Comment

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 10:13am

Regular fish intake tied to lower risk for tinnitus in women

Regular fish consumption may lower the risk for tinnitus in women, according to a study published online Sept. 28 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers  examined the longitudinal association between seafood intake and tinnitus. The analysis included 73,482 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II (1991 to 2021).

The researchers found that seafood intake was independently associated with a lower risk for developing persistent tinnitus. Among participants who consumed one serving of fish per week, the risk for tinnitus was 13 percent lower; risk was 23 percent lower for those who consumed two to four servings per week and 21 percent lower for those who consumed five or more servings.
Higher intakes of tuna fish, light-meat fish, and shellfish all were associated with lower risk (e.g., consumption of tuna at least once weekly: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.84; light-meat fish: aHR, 0.91; shellfish: aHR, 0.82). There was a trend for a higher risk with dark-meat fish intake, while fish oil supplement use was associated with a higher risk (aHRs, 1.09 and 1.12, respectively).

"These findings indicate that dietary factors may be important in the pathogenesis of tinnitus," the authors write.

Sharon G. Curhan et al, Longitudinal Study of Seafood and Fish Oil Supplement Intake and Risk of Persistent Tinnitus, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.09.028

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 10:06am

Our food system is broken and we only have 60 harvests left for our children, researchers warn

Plant-based diets, compassionate agriculture, Indigenous methods, consumer pressure, new laws, international agreements and even vegan pets—these are the solutions for fixing our broken food and farming systems, say dozens of environmental advocates, researchers, farmers and industry pioneers.

Warning that 'our food system is broken' and radical change is needed to mend it, they say, in our world where one‑third of food is lost or wasted, 780 million people are hungry, and three billion people cannot afford to eat healthily.

We have just sixty harvests left in our soils to save the future for our children. For people, animals and the planet, the clock is ticking. There is no time to lose. What we do now will define the next one thousand years.

In his chapter, scientist Tim Benton illuminates how increased meat consumption has been a major driver of our planetary crisis. "As demand has risen—partly because of a growing global population but mainly owing to increased meat consumption and the associated increase in demand for animal feed—so too has the use of chemical inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides to maximize yields on existing cropland… Nature has suffered as a result. Food production is therefore a central cause of declining biodiversity, deforestation, water and air pollution and land degradation.

But far from simply tolling a klaxon of doom, they elicit hope by offering solutions for feeding the world, while nourishing our soils and protecting our species.

We can bridge the climate change emissions gap through ecological agriculture now, not at some point in the future. Even if only 10% of farms and pastures are managed regeneratively by maximizing photosynthesis and root exudates, we can mitigate emissions by fixing more living carbon in plants and building up carbon in soil.

The solution to hunger extinction and the climate emergency is to return to Earth and regenerate her biodiversity in soils, our farms, forests, our diets and our guts.

Joyce D'Silva et al, Regenerative Farming and Sustainable Diets, Regenerative Farming and Sustainable Diets (2024). DOI: 10.4324/9781032684369

But I think this is too alarmist  although there is some truth in it.

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 9:57am

Light pollution disturbs moths—even in the dark

Light pollution is more serious than expected: Moths not only lose their orientation directly under street lamps. Their flight behavior is also disturbed outside the cone of light.

The increasing use of artificial light at night is one of the most dramatic man-made changes on earth. Streetlights and illuminated buildings are significantly changing the environment for nocturnal animals.

Scientists have identified light pollution as one of the causes of the sharp decline in insects in recent years: many nocturnal insects fly to artificial light sources and circle around them incessantly. There they become easy prey for bats and other predators or eventually fall to the ground exhausted and die.

Moths are one group of nocturnal insects that are in significant decline. Their disappearance is also problematic because they play a key role in food webs and in the pollination of plants.

A new study now shows that the behavior of moths changes not only in the cone of light from street lamps, but also outside the illuminated area.

The results have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This suggests that the effects of light pollution are not limited to direct attraction to light sources, but are much more far-reaching and complex than previously assumed.

What also emerged from the experiments is there is an interaction between the disorientation of the moths caused by artificial light and the moon. This depends on whether the moon is above or below the horizon.

Jacqueline Degen et al, Shedding light with harmonic radar: Unveiling the hidden impacts of streetlights on moth flight behavior, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2401215121

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 9:43am

In this new study, researchers used records of sulfate (SO42-) concentration and temperature from 23 sites across the Mackenzie River Basin, the largest river system in Canada, to examine the sensitivity of the weathering process to rising temperatures. Sulfate, like CO2, is a product of sulfide weathering, and can be used to trace how fast this process occurs.

The results demonstrated that across the catchment, sulfate concentrations rose rapidly with temperature. During the past 60 years (from 1960 to 2020), sulfide weathering saw an increase of 45% as temperatures increased by 2.3°C. This highlights that CO2 released by weathering could trigger a positive feedback loop that would accelerate warming in Arctic regions.
Using these past records from rivers, the researchers predicted that CO2 released from the Mackenzie River Basin could double to 3 billion kg/year by 2100 under a moderate emission scenario.
Not all parts of the river catchment responded in the same way. Weathering was much more sensitive to temperature in rocky mountainous areas, and those covered with permafrost. By modeling the process, the researchers revealed that sulfide weathering was accelerated further by processes which break rocks up as they freeze and shatter.

Conversely, areas covered with peatland showed lower increases in sulfide oxidation with warming, because the peat protects the bedrock from this process.

Ella Walsh et al, Temperature sensitivity of the mineral permafrost feedback at the continental scale, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq4893. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq4893

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 9:41am

Scientists show accelerating CO₂ release from rocks in Arctic Canada with global warming

Researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford have shown that weathering of rocks in the Canadian Arctic will accelerate with rising temperatures, triggering a positive feedback loop that will release more and more CO₂ to the atmosphere. The findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.

For sensitive regions like the Arctic, where surface air temperatures are warming nearly four times faster than the global average, it is particularly crucial to understand the potential contribution of atmospheric CO2 from weathering.

One pathway happens when certain minerals and rocks react with oxygen in the atmosphere, releasing CO2 via a series of chemical reactions. For instance, the weathering of sulfide minerals (e.g., 'fool's gold') makes acid which causes CO2 to release from other rock minerals that are found nearby.

In Arctic permafrost, these minerals are being exposed as the ground thaws due to rising temperatures, which could act as a positive feedback loop to accelerate climate change.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 9:05am

Stitches with internally produced electric charge found to speed up wound healing in rats

A team of chemical fiber and polymer material researchers  has found that the use of internally produced, electrically charged sutures can speed up the healing process after surgery in rats. In their study published in Nature Communications, the group developed a type of suture that generates its own electricity while inside the body and tested it in a lab setting and in live rats.

Prior research has shown that the application of electricity to wounds can speed up healing—it attracts fibroblasts, which are a major part of the healing process. Prior research has also shown that applying electrical current to conductive sutures can promote healing. But these sutures require an external power source or a bulky battery. In this new effort, the research team found a way to power sutures using interactions between the sutures and surrounding tissue.

The sutures were made using biodegradable polymers and magnesium, both of which can be absorbed safely by the body over time.
When muscles and other tissue around the site of a surgical procedure move, the middle layer of the sutures rubs against the outer layer, transferring electrons. The resulting electricity moves through the rest of the suture, stimulating the tissue that has been sewn together.

The sutures are just 350 microns, the size needed for closing wounds. Because they are biodegradable, doctors would not have to remove them.

During lab experiments, the sutures were found to be capable of generating 2.3 volts during normal activity. When used with live tissue, the sutures were found to speed up healing by 50% compared to non-electrified sutures. They also resulted in lower bacterial levels, even when standard disinfectants were not used.

The research team next tested their sutures on rats and observed speedier recovery and fewer infections. They plan to test their sutures in larger animals before eventually moving on to trials in humans.

Zhouquan Sun et al, A bioabsorbable mechanoelectric fiber as electrical stimulation suture, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52354-x

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 8:41am

The ability to custom design new proteins—and better understand existing proteins—could enable researchers to create new kinds of medicines and vaccines. It could also allow scientists to design new enzymes to break down plastics or other waste materials, and to design fine-tuned sensors for hazardous materials.

There's fantastic prospects for making better medicines—medicines that are smarter, that only work in the right time and place in the body.

One example is a potential nasal spray that could slow or stop the rapid spread of specific viruses, such as COVID-19. Another is a medicine to disrupt the cascade of symptoms known as cytokine storm.

That was always the holy grail. If you could figure out how protein sequences folded into their particular structures, then it might be possible to design protein sequences to fold into previously never seen structures that might be useful for us.

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chem … dvanced-information/

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 8:39am

Nobel Prize in chemistry honors 3 scientists who used AI to design proteins, life's building blocks

Three scientists who discovered powerful techniques to predict and even design novel proteins—the building blocks of life—were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday. Their work used advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and holds the potential to transform how new drugs are made.

The prize was awarded to David Baker, a biochemist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, computer scientists at Google DeepMind, a British-American artificial intelligence research laboratory based in London.

Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said the award honored research that unraveled "a grand challenge in chemistry, and in particular in biochemistry, for decades."

Proteins are complex molecules with thousands of atoms that twist, turn, loop and spiral in a countless array of shapes that determine their biological function. For decades, scientists have dreamed of being able to efficiently design and build new proteins.

Baker, 62, whose work has received funding from the National Institutes of Health since the 1990s, created a computer program called Rosetta that helped analyze information about existing proteins in comprehensive databases to build new proteins that don't exist in nature.

You can almost construct any type of protein now with this technology.

Hassabis, 48, and Jumper, 39, created an artificial intelligence model that has predicted the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified, the committee added.

They  managed to crack the code. With skillful use of artificial intelligence, they made it possible to predict the complex structure of essentially any known protein in nature.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 10, 2024 at 8:35am

Microbial marvels: Study finds 'untapped biodiversity' in the bathroom, on your toothbrush and showerhead

The latest hotspot to offer awe-inspiring biodiversity lies no further than your bathroom.

In a new study, microbiologists found that showerheads and toothbrushes are teeming with an extremely diverse collection of viruses—most of which have never been seen before.

Although this might sound ominous, the good news is these viruses don't target people. They target bacteria.

The microorganisms collected in the study are bacteriophage, or "phage," a type of virus that infects and replicates inside of bacteria. Although researchers know little about them, phages have recently garnered attention for their potential use in treating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. And the previously unknown viruses lurking in our bathrooms could become a treasure trove of materials for exploring those applications.

The study, "Phage communities in household-related biofilms correlate with bacterial hosts but do not associate with other environmental factors," was published recently (Oct. 9) in the journal Frontiers in Microbiomes.

Researchers  found many viruses that we know very little about and many others that we have never seen before. It's amazing how much untapped biodiversity is all around us. And you don't even have to go far to find it; it's right under our noses.

After characterizing bacteria,the researchers then used DNA sequencing to examine the viruses living on those same samples. Altogether, the samples comprised more than 600 different viruses—and no two samples were alike.

They saw basically no overlap in virus types between showerheads and toothbrushes.  They also saw very little overlap between any two samples at all. Each showerhead and each toothbrush is like its own little island. It just underscores the incredible diversity of viruses out there.

The researchers caution people not to fret about the invisible wildlife living within our bathrooms. Instead of grabbing for bleach, people can soak their showerheads in vinegar to remove calcium buildup or simply wash them with plain soap and water. And people should regularly replace toothbrush heads.

Microbes are everywhere, and the vast majority of them will not make us sick. The more you attack them with disinfectants, the more they are likely to develop resistance or become more difficult to treat. We should all just learn to live with them, the researchers  say.

Phage communities in household-related biofilms correlate with bacterial hosts but do not associate with other environmental factors, Frontiers in Microbiomes (2024). www.frontiersin.org/journals/m … 024.1396560/abstract

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 9, 2024 at 8:00am

Asthma and allergies may be caused by changes in the placenta, suggests study

Changes in the placenta may increase the risk of children developing asthma and allergies, as shown in new research. The study is published in the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

This study is based on a review of 19 previous studies involving around 13,000 children.

The study shows that children born prematurely have a three times increased risk of suffering from asthma-related problems if there is inflammation in the fetal membranes and placenta. This risk is in addition to the increased risk of lung disease linked to premature birth. 

Researchers also saw a link between unusually heavy placentas and increased asthma medication prescriptions in full-term children during their first year of life.

Although these links are statistically significant, the researchers emphasize that the they do not yet know for sure whether changes in the placenta directly or indirectly cause asthma or allergies in children.

It's almost impossible to conduct the kind of studies needed to prove a causal relation in pregnant women. But given these results, they think pediatricians ought to focus more on the potential significance of the placenta for the child after birth.

It has been known for some time that atopic diseases such as asthma and allergies can begin to develop during the fetal stage. A plausible explanation for the new findings could be that inflammation in the placenta and fetal membranes triggers an inflammation in the fetus that persists and risks damaging the child's lungs or affecting the immune system even after birth.

This new knowledge is something from which health care can already benefit.

The placenta is a temporary organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. It supplies the fetus with oxygen and nutrients, removes waste products, and acts as a barrier against certain infections. The placenta also produces vital hormones for the pregnancy, the mother, and the fetus.

Zaki Bakoyan et al, Childhood atopic disorders in relation to placental changes—A systematic review and meta‐analysis, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/pai.14141

**

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 102
• 103
• 104
• 105
• 106
• …
• 1053
• Next ›
• Page