Science Simplified!

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 30, 2015 at 8:00am

Rain forests create their own rain clouds, replete with microscopic spores, pollen and fungi, or “smells”. How?
On a typical sunny day in the Amazon, 20 billion metric tons of water flow upward through the trees and pour into the air, an invisible river that flows through the sky across a continent.
“This river of vapor that comes up from the forest and goes into the atmosphere is greater than the Amazon River.
Every tree is a silent geyser. Through a process called transpiration, a large tree in the Amazon can release 1,000 liters of water into the atmosphere in a single day. There is a frantic evaporation taking place there.
trees only need to bask in the sunlight to release their invisible steam. Plus, they have the sheer force of numbers; hundreds of billions of trees in the jungle release as many as 20 billion metric tons of water into the atmosphere every day. That means that while the Amazon, which pours 17 billion tons of water into the Atlantic Ocean a day, may be the largest river on earth — it’s still exceeded by the airborne river drifting above the canopy of the trees.
The airborne river turns into rain, which replenishes the forest.
These smells are critical for the lifecycle of the jungle, as the steam from the trees condenses around these microscopic particles, forming clouds, which eventually release torrential rain. This process is unique to the jungle; oceans, for instance, rarely create heavy clouds like the Amazon’s, because sea air is not so richly seeded with plant life. “This relation between a living thing, which is the forest, and a nonliving thing, which is the atmosphere, is ingenious in the Amazon.
Without the Amazon, much of South America would likely have been a desert.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 30, 2015 at 7:50am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 30, 2015 at 7:49am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2015 at 7:54am

A new study from researchers at the Nanjing University in China and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology found that cooking with chloraminated tap water and iodized table salt can produce harmful toxins in food. To disinfect the water, people add chlorine (chlorination) or chloramines (chloramination), if ammonia is added, too. These processes affect the water's chemical make-up.
When iodized table salt is added to tap water containing chloramines or chlorine during cooking, it reacts and creates hypoiodous acid. When this acid reacts to other organic matters in the tap water and food, it creates iodinated disinfection byproducts (I-DBPs). Some of these molecules have not been discovered yet and are completely new to engineers, toxicologists and environmental chemists. In the study, the researchers tested the toxicity of the molecules by simulating the cooking process and adding iodized salt and wheat flour to the various types of tap water heated at various lengths and temperatures.
The team identified 14 new molecules, nine of which got toxicity level test, and found that several of them are 50 to 200 times more toxic compared to others. The presence of molecules during the simulated cooking ranged between 0.72 to 7.63 micrograms per liter.
"Considering that these molecules could have an adverse effect on our health, we need to study them more to determine exactly what effects they might have," said study author and Nanjing University assistant professor Dr. Yang Pan.
The research team suggested that reducing the time and changing the type of salt and water used in cooking can limit the formation of molecules. Using chlorinated tap water instead of chloraminated tap water can also limit the formations, added associate professor and co-author Dr. Xiangru Zhang from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Switching to potassium iodate-fortified table salt, cooking at lower temperature and reducing cooking time can also reduce I-DBP formation.
Zhang added that the discovery is relevant not just researchers who study drinking water, but also to the general public. If people are worried about the quality of water they drink every day, they should also worry about the quality of water we use for cooking.

The study was published in the Water Research journal.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 25, 2015 at 10:14am

A good diet for you may be bad for me
Eating the same foods can lead to different blood sugar spikes in different people
A sweet can give one person a sugar rush while barely affecting another person, a new study finds, indicating that a food’s glycemic index is in the eater.

People’s blood sugar rises or falls differently even when they eat the exact same fruit, bread, deserts, pizza and many other foods, researchers in Israel report November 19 in Cell. That suggests that diets should be tailored to individuals’ personal characteristics.

The researchers made the discovery after fitting 800 people with blood glucose monitors for a week. The people ate standard breakfasts supplied by the researchers. Although the volunteers all ate the same food, their blood glucose levels after eating those foods varied dramatically. Traits and behaviors such as body mass index, sleep, exercise, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the kinds of microbes living in people’s intestines are associated with blood glucose responses to food, the researchers conclude.

Those findings indicate that blood sugar spikes after eating depend “not only on what you eat, but how your system processes that food,” says Clay Marsh, an epigenetics researcher at West Virginia University in Morgantown.
Similarly, eating bread produced a post-meal blood sugar level rise of 44 milligrams per deciliter on average in other studies. But some people’s blood sugar rose as little as 15 mg/dl, while others had a spike as high as 79 mg/dl after eating the same amount of bread.
A team led by Elinav and Weizmann computational biologist Eran Segal created a computer algorithm that used 137 personal measurements to predict how much a person’s blood sugar would rise or fall after eating a certain food. When tested on a new group of 100 people, the algorithm correctly predicted the response about 70 percent of the time.

A third group of 26 participants were then given personalized meals. The computer algorithm analyzed each person and then picked diets for 12 of them. A nutritionist chose a “good” and “bad” diet for the remaining participants. Good diets were ones that that minimized blood sugar spikes after eating. Bad diets sent blood sugar skyrocketing. The diets contained the same amount of calories.

It turned out that foods on the “good” diet for one person were sometimes on another participant’s “bad” list, Segal says. For instance, one woman’s blood sugar spiked when she ate tomatoes. But tomatoes were on other people’s healthy list.
The data suggest is that relying on population averages is not only inaccurate, but may even be dangerous in some cases.
For 10 of the 12 people, the computer algorithm correctly predicted responses to the good and bad foods. Nutritionists were equally good at predicting how a person would fare on a given diet, the team found. But the computerized approach could reach more people, the researchers say.

Mixes of microbes living in people’s guts, known as the gut microbiome, also changed with the good and bad diets. Bacteria help break down food and have been implicated in causing obesity and diabetes. This study can’t distinguish whether the microbiome is causing differences in blood sugar responses or being influenced by how a person responds to certain foods, says Peter Turnbaugh, a microbiome researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.

While Turnbaugh agrees that personalized diets would be better than blanket recommendations for improving health, he sees some caveats. “The frustrating thing about all this is that we can learn how to optimize the diet for a given person, but ultimately, you have to stick to that diet.”
http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674%2815%2901481-6?_return...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 25, 2015 at 9:28am

People here argue that herbal medicines are based on wise knowledge originated in ancient times and spread from generation to generation and therefore cannot have any side effects. This is quite contrary to what has been observed several times by medical practitioners. Here is another proof...

Chinese Herb Suspected To Have Caused Severe Heart Disorder : A 45-year-old Chinese woman experienced severe heart arrhythmia after consuming an extract from the Aconitum plant, also known as devil’s helmet or monkshood.

Chinese physicians have reported a case of potentially lethal cardiovascular symptoms induced by a traditional Chinese medicine component, aconitine, in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. Based on the case of a woman who presented with aconitine-induced cardiovascular symptoms, the report warns that the use of the natural ingredient may lead to severe poisoning. A 45-year-old Chinese woman was diagnosed with a severe heart-rhythm disorder, bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT), associated with aconitine poisoning. BVT is a rare form of tachycardia (characterized by a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute) and a distinct pattern of ECG waves on presentation. The patient’s husband reported that she had drunk about 50 milliliters of a medicinal liquid about 30 minutes before she developed a sudden drop in blood pressure and then lost consciousness. The woman had no history of previous heart-rhythm problems and there was no family history of unexpected sudden death or fatal accidents. On examination she had a heart rate of 150 beats per minute and her blood pressure was 50/30. Her skin was cool, moist, and cyanotic. Treatment with the anti-arrhythmic agents amiodarone, metoprolol, lidocaine, and potassium chloride was ineffective. An abdominal ultrasound showed marked gastric retention. A gastric tube was used to suction out the contents of her stomach. After two hours, the patient’s BVT ceased and her circulation improved. Investigation revealed that the patient’s blood was positive for aconitine, a substance produced by the Aconitum plant, also known as devil’s helmet or monkshood. Although well-known for its highly toxic properties, aconitine is the primary ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine known as Fuzi, a remedy made from the processed lateral roots of Aconitum carmichaeli Debx. It is widely distributed in the southwest provinces of China and is used in small doses for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects.

http://www.onlinecjc.ca/article/S0828-282X%2815%2900480-8/abstract

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 20, 2015 at 7:10am

Horror.. .. of horrors E. coli has developed resistance to last-line of antibiotics, warn scientists.
Bacteria like E. Coli have mutated to be resistant to our last-line of antibiotics and untreateable bugs may already be circulating in several parts of the world, scientists have warned.

Health experts have warned for years that antibiotic resistance could send medicine back to the dark ages, with even the smallest infections proving lethal.

Currently, when all other drugs fail, doctors use polymyxins – such as colistin - as a last resort to treat bacterial infections like E. coli and those which cause pneumonia.
But British scientists have discovered that pigs and meat sold in China are infected with bacteria carrying a new gene which makes them resistant to these rearguard antibiotics.

The MCR-1 gene is in a part of the DNA which can be easily copied and transferred between bacteria leading experts to conclude that ‘pandemic resistance is inevitable.’ The mutated forms were also found in 1322 hospitalised patients in China and is thought to have already spread to Laos and Malaysia.

British scientists and health experts described the discovery as ‘worrying,’ ‘disturbing’ and ‘alarming.’

The emergence of the MCR-1 gene in China heralds a disturbing breach of the last group of antibiotics and an end to our last line of defence against infection, according to Microbiologists.

The effect on human health posed by this new gene cannot be underestimated. The rapid spread of similar antibiotic-resistant genes suggests that all antibiotics will soon be futile in the face of previously treatable gram-negative bacterial infections such as E. coli and salmonella.

“Our investigations in China found that MCR-1 is already prevalent in E. coli samples found in live animals and meat products, and in a small number of human cases.

“MCR-1 is likely to spread to the rest of the world at an alarming rate unless we take a globally coordinated approach to combat it.
The team from Cardiff University and the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, China, were first alerted to a possible new deadly strain of  E. coli after a pig at a farm in Shanghai showed resistance to colistin in 2011.

Over the next four years the team took samples from pigs at slaughter across four provinces, and meat sold in markets in Guangzhou. They found a high prevalence of the MCR-1 gene in E coli, with the proportion of positive samples increasing each year.

The researchers also found that the MCR-1 gene has the potential to spread into other epidemic strains such as K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa which can cause a variety of diseases from pneumonia to serious blood infections. K pneumonia strains found in hospital patients also carried the mutation.
“The emergence of MCR-1 heralds the breach of the last group of antibiotics. The polymyxins were the last class of antibiotics in which resistance was incapable of spreading from cell to cell.

“Our results reveal the emergence of the first resistance gene that is readily passed between common bacteria, suggesting that the progression from extensive drug resistance to pandemic resistance is inevitable.”

China is one of the world’s largest users and producers of colistin for agriculture and veterinary use. The Chinese Government has already banned vets from using colistin and the researchers are hoping the same prohibition will be applied globally.

Prof Nigel Brown, President of the Microbiology Society, said: “This discovery that resistance to colistin can be transferred between bacteria is alarming.
The new research was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 20, 2015 at 7:05am

Truffles are not dangerously radioactive now after Chernobyl disaster.

After analyzing 82 specimens of Burgundy truffle (Tuber aestivum) from across Europe, researchers report online November 10 in Biogeosciences Discussions that all of the sought-after delicacies contained insignificant concentrations of radioactive cesium-137.

Some fungi species, including certain mushrooms, sop up radioactive elements from dirt. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster contaminated large swaths of European soils with cesium-137 and prompted concerns that truffles could become radioactive.

The work provides an all clear for Burgundy truffle hunters and connoisseurs around the world, the researchers write. While not radioactive, at more than $400 per kilogram, Burgundy truffles still may not be safe.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 20, 2015 at 7:01am

What makes life impossible on exoplanets?

A team of scientists has suggested that vast amounts of radiation may be making life impossible on some of them like Kepler-438b planet.

As per the University of Warwick research, the atmosphere of the planet, Kepler-438b, is thought to have been stripped away as a result of radiation emitted from a superflaring Red Dwarf star, Kepler-438.

Regularly occurring every few hundred days, the superflares are approximately ten times more powerful than those ever recorded on the Sun and equivalent to the same energy as 100 billion megatons of TNT.

While superflares themselves are unlikely to have a significant impact on Kepler-438b’s atmosphere, a dangerous phenomenon associated with powerful flares, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), has the potential to strip away any atmosphere and render it uninhabitable.

The planet Kepler-438b, to date the exoplanet with the highest recorded Earth Similarity Index, is both similar in size and temperature to the Earth but is in closer proximity to the Red Dwarf than the Earth is to the Sun.

Lead researcher David Armstrong explained that if the planet, Kepler-438b, has a magnetic field like the Earth, it may be shielded from some of the effects, but if it does not, or the flares are strong enough, it could have lost its atmosphere, be irradiated by extra dangerous radiation and be a much harsher place for life to exist.

The study appears in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 18, 2015 at 9:48am

Scientists at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have determined how the body responds during times of emergency when it needs more blood cells. In a study published in Nature, researchers report that when tissue damage occurs, in times of excessive bleeding, or during pregnancy, a secondary, emergency blood-formation system is activated in the spleen.

“Hematopoietic, or blood-forming, stem cells reside mainly in the bone marrow, and most newblood cell formation occurs within the bone marrow under normal circumstances. But when there is hematopoietic stress, blood cell formation expands to thespleen,” said Dr. Sean Morrison, CRI Director and Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “Blood-forming stem cells migrate from the bone marrow to the spleen, which becomes a hematopoietic organ where blood formation then occurs.”

Normally, there are very few blood-forming stem cells in the spleen. But the cells that create the supporting environment for these stem cells are present in the spleen, ready to respond during times of hematopoietic stress and to receive an influx of blood-forming stem cells from the bone marrow.

In characterizing the microenvironment, or niche, which supports blood formation in the spleen, the CRI research team used mouse models to examine the expression patterns of two known niche cell factors, stem cell factor (SCF) and CXCL12. The researchers found that the blood-forming microenvironment in the spleen is found near sinusoidal blood vessels and is created by endothelialcells and perivascular stromal cells – just like the microenvironment in the bone marrow.

“Under emergency conditions, the endothelial cells and perivascular stromal cells that reside in the spleen are induced to proliferate, so they can sustain all the new blood-forming stem cells that migrate into the spleen,” said Dr. Morrison, who is also a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. “We determined that this process in the spleen is physiologically important for responding to hematopoietic stress; without it, the mice we studied could not maintain normal blood cell counts during pregnancy or quickly regenerate blood cell counts after bleeding or chemotherapy.”

Based on this new information about the spleen’s emergency backup role for blood cell formation, therapeutic interventions could be developed in the future to enhance blood formation following chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation and thus accelerate the recovery of blood cell counts.

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