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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2020 at 12:33pm

The experimental demonstration of entanglement between mechanical and spin systems

Quantum entanglement is the basic phenomenon underlying the functioning of a variety of quantum systems, including quantum communication, quantum sensing and quantum computing tools. This phenomenon results from an interaction (i.e., entanglement) between particles. Attaining entanglement between distant and very different objects has  proved highly challenging till now.

Researchers  have recently generated entanglement between a mechanical oscillator and a collective atomic spin oscillator. Their work introduces a strategy for generating entanglement between these two distinct systems.

To generate entanglement between a mechanical and a spin system, Polzik and his colleagues leveraged a key feature of spin oscillators, namely that they can have an effective negative mass. When it is excited, a spin oscillator's energy is reduced, which allows it to become entangled with a more conventional mechanical oscillator that has a positive mass. The researchers experimentally generated this entanglement by performing a joint measurement on both oscillators.

Entanglement between distant macroscopic mechanical and spin systems. Nature Physics (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-1031-5.

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-experimental-entanglement-mechanical....

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2020 at 12:11pm

Scientists develop genetic 'monitors' that detect when genes are active
Genetic sensors that can detect the activity from genes, rather than just the genes themselves, have been developed by a team of scientists.

Based on the CRISPR gene editing system, the scientists have developed microscopic machines that use these sensors to detect when genes are ‘on’ or ‘off’ inside a cell, and react to those changes dynamically - making them a potentially ideal monitoring system.

These genetic sensors are detailed in a new paper published in The CRISPR Journal, where the scientists demonstrate a genetic device based on the CRISPR system inside a bacterial cell. The work is the first step in scientists developing genetic devices that can make changes to gene expression after sensing the existing gene activity within a cell.

Cells contain a number of genes that are expressed to perform numerous functions, from sensing their environment and processing food. By having a sensor that can detect when those genes are active, scientists could program a machine to react to a specific process, such as when the cell digests its food.

To generate these novel genetic devices, the scientists used as a scaffold the programmable part of CRISPR which is also responsible for sequence recognition and binding, called guide RNA sequence (gRNA). They were able to redesign the gRNA sequence by introducing in it a sensor so that the CRISPR complex would be able to bind the DNA target only after being activated by a trigger signal, such as short segments of viral RNA sequences. The sensor can be triggered by any chosen RNA sequence and in this way it activates a CRISPR system at any point of the life cycle of a cell or virus.

https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/scientists_develo...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2020 at 11:57am

COVID-19

Get the latest information from the MoHFW about COVID-19.

Neuropilin-1 drives SARS-CoV-2 infectivity

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2020 at 11:38am

New COVID-19 related genes are helpful and harmful, found in massive screen

Researchers at Yale University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard screened hundreds of millions of cells exposed to the COVID-19 and MERS viruses and identified dozens of genes that both enable the viruses to replicate in cells and also those that seem to slam the door on the virus.

The pro-viral and anti-viral role of these genes will help guide scientists in development of new therapies to combat COVID-19, the researchers say.

The findings were reported Oct. 26 in the journal Cell.

Scientists have previously identified how the SARS-CoV-2 coronovirus, which causes COVID-19, attaches to and invades cells, but less is known about why some cells are more susceptible to infection. Understanding the genetics behind the host cells’ susceptibility to infection may help explain why some people exposed to the virus experience few or no symptoms and others become extremely ill or die.

https://news.yale.edu/2020/10/26/new-covid-19-related-genes-helpful...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 20, 2020 at 9:57am

Vocal discrimination of African lions and its potential for collar-free tracking

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 20, 2020 at 9:53am

Scientists discover the unique signature of a lion's roar using machine learning

The roar of a lion is one of the most thrilling and captivating sounds of the wild. This characteristic call is typically delivered in a bout consisting of one or two soft moans followed by several loud, full-throated roars and a terminating sequence of grunts.

A team of scientists based in WildCRU at the University of Oxford, well-known for their research involving Cecil the Lion, has teamed up with colleagues in the Department of Computer Science to discover the precise ways in which each lion’s roar is distinct, identifiable and trackable.

Harnessing new machine learning techniques, the group designed a device, known as a biologger, which can be attached to an existing lion GPS collar to record audio and movement data. The biologgers allow the scientists to confidently associate each roar with the correct lion by cross-referencing movement and audio data through the large datasets of roar recordings collected.

With the data collected by the biologgers, the scientists trained a pattern recognition algorithm to “learn” each individual’s roars and then tested the algorithm on sequences that it had not seen before to determine whether the shape of the contour as a whole is an important distinguishing feature.

Results, published in Bioacoustics, reveal that it is possible to classify roars according to individual identity with 91.5% accuracy. These findings suggest that the overall shape of the fundamental frequency (f0) of the full-throated roar contour is consistent within each individuals’ roars and sufficiently different from other individuals to allow for accurate classification of individual identity.

Previous research has shown that lions can recognise the calls of other individuals, allowing them to locate distant companions and also to avoid potentially hostile neighbours. These new findings reveal a possible mechanism for individual vocal recognition amongst African lions. They indicate that individual lions may be able to learn the subtle variations in the fundamental frequency of other lions’ roars and thereby associate particular variations with particular identities.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-10-13-scientists-discover-unique-sig...

https://researchnews.cc/news/3114/Scientists-discover-the-unique-si...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 20, 2020 at 8:36am

Tropical cyclones moving faster in recent decades: study

Tropical cyclones, regionally known as hurricanes or typhoons, have been moving across ocean basins faster since 1982, according to a new study published in Environmental Research Letters.

If hurricanes move faster they would pose danger to coastal communities and emergency managers because they would have less time to prepare for evacuation and other measures.

The recent study suggests the reason for the observed changes is a combination of natural variations and human-induced climate change.

Sung-Hun Kim et al, An increase in global trends of tropical cyclone translation speed since 1982 and its physical causes, Environmental Research Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab9e1f

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-tropical-cyclones-faster-decades.html...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 20, 2020 at 8:06am

High levels of microplastics released from infant feeding bottles during formula prep

New research shows that high levels of microplastics (MPs) are released from infant-feeding bottles (IFBs) during formula preparation. The research also indicates a strong relationship between heat and MP release, such that warmer liquids (formula or water used to sterilise bottles) result in far greater release of MPs.

In response, the researchers involved have developed a set of recommendations for infant formula preparation when using plastic IFBs that minimise MP release.

Key findings

• PP-IFBs can release up to 16 million MPs and trillions of smaller nanoplastics per litre. Sterilisation and exposure to high temperature water significantly increase microplastic release from 0.6 million to 55 million particles/l when temperature increases from 25 to 95 °C
• Other polypropylene plastic-ware products (kettles, lunchboxes) release similar levels of MPs
• The team undertook a global survey and estimated the exposure of 12-month-old infants to microplastics in 48 regions. Following current guidelines for infant-feeding bottle sterilisation and feeding formula preparation the average daily exposure level for infants is in excess of 1 million MPs. Oceania, North America and Europe have the highest levels of potential exposure, at 2,100,000, 2,280,000, and 2,610,000 particles/day, respectively
• The level of microplastics released from PP-IFBs can be significantly reduced by following modified sterilisation and formula preparation procedures

Recommended sterilisation and formula preparation procedures

• Sterilising infant feeding bottles
• Sterilise the bottle following WHO recommended guidelines and allow to cool
• Prepare sterilised water by boiling in a non-plastic kettle/cooker (e.g. glass or stainless steel)
• Rinse the sterilised bottle using room temperature sterilised water at least 3 times

Preparing infant formula

• Prepare hot water using a non-plastic kettle/cooker
• Prepare infant formula in a non-plastic container using at least 70 C water. Cool to room temperature and transfer prepared formula into a high-quality plastic infant feeding bottle

Standard Precautions

• Do not reheat prepared formula in plastic containers and avoid microwave ovens
• Do not vigorously shake the formula in the bottle at any time
• Do not use sonication to clean plastic infant feeding bottles

Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation, Nature Food (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-020-00171-y , www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00171-y

Kieran D. Cox et al. Human Consumption of Microplastics, Environmental Science & Technology (2019). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b01517

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-high-microplastics-infant-bottles-for...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 20, 2020 at 7:52am

Scientists encapsulate quantum dots in salt

It's widely known that submerging a pared apple in saltwater prevents oxidation and browning, but did you know that saltwater can also protect fragile quantum dot (QD) materials? A research team led by Prof. Chen Hsueh-Shih of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan has recently developed the world's first inkjet technique for using saltwater to encapsulate QD materials, which not only resists water and oxygen corrosion, but can also be uniformly printed as a flexible plastic film on a micro LED array for use in high-resolution bendable screens for mobile phones, glasses, etc.

 Shih-Jung Ho et al. Inkjet-Printed Salt-Encapsulated Quantum Dot Film for UV-Based RGB Color-Converted Micro-Light Emitting Diode Displays, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c05646

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Researchers develop magnetically switchable mechano-chemotherapy to...

Prof. Wu Aiguo's team at the Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) developed a novel therapeutic method termed mechano-chemotherapy, which can efficiently overcome tumor drug resistance. The study was published in Nano Today.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 20, 2020 at 6:42am

Coronavirus survives on skin five times longer than flu: study

The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, researchers have found, in a discovery they said showed the need for frequent hand washing to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings ‘re published this month in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.

The pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours by comparison. The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes COVID-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic.

The research team tested skin collected from autopsy specimens, about one day after death.

Both the coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitisers.

"The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk," the study said.

Clinical Infectious Diseases

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-coronavirus-survives-skin-lo...

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