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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 9:10am

Scientist discovers a new type of 'bi-molecule' with applications for quantum sensors

Researchers found a new type of bi-molecule formed from two nitric oxide (NO) molecules, both in their ground state and in the Rydberg electronic state.

This new type of bi-molecule is the result of the union of two molecules of nitric oxide (NO) whose structure is arranged in such a way that the NO and NO⁺ ion are located in opposite poles. The electron orbits around both, acting like a "glue" that binds the bi-molecule. In addition, its size corresponds to between 200 and 1,000 times that of NO, and its lifetime is long enough to enable its observation and experimental control, as these fragile systems are easily manipulated by means of very weak electric fields.

This type of bi-molecule enables researchers to implement and study chemical reactions at low temperatures from a quantum perspective and facilitates the investigation of intermolecular interactions at large distances, since they coexist at low temperatures.

Rosario González-Férez et al. Ultralong-Range Rydberg Bimolecules, Physical Review Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.043401

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-scientist-bi-molecule-applications-qu...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 8:21am

Researchers develop 15-minute test to assess immune response

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP) have developed a new label-free immune profiling assay that profiles the rapidly changing host immune response in case of infection, in a departure from existing methods that focus on detecting the pathogens themselves, which can often be at low levels within a host. This novel technology presents a host of advantages over current methods, being both much faster, more sensitive and accurate.

In many cases, the main culprit behind disease manifestation, severity of infection, and patient mortality is an overly aggressive host immune response.

For instance, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 resulted in a disproportionately high number of deaths among otherwise healthy young adults. This has been attributed to the now well-studied phenomenon of cytokine storms, which precipitate the rapid release of immune cells and inflammatory molecules and are brought on by a hyper-aggressive host immune response. In a more recent example, cases of severe COVID-19 infection often result in death via sepsis and a dysregulated immune response, while current risk stratification methods based on age and comorbidity remain a significant challenge and can be inaccurate. Moreover, current COVID-19 testing does not prognose the severity of the immune response and can thus lead to inefficient deployment of resources in healthcare settings.

In cases of acute infection, the status of a patient's immune response can often be volatile and may change within minutes. Hence, there exists a pressing need for assays that are able to rapidly and accurately inform on the state of the immune system. This is particularly vital in early triage among patients with acute infection and prediction of subsequent deterioration of disease. In turn, this will better empower medical personnel to make more accurate initial assessments and deliver the appropriate medical response. This can ensure timely intervention in the emergency department (ED) and prevent admission to the intensive care unit (ICU).

The new assay developed by SMART researchers focuses on profiling the rapidly changing host inflammatory response, which in a hyper-aggressive state, can lead to sepsis and death. A 15-minute label-free immune profiling assay from 20 µL of unprocessed blood using unconventional L and inverse-L shaped pillars of DLD microfluidic technology was developed, functioning as a sensitive and quantitative assay of immune cell biophysical signatures in relation to real-time activation levels of WBCs. As WBCs are activated by various internal or external triggers, the assay can sensitively measure both the extent and direction of these changes, which in turn reflect a patient's current immune response state. As such, the new assay developed by SMART researchers is able to accurately and quickly assess patients' immune response states by profiling immune cell size, deformability, distribution, and cell counts.

Significantly, the new assay provides considerable advantages over existing methods of profiling the immune system and its activity. These include measuring leukocyte gene expression, cell-surface biochemical markers, and blood serum cytokine profile.

Kerwin Kwek Zeming et al. Label‐Free Biophysical Markers from Whole Blood Microfluidic Immune Profiling Reveal Severe Immune Response Signatures, Small (2021). DOI: 10.1002/smll.202006123

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-minute-immune-response.html?utm_sourc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 7:13am

Scientists find evidence that novel coronavirus infects the mouth's cells

An international team of scientists has found evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infects cells in the mouth. While it's well known that the upper airways and lungs are primary sites of SARS-CoV-2 infection, there are clues the virus can infect cells in other parts of the body, such as the digestive system, blood vessels, kidneys and, as this new study shows, the mouth. The potential of the virus to infect multiple areas of the body might help explain the wide-ranging symptoms experienced by COVID-19 patients, including oral symptoms such as taste loss, dry mouth and blistering. Moreover, the findings point to the possibility that the mouth plays a role in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to the lungs or digestive system via saliva laden with virus from infected oral cells. A better understanding of the mouth's involvement could inform strategies to reduce viral transmission within and outside the body.

In salivary gland tissue from one of the people who had died, as well as from a living person with acute COVID-19, the scientists detected specific sequences of viral RNA that indicated cells were actively making new copies of the virus—further bolstering the evidence for infection.

Once the team had found evidence of oral tissue infection, they wondered whether those tissues could be a source of the virus in saliva. This appeared to be the case. In people with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19, cells shed from the mouth into saliva were found to contain SARS-CoV-2 RNA, as well as RNA for the entry proteins.

To determine if virus in saliva is infectious, the researchers exposed saliva from eight people with asymptomatic COVID-19 to healthy cells grown in a dish. Saliva from two of the volunteers led to infection of the healthy cells, raising the possibility that even people without symptoms might transmit infectious SARS-CoV-2 to others through saliva.

the study's findings suggest that the mouth, via infected oral cells, plays a bigger role in SARS-CoV-2 infection than previously thought.

Nature Medicine (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01296-8

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-scientists-evidence-coronavi...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 7:07am

Engineers make filters from tree branches to purify drinking water

The interiors of nonflowering trees such as pine and ginkgo contain sapwood lined with straw-like conduits known as xylem, which draw water up through a tree's trunk and branches. Xylem conduits are interconnected via thin membranes that act as natural sieves, filtering out bubbles from water and sap.

Engineers have been investigating sapwood's natural filtering ability, and have previously fabricated simple filters from peeled cross-sections of sapwood branches, demonstrating that the low-tech design effectively filters bacteria.

Now they have advanced the technology and shown that it works in real-world situations. They have fabricated new xylem filters that can filter out pathogens such as E. coli and rotavirus in lab tests, and have shown that the filter can remove bacteria from contaminated spring, tap, and groundwater. They also developed simple techniques to extend the filters' shelf-life, enabling the woody disks to purify water after being stored in a dry form for at least two years.

The researchers took their techniques to India, where they made xylem filters from native trees and tested the filters with local users. Based on their feedback, the team developed a prototype of a simple filtration system, fitted with replaceable xylem filters that purified water at a rate of one liter per hour.

Their results, published today in Nature Communications, show that xylem filters have potential for use in community settings to remove bacteria and viruses from contaminated drinking water.

Krithika Ramchander, Megha Hegde, Anish Paul Antony, Luda Wang, Kendra Leith, Amy Smith, Rohit Karnik. Engineering and characterization of gymnosperm sapwood toward enabling the design of water filtration devices. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22055-w

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-filters-tree-purify.html?utm_so...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 7:00am

Frequent consumption of meals prepared away from home associated with an increased risk of death

Dining out is a popular activity worldwide, but there has been little research into its association with health outcomes. Investigators looked at the association between eating out and risk of death and concluded that eating out very frequently is significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause death, which warrants further investigation. Their results appear in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Although some restaurants provide high-quality foods, the dietary quality for meals away from home, especially from fast-food chains, is usually lower compared with meals cooked at home. Evidence has shown that meals away from home tend to be higher in energy density, fat, and sodium, but lower in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protective nutrients such as dietary fiber and antioxidants.

Emerging, although still limited, evidence suggests that eating out frequently is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes and biomarkers of other chronic diseases. This new research shows  that frequent consumption of meals prepared away from home is significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.

 "Association Between Frequency of Eating Away-From-Home Meals and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality," Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2021.01.012

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-frequent-consumption-meals-h...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 6:40am

Lawyers used sheepskin as anti-fraud device for hundreds of years to stop fraudsters

Medieval and early modern lawyers chose to write on sheepskin parchment because it helped prevent fraud, new analysis suggests.

Experts have identified the species of animals used for British legal documents dating from the 13th to 20th century, and have discovered they were almost always written on sheepskin, rather than goatskin or calfskin vellum.

This may have been because the structure of sheepskin made attempts to remove or modify text obvious.

Sheep deposit fat in-between the various layers of their skin. During parchment manufacture, the skin is submerged in lime, which draws out the fat leaving voids between the layers. Attempts to scrape off the ink would result in these layers detaching—known as delamination—leaving a visible blemish highlighting any attempts to change any writing.

Sheepskin has a very high fat content, accounting for as much as 30 to 50 percent, compared to 3 to 10 percent in goatskin and just 2 to 3 percent in cattle. Consequently, the potential for scraping to detach these layers is considerably greater in sheepskin than those of other animals.

The continuing use of sheepskin over goat or calfskin in later centuries was likely influenced by their greater availability and lower cost.

 Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds, Doherty et al. Heritage Science 2021, DOI: 10.1186/s40494-021-00503-6

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-lawyers-sheepskin-anti-fraud-device-h...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 25, 2021 at 2:23pm

Multiple factors explain the covering behaviour in the green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis

Although numerous species of sea urchins often cover themselves with small rocks, shells and algal fragments, the function of this covering behaviour is poorly understood. Diving observations showed that the degree to which the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis covers itself in the field decreases with size. We performed laboratory experiments to examine how the sea urchin's covering behaviour is affected by the presence of predators, sea urchin size, wave surge, contact with moving algae blades and sunlight. The presence of two common sea urchin predators did not influence the degree to which sea urchins covered themselves. Covering responses of sea urchins that were exposed to a strong wave surge and sweeping algal blades were significantly greater than those of individuals that were maintained under still water conditions. The degree to which sea urchins covered themselves in the laboratory also tended to decrease with increasing size. Juveniles showed stronger covering responses than adults, possibly because they are more vulnerable to dislodgement and predation. We found that UV light stimulated a covering response, whereas UV-filtered sunlight and darkness did not, although the response to UV light was much weaker than that to waves and algal movement. Our observations suggest that the covering behaviour of S. droebachiensis has evolved as an adaptation to protect it from mechanical injuries associated with abrasion and dislodgement, and to a lesser extent as a defence against UV radiation. The covering behaviour may reduce the sea urchin's ability to move and this would limit its ability to forage and to flee from predators. In this case, the covering behaviour may have evolved as a trade-off between locomotion and limiting environmental stresses.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000334720700....

Image source: Back to sea society blog

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 25, 2021 at 2:10pm

In 2008, researchers used functional MRI to scan participants while they tasted wines that were deceptively labeled. When the price of a wine was increased, participants reportedly enjoyed the flavor more, while intensity ratings remained the same. 

In 2017, follow-up research was able to confirm these results. Scanning the brains of those tasting wines, researchers found increasing the price of the product once again improved subjective reports of flavor without changing its perceived intensity.

What's more, this deceptive pricing increased activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex of the brain, which is thought to encode for experienced pleasantness. 

"The reward and motivation system is activated more significantly with higher prices and apparently increases the taste experience in this way," said behavioral economist Bernd Weber from the University of Bonn in Germany in 2017. 

Such studies have allowed us to better understand how marketing might influence our brains and our perceptions of pleasantness, but few experiments have replicated these effects in a real-world setting. Previous fMRI studies fed wine to participants through plastic tubes, which means the color and smell were not taken into account, just the price and taste.

This has helped narrow down confounding factors, but it also misses out on several of the ways experts normally judge wine.

The current study is more realistic, measuring both pleasantness and intensity "to get a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of price...."

Unlike previous studies, the authors found decreasing the price of an expensive wine by four fold did not change the overall wine ratings for its pleasantness among laypeople. Only when the price was deceptively increased, did the average person seem to prefer the wine more.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S095032932100...

https://www.sciencealert.com/psychologists-find-cheap-wine-tastes-b...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 25, 2021 at 2:08pm

Cheap Wine Really Does Taste Better if You Increase The Price Tag

In 2002, one of the most prestigious restaurants in New York City served four Wall Street workers its most expensive bottle of wine: a US$2,000 Mouton Rothschild from 1989.

After it was decanted, the host of the group, a self-reported wine connoisseur, twirled his glass, took a sip and began praising the wine for its purity. Blissfully ignorant, the group had accidentally been given the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu, a Pinot noir valued at just US$18.

This story might sound like a flight of fancy, but growing research on the psychology and neuroscience of wine-tasting suggests mistakes like this are made all the time, although true wine experts often know better.

One of the first studies to explicitly manipulate the price of wine in a realistic tasting session has found a cheap glass becomes far more pleasant when participants are told it has a higher price. 

The experiment was conducted during a public event at the University of Basel in Switzerland. To entertain visitors, the psychology department kindly contributed a wine tasting session.

The event drew 140 participants throughout the day and consisted of a 15-minute session of wine tasting. For each tasting, participants were given their own table and told not to communicate with others also involved in the event - that way their views of the wine wouldn't be influenced.

Six small glasses of wine were then placed on each table, and visitors were told to taste each and every glass in a specific sequence fully randomized for every individual. After each sip, participants were instructed to clear their palates with a swish of water and rate the wine for pleasantness and intensity.

Half the glasses held three different wines without any price information. The remaining glasses contained three different wines of low, medium, and high price with the retail tag clear to see.

In each case, one, two or none of these price-tagged wines had been labeled deceptively. If they were mislabeled, the retail price displayed was either four times higher, or four times lower than the real cost.

When the price of the wine was hidden, researchers found no difference in pleasantness ratings, no matter the actual price.

On the other hand, when the price of wine was mislabeled and deceptively up-priced, pleasantness ratings also increased. For instance, when a low-cost wine was tagged to appear higher in price and exceeded that of the mid-priced wine, participants tended to enjoy the low-cost one more.

"Thus, in wine may lay the truth, but its subjective experience may also lie in the price," the authors conclude. 

Beyond sheer enjoyment, this study is the first to assess the perceived intensity of blind tastings in a real world setting, and it suggests that most wine drinkers are able to determine something different about more expensive wine - they just don't enjoy that difference as much.

part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 25, 2021 at 1:57pm

Earth is the only planet known to maintain life. Find out the origins of our home planet and some of the key ingredients that help make this blue speck in space a unique global ecosystem.

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