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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 14, 2021 at 10:56am

Gut flora composition may impact susceptibility to konzo, a neurological disease caused by world staple crop cassava

Konzo is a severe, irreversible neurologic disease that results in paralysis. It occurs after consuming poorly processed cassava -- a manioc root and essential crop for DRC and other low-income nations. Poorly processed cassava contains linamarin, a cyanogenic compound. While enzymes with glucosidase activity convert starch to simple sugars, they also break down linamarin, which then releases cyanide into the body.

 Differences between gut flora and genes from konzo-prone regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may affect the release of cyanide after poorly processed cassava is consumed, according to a study with 180 children. Cassava is a food security crop for over half a billion people in the developing world. Children living in high-risk konzo areas have high glucosidase (linamarase) microbes and low rhodanese microbes in their gut, which could mean more susceptibility and less protection against the disease, suggest  researchers who led the study published in Nature Communications.

Knowing who is more at risk could result in targeted interventions to process cassava better or try to diversify the diet. An alternative intervention is to modify the microbiome to increase the level of protection. This is, however, a difficult task which may have unintended consequences and other side effects.

While the gut microbiome is not the sole cause of disease given that environment and malnourishment play a role, it is a required modulator. "Simply stated, without gut microbes, linamarin and other cyanogenic glucosides would pose little to no risk to humans."

1. Matthew S. Bramble, Neerja Vashist, Arthur Ko, Sambhawa Priya, Céleste Musasa, Alban Mathieu, D’ Andre Spencer, Michel Lupamba Kasendue, Patrick Mamona Dilufwasayo, Kevin Karume, Joanna Nsibu, Hans Manya, Mary N. A. Uy, Brian Colwell, Michael Boivin, J. P. Banae Mayambu, Daniel Okitundu, Arnaud Droit, Dieudonné Mumba Ngoyi, Ran Blekhman, Desire Tshala-Katumbay, Eric Vilain. The gut microbiome in konzo. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 14, 2021 at 10:32am

Situs inversus totalis involves complete transposition (right to left reversal) of the thoracic and abdominal organs. 

The heart is not in its usual position in the left chest, but is on the right. Specifically related to the heart, this is referred to as dextrocardia (literally, right-hearted).The stomach, which is normally in the left upper abdomen, is on the right. In patients with situs inversus totalis, all of the chest and abdominal organs are reversed and appear in mirror image when examined or visualized by tests such as X-ray filming. Situs inversus totalis has been estimated to occur once in about 6-8,000 births. Situs inversus occurs in a rare abnormal condition that is present at birth (congenital) called Kartagener's syndrome.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 14, 2021 at 10:17am

Self‐care tooling innovation in a disabled kea (Nestor notabilis)

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 14, 2021 at 9:35am

CDC finds unvaccinated 11 times more likely to die of COVID

New U.S. studies released Friday show the COVID-19 vaccines remain highly effective against hospitalizations and death even as the extra-contagious delta variant swept the country.

One study tracked over 600,000 COVID-19 cases in 13 states from April through mid-July. As delta surged in early summer, those who were unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely than the fully vaccinated to get infected, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccination works! But ...

But as earlier data has shown, protection against coronavirus infection is slipping some: It was 91% in the spring but 78% in June and July, the study found.

So-called "breakthrough" cases in the fully vaccinated accounted for 14% of hospitalizations and 16% of deaths in June and July, about twice the percentage as earlier in the year.

An increase in those percentages isn't surprising: No one ever said the vaccines were perfect.

Source: Agence France-Presse

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-cdc-unvaccinated-die-covid.h...

https://researchnews.cc/news/8872/Covid-vaccines-hold-up-against-se...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2021 at 8:54am

Ancient marsupial ‘junk DNA’ might be useful after all, scientists say

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2021 at 8:13am

Black holes found to exert a pressure on their environment

Physicists have discovered that black holes exert a pressure on their environment, in a scientific first.

In 1974 Stephen Hawking made the seminal discovery that black holes emit thermal radiation. Previous to that, black holes were believed to be inert, the final stages of a dying heavy star.

Now scientists have shown that they are in fact even more complex thermodynamic systems, with not only a temperature but also a pressure.

 Quantum gravity  can lead to a pressure in black holes. This  finding that Schwarzschild black holes have a pressure as well as a temperature is more surprising. 

Xavier Calmet et al, Quantum gravitational corrections to the entropy of a Schwarzschild black hole, Physical Review D (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.066012

https://phys.org/news/2021-09-black-holes-exert-pressure-environmen...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2021 at 7:58am

How Old Are Stars? An  Astrophysicist Unlocks the Secrets of Age-Dating

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 13, 2021 at 7:52am

Researchers  discover river of dust around the sun

A team of researchers has discovered a dusty mystery in a newly explored region around Earth’s sun.  They noticed a new and unexplained stream of microscopic particles that seemed to be spraying out from around the star.

Dust can come from asteroids and comets or can be left over from the original formation of the planets. It can show us how our solar system has formed and continues to evolve and even how other solar systems may be evolving.

There are two basic types of dust around the sun. Dust that is in bound orbits around the sun that will eventually spiral into the sun. Then there’s unbound dust that is flung away and out of the solar system.

No one had seen anything like this third type before—dust flying away from the sun usually spreads out in every direction. It doesn’t tend to cluster together like this one. 

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac0bb9

https://researchnews.cc/news/8866/Researchers-led-by-undergraduate-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 12, 2021 at 12:54pm

Moreover, because microneedles are a dry formulation, they allow drugs to maintain their activity even without storing them at the low temperatures required of many injectable vaccines. For example, one study has shown that a vaccine for influenza can be stable for six months at 25 °C and at least a few weeks at 40 °C if incorporated into microneedles. This is critical for ensuring vaccinations reach far-flung corners of the world that do not have the resources to maintain the cold chain. 

Another issue is vaccine wastage. For example, in some cases only a portion of the dose is used before a vaccine expires. It can also happen that healthcare personnel decide not to vaccinate a patient when there are not enough patients to use the whole vial. According to estimates, the wastage rates for 10-dose vials may be as high as 25 percent for liquid vaccines and 40 percent for freeze-dried vaccines. With microneedle patches, there is no wasted drug. And there are no needles that require special disposal procedures.

There are plenty of hurdles yet to be overcome. We need further clinical studies in human volunteers to demonstrate safety and efficacy of this vaccine approach, and the scale-up of production is still in its infancy. On a lab scale, usually we fill molds with the polymer solutions via vacuum or centrifugation. Once dried, the final formulation is demolded and secured to a backing. This is tedious and not practical for mass production.

Additionally, the majority of vaccinations are sterilized by filtering, which is not feasible for solid microneedle patches. While the solution may be sterilized before being placed in the molds, the final product will also need to undergo sterilization by some alternative technique not yet developed. 

The recent pandemic and the possibility of others is a wake-up call to focus on these challenges. In the last year and a half, several institutions and biotech companies announced preclinical studies for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine utilizing microneedle patches. Big pharmaceutical companies will certainly step up and invest more over the coming years in microneedle-based products. Injections have been used for centuries, but the necessity for a worldwide immunization effort is a persuasive reason to try to move forward. 

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/opinion-an-alternative-t...

part3

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 12, 2021 at 12:54pm

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