SCI-ART LAB2024-03-30T04:31:51ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGVhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3003222766?profile=original&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://kkartlab.in/forum/topic/listForContributor?groupUrl=some-science&user=0gtd9i4j6agz5&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThe Parallax Effecttag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-29:2816864:Topic:2525052024-03-29T07:43:02.144ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
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<div class="DVHrxd"><div><div>Q: Why an airplane flying in the sky appears to be stationary at the same time while we are traveling in a vehicle?</div>
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<div class="QcsUad BDJ8fb BLojaf sMVRZe wneUed"><div class="usGWQd"><div class="KkbLmb"><div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Krishna: Yes, when <span> you are travelling in a car and…</span></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="DVHrxd"><div><div>Q: Why an airplane flying in the sky appears to be stationary at the same time while we are traveling in a vehicle?</div>
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<div class="QcsUad BDJ8fb BLojaf sMVRZe wneUed"><div class="usGWQd"><div class="KkbLmb"><div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Krishna: Yes, when <span> you are travelling in a car and suddenly look out the window and see a plane or planes stopping mid air, then it must have confused you because you never knew that a thing like that existed.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb"><span> Why does this happen? What could be the reason for planes stopping mid air? Does it even happen or is it just an illusion that confuses people?</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb"><span>If you are wondering if planes stopping mid air is a part of the flight and is normal, then you are wrong because planes do not stop or hover mid-air, helicopters do but not planes.</span></span></span></span></span><p><span>Now the reason why some people have reported about it is because of the Parallax Effect. The Parallax Effect is a type of illusion that you may encounter if you are in a moving vehicle and you see a plane, which appears to be staying still in the air, but in reality, it is moving. </span></p>
<p><span>So why does it appear stationary when it’s actually moving? It happens because the Parallax Effect makes it look stationary, and if you stop your vehicle, you will see that it is moving and isn’t stationary or hovering in the sky. </span></p>
<p><span>This Parallax Effect makes us see planes stopping mid air because our brain has structures that normally let us put information from our senses into mental images. For Example, if someone is telling you a story, you make a mental image of the entire story, even for the places mentioned, you form a mental image. This is called the high-order structures that help humans collect information and make the complete picture in their minds. </span></p>
<p><span>If we talk about relative motions, then suppose you are in a moving vehicle, your perspective will be influenced by the vehicle you are in. If the plane is flying in the same direction and at the same speed, it will appear stationary to you, creating a paradox that the plane has stopped mid-air. </span></p>
<p><span>If we talk about the perception of distance, involving apparent changes in the object’s position at different distances. Suppose the plane is at a considerable distance and is flying in the same direction as your vehicle, again due to the Parallax Effect, it will appear stationary. </span></p>
<p><span>Parallax Effect is a fascinating combination of specific angles and relative motion that will create an illusion that the plane stays still in the air, even when it’s moving. </span></p>
<p><span>This image or the perception of the plane hovering in the sky is a result of the interaction between your vehicle, the plane’s movement and the interpretation of your brain’s visual cues.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/fA8kPfuRq4M?si=n5fMSK9_oTdr0m1j">https://youtube.com/shorts/fA8kPfuRq4M?si=n5fMSK9_oTdr0m1j</a></span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/16A_fqHvXPU?si=ygd8Rr4CdLyXp91I">https://youtube.com/shorts/16A_fqHvXPU?si=ygd8Rr4CdLyXp91I</a></span></p>
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<p></p> What is a three body problem?tag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-28:2816864:Topic:2524252024-03-28T07:17:42.576ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<p>Q: What is a three body problem?</p>
<p>Krishna: I don't know about science fiction or movies that are made based on the theme, but I will tell you what it is based on science. </p>
<p><span> Systems with two objects exerting gravitational force</span><span> on one another, whether they're particles or stars and planets, are predictable. Scientists have been able to solve this two-body problem and predict the orbits of objects since the days of Isaac Newton.</span></p>
<p><span>But as soon…</span></p>
<p>Q: What is a three body problem?</p>
<p>Krishna: I don't know about science fiction or movies that are made based on the theme, but I will tell you what it is based on science. </p>
<p><span> Systems with two objects exerting gravitational force</span><span> on one another, whether they're particles or stars and planets, are predictable. Scientists have been able to solve this two-body problem and predict the orbits of objects since the days of Isaac Newton.</span></p>
<p><span>But as soon as a third body enters the mix, the whole system gets thrown into chaos. The three-body problem is the statement that if you have three bodies gravitating toward each other under Newton's law of gravitation, there is no general closed-form solution for that situation. Little differences get amplified and can lead to wildly unpredictable behavior in the future.</span></p>
<p><span>I think the book based on it deals with aliens that live in a solar system with three suns. Since all three stars are exerting gravitational forces on each other, they end up throwing the solar system into chaos as they fling each other back and forth. For the Trisolarans ( people with three suns) , the name for these aliens, it means that when a sun is jettisoned far away, their planet freezes, and when a sun is thrown extremely close to their planet, it gets torched. Worse, because of the three-body problem, these movements are completely unpredictable.</span></p>
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<p><span>Scientists have pondered the question of how to determine a stable starting point for three gravitational bodies that would result in predictable orbits for a long period. There is still no generalizable solution that can be taken out of theory and modeled in reality, although recently scientists have started to find some potentially creative solutions, including with models based on the movements of drunk people.</span></p>
<p><span>If you want to predict what the solar system's going to do, you can put all the planets and as many asteroids as you know into a computer code and basically say you're going to calculate the force between everything and move everything forward a little bit," say experts. This works, but to the extent that you're making some approximations … all of these things will eventually break down and your prediction is going to become inaccurate.</span></p>
<p><span>Three-body systems, and more than three-body systems, also show up throughout the universe, so the question is incredibly relevant. </span></p>
<p><span>The relationship between the sun, Earth and our moon is a three-body system. But Blazek says since the sun exerts a stronger gravitational force on Earth and Earth does the same on the moon, it creates a pair of two-body systems with stable, predictable orbits, at least now.</span></p>
<p><span>Although our solar system appears stable, there's no guarantee that it will stay that way in the far future because there are still multi-body systems at play. Small changes like an asteroid hitting one of Jupiter's moons and altering its orbit ever so slightly could eventually spiral into larger changes.</span></p>
<p><span>That doesn't mean humanity will face a crisis like the one the Trisolarans face in "3 Body Problem." These changes happen extremely slowly, but it's another reminder of why these concepts are interesting and important to think about in science.</span></p>
<p><span> Scientists think anything is going to happen on the time scale of our week or even probably our species—we have bigger problems than the instability of orbits in our solar system. If you think about billions of years, during that period we don't know that the orbits will stay as they currently are. There's a good chance there will be some instability that changes how things look in the solar system.</span></p>
<p><span>Source: <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/03/26/3-body-problem-netflix/">https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/03/26/3-body-problem-netflix/</a></span></p> How Soil Microorganisms Can Combat Desertificationtag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-28:2816864:Topic:2523362024-03-28T03:01:26.947ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
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<p> Soil Microbiology is the specialized subject I studied during my Post Graduation. I love it and it gives me great pleasure to write about it and let the world know its importance. Come, let me share this knowledge with you ......</p>
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<p><span>Desertification is a significant problem for arid,…</span></p>
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<p> Soil Microbiology is the specialized subject I studied during my Post Graduation. I love it and it gives me great pleasure to write about it and let the world know its importance. Come, let me share this knowledge with you ......</p>
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<p><span>Desertification is a significant problem for arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions of Earth, whereby grasslands and shrublands become a comparatively barren desert as vegetation disappears over time. This poses an extreme hazard to local ecosystems, as well as communities who rely on these areas for their livelihoods, by increasing soil erosion and reducing water storage, which leads to a loss of biodiversity and agricultural productivity.</span></p>
<p>Consequently, there is an ever-pressing requirement for management strategies to alleviate desertification and its impacts.</p>
<p>A new review of current research into combating desertification,<span> </span><a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0012825224000655" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a><span> </span>in<span> </span><i>Earth-Science Reviews</i>, has identified soil microbes as critical to this mission.<span> The experts explain how a diverse community of bacteria, fungi, archaea and other microorganisms play vital roles in promoting soil health, ultimately impacting ecosystem functions and sustainable land management.</span></p>
<p><span>Desertification results from the interplay of both climate change and anthropogenic activities. Increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation and wind patterns, intensification of solar radiation and more frequent extreme weather events (including droughts and El Niño/La Niña cycles) are among some of the environmental causes. Unfortunately, all of these are predicted to intensify in the years to come as climate change progresses, highlighting how desertification may become an ever-more concerning issue.</span></p>
<p>These environmental factors are further exacerbated by human interference with the natural world, such as deforestation for firewood and clearing land for agriculture and urbanization; intensive crop growth (especially monoculture), use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and inefficient irrigation systems deplete the soil of nutrients; overgrazing by livestock, which causes soil compaction and increases likelihood of erosion; mining; and over-abstraction of groundwater to support a growing global population.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404888091?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404888091?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><span>The causes of desertification can be split into two broad themes, those due to climate change and the remainder from anthropogenic activities. Credit: Islam et al. 2024.</span></p>
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<p><span>As desertification increases, we are more likely to experience its effects with biodiversity losses and species extinctions, depleted soil nutrients, threats to food security and water supply, increased dust storm occurrence (which impairs air quality and impinges upon human and animal health), and migration of communities away from inhospitable areas leading to both social and economic consequences.</span></p>
<p><span>G</span>iven all of this, minuscule microbes inhabiting the spaces between soil particles could be a viable solution to managing desertification as they decompose organic matter and impact the cycling of nutrients through the environment to improve soil fertility; encourage sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere through the formation of humus (which further improves nutrient and water retention); stabilize soil to combat erosion through symbiotic relationships with plant roots; and support biodiversity.<br/> For nutrient cycling, soil microbes have significant impacts on the availability of nitrogen and phosphorous to support plant productivity, even in nutrient-poor soils.</p>
<p>Nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria (such as <em>Rhizobium</em> and <em>Bradyrhizobium</em>) convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, which is taken up by plants as ammonium ions. Peas, beans and other leguminous plants form symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their root systems, so they can be important crops to grow in arid regions. Furthermore, symbiotic fungi can extend their hyphal networks deeper into the soil, therefore increasing the nutrient and water availability to root systems to encourage growth.</p>
<p>These same mycorrhizal fungi transport organic carbon compounds from plants to the soil, where they can be sequestered as a glycoprotein known as glomalin, as well as through the formation of humus. Glomalin has the additional benefit of binding soil particles together, aiding stability against erosion.</p>
<p>The research further investigates how strategic application of soil microbes in numerous regions across the planet has had measurable impacts on alleviating desertification. This includes their use when remediating mining sites, such as India's Aravalli Range, to encourage the establishment of pioneer species that enable subsequent vegetation growth, as well as metal-resistant bacteria that can detoxify heavy metal contamination of the land.<br/> Promoting afforestation and grassland restoration through the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Rhizobium bacteria, Actinobacteria and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Consequently, farmers noted higher crop yields and increased income in China.<br/> It was also found that use of mycorrhizal fungi, endomycorrhizae fungi and Rhizobium bacteria, which have improved overall soil health.</p>
<p>Managing urban desertification zones, such as those of the American Southwest, has involved creating microspaces for vegetation, like green roofs and community gardens, as well as planting of trees. Similarly, the Al Ain oasis project in the United Arab Emirates desert has seen improvement in soil water retention from the intentional application of soil microbes.<br/> Diversifying the microbial communities in a particular area of soil increases the likelihood of overcoming environmental stressors, such as drought and pathogens, and therefore supports environmental resilience against desertification. However, tailoring the microbes used to each site is imperative as the microbial communities may react inconsistently in different soil types and climates, as well as their interactions with the native soil microorganisms.</p>
<p>While the success of soil microbe application for desertification is known in the short term, more work is required to determine their sustainability over longer timescales.<br/> The importance of this research lies in the ability of soil microbes to alleviate the stresses of desertification, which not only affects local communities but also, for agriculture, can impact food resources down the supply chain globally. The findings offer hope for more natural and sustainable management of one of climate change's many challenges.</p>
<p><span>Waqar Islam et al, Unlocking the potential of soil microbes for sustainable desertification management, </span><i>Earth-Science Reviews</i><span> (2024). </span><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104738" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104738</a></p> DNA can be considered as a natural flame retardant and suppressanttag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-27:2816864:Topic:2523322024-03-27T06:08:51.652ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<p>Q: Is DNA fire-proof?</p>
<p>Krishna: Research has shown that DNA is flame retardant (1). Yes, <b>DNA can be considered as a natural flame retardant and suppressant.</b></p>
<p><b><span class="lead-in-text-callout">NORMALLY, COTTON FABRICS</span><span> are highly flammable. But when scientists tried to set fire to cotton coated with herring sperm DNA, </span><a class="external-link" href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2013/TA/c3ta00107e" rel="noopener" target="_blank">the…</a></b></p>
<p>Q: Is DNA fire-proof?</p>
<p>Krishna: Research has shown that DNA is flame retardant (1). Yes, <b>DNA can be considered as a natural flame retardant and suppressant.</b></p>
<p><b><span class="lead-in-text-callout">NORMALLY, COTTON FABRICS</span><span> are highly flammable. But when scientists tried to set fire to cotton coated with herring sperm DNA, </span><a class="external-link" href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2013/TA/c3ta00107e" rel="noopener" target="_blank">the fabric refused to burn</a><span>, the team reported in </span><em>Journal of Materials Chemistry A</em><span>.</span></b></p>
<p><span>Abstract: DNA could be considered an intrinsically intumescent flame retardant as it contains the three main components that are usually present in an intumescent formulation, namely: the phosphate groups, able to produce </span>phosphoric acid<span>, the deoxyribose units acting as a carbon source and blowing agents (upon heating a (poly)saccharide dehydrates forming char and releasing </span>water<span>) and the nitrogen-containing bases (</span>guanine<span>, </span>adenine<span>, </span>thymine<span>, and </span>cytosine<span>) that may release </span>ammonia<span>. The flammability tests in horizontal configuration have clearly shown that after two applications of a methane flame for 3 s, the DNA-treated cotton fabrics do not burn at all. Furthermore, when exposed to an irradiative heat flux of 35 kW m</span><small><sup>−2</sup></small><span>, no ignition has been observed.</span></p>
<p><span>Explanation: DNA’s chemical structure makes it ideal for the flame-stopping job. When heated, its phosphate-containing backbone produces phosphoric acid, which chemically removes water from cotton fibers while leaving behind a flame-resistant, carbon-rich residue. The nitrogen-containing bases release ammonia — which dilutes flammable gases and inhibits combustion reactions — and can act as “blowing agents,” which help turn the carbon-rich deposits into a slow-burning protective layer. Ultimately, these ingredients stop combustion by forming either a carbon-rich foam, or a protective, glassy carbon coating called char.</span></p>
<p><span>So scientists have tried to use it as fabric coating. DNA is not toxic at all. “Its application as flame retardant should not be harmful.”</span></p>
<p><span>It is a simple process: process was simple and straightforward—they extracted DNA from herring sperm, dissolved it in water, applied it to a sample piece of cotton, let it dry, then tried to get the sample to burn using a methane flame for several seconds. Their tests showed that the sample would not ignite and that the cotton fabric was not burned as a result of the application of the flame. The coating works because when DNA is heated the phosphate in it gives off phosphoric acid, which pulls water from cotton fiber and in the process leaves behind a residue rich in carbon, which is of course resistant to burning. The nitrogen in DNA also releases ammonia causing a dilution of flammable gasses. Together the materials that make up DNA, when subjected to heat, cause the buildup of a foam rich in carbon and the formation of a glassy outer coating that is also rich in carbon.</span></p>
<p><span>However, most problematically, for the time being, you can’t wash a DNA-coated nerd-shirt. The coating is not yet water resistant and will rinse off in the wash. So far, scientists haven’t yet worked out how to make the treatment more permanent (2).</span></p>
<p><span>Also it must be determined that such a coating would not allow for DNA fragments to make their way into the person's body that was wearing material treated with it. There's also the cost—using current methods would make it three to five times more expensive to manufacture than conventional flame retardants. Also, unfortunately, its biodegradable desirability factor which would make it a good "green" alternative to current chemicals used in flame retardant coatings, is also its downfall—it doesn't survive washing (3).</span></p>
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<p><span>Footnotes:</span></p>
<p><span>1. <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/ta/c3ta00107e#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20DNA%20could%20be%20considered,blowing%20agents%20">https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/ta/c3ta00107e#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20DNA%20could%20be%20considered,blowing%20agents%20</a>(upon%20heating%20a</span></p>
<p><span>2. <em>J. Alongi, R.A. Carletto, A. Di Blasio, F. Carosio, F. Bosco and G. Malucelli. DNA: A novel, green, natura flame retardant and suppressant for cotton. Journal of Materials Chemistry A. doi: 1.1039/c3ta00107e</em></span></p>
<p><span><em>3. DNA: a novel, green, natural flame retardant and suppressant for cotton, <i>J. Mater. Chem. A</i>, 2013, Advance Article, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C3TA00107E" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOI: 10.1039/C3TA00107E</a></em></span></p>
<p></p> Prestigious journals make it hard for scientists who don't speak English to get published, study findstag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-26:2816864:Topic:2522192024-03-26T05:48:13.114ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<p>For the first time in history, a single language dominates global scientific communication. But the actual production of knowledge continues to be a multilingual enterprise.</p>
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<p>The use of English as the norm poses challenges for scholars from regions where English is not widely spoken. They must decide whether to publish in English for global visibility, or publish in their native language to make their work accessible to local communities.…</p>
<p>For the first time in history, a single language dominates global scientific communication. But the actual production of knowledge continues to be a multilingual enterprise.</p>
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<p>The use of English as the norm poses challenges for scholars from regions where English is not widely spoken. They must decide whether to publish in English for global visibility, or publish in their native language to make their work accessible to local communities. And when they work in English, they end up<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/non-native-english-speaking-scientists-work-much-harder-just-to-keep-up-global-research-reveals-208750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expending more time and effort</a><span> </span>writing and revising papers than their native English-speaking peers.</p>
<p>As gatekeepers of scientific knowledge, academic publishers play a key role in helping or hindering the participation of a multilingual scientific community. So how are they doing?</p>
<p>We reviewed the policies of 736 journals in the<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/biological+sciences/" rel="tag" class="textTag">biological sciences</a><span> </span>and discovered the great majority are making only minimal efforts to overcome language barriers in academic publishing. Our research is<span> </span><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.2840" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a><span> </span>in<span> </span><i>Proceedings of the Royal Society B</i>.</p>
<h2>A wide range of inclusive policies</h2>
<p>Linguistically inclusive policies come in many forms, and can be implemented at each stage of the editorial process. They might aim to make publishing more multilingual. Alternatively—if sticking with English—they may aim to reduce the burden on non-native English speakers.</p>
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<p>Allowing papers to be published in more than one language at the same time would resolve the dilemma many non-native English speaking scholars face about communicating locally or globally. However, only 7% of the journals we surveyed allowed this possibility. (A further 11% will allow multilingual versions of an abstract alone.)</p>
<p>Another possibility would be to implement machine translation tools to make versions of an article available in multiple languages on a journal's website. There has been recent<span> </span><a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/72/10/988/6653151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progress in this area</a>, but only 11% of journals we surveyed have put it into practice.</p>
<p>Journals can also indicate they value submissions from authors from diverse linguistic backgrounds by explicitly declaring they will not reject manuscripts solely on the basis of the perceived quality of the English. Surprisingly, we found only two journals stated this.</p>
<p>Similarly, providing author guidelines in multiple languages would further encourage submissions from diverse authors. While 11% of the journals we examined translate specific sections of their guidelines to other languages, only 8% offer their entire guidelines in more than one language.</p>
<p>To ensure published research learns from the scientific contributions of<span> </span><a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14370" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scholars from around the globe</a>, journals should explicitly allow or encourage non-English literature to be cited. Only one tenth of journals mention this in author guidelines.</p>
<p>Journals may also adopt measures to ensure work submitted by non-native English speakers is assessed fairly. One such measure is the provision of English-language editing services.</p>
<p>More than half the journals we surveyed refer authors to some kind of editing services; only 1% offer the service free of charge to authors. The cost of editing may impose a considerable<span> </span><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238372" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial burden</a><span> </span>on scholars in lower-income countries.</p>
<p>Another measure is to educate reviewers and editors about language barriers and instruct them to assess the manuscripts based on their research attributes alone. This is something only 4–6% of journals implement.</p>
<h2>Drivers of inclusivity</h2>
<p>We also identify two key influences on a journal's adoption of linguistically inclusive<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/policy/" rel="tag" class="textTag">policy</a>.</p>
<p>The first is<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/impact+factor/" rel="tag" class="textTag">impact factor</a>, a measure commonly taken to represent the prestige of a journal. We found journals with higher impact factors tend to adopt less-inclusive policies, possibly because they mostly target English-proficient authors and readers.</p>
<p>The second influence is ownership by a scientific society. Journals owned by scientific societies tended to adopt more inclusive policies. They have also taken the lead in the movement to publish multilingual content.</p>
<p>Many scientific societies have a mandate to<span> </span><a href="https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24735" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foster diverse communities</a>. They are supported by their members and are well positioned to push for a cultural change in scientific publishing.</p>
<p>We also found that<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/open+access+journals/" rel="tag" class="textTag">open access journals</a><span> </span>(which make research available to the public for free) were no more likely to adopt inclusive linguistic policies, nor were journals with more diverse editorial boards.</p>
<p>The apparent lack of influence of linguistically diverse board members is a puzzle. Perhaps editors who have experienced<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/language+barriers/" rel="tag" class="textTag">language barriers</a><span> </span>in their own professional life do not advocate for non-native English speaking authors. Or perhaps editorial boards have less power to define editorial policies than we might expect.</p>
<h2>Language barriers</h2>
<p>Language barriers deepen geographic divides, hampering knowledge sharing. Tackling them in academic publishing becomes critical to effectively address both regional and<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/global+issues/" rel="tag" class="textTag">global issues</a>, such as health and conservation.</p>
<p>In our study, we looked at a number of linguistically inclusive policies, but there are plenty of other things journals can do to help scientists from non-English speaking backgrounds. These range from<span> </span><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg9714" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using artificial intelligence tools</a><span> </span>to the re-negotiation of copyrights to<span> </span><a href="https://academic.oup.com/iob/article/5/1/obad003/7008844" target="_blank" rel="noopener">authorize the publication of translations</a><span> </span>elsewhere.</p>
<div class="article-main__more p-4"><p><span> </span>Henry Arenas-Castro et al, Academic publishing requires linguistically inclusive policies,<span> </span><i>Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</i><span> </span>(2024).<span> </span><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2840" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2840</a></p>
<p>Author: <span>Henry Arenas-Castro</span></p>
<p><span>This article is republished from THE CONVERSATION </span><span> under a Creative Commons license. Read the </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/prestigious-journals-make-it-hard-for-scientists-who-dont-speak-english-to-get-published-and-we-all-lose-out-226225" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a><span>.</span><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226225/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"/></p>
</div> Does everyone in the world get affected by the full moon or only certain people?tag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-25:2816864:Topic:2523932024-03-25T06:15:56.459ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<p>Q: Does everyone in the world get affected by the full moon or only certain people?</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404082292?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404082292?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p>Krishna: Even when the moon appears to affect humans, it may not be the moon itself that is the culprit, at least now. Confirmation bias, which is the tendency to focus on information that supports what a person already knows and believes, may help explain why…</p>
<p>Q: Does everyone in the world get affected by the full moon or only certain people?</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404082292?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404082292?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Krishna: Even when the moon appears to affect humans, it may not be the moon itself that is the culprit, at least now. Confirmation bias, which is the tendency to focus on information that supports what a person already knows and believes, may help explain why people claim to observe changes in health and behaviour during a full moon.</p>
<p>During the pre-electricity era, people used to take rest when there was no light and did less or nil work during the night. Prior to artificial lighting, the full moon was a major source of nighttime light.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abe0465">2021 study</a> states that for much of human history, people were more active at night during the full moon, and might have synchronized their activities and energy levels to the phases of the moon.</p>
<p>But there is some evidence that moonlight itself may keep people awake for longer.</p>
<p>The study investigated the effects of the lunar cycle on people living in rural environments without electricity, in Indigenous communities, and in urban settings. By using sleep monitors, the researchers found that sleep began later and did not last as long on the nights leading up to the full moon.</p>
<p>This phenomenon likely occurs because the full moon is the brightest moon phase, reflecting more light from the sun to Earth. Although this light is weaker than direct sunlight, exposure may still cause people to feel more awake at night.</p>
<p>During a full moon, as people found some light in the pre-electricity era, they might have explored the world and nature and its beauty in the moonlight at night.</p>
<p>People might have felt happy to see nature's beauty in the moonlight and as their feel good hormones increased, they might have had elated moods. That way moonlight affected human beings then.</p>
<p>People anecdotally report that the full moon affects their mood, but the existing research does not support this claim.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-19152-001">older 1985 meta-analysis</a> found no connection between phases of the moon and mental health admissions to hospitals, for example. It also found that phases of the moon explained fewer than 1% of the differences in mental health admission rates.</p>
<p>More recently, a <a href="https://smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2616">2019 study</a> of 17,966 people who sought mental health care in an inpatient setting found no connection between admissions, discharges, and the phases of the moon.</p>
<p>It is possible that the moon might affect mood in more subtle ways, but these are more difficult to measure, and are vulnerable to confirmation bias since people who believe that the moon affects mood are more likely to monitor and observe mood changes.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404082653?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404082653?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Some people think that the moon affects the <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326906">menstrual cycle</a>. Research on this point has reached mixed or weak conclusions.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abe1358">2021 analysis</a> reports that, in a previous study of more than 300 females, there was a correlation between the full moon and the beginning of the <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154699/">menstrual period</a>. However, this correlation only existed when researchers selected for a cycle length of 29.5 days.</p>
<p>To assess the connection between the moon and periods, the authors of the analysis reviewed the cycles of 22 people who kept records of their periods for up to 32 years.</p>
<p>They found that menstrual cycles 're intermittently synchronized with either the luminescence or gravitational pull of the moon. The synchronization was strongest when the moon was closest to the Earth. However, the study did not prove that the moon is the direct cause of this.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-016-9351-9">2016 study</a> looked at prior research on crime and the phases of the moon and then separated indoor from outdoor crime. The phases of the moon did not affect indoor crime.</p>
<p>However, outdoor crime rates increased with the light of the moon and were higher during the full moon. Again, more light during the full moon might explain the difference.</p>
<p>So moonlight can affect the mood of adventure/beauty seekers. It might affect criminals more.</p>
<p>Moonlight might affect the mood of artists and poets more and make them more creative.</p>
<p>It might affect people in love - as lovers think bright moonlight sets a good background for their mood - it is a sort of confirmation bias.</p>
<p></p> All about cataract surgeriestag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-25:2816864:Topic:2523162024-03-25T03:00:48.721ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<h1 class="text-h2 sm:text-h1 font-source-sans font-semibold text-legibility block mb-4">Experts Reveal What Actually Happens When You Have Cataract Surgery</h1>
<div class="flex flex-wrap items-center mb-4"><br></br><div class="author-details"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404058670?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404058670?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></div>
<div class="author-details">Image Source: Ahalia foundation eye hospital …</div>
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<h1 class="text-h2 sm:text-h1 font-source-sans font-semibold text-legibility block mb-4">Experts Reveal What Actually Happens When You Have Cataract Surgery</h1>
<div class="flex flex-wrap items-center mb-4"><br/><div class="author-details"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404058670?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12404058670?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></div>
<div class="author-details">Image Source: Ahalia foundation eye hospital </div>
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<div class="entry-content pt-4"><div class="post-content"><p>Cataract surgery is one of the most popular and commonly performed procedures in the world.</p>
<p>The vast majority of patients have excellent outcomes with few complications. Here are the numbers.</p>
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<p>By age 80,<span> </span><a href="https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/cataracts">over half of all Americans have cataracts</a>.</p>
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<p>Close to 4 million cataract surgeries are<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2020-000464">performed in the U.S. every year</a>.</p>
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<p>Over 90% of patients have<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_1073_22">20/20 vision with glasses after surgery</a>, although those with other eye conditions may not do as well, including those with<span> </span><a href="https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/glaucoma">glaucoma</a>, a progressive disease typically associated with elevated pressure within the eye;<span> </span><a href="https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/diabetic-retinopathy">diabetic retinopathy</a>, which ultimately can cause leakage in the retinal tissues; and<span> </span><a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/agerelated-macular-degeneration-amd#">macular degeneration</a>, a disease that is typically related to age.</p>
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<p>The<span> </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559079/#">rate of post-surgery infection from endophthalmitis</a><span> </span>is less than 0.1%.</p>
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<p><a href="https://eye.ufl.edu/profile/steigleman-walter/">As ophthalmologists who have</a><span> </span><a href="https://integrity-eye.com/elizabeth-hofmeister/">performed thousands of these procedures</a>, we know that many patients have misconceptions about both cataracts and the surgery. For example, some think a cataract is a growth on the eye's surface.</p>
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<p>We like to compare a cataract with the frosted glass of a bathroom window, where light can be transmitted but details cannot. Or when turbulence from a storm causes normally clear water in the ocean to become murky. In much the same way, the eye's once transparent lens becomes cloudy.</p>
<span class="caption">After surgery, there's no bending, inversions, lifting or straining, high-impact activities or eye makeup for one to two weeks or until the doctor says it's OK.</span><br/> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Bkd5emfmx8?si=Ynp_Eiok8CMJMMxD&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<br/><h2>About the surgery</h2>
<p>Cataract surgery removes the clouded lens of the eye and replaces it with a new, clear lens to restore your vision. Most patients report the procedure is painless.</p>
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<p>It's<span> </span><a href="https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/cataracts/cataract-surgery#">typically an elective surgery</a><span> </span>that is performed on an outpatient basis. The patient is often awake, under local anesthesia, with sedation similar to that used for dental procedures. We like to say patients receive the equivalent of three margaritas in their IV.</p>
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<p>Numbing drops are then applied to the eye's surface, along with an anesthetic inside the eye. Patients with claustrophobia, or movement disorders such as<span> </span><a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/go/IYl" class="lar_link lar_link_outgoing" rel="nofollow" target="_self">Parkinson's</a><span> </span>disease, may not be suitable candidates for awake surgeries and require general anesthesia.</p>
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<p>Before surgery, patients receive dilating drops to make the pupil as large as possible. The surgeon makes a tiny incision, usually with a small pointed scalpel, between the clear and white part of the eye to gain access to the<span> </span><a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/anatomy/lens-capsule-definition">lens capsule</a>, a thin membrane similar in thickness to a plastic produce bag at the grocery store.</p>
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<p>This capsule is<span> </span><a href="https://webvision.med.utah.edu/2020/09/ciliary-zonules/#">suspended by small fibers called zonules</a>, which are arranged like the springs that suspend a trampoline from a frame. The surgeon then creates a small opening in the capsule, called a capsulotomy, to gain access to the cataract. The cataract is then broken into smaller parts so they are removable through the small incision.</p>
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<p>This is similar to a tiny jackhammer, breaking the large lens into smaller pieces for removal. That sounds scary, but it's painless. Ultrasound emulsifies the lens and vacuum power then aspirates it from the eye.</p>
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<p>Laser-assisted cataract surgery<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.3310/hta25060">has been found to have similar outcomes</a><span> </span>to traditional cataract surgery.</p>
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<h2>Complications are rare</h2>
<p>Serious complications, such as postoperative infection, bleeding in the eye or a postoperative retinal detachment are rare; they occur in approximately 1 in 1,000 cases. But even in many of these situations, appropriate management<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2015.3">can salvage useful vision</a>.</p>
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<p>Capsular complications deserve additional discussion. According to some studies, they occur<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000528657">in up to 2% of cases</a>. If a hole or tear of the posterior capsule is encountered during cataract surgery, the clear gel in<span> </span><a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/anatomy/vitreous">the vitreous</a><span> </span>– the back chamber of the eye – may be displaced into the front chamber of the eye.</p>
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<p>If that happens, the gel must be removed at the time of the cataract surgery. This will reduce the likelihood of additional postoperative complications, but those who have the procedure,<span> </span><a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/treatments/what-is-vitrectomy">known as a vitrectomy</a>, have an increased risk for additional complications, including postoperative infections and postoperative swelling.</p>
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<h2>After the surgery</h2>
<p>Patients usually go home right after the procedure. Most surgery centers require that the patient have someone drive them home, more for the anesthesia rather than the surgery. Patients begin applying postoperative drops that same day and must wear an eye shield at bedtime for a few weeks after surgery.</p>
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<p>Patients should keep the eye clean and avoid exposure to dust, debris and water. They should try not to bend over and should avoid heavy lifting or straining in the first week or so after surgery. Lifting or straining can cause a surge of blood pressure to the face and eye.<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000533937">Known as a choroidal hemorrhage</a>, it can lead to bleeding into the wall of the eye and be devastating to vision.</p>
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<p>Things that cause only moderate increases in heart rate such as walking are OK. Routine postoperative examinations are usually completed the day after surgery, about a week after surgery and about a month after surgery.</p>
<span class="caption">Light and UV exposure, coupled with time, causes the lens of the eye to become increasingly cloudy.</span><br/> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FCU-qPUzRd4?si=Uv5FdJZLsR8hxUYw&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<br/><h2>A choice of lens</h2>
<p>The plastic lens used to replace the cataract, or<span> </span><a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/cataracts-iol-implants">intraocular lens</a>, requires careful sizing for optimal results and a nuanced discussion between patient and surgeon.</p>
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<p>Early intraocular lens technologies<span> </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK580484/">were monofocal</a>, and most patients with these lenses chose distance correction and used reading glasses for near tasks. This is<span> </span><a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/cataracts-iol-implants#">still the preferred approach</a><span> </span>for approximately 90% of patients having cataract surgery today.</p>
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<p>Recent advances have led to<span> </span><a href="https://www.verywellhealth.com/intraocular-contact-lenses-3421653">intraocular lenses that offer multifocality</a><span> </span>– the opportunity to have near as well as distance vision, without glasses. Some multifocal lenses are even in the trifocal category, which includes distance, near, and intermediate vision, the latter of which in recent years has become very important for computer and phone use.</p>
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<p>Most patients with these advanced technology multifocal lenses<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S347382">are happy with them</a>. However, a small percentage of patients with multifocal lenses can be so bothered by visual disturbances – notably night glare and halos around light sources in the dark – that they request removal of the multifocal lens to exchange it for a standard intraocular lens. These exchanges are a reasonable option for such situations and offer relief for most affected patients.</p>
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<p>Determining who's an ideal candidate for a multifocal intraocular lens is an area of active research. Most clinicians would recommend against such a lens for a patient with a detail-oriented personality. Such patients tend to<span> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/11206721231176313">fixate on the shortcomings of these lenses</a><span> </span>despite their potential advantages.</p>
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<p>As with many technologies, current generation advanced technology intraocular lenses are much better than their predecessors. Future offerings are likely to offer improved vision and fewer side effects than those available today.</p>
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<p>But these newer lenses are often not reimbursed by insurance companies and often entail<span> </span><a href="https://www.bettervisionguide.com/multifocal-iols/">substantial out-of-pocket costs</a><span> </span>for patients.</p>
<p>Deciding on what type of lens is best for you can be complicated. Fortunately, except in unusual circumstances, such as when a cataract develops after trauma to the eye, there is seldom a hurry for adult cataract surgery.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215043/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"/></p>
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<p>Authors: <span class="text-gray-500 text-body-sm sm:text-body-md uppercase inline">ALLAN STEIGLEMAN & ELIZABETH M. HOFMEISTER</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/allan-steigleman-1477009"><em>Allan Steigleman</em></a><em>, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-florida-1392">University of Florida</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-m-hofmeister-1512369">Elizabeth M. Hofmeister</a>, Associate Professor of Surgery, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/uniformed-services-university-of-the-health-sciences-3778">Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences</a></em></span></p>
<p><strong>This article is republished from<span> THE CONVERSATION</span><span> </span>under a Creative Commons license. Read the<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-one-of-the-millions-about-to-have-cataract-surgery-heres-what-ophthalmologists-say-you-need-to-know-215043">original article</a>.</strong></p>
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</div> Prosopometamorphopsia: a condition where people see 'demonic' face distortionstag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-23:2816864:Topic:2523102024-03-23T06:32:49.442ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<p><span>Imagine if every time you saw a face, it appeared distorted. Well, for those who have a very rare condition known as prosopometamorphopsia (PMO), which causes facial features to appear distorted, that is reality.</span></p>
<p>Prosopometamorphopsia explains, "Prosopo comes from the Greek word for face 'prosopon' while 'metamorphopsia' refers to perceptual distortions. Specific symptoms vary from case to case and can affect the shape, size, color, and position of facial features. The…</p>
<p><span>Imagine if every time you saw a face, it appeared distorted. Well, for those who have a very rare condition known as prosopometamorphopsia (PMO), which causes facial features to appear distorted, that is reality.</span></p>
<p>Prosopometamorphopsia explains, "Prosopo comes from the Greek word for face 'prosopon' while 'metamorphopsia' refers to perceptual distortions. Specific symptoms vary from case to case and can affect the shape, size, color, and position of facial features. The duration of PMO also varies; it "can last for days, weeks, or even years.</p>
<p>A new Dartmouth study<span> </span><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00136-3/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published in the "Clinical Pictures" section of<span> </span><i>The Lancet</i></a><span> </span>reports on a unique case of a patient with PMO. The research is the first to provide accurate and photorealistic visualizations of the facial distortions experienced by an individual with PMO.</p>
<p>The patient, a 58-year-old male with PMO, sees faces without any distortions when they are viewed on a screen and on paper, but he sees distorted faces that appear "demonic" when viewed in-person. Most PMO cases however, see distortions in all contexts, so his case is especially rare and presented a unique opportunity to accurately depict his distortions.</p>
<p>Scientists have heard from multiple people with PMO that they have been diagnosed by psychiatrists as having schizophrenia and put on anti-psychotics, when their condition is a problem with the visual system, according to the researchers.</p>
<p>And it's not uncommon for people who have PMO to not tell others about their problem with face perception because they fear others will think the distortions are a sign of a psychiatric disorder.</p>
<p>"It's a problem that people often don't understand."</p>
<p>Through their paper, the researchers hope to increase public awareness of what PMO is.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12403602072?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12403602072?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><span>Computer-generated images of the distortions of a male face (top) and female face (bottom), as perceived by the patient in the study. Credit: Images provided by A. Mello et al.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>Visualising facial distortions in prosopometamorphopsia, </span><i>The Lancet</i><span> (2024). </span><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00136-3/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.thelancet.com/journals/lan … (24)00136-3/fulltext</a></p> Why autoimmune disorders happen: DNA attached to nanoparticles found to contribute to lupus symptomstag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-23:2816864:Topic:2523032024-03-23T06:05:10.252ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>Autoimmune diseases are mysterious. It wasn't until the 1950s that scientists realized that the immune system could harm the organs of its own body. Even today, the fundamental causes and inner workings of most autoimmune diseases remain poorly understood, limiting the treatment options for many of these…</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>Autoimmune diseases are mysterious. It wasn't until the 1950s that scientists realized that the immune system could harm the organs of its own body. Even today, the fundamental causes and inner workings of most autoimmune diseases remain poorly understood, limiting the treatment options for many of these conditions.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>Over the past several years, however, research has found clues for how autoimmune diseases might arise. This research has shown that DNA attached to small particles within the bloodstream is a likely culprit involved in many autoimmune diseases, especially systemic lupus erythematosus, or just lupus for short, which primarily affects young women and can cause kidney damage.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>However, due to the large variety in sizes of both particles and DNA in the blood, testing to what extent and under what circumstances these DNA-particle combinations play a role in disease has been extremely difficult.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>Researchers have now developed a way to systematically test how these DNA-bound particles interact with the immune system. By using tiny particles of specific sizes, attaching DNA strands of certain lengths and exposing the resulting complexes to immune cells in a lab dish, the researchers show a better fundamental understanding of these diseases may be possible.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>The results were </span><span class="q-inline"><a class="q-box Link___StyledBox-t2xg9c-0 gOCLNQ puppeteer_test_link qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" title="pnas.org" href="https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2319634121" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">published</a></span><span> in the </span><span>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</span><span>.</span></p>
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<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>5 common autoimmune diseases | Credit: NIH MedlinePlus Magazine</span></p>
<blockquote class="q-relative qu-color--gray"><p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>This new approach identified the cellular pathway that causes the harmful response to these hybrid particles, and showed that DNA bound to the surfaces of nanoparticles is protected from being degraded by enzymes.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>While DNA is usually locked away within a cell's nucleus, it often gets into the bloodstream when cells die or are attacked by viruses and bacteria. While most so-called "cell-free DNA" only lasts minutes before being broken down by the body, in some people and situations, it can persist for much longer. In recent work, high levels of cell-free DNA have been closely related to the severity of lupus symptoms, and many doctors are now testing ways to use it to monitor disease activity.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>Cell-free DNA may escape elimination largely by forming complexes with other molecules or attaching itself to naturally occurring particles. Depending on the origin of the DNA, it can range in length from a few hundred base pairs to several thousand. And the particles it can attach to range from 100 to 1000 nanometers in diameter.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>The first important observation the team made was that DNA attached to nanoparticles was protected from degrative enzymes and that larger nanoparticles provided more protection.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>The researchers think the enzymes might not be able to access the DNA to destroy it because of the shape the DNA makes with the surface of the nanoparticle.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>The results showed that the macrophages responded to all types of DNA-particle complexes by producing inflammatory signals for other cells to follow, a hallmark of many autoimmune diseases.</span></p>
<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>This approach gives researchers a way to drill down and pinpoint factors that they wouldn't be able to with a purely biological system.</span></p>
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<p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start"><span>Faisal Anees et al, DNA corona on nanoparticles leads to an enhanced immunostimulatory effect with implications for autoimmune diseases, </span><span>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</span><span> (2024). </span><span class="q-inline"><a class="q-box Link___StyledBox-t2xg9c-0 gOCLNQ puppeteer_test_link qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" title="dx.doi.org" href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2319634121" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2319634121</a></span></p> The sticking point: Why physicists are still struggling to understand ice's capacity to adhere and become slipperytag:kkartlab.in,2024-03-22:2816864:Topic:2524762024-03-22T05:51:42.567ZAnand G.V.https://kkartlab.in/profile/AnandGV
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<div class="article-gallery lightGallery"><div><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12403328054?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12403328054?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> <br></br> Modelling of the structure of ice where we can see the structural disorder specific to liquids over a thickness of one to two molecules. Deeper into the ice, we find the ordered (crystalline) structure of ice. Credit: Philippe Brunet, adapted from T.…</div>
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<div class="article-gallery lightGallery"><div><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12403328054?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12403328054?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a><br/> Modelling of the structure of ice where we can see the structural disorder specific to liquids over a thickness of one to two molecules. Deeper into the ice, we find the ordered (crystalline) structure of ice. Credit: Philippe Brunet, adapted from T. Ikeda-Fukazawa and K. Kawamura, Fourni par l'auteur<br/></div>
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<p>Whether in the form of frost or a smooth, transparent ice cube, ice adheres spontaneously and even quite strongly to many solid surfaces. However, as any careless person who has skidded on a winter sidewalk can testify, ice can also be very slippery. In fact, ice can be both sticky<span> </span><i>and</i><span> </span>slippery.</p>
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<p>This versatility has long puzzled scientists. To begin with, they have been attempting to crack the secret behind ice's slipperiness for more than 150 years. Among them have been famous physicists such as<span> </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Thomson-Baron-Kelvin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lord Kelvin</a><span> </span>and<span> </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Faraday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Faraday</a>. The latter, better known for his work in electromagnetism, was the first to envisage the presence of a thin layer of liquid water covering ice, even well below 0°C. At the time, he reasoned that the contact of a solid object against the surface layer prompted it to act as a lubricant, greatly reducing friction on the ice. The existence of this liquid layer was confirmed by experiments more than a century later.</p>
<h2>A slippery matter</h2>
<p>To answer the question "Why is ice slippery?" we first need to understand how this thin layer of liquid water onto the frozen surface has come into being.</p>
<p>As water is denser in its<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/liquid+phase/" rel="tag" class="textTag">liquid phase</a><span> </span>than in its icy state, it was long thought that the melting of the ice surface was linked to<span> </span><a href="https://www.aldebaran.cz/bulletin/2016_05/2005_Rosenberg.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">excess pressure</a>—for example, due to the weight of the skater on the small surface area lying beneath her or his skates. By compressing the ice further, the skater would cause it to melt, rendering it liquid and slippery.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.aldebaran.cz/bulletin/2016_05/2005_Rosenberg.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Others think</a> <span> </span>heat is released by friction as the object moves over the ice, causing the surface to melt. Much as when you rub your hands together to warm them, when you rub one solid against another, they heat up.</p>
<p>However, these two mechanisms do not explain why ice remains slippery below -20°C. At such temperatures, it would take considerable pressure—around 500 times that exerted by an ice skate—to cause it to melt.</p>
<p>In the 1960s, more than a century after Faraday,<span> </span><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786436308211151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.W. Telford and J.S. Turner slowly pulled a wire through "cold" ice</a><span> </span>(below -20°C) to reveal that it remained slippery down to -35°C, at which point the heat released by friction no longer sufficed to melt the ice.</p>
<p>It was only about a century after Faraday's intuition that we were able to demonstrate this liquid layer indirectly, by measuring properties of the ice's surface and not the volume—in this case its properties of absorption of hydrocarbon vapors, which are quite comparable to those of liquid water!</p>
<p>Techniques involving proton or X-ray scattering, usually used to study the structure of crystals, have made it possible to estimate the thickness at between one and several hundred nanometers. Some studies have even suggested that this thickness diverges as the temperature approaches 0°C.</p>
<p>More recently, simulations have made it possible to<span> </span><a href="https://pubs.aip.org/aip/jcp/article-abstract/120/3/1395/186402/Molecular-dynamics-studies-of-surface-of-ice-Ih" target="_blank" rel="noopener">better represent the structure of this liquid layer</a>. Subsequently, this layer was referred to as "pseudo-liquid" or "quasi-liquid" to differentiate it from the true liquid phase. Such theoretical work has shown that in this surface layer, the molecules are able to move more freely, confirming its role as a lubricant. Nevertheless, the molecular structure is not exactly the same as that of liquid water, which has consequences for the mechanical properties of this pseudo-liquid layer.</p>
<p>A<span> </span><a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01188" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent study</a><span> </span>showed a strong correlation between the individual mobility of the molecules and the macroscopic coefficient of friction (the lower the coefficient, the easier it is to glide), suggesting that it is not so much the thickness of the layer that matters for gliding but rather the individual movement of the molecules. The minimum value of the coefficient of friction is measured at -7°C, known as the optimal temperature for skiers and skaters.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.041025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Other research</a><span> </span>went to the heart of the pseudo-liquid layer using a nano-probe, the tip of an atomic force microscope. By vibrating this tip connected to an extremely precise force sensor, measuring the friction between the tip and the liquid in the layer, the authors measured that this liquid can be 50 times more viscous than liquid water, and that it also possesses elasticity (a property more associated with the solid state). This viscosity is similar to that of your edible oils, making the pseudo-liquid layer an excellent lubricant.</p>
<p>To sum up: ice slips because a liquid layer of about 1 to 100 nanometers thick forms on its surface. Its mechanical properties (viscosity, elasticity), which are different from those of liquid water, and the mobility of the molecules that make it up, which is much greater than that of solid ice, give it its exceptional lubricating properties.</p>
<div class="w-100 mb-4 ads"><ins class="adsbygoogle"><div id="aswift_2_host"><ins class="adsbygoogle"><ins class="adsbygoogle"><span style="font-size: 1.5em; color: #000000;">Why does ice stick?</span></ins></ins></div>
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<p>Ice's stickiness, however, continues to confound scientists, notwithstanding 70 years of experiments. During the latter, scientists have tended to make use of a rather simple kit: a piston connected to force sensor pushes a block of ice, itself stuck to a solid object. When the ice cube breaks away, the force recorded by the sensor suddenly becomes zero, and the maximum value before this breakaway is measured. But these results have shown sometimes contradictory trends, and a fairly wide dispersion.</p>
<p>A<span> </span><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254214058_Ice_Adhesion_-Theory_Measurements_and_Countermeasures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent review</a><span> </span>on the subject concluded that the adhesion force of ice "depends not only on the<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/chemical+composition/" rel="tag" class="textTag">chemical composition</a>, surface roughness, mechanical and thermal properties of the substrate [but] also depends critically on the temperature and even on the experimental device for measuring adhesion."</p>
<p>To be a little more precise, when we explore the literature on the subject over the last 60 years, we note that the strength with which ice sticks to a solid depends strongly on temperature in a range between -20°C and 0°C (ice sticks harder to a colder solid). As for the role of<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/surface+roughness/" rel="tag" class="textTag">surface roughness</a>, it is ambivalent: for some solids (particularly metals), ice sticks more strongly to a rougher substrate, whereas on some plastics it's the other way round…</p>
<p>Finally, at a chemical level, liquid water may be able spread out better on some surfaces than others. For example, water spreads very well on clean glass, while some surfaces are hydrophobic, such as Teflon.</p>
<p>A<span> </span><a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/am1006035" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent study</a><span> </span>has shown that the more water in its liquid state spreads over the surface of a solid, the more ice will adhere to this solid. Conversely, a surface with little affinity for liquid water will also have little adhesion for ice.</p>
<p>Why this relationship between the spread of water and the adhesion of ice? First, for ice to adhere to a cold solid, water in its liquid state must have been able to freeze on contact with the solid. Here's a simple experiment that anyone can do:</p>
<ol>
<li>Place a metal plate in the freezer or in your ice cube tray.</li>
<li>Take an ice cube and place it on the plate without taking the whole thing out of the freezer: it won't stick.</li>
<li>Take another ice cube and let it melt slightly at room temperature (by taking it out of the freezer for a few seconds, for example), then place it on the cold plate. This time it sticks!</li>
</ol>
<p>What can we conclude? Intuitively, the greater the affinity of the water for the surface, the more easily the liquid water seeps into the roughness and gaps on the surface of the solid, increasing the contact surface between it and the ice after solidification, thus consolidating the adhesion. This experiment also demonstrates the role of liquid water as an adhesive. When you use a conventional adhesive—say, liquid glue—to join two parts together, it is when the parts solidify (by the evaporation of a solvent in the glue) that the strong, definitive adhesion takes place. The same thing happens when liquid water cools on contact with a cold solid and solidifies. The layer of frozen water then plays the role of one of the solids.</p>
<h2>How can the ice be made less adhesive?</h2>
<p>We can't explain ice adhesion in detail, but we can try to reduce its strength. The idea of using<span> </span><a href="https://phys.org/tags/water/" rel="tag" class="textTag">water</a>-repellent treatments has naturally emerged, but these treatments are not very robust over time and can have the opposite effect of what was intended. More promising solutions involve spreading a thin layer of oil or a hydrogel over the surface, but there are still problems with the stability of these layers over large areas.</p>
<p>Another approach is to use active de-icing methods. One such technique is surface ultrasound, which generates "micro-earthquakes" on the solid surface and can cause the ice to break away. We are currently studying this method in the MSC laboratory.</p>
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<p>This article is republished from<span> THE CONVERSATION</span><span> </span>under a Creative Commons license. Read the<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sticking-point-why-physicists-are-still-struggling-to-understand-ices-capacity-to-adhere-and-become-slippery-226047" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226047/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"/></p>
<p>Authors:</p>
<p><span>Philippe Brunet and Pierre-Brice Bintein</span></p>
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