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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 22, 2024 at 9:20am

Body lice may be bigger plague spreaders than previously thought

A new laboratory study suggests that human body lice are more efficient at transmitting Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, than previously thought, supporting the possibility that they may have contributed to past pandemics.

Y. pestis has been the culprit behind numerous pandemics, including the Black Death of the Middle Ages that killed millions of people in Europe. It naturally cycles between rodents and fleas, and fleas sometimes infect humans through bites; thus, fleas and rats are thought to be the primary drivers of plague pandemics.
Body lice—which feed on human blood—can also carry Y. pestis, but are widely considered to be too inefficient at spreading it to contribute substantially to outbreaks. However, the few studies that have addressed lice transmission efficiency have disagreed considerably.

To help clarify the potential role of body lice in plague transmission, Bland and colleagues conducted a series of laboratory experiments in which body lice fed on blood samples containing Y. pestis. These experiments involved the use of membrane feeders, which simulate warm human skin, enabling scientists to study transmission potential in a laboratory setting.

They found that the body lice became infected with Y. pestis and were capable of routinely transmitting it after feeding on blood containing levels of the pathogen similar to those found in actual human plague cases.

They also found that Y. pestis can infect a pair of salivary glands found in body lice known as the Pawlowsky glands, and lice with infected Pawlowsky glands transmitted the pathogen more consistently than lice whose infection was limited to their digestive tract. It is thought that Pawlowsky glands secrete lubricant onto the lice's mouthparts, leading the researchers to hypothesize that, in infected lice, such secretions may contaminate mouthparts with Y. pestis, which may then spread to humans when bitten. These findings suggest that body lice may be more efficient spreaders of Y. pestis than previously thought, and they could have played a role in past plague outbreaks.

 Bland DM, Long D, Rosenke R, Hinnebusch BJ (2024) Yersinia pestis can infect the Pawlowsky glands of human body lice and be transmitted by louse bite. PLoS Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002625

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 22, 2024 at 9:16am

Male and female mice exhibit different empathic behaviors to others' pain

Social interactions are multi-faceted experiences that entail understanding the emotional states of others and responding appropriately. Neuroscientists and psychologists have been studying social interactions for decades, in the hope of understanding their neural and behavioral underpinnings.

A team of researchers  recently carried out a study exploring how male and female mice respond to the pain of other mice. Their findings, published in Neuron, suggest that there are both neurobiological and behavioural differences between the two sexes, specifically in relation to their empathic responses.

Recognizing the affective states of social counterparts and responding appropriately fosters successful social interactions.

The primary objective of the recent study was to delve deeper into how male and female mammals respond to another animal in pain, both in terms of their behavior and brain activity. To do this, they carried out a series of experiments on mice, where two mice were placed in lateral chambers, while an observing mouse was placed in the central section of a common cage.

One of the mice in the lateral chamber was given an injection that caused abdominal pain, while the other two were not administered anything. The researchers monitored the behavior of the mouse in the central part of the cage, who could explore the environment freely and thus whether to interact with the other mice and in what ways.
Initially, both male and female mice moved in their surroundings, displaying similar exploratory behaviors. Yet after a while, particularly towards the end of each experimental trial, the team found that male mice exhibited more grooming behaviors, while female mice demonstrated a social preference for the mouse that was in pain, as they spent more time in its proximity and sniffing it.
"We show that male and female mice emit distinct olfactory cues after experiencing distress," the researchers wrote. "These cues activate distinct neural circuits in the piriform cortex (PiC) and evoke sexually dimorphic empathic behaviours on observers.
Specifically, the PiC → PrL pathway is activated in female observers, inducing a social preference for the distressed counterpart. Conversely, the PiC → MeA pathway is activated in male observers, evoking excessive self-grooming behaviors."
This distinct neural pathway that the researchers found to be activated in male observers originated from non-overlapping PiC neuron populations with different gene expression signatures. Notably, these gene expression signatures are regulated by transcription factors and sex hormones.
Overall, their observations suggest that male and female mice are biologically inclined to respond differently to other mice in pain. While females are more likely to get closer to a peer who is in pain, males tend to respond to another's pain with excessive self-grooming.
The results of this study could soon be explored further and validated in additional experiments. In the future, they could pave the way for the discovery of new neural processes underpinning sex-specific social behaviours.

Shunchang Fang et al, Sexually dimorphic control of affective state processing and empathic behaviors, Neuron (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.02.001

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 21, 2024 at 2:11pm

Scientists Confirm Microplastics Now Detected in Human Testicles

We can now add testicles to the list of places where microplastics have managed to spread – alongside human placentas, ancient rocks, clogged arteries, blue whales, baby poop, the wilderness of Antarctica, near the peak of Mount Everest, and the bottom of the ocean.

Research led by the University of New Mexico looked at testicular tissue taken from both dogs and humans, finding microplastics in every sample, with an abundance almost three times higher in humans than in dogs.
The team found an average 122.63 micrograms of microplastics per gram of tissue in canines, and 329.44 micrograms per gram in people.

Besides giving us another sobering reminder of how plastic pollution is penetrating every part of our bodies, the study raises some concerning questions in regards to how these microscopic fragments might impact male fertility.

https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.109...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 21, 2024 at 12:39pm

Now Cancer drug pollution is a cause for concern!

As incidence of cancer increases globally, the use of cancer drugs is also growing at a rate of approximately 10 percent per year in developed countries.
Pharmaceuticals significantly contribute to the improvement of human health; however, their environmental impacts have also become a major concern.

Cancer drugs in our ecosystems
Among the many molecules used to treat cancers are cytostatics.

As defined by the United States' National Institutes of Health (NIH), a cystostatic is "a substance that slows or stops the growth of cells, including cancer cells, without killing them."

When a cancer patient takes these drugs, the chemicals in them, including cytostatics, are eventually evacuated through the patients' solid and liquid waste.

A patients' waste ends up in the hospital or domestic wastewater system, where the chemicals in it are not entirely eliminated by end of pipe wastewater treatment plants. These chemicals can then find their way into aquatic ecosystems, and even our drinking water supply, at varying concentrations.

Cytostatic drugs are now classified as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) due to their hazardous environmental impact.

The message is clear: this problem is only going to get worse as more people use cancer drugs.
The continuous release of pharmaceuticals into aquatic ecosystems (even at low levels) can reduce surface water quality, endanger biodiversity and disrupt ecosystem functioning.
They have a toxic impact on aquatic flora and fauna, especially the fish.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896972205...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 21, 2024 at 12:33pm

 Rusting Rivers: The Alarming Impact of Permafrost Thaw on Arctic Rivers

In this video, researchers reveal the startling discovery of over 75 streams and rivers in Alaska's Brooks Range turning orange due to metals released in permafrost thaw. Researchers delve into the consequences of this phenomenon, its impact on aquatic ecosystems and local communities, and the ongoing research efforts to understand and mitigate these changes.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 21, 2024 at 11:04am

The study's results indicate that the group that received the supplements was much more inclined to reject unequal offers at the end of the seven weeks, even when the money split was slightly unbalanced. Conversely, the placebo group behaved similarly during the first and second test sessions.
Moreover, the behavioral change in the supplemented group was accompanied by biological changes: the participants who, at the start of the study, had the greatest imbalance between the two types of bacteria that dominate the gut flora (Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes) experienced the most significant change in the composition of their gut microbiota with the intake of supplements. In addition, they also showed the greatest sensitivity to fairness during the tests.
The researchers also observed a sharp drop in their levels of tyrosine, a dopamine precursor, after the seven-week intervention. For the first time, a causal mechanism is emerging: the composition of the gut microbiota could influence social behavior through the precursors of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in brain reward mechanisms.

"It's too early to say that gut bacteria can make us less rational and more receptive to social considerations," conclude the researchers.
However, these new results clarify which biological pathways we must look at. The prospect of modulating the gut microbiota through diet to positively influence decision-making is fascinating. We need to explore this avenue very carefully.

Marie Falkenstein et al, Impact of the gut microbiome composition on social decision-making, PNAS Nexus (2024). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae166

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 21, 2024 at 11:00am

Composition of gut microbiota could influence decision-making

The way we make decisions in a social context can be explained by psychological, social, and political factors. But what if other forces were at work? Scientists show that changes in gut microbiota can influence our sensitivity to fairness and how we treat others. Their findings are published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

The intestinal microbiota—i.e., all the bacteria, viruses and fungi that inhabit our digestive tract—plays a pivotal role in our bodies, well beyond digestive function. Recent research underscores its impact on cognition, stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and behaviour; mice raised in a sterile environment, for example, have difficulty interacting with other individuals.

While these findings are promising, most of this research is carried out on animals and cannot be extrapolated to humans. Nor does it allow us to understand what neuronal, immune, or hormonal mechanisms are at work in this fascinating dialogue between brain and intestine: researchers observe a link between the composition of the microbiota and social skills but do not know precisely how one controls the other.

The available data suggests that the intestinal ecosystem communicates with the central nervous system via various pathways, including the vagus nerve. It might also use biochemical signals that trigger the release of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, which are essential for proper brain function.

To determine whether the composition of the human gut microbiota could influence decision-making in a social setting,  researchers used behavioural tests—including the famous "ultimatum game" in which one player is given a sum of money he must split (fairly or unfairly) with a second player, who is free to decline the offer if s/he deems it insufficient. In that case, neither player receives any money.
Refusing the sum of money is equivalent to what we call "altruistic punishment," i.e., the impulse to punish others when a situation is perceived as unfair: for the second player, restoring equality (no one receives any money) sometimes feels more important than obtaining a reward. The ultimatum game is then used as an experimental way of measuring sensitivity to fairness.

To fully exploit this effect, the researchers recruited 101 participants. For seven weeks, 51 took dietary supplements containing probiotics (beneficial bacteria) and prebiotics (nutrients that promote the colonization of bacteria in the gut), while 50 others received a placebo. They all participated in an ultimatum game during two sessions at the beginning and end of the supplementation period.
Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 20, 2024 at 1:41pm

What is the Blood Brain Barrier?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 20, 2024 at 10:59am

They also demonstrated the process as scalable, with the interference effect persisting even when sending more than one qubit through the cavity.

By carrying out the process on the IBM Quantum Platform and IonQ's quantum hardware, the team demonstrated a proof-of-concept for their protocol, showing a similar system could have the potential to be an energy-effective way of rapidly charging and extracting power from a quantum system.
Though a qubit can simulate the fundamental physics, new methods will be needed to turn the protocol into something more practical and battery-like, meaning it will be a while before you'll be recharging your electric moped in an eyeblink.

Still, the experiment shows there's nothing in the laws of physics that says we can't exploit the quantum landscape for long-life, rapid-charging energy storage.

https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearc...

Part 2

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 20, 2024 at 10:58am

 Quantum Breakthrough Could Charge Batteries in a Snap

Batteries based on the wave-like nature of charged particles could revolutionize energy storage, potentially cramming in more power at a faster rate than conventional electrochemical cells could ever hope to manage. A new protocol developed by a team of physicists from National Cheng Kung University could transform the basic principles of a fast-charging quantum battery into a practical system, demonstrating ways the superposition of a battery may be used to store energy quickly and efficiently.

Fundamental to quantum physics is the principle that all bits of matter have a wave-like identity that spreads out through space and time.

As counterintuitive as it is to our experience of reality, these waves represent the properties of an object – whether it's an electron, a molecule, a cat, or a whole planet – as a spectrum of possibility referred to as its superposition.

In recent years, researchers have pondered whether one or more objects in a superposition have something in common with the chaotic zip and bounce of heated material in an engine. Tapping into this quantum phenomenon could even provide new ways to transfer and hold energy.

It's a nice idea in concept, but transforming the theory behind quantum heat engines into a working device requires identifying suitable processes that don't waste a whole lot of energy.

The researchers experimentally evaluated two approaches to using the superposition of a particle to charge a hypothetical quantum battery to determine whether its fuzzy state is indeed transferring energy.

In place of an actual battery, the team simply used a trapped ion in a superposition state known as a qubit, which can gain energy as it passes through a reflective space that constrains the kinds of waves passing through.
Sending the ion through a device that split its wave into two beams, the team compared the battery's ability to store energy as separated waves passed through multiple entry points into a single cavity, and then into multiple cavities.
Not only did they find the ion's superposition really can allow for efficient charging, they found the 'many doorways, one room' approach induced an interference effect that could theoretically lead to what they call a "perfect charging phenomenon", which allows a complete conversion of stored energy to work from the quantum battery at any point in the charging process.
Part 1

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