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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 8, 2020 at 11:04am

The Two People We're All Related To

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 8, 2020 at 6:35am

Protein linked to cancer acts as a viscous glue in cell division

An over-abundance of the protein PRC1, which is essential to cell division, is a telltale sign in many cancer types, including prostate, ovarian, and breast cancer. New research, published online today in Developmental Cell, shows that PRC1 acts as a "viscous glue" during cell division, precisely controlling the speed at which two sets of DNA are separated as a single cell divides. The finding could explain why too much or too little PRC1 disrupts that process and causes genome errors linked to cancer.

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-protein-linked-cancer-viscous-cell.ht...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-07-molecular-tool-precisely-mitochondria...

How to precisely edit mitochondrial DNA

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https://phys.org/news/2020-07-polynesians-native-americans-contact-...

Polynesians, Native Americans made contact before European arrival, genetic study finds

Through deep genetic analyses, Stanford Medicine scientists and their collaborators have found conclusive scientific evidence of contact between ancient Polynesians and Native Americans from the region that is now Colombia—something that's been hotly contested in the historic and archaeological world for decades.

This new study is the first to show, through conclusive genetic analyses, that the two groups indeed encountered one another, and did so before Europeans arrived in South America. To conduct the study, Ioannidis and a team of international researchers collected genetic data from more than 800 living Indigenous inhabitants of Colombia and French Polynesia, conducting extensive genetic analyses to find signals of common ancestry. Based on trackable, heritable segments of DNA, the team was able to trace common genetic signatures of Native American and Polynesian DNA back hundreds of years.

Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2487-2 , Nature (2020). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2487-2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 10:13am

Do cricket balls really spread coronavirus?

https://theconversation.com/do-cricket-balls-really-spread-coronavi...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-07-mysterious-neutron-star-milky-extreme...

Mysterious spinning neutron star detected in the Milky Way proves to be an extremely rare discovery

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https://phys.org/news/2020-07-microplastic-pollution-lobster-larvae...

Microplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development, according to new research. A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals' feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood.

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-older-adults-statin-tied-dec...

Among older adults, statin use tied to decreased risk of death $$

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https://phys.org/news/2020-07-scientists-nanoparticle-delivered-gen...

Scientists use nanoparticle-delivered gene therapy to inhibit blinding eye disease in rodents

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https://phys.org/news/2020-07-stars-born-galaxy-milky.html?utm_sour...

New collection of stars, not born in our galaxy, discovered in Milky Way

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 10:00am

Poisons used to make food more beautiful, last longer

• Some fishermen using highly toxic pesticides to ‘catch’ fish
• Butchers preserving meat with formalin – a product normally applied to dead bodies
• Legal additives misused, putting consumer health at risk

Toxic chemicals are being used by food sellers across Sub-Saharan Africa to improve the look of meat and fish, scientists and food inspectors say, putting the health of millions at risk.

Weak government testing capacities and informal food supply chains means there is little oversight of traders and fishermen, and almost no protection for unwary consumers.

However, veterinary specialists say there are techniques which can help people identify contaminated food before they buy it.

https://www.scidev.net/global/health/feature/poisons-used-to-make-f...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 9:51am

SARS-CoV-2-Reactive T Cells Found in Patients with Severe COVID-19

A small subset of uninfected people also had SARS-CoV-2-fighting T cells, a finding that scientists are still trying to figure out.

In May, researchers showed that people with mild forms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, have circulating T cells that respond to the virus. Now, in a Science Immunology study published last week (June 26), a collaborating research team has determined that people who are sick enough with COVID-19 to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit also make SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells. In both studies, the researchers found that a subset of healthy, unexposed people also had some of these T cells that react to the virus, perhaps due to previous exposures to other coronaviruses that cause symptoms of the common cold.

The latest study provides more solid evidence that there are SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells that are induced by the infection

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/sars-cov-2-reactive-t-ce...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 9:41am

A new color-changing ink could aid in health and environment monitoring—for example, allowing clothing that switches hues when exposed to sweat or a tapestry that shifts colors if carbon monoxide enters a room. The formulation could be printed on anything from a T-shirt to a tent.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/color-changing-ink-turns...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 8:16am

Scientists synthesize novel artificial molecules that mimic a cell membrane protein

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-scientists-artificial-molecules-mimic...

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https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/the-coronavirus-may-not-have-orig...

** The coronavirus may not have originated in China, says Oxford professor

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https://theconversation.com/marriage-and-money-help-but-dont-lead-t...

Marriage and money help but don’t lead to long-lasting happiness

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https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/07/flesh-eating-bac...

 Flesh-Eating-Bacteria

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53304576

India scientists alarmed over 'unrealistic' Covid vaccine deadline

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706140905.htm

Age-related impairments reversed in animal model: Frailty and immune decline are two main features of old age. Researchers now demonstrate in an animal model that these two age-related impairments can be halted and even partially reversed using a novel cell-based therapeutic approach.

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https://www.sciencealert.com/fake-accounts-are-constantly-manipulat...

Fake Accounts Are Constantly Manipulating What You See on Social Media. Here's How

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 8:01am

Coconut oil production may be more damaging to the environment than palm oil, researchers say.

According to the study, production of coconut oil affects 20 threatened species (including plants and animals) per million tons of oil produced. This is higher than other oil-producing crops, such as palm (3.8 species per million tons), olive (4.1) and soybean (1.3).

The study shows that the main reason for the high number of species affected by coconut is that the crop is mostly grown on tropical islands with rich diversity and many unique species.

Impact on threatened species is usually measured by the number of species affected per square hectare of land used—and by this measure palm's impact is worse than coconut.

Coconut cultivation is thought to have contributed to the extinction of a number of island species, including the Marianne white-eye in the Seychelles and the Solomon Islands' Ontong Java flying fox.

Species not yet extinct but threatened by coconut production include the Balabac mouse-deer, which lives on three Philippine islands, and the Sangihe tarsier, a primate living on the Indonesian island of Sangihe.

Consumers need to realize that all our agricultural commodities, and not just tropical crops, have negative environmental impacts.

 Source: Erik Meijaard et al, Coconut oil, conservation and the conscientious consumer, Current Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.059

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-coconut-reveals-consumer-conundrum.ht...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 7:47am

Expalined:the dead-water phenomenon

What makes ships mysteriously slow down or even stop as they travel, even though their engines are working properly? This was first observed in 1893 and was described experimentally in 1904 without all the secrets of this 'dead water' being understood. An interdisciplinary team from the CNRS and the University of Poitiers has explained this phenomenon for the first time: the speed changes in ships trapped in dead water are due to waves that act like an undulating conveyor belt on which the boats move back and forth. This work was published in PNAS on July 6, 2020.

In earlier times ships wwere slowed by a mysterious force and he could barely maneuver, let alone pick up normal speed. In 1904, the Swedish physicist and oceanographer Vagn Walfrid Ekman showed in a laboratory that waves formed under the surface at the interface between the salt water and freshwater layers that form the upper portion of this area of the Arctic Ocean interact with the ship, generating drag.

This phenomenon, called dead water, is seen in all seas and oceans where waters of different densities (because of salinity or temperature) mix. It denotes two drag phenomena observed by scientists. The first, Nansen wave-making drag, causes a constant, abnormally low speed. The second, Ekman wave-making drag, is characterized by speed oscillations in the trapped boat. The cause of this was unknown. Physicists, fluid mechanics experts, and mathematicians at the CNRS' Institut Prime and the Laboratoire de Mathématiques et Applications (CNRS/Université de Poitiers) have attempted to solve this mystery. They used a mathematical classification of different internal waves and analysis of experimental images at the sub-pixel scale, a first.

This work showed that these speed variations are due to the generation of specific waves that act as an undulating conveyor belt on which the ship moves back and forth. The scientists have also reconciled the observations of both Nansen and Ekman. They have shown that the Ekman oscillating regime is only temporary: the ship ends up escaping and reaches the constant Nansen speed.

Source: Johan Fourdrinoy el al., "The dual nature of the dead-water phenomenology: Nansen versus Ekman wave-making drags," PNAS (2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1922584117

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-dead-water-phenomenon.html?utm_source...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2020 at 7:10am

How to protect people from radiation exposure.

A safe and powerful treatment for the body against deadly radiation

Researchers have reported a highly effective and safe nanocrystal to combat dangerous doses of radiation. By growing manganese oxide (Mn₃O₄) nanocrystals on top of Cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanocrystals, the research team boosted the catalytic activity of the CeO₂/Mn₃O₄ nanocrystals in their ability to stave off side effects of deadly radiation.

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) are found in a number of major diseases including sepsis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Parkinson's disease, just to name a few. A powerful antioxidant that can work at low doses only can ensure sustainable applications of radiation in medical, industrial and military settings and more. These new CeO₂/Mn₃O₄ hetero-structured nanocrystals are five times stronger than when CeO₂ or Mn₃O₄ does the job alone.

When our body is exposed to high levels of radiation, a massive amount of ROS are generated within milliseconds due to the decomposition of water molecules. These ROS severely damage cells, eventually leading to their death. The research team looked to CeO₂ and Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles for their outstanding ROS scavenging abilities. The challenge was how to apply these antioxidant nanomaterials in a safe and economic way. Though effective, CeO₂ and Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles can remove ROS only in high doses. They are also rare materials and difficult to obtain.

The researchers drew on the approach usually taken in the field of catalysis: stacking nanoparticles with different lattice parameters results in surface strain and increases oxygen vacancies on the surface of the nanocrystal. "The synergistic effect of the strain generated on Mn₃O₄ and the increased oxygen vacancy on the CeO₂ surface improved the surface binding affinity of the ROS, boosting the catalytic activity of the nanocrystals.

These CeO₂/Mn₃O₄ nanocrystals prove their powerful antioxidant effects to protect our whole body effectively just in small doses.

Sang Ihn Han et al, Epitaxially Strained CeO₂ /Mn₃ O₄ Nanocrystals as an Enhanced Antioxidant for Radioprotection, Advanced Materials (2020). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202001566

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-safe-powerful-treatment-body-deadly.h...

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