(824,'Addressing knowledge gaps in shark and ray research','addressing-knowledge-gaps-in-shark-and-ray-research','2022-03-12 12:45:06.117088','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Sharks and rays are one of the most ancient vertebrate groups, as well as one of the most endangered.</p><p>Researchers still know very little about many shark and ray species and the environments in which they live, particularly rare species and those that dwell in remote areas, where resources and capacity for conducting study and monitoring are scarce.</p><p>To address these knowledge gaps, Francesco Ferretti, an assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, polled an international team of scientists and practitioners to take a pulse of the greatest issues that are present in shark research, marine conservation, and fisheries science.</p><p>\"In science, it is very important to know things. But it is even more important to understand what you don\'t know. If you are able to do that, then you can focus your efforts more effectively in that direction,\" said Ferretti, who is an affiliate of the Center for Coastal Studies and the Global Change Center, both of which are housed in the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. \"In our review, we found that key opportunities for addressing these threats and conserving these crucially important animals come from technological advances, international coordination of research and action, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.\"</p><p>Their review was published in <em>Endangered Species Research.</em></p><p>Ferretti and his colleagues selected 20 of the most pressing topics in research and conservation of shark and ray populations. The issues ranged from their ecology to the threats they face and management and conservation actions that need to be taken.</p><p>A total of 47 experts from 35 institutions and 13 countries came together to offer their current understandings, knowledge gaps, and what is, in their opinion, the way forward.</p><p>\"Sharks and rays are an amazing group of animals that occupy all oceanic and coastal ecosystems of our planet,\" said Fiorenza Micheli, co-director of Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions and co-author of the study. \"This extraordinary diversity and key ecological functions and services are at risk from many pressures -- overexploitation, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change.\"</p><p>The importance of sharks and rays in coastal marine ecosystems cannot be overstated. These animals are the top predators in the food chain, and they are able to influence the abundance of prey populations, shape the structure and function of marine communities and food webs, and bridge distant ecosystems together.</p><p>Unfortunately, these animals are particularly vulnerable to exploitation because of two reasons: their patterns of survival -- such as late maturation and low offspring numbers -- and widespread exposure to human-caused pressures.</p><p>\"We have learned a great deal about some of the larger and more charismatic shark species and in many parts of the world have established effective ongoing monitoring programs,\" said Salvador Jorgensen, a marine ecologist and researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a lead author on the study. \"While we build on those successes, it is imperative that we also shift our focus to lesser-known but equally important shark and ray species, transfering lessons learned to remote habitats and rare species that have escaped scientific study but not the increasing pressures of human impact.\"</p><p>To help solve this issue of data scarcity, Ferretti\'s lab is leveraging our fascination with sharks and infatuation with social media.</p><p>Ferretti\'s lab is using a new and intriguing piece of technology called sharkPulse to help solve the scarcity of shark data. This is a crowdsourcing platform supported by seed funding from the Global Change Center able to transform all images or media found on social networks of shark occurrences into data that can be used for analysis.</p><p>The lab is tapping into social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr. Additionally, sharkPulse allows citizen scientists to share their own images from their mobile phones and validate the streams of data that are coming from the social media platforms.</p><p>With permission of citizen scientists and access to their geolocation information and timestamps, researchers will be able to conduct habitat modeling analysis, perform trend and distribution analyses, and plan more targeted field investigations.</p><p>Last year, Feretti used distribution models based on sharkPulse and other historical sighting record data on an expedition in the Sicilian Channel to study the area\'s incredibly rare great white shark population. Great white shark populations have plummeted as a result of overfishing in the Mediterranean, raising the question of how many animals remain. They intend to return to the Mediterranean in the spring of next year to tag and follow more of the elusive animals.</p><p>But understanding more about shark behavior and habitats is more than just filling in information gaps; it can also help us safeguard sharks and ourselves from unintentional attacks.</p><p>\"By understanding more sharks, we can also mitigate the risk of interacting with these sharks because we know seasons where they are active and the seasons when they are absent,\" said Ferretti. \"You don\'t go in the northern part of California and surf in November, because that\'s a hot spot for white sharks. If you want to reduce your risk, go down to Southern California, where there are younger sharks and smaller sharks with lower risk for them to interact in an injurious way.\"</p><p>The review will be especially beneficial to aspiring scientists and researchers who want to stay up to date on the newest technologies and improve their studies on sharks.</p><p>\"Reviews such as this are an incredible way to synthesize findings from various studies and identify patterns, which may be particularly useful in understanding the biology and ecology of some lesser-studied species of sharks and rays,\" said Brendan Shea, a Ph.D. student in the Ferretti lab. \"Ultimately, we hope this review serves as a road map for future work by identifying the critical knowledge gaps in shark and ray science as well as some of the most promising approaches and technologies researchers can use to pursue them.\"</p>','2022-03-10 23:14:57.048933','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Virginia Tech','Sharks and rays are one of the most ancient vertebrate groups, as well as one of the most endangered. Researchers still know very little about many shark and ray species and the environments in which they live, particularly rare species and those that dwell in remote areas, where resources and capacity for conducting study and monitoring are scarce.',1,116,'<li>SJ Jorgensen, F Micheli, TD White, KS Van Houtan, J Alfaro-Shigueto, S Andrzejaczek, NS Arnoldi, JK Baum, B Block, GL Britten, C Butner, S Caballero, D Cardeñosa, TK Chapple, S Clarke, E Cortés, NK Dulvy, S Fowler, AJ Gallagher, E Gilman, BJ Godley, RT Graham, N Hammerschlag, AV Harry, MR Heithaus, M Hutchinson, C Huveneers, CG Lowe, LO Lucifora, T MacKeracher, JC Mangel, AP Barbosa Martins, DJ McCauley, L McClenachan, C Mull, LJ Natanson, D Pauly, DA Pazmiño, JCA Pistevos, N Queiroz, G Roff, BD Shea, CA Simpfendorfer, DW Sims, C Ward-Paige, B Worm, F Ferretti. <strong>Emergent research and priorities for shark and ray conservation</strong>. <em>Endangered Species Research</em>, 2022; 47: 171 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr01169\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3354/esr01169</a>\r\n</li>'),(825,'Gamification, past habits may impact future eco-friendly tendencies differently','gamification-past-habits-may-impact-future-eco-friendly-tendencies-differently','2022-03-12 12:44:12.120933','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Green consumer habits may not be impacted by gamification practices, but people who purchased environmentally friendly products in the past are likely to continue to do so, according to a team of researchers, who theorized that adding gamification techniques to a consumer\'s eco-friendly purchasing habits would perpetuate green consumerism.</p><p>Gamification is a technique that attempts to motivate a person to continue doing an activity, such as purchasing, through features such as loyalty point programs, leader boards and online communities.</p><p>The research team, led by Lewen Wei, a recent Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, Penn State graduate, said the team was interested in understanding the motivational complexity behind people\'s everyday sustainability practices. The project explored game-based solutions that have the potential to increase intrinsic motivations to purchase eco-friendly products.</p><p>\"We need a continuous commitment to green consumerism in order to make a dent in the environmental harm caused by human activity, so it requires a strong intrinsic motivation, especially in spite of many external factors that might constrain their behaviors like the higher costs and lower availability of eco-friendly products,\" said Wei, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Tampere University in Finland.</p><p>According to the team, one of the challenges to maintaining green purchasing practices is moral licensing, which is \"a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people perceive themselves as licensed to refrain from good behavior when they have accrued a surplus of moral currency,\" the authors wrote in the paper \"Gamifying Green Consumerism Websites: Can Gamification Mitigate Moral Licensing and Ideological Resistance to Green Behaviors?\" in a recent issue of the <em>Journal of Communication Technology.</em></p><p>\"A past commitment to green consumption might free people from continuing this practice for a while because they might feel like they have earned enough credits as a person dedicated to sustainable behaviors thus far, so that it should be considered acceptable if they decide to make some less environmentally friendly options in the future,\" said Jessica Myrick, professor of media studies and research team member.</p><p>In the study, the research team focused on three game elements: avatar customization, feedback on participant\'s choices and the presence of a community.</p><p>\"We tested the effects of not only one single gaming element but also the various combinations of them -- for example, featuring all three game elements at the same time in one setting -- to see whether one game element was sufficiently helpful in facilitating future green consumption, or the amount of gamification mattered to a greater extent than any one element,\" said Wei.</p><p>Although the research team expected to find that the gamification would affect future green consumerism, they reported the data did not support that theory. The researchers said they believe more empirical evidence is needed to validate the finding. They also said that it is possible that different types of gamification design may result in different outcomes.</p><p>\"We think gamification is still very promising in increasing people\'s intrinsic motivations of continuing sustainable practices and thereby facilitating green consumerism,\" Wei said.</p><p>In contrast, the team expected to observe moral licensing among subjects who had participated in green consumerism, but the data did not support that theory.</p><p>\"Instead, we found some evidence of moral consistency, that is, for participants primed of their past green efforts, they reported to be willing to take more concrete green actions,\" Wei said.</p><p>Wei and Myrick said they believe that this research could be beneficial to other researchers interested in gamification connected to environmental and sustainable communication efforts by providing preliminary insights about people\'s motivational complexities in the process and what can or cannot be done to overcome them with inspirations for future studies. Also, website and app developers and designers could benefit by learning about how gamification is received in the green consumerism context with practical implications about gathering empirical evidence to understand their target audiences before implementing game-based solutions.</p>','2022-03-11 00:43:22.279610','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Penn State','Green consumer habits may not be impacted by gamification practices, but people who purchased environmentally friendly products in the past are likely to continue to do so, according to a team of researchers, who theorized that adding gamification techniques to a consumer\'s eco-friendly purchasing habits would perpetuate green consumerism.',1,190,'<li>Lewen Wei, Jessica Myrick. <strong>Gamifying Green Consumerism Websites: Can Gamification Mitigate Moral Licensing and Ideological Resistance to Green Behaviors?</strong> <em>Journal of Communication Technology</em>, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.51548/joctec-2022-001\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.51548/joctec-2022-001</a>\r\n</li>'),(826,'New study confirms bioengineered RSV protein vaccine evokes protective immune response','new-study-confirms-bioengineered-rsv-protein-vaccine-evokes-protective-immune-response','2022-03-12 12:42:40.978893','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Close interactions with infectious disease set both University of California, Santa Cruz graduate student Ana Nuñez Castrejon and Associate Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Rebecca DuBois on the path of studying Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common and sometimes dangerous respiratory disease for which there is not currently a vaccine. The two researchers recently marked a major milestone in their effort to create an effective vaccine for the virus with the publishing of their paper \"Structure-based design and antigenic validation of respiratory syncytial virus G immunogens\" in the <em>Journal of Virology</em>.</p><p>For fifth-year Baskin Engineering student and the paper\'s lead author Nuñez Castrejon, a bout of pneumonia that lingered for months when she was an undergraduate student sparked her interest in studying respiratory illnesses. For DuBois, watching her child go through a serious infection of RSV, which can cause severe respiratory infections in infants/children and the elderly, led her to study the disease.</p><p>\"We have all of these wonderful childhood vaccines that have eliminated so much childhood disease, but there are still a lot of infectious diseases that are really tough on children, and RSV is one of those that causes hospitalizations in children,\" DuBois said.</p><p>Now, the team focuses on bioengineering the structure of RSV\'s G protein, which attaches the virus to host cells. The researchers altered the structure of the protein to eliminate its negative effects and while still eliciting a protective response from the immune system in the form of antibodies that bind to the G protein.</p><p>The researcher\'s 2021 paper showed that their engineered G protein was able to stimulate a stronger antibody response than the native G protein. However, it was unclear if the engineered G protein still \"looked like\" the native protein does on the surface of the virus. The newest study confirms that this engineered G protein looks the same and is recognized by human RSV-fighting antibodies.</p><p>\"My paper shows that the engineered mutation in the protein doesn\'t disrupt the ability of antibodies to bind it, so when it is used as a vaccine antigen it is possible to elicit these protective antibodies in animal models, and hopefully in the future people will be protected from the disease,\" Nuñez Castrejon said.</p><p>This paper is similar to a 2017 publication crucial in the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine which described how to bioengineer the coronavirus\'s Spike antigen to induce more and better antibodies, a strategy that was used to create to design the Moderna, Pfizer, J&amp;J, and Novavax vaccine Spike antigens. Both papers use structural biology to ensure that an engineered version of a virus can be recognized by the immune system to fight the actual virus.</p><p>\"This is the same kind of foundational work that allowed scientists to design the coronavirus vaccine so quickly and enable it to look exactly like it does on the surface of the virus, and even better,\" DuBois said. \"I think what people are coming to realize is that we can make vaccines that stimulate immune responses that are better than you get from infection, if we can engineer the antigens in a way that really exposes the weaknesses of the virus.\"</p><p>Research in DuBois\'s lab differs from other efforts to develop a RSV vaccine in their approach to studying the virus\'s proteins. Many researchers are focused on altering the structure of the RSV F protein, which fuses the virus and host cell membranes together to get the virus\'s genetic information into cells.</p><p>But late-stage clinical trials of vaccines using this approach show only a 60 to 70 percent protection against infection, which is promising but lower than what would be hoped for for an important pathogen like RSV.</p><p>In the short term, the researchers are looking to further analyze results from collaborators at the University of Georgia as to how their engineered protein affected disease symptoms in mice, and will continue to engineer the RSV G protein to produce stronger immune responses. In the next five years, they hope to develop an RSV vaccine using their engineered protein that is ready for clinical trials.</p><p>DuBois and Castrejon Nuñez are also collaborating with the biotechnology company Trellis Bioscience, which is investigating the use of monoclonal antibodies to treat infants with RSV infection and severe lung congestion.</p>','2022-03-11 00:43:24.263543','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Santa Cruz','Researchers marked a major milestone in the effort to create an effective vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause severe respiratory disease in children and the elderly.',1,52,'<li>Ana M. Nuñez Castrejon, Sara M. O’Rourke, Lawrence M. Kauvar, Rebecca M. DuBois. <strong>Structure-Based Design and Antigenic Validation of Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Immunogens</strong>. <em>Journal of Virology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jvi.02201-21\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1128/jvi.02201-21</a>\r\n</li>'),(828,'Scientists \'supercharge\' cancer-fighting T cells','scientists-supercharge-cancer-fighting-t-cells','2022-03-12 12:41:49.437517','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Yale scientists have identified a way to \"supercharge\" tumor-attacking T cells, a finding that may not only improve the effectiveness of a promising type of cell-based cancer immunotherapy but also expand the number of cancers it can treat.</p><p>Their findings are published March 10 in the journal <em>Cell Metabolism.</em></p><p>The discovery can advance CAR-T cell therapy, which harnesses the immune response of T cells to cancers by introducing tumor-detecting molecules into the cells. In the last decade, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved six CAR-T cell therapies to treat B cell lymphomas and multiple myeloma. But despite early successes, the effectiveness of the treatment tends to diminish over time, which has launched a search for ways to boost function of T cells.</p><p>Also, there are currently no approved CAR-T cell therapies to treat solid tumors.</p><p>For the new study, researchers in the lab of Sidi Chen, associate professor of genetics at Yale and senior author of the paper, devised an ingenious way to efficiently scan the genome of CD8 T cells for specific genes that might enhance the cells\' ability to attack cancer cells.</p><p>\"We developed a new kind of genome-wide gain of function screen to find a molecular enzyme that acts like a foot on a gas pedal to increase metabolic activity in T cells,\" Chen said.</p><p>They found high levels of activity in several genes, including PRODH2, a gene involved in cell metabolism, stimulate increased CAR-T cell activity in mouse models used to study three different types of cancers, including solid-tumor breast cancer. The findings show it is possible to produce hyper-metabolic CAR-T cells that outperform existing cell therapies, researchers say.</p><p>Using these systems and findings, future studies can test the newly identified types of metabolically enhanced CAR-Ts in clinical settings, to identify other T cell super-chargers, and to extend cell-based immunotherapy to different cancer types, especially solid tumors, Chen said.</p><p>Chen is affiliated with the Yale Cancer Center, the Yale Stem Cell Center, the Yale Center for Biomedical Data Science, and the Systems Biology Institute and Center for Cancer Systems Biology at Yale\'s West Campus.</p><p>Yale\'s Lupeng Ye, Jonathan Park, Lei Peng, and Quanjun Yang are co-first authors of the paper.</p><p>The research was primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense.</p>','2022-03-11 00:43:27.782330','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Yale University','Scientists have identified a way to \'supercharge\' tumor-attacking T cells, a finding that may not only improve the effectiveness of a promising type of cell-based cancer immunotherapy but also expand the number of cancers it can treat.',1,89,'<li>Lupeng Ye, Jonathan J. Park, Lei Peng, Quanjun Yang, Ryan D. Chow, Matthew B. Dong, Stanley Z. Lam, Jianjian Guo, Erting Tang, Yueqi Zhang, Guangchuan Wang, Xiaoyun Dai, Yaying Du, Hyunu R. Kim, Hanbing Cao, Youssef Errami, Paul Clark, Alexey Bersenev, Ruth R. Montgomery, Sidi Chen. <strong>A genome-scale gain-of-function CRISPR screen in CD8 T cells identifies proline metabolism as a means to enhance CAR-T therapy</strong>. <em>Cell Metabolism</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.02.009\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cmet.2022.02.009</a>\r\n</li>'),(829,'Antivirals, some antibodies, work well against BA.2 omicron variant of COVID-19 virus','antivirals-some-antibodies-work-well-against-ba2-omicron-variant-of-covid-19-virus','2022-03-12 12:40:54.094899','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The antiviral therapies remdesivir, molnupiravir, and the active ingredient in Pfizer\'s Paxlovid pill (nirmatrelvir), remain effective in laboratory tests against the BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.</p><p>The BA.2 variant also remains susceptible to at least some of the monoclonal antibodies used to treat COVID-19, such as Evusheld by AstraZeneca. However, the antibodies etesevimab and bamlanivmab, which are used together as a single treatment, were not able to neutralize the BA.2 virus at common dosages in these lab tests. Other antibody treatments were less effective against BA.2 than they are against earlier strains of SARS-COV-2.</p><p>These results come from new research led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Tokyo. The BA.2 omicron variant is related to the more common BA.1 omicron virus, and some evidence suggests that BA.2 can spread more quickly than the already highly contagious BA.1 variant.</p><p>\"The bottom line is we have antibodies that appear to be more effective against BA. 2 compared with BA.1 or BA.1.1. That\'s good news, but we don\'t know whether what we found in in the lab translates into clinical settings,\" says Kawaoka, who previously tested how the BA.1 variant responds to treatments. \"We also tested clinically available antiviral compounds, and they are all highly efficacious.\"</p><p>Kawaoka and his collaborators at UW-Madison and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo published their findings in the <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em> on March 9.</p><p>In lab experiments using non-human primate cells, Kawaoka\'s team tested seven monoclonal antibodies, three combinations of antibodies, and three antiviral treatments against the BA.2 variant. Most clinically approved antibody treatments are a combination of multiple antibodies.</p><p>The intravenous drug remdesivir and the active ingredients in two anti-COVID-19 pills, Paxlovid and Merck\'s molnupiravir, were nearly as effective against BA.1 as they are against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2.</p><p>The most effective antibody treatment against the BA.2 variant was Evusheld, which is approved in the U.S. to help prevent COVID-19 infection in people vulnerable to severe disease. The antibodies sold by Regeneron and GlaxoSmithKline were much more effective against BA.2 than they are against the BA.1 omicron variant, although they were not as potent against BA.2 as they are against earlier versions of the virus.</p><p>Available anti-COVID treatments are typically less effective against new variants than they are against the original virus strain, because they were designed and tested against earlier versions of the virus. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies can design and test treatments against new variants, but that process takes months.</p><p>This work was supported in part the National Institutes of Health (grants HHSN272201400008C and 75N93021C00014). The study was also supported by the Japan Research Program on Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases (grants JP20fk0108412, JP21fk0108615 and JP21fk0108104), a Project Promoting Support for Drug Discovery (grant JP20nk0101632), the Japan Program for Infectious Diseases Research and Infrastructure (grant JP21wm0125002), and a Grant-in-Aid for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Japan (grant 20HA2007).</p>','2022-03-11 00:43:30.474146','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Wisconsin-Madison','The antiviral therapies remdesivir, molnupiravir, and the active ingredient in Pfizer\'s Paxlovid pill (nirmatrelvir), remain effective in laboratory tests against the BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new research.',1,52,'<li>Emi Takashita, Noriko Kinoshita, Seiya Yamayoshi, Yuko Sakai-Tagawa, Seiichiro Fujisaki, Mutsumi Ito, Kiyoko Iwatsuki-Horimoto, Peter Halfmann, Shinji Watanabe, Kenji Maeda, Masaki Imai, Hiroaki Mitsuya, Norio Ohmagari, Makoto Takeda, Hideki Hasegawa, Yoshihiro Kawaoka. <strong>Efficacy of Antiviral Agents against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariant BA.2</strong>. <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2201933\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1056/NEJMc2201933</a>\r\n</li>'),(830,'Watershed size plays major role in filtering pollutants, researchers find','watershed-size-plays-major-role-in-filtering-pollutants-researchers-find','2022-03-12 12:39:34.781941','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">One of the important functions of a river is to remove some of the pollution that can end up in the water, like lawn fertilizers and harmful bacteria, before that water reaches sensitive downstream ecosystems such as estuaries and oceans. Research from the University of New Hampshire found that watershed size plays a major role in a river network\'s ability to do this work. The findings further the understanding of which estuaries and coastal areas will be more impacted by human development in their watersheds and also casts a light on the intricacies of the global carbon cycle.</p><p>\"Just like the human body\'s circulatory system moves blood, carries nutrients and filters waste, the planet\'s river networks perform very similar functions,\" said Wilfred Wollheim, professor of natural resources and the environment and the study\'s lead author. \"However, it is not well-known what controls how much pollutant filtration rivers can do, or whether it occurs primarily in small versus large rivers. When the human body size increases, the amount of energy it needs to do its work, or metabolism, also increases but at a slower rate. We wanted to see if something similar happens to aquatic metabolism or -- as we discovered -- something different.\"</p><p>In the study, recently published in <em>Nature Communications</em>, the researchers used a model that integrates what is known about how streams and rivers function and found that when the watershed area being drained by the river network increases, the rate at which rivers filter pollution doesn\'t just increase at a linear rate -- it increases even faster. They describe what they uncovered about watershed size and river function as superlinear scaling, saying it occurs because larger rivers contribute disproportionately to the pollution-filtering function of the entire network of aquatic ecosystems, which can include lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands.</p><p>To keep as much pollution as possible out of estuaries and oceans, the research indicates that it is more important to manage land use and mitigate nonpoint source pollution -- like runoff carrying fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides and toxic chemicals<strong> -- </strong>in smaller watersheds, which are less able to filter pollutants than larger watersheds. It is also important to mitigate nonpoint pollution in parts of the watershed that are closer to an estuary or coastal area, where the system will have less of a chance to filter the pollutants before it reaches those critical areas.</p><p>The research also reveals new information about the role of rivers in the global carbon cycle.</p><p>\"Land is known to be a net carbon sink, but recent research has found that a large proportion of this carbon actually ends up in rivers,\" said Wollheim. \"Our research shows that due to superlinear scaling, aquatic ecosystems of larger watersheds potentially release the carbon that makes its way into the water from land (and thought to be stored there) back to the atmosphere, while this would not be as evident in smaller watersheds.\"</p><p>The team hopes this new information about behavior of aquatic ecosystems and rivers will help design better pollution management strategies and improve the understanding of the feedback loop between the Earth\'s ecosystems and atmosphere and how it impacts the rate of climate change.</p><p>Co-authors include Andrew Robison also from UNH, Tamara Harms from the University of Alaska, Lauren Koenig and Ashley M. Helton from the University of Connecticut, Chao Song from Michigan State University, William Bowden from the University of Vermont and Jacques Finlay from the University of Minnesota.</p>','2022-03-11 00:43:32.479792','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of New Hampshire','Research has found that watershed size plays a major role in a river network\'s ability to do this work. The findings further the understanding of which estuaries and coastal areas will be more impacted by human development in their watersheds and also casts a light on the intricacies of the global carbon cycle.',1,18,'<li>Wilfred M. Wollheim, Tamara K. Harms, Andrew L. Robison, Lauren E. Koenig, Ashley M. Helton, Chao Song, William B. Bowden, Jacques C. Finlay. <strong>Superlinear scaling of riverine biogeochemical function with watershed size</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28630-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28630-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(831,'Human induced pluripotent stem cells improve visual acuity, vascular health','human-induced-pluripotent-stem-cells-improve-visual-acuity-vascular-health','2022-03-12 12:38:09.899797','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine, in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and five other institutions, are investigating novel regenerative medicine approaches to better manage vascular health complications from type 2 diabetes that could someday support blood vessel repair in the eye among diabetic patients with early retinal vascular dysfunction. These research strategies include identifying and using new methods to differentiate or mature human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into the specific mesoderm subset of cells that display vascular reparative properties.</p><p>\"Vascular diseases afflict hundreds of millions of people in the world,\" said Chang-Hyun Gil, MS, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Surgery and co-first author of the study. \"In this study, we focused on the retinal vessel in type 2 diabetes. Our results demonstrate the safe, efficient and robust derivation of hiPSC-derived specific mesoderm subset for use as a novel therapy to rescue ischemic tissues and repair blood vessels in individuals with vascular diseases. The results provide a foundation for an early phase clinical trial.\"</p><p>In the multi-site, early phase study recently published in <em>Science Advances</em>, investigators genetically reprogrammed diabetic and non-diabetic peripheral blood cells into hiPSCs and matured the cells into special blood vessel reparative cells. Upon injection into animal models with type 2 diabetic murine (T2D) retinal dysfunction, results showed significant improvement in visual acuity and electroretinograms with restoration of vascular perfusion. They hypothesized hiPSC-derived vascular reparative cells may serve as a source of endothelial precursors that will display in vivo vessel reparative properties in these diabetic subjects.</p><p>\"Unlike the use of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), genetically engineered hiPSCs do not carry the ethical challenges ESCs possess that limit their possible usage, and hiPSCs are being increasingly recognized as a viable alternative in study design and application as a cell therapy for human disorders,\" Gil said.</p><p>According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 37 million people in the United States have diabetes-more than 11 percent of the U.S. population. What\'s more, diabetes-related complications have risen among both young adults ages 18 to 44 years of age and adults ages 45 to 64. These complications cause major metabolic disturbances that damage the cardiovascular, visual, peripheral nerve and renal systems through harming small and large microvessels that feed these tissues. In 2019, more than 11 percent of adults ages 18 and older reported severe vision issues or blindness and more than 1.87 million adults were diagnosed with major cardiovascular disease.</p><p>\"This work by Dr. Gil represents a monumental step forward in the application of induced pluripotent stem cells in treating the complications of diabetes,\" said Michael P. Murphy, MD, the Cryptic Medical Research Foundation Professor of Vascular Biology Research at IU School of Medicine, a vascular surgeon at IU Health and Eskenazi Health and a coauthor of the study.</p><p>Researchers converted hiPSC into a specific mesoderm subset that was enriched to generate endothelial cells with vessel reparative properties similar to endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC). Endothelial cells are cells found in the inner lining of blood vessels, lymph vessels and the heart and are a major component in regulating vascular function and inflammatory reactions. Endothelial cells control blood flow and regulate the transfer of proteins from blood into tissues.</p><p>Gil said the specific mesoderm subset expressing KDR, NCAM1 and APLNR (KNA<sup>+</sup> mesoderm) exhibits enhanced capacity to differentiate into ECFC and form functional blood vessels in vivo and that mesoderm populations correct vasodegeneration of injured retinal vessels. Electroretinograms indicate enhanced function of neural retina and optokinetic nystagmus studies show improved vision.</p><p>\"The next translational step of the work is to transfer the research protocols reported for differentiation of the hiPSC into to S<sup>-</sup>KNA<sup>+</sup> cells into large scale manufacturing processes,\" said Mervin C. Yoder, MD, distinguished professor emeritus and research advisor for the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering. Yoder is another coauthor of the study and is the scientific founder of Vascugen, a company driven to advance treatments for life-threatening conditions caused by microvascular conditions. \"Selected aspects of this work have been licensed by Vascugen, Inc., through the Indiana University Innovation and Commercialization Office, who are focused on developing vascular reparative cells from induced pluripotent stem cells.\"</p><p>Another study coauthor is Maria B. Grant, MD, the former Marilyn Glick Professor of Ophthalmology at the IU School of Medicine Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute and current endowed chair of ophthalmology at UAB. Grant said this is a highly translational study that is a continuation of a grant she and Yoder have been working on for the last 20 years regarding stems cells and how they can be used to repair blood vessels in the eye. While hiPSCs can take a long time to grow, the study team simplified the process to shorten the time to grow them and make them more feasible to translate into a human therapy to repair blood vessels in the eye.</p><p>\"At UAB, we took the stem cells and hiPSC cells and studied them,\" she said. \"Science is really team science. I bring all the eye experience and some stem cell experience, and Dr. Yoder brings a lot of stem cell experience. It\'s a complementary collaboration.\"</p><p>\"I want to express my greatest thanks to Dr. Yoder, Dr. Grant and Dr. Murphy for their support,\" Gil said. He will remember Yoder for \"his dedication, passion, patience and kindness\" and Murphy for supporting him in completing the study.</p>','2022-03-11 00:43:34.080996','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Indiana University School of Medicine','Researchers are investigating novel regenerative medicine approaches to better manage vascular health complications from type 2 diabetes that could someday support blood vessel repair in the eye among diabetic patients with early retinal vascular dysfunction.',1,29,'<li>Chang-Hyun Gil, Dibyendu Chakraborty, Cristiano P. Vieira, Nutan Prasain, Sergio Li Calzi, Seth D. Fortmann, Ping Hu, Kimihiko Banno, Mohamed Jamal, Chao Huang, Micheli S. Sielski, Yang Lin, Xinxin Huang, Mariana D. Dupont, Jason L. Floyd, Ram Prasad, Ana Leda F. Longhini, Trevor J. McGill, Hyung-Min Chung, Michael P. Murphy, Darrell N. Kotton, Michael E. Boulton, Mervin C. Yoder, Maria B. Grant. <strong>Specific mesoderm subset derived from human pluripotent stem cells ameliorates microvascular pathology in type 2 diabetic mice</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (9) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm5559\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abm5559</a>\r\n</li>'),(833,'Brain-based computing chips not just for AI anymore','brain-based-computing-chips-not-just-for-ai-anymore','2022-03-12 12:36:45.575876','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">With the insertion of a little math, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have shown that neuromorphic computers, which synthetically replicate the brain\'s logic, can solve more complex problems than those posed by artificial intelligence and may even earn a place in high-performance computing.</p><p>The findings, detailed in a recent article in the journal <em>Nature Electronics</em>, show that neuromorphic simulations employing the statistical method called random walks can track X-rays passing through bone and soft tissue, disease passing through a population, information flowing through social networks and the movements of financial markets, among other uses, said Sandia theoretical neuroscientist and lead researcher James Bradley Aimone.</p><p>\"Basically, we have shown that neuromorphic hardware can yield computational advantages relevant to many applications, not just artificial intelligence to which it\'s obviously kin,\" said Aimone. \"Newly discovered applications range from radiation transport and molecular simulations to computational finance, biology modeling and particle physics.\"</p><p>In optimal cases, neuromorphic computers will solve problems faster and use less energy than conventional computing, he said.</p><p>The bold assertions should be of interest to the high-performance computing community because finding capabilities to solve statistical problems is of increasing concern, Aimone said.</p><p>\"These problems aren\'t really well-suited for GPUs [graphics processing units], which is what future exascale systems are likely going to rely on,\" Aimone said. \"What\'s exciting is that no one really has looked at neuromorphic computing for these types of applications before.\"</p><p>Sandia engineer and paper author Brian Franke said, \"The natural randomness of the processes you list will make them inefficient when directly mapped onto vector processors like GPUs on next-generation computational efforts. Meanwhile, neuromorphic architectures are an intriguing and radically different alternative for particle simulation that may lead to a scalable and energy-efficient approach for solving problems of interest to us.\"</p><p>Franke models photon and electron radiation to understand their effects on components.</p><p>The team successfully applied neuromorphic-computing algorithms to model random walks of gaseous molecules diffusing through a barrier, a basic chemistry problem, using the 50-million-chip Loihi platform Sandia received approximately a year and a half ago from Intel Corp., said Aimone. \"Then we showed that our algorithm can be extended to more sophisticated diffusion processes useful in a range of applications.\"</p><p>The claims are not meant to challenge the primacy of standard computing methods used to run utilities, desktops and phones. \"There are, however, areas in which the combination of computing speed and lower energy costs may make neuromorphic computing the ultimately desirable choice,\" he said.</p><p>Unlike the difficulties posed by adding qubits to quantum computers -- another interesting method of moving beyond the limitations of conventional computing -- chips containing artificial neurons are cheap and easy to install, Aimone said.</p><p>There can still be a high cost for moving data on or off the neurochip processor. \"As you collect more, it slows down the system, and eventually it won\'t run at all,\" said Sandia mathematician and paper author William Severa. \"But we overcame this by configuring a small group of neurons that effectively computed summary statistics, and we output those summaries instead of the raw data.\"</p><p>Severa wrote several of the experiment\'s algorithms.</p><p>Like the brain, neuromorphic computing works by electrifying small pin-like structures, adding tiny charges emitted from surrounding sensors until a certain electrical level is reached. Then the pin, like a biological neuron, flashes a tiny electrical burst, an action known as spiking. Unlike the metronomical regularity with which information is passed along in conventional computers, said Aimone, the artificial neurons of neuromorphic computing flash irregularly, as biological ones do in the brain, and so may take longer to transmit information. But because the process only depletes energies from sensors and neurons if they contribute data, it requires less energy than formal computing, which must poll every processor whether contributing or not. The conceptually bio-based process has another advantage: Its computing and memory components exist in the same structure, while conventional computing uses up energy by distant transfer between these two functions. The slow reaction time of the artificial neurons initially may slow down its solutions, but this factor disappears as the number of neurons is increased so more information is available in the same time period to be totaled, said Aimone.</p><p>The process begins by using a Markov chain -- a mathematical construct where, like a Monopoly gameboard, the next outcome depends only on the current state and not the history of all previous states. That randomness contrasts, said Sandia mathematician and paper author Darby Smith, with most linked events. For example, he said, the number of days a patient must remain in the hospital are at least partially determined by the preceding length of stay.</p><p>Beginning with the Markov random basis, the researchers used Monte Carlo simulations, a fundamental computational tool, to run a series of random walks that attempt to cover as many routes as possible.</p><p>\"Monte Carlo algorithms are a natural solution method for radiation transport problems,\" said Franke. \"Particles are simulated in a process that mirrors the physical process.\"</p><p>The energy of each walk was recorded as a single energy spike by an artificial neuron reading the result of each walk in turn. \"This neural net is more energy efficient in sum than recording each moment of each walk, as ordinary computing must do. This partially accounts for the speed and efficiency of the neuromorphic process,\" said Aimone. More chips will help the process move faster using the same amount of energy, he said.</p><p>The next version of Loihi, said Sandia researcher Craig Vineyard, will increase its current chip scale from 128,000 neurons per chip to up to one million. Larger scale systems then combine multiple chips to a board.</p><p>\"Perhaps it makes sense that a technology like Loihi may find its way into a future high-performance computing platform,\" said Aimone. \"This could help make HPC much more energy efficient, climate-friendly and just all around more affordable.\"</p><p>The work was funded under the NNSA Advanced Simulation and Computing program and Sandia\'s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/O_8E26axKFY\">https://youtu.be/O_8E26axKFY</a></p>','2022-03-11 00:43:37.132996','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'DOE/Sandia National Laboratories','With the insertion of a little math, researchers have shown that neuromorphic computers, which synthetically replicate the brain\'s logic, can solve more complex problems than those posed by artificial intelligence and may even earn a place in high-performance computing. Neuromorphic simulations employing random walks can track X-rays passing through bone and soft tissue, disease passing through a population, information flowing through social networks and the movements of financial markets.',1,68,'<li>J. Darby Smith, Aaron J. Hill, Leah E. Reeder, Brian C. Franke, Richard B. Lehoucq, Ojas Parekh, William Severa, James B. Aimone. <strong>Neuromorphic scaling advantages for energy-efficient random walk computations</strong>. <em>Nature Electronics</em>, 2022; 5 (2): 102 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41928-021-00705-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41928-021-00705-7</a>\r\n</li>'),(835,'After more than 20 years, scientists have solved the full-length structure of a Janus Kinase','after-more-than-20-years-scientists-have-solved-the-full-length-structure-of-a-janus-kinase','2022-03-12 12:35:47.804888','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">For more than 20 years, his team and others around the world had been chasing an elusive quarry -- the 3D structure of a crucial signaling protein in cells. In late 2021, his electron microscope images of the molecule started to come into focus. On December 8, postdoc Naotaka Tsutsumi and graduate student Caleb Glassman sent him an email with a startlingly clear picture of the protein latched on to a key receptor. \"I was sitting in a meeting, and I realized we had it,\" recalls Garcia, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Stanford University. \"I immediately left the meeting and ran back to the lab.\"</p><p>Glassman, who had just moved to Boston for a Harvard postdoc, canceled his planned backcountry trip, and rushed back to Stanford. \"I wanted to finish what Naotaka and I had started,\" he explains. Then the three researchers worked around the clock to nail the complete structure of the protein, known as a Janus kinase, and beat competing labs to the discovery. \"It was a big horse race between many great groups worldwide, and we were sprinting towards the finish line,\" Garcia says. On December 26, they rushed a manuscript to the journal <em>Science</em>, which published the work on March 10, 2022.</p><p>Garcia\'s team has nabbed not just the full structure of a vitally important signaling molecule, but also the mechanism for how these kinases work, which had been \"a fundamental question in biology,\" says John O\'Shea, an immunologist at the National Institutes of Health who helped to develop one of the first drugs to block Janus kinase function and was not involved with the new research. Because the proteins can go awry in disease, the results could lead to new and better drugs against certain cancers. \"It\'s amazing work,\" O\'Shea says.</p><p><strong>Chipping away</strong></p><p>Janus kinases are one of the communication whizzes of the animal kingdom. They take signals that come from outside cells and pass the info along to molecules inside. Scientists have known for years that malfunctioning Janus kinases can cause disease. Some mutations that impair Janus kinases can severely curtail the body\'s ability to fight off infection, causing a condition virtually identical to \"bubble boy disease.\" And when genetic glitches and exaggerated signals rev up the kinases too much, the result can be blood cancers like leukemia, and allergic or autoimmune diseases.</p><p>Researchers knew the shape of parts of the proteins, including related enzyme and regulatory regions at the end of the molecule, which earned them the name Janus kinases, after the two-faced mythological Roman god. And sophisticated drug screens have unearthed molecules that inhibit these proteins, giving doctors a way to treat some cancers and disorders like rheumatoid arthritis. But scientists developed the drugs without knowing the molecules\' full structure or how they become activated. So most of the current arsenal of nearly a dozen drugs, plus more in clinical trials, are relatively blunt instruments, blocking both healthy and mutated Janus kinases. They can still treat many diseases, from eczema to COVID-19, but also can cause a range of side effects.</p><p>Garcia wanted a more detailed view of the proteins but, as he learned when he first tried to image the molecules as a postdoc in 1995, it was a daunting challenge. The kinases are notoriously difficult to make in the lab. And they don\'t easily form crystals, which scientists need to capture 3D structures using x-ray crystallography. So, for many years, Garcia and others could only view bits of the kinases at a time. \"We kept chipping away without much to show for it,\" he says.</p><p>In the last few years, the pieces began to fall into place. One key advance was a method called cryo-EM, where scientists freeze samples and then view them using an electron microscope. Another was the choice by Garcia\'s team to study a mouse Janus kinase rather than a less stable human one. They also introduced a common cancer-causing mutation into the mouse kinase, which stabilized the molecule even further.</p><p><strong>Lighting a fire</strong></p><p>Garcia\'s team\'s work reveals the structure of a Janus kinase called JAK1 and outlines the steps it uses to sends signals within cells.</p><p>First, receptor proteins stud cell membranes, poking from the inner and outer surfaces of the cell like a toothpick through a sandwich. Then, a single Janus kinase inside the cell attaches to the receptors, waiting for a signal. Next, molecules called cytokines approach the cell\'s exterior, each binding to two receptors. The cytokines act like a bridge that pulls the two receptors even closer, Garcia explains. That brings the active ends of the Janus kinase together, switching them on. Like a match lighting a fire, the kinase relays a signal that tells genes to turn on or off.</p><p>The structure also reveals how the cancer-causing mutation short-circuits this messaging chain -- by gluing two parts of the Janus kinase together. That causes the two active regions to stay switched on even when there are no outside cytokines, sparking uncontrolled activity that can trigger cancers.</p><p>Garcia hopes the new results could help scientists design better drugs that target only defective Janus kinases, allowing healthy versions to keep performing their normal duties. The work, he says, is an example of an \"ideal situation in science, where solving a basic problem also has direct relevance for disease.\"</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-11 01:59:50.335918','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Howard Hughes Medical Institute','More than two decades of effort went into a project that has now revealed the structure of a crucial signaling molecule, opening the door to new and better drugs for some cancers.',1,89,'<li>Caleb R. Glassman, Naotaka Tsutsumi, Robert A. Saxton, Patrick J. Lupardus, Kevin M. Jude, K. Christopher Garcia. <strong>Structure of a Janus kinase cytokine receptor complex reveals the basis for dimeric activation</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abn8933\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abn8933</a>\r\n</li>'),(836,'Water determines magma depth, a key to accurate models of volcanic activity, eruption','water-determines-magma-depth-a-key-to-accurate-models-of-volcanic-activity-eruption','2022-03-12 12:23:48.138803','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Around the world, between 40 and 50 volcanoes are currently erupting or in states of unrest, and hundreds of millions of people are at risk of hazards posed by these potentially active volcanos. Yet, despite the profound hazards posed to human life and property by volcanic eruptions, humanity still cannot reliably and accurately predict them, and even when forecasts are accurately made by experts, they may not afford ample time for people to evacuate and make emergency preparations.</p><p>Accurate and reliable predictions have remained an elusive target largely because volcanologists do not fully understand the natural dynamics and processes of the magma underneath a volcano before it finds its way to the surface. Now, the results of a new study led by volcanologist Dan Rasmussen, a Peter Buck Fellow at the Smithsonian\'s National Museum of Natural History, may bring experts one step closer to accurately forecasting volcanic eruptions.</p><p>The study, published today, March 10, in the journal <em>Science</em>, finds that, for the world\'s most common type of volcano, magma with higher water content tends to be stored deeper in the Earth\'s crust. The finding identifies what some scientists expect is the most important factor controlling the depth at which magma is stored.</p><p>\"This study connects the depth at which magma is stored to water, which is significant because water largely initiates and fuels eruptions,\" Rasmussen said. He explained that water drives eruptions analogously to how carbon dioxide can make a shaken-up soda bottle explode.</p><p>\"With water dissolved in magma that is stored beneath a volcano, if there is a sudden decrease in pressure, like when a shaken soda bottle cap is suddenly opened, gas bubbles form and those cause the magma to rise and jet out the volcano, similar to when a soda shoots out of a bottle top,\" Rasmussen said. \"More water content in magma means more gas bubbles and potentially a more violent eruption.\"</p><p>\"These results move us closer to understanding the physics and conditions of magma storage beneath volcanoes, and that is an essential ingredient for the kinds of detailed physics-based models necessary to more accurately forecast eruptions,\" Rasmussen said.</p><p>The study was completed through new field work and lab analyses in addition to reanalysis of existing data collected from past volcanic eruptions tracked by the Smithsonian\'s Global Volcanism Program.</p><p>Rasmussen began his research in 2015 while completing his doctorate at Columbia University\'s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory with his advisor, volcanologist Terry Plank, who suggested he pursue the still-open question of why magma storage depth varies from one volcano to the next and what controls that depth.</p><p>Along with a team that included geophysicist Diana Roman of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Rasmussen went into the field to collect volcanic material from eight volcanoes located in the rugged and remote Aleutian Islands of Alaska.</p><p>The researchers focused on a particular geological setting when selecting volcanoes for this study: so-called arc volcanoes that occur at the intersection of two converging tectonic plates. Arc volcanoes, like those found in the Aleutians, are the most numerous type of volcano on Earth and comprise the entirety of the infamous \"Ring of Fire\" encircling the Pacific Plate, making them the most obvious target for improving predictive capacities.</p><p>Using ships and helicopters, the team collected bits of volcanic ash from these eight volcanoes amid rough seas and, on the island of Unimak, the threat of giant brown bears. Volcanic ash was the primary target of the expedition because it can contain green crystals made of olivine -- each one with a diameter of about 1 millimeter, about the thickness of a plastic ID card.</p><p>Underground, these olivine crystals sometimes trap tiny bits of magma when they form. After an eruption sends these special olivine crystals to Earth\'s surface, the magma inside them cools and becomes glass. By analyzing the chemical composition of these miniscule pieces of cooled magma from the inside of a volcano, the researchers were able to estimate the magma\'s water content.</p><p>After estimating the water content from the entrapped pieces of magma collected from six of the eight Aleutian volcanoes, the team then combined those data with other estimates of magmatic water content taken from the scientific literature for an additional 56 volcanoes from around the world. The final list of estimated magmatic water content spanned 3,856 individual samples from 62 volcanoes.</p><p>To examine the relationship between the estimated water content of these magma reservoirs and their respective storage depths, the researchers scoured the scientific literature and created an accompanying list of 331 depth estimates for 112 volcanoes.</p><p>Rasmussen said the Smithsonian\'s Global Volcanism Program\'s database \"was key in compiling these lists because it\'s a really good resource for eruption history, and we only wanted to consider volcanoes that had recently erupted.\" Rasmussen and the research team focused on recent eruptions because magma reservoirs do not appear to move a lot following an eruption, and so any estimates of depth or water content that were made using recently erupted material have the highest likelihood of accurately reflecting the current state of the volcano\'s magma reservoir.</p><p>After years of field work, geochemical analysis and literature review, the team was able to plot the estimated magma storage depths for 28 volcanoes from around the world against their respective estimated magmatic water contents. The results were strikingly clear: a magma reservoir\'s water content strongly correlated with its storage depth. In other words, magmas that contained more water tended to be stored deeper in the Earth\'s crust.</p><p>The study also shows that a magma\'s water content is responsible for controlling its depth, rather than merely correlating to it. The team showed this causal relationship by detecting the presence of chemical tracers associated with the formation of water-containing magmas in Earth\'s mantle.</p><p>\"If storage depth determined water content in magma, it could still create the correlation between water content and depth that we observed, but it wouldn\'t produce the chemical tracers of the magma\'s initial water content that we found,\" Rasmussen said.</p><p>As for how water content might determine magma storage depth, Rasmussen and his co-authors argue that it has to do with a process known as degassing in which the water mixed in with the magma forms bubbles of gas. When magma rising through the Earth\'s crust begins to degas, it becomes more viscous, which the researchers suggest causes the magma\'s ascent to slow and stall.</p><p>The evidence that water content largely controls magma storage depth overturns the most widely accepted explanation in the field today, which contends that magma rises through cracks in Earth\'s crust because the molten rock is more buoyant than the surrounding crust, settling at its storage depth because it reaches neutral buoyancy where magma is no more buoyant than its surroundings.</p><p>Rasmussen said the next step for this research is to see if these findings hold for volcanoes in other geologic settings such as hot-spot volcanoes like the Hawaiian Islands or rift volcanoes like those in East Africa. Beyond this extension of the research, Rasmussen said an even larger question looms: \"If magma water content controls magma storage depth, what controls magma water content?\"</p><p>Funding and support for this research were provided by the Smithsonian, the National Science Foundation, the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington and the U.S. Geological Survey.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:05.286805','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Smithsonian','Around the world, between 40 and 50 volcanoes are currently erupting or in states of unrest, and hundreds of millions of people are at risk of hazards posed by these potentially active volcanos. Yet, despite the profound hazards posed to human life and property by volcanic eruptions, humanity still cannot reliably and accurately predict them, and even when forecasts are accurately made by experts, they may not afford ample time for people to evacuate and make emergency preparations.',1,143,'<li>Daniel J. Rasmussen, Terry A. Plank, Diana C. Roman, Mindy M. Zimmer. <strong>Magmatic water content controls the pre-eruptive depth of arc magmas</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 375 (6585): 1169 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm5174\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abm5174</a>\r\n</li>'),(837,'Researchers discover genetic cause of sometimes deadly esophageal disorder in dogs','researchers-discover-genetic-cause-of-sometimes-deadly-esophageal-disorder-in-dogs','2022-03-12 13:07:22.436182','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Clemson University researchers have discovered a genetic variation associated with an often deadly esophageal disorder frequently found in German shepherd dogs.</p><p>German shepherds are predisposed to congenital idiopathic megaesophagus (CIM), an inherited disorder where a puppy develops an enlarged esophagus that fails to move food into their stomachs. Puppies with the condition regurgitate their food and fail to thrive, often leading to euthanasia.</p><p>While German shepherds have the highest incidence of the disease, other breeds are susceptible, too, including Labrador retrievers, Great Danes, dachshunds and miniature schnauzers. Researchers do not yet know if the same genetic variation is involved in disease development in other breeds.</p><p>Researcher Leigh Anne Clark, an associate professor in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, and her collaborators developed a genetic test for the disease that German shepherd dog breeders can use to reduce the risk that puppies in future litters will develop the disease.</p><p>The journal<em> PLOS Genetics </em>published the findings on March 10.</p><p>CIM is often discovered when the puppies are weaned from the mother\'s milk to solid foods at about four weeks of age.</p><p>\"They don\'t have swallowing activity. When the puppies swallow food, it just sits in their esophagus and doesn\'t trigger those sequential contractions that normally occur to help push the food into the stomach,\" said Sarah Bell, a graduate research assistant in genetics and the first author of the study. \"Because a dog\'s esophagus is horizontal instead of vertical like ours, gravity doesn\'t aid the transportation of food into the stomach.\"</p><p>To get food and water in their stomachs, puppies with megaesophagus must eat and drink while sitting upright in a dog highchair and remain there for up to 30 minutes afterward. Some will outgrow the condition, but many require lifelong symptomatic management with upright feedings, small liquid meals multiple times a day, gelatin cubes, and drug therapies.</p><p>In the study, Clark and Bell performed a genome-wide scan to identify genes associated with the disorder. The scan revealed an association on canine chromosome 12 and a variant within melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 2 (MCHR2), which affects appetite, weight and how food moves through the gastrointestinal tract. Clark and her team believe that an imbalance of melanin-concentrating hormones plays a role in CIM.</p><p>The study also revealed that male puppies are twice as likely to be affected by the disorder than females. The researchers suspect that higher estrogen levels allow food to pass to the stomach more effectively, thereby protecting against disease development.</p><p>\"What they\'ve found in people is that estrogen has the effect of relaxing the sphincter that connects the esophagus to the stomach. By having more estrogen, the smooth muscle there is naturally more likely to open. This increases the motility of food into the stomach,\" Bell said. \"In dogs with megaesophagus disease, a drug called sildenafil has shown good results. What it does is to relax the sphincter that connects the esophagus and stomach.\"</p><p>Sildenafil is the generic name for the active ingredient in Viagra. Clark said sildenafil increases the percentage of dogs that outgrow the disease and no longer have to use a high chair when eating.</p><p>The MCHR2 variant, along with the dog\'s sex, can predict whether a dog will develop a megaesophagus with 75 percent accuracy. Owners can swab their dog\'s gums and submit the sample to genetic testing companies to learn which variant(s) their dog inherited.</p><p>The test is a tool breeders can use to reduce disease incidence while preserving genetic diversity.</p><p>\"One thing I stress with any disease in any breed is don\'t make a problem where there isn\'t one. If you\'ve been breeding German shepherds for 20 years and you\'ve never bred a megaesophagus puppy, then don\'t use this test,\" she said. \"But if you\'re a breeder and you\'ve had megaesophagus puppies, you may benefit from the test.\"</p><p>This work was supported in part by funding from the Collie Health Foundation, the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, the Upright Canine Brigade, the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:08.442173','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Clemson University','German shepherds are predisposed to congenital idiopathic megaesophagus (CIM), an inherited disorder where a puppy develops an enlarged esophagus that fails to move food into their stomachs. Puppies with the condition regurgitate their food and fail to thrive, often leading to euthanasia. Researchers have now developed a genetic test for the disease that German shepherd dog breeders can use to reduce the risk that puppies in future litters will develop the disease.',1,194,'<li>Sarah M. Bell, Jacquelyn M. Evans, Katy M. Evans, Kate L. Tsai, Rooksana E. Noorai, Thomas R. Famula, Dolores M. Holle, Leigh Anne Clark. <strong>Congenital idiopathic megaesophagus in the German shepherd dog is a sex-differentiated trait and is associated with an intronic variable number tandem repeat in Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Receptor 2</strong>. <em>PLOS Genetics</em>, 2022; 18 (3): e1010044 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010044\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pgen.1010044</a>\r\n</li>'),(838,'Magnetism helps electrons vanish in high-temp superconductors','magnetism-helps-electrons-vanish-in-high-temp-superconductors','2022-03-12 12:45:58.009694','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Superconductors -- metals in which electricity flows without resistance -- hold promise as the defining material of the near future, according to physicist Brad Ramshaw, and are already used in medical imaging machines, drug discovery research and quantum computers being built by Google and IBM.</p><p>However, the super-low temperatures conventional superconductors need to function -- a few degrees above absolute zero -- make them too expensive for wide use.</p><p>In their quest to find more useful superconductors, Ramshaw, the Dick &amp; Dale Reis Johnson Assistant Professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&amp;S), and colleagues have discovered that magnetism is key to understanding the behavior of electrons in \"high-temperature\" superconductors. With this finding, they\'ve solved a 30-year-old mystery surrounding this class of superconductors, which function at much higher temperatures, greater than 100 degrees above absolute zero. Their paper, \"Fermi Surface Transformation at the Pseudogap Critical Point of a Cuprate Superconductor,\" published in Nature Physics March 10.</p><p>\"We\'d like to understand what makes these high-temperature superconductors work and engineer that property into some other material that is easier to adopt in technologies,\" Ramshaw said.</p><p>A central mystery to high-temperature superconductors is what happens with their electrons, Ramshaw said.</p><p>\"All metals have electrons, and when a metal becomes a superconductor, the electrons pair up with each other,\" he said. \"We measure something called the \'Fermi surface,\' which you can think of as a map showing where all the electrons are in a metal.\"</p><p>To study how electrons pair up in high-temperature superconductors, researchers continuously change the number of electrons through a process known as chemical doping. In high-temperature superconductors, at a certain \"critical point,\" electrons seem to vanish from the Fermi surface map, Ramshaw said.</p><p>The researchers zeroed in on this critical point to figure out what makes the electrons vanish, and where they go. They used the strongest steady-state magnet in the world, the 45-tesla hybrid magnet at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida, to measure the Fermi surface of a copper-oxide high temperature superconductor as a function of electron concentration, right around the critical point.</p><p>They found that the Fermi surface changes completely as researchers dial past the critical point.</p><p>\"It\'s as if you were looking at a real map and all of a sudden most of the continents just disappeared,\" Ramshaw said. \"That\'s what we found happens to the Fermi surface of high-temperature superconductors at the critical point -- most of the electrons in a particular region, a particular part of the map, vanish.\"</p><p>It was important for the researchers to note not just that electrons were vanishing, but which ones in particular, Ramshaw said.</p><p>They built different simulation models based on several theories and tested whether they could explain the data, said Yawen Fang, doctoral student in physics and lead author of the paper.</p><p>\"In the end, we have a winning model, which is the one associated with magnetism,\" Fang said. \"We are stepping confidently from the well-understood side of the material, benchmarking our technique, into the mysterious side past the critical point.\"</p><p>Now that they know which electrons vanish, the researchers have an idea why -- it has to do with magnetism.</p><p>\"There have always been hints that magnetism and superconductivity are related in high-temperature superconductors, and our work shows that this magnetism seems to appear right at the critical point and gobble up most of the electrons,\" Ramshaw said. \"This critical point also marks the electron concentration where the superconductivity happens at the highest temperatures, and higher-temperature superconductors are the goal here.\"</p><p>Knowing that the critical point is associated with magnetism offers insight into why these particular superconductors have such high transition temperatures, Ramshaw said, and maybe even where to look to find new ones with even higher transition temperatures.</p><p>\"It is a 30-year-old debate that precedes our study, and we came up with a straightforward answer,\" said Gaël Grissonnanche, a postdoctoral fellow with the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science and co-first author.</p><p>This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Azrieli Global Scholars Program, and the Kavli Institute for Nanoscale Science at Cornell.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:15.129480','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cornell University','A physicist\'s discovery could lead to the engineering of high-temp superconducting properties into materials useful for quantum computing, medical imaging.',1,61,'<li>Yawen Fang, Gaël Grissonnanche, Anaëlle Legros, Simon Verret, Francis Laliberté, Clément Collignon, Amirreza Ataei, Maxime Dion, Jianshi Zhou, David Graf, Michael J. Lawler, Paul A. Goddard, Louis Taillefer, B. J. Ramshaw. <strong>Fermi surface transformation at the pseudogap critical point of a cuprate superconductor</strong>. <em>Nature Physics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01514-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41567-022-01514-1</a>\r\n</li>'),(842,'Damage to inner ear system predicts fall risk among people with Alzheimer\'s disease','damage-to-inner-ear-system-predicts-fall-risk-among-people-with-alzheimers-disease','2022-03-12 12:28:25.982710','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A Johns Hopkins Medicine study of about 50 people with Alzheimer\'s disease has added to evidence that damage to the inner ear system that controls balance is a major factor in patients\' well-documented higher risk of falling.</p><p>Overall, the researchers say, their study found that impairment of the vestibular system was linked to a 50% increase in the risk of falling for patients with Alzheimer\'s compared with patients who have Alzheimer\'s and normal vestibular function.</p><p>The study, published Feb. 14 in the <em>Journal of Alzheimer\'s Disease</em>, is believed to be one of the first to demonstrate the vestibular system as an important contributor to loss of balance and fall risk among the Alzheimer\'s population. Alzheimer\'s is a progressive neurological disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. There is no cure, and although medications and management strategies can temporarily improve symptoms, falls contribute to substantial disability in patients, the investigators say.</p><p>\"Falls are a major problem in people with Alzheimer\'s disease, who fall at twice the rate compared with healthy older adults, and this often leads to injury, nursing home placement and early mortality,\" says senior author Yuri Agrawal, M.D., professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins Medicine University School of Medicine. The new study, she says, was designed to better understand the root causes of the high fall rate and identify specific interventions to reduce it.</p><p>For the study, the research team recruited 48 people diagnosed with mild or moderate Alzheimer\'s who were seen at the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer\'s Treatment Center and the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer\'s Disease Research Center between March 2018 and January 2020. The mean age of participants was 65, and 27 were male. The team examined the link between vestibular impairment and falls in the patient cohort over a two-year period.</p><p>Impairment of the vestibular system, which consists of a group of canals and bony structures deep in the inner ear, is a common cause of dizziness, vertigo and balance issues, even in generally healthy people. Impairment causes these issues with higher frequency in older populations, so focusing on this system as a source of risk in patients with Alzheimer\'s made sense, investigators note.</p><p>Specifically, the researchers used devices that can track responses to eye and head movement to stimulate and mirror vestibular function. Subjects who had vestibular function impairment on these tests over time were 50% more likely to fall compared with individuals with normal vestibular function. Agrawal says that loss of vestibular function leads to an increased sway, causing unstable balance which in turn leads to more falls.</p><p>\"We call the vestibular system the sixth hidden sense because it functions almost at a subconscious level. It\'s always \'on\' and operates normally to keep us oriented as we move through space, sensing what\'s up and what\'s down and around us,\" Agrawal says. \"The system automatically feeds that information to the brain as other sensory organs such as the eyes or ears do. But unlike closing one\'s eyes or plugging one\'s ears, people cannot willfully control it. So, when its impaired, people experience vertigo, a disorienting, inability to navigate the world.\"</p><p>Agrawal says most Alzheimer\'s research has understandably focused on reducing or preventing memory loss and other cognitive impairment, but suggests that additional attention to the vestibular system has the potential to improve the quality of life of people with Alzheimer\'s.</p><p>\"Vestibular impairment is treatable with balance exercises performed under the care of a physical therapist,\" she says. \"That could enhance the quality of life for both patients and caregivers.\"</p><p>The research team says a clinical trial is already underway to assess the value of vestibular therapy in preventing falls in Alzheimer\'s patients.</p><p>According to the Alzheimer\'s Association, more than six million people in the United States live with the disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.</p><p>Other researchers involved in this study include Kevin Biju, Esther Oh, Paul Rosenberg, Qian-Li Xue and M. Haroon Burhanullah of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and Paul Dash of the University of Maryland School of Medicine</p><p>The authors report no conflicts of interest.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:20.138193','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','A study of about 50 people with Alzheimer\'s disease has added to evidence that damage to the inner ear system that controls balance is a major factor in patients\' well-documented higher risk of falling.',1,179,'<li>Kevin Biju, Esther Oh, Paul Rosenberg, Qian-Li Xue, Paul Dash, M. Haroon Burhanullah, Yuri Agrawal. <strong>Vestibular Function Predicts Balance and Fall Risk in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease</strong>. <em>Journal of Alzheimer\'s Disease</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-215366\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3233/JAD-215366</a>\r\n</li>'),(844,'New observations from ICESat-2 show remarkable Arctic sea ice thinning in just three years','new-observations-from-icesat-2-show-remarkable-arctic-sea-ice-thinning-in-just-three-years','2022-03-12 12:22:29.975610','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Over the past two decades, the Arctic has lost about one-third of its winter sea ice volume, largely due to a decline in sea ice that persists over several years, called multiyear ice, according to a new study. The study also found sea ice is likely thinner than previous estimates.</p><p>Seasonal sea ice, which melts completely each summer rather than accumulating over years, is replacing thicker, multiyear ice and driving sea ice thinning trends, according to the new research.</p><p>Arctic sea ice snow depth is estimated, for the first time, from a combination of lidar (ICESat-2) and radar (CryoSat-2) data. Using these estimates of snow depth and the height of sea ice exposed above water, the study found multiyear Arctic sea ice has lost 16% of its winter volume, or approximately half a meter (about 1.5 feet) of thickness, in the three years since the launch of ICESat-2.</p><p>The study was published in the AGU journal <em>Geophysical Research Letters</em>, which publishes short-format, high-impact papers with implications that span the Earth and space sciences.</p><p>\"We weren\'t really expecting to see this decline, for the ice to be this much thinner in just three short years,\" said lead study author Sahra Kacimi, a polar scientist at the California Institute of Technology\'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.</p><p>Scientists make satellite estimates of sea-ice thickness using snow depth and the height of the floating ice above the sea surface. Snow can weigh ice down, changing how ice floats in the ocean. The new study compared ice thickness using new snow depths from satellite radar and lidar to previous ice thickness and snow depth estimates from climate records. The researchers found using climatology-based estimates of snow depth can result in overestimating sea-ice thickness by up to 20%, or up to 0.2 meters (0.7 feet).</p><p>\"Arctic snow depth, sea ice thickness and volume are three very challenging measurements to obtain,\" said Ron Kwok, a polar scientist at the University of Washington\'s Applied Physics Laboratory who co-authored the new study. \"The key takeaway for me is the remarkable loss of Arctic winter sea ice volume -- one-third of the winter ice volume lost over just 18 years -- that accompanied a widely reported loss of old, thick Arctic sea ice and decline in end-of-summer ice extent.\"</p><p>\"This is the first time anyone has several years\' worth of data from the difference between lidar and radar data for snow depth,\" said Robbie Mallett, a polar ice researcher at University College London who was not involved in the study. \"It\'s a really useful update on how ICESat-2 is performing.\"</p><p>The study used an 18-year record of sea-ice observations from ICESat and the newer ICESat-2 and CryoSat-2 satellites to capture monthly changes in Arctic sea-ice thickness and volume, to provide context for sea ice thickness estimates from 2018 to 2021. The 18-year record showed a loss of about 6,000 cubic kilometers of winter ice volume, largely driven by the switch from predominantly multiyear ice to thinner, seasonal sea ice.</p><p>Older, multiyear ice tends to be thicker and therefore more resistant to melting. As that \"reservoir\" of old Arctic sea ice is depleted and seasonal ice becomes the norm, the overall thickness and volume of Arctic sea ice is expected to decline. \"Current models predict that by the mid-century we can expect ice-free summers in the Arctic, when the older ice, thick enough to survive the melt season is gone,\" Kacimi said.</p><p>\"This is really old ice we\'re losing at quite a frightening rate,\" Mallett said.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:25.082591','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'American Geophysical Union','Over the past two decades, the Arctic has lost about one-third of its winter sea ice volume, largely due to a decline in sea ice that persists over several years, called multiyear ice, according to a new study. The study also found sea ice is likely thinner than previous estimates. Seasonal sea ice, which melts completely each summer rather than accumulating over years, is replacing thicker, multiyear ice and driving sea ice thinning trends, according to the new research.',1,163,'<li>Sahra Kacimi, Ron Kwok. <strong>Arctic snow depth, ice thickness and volume from ICESat‐2 and CryoSat‐2: 2018‐2021</strong>. <em>Geophysical Research Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097448\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1029/2021GL097448</a>\r\n</li>'),(850,'Prenatal mindfulness program improves stress response in infants','prenatal-mindfulness-program-improves-stress-response-in-infants','2022-03-12 12:21:42.482186','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Infants whose mothers participated in a mindfulness-based program during pregnancy had healthier stress responses at 6 months old, a new UC San Francisco study found.</p><p>This is the first known study to show that a prenatal social intervention may improve health outcomes in offspring, as measured by autonomic nervous system responses, said Amanda Noroña-Zhou, PhD, first author of the study in <em>Psychosomatic Medicine.</em></p><p>\"It is really well established that maternal stress in pregnancy increases the risk for health problems in the children,\" said Noroña-Zhou, PhD, a clinical psychologist affiliated with UCSF\'s Center for Health and Community. \"But we haven\'t had a good understanding of how this process unfolds and of the biological mechanisms underlying it, or whether we can buffer the effects of stress on negative health outcomes.\"</p><p>The researchers studied 135 mother-infant dyads from low-income, racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds who were experiencing high stress in their lives. Infants whose mothers underwent an eight-week mindfulness-based program had a faster cardiovascular recovery from stressful interactions, as well as more self-soothing behavior, than those who didn\'t.</p><p>An ability to \"bounce back\" from stress is tied to better health outcomes later in life, said Nicki Bush, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics in the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the senior author on the study.</p><p>\"There has been so little research on what we can do in the positive lane; it\'s been mostly about showing the negative effects of prenatal stress,\" Bush said. \"This is the next frontier -- interventions for moms that have positive effects on both mom and baby.\"</p><p><strong>Quick Recovery from a Stressful Event</strong></p><p>The study follows one from 2019 showing the same mindfulness intervention reduced stress and depression in mothers, as well as improved their glucose tolerance and physical activity levels.</p><p>To elicit the infants\' stress response, mothers were trained in the \"still face paradigm,\" whereby the mothers played with their children for two minutes, then held a completely neutral facial expression for two minutes and ignored the babies\' bids for attention. They repeated the play-ignore cycle and ended with two minutes of play.</p><p>Using electrodes, the researchers collected measurements of the infants\' autonomic nervous system activity -- the fight-or-flight and rest-and-digest responses -- during the exercise. Trained observers, who were unaware of treatment status, also coded the infants\' behavior responses.</p><p>The fight-or-flight response of babies whose mothers had undergone the mindfulness program was more acute when they were being ignored by their mothers and also receded more quickly after the stressor went away than babies in the control group. The treatment-group babies engaged in more self-soothing behavior, such as sucking their thumbs and looking at their hands, as well.</p><p>\"A strong reaction and quick recovery are healthy, because we want our bodies to be ready for action when something is wrong, then go back to normal easily,\" Bush said. \"The babies whose mothers did not receive the intervention had a more delayed response. They didn\'t respond strongly until the threat had passed, and then they didn\'t calm down easily after the threat was over.\"</p><p><strong>Support for a Two-Generation Approach</strong></p><p>The team intentionally chose mothers for their research who had a high level of stress due to their life situations, including financial strain and health challenges, to ensure the intervention worked for those who might benefit from it the most, said Bush.</p><p>\"We hope this kind of data can embolden policymakers and advocates to say, hey, this was an inexpensive, group-based intervention that reduced mothers\' depression and stress, and may improve babies\' long-term wellbeing at the same time\" Bush said.</p><p>Such \"two-generation\" programs that address caregivers and children at the same time are becoming more popular in California. Last year\'s state budget dedicated $800 million to creating a dyadic care benefit for Medi-Cal patients, which will allow caregivers and babies to be treated for behavioral health needs together. Home visiting programs, in which pregnant and new mothers receive visits from early childhood professionals who provide parenting guidance, is up for a proposed $50 million increase in the 2022-23 state budget.</p><p>\"Pregnancy is an incredible window of opportunity for both mothers and babies,\" said Bush. \"We could, as a society, save a lot of money while doing the right thing for the next generation.\"</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> In addition to Drs. Noroña-Zhou and Bush, UCSF co-authors are Michael Coccia, MS, Elissa Epel, PhD, and Nancy E. Adler, from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, as well as Karen Jones-Mason, JD, PhD. All are affiliated with the Center for Health and Community and Weill Institutes for Neurosciences. Abbey Alkon, PhD, UCSF Department of Health Care Nursing, also co-authored. Additional authors and affiliations can be found in the paper.</p><p><strong>Funding:</strong> This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute under award numbers U01 HL097973 and R01 HL116511, the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, the Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences-National Institutes of Health (UCSF-CTSI UL1 TR000004), the Tauber Family Foundation, and the Lisa Stone Pritzker Family Foundation.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:32.494153','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - San Francisco','Infants whose mothers participated in a mindfulness-based program during pregnancy had healthier stress responses at 6 months old, a new study found.',1,39,'<li>Noroña-Zhou, Amanda N.; Coccia, Michael; Epel, Elissa; Vieten, Cassandra; Adler, Nancy E.; Laraia, Barbara; Jones-Mason, Karen; Alkon, Abbey; Bush, Nicole R. <strong>The Effects of a Prenatal Mindfulness Intervention on Infant Autonomic and Behavioral Reactivity and Regulation</strong>. <em>Psychosomatic Medicine</em>, Mar. 10, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001066\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1097/PSY.0000000000001066</a>\r\n</li>'),(851,'Recently discovered protein turbocharges gene expression','recently-discovered-protein-turbocharges-gene-expression','2022-03-12 12:19:54.556038','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">For many years, scientists have sought to understand what happens when our genes are flipped to the \"on\" position. Now, scientists at the University of California San Diego and Rutgers University have identified a new protein that contributes to this important process.</p><p>Inside each of our cells, genes serve as the master copies of information in the six-foot-long molecular chain of instructions known as DNA. In the activation of our genes, an enzyme known as RNA polymerase synthesizes an RNA copy of the DNA in our genes. RNA polymerases in animals were discovered over 50 years ago, and most of the proteins that regulate RNA polymerase activity were identified more than 20 years ago. This led to the belief that all of the key factors that affect gene activation were already known.</p><p>This idea has now been revised in recent work by former UC San Diego postdoctoral researcher Jia Fei (now an assistant professor at Rutgers University) and James T. Kadonaga at UC San Diego. In 2018 Fei and Kadonaga discovered a protein called NDF (nucleosome destabilizing factor), which they found played a significant role in gene activation by unraveling nucleosomes, which are modules of DNA inside cells.</p><p>In their new studies, Fei, Kadonaga and colleagues made the surprising discovery that NDF not only unravels nucleosomes, but also turbocharges RNA polymerase as it travels along the DNA. Looking further into this unexpected observation, Fei and Kadonaga found that NDF binds directly to RNA polymerase and stimulates the enzyme\'s ability to synthesize RNA. Furthermore, they found that NDF exists in a vast range of organisms spanning from simple baker\'s yeast to humans. This work thus reveals that NDF is an ancient and widespread protein that enhances RNA polymerase elongation, a pivotal step in gene expression.</p><p>The new findings are described March 10 in the journal <em>Genes &amp; Development</em>.</p><p>\"In humans, NDF is present in all tissues, which suggests that it has a broad and important role in our biology,\" said Kadonaga, a distinguished professor of molecular biology and the Amylin Endowed Chair in Lifesciences Education and Research. \"Consistent with this notion, abnormally high NDF levels, which might lead to the hyperactivation of genes, are often found in breast cancer cells.\" Kadonaga also noted that it\'s remarkable that a single protein is able to destabilize nucleosomes as well as stimulate RNA polymerase elongation. These findings indicate that it will be important to learn much more about this new gene activating protein.</p><p>The <em>Genes &amp; Development</em> paper\'s full author list includes Jia Fei, Jun Xu, Ziwei Li, Kevin Xu, Dong Wang, George Kassavetis and James Kadonaga.</p>','2022-03-11 02:00:50.278021','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - San Diego','Scientists have found intriguing new details about a previously missing critical factor in gene expression. An ancient protein called NDF found in all human tissues enhances gene activation and may be involved in diseases such as cancer.',1,123,'<li>Jia Fei, Jun Xu, Ziwei Li, Kevin Xu, Dong Wang, George A. Kassavetis, James T. Kadonaga. <strong>NDF is a transcription factor that stimulates elongation by RNA polymerase II</strong>. <em>Genes &amp; Development</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gad.349150.121\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1101/gad.349150.121</a>\r\n</li>'),(855,'Cellular therapy improves signs and symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy','cellular-therapy-improves-signs-and-symptoms-of-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy','2022-03-12 12:19:01.270885','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A clinical trial at UC Davis Health and six other sites showed that a cellular therapy offers promise for patients with late-stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare genetic disorder causing muscle loss and physical impairments in young people.</p><p>The therapy appears to be safe and effective in stopping the deterioration of upper limb and heart functions. It is the first treatment to lead to meaningful functional improvements in the most severe cases of DMD patients.</p><p>\"HOPE-2 is the first clinical trial to test systemic cell therapy in DMD,\" said Craig McDonald, the trial\'s national principal investigator and lead author on the study. McDonald is the professor and chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation and professor of pediatrics at UC Davis Health. \"The trial produced statistically significant and unprecedented stabilization of both skeletal muscle deterioration affecting the arms and heart deterioration of structure and function in non-ambulatory DMD patients.\"</p><p>Findings from the trial were published today in <em>The</em> <em>Lancet</em>.</p><p><strong>Cellular therapy for muscular degeneration</strong></p><p>In the Phase II clinical trial, the researchers used Capricor Therapeutics\' CAP-1002 allogeneic cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) obtained from human heart muscles. These cells can reduce muscle inflammation and enhance cell regeneration.</p><p>\"The primary mechanism of the CAP-1002 therapy is to help reduce the disease\'s serious chronic inflammation problems, decrease fibrosis and improve muscle regeneration, and thereby maintain or improve critical heart and skeletal muscle function,\" McDonald said.</p><p>The trial examined the long-term efficacy and safety of repeated intravenous infusions of CAP-1002 for the treatment of late-stage DMD. It enrolled 20 patients with DMD at seven U.S. centers. The participants were at least 10 years old with moderate weakness in their arms and hands. They were randomly assigned to receive either CAP-1002 or a placebo every three months for one year, with a total of four infusions.</p><p><strong>Significant improvements in arm, hand and heart functions </strong></p><p>The team assessed upper limb function using the scale Performance of Upper Limb (PUL) motor function for DMD, heart function using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), spirometry measures of respiratory function, and circulating biomarkers.</p><p>The researchers assessed the PUL for the participants at their first infusion and after one year. They measured the change in the mid-level/elbow PUL scores between these two readings. The study found a significant favorable change in participants who received CAP-1002, compared to those who got the placebo. There was far less deterioration of upper extremity muscle function in the cell-treated group.</p><p>The cardiac MRI also showed that the heart structure and function seemed to improve in participants who received CAP-1002.</p><p>\"Here we show the promise of cell therapy in preventing the progression of heart disease in a rare genetic disease, but there is good reason to believe that such therapy may one day also be used for more common forms of heart failure,\" said co-author Eduardo Marbán, a pioneering heart researcher who first discovered that CDCs might be useful in treating DMD. He is the Mark Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Professor and executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.</p><p><strong>Moving forward</strong></p><p>McDonald and collaborators in other centers in the United States are launching a Phase III clinical trial, HOPE-3. The goal of this study is to confirm the efficacy of CAP-1002 in a larger cohort of patients.</p><p>\"The FDA has signaled that a larger Phase III study would be the next step toward gaining drug approval. We need to confirm therapeutic durability and safety of CAP-1002 beyond 12 months for the treatment of muscular degeneration in the heart and skeleton,\" McDonald said.</p><p><strong>What is Duchenne muscular dystrophy</strong></p><p>DMD is a disorder that affects about 1 in 5,000 people -- mostly boys. It usually becomes apparent in early childhood, causing progressive weakness and chronic inflammation of the skeletal, heart and respiratory muscles and delays milestones such as sitting and walking. Patients with DMD typically lose their ability to walk in their teenage years and develop heart and lung complications as they age.</p><p>Treatments for DMD are limited and there is no known cure. Current therapies that target skeletal muscles are not as effective in treating the heart muscle weakened by DMD. A therapy that stabilizes or reverses heart deterioration, while improving upper limb function, would be unique in its ability to address the tremendous burden of disease seen in advanced DMD patients.</p><p>\"This cell-based therapy is innovative in that it addresses critical needs of patients with the most severe disease burden and stabilizes both upper limb and heart function. Therapies that address the later stages of the disease can make a tremendous impact on the quality of life for boys and young men with DMD and lessen the burden of care for their families,\" McDonald said.</p><p><strong>Collaborations that made HOPE possible</strong></p><p>The team collaborated with researchers and staff at the UC Davis Alpha Stem Cell Clinic, funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The HOPE-2 study was the clinic\'s first cellular therapeutic trial.</p><p>\"We worked with the Alpha Stem Cell Clinic and benefitted from the stellar infrastructure of the UC Davis Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation\'s Neuromuscular Research Lab and the Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC). I think this is a great testimony to the UC Davis Health leadership in stem cell therapeutic trials and clinical translational medicine,\" McDonald said.</p><p>The team also used the UC Davis Imaging Research Center to obtain cardiac MRI data on the trial participants.</p><p>The trial (NCT03406780) was sponsored by Capricor Therapeutics.</p>','2022-03-11 02:34:56.294036','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Davis Health','A recent clinical trial has shown that cellular therapy is safe and effective in stopping the deterioration of upper limb and heart functions in patients with late-stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy.',1,189,'<li>Craig M McDonald, Eduardo Marbán, Suzanne Hendrix, Nathaniel Hogan, Rachel Ruckdeschel Smith, Michelle Eagle, Richard S Finkel, Cuixia Tian, Joanne Janas, Matthew M Harmelink, Arun S Varadhachary, Michael D Taylor, Kan N Hor, Oscar H Mayer, Erik K Henricson, Pat Furlong, Deborah D Ascheim, Siegfried Rogy, Paula Williams, Linda Marbán, Russell Butterfield, Anne Connolly, Francesco Muntoni, Nanette C. Joyce, Maya Evans, Mehrdad Abedi, Prasanth Surampudi, Sanjay Jhawar, Jonathan G. Dayan, Colleen Anthonisen, Erica Goude, Alina Nicorici, Omaid Sarwary, Poonam Prasad, Jayoon Baek, Andrew Newton, Hannah Johnson, Kyle Kusmik, Lauri Filar, Angie Edmondson, Irina Rybalsky, Wendy Chouteau, Anthony F. Giordano, Aixa Rodriguez, Kristan Anderson, Germaine Wezel, Melisa Vega, Julie Duke, Jorge Collado, Matthew Civitello, Julie Wells, Erika Pyzik, Rebecca Rehborg, Michelle Brown, Jennifer Van Eyk, Russell G. Rogers. <strong>Repeated intravenous cardiosphere-derived cell therapy in late-stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy (HOPE-2): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial</strong>. <em>The Lancet</em>, 2022; 399 (10329): 1049 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00012-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00012-5</a>\r\n</li>'),(856,'Labeling key to success of software company innovations','labeling-key-to-success-of-software-company-innovations','2022-03-12 12:17:02.110184','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Companies in the software industry, where novel ideas are prized, use linguistic tactics to develop new labels for their innovations to stay ahead of competitors. Using language to signal that something is \"new and different\" is an important tool for success, University of California, Davis, research suggests.</p><p>Category innovation during a study period from 1990 to 2002 included words and phrases such as \"platform\" and \"supply chain management\" -- market categories that are now established.</p><p>\"There is an association between companies that use category innovation and their likelihood to IPO, suggesting category innovation is part of successful firm strategies,\" said Elizabeth George Pontikes of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management who is the author of the study.</p><p>The article, \"Category Innovation in the Software Industry, 1990-2002,\" was published in <em>Strategic Management Journal </em>in January. Pontikes looked at more than 400 labels used in news releases about innovations by more than 4,000 different software firms over 12 years. Researchers also interviewed 12 executives and venture capitalists in the software industry.</p><p>Category innovation, as defined in the study, is a practice that involves firms claiming a new category label to describe the market they are in. A firm may do this to differentiate from rivals, or to try to become a market leader or even a \"category king.\"</p><p>One executive interviewed for the study described the \"tag management\" label, for example, as something that \"wasn\'t super innovative, but it was labeling it … so it was strategic the way we were thinking about it.\"</p><p>The research found that 75% of the labels analyzed when they were new only had one or two firms using them in the first two years, when it is traditionally difficult to determine if innovations even have a nascent market. Those labels don\'t gain traction until the second year of innovation, the research showed.</p><p>Firms sometimes engage in category innovation by borrowing and recasting a little-known term or are unaware another firm had claimed the label, Pontikes said.</p>','2022-03-11 02:42:25.479365','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Davis','Companies in the software industry, where novel ideas are prized, use linguistic tactics to develop new labels for their innovations to stay ahead of competitors.',1,188,'<li>Elizabeth George Pontikes. <strong>Category innovation in the software industry: 1990–2002</strong>. <em>Strategic Management Journal</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.3383\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/smj.3383</a>\r\n</li>'),(864,'Home-based flu tests as accurate as rapid diagnostic testing in clinical settings','home-based-flu-tests-as-accurate-as-rapid-diagnostic-testing-in-clinical-settings','2022-03-12 12:05:20.064735','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Home-based, self-administered tests for influenza are comparable in accuracy to rapid diagnostic tests in clinical settings, according to a recently published, peer-reviewed study.</p><p>\"Home tests are a valuable tool to support the management of influenza and other respiratory infections,\" said Matthew J. Thompson, professor of global health and family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Thompson is the senior author on the study and a primary-care physician at UW Medicine.</p><p>\"The tests facilitate earlier diagnoses and reduce the time from the onset of symptoms to patients seeking appropriate care,\" he said.</p><p>More than 600 Seattle-area residents participated in the 2020 study between February and the end of May. Participants were mailed influenza testing kits. After swabbing their noses, they either recorded the results through an app, or returned the kits to the lab of Lea Starita in the Brotman Baty Institute of Precision Medicine. Starita is an assistant professor of genome sciences at the UW School of Medicine, and one of the study co-authors.</p><p>The researchers determined that sensitivity and specificity of the self-test were comparable with those of influenza rapid diagnostic tests used in clinical settings. False-negative results were more common when the self-test was administered after 72 hours of the appearance of symptoms, but were not related to inadequate swab collection or severity of illness.</p><p>\"This study underscores the imperative of expanding access to testing and lowering the costs,\"</p>','2022-03-11 04:31:43.306079','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine','Home-based, self-administered tests for influenza are comparable in accuracy to rapid diagnostic tests in clinical settings, according to a peer-reviewed study. The researchers determined that sensitivity and specificity of the home test and clinical test were similar. False-negative results were more common when the self-test was administered after 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, but were not related to inadequate swab collection or severity of illness.',1,108,'<li>Rachel E Geyer, Jack Henry Kotnik, Victoria Lyon, Elisabeth Brandstetter, Monica Zigman Suchsland, Peter D Han, Chelsey Graham, Misja Ilcisin, Ashley E Kim, Helen Y Chu, Deborah A Nickerson, Lea M Starita, Trevor Bedford, Barry Lutz, Matthew J Thompson. <strong>Diagnostic Accuracy of an At-Home, Rapid Self-test for Influenza: Prospective Comparative Accuracy Study</strong>. <em>JMIR Public Health and Surveillance</em>, 2022; 8 (2): e28268 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28268\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.2196/28268</a>\r\n</li>'),(876,'Seeing lipids more deeply with mass spectrometry','seeing-lipids-more-deeply-with-mass-spectrometry','2022-03-12 12:03:32.676527','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The development of new scientific ways to see more deeply into the building blocks of nature on a cellular level has led to the some of the greatest advances in medicine over the last century. Now, new research into phosphoinositides, which are a family of membrane lipids essential for many biological and pathological processes and which represent one of the most functionally versatile membrane lipid families involved in human health and disease, has seen further developments in the use of mass spectrometry in continuing to push back the barriers leading to new treatments for many diseases.</p><p>In the past, due to various reasons related to their complexity and their low intracellular concentrations, the profiling of these lipids and the linking of a specific acyl variant to biological change has been difficult. However, a new system called PRMC-MS (Phosphoinositide Regioisomer Measurement by Chiral column chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) has now enabled the characterization of the dynamics of phosphoinositide acyl variants both in intracellular and extracellular environments.</p><p>Previous methods of measuring and profiling phosphoinositides have produced results that cannot be easily applied to clinical or pathological samples from experimental animals. Even newer methods involving the use of mass-spectrometry which have made advances in some areas still reflect the problem of how to simultaneously quantify the acyl variants of individual regioisomers in biological samples.</p><p>The PRMC-MS method now solves this problem and points the way to an understanding of how these lipids influence cell functions. Using PRMC-MS, it is now possible to simultaneously measure all eight classes of phosphoinositides in a single sample. The highly sensitive nature of PRMC-MS allows for the detection of tiny but important changes in intracellular phosphoinositide levels, yielding data that shows that it can be applied to blood samples to track phosphoinositide signatures potentially related to disease states.</p><p>PRMC-MS enables the comprehensive analysis of phosphoinositide acyl variants in various types of biological samples, including surgical specimens, which can be used to throw a light on previously unrecognized disturbances of phosphoinositide fatty acyl profiles in cancerous tissue and to monitor their extracellular mobilization. Further study of the differing acyl variants and their conferring of protein binding properties could possibly also reveal how they activate a signaling pathway that favors cancer cell growth and survival and emerge as a target for cancer therapy. Thus, PRMC-MS may well illuminate the role played by phosphoinositides in the pathogenesis of cancers and inflammatory diseases.</p><p>In addition, the use of PRMC-MS in the evaluation of phosphoinositide signatures at the acyl variant level in tissue and liquid biopsies may reveal biomarkers suitable for a wide variety of clinical applications.</p><p>In the future, applications such as the above may greatly facilitate drug development strategies based on the devising of a therapeutic agent that pinpoints a specific pathogenic phosphoinositide acyl variant, and thus open the way for much more accurate therapeutic methods and cures for patients suffering from a range of diseases that have proven difficult in the past.</p>','2022-03-11 13:18:04.889534','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Tokyo Medical and Dental University','PRMC-MS allows enhanced profiling of phosphoinositide acyl variants both in intracellular and extracellular environments.',1,108,'<li>Shin Morioka, Hiroki Nakanishi, Toshiyoshi Yamamoto, Junya Hasegawa, Emi Tokuda, Tomoya Hikita, Tomoko Sakihara, Yuuki Kugii, Chitose Oneyama, Masakazu Yamazaki, Akira Suzuki, Junko Sasaki, Takehiko Sasaki. <strong>A mass spectrometric method for in-depth profiling of phosphoinositide regioisomers and their disease-associated regulation</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27648-z\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-021-27648-z</a>\r\n</li>'),(879,'Rear-end collision on the \'ribosome highway\'','rear-end-collision-on-the-ribosome-highway','2022-03-12 12:02:24.707792','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As a molecular machine found in the cells of all organisms, the ribosome is responsible for making new proteins. It reads the blueprint for a certain protein on a messenger molecule – known as messenger RNA (mRNA) – and then converts this information into new proteins. For a number of reasons, this process can fail, leaving the ribosome stalled on the mRNA and bringing synthesis of the protein to a halt. An international research team led by scientists from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH) has now identified a bacterial protein called MutS2 that senses and rescues these stuck protein factories. The fact that the next ribosome on the mRNA chain collides with the stalled ribosome plays a key role.</p><p>The blueprints of proteins are stored in the DNA in the cell nucleus, where they are transcribed into mRNA. Bearing the genetic information for a specific protein, the mRNA leaves the nucleus and is transported to the ribosomes, where its information is converted into proteins. “Sometimes ribosomes can get stuck reading the blueprints owing to a defective mRNA molecule, for instance. This is particularly problematic because unfinished proteins are potentially toxic to the cell,” explains ZMBH molecular biologist and working group leader Prof. Dr Claudio Joazeiro. “That is why cells have developed mechanisms that detect stalled ribosomes and mark the incomplete proteins for destruction while still in their birthplace, the ribosome.”</p><p>Using high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy, the researchers decoded a major step in this process with the aid of the common soil bacterium, <em>Bacillus subtilis</em>. They were able to precisely characterise how the MutS2 protein, found in nearly one third of all bacteria species, senses stalled ribosomes. MutS2 detects the collision between the stuck ribosome and the next one on the mRNA – a process which ZMBH junior research group leader Dr Stefan Pfeffer likens to a rear-end collision caused by a stalled vehicle on the highway, thus catching the attention of the police.</p><p>To rescue ribosomes stuck on the mRNA, MutS2 follows two independent strategies, according to the researchers. “On one hand, MutS2 cuts the mRNA molecule, which subjects it to degradation. On the other hand, MutS2 separates the ribosome into its two subunits, so that it can be recycled for later rounds of protein synthesis. At the same time, the so-called ribosome-associated protein quality control marks the unfinished protein for destruction,” explains Dr Pfeffer. Prof. Joazeiro emphasises that this quality control mechanism is conserved from bacteria to humans. “We thus expect that the understanding of this fundamental process in bacteria will shed light on disease mechanisms in mammals, where failure to degrade unfinished proteins is associated with neurodegeneration and neuromuscular diseases,” adds the researcher.</p><p>In addition to the ZMBH researchers from Heidelberg, scientists from the University of Cologne as well as Scripps Research in Florida (USA) also participated in the study. Funding was provided by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the German Research Foundation, the European Union in the context of “Horizon 2020”, the Aventis Foundation and the Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation. The results of the study were published in the journal <em>Nature.</em></p><p><br></p>','2022-03-11 13:25:41.851763','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Heidelberg University','As a molecular machine found in the cells of all organisms, the ribosome is responsible for making new proteins. For a number of reasons, this process can fail, leaving the ribosome stalled on the mRNA and bringing synthesis of the protein to a halt. An international research team has now identified a bacterial protein called MutS2 that senses and rescues these stuck protein factories.',1,36,'<li>Federico Cerullo, Sebastian Filbeck, Pratik Rajendra Patil, Hao-Chih Hung, Haifei Xu, Julia Vornberger, Florian W. Hofer, Jaro Schmitt, Guenter Kramer, Bernd Bukau, Kay Hofmann, Stefan Pfeffer, Claudio A. P. Joazeiro. <strong>Bacterial ribosome collision sensing by a MutS DNA repair ATPase paralogue</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04487-6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04487-6</a>\r\n</li>'),(880,'The new, improved Dragonfly is a galactic gas detector','the-new-improved-dragonfly-is-a-galactic-gas-detector','2022-03-12 11:57:39.529616','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The Dragonfly telescope is undergoing a metamorphosis.</p><p>For the past decade, the Dragonfly Telephoto Array -- designed by Yale\'s Pieter van Dokkum and the University of Toronto\'s Roberto Abraham and located in New Mexico -- has conducted groundbreaking science by detecting faint starlight within dimly lit parts of the night sky. The telescope uses clusters of telephoto lenses to create images, much the way a dragonfly\'s eyes gather visual data.</p><p>The telescope has spotted previously unseen \"fluffy\" galaxies, diffuse dwarf galaxies, and galaxies with little or no dark matter.</p><p>Now Dragonfly is setting its sights on extragalactic gas.</p><p>With the help of a special filter mounted in front of each lens, the Dragonfly telescope is able to block most of the light emitted by stars -- leaving just the faint glow of light-emitting, ionized gas. The Dragonfly team built a \"pathfinder\" version of the new telescope, with three lenses instead of the original Dragonfly\'s 48 lenses, as a proof-of-concept device.</p><p>The results are even better than expected, the researchers say.</p><p>\"There are going to be some incredible images from Dragonfly in the next few years,\" said van Dokkum, the Sol Goldman Family Professor of Astronomy in Yale\'s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. \"This new method of detecting gas clouds is opening up a whole new regime of science to explore.\"</p><p>In a pair of new studies, the Dragonfly team describes previously hidden features within the gas surrounding a group of galaxies located about 12 million light-years from Earth. The researchers chose this area, in part, because it has been studied by other telescopes and provides a number of established, celestial signposts to gauge Dragonfly\'s accuracy.</p><p>\"The Messier 81 galaxy group is one of the nearest to our own, making it one of the best to study,\" said Yale graduate student Imad Pasha, first author of one of the new studies. \"We\'re returning to many such well-known, nearby galaxies with this new instrument to add pieces to the puzzle of how gas gets in and out of galaxies.\"</p><p>Although it has long been known that gas is the fuel for creating stars and planets in galaxies, the dynamics for how this gas actually gets into and out of galaxies are not well understood. Being able to isolate images of gas structures around galaxies has become a priority for researchers.</p><p>For example, Pasha\'s study, published in <em>Astrophysical Journal Letters</em><em>,</em> describes a nascent dwarf galaxy forming in a tidal arm of the galaxy Messier 82. Essentially, a new galaxy is being formed by the gas ripped away from M82 when M82 flew past its neighbor, M81.</p><p>\"This type of galaxy is difficult to detect by traditional observations,\" Pasha said. \"We may well find more of these \'baby\' galaxies around well-studied groups in the future.\"</p><p>The second new study, which has been accepted by the <em>Astrophysical Journal</em>, describes a giant cloud of ionized gas -- 180,000 light years long and 30,000 light years wide. Although the cloud\'s origin remains a mystery, the researchers theorize that it may have been pulled away from M82 during a close encounter with its larger, companion galaxy, Messier 81, or blown away from M82 by strong \"superwinds.\"</p><p>\"This cloud had never been seen before,\" said first author Deborah Lokhorst, a former graduate student at the University of Toronto. \"Our image was the first with the sensitivity required and a wide enough field of view to detect it. We almost didn\'t believe it was real!\"</p><p>Now that the Dragonfly \"pathfinder\" has proven to be successful, the researchers are building a bigger Dragonfly Spectral Line Mapper instrument with 120 lenses. The telescope is being assembled over the next year in New Mexico.</p><p>Co-author Seery Chen, a University of Toronto graduate student who worked on instrumentation development for the new Dragonfly, said part of the project\'s ethos is to conduct groundbreaking science using readily available materials -- including commercially available telephoto lenses. Eventually, the team plans to make all of its instrument designs and data open-sourced and available to other researchers.</p><p>\"It makes science more accessible to more people,\" Chen said.</p><p>Co-authors of the new studies include Yale graduate students Tim Miller, Erin Lippitt, Ava Polzin, Zili Shen, and Michael Keim, and former Yale researchers Shany Danieli, now at Princeton, and Allison Merritt, now at the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie in Germany.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-11 13:25:47.458461','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Yale University','The Dragonfly telescope is undergoing a metamorphosis. For the past decade, the Dragonfly Telephoto Array has conducted groundbreaking science by detecting faint starlight within dimly lit parts of the night sky. The telescope uses clusters of telephoto lenses to create images, much the way a dragonfly\'s eyes gather visual data.',1,185,'<li>Imad Pasha, Deborah Lokhorst, Pieter G. van Dokkum, Seery Chen, Roberto Abraham, Johnny Greco, Shany Danieli, Tim Miller, Erin Lippitt, Ava Polzin, Zili Shen, Michael A. Keim, Qing Liu, Allison Merritt, Jielai Zhang. <strong>A Nascent Tidal Dwarf Galaxy Forming within the Northern H i Streamer of M82</strong>. <em>The Astrophysical Journal Letters</em>, 2021; 923 (2): L21 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac3ca6\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3847/2041-8213/ac3ca6</a>\r\n</li>'),(888,'On the hunt for ultra-thin materials using data mining','on-the-hunt-for-ultra-thin-materials-using-data-mining','2022-03-12 11:56:05.048577','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Two-dimensional (2D) materials possess extraordinary properties. They usually consist of atomic layers that are only a few nanometers thick and are particularly good at conducting heat and electricity, for instance. To the astonishment of many scientists, it recently became known that 2D materials can also exist on the basis of certain metal oxides. These oxides are of great interest in areas such as nanoelectronics applications. A German-American research team, led by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), has now succeeded in predicting twenty-eight representatives of this new class of materials by using data-driven methods.</p><p>There is a substantial difference between conventional 2D materials such as graphene and the novel materials that can be synthesized from metal oxides such as ilmenite and chromite. The latter do not form weak interactions -- what are known as van der Waals forces -- in their crystal structure, but instead form stronger ionic bonds that point in all directions. For this reason, only a few experiments have so far succeeded in detaching novel 2D materials from 3D material blocks. The results of the study can now lead to success in further experiments of this type. Using theoretical methods, the scientists predict which compounds are actually worthwhile for experimental research.</p><p>\"With our data driven method, we built upon the first available information from the initial experiments. From this information, we developed structural prototypes and then ran them through a huge materials database as a filter criterion,\" explains the leader of the study, Dr. Rico Friedrich from the HZDR Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. \"The main challenge was figuring out why these materials form 2D systems so easily with particular oxides. From this information, we were able to develop a valid generalized search criterion and could systematically characterize the identified candidates according to their properties.\"</p><p>For this purpose, the researchers primarily applied what is known as \"density functional theory,\" a practical computational method for electronic structures that is widely used in quantum chemistry and in condensed matter physics. They collaborated with several German high-performance data centers for the necessary computing stages. A decisive factor was determining the exfoliation energy: this defines how much energy must be expended to remove a 2D layer from the surface of a material.</p><p><strong>Materials database with approximately 3.5 million entries</strong></p><p>The study also utilized the AFLOW materials database (Automatic Flow for Materials Discovery). It has been under development for more than twenty years by Prof. Stefano Curtarolo from Duke University (USA), who also contributed as author of the study. AFLOW is regarded as one of the largest materials science databases and classifies approximately 3.5 million compounds with more than 700 million calculated material properties.</p><p>Together with the associated software, the database ultimately provided the researchers with not only the chemical composition of twenty-eight 2D-capable materials, but also enabled them to study their properties, which are remarkable in electronic and magnetic as well as topological respects. According to Rico Friedrich, their specific magnetic surface structures could make them particularly attractive for spintronic applications, such as for data storage in computers and smartphones.</p><p>\"I\'m certain that we can find additional 2D materials of this kind,\" says the Dresden physicist, casting a glance into the future. \"With enough candidates, perhaps even a dedicated database could be created entirely specialized in this new class of materials.\" The HZDR scientists remain in close contact with colleagues from a subject-related collaborative research center (Sonderforschungsbereich) at the TU Dresden as well as with the leading research group for synthesizing novel 2D systems in the United States. Together with both partners, they plan to pursue further study of the most promising compounds.</p>','2022-03-11 13:26:29.587922','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf','Two-dimensional (2D) materials possess extraordinary properties. They usually consist of atomic layers that are only a few nanometers thick and are particularly good at conducting heat and electricity, for instance. To the astonishment of many scientists, it recently became known that 2D materials can also exist on the basis of certain metal oxides. These oxides are of great interest in areas such as nanoelectronics applications. A research team has now succeeded in predicting twenty-eight representatives of this new class of materials by using data-driven methods.',1,25,'<li>Rico Friedrich, Mahdi Ghorbani-Asl, Stefano Curtarolo, Arkady V. Krasheninnikov. <strong>Data-Driven Quest for Two-Dimensional Non-van der Waals Materials</strong>. <em>Nano Letters</em>, 2022; 22 (3): 989 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03841\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03841</a>\r\n</li>'),(898,'Physicists show how frequencies can easily be multiplied without special circuitry','physicists-show-how-frequencies-can-easily-be-multiplied-without-special-circuitry','2022-03-12 11:39:04.780578','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new discovery by physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) could make certain components in computers and smartphones obsolete. The team has succeeded in directly converting frequencies to higher ranges in a common magnetic material without the need for additional components. Frequency multiplication is a fundamental process in modern electronics. The team reports on its research in the latest issue of <em>Science</em>.</p><p>Digital technologies and devices are already responsible for about ten percent of global electricity consumption, and the trend is rising sharply. \"It is therefore necessary to develop more efficient components for information processing,\" says Professor Georg Woltersdorf, a physicist from MLU.</p><p>Non-linear electronic circuits are typically used to generate the high-frequency gigahertz signals needed to operate today\'s devices. The team at MLU has now found a way to do this within a magnetic material without the electronic components that are usually used for this. Instead, the magnetization is excited by a low-frequency megahertz source. Using the newly discovered effect, the source generates several frequency components, each of which is a multiple of the excitation frequency. These cover a range of six octaves and reach up to several gigahertz. \"This is like hitting the lowest note on a piano while also hearing the corresponding harmonic tones of the higher octaves,\" explains Woltersdorf.</p><p>The surprising effect of frequency multiplication is explained by synchronized switching of the dynamic magnetization on a micron scale. \"Different areas do not switch at the same time. Instead, they are triggered by adjacent areas just like in a falling row of dominoes,\" explains first author Chris Körner from the Institute of Physics at MLU.</p><p>The discovery could also help make digital technologies more energy efficient in the future. It is also important for new applications. Today\'s microelectronics use electron charges as information carriers. A major disadvantage of this method is that the electric charge transport releases heat and therefore requires a lot of energy. Spin electronics could provide a promising solution. In addition to using the electron\'s charge, it also uses its magnetic moment, or so-called spin. Its properties open the possibility to significantly improve the energy efficiency. The newly discovered effect could enable space-saving and efficient frequency sources for spin electronics in the gigahertz range.</p><p>The study was funded in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation).</p>','2022-03-11 16:12:03.412114','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg','A new discovery by physicists could make certain components in computers and smartphones obsolete. The team has succeeded in directly converting frequencies to higher ranges in a common magnetic material without the need for additional components. Frequency multiplication is a fundamental process in modern electronics.',1,61,'<li>Chris Koerner, Rouven Dreyer, Martin Wagener, Niklas Liebing, Hans G. Bauer, Georg Woltersdorf. <strong>Frequency multiplication by collective nanoscale spin-wave dynamics</strong>. <em>Science</em>, 2022; 375 (6585): 1165 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm6044\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/science.abm6044</a>\r\n</li>'),(908,'Heat stress for cattle may cost billions by century\'s end, study finds','heat-stress-for-cattle-may-cost-billions-by-centurys-end-study-finds','2022-03-12 11:37:18.081644','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Climate change poses a potentially devastating economic threat to low-income cattle farmers in poor countries due to increasing heat stress on the animals. Globally, by the end of this century those producers may face financial loss between $15 and $40 billion annually.</p><p>Farmers in tropical regions -- including large parts of South America, Asia and Africa -- are likely to suffer significantly, particularly when compared with producers in the world\'s wealthier temperate zones, according to a study by an international team of scientists and economists published in the Lancet Planetary Health.</p><p>The researchers, including Mario Herrero, professor of sustainable food systems at Cornell University, and lead author Philip Thornton, of the International Livestock Research Institute and CGIAR; published \"Impacts of Heat Stress on Global Cattle Production During the 21st Century.\"</p><p>Escalating demand for livestock products in low- and middle-income countries, along with steadily increasing global average temperatures, is an uncomfortable mix, the researchers said. If livestock are to adapt to new thermal environments and increase their productivity, infrastructural investments or adjustments -- such as switching to more heat-tolerant cattle breeds, and improving shade, ventilation and cooling systems -- will be required.</p><p>In the paper\'s high greenhouse-gas emission scenario, cattle production losses from heat stress are estimated to be $39.94 billion annually, or 9.8% of the value of production of meat and milk from cattle in 2005 -- the scientists\' baseline year. The low-emission scenario projects production losses at $14.9 billion annually, or 3.7% of the 2005 value.</p><p>By the end of the century, dairy and beef production in the United States is projected to decline by 6.8%, while India -- a major dairy production country -- is projected to lose more than 45% of its dairy farming due to heat stress increases.</p><p>\"Resource-poor farmers in low-income countries depend heavily on their livestock for their livelihoods,\" Thornton said. \"The adaptation needs are even higher in these countries, and those farmers are the ones where the hit is even more severe.\"</p><p>With climate change, farming and sustainability, Herrero suggested there is a need to create equitable adaptation practices \"by design and to think intentionally on reaching the vulnerable sectors of global society,\" he said. \"We cannot just hope that the poor will not be affected.\"</p><p>Technological development is key to bringing equity and social justice to poor farmers throughout the world. \"Sustainability is not only about the environment and protecting biodiversity, but the human component is fundamental to sustainability,\" Herrero said. \"We need to deal with climate change, leaving no one behind. That\'s the only truth.\"</p><p>Herrero is a fellow in the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.</p>','2022-03-11 16:12:37.989825','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Cornell University','Climate change poses a potentially devastating economic threat to low-income cattle farmers in poor countries due to increasing heat stress on the animals. Globally, by the end of this century those producers may face financial loss between $15 and $40 billion annually.',1,70,'<li>Philip Thornton, Gerald Nelson, Dianne Mayberry, Mario Herrero. <strong>Impacts of heat stress on global cattle production during the 21st century: a modelling study</strong>. <em>The Lancet Planetary Health</em>, 2022; 6 (3): e192 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00002-X\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00002-X</a>\r\n</li>'),(912,'Open-access dataset of macaque brain published','open-access-dataset-of-macaque-brain-published','2022-03-12 11:35:54.812454','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) have published a dataset that was recorded from the visual cortex of monkeys during the resting state. The dataset can be shared with other researchers for analysis, used as teaching material and/or serve as a template for future publications of large electrophysiology datasets, therefore less monkeys are needed for research. The dataset was collected at the NIN and prepared for publication by the NIN and collaborators at Juelich University and Aachen University (Germany).</p><p>The dataset consists of electrophysiology data that was recorded from the visual cortex (V1 and V4) of two monkeys, from 1024 recording sites simultaneously during the resting state, and it also includes supporting datasets obtained while the monkeys performed visual tasks. The data provide a picture of neuronal activity across large regions of the visual cortex at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution, with high-density receptive field coverage. The dataset includes data in their \'rawest\' form, to enable their broadest use, as well as processed data to facilitate analysis of commonly used neuronal signals.</p><p><strong>Spatially and temporally detailed picture</strong></p><p>The recordings can be utilized to observe brain waves across larger regions of cortex, offering a spatiotemporally detailed picture of brain activity. \'\'In this paper, we provide the dataset, describe the raw and processed data formats and data acquisition methods, and indicate how the data can be used to yield new insights into the \'background\' activity that influences the processing of visual information in our brain\'\', says Xing Chen, Senior researcher at the Vision and Cognition lab at the NIN.</p><p>Most studies have either examined resting state activity throughout the brain using MRI scans -- a non-invasive medical imaging technique -- or by recording activity from a small number of implanted electrodes. The Vision &amp; Cognition lab, led by Professor Pieter Roelfsema, carried out recordings from over a thousand chronically implanted electrodes in the visual cortex of non-human primates, yielding a resting state dataset with a high spatialtemporal resolution -- a very detailed and accurate observation. \'\'Part of our dataset has already been used successfully to investigate the neural correlates of brain activity obtained via non-invasive imaging,\'\' says Chen.</p><p><strong>Open access</strong></p><p>A Data Descriptor article accompanies the dataset. The article includes a thorough description of the scientific insights that could be obtained from the data, data formats, and methods of data acquisition and processing. Included are sections on Data Records (describing data usage and file formats); Technical Validation (to validate the data for usability and correctness); and Code Availability (describing the scripts used for data collection, processing, and analysis).</p><p>\'\'This dataset allows other scientists to derive new fundamental neuroscientific insights into underlying activity that influences the processing of visual information in our brain,\'\' says Chen. The dataset has been published under an open-access Creative Commons license for other researchers so that everyone can access the data.</p>','2022-03-11 17:28:01.578693','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience - KNAW','Researchers have published a dataset that was recorded from the visual cortex of monkeys during the resting state. The dataset consists of electrophysiology data that was recorded from the visual cortex (V1 and V4) of two monkeys, from 1024 recording sites simultaneously during the resting state, and it also includes supporting datasets obtained while the monkeys performed visual tasks.',1,3,'<li>Xing Chen, Aitor Morales-Gregorio, Julia Sprenger, Alexander Kleinjohann, Shashwat Sridhar, Sacha J. van Albada, Sonja Grün, Pieter R. Roelfsema. <strong>1024-channel electrophysiological recordings in macaque V1 and V4 during resting state</strong>. <em>Scientific Data</em>, 2022; 9 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01180-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41597-022-01180-1</a>\r\n</li>'),(913,'Scientists find new colony structure of fire ants evolved in one species before spreading to others','scientists-find-new-colony-structure-of-fire-ants-evolved-in-one-species-before-spreading-to-others','2022-03-12 11:34:49.499113','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have discovered that a new form of ant society spread across species. They found that after the new form of society evolved in one species, a \"social supergene\" carrying the instruction-set for the new social form spread into other species. This spread occurred through hybridisation, i.e., breeding between ants of different species. This unlikely event provides an alternate way of life, making the ants more successful than if they only had the original social form.</p><p>Red fire ants originally had only colonies with one queen. The team previously discovered that about one million years ago, a new social form evolved where colonies could have dozens of queens. A particular version of a large section of chromosome, named the \"social supergene,\" includes the genetic information necessary to make workers accept more than one queen. The new research, published today in <em>Nature Communications</em>, analysed the entire genomes or instruction sets of 365 male fire ants to examine the evolution of the social supergene, and found that the same version of this chromosome is present in multiple fire ant species.</p><p>Transfer of large amounts of genetic information across species is rare because of genetic incompatibilities. However, in this case, the advantages of having multiple queens overrode the incompatibilities, and the genetic material repeatedly spread to other species from the one source species in which this new social form evolved. The multiple-queen social form has advantages in several situations. For example, a multiple-queen colony has more workers and thus can outcompete a colony with only one queen. Furthermore, if there is a flood, a colony with multiple queens is less likely to become queenless.</p><p>Dr Yannick Wurm, Reader in Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics at Queen Mary University of London and a fellow of The Alan Turing Institute said: \"This research reveals how evolutionary innovations can spread across species. It also shows how evolution works at the level of DNA and chromosomes.</p><p>\"It was incredibly surprising to discover that other species could acquire a new form of social organisation through hybridisation. The supergene region that creates multi-queen colonies is a large piece of chromosome that contains hundreds of genes. The many parts of a genome evolve to work together in fine-tuned manners, thus suddenly having a mix with different versions of many genes from another species is complicated and quite rare.</p><p>\"Instead of executing extra queens as they would in a single-queen colony, the new version of the supergene leads workers to accept multiple queens. Having studied the history of the supergene and new social form extensively, we next want to identify which genes or parts of the supergene region, lead to these changes in behaviour. This will also help fill more gaps in our understanding of evolutionary processes.\"</p><p>Rodrigo Pracana, a lead author of the study, also at Queen Mary University of London added: \"Our study shows how detailed analysis of large numbers of wild animals can provide surprising new insight on how evolution works.\"</p><p>The team from Queen Mary were previously among the first in the world to apply large-scale DNA-sequencing approaches to wild insects -- which enabled them to discover one of the first well-known supergenes.</p><p>Red fire ants are native to South America and infamous for their painful sting. One of these species is known in many other parts of the world, where it is aggressiveness and high population density have made it an invasive pest. Efforts at controlling the spread of this species have largely been unsuccessful, as indicated by its Latin name, <em>Solenopsis invicta</em>, meaning \"the invincible.\"</p><p>The research was supported by the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, with Dr. Eckart Stolle assisting as part of the team at Queen Mary before continuing this work at the Leibniz Institute.</p>','2022-03-11 17:28:04.230856','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Queen Mary University of London','Scientists have discovered that a new form of ant society spread across species. They found that after the new form of society evolved in one species, a \'social supergene\' carrying the instruction-set for the new social form spread into other species. This spread occurred through hybridization, i.e., breeding between ants of different species. This unlikely event provides an alternate way of life, making the ants more successful than if they only had the original social form.',1,64,'<li>Eckart Stolle, Rodrigo Pracana, Federico López-Osorio, Marian K. Priebe, Gabriel Luis Hernández, Claudia Castillo-Carrillo, Maria Cristina Arias, Carolina Ivon Paris, Martin Bollazzi, Anurag Priyam, Yannick Wurm. <strong>Recurring adaptive introgression of a supergene variant that determines social organization</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28806-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28806-7</a>\r\n</li>'),(915,'Exercise may treat long COVID-induced diabetes, depression','exercise-may-treat-long-covid-induced-diabetes-depression','2022-03-12 11:33:01.001309','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">While no medically recognized treatment exists for Long COVID, exercise may break the vicious cycle of inflammation that can lead to developing diabetes and depression months after a person recovers from the virus.</p><p>\"We know that Long COVID causes depression, and we know that it can increase blood glucose levels to the point where people develop diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening condition common among people with type 1 diabetes,\" said Candida Rebello, Ph.D., a research scientist at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. \"Exercise can help. Exercise takes care of the inflammation that leads to elevated blood glucose and the development and progression of diabetes and clinical depression.\"</p><p>It\'s unclear how many people suffer from Long COVID. But estimates range from 15 percent to 80 percent of the people infected. Based on those figures, it\'s possible that as many as 1 million of Louisiana\'s residents suffer from Long COVID.</p><p>Long COVID causes what the Centers for Disease Control describes as \"a constellation of other debilitating symptoms\" including brain fog, muscle pain, and fatigue that can last for months after a person recovers from the initial infection.</p><p>\"For example, a person may not get very sick from COVID-19, but six months later, long after the cough or fever is gone, they develop diabetes,\' Dr. Rebello said.</p><p>One solution is exercise. Dr. Rebello and her co-authors describe their hypothesis in \"Exercise as a Moderator of Persistent Neuroendocrine Symptoms of COVID-19,\" published in the journal <em>Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews</em>.</p><p>\"You don\'t have to run a mile or even walk a mile at a brisk pace,\" Dr. Rebello said. \"Walking slowly is also exercising. Ideally, you would do a 30-minute session of exercise. But if you can only do 15 minutes at a time, try to do two 15-minute sessions. If you can only walk 15 minutes once a day, do that. The important thing is to try. It doesn\'t matter where you begin. You can gradually build up to the recommended level of exercise.\"</p><p>\"We know that physical activity is a key component to a healthy life. This research shows that exercise can be used to break the chain reaction of inflammation that leads to high blood sugar levels, and then to the development or progression of type 2 diabetes,\" said Pennington Biomedical Executive Director John Kirwan, Ph.D., who is also a co-author of the paper.</p><p>This work was supported in part by award number 1K99AG065419-02 from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, which funds the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center through award number U54 GM104940. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsors or the National Institutes of Health.</p>','2022-03-11 17:28:18.320923','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Pennington Biomedical Research Center','While no medically recognized treatment exists for long COVID, exercise may break the vicious cycle of inflammation that can lead to developing diabetes and depression months after a person recovers from the virus.',1,22,'<li>Candida J. Rebello, Christopher L. Axelrod, Charles F. Reynolds, Frank L. Greenway, John P. Kirwan. <strong>Exercise as a Moderator of Persistent Neuroendocrine Symptoms of COVID-19</strong>. <em>Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews</em>, 2022; Publish Ahead of Print DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/JES.0000000000000284\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1249/JES.0000000000000284</a>\r\n</li>'),(916,'Discovering molecular \'team-work\' underlying nitrate assimilation in a unicellular red alga','discovering-molecular-team-work-underlying-nitrate-assimilation-in-a-unicellular-red-alga','2022-03-12 11:31:26.200251','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Nitrogen is an essential component for plant growth and development. Plants generally take up nitrogen from their environment in the form of nitrates or ammonium and assimilate them into amino acids with the help of the products of nitrate or ammonium assimilation genes, respectively. Transcription factors (TFs) regulate this activity, while also modifying the rate of nitrate assimilation depending on the changes in nitrogen levels. In nitrogen deficient condition, these TFs positively regulate the expression of nitrate assimilation genes.</p><p>The same holds true for <em>Cyanidioschyzon merolae, </em>a unicellular red alga, which serves as an excellent model of photosynthetic higher organisms to study transcription. While it is known that the TF called \'CmMYB1\' is responsible for transcribing nitrate assimilation genes in nitrogen-depleted condition, the mechanism for this under nitrogen-repleted(+N) condition is not clear.</p><p>To address this conundrum, in a study published in <em>Frontiers in Plant Science</em><em>,</em> a team of researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and other institutes explored the molecular mechanisms controlling the regulation of CmMYB1 in <em>C. merolae </em>under+N condition. \"Based on our previous studies, we were already aware that the activity of CmMYB1 is associated with a regulatory region of itself and/or CmMYB1-binding protein(s), and thus attempted to identify it,\" explains Professor Sousuke Imamura, the lead researcher of the study.</p><p>To do this, they first generated <em>C. merolae</em> strains with <em>CmMYB1</em> knocked out and transformed them with plasmids containing different truncated sequences of CmMYB1. Subsequently, they identified a sequence of CmMYB1 between positions 311-380 as the key region responsible for downregulating nitrate assimilating genes under +N condition, inhibiting transcription as a result. Further analyses based on quantitative polymerase chain reactions indicated increased transcript levels of these genes in the strain lacking the key region of CmMYB1 under +N condition. They labelled this new sequence as the \'negative domain\' (ND) of CmMYB1.</p><p>Moreover, they found that ND controls the subcellular localization and promotor binding capacity of CmMYB1 under +N condition. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses confirmed the role of ND in reducing the binding capacity of CmMYB1 to promoter regions of nitrate assimilating genes under +N condition.</p><p>As the role of ND became clearer, the team decided to identify proteins involved in its regulation. To do so, they constructed an ND overexpressing strain, and performed immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry analyses to obtain a list of potential ND binding proteins in collaboration with investigators from Tohoku University. Finally, through a yeast two-hybrid analysis, they identified a new protein with an unknown function, named \'CmNDB1,\' which interacts with ND of CmMYB1.</p><p>Through several analyses using a <em>CmNDB1</em> knockout strain, they discovered that <em>CmNDB1</em> deletion resulted in nuclear localization of CmMYB1 and reduced promoter binding capacity of CmMYB1 under +N condition. Moreover, they discovered that <em>CmNDB1</em> deletion increases the transcription of nitrate assimilation genes under +N condition.</p><p>To sum up, both ND and CmNDB1 negatively control CmMYB1\'s activity under +N condition, facilitate its localization in the cytoplasm, and repress its binding to promoter regions of nitrate assimilating genes to downregulate their transcription. Discussing the implications of these findings, Professor Imamura says, \"Ours is the first study to reveal the mechanisms behind the regulation of transcription of nitrate assimilation genes under +N condition. These innovative results can significantly help in the advancement of research in this field.\"</p><p>Identification of the critical ND region of CmMYB1 and the CmNDB1 protein were key milestones that helped to understand the regulation of nitrate assimilation in <em>C. merolae</em>. Further studies, like investigation of the post-translational modifications of CmMYB1 and/or CmNDB1 are required to better understand the regulation of nitrate assimilation not only in this red alga but also in other photosynthetic organisms.</p>','2022-03-11 17:28:22.473406','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Tokyo Institute of Technology','The mechanisms suppressing nitrate assimilation in plants under nitrogen-repleted condition are poorly known, but researchers may have made a breakthrough. They have recently studied the transcription of nitrate assimilating genes in a unicellular red alga and found that deletion of the negative domain of transcription factor CmMYB1 or a previously unknown protein CmNDB1 is responsible for alleviation of the transcription of nitrate assimilating genes in nitrogen-repleted condition.',1,184,'<li>Baifeng Zhou, Hiroki Shima, Kazuhiko Igarashi, Kan Tanaka, Sousuke Imamura. <strong>CmNDB1 and a Specific Domain of CmMYB1 Negatively Regulate CmMYB1-Dependent Transcription of Nitrate Assimilation Genes Under Nitrogen-Repleted Condition in a Unicellular Red Alga</strong>. <em>Frontiers in Plant Science</em>, 2022; 13 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.821947\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3389/fpls.2022.821947</a>\r\n</li>'),(917,'Newly identified softshell turtle lived alongside T. rex and Triceratops','newly-identified-softshell-turtle-lived-alongside-trex-and-triceratops','2022-03-12 11:28:12.051269','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A newly described softshell turtle that lived in North Dakota 66.5 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period, just before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction,is oneof the earliest known species of the genus, according to new research shared in the journal <em>Cretaceous Research.</em></p><p><em>Hutchemys walkerorum</em> lived during a period when large and well-known dinosaurs also roamed Earth, including <em>Tyrannosaurus rex </em>and <em>Triceratops</em>. The find adds important information to scientists\' understanding of softshell turtles more broadly, including the potential effects of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which took place in this same time period, on their evolution.</p><p>Steven Jasinski, who recently completed his Ph.D. in Penn\'s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the School of Arts &amp; Sciences, led the research, collaborating with advisor Peter Dodson of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Penn Arts &amp; Sciences. The research team included Andrew Heckert and Ciara Sailar of Appalachian State University and Asher Lichtig and Spencer Lucas of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.</p><p><em>Hutchemys walkerorum</em> belongs to a particular group of softshell turtles in the Trionychidae family called plastomenines. These turtles are similar to the softshell turtles that exist today, although the plastron of plastomenine turtles -- the bones covering their stomach and abdominal area -- are more strongly sutured together and often larger and more robust than in other softshell turtles.</p><p>Plastomenines lived during the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods, around 80 million to 50 million years ago. Members of this group first appear in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous, and a single species continues into the Eocene Epoch, 50 million years ago, but they are at their peak diversity before and after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.</p><p>\"Until recently we didn\'t understand these softshell turtles very well,\" says Jasinski. \"However, we are starting to get more information on this extinct group of turtles and further understanding their evolution, including how they dealt with the mass extinction.\"</p><p>The fossil specimen of the new species, a partial carapace -- the bones that cover the back and what people think of as a turtle\'s \"shell\" -- was discovered in 1975 in southwestern North Dakota. A field crew from Appalachian State University led by Frank K. McKinney and John E. Callahan collected the specimen, along with a specimen of <em>Triceratops</em>, that summer. The fossil turtle specimen remained at Appalachian State until 2013, when Heckert discussed it with Jasinski, a master\'s student at East Tennessee State University at the time.</p><p>Research started in earnest around that time and continued as Jasinski was at Penn for his doctoral studies. Based on the structure of the specimen, he and colleagues determined this fossil belonged to a genus of turtles from the American West known as <em>Hutchemys</em>. <em>Hutchemys walkerorum</em> represents one of the rare occurrences of these turtles prior to the mass extinction event that brought the Age of Dinosaurs to an end. It also represents the easternmost occurrence of the genus during the Cretaceous Period.</p><p>\"With this study we gain further insight into winners and losers during the cataclysm that ended the Age of Dinosaurs,\" says Dodson. \"The mighty dinosaurs fell, and the lowly turtle survived.\"</p><p>A phylogenetic analysis, comparing the new species with other known trionychids, or softshell turtles, gave the scientists a better understanding of the group\'s evolutionary relationships. Their analysis placed <em>Hutchemys walkerorum</em> with other known species of <em>Hutchemys</em> and several other turtles in a distinct group of derived plastomenines, which they named Plastomenini. In addition, the researchers found a group of early trionychids, placing them in a newly established subfamily, Kuhnemydinae. Kuhnemydines are fossil species from Asia, and the team\'s analysis suggests the family Trionychidae originated in Asia before migrating to North America sometime in the Late Cretaceous.</p><p>The researchers\' investigations also led them to another new classification in the Trionychidae family, a subfamily they named Chitrainae. This group encompasses modern softshell turtles, including the narrow-headed and giant softshell turtles found in southern Asia.</p><p>The species name <em>walkerorum</em> honors Greg and Susan Walker, whose philanthropy created The Greg and Susan Walker Endowment in 2006. Under the terms of that gift, students in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science (EES) may apply for funds to undertake research projects for which no other source of support is immediately available.</p><p>\"The Greg and Susan Walker Endowment awards research support, typically for projects costing up to $5,000, in response to proposals submitted to the endowment through the Department of Earth and Environmental Science,\" says Robert Giegengack, professor emeritus.</p><p>\"The professors and advisors who approve the endowment do an awesome job in helping the students thrive,\" says Joan Buccilli, an administrator in the EES department who assists students seeking support. \"However, I really do feel I have the best job, getting to navigate through their awards with them and getting to see firsthand how excited they are and what they have accomplished.\"</p><p>Jasinski was awarded Walker Research Grant funds for this project as well as others describing new species of dinosaurs, turtles, dogs, and investigations of dinosaurs and carnivorous mammals. \"The Walkers\' generous support helped me get the most out of my time while at Penn,\" says Jasinski, \"and I know they were vital to the research of other students as well. This was one of the major reasons we wanted to name this new species in their honor.\"</p><p>Hermann Pfefferkorn, professor emeritus, says, \"Research funds like the one established by the Walkers allow both undergrad and graduate students to pursue research that is not funded by the grants of their professors. This means that their creativity can bear fruits very early in their career. In this way they learn to be scientists in their own right.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-11 17:28:30.921409','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Pennsylvania','Scientists describe the find of a new softshell turtle from the end of the Cretaceous Period.',1,132,'<li>Steven E. Jasinski, Andrew B. Heckert, Ciara Sailar, Asher J. Lichtig, Spencer G. Lucas, Peter Dodson. <strong>A softshell turtle (Testudines: Trionychidae: Plastomeninae) from the uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota, USA, with implications for the evolutionary relationships of plastomenines and other trionychids</strong>. <em>Cretaceous Research</em>, 2022; 135: 105172 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105172\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105172</a>\r\n</li>'),(918,'Mutations leading to omicron variant did not enable virus to fully escape immune system','mutations-leading-to-omicron-variant-did-not-enable-virus-to-fully-escape-immune-system','2022-03-12 11:27:04.332786','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People who gained immunity -- either through vaccination or exposure -- against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also are likely to have some protection against the pathogen\'s omicron variant. That\'s because the mutations that led to the variant\'s emergence aren\'t found in the regions of the virus that stimulates one type of cellular immune response, says an international research team from Johns Hopkins Medicine, in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and ImmunoScape, a U.S.-Singapore biotechnology company.</p><p>However, the researchers caution that their finding only relates to one type of cell-mediated immunity -- the body\'s defense against invaders that doesn\'t involve circulating antibodies -- and that it may be the antibody-related immune response (known as humoral immunity) that fails when omicron causes so-called breakthrough infections.</p><p>The team\'s study was published March 1, 2022, in <em>mBio</em>, a journal from the American Society for Microbiology.</p><p>\"We found in a January 2021 study that in people previously infected with the original COVID strain, specific epitopes [portions of a protein that elicit an immune response] from the virus are recognized by immune system cells known as CD8+ T lymphocytes, or killer T cells, and that this recognition enables a cell-mediated attack on COVID,\" says study lead author Andrew Redd, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and staff scientist at NIAID. \"In our latest work, we found that these epitopes remained virtually untouched by the mutations found in the omicron variant. Therefore, the CD8+ T cell response to omicron should be virtually as strong as it was to the initial form of SARS-CoV-2.\"</p><p>Other research groups in the United States and South Africa have demonstrated very similar results for people previously infected by or vaccinated against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain.</p><p>CD8+ T cells are nicknamed killer T cells (they\'re also known as cytotoxic T cells) for their ability to eliminate foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses from the body. The T cells used in the latest study were from blood samples collected in 2020 from 30 patients who had recovered from mild to moderate cases of COVID-19. The convalescent plasma donors had six human leukocyte antigens (cell-surface proteins that regulate the immune system and are part of each person\'s genetic profile), Redd says, that are representative of greater than 73% of the U.S. population.</p><p>\"This suggests that a significant portion of Americans who have been vaccinated against or exposed to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 might have cytotoxic T cells that can produce an immune response to omicron,\" says study senior author Aaron Tobian, M.D., Ph.D., director of the transfusion medicine division and professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.</p><p>The blood samples used in this study -- initially acquired for the research team\'s earlier study of immune response in patients who were convalescent -- were taken from 26 to 62 days after the donors stopped having COVID-19 symptoms. This enabled the donors\' immune response to the virus to be fully mature and yield CD8+ T cells primed against it. The samples were stored after the researchers measured the T cell response.</p><p>During that assessment, donor samples were sent to ImmunoScape for the difficult task of identifying which T cells had responded to SARS-CoV-2. More specifically, the company\'s deep immune cell profiling method showed which virus proteins elicited a T cell-directed response -- data that could provide valuable insight into the T cells\' functional properties.</p><p>In the original analysis, the blood samples were probed with 408 different SARS-CoV-2 epitopes from spikes on the virus surface, from the virus capsule and from nonstructural proteins inside the virus. The researchers found that T cells from the convalescent donors recognized 52 of the 408 epitopes.</p><p>Redd says that in the latest study, the researchers examined the 52 epitopes previously identified in the convalescent blood samples to determine if they had been altered by escape mutations -- genetic changes that would enable the virus to avoid being susceptible to cell-mediated immunity.</p><p>\"We only found one low-prevalence epitope from the omicron spike protein that had a minor change from its predecessor in the original virus,\" says Redd. \"Overall, the omicron variant is known to have some 50-plus mutational differences between it and the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, but it seems the virus has not evolved the ability to avoid T cell recognition.\"</p><p>While significant cell-mediated immunity appears to have been maintained from the original SARS-CoV-2 through its subsequent variants, Redd, Tobian and their colleagues say more research is needed to fully define why people who have this protection may still get sick from omicron.</p><p>Along with Redd and Tobian, the members of the study team from Johns Hopkins Medicine are Evan Bloch, Oliver Laeyendecker and Thomas Quinn. Co-authors are Brian Abel, Michael Fehlings, Hassen Kared and Alessandra Nardin from ImmunoScape, and Andrew Pekosz from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.</p><p>The study was supported by NIAID grants R01AI120938, R01AI120938S1 and R01AI128779; the NIAID Division of Intramural Research; and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute grant 1K23HL151826-01.</p><p>Abel, Fehlings, Kared and Nardin were ImmunoScape shareholders and/or employees when the January 2021 study was conducted, and Nardin is a board director for the company.</p><p>All other study authors report no conflicts of interest.</p>','2022-03-11 17:28:48.043448','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','People who gained immunity -- either through vaccination or exposure -- against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also are likely to have some protection against the pathogen\'s omicron variant, according to a new study.',1,91,'<li>Andrew D. Redd, Alessandra Nardin, Hassen Kared, Evan M. Bloch, Brian Abel, Andrew Pekosz, Oliver Laeyendecker, Michael Fehlings, Thomas C. Quinn, Aaron A. R. Tobian. <strong>Minimal Crossover between Mutations Associated with Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2 and CD8                         T-Cell Epitopes Identified in COVID-19 Convalescent Individuals</strong>. <em>mBio</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mbio.03617-21\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1128/mbio.03617-21</a>\r\n</li>'),(927,'Links between circadian rhythms, metabolism and addiction','links-between-circadian-rhythms-metabolism-and-addiction','2022-03-12 11:25:53.563348','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new University of California, Irvine-led study establishes important conceptual connections between the fields of circadian rhythms, metabolism, and addiction. Going beyond current studies on substance use disorders, which focus on the impact of addictive drugs on the brain, this new research highlights an existing connection between specific neurons and peripheral organs.</p><p>The study, titled \"Dopamine D2 receptor signaling in the brain modulates circadian liver metabolomic profiles,\" was published today in <em>the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</em></p><p>\"Our findings provide a link to substance use disorders and metabolic dysfunctions,\" explained Emiliana Borrelli, PhD, professor of Microbiology &amp; Molecular Genetics at UCI School of Medicine who, for this study, collaborated with the late Paolo Sassone-Corsi, PhD, professor of Biological Chemistry at UCI. \"Through our research we explored how the disruption of normal neuronal functions affects metabolic activity and may move the body to an altered state away from homeostasis, which could contribute to the drug seeking behaviors exhibited by people with substance use disorders.\"</p><p>By analyzing the liver metabolome of mice deficient in the expression of the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) in striatal medium spiny neurons, the researchers found profound changes in the liver circadian metabolome compared to control mice. In addition, they found that activation of dopaminergic circuits by acute cocaine administration reprograms the circadian liver metabolome.</p><p>\"D2R signaling in medium spiny neurons is key for striatal output and is essential for regulating the first response to the cellular and rewarding effects of cocaine,\" said Borrelli. \"Thus, our results suggest that changes in dopamine signaling in specific striatal neurons evoke major changes in liver physiology. Dysregulation of liver metabolism could contribute to an altered allostatic state and therefore be involved in continued use of drugs.\"</p><p>The circadian clock is tightly intertwined with metabolism and relies heavily on multifaceted interactions between organ systems to maintain proper timing. Genetic and/or environmental causes can disrupt communication between organs and alter rhythmic activities. Substance use leads to altered dopamine signaling followed by reprogramming of circadian gene expression and metabolism in the reward system.</p><p>This study shows that dopamine D2 receptors (D2R) in striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) play a key role in regulating diurnal liver metabolic activities. In addition, drugs that increase dopamine levels, such as cocaine, disrupt circadian metabolic profiles in the liver, which is exacerbated by loss of D2R signaling in MSNs. These results uncover a strict communication between neurons/brain areas and liver metabolism as well as the association between substance use and systemic deficits,\" said Borrelli.</p><p>Substance use disorders affect millions of people worldwide. The rewarding properties of substances, such as alcohol, nicotine, opioids, and psychostimulants, are linked to their ability to increase dopamine levels in brain areas that control emotions and induce pleasure. Drug intake modifies neuronal plasticity and is at the start of the process of addiction, which leads vulnerable individuals to continually seek and abuse these substances despite the adverse consequences on their lives.</p><p>This study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health under Award Number DA035600 and by the French Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM).</p><p>Future studies will examine whether the alterations in the specific metabolites identified in this study contribute to susceptibility to drug use.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:12.119371','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Irvine','A new study establishes important conceptual connections between the fields of circadian rhythms, metabolism, and addiction. Going beyond current studies on substance use disorders, which focus on the impact of addictive drugs on the brain, this new research highlights an existing connection between specific neurons and peripheral organs.',1,146,'<li>Marlene Cervantes, Robert G. Lewis, Maria Agnese Della-Fazia, Emiliana Borrelli, Paolo Sassone-Corsi. <strong>Dopamine D2 receptor signaling in the brain modulates circadian liver metabolomic profiles</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (11) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117113119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2117113119</a>\r\n</li>'),(928,'Discovery could lead to fewer side effects from a diabetes treatment','discovery-could-lead-to-fewer-side-effects-from-a-diabetes-treatment','2022-03-12 11:24:53.190194','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">By uncovering the subtle difference between two varieties of a protein, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania may have discovered how to eliminate the risk of weight gain from a certain type of diabetes medication. Through this, it\'s possible that more patients with diabetes could get more effective treatment from modified thiazolidinediones, which many likely avoid in their current form due to side effects. These findings were published in <em>Genes &amp; Development</em>.</p><p>\"One small, undiscovered difference between the two forms of a single protein proved to be extremely significant,\" said study senior author Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD,the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor in Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Penn. \"Our findings suggest a way to improve on the mechanism of action of thiazolidinedione drugs, which holds promise for eliminating the side effect of weight gain.\"</p><p>The popularity of diabetes drugs called thiazolidinediones, which are also known as glitazones, has been reduced because of side effects such as weight gain. They work by activating a fat cell protein called PPARgamma (PPARγ). The protein occurs in two forms, PPARγ1 and PPARγ2, whose functional differences have been unclear. But when the Penn researchers examined each form of the protein on its own, they found that activating just PPARγ2 with a thiazolidinedione drug protects mice from diabetes-like metabolic changes -- without causing weight gain.</p><p>Type 2 diabetes is characterized by the progressive dysfunction of the insulin hormone signaling system in the body, resulting in chronic, high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood. This, in turn, contributes to the hardening of arteries, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, and other serious diseases. Thought to arise largely due to obesity, poor diets, and modern sedentary lifestyles, type 2 diabetes has become epidemic in many countries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that, in the United States alone, about 35 million people, roughly 10 percent of the population, are living with the disorder.</p><p>Thiazolidinediones, which include rosiglitazone (under the brand name Avandia), were introduced in the 1990s and, for many years, were widely used as diabetes drugs. They have since become less popular due to side effects. This has led some researchers to investigate whether new compounds could be developed that retain these drugs\' therapeutic effects while having fewer side effects.</p><p>In their study, Lazar and his team approached this problem by taking a closer look at thiazolidinediones\' target, PPARγ, which helps control fat cell production. The scientists studied two lines of mice: One greatly deficient in one form of the protein, PPARγ1, the other greatly deficient in PPARγ2. In the mice, the scientists showed that activating PPARγ1 or PPARγ2 with a thiazolidinedione had an anti-diabetic effect in each case, protecting mice from the metabolic harm of a high-fat diet.</p><p>However, the researchers discovered that activation of these two forms has subtly different downstream effects on gene activity. Specifically, in the PPARγ1-deficient mice (in which most of the present PPARγ takes the form of PPARγ2), the thiazolidinedione treatment caused no weight gain.</p><p>The finding therefore suggests that it may be possible to realize the benefits of thiazolidinediones without the weight gain side effect, by activating only PPARγ2 and not PPARγ1.</p><p>\"We\'re now studying in more detail how PPARγ1 and PPARγ2 work and how they differ, in the hope of finding ways to selectively activate PPARγ2,\" Lazar said.</p><p>The research was supported by the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, Cox Medical Institute, the JPB Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:13.098466','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine','A mouse study detailed the differences between the two forms of the protein PPARgamma, a target of \'glitazone\' diabetes drugs, could cut out weight gain side effects.',1,46,'<li>Wenxiang Hu, Chunjie Jiang, Mindy Kim, Yang Xiao, Hannah J. Richter, Dongyin Guan, Kun Zhu, Brianna M. Krusen, Arielle N. Roberts, Jessica Miller, David J. Steger, Mitchell A. Lazar. <strong>Isoform-specific functions of PPARγ in gene regulation and metabolism</strong>. <em>Genes &amp; Development</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gad.349232.121\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1101/gad.349232.121</a>\r\n</li>'),(930,'New window system allows for long-term studies of brain activity','new-window-system-allows-for-long-term-studies-of-brain-activity','2022-03-12 11:23:16.570164','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Bilal Haider is studying how multiple areas of the brain work together for visual perception. This could help researchers understand if neural activity \"traffic jams\" underlie all kinds of visual impairments: from running a red light when visual attention is elsewhere, to shedding light on the autism-affected brain.</p><p>To do this kind of work, researchers need a reliable \"map\" of all the visual brain areas with specific coordinates for each unique brain. Drawing the map requires monitoring and recording data from an active, working brain, which usually means creating a window in the skull to watch blood flow activity.</p><p>Haider\'s team has developed a better approach -- a new kind of window that\'s more stable and allows for longer-term studies. The assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University explains how in a paper published in February in <em>Scientific Reports, </em>an open access forum of <em>Nature</em> publishing<em>.</em></p><p>To get a clear image of the brain\'s visual network, Haider\'s lab uses an established technique called blood flow imaging, which tracks oxygen in the blood, measuring the active and inactive areas of a mouse brain while the animal views visual stimuli. To capture a strong blood flow signal, researchers typically create a cranial window by thinning the skull or removing a piece of it altogether. These procedures can diminish stability in the awake, pulsing brain -- detrimental conditions for delicate electrophysiological measurements made in the same visual areas after imaging.</p><p>\"Standard windows give really good pictures of the vasculature,\" Haider said. \"But the downside is, if you\'re working with an animal learning how to perform a sophisticated task that requires weeks of training, and you want to do neural recordings from the brain later, that area has been compromised if the skull is missing or thinned out.\"</p><p>The team\'s new cranial window system allows for high-quality blood flow imaging and stable electrical recordings for weeks or even months. The secret is a surgical glue called Vetbond -- which contains cyanoacrylate, the same compound that\'s in Krazy Glue -- and a tiny glass window.</p><p>Basically, a thin layer of the glue is applied to the skull with a micropipette and a curved glass coverslip is placed on top of that. The cyanoacrylate creates a \"transparent skull\" effect. Haider\'s team developed the new window system and then vetted the accuracy of the resulting visual brain maps.</p><p>\"Sometimes the simplest things work. The glue creates a barrier allowing all of the normal physiological processes underneath to carry on, but leaving the bone transparent,\" Haider said. \"It\'s like putting a protector on your smartphone. The protector is over the glass surface, but everything underneath stays crystal clear and functioning.\"</p><p>Haider\'s approach will help his team accomplish their larger goals -- to measure the activity of neurons in the brain\'s visual pathways and understand how neural traffic jams diminish our visual attention, and how these processes may contribute to visual impairments in people with autism. It\'s work that\'s getting a boost, thanks to recent support of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.</p><p>Haider said proper study of brain function requires repeatable measurements of neural activity, so he has made the new window system publicly available.</p><p>\"We think this will be useful tool for other researchers,\" he said. \"We made the code, all the hardware, all the specs of the system, everything, totally public so that other people can try it themselves. We designed this to use in our study of the visual brain, but it can potentially be used to study other brain areas in a way that allows researchers to do long-term experiments while keeping the brain stable and healthy.\"</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:19.038853','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Georgia Institute of Technology','A researcher has developed a tiny window that allows investigators to get clearer, long-term imaging of the brain\'s visual network.',1,162,'<li>Armel Nsiangani, Joseph Del Rosario, Alan C. Yeh, Donghoon Shin, Shea Wells, Tidhar Lev-Ari, Brice Williams, Bilal Haider. <strong>Optimizing intact skull intrinsic signal imaging for subsequent targeted electrophysiology across mouse visual cortex</strong>. <em>Scientific Reports</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05932-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41598-022-05932-2</a>\r\n</li>'),(932,'Magnetic reconnection breakthrough may help predict space weather','magnetic-reconnection-breakthrough-may-help-predict-space-weather','2022-03-12 11:22:23.395853','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A West Virginia University postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy has made a breakthrough in the study of magnetic reconnection, which could prevent space storms from wreaking havoc on the Earth\'s satellite and power grid systems.</p><p>Peiyun Shi\'s research is the first-of-its-kind in the laboratory setting and is part of the PHASMAproject, a complex experiment composed of advanced diagnostics, electromagnets and lab-created plasma to reveal new details about how the universe functions.</p><p>For his experiment, Shi uses a laser-based diagnostic to probe plasma. Laser beams are directed in the diagnostic and the light scatters off of electrons. The way the light scatters gives insight into how fast the electrons are moving. And because the plasma is more than 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the lasers allow for measuring particles without using a probe or a thermometer which would melt at such high temperatures.</p><p>According to Shi, the technique is analogous to the Doppler effect, which is an increase or decrease in the frequency of sound or light waves emanating from a source as an observer moves towards or away from the source.</p><p>Shi\'s findings were published in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>.</p><p>\"It\'s like a radar gun for particles,\" said Earl Scime, director of the WVU Center for Kinetic Experiment, Theory and Integrated Computation Physics and Oleg D. Jefimenko professor of physics. According to Scime, similar studies are only able to determine the average properties of the electrons, but with the technology available as part of the PHASMA project, Shi is able to measure the actual speeds of the electrons.</p><p>\"Our work proves to the fundamental plasma community that advanced laser diagnostics can measure important kinetic features not accessible to any other conventional diagnostics,\" Shi said. \"This is essential for understanding various plasma physics processes and for complementing modern satellite observations. It\'s a great privilege to work on such a promising project with a fantastic team here, and the productive collaboration with Paul Cassak and his graduate M. Hasan Barbhuiya is also critical for this work and much appreciated.\"</p><p>This research has a big impact on broader issues such as predicting space weather events. Magnetic reconnection plays a major role in how eruptions of plasma occur on the sun. Those eruptions can result in solar flares which increase X-ray and ultraviolent emissions, which poses a threat to astronauts in the International Space Station. The eruptions can also result in large masses of plasma that travel through space and slam into the Earth\'s magnetosphere. Those space storms can play havoc with satellite and power grid systems on Earth.</p><p>\"Every time we understand more about magnetic reconnection, it has applications from space weather to thermonuclear fusion, to a basic understanding of how the universe works,\" Scime said.</p><p>The PHASMA project is located in the Center for KINETIC Plasma Physics. PHASMA -- or the PHAse Space MApping experiment as it\'s officially dubbed -- is the focus of the WVU Center for Kinetic Experiment, Theory and Integrated Computation Plasma Physics.</p><p>PHASMA is designed to make three-dimensional measurements of the motion of the ions and electrons in a plasma at very small scales and is the only facility in the world capable of performing these detailed measurements.</p><p>The facility was constructed through a grant from the National Science Foundation and receives ongoing support from NSF, the U.S. Department of Energy and NASA.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:22.326740','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'West Virginia University','Researchers have recently discovered a breakthrough in magnetic reconnection that could ultimately help predict space weather.',1,183,'<li>Peiyun Shi, Prabhakar Srivastav, M. Hasan Barbhuiya, Paul A. Cassak, Earl E. Scime, M. Swisdak. <strong>Laboratory Observations of Electron Heating and Non-Maxwellian Distributions at the Kinetic Scale during Electron-Only Magnetic Reconnection</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (2) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.025002\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.025002</a>\r\n</li>'),(933,'Neurons are fickle: Electric fields are more reliable for information','neurons-are-fickle-electric-fields-are-more-reliable-for-information','2022-03-12 11:20:36.520420','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As the brain strives to hold information in mind, such as the list of groceries we need to buy on the way home, a new study suggests that the most consistent and reliable representation of that information is not the electrical activity of the individual neurons involved but an overall electric field they collectively produce.</p><p>Indeed, whenever neuroscientists have looked at how brains represent information in working memory, they\'ve found that from one trial to the next, even when repeating the same task, the participation and activity of individual cells varies (a phenomenon called \"representational drift\"). In a new study in <em>NeuroImage</em>, scientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT and the University of London found that regardless of which specific neurons were involved, the overall electric field that was generated, provided a stable and consistent signal of the information the animals were tasked to remember.</p><p>In a sense, once established, the field imposes itself on the neurons like the conductor of an orchestra in which each neuron is a single musician, said Dimitris Pinotsis, the study\'s lead and corresponding author. Even if the musicians change, the conductor still coordinates whomever is in the chairs to produce the same result.</p><p>\"This ensures that the brain can still function even if some neurons die,\" said Pinotsis, an associate professor at University of London and a research affiliate in The Picower Institute at MIT. \"The field ensures the same output of the ensemble of neurons is achieved even after individual parts change. The brain does not need individual neurons, just the conductor, the electric field, to be the same.\"</p><p>Co-author Earl Miller, Picower Professor of Neuroscience in MIT\'s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, said electric fields may therefore offer the brain a level of information representation and integration that is more abstract than the level of individual details encoded by single neurons or circuits.</p><p>\"The brain can employ this mechanism to operate on a more holistic level even as details drift,\" he said.</p><p><strong>Measurements and mathematical modeling</strong></p><p>In the study, Pinotsis and Miller tested whether the electric field was stable and if it contained information related to the task. To do this they used a combination of direct measurements of neural activity made in animals as they performed a working memory game, and subsequent mathematical analysis to isolate and estimate the electric fields associated with the task. It was not possible to just measure the electric fields directly, Miller said, because the implanted electrode arrays they used measure neural activity individually and EEG electrodes that sit on the outside of the skull pick up patterns that are much too broad and general to reflect the specific information represented by a small ensemble of neurons.</p><p>\"You have to record each detail and then take the needed half-step up mathematically,\" Miller said.</p><p>During the game the animals were shown a dot in one of six positions on the edge of a screen that would then go blank. After a brief pause, or delay period, they would then have to direct their gaze from the screen\'s center to the position they just saw marked. During the pause, while the animals had to hold the cued direction in mind, Pinotsis and Miller were recording the electrical activity of neurons on the surface of the brain.</p><p>As expected there was a lot of noise in the signal, even when comparing rounds of the game where the position to be remembered was the same. First of all, consistent with representational drift, the participation of individual neurons varied, but also the electrodes picked up activity not only from neurons involved in the task but also from cells that were working on unrelated things.</p><p>So, to isolate game-related patterns among this inconsistent jumble of neural activity, Pinotsis developed a mathematical strategy of tracking correlated activity among the neurons during the delay period. By determining which neurons were working together and cohesively to perform the task, he could determine their connectivity and therefore the information flow among them. From there, using standard principles of biophysics, he calculated the electric field their activity was producing around the patches of brain surface they occupied.</p><p>As Miller quipped, \"The fields were \'above\' the brain, but still \'of\' the brain.\"</p><p>Importantly, the estimated electric fields exhibited properties demonstrating that they represented the information the animals were holding in memory. For instance, they were more consistent than underlying neural activity was when the direction to be remembered was the same. They also differed in distinct but consistent ways based on which cued position was to be remembered -- more so than the neural activity did. And when the scientists trained software called a \"decoder\" to guess which direction the animals were holding in mind, the decoder was relatively better able to do it based on the electric fields than based on the neural activity.</p><p>This is not to say that the variations among individual neurons is meaningless noise, Miller said. The thoughts and sensations of people and animals experience, even as they repeat the same tasks, can change minute by minute, leading to different neurons behaving differently than they just did. The important thing for the sake of accomplishing the memory task is that the overall field remains consistent in its representation.</p><p>\"This stuff that we call representational drift or noise may be real computations the brain is doing, but the point is that at that next level up of electric fields, you can get rid of that drift and just have the signal,\" Miller said.</p><p>The researchers hypothesize that the field even appears to be a means the brain can employ to sculpt information flow to ensure the desired result. By imposing that a particular field emerge, it directs the activity of the participating neurons.</p><p>Indeed, that\'s one of the next questions the scientists are investigating: Could electric fields be a means of controlling neurons?</p><p>\"We are now using this work to ask whether information flows from the macroscale level of the electric field down to the microscale level of individual neurons,\" Pinotsis says. \"To make the analogy with the orchestra, we are now using this work to ask whether a conductor\'s style changes the way an individual member of an orchestra plays her instrument.\"</p><p>UK Research and Innovation, the Office of Naval Research and the JPB Foundation provided support for the research.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:26.788830','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Picower Institute at MIT','A new study suggests that electric fields may represent information held in working memory, allowing the brain to overcome \'representational drift,\' or the inconsistent participation of individual neurons.',1,182,'<li>Dimitris A. Pinotsis, Earl K. Miller. <strong>Beyond dimension reduction: Stable electric fields emerge from and allow representational drift</strong>. <em>NeuroImage</em>, 2022; 119058 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119058\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119058</a>\r\n</li>'),(934,'Bacteria on intertidal rockweed across the North Atlantic','bacteria-on-intertidal-rockweed-across-the-north-atlantic','2022-03-12 11:18:39.684748','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Algae such as rockweeds are a fundamental part of marine ecosystems, providing habitat and food to many other marine organisms while also providing ecosystem services. Algae produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, so oxygenation of the water and atmosphere is one such ecosystem service. In turn, algae depend on bacteria to maintain their normal shapes and health.</p><p>New sequencing methods are illuminating the relationships between marine bacteria and marine algae, as demonstrated in research by 15 scientists from countries across the North Atlantic.</p><p>Principal investigators Susan Brawley, a professor at the UMaine School of Marine Sciences, and Hilary Morrison, a senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, led a team of researchers in a sweeping study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the bacteria associated with the foundational intertidal rockweed <em>Fucus vesiculosus. </em>The results were published in the <em>Journal of Phycology.</em></p><p>The researchers found that the bacterial communities on this brown alga were similar between eastern and western shores of the North Atlantic at similar latitudes, but varied along a north to south gradient across the host biogeographic range -- Greenland to North Carolina on western shores, and Norway to Spain in the eastern Atlantic. The researchers also observed the disappearance of the alga from areas of the North Carolina coast where it had long been abundant, emphasizing the pressing need to understand the bacterial-host interactions and particular bacterial communities associated with the host alga in southern regions experiencing host retreat as marine ecosystems are altered by climate change.</p><p>\"Our research showed that the structure of bacterial communities on this rockweed depends upon both current and past environments, including the changing biogeographic ranges of <em>Fucus vesiculosus</em> related to past glacial cycles,\" says Brawley. \"Some of these bacteria are vital to <em>Fucus</em> algae. By searching for ones that are common across algal tissues over this large study with 16 field sites across the North Atlantic, we can narrow our search for the ones that determine whether this macroalga can persist on the shore.\"</p><p>Previous research has shown that bacteria are so essential to the host\'s structure that algae can literally fall apart if given an antibiotic treatment to remove the bacteria. The researchers hoped to find which of the bacteria were important to <em>Fucus vesiculosus</em>. After sequencing the bacterial communities at a portion of one of the genes that supports bacterial protein synthesis, they classified the bacteria from genus to ecotype by a marker gene analysis technique called Minimum Entropy Decomposition, which is now widely used by microbiologists. This results in each different type of bacterium being assigned a different Amplicon Sequence Variant (ASV) ID.</p><p>\"This is like a molecular fishing expedition that can narrow our search for those bacteria that may be most important to the alga,\" Brawley says. \"Finding bacteria that are tissue-specific suggests, but doesn\'t prove, that they might be particularly important to the function of the tissue and the persistence of the alga. We have isolated pure cultures of some of these bacteria and are studying their genomes, relative growth rates and competition with each other.\"</p><p>For example, the study uncovered many unrecognized members of the bacterial genus <em>Granulosicoccus</em> through their association with particular tissues -- from the holdfast that binds the alga to a surface, to the reproductive organs, to the main photosynthetic tissue. The research also revealed distinctive levels of different environmental factors that correlated with particular <em>Granulosicoccus</em>\' associations with <em>Fucus</em> at northern, central and/or southern latitudes, and showed how these <em>Granulosicoccus</em> relate to bacteria in this genus found on other kinds of marine life like sponges, coral, and red and green algae.</p><p>\"Before you can understand how and why, you have to understand who,\" Brawley says. \"This is a very rich source of who is where.\"</p><p>There were some unintended discoveries as part of the field research, as well. Over the course of the project\'s years of field research, the scientists observed the local extinction of<em> Fucus vesiculosus</em> at a site in Beaufort, North Carolina, where it had long been abundant. The site was considered the southernmost range of <em>F. vesiculosus </em>when the study started in 2015; it had disappeared by late 2016. Temperature sensors the researchers had at the site suggested that stress from warmer air and seawater temperatures, combined with tropical storms during its autumn reproductive season, could explain its disappearance and failure to reappear through 2021.</p><p>\"We don\'t know where the southern edge of the U.S. range is now,\" Brawley says. \"We are interested as marine biologists to know how vulnerable organisms are on the shore to climate change. Our ongoing research is exploring possible effects of the bacteria on the <em>Fucus</em> through physiological and genomic studies. We want to know whether some bacteria are protective and whether the structure of the bacterial community on the host has been perturbed by climate change.\"</p><p>Brawley isn\'t the only researcher on the project with connections to UMaine. Authors Kyle Capistrant-Fossa and Charlotte Quigley are recent UMaine M.S. and Ph.D. graduates, respectively. Ester Serrão, another author on the study, received her Ph.D. from UMaine in 1996 and is now a professor and Pew Foundation Marine Fellow at the University of Algarve in Portugal.</p><p>Leigh Stearns, also a Ph.D. graduate of the University of Maine in geology and climate science, collected <em>Fucus</em> at its northern range in Uummannaq, Greenland, during her ongoing glaciology research there as a professor of geology at the University of Kansas. Brawley pointed out how rich on scientific and human levels it has been to have a team of researchers spanning disciplines and seven home countries.</p><p>The <em>Journal of Phycology </em>wrote a highlight on the article\'s research and used a photograph taken in Acadia National Park at one of the study\'s 16 North Atlantic field sites on the December cover.</p><p>The researchers have also compared the bacterial communities on two other species of brown algae on the coast of Maine -- <em>Fucus spiralis</em>, found in the high intertidal zone, and <em>Fucus distichus </em>in the low intertidal zone -- to see how their bacterial communities compare to those of mid-zoned <em>Fucus vesiculosus</em> further north and south of Maine. For example, the scientists are testing whether bacterial community structure of the high zone <em>F. spiralis</em> on the Maine shore might resemble bacterial communities on <em>F. vesiculosus </em>at warmer locations like North Carolina, Delaware and Spain more than those on <em>F. vesiculosus</em> in the mid intertidal zone of Maine shores.</p><p>Brawley noted that the published and ongoing studies \"suggest how much the community structure of the bacteria on <em>Fucus vesiculosus</em> changes on yearly, seasonal, and latitudinal scales, and contributes to understanding how sensitive the microbiome of <em>F. vesiculosus</em> is to the changing environment.\"</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:29.170927','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Maine','Algae such as rockweeds are a fundamental part of marine ecosystems, providing habitat and food to many other marine organisms while also providing ecosystem services like oxygenation of the water. In turn, algae depend on bacteria to maintain their normal shapes and health. New sequencing methods are illuminating the relationships between marine bacteria and marine algae, as demonstrated in research by 15 scientists from countries across the North Atlantic. The published study contributes to the understanding how sensitive important algae are to the changing environment.',1,130,'<li>Kyle A. Capistrant‐Fossa, Hilary G. Morrison, Aschwin H. Engelen, Charlotte T.C. Quigley, Aleksey Morozov, Ester A. Serrão, Juliet Brodie, Claire M.M. Gachon, Yacine Badis, Ladd E. Johnson, Galice Hoarau, Maria Helena Abreu, Patricia A. Tester, Leigh A. Stearns, Susan H. Brawley. <strong>The microbiome of the habitat‐forming brown alga            Fucus vesiculosus            (Phaeophyceae) has similar cross‐Atlantic structure that reflects past and present drivers            1</strong>. <em>Journal of Phycology</em>, 2021; 57 (6): 1681 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpy.13194\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/jpy.13194</a>\r\n</li>'),(936,'All organisms produce methane','all-organisms-produce-methane','2022-03-12 11:17:57.389465','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">It is well known that methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced by special microorganisms, for example in the intestines of cows, or in rice fields. For some years, scientists had also observed the production of methane in plants and fungi, without finding an explanation. Now researchers from Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg have shed light on the underlying mechanism. Their findings suggest that all organisms release methane.</p><p>Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, so the study of its natural and anthropogenic biogeochemical sources and sinks is of enormous interest. For many years, scientists considered methane to be produced only by single-celled microbes called Archaea, upon decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic).</p><p>Now, a collaboration of earth and life scientists led by Frank Keppler and Ilka Bischofs has shown that an enzyme is potentially not necessary for methane formation, as the process can also take place via a purely chemical mechanism. \"Methane formation triggered by reactive oxygen species most likely occurs in all organisms,\" explains Leonard Ernst, an interdisciplinarily trained junior researcher who conducted the study. The scientists verified the reactive oxygen species-driven formation of methane in more than 30 model organisms, ranging from bacteria and archaea to yeasts, plant cells and human cell lines.</p><p>It was a sensation when Max Planck researchers discovered the release of methane from plants in the presence of oxygen (aerobic) 16 years ago. However, initially the results were doubted, since methane formation could not be explained with the then existing knowledge about plants. When researchers observed that also fungi, algae and cyanobacteria (formerly blue-green algae) formed methane under aerobic conditions, enzymatic activities were assumed to be responsible. However, the researchers never found a corresponding enzyme in any of these organisms. \"This study is therefore a milestone in our understanding of aerobic methane formation in the environment,\" said Frank Keppler, a geoscientist at Heidelberg University. \"This universal mechanism also explains the observations of our previous study on the release of methane from plants,\" adds Keppler.</p><p><strong>High cell activity leads to more methane</strong></p><p>As the researchers have now been able to show using the bacterium <em>Bacillus subtilis</em>, there is a close connection between metabolic activity and extent of methane formation. Metabolic activity, especially under the influence of oxygen, leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species in cells, which include hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals. In interaction with the essential element iron, the Fenton reaction takes place -- a reaction between reduced iron and hydrogen peroxide that leads to the formation of highly reactive tetravalent iron compounds and hydroxyl radicals.</p><p>The latter molecules drive the cleavage of a methyl radical from methylated sulfur and nitrogen compounds, e.g., the amino acid methionine. In a subsequent reaction of the methyl radical with a hydrogen atom, methane is finally formed. All reactions can take place under physiological conditions in a test tube and are significantly enhanced by biomolecules such as ATP and NADH, which are generated by cellular metabolism.</p><p><strong>Oxidative stress boosts methane formation</strong></p><p>Additional oxidative stress, triggered by physical and chemical factors, e.g. higher ambient temperatures or the addition of reactive oxygen species-forming substances, also led to an increase in methane formation in the examined organisms. In contrast, the addition of antioxidants and the scavenging of free radicals reduced the formation of methane -- an interaction that probably controls the formation of methane in organisms.</p><p>The study therefore also helps to explain why methane production by a certain organism can vary by several orders of magnitude and why stress factors particularly affect the amount of production. Shifts in environmental and temperature conditions caused by climate change could potentially influence the stress levels of many organisms and thus their atmospheric methane emissions. Conversely, variations in the methane content of the breath could indicate age- or stress-related changes in cellular metabolism.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:36.298416','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max-Planck-Gesellschaft','It is well known that methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced by special microorganisms, for example in the intestines of cows, or in rice fields. For some years, scientists had also observed the production of methane in plants and fungi, without finding an explanation. Now researchers have shed light on the underlying mechanism. Their findings suggest that all organisms release methane.',1,22,'<li>Leonard Ernst, Benedikt Steinfeld, Uladzimir Barayeu, Thomas Klintzsch, Markus Kurth, Dirk Grimm, Tobias P. Dick, Johannes G. Rebelein, Ilka B. Bischofs, Frank Keppler. <strong>Methane formation driven by reactive oxygen species across all living organisms</strong>. <em>Nature</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04511-9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41586-022-04511-9</a>\r\n</li>'),(938,'Chemical analysis reveals effects of wildfire smoke on grapes and wines','chemical-analysis-reveals-effects-of-wildfire-smoke-on-grapes-and-wines','2022-03-12 11:15:45.804308','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As wildfire season in the West grows in length and severity, it is taking a toll on the wine industry through the effects of wildfire smoke on the quality of wine grapes. Volatile compounds in the smoke from wildfires can be absorbed by grapes and produce an unpleasant taste known as \"smoke taint\" in wines made from affected grapes.</p><p>A new study led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz provides valuable data and guidelines for using analytical chemistry to identify grapes and wines affected by smoke taint. Published March 3 in the <em>Journal of Natural Products</em>, the study is based on an analysis of more than 200 samples of grapes and wine from 21 grape-growing regions in California and Oregon.</p><p>Lead author Phil Crews, a distinguished research professor of chemistry at UC Santa Cruz, is also a winemaker and owner of a small winery (Pelican Ranch Winery). He said the extent of the smoke taint problem came to his attention in the aftermath of the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire, when large wineries began rejecting grapes from the affected region and Crews was retained as a consultant by legal firms representing wine professionals.</p><p>\"What I discovered was that proper analytical data was not provided to figure out if the grapes or wines were affected by the smoke,\" he said.</p><p>Crews found that the best research on the problem had been done at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), where researchers had identified an array of compounds that could be detected in affected grapes and wines and used as \"biomarkers\" of smoke taint. He also found that most U.S. labs used by the wine industry were not performing adequate measurements. He designed the new study to apply the Australian methods to grapes and wines from California and Oregon.</p><p>\"This research is highly valuable, with the potential to save countless dollars, and is increasingly relevant in our world of drought and climate change,\" said Eleni Papadakis, a winemaking consultant based in Portland, Oregon, who was not directly involved in the study, but helped connect Crews with Oregon winemakers and participated in frequent discussions. \"I believe I speak for the whole of the winemaking community when I express the excitement and appreciation for the strong data and evidence-based guidance Professor Crews and his team have provided with this groundbreaking work,\" she said.</p><p>Crews\'s approach emphasizes direct measurement of smoke-derived compounds in the form in which they are stored in the grapes. Previous studies have associated smoke taint with volatile phenols present in smoke from burning vegetation. These compounds are absorbed through the skin of ripening grapes and accumulate in the grapes, where they become bound to sugars to form nonvolatile compounds called phenolic diglycosides.</p><p>In the bound form, the phenolic compounds cannot be smelled or tasted, but the foul-tasting free phenols can be released by enzymes, either during fermentation of the wine or in the mouth by enzymes or bacteria present in saliva.</p><p>\"We found that the phenolic diglycosides are stable in cabernet sauvignon during bottle aging, but then during tasting the monomers that smell bad get released in the mouth,\" Crews said.</p><p>According to Crews, it is important to measure the bound phenolic diglycosides directly. These large compounds are not readily detected with the standard methods used to analyze aroma and flavor compounds in wine (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, or GC/MS), but they can be measured using more sophisticated methods (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, or UHPLC, and quantitative mass spectrometry).</p><p>The new study provides some of the first quantitative measurements of phenolic diglycosides in premium California and Oregon grapes and wines, including eight different varietals harvested from 2017 to 2021. The results include baseline data for normal grapes, as well as grapes exposed to six different levels of natural wildfire smoke.</p><p>The analysis focused on six biomarkers recommended by AWRI as representative of the compounds associated with smoke taint. Representative biomarkers are needed to make testing practical because wood smoke contains hundreds of volatile compounds. The new findings indicated that two of the AWRI biomarkers were not useful, however, and Crews recommends replacing them with different biomarkers.</p><p>\"There are still major gaps in our understanding of these compounds, so more research is needed,\" Crews said. \"But people can use these procedures now to look at a bottle of wine or a batch of grapes and tell if it\'s likely to be affected by smoke taint.\"</p><p>In his research lab at UC Santa Cruz, Crews focuses on the chemistry of tropical marine sponges and the identification of novel compounds active against cancer and other diseases. For the smoke taint study, he teamed up with a commercial testing lab, SC Laboratories in Santa Cruz, which has the staff and equipment needed to perform the analyses on a large scale.</p><p>Crews also reached out to Ryan Keiffer and Glenn McCourty at UC Cooperative Extension in Mendocino County, who helped obtain samples of grapes and wines for testing and are both coauthors of the paper. Other coauthors include Paul Dorenbach and Travis Ruthenburg at SC Laboratories; Gabriella Amberchan and Itzel Lizama-Chamu at UC Santa Cruz; and Erin McCauley at California State University, Dominguez Hills.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:42.345366','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Santa Cruz','As wildfire season in the West grows in length and severity, it is taking a toll on the wine industry through the effects of wildfire smoke on the quality of wine grapes. Volatile compounds in the smoke from wildfires can be absorbed by grapes and produce an unpleasant taste known as \'smoke taint\' in wines made from affected grapes. A new study provides valuable data and guidelines for using analytical chemistry to identify grapes and wines affected by smoke taint.',1,181,'<li>Phillip Crews, Paul Dorenbach, Gabriella Amberchan, Ryan F. Keiffer, Itzel Lizama-Chamu, Travis C. Ruthenburg, Erin P. McCauley, Glenn McGourty. <strong>Natural Product Phenolic Diglycosides Created from Wildfires, Defining Their Impact on California and Oregon Grapes and Wines</strong>. <em>Journal of Natural Products</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c00028\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c00028</a>\r\n</li>'),(940,'Clinical trial reveals new treatment option for COVID-19','clinical-trial-reveals-new-treatment-option-for-covid-19','2022-03-12 11:14:43.402940','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A clinical trial conducted by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and Beaumont Hospital Dublin has indicated an effective treatment for critically ill COVID-19 patients.</p><p>The study, published today in <em>Med</em>, investigates the effects of using an anti-inflammatory protein, alpha-1 antitryspin (AAT), to treat COVID-19 patients who have progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).</p><p>ARDS is a highly inflammatory state hallmarked by airway damage, respiratory failure and increased risk of death. Treatment options for COVID-19 patients who have ARDS are particularly limited.</p><p>AAT is a naturally occurring human protein produced by the liver and released into the bloodstream which normally acts to protect the lungs from the destructive actions of common illnesses.</p><p>In this randomized controlled trial, AAT that had been purified from the blood of healthy donors was administered to patients with COVID-19-associated ARDS, with the aim of reducing inflammation.</p><p>The results indicated that treatment with AAT led to decreased inflammation after one week. The study also found that the treatment was safe and well tolerated, and did not interfere with patients\' ability to generate their own protective response to COVID-19.</p><p>This discovery suggests a potentially important role for AAT in the treatment of ARDS and other inflammatory diseases associated with COVID-19.</p><p>The study\'s co-lead author, Dr Oliver McElvaney from the RCSI Department of Medicine and Beaumont Hospital, commented on these novel findings: \"We know that patients who are critically ill with COVID-19 are more prone to developing severe inflammation throughout the body, with a disproportionately high rate of progression to ARDS and other serious respiratory issues. We think AAT might be able to provide some protection against the more harmful types of inflammation that arise in severe COVID-19 and other conditions with a similar inflammatory profile.\"</p><p>Natalie McEvoy, Senior Clinical Research Nurse in the Department of Critical Care and Anaesthesia at the RCSI and Beaumont Hospital and the paper\'s co-lead author, commented: \"This study is the first randomized control trial of AAT for acute respiratory distress syndrome, the first randomized control trial of AAT in the intensive care unit and the first such trial of a COVID-19 therapeutic in Ireland.\"</p><p>Senior author on the paper, Professor Ger Curley from the RCSI Department of Anaesthetics and Critical Care and Beaumont Hospital, noted the national significance of the study: \"It is only through clinical trials we will be able to determine if new treatments are effective and safe in critically ill patients with COVID-19. This study is the first Irish-led clinical trial of a medicine for COVID-19. The rationale for the study, its design and the recruitment of critically ill patients was all carried out by researchers from RCSI, Beaumont Hospital and St James\'s Hospital on patients here in Ireland.\"</p><p>Professor Gerry McElvaney, RCSI Department of Medicine and Beaumont Hospital, and senior author on the paper, commented: \"These early results are encouraging, and will we hope form the basis for a larger trial to see how much of an effect reducing inflammation using AAT has on clinical outcomes such as mortality.\"</p><p>The study was a collaboration between RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin and St James\'s Hospital, Dublin.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:44.586909','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'RCSI','A clinical trial has indicated an effective treatment for critically ill COVID-19 patients. The study investigates the effects of using an anti-inflammatory protein, alpha-1 antitryspin (AAT), to treat COVID-19 patients who have progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).',1,5,'<li>Oliver J. McElvaney, Natalie L. McEvoy, Fiona Boland, Oisín F. McElvaney, Grace Hogan, Karen Donnelly, Oisín Friel, Emmet Browne, Daniel D. Fraughen, Mark P. Murphy, Jennifer Clarke, Orna Ní Choileáin, Eoin O’Connor, Rory McGuinness, Maria Boylan, Alan Kelly, John C. Hayden, Ann M. Collins, Ailbhe Cullen, Deirdre Hyland, Tomás P. Carroll, Pierce Geoghegan, John G. Laffey, Martina Hennessey, Ignacio Martin-Loeches, Noel G. McElvaney, Gerard F. Curley. <strong>A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of intravenous alpha-1 antitrypsin for acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to COVID-19</strong>. <em>Med</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.medj.2022.03.001\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.medj.2022.03.001</a>\r\n</li>'),(941,'Voles cut grass to watch flying predators','voles-cut-grass-to-watch-flying-predators','2022-03-12 11:13:48.115434','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A tiny rodent trims tall grasses so it can watch the skies for flying predators, new research shows.</p><p>Brandt\'s voles live in grassland in Inner Mongolia, China, where they are hunted by birds called shrikes.</p><p>The new study -- by the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Northeast Normal University of China and the universities of Exeter and Florida -- found that the voles cut tall bunchgrass when shrikes are nearby.</p><p>The voles don\'t eat or use the bunchgrass -- they cut it to keep themselves safe, an example of \"ecosystem engineering.\"</p><p>\"When shrikes were present, the voles dramatically decreased the volume of bunchgrass,\" said Dr Dirk Sanders, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute on Exeter\'s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.</p><p>\"This led to fewer visits from shrikes -- which apparently recognise cut-grass areas as poor hunting grounds.</p><p>\"An activity like this is costly for the voles in terms of energy, so there must be high \'selection pressure\' to do it -- cutting the grass must significantly improve their chances of survival.\"</p><p>The researchers also tested the impact of keeping birds away, by putting up nets over certain areas.</p><p>With no shrikes overhead, the voles stopped cutting the bunchgrass.</p><p>\"We sometimes underestimate the ability of wild animals to react to changes in their environment,\" Dr Sanders said.</p><p>\"In this case, the voles were able to change their behaviour in response to the removal of predators.\"</p><p>He added: \"Our findings are a reminder that species show remarkable adaptations. It also underlines that the loss of even a single species in a food web can result in unexpected changes to an entire habitat.\"</p><p>\"This study provides a good example that animals can actively modify their habitat to reduce predation risk,\" said Dr Zhibin Zhang, from the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.</p><p>Dr Zhiwei Zhong, from Northeast Normal University, added: \"The finding would have some implications in rodent management in pasture land. Keeping or planting these large bunchgrasses may help to attract shrikes, and then to reduce the population density of voles.\"</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:46.926805','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Exeter','A tiny rodent trims tall grasses so it can watch the skies for flying predators, new research shows. Brandt’s voles live in grassland in Inner Mongolia, China, where they are hunted by birds called shrikes.',1,102,'<li>Zhiwei Zhong, Guoliang Li, Dirk Sanders, Deli Wang, Robert D. Holt, Zhibin Zhang. <strong>A rodent herbivore reduces its predation risk through ecosystem engineering</strong>. <em>Current Biology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.074\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.074</a>\r\n</li>'),(942,'Using ions to find molecules','using-ions-to-find-molecules','2022-03-12 11:12:41.343510','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When we think of ions, we usually think of single atoms that have lost or gained some electrons, but entire molecules can also become ions. In a new publication that was highlighted as an Editor\'s Suggestion in Physical Review Letters this week, physicists from the University of Amsterdam, QuSoft and Stony Brook University, show that cold molecular ions can be created using a new method, and that they are a very useful tool for detecting small amounts of other, regular molecules.</p><p><strong>Trapped ions</strong></p><p>An ion is an atom or molecule with a surplus or shortage of electrons. Being charged particles, ions can be \'trapped\' by electromagnetic fields: it is easy to keep them in a fixed position. Trapped ions constitute a promising platform for quantum computation. The reason for this is that they can be stored for a long time, and that modern lasers allow physicists to control single ions very precisely. These properties also make trapped ions into prime candidates to study chemical reactions, especially when they are immersed in a bath of regular atoms or molecules.</p><p>In many physics experiments, it is useful to study particles that are extremely cold -- simply because cold particles move slower and vibrate less, so there is less \'noise\' in the experiment. So far, ion-molecule studies have been limited to cold molecules with temperatures around 1 kelvin (i.e. one degree above the absolute zero temperature), but the hybrid ion-atom experiment at the University of Amsterdam now uses molecules with temperatures of only a few millionths of a kelvin, studying the coldest ion-molecule collisions in the world.</p><p>Physicists led by Rene Gerritsma from the UvA-Institute of Physics and QuSoft in collaboration with Arghavan Safavi-Naini (UvA/QuSoft) and Jesus Pérez-Ríos (Stony Brook University), measured the molecular ion created in a chemical reaction where lithium molecules (Li<sub>2</sub>) and atomic ytterbium ions (Yb<sup>+</sup>) turn into lithium atoms (Li) and molecular lithium-ytterbium ions (LiYb<sup>+</sup>). They were able to use this chemical reaction to sense very small amounts of molecules. Their results were published in the journal Physical Review Letters this week.</p><p><strong>Ultracold gases</strong></p><p>Besides their numerous other uses, such as their use in extremely precise clocks and quantum simulations of many-body systems, ultracold gases can also be used to create cold molecules. Using a technique called <em>magneto-association</em>, so-called <em>Feshbach dimers</em> can be created from an ultracold gas -- molecules that are as cold as the gas that their parts came from. Combining these molecules with a single trapped ion, IoP physicists Henrik Hirzler, Rianne Lous and Eleanor Trimby observed for the first time ion-molecule chemical reactions with ultracold molecules.</p><p>The researchers observed that collisions between a single ion and a Feshbach dimer led to the formation of the molecular ion mentioned above, where one of the molecules\' atoms gets stuck to the ion. Looking at the fluorescence of the ion, the formation of the molecular ion can be observed by seeing the fluorescence go dark, a result of the fact that the molecular ion has energy levels that differ from those of the atomic ion. The presence of the molecular ion was also confirmed by measuring the frequency with which it resonates in the ion trap, a frequency that differs for the heavier molecular particles. Additional measurements revealed that in fact <em>every</em> ion-molecule collision resulted in the formation of a molecular ion.</p><p><strong>A useful reaction</strong></p><p>The group then found that their methods were very sensitive: they could use the reaction Li<sub>2</sub> +Yb<sup>+</sup> → LiYb<sup>+</sup> + Li to detect only about 50 molecules in a cloud of 20,000 atoms. For such trace amounts of molecules, normal imaging techniques typically fail. Therefore, the ion could be used as a much better sensor for the molecules. This result is a first step towards being able to probe quantum states of matter with only a single ion as a detector.</p><p>The observed cold chemical reaction also points to a new method to get cold and controllable molecular ions. Those are especially interesting for precision spectroscopy and for a better understanding of ultracold collisions and chemistry.</p>','2022-03-11 19:28:52.878385','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Universiteit van Amsterdam','When we think of ions, we usually think of single atoms that have lost or gained some electrons, but entire molecules can also become ions. Physicists now show that cold molecular ions can be created using a new method, and that they are a very useful tool for detecting small amounts of other, regular molecules.',1,131,'<li>H. Hirzler, R. S. Lous, E. Trimby, J. Pérez-Ríos, A. Safavi-Naini, R. Gerritsma. <strong>Observation of Chemical Reactions between a Trapped Ion and Ultracold Feshbach Dimers</strong>. <em>Physical Review Letters</em>, 2022; 128 (10) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.103401\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.103401</a>\r\n</li>'),(943,'Lower, more frequent doses of nanomedicines may enhance cancer treatment','lower-more-frequent-doses-of-nanomedicines-may-enhance-cancer-treatment','2022-03-12 11:06:34.599214','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Tiny structures called nanoparticles can be used to carry substances to certain parts of the body -- for example, to deliver a chemotherapy drug to a tumor. Although such \"nanomedicine\" offered hope for improving cancer therapeutics, the survival benefits of clinically approved nanomedicines are often modest when compared with conventional chemotherapy. New research published in the <em>Journal of Controlled Release</em> indicates that nanomedicine may provide additional benefits if it\'s administered at lower, more frequent doses -- called metronomic dosing -- rather than the standard maximum tolerated dose of current treatments.</p><p>\"Nanomedicine and metronomic therapy have been regarded as two different approaches to treat cancer. Our analysis suggests that these two approaches can be viewed using the same unified framework as strategies to enhance treatment,\" says co-corresponding author Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, director of the E.L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School.</p><p>Jain explains that metronomic therapy seems to help normalize the tumor microenvironment -- meaning that it helps correct some of the abnormalities that develop around tumors that protect the tumor and foster its growth and spread. For example, while tumors can send out signals that compromise normal blood flow and block immune cell responses (both of which make them hard to treat), metronomic therapy appears to improve blood vessel function and immune activation within a tumor. Recent preclinical studies suggest that nanomedicines can cause similar changes in the tumor microenvironment.</p><p>\"In this study, we hypothesized that nanoparticle formulations, given the controlled release of their payload and the long blood circulation time, can trigger the same cascade of activities as metronomic therapy,\" says Jain.</p><p>Using a mathematical framework and experiments conducted in mice, the team showed that both approaches can serve as \"normalization strategies\" to affect the tumor microenvironment and improve cancer treatments. Also, in mice with triple negative breast cancer or fibrosarcoma, Doxil -- a nanomedicine that is approved to treat metastatic breast cancer and consists of doxorubicin encapsulated in a lipid sphere -- administered through a metronomic schedule could overcome tumor resistance typically seen when Doxil is given through a standard dosing schedule. A metronomic schedule also improved the efficacy of the combination of Doxil plus a type of immunotherapy called an immune checkpoint inhibitor.</p><p>\"Nano-immunotherapy, which combines nanomedicines with immunotherapy, has high potential to improve patient outcomes, and for this reason, understanding the mechanisms of resistance to and development of strategies to enhance nano-immunotherapy in breast and other cancer types is urgently needed,\" says co-corresponding author Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos, PhD, director of the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory and associate professor at the University of Cyprus. \"The results of this work could be a basis for the planning of future clinical studies to improve the efficacy of nano-immunotherapy regimens.\"</p><p>The results suggest that combining nanomedicines with metronomic scheduling can lead to a powerful attack against hard-to-treat tumors. By acting together to normalize the tumor microenvironment, these two strategies give drugs a better chance of reaching cancer cells and targeting them effectively.</p><p>The study\'s co-authors include Fotios Mpekris and Myrofora Panagi (University of Cyprus), Chrysovalantis Voutouri (Massachusetts General Hospital) and James W. Baish (Bucknell University).</p><p>This work was supported by grants from the National Foundation for Cancer Research, the Ludwig Center at Harvard; the Jane\'s Trust Foundation; Nile Albright Medical Research Foundation; the U.S. National Cancer Institute grants R35-CA197743, R01-CA208205, R01-CA259253, R01NS118929, U01CA224348, U01CA261842 (to R.K.J.); the European Research Council (ERC-2013-StG-336839, ERC-2019-CoG-863955); and the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (INFRASTRUCTURE/1216/0052, POST-DOC/0718/0084) (to T.S.), a Marie Sk?odowska Curie Actions Individual Fellowship Global (MSCA-IF-GF-2020-101028945) (to C.V.) and Grant R01 HL128168 (to J.W.B.).</p>','2022-03-11 20:32:22.498151','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts General Hospital','Both nanomedicines and metronomic scheduling -- when medications are given at lower, more frequent doses -- can correct abnormalities surrounding tumors that help protect cancer cells and foster their growth and spread. Combining nanomedicines and metronomic scheduling may help improve cancer treatment strategies.',1,35,'<li>Fotios Mpekris, Chrysovalantis Voutouri, Myrofora Panagi, James W. Baish, Rakesh K. Jain, Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos. <strong>Normalizing tumor microenvironment with nanomedicine and metronomic therapy to improve immunotherapy</strong>. <em>Journal of Controlled Release</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.03.008\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.03.008</a>\r\n</li>'),(947,'Acoustic propulsion of nanomachines depends on their orientation','acoustic-propulsion-of-nanomachines-depends-on-their-orientation','2022-03-12 10:53:22.397545','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Microscopically tiny nanomachines which move like submarines with their own propulsion -- for example in the human body, where they transport active agents and release them at a target: What sounds like science fiction has, over the past 20 years, become an ever more rapidly growing field of research. However, most of the particles developed so far only function in the laboratory. Propulsion, for example, is a hurdle. Some particles have to be supplied with energy in the form of light, others use chemical propulsions which release toxic substances. Neither of these can be considered for any application in the body. A solution to the problem could be acoustically propelled particles. Johannes Voß and Prof. Raphael Wittkowski from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and the Center for Soft Nanoscience at the University of Münster (Germany) have now found answers to central questions which had previously stood in the way of applying acoustic propulsion. The results have been published in the journal <em>ACS Nano</em>.</p><p><strong>Travelling ultrasound waves are suitable for propulsion </strong></p><p>Ultrasound is used in acoustically propelled nanomachines as it is quite safe for applications in the body. Lead author Johannes Voß sums up the research carried out so far as follows: \"There are many publications describing experiments. However, the particles in these experiments were almost always exposed to a standing ultrasound wave. This does admittedly make the experiments considerably simpler, but at the same time it makes the results less meaningful as regards possible applications -- because in that case travelling ultrasound waves would be used.\" This is due to the fact that standing waves are produced when waves travelling in opposite directions overlap one another.</p><p>What researchers also did not previously take into account is that in applications the particles can move in any direction. Thus, they left aside the question of whether propulsion depends on the orientation of the particles. Instead, they only looked at particles aligned perpendicular to the ultrasound wave. Now, for the first time, the team of researchers in Münster studied the effects of orientation using elaborate computer simulations.</p><p>They came to the conclusion that the propulsion of the nanoparticles depends on their orientation. At the same time, the acoustic propulsion mechanism in travelling ultrasound waves functions so well for all orientations of the particles -- i.e. not only exactly perpendicular to the ultrasound wave -- that these particles really can be used for biomedical applications. Another aspect the Münster physicists examined was the propulsion the particles exhibited when they were exposed to ultrasound coming from all directions (i.e. \"isotropic ultrasound\").</p><p><strong>A basis for the step towards application</strong></p><p>\"Our results showed how the particles will behave in applications and that the propulsion has the right properties for the particles to actually be used in these applications,\" Johannes Voß concludes. As Raphael Wittkowski adds, \"We have revealed important properties of acoustically propelled nanoparticles which had not previously been studied, but which need to be understood to enable the step to be made from basic research to the planned applications involving the particles.\"</p><p>The two Münster researchers examined conical particles, as they can move fast even at a low intensity of ultrasound -- i.e. they have efficient propulsion -- and also they can easily be produced in large numbers. The particles are almost one micrometre in size -- almost a thousand nanometres. In comparison, a red blood cell has a diameter of around 7.7 micrometres. This means that the nanoparticles could move through the bloodstream without blocking up the finest blood vessels. \"The particle size can be selected in line with what is needed in the particular application intended, and the propulsion mechanism also functions in the case of smaller and larger particles,\" Johannes Voß explains. \"We simulated the particles in water, but the propulsion is also suitable for other fluids and for tissue.\"</p><p>By means of computer simulations, the team investigated systems and their properties which could not be studied in the many preceding experiments. Looking into the future, Raphael Wittkowski says, \"An important step would be for experiment-based research to move on to looking at these systems.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-11 21:16:06.940237','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Münster','Scientists have now found answers to central questions which had previously stood in the way of acoustic propulsion of nanoparticles.',1,180,'<li>Johannes Voß, Raphael Wittkowski. <strong>Orientation-Dependent Propulsion of Triangular Nano- and Microparticles by a Traveling Ultrasound Wave</strong>. <em>ACS Nano</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c02302\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acsnano.1c02302</a>\r\n</li>'),(953,'Stemming the tide of invasive species in Great Lakes','stemming-the-tide-of-invasive-species-in-great-lakes','2022-03-12 10:52:06.940549','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Ballast water release from ocean vessels has introduced hundreds of invasive species to coastal ecosystems worldwide, causing major disruptions to fisheries and biodiversity. Attempts to control aquatic invasions have met with mixed success in general. However, a new study suggests that a bi-national regulation targeting ships entering the Great Lakes since the mid-2000s has been remarkably effective in reducing a large proportion of the invasive species inthe world\'s largest freshwater ecosystem. The study by Anthony Ricciardi, (Professor of Biology in the Redpath Museum and Bieler School of Environment, McGill University) and co-author Hugh MacIsaac (Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor) was recently published in <em>Conservation Letters.</em></p><p>\"I\'m aware of no other documented case in which the invasion rate of a large aquatic system has been suppressed through a management intervention,\"said Ricciardi. \"This layer of protection is clearly beneficial. There are many highly invasive freshwater species in Europe, for example, that could be delivered in ballast water and would almost certainly proliferate in the Great Lakes. The regulation is likely preventing their introduction.\"</p><p><strong>The world\'s most invaded freshwater ecosystem</strong></p><p>No other freshwater ecosystem on Earth has been invaded as much, or as frequently, as the Great Lakes basin. Nearly 190 non-native species of fish, invertebrates, plants, plankton, and microbes have established populations in the basin over past two centuries. Nearly 65% of invaders recorded since the opening of the St Lawrence seaway in 1959 were transported to the Great Lakes in the ballast tanks of ships from overseas ports. These include notorious stowaways such as the zebra mussel, the quagga mussel, the spiny water flea, and the round goby -- each among the most ecologically and economically damaging invaders in the basin.</p><p>Between 1959 and the mid-2000s, one new invader was discovered established in the Great Lakes every 6-7 months.</p><p>This onslaught prompted a move by Canada and the USA to harmonize regulations and mandate flushing saltwater through ballast tanks of all ships while they were still in open ocean, before entering the St Lawrence seaway bound for the Great Lakes. Saltwater flushing has been shown in experiments to cause a massive reduction in the abundance and variety of freshwater organisms carried in ballast tanks.</p><p><strong>Empirical evidence of an abrupt reduction in invasion risk</strong></p><p>The true test of such a regulation is its effect on the observed rate of species invasion. Since 2008, invasions reported in the Great Lakes basin have declined by 85% and are now at their lowest rate in two centuries. Other factors could have contributed to the abrupt decline in the invasion rate, but empirical evidence points to ballast water regulation as the overwhelming primary cause.</p><p>Although the Great Lakes remain vulnerable to invasions from poorly regulated sources, such as trade in living organisms (e.g. aquarium pets, live bait, ornamental garden plants, food markets), this study highlights the potential benefit of an internationally coordinated, evidence-based control strategy.</p>','2022-03-11 21:41:24.967055','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'McGill University','New research shows that a bi-national regulation targeting ships entering the Great Lakes since the mid-2000s has been remarkably effective in reducing a large proportion of the invasive species in the world\'s largest freshwater ecosystem.',1,98,'<li>Anthony Ricciardi, Hugh J. MacIsaac. <strong>Vector control reduces the rate of species invasion in the world\'s largest freshwater ecosystem</strong>. <em>Conservation Letters</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/conl.12866\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/conl.12866</a>\r\n</li>'),(954,'The next generation of robots will be shape-shifters','the-next-generation-of-robots-will-be-shape-shifters','2022-03-12 10:51:16.442017','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Physicists have discovered a new way to coat soft robots in materials that allow them to move and function in a more purposeful way. The research, led by the UK\'s University of Bath, is described today in <em>Science Advances</em>.</p><p>Authors of the study believe their breakthrough modelling on \'active matter\' could mark a turning point in the design of robots. With further development of the concept, it may be possible to determine the shape, movement and behaviour of a soft solid not by its natural elasticity but by human-controlled activity on its surface.</p><p>The surface of an ordinary soft material always shrinks into a sphere. Think of the way water beads into droplets: the beading occurs because the surface of liquids and other soft material naturally contracts into the smallest surface area possible -- i.e. a sphere. But active matter can be designed to work against this tendency. An example of this in action would be a rubber ball that\'s wrapped in a layer of nano-robots, where the robots are programmed to work in unison to distort the ball into a new, pre-determined shape (say, a star).</p><p>It is hoped that active matter will lead to a new generation of machines whose function will come from the bottom up. So, instead of being governed by a central controller (the way today\'s robotic arms are controlled in factories), these new machines would be made from many individual active units that cooperate to determine the machine\'s movement and function. This is akin to the workings of our own biological tissues, such as the fibres in heart muscle.</p><p>Using this idea, scientists could design soft machines with arms made of flexible materials powered by robots embedded in their surface. They could also tailor the size and shape of drug delivery capsules, by coating the surface of nanoparticles in a responsive, active material.. This in turn could have a dramatic effect on how a drug interacts with cells in the body.</p><p>Work on active matter challenges the assumption that the energetic cost of the surface of a liquid or soft solid must always be positive because a certain amount of energy is always necessary to create a surface.</p><p>Dr Jack Binysh, study first author, said: \"Active matter makes us look at the familiar rules of nature -- rules like the fact that surface tension has to be positive -- in a new light. Seeing what happens if we break these rules, and how we can harness the results, is an exciting place to be doing research.\"</p><p>Corresponding author Dr Anton Souslov added: \"This study is an important proof of concept and has many useful implications. For instance, future technology could produce soft robots that are far squishier and better at picking up and manipulating delicate materials.\"</p><p>For the study, the researchers developed theory and simulations that described a 3D soft solid whose surface experiences active stresses. They found that these active stresses expand the surface of the material, pulling the solid underneath along with it, and causing a global shape change. The researchers found that the precise shape adopted by the solid could then be tailored by altering the elastic properties of the material.</p><p>In the next phase of this work -- which has already begun -- the researchers will apply this general principle to design specific robots, such as soft arms or self-swimming materials. They will also look at collective behaviour -- for example, what happens when you have many active solids, all packed together.</p><p><em>This work was a collaboration between the Universities of Bath and Birmingham. It was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through New Investigator Award no. EP/T000961/1.</em></p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-11 21:49:18.143664','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Bath','Physicists have discovered a new way to coat soft robots in materials that allow them to move and function in a more purposeful way.',1,25,'<li>Jack Binysh, Thomas R. Wilks, Anton Souslov. <strong>Active elastocapillarity in soft solids with negative surface tension</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abk3079\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abk3079</a>\r\n</li>'),(955,'Researchers re-engineer red blood cells to trigger immune system against COVID-19','researchers-re-engineer-red-blood-cells-to-trigger-immune-system-against-covid-19','2022-03-12 10:50:32.117143','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Physicists, chemists and immunologists at McMaster University have teamed up to modify red blood cells to transport viral agents which can safely trigger the immune system to protect the body against SARS-CoV-2, creating a promising new vehicle for vaccine delivery.</p><p>Developing new strategies and vaccine technologies is critical for controlling the pandemic and preparing for future outbreaks as the coronavirus continues to evolve and mutate, say the researchers.</p><p>The new method, described in the journal<em> PLOS ONE</em>, is an entirely unique approach to vaccination. Red blood-cell membranes are embedded with SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, which then form virus-like particles.</p><p>\"We take red blood cells and remove everything from the inside. We then attach spike proteins to their outside to mimic a corona virus,\" explains graduate student Isabella Passos-Gastaldo, a lead author on the paper.</p><p>The particles, shown to activate the immune system and produce antibodies in mice, are completely harmless.</p><p>\"Current vaccine delivery methods often cause drastic immune system reactions and have short-lived responses,\" says Maikel Rheinstadter, a senior supervisor on the paper and a professor in the Department of Physics &amp; Astronomy at McMaster.</p><p>\"Some of the vaccines that have been developed have shown side effects. This delivery platform opens new possibilities for vaccines and therapeutics,\" he says.</p><p>The researchers found cells can be loaded with a large dose of viral proteins, yet likely produce few side effects, making the new method more tolerable and effective than other vaccine options.</p><p>\"We have developed a method where we can trigger an immune response without the use of genetic material and yet we are able to synthesize these particles in a very short amount of time,\" says Sebastian Himbert, lead author on the study and a recent graduate student in the Department of Physics &amp; Astronomy at McMaster.</p><p>The technology can be quickly adapted to develop vaccines for variants or new viruses that may emerge in future.</p><p>\"This is the kind of creative, interdisciplinary research that McMaster is known for. It was exhilarating working with physicists, structural biologists and immunologists to design a radically different vaccine platform,\" says Dawn Bowdish, Professor of Medicine at McMaster and Canada Research Chair in Aging &amp; Immunity and co-author of the paper.</p><p>The researchers first reported this technique in 2020, when they modified red blood cells to deliver drugs throughout the body, which could then target infections or treat catastrophic diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer\'s.</p><p>\"This platform makes our own blood cells smart in many different ways,\" explains Rheinstadter. \"In this case it\'s a vaccine. We are using our own cells much like nano robots inside of our bodies and whenever they see a disease, they can fight it.\"</p>','2022-03-11 21:49:24.696095','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'McMaster University','Researchers have been able to re-engineer red blood cells and use them as a promising new vehicle for vaccine delivery.',1,91,'<li>Sebastian Himbert, Isabella Passos Gastaldo, Rashik Ahmed, Karla Martinez Pomier, Braeden Cowbrough, Dushyant Jahagirdar, Samantha Ros, Janos Juhasz, Harald D. H. Stöver, Joaquin Ortega, Giuseppe Melacini, Dawn M. E. Bowdish, Maikel C. Rheinstädter. <strong>Erythro-VLPs: Anchoring SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins in erythrocyte liposomes</strong>. <em>PLOS ONE</em>, 2022; 17 (3): e0263671 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263671\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pone.0263671</a>\r\n</li>'),(973,'How to clean solar panels without water','how-to-clean-solar-panels-without-water','2022-03-12 10:49:42.510679','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Solar power is expected to reach 10 percent of global power generation by the year 2030, and much of that is likely to be located in desert areas, where sunlight is abundant. But the accumulation of dust on solar panels or mirrors is already a significant issue -- it can reduce the output of photovoltaic panels by as much as 30 percent in just one month -- so regular cleaning is essential for such installations.</p><p>But cleaning solar panels currently is estimated to use about 10 billion gallons of water per year -- enough to supply drinking water for up to 2 million people. Attempts at waterless cleaning are labor intensive and tend to cause irreversible scratching of the surfaces, which also reduces efficiency. Now, a team of researchers at MIT has devised a way of automatically cleaning solar panels, or the mirrors of solar thermal plants, in a waterless, no-contact system that could significantly reduce the dust problem, they say.</p><p>The new system uses electrostatic repulsion to cause dust particles to detach and virtually leap off the panel\'s surface, without the need for water or brushes. To activate the system, a simple electrode passes just above the solar panel\'s surface, imparting an electrical charge to the dust particles, which are then repelled by a charge applied to the panel itself. The system can be operated automatically using a simple electric motor and guide rails along the side of the panel. The research is described in the journal <em>Science Advances</em>, in a paper by MIT graduate student Sreedath Panat and professor of mechanical engineering Kripa Varanasi.</p><p>Despite concerted efforts worldwide to develop ever more efficient solar panels, Varanasi says, \"a mundane problem like dust can actually put a serious dent in the whole thing.\" Lab tests conducted by Panat and Varanasi showed that the dropoff of energy output from the panels happens steeply at the very beginning of the process of dust accumulation and can easily reach 30 percent reduction after just one month without cleaning. Even a 1 percent reduction in power, for a 150-megawatt solar installation, they calculated, could result in a $200,000 loss in annual revenue. The researchers say that globally, a 3 to 4 percent reduction in power output from solar plants would amount to a loss of between $3.3 billion and $5.5 billion.</p><p>\"There is so much work going on in solar materials,\" Varanasi says. \"They\'re pushing the boundaries, trying to gain a few percent here and there in improving the efficiency, and here you have something that can obliterate all of that right away.\"</p><p>Many of the largest solar power installations in the world, including ones in China, India, the U.A.E., and the U.S., are located in desert regions. The water used for cleaning these solar panels using pressurized water jets has to be trucked in from a distance, and it has to be very pure to avoid leaving behind deposits on the surfaces. Dry scrubbing is sometimes used but is less effective at cleaning the surfaces and can cause permanent scratching that also reduces light transmission.</p><p>Water cleaning makes up about 10 percent of the operating costs of solar installations. The new system could potentially reduce these costs while improving the overall power output by allowing for more frequent automated cleanings, the researchers say.</p><p>\"The water footprint of the solar industry is mind boggling,\" Varanasi says, and it will be increasing as these installations continue to expand worldwide. \"So, the industry has to be very careful and thoughtful about how to make this a sustainable solution.\"</p><p>Other groups have tried to develop electrostatic based solutions, but these have relied on a layer called an electrodynamic screen, using interdigitated electrodes. These screens can have defects that allow moisture in and cause them to fail, Varanasi says. While they might be useful on a place like Mars, he says, where moisture is not an issue, even in desert environments on Earth this can be a serious problem.</p><p>The new system they developed only requires an electrode, which can be a simple metal bar, to pass over the panel, producing an electric field that imparts a charge to the dust particles as it goes. An opposite charge applied to a transparent conductive layer just a few nanometers thick deposited on the glass covering of the the solar panel then repels the particles, and by calculating the right voltage to apply, the researchers were able to find a voltage range sufficient to overcome the pull of gravity and adhesion forces, and cause the dust to lift away.</p><p>Using specially prepared laboratory samples of dust with a range of particle sizes, experiments proved that the process works effectively on a laboratory-scale test installation, Panat says. The tests showed that humidity in the air provided a thin coating of water on the particles, which turned out to be crucial to making the effect work. \"We performed experiments at varying humidities from 5 percent to 95 percent,\" Panat says. \"As long as the ambient humidity is greater than 30 percent, you can remove almost all of the particles from the surface, but as humidity decreases, it becomes harder.\"</p><p>Varanasi says that \"the good news is that when you get to 30 percent humidity, most deserts actually fall in this regime.\" And even those that are typically drier than that tend to have higher humidity in the early morning hours, leading to dew formation, so the cleaning could be timed accordingly.</p><p>\"Moreover, unlike some of the prior work on electrodynamic screens, which actually do not work at high or even moderate humidity, our system can work at humidity even as high as 95 percent, indefinitely,\" Panat says.</p><p>In practice, at scale, each solar panel could be fitted with railings on each side, with an electrode spanning across the panel. A small electric motor, perhaps using a tiny portion of the output from the panel itself, would drive a belt system to move the electrode from one end of the panel to the other, causing all the dust to fall away. The whole process could be automated or controlled remotely. Alternatively, thin strips of conductive transparent material could be permanently arranged above the panel, eliminating the need for moving parts.</p><p>By eliminating the dependency on trucked-in water, by eliminating the buildup of dust that can contain corrosive compounds, and by lowering the overall operational costs, such systems have the potential to significantly improve the overall efficiency and reliability of solar installations, Varanasi says.</p><p>The research was supported by Italian energy firm Eni. S.p.A. through the MIT Energy Initiative.</p>','2022-03-12 01:37:27.768370','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts Institute of Technology','Dust that accumulates on solar panels is a major problem, but washing the panels uses huge amounts of water. Engineers have now developed a waterless cleaning method to remove dust on solar installations in water-limited regions, improving overall efficiency.',1,138,'<li>Sreedath Panat, Kripa K. Varanasi. <strong>Electrostatic dust removal using adsorbed moisture–assisted charge induction for sustainable operation of solar panels</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm0078\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abm0078</a>\r\n</li>'),(974,'How to make the TB vaccine more effective','how-to-make-the-tb-vaccine-more-effective','2022-03-12 10:48:51.318464','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute report this week in the <em>Journal of Immunology</em>. The finding, if it continues to hold true in nonhuman primates and clinical trials, has the potential to save millions of lives.</p><p>Tuberculosis (TB) infects more than 10 million people a year, killing more than 1 million a year. The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is widely used to inoculate children against TB, but its effectiveness wanes over time. Researchers around the world are hunting for more effective vaccines and treatments.</p><p>\"We are very excited that we can reverse BCG\'s waning effectiveness by combining it with a host-directed therapy into one dose, which makes it very practical for the clinic,\" says Joanne Turner, PhD, Texas Biomed\'s Executive Vice President, Research, and senior paper author.</p><p><strong>Decades of research</strong></p><p>Turner emphasized the finding builds on more than 20 years of research. Throughout her career, she has been investigating the role of a molecule, interleukin-10 (IL-10) on TB. IL-10 typically helps dampen excessive inflammation during infection, but through numerous studies, Turner and her colleagues have found IL-10 does more harm than good in TB, definitively showing it drives TB infection.</p><p>In previous studies, Turner and her colleagues blocked IL-10 at different times during infection -- late into infection, the first three weeks during infection -- and have knocked out IL-10 completely. All signs pointed to improved TB control and longer survival. In the current study, the team looked at what happens if they temporarily block IL-10 <em>before</em> infection occurs, at the same time as giving the BCG vaccine.</p><p><strong>Host-directed therapy + vaccine</strong></p><p>The researchers combined the BCG vaccine with an antibody that blocks IL-10 activity for about one week. Since the antibody targets the host, not the pathogen, that makes it a \"host-directed therapy.\" They gave the mixture to mice in one shot, waited six weeks to ensure the IL-10 blocker was no longer present and the BCG protection had been generated, and then exposed the mice to TB. Those mice controlled TB infection for nearly a year, which is significant for mice with normal lifespans of about two years. In contrast, mice given only the BCG vaccine lost control of TB infection within two months and had significant inflammation and damage in the lungs. Notably, the mice given the vaccine/IL-10 blocker had higher levels of various long-term memory immune cells, which are critical for ongoing TB control.</p><p>\"This shows that the early development of an immune response is key for controlling TB infection in the long run, and that IL-10 inhibits the development of that long-term immunity,\" Turner says. \"But by briefly blocking IL-10 at the same time as giving the vaccine, it allows the vaccine and immune system to do their jobs, creating those long-lasting memory immune cells.\"</p><p>Collaborators at Texas Biomed plan to investigate if the combination is safe and effective in nonhuman primates. If those results are also promising then the combination could move into human clinical trials. The team is optimistic, especially since the BCG vaccine is already in widespread use and the IL-10 blocker is being tested against other diseases.</p><p><strong>Models matter</strong></p><p>Experimentally, IL-10 had been somewhat dismissed as playing a significant role in TB, even though it was detected in humans with TB. But that conclusion was made in the most common strain of research mouse, which is fairly resistant to TB and don\'t produce much IL-10.</p><p>Turner began investigating a different mouse strain, called CBA/J, which is much more susceptible to TB. Working with these mice, she and colleagues began to piece together IL-10\'s role and what happens when it is blocked. To definitively show a molecule\'s function, researchers often knock out the gene that codes for the molecule. Turner bred the CBA/J IL-10 knock-out mice, which required several years of effort, and since 2011 the mice have been instrumental in proving IL-10 drives TB. These mice can even form human-like granulomas, which are cellular aggregates that form around the bacteria to prevent it from spreading.</p><p>\"We only saw that because we were working in a different mouse strain than the standard laboratory mouse strain,\" Turner says. \"It is gratifying that those knock-out mice we developed are available for other researchers to work with. Diversity in animal models is important to understand the commonalities across species that help us better understand human diseases.\"</p>','2022-03-12 01:37:32.605714','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Texas Biomedical Research Institute','Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers report.',1,74,'<li>Varun Dwivedi, Shalini Gautam, Colwyn A. Headley, Tucker Piergallini, Jordi B. Torrelles, Joanne Turner. <strong>IL-10 Receptor Blockade Delivered Simultaneously with Bacillus Calmette–Guérin Vaccination Sustains Long-Term Protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection in Mice</strong>. <em>The Journal of Immunology</em>, 2022; 208 (6): 1406 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.2100900\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.4049/jimmunol.2100900</a>\r\n</li>'),(975,'Scientists announce discovery of supermassive binary black holes','scientists-announce-discovery-of-supermassive-binary-black-holes','2022-03-12 10:47:56.908483','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A team of researchers from Purdue University and other institutions have discovered a supermassive black hole binary system, one of only two known such systems. The two black holes, which orbit each other, likely weigh 100 million suns each. One of the black holes powers a massive jet that moves outward at very close to the speed of light. The system is so far away that the visible light seen today was emitted 8.8 billion years ago.</p><p>The two are only between 200 AU and 2,000 AU apart (one AU is the distance from the Earth to the sun), at least 10 times closer than the only other known supermassive binary black hole system.</p><p>The close separation is significant because such systems are expected to merge eventually. That event will release a massive amount of energy in the form of gravitational waves, causing ripples in space in every direction (and oscillations in matter) as the waves pass through.</p><p>Finding systems like this is also important for understanding the processes by which galaxies formed and how they ended up with massive black holes at their centers.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong></p><p>Researchers serendipitously discovered the system when they noticed a repeating sinusoidal pattern in its radio brightness emission variations over time, based on data taken after 2008. A subsequent search of historical data revealed that the system also was varying in the same manner in the late 1970s to early 1980s. That type of variation is exactly what researchers would expect if the jetted emission from one black hole is affected by the Doppler effect due to its orbital motion as it swings around the other black hole. </p><p>Matthew Lister in the College of Science at Purdue University and his team imaged the system from 2002 to 2012, but the team\'s radio telescope lacks the resolution to resolve the individual black holes at such a large distance. His imaging data supports the binary black hole scenario and also provides the orientation angle of the jetted outflow, which is a critical component in the paper\'s model for the Doppler-induced variations.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-12 02:00:08.453261','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Purdue University','Researchers have discovered a supermassive black hole binary system, one of only two known such systems.',1,56,'<li>S. O’Neill, S. Kiehlmann, A. C. S. Readhead, M. F. Aller, R. D. Blandford, I. Liodakis, M. L. Lister, P. Mróz, C. P. O’Dea, T. J. Pearson, V. Ravi, M. Vallisneri, K. A. Cleary, M. J. Graham, K. J. B. Grainge, M. W. Hodges, T. Hovatta, A. Lähteenmäki, J. W. Lamb, T. J. W. Lazio, W. Max-Moerbeck, V. Pavlidou, T. A. Prince, R. A. Reeves, M. Tornikoski, P. Vergara de la Parra, J. A. Zensus. <strong>The Unanticipated Phenomenology of the Blazar PKS 2131–021: A Unique Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidate</strong>. <em>The Astrophysical Journal Letters</em>, 2022; 926 (2): L35 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac504b\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3847/2041-8213/ac504b</a>\r\n</li>'),(976,'Scientists make leap forward for genetic sequencing','scientists-make-leap-forward-for-genetic-sequencing','2022-03-12 10:47:15.699805','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In a paper published today in <em>Sciences Advances</em>, researchers in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics &amp; Astronomy at the University of California, Irvinerevealed new details about a key enzyme that makes DNA sequencing possible. The finding is a leap forward into the era of personalized medicine when doctors will be able to design treatments based on the genomes of individual patients.</p><p>\"Enzymes make life possible by catalyzing chemical transformations that otherwise would just take too long for an organism,\" said Greg Weiss, UCI professor of chemistry and a co-corresponding author of the new study. \"One of the transformations we\'re really interested in is essential for all life on the planet -- it\'s the process by which DNA is copied and repaired.\"</p><p>The molecule the UCI-led team studied is an enzyme called Taq, a name derived from the microorganism it was first discovered in, <em>Thermos aquaticus</em>. The molecule the UCI-led team studied is an enzyme called Taq, a name derived from the microorganism it was first discovered in, Thermos aquaticus. Taq replicates DNA. Polymerase chain reaction, the technique with thousands of uses from forensics to PCR tests to detect COVID-19, takes advantage of Taq.</p><p>The UCI-led team found that Taq, as it helps make new copies of DNA, behaves completely unlike what scientists previously thought. Instead of behaving like a well-oiled, efficient machine continuously churning out DNA copies, the enzyme, Weiss explained, acts like an indiscriminate shopper who cruises the aisles of a store, throwing everything they see into the shopping cart.</p><p>\"Instead of carefully selecting each piece to add to the DNA chain, the enzyme grabs dozens of misfits for each piece added successfully,\" said Weiss. \"Like a shopper checking items off a shopping list, the enzyme tests each part against the DNA sequence it\'s trying to replicate.\"</p><p>It\'s well-known that Taq rejects any wrong items that land into its proverbial shopping cart -- that rejection is the key, after all, to successfully duplicating a DNA sequence. What\'s surprising in the new work is just how frequently Taq rejects correct bases. \"It\'s the equivalent of a shopper grabbing half a dozen identical cans of tomatoes, putting them in the cart, and testing all of them when only one can is needed.\"</p><p>The take-home message: Taq is much, much less efficient at doing its job than it could be.</p><p>The find is a leap toward revolutionizing medical care, explained Philip Collins, a professor in the UCI Department of Physics &amp; Astronomy who\'s a co-corresponding author of the new research. That\'s because if scientists understand how Taq functions, then they can better understand just how accurate a person\'s sequenced genome truly is.</p><p>\"Every single person has a slightly different genome,\" said Collins, \"with different mutations in different places. Some of those are responsible for diseases, and others are responsible for absolutely nothing. To really get at whether these differences are important or healthcare -- for properly prescribing medicines -- you need to know the differences accurately.\"</p><p>\"Scientists don\'t know how these enzymes achieve their accuracy,\" said Collins, whose lab created the nano-scale devices for studying Taq\'s behavior. \"How do you guarantee to a patient that you\'ve accurately sequenced their DNA when it\'s different from the accepted human genome? Does the patient really have a rare mutation,\" asks Collins, \"or did the enzyme simply make a mistake?\"</p><p>\"This work could be used to develop improved versions of Taq that waste less time while making copies of DNA,\" Weiss said.</p><p>The impacts of the work don\'t stop at medicine; every scientific field that relies on accurate DNA sequencing stands to benefit from a better understanding of how Taq works. In interpreting evolutionary histories using ancient DNA, for example, scientists rely on assumptions about how DNA changes over time, and those assumptions rely on accurate genetic sequencing.</p><p>\"We\'ve entered the century of genomic data,\" said Collins. \"At the beginning of the century we unraveled the human genome for the very first time, and we\'re starting to understand organisms and species and human history with this newfound information from genomics, but that genomic information is only useful if it\'s accurate.\"</p><p>Co-authors on this study include Mackenzie Turvey, Ph.D., a former UCI graduate student in physics &amp; astronomy, and Kristin Gabriel, Ph.D., a former UCI graduate student in molecular biology &amp; biochemistry. This research was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the NIH.</p><p>Video: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/96VfOrbGkcw\">https://youtu.be/96VfOrbGkcw</a></p>','2022-03-12 02:00:14.458458','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - Irvine','Researchers reveal new details about a key enzyme that makes DNA sequencing possible. The finding is a leap forward into the era of personalized medicine when doctors will be able to design treatments based on the genomes of individual patients.',1,123,'<li>Mackenzie W. Turvey, Kristin N. Gabriel, Wonbae Lee, Jeffrey J. Taulbee, Joshua K. Kim, Silu Chen, Calvin J. Lau, Rebecca E. Kattan, Jenifer T. Pham, Sudipta Majumdar, Davil Garcia, Gregory A. Weiss, Philip G. Collins. <strong>Single-molecule Taq DNA polymerase dynamics</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl3522\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abl3522</a>\r\n</li>'),(977,'How do blind cavefish survive their low-oxygen environment?','how-do-blind-cavefish-survive-their-low-oxygen-environment','2022-03-12 10:46:20.676651','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Cavefish have obvious adaptations such as missing eyes and pale colors that demonstrate how they evolved over millennia in a dark, subterranean world.</p><p>Now researchers at the University of Cincinnati say these incredible fish have an equally remarkable physiology that helps them cope with a low-oxygen environment that would kill other species.</p><p>Biologists in UC\'s College of Arts and Sciences found that Mexican cavefish produce more hemoglobin through red blood cells that are much larger compared to those of surface-dwelling fish. Hemoglobin helps the body transport oxygen and carbon dioxide between a fish\'s cells and organs and its gills.</p><p>The study was published in the Nature journal <em>Scientific Reports</em>. It demonstrates how much more there is to learn about animals that have intrigued biologists for 200 years.</p><p>\"I\'ve been fascinated by these fish for a long time,\" UC associate professor Joshua Gross said.</p><p>Cavefish evolved in caverns around the world. The species UC biologists examined, Astyanax mexicanus, diverged as recently as 20,000 years ago from surface fish still found in nearby streams in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico.</p><p>Cavefish are pale pink and nearly translucent compared to their silvery counterparts on the surface. While cavefish have the faintest outline of vestigial eye sockets, the surface tetras have enormous round eyes that give them a perpetually surprised expression.</p><p>Despite their many obvious physical differences, the two fish are considered by many to be members of the same species, Gross said.</p><p>\"Unlike Charles Darwin\'s finches in the Galapagos that are separated at the species level, both the cavefish and surface fish are considered members of the same species and can interbreed,\" he said.</p><p>That makes them a good model system for biologists to study evolutionary and genetic adaptations, Gross said.</p><p>Gross and his students have learned a lot about these puzzling fish over the years. They found that the fish\'s skull is asymmetrical, which could be an adaptation for navigating in a world with no visual cues. And they identified the gene responsible for the fish\'s ghostly pallid color. It\'s the same gene responsible for red hair color in people.</p><p>Scientists elsewhere have reported that cavefish sleep less than surface fish.</p><p>For the latest study, Gross and UC biology students Jessica Friedman and Tyler Boggs, the study\'s lead author, examined hemoglobin in cavefish blood to see if it might explain how they survive the low-oxygen environment of deep underground caves. The UC study examined cavefish from three populations in Mexican caves called Chica, Tinaja and Pachón.</p><p>While fast-moving surface streams are saturated with oxygen, cavefish live in deep caverns where standing water lies undisturbed for long periods. Studies have found that some of these standing pools have far less dissolved oxygen than surface waters.</p><p>\"They move around all the time, but they have little access to nutrition,\" Boggs said. \"It\'s a paradox. They\'re expending all this energy. Where does it come from?\"</p><p>Blood samples revealed that cavefish have more hemoglobin than surface fish. UC researchers assumed that cavefish must have a higher hematocrit -- a clinical measure of the relative contribution of red blood cells in whole blood.</p><p>These researchers expected to find more red blood cells in cavefish, \"But they were virtually the same,\" Gross said. \"We couldn\'t figure out what was going on.\"</p><p>UC biologists examined the red blood cells of both fish and found that those of cavefish are much larger by comparison.</p><p>\"That size difference largely explains the differences in hematocrit,\" Gross said. \"We know very little about the mechanism of cell size in evolution, so this finding is something we could capitalize on to gain insight into how animals evolve elevated hemoglobin capacity.\"</p><p>Gross said the elevated hemoglobin might allow cavefish to forage longer in the low-oxygen environment. Cavefish often have to work harder to find limited food available in the caves.</p><p>Boggs said scientists are very interested in how fish draw oxygen from the water. Because of climate change and human development, marine systems are seeing more ecological disasters such as red tides, algae blooms that create low-oxygen environments that often lead to massive fish kills.</p><p>\"There is a lot of ecological relevance here,\" he said. \"It\'s happening in freshwater environments, saltwater environments. Researchers are trying to call attention to this awful issue.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-12 02:00:16.681602','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Cincinnati','Cavefish have obvious adaptations such as missing eyes and pale colors that demonstrate how they evolved over millennia in a dark, subterranean world. Now researchers say these incredible fish have an equally remarkable physiology that helps them cope with a low-oxygen environment that would kill other species.',1,116,'<li>Tyler E. Boggs, Jessica S. Friedman, Joshua B. Gross. <strong>Alterations to cavefish red blood cells provide evidence of adaptation to reduced subterranean oxygen</strong>. <em>Scientific Reports</em>, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07619-0\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41598-022-07619-0</a>\r\n</li>'),(983,'Firefly luminescence reveals pesticides','firefly-luminescence-reveals-pesticides','2022-03-12 12:04:27.091338','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A luminescence reaction modeled on fireflies can detect contamination with organophosphates with high sensitivity, ease, and low cost. At the center of this technology is a new enzymatic method for the synthesis of analogues of luciferin, the substance that makes fireflies glow. As reported by a team of researchers in the journal <em>Angewandte Chemie</em>, it could also be used in the field.</p><p>The widespread use of toxic organophosphate pesticides (OPs) is a very serious global environmental and health problem. Among the concerns are acute, often fatal poisoning cases in agriculture -- particularly in developing nations -- and also toxic pesticide residues that accumulate in food chains and freshwater reservoirs where they may instigate cancer, Alzheimer\'s, and diabetes, for example. In the EU and USA, OPs are strictly regulated.</p><p>Conventional detection by chromatography/mass spectrometry is complex, expensive, and not suitable for use in poor countries or in remote areas. Test kits are usually not sensitive and are unreliable. A team from Thailand and Japan has now developed an inexpensive, simple test that detects OPs directly in foods and biological samples with high specificity and extreme sensitivity without sample preparation.</p><p>The researchers led by Pimchai Chaiyen started with a new enzymatic cascade reaction for the synthesis of luciferin analogues from phenolic compounds, which they called the HELP reaction. Luciferin is the substrate of the enzyme luciferase and causes fireflies to glow. Bioluminescence catalyzed by luciferase is an important method used in biochemical research and the analysis of toxicants. HELP makes it possible to produce luciferin analogues much more easily than before, without special expertise or toxic chemicals. Luciferin analogues produce luminescence in different wavelengths and allow for the parallel detection of different target molecules. Among others, the team produced two previously unknown luciferin analogues. One of these produces brighter light of a longer wavelength than the original, which penetrates cells and tissues more efficiently. This facilitates real-time imaging and helps to reduce the need for animal experiments.</p><p>The new method for detecting organophosphates is also based on HELP. \"LUMOS\" (Luminescence Measurement of Organophosphate and Derivatives) includes three reaction steps. First, an enzyme from soil bacteria breaks down the OPs and/or their metabolites into phenol derivatives. In the second step, these are converted into a luciferin analogue via the HELP reaction. In the third step, the luciferin derivative is used to produce a bioluminescence signal with firefly luciferase. The wavelength can be used to differentiate between different OPs. The team was able to detect five particularly toxic OPs, such as parathion (E605), in concentrations of parts per trillion (ppt) in urine, blood serum, and fruit, and without sample preparation.</p>','2022-03-12 11:28:10.118020','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Wiley','A luminescence reaction modeled on fireflies can detect contamination with organophosphates with high sensitivity, ease, and low cost. At the center of this technology is a new enzymatic method for the synthesis of analogues of luciferin, the substance that makes fireflies glow. As reported by a team of researchers, it could also be used in the field.',1,70,'<li>Pratchaya Watthaisong, Philaiwarong Kamutira, Chatchai Kesornpun, Vinutsada Pongsupasa, Jittima Phonbuppha, Ruchanok Tinikul, Somchart Maenpuen, Thanyaporn Wongnate, Ryo Nishihara, Yoshihiro Ohmiya, Pimchai Chaiyen. <strong>Luciferin Synthesis and Pesticide Detection by Luminescence Enzymatic Cascades</strong>. <em>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202116908\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/anie.202116908</a>\r\n</li>'),(1003,'Mirror image biomolecule helps marine sea squirts lose their tails','mirror-image-biomolecule-helps-marine-sea-squirts-lose-their-tails','2022-03-12 16:08:32.245122','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Amino acids are the basic building blocks of living organisms and typically occur in a configuration known as the L-form. However, there are a few exceptional examples of the structural mirror image of the L-form (known as the D-form) being present in animals. D-serine is a representative D-form amino acid and has crucial roles in mammals, but its role in non-mammals is unclear. Researchers from Japan recently uncovered a functional role of D-serine in a marine invertebrate, which may provide insight into the evolution of D-amino acid function in organisms.</p><p>In a study published this month in <em>Science Advances</em>, a team led by the University of Tsukuba found that D-serine serves as a chemical signal that allows tissue migration in marine sea squirts when they lose their tails on transforming from tadpoles into their mature form. Their findings offer a broader understanding of the chemical signals that occur during the organism\'s transformation.</p><p>In mammals, D-serine binds to an ion channel found in neurons called the <em>N</em>-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor (NMDAR) to regulate the transmission of messages in the brain. D-serine also plays a functional role in mammalian skin tissue. However, its role in non-mammals is less understood, something the researchers at the University of Tsukuba aimed to address.</p><p>\"D-serine has been detected in organisms such as insects, nematodes, and molluscs,\" says lead author of the study, Professor Yasunori Sasakura. \"Its global presence in metazoans is reflective of the conserved presence of a protein that converts L-serine to its D-form, called a serine racemase.\"</p><p>The team\'s previous results implicated a serine racemase in the tail regression of tadpoles of the marine sea squirt <em>Ciona</em>. In this study, they sought to clarify the role of D-serine in this process and found that D-serine is responsible for forming a pocket in the <em>Ciona</em> epidermis that allows the tail to regress into the main body. This pocket was formed by D-serine binding to NMDAR in the epidermis, causing the release of fluid-filled vesicles.</p><p>\"The results were striking,\" explains Professor Sasakura. \"We found that the epidermal vesicle release in <em>Ciona</em> is quite similar to a process occurring in mammalian skin, involving a flux of cations mediated through NMDARs.\"</p><p>To evaluate what happened when D-serine was absent during <em>Ciona</em> tail regression, the research team created a mutation that omitted the protein responsible for making D-serine from L-serine. <em>Ciona</em> organisms lacking this protein failed to complete tail regression, whereas regular <em>Ciona</em> organisms were able to successfully complete the process.</p><p>\"Our findings provide insight into how epidermal homeostasis is maintained in animals, contributing toward further evolutionary perspectives of D-amino acid function among metazoans,\" says Sasakura.</p>','2022-03-12 15:49:21.976656','uploads/news/mirror-image-biomolecu.jpg',1,'University of Tsukuba','Researchers have found that D-serine, the structural mirror image of L-serine, regulates tissue migration in the marine organism Ciona during its juvenile-to-adult transformation. D-serine binds to NMDAR, leading to the formation and release of a vesicle that assists in tail regression in Ciona. This finding provides the first description of a biological function of a D-amino acid in a non-mammal chordate, elucidating vesicle release mechanisms in organisms other than mammals.',1,184,'<li>Gabriel Krasovec, Akiko Hozumi, Tomoyuki Yoshida, Takayuki Obita, Mayuko Hamada, Akira Shiraishi, Honoo Satake, Takeo Horie, Hisashi Mori, Yasunori Sasakura. <strong>d            -Serine controls epidermal vesicle release via NMDA receptor, allowing tissue migration during the metamorphosis of the chordate            Ciona</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn3264\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abn3264</a>\r\n</li>'),(1010,'Anyone can be trained to be creative','anyone-can-be-trained-to-be-creative','2022-03-15 14:59:37.192301','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers have developed a new method for training people to be creative, one that shows promise of succeeding far better than current ways of sparking innovation.</p><p>This new method, based on narrative theory, helps people be creative in the way children and artists are: By making up stories that imagine alternative worlds, shift perspective and generate unexpected actions.</p><p>The narrative method works by recognizing that we\'re all creative, said Angus Fletcher, who developed the method and is a professor of English and a member of The Ohio State University\'s Project Narrative.</p><p>\"We as a society radically undervalue the creativity of kids and many others because we are obsessed with the idea that some people are more creative than others,\" Fletcher said.</p><p>\"But the reality is that we\'re just not training creativity in the right way.\"</p><p>Fletcher and Mike Benveniste, also of Project Narrative, discussed the narrative method of training creativity in a just-published article in the <em>Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</em>.</p><p>The two researchers successfully used the narrative approach to train members of the U.S. Army\'s Command and General Staff College. Fletcher wrote a publicly available training guide based on his methods that was tailored to officers and advanced enlisted personnel.</p><p>They have also worked with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Ohio State College of Engineering and several Fortune 50 companies to teach creativity to their staffs and students.</p><p>The current foundation of creativity training is the technique known as divergent thinking, which has been in use since the 1950s. It is a \"computational approach\" to creativity that treats the brain as a logic machine, Fletcher said.</p><p>It works through exercises designed to, among other things, expand working memory, foster analogical thinking and promote problem-solving.</p><p>But divergent thinking hasn\'t delivered the results that many hoped for, Fletcher said. A major issue is that its computational approach relies on data and information about the problems and successes of the past.</p><p>\"What it can\'t do is help prepare people for new challenges that we know little about today. It can\'t come up with truly original actions,\" Fletcher said. \"But the human brain\'s narrative machinery can.\"</p><p>The narrative method of training for creativity uses many of the techniques that writers use to create stories. One is to develop new worlds in your mind. For example, employees at a company might be asked to think about their most unusual customer -- then imagine a world in which all their customers were like that. How would that change their business? What would they have to do to survive?</p><p>Another technique is perspective-shifting. An executive at a company might be asked to answer a problem by thinking like another member of their team.</p><p>The point of using these techniques and others like them is not that the scenarios you dream up will actually happen, Fletcher said.</p><p>\"Creativity isn\'t about guessing the future correctly. It\'s about making yourself open to imagining radically different possibilities,\" he said.</p><p>\"When you do that, you can respond more quickly and nimbly to the changes that do occur.\"</p><p>Fletcher noted that the narrative approach of training creativity through telling stories resembles how young children are creative -- and research shows that young children are more imaginatively creative than adults.</p><p>But the ability of children to perform creative tasks drops after four or five years of schooling, according to studies. That\'s when children begin intensive logical, semantic and memory training.</p><p>The narrative approach to creativity can help people unlock the creativity they may have stopped using as they progressed through school, Fletcher said.</p><p>One advantage for organizations that train employees to be creative is that they no longer need to strive to hire \"creative people,\" he said.</p><p>\"Trying to hire creative people causes problems because the people that leaders identify as creative are almost always people just like themselves. So it promotes conformity instead of originality,\" Fletcher said.</p><p>\"It\'s better to hire a diverse group of people and then train them to be creative. That creates a culture that recognizes that there are already creative people in your organization that you aren\'t taking advantage of.\"</p><p>While this narrative method of creativity training has already been received positively, Fletcher and his colleagues have started a more formal evaluation. They are conducting randomized controlled trials of the creativity curriculum on more than 600 U.S. Army majors who are part of the Command and General Staff College.</p><p>They are also continuing to work with new organizations, such as the Worthington Local School District in Ohio.</p><p>\"Teaching creativity is one of the most useful things you can do in the world, because it is just coming up with new solutions to solve problems,\" he said.</p><p>Fletcher said this new method of training creativity \"could only have come from Ohio State\'s Project Narrative.</p><p>\"Project Narrative is all about how stories work in the brain. It is the foundation that helped us put together this new way of thinking about and training for creativity,\" he said.</p><p>\"And Project Narrative is itself proof of the power of creativity. It\'s something that Ohio State created, something that would not have existed otherwise.\"</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:02.324703','uploads/news/1920_creativity.jpg',1,'Ohio State University','Researchers have developed a new method for training people to be creative, one that shows promise of succeeding far better than current ways of sparking innovation.',1,198,'<li>Angus Fletcher, Mike Benveniste. <strong>A new method for training creativity: narrative as an alternative to divergent thinking</strong>. <em>Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14763\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/nyas.14763</a>\r\n</li>'),(1011,'Microbes and minerals may have set off Earth’s oxygenation','microbes-and-minerals-may-have-set-off-earths-oxygenation','2022-03-15 15:11:22.990366','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">For the first 2 billion years of Earth\'s history, there was barely any oxygen in the air. While some microbes were photosynthesizing by the latter part of this period, oxygen had not yet accumulated at levels that would impact the global biosphere.</p><p>But somewhere around 2.3 billion years ago, this stable, low-oxygen equilibrium shifted, and oxygen began building up in the atmosphere, eventually reaching the life-sustaining levels we breathe today. This rapid infusion is known as the Great Oxygenation Event, or GOE. What triggered the event and pulled the planet out of its low-oxygen funk is one of the great mysteries of science.</p><p>A new hypothesis, proposed by MIT scientists, suggests that oxygen finally started accumulating in the atmosphere thanks to interactions between certain marine microbes and minerals in ocean sediments. These interactions helped prevent oxygen from being consumed, setting off a self-amplifying process where more and more oxygen was made available to accumulate in the atmosphere.</p><p>The scientists have laid out their hypothesis using mathematical and evolutionary analyses, showing that there were indeed microbes that existed before the GOE and evolved the ability to interact with sediment in the way that the researchers have proposed.</p><p>Their study, appearing in <em>Nature Communications</em>, is the first to connect the co-evolution of microbes and minerals to Earth\'s oxygenation.</p><p>\"Probably the most important biogeochemical change in the history of the planet was oxygenation of the atmosphere,\" says study author Daniel Rothman, professor of geophysics in MIT\'s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). \"We show how the interactions of microbes, minerals, and the geochemical environment acted in concert to increase oxygen in the atmosphere.\"</p><p>The study\'s co-authors include lead author Haitao Shang, a former MIT graduate student, and Gregory Fournier, associate professor of geobiology in EAPS.</p><p><strong>A step up</strong></p><p>Today\'s oxygen levels in the atmosphere are a stable balance between processes that produce oxygen and those that consume it. Prior to the GOE, the atmosphere maintained a different kind of equilibrium, with producers and consumers of oxygen in balance, but in a way that didn\'t leave much extra oxygen for the atmosphere.</p><p>What could have pushed the planet out of one stable, oxygen-deficient state to another stable, oxygen-rich state?</p><p>\"If you look at Earth\'s history, it appears there were two jumps, where you went from a steady state of low oxygen to a steady state of much higher oxygen, once in the Paleoproterozoic, once in the Neoproterozoic,\" Fournier notes. \"These jumps couldn\'t have been because of a gradual increase in excess oxygen. There had to have been some feedback loop that caused this step-change in stability.\"</p><p>He and his colleagues wondered whether such a positive feedback loop could have come from a process in the ocean that made some organic carbon unavailable to its consumers. Organic carbon is mainly consumed through oxidation, usually accompanied by the consumption of oxygen -- a process by which microbes in the ocean use oxygen to break down organic matter, such as detritus that has settled in sediment. The team wondered: Could there have been some process by which the presence of oxygen stimulated its further accumulation?</p><p>Shang and Rothman worked out a mathematical model that made the following prediction: If microbes possessed the ability to only partially oxidize organic matter, the partially-oxidized matter, or \"POOM,\" would effectively become \"sticky,\" and chemically bind to minerals in sediment in a way that would protect the material from further oxidation. The oxygen that would otherwise have been consumed to fully degrade the material would instead be free to build up in the atmosphere. This process, they found, could serve as a positive feedback, providing a natural pump to push the atmosphere into a new, high-oxygen equilibrium.</p><p>\"That led us to ask, is there a microbial metabolism out there that produced POOM?\" Fourier says.</p><p><strong>In the genes</strong></p><p>To answer this, the team searched through the scientific literature and identified a group of microbes that partially oxidizes organic matter in the deep ocean today. These microbes belong to the bacterial group SAR202, and their partial oxidation is carried out through an enzyme, Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase, or BVMO.</p><p>The team carried out a phylogenetic analysis to see how far back the microbe, and the gene for the enzyme, could be traced. They found that the bacteria did indeed have ancestors dating back before the GOE, and that the gene for the enzyme could be traced across various microbial species, as far back as pre-GOE times.</p><p>What\'s more, they found that the gene\'s diversification, or the number of species that acquired the gene, increased significantly during times when the atmosphere experienced spikes in oxygenation, including once during the GOE\'s Paleoproterozoic, and again in the Neoproterozoic.</p><p>\"We found some temporal correlations between diversification of POOM-producing genes, and the oxygen levels in the atmosphere,\" Shang says. \"That supports our overall theory.\"</p><p>To confirm this hypothesis will require far more follow-up, from experiments in the lab to surveys in the field, and everything in between. With their new study, the team has introduced a new suspect in the age-old case of what oxygenated Earth\'s atmosphere.</p><p>\"Proposing a novel method, and showing evidence for its plausibility, is the first but important step,\" Fournier says. \"We\'ve identified this as a theory worthy of study.\"</p><p>This work was supported in part by the mTerra Catalyst Fund and the National Science Foundation.</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:05.147992','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Massachusetts Institute of Technology','Around 2.3 billion years ago, oxygen began building up in the atmosphere, eventually reaching the life-sustaining levels we breathe today. A new hypothesis suggests a mechanism for how this may have happened.',1,161,'<li>Haitao Shang, Daniel H. Rothman, Gregory P. Fournier. <strong>Oxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28996-0\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28996-0</a>\r\n</li>'),(1012,'Novel X-ray lens facilitates glimpse into the nanoworld','novel-x-ray-lens-facilitates-glimpse-into-the-nanoworld','2022-03-16 05:43:01.231067','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">PSI scientists have developed a ground-breaking achromatic lens for X-rays. This allows the X-ray beams to be accurately focused on a single point even if they have different wavelengths. The new lens will make it much easier to study nanostructures using X-rays, according to a paper just published by the researchers in the scientific journal <em>Nature Communications.</em></p><p>Achromatic lenses are essential for producing sharp images in photography and optical microscopes. They ensure that different colours -- i.e. light of different wavelengths -- have a common focal point. To date, however, achromatic lenses have not been available for X-rays, so that high-resolution X-ray microscopy has only been possible with monochromatic X-rays. In practice, this means that all other wavelengths have to be filtered out of the X-ray beam spectrum and hence only a small portion of the light can effectively be used, resulting in a relatively inefficient image capturing process.</p><p>A team of PSI scientists have now solved this problem by successfully developing an achromatic X-ray lens for X-rays. Since X-rays can reveal much smaller structures than visible light, the innovative lens will particularly benefit R&amp;D work in sectors such as microchips, batteries and materials science, among others.</p><p><strong>More complex than in the visible range</strong></p><p>The fact that it took until now to develop an achromatic lens for X-rays may at first seem surprising: for visible light, achromatic lenses have been around for over 200 years. These are usually composed of two different materials. The light penetrates the first material and splits into its spectral colours -- much like when passing through a conventional glass prism. It then passes through a second material to reverse this effect. In physics, the process of separating different wavelengths is called \"dispersion.\"</p><p>\"This basic principle applied in the visible range does not work in the X-ray range, however,\" explains the physicist Christian David, Head of the X-Ray Optics and Applications research group at PSI\'s Laboratory for X-ray Nanoscience and Technologies. \"For X-rays, no pair of materials exists for which the optical properties differ sufficiently over a broad range of wavelengths for one material to counterbalance the effect of the other. In other words: the dispersion of materials in the X-ray range is too similar.\"</p><p><strong>Two principles rather than two materials</strong></p><p>So instead of looking for the answer in the combination of two materials, the scientists linked together two different optical principles. \"The trick was to realise that we could position a second refractive lens in front of our diffractive lens,\" says Adam Kubec, lead author of the new study. Until recently, Kubec was a researcher in Christian David\'s group, and now works for XRnanotech, a spin-off that emerged from PSI\'s research in X-ray optics.</p><p>\"For many years now, PSI has been a world leader in the production of X-ray lenses,\" says David. \"We supply specialised lenses, known as Fresnel zone plates, for X-ray microscopy at synchrotron light sources worldwide.\" David\'s research group uses established nanolithography methods to produce diffractive lenses. However, for the second element in the achromatic lens -- the refractive structure -, a new method was needed which has only recently become available: 3D printing on the micrometre scale. This ultimately enabled Kubec to produce a shape that vaguely resembles a miniature rocket.</p><p><strong>Potential commercial applications</strong></p><p>The newly developed lens enables the leap from research application to X-ray microscopy in commercial use, for example in industry. \"Synchrotron sources generate X-rays of such high intensity that it is possible to filter out all but a single wavelength while still preserving enough light to produce an image,\" Kubec explains. However, synchrotrons are large-scale research facilities. To date, R&amp;D staff working in industry are allocated a set beam time to conduct experiments at synchrotrons at research institutes, including the Swiss Light Source SLS at PSI. This beam time is extremely limited, expensive and requires long-term planning. \"Industry would like to have much faster response loops in their R&amp;D processes,\" Kubec says. \"Our achromatic X-ray lens will help enormously with this: It will enable compact X-ray microscopes that industrial companies can operate on their own premises.\"</p><p>Together with XRnanotech, PSI plans to market the new lens. Kubec says they already have suitable contacts with companies specialising in building X-ray microscopy facilities on the lab scale.</p><p><strong>SLS X-ray beam used for testing</strong></p><p>To characterise their achromatic X-ray lens, scientists used an X-ray beamline at SLS. One of the methods employed there is a highly developed X-ray microscopy technique called ptychography. \"This technique is normally used to examine an unknown sample,\" says the study\'s second author, Marie-Christine Zdora, a physicist working in Christian David\'s research group and an expert in X-ray imaging. \"We on the other hand used ptychography to characterise the X-ray beam and thus our achromatic lens.\" This enabled the scientists to precisely detect the location of the X-ray focal point at different wavelengths.</p><p>They additionally tested the new lens using a method where the sample is moved through the focus of the X-ray beam in small raster steps. When the wavelength of the X-ray beam is changed, the images produced with a conventional X-ray lens become very blurred. This, however, does not happen when using the new achromatic lens. \"When we eventually got a sharp image of the test sample over a broad range of wavelengths, we knew our lens was working,\" says a delighted Zdora.</p><p>David adds: \"The fact that we were able to develop this achromatic X-ray lens at PSI and will soon be bringing it to market with XRnanotech shows that the type of research we do here can lead to practical applications in a very short period of time.\"</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:07.006949','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Paul Scherrer Institute','Scientists have developed a ground-breaking achromatic lens for X-rays. This allows the X-ray beams to be accurately focused on a single point even if they have different wavelengths. The new lens will make it much easier to study nanostructures using X-rays, according to a new article.',1,97,'<li>Adam Kubec, Marie-Christine Zdora, Umut T. Sanli, Ana Diaz, Joan Vila-Comamala, Christian David. <strong>An achromatic X-ray lens</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28902-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28902-8</a>\r\n</li>'),(1013,'Maternal lead exposures correlated with sex ratios of offspring','maternal-lead-exposures-correlated-with-sex-ratios-of-offspring','2022-03-16 10:55:12.047898','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Higher lead levels in a mother\'s blood can increase the chance of her bearing male offspring, according to new research led by Japanese scientists at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine.</p><p>The research, published on January 4 in the <em>Science of the Total Environment,</em> aimed to help explain an observed decline in the proportion of male to female births in Japan and elsewhere. \"Generally, for every 100 females, 104 -107 males are born, says associate professor of medicine and lead study author Nozomi Tatsuta. \"In recent years, the sex ratio has been declining worldwide, and the number of male births has been decreasing.\" Tatsuta cites data from a 2013 study of sex ratios at birth over six decades.</p><p>In demographic terms, the number of males per 100 females at birth is called the secondary sex ratio (SSR), which is known to be sensitive to certain environmental toxins. For example, \"Previous studies have reported that the sex ratio is affected by exposure to chemical substances such as dioxins, as well as heavy metals such as methylmercury,\" says study author Kunihiko Nakai, professor of Development and Environmental Medicine. Noting that lead can reduce female fertility as well as male sperm quality, the researchers hypothesized that it could play a role in the SSR.</p><p>The study recruited pregnant female participants from the ongoing Japan Environment and Children\'s Study (JECS) sponsored by Japan\'s Ministry of Environment. The study covers a broad geographic swathe of Japan. The participants were classified into five groups according to their blood lead levels. The analysis was adjusted for family income and smoking status during pregnancy, which could also affect the secondary sex ratio (SSR). Blood samples were collected from 85,171 female participants during middle-late pregnancy and analyzed for lead concentrations.</p><p>Several analyses were used to examine the relationship between maternal lead levels and SSR -- a logistic regression, a sensitivity analysis, and a binomial distribution analysis -- and all three indicated an increase in the proportion of male births with higher maternal lead concentrations. The correlation between maternal lead exposure and sex ratio was consistent even after adjusting for other potential variables like father\'s age and exposure to lead on the job.</p><p>The findings may explain why the percentage of male births in Japan has been declining. The authors explain that, as restrictions in leaded gasoline and paint have been implemented, air lead levels have decreased, citing a 2021 study in Germany reporting a long-term trend of decreasing blood lead levels coincident with lower air lead levels. The similarly decreased air lead levels in Japan may explain the shift in sex ratio away from males.</p><p>This study has implications for public health. Guidelines for pregnant women are that blood lead levels should not exceed 50 nanograms per gram of blood. Yet, this study indicates that a maternal blood level of less than 1 nanogram per gram could affect the sex ratio of offspring.</p><p>The researchers call for further study of the correlation between lead and offspring sex ratio. \"Since there are many factors other than lead exposure that are related to the sex ratio, it is still not fully understood to what extent maternal lead exposure affects the birth sex ratio,\" says study author Shoji F. Nakayama, lead exposure scientist for the JECS. Other factors they hope to examine in the future include the effect of paternal blood lead levels on sex ratio and the impacts of lead on frequency of miscarriages and stillbirths.</p><p>The authors caution that because lead can have toxic effects on a developing human brain, it should never be used as a means of trying to control the sex of offspring.</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:12.765369','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Tohoku University','Higher lead levels in a mother\'s blood can increase the chance of her bearing male offspring, according to new research.',1,7,'<li>Nozomi Tatsuta, Kunihiko Nakai, Shoji F. Nakayama, Ayano Takeuchi, Takahiro Arima, Nobuo Yaegashi, Michihiro Kamijima, Shin Yamazaki, Yukihiro Ohya, Reiko Kishi, Koichi Hashimoto, Chisato Mori, Shuichi Ito, Zentaro Yamagata, Hidekuni Inadera, Takeo Nakayama, Hiroyasu Iso, Masayuki Shima, Youichi Kurozawa, Narufumi Suganuma, Koichi Kusuhara, Takahiko Katoh. <strong>Effects of maternal exposure to lead on secondary sex ratio in Japan: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study</strong>. <em>Science of The Total Environment</em>, 2022; 817: 152726 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152726\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152726</a>\r\n</li>'),(1014,'\'Sky is not the limit\' for solar geoengineering','\'sky-is-not-the-limit\'-for-solar-geoengineering','2022-03-14 17:32:14.646088',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">There are practical limits to the height at which aerosols may be deployed in the atmosphere to deflect incoming sunlight and countervail global warming. Very high-altitude injections might be more effective, but such climate intervention comes with substantially increased costs and safety risks, according to new research published today in <em>Environmental Research Communications.</em></p><p>Following a prominent study in 2018 that clarified the lofting technologies by which it would be feasible to undertake solar geoengineering, the new report is the first to assess the safety and cost-effectiveness of deployment at an altitude of 25 km. The report responds directly to a question posed by the US National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in a landmark study in March 2021 which recognized the need for additional research on the viability of depositing aerosols well above 20 km.</p><p>Wake Smith, the lead author of the study, says: \"This conclusion should alter how climate intervention models are run globally and shows that practical limits need to be weighed against radiative efficacy in designing solar geoengineering programs.\"</p><p>Several prominent studies over the last decade have noted that deployment of stratospheric aerosols at an altitude of 25 km would be more effective than at 20 km, causing climate modelers to commonly incorporate such lofty deployments into their studies. For reference, airliners and military jets routinely cruise near 10 km, whereas 20 km is the realm of high-flying spy planes and drones. Planning to fly hundreds of thousands of annual solar geoengineering deployment flights to altitudes inaccessible even to elite spy planes would not only substantially increase costs, but would pose unacceptable safety risks for flight crews, aircraft, and the uninvolved public on the ground.</p><p>According to Smith, \"There is a ceiling in the sky above which traditional aircraft cannot operate, and 25 km is above it.\"</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:14.646088','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'IOP Publishing','There are practical limits to the height at which aerosols may be deployed in the atmosphere to deflect incoming sunlight and countervail global warming. Very high-altitude injections might be more effective, but such climate intervention comes with substantially increased costs and safety risks, according to new research.\n',1,27,'<li>Wake Smith, Umang Bhattarai, Donald C Bingaman, James L Mace, Christian V Rice. <strong>Review of possible very high-altitude platforms for stratospheric aerosol injection</strong>. <em>Environmental Research Communications</em>, 2022; 4 (3): 031002 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac4f5d\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1088/2515-7620/ac4f5d</a>\n</li>'),(1015,'History of neurological or psychiatric conditions increases the likelihood of developing more','history-of-neurological-or-psychiatric-conditions-increases-the-likelihood-of-developing-more','2022-03-14 17:32:19.688013',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">People living with neurological or psychiatric conditions may have an increased likelihood of having a second such condition in the future, and their sex influences their risk, according to new research.</p><p>The study is Ontario\'s largest, both in population size and length of time studied, and was also the first to examine the effect that being a man or woman has on the relationship between conditions. Researchers from the University of Waterloo and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Science conducted the work with funding from the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI).</p><p>\"Globally, neurological and psychiatric disorders are leading causes of disability and death,\" said Colleen Maxwell, a professor at the School of Pharmacy at Waterloo and lead author on the study. \"Understanding which disorders or conditions are risk factors for, or early manifestations of, later disorders will help health-care providers and family provide proactive care for individuals living with these conditions.\"</p><p>Maxwell and the study collaborators used provincial health databases to analyze data from more than five million Ontario residents aged 40 to 85 years. Over the course of 14 years, they examined the associations between pairs of particularly common neurological conditions -- such as dementia, Parkinson\'s disease, or stroke -- and psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety.</p><p>They explored the link between these conditions in both directions, including investigating how the experience of previous stroke related to future risk of dementia and vice versa. In almost all cases, the researchers found that the rate of developing a second condition increased. For example, individuals with prior Parkinson\'s disease had four times the rate of developing dementia, while those with prior stroke had more than double the rate of developing dementia. They also found that having a psychiatric disorder previously was associated with an increased rate of experiencing dementia later. For some conditions, the risk of developing the second disorder remained for 10 years or more after the first.</p><p>The team showed that women and men differed in their risk for developing a later condition after experiencing an earlier one. For example, comparing men and women who experienced an earlier stroke, women were more likely than their male counterparts to develop dementia later.</p><p>The researchers hope their work can inform not just the care that individuals with these conditions receive directly, but also the planning of the health system as a whole.</p><p>\"We also hope to provide information for those designing medical, educational programs to ensure health-care providers are informed of and equipped to address these common comorbidities,\" Maxwell said.</p><p>The ONDRI supported the research through the Ontario Brain Institute. The study was recently published in the journal <em>Age and Aging.</em></p>','2022-03-14 17:32:19.688013','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Waterloo','People living with neurological or psychiatric conditions may have an increased likelihood of having a second such condition in the future, and their sex influences their risk, according to new research.\n',1,27,'<li>Colleen J Maxwell, Laura C Maclagan, Daniel A Harris, Xuesong Wang, Jun Guan, Ruth Ann Marrie, David B Hogan, Peter C Austin, Simone N Vigod, Richard H Swartz, Susan E Bronskill. <strong>Incidence of neurological and psychiatric comorbidity over time: a population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada</strong>. <em>Age and Ageing</em>, 2022; 51 (2) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afab277\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/ageing/afab277</a>\n</li>'),(1016,'Scientists estimate invasive insects will kill 1.4 million US street trees by 2050','scientists-estimate-invasive-insects-will-kill-1.4-million-us-street-trees-by-2050','2022-03-14 17:32:22.658272',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study estimates that over the next 30 years, 1.4 million street trees will be killed by invasive insects, costing over 900 million dollars to replace. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society\'s <em>Journal of Applied Ecology</em>.</p><p>Researchers from McGill University, the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station and North Carolina State University have made the first nationwide spatial forecast of street tree mortality from invasive insects, using data from roughly 30,000 urban areas across the United States.</p><p>90% of the 1.4 million trees deaths forecasted in the study are predicted to be caused by the emerald ash borer (<em>Agrilus planipennis</em>), which is expected to kill virtually all ash trees in more than 6000 urban areas.</p><p>The researchers predict that the impact of invasive insects will not be evenly spread across the country, with less than a quarter of US communities set to experience 95% of all street tree mortality resulting from invasive insects.</p><p>Hotspots identified in the study include New York, Chicago and Milwaukee. These are areas with very high numbers of ash trees and are in the recent or near-future path of the emerald ash borer. Large human populations are also predicted to increase the influx of invasive insects to an area.</p><p>The researchers also forecasted the risks of insect species that have not yet arrived in the US. Asian wood boring insects, like the citrus longhorned beetle (<em>Anoplophora chinensis</em>), were seen to pose the highest threat, with new establishments of these species potentially costing 4.9 billion dollars over the next 30 years.</p><p>The researchers say that their findings can also help urban tree managers to know which tree species, in which areas, will be at the greatest risk from invasive insects. This information can be used to prioritise management efforts such as quarantining wood products.</p><p>Dr Emma Hudgins at McGill University and lead author of the research said: \"These results can hopefully provide a cautionary tale against planting a single species of tree throughout entire cities, as has been done with ash trees in North America. Increasing urban tree diversity provides resilience against pest infestations. While we know this more intuitively for monocultures of crops, many cities continue to plant what are essentially monoculture urban forests.\"</p><p>Professor Jane Memmott at the University of Bristol, who was not involved in the study said: \"Urban trees do a variety of wonderful things -- they keep cities cool, they take the sting out of heavy downpours, they are good for biodiversity and they even make people happier.</p><p>\"This paper shows that unless we plant a variety of tree species in our cities, urban trees are seriously at risk from invasive pests. The take home message to urban planners, is to plant multiple species in cities rather than focus on just a few familiar species; It\'ll keep trees wonderful, and it will keep them in our cities.\"</p><p>While the findings of this study specifically relate to the US, the same invasive insect species can impact urban trees in neighbouring countries.</p><p>Dr Hudgins said: \"We can see a similar situation in Canada, since emerald ash borer arrived here by spreading across the border with the United States, and cities like Montréal are in the process of losing all of their ash trees. Colder cities like Winnipeg appear to be seeing delayed impacts of emerald ash borer due to its need to complete a longer life cycle at low temperatures.\"</p><p>Trees form an important part of our urban environments and provide a host of benefits including improving air quality, cooling streets, carbon capture, habitat provision for wildlife and improving citizens\' mental and physical health.</p><p>However, human activity such as trade and travel expose urban trees to higher numbers of invasive species. Urban environments also create conditions that allow invasive species to easily spread.</p><p>Dr Koch explains: \"Many urban areas are dominated by a single tree species or genus, which means that a newly arrived insect for which those trees are a host can spread easily. On top of this, there are usually fewer natural predators and warmer temperatures compared to nearby natural forests, which can benefit invasive insect development.\"</p><p>To forecast the impacts of invasive insects on US street trees over the next 30 years, the researchers combined a series of four models. These included models of street tree populations in 30,000 communities, the predicted spread of 57 invasive insect species, how deadly these insects are to different tree species, and the cost of removing and replacing dead trees.</p><p>Due to the availability of accurate data, the study focussed specifically on street trees, which represent a small fraction of all urban trees. The study also only forecasted the economic costs to municipalities dealing with street trees being killed and not wider the ecological impacts. Dr Koch said: \"The ecological impacts of losing urban trees or an invasive species moving from urban to natural forests would both be considerable. However, these impacts were beyond the scope of our study.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-14 17:32:22.658272','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'British Ecological Society','A new study estimates that over the next 30 years, 1.4 million street trees will be killed by invasive insects, costing over 900 million dollars to replace.\n',1,27,'<li>Emma J. Hudgins, Frank H. Koch, Mark J. Ambrose, Brian Leung. <strong>Hotspots of pest‐induced US urban tree death, 2020–2050</strong>. <em>Journal of Applied Ecology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14141\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/1365-2664.14141</a>\n</li>'),(1017,'Chemical reaction design goes virtual','chemical-reaction-design-goes-virtual','2022-03-14 17:32:24.986241',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers aim to streamline the time- and resource-intensive process of screening ligands during catalyst design by using virtual ligands.</p><p>Researchers at the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery and Hokkaido University have developed a virtual ligand-assisted (VLA) screening method, which could drastically reduce the amount of trial and error required in the lab during transition metal catalyst development. The method, published in the journal <em>ACS Catalysis</em>, may also lead to the discovery of unconventional catalyst designs outside the scope of chemists\' intuition.</p><p>Ligands are molecules that are bonded to the central metal atom of a catalyst, and they affect the activity and selectivity of a catalyst. Finding the optimal ligand to catalyze a specific target reaction can be like finding a needle in a haystack. The VLA screening method provides a way to efficiently search that haystack, surveying a broad range of values for different properties to identify the features of ligands that should be most promising. This narrows down the search area for chemists in the lab and has the potential to greatly accelerate the reaction design process.</p><p>This new work utilizes virtual ligands, which mimic the presence of real ligands; however, instead of being described by many individual constituent atoms -- such as carbon or nitrogen -- virtual ligands are described using only two metrics: their steric, or space-filling, properties and their electronic properties. Researchers developed approximations that describe each of these effects with a single parameter. Using this simplified description of a ligand enabled researchers to evaluate ligands in a computationally efficient way over a large range of values for these two effects. The result is a \"contour map\" that shows what combination of steric and electronic effects a ligand should have in order to best catalyze a specific reaction. Chemists can then focus on only testing real ligands that fit these criteria.</p><p>Researchers used monodentate phosphorus (III) virtual ligands as a test group and verified their models for the electronic and steric properties of the virtual ligands against values calculated for corresponding real ligands.</p><p>The VLA screening method was then employed to design ligands for a test reaction in which a CHO group and a hydrogen atom can be added to a double bond in two different possible configurations. The reaction pathway was evaluated for 20 virtual ligand cases (consisting of different assigned values for the electronic and steric parameters) to create a contour map that shows a visual trend for what types of ligands can be expected to result in a highly selective reaction.</p><p>Computer models of real ligands were designed based on parameters extracted from the contour map and then evaluated computationally. The selectivity values predicted via the VLA screening method matched well with the values computed for the models of real ligands, showing the viability of the VLA screening method to provide guidance that aids in rational ligand design.</p><p>Beyond saving valuable time and resources, corresponding author Satoshi Maeda anticipates the creation of powerful reaction prediction systems by combining the VLA screening method with other computational techniques.</p><p>\"Ligand screening is a pivotal process in the development of transition metal catalysis. As the VLA screening can be conducted <em>in silico</em>, it would save a lot of time and resources in the lab. We believe that this method not only streamlines finding an optimal ligand from a given library of ligands, but also stimulates researchers to explore the untapped chemical space of ligands,\" commented corresponding author Satoshi Maeda. \"Furthermore, we also expect that by combining this method with our reaction prediction technology using the Artificial Force Induced Reaction method, a new computer-driven discovery scheme of transition metal catalysis can be realized.\"</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:24.986241','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Hokkaido University','Researchers aim to streamline the time- and resource-intensive process of screening ligands during catalyst design by using virtual ligands.\n',1,27,'<li>Wataru Matsuoka, Yu Harabuchi, Satoshi Maeda. <strong>Virtual Ligand-Assisted Screening Strategy to Discover Enabling Ligands for Transition Metal Catalysis</strong>. <em>ACS Catalysis</em>, 2022; 3752 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.2c00267\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1021/acscatal.2c00267</a>\n</li>'),(1018,'Unleashing the tiger: Mapping the Aussie tiger prawn genome','unleashing-the-tiger:-mapping-the-aussie-tiger-prawn-genome','2022-03-14 17:32:27.649716',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">James Cook University researchers have been part of the first-ever successful effort to map the genome of an iconic Australian seafood species -- that of the Australian black tiger prawn -- which may lead to bigger and more disease resistant farmed stock in the future.</p><p>JCU Professor of Aquaculture Dean Jerry said the research came out of the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Advanced Breeding, a collaboration between JCU, the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF), the University of Sydney, CSIRO and Seafarms Group. The partnership aimed to improve productivity and efficiency of farming prawns through the use of genetic selection.</p><p>\"The idea was to improve the capability of Australian prawn farmers to apply selective breeding practices to produce larger and healthier farmed prawns. As part of this project, we set out to sequence the genome of the black tiger prawn. The information in the genome is important for us to know, as it essentially contains the blueprint that determines the makeup and behaviour of the prawn,\" said Professor Jerry.</p><p>He said one benefit of having this genome is that it can significantly help with the selective breeding efforts of prawns, similarly to what has happened with livestock and crop species over the last few thousand years.</p><p>\"The prawn is a tiny animal, but its genome is almost as large as a human, and is much more complicated in its structure,\" said Professor Jerry.</p><p>AGRF Bioinformatics Manager Dr Kenneth Chan said the genetic mapping process to reconstruct the genome of the black tiger prawn was diabolically tricky.</p><p>\"Imagine the task of putting together a 1.9 billion piece double-sided puzzle with no borders, long repeated overlapping sections, millions of missing pieces, multiple pieces that can fit in the same place, no picture on the box to follow, and possibly lots of pieces from another unrelated puzzle,\" said Dr Chan.</p><p>The scientists also found something very unusual in the way the tiger prawn fought viral infections.</p><p>Dr Nick Wade, Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO explained that the Viral elements in the genome that help fight viral infections (known as the Endogenous Viral Element or EVE) is truly unique in the Australian tiger prawn.</p><p>\"No EVE found in any other animal looks like this,\" said Dr Wade.</p><p>\"Discovery of this EVE allows for further research into understanding how prawns deal with infections by viruses and perhaps into new therapies that can be applied to make prawns more resistant to viral diseases,\" he said.</p><p>Professor Jerry said the benefits of mapping the genome will come in a whole range of complementary areas.</p><p>\"It radically changes the landscape for prawn research, enabling a whole suite of other functional biological studies, including on how to target particular genes for improved selection outcomes, through to precision genome engineering,\" said Professor Jerry.</p>','2022-03-14 17:32:27.649716','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'James Cook University','Researchers have mapped the genome of an iconic Australian seafood species -- that of the Australian black tiger prawn - which may lead to bigger and more disease resistant farmed stock in the future.\n',1,27,'<li>Roger Huerlimann, Jeff A Cowley, Nicholas M Wade, Yinan Wang, Naga Kasinadhuni, Chon-Kit Kenneth Chan, Jafar S Jabbari, Kirby Siemering, Lavinia Gordon, Matthew Tinning, Juan D Montenegro, Gregory E Maes, Melony J Sellars, Greg J Coman, Sean McWilliam, Kyall R Zenger, Mehar S Khatkar, Herman W Raadsma, Dallas Donovan, Gopala Krishna, Dean R Jerry. <strong>Genome assembly of the Australian black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) reveals a novel fragmented IHHNV EVE sequence</strong>. <em>G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkac034\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1093/g3journal/jkac034</a>\n</li>'),(1019,'Novel cell survival mechanisms through RNA regulation in the central nervous system','novel-cell-survival-mechanisms-through-rna-regulation-in-the-central-nervous-system','2022-03-14 17:32:32.522631',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">This study\'s findings will help congenital neurological disease (e.g. spinal muscular atrophy) specialists better understand the mechanisms and components involved in CNS development. Notably, the findings of this work demonstrate unequivocally that Ddx20 is a novel Olig2-interacting factor and a potent suppressor of the p53 pathway, contributing to the maintenance of neuronal and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells during CNS development. Therefore, Ddx20 and Olig2 are promising molecular targets for development of future therapeutic strategies.</p><p>The central nervous system, which comprises the brain and spinal cord, is constructed by the proper proliferation of neural progenitor cells and their differentiation into neurons and glial cells. The transcription factor Olig2 is expressed in neural progenitor cells and is essential for the development of motor neurons and oligodendrocytes, and also contributes to the proliferation of neural progenitor cells. However, it has remained unclear how Olig2 regulates these diverse biological processes. Therefore, this research group searched for a novel Olig2 binding factors and aimed to elucidate the developmental mechanisms involved in these factors and Olig2.</p><p>In a ground-breaking recent study, a team of scientists based at Niigata University, identified a novel Olig2 binding protein called Ddx20 (also known as Gemin3 or DP103) that interacts with Olig2 during neural development. Ddx20 is known as a multifunctional molecule that regulates transcription, RNA splicing, and protein translation. Furthermore, Ddx20 interacts with SMN, a causative gene of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and is deeply involved in the pathogenesis of SMA. In this study, the scientists generated <em>Ddx20 </em>conditional knockout mice to investigate the function of Ddx20 during CNS development. They found that apoptosis occurs rapidly in neural progenitor cells and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. The mechanism responsible for the cell death was investigated, and excessive nuclear accumulation of p53, a tumor suppressor gene product, was found. Interestingly, in <em>Ddx20</em>-deficient mice, the SMN protein was destabilized and the RNA splicing mechanisms were abnormal, leading to splicing dysregulation of <em>Mdm2</em>, a p53 inhibitor. They proceeded to further understand the mechanism by which Olig2 contributes to neural progenitor cell proliferation and survival. In these experiments, the authors found that Ddx20 levels were lower in Olig2 deficient mice than in wild type mice. Moreover, the SMN protein levels were lower in <em>Olig2</em>-deficient mice than in wild type mice. In addition, some spliceosomal RNA and <em>Mdm2</em> splicing were dysregulated in <em>Olig2</em>-deficient mice than in wild type mice. Lastly, the p53 was more activated in <em>Olig2</em>-deficient mice than in wild type mice.</p><p>In summary, the discovery reported in this study show that Olig2 maintains the Ddx20-SMN complex involved in the regulation of Mdm2 splicing, which in turn suppress p53 activation. In an interview with Professor Hirohide Takebayashi, who led this research at Niigata University, said, \"This study highlights that a transcriptional factor, Olig2, affects not only transcriptional regulation but also RNA metabolism through Ddx20 stabilization, revealing the diverse functions of Olig2. Importantly, since Olig2 has been reported to be involved not only in neural development but also in the progression of glioma and melanoma. On the other hand, Ddx20 has also been known as an initiator of various cancers. Therefore, the interaction of these two factors may play a key role in the development and progression of the cancers. We believe that further research might provide clues to elucidate the etiology of congenital neurological diseases and cancers, including the development of therapeutic strategies against them.\"</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-14 17:32:32.522631','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Niigata University','This study\'s findings will help congenital neurological disease (e.g. spinal muscular atrophy) specialists better understand the mechanisms and components involved in CNS development. Notably, the findings of this work demonstrate unequivocally that Ddx20 is a novel Olig2-interacting factor and a potent suppressor of the p53 pathway, contributing to the maintenance of neuronal and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells during CNS development. Therefore, Ddx20 and Olig2 are promising molecular targets for development of future therapeutic strategies.\n',1,27,'<li>Norihisa Bizen, Asim K. Bepari, Li Zhou, Manabu Abe, Kenji Sakimura, Katsuhiko Ono, Hirohide Takebayashi. <strong>Ddx20, an Olig2 binding factor, governs the survival of neural and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells via proper Mdm2 splicing and p53 suppression</strong>. <em>Cell Death &amp; Differentiation</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41418-021-00915-8\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41418-021-00915-8</a>\n</li>'),(1020,'Endless forms most beautiful: Why evolution favors symmetry','endless-forms-most-beautiful:-why-evolution-favors-symmetry','2022-03-14 17:32:42.101265',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">From sunflowers to starfish, symmetry appears everywhere in biology. This isn\'t just true for body plans -- the molecular machines keeping our cells alive are also strikingly symmetric. But why? Does evolution have a built-in preference for symmetry?</p><p>An international team of researchers believe so, and have combined ideas from biology, computer science and mathematics to explain why. As they report in<em> PNAS</em>, symmetric and other simple structures emerge so commonly because evolution has an overwhelming preference for simple \"algorithms\" -- that is, simple instruction sets or recipes for producing a given structure.</p><p>\"Imagine having to tell a friend how to tile a floor using as few words as possible,\" says Iain Johnston, a professor at the University of Bergen and author on the study. \"You wouldn\'t say: put diamonds here, long rectangles here, wide rectangles here. You\'d say something like: put square tiles everywhere. And that simple, easy recipe gives a highly symmetric outcome.\"</p><p>The team used computational modeling to explore how this preference comes about in biology. They showed that many more possible genomes describe simple algorithms than more complex ones. As evolution searches over possible genomes, simple algorithms are more likely to be discovered -- as are, in turn, the more symmetric structures that they produce. The scientists then connected this evolutionary picture to a deep result from the theoretical discipline of algorithmic information theory.</p><p>\"These intuitions can be formalized in the field of algorithmic information theory, which provides quantitative predictions for the bias towards descriptive simplicity,\" says Ard Louis, professor at the University of Oxford and corresponding author on the study.</p><p>The study\'s key theoretical idea can be illustrated by a twist on a famous thought experiment in evolutionary biology, which pictures a room full of monkeys trying to write a book by typing randomly on a keyboard. Imagine the monkeys are instead trying to write a recipe. Each is far more likely to randomly hit the letters required to spell out a short, simple recipe than a long, complicated one. If we then follow any recipes the monkeys have produced -- our metaphor for producing biological structures from genetic information -- we will produce simple outcomes much more often than complicated ones.</p><p>The scientists show that a wide range of biological structures and systems, from proteins to RNA and signaling networks, adopt algorithmically simple structures with probabilities as predicted by this theory. Going forward, they plan to investigate the predictions that their theory makes for biases in larger-scale developmental processes.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-14 17:32:42.101265','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The University of Bergen','An international team of researchers from biology, computer science and mathematics explains why evolution has a preference for symmetry.\n',1,27,'<li>Iain G. Johnston, Kamaludin Dingle, Sam F. Greenbury, Chico Q. Camargo, Jonathan P. K. Doye, Sebastian E. Ahnert, Ard A. Louis. <strong>Symmetry and simplicity spontaneously emerge from the algorithmic nature of evolution</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (11) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113883119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2113883119</a>\n</li>'),(1022,'Scientists create novel genetic model of Down syndrome in rats','scientists-create-novel-genetic-model-of-down-syndrome-in-rats','2022-03-14 18:31:09.501909',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">In pursuit of better ways to test new therapies and further explore the impacts of the unique genetics associated with Down syndrome, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Tottori University in Japan have genetically engineered and characterized what is believed to be the first rat model of Down syndrome.</p><p>A report of their research appeared Jan. 24 in <em>The American Journal of Human Genetics</em>.</p><p>Scientists have long sought ways to improve medical care for people with Down syndrome, especially those suffering the physical and mental challenges that are hallmarks of the condition. These include a higher risk of heart defects, gastrointestinal problems and difficulties with learning and memory.</p><p>\"Developing an animal model that shares these features with human Down Syndrome will allow us to test therapeutics more efficiently, with higher odds of developing ones that can work in people,\" says Roger H. Reeves, Ph.D., professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.</p><p>At its root, Down syndrome is an outcome of a so-called chromosomal \"trisomy,\" or tripling. A typical human cell has 23 pairs of chromosomes, which contain genetic instructions that govern its inner workings and how it interacts with the rest of the body. Down syndrome occurs when a person is born with an extra partial or entire copy of the 21st chromosome, a condition called trisomy 21. This extra chromosome\'s effects are expressed widely across the body and its impacts vary among individuals.</p><p>Rats do not -- as humans do -- randomly produce offspring with extra 21st chromosomes, so the researchers set out to accomplish a complicated feat of genetic engineering to generate rats with an additional 21st chromosome.</p><p>The process included transferring the 21st chromosome from human white blood cells to mouse cells, then to chicken cells, then hamster cells and, finally, into a rat embryo.</p><p>At each transfer, the researchers made different genetic modifications, including the addition of a green glowing protein, which under ultraviolet light identified rats with extra 21st chromosomes.</p><p>Reeves and his team then assessed the genetically engineered rats\' cognition and physical characteristics for traits associated with an extra 21st chromosome.</p><p>To test the rats\' learning and memory, for example, the researchers conducted standardized maze tests with the genetically engineered rats.</p><p>Rats with an extra 21st chromosome took longer to solve the maze than genetically typical rats. They also had a harder time remembering the maze\'s solution when challenged to solve the same puzzle over four consecutive days.</p><p>Other cognitive tests reflected that, overall, the rats with an extra 21st chromosome were more anxious and hyperactive than rats without the extra chromosome. These results are consistent with assessments in people with Down syndrome, who report having higher rates of anxiety, attention disorders and learning and memory impairments.</p><p>In anatomical studies, the researchers also found that a brain structure called the cerebellum was significantly smaller in rats with an extra 21st chromosome. The cerebellum is central to the body\'s core functions, including message processing across the brain, and is much smaller in people with Down syndrome.</p><p>\"There is already progress in developing pharmaceuticals that help the cerebellum grow in mice,\" says Reeves. \"If we eventually translate that into medicines for humans, we may be able to help people with Down syndrome improve their learning and memory skills.\"</p><p>The distinct facial differences in people with Down syndrome -- such as flatter faces, almond-shaped eyes and smaller heads -- were also present in the rats. While people cannot look at a rat and determine whether its face looks different from a typical rodent, a computer program can measure the differences. The skulls were scanned in a CT machine and the data added to a computer modeling program, which revealed that the rats had shortened snouts. The bones making up these features in the rat skull correspond to those in human skulls that make up the characteristic facial \"flattening\" in people with Down syndrome.</p><p>Finally, 17% of the rats with an extra 21st chromosome had an abnormality of heart ventricles that is similar to one diagnosed in up to 21% of children with Down syndrome.</p><p>The model will be distributed to researchers through the NIH-supported Rat Resource and Research Center at the University of Missouri and the National BioResource Project for the Rat in Japan. Other researchers involved in this study include Yasuhiro Kazuki, Miho Yamakawa, Kanako Kazuki, Naoyo Kajitani, Moeka Koshima, Masaharu Hiratsuka, Hiroshi Kuniishi, Satoshi Ichisaka, Yoshio Hata, Yuji Nakayama and Yuich Iida of Tottori University, Yonago, Japan; Masumi Hirabayashi, Hiromasa Hara and Makoto Sanbo of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan; Haruka Takayama, Satoshi Abe, and Shoko Takehara of Trans Chromosomics, Inc., Tottori, Japan; Feng Gao, Yicong Li, Bei Cheng and Anna Moyer of Johns Hopkins; Satoko Matsukura and Naohiro Noda of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan; Sachiko Miyagawa-Tomita of the Yamazaki University of Animal Health Technology, Tokyo, Japan, and the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Nandini Singh of the California State University; Joan Richtsmeier of Penn State University; and Mitsuo Oshimura of Tottori University, Yonago, Japan, and Trans Chromosomics, Inc., Tottori, Japan.</p><p>The work was supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency CREST, the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, the Mitsubishi Foundation and the National Institutes of Health\'s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD038384, R21HD098540).</p>','2022-03-14 18:31:09.501909','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins Medicine','In pursuit of better ways to test new therapies and further explore the impacts of the unique genetics associated with Down syndrome, researchers have genetically engineered and characterized what is believed to be the first rat model of Down syndrome.\n',1,27,'<li>Yasuhiro Kazuki, Feng J. Gao, Miho Yamakawa, Masumi Hirabayashi, Kanako Kazuki, Naoyo Kajitani, Sachiko Miyagawa-Tomita, Satoshi Abe, Makoto Sanbo, Hiromasa Hara, Hiroshi Kuniishi, Satoshi Ichisaka, Yoshio Hata, Moeka Koshima, Haruka Takayama, Shoko Takehara, Yuji Nakayama, Masaharu Hiratsuka, Yuichi Iida, Satoko Matsukura, Naohiro Noda, Yicong Li, Anna J. Moyer, Bei Cheng, Nandini Singh, Joan T. Richtsmeier, Mitsuo Oshimura, Roger H. Reeves. <strong>A transchromosomic rat model with human chromosome 21 shows robust Down syndrome features</strong>. <em>The American Journal of Human Genetics</em>, 2022; 109 (2): 328 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.12.015\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.12.015</a>\n</li>'),(1023,'Ice sheet retreat and forest expansion turned ancient subtropical drylands into oases','ice-sheet-retreat-and-forest-expansion-turned-ancient-subtropical-drylands-into-oases','2022-03-14 18:31:14.211179',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As human-caused greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise beyond limits for what our species has experienced, researchers are looking to a mystery in the past to answer questions about what may lay ahead.</p><p>This work, published today in <em>Nature Communications</em> by an international team of scientists, is part of a project called the 2<sup>nd</sup> Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project, or PlioMIP2.</p><p>The team focused on the climate of the Pliocene, over 3 million years ago, the last time Earth has seen concentrations of over 400 PPM CO<sub>2 </sub>in the atmosphere, similar to today\'s concentrations. The Pliocene prompts a long-standing question, says UConn Department of Geosciences researcher and lead author Ran Feng: despite the similarity to the present-day, why were dry areas like the Sahel in Africa and Northern China much wetter and greener in the Pliocene than they are today?</p><p>The Pliocene was warmer than present-day conditions by 2 to 3°C, and everything we know about the physics of the climate system suggests the Pliocene should have been drier in the subtropics, says co-author Tripti Bhattacharya, Thonis Family Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Syracuse University.</p><p>\"Our paper was motivated by a desire to understand this apparent discrepancy and see whether there are processes that can account for wetter Pliocene subtropics,\" Bhattacharya says.</p><p>The answer, the researchers found, is more complex than simply looking at CO<sub>2</sub>.</p><p>Evidence from the geologic record -- which includes a wide variety of sedimentary and paleobotanical indicators of past climate -- show that the Sahel and subtropical Eurasian regions were once home to lusher landscapes with drastically different hydroclimates. Along with proxy data, the team utilized a suite of the latest state-of-the-art model simulations to identify the factors responsible for subtropical rainfall changes in the Pliocene.</p><p>Previous studies suggest the only explanation for the Pliocene discrepancy was that there must be some mechanism unaccounted for in models to explain the Pliocene. However, to their surprise, the researchers found that current generation models perform well at simulating wet conditions on Pliocene subtropical continents.</p><p>\"We discovered the hydroclimate in the dry areas like the Sahel and subtropical East Asia get much wetter when we prescribed vegetation and ice sheet changes in the Pliocene simulations,\" says Feng.</p><p>Feng explains this work is providing a new perspective when studying hydrological cycle responses to CO<sub>2</sub> changes: long-term changes in terrestrial conditions like the shifting range of the biomes and the ice sheets are important.</p><p>\"Continental greening and ice sheet retreat have profound impacts on the surface temperature through lowering the surface albedo -- the ability of the Earth\'s surface to reflect sunlight back to space -- and a profound effect on the hydrological cycle through allowing for greater evaporation and altering paths of moisture transport. In the long run, there\'s much bigger change in hydrological cycle, compared to what we are anticipating today,\" says Feng. \"Currently, few of these changes is considered when predicting climate conditions for the next 10 years, or next 50 years.\"</p><p>This is cause for concern, says Feng, because changes in the Earth system\'s hydrological cycle will mean places already receiving excessive amounts of summer rainfall such as Southeastern Asia, Northern India, and West Africa, are going to see even more summer rainfall as continental greening increases and the ice sheets continue to recede.</p><p>Additionally, this work redefines the way we see the Pliocene climate, says Bhattacharya. \"The other nice takeaway is that the Pliocene does not really challenge our fundamental understanding of the physics of climate. Our study suggests that we do not need exotic physical mechanisms to explain the Pliocene. Rather, we can explain regional patterns of change in aridity by including earth system feedbacks in models and considering the relationship between earth system sensitivity and rainfall changes. This ultimately increases our confidence that models do a good job at simulating the past and can be trusted to provide reliable projections of future climate.\"</p><p>Feng says that when thinking about the long-term health of our planet, we must regard the whole planet as a system, and look at these long-term responses and their wide-ranging impacts.</p><p>\"For us as a species, we need to have long-term plans, beyond the next several decades. By looking back to past climates and learning what the world was like, we can better prepare for the future of our society.\"</p>','2022-03-14 18:31:14.211179','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Connecticut','Researchers focused on the climate of the Pliocene, over 3 million years ago, the last time Earth has seen concentrations of over 400 PPM CO2 in the atmosphere, similar to today\'s concentrations. The Pliocene prompts a long-standing question: despite the similarity to the present-day, why were dry areas like the Sahel in Africa and Northern China much wetter and greener in the Pliocene than they are today?\n',1,27,'<li>Ran Feng, Tripti Bhattacharya, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Esther C. Brady, Alan M. Haywood, Julia C. Tindall, Stephen J. Hunter, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Wing-Le Chan, Masa Kageyama, Camille Contoux, Chuncheng Guo, Xiangyu Li, Gerrit Lohmann, Christian Stepanek, Ning Tan, Qiong Zhang, Zhongshi Zhang, Zixuan Han, Charles J. R. Williams, Daniel J. Lunt, Harry J. Dowsett, Deepak Chandan, W. Richard Peltier. <strong>Past terrestrial hydroclimate sensitivity controlled by Earth system feedbacks</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28814-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-28814-7</a>\n</li>'),(1025,'Researchers discover new species in critically imperiled ecosystem','researchers-discover-new-species-in-critically-imperiled-ecosystem','2022-03-14 18:31:17.185698',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers working in one of the world\'s most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems have discovered a new plant species, <em>Castela senticosa</em>, which they recommend be designated as endangered. The plant, which grows as a small bush sheathed in an imposing layer of spines, was found during a survey to catalog the flora of the Martín García mountain range in the Dominican Republic.</p><p>\"We were collecting everything we came across with the goal of having a complete species list for the entire mountain range,\" said lead author Lucas Majure, an assistant curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History and curator of the University of Florida Herbarium.</p><p>Hispaniola\'s mountains support large swaths of intact tropical dry forests, highly diverse ecosystems that -- like the rainforests they border -- are globally imperiled due to the combined effects of deforestation, overharvesting and climate change. But although they face the same threats, the destruction of a tropical dry forest might mean the loss of considerably more species. That\'s because rainforests are often found in lowland basins, where conditions like rainfall, temperature and soil type are similar over large areas. While species diversity is high, many rainforest plants can have distributions that span hundreds of miles.</p><p>Dry forests can be just as diverse, but their plants tend to be geographically restricted; up to 73% of plant species of dry forests in the American tropics are endemic to a particular region. Plants growing on Caribbean islands, which have been separated from continental landmasses for more than 50 million years, have an extra layer of isolation built in. As a result, much of the Caribbean flora can be found nowhere else on Earth.</p><p>\"The overall diversity is amazing,\" Majure said. \"If you go across Hispaniola, Cuba and Jamaica, there are quite a few plant groups that make these forests incredible places to work.\"</p><p>Along the slopes of the Sierra Martín García alone, Majure and other researchers from the U.S. and Dominican Republic identified more than 700 plant species during their survey. But when Majure and Teodoro Clase of the Dominican Republic\'s National Botanical Garden stumbled across a non-descript shrub halfway up the mountain, both botanists were stumped. The plant was largely a tangle of thorns, with few leaves and no flowers or fruits, which left little in the way of identifying characteristics. They carefully collected and pressed one of the branches, which Majure took with him back to the Florida Museum for further study.</p><p>After returning from the field, Majure set to work determining the identity of the plant. After documenting the diversity of Caribbean plants for almost a decade, he had a good reference frame for what the species wasn\'t. But finding a positive match would require some careful sleuthing. \"This sat around for a while and just bothered me to no end because I couldn\'t figure it out,\" he said.</p><p>He found a strong candidate while sifting through the digital records of plant specimens stored at the New York Botanical Garden. There, tucked away among more than 7 million preserved plants, was a small, severed branch with a profusion of pale-green thorns. The specimen had been collected in northwestern Haiti in 1929 by Smithsonian botanist E. C. Leonard and later identified as <em>Castela depressa</em>, a species endemic to Hispaniola and related to the highly invasive tree of heaven that\'s spread across much of North America. It seemed Majure had found a match.</p><p>To confirm the identification, he extracted DNA from both the old and new collection, along with related species, finding that the nearly century-old plant was indeed the match he\'d been looking for. But it wasn\'t <em>Castela depressa</em> or anything else that had ever been collected.</p><p>Instead, Majure had discovered something entirely new. Given that it had only ever been collected twice, it was likely also something incredibly rare. But to officially name a new species, he would need to find another specimen that had both flowers and fruit, which would allow him to paint a complete picture of what the plant looked like.</p><p>So Majure went back to the Dominican Republic with one of his Ph.D. students, Yuley Piñeyro, to hunt for the elusive plant. When they hiked out into Hispaniola\'s dry tropical forests in late spring, however, the climate was living up to its name. \"It was incredibly dry, and I thought there was no way we were going to find this thing in flower,\" Majure said.</p><p>But after hiking to about mid-elevation, Piñeyro spotted a flash of red against the backdrop of dull-green vegetation, which upon closer inspection turned out to be the exact plant they were looking for. One of the only things in full bloom that early in the year, the plant had small, white to cream-colored flowers and crimson, scythe-shaped fruit resembling miniature peppers.</p><p>\"Most other species in these forests have totally lost their leaves during the dry season, but it appears the strategy of this <em>Castela</em> is to flower and fruit while everything else is dormant. That way, it\'s fully exposed to pollinators and dispersers,\" Majure said.</p><p>It\'s unclear what pollinates the plant\'s flowers or eats its fruit, but Majure thinks its natural history might provide a clue. <em>Castela senticosa</em> likely originated on the island, but it\'s closely related to species native to the Sonoran Desert in western North America. Since the seeds are too large to be dispersed by winds, they must have been transported long-distance.</p><p>\"We think that birds are the primary dispersal agents here, but we don\'t actually have any good hypotheses about what birds might have been dispersing something all the way from the Sonoran Desert to the Caribbean,\" he said. \"It\'s still a bit of an enigma.\"</p><p><em>Castela senticosa</em> isn\'t the first, nor will it be the last new species Majure and Clase describe from Hispaniola\'s dry forests. The pair recently collaborated on naming a new plant with leaves as small as Aspirin pills, and there are more waiting to be described, Clase said.</p><p>\"There are several very rare and endemic species that grow in Hispaniola\'s dry forests that make them important targets for conservation, and future studies will reveal even more discoveries,\" he said.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-14 18:31:17.185698','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Florida Museum of Natural History','Researchers working in one of the world\'s most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems have discovered a new plant species, Castela senticosa, which they recommend be designated as endangered. The plant, which grows as a small bush sheathed in an imposing layer of spines, was found during a survey to catalog the flora of the Martín García mountain range in the Dominican Republic.\n',1,27,'<li>Lucas C. Majure, Kasey Pham, Teodoro Clase. <strong>Castela senticosa (Simaroubaceae: Sapindales), a New Species from the Caribbean Clade Endemic to Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest on Hispaniola</strong>. <em>Systematic Botany</em>, 2021; 46 (4): 1033 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1600/036364421X16370109698560\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1600/036364421X16370109698560</a>\n</li>'),(1027,'Greenland ice sheet may halve in volume by year 3000','greenland-ice-sheet-may-halve-in-volume-by-year-3000','2022-03-14 18:31:19.241075',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">As a result of global warming in the 21st century, the Greenland ice sheet may contribute several metres to sea-level rise in the centuries to come; however, effective climate change mitigation measures will greatly reduce its decay.</p><p>One of the many effects of global warming is sea-level rise, to which the melting and retreat of the Earth\'s ice sheets and glaciers is a major contributor. As the sea level rises, large areas of densely populated coastal land could ultimately become uninhabitable without extensive coastal modification. Hence it is vital to understand the impact of different pathways of future climate change on changes in sea level caused by ice sheets and glaciers.</p><p>Professor Ralf Greve and Dr. Christopher Chambers at the Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, simulated the evolution of the Greenland ice sheet until the year 3000 to investigate the long-term impacts of 21st-century warming. Their predictions were published in the <em>Journal of Glaciology</em>.</p><p>The Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (ISMIP6) was a major international effort that used the latest generation of models to estimate the impact of global warming on the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. The objective was to provide input for the recently published Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC (<a href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/\">https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/</a>). Based on their contribution to ISMIP6, the research team examined the long-term perspective for the Greenland ice sheet beyond the 21st century under global-warming conditions.</p><p>Greve and Chambers used the ice sheet model SICOPOLIS to carry out future projections for each of the twelve ISMIP6 experiments for the unabated warming pathway and the two experiments for the reduced emissions pathway, extending the time period to the year 3000. The set-up until the year 2100 was the same as for the original ISMIP6 experiments. After 2100, the climate was assumed to remain the same as at the end of the 21st century, without considering further warming trends.</p><p>An unequivocal distinction between the responses to the unabated warming and reduced emissions pathways arises. By the year 3000, the unabated warming pathway causes ice loss of 0.71 to 3.54 meters sea-level equivalent (SLE), while for the reduced emissions pathway the loss is only 0.16 to 0.4 meters SLE. These numbers are much larger than for the 21st century. The melting and retreat of the Greenland ice sheet occurs in all regions from the far north to the south, and it evolves gradually over time. Even though the loss can be as large as 50% of the entire ice volume, it does not develop as a sudden instability.</p><p>This study demonstrates clearly that the impact of 21st-century climate change on the Greenland ice sheet extends well beyond the 21st century itself, and the most severe consequences -- possibly a multi-meter contribution to sea-level rise -- will likely only be seen later in the millennium.</p><p>For this study, only a single ice-sheet model (SICOPOLIS) was used, and the results were obtained under the simplifying assumption of the constant late-21st-century climate. In the future, the ISMIP6 community will conduct simulations with more realistic future climate scenarios beyond 2100, encompassing the full range from an ongoing, extended warming to a reduction below 21st-century extremes. Other working groups will contribute results obtained with different ice-sheet models. This will provide a more complete picture of expected long-term mass loss of the Earth\'s ice sheets.</p>','2022-03-14 18:31:19.241075','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Hokkaido University','As a result of global warming in the 21st century, the Greenland ice sheet may contribute several meters to sea-level rise in the centuries to come; however, effective climate change mitigation measures will greatly reduce its decay.\n',1,27,'<li>Ralf Greve, Christopher Chambers. <strong>Mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet until the year 3000 under a sustained late-21st-century climate</strong>. <em>Journal of Glaciology</em>, 2022; 1 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.9\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1017/jog.2022.9</a>\n</li>'),(1029,'Weight loss doesn\'t help pregnancy chances, study finds','weight-loss-doesn\'t-help-pregnancy-chances,-study-finds','2022-03-14 18:31:39.440423',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Women who are obese and struggling to become pregnant are often advised to lose weight, but a new study finds no fertility benefits from weight loss.</p><p>A randomized study of 379 women with obesity and unexplained infertility found that intensive lifestyle changes that shed pounds led to no better chances of pregnancy and healthy births than simply increasing physical activity without weight loss.</p><p>\"We have known for decades that obese women often have difficulty getting pregnant,\" said researcher Daniel J. Haisenleder, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine\'s Center for Research in Reproduction. \"For this reason, many physicians advise weight loss prior to conception. However, there are few studies that have addressed the issue comparing a healthy lifestyle -- i.e., exercise -- vs. exercise plus weight loss.\"</p><p><strong>Obesity and Pregnancy</strong></p><p>The FIT-PLESE study, conducted at nine academic medical centers across the country, divided participants into two groups: Half the women dieted intensely using meal replacements, medications and increased physical activity. The other half simply increased their physical activity without trying to lose weight. After completing the programs, both groups received three rounds of standard infertility treatments.</p><p>Women in the weight-loss program ended up losing, on average, 7% of their body weight, while participants in the exercise-only group typically maintained their weights. But, in the end, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the frequency of healthy births. In total, 23 of the 188 women who completed the 16-week intensive weight-loss program ended up giving birth; among the 191 who completed the exercise-only program, 29 gave birth.</p><p>The intensive dieting program did offer health benefits for the women who completed it, however. In addition to dropping pounds, they saw a major decrease in metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increase the risk for serious health problems such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease.</p><p>Based on their findings, Haisenleder and his collaborators conclude that the weight-loss program did not make women more fertile or improve birth outcomes compared with simply exercising. They note the health benefits of weight loss may not translate into better odds of getting pregnant.</p><p>\"Weight loss improved metabolic health in these subjects. Unfortunately the changes seen did not improve fertility,\" Haisenleder said. \"Infertility within this population remains an important health issue, and will require further studies to address the problem in the future.\"</p><p>Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health\'s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, grants U10 HD38992, U10 HD077680, U10 HD39005, U10 HD077844, U10HD055925, U10 HD27049, U54-HD29834 and R24-HD102061. The project also was supported by the NIH\'s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, grants UL1 TR002014 and UL1 TR001863. Nutrisystem provided discounted coupons, and Fitbit provided discounted Fitbits for activity monitoring.</p>','2022-03-14 18:31:39.440423','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Virginia Health System','Women who are obese and struggling to become pregnant are often advised to lose weight, but a new study finds no fertility benefits from weight loss.\n',1,27,'<li>Richard S. Legro, Karl R. Hansen, Michael P. Diamond, Anne Z. Steiner, Christos Coutifaris, Marcelle I. Cedars, Kathleen M. Hoeger, Rebecca Usadi, Erica B. Johnstone, Daniel J. Haisenleder, Robert A. Wild, Kurt T. Barnhart, Jennifer Mersereau, J. C. Trussell, Stephen A. Krawetz, Penny M. Kris-Etherton, David B. Sarwer, Nanette Santoro, Esther Eisenberg, Hao Huang, Heping Zhang. <strong>Effects of preconception lifestyle intervention in infertile women with obesity: The FIT-PLESE randomized controlled trial</strong>. <em>PLOS Medicine</em>, 2022; 19 (1): e1003883 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003883\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1371/journal.pmed.1003883</a>\n</li>'),(1030,'Permafrost peatlands approaching tipping point','permafrost-peatlands-approaching-tipping-point','2022-03-14 19:41:48.078353',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Researchers warn that permafrost peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia are much closer to a climatic tipping point than previous believed.</p><p>The frozen peatlands in these areas store up to 39 billion tons of carbon -- the equivalent to twice that stored in the whole of European forests.</p><p>A new study, led by the University of Leeds, used the latest generation of climate models to examine possible future climates of these regions and the likely impact on their permafrost peatlands.</p><p>The projections indicate that even with the strongest efforts to reduce global carbon emissions, and therefore limit global warming, by 2040 the climates of Northern Europe will no longer be cold and dry enough to sustain peat permafrost.</p><p>However, strong action to reduce emissions could help preserve suitable climates for permafrost peatlands in northern parts of Western Siberia, a landscape containing 13.9 billion tonnes of peat carbon.</p><p>The study, published in <em>Nature Climate Change</em>, emphasises the importance of socio-economic policies aimed at reducing emissions and mitigating climate change and their role in determining the rate and extent of permafrost peatland thaw.</p><p>Study lead author, Richard Fewster is a PhD researcher in the School of Geography at Leeds. He said: \"We examined a range of future emission trajectories. This included strong climate-change mitigation scenario, which would see large-scale efforts to curb emissions across sectors, to no-mitigations scenarios and worse-case scenarios.</p><p>\"Our modelling shows that these fragile ecosystems are on a precipice and even moderate mitigation leads to the widespread loss of suitable climates for peat permafrost by the end of the century.</p><p>\"But that doesn\'t mean we should throw in the towel. The rate and extent to which suitable climate are lost could be limited, and even partially reversed, by strong climate-change mitigation policies.\"</p><p>Study co-author Dr Paul Morris, Associate Professor of Biogeoscience at Leeds, Said: \"Huge stocks of peat carbon have been protected for millennia by frozen conditions but once those conditions become unsuitable all that stored carbon can be lost very quickly.</p><p>\"The magnitude of twenty-first century climate change is likely to overwhelm any protection the insulating properties of peat soils could provide.\"</p><p>The large quantities of carbon stored in peatland permafrost soils are particularly threatened by rapid twenty-first-century climate change. When permafrost thaws the organic matter starts to decompose, releasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which increase global temperatures and potentially accelerate global climate change.</p><p>Study co-author Dr Ruza Ivanovic, Associate Professor in Climatology at Leeds said: \"Peatland permafrost responds differently to changing climates than mineral-soil permafrost due to the insulating properties of organic soils, but peatlands remain poorly represented in Earth system models.</p><p>\"It is vitally important these ecosystems are understood and accounted for when considering the impact of climate change on the planet.\"</p><p>Study co-author Dr Chris Smith, from the School of Earth and Environment, said: \"More work is needed to further understanding of these fragile ecosystems.</p><p>\"Remote sensing and field campaigns can help improve maps of modern peat permafrost distribution in regions where observation data is lacking. This would enable future modelling studies to make hemispheric-scale projections.\"</p>','2022-03-14 19:41:48.078353','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Leeds','Researchers warn that permafrost peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia are much closer to a climatic tipping point than previous believed. The frozen peatlands in these areas store up to 39 billion tons of carbon -- the equivalent to twice that stored in the whole of European forests.\n',1,27,'<li>Fewster, R.E., Morris, P.J., Ivanovic, R.F. et al. <strong>Imminent loss of climate space for permafrost peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia</strong>. <em>Nat. Clim. Chang.</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01296-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41558-022-01296-7</a>\n</li>'),(1031,'New hope for treatment of infant cancer that has puzzled researchers for decades','new-hope-for-treatment-of-infant-cancer-that-has-puzzled-researchers-for-decades','2022-03-14 19:41:49.981772',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research has begun to unravel the mystery of why a particular form of leukaemia in infants has defied efforts to improve outcomes, despite significant improvements in treating older children. Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Newcastle University and their collaborators found subtle differences in the cell type that causes B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) that may help to explain why some cases are more severe than others.</p><p>The study, published today (14 March 2022) in <em>Nature Medicine</em>, focused on the majority of infant B-ALL cases caused by changes to the KMT2A gene. The findings provide a number of promising drug targets, raising hopes that effective treatments for infant B-ALL may be developed in the future.</p><p>Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) can take various forms, depending on the cell type involved. These cancers occur when cells malfunction as they develop from haematopoietic stem cells to mature blood cells. In the case of B-ALL, disease arises from a type of immune cell called B lymphocytes, more commonly known as B cells.</p><p>B-ALL in children was once a universally fatal disease that is now curable in the majority of cases<sup>1</sup>. An exception is B-ALL in children below one year of age, where treatment is successful in less than 50 per cent of cases, with no significant improvement in the last two decades. Treatments that are proven in tackling other forms of leukaemia, such as bone marrow transplants, have proved ineffective against infant B-ALL. It is currently treated with strong chemotherapy, which can be hard for the patient to endure even if they are cured.</p><p>In this paper, researchers set out to study KMT2A-rearranged infant B-ALL by comparing cancer cells to normal human blood cells. Gene expression data from 1,665 childhood leukaemia cases was referenced against single-cell mRNA data from around 60,000 normal fetal bone marrow cells<sup>2</sup>.</p><p>Analysis found that infant B-ALL exhibited distinct cellular signals with a notable contribution from early lymphocyte precursors (ELPs)<sup>3</sup>, an immature immune cell type that normally develops into B cells.</p><p>Dr Laura Jardine, a first author of the study from Newcastle University, said: \"Leukaemias are usually classified by the cell type involved, and in the case of B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) we talk about B cell progenitors. But our analysis of this disease has shown that this is actually an early lymphocyte precursor leukaemia.\"</p><p>As well as being able to distinguish ELP cells from other types of B cell, the researchers found that the closer an ELP cell was to becoming a mature B cell, the better the outcome for the patient.</p><p>Dr Jack Bartram, a senior author of the study from Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: \"As part of this study, we think that we have unpicked why B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) is more responsive to treatment in some children, but why it\'s not so successful for infants. Cancers with more \'mature\' early lymphocyte precursors (ELPs) have characteristics that seem to respond better to treatment. These more mature cells are more common in B-ALL in older children but sadly not for our younger patients, meaning the treatment is less effective. The challenge now is to develop our understanding and confirm these suspicions so that we can improve treatments for all patients.\"</p><p>To further investigate the molecular landscape of KMT2A-rearranged infant B-ALL, researchers compared gene expression profiles of the cancer to that of normal ELP cells. Unlike normal ELP cells, those involved in cancer had molecular features of different cell types, suggesting a malfunction in the normal process of differentiation. Multiple biological pathways and markers were identified in these hybrid ELP cells that could make promising targets for new therapies.</p><p>Dr Sam Behjati, a senior author of the study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: \"Though it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about why B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) has much poorer outcomes in infants than in older children, this study offers compelling evidence that the maturity of the cells involved is a key factor. As well as generating new drug targets, these data will allow us to observe how the \'cell type\' of certain cancers corresponds to patient outcomes, allowing us to better assess disease severity and determine the best course of treatment.\"</p>','2022-03-14 19:41:49.981772','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute','New research has begun to unravel the mystery of why a particular form of leukaemia in infants has defied efforts to improve outcomes, despite significant improvements in treating older children. Scientists have now found subtle differences in the cell type that causes B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) that may help to explain why some cases are more severe than others.\n',1,27,'<li>Eleonora Khabirova and Laura Jardine et al. <strong>Single cell mRNA signals reveal a distinct developmental state of KMT2A-rearranged infant B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia</strong>. <em>Nature Medicine</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01720-7\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41591-022-01720-7</a>\n</li>'),(1032,'Precipitation trends determine how often droughts and heat waves will occur together','precipitation-trends-determine-how-often-droughts-and-heat-waves-will-occur-together','2022-03-14 19:41:52.747449',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The fact that global warming will increase temperatures over land masses, increasing the frequency of droughts and heat waves, is a certainty -- as is the fact that climate change will alter the average amount of precipitation on land. However, it has remained unclear until now under what conditions both extreme events will occur together, known as \'compound hot-dry-events\'. The UFZ researchers have defined these events as summers in which the average temperature was higher than in 90 percent of the summers between 1950 and 1980, and precipitation was simultaneously lower than in 90 percent of those years. </p><p>\"In the past, periods of drought and heat waves were often considered separately; there is, however, a strong correlation between the two events, which can be seen in the extremes experienced in 2003 and 2018 in Europe. The negative consequences of these compound extremes are often greater than with one single extreme,\" says UFZ climate researcher Dr Jakob Zscheischler, last author of the study. Until now, however, it was not known what the future simultaneous occurrence of these extremes depends on -- the uncertainties in the occurrences estimated via routinely used climate model simulations were too large to arrive at robust pronouncements.</p><p>The researchers have now used a novel model ensemble, comprising seven climate models, to reduce and better understand these uncertainties. Each model simulation was carried out up to 100 times in order to account for natural climate variability. They examined the historical period between 1950 and 1980, comparing the results with those of a potential future climate that is two degrees warmer than preindustrial conditions. \"The advantage of these multiple simulations is that we have a much larger volume of data than with conventional model ensembles, enabling us to better estimate compound extremes,\" explains Dr Emanuele Bevacqua, first author and climate researcher at the UFZ. The researchers were able to confirm the previous assumption that the average frequency of compound hot-dry events will increase with global warming: while the frequency lay at 3 percent between 1950 and 1980, which statistically is an occurrence every 33 years, in a climate that is two degrees warmer, this figure will be around 12 percent. This would be a fourfold increase compared to the historical period studied.</p><p>The climate researchers were also able to determine from the simulations that the frequency of compound hot-dry events in the future will be determined not by temperature trends, but by precipitation trends. The reason for this is that, even with a moderate warming of two degrees, local temperature increase will be so great that in the future, every drought anywhere in the world will be accompanied by a heat wave, regardless of the exact number of degrees by which the temperature increases locally. The uncertainty in the warming leads to an uncertainty in the prediction of compound hot-dry event frequencies of only 1.5 percent. This discounts temperature as a decisive factor for uncertainty. For precipitation, however, the researchers calculated an uncertainty of up to 48 percent. \"This demonstrates that local precipitation trends determine whether periods of drought and heat waves will occur simultaneously,\" explains Emanuele Bevacqua. For Central Europe, for example, this implies that in the case of a \'wet storyline\' with increasing precipitation, concurrent droughts and heat waves will occur on average every ten years, whereas in the case of a \'dry storyline\' with decreasing precipitation, they will occur at least every four years. For Central North America, these events would be expected every nine years (\'wet storyline\') and six years (\'dry storyline\'). These regional storylines for precipitation trends can be used as a basis for decisions on adaptation, for example to evaluate best and worst case-scenarios.</p><p>However, even if we know that precipitation trends are decisive for the occurrence of concurrent droughts and heat waves, it is still difficult to predict them any more reliably: \"Climate change may shift the distribution of precipitation in certain regions. The pattern of precipitation depends on atmospheric circulation, which determines regional weather dynamics through numerous interactions over large parts of the globe,\" says Emanuele Bevacqua. Since the dynamic of many of these processes is not yet fully understood, it is difficult to reduce these uncertainties any further.</p><p>This finding -- that a trend in one variable determines the future occurrence of two simultaneous extreme events with a global temperature increase of two degrees -- may also be used for other compound extremes. For example, it can be applied to the interaction of tropical storms and heat waves, or of marine heat waves and acidity extremes in the oceans. \"In these cases, it is the trend in storm frequency or ocean acidification, respectively, that is the deciding factor which determines the concurrence rates of the two extreme events in the future,\" says Jakob Zscheischler.</p>','2022-03-14 19:41:52.747449','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ','Prolonged droughts and heat waves have negative consequences both for people and the environment. If both of these extreme events occur at the same time, the impacts, in the form of wild fires, tree mortality or crop losses -- to name a few examples -- can be even more severe. Climate researchers have now discovered that, assuming a global temperature increase of two degrees in the course of global warming, the future frequency of these simultaneously occurring extreme events is primarily determined by local precipitation trends. Understanding this is important, since it enables us to improve our risk adaptation to climate change and our assessment of its consequences, according to the researchers.\n',1,27,'<li>Emanuele Bevacqua, Giuseppe Zappa, Flavio Lehner, and Jakob Zscheischler. <strong>Precipitation trends determine future occurrences of compound hot-dry events</strong>. <em>Nature Climate Change</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01309-5\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41558-022-01309-5</a>\n</li>'),(1033,'Laser flashes for cancer research','laser-flashes-for-cancer-research','2022-03-14 19:41:54.781578',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Irradiation with fast protons is a more effective and less invasive cancer treatment than X-rays. However, modern proton therapy requires large particle accelerators, which has experts investigating alternative accelerator concepts, such as laser systems to accelerate protons. Such systems are deployed in preclinical studies to pave the way for optimal radiation therapy. A research team led by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has now successfully tested irradiation with laser protons on animals for the first time, as the group reports in the journal <em>Nature Physics</em>.</p><p>Radiation therapy is one of the main cancer treatment methods. It usually leverages strong, focused X-ray light. Protons -- the nuclei of hydrogen atoms -- accelerated to high energies and bundled into small, precisely targetable bunches are an alternative. They can penetrate deep into the tissue where they deposit most of their energy in the tumor, destroying the cancer while leaving the surrounding tissue largely intact. This makes the method both more effective and less invasive than X-ray therapy. \"The method is particularly suitable for irradiating tumors at the base of the skull, in the brain, and in the central nervous system,\" explains HZDR researcher Dr. Elke Beyreuther. \"It is also used in pediatric cancer patients to reduce possible long-term effects.\"</p><p>However, the method is significantly more complex than X-ray therapy as it requires elaborate accelerator facilities to generate the fast protons and transport them to the patient. This is why there are only a few proton therapy centers in Germany, including one at Dresden University Hospital. Currently, experts are working to steadily improve the method and adapt it to patients. Laser-based proton accelerators could make a decisive contribution here.</p><p><strong>Customized laser flashes</strong></p><p>\"The approach is based on a high-power laser to generate strong and extremely short light pulses, which are fired at a thin plastic or metal foil,\" explains HZDR physicist Dr. Florian Kroll. The intensity of these flashes knocks swathes of electrons out of the foil, creating a strong electric field that can bundle protons into pulses and accelerate them to high energies. Fascinatingly, the scale of this process is miniscule: The acceleration path is merely a few micrometers long.</p><p>\"We have been working on the project for 15 years, but so far, the protons hadn\'t picked up enough energy for irradiation,\" Beyreuther reports. \"Also, the pulse intensity was too variable, so we couldn\'t make sure we were delivering the right dose.\" But over the past few years, scientists finally achieved crucial improvements, in particular thanks to a better understanding of the interaction between the laser flashes and the foil. \"Above all, the precise shape of the laser flashes is particularly important,\" Kroll explains. \"We can now tailor them to create proton pulses that have sufficient energy and are also stable enough.\"</p><p><strong>New research requirements</strong></p><p>Finally, the parameters had been optimized to the point that the HZDR team was able to launch a crucial series of experiments: the first-ever, controlled irradiation of tumors in mice with laser-accelerated protons. The experiments were carried out in cooperation with experts from Dresden University Hospital at the OncoRay -- National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology and benchmarked with comparative experiments at the conventional proton therapy facility. \"We found that our laser-driven proton source can generate biologically valuable data,\" Kroll reports. \"This sets the stage for further studies that will allow us to test and optimize our method.\"</p><p>Another special feature of laser-accelerated proton pulses is their enormous intensity. While in conventional proton therapy, the radiation dose is administered in a span of a few minutes, the laser-based process could occur within a millionth of a second. \"There are indications that such a rapid dose administration helps spare the healthy surrounding tissue even better than before,\" explains Elke Beyreuther. \"We want to follow up on these indications with our experimental setup and conduct preclinical studies to investigate when and how this rapid irradiation method should be used to gain an advantage in cancer therapy.\"</p>','2022-03-14 19:41:54.781578','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf','Irradiation with fast protons is a more effective and less invasive cancer treatment than X-rays. However, modern proton therapy requires large particle accelerators, which has experts investigating alternative accelerator concepts, such as laser systems to accelerate protons. Such systems are deployed in preclinical studies to pave the way for optimal radiation therapy. A research team has now successfully tested irradiation with laser protons on animals.\n',1,27,'<li>F. Kroll, F.-E. Brack, C. Bernert, S. Bock, E. Bodenstein, K. Brüchner, T. Cowan, L. Gaus, R. Gebhardt, U. Helbig, L. Karsch, T. Kluge, S. Kraft, M. Krause, E. Lessmann, U. Masood, S. Meister, J. Metzkes-Ng, A. Nossula, J. Pawelke, J. Pietzsch, T. Püschel, M. Reimold, M. Rehwald, C. Richter, H.-P. Schlenvoigt, U. Schramm, M.E.P. Umlandt, T. Ziegler, K. Zeil, E. Beyreuthe. <strong>Tumor irradiation in mice with a laser-accelerated proton beam</strong>. <em>Nature Physics</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01520-3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41567-022-01520-3</a>\n</li>'),(1034,'Spider silk can stabilize cancer-suppressing protein','spider-silk-can-stabilize-cancer-suppressing-protein','2022-03-14 19:42:05.900455',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The p53 protein protects our cells from cancer and is an interesting target for cancer treatments. The problem is, however, that it breaks down rapidly in the cell. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now found an unusual way of stabilising the protein and making it more potent. By adding a spider silk protein to p53, they show that it is possible to create a protein that is more stable and capable of killing cancer cells. The study is published in the journal <em>Structure.</em></p><p>P53 plays a key role in the body\'s defence against cancer, in part by discovering and preventing genetic mutations that can lead to cancer. If a cell is lacking functional p53, it quickly becomes a cancer cell that starts to divide uncontrollably. Researchers around the world are therefore trying to develop cancer treatments that in some way target p53.</p><p>\"The problem is that cells only make small amounts of p53 and then quickly break it down as it is a very large and disordered protein,\" says the study\'s last author Michael Landreh, researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet. \"We\'ve been inspired by how nature creates stable proteins and have used spider silk protein to stabilise p53. Spider silk consists of long chains of highly stable proteins, and is one of nature\'s strongest polymers.\"</p><p>In a collaborative project with, amongst others, Jan Johansson and Anna Rising at KI\'s Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, who use spider silk in their research, the researchers attached a small section of a synthetic spider silk protein onto the human p53 protein. When they then introduced it into cells, they found that the cells started to produce it in large quantities. The new protein also proved to be more stable than ordinary p53 and capable of killing cancer cells. Using electron microscopy, computer simulations, and mass spectrometry, they were able to show that the likely reason for this was the way the spider silk part managed to give structure to p53\'s disordered sections.</p><p>The researchers now plan to study the protein\'s structure in detail and how its different parts interact to prevent cancer. They also hope to find out how the cells are affected by the new potent p53 protein and how well they tolerate its spider-silk component.</p><p>\"Creating a more stable variant of p53 in cells is a promising approach to cancer therapy, and now we have a tool for this that\'s worth exploring,\" says co-author and senior professor Sir David Lane at Karolinska Institutet. \"We eventually hope to develop an mRNA-based cancer vaccine, but before we do so we need to know how the protein is handled in the cells and if large amounts of it can be toxic.\"</p><p>Sir David Lane was one of the discoverers of the p53 protein in the late 1970s. P53 has been called the guardian of the genome since it can stop cells with DNA damage turning into cancer cells. Mutations of the p53 gene are found in roughly half of all cancer tumours, which makes it the most common genetic change in cancer.</p><p>The study was a collaboration between researchers at Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University in Sweden and A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) in Singapore. It was supported by grants from several bodies, including the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Research Council, Vinnova, the Olle Engkvist Foundation, the Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF), Formas and the Åke Wiberg Foundation. The authors report no conflicts of interest.</p>','2022-03-14 19:42:05.900455','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Karolinska Institutet','The p53 protein protects our cells from cancer and is an interesting target for cancer treatments. The problem is, however, that it breaks down rapidly in the cell. Researchers have now found an unusual way of stabilizing the protein and making it more potent. By adding a spider silk protein to p53, they show that it is possible to create a protein that is more stable and capable of killing cancer cells.\n',1,27,'<li>Margit Kaldmäe, Thibault Vosselman, Xueying Zhong, Dilraj Lama, Gefei Chen, Mihkel Saluri, Nina Kronqvist, Jia Wei Siau, Aik Seng Ng, Farid J. Ghadessy, Pierre Sabatier, Borivoj Vojtesek, Médoune Sarr, Cagla Sahin, Nicklas Österlund, Leopold L. Ilag, Venla A. Väänänen, Saikiran Sedimbi, Marie Arsenian-Henriksson, Roman A. Zubarev, Lennart Nilsson, Philip J.B. Koeck, Anna Rising, Axel Abelein, Nicolas Fritz, Jan Johansson, David P. Lane, Michael Landreh. <strong>A “spindle and thread” mechanism unblocks p53 translation by modulating N-terminal disorder</strong>. <em>Structure</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2022.02.013\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.str.2022.02.013</a>\n</li>'),(1035,'Researchers ID sex pheromone of invasive giant hornet','researchers-id-sex-pheromone-of-invasive-giant-hornet','2022-03-14 19:42:08.904880',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The world\'s largest hornet has been the focus of extensive news coverage of late due to its menacing appearance and expanding footprint in North America.</p><p>But while the \"murder hornet\" label attached to the Asian giant hornet (<em>Vespa mandarinia</em>) may be an overdramatization of its danger, researchers agree that the invasive species is destructive and threatens North American bee populations and millions of dollars in crop production. Because honey bees offer few defenses, giant hornets can rapidly destroy entire bee colonies.</p><p>\"My usual plea is that people should stop calling them \'murder hornets\' because they are large and perhaps frightening but not truly murderous,\" said James Nieh, a Division of Biological Sciences professor and bee researcher at the University of California San Diego. \"They are amazing social insects, but they don\'t belong in North America and harm our critical bee populations, so we should remove them.\"</p><p>But <em>how</em> to eliminate them is not clear. Even knowing where they occur -- thus far reported in Canada and the Pacific Northwest -- has been difficult to determine.</p><p>As one possible solution, Nieh his colleagues in China have developed a method for identifying the Asian giant hornet\'s presence and possibly accelerating its removal. In the journal <em>Current Biology</em>, the researchers reveal the identification of three major components of the Asian giant hornet queen\'s sex pheromone, an achievement that could be used as bait to trap and track the insects. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, along with experiments spanning two years, Nieh and his colleagues identified the major chemicals in the sex pheromone as hexanoic acid, octanoic acid and decanoic acid, compounds that can be readily purchased and deployed immediately in the field.</p><p>In a previous study, Nieh and his colleagues used a comparable approach to identify the female sex pheromone of a related Asian hornet species (<em>Vespa velutina</em>). In their new study, the researchers placed traps near hornet nests, locations where they typically mate, and captured only male hornets, but no females or other species. During their experiments the scientists tested the hornet\'s neural activity and found that male antennae are highly sensitive to the pheromone.</p><p>\"The males are drawn to the odors of the females since they typically mate with them near their nests,\" said Nieh. \"In two field seasons we were able to rapidly collect thousands of males that were attracted to these odors.\"</p><p>Scientists are not clear how Asian giant hornets first came to North America. In recent years they have been documented in British Columbia and Washington state, while modeling simulations indicate they could rapidly spread throughout Washington, Oregon and possibly the eastern U.S.</p><p>Although the experimental pheromone hornet traps were set close to bee colonies, Nieh hopes they can be deployed in multiple field locations to evaluate whether they can chemically attract the hornets over distances of a kilometer or more.</p><p>\"Because these pheromone-based traps are fairly inexpensive I think they could be readily deployed for sampling across a large geographic range,\" said Nieh. \"We know where they have been found, so the big question is whether they are expanding. Where is that invasion front?\"</p><p>Instead of patenting the identification of the sex pheromone, Nieh and his colleagues decided to publish their findings as quickly as possible in hopes of providing a possible solution to help document the hornet\'s spread. As more pheromone bait traps are deployed, a map could emerge along with predictive models to assess where and how rapidly they are spreading.</p><p>\"We hope that others, especially in invaded areas, will take the protocol we have established and test this method,\" said Nieh. \"We\'ve described the chemical blends needed for these traps, which could reduce the number of males available to mate with females to help depress the population but primarily would help us figure out where they are.\"</p><p>Nieh\'s coauthors on the <em>Current Biology</em> study include Shihao Dong and Ken Tan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Aili Sun of Yunnan Agricultural University.</p><p>Video of honeybees forming heat ball defense: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/vdald3H5c90\">https://youtu.be/vdald3H5c90</a></p>','2022-03-14 19:42:08.904880','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of California - San Diego','Scientists have developed a method for tracking the Asian giant \'murder\' hornet\'s presence and possibly accelerating its removal. The researchers identified the major components of the Asian giant hornet queen\'s sex pheromone, an achievement that could be used as bait to trap and track the insects.\n',1,27,'<li>Shihao Dong, Aili Sun, Ken Tan, James C. Nieh. <strong>Identification of giant hornet Vespa mandarinia queen sex pheromone components</strong>. <em>Current Biology</em>, 2022; 32 (5): R211 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.065\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.065</a>\n</li>'),(1036,'Deciphering gut microbiome ‘chatter’ to combat IBD','deciphering-gut-microbiome-‘chatter’-to-combat-ibd','2022-03-14 19:42:10.328520',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Around 500,000 people in the UK live with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a life-long, chronic condition characterised by sporadic bouts of gut inflammation causing debilitating symptoms. Crohn\'s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis -- the latter affecting around 1 in 400 people -- are the two most common types of IBD. Current treatments are ineffective and seriously impact the quality of life of the patients and those of their families.</p><p>Scientists at the Earlham Institute, Quadram Institute and University of East Anglia on the Norwich Research Park, have developed a new computational biology method to better understand IBD for targeted clinical treatments. By analysing specific differences in gut cell types, the study deciphers cellular crosstalk to identify how beneficial bacteria communicate with our immune system to treat IBD and reduce gut inflammation.</p><p><strong>The hum</strong>an gut harbours a community of microbes, known collectively as the microbiome, which is crucial to maintaining good health. A disrupted microbiome can cause gut-related conditions including IBD, an immune-linked inflammatory disease that causes abdominal pain, diarrhea and extreme fatigue.</p><p>People with IBD tend to have reduced diversity or a change in the balance in their gut microbiome, especially of <em>Bacteroides</em> and <em>Firmicutes</em> bacteria. However, we still don\'t know how exactly this translates to the triggering and progression of IBD. By understanding how these bacteria interact with the gut lining, and the immune system, and how this differs in IBD, we can better understand the causes and start developing targeted, effective treatments.</p><p>But to decipher this crosstalk across the different kingdoms of life, you need to understand how bacteria communicate, and then how human cells react to that information. This quest united microbiologist and immunologist Professor Simon Carding from the Quadram Institute and UEA, with Dr Tamás Korcsmáros, a systems biologist whose expertise lies in cellular signalling networks from the Earlham and the Quadram Institutes.</p><p>Professor Carding and his team have been investigating Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles (BEVs), which are tiny packages created by bacteria that they fill with various molecules and release from the cell. They can cross the gut lining, reaching cells of the immune system where they are recognised by receptors. The contents of the BEVs are molecular signals that then trigger the immune cells to react, with that signal potentially cascading into widespread effects.</p><p>In a healthy gut, BEVs and their cargo can contribute to anti-inflammatory responses of the immune system, but in an inflamed IBD patient\'s gut, this response is lost. BEVs could therefore be used as a potential new therapy. But currently, we don\'t understand enough about how they interact with the complex immune system. Our immune response relies on different types of cells monitoring for a plethora of different signals and interacting with each other to respond appropriately to a perceived threat of infection locally, and systematically across the body.</p><p>To address this knowledge gap, Dr Tamás Korcsmáros and his team used a previously published dataset about which genes are actively making proteins in 51 types of colon cells, from either healthy conditions or under the effect of ulcerative colitis. Uniquely, this dataset contained inflamed and uninflamed data from the same patients, allowing investigation of the effect of inflammation and not only the complex disease.</p><p>The team also analysed and characterised all of the cargo proteins obtained from BEVs made by the common gut bacterium <em>Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron</em> (Bt).</p><p>They then combined these datasets using an experimentally verified computational pipeline (called MicrobioLink) that predicts the interactions between microbial and host proteins, and how these triggers complex networks of cascading signalling systems. From this they could build up an overall picture of which microbial proteins were able to interact with which human proteins in the different types of immune cell and identify the differences between these networks in a healthy gut and in IBD.</p><p>This model, called an interactome, provides a snapshot of the constant communication between gut bacteria and our own immune system. From this the researchers could get an idea of the biological processes affected by microbial proteins -- in healthy and inflamed UC conditions.</p><p>Many interactions were identified common across cell types, but the research uncovered many biological processes that were specific to one type of immune cell. Focussing specifically on one pathway known to be important in immunity and inflammation, they were also able to identify differences between the same cell types in healthy and ulcerative colitis conditions. Experiments using cell cultures grown together with BEVs validated the predictions from the computational modelling.</p><p>\"The finding that BEVs affect the immune system\'s pathways in a cell-type specific manner, and that they are altered in inflammatory bowel disease is an important step to understanding the condition, and potentially could help in developing BEVs as a therapeutic system\" said Lejla Gul, first author on the paper and an iCASE PhD student at the Earlham Institute and the Quadram Institute, supported by the BBSRC Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership.</p><p>\"Studying interkingdom connections with BEVs in a cell-type specific resolution requires multi-disciplinary expertise and various \'omics datasets. Then you need a computational pipeline to analyse the data from different patients. Besides the actual scientific results, in the paper we introduce an open-source pipeline that others can use to analyse their data\" said Dr Tamás Korcsmáros. \"We hope that what we have demonstrated here in this study will be applied by others for understanding the mechanisms how other bacterial species communicate with our cells, and how it may be altered in other diseases.\"</p><p>The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).</p>','2022-03-14 19:42:10.328520','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Earlham Institute','Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a life-long, chronic condition characterized by sporadic bouts of gut inflammation causing debilitating symptoms. Crohn\'s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis -- the latter affecting around 1 in 400 people - are the two most common types of IBD. Current treatments are ineffective and seriously impact the quality of life of the patients and those of their families.\n',1,27,'<li>Lejla Gul, Dezso Modos, Sonia Fonseca, Matthew Madgwick, John P. Thomas, Padhmanand Sudhakar, Catherine Booth, Régis Stentz, Simon R. Carding, Tamas Korcsmaros. <strong>Extracellular vesicles produced by the human commensal gut bacterium            Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron            affect host immune pathways in a cell‐type specific manner that are altered in inflammatory bowel disease</strong>. <em>Journal of Extracellular Vesicles</em>, 2022; 11 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jev2.12189\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1002/jev2.12189</a>\n</li>'),(1038,'Surfing towards coastal ecosystem protection','surfing-towards-coastal-ecosystem-protection','2022-03-14 19:42:13.412826',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Scientists at the University of Portsmouth believe a strategy used to protect popular surfing spots could now be more widely adopted to help preserve endangered coastal environments.</p><p>A new research paper, published this week in <em>Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</em>, says, \'wave reserves\', initially aimed at protecting treasured surf spots, are also a way to ensure the conservation of ecologically valuable coastal areas.</p><p>The concept of wave reserves has gained popularity over the past few decades. The first wave reserve was established in Bells Beach, Australia in 1973 by surfers keen to defend their prized waves from damaging human activity. But it is especially since the beginning of the 2000s that the surfing community has established dozens of wave reserves around the world.</p><p>Waves can be affected by any number of factors such as the dredging of the seabed, building of dykes, changes in sediment regime and ocean acidification. The strategy has been so successful that in some locations there are now several large wave reserves being planned, with support from international NGOs such as Save The Waves.</p><p>The research from the University of Portsmouth finds this approach could help low and middle-income countries achieve global sustainability goals. Waves are not just important to surfers, they are also a vital part of the marine ecosystem. Waves play an active role in the gas exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere and in the movement of sediments. They also provide a favourable living environment for many aquatic species.</p><p>During the last 20 years the creation of wave reserves as a measure to preserve sports and recreational activities has aligned with initiatives to conserve the coastal environment. What is emerging is a win-win situation.</p><p>Academics believe a desire for corporations to put money behind surfing projects could also be a useful funding stream that benefits the coastal environment. The growing surf market, and its adoption as an Olympic sport could help generate significant revenues for conservation.</p><p>Gregoire Touron-Gardic, from the Centre for Blue Governance at the University of Portsmouth, says: \"What is new and exciting -- in addition to seeing increasingly large reserves and with legal protection statuses -- is the private sector is now interested in wave reserve projects. We are now seeing sports, cosmetics and drinks brands finance international ocean conservation programs. Brands wish to be associated with responsible ecological and social projects, whilst benefiting from the image of surfing.\"</p><p>Touron-Gardic predicts wave reserves will become a popular tool of coastal conservation in countries recognised as surfing destinations, such as the Maldives, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Fiji and Chile. The reserves make it possible to combine preservation of the coastal environment, local economic prosperity and human well-being.</p><p>Professor Pierre Failler, Director of the Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth says, \"The potential impact of wave reserves on the future of sustainable ocean management is huge. Wave reserves can become the foundation for an environmental approach to sport tourism. When large enough, wave reserves will allow low- and middle-income countries to increase their relatively weak area-based conservation systems at a lower cost, and therefore progress in achieving their international commitments such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.</p><p>Professor Failler, who is also UNESCO Chair in Ocean Governance, says: \"It is achievable and accessible initiatives like these that will help improve the governance of the world\'s oceans. There are many challenges to overcome during the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development and collaboration is key to safeguarding the future of our oceans.\"</p>','2022-03-14 19:42:13.412826','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Portsmouth','Scientists believe a strategy used to protect popular surfing spots could now be more widely adopted to help preserve endangered coastal environments.\n',1,27,'<li>Grégoire Touron-Gardic, Pierre Failler. <strong>A bright future for wave reserves?</strong> <em>Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.02.006\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.tree.2022.02.006</a>\n</li>'),(1050,'Smartphone app calculates genetic risk for heart attack','smartphone-app-calculates-genetic-risk-for-heart-attack','2022-03-14 21:55:23.944629',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A Scripps Research team developed a smartphone app that can calculate users\' genetic risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) -- and found that users at high risk sought out appropriate medication after using the app.</p><p>In the study, which appears in <em>npj Digital Medicine</em> in March 2022, the researchers detailed how their app called MyGeneRank inputs participating individuals\' genetic information from the 23andMe genetic testing company and outputs a CAD risk score based on the DNA data. Of the 721 participants who provided complete information, those with high-risk scores were much more likely to start using statins or other cholesterol-lowering therapies, compared to those with low-risk scores.</p><p>\"We saw about twice the rate of statin initiation in the high genetic risk group vs the low genetic risk group, which indicates that strategies like this could make a big contribution to public health -- heart disease being the largest cause of death globally,\" says study senior author Ali Torkamani, PhD, professor and director of Genomics and Genome Informatics at the Scripps Research Translational Institute.</p><p>According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 18 million American adults have CAD, the most common form of heart disease, which features the hardening and narrowing of arteries feeding the heart muscle. More than 300,000 Americans die of resulting heart attacks every year.</p><p>Statins such as atorvastatin and simvastatin, as well as other, non-statin drugs that reduce bloodstream levels of cholesterol and other fat-related molecules called lipids, are now widely used, and have helped reduce the annual death rate from CAD over the past two decades. But researchers estimate that in the US nearly half of men and about 10 percent of women between 45 and 65 years old are at least at intermediate risk of CAD -- yet only about a third of these individuals take lipid-lowering drugs.</p><p>Calculating CAD risk scores and communicating that information via smartphone apps is now being considered as a highly scalable method for nudging more at-risk people to seek medical advice and get lipid-lowering medications when appropriate, thereby lowering the incidence of CAD and heart-attacks.</p><p>\"We now have the opportunity to integrate a person\'s genetics into their cardiovascular health assessment to help them better understand their individualized risk and empower them to make the necessary modifications -- including the addition of statin therapy -- to their risk factor optimization plans,\" says first author Evan Muse, MD, PhD, a cardiologist and lead for cardiovascular genomics at the Scripps Research Translational Institute.</p><p>\"Even if someone finds out they have low genetic risk for CAD, knowing their score can help -- for example if they also know they have high risk overall, that may suggest other non-genetic factors like lifestyle are contributing to their risk and that they should consider making changes,\" Torkamani adds.</p><p>The team is pioneering this app-based approach. They developed a free CAD-risk iPhone app, as well as an Android app. Users can link their existing 23andMe data and fill out consent forms and health-related surveys, including questions about the use of lipid-lowering drugs. The app can then calculate and share with the respondent a risk score based on the latest recognized genetic risk factors for CAD. The app then followed up approximately a year later with questions on the respondent\'s current use of lipid-lowering medications.</p><p>The researchers promoted the apps at scientific conferences, conducted an advertising campaign on Facebook, and ultimately enrolled 3,800 eligible respondents, of whom 721 provided enough initial and follow-up information for the analysis.</p><p>The results were encouraging, according to the team. A key finding was that respondents who were not taking lipid lowering medication at the outset of the study, but were informed by the app that they had high gene-based risk scores for CAD, initiated lipid lowering therapy at more than twice the rate of those with low risk scores.</p><p>Overall, study respondents in the high-risk category, compared to the low risk category, were, at follow-up, about 1.4 times more likely to report use of a statin lipid-lowering drug, and about 4 times more likely to report use of a non-statin lipid-lowering drug. Respondents in the high-risk group also initiated lipid-lowering therapy much earlier, at age 52 on average, compared to 65 for the low-risk group.</p><p>\"On the whole it looks like a significant effect, especially considering that we were giving respondents only appropriately contextualized information about their gene-based risk scores -- we weren\'t directly telling them to go out and start taking medications,\" Torkamani says.</p><p>He and his colleagues now plan to follow up this pilot study with larger and longer-term studies of CAD risk-scoring apps -- studies that will include clinicians and will objectively record differences in cardiovascular health outcomes such as heart attacks.</p><p><em>Funding was provided by the Stowers Family Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (UL1TR002550).</em></p>','2022-03-14 21:55:23.944629','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Scripps Research Institute','Researchers have developed a smartphone app that can calculate users\' genetic risk for coronary artery disease (CAD)--and found that users at high risk sought out appropriate medication after using the app.\n',1,27,'<li>Evan D. Muse, Shang-Fu Chen, Shuchen Liu, Brianna Fernandez, Brian Schrader, Bhuvan Molparia, André Nicolás León, Raymond Lee, Neha Pubbi, Nolan Mejia, Christina Ren, Ahmed El-kalliny, Ernesto Prado Montes de Oca, Hector Aguilar, Arjun Ghoshal, Raquel Dias, Doug Evans, Kai-Yu Chen, Yunyue Zhang, Nathan E. Wineinger, Emily G. Spencer, Eric J. Topol, Ali Torkamani. <strong>Impact of polygenic risk communication: an observational mobile application-based coronary artery disease study</strong>. <em>npj Digital Medicine</em>, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41746-022-00578-w\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41746-022-00578-w</a>\n</li>'),(1051,'Researchers identify misperceptions surrounding breast density across race/ethnicity and health literacy levels','researchers-identify-misperceptions-surrounding-breast-density-across-race/ethnicity-and-health-literacy-levels','2022-03-14 21:55:34.862734',' <p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Having dense breasts (more fibroglandular tissue than fatty tissue, as visualized on a mammogram) reduces the sensitivity of mammography by masking breast cancers and carries a 1.6- to 2.0-fold increased independent risk for breast cancer. To inform women about these risks, 38 U.S. states and the federal government have enacted legislation requiring a written dense breast notification (DBN) of a patient\'s breast density after a mammogram, but there still is limited evidence about what breast density means, and what the implications are, to women.</p><p>According to a new study, while women are receiving these notifications about their breast density, not all recipients are fully understanding what they mean in terms of future health implications. Boston University School of Medicine researchers suggest that knowledge about breast density and its associated risks is partly linked to women\'s race/ethnicity and health literacy.</p><p>\"Our findings, together with prior reports suggest that DBNs alone are not adequately educating women, suggest that development of future notifications warrants further refinement and testing,\" says corresponding author Nancy Kressin, PhD, professor of medicine at BUSM.</p><p>To assess women\'s knowledge about breast density after receiving a notification, the researchers conducted a telephone survey and interviews among a racially/ethnically and health literacy level diverse sample. Although most women responded correctly that breast density is related to the amount of fatty versus connective tissue, the researchers observed significant variations by women\'s race/ ethnicity, whereby Non-Hispanic White women were less likely to respond correctly than Non-Hispanic Black women.</p><p>Only 47 percent of women correctly indicated that having dense breasts increases one\'s risk of breast cancer; women with low health literacy were more often correct. Fifty-eight percent of women correctly indicated that breast density is not related to touch, with higher accuracy among non-Hispanic white women and those with greater health literacy. Eighty-seven percent of women recognized that breast density is identified visually via mammogram, with no significant differences in responses by race/ethnicity or health literacy.</p><p>Qualitative results revealed additional dimensions of understanding: Some women incorrectly reported that density could be felt, or dense breasts were lumpier, thicker, or more compacted; others identified \'\'dense\'\' tissue as fatty. Interpretations of risk included that breast density was an early form of breast cancer.</p><p>\"The ultimate goal of DBNs is to educate women about breast density, to guide their future decisions about breast cancer screening. Thus, in-depth characterization of women\'s knowledge after receiving a DBN can help ensure that future health communications are accessible and understandable to all recipients,\" adds Kressin.</p><p>These findings appear online in the <em>Journal of Women\'s Health</em>.</p><p>Funding for this study was provided by a grant from the American Cancer Society (133017-RSG-19-085-01-CPHPS); C.M.G. was also supported by the National Cancer Institute (1K07CA221899).</p><p>P.J.S., Co-author on an UpToDate article on Breast density and screening for breast cancer, for which she receives royalties.</p>','2022-03-14 21:55:34.862734','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Boston University School of Medicine','Having dense breasts (more fibroglandular tissue than fatty tissue, as visualized on a mammogram) reduces the sensitivity of mammography by masking breast cancers and carries a 1.6- to 2.0-fold increased independent risk for breast cancer. To inform women about these risks, 38 U.S. states and the federal government have enacted legislation requiring a written dense breast notification (DBN) of a patient\'s breast density after a mammogram, but there still is limited evidence about what breast density means, and what the implications are, to women. According to a new study, while women are receiving these notifications about their breast density, not all recipients are fully understanding what they mean in terms of future health implications. Boston University School of Medicine researchers suggest that knowledge about breast density and its associated risks is partly linked to women\'s race/ethnicity and health literacy.\n',1,27,'<li>Nancy R. Kressin, Jolie B. Wormwood, Tracy A. Battaglia, Ariel D. Maschke, Priscilla J. Slanetz, Magdalena Pankowska, Christine M. Gunn. <strong>Women\'s Understandings and Misunderstandings of Breast Density and Related Concepts: A Mixed Methods Study</strong>. <em>Journal of Women\'s Health</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2021.0343\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1089/jwh.2021.0343</a>\n</li>'),(1052,'‘Dancing’ laboratory rats show how the brain learns, perfects, then unconsciously performs a skillful movement','dancing-laboratory-rats-show-how-the-brain-learns-perfects-then-unconsciously-performs-a-skillful-movement','2022-03-16 10:54:11.123409','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Learning a complex skilled movement like tying your shoes or playing an instrument takes practice. After repeating the same movements over and over, people often develop a formulaic way of performing the task, and may not even have to think about it anymore. Although we accomplish such repetitive tasks every day, little is known about how the brain learns, repeats, and perfects them.</p><p>Now, a researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and his colleagues at Harvard University, have shown in rats how several brain regions need to work together to acquire a skill and replicate it flawlessly with each rat adding their own personal flair in the form of a \"dance.\"</p><p>Their study was published on February 25, 2022, in <em>Science Advances</em>.</p><p>\"Besides following our basic curiosity to figure out how the brain works and how we learn movements, our work has many direct applications. Understanding the conditions under which healthy brains learn informs how people should train for highly skilled activities like certain sports,\" said Steffen Wolff, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. \"More importantly, one day hopefully the insights gathered from this basic research program will help people with brain damage or diseases that affect movements.\"</p><p>The research team trains rats to study how their brains learn and perform new skills. In these experiments, the rats learn to press a lever in a specific way to get a drink of water.</p><p>\"During the learning process, they develop a little dance, and each rat comes up with their own choreography,\" said Dr. Wolff. \"After they have perfected their technique, they continue to do whatever worked for them when learning: one animal will scratch the wall, another will tap their foot, and another sticks out their tongue, while simultaneously pressing the lever.\"</p><p>These dances are similar to the superstitious movements that baseball pitchers perform every time they wind up to pitch the ball, like tugging on the brim of their hat or scratching the sand with their foot.</p><p>In a former study, the team showed that when the researchers damaged the motor cortex -- part of the outermost layer of the brain -- the rats could not learn their little dances. Yet, once they had learned their dance to execute the task, they could perform it just fine without this brain region. In a different study, the researchers found another brain area essential for learning the task -- the basal ganglia, a region deep in the brain. This region is also affected in Parkinson\'s disease.</p><p>In their newest study, the researchers put the pieces together, asking whether the motor cortex teaches the basal ganglia to produce the new skill. They used viruses to shut down the connection between the two brain areas. As the researchers expected, they found without the motor cortex teaching the basal ganglia, the rats could no longer develop any of their dances.</p><p>The researchers then wanted to see if the basal ganglia also worked together with other brain regions to execute the learned skill. They focused on another region deep in the brain, which also has strong connections to the basal ganglia -- the thalamus.</p><p>When the researchers now disrupted the connection from the thalamus to the basal ganglia with their virus tool, the rats still pressed the lever, but they completely lost their idiosyncratic learned \'dances.\' The rats fell back to repeatedly swatting at the lever, just as they all did when they first started to learn the task. Dr. Wolff explained that these simple movements could be produced by other, more basic parts of the brain, like the brainstem.</p><p>\"This work helps to reveal the logic of how individual brain regions work together to control skill learning and execution, a first step in our quest to help treat patients with motor movement disorders like Parkinson\'s disease, and injuries from trauma or stroke to the motor-controlling parts of the brain,\" said Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.</p><p>Other authors on the study are Raymond Ko, PhD, and Bence Ölveczky, PhD, of Harvard University.</p><p>This study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01-NS099323-01, R01-NS105349), a European Molecular Biology Organization postdoctoral fellowship (ALTF1561-2013), and a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellowship (LT 000514/2014).</p><p><br></p>','2022-03-14 22:17:01.067173','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Maryland School of Medicine','Scientists have shown in rats how several brain regions need to work together to acquire a skill and replicate it flawlessly with each rat adding their own personal flair in the form of a \'dance.\'',1,3,'<li>Steffen B. E. Wolff, Raymond Ko, Bence P. Ölveczky. <strong>Distinct roles for motor cortical and thalamic inputs to striatum during motor skill learning and execution</strong>. <em>Science Advances</em>, 2022; 8 (8) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abk0231\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1126/sciadv.abk0231</a>\r\n</li>'),(1059,'Close the blinds during sleep to protect your health','close-the-blinds-during-sleep-to-protect-your-health','2022-03-15 17:25:39.154374','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Close the blinds, draw the curtains and turn off all the lights before bed. Exposure to even moderate ambient lighting during nighttime sleep, compared to sleeping in a dimly lit room, harms your cardiovascular function during sleep and increases your insulin resistance the following morning, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.</p><p>\"The results from this study demonstrate that just a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular regulation, which are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome,\" said senior study author Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician. \"It\'s important for people to avoid or minimize the amount of light exposure during sleep.\"</p><p>There is already evidence that light exposure during daytime increases heart rate via activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which kicks your heart into high gear and heightens alertness to meet the challenges of the day.</p><p>\"Our results indicate that a similar effect is also present when exposure to light occurs during nighttime sleep,\" Zee said.</p><p>The study will be published March 14 in <em>PNAS</em>.</p><p><strong>Heart rate increases in light room, and body can\'t rest properly </strong></p><p>\"We showed your heart rate increases when you sleep in a moderately lit room,\" said Dr. Daniela Grimaldi, a co-first author and research assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern. \"Even though you are asleep, your autonomic nervous system is activated. That\'s bad. Usually, your heart rate together with other cardiovascular parameters are lower at night and higher during the day.\"</p><p>There are sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems to regulate our physiology during the day and night. Sympathetic takes charge during the day and parasympathetic is supposed to at night, when it conveys restoration to the entire body.</p><p><strong>How nighttime light during sleep can lead to diabetes and obesity</strong></p><p>Investigators found insulin resistance occurred the morning after people slept in a light room. Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat and liver don\'t respond well to insulin and can\'t use glucose from your blood for energy. To make up for it, your pancreas makes more insulin. Over time, your blood sugar goes up.</p><p>An earlier study published in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at a large population of healthy people who had exposure to light during sleep. They were more overweight and obese, Zee said.</p><p>\"Now we are showing a mechanism that might be fundamental to explain why this happens,\" Zee said. \"We show it\'s affecting your ability to regulate glucose.\"</p><p>The participants in the study weren\'t aware of the biological changes in their bodies at night.</p><p>\"But the brain senses it,\" Grimaldi said. \"It acts like the brain of somebody whose sleep is light and fragmented. The sleep physiology is not resting the way it\'s supposed to.\"</p><p><strong>Exposure to artificial light at night during sleep is common</strong></p><p>Exposure to artificial light at night during sleep is common, either from indoor light emitting devices or from sources outside the home, particularly in large urban areas. A significant proportion of individuals (up to 40%) sleep with a bedside lamp on or with a light on in the bedroom and/or keep the television on.</p><p><strong>Light and its relationship to health is double edged.</strong></p><p>\"In addition to sleep, nutrition and exercise, light exposure during the daytime is an important factor for health, but during the night we show that even modest intensity of light can impair measures of heart and endocrine health,\" Zee said.</p><p>The study tested the effect of sleeping with 100 lux (moderate light) compared to 3 lux (dim light) in participants over a single night. The investigators discovered that moderate light exposure caused the body to go into a higher alert state. In this state, the heart rate increases as well as the force with which the heart contracts and the rate of how fast the blood is conducted to your blood vessels for oxygenated blood flow.</p><p>\"These findings are important particularly for those living in modern societies where exposure to indoor and outdoor nighttime light is increasingly widespread,\" Zee said.</p><p><strong>Zee\'s top tips for reducing light during sleep</strong></p><p>(1) Don\'t turn lights on. If you need to have a light on (which older adults may want for safety), make it a dim light that is closer to the floor.</p><p>(2) Color is important. Amber or a red/orange light is less stimulating for the brain. Don\'t use white or blue light and keep it far away from the sleeping person.</p><p>(3) Blackout shades or eye masks are good if you can\'t control the outdoor light. Move your bed so the outdoor light isn\'t shining on your face.</p><p><strong>Is my room too light?</strong></p><p>\"If you\'re able to see things really well, it\'s probably too light,\" Zee said.</p><p>Other Northwestern authors are co-first author said co-first author Ivy Mason, who at the time of the study was post-doctoral fellow at Northwestern and now is a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, Kathryn Reid, Chloe Warlick, Dr. Roneil Malkani and Dr. Sabra Abbott.</p><p>The research was supported, in part, by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant 8UL1TR000150-05, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant R01 HL140580, National Institute of Aging grant P01AG11412, all of the National Institutes of Health, and the American Heart Association.</p>','2022-03-14 23:18:55.579805','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Northwestern University','Exposure to even moderate ambient lighting during nighttime sleep, compared to sleeping in a dimly lit room, harms your cardiovascular function during sleep and increases your insulin resistance the following morning, reports a new study. Just a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular regulation, which are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.',1,201,'<li>Ivy C. Mason, Daniela Grimaldi, Kathryn J. Reid, Chloe D. Warlick, Roneil G. Malkani, Sabra M. Abbott, Phyllis C. Zee. <strong>Light exposure during sleep impairs cardiometabolic function</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (12) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113290119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2113290119</a>\r\n</li>'),(1060,'Rapid changes to the Arctic seafloor noted as submerged permafrost thaws','rapid-changes-to-the-arctic-seafloor-noted-as-submerged-permafrost-thaws','2022-03-15 17:24:16.807268','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study from MBARI researchers and their collaborators is the first to document how the thawing of permafrost, submerged underwater at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, is affecting the seafloor. The study was published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> on March 14, 2022.</p><p>Numerous peer-reviewed studies show that thawing permafrost creates unstable land which negatively impacts important Arctic infrastructure, such as roads, train tracks, buildings, and airports. This infrastructure is expensive to repair, and the impacts and costs are expected to continue increasing.</p><p>Using advanced underwater mapping technology, MBARI researchers and their collaborators revealed that dramatic changes are happening to the seafloor as a result of thawing permafrost. In some areas, deep sinkholes have formed, some larger than a city block of six-story buildings. In other areas, ice-filled hills called pingos have risen from the seafloor.</p><p>\"We know that big changes are happening across the Arctic landscape, but this is the first time we\'ve been able to deploy technology to see that changes are happening offshore too,\" said Charlie Paull, a geologist at MBARI and one of the lead authors of the study. \"This groundbreaking research has revealed how the thawing of submarine permafrost can be detected, and then monitored once baselines are established.\"</p><p>While the degradation of terrestrial Arctic permafrost is attributed in part to increases in mean annual temperature from human-driven climate change, the changes the research team has documented on the seafloor associated with submarine permafrost derive from much older, slower climatic shifts related to our emergence from the last ice age. Similar changes appear to have been happening along the seaward edge of the former permafrost for thousands of years.</p><p>\"There isn\'t a lot of long-term data for the seafloor temperature in this region, but the data we do have aren\'t showing a warming trend. The changes to seafloor terrain are instead being driven by heat carried in slowly moving groundwater systems,\" explained Paull.</p><p>\"This research was made possible through international collaboration over the past decade that has provided access to modern marine research platforms such as MBARI\'s autonomous robotic technology and icebreakers operated by the Canadian Coast Guard and the Korean Polar Research Institute,\" said Scott Dallimore, a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, who led the study with Paull. \"The Government of Canada and the Inuvialuit people who live on the coast of the Beaufort Sea highly value this research as the complex processes described have implications for the assessment of geohazards, creation of unique marine habitat, and our understanding of biogeochemical processes.\"</p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><p>The Canadian Beaufort Sea, a remote area of the Arctic, has only recently become accessible to scientists as climate change drives the retreat of sea ice.</p><p>Since 2003, MBARI has been part of an international collaboration to study the seafloor of the Canadian Beaufort Sea with the Geological Survey of Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and since 2013, with the Korean Polar Research Institute.</p><p>MBARI used autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and ship-based sonar to map the bathymetry of the seafloor down to a resolution of a one-meter square grid, or roughly the size of a dinner table.</p><p>Paull and the team of researchers will return to the Arctic this summer aboard the R/V <em>Araon</em>, a Korean icebreaker. This trip with MBARI\'s long-time Canadian and Korean collaborators -- along with the addition of the United States Naval Research Laboratory -- will help refine our understanding of the decay of submarine permafrost.</p><p>Two of MBARI\'s AUVs will map the seafloor in remarkable detail and MBARI\'s MiniROV -- a portable remotely operated vehicle -- will enable further exploration and sampling to complement the mapping surveys.</p><p>Support for this work was provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Geological Survey of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Korean Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries (KIMST grant No. 1525011795).</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-14 23:19:08.184703','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute','A new study has documented how the thawing of permafrost submerged underwater at the edge of the Arctic Ocean is affecting the seafloor.',1,164,'<li>Charles K. Paull, Scott R. Dallimore, Young Keun Jin, David W. Caress, Eve Lundsten, Roberto Gwiazda, Krystle Anderson, John Hughes Clarke, Scott Youngblut, Humfrey Melling. <strong>Rapid seafloor changes associated with the degradation of Arctic submarine permafrost</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (12) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119105119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2119105119</a>\r\n</li>'),(1061,'Model predicts cross-species contamination risk for livestock','model-predicts-cross-species-contamination-risk-for-livestock','2022-03-15 16:55:10.537242','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new mathematical model from researchers at North Carolina State University reveals the high risk of cross-species disease spread on farms with more than one type of livestock. According to the model, biosecurity efforts focused on the top 3% of farms in a particular contact network may significantly cut back cross-species disease dissemination.</p><p>\"Most disease-prevention programs focus control and prevention measures on one species; however, it is well known that cross-species transmissions occur,\" says Gustavo Machado, assistant professor of population health and pathobiology at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the work. \"For example, foot-and-mouth disease can be transmitted among all ungulate species. And all of these farms are connected -- they sell and share animals all the time.\"</p><p>Machado and postdoctoral researcher Nicolas Cardenas created a stochastic mathematical model that described the \"connectedness\" of farms in one area of Southern Brazil. The model included three years\' worth of data for a population of 90 million animals and traced over 1.6 million animal movements between farms, such as animal sales and grow-finishing movements.</p><p>The model simulated disease outbreaks that began in cattle, swine, and small ruminants (i.e., sheep or goats), respectively, in order to determine the likelihood of cross-species contamination in each case. They ran 1,000 distinct simulations 100 times each to identify all possible outbreak routes.</p><p>\"It doesn\'t matter where the outbreak starts, the entire farm -- and the larger farm network in a community -- is at risk,\" Cardenas says. \"We ran simulations with diseases that are transmitted by direct contact, and modeled outbreaks that started on both single-species and multi-host farms to see if there was a difference in outcome, and there wasn\'t.\"</p><p>However, Cardenas says, knowing how farms interact with each other and focusing biosecurity and prevention efforts on the most interconnected farms does have an impact.</p><p>\"The model allowed us to construct a contact network between all of the farms in the study,\" Cardenas says. \"The farms with the greatest numbers of contacts, or hub farms -- regardless of how many animals move between them -- are the focal points for disease transmission.\"</p><p>The researchers found that identifying the top 3% of hub farms and focusing biosecurity efforts there dramatically reduced the number of secondarily infected farms.</p><p>\"The model shows us a number of interesting points,\" Machado says. \"First, it shows us that we cannot look only at the immediately affected species during an outbreak, as all of the animals are at risk. Second, if you target biosecurity efforts toward the top ~3% of the most networked farms you can reduce transmission on those farms and protect other species as well.</p><p>\"We hope that this model can help public health officials and farmers target disease counteraction efforts more efficiently and cost-effectively.\"</p><p>The work appears in <em>Veterinary Research</em> and was supported by the Fundo de Desenvolvimento e Defesa Sanitária Animal (FUNDESA-RS) under award number 2021-1318.</p>','2022-03-14 23:19:13.767109','uploads/news/download_30.jfif',1,'North Carolina State University','Biosecurity efforts focused on the top 3% of farms in a particular contact network may significantly cut back cross-species disease dissemination.',1,200,'<li>Nicolas C. Cardenas, Abagael L. Sykes, Francisco P. N. Lopes, Gustavo Machado. <strong>Multiple species animal movements: network properties, disease dynamics and the impact of targeted control actions</strong>. <em>Veterinary Research</em>, 2022; 53 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13567-022-01031-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1186/s13567-022-01031-2</a>\r\n</li>'),(1062,'How a Massachusetts salt marsh is changing what we know about New England’s coast','how-a-massachusetts-salt-marsh-is-changing-what-we-know-about-new-englands-coast','2022-03-15 16:53:15.058621','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">New research led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst into the life and times of a New England salt marsh fundamentally changes our understanding of how salt marshes acquire the sediment that keeps them viable. This research, published recently in the <em>Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface</em>, has wide-ranging implications for managing New England\'s coastline as it struggles to keep up with development, sea-level rise and other environmental impacts.</p><p>Salt marshes are critically important because they buffer against erosion and flooding, sequester carbon, provide habitat to juvenile species and migratory birds, and filter pollutants and excess nutrients<em>, </em>but a marsh can only survive when its surface sits high enough above sea level to drain at low tide, which means that marshes need to import mineral sediment to build volume and survive.</p><p>For decades, the standard model of how a salt marsh developed went like this: as a river wound its way to the sea, it picked up sediment as it flowed through hill and field. Once the river arrived at the coast, it slowed down and dropped its sediment load, which salt marshes have incorporated and grown upon over the years to form the salt marsh platforms at river and stream mouths throughout New England. The only problem with this model is that it might not be the way that New England\'s salt marshes actually work.</p><p>\"We\'ve been looking in the wrong direction,\" says Jon Woodruff, professor of geosciences at UMass Amherst and one of the paper\'s co-authors. \"These sediments are mostly coming from the ocean, not rivers.\"</p><p>\"If we\'re going to manage and protect salt marshes efficiently and effectively, we need to know where their sediment comes from,\" says Hannah Baranes, the paper\'s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) who completed this research as part of her Ph.D. in geosciences at UMass. \"But a great deal of previous work has focused on large, complex marsh systems, which has made it difficult to pinpoint where exactly sediment comes from.\"</p><p>Baranes and her colleagues focused their research on the North/South River estuary, a typical New England salt marsh system near Marshfield, Massachusetts. They combined long, medium and short-term experiments, which ranged from taking sediment cores that record a 200-year history of the marsh, to placing instruments in the channel and on the surface of the marsh to track sediment transport and deposition in real time.</p><p>It was dirty work: \"we had to navigate these salt marshes on foot and figure out how to get our equipment in and out while wading through waist-deep mud in all seasons,\" says Baranes. Then there were the mosquitoes and other bugs to deal with. And don\'t even get Baranes started on the crabs that fell into some of the sediment traps. But over the course of two years, Baranes and her colleagues, including undergraduates from UMass Amherst, were able to stitch together an unprecedented look at the life of salt marshes in New England.</p><p>It turns out that the vast majority of sediment is delivered by the ocean during the storms that batter the coast. This has important implications for the health of New England\'s coasts. \"Salt marshes are expensive to protect and we have limited resources to figure out this problem,\" says Baranes. \"We need to understand any natural process that can help us out.\"</p><p>Furthermore, as Woodruff points out, beaches and marshes are paired systems, and any effort to protect beaches against erosion can affect the health of the salt marshes in unforeseen ways. Unfortunately, there is very little work to date that does so, and so we don\'t really know what unforeseen consequences \"coastal armoring\" -- including the creation of sea walls, jetties, etc. -- might have on neighboring salt marshes.</p><p>Both researchers plan to continue exploring the interactions between salt marshes and other coastal features, such as Maine\'s bluffs and Massachusetts\'s beaches.</p><p>The research, funded by the DOI/USGS Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, also benefitted immensely from the work of UMass Amherst undergraduate researchers. \"This has been a fantastic opportunity to bring undergrads into the project and show them what actual in-the-field science research looks like,\" says Baranes, and Woodruff agrees. \"We always have students who grew up on the coast, and they love bringing that personal history to their scientific research.\"</p>','2022-03-14 23:19:17.985464','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Massachusetts Amherst','New research into the life and times of a New England salt marsh fundamentally changes our understanding of how salt marshes acquire the sediment that keeps them viable. This research has wide-ranging implications for managing New England\'s coastline as it struggles to keep up with development, sea-level rise and other environmental impacts.',1,151,'<li>H. E. Baranes, J. D. Woodruff, W. R. Geyer, B. C. Yellen, J. B. Richardson. <strong>Sources, Mechanisms, and Timescales of Sediment Delivery to a New England Salt Marsh</strong>. <em>Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006478\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1029/2021JF006478</a>\r\n</li>'),(1063,'Comet 67P’s abundant oxygen more of an illusion, new study suggests','comet-67ps-abundant-oxygen-more-of-an-illusion-new-study-suggests','2022-03-15 16:51:16.445976','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">When the European Space Agency\'s Rosetta spacecraft discovered abundant molecular oxygen bursting from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) in 2015, it puzzled scientists. They had never seen a comet emit oxygen, let alone in such abundance. But most alarming were the deeper implications: that researchers had to account for so much oxygen, which meant reconsidering everything they thought they already knew about the chemistry of the early solar system and how it formed.</p><p>A new analysis, however, led by planetary scientist Adrienn Luspay-Kuti at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, shows Rosetta\'s discovery may not be as strange as scientists first imagined. Instead, it suggests the comet has two internal reservoirs that make it seem like there\'s more oxygen than is actually there.</p><p>\"It\'s kind of an illusion,\" Luspay-Kuti said. \"In reality, the comet doesn\'t have this high oxygen abundance, at least not as far as its formation goes, but it has accumulated oxygen that gets trapped in the upper layers of the comet, which then gets released all at once.\"</p><p>While common on Earth, molecular oxygen (two oxygen atoms doubly linked to each other) is markedly uncommon throughout the universe. It quickly binds to other atoms and molecules, especially the universally abundant atoms hydrogen and carbon, so oxygen appears only in small amounts in just a few molecular clouds. That fact led many researchers to conclude any oxygen in the protosolar nebula that formed our solar system likely had been similarly scooped up.</p><p>When Rosetta found oxygen pouring out of comet 67P, however, everything turned on its head. Nobody had seen oxygen in a comet before, and as the fourth most abundant molecule in the comet\'s bright coma (after water, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide), it needed some explanation. The oxygen seemed to come off the comet with water, causing many researchers to suspect the oxygen was either primordial -- meaning it got tied up with water at the birth of the solar system and amassed in the comet when it later formed -- or formed from water after the comet had formed.</p><p>But Luspay-Kuti and her team were skeptical. As the comet\'s dumbbell shape gradually rotates, each \"bell\" (or hemisphere) faces the Sun at various points, meaning the comet has seasons so the oxygen-water connection might not be present all the time. On short time frames, volatiles could potentially turn on and off as they thaw and refreeze with the seasons.</p><p><strong>Now You See It, Now You Don\'t</strong></p><p>Taking advantage of these seasons, the team examined the molecular data on short- and long-time periods just before the comet\'s southern hemisphere entered summer and then again just as its summer ended. As reported in their study, published March 10 in <em>Nature Astronomy</em>, the team found that as the southern hemisphere turned away and was sufficiently far from the Sun, the link between oxygen and water disappeared. The amount of water coming off the comet dropped precipitously, so instead the oxygen seemed strongly linked to carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which the comet was still emitting.</p><p>\"There\'s no way that should be possible under the previous explanations suggested,\" Luspay-Kuti said. \"If oxygen were primordial and tied to water in its formation, there shouldn\'t be any time that oxygen strongly correlates with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide but not water.\"</p><p>The team instead proposed the comet\'s oxygen doesn\'t come from water but from two reservoirs: one made of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide deep inside the comet\'s rocky nucleus, and a shallower pocket closer to the surface where oxygen chemically combines with water ice molecules.</p><p>The idea goes like this: A deep reservoir of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide ice is constantly emitting gases because oxygen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide all vaporize at very low temperatures. As oxygen traverses from the comet\'s interior toward the surface, however, some chemically inserts into water ice (a major constituent of the comet\'s nucleus) to form a second, shallower oxygen reservoir. But water ice vaporizes at a much higher temperature than oxygen, so until the Sun sufficiently heats the surface and vaporizes the water ice, the oxygen is stuck.</p><p>The consequence is that oxygen can accumulate in this shallow reservoir for long periods until the comet surface is finally warmed enough for water ice to vaporize, releasing a plume far richer in oxygen than was actually present in the comet.</p><p>\"Put another way, the oxygen abundances measured in the comet\'s coma aren\'t necessarily reflecting its abundances in the comet\'s nucleus,\" Luspay-Kuti explained.</p><p>The comet would consequently also vacillate with the seasons between strongly associating with water (when the Sun heats the surface) and strongly associating with carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (when that surface faces away from the Sun and the comet is sufficiently far) -- exactly what Rosetta observed.</p><p>\"This isn\'t just one explanation: It\'s <em>the</em> explanation because there is no other possibility,\" said Olivier Mousis, a planetary scientist from France\'s Aix-Marseille Université and a study co-author. \"If oxygen were just coming from the surface, you wouldn\'t see these trends observed by Rosetta.\"</p><p>The major implication, he said, is that it means comet 67P\'s oxygen is, in fact, oxygen that accreted at the beginning of the solar system. It\'s just that it\'s only a fraction of what people had thought.</p><p>Luspay-Kuti said she wants to probe the topic more deeply by examining the comet\'s minor molecular species, such as methane and ethane, and their correlation with molecular oxygen and other major species. She suspects this will help researchers get a better idea of the type of ice that the oxygen was incorporated into.</p><p>\"You still have to come up with a way to incorporate the oxygen into the comet,\" Luspay-Kuti said, considering that the amount of oxygen is still higher than seen in most molecular clouds. But she said she expected a majority of researchers will welcome the study and its conclusions with a sigh of relief.</p><p><strong>Story Source:</strong></p>','2022-03-14 23:19:20.087054','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory','When the European Space Agency\'s Rosetta spacecraft discovered abundant molecular oxygen bursting from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) in 2015, it puzzled scientists. They had never seen a comet emit oxygen, let alone in such abundance. But most alarming were the deeper implications: that researchers had to account for so much oxygen, which meant reconsidering everything they thought they already knew about the chemistry of the early solar system and how it formed. A new analysis, however, shows Rosetta\'s discovery may not be as strange as scientists first imagined. Instead, it suggests the comet has two internal reservoirs that make it seem like there\'s more oxygen than is actually there.',1,44,'<li>Adrienn Luspay-Kuti, Olivier Mousis, Françoise Pauzat, Ozge Ozgurel, Yves Ellinger, Jonathan I. Lunine, Stephen A. Fuselier, Kathleen E. Mandt, Karlheinz J. Trattner, Steven M. Petrinec. <strong>Dual storage and release of molecular oxygen in comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko</strong>. <em>Nature Astronomy</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01614-1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41550-022-01614-1</a>\r\n</li>'),(1075,'Cognitive decline key factor in predicting life expectancy in Alzheimer’s disease','cognitive-decline-key-factor-in-predicting-life-expectancy-in-alzheimers-disease','2022-03-15 15:21:57.416466','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Cognitive decline is the biggest factor in determining how long patients with Alzheimer\'s disease will live after being diagnosed, according to a new study from researchers at UT Southwestern. The findings, published in the <em>Journal of Alzheimer\'s Disease,</em> are a first step that could help health care providers provide reliable prediction and planning assistance for patients with Alzheimer\'s disease and their families.</p><p>Using a National Alzheimer\'s Coordinating Center dataset on 764 autopsy-confirmed cases, C. Munro Cullum, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurological Surgery, and first author Jeffrey Schaffert, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in clinical neuropsychology at UT Southwestern, identified seven factors that helped predict life expectancy variances among participants. These factors are the most predictive of how many years of life remain after diagnosis.</p><p>\"Life expectancy for patients with Alzheimer\'s disease typically ranges from three to 12 years but can be longer in some cases. Families are anxious to know what to expect and how to best plan for the time ahead in terms of finances, family caregiving, and how they want to live out their lives,\" said Dr. Cullum, a neuropsychologist Investigator in the Peter O\'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute who specializes in cognitive assessment. \"We\'re trying to get them better answers.\"</p><p>Of the many variables studied, performance deficiencies on a brief cognitive screening test that focuses on orientation was the most significant predictor, accounting for about 20% of the variance in life expectancy. This was followed by sex, age, race/ethnicity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, abnormal neurological exam results, and functional impairment ratings.</p><p>\"We found that beyond global cognitive function, patients who were older, non-Hispanic, male, and who had more motor and psychiatric symptoms had a significantly shorter life expectancy,\" Dr. Schaffert said.</p><p>The data was drawn from clinical records and autopsy reports on patients who died with Alzheimer\'s disease between 2005 and 2015. Alzheimer\'s disease was confirmed by traditional abnormalities observed in brain autopsy specimens, including the presence of abnormal protein aggregation. Life expectancy in the study group ranged from one month to 131 months after diagnosis, and most were diagnosed on their first visit.</p><p>Dr. Schaffert explained that past studies have focused on only a few of the 21 predictors identified for life expectancy. In this case, researchers had a complete dataset for 14 variables in this group, the largest to date. Moreover, past studies have not been autopsy-based, thereby confounding results with data from other forms of dementia that mimic Alzheimer\'s disease.</p><p>The researchers caution that prediction of life expectancy is complex and influenced by many factors. While the cognitive test used in the study was a relatively strong predictor, they plan to follow up using more sensitive measures of memory and other specific cognitive abilities as predictors and probe how the rate of decline in cognition may track with life expectancy. They also hope to expand the population base.</p><p>\"This dataset was largely derived from well-educated white patients who donated their brains to research. We would like to extend this work to better reflect our more diverse patient population,\" Dr. Cullum said.</p><p>This study was supported by the Texas Alzheimer\'s Research and Care Consortium (TARCC), funded by the state of Texas through the Texas Council on Alzheimer\'s Disease and Related Disorders, and by the Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair (TIBIR), a state-funded initiative as part of the O\'Donnell Brain Institute. Dr. Cullum is TARCC\'s Scientific Director.</p><p><em>Dr. Cullum holds the Pam Blumenthal Distinguished Professorship in Clinical Psychology.</em></p>','2022-03-15 01:49:51.251909','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'UT Southwestern Medical Center','Cognitive decline is the biggest factor in determining how long patients with Alzheimer\'s disease will live after being diagnosed, according to a new study.',1,179,'<li>Jeff Schaffert, Christian LoBue, Linda S. Hynan, John Hart, Heidi Rossetti, Anne R. Carlew, Laura Lacritz, Charles L. White, C. Munro Cullum. <strong>Predictors of Life Expectancy in Autopsy-Confirmed Alzheimer’s Disease</strong>. <em>Journal of Alzheimer\'s Disease</em>, 2022; 86 (1): 271 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-215200\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.3233/JAD-215200</a>\r\n</li>'),(1076,'Fast-melting alpine permafrost may contribute to rising global temperatures','fast-melting-alpine-permafrost-may-contribute-to-rising-global-temperatures','2022-03-15 15:18:30.249587','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">From the ancient sludge of lakebeds in Asia\'s Tibetan Plateau, scientists can decipher a vision of Earth\'s future. That future, it turns out, will look very similar to the mid-Pliocene warm period -- an epoch 3.3 million to 3 million years ago when the average air temperature at mid-latitudes rarely dropped below freezing. It was a time when permanent ice was just beginning to cling to the northern polar regions, and mid-latitude alpine permafrost -- or perpetually frozen soil -- was much more limited than today.</p><p>Global permafrost today contains a whopping 1,500 trillion grams of carbon. That\'s twice as much as what\'s stored in the atmosphere. Alpine permafrost, which is found closer to the equator at high elevations, isn\'t as well studied as arctic permafrost but contains 85 trillion grams of carbon. When melted, it can release carbon dioxide and methane -- greenhouse gases that influence global temperature.</p><p>Alpine permafrost is expected to melt at a faster rate than arctic permafrost under current global warming conditions, according to new research published in <em>Nature Communications</em>, and this may contribute even more to rising global temperatures.</p><p>\"Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations today are similar, or maybe even higher, than the mid-Pliocene because of the burning of fossil fuels, and so scientists point at that time period as an analog for our current and near-future climate,\" said paper co-author Carmala Garzione, dean of the University of Arizona College of Science. \"We\'re not feeling the full effects of the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide yet because our Earth system takes time to adjust.\"</p><p>\"We wanted to estimate the stability of modern permafrost globally in a warmer-than-today climate scenario,\" said Feng Cheng, the paper\'s lead author and a professor at Peking University in China. Cheng formerly worked with Garzione as a postdoctoral fellow. \"Our findings were very surprising and highlight the fact that we need to put more effort into monitoring the stability of the permafrost in the alpine region.\"</p><p>The team used carbonate -- a family of minerals -- that formed in a Tibetan Plateau lake to estimate temperatures during the Pliocene period (5.3 to 2.6 million years ago) and the Pleistocene period (between 2.6 million and 11,700 years ago). When algae grows in lakes, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the water and, as a result, decreases lake acidity. That decrease drives the lake to form finely grained carbonate minerals that settle at the lake bottom. The atoms in that carbonate reflect the temperature at which the carbonate formed, and can be used like a time-traveling thermometer.</p><p>The Tibetan Plateau, which sits at an elevation over 15,400 feet, is the largest alpine permafrost region on Earth, but others can be found in the Mongolian Plateau in central Asia, the Canadian and American Rocky Mountains, the southern stretches of the Andes, and other mountain ranges worldwide at elevations where the air temperature is consistently below freezing.</p><p>The team also modeled the paleoclimate on Earth during the Pliocene. They found that not only was the average temperature of much of the Tibetan Plateau above freezing in the Pliocene, but the same was true for many of the alpine regions across the globe.</p><p>Ultimately, the modeling suggests that under current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, 20% of arctic permafrost land area and 60% of alpine permafrost land area will be lost in the future. High altitude alpine regions are more sensitive than high latitude arctic regions to warming under higher atmospheric carbon dioxide conditions.</p><p>\"The Pliocene is an important period as an ancient analog for how Earth will adjust to the carbon dioxide that humans have already released to the atmosphere,\" Garzione said. \"We need better and broader studies of the vulnerability of alpine regions under global warming scenarios. There\'s been a lot of focus on the stability of arctic permafrost, because it covers more land area and contains a huge reservoir of organic carbon trapped in permafrost, but we also need to be aware that alpine regions stand to lose more permafrost proportionally and are important in understanding of potential carbon release under global warming scenarios.\"</p>','2022-03-15 01:49:54.385541','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Arizona','Using lake sediment in the Tibetan Plateau, a team of researchers was able to show that permafrost at high elevations is more vulnerable than arctic permafrost under projected future climate conditions.',1,163,'<li>Feng Cheng, Carmala Garzione, Xiangzhong Li, Ulrich Salzmann, Florian Schwarz, Alan M. Haywood, Julia Tindall, Junsheng Nie, Lin Li, Lin Wang, Benjamin W. Abbott, Ben Elliott, Weiguo Liu, Deepshikha Upadhyay, Alexandrea Arnold, Aradhna Tripati. <strong>Alpine permafrost could account for a quarter of thawed carbon based on Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate analogue</strong>. <em>Nature Communications</em>, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29011-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038/s41467-022-29011-2</a>\r\n</li>'),(1077,'Ready, set…GO! Scientists discover a brain circuit that triggers the execution of planned movement','ready-setgo-scientists-discover-a-brain-circuit-that-triggers-the-execution-of-planned-movement','2022-03-15 15:17:04.207385','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Planned movement is essential to our daily lives, and it often requires delayed execution. As children, we stood crouched and ready but waited for the shout of \"GO!\" before sprinting from the starting line. As adults, we wait until the traffic light turns green before making a turn. In both situations, the brain has planned our precise movements but suppresses their execution until a specific cue (e.g., the shout of \"GO!\" or the green light). Now, scientists have discovered the brain network that turns plans into action in response to this cue.</p><p>The discovery, published in the scientific journal <em>Cell</em>, results from a collaboration of scientists at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, HHMI\'s Janelia Research Campus, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and others. Led by co-first authors Dr. Hidehiko Inagaki and Dr. Susu Chen and senior author Dr. Karel Svoboda, the scientists set out to understand how cues in our environment can trigger planned movement.</p><p>\"The brain is like an orchestra,\" said Dr. Inagaki. \"In a symphony, instruments play diverse tunes with different tempos and timbres. The collective of these sounds shapes a musical phrase. Similarly, neurons in the brain are active with diverse patterns and timing. The ensemble of neuronal activities mediates specific aspects of our behavior.\"</p><p>For example, the motor cortex is a brain area that controls movement. Activity patterns in the motor cortex are dramatically different between the planning and execution phases of movement. The transition between these patterns is critical to trigger movement. Yet, the brain areas controlling this transition were unknown. \"There must be brain areas acting as the conductor,\" described Dr. Inagaki. \"Such areas monitor environmental cues and orchestrate neuronal activities from one pattern to the other. The conductor ensures that plans are converted into action at the right time.\"</p><p>To identify the neural circuit that serves as the conductor to initiate planned movement, the team simultaneously recorded the activity of hundreds of neurons while a mouse performed a cue-triggered movement task. In this task, mice were trained to lick to the right if whiskers were touched or to the left if whiskers were not touched. If the animals licked in the correct direction, they received a reward. However, there was a catch. The animals had to delay their movement until a tone, or \"go cue,\" was played. Only correct movements after the go cue would be rewarded. Therefore, mice maintain a plan of the direction they will lick until the go cue and execute the planned lick after.</p><p>The scientists then correlated complex neuronal activity patterns to relevant stages of the behavioral task. The researchers found brain activity occurring immediately after the go cue and during the switch between motor planning and execution. This brain activity arose from a circuit of neurons in the midbrain, thalamus, and cortex.</p><p>To test whether this circuit acted as a conductor, the team used optogenetics. This approach enabled the scientists to activate or inactivate this circuit using light. Activating this circuit during the planning phase of the behavioral task switched the mouse\'s brain activity from motor planning to execution and caused the mouse to lick. On the other hand, turning off the circuit while playing the go cue suppressed the cued movement. The mice remained in a motor planning stage as if they had not received the go cue.</p><p>This work by Dr. Inagaki and his colleagues identified a neural circuit critical for triggering movement in response to environmental cues. Dr. Inagaki explains how their findings demonstrate generalizable features of behavioral control. \"We have found a circuit that can change the activity of the motor cortex from motor planning to execution at the appropriate time. This gives us insight into how the brain orchestrates neuronal activity to produce complex behavior. Future work will focus on understanding how this circuit and others reorganize neuronal activity across many brain regions.\"</p><p>In addition to these fundamental advances in understanding how the brain functions, this work has important clinical implications. In motor disorders, such as Parkinson\'s disease, patients experience difficulty in self-initiated movement, including difficulty in walking. However, adding environmental cues to trigger movements, such as lines on the floor or auditory tones, can dramatically improve a patient\'s mobility. This phenomenon, known as paradoxical kinesia, suggests that different mechanisms in the brain are recruited for self-initiated movement and cue-triggered movement. Discovering the brain networks involved in cue-triggered movements, which are relatively spared in Parkinson\'s disease, may help to optimize treatment.</p>','2022-03-15 01:50:02.544200','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience','Planned movement is essential to our daily lives, and it often requires delayed execution. As children, we stood crouched and ready but waited for the shout of \'GO!\' before sprinting from the starting line. As adults, we wait until the traffic light turns green before making a turn. New research explores how cues in our environment can trigger planned movement.',1,162,'<li>Hidehiko K. Inagaki, Susu Chen, Margreet C. Ridder, Pankaj Sah, Nuo Li, Zidan Yang, Hana Hasanbegovic, Zhenyu Gao, Charles R. Gerfen, Karel Svoboda. <strong>A midbrain-thalamus-cortex circuit reorganizes cortical dynamics to initiate movement</strong>. <em>Cell</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.02.006\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016/j.cell.2022.02.006</a>\r\n</li>'),(1078,'Climate scientists reconsider the meaning and implications of drought in light of a changing world','climate-scientists-reconsider-the-meaning-and-implications-of-drought-in-light-of-a-changing-world','2022-03-15 15:04:52.250287','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Maps of the American West have featured ever darker shades of red over the past two decades. The colors illustrate the unprecedented drought blighting the region. In some areas, conditions have blown past severe and extreme drought into exceptional drought. But rather than add more superlatives to our descriptions, one group of scientists believes it\'s time to reconsider the very definition of drought.</p><p>Researchers from half a dozen universities investigated what the future might hold in terms of rainfall and soil moisture, two measurements of drought. The team, led by UC Santa Barbara\'s Samantha Stevenson, found that many regions of the world will enter permanent dry or wet conditions in the coming decades, under modern definitions. The findings, published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, reveal the importance of rethinking how we classify these events as well as how we respond to them.</p><p>\"Essentially, we need to stop thinking about returning to normal as a thing that is possible,\" said Stevenson, an assistant professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science &amp; Management. This idea affects both how we define drought and pluvial (abnormally wet) events and how we adapt to a changing environment.</p><p>A drought is when conditions are drier than expected. But this concept becomes vague when the baseline itself is in flux. Stevenson suggests that, for some applications, it\'s more productive to frame drought relative to this changing background state, rather than a region\'s historical range of water availability.</p><p>To predict future precipitation and soil moisture levels, Stevenson and her colleagues turned to a new collection of climate models from different research institutions. Researchers had run each model many times with slightly different initial conditions, in what scientists call an \"ensemble.\" Since the climate is an inherently chaotic system, researchers use ensembles to account for some of this unpredictability.</p><p>The results show a world where certain regions are in permanent drought while others experience perennial pluvial for the rest of the 21<sup>st</sup> century. The team calculated the year in which average soil moisture will exceed the threshold that defines either a megadrought or a megapluvial. \"In other words, at what point do average conditions exceed what we would consider a megadrought if it happened now, [and never return to \'normal\']\" Stevenson said.</p><p>The western United States has already crossed this benchmark, and there are other places headed that way as well, including Australia, southern Africa and western Europe. \"But, again, that\'s if we use today\'s definition of a drought,\" Stevenson said.</p><p>The authors argue that we need to move away from fixed definitions toward a more nuanced account of drought and pluvial. \"Our idea of normal is, in a sense, meaningless when \'normal\' is continuously changing,\" Stevenson added.</p><p>Climate models indicate that average soil moisture in many regions will continue to drop. That said, the team\'s ensembles suggests that soil moisture will continue to experience drought-related variation similar to today, relative to the ever-drier baseline.</p><p>The fluctuation highlights the need to consider both long term changes and the usual ups and downs associated with historic droughts and pluvials. \"The most important management challenge will be to adjust for the relentless declines in water availability, as this exceeds the expected impact of future megadroughts,\" said co-author Julia Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan.</p><p>Precipitation patterns, on the other hand, will become much more extreme. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. So as the atmosphere heats up, it\'ll be able to suck more moisture from dry areas and dump more precipitation on wet regions.</p><p>\"We wanted to consider both precipitation and soil moisture at the same time because that can be important for water management,\" Stevenson said. For instance, we will need to adapt infrastructure to more arid conditions in the American West, but that infrastructure will also need to handle more intense rainfall.</p><p>\"When we talk about being in a drought, the presumption is that eventually the drought will end, and conditions will return to normal,\" Stevenson said. \"But if we\'re never returning to normal, then we need to adapt all of the ways that we manage water with the expectation that normal will continually be drier and drier every year.\"</p>','2022-03-15 01:50:04.518656','uploads/news/scientists-reconsider-2.jpg',1,'University of California - Santa Barbara','Maps of the American West have featured ever darker shades of red over the past two decades. The colors illustrate the unprecedented drought blighting the region. In some areas, conditions have blown past severe and extreme drought into exceptional drought. But rather than add more superlatives to our descriptions, one group of scientists believes it\'s time to reconsider the very definition of drought.',1,199,'<li>Samantha Stevenson, Sloan Coats, Danielle Touma, Julia Cole, Flavio Lehner, John Fasullo, Bette Otto-Bliesner. <strong>Twenty-first century hydroclimate: A continually changing baseline, with more frequent extremes</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (12) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2108124119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2108124119</a>\r\n</li>'),(1092,'Air pollution linked to depressive symptoms in adolescents','air-pollution-linked-to-depressive-symptoms-in-adolescents','2022-03-15 15:01:30.693375','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Exposure to ozone from air pollution has been linked to an increase in depressive symptoms for adolescents over time, even in neighborhoods that meet air quality standards, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.</p><p>Ozone is a gas that is produced when various pollutants from motor vehicle exhaust, power plants and other sources react to sunlight. Higher ozone levels have been linked to various physical ailments, including asthma, respiratory viruses and premature death from respiratory causes. This study is the first to link ozone levels to the development of depression symptoms in adolescents over time. Those symptoms may include persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, difficulty with concentration, sleep disturbances and thoughts about suicide.</p><p>\"I think our findings really speak to the importance of considering air pollution\'s impact on mental health in addition to physical health,\" said lead researcher Erika Manczak, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Denver.</p><p>The researchers analyzed data from a previous study about early life stress with 213 adolescent participants (aged 9 to 13 years old) in the San Francisco Bay area. The researchers compared data about the adolescents\' mental health over a four-year period with Census tracts for their home addresses and air quality data for those tracts from the California Environmental Protection Agency.</p><p>Adolescents who lived in areas with relatively higher ozone levels showed significant increases in depressive symptoms over time, even though the ozone levels in their neighborhoods didn\'t exceed state or national air quality standards. The findings weren\'t affected by the participants\' sex, age, race, household income, parental education or socioeconomic characteristics of their neighborhoods. The research was published online in <em>Developmental Psychology</em>.</p><p>\"It was surprising that the average level of ozone was fairly low even in the communities with relatively higher ozone exposure,\" Manczak said. \"This really underscores the fact that even low levels of ozone exposure have potentially harmful effects.\"</p><p>Ozone and other components of air pollution can contribute to high levels of inflammation in the body, which has been linked to the onset and development of depression. Adolescents may be especially sensitive to these effects because they spend more time outdoors.</p><p>The study included a relatively small sample size from one area of the United States. The findings are correlational so it can\'t be proven that ozone levels caused an increase in depressive symptoms, only that there is a link between them. It\'s also possible that other components of air pollution besides ozone could be a factor.</p><p>Because air pollution disproportionately affects marginalized communities, ozone levels could be contributing to health disparities, Manczak said. Communities also should consider ways to reduce ozone exposure, such as holding youth sporting events indoors when necessary and limiting driving during peak hours of air pollution alerts. Investment in clean and renewable energy sources that reduce air pollution also could be helpful.</p><p>\"I believe state and federal air quality standards should be stricter, and we should have tighter regulations on industries that contribute to pollution,\" Manczak said. \"Our findings and other studies suggest that even low levels of ozone exposure can pose potentially serious risks to both physical and mental health.\"</p>','2022-03-15 11:31:59.438928','uploads/news/Air-pollution-linked-to-depressive-symptoms-in-adolescents-scaled.webp',1,'American Psychological Association','Exposure to ozone from air pollution has been linked to an increase in depressive symptoms for adolescents over time, even in neighborhoods that meet air quality standards, according to new research.',1,39,'<li>Erika M. Manczak, Jonas G. Miller, and Ian H. Gotlib. <strong>Census Tract Ambient Ozone Predicts Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents</strong>. <em>Developmental Psychology</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0001310\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1037/dev0001310</a>\r\n</li>'),(1125,'Malaria drug could combat chemotherapy-resistant head and neck cancers, research suggests','malaria-drug-could-combat-chemotherapy-resistant-head-and-neck-cancers-research-suggests','2022-03-15 17:22:33.644135','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study suggests that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine inhibits pathways that drive resistance to the chemotherapy agent cisplatin in head and neck cancers and restores tumor-killing effects of cisplatin in animal models.</p><p>The findings, published today in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC scientists, pave the way for a clinical trial that combines cisplatin and hydroxychloroquine to treat chemotherapy-resistant head and neck cancers.</p><p>\"When caring for patients with head and neck cancers, I often see chemotherapy fail. Cisplatin is a very important chemotherapy drug, but tumor resistance to cisplatin is a huge problem,\" said co-senior author Umamaheswar Duvvuri, M.D., Ph.D., head and neck surgeon at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and professor of otolaryngology in Pitt\'s School of Medicine. \"My lab is interested in understanding the mechanisms of resistance so that we can find better ways to treat these patients.\"</p><p>Previous research showed that a protein called TMEM16A is linked with cisplatin resistance in patient tumors. Overexpression of this protein, which occurs in about 30% of head and neck cancers, is also associated with decreased survival.</p><p>TMEM16A belongs to a group of proteins called ion channels. Straddling the cell\'s outer envelope, these proteins provide a passageway to chloride ions, which regulate muscle and nerve activation and transport of salt and water. Because impaired chloride transport is typically linked with neurological and kidney diseases such as epilepsy, cystic fibrosis and kidney stones, Duvvuri was surprised by the link between TMEM16A and cancer.</p><p>\"It\'s always been a bit of a puzzle as to why an ion channel is upregulated in cancer,\" he said. \"This research provides important clues towards solving this puzzle.\"</p><p>The new study suggests that TMEM16A promotes expulsion of cisplatin in cellular compartments called lysosomes. In a healthy cell, lysosomes act like a recycling and waste disposal system, breaking down molecules for reuse and expelling cellular detritus.</p><p>In tumors that overexpress TMEM16A, this protein drives a novel signaling pathway, boosting the production of lysosomes, which sequester and expel cisplatin from the cell, according to first author Avani Vyas, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate at Pitt.</p><p>\"We show that cancer cells have an active mechanism to discard chemotherapeutic drugs,\" added co-senior author Kirill Kiselyov, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences at Pitt. \"After dissecting this process on a fundamental level and identifying TMEM16A as a critical node, the next step was to test whether disrupting this process with hydroxychloroquine could have translational potential.\"</p><p>Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial agent that inhibits lysosomal function. To evaluate its potential to treat cisplatin-resistant cancers, the team first implanted human cancer cells onto the membrane surrounding the embryo in fertilized chicken eggs.</p><p>They found that eggs treated with both hydroxychloroquine and cisplatin had greater tumor cell death than those treated with cisplatin alone.</p><p>Similarly, in mice with tumors derived from cisplatin-resistant human cancer cells, the combination of hydroxychloroquine and cisplatin slowed tumor growth more than either compound alone.</p><p>\"These experiments suggest that hydroxychloroquine has a synergistic effect with cisplatin,\" explained Duvvuri. \"This is relevant for patients because repurposing hydroxychloroquine, which is an existing drug, will allow us to translate these findings to the clinic much faster than we could with a novel compound.\"</p><p>The researchers are now designing a phase II clinical trial to treat head and neck cancer patients with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and cisplatin.</p><p>Other authors who contributed to this study were Roberto Gomez-Casal, M.S., Jonathan Pacheco, Ph.D., and Gerald R. V. Hammond, Ph.D., all of Pitt; Silvia Cruz-Rangel, Ph.D., of Pitt and UPMC; Hugo Villanueva, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine; Andrew G. Sikora, M.D., Ph.D., of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Pavithra Rajagopalan, Ph.D., and Devraj Basu, M.D., Ph.D., both of the University of Pennsylvania.</p><p>This research was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (IO1-002345), the National Institutes of Health (RO1-DE028343), the Myers Family Foundation, PNC Foundation, and the Eye &amp; Ear Foundation.</p>','2022-03-15 17:19:10.575273','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Pittsburgh','A new study suggests that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine inhibits pathways that drive resistance to the chemotherapy agent cisplatin in head and neck cancers and restores tumor-killing effects of cisplatin in animal models.',1,124,'<li>Avani Vyas, Roberto Gomez-Casal, Silvia Cruz-Rangel, Hugo Villanueva, Andrew G. Sikora, Pavithra Rajagopalan, Devraj Basu, Jonathan Pacheco, Gerald R. V. Hammond, Kirill Kiselyov, Umamaheswar Duvvuri. <strong>Lysosomal inhibition sensitizes TMEM16A-expressing cancer cells to chemotherapy</strong>. <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, 2022; 119 (12) DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100670119\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1073/pnas.2100670119</a>\r\n</li>'),(1129,'Hoverfly brains mapped to detect the sound of distant drones','hoverfly-brains-mapped-to-detect-the-sound-of-distant-drones','2022-03-16 06:12:14.522470','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">For the first time, Australian researchers have reverse engineered the visual systems of hoverflies to detect drones\' acoustic signatures from almost four kilometres away.</p><p>Autonomous systems experts from the University of South Australia, Flinders University and defence company Midspar Systems say that trials using bio-inspired signal processing techniques show up to a 50 per cent better detection rate than existing methods.</p><p>The findings, which could help combat the growing global threat posed by IED-carrying drones, including in Ukraine, have been reported in <em>The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</em>.</p><p>UniSA Professor of Autonomous Systems, Anthony Finn, says that insect vision systems have been mapped for some time now to improve camera-based detections, but this is the first time that bio-vision has been applied to acoustic data.</p><p>\"Bio-vision processing has been shown to greatly increase the detection range of drones in both visual and infrared data. However, we have now shown we can pick up clear and crisp acoustic signatures of drones, including very small and quiet ones, using an algorithm based on the hoverfly\'s visual system,\" Prof Finn says.</p><p>The hoverfly\'s superior visual and tracking skills have been successfully modelled to detect drones in busy, complex and obscure landscapes, both for civilian and military purposes.</p><p>\"Unauthorised drones pose distinctive threats to airports, individuals and military bases. It is therefore becoming ever-more critical for us to be able to detect specific locations of drones at long distances, using techniques that can pick up even the weakest signals. Our trials using the hoverfly-based algorithms show we can now do this,\" Prof Finn says.</p><p>Associate Professor in Autonomous Systems at Flinders University, Dr Russell Brinkworth, says the ability to both see and hear small drones at greater distances could be hugely beneficial for aviation regulators, safety authorities and the wider public seeking to monitor ever increasing numbers of autonomous aircraft in sensitive airspace.</p><p>\"We\'ve witnessed drones entering airspace where commercial airlines are landing and taking off in recent years, so developing the capacity to actually monitor small drones when they\'re active near our airports or in our skies could be extremely beneficial towards improving safety.</p><p>\"The impact of UAVs in modern warfare is also becoming evident during the war in Ukraine, so keeping on top of their location is actually in the national interest. Our research aims to extend the detection range considerably as the use of drones increases in the civilian and military space.\"</p><p>Compared with traditional techniques, bio-inspired processing improved detection ranges by between 30 and 49 per cent, depending on the type of drone and the conditions.</p><p>Researchers look for specific patterns (narrowband) and/or general signals (broadband) to pick up drone acoustics at short to medium distances, but at longer distance the signal is weaker and both techniques struggle to achieve reliable results.</p><p>Similar conditions exist in the natural world. Dark lit regions are very noisy but insects such as the hoverfly have a very powerful visual system that can capture visual signals, researchers say.</p><p>\"We worked under the assumption that the same processes which allow small visual targets to be seen amongst visual clutter could be redeployed to extract low volume acoustic signatures from drones buried in noise,\" Dr Brinkworth says.</p><p>By converting acoustic signals into two-dimensional \'images\' (called spectrograms), researchers used the neural pathway of the hoverfly brain to improve and suppress unrelated signals and noise, increasing the detection range for the sounds they wanted to detect.</p><p>Using their image-processing skills and sensing expertise, the researchers made this bio-inspired acoustic data breakthrough thanks to Federal Government funding through the Department of Defence\'s Next Generation Technologies Fund</p><p>The funding partly supports technological solutions to address the weaponisation of drones which are now among the deadliest weapons in modern warfare, killing or injuring more than 3000 enemy combatants in Afghanistan and being deployed in the current war in Ukraine.</p><p>A video explaining the technology can be viewed here: <a href=\"https://youtu.be/zAmiyaDH5oQ\">https://youtu.be/zAmiyaDH5oQ</a></p>','2022-03-15 17:24:54.166755','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of South Australia','Researchers have reverse engineered the visual systems of hoverflies to detect drones\' acoustic signatures from almost four kilometers away. The finding could help combat the growing use of IED-carrying drones, including those used in Ukraine.',1,206,'<li>Jian Fang, Anthony Finn, Ron Wyber, Russell S. A. Brinkworth. <strong>Acoustic detection of unmanned aerial vehicles using biologically inspired vision processing</strong>. <em>The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</em>, 2022; 151 (2): 968 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/10.0009350\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1121/10.0009350</a>\r\n</li>'),(1130,'Discovery of novel brain fear mechanisms offers target for anxiety-reducing drugs','discovery-of-novel-brain-fear-mechanisms-offers-target-for-anxiety-reducing-drugs','2022-03-16 06:15:28.497404','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new target in the brain which underpins the eliciting of anxiety and fear behaviours such as \'freezing\' has been identified by neuroscientists. The University of Bristol researchers say the discovery of a key pathway in the brain, published in the journal<em> eLife</em>, offers a potential new drug target for treating anxiety and psychological disorders, which affect an estimated 264-million people worldwide.</p><p>Existing anxiety-reducing drugs are not always effective for all patients and often have unwanted side effects. Understanding the brain networks and mechanisms which underlie fear and anxiety may offer a new approach to developing better treatments for anxiety disorders.</p><p>Neuroscientists from Bristol\'s School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, sought to investigate how the brain\'s cerebellum, which is connected to many brain regions associated with survival networks, influences activity in another area of the brain called the periaqueductal grey (PAG). This PAG area lies at the hub of central networks that co-ordinate survival mechanisms including fear-evoked coping responses such as \'freezing\'.</p><p>To investigate this, researchers fitted animal models with electrodes to record activity within the brain\'s PAG region and applied a conditioning task, whereby an auditory tone is paired with a small foot shock, eliciting the formation of a \'fear memory\' and freezing, a behavioural index of fear. The team showed that within the brain\'s PAG area, a subset of brain cells increased their responsiveness to the conditioned tone, consistent with encoding a fear memory.</p><p>However, when cerebellar output was altered during conditioning, the subsequent timing of fear-related neuronal activity in the PAG became less precise and the duration of fear-related freezing behaviour was increased confirming that cerebellar-periaqueductal grey interactions contribute to fear conditioning processes. The team showed that the manipulation of a direct cerebellar-PAG pathway, also caused impairments in fear conditioned freezing and ultrasonic vocalisations.</p><p>The study\'s lead authors, Dr Charlotte Lawrenson and Dr Elena Paci, explain: \"Until now, little was understood about how the cerebellum modulates neuronal activity in other brain regions, especially those related to fear and anxiety. Importantly, our results show that the cerebellum is part of the brain\'s survival network that regulates fear memory processes at multiple timescales and in multiple ways; raising the possibility that dysfunctional interactions in the brain\'s cerebellar-survival network may underlie fear-related disorders and comorbidities.\"</p><p>The study\'s findings provide new insights into the way the PAG encodes fear memory and also provides evidence that the cerebellum is an additional key structure in the list of brain regions that contribute to the fear/anxiety network and offers a novel target for treating psychological conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder.</p><p>The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Wellcome Trust-funded study is published in the journal <em>eLife</em>.</p>','2022-03-15 17:25:04.671509','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of Bristol','A new target in the brain which underpins the eliciting of anxiety and fear behaviors such as \'freezing\' has been identified by neuroscientists. Researchers say the discovery of a key pathway in the brain offers a potential new drug target for treating anxiety and psychological disorders, which affect an estimated 264-million people worldwide.',1,208,'<li>Elena Paci, Charlotte Lawrenson, Jasmine Pickford, Robert AR Drake, Bridget M Lumb, Richard Apps. <strong>Cerebellar modulation of memory encoding in the periaqueductal grey and fear behaviour</strong>. <em>eLife</em>, 2022; 11 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.76278\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.7554/eLife.76278</a>\r\n</li>'),(1131,'Restoring tropical peatlands supports bird diversity and does not affect livelihoods of oil palm farmers, study suggests','restoring-tropical-peatlands-supports-bird-diversity-and-does-not-affect-livelihoods-of-oil-palm-farmers-study-suggests','2022-03-16 06:23:50.074620','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">A new study has found that oil palm can be farmed more sustainably on peatlands by re-wetting the land -- conserving both biodiversity and livelihoods.</p><p>The research looked at tropical peatland restoration efforts in Indonesia, and investigates whether managing water levels on drained peatlands affects the viability of oil palm grown by farmers, as well as bird species diversity.</p><p>Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia contain large below-ground carbon stocks, while peat swamp forests contain unique and threatened biodiversity. However, when peat forests are cleared and peatlands are drained for cultivation, it results in carbon emissions, biodiversity losses, and land subsidence. Drained peatlands are also prone to fire, which in the past has led to toxic haze, deaths, and health and economic damage.</p><p>Indonesia is estimated to contain 47% of global tropical peatlands, chiefly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Forests covered 76% of Sumatra\'s peatland in 1990, but by 2015, 66% was covered by smallholder agriculture or industrial plantations, primarily of oil palm.</p><p>Drainage is considered necessary to maintain oil palm yields because prolonged flooding reduces fruit production. However, peatland drainage means Sumatra is now a hotspot for peat fires.</p><p>The study found that re-wetting should have net positive effects for smallholders by reducing the risk of fires that can damage property, plantations, and human health, without having a detectable effect on oil palm yields.</p><p>A farmer collaborating on the project, Mr Udin, said: \"Even if the farm flooded for a few days, the yield is not decreased.\"</p><p>The study, published in <em>Journal of Applied Ecology</em>, was led by the University of York and ZSL (Zoological Society of London), as well as colleagues from the Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development and Jambi University in Indonesia.</p><p>The study -- which focussed on Jambi province in Sumatra, Indonesia -- studied water table depths on oil palm farms managed by smallholder farmers, to assess impacts on oil palm yields and on bird species living on the farms.</p><p>Peat is a carbon-rich soil formed from partly decomposed vegetation in permanently wet conditions. Tropical peatlands are critically important for storing carbon in the ground, and also provide habitats for tropical wildlife, including tigers, gibbons, birds, and specially adapted plants, fish, and microbes.</p><p>Cultivating peatlands also supports people\'s livelihoods, such as small-scale farmers growing oil palm.</p><p>Peatland needs to be drained using canals to make the land suitable for farming, which can impact habitats and cause the peat to emit carbon. The dry land can also become prone to fire -- leading to increased carbon emissions, toxic haze, and a threat to the lives of both people and wildlife.</p><p>Restoring drained peatland involves a process of \"rewetting\" where canals draining water away are blocked or filled in, which makes it less likely that the peatlands will catch fire.</p><p>Ninety bird species were recorded in an area of peat swamp forest neighbouring the farms, but only 48 species were found in oil palm. The species living in the forest were also different, including 35 conservation-priority species, and tended to be larger-bodied species that play different ecological roles, meaning forest protection is critical for conserving biodiversity.</p><p>Reducing fire risk in the neighbouring oil palm farms by re-wetting should reduce the risk of forest burning and of further habitat loss for wildlife, while still supporting farmer production.</p><p>Dr. Eleanor Warren-Thomas, now at Bangor University and IIASA, and who led the study while a researcher at York, said: \"Indonesia has been very successful in reducing deforestation and considerable effort has gone into peat restoration to avoid fires.</p><p>\"But one of the big challenges is the trade-off between livelihoods of owners of small farms and ensuring biodiversity in these areas.</p><p>\"What this new study shows is that retaining more water in oil palm farms to reduce fire risk seems to have no effect on yields, which is good news for farmers. In contrast to the concerns of some plantations, retaining water levels close to the surface (40cm or less) still enables oil palm cultivation.\"</p><p>Eleanor said: \"By also surveying bird species in one of the remaining peat swamp forest areas nearby, we also showed the huge importance of protecting the remaining forest for bird conservation -- avoiding fires in the landscape is key to doing this.</p><p>\"These unique birds can also act as seed dispersers -- crucial if in the longer-term forest restoration becomes an option.</p><p>\"One of the conclusions of the study is that larger-scale industrial farming organisations would be able to help further studies in this area, if they are able to publish their data and share their knowledge to inform sustainable oil palm production strategies.\"</p>','2022-03-15 17:25:07.825248','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'University of York','A new study has found that oil palm can be farmed more sustainably on peatlands by re-wetting the land - conserving both biodiversity and livelihoods.',1,70,'<li>Eleanor Warren‐Thomas, Fahmuddin Agus, Panji Gusti Akbar, Merry Crowson, Keith C. Hamer, Bambang Hariyadi, Jenny A. Hodgson, Winda D. Kartika, Mailys Lopes, Jennifer M. Lucey, Dedy Mustaqim, Nathalie Pettorelli, Asmadi Saad, Widia Sari, Gita Sukma, Lindsay C. Stringer, Caroline Ward, Jane K. Hill. <strong>No evidence for trade‐offs between bird diversity, yield and water table depth on oil palm smallholdings: Implications for tropical peatland landscape restoration</strong>. <em>Journal of Applied Ecology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14135\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1111/1365-2664.14135</a>\r\n</li>'),(1132,'People with diabetes who eat less processed food at night may live longer','people-with-diabetes-who-eat-less-processed-food-at-night-may-live-longer','2022-03-16 10:52:12.083382','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">The time of day that people with diabetes eat certain foods may be just as important to their well-being as portion size and calories, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society\'s <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.</em></p><p>Mealtimes should be in line with the biological clock -- a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats every 24 hours. Health outcomes for people with diabetes may be improved if certain foods are eaten at different times of the day.</p><p>\"We observed that eating potatoes in the morning, whole grains in the afternoon, greens and milk in the evening and less processed meat in the evening was associated with better long-term survival in people with diabetes,\" said Qingrao Song, M.D., of Harbin Medical University in Harbin, China. \"Nutritional guidelines and intervention strategies for diabetes should integrate the optimal consumption times for foods in the future.\"</p><p>The researchers analyzed data from 4,642 people with diabetes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine their risk of dying from heart disease. They found people with diabetes who ate potatoes or starchy vegetables in the morning, whole grains in the afternoon, and dark vegetables such as greens and broccoli and milk in the evening were less likely to die from heart disease. Those who ate a lot of processed meat in the evening were more likely to die from heart disease.</p><p>Other authors of this study include: Wenbo Jiang, Jia Zhang, Yunyan Chen, Hongyan Jiang, Yujia Long, Ying Li, Tianshu Han, Hongru Sun and Wei Wei of Harbin Medical University.</p><p>The study received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.</p>','2022-03-15 17:25:28.034815','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'The Endocrine Society','The time of day that people with diabetes eat certain foods may be just as important to their well-being as portion size and calories, according to a new study.',1,46,'<li>Wenbo Jiang, Qingrao Song, Jia Zhang, Yunyan Chen, Hongyan Jiang, Yujia Long, Ying Li, Tianshu Han, Hongru Sun, Wei Wei. <strong>The Association of Consumption Time for Food with Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality Among Diabetes Patients</strong>. <em>The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism</em>, 2022 DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgac069\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1210/clinem/dgac069</a>\r\n</li>'),(1134,'\'Long COVID\' linked to lasting airways disease','long-covid-linked-to-lasting-airways-disease','2022-03-16 10:50:40.283647','<p class=\"lead\" id=\"first\">Disease of the small airways in the lungs is a potential long-lasting effect of COVID-19, according to a new study published in the journal <em>Radiology</em>. The study found that small airways disease occurred independently of initial infection severity. The long-term consequences are unknown.</p><p>\"There is some disease happening in the small airways independent of the severity of COVID-19,\" said study senior author Alejandro P. Comellas, M.D., professor of internal medicine and faculty in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa in Iowa City. \"We need to investigate further to see whether it is transient or more permanent.\"</p><p>Early reports indicate that more than 50% of adult survivors of SARS-CoV-2 infection experience post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), more commonly known as \"long COVID.\" Respiratory symptoms, including cough and dyspnea, are reported by nearly 30% of patients with long COVID, including those who experienced mild infection.</p><p>The study grew out of observations from University of Iowa clinicians that many patients with initial SARS-CoV-2 infection who were either hospitalized or treated in the ambulatory setting later showed signs of chronic lung disease such as shortness of breath and other respiratory symptoms.</p><p>Dr. Comellas and colleagues put a protocol in place to perform both inspiratory and expiratory CT in these patients. Inspiratory CT, performed after patients inhale, is the standard imaging technique for viewing lung tissue, but post-exhalation expiratory scans are needed to assess air trapping, a condition in which people are not able to empty their lungs when they breathe out. Air trapping is found in many obstructive airway diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).</p><p>For the study, the researchers compared CT findings in people who had COVID-19 and persistent symptoms with those of a healthy control group. They enrolled 100 adults with confirmed COVID-19 who had remained symptomatic more than 30 days following diagnosis, along with 106 healthy participants. The 100 COVID-19 survivors, median age 48 years, included 67 who were classified as ambulatory, or not requiring hospitalization, 17 who were hospitalized, and 16 who required care in the intensive care unit (ICU) during acute infection.</p><p>The researchers detected air trapping on expiratory chest CT images in the COVID-19 group. The mean percentage of total lung affected by air trapping ranged from slightly more than 25% in the ambulatory group to almost 35% in the hospitalized group, compared with only 7.2% in healthy controls. Air trapping persisted in eight of the nine participants who underwent imaging more than 200 days after diagnosis.</p><p>These imaging results show a high prevalence of long-lasting air trapping, regardless of the initial severity of infection.</p><p>Quantitative analysis of expiratory chest CT images, performed with the help of a sophisticated type of artificial intelligence known as supervised machine learning, showed evidence of small airways disease. While small airways disease is not fully understood, evidence suggests it may be related to either inflammation or remodeling of the small airways that prevents air from being able to be exhaled from the lungs.</p><p>\"For the first time, we\'re describing small airways disease in this population of COVID-19 patients with persistent symptoms,\" Dr. Comellas said. \"Something is going on in the distal airways related to either inflammation or fibrosis that is giving us a signal of air trapping.\"</p><p>The median time from diagnosis to chest CT imaging was approximately 75 days. The researchers noted that persistence of respiratory abnormalities in this timeframe raises concern for permanent airway remodeling and fibrosis following SARS-CoV-2 infection.</p><p>Dr. Comellas and colleagues intend to follow the patients in the study registry and see how many improve and recover and how many remain with abnormal findings.</p><p>\"If a portion of patients continues to have small airways disease, then we need to think about the mechanisms behind it,\" he said. \"It could be something related to inflammation that\'s reversible, or it may be something related to a scar that is irreversible, and then we need to look at ways to prevent further progression of the disease.\"</p>','2022-03-15 18:31:08.343021','uploads/news/logo.jpg',1,'Radiological Society of North America','Disease of the small airways in the lungs is a potential long-lasting effect of COVID-19, according to a new study. The study found that small airways disease occurred independently of initial infection severity. The long-term consequences are unknown.',1,211,'<li>Josalyn L. Cho, Raul Villacreses, Prashant Nagpal, Junfeng Guo, Alejandro A. Pezzulo, Andrew L. Thurman, Nabeel Y. Hamzeh, Robert J. Blount, Spyridon Fortis, Eric A. Hoffman, Joseph Zabner, Alejandro P. Comellas. <strong>Quantitative Chest CT Assessment of Small Airways Disease in                     Post-Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection</strong>. <em>Radiology</em>, 2022; DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1148/radiol.212170\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10.1148/radiol.212170</a>\r\n</li>'),