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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 19, 2022 at 9:50am

Down syndrome, like Alzheimer's, is a double-prion disorder

The brains of people with Down syndrome develop the same neurodegenerative tangles and plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease and frequently demonstrate signs of the neurodegenerative disorder in their forties or fifties. A new study from researchers shows that these tangles and plaques are driven by the same amyloid beta (Aß) and tau prions that they showed are behind Alzheimer's disease in 2019.

Prions begin as normal proteins that become misshapen and self-propagate. They spread through tissue like an infection by forcing normal proteins to adopt the same misfolded shape. In both Alzheimer's and Down syndrome, as Aß and tau prions accumulate in the brain, they cause neurological dysfunction that often manifests as dementia.

Tau tangles and Aß plaques are evident in most people with Down syndrome by age 40, according to the National Institute on Aging, with at least 50% of this population developing Alzheimer's as they age.

The new study, published Nov. 7, 2022, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights how a better understanding of Down syndrome can lead to new insights about Alzheimer's, as well.

Carlo Condello et al, Aβ and tau prions feature in the neuropathogenesis of Down syndrome, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212954119

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 19, 2022 at 9:38am

Earth now weighs six ronnagrams: New metric prefixes voted in

Say hello to ronnagrams and quettameters: International scientists gathered in France voted on Friday for new metric prefixes to express the world's largest and smallest measurements, prompted by an ever-growing amount of data.

It marks the first time in more than three decades that new prefixes have been added to the International System of Units (SI), the agreed global standard for the metric system.

Joining the ranks of well-known prefixes like kilo and milli are ronna and quetta for the largest numbers—and ronto and quecto for the smallest.

The change was voted on by scientists and government representatives from across the world attending the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures, which governs the SI and meets roughly every four years at Versailles Palace, west of Paris.

The UK's National Physical Laboratory, which led the push for the new prefixes, confirmed that the resolution had passed in a statement.

The prefixes make it easier to express large amounts—for example, always referring to a kilometer as 1,000 meters or a millimeter as one thousandth of a meter would quickly become cumbersome.

Since the SI was established in 1960, scientific need has led to a growing number of prefixes. The last time was in 1991, when chemists wanting to express vast molecular quantities spurred the addition of zetta and yotta.

A yottameter is a one followed by 24 zeroes.

But even the mighty yotta is not enough to handle the world's voracious appetite for data.

So the Earth weighs approximately six ronnagrams,which is a six followed by 27 zeroes !

Jupiter, that's about two quettagrams—a two followed by 30 zeros.

Source: AFP

https://phys.org/news/2022-11-earth-ronnagrams-metric-prefixes-vote...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 19, 2022 at 9:34am

A butterfly-stroke-like soft robotic swimmer that is fast and efficient

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 19, 2022 at 7:24am

What is a 'Carbon Cage,' and why are you stuck in one right now?

This knowledge is extremely important
Our current carbon-heavy economic system creates bars around us that stop effective climate change action. Here's why: The world is too accustomed to the luxuries and privileges which depend on co2 emissions

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 18, 2022 at 11:19am

How an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain

No gene variant is a bigger risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease than one called APOE4. But exactly how the gene spurs brain damage has been a mystery. A study has now linked APOE4 with faulty cholesterol processing in the brain, which in turn leads to defects in the insulating sheaths that surround nerve fibres and facilitate their electrical activity. Preliminary results hint that these changes could cause memory and learning deficits. And the work suggests that drugs that restore the brain’s cholesterol processing could treat the disease.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 18, 2022 at 11:09am

Study shows hundreds of thousands of tons of bacteria are being released by melting glaciers

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions across Europe, the U.K. and Canada has found that hundreds of thousands of tons of bacteria are currently being released annually into the environment by melting glaciers in the northern latitudes. In their paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the group describes sampling glacial runoff from multiple sites in Europe, North America and Greenland.

As climate change progresses, doomsday reports from around the world have proliferated. One alarming claim is that a virus or strain of bacteria will emerge from ancient ice that is impervious to the human immune system, killing off most, if not all, of humankind. In this new effort, the researchers have joined a growing effort to take samples of melting runoff from glaciers to learn more about their microbial ecosystems as a means to discover whether a threat exists, and if so, what sort.

The researchers did not study the bacteria individually, and thus did not spot any species that might pose a threat to human health. They did note that most of the bacteria were killed by the sun soon after exposure, suggesting that even if a human pathogen is among them, the chance of infection is slight. Bacteria in water samples, the researchers note, tend to have pigments that absorb sunlight, which further adds to warming in northern regions.

Ian T. Stevens et al, Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces, Communications Earth & Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00609-0

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 18, 2022 at 11:05am

Nanostructured ceramic coatings do not fatigue, finds study

Extremely thin ceramic coatings can completely change the properties of technical components. Coatings are used, for example, to increase the resistance of metals to heat or corrosion. Coating processes play a role for large turbine blades as well as for extremely stressed tools in production technology.

Researchers now investigated what determines the stability of such coatings. And the results, some of which were obtained at the DESY synchrotron in Hamburg, are quite surprising: the ceramic layers break down in a completely different way than metals. Material fatigue hardly plays a role; the decisive factor is the intensity of extreme load peaks (the so called stress intensity factor). This finding will change the method used to measure and further improve the resistance of thin films in the future.

 L. Zauner et al, Assessing the fracture and fatigue resistance of nanostructured thin films, Acta Materialia (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2022.118260

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The offshoot of cells visualized in real time

In a study recently published in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, researchers from Kanazawa University use high-speed microscopy to capture the dynamics of nanosized sacs released from cells.

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Air pollution cools climate more than expected—this makes cutting c...

Air pollutants kill around 7 million people every year. Much of this pollution is tiny particles suspended in the air which, when inhaled, can cause people to develop heart and lung diseases, as well as cancer.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 18, 2022 at 11:00am

New technology for growing printed tissues for transplantation

Researchers have developed an innovative technology for growing tissue for transplantation by printing it into a microgel bath as support material.

Tissue printing is an innovative approach for creating tissue for transplantation. In this technique, also called bio-printing, living cells are embedded in biological ink and printed layer upon layer. The printed tissue then undergoes growth for days or weeks until it is ready for printing.

This new work focused on preventing the uneven shrinkage of the printed tissue in the weeks after printing. The solution was found through changing the medium in which the tissue is printed and grown.

The new concept, print-and-grow, is based on an original medium developed by the researchers—an innovative microgel used as a support material in the process, CarGrow, which is a substance mainly composed of carrageenan (Carrageenan-K) and is produced from red algae. In fact, the new support bath preserves the size of the tissue after printing and prevents it from shrinking and losing its shape.

This process allows reliable and controlled production of functional tissue in the desired size and shape. Since this material is transparent, it makes it possible for the scientists to monitor the development of the tissue through imaging.

The Technion researchers hope the new method will lead to the development of new technologies for bio-printing. 

Majd Machour et al, Print‐and‐Grow within a Novel Support Material for 3D Bioprinting and Post‐Printing Tissue Growth, Advanced Science (2022). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202200882

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 18, 2022 at 10:50am

Researchers discover how music could be used to trigger a deadly pathogen release

Researchers  have discovered that the safe operation of a negative pressure room—a space in a hospital or biological research laboratory designed to protect outside areas from exposure to deadly pathogens—can be disrupted by an attacker armed with little more than a smartphone.

According to UCI cyber-physical systems security experts, who shared their findings with attendees at the Association for Computing Machinery's recent Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Los Angeles, mechanisms that control airflow in and out of biocontainment facilities can be tricked into functioning irregularly by a sound of a particular frequency, possibly tucked surreptitiously into a popular song.

Someone could play a piece of music loaded on their smartphone or get it to transmit from a television or other audio device in or near a negative pressure room. If that music is embedded with a tone that matches the resonant frequency of the pressure controls of one of these spaces, it could cause a malfunction and a leak of deadly microbes.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning infrastructure maintains the flow of fresh air into and contaminated air out of a given space. HVAC systems in scientific facilities typically include room pressure monitors, which in turn utilize differential pressure sensors that compare the atmospheres inside and outside rooms.

The researchers said that commonly used differential pressure sensors (DPSs) are vulnerable to remote manipulation, posing a previously unrealized threat to biosafety facilities. They tested their hypothesis on eight industry-standard DPSs from five manufacturers, demonstrating that all the devices operate with resonant frequencies in the audible range and are, therefore, subject to tampering.

When sound waves collide with the diaphragms inside a DPS, it starts vibrating with the same frequency. An informed attacker can use this technique to artificially displace the diaphragm, changing the pressure reading and causing the whole system to malfunction.

Attackers could thwart negative pressure room systems in a variety of ways. They could manipulate them wirelessly or pose as maintenance personnel to place an audio device inside or near such a room.A more sophisticated attack might involve perpetrators embedding sound-emitting technologies into a DPS before it's installed in a biocontainment facility.

In their conference presentation, the researchers suggested several countermeasures to prevent a musical assault on biosafety facilities. Sound dampening can be achieved by lengthening the sampling tube of a DPS's port by as much as 7 meters. The team also proposed enclosing the pressure port in a boxlike structure. Both these measures would reduce the sensitivity of the DPS.

Anomadarshi Barua et al, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Proceedings of the 2022 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security (2022). DOI: 10.1145/3548606.3560643

Full paper (arXiv preprint): A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Spreading Deadly Pathogens Under the Di...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 17, 2022 at 10:34am

Climate change: Increasing heat waves will threaten every child, says UNICEF report

A new report by UNICEF, supported by University of Southampton researchers, says 559 million children currently exposed to high heat waves could rise to 2.02 billion globally by the year 2050.

The report, produced in collaboration with The Data for Children Collaborative, underscores the urgent need to address the impacts of global warming to future generations and follows on from previous work identifying specific risk to children from climate change (Child Climate Risk Index, UNICEF, 2021).

It comes as world leaders meet to discuss climate action this month at the COP27 conference in Egypt.

The report estimates that by 2050, all of the world's 2.02 billion children are expected to be exposed to high heat wave frequency, regardless of whether:

• the world achieves a "low greenhouse gas emission scenario" with an estimated 1.7 degrees of warming, or;
• a "very high greenhouse gas emission scenario" with an estimated 2.4 degrees of warming.

The report found that specifically high heat wave duration currently impacts 538 million (23%) of children globally and by 2050 will rise to:

• 1.6 billion at 1.7 degrees warming or;
• 1.9 billion at 2.4 degrees warming.

Heat waves are especially damaging to children, as they are less able to regulate their body temperature compared to adults, with babies and young children being at greater risk of heat-related mortality.

Further exposure to heat waves can result in children developing health problems such as chronic respiratory conditions, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases.

Heat waves can also affect children's environments, their safety, nutrition and access to water, and their education and future livelihood.

At a minimum, governments must urgently limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and double adaptation funding by 2025.

"This is the only way to save children's lives and futures—and the future of the planet."

https://www.unicef.org/reports/coldest-year-rest-of-their-lives-chi...

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