex sequence. Six papers encompassing the completed sequence appear in <em>Science</em>, along with companion papers in several other journals.</p><p>That last 8% includes numerous genes and repetitive DNA and is comparable in size to an entire chromosome. Researchers generated the complete genome sequence using a special cell line that has two identical copies of each chromosome, unlike most human cells, which carry two slightly different copies. The researchers noted that most of the newly added DNA sequences were near the repetitive telomeres (long, trailing ends of each chromosome) and centromeres (dense middle sections of each chromosome).</p><p>\"Ever since we had the first draft human genome sequence, determining the exact sequence of complex genomic regions has been challenging,\" said Evan Eichler, Ph.D., researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine and T2T consortium co-chair. \"I am thrilled that we got the job done. The complete blueprint is going to revolutionize the way we think about human genomic variation, disease and evolution.\"</p><p>The cost of sequencing a human genome using \"short-read\" technologies, which provide several hundred bases of DNA sequence at a time, is only a few hundred dollars, having fallen significantly since the end of the Human Genome Project. However, using these short-read methods alone still leaves some gaps in assembled genome sequences. The massive drop in DNA sequencing costs comes hand-in-hand with increased investments in new DNA sequencing technologies to generate longer DNA sequence reads without compromising the accuracy.</p><p>Over the past decade, two new DNA sequencing technologies emerged that produced much longer sequence reads. The Oxford Nanopore DNA sequencing method can read up to 1 million DNA letters in a single read with modest accuracy, while the PacBio HiFi DNA sequencing method can read about 20,000 letters with nearly perfect accuracy. Researchers in the T2T consortium used both DNA sequencing methods to generate the complete human genome sequence.</p><p>\"Using long-read methods, we have made breakthroughs in our understanding of the most difficult, repeat-rich parts of the human genome,\" says Karen Miga, Ph.D., a co-chair of the T2T consortium whose research group at the University of California, Santa Cruz is funded by NHGRI. \"This complete human genome sequence has already provided new insight into genome biology, and I look forward to the next decade of discoveries about these newly revealed regions.\"</p><p>According to consortium co-chair Adam Phillippy, Ph.D., whose research group at NHGRI led the finishing effort, sequencing a person\'s entire genome should get less expensive and more straightforward in the coming years.</p><p>\"In the future, when someone has their genome sequenced, we will be able to identify all of the variants in their DNA and use that information to better guide their healthcare,\" Phillippy said. \"Truly finishing the human genome sequence was like putting on a new pair of glasses. Now that we can clearly see everything, we are one step closer to understanding what it all means.\"</p><p>Many early-career researchers and trainees played pivotal roles, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; University of Connecticut, Storrs; University of California, Davis; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland; and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The package of six papers reporting this accomplishment appears in today\'s issue of <em>Science</em>, along with companion papers in several other journals.</p><p>For more, visit <a href=\"http://Genome.gov/T2T\">Genome.gov/T2T</a> and follow @Genome_gov.</p>','2022-03-31 22:50:17.796726','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'National Institutes of Health','Scientists have published the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome, two decades after the Human Genome Project produced the first draft human genome sequence. According to researchers, having a complete, gap-free sequence of the roughly 3 billion bases (or \'letters\') in our DNA is critical for understanding the full spectrum of human genomic variation and for understanding the genetic contributions to certain diseases.\n',1,123,'<li>Sergey Nurk, Sergey Koren, Arang Rhie, Mikko Rautiainen, Andrey V. Bzikadze, Alla Mikheenko, Mitchell R. Vollger, Nicolas Altemose, Lev Uralsky, Ariel Gershman, Sergey Aganezov, Savannah J. Hoyt, Mark Diekhans, Glennis A. Logsdon, Michael Alonge, Stylianos E. Antonarakis, Matthew Borchers, Gerard G. Bouffard, Shelise Y. Brooks, Gina V. Caldas, Nae-Chyun Chen, Haoyu Cheng, Chen-Shan Chin, William Chow, Leonardo G. de Lima, Philip C. Dishuck, Richard Durbin, Tatiana Dvorkina, Ian T. Fiddes, Giulio Formenti, Robert S. Fulton, Arkarachai Fungtammasan, Erik Garrison, Patrick G. S. Grady, Tina A. Graves-Lindsay, Ira M. Hall, Nancy F. Hansen, Gabrielle A. Hartley, Marina Haukness, Kerstin Howe, Michael W. Hunkapiller, Chirag Jain, Miten Jain, Erich D. Jarvis, Peter Kerpedjiev, Melanie Kirsche, Mikhail Kolmogorov, Jonas Korlach, Milinn Kremitzki, Heng Li, Valerie V. Maduro, Tobias Marschall, Ann M. McCartney, Jennifer McDaniel, Danny E. Miller, James C. Mullikin, Eugene W. Myers, Nathan D. Olson, Benedict Paten, Paul Peluso, Pavel A. Pevzner, David Porubsky, Tamara Potapova, Evgeny I. Rogaev, Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld, Steven L. Salzberg, Valerie A. Schneider, Fritz J. Sedlazeck, Kishwar Shafin, Colin J. Shew, Alaina Shumate, Ying Sims, Arian F. A. Smit, Daniela C. Soto, Ivan Sović, Jessica M. Storer, Aaron Streets, Beth A. Sullivan, Françoise Thibaud-Nissen, James Torrance, Justin Wagner, Brian P. Walenz, Aaron Wenger, Jonathan M. D. Wood, Chunlin Xiao, Stephanie M. Yan, Alice C. Young, Samantha Zarate, Urvashi Surti, Rajiv C. McCoy, Megan Y. Dennis, Ivan A. Alexandrov, Jennifer L. Gerton, Rachel J. O’Neill, Winston Timp, Justin M. Zook, Michael C. Schatz, Evan E. Eichler, Karen H. Miga, Adam M. Phillippy. <strong>The complete sequence of a human genome</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 376 (6588): 44 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abj6987\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abj6987</a>\n</li>'),