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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 18, 2021 at 8:56am

Giant Rats Are Sniffing Out Landmines and Tuberculosis

These 2-foot giant pouched rats are giving rats a good name. Referred to as 'Hero Rats', they have a superpower that's saving thousands of lives: a powerful nose that can detect unexploded landmines and Tuberculosis. And now, they're being trained to sniff out just about anything, from illegal wildlife trafficking to humans trapped under rubble after a natural disaster.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 17, 2021 at 11:18am

Genetically engineered nanoparticle delivers dexamethasone directly to inflamed lungs

Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed immune cell-mimicking nanoparticles that target inflammation in the lungs and deliver drugs directly where they're needed. As a proof of concept, the researchers filled the nanoparticles with the drug dexamethasone and administered them to mice with inflamed lung tissue. Inflammation was completely treated in mice given the nanoparticles, at a drug concentration where standard delivery methods did not have any efficacy.

What's special about these nanoparticles is that they are coated in a cell membrane that's been genetically engineered to look for and bind to inflamed lung cells. They are the latest in the line of so-called cell membrane-coated nanoparticles.

But while these previous cell membranes were naturally derived from the body's cells, the cell membranes used to coat this dexamethasone-filled nanoparticle were not.

"In this paper, researchers used a genetic engineering approach to edit the surface proteins on the cells before we collected the membranes. This significantly advanced our technology by allowing us to precisely overexpress certain functional proteins on the membranes or knockout some undesirable proteins.

"Genetically engineered cell membrane–coated nanoparticles for targeted delivery of dexamethasone to inflamed lungs" Science Advances (2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abf7820

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-genetically-nanoparticle-dexamethason...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 17, 2021 at 10:59am

New material could remove respiratory droplets from air

Although plexiglass barriers are seemingly everywhere these days—between grocery store lanes, around restaurant tables and towering above office cubicles—they are an imperfect solution to blocking virus transmission.

Instead of capturing virus-laden respiratory droplets and aerosols, plexiglass dividers merely deflect droplets, causing them to bounce away but remain in the air. To enhance the function of these protective barriers, Northwestern University researchers have developed a new transparent material that can capture droplets and aerosols, effectively removing them from air.

The material is a clear, viscous liquid that can be painted onto any surface, including plastic, glass, wood, metal, stainless steel, concrete and textiles. When droplets collide with the coated surface, they stick to it, get absorbed and dry up. The coating also is compatible with antiviral and antimicrobial materials, so sanitizing agents, such as copper, could be added to the formula.

Chem, Huang et al.: "Droplet-capturing Coatings on Environmental Surfaces Based on Cosmetic Ingredients" DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2021.05.017 , www.cell.com/chem/fulltext/S2451-9294(21)00266-7

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-material-respiratory-droplets-air.htm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 9:24am

Surprise volcanic eruption: Lessons from Kilauea 2018

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 8:12am

Use of PFAS in cosmetics 'widespread,' new study finds

Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to a number of serious health conditions, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame.

Scientists tested more than 200 cosmetics including concealers, foundations, eye and eyebrow products and various lip products. According to the study, 56 percent of foundations and eye products, 48 percent of lip products and 47 percent of mascaras tested were found to contain high levels of fluorine, which is an indicator of PFAS use in the product. The study was recently published in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

There's the individual risk—these are products that are applied around the eyes and mouth with the potential for absorption through the skin or at the tear duct, as well as possible inhalation or ingestion. PFAS is a persistent chemcial—when it gets into the bloodstream, it stays there and accumulates. There's also the additional risk of environmental contamination associated with the manufacture and disposal of these products, which could affect many more people.

Studies have linked certain PFAS to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, hypertension, thyroid disease, low birth weight and immunotoxicity in children.

Heather D. Whitehead et al, Fluorinated Compounds in North American Cosmetics, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00240

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-pfas-cosmetics-widespread.html?utm_so...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 8:08am

The electron merry-go-round: Researchers find new mechanism for cla...

Photoemission is a property of metals and other materials that emit electrons when struck by light. Electron emission after light absorption was already explained by Albert Einstein. But since this effect is a highly complex process, scientists have still not been able to fully elucidate its details. Prof. Dr. Bernd von Issendorff and his team at the University of Freiburg's Institute of Physics have now succeeded in detecting a previously unknown quantum effect in the angular distributions of photoelectrons from cryogenic mass-selected metal clusters. The angular distributions resemble those of classical particles, a behavior that is surprisingly explainable by the strong electron-electron interaction in these many-electron systems. The researchers published this finding in the current issue of Physical Review Letters.

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Use of PFAS in cosmetics 'widespread,' new study finds

Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to a number of serious health conditions, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame.

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Study: Half of US cosmetics contain toxic chemicals

More than half the cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels of a toxic industrial compound linked to serious health conditions, including cancer and reduced birth weight, according to a new study.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 8:02am

Scientists discover unreported plant body part

A previously unreported anatomical structure named the 'cantil' has been described in the popular plant model, Arabidopsis thaliana. Scientists reveal that the cantil forms between the stem and flower-bearing stalk when flowering is delayed. Published in the journal Development, this study highlights that there are still discoveries to be made, even in some of the most meticulously studied species, and provides new clues for understanding conditional growth in plants.

Cantils are rare; they only develop under certain conditions that cause the plant to delay flowering, such as short day lengths, and cantils only form at the precise point at which the plant begins to flower.

However, some popular Arabidopsis strains have genetic mutations that make them incapable of producing cantils at all.

Gookin, T. E. and Assmann, S. M. (2021). Cantil: a previously unreported organ in wild-type Arabidopsis regulated by FT, ERECTA and heterotrimeric G proteins. Development, 148, dev195545. DOI: 10.1242/dev.195545

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-scientists-unreported-body.html?utm_s...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 7:39am

Combining classical and quantum computing opens door to new discoveries

Researchers have discovered a new and more efficient computing method for pairing the reliability of a classical computer with the strength of a quantum system.

This new computing method opens the door to different algorithms and experiments that bring quantum researchers closer to near-term applications and discoveries of the technology.

In the future, quantum computers could be used in a wide variety of applications including helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, developing artificial limbs and designing more efficient pharmaceuticals.

The research team  is the first to propose the measurement-based approach in a feedback loop with a regular computer, inventing a new way to tackle hard computing problems. Their method is resource-efficient and therefore can use small quantum states because they are custom-tailored to specific types of problems.

Hybrid computing, where a regular computer's processor and a quantum co-processor are paired into a feedback loop, gives researchers a more robust and flexible approach than trying to use a quantum computer alone.

While researchers are currently building hybrid, computers based on quantum gates, this research team was interested in the quantum computations that could be done without gates. They designed an algorithm in which a hybrid quantum-classical computation is carried out by performing a sequence of measurements on an entangled quantum state.

The team's theoretical research is good news for quantum software developers and experimentalists because it provides a new way of thinking about optimization algorithms. The algorithm offers high error tolerance, often an issue in quantum systems, and works for a wide range of quantum systems, including photonic quantum co-processors.

 R. R. Ferguson et al, Measurement-Based Variational Quantum Eigensolver, Physical Review Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.220501

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-combining-classical-quantum-door-disc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 7:33am

Study finds association between head impacts and imaging changes in youth football players

A new study shows that head impacts experienced during practice are associated with changes in brain imaging of young players over multiple seasons.

A group of 16 youth athletes who participated in non-contact sports, such as swimming, tennis and track, served as the control group in the study.

Pre- and post-season MRIs were completed for both groups of study participants using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a type of neuroimaging that can be used to assess the integrity of the brain's white matter, indicating possible sites of injury.

In addition, the research team gathered biomechanical data of linear and rotational head accelerations of head impacts from the football group during all practice and games via the Riddell Head Impact Telemetry System in the helmets. That information was transmitted in real time to a sideline data collection field unit for later analysis.

In 19 of the 47 youth football athletes, brain images were obtained pre- and post-season for two consecutive football seasons. Using data from the DTIs and the head impact telemetry system, the researchers found variations in head impact exposures (i.e., the number and severity of head impacts measured) from year-to-year and between athletes. For example, in an examination of data from three consecutive seasons, some youths experienced more impacts in their second year of play than in their first, while other youths experienced fewer impacts in later years of play.

They observed variability in the amount and direction of imaging changes in the brain related to the amount of exposure that the players experienced on the field. If  efforts are taken to reduce that exposure on-field,  changes in brain imaging can be potentially mitigated.

These findings further support ongoing efforts to reduce the number of head impacts in football practices.

Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, thejns.org/doi/full/10.3171/2021.1.PEDS20586

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-association-impacts-imaging-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 16, 2021 at 7:19am

New treatment stops progression of Alzheimer's disease in monkey brains

A new therapy prompts immune defense cells to swallow misshapen proteins, amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles, whose buildup is known to kill nearby brain cells as part of Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the investigation showed that elderly monkeys had up to 59 percent fewer plaque deposits in their brains after treatment with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN), compared with untreated animals. These amyloid beta plaques are protein fragments that clump together and clog the junctions between nerve cells (neurons).

Brains of treated animals also had a drop in levels of toxic tau. This nerve fiber protein can destroy neighboring tissue when disease-related changes to its chemical structure causes it to catch on other cells.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-treatment-alzheimer-disease-...

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