Comment

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 6, 2024 at 12:26pm

Scientists visualize magnetic fields at atomic scale with holography electron microscope

A research team  has achieved a major breakthrough in the observation of magnetic fields at unimaginably small scales.

The team used Hitachi's atomic-resolution holography electron microscope—with a newly developed image acquisition technology and defocus correction algorithms—to visualize the magnetic fields of individual atomic layers within a crystalline solid.

Many advances in electronic devices, catalysis, transportation, and energy generation have been made possible by the development and adoption of high-performance materials with tailored characteristics. Atom arrangement and electron behavior are among the most critical factors that dictate a crystalline material's properties.

Notably, the orientation and strength of magnetic fields right at the interface between different materials or atomic layers are particularly important, and often help explain many peculiar physical phenomena.

Toshiaki Tanigaki et al, Electron holography observation of individual ferrimagnetic lattice planes, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07673-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 6, 2024 at 12:15pm

Researchers find a way to protect microbes from extreme conditions

Microbes that are used for health, agricultural, or other applications need to be able to withstand extreme conditions, and ideally the manufacturing processes used to make tablets for long-term storage. Researchers have now developed a new way to make microbes hardy enough to withstand these extreme conditions.

Their method involves mixing bacteria with food and drug additives from a list of compounds that the FDA classifies as "generally regarded as safe." The researchers identified formulations that help to stabilize several different types of microbes, including yeast and bacteria, and they showed that these formulations could withstand high temperatures, radiation, and industrial processing that can damage unprotected microbes.

In an even more extreme test, some of the microbes recently returned from a trip to the International Space Station, coordinated by Space Center Houston, the researchers are now analyzing how well the microbes were able to withstand those conditions.

What this project was about is stabilizing organisms for extreme conditions. Scientists are really thinking about a broad set of applications, whether it's missions to space, human applications, or agricultural uses.

Synthetic extremophiles via species-specific formulations improve microbial therapeutics, Nature Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-01937-6

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 6, 2024 at 12:10pm

 Fungi and lichens pose deadly threat to 5,000-year-old rock art

The Negev desert of southern Israel is renowned for its unique rock art. Since at least the third millennium BCE, the hunters, shepherds, and merchants who roamed the Negev have left thousands of carvings (petroglyphs) on the rocks. These figures are mostly cut into desert varnish: a thin black coating on limestone rock, which forms naturally. Many represent animals such as ibexes, goats, horses, donkeys, and domestic camels, but abstract forms also occur.

Now, a study published in Frontiers in Fungal Biology has revealed that the petroglyphs are home to a community of uncommon specialist fungi and lichens. Unfortunately, these species may pose a serious threat to the rock art in the long term.

Scientists show that these fungi and lichens could significantly contribute to the gradual erosion and damage of the petroglyphs. They are able to secrete different types of acids that can dissolve the limestone in which the petroglyphs are carved. In addition, the fungi can penetrate and grow within the stone grains, causing an additional mechanical damage.

Can anything be done to protect the petroglyphs from the slow but destructive work of the observed micro-colonial fungi and lichens? This is unlikely, cautioned the authors.

These natural weathering processes cannot be stopped, but their speed of the weathering process depends heavily on whether and how the climate will change in the future. What we can do is to monitor the microbial communities over time and most importantly, document these valuable works of art in detail.

Diversity of fungi associated to petroglyph sites in the Negev desert, Israel, and their potential role in bioweathering, Frontiers in Fungal Biology (2024). DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2024.1400380

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 6, 2024 at 7:21am

Study explores the link between stock market fluctuations and emergency room visits

The advent of computerized trading and fintech platforms has made investing in stocks easier and more accessible to individuals worldwide. This has led to an increase in stock market participation in many countries.

As a result of this spike in investments, fluctuations in the stock market can have a significant effect on the finances of numerous individuals and their families.

Drastic changes in wealth or financial difficulties resulting from these stock market fluctuations could potentially also affect the mental and physical health of investors. In fact, some recent reports have found a correlation between stock market fluctuations and specific physical and psychological issues.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore, Jinan University, Peking University and Sun Yat-sen University recently explored this potential link further, focusing on the relationship between stock market fluctuations and stress-related emergency room visits in China. Their findings, published in Nature Mental Health, unveiled a trend marked by greater visits to emergency rooms by individuals experiencing stress-related mental health issues during periods of stock market volatility.

To study the relationship between stock market fluctuations and emergency room visits in China, this team of researchers statistically analyzed data collected at the largest hospitals in Beijing over the course of three years, spanning from 2009 to 2012. This data, which was specific to emergency room visits for reasons potentially related to stress, was analyzed in conjunction with stock market trends in China during the same period.

Overall, the results of the analyses run by the researchers suggest that stock market shocks had immediate effects on cardiovascular diseases and mental health disorders in the period ranging between 2009 and 2012, as volatility in stock markets was linked to more visits to the emergency room for these stress-related physical and mental issues. As the data used by the researchers was over a decade old, they highlighted the need for additional studies using newer medical and financial data.
The health effects are highly nonlinear, instantaneous and more salient for older people and males.

Sumit Agarwal et al, Associations between stock market fluctuations and stress-related emergency room visits in China, Nature Mental Health (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44220-024-00267-5

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2024 at 12:08pm

High ambient temperature in pregnancy associated with childhood leukemia

As climate change warms the planet, high ambient temperatures are expected to be more common and intense over the coming decades  worldwide.

Researchers  have studied how rising temperatures adversely affect human health. A study appearing in  journal finds that exposure to high ambient temperatures during pregnancy can have detrimental impact on the health of the offspring.

This is the first study that directly evaluates the association between hot temperatures during pregnancy and the risk of cancer in children.

This study is adding to a growing body of literature that underscores that high ambient temperature not only has immediate health effects, but also may be a cause of future chronic diseases.

Tormod Rogne et al, High ambient temperature in pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: an observational study, The Lancet Planetary Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00121-9

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2024 at 12:03pm

Key mechanisms identified for regeneration of neurons

Neurological disorders, such as trauma, stroke, epilepsy, and various neurodegenerative diseases, often lead to the permanent loss of neurons, causing significant impairments in brain function. Current treatment options are limited, primarily due to the challenge of replacing lost neurons.

Direct neuronal reprogramming, a complex procedure that involves changing the function of one type of cell into another, offers a promising strategy.

In cell culture and in living organisms, glial cells—the non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system—have been successfully transformed into functional neurons. However, the processes involved in this reprogramming are complex and require further understanding. This complexity presents a challenge, but also a motivation, for researchers in the field of neuroscience and regenerative medicine.

Two research teams now explored the molecular mechanisms at play when glial cells are converted to neurons by a single transcription factor.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Specifically, the researchers focused on small chemical modifications in the epigenome. The epigenome helps control which genes are active in different cells at different times. For the first time, the teams have now shown how coordinated the epigenome rewiring is, elicited by a single transcription factor.

Using novel methods in epigenome profiling, the researchers identified that a posttranslational modification of the reprogramming neurogenic transcription factor Neurogenin2 profoundly impacts the epigenetic rewiring and neuronal reprogramming. However, the transcription factor alone is not enough to reprogram the glial cells.

In an important discovery, the researchers identified a novel protein, the transcriptional regulator YingYang1, as a key player in this process. YingYang1 is necessary to open up the chromatin for reprogramming, to which end it interacts with the transcription factor.

The protein YingYang1 is crucial for achieving the conversion from astrocytes to neurons. 

These findings are important to understand and improve reprogramming of glial cells to neurons, and thus bring us closer to therapeutic solutions.

Allwyn Pereira et al, Direct neuronal reprogramming of mouse astrocytes is associated with multiscale epigenome remodeling and requires Yy1, Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01677-5

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2024 at 11:48am

The researchers turned off the vitamin B6 production in both zebrafish and mouse pancreas. The ability of the beta cells to respond to high blood sugar was dramatically reduced in both species.

This indicates that vitamin B6 plays an evolutionarily conserved role in the response to glucose. It is possible that the first responders produce and supply Vitamin B6 to the rest of the beta cells to regulate their activity.
We now know there are specific cells that start the glucose response and that Vitamin B6 is essential for this process.
Vitamin B6 serves as a cofactor for more than a hundred essential enzymes that play critical roles in the cells, ranging from the control of cellular respiration to neurotransmitter production.

There is actually a body of research that shows a correlation between low levels of vitamin B6 and incidence of metabolic disease and type 2 diabetes.
Understanding how Vitamin B6 regulates the beta cells in the pancreas could lead to new insights into the pathology of diabetes and ultimately to new treatments.

Luis Fernando Delgadillo-Silva et al, Optogenetic β cell interrogation in vivo reveals a functional hierarchy directing the Ca 2+ response to glucose supported by vitamin B6, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado4513

Part 2

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2024 at 11:45am

Researchers identify 'first responder' cells in pancreas crucial for blood sugar control

How does our body control blood sugar so precisely?

Researchers found a special group of "first responder" cells in the pancreas that are crucial for triggering blood sugar response.

Their findings were published in the journal Science Advances.

Our bodies need to keep blood sugar levels just right. Too high or too low can be dangerous. This balance is disturbed in diabetes, leading to serious health issues. Beta cells in the pancreas manage this balance by releasing insulin when blood sugar levels rise.

Understanding how beta cells work and coordinate the response to rising blood sugar can ultimately help develop better treatments for diabetes.

To understand the work of the pancreas, the research team turned to zebrafish. This small tropical fish has a pancreas that works similarly to a human one. At the same time, it offers a huge advantage. Researchers can use transparent fish that have no pigment whatsoever and observe the pancreas at work in real-time in the living fish.

The group discovered that a small group of beta cells are more sensitive to sugar levels than the others. These cells respond to glucose quicker than the rest of the cells, so the research  team referred to them as "first responder" cells. They initiate the glucose response, which is followed by the remaining "follower cells."

The team wanted to test if first responders are necessary for the follower cells to respond to glucose.

Using transparent fish, the  group took advantage of optogenetics, a modern light-based technology that allows to turn single cells on or off with a beam of light.

Turning off the first responder cells lowered the response to the blood sugar of the follower cells. At the same time, when the first responders were selectively activated, the response of the follower cells was enhanced.

The first responders lie at the top of the beta cell hierarchy when it comes to control of the sugar response. Interestingly, only about 10% of the beta-cells act as first responders. It suggests that this small population of cells serves as a control centre for regulating the activity of the rest of the beta cells.

To find out what makes the first responder cells unique, the researchers compared the gene expression of highly glucose-sensitive beta cells to those that are less sensitive. They found that first responders are involved in vitamin B6 production. The first responder cells express a key enzyme involved in transforming the inactive form of dietary vitamin B6 into the form that is active in the cells.

Part1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2024 at 11:27am

Caterpillars pass down food preferences to offspring through blood

Many caterpillars are known for their specific food preferences, which they bring with them when they morph into butterflies. For instance, the monarch butterfly only feeds on milkweed plants, while the Lime butterfly feeds on lime leaves. Despite deriving from a common ancestral species, these unique diet preferences are a point of interest for researchers.

In an earlier study by researchers, they demonstrated that when caterpillars fed on leaves outside of their usual diet, they would prefer the smell of that type of plant after a few days. Remarkably, these caterpillars also passed on the acquired smell preference to their offspring.

Such a phenomenon is also seen in nature when caterpillars find themselves on a new food plant when the female butterfly lays eggs on the wrong plant by mistake. The new plant is edible but has a new smell, the caterpillars will learn to prefer this new smell and pass this preference on to their offspring.

This type of inheritance may facilitate host switching and ultimately the formation of new species, each with their own food preferences.

 V. Gowri et al, Haemolymph transfusions transfer heritable learned novel odour preferences to naive larvae of Bicyclus anynana butterflies, Biology Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0595

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 5, 2024 at 11:15am

These oldest inhabited termite mounds have been active for 34,000 years

Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills.

Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in Namaqualand were estimated by radiocarbon dating to be 34,000 years old, according to the researchers from Stellenbosch University.

Some fossilized termite mounds have been discovered dating back millions of years. The oldest inhabited mounds before this study were found in Brazil and are around 4,000 years old. They are visible from space.

 M.L. Francis et al, Calcareous termite mounds in South Africa are ancient carbon reservoirs, Science of The Total Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171760

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 116
• 117
• 118
• 119
• 120
• …
• 1000
• Next ›
• Page