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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2022 at 9:15am

Each patient treated in the study was infected with one or more strains of Mycobacterium, a group of bacteria that can cause deadly, treatment-resistant infections in those with compromised immune systems or with the lung disorder cystic fibrosis.

For clinicians, these are really a nightmare: They're not as common as some other types of infections, but they're amongst some of the most difficult to treat with antibiotics. And especially when you take these antibiotics over extended periods of time, they're toxic or not very well-tolerated.

Looking at measures of patient health and whether samples from the patient still showed signs of Mycobacterium infections, the team found that the therapy was successful in 11 out of 20 cases. No patients showed any adverse reactions to the treatment.

In another five patients the results of the therapy were inconclusive, and four patients showed no improvement.

Several unexpected patterns emerged from the case studies. In 11 cases, researchers were unable to find more than one kind of phage that could kill the patient's infection, even though standard practice would be to inject a cocktail of different viruses so the bacteria would be less likely to evolve resistance.

In addition, the team saw that some patients' immune systems attacked the viruses, but only in a few cases did their immune systems render the virus ineffective. And in some instances, the treatment was still successful despite such an immune reaction. The study paints an encouraging picture for the therapy.

 hage Therapy of Mycobacterium Infections: Compassionate-use of Phages in Twenty Patients with Drug-Resistant Mycobacterial Disease, Clinical Infectious Diseases (2022). DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciac453

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2022 at 9:11am

The largest ever series of phage therapy case studies shows a success rate of more than half

The number of reported cases using viruses to treat deadly Mycobacterium infections just went up by a factor of five.

In a new paper published recently in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, a team of researchers report 20 new case studies on the use of the experimental treatment, showing the therapy's success in more than half of the patients.

It's the largest ever set of published case studies for therapy using bacteria-killing viruses known as bacteriophages, providing unprecedented detail on their use to treat dire infections while laying the groundwork for a future clinical trial.

The phages are contributing to favorable outcomes—and in patients who have no other alternatives

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 9, 2022 at 8:24am

Researchers also note that their method requires an attacker to have a high degree of expertise, so it is unlikely to be a widespread threat to the public today.

Despite the challenges, the researchers found that Bluetooth tracking is likely feasible for a large number of devices. It also does not require sophisticated equipment: the attack can be performed with equipment that costs less than $200.

Evaluating physical-layer BLE location tracking attacks on mobile devices, IEEE Security & Privacy conference in Oakland, Calif., May 24, 2022. PDF: cseweb.ucsd.edu/~schulman/docs … nd22-bletracking.pdf

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 9, 2022 at 8:24am

In a first, researchers use Bluetooth signals to identify and track smartphones

A team of engineers  has demonstrated for the first time that the Bluetooth signals emitted constantly by our mobile phones have a unique fingerprint that can be used to track individuals' movements.

Mobile devices, including phones, smartwatches and fitness trackers, constantly transmit signals, known as Bluetooth beacons, at the rate of roughly 500 beacons per minute.These beacons enable features like Apple's "Find My" lost device tracking service; COVID-19 tracing apps; and connect smartphones to other devices such as wireless earphones.

Prior research has shown that wireless fingerprinting exists in WiFi and other wireless technologies. The critical insight of this new work was that this form of tracking can also be done with Bluetooth, in a highly accurate way.

All wireless devices have small manufacturing imperfections in the hardware that are unique to each device. These fingerprints are an accidental byproduct of the manufacturing process. These imperfections in Bluetooth hardware result in unique distortions, which can be used as a fingerprint to track a specific device. For Bluetooth, this would allow an attacker to circumvent anti-tracking techniques such as constantly changing the address a mobile device uses to connect to Internet networks.

Tracking individual devices via Bluetooth is not straightforward. Prior fingerprinting techniques built for WiFi rely on the fact that WiFi signals include a long known sequence, called the preamble. But preambles for Bluetooth beacon signals are extremely short.

The short duration gives an inaccurate fingerprint, making prior techniques not useful for Bluetooth tracking. Instead, the researchers designed a new method that doesn't rely on the preamble but looks at the whole Bluetooth signal. They developed an algorithm that estimates two different values found in Bluetooth signals. These values vary based on the defects in the Bluetooth hardware, giving researchers the device's unique fingerprint.

Although their finding is concerning, the researchers also discovered several challenges that an attacker will face in practice. Changes in ambient temperature for example, can alter the Bluetooth fingerprint. Certain devices also send Bluetooth signals with different degrees of power, and this affects the distance at which these devices can be tracked.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 7, 2022 at 8:20am

Long-lived T cells patrol the cornea

Live-cell imaging of the eye’s transparent cornea has revealed a surprising resident — specialized immune cells that circle the tissue, ready to attack pathogens. “We thought that the central cornea was devoid of any immune cells,” says clinician-scientist Esen Akpek. The cornea has a dampened response to infection, in part because aggressive immune cells could damage the clear layer of tissue and obstruct vision. But microscopes reveal that long-lived immune cells, known as T cells, do reside there.

Reference: Cell Reports paper

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 7, 2022 at 8:11am

Your Gas Stove is Polluting Your Home

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 7, 2022 at 8:02am

Sharp X-ray images despite imperfect lenses

X-rays make it possible to explore inside human bodies or peer inside objects. The technology used to illuminate the detail in microscopically small structures is the same as that used in familiar situations—such as medical imaging at a clinic or luggage control at the airport. X-ray microscopy enables scientists to study the three-dimensional structure of materials, organisms or tissues without cutting and damaging the sample. Unfortunately, the performance of X-ray microscopy is limited by the difficulties in producing the perfect lens. A team from the Institute for X-ray Physics at the University of Göttingen has now shown that, despite the manufacturing limitations of lenses, a much higher image quality and sharpness than ever before can be achieved using a special experimental arrangement and numerical image reconstruction downstream: an algorithm compensates for the deficits of the lenses. The results were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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How species form: What the tangled history of polar bear and brown ...

A new study is providing an enhanced look at the intertwined evolutionary histories of polar bears and brown bears.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 7, 2022 at 8:00am

New nanoparticles aid sepsis treatment in mice

Sepsis, the body's overreaction to an infection, affects more than 1.5 million people and kills at least 270,000 every year in the U.S. alone. The standard treatment of antibiotics and fluids is not effective for many patients, and those who survive face a higher risk of death.

In new research published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology recently,  reported a new nanoparticle-based treatment that delivers anti-inflammatory molecules and antibiotics.

The new system saved the lives of mice with an induced version of sepsis meant to serve as a model for human infections, and is a promising proof-of-concept for a potential new therapy, pending additional research.

The new nanoparticles delivered the chemical NAD⁺ or its reduced form NAD(H), a molecule that has an essential role in the biological processes that generate energy, preserve genetic material and help cells adapt to and overcome stress. While NAD(H) is well known for its anti-inflammatory function, clinical application has been hindered because NAD(H) cannot be taken up by cells directly.

These nanoparticles can directly transport and release NAD(H) into the cell, while preventing premature drug release and degradation in the bloodstream.

Sepsis can be deadly in two phases. First, an infection begins in the body. The immune system responds by creating drastic inflammation that impairs blood flow and forms blood clots, which can cause tissue death and trigger a chain reaction leading to organ failure. Afterward, the body overcorrects itself by suppressing the immune system, which in turn increases infection susceptibility. Controlling complications caused by inflammation is vital in sepsis therapy.

The lipid-coated calcium phosphate or metal-organic framework nanoparticles designed by the researchers can be used to co-deliver NAD(H) and antibiotics.

Shaoqin Gong, NAD(H)-loaded nanoparticles for efficient sepsis therapy via modulating immune and vascular homeostasis, Nature Nanotechnology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-022-01137-w. www.nature.com/articles/s41565-022-01137-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 4, 2022 at 9:24am

Scientists announce a breakthrough in determining life's origin on Earth

Scientists  announced recently that ribonucleic acid (RNA), an analog of DNA that was likely the first genetic material for life, spontaneously forms on basalt lava glass. Such glass was abundant on Earth 4.35 billion years ago. Similar basalts of this antiquity survive on Mars today.

The study shows that long RNA molecules, 100-200 nucleotides in length, form when nucleoside triphosphates do nothing more than percolate through basaltic glass.

Basaltic glass was everywhere on Earth at the time. For several hundred million years after the Moon formed, frequent impacts coupled with abundant volcanism on the young planet formed molten basaltic lava, the source of the basalt glass. Impacts also evaporated water to give dry land, providing aquifers where RNA could have formed.

The same impacts also delivered nickel, which the team showed gives nucleoside triphosphates from nucleosides and activated phosphate, also found in lava glass. Borate (as in borax), also from the basalt, controls the formation of those triphosphates.

The same impactors that formed the glass also transiently reduced the atmosphere with their metal iron-nickel cores. RNA bases, whose sequences store genetic information, are formed in such atmospheres. The research team had previously showed that nucleosides are formed by a simple reaction between ribose phosphate and RNA bases

The beauty of this model is its simplicity. It can be tested by anybody. Mix the ingredients, wait for a few days and detect the RNA. The same rocks resolve the other paradoxes in making RNA in a path that moves all of the way from simple organic molecules to the first RNA.

Craig A. Jerome et al, Catalytic Synthesis of Polyribonucleic Acid on Prebiotic Rock Glasses, Astrobiology (2022). DOI: 10.1089/ast.2022.0027

Hyo-Joong Kim et al, Prebiotic stereoselective synthesis of purine and noncanonical pyrimidine nucleotide from nucleobases and phosphorylated carbohydrates, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1710778114

Hyo-Joong Kim et al, A Prebiotic Synthesis of Canonical Pyrimidine and Purine Ribonucleotides, Astrobiology (2019). DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1935

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 4, 2022 at 8:46am

A soft wearable stethoscope designed for automated remote disease diagnosis

Digital stethoscopes provide better results compared to conventional methods to record and visualize modern auscultation(the action of listening to sounds from the heart, lungs, or other organs, typically with a stethoscope, as a part of medical diagnosis). Current stethoscopes are bulky, non-conformal, and not suited for remote use, while motion artifacts can lead to inaccurate diagnosis. In a new report now published in Science Advances,  a research team in engineering, nanotechnology, and medicine described a class of methods to offer real-time, wireless, continuous auscultation. The devices are part of a soft wearable system for quantitative disease diagnosis across various pathologies. Using the soft device, researchers  detected continuous cardiopulmonary sounds with minimal noise to characterize signal abnormalities in real-time. The team conducted a clinical study with multiple patients and control subjects to understand the unique advantage of the wearable auscultation method, with integrated machine learning, to automate diagnoses of four types of disease in the lung, ranging from a crackle, to a wheeze, stridor and rhonchi, with 95% accuracy. The soft system is applicable for a sleep study to detect disordered breathing and to detect sleep apnea.

Sung Hoon Lee et al, Fully portable continuous real-time auscultation with a soft wearable stethoscope designed for automated disease diagnosis, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo5867

Pranav Gupta et al, Precision wearable accelerometer contact microphones for longitudinal monitoring of mechano-acoustic cardiopulmonary signals, npj Digital Medicine (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41746-020-0225-7

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