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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2021 at 11:39am

South Africa coronavirus variant identified in reinfection case

Patient critical after reinfection with S.African variant: study

 Doctors in France are treating a critically ill patient infected with the South African coronavirus variant, four months after he recovered from Covid-19, in what study authors said was the first case of its kind. The 58-year-old man had a history of asthma and initially tested positive for Covid-19 in September when he presented to medical staff with a fever and shortness of breath. The symptoms persisted only for a few days, and the man tested negative for Covid-19 twice in December 2020. However, he was admitted to hospital in January and diagnosed with the South African variant. The patient's condition worsened, and he is currently in a "critical condition" on a ventilator. "This is, to our knowledge, the first description of reinfection with the South African (variant) causing severe Covid-19, four months after a first mild infection," said authors of a study published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant emerged late last year in South Africa and immediately provoked alarm among disease specialists.

It has eight key mutations, one of which affects the virus' spike protein, making it more effective at binding to human cells and therefore more infectious.

Vaccine manufacturers Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna say their mRNA vaccines retain their effectiveness against the South African variants and another that emerged last year in Britain.

However a study last week showed that AstraZeneca's vaccine failed to prevent mild and moderate cases of infection of the South African variant.

"The impact of 501Y.V2 mutations on the effectiveness of vaccines developed based on earlier SARS-CoV-2 strains is still unknown," said the authors of the reinfection study.

https://www.mdlinx.com/news/patient-critical-after-reinfection-with...

https://researchnews.cc/news/5146/Patient-critical-after-reinfectio...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2021 at 11:09am

Elderly show fewer post-vaccine symptoms than young: Study

The elderly, who bore the brunt of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, have reacted with fewer symptoms after taking the vaccine against Covid-19 as compared to people in the 20-40 age group. This was the broad observation across India 29 days after the vaccination drive started on January 16.

With eight million healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated across the country by the end of Saturday, there are a range of observations that doctors’ associations and groups have made. For instance, most manage to make it to work despite suffering post vaccine symptoms, ranging from fatigue and headache to nausea. The majority of those vaccinated have some postvaccine symptom.

Also, women are more likely than men to develop symptoms. The milder-symptoms-foraged theory has been confirmed by a study of 5,396 healthcare workers put together by the Kochi branch of the Indian Medical Association. Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, head of the epidemiology cell of Kochi IMA who conducted the study, said 947 of the respondents were over 60 years of age.

The Kochi study, based on an online survey conducted between January 29 and February 4, also found that 66% of those vaccinated reported at least one post-inoculation symptom. The most reported symptoms were tiredness (45%), myalgia (44%), fever (34%), headache (28%), local pain at the infection site (27%), joint pain (12%), nausea (8%) and diarrhoea (3%).

The sharpest finding concerns the elderly who have accounted for almost 70% of mortalities caused by Covid-19 across the world. Infectious diseases specialist, Dr Tanu Singhal, from Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai said, “People who are older have tolerated the vaccine better than younger people.”

The chance of having symptoms decreased with advancing age. Older people also had later onset of symptoms, occurring at an average of 13.4 hours (70-79 years), compared to 10 hours in younger age groups (20-29 years) following vaccination.

 About 80% of those who took the vaccine said the symptoms didn’t affect their work the next day. “Women were more likely to develop post-vaccination symptoms. This observation was consistent across all age groups,” said the study, which is in pre-print stage.

A sticky topic has been the reaction among recovered Covid-19 patients who took the vaccine: while some doctors said recovered patients showed more symptoms after the vaccine, the study from Kochi hasn’t found this.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/elderl...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2021 at 10:03am

Astronomers confirm orbit of most distant object ever observed in our solar system

A team of astronomers, including associate professor Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, which has been nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.

Farfarout's nickname distinguished it from the previous record holder "Farout," found by the same team of astronomers in 2018. 

Farfarout's average distance from the Sun is 132 astronomical units (au); 1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun. For comparison, Pluto is only 39 au from the Sun. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant, and inside the orbit of Neptune, to around 27 au, when it is close to the Sun.

Farfarout's journey around the Sun takes about a thousand years, crossing the massive planet Neptune's orbit every time. This means Farfarout has likely experienced strong gravitational interactions with Neptune over the age of theA single orbit of Farfarout around the Sun takes a millennium. Because of this long orbital, it moves very slowly across the sky, requiring several years of observations to precisely determine its trajectory. solar system, and is the reason why it has such a large and elongated orbit. Farfarout is very faint, and based on its brightness and distance from the Sun, the team estimates its size to be about 400 km across, putting it on the low end of being a dwarf planet, assuming it is an ice rich object.

https://www.space.com/farfarout-most-distant-solar-system-object-co...

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astronomers-orbit-distant-solar.html?...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2021 at 9:58am

Astronomers confirm orbit of most distant object ever observed in o...

A team of astronomers, including associate professor Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, which has been nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2021 at 9:46am

Never Google Your Symptoms

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 14, 2021 at 11:56am

Protein behind corona’s slow Asia spread: Study

Deficiency in a particular human protein, which is more common in Europe and the United States than in Asia, could explain why coronavirus is not spreading as fast in Asian countries. The team has explained how higher levels of a human protein — neutrophil elastase — helps the virus to enter the human cell, multiply and also spread faster from infected individuals.

Deficiency in a particular human protein, which is more common in Europe and the United States than in Asia, could explain why coronavirus is not spreading as fast in Asian countries.

A team of scientists from the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in WB, have found a biological reason for the slower spread of a mutant of coronavirus in Asia compared to the West. The team has explained how higher levels of a human protein — neutrophil elastase — helps the virus to enter the human cell, multiply and also spread faster from infected individuals.

However, this protein is kept in check by the biological system, which produces another protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). AAT deficiency leads to higher levels of neutrophil elastase in the cells, which in turn helps in faster spread of the virus. This deficiency is known to be much higher in Europe and America than among Asians. The study has been published in the journal, Infection, Genetics and Evolution

As per their data, AAT deficiency is the least in East Asian countries — 8 per 1,000 individuals in Malaysia, 5.4 per 1,000 in South Korea, 2.5 in Singapore. On the other hand, 67.3 in per 1,000 individuals in Spain are AAT deficient, 34.6 in the UK and 51.9 in France and in the US it is prevalent in 29 individuals among 1,000.

The numbers are representative of other Asian regions too, including India.

The researchers emphasized that this finding along with other social factors may explain the differential geographical/ethnic spread of the mutant virus.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/protein-b...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 13, 2021 at 10:21am

World First BMW Self Driving Motorbike Demo Live Video 2019 BMW Vision R1200 Autonomous Motorbike V

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 13, 2021 at 10:05am

Tiny Crustacean Redefines Ultrafast Movement

A new study from Duke University describes how the amphipod Dulichiella cf. appendiculata sets a new standard for achieving high acceleration and repeatable movements at small sizes. Males will snap their relatively huge claws 10,000 faster than the blink of an eye. These ultrafast movements make an audible snap, create water jets, and sometimes produce small bubbles due to rapid changes in water pressure. The potential behind these ultrafast movements is so great that even the Army is paying attention to these small animals. Even the world’s most technologically advanced robots would lose in a competition with this tiny crustacean.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 13, 2021 at 9:59am

Discovery of naturally occurring protein that could reverse severe muscle wasting in disease, aging and trauma

An exciting discovery by scientists may lead to faster recovery from muscle injury and wasting diseases.

When we tear a muscle – stem cells within it repair the problem. We can see this occurring not only in severe muscle wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy and in war veterans who survive catastrophic limb injuries, but also in our day to day lives when we “pull” a muscle. Also when we age and become frail we lose much of our muscle and our stem cells don’t seem to be able to work as well as we age.

These muscle stem cells are invisible engines that drive the tissue's growth and repair after such injuries. But growing these cells in the lab and then using them to therapeutically replace damaged muscle has been frustratingly difficult.

Researchers  have discovered a factor that triggers these muscle stem cells to proliferate and heal. In a mouse model of severe muscle damage, injections of this naturally occurring protein led to the complete regeneration of muscle and the return of normal movement after severe muscle trauma.

The scientists studied the regeneration of skeletal muscle in zebrafish, fast becoming the go-to animal model for the study of stem cell regeneration because the fish are quick to reproduce, easier to experimentally manipulate, and share at least 70 percent of their genes with humans. It is also transparent which allows the scientists to witness the actual regeneration in living muscle.

By studying the cells that migrated to a muscle injury in these fish the scientists identified a group of immune cells, called macrophages, which appeared to have a role in triggering the muscle stem cells to regenerate.

Macrophages are the cells that flock to any injury or infection site in the body, removing debris and promoting healing. They are the clean up crew of the immune system.

It has long been thought that two types of macrophages exist in the body: those that move to the injury rapidly and remove debris, and those that come in slower and stick around doing the longer term clean-up.

The research team, however, found that there were in fact eight genetically different types of macrophages in the injury site, and that one type, in particular, was the “cuddler”. Further investigation revealed that this affectionate macrophage released a substance called NAMPT. By removing these macrophages from the zebrafish and adding the NAMPT to the aquarium water the scientists found they could stimulate the muscle stem cells to grow and heal – effectively replacing the need for the macrophages.

The researchers are now trying to conduct clinical trials for the use of this compound in the treatment of muscle disease and injury.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03199-7

https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/discovery-of-naturally-occurri...

https://researchnews.cc/news/5097/Discovery-of-naturally-occurring-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 13, 2021 at 9:39am

Why is there water on Earth?

Water is essential to life as we know it and it seems completely normal to have water all around us. Yet Earth is the only known planet to be covered by oceans. Do we know exactly where its water came from?

This is not a simple question: it was long thought that Earth formed dry—without water, because of its proximity to the Sun and the high temperatures when the solar system formed. In this model, water could have been brought to Earth by comets or asteroids colliding with the Earth. Such a complex origin for water would likely mean that our planet is unique in the universe.

However, in a 2020 study, researchers showed that water—or at least its components, hydrogen and oxygen—may have been present in the rocks that initially formed the Earth. If that is so indeed, other "blue planets" with liquid water are more likely to exist elsewhere.

Liquid water covers more than 70% of Earth's surface, with about about 95.6% of it in oceans and seas, and the remaining 4% in glaciers, ice caps, groundwater, lakes, rivers, soil humidity, and the atmosphere.

But most of Earth's water is deep underground: between one and ten times the volume of the oceans are contained in the mantle.

At the surface of the Earth, "water" means two hydrogens for each oxygen (H₂0), whereas what we call "water" in the mantle corresponds to hydrogen incorporated in minerals, magmas and fluids. This hydrogen can bond with surrounding oxygen to form water at the appropriate temperature and pressure conditions.

While water represents less than 0.5% of the mass of the Earth, it is key to the evolution of the planet itself and to life at its surface.

In the early solar system, there was a lot of hydrogen, mainly in the form of dihydrogen gas (H₂), or bonded with oxygen atoms to form water (H₂O). However, Earth and the other rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) formed near the Sun, where it was too hot for water to incorporate into rock as ice: it just would have evaporated. So why does the Earth now have so much water, both in its mantle and on its surface?

https://sciencex.com/news/2021-02-earth.html?utm_source=nwletter&am...

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