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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 6, 2023 at 9:26am

Will revitalizing old blood slow aging?

Young blood has a rejuvenating effect when infused into older bodies, according to recent research: Aging hearts beat stronger, muscles become stronger, and thinking becomes sharper.

Many scientists are looking for the elements of young blood that can be captured or replicated and put into a pill. But what if the best way to get the benefits of young blood is to simply rejuvenate the system that makes blood?

An aging blood system, because it's a vector for a lot of proteins, cytokines, and cells, has a lot of bad consequences for the organism. A 70-year-old with a 40-year-old blood system could have a longer healthspan, if not a longer lifespan. Rejuvenating an older person's blood may now be within reach, based on recent findings according to a paper published in Nature Cell Biology.

According to new research ,  an anti-inflammatory drug, already approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis, can turn back time in mice and reverse some of the effects of age on the hematopoietic system. These results indicate that such strategies hold promise for maintaining healthier blood production in the elderly.

The researchers only identified the drug after a comprehensive investigation of the stem cells that create all blood cells and the niches where they reside in the center of the bones.

All blood cells in the body are created by a small number of stem cells that reside in bone marrow. Over time, these hematopoietic stem cells start to change: They produce fewer red blood cells (leading to anemia) and fewer immune cells (which raises the risk of infection and impedes vaccination efforts), and they have trouble maintaining the integrity of their genomes (which can lead to blood cancers).

The researchers first tried to rejuvenate old hematopoietic stem cells, in mice, with exercise or calorie-restricting diet, both generally thought to slow the aging process. Neither worked. Transplanting old stem cells into young bone marrow also failed. Even young blood had no effect on rejuvenating old blood stem cells.

They then took a closer look at the stem cells' environment, the bone marrow. Blood stem cells live in a niche; they thought what happens in this specialized local environment could be a big part of the problem. 

With new techniques developed  that enable detailed investigation of the bone marrow milieu, the researchers found that the aging niche is deteriorating and overwhelmed with inflammation, leading to dysfunction in the blood stem cells. One inflammatory signal released from the damaged bone marrow niche, IL-1B, was critical in driving these aging features, and blocking it with the drug anakinra remarkably returned the blood stem cells to a younger, healthier state. Even more youthful effects on both the niche and the blood system occurred when IL-1B was prevented from exerting its inflammatory effects throughout the animal's life.

The researchers are now trying to learn if the same processes are active in humans and if rejuvenating the stem cell niche earlier in life, in middle age, would be a more effective strategy. Meanwhile, "treating elderly patients with anti-inflammatory drugs blocking IL-1B function should help with maintaining healthier blood production".

Carl A. Mitchell et al, Stromal niche inflammation mediated by IL-1 signalling is a targetable driver of haematopoietic ageing, Nature Cell Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41556-022-01053-0

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2023 at 12:54pm

Bird flu detected in mammals but risk to humans low: experts

Experts have warned that the recent detection of bird flu in mammals including foxes, otters, minks, seals and even grizzly bears is concerning but emphasized that the virus would have to significantly mutate to spread between humans.

It is rare that bird flu jumps over into mammals—and rarer still that humans catch the potentially deadly virus.

However two recent larger scale infections have raised concerns that bird flu has the potential to spread between mammals.

One was an outbreak of H5N1 with the PB2 mutation at a Spanish farm in October that led to the culling of more than 50,000 minks.

Transmission between the minks has not been confirmed, with further research ongoing.

The mass death of some 2,500 endangered seals found along Russia's Caspian Sea coast last month has also raised concern.

But it was always concerning when a flu virus enters mammals "because they're often the mixing point of influenza viruses, or they create an environment where mutations can occur and then can become adapted in humans".

If H5N1 did mutate into a strain that could circulate among humans, the current seasonal flu vaccine could be fairly easily updated to include it.

Over the last two decades, there have been 868 confirmed H5N1 cases in humans with 457 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. There were four confirmed cases and one death last year.

Last month, Ecuador reported South America's first case of the A(H5) bird flu virus in a human—a nine-year-old girl who was in contact with backyard poultry.

The experts called for continued surveillance of avian influenza in wild birds, poultry and mammals, in order for humans to limit their exposure.

source: AFP

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2023 at 12:48pm

Rocket industry could undo decades of work to save the ozone layer

The ozone layer is on track to heal within four decades, according to a recent UN report, but this progress could be undone by an upsurge in rocket launches expected during the same period.

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Rates of hatching failure in birds almost twice as high as previous...

Hatching failure rates in birds are almost twice as high as experts previously estimated, according to the largest ever study of its kind by researchers 

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How long does COVID immunity last?

How quickly does immunity from vaccination, infection with SARS-CoV-2, or a combination of the two, wane? Studies from Portugal, Israel, Sweden and Qatar have offered clues, but the real answer is: it’s complicated. ‘Hybrid’ immunity gained from vaccination and infection provides some protection against reinfection for around eight months, longer than immunity acquired from a booster alone. But the emergence of new variants makes it hard to determine the role of immune evasion. One study suggests that immunity against reinfection could last up to three years — if the virus does not mutate. The data make it difficult to predict when new surges of infections might occur — or when to schedule booster shots.

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Using muon detectors to remotely create a 3D image of the inside of...

A team of physicists affiliated with several institutions in France has developed a way to use muon detectors to create 3D images of difficult-to-access objects, such as a reactor inside a nuclear plant. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2023 at 12:47pm

Coffee can pollute too!

Caffeine is an emerging global pollutant. It enters our waterways through the wastewater system, and impacts water quality and marine life. And while coffee grounds are often used as a soil amendment, caffeine is a killer for emerging seedlings.

But there are things consumers can do to reduce the pollution; some are listed  below. And scientists are looking at innovative strategies for removing the contamination.

Five ways to clean up your caffeine habit

1. Stop drinking caffeinated beverages

Since at least 90% of adults drink coffee, tea or energy drinks regularly, I imagine some of you are laughing (or crying) right now. So consider reducing your consumption, and move on to No. 2.

2. Reuse and recycle

Some businesses, artists and engineers are finding creative ways to reuse and recycle grounds. For example, companies in the United Kingdom are collecting coffee pulp and spent grounds to use in textiles, ink, aromatics, and biofuels. Coffee shops and manufacturers could partner with such companies to reuse their coffee waste.

3. Don't dump spent grounds or leftover drink down the sink

Compost or dispose of grounds in the trash rather than send caffeine down the drain and into the wastewater system.

4. Reduce plastic pollution, too

The plastic and disposable cups that often go with caffeine habits is a different but related type of pollution we can reduce. Remember to bring your own cup to the café, or use one of the many low-waste techniques of brewing at home.

5. Support government funding to update sewage facilities

"Investing in outdated treatment plants is how we can actually solve it," Subuyuj said. "In the U.S., outdated water treatment plants, especially in bigger cities, is the main source of caffeine entering waterways. That would also reduce other contaminants to the environment, like heavy metals and microplastics."

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2023 at 12:43pm

Genetic analysis can reduce adverse drug reactions by 30%

Patients can experience 30% fewer serious adverse reactions if their drugs are tailored to their genes, reports a study published in The Lancet. A European collaboration research suggests that a genetic analysis prior to drug therapy could significantly reduce suffering and health care costs.

A significant proportion of patients experience adverse reactions to their medication. Since we each carry a unique set of genes, we react differently to the same drugs. For example, some people break them down faster, meaning that they require a higher dose to obtain the desired effect.

To overcome this problem, researchers have developed the principle for a "DNA pass" that has been clinically validated in the recently published study.

It's basically a credit card-sized card with a magnetic strip containing all the important genetic data on a particular patient. When a patient's card is scanned, doctors and pharmacists can work out the optimal dose of a drug for that particular individual.

The study included almost 7,000 patients from seven European countries between March 2017 and June 2020 all of whom were genotyped with respect to variations in twelve specific genes of significance to drug metabolism, transport and side-effects. All participants then received their drugs either conventionally or with a genotype-based modification.

Twelve weeks after their drug regimen began, the patients were contacted by a specialist nurse about any adverse reactions, such as diarrhea, pain or loss of taste. The study concluded that such adverse reactions to drugs can be greatly reduced by analyzing the genes that code for enzymes that metabolize them.

The patients who'd received genotype-driven treatment had, on average, 30% fewer adverse reactions than the controls in the study.

Jesse J Swen et al, A 12-gene pharmacogenetic panel to prevent adverse drug reactions: an open-label, multicentre, controlled, cluster-randomised crossover implementation study, The Lancet (2023). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01841-4

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2023 at 12:21pm

Here is another reason to stop wars and voilence : Life in a violent country can be years shorter and much less predictable, even for those not involved in conflict

How long people live is less predictable and life expectancy for young people can be as much as 14 years shorter in violent countries compared to peaceful countries, according to a new study today from an international team. It reveals a direct link between the uncertainty of living in a violent setting, even for those not directly involved in the violence, and a "double burden" of shorter and less predictable lives.

According to the research, violent deaths are responsible for a high proportion of the differences in lifetime uncertainty between violent and peaceful countries. But, the study says, "The impact of violence on mortality goes beyond cutting lives short. When lives are routinely lost to violence, those left behind face uncertainty as to who will be next."

What the researchers found most striking is that lifetime uncertainty has a greater association with violence than life expectancy. Lifetime uncertainty, therefore, should not be overlooked when analyzing changes in mortality patterns.

Using mortality data from 162 countries, and the Internal Peace Index between 2008–2017, the study shows the most violent countries are also those with the highest lifetime uncertainty. It also says, in the most violent societies, lifetime uncertainty is even experienced by those not directly involved in violence. The report states, "Poverty-insecurity-violence cycles magnify pre-existing structural patterns of disadvantage for women and fundamental imbalances in gender relations at young ages."

Whilst men are the major direct victims of violence, women are more likely to experience non-fatal consequences in violent contexts. These indirect effects of violence should not be ignored as they fuel gender inequalities, and can trigger other forms of vulnerability and causes of death.

According to the report, lower life expectancy is usually associated with greater lifetime uncertainty. In addition, living in a violent society creates vulnerability and uncertainty—and that, in turn, can lead to more violent behavior.

Therefore, countries with high levels of violence experience lower levels of life expectancy than more peaceful ones.

José Aburto, A global assessment of the impact of violence on lifetime uncertainty, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add9038. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add9038

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 3, 2023 at 9:54am

Discovery of new ice may change our understanding of water

Researchers  have discovered a new type of ice that more closely resembles liquid water than any other known ices and that may rewrite our understanding of water and its many anomalies.

The newly discovered ice is amorphous—that is, its molecules are in a disorganized form, not neatly ordered as they are in ordinary, crystalline ice. Amorphous ice, although rare on Earth, is the main type of ice found in space. That is because in the colder environment of space, ice does not have enough thermal energy to form crystals.

For the study, published in the journal Science, the research team used a process called ball milling, vigorously shaking ordinary ice together with steel balls in a jar cooled to -200 degrees Centigrade.

They found that, rather than ending up with small bits of ordinary ice, the process yielded a novel amorphous form of ice that, unlike all other known ices, had the same density as liquid water and whose state resembled water in solid form. They named the new ice "medium-density amorphous ice" (MDA).

The team suggested that MDA (which looks like a fine white powder) may exist inside ice moons of the outer solar system, as tidal forces from gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn may exert similar shear forces on ordinary ice as those created by ball milling. In addition, the team found that when MDA was warmed up and recrystallized, it released an extraordinary amount of heat, meaning it could trigger tectonic motions and "icequakes" in the kilometers-thick covering of ice on moons such as Ganymede.

 Alexander Rosu-Finsen et al, Medium-density amorphous ice, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.abq2105. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq2105

https://phys.org/news/2023-02-discovery-ice.html?utm_source=nwlette...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 3, 2023 at 9:48am

Network science is the study of physical, biological, social and other phenomena through the creation of network representations. These representations can sometimes offer very valuable insight, unveiling interesting patterns in data and relationships between connected entities.

  Network science and network visualizations are superb in summarizing and explaining complex systems in one image in a quick and objective way.

A network is essentially an object that consists of several nodes and links that connect these nodes. Network scientists  build these networks using data that relates to specific phenomena involving different interconnected parties or entities.

Two data scientists working at Central European University, Baoba Inc. and Revolut recently used network science to examine the FIFA World Cup 2022. The network representations they created, outlined in a paper published on Research Gate, allowed them to shed some new light on the fascinating interconnected world of soccer stars and clubs.

To build a network, researchers need a data source that shows relationships between the entities they are studying. In the example of soccer, this could be a team just as much as individual players. So, first things first—researchers needed data. This is where expert knowledge is required.

So the researchers collected the data necessary to build their FIFA World Cup 2022 Networks from transfermarkt.com, a soccer-related website owned by Axel Springer SE. This website contains a vast amount of information about soccer players and clubs, including players' team memberships and transfer histories, as well as both ongoing and past championship results.

So they came up with this: 

 Milan Janosov et al, FIFA World Cup 2022—The Network Edition, Unpublished (2023). DOI: 10.13140/rg.2.2.20650.29129

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 2, 2023 at 3:00pm

A Mysterious Whirlpool Appeared Over Hawaii, And It Could Be Because of SpaceX

A ghostly blue spiral spotted in the sky over Hawaii could be related to a SpaceX satellite launch.

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan spotted the mysterious spiral through its Subaru Telescope on Janua..., just after SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a large military satellite for the US Space Force.

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-mysterious-whirlpool-appeared-over-h...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 2, 2023 at 1:47pm

Light-activated nanoscale drills can kill pathogenic fungi

That stubborn athlete's foot infection an estimated 70% of people get at some point in their life could become much easier to get rid of thanks to nanoscale drills activated by visible light.

Proven effective against antibiotic-resistant infectious bacteria and cancer cells, the molecular machines developed by researchers are just as good at combating infectious fungi, according to a new study published in Advanced Science.

The molecular machines developed by them are nanoscale compounds whose paddlelike chain of atoms moves in a single direction when exposed to visible light. This causes a drilling motion that allows the machines to bore into the surface of cells, killing them. This study is the first to show that, indeed, these molecules can also be effective against fungi.

In contrast to most antifungals, development of resistance to the visible-light activated nanoscale drills was not detected. Spinning at 2-3 million times per second, their rotors cause fungal cells to disintegrate by disrupting their metabolism.

By targeting the mitochondria,  these molecules disrupt the cell's metabolism, resulting in an overall energy imbalance that leads to an uncontrolled flow of water and ions such as calcium into the cell, eventually causing the cell to explode.

Ana L. Santos et al, Visible‐Light‐Activated Molecular Machines Kill Fungi by Necrosis Following Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Calcium Overload, Advanced Science (2023). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202205781

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