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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 4, 2023 at 9:02am

Genetic predisposition to atrial fibrillation accelerated by air pollution, research suggests

Research has connected the effects of air pollutants on the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). In a paper, "Air pollution, genetic susceptibility, and the risk of atrial fibrillation: A large prospective cohort study," published in PNAS, researchers find long-term exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of AF, particularly among individuals with high genetic susceptibility.

Air pollutants have long been associated with cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have linked short-term exposure to these pollutants with acute exacerbations of AF. Studies on twins suggest that genetic susceptibility plays a big part in the risk of AF, but these risk factors explain only about half of AF cases.

The current study focuses on the cumulative damage caused by long-term exposure to these pollutants, revealing an association between increased concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 2.5 μm (PM_2.5), particulate matter with diameters of 10 μm (PM₁₀), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and nitrogen oxide and the underlying genetic risk of AF.

Despite the visible haze that can come with smoke, dust or vehicle emissions, particle pollution is comprised of tiny non-visible elements under 10 μm, and these can travel deep into the lungs. For reference, the average width of human hair is around 70 μm.

The particles can be hundreds of different chemicals depending on their source. Direct emissions from agricultural, automotive, industrial, fire or construction sites will reflect what is coming from those sources. In the atmosphere, more environmentally complex sources like those emitted from power plants, heavy industries and automobile emissions can undergo reactions to produce chemicals like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

When combining genetic susceptibility with high air pollutant levels, participants exposed to high air pollutants with high genetic risk had approximately 149–182% higher risk of AF than individuals with low genetic risk factors.

The study also found a significant additive risk interaction between PM₁₀ and NO₂ and genetic risk, with approximately 16.4–35.1% of cases attributable to the joint effects of these pollutants and genetic predisposition.

The combined effects of  air pollutants and genetic risk showed a dose-response manner, such that exposure to high air pollutant levels and having high genetic risk resulted in high AF chances.

Yudiyang Ma et al, Air pollution, genetic susceptibility, and the risk of atrial fibrillation: A large prospective cohort study, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2302708120

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 3, 2023 at 12:59pm

Zap these cells for insulin
Genetically engineered human cells that produce insulin when stimulated by a small electric current could one day be used to develop insulin implants for people with type 1 diabetes. Reactive oxygen species — unstable oxygen-containing radicals that are produced when a current is applied — are involved in a chain that switches on a gene needed to make insulin. Researchers implanted the cells into mice with high blood sugar and used acupuncture needles to apply a current — which triggered the cells to release insulin.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-023-00850-7.epdf?sharing_tok...

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Chatbots are coming to science search Scopus, Dimensions and Web of Science are introducing conversational search using large language models (LLMs). Scopus AI is intended to be a light, playful tool to help researchers quickly get summaries of topics that they’re unfamiliar with. The bot uses a version of GPT-3.5 to return a fluent summary paragraph, together with references and further questions to explore. The Dimensions chatbot first uses a search engine to retrieve relevant articles and then an Open AI GPT model to generate a summary paragraph around the top-ranked abstracts. Both tools will probably be released widely by the end of this year or the beginning of the next. It’s unclear when Web of Science’s LLM-powered search will become available.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02470-3?utm_source=Natur...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 3, 2023 at 11:42am

The membranes surrounding viruses are made of different molecules than the virus itself, as lipids are acquired from the host to form membranes. One such lipid, phosphatidylserine, is present in the membrane on the outside of viruses, but is sequestered towards the interior of human cells under normal conditions.

Because phosphatidylserine is found on the exterior of viruses, it can be a specific target for peptoids to recognize viruses, but not recognize—and therefore spare—our own cells. Moreover, because viruses acquire lipids from the host rather than encoding from their own genomes, they have better potential to avoid antiviral resistance.

The researchers tested seven peptoids against the four viruses. They found that the peptoids inactivated all three enveloped viruses—Zika, Rift Valley fever, and chikungunya—by disrupting the virus membrane, but did not disrupt coxsackievirus B3, the only virus without a membrane.

Moreover, chikungunya virus containing higher levels of phosphatidylserine in its membrane was more susceptible to the peptoids. In contrast, a membrane formed exclusively with a different lipid named phosphatidylcholine was not disrupted by the peptoids, suggesting that phosphatidylserine is crucial in order for peptoids to reduce viral activity.

The researchers are continuing pre-clinical studies to evaluate the potential of these molecules in fighting viruses and to understand if they can overcome the development of resistance. Their peptoid-focused approach may hold promise for treating a wide range of viruses with membranes that can be difficult to treat, including Ebola, SARS-CoV-2, and herpes.

 Peptidomimetic Oligomers Targeting Membrane Phosphatidylserine Exhibit Broad Antiviral Activity, ACS Infectious Diseases (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00063 , pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00063

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 3, 2023 at 11:40am

Novel molecules fight viruses by bursting their bubble-like membranes

Antiviral therapies are notoriously difficult to develop, as viruses can quickly mutate to become resistant to drugs. Viruses have different proteins on their surfaces that are often the targets of therapeutics like monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. But targeting these proteins has limitations, as viruses can quickly evolve, changing the properties of the proteins and making treatments less effective. These limitations were on display when new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerged that evaded both the drugs and the vaccines developed against the original virus.

But what if a new generation of antivirals ignores the fast-mutating proteins on the surface of viruses and instead disrupts their protective layers?

Scientists found an Achilles heel of many viruses: their bubble-like membranes. Exploiting this vulnerability and disrupting the membrane is a promising mechanism of action for developing new antivirals.

In a new study published Aug. 2 in the journal ACS Infectious Diseases, the researchers show how a group of novel molecules inspired by our own immune system inactivates several viruses, including Zika and chikungunya. Their approach may not only lead to drugs that can be used against many viruses, but could also help overcome antiviral resistance.

Drawing inspiration from our immune system is the new mantra. Our innate immune system combats pathogens by producing antimicrobial peptides, the body's first line of defense against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Most viruses that cause disease are encapsulated in membranes made of lipids, and antimicrobial peptides work by disrupting or even bursting these membranes. While antimicrobial peptides can be synthesized in the lab, they are rarely used to treat infectious diseases in humans because they break down easily and can be toxic to healthy cells. Instead, scientists have developed synthetic materials called peptoids, which have similar chemical backbones to peptides but are better able to break through virus membranes and are less likely to degrade. 

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 2, 2023 at 1:09pm

Conjunctivitis is the swelling or inflammation of the conjunctiva, the thin, transparent layer of tissue that lines the inner surface of the eyelid and covers the white part of the eye. Causes may or may not be infectious. Allergic Conjunctivitis  ( seasonal allergies) Infectious Conjunctivitis  ( Bacterial, Viral ) Chemical Conjunctivitis ( air pollution, chlorine in water ) Ippudu ee season lo sadharanam ga vachedi viral or bacterial conjunctivitis. There are Eye drops or ointments  for Bacterial con. There are  Antibiotics too. But no drops or ointments can treat viral conjunctivitis. Antibiotics will not cure a viral infection. The virus has to run its course, which may take up to two or three weeks.  In case you have to deal with infectious people,  frequent hand washing and keeping hands away from eyes can make a difference. Don't use Common towels, soaps .Be Careful. If you feel  pain and irritation  please visit a doctor . Self medication is not good.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 2, 2023 at 12:47pm

You shouldn't declaw tigers or other big cats

Declawing house cats to keep them from scratching people and furniture is controversial – and even banned in some countries  – but the practice is not limited to house cats. In a new study, researchers looked at the effects of declawing on larger cat species and found that declawing disproportionately impacts their muscular capabilities as compared to their smaller brethren.

Declawing is still done on large cats like lions and tigers, often in an effort to allow cubs to more safely be handled in photo opportunities or for entertainment purposes.

What people might not realize is that declawing a cat is not like trimming our fingernails; rather, it is removing part or all of the last bone of each digit. Like us, each cat finger has three bones, and declawing is literally cutting that third bone off at the joint.

The researchers looked at the muscular anatomy of over a dozen exotic cats – from smaller species including bobcats, servals and ocelots, to lions and tigers – to determine the effect of declawing on their forelimb musculature.

They measured muscle density and mass, and also examined muscle fibers from both clawed and declawed exotic cats. They found that for the larger species declawing resulted in 73% lighter musculature in the forearm’s digital flexors. These muscles are involved in unsheathing the claws. They also found that overall, forelimb strength decreased by 46% to 66%, depending on the size of the animal, and that other muscles in the forelimb did not compensate for these reductions.

With big cats, there’s more force being put through the paws. So if you alter them, it is likely that the effects will be more extreme.

This is because paw size and body mass don’t scale up at a 1:1 ratio. Paw area increases at a slower rate than does body mass (which is proportional to volume), so larger cats have smaller feet relative to their body size, and their paws must withstand more pressure.

Additionally, big cats are more reliant on their forelimbs – they bear most of the weight, and these bigger cats use their forelimbs to grapple because they hunt much larger prey. So biomechanically speaking, declawing has a more anatomically devastating effect in larger species.

Lara L. Martens et al, The Effects of Onychectomy (Declawing) on Antebrachial Myology across the Full Body Size Range of Exotic Species of Felidae, Animals (2023). DOI: 10.3390/ani13152462

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 2, 2023 at 10:12am

Is AI only software? 

AI is about the principles of making machines learn and make intelligent decisions. AI has many subfields under it: Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Computer Vision (very tightly coupled with Machine Learning), Deep Learning, NLP, data representation and semantics, learning theory, Robotics (which is the hardware side of things) which includes things like planning, motion and manipulation...etc.

So its not only about software. AI can be in the form of abstract theory, learning from data to make predictions and intelligent decisions (software) or in robotics (hardware).

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 2, 2023 at 10:09am

Chatbots sometimes make things up. Is AI's hallucination problem fixable?

Spend enough time with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots and it doesn't take long for them to spout falsehoods. 

Described as hallucination, confabulation or just plain making things up, it's now a problem for every business, organization and high school student trying to get a generative AI system to compose documents and get work done. Some are using it on tasks with the potential for high-stakes consequences, from psychotherapy to researching and writing legal briefs.

According to experts there isn't any model today that doesn't suffer from some hallucination! They're really just sort of designed to predict the next word, and so there will be some rate at which the model does that inaccurately. 

So experts are now trying to make them truthful. But they aren't very sure. Because the problem is inherent in the mismatch between the technology and the proposed use cases.

But still what is wrong with trying to improve the software/hardware? let us cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Source: AP 

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 2, 2023 at 9:56am

Early-life lead exposure linked to higher risk of criminal behaviour in adulthood

An evaluation of 17 previously published studies suggests that exposure to lead in the womb or in childhood is associated with an increased risk of engaging in criminal behavior in adulthood. 

Lead exposure can cause a variety of health challenges, such as cardiac issues,kidney damage, immune system dysfunction, reproductive problems, and impaired neurodevelopmental function in children. Research has also uncovered statistical associations between lead exposure and criminal behaviour, both at the level of the entire population and at the level of individual people. However, the findings of individual-level studies have been inconsistent.

To help clarify the existing evidence, researchers conducted a systematic review of studies that address links between individual lead exposure and crime or other antisocial behaviors. Their analysis included 17 studies, which employed a variety of methods for measuring lead exposure—using blood, bones, or teeth—and addressed the effects of exposure at different ages, including in the womb or early childhood, later childhood, and adolescence or adulthood.

The review highlighted a wide range of findings among the studies. For instance, in some cases, no statistical links were found between early childhood lead exposure and later delinquent behavior. One study showed a link between exposure and antisocial behavior, but not arrests. Still, several studies found links between early childhood exposure to lead and later arrests, including drug-related arrests. The authors also used a tool called ROBINS-E to evaluate each study for statistical bias, finding some studies to be more statistically robust than others.

Overall, in light of the known biological effects of lead, this review suggests that an individual exposed to lead in the womb or in early childhood may have a higher risk of engaging in criminal behaviour as an adult.

Policy action to prevent lead exposure is of utmost importance as our research shows an excess risk for criminal behavior in adulthood exists when an individual is exposed to lead in utero or during childhood. Preventing lead exposure is crucial to safeguard public health and promote a safer society for all.

Talayero MJ, The association between lead exposure and crime: A systematic review, PLOS Global Public Health (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002177

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 1, 2023 at 12:47pm

Mysterious Creatures Feed Microbes to Their Babies in New Scientific First

Caecilian mothers grow a fatty skin layer for their babies to tear off and eat. It offers not only nourishment for their offspring but also microbes, providing a starter kit for their young's own microbiome, new research has discovered.

Caecilians are weird, mysterious creatures. They look sort of like huge worms or small snakes, but they're really limbless amphibians, lesser-known relatives of frogs and salamanders. They lead secretive lives, generally hidden from view in soil or stream beds.

What little we do know about caecilians invites more curiosity. They can be surprisingly doting parents, especially by amphibian standards. In some species, mothers provide the skin meals for their young, who have uniquely adapted baby teeth to help them eat it.

Many animals are known to pass microbes to the next generation through parental care in some way, but this is the first direct evidence of it happening in any amphibian. And of all the amphibian species it could be, the study's authors found this happening in caecilians.

 Even after the period of skin feeding (or maternal dermatophagy) ends, a mother and her babies often stay together, the researchers note, coiling up together as a family.

The study found that bacteria from the environment were the least important source for microbiomes of young caecilians. But all juveniles shared at least some of their skin and gut microbiomes with their mothers, which they obtained via both skin feeding and coiling.

https://animalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42523-...

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