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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 7, 2023 at 10:56am

 Animal-to-human diseases could kill 12 times as much by 2050: Study

Certain diseases transmitted from animals to humans could kill 12 times as many people in 2050 than they did in 2020, researchers have claimed.

Epidemics caused by zoonotic diseases—also known as spillovers—could be more frequent in the future due to climate change and deforestation, experts warned.

The team's analysis looked at historic trends for four particular viral pathogens.

These were filoviruses, which include Ebola virus and Marburg virus, SARS Coronavirus 1, Nipah virus, and Machupo virus, which causes Bolivian hemorrhagic fever.

The study did not include COVID-19, which caused the global pandemic in 2020 and is likely to have originated in bats.

It looked at more than 3,150 outbreaks between 1963 and 2019, identifying 75 spillover events in 24 countries.

The database covered epidemics reported by the World Health Organization, outbreaks occurring since 1963 that killed 50 or more people, and historically significant events including the flu pandemics of 1918 and 1957.

The events caused 17,232 deaths, with 15,771 caused by filoviruses and occurring mostly in Africa.

Researchers said epidemics have been increasing by almost 5% every year between 1963 and 2019, with deaths up by 9%.

"If these annual rates of increase continue, we would expect the analyzed pathogens to cause four times the number of spillover events and 12 times the number of deaths in 2050 than in 2020," they added.

Researchers also suggested the figures are likely to be an underestimate due to the strict inclusion criteria for the pathogens in the analysis and the exclusion of COVID-19. They said the evaluation of evidence suggests recent epidemics sparked by zoonotic spillovers "are not an aberration or random cluster" but follow "a multi-decade trend in which spillover-driven epidemics have become both larger and more frequent." The team added that "urgent action is needed to address a large and growing risk to global health" based on historical trends.

Amanda Jean Meadows et al, Historical trends demonstrate a pattern of increasingly frequent and severe spillover events of high-consequence zoonotic viruses, BMJ Global Health (2023). DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012026

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 7, 2023 at 10:44am

Plastic waste in rivers may carry dangerous microbes

Plastic litter in rivers might be allowing dangerous pathogens to hitch-hike downstream, a new study published recently found.

The research, which focused on one river, found that dumped plastic, wooden sticks and the water itself were a breeding ground  for communities of microorganisms, potentially providing a reservoir for bacteria and viruses known to cause human diseases and antibiotic resistance.

These findings indicate that plastic  in freshwater bodies may contribute to the transport of potential pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes.

This could have indirect but significant implications for human health.

Rivers are the main way plastic enters the world's oceans, channeling anywhere between 3.5 thousand metric tons to 2.41 million metric tons of the manmade material to the sea annually.

When plastic ends up in water its surface is overrun within minutes by nearby microbes. The researchers submerged samples for a week in the River Sowe in Warwickshire and West Midlands England, downstream from a wastewater treatment plant. They found significant differences in the microbe communities depending on the material sampled.

Vinko Zadjelovic, Microbial hitchhikers harbouring antimicrobial‑resistance genes in the riverine plastisphere, Microbiome (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s40168-023-01662-3. www.biomedcentral.com/articles … 6/s40168-023-01662-3

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 5, 2023 at 11:43am

A living bandage: Wound dressing uses probiotic bacteria to combat biofilms

Chronic wounds: If an injury has not healed after four weeks, there is a wound healing disorder. Sometimes, seemingly harmless tissue damage can develop into a permanent health problem or even blood poisoning.

Treatment is particularly difficult because germs that know how to protect themselves perfectly settle here. These bacteria form a biofilm, a stubborn compound of various pus pathogens. For their own protection, they produce a layer of mucus with which they attach themselves to surfaces. Antibiotics or disinfectants reach their limits because they cannot get to the dangerous germs.

A research team  is currently developing a wound dressing that uses "good" probiotic bacteria to combat biofilms. The researchers recently published a proof of concept in the journal Microbes and Infection.

They used living probiotic bacteria for the new dressing. They are found in healthy intestinal flora and play a major role in the production of foods such as yogurt and cheese. The used probiotic lactobacilli are biocompatible and create an acidic environment by producing lactic acid. 

This is intended to push the unfavourable, alkaline pH in chronic wounds in the right, i.e., acidic, direction. In the laboratory experiments, the bacteria were able to induce a strongly acidic pH of 4 in the culture medium. At the same time, the probiotics promoted the migration of human fibroblasts under the investigated conditions.

Finally, the beneficial bacteria were integrated into a dressing that protects chronic wounds from further infection. This also allowed the living lactobacilli to produce lactic acid in a protected environment. As desired, the dressing released the acidic product into the environment in a controlled and steady manner.

In laboratory tests, the dressing material with integrated probiotics was able to completely remove a typical biofilm of skin pathogens in a culture dish. The question now was: Does the dressing containing beneficial bacteria also pass the test with human skin?

The researchers created artificial wounds with a diameter of two millimeters on small tissue samples and allowed a biofilm of wound pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to grow. In this three-dimensional model of a human skin infection, the probiotics-containing dressing reduced the number of pathogens by 99.999%. In addition, the researchers were able to prove that the probiotics do not harm human skin cells and triggers the production of inflammatory response of the cells.

Zhihao Li et al, Topical application of Lactobacilli successfully eradicates Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms and promotes wound healing in chronic wounds, Microbes and Infection (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2023.105176

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 12:21pm

Cancer trial results show power of weaponized antibodies

Tumour-targeting antibodies coupled with toxic chemicals are an unprecedented success in treating bladder cancer.

A combination of two drugs cuts the risk of death in people with bladder cancer by m..., compared with conventional chemotherapy. It’s an unprecedented result in a cancer for which survival rates have been almost unchanged since the 1980s. The treatment consists of pembrolizumab, which allows the body to attack tumours more effectively, and an antibody–drug conjugate, enfortumab vedotin, which delivers a toxic agent directly to cancer cells.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03421-8?utm_source=Live+...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 11:39am

How can we avoid drinking forever chemicals and arsenic?

per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, which are used to protect clothing, cookware, cosmetics, and other products from water, grease, or oil. But those chemicals can leach out of those goods to haunt our food, air, plants, and drinking water. So far, scientists have found that PFAS exposure could lead to liver and immune system damage, increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer, birth defects, and other health and environmental problems.

And one of the most common ways to ingest these chemicals is through contaminated water.

PFAS are typically present at really, really low concentrations. But they can be carcinogenic even at low concentrations.

Luckily, we can extract PFAS and other unwanted contaminants, like arsenic or calcium, from our water using a process called ion exchange. And soon, removing PFAS will not be optional. In June 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its plan to require water utilities to reach near-zero levels of PFAS in drinking water. That means many water treatment facilities will need to upgrade their systems to target this insidious chemical.

And ion exchange technologies are some of the only selective separation technologies we have that can get these forever chemicals out of water.

Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory  

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 11:06am

There are various biomedical markers present in cancerous tissues at higher concentrations than in healthy tissues—amino acids (building blocks of proteins), proteins, and enzymes. When excited with UV light, these markers light up and fluoresce in the UV and part of the visible spectrum, in a process called autofluorescence. 

Because cancer and healthy cells have different concentrations of markers and therefore different spectral signatures, the two classes of cells can be differentiated based on their fluorescence in the UV spectrum. The team evaluated their imaging device on its ability to discriminate cancer-related markers and found that is capable of differentiating between cancer and healthy cells with 99% confidence.

One of the biggest challenges is knowing how much tissue to remove to ensure clear margins and such a sensor can help facilitate the decision making process when a surgeon is removing a cancerous tumor.

"This new imaging technology is enabling us to differentiate cancerous versus healthy cells and is opening up new and exciting applications beyond just health.

Cheng Chen et al, Bioinspired, vertically stacked, and perovskite nanocrystal–enhanced CMOS imaging sensors for resolving UV spectral signatures, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk3860. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adk3860

Part 3

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 11:03am

Humans have trichromatic vision with three photoreceptors, where every color perceived can be made from a combination of red, green and blue. Butterflies, however, have compound eyes, with six (or more) photoreceptor classes with distinct spectral sensitivities. In particular, the Papilio xuthus, a yellow, Asian swallowtail butterfly, has not only blue, green and red, but also violet, ultraviolet and broadband receptors. Further, butterflies have fluorescent pigments that allow them to convert UV light into visible light which can then be easily sensed by their photoreceptors. This allows them to perceive a broader range of colors and details in their environment.

Beyond the increased number of photoreceptors, butterflies also exhibit a unique tiered structure in their photoreceptors. To replicate the UV sensing mechanism of the Papilio xuthus butterfly, the UIUC team has emulated the process by combining a thin layer of PNCs with a tiered array of silicon photodiodes.

PNCs are a class of semiconductor nanocrystals that display unique properties similar to that of quantum dots—changing the size and composition of the particle changes the absorption and emission properties of the material. In the last few years, PNCs have emerged as an interesting material for different sensing applications, such as solar cells and LEDs. PNCs are extremely good at detecting UV (and even lower) wavelengths that traditional silicon detectors are not. In the new imaging sensor, the PNC layer is able to absorb UV photons and re-emit light in the visible (green) spectrum which is then detected by the tiered silicon photodiodes. Processing of these signals allows for mapping and identification of UV signatures.

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 11:03am

Seeing the unseen: How butterflies can help scientists detect cancer

There are many creatures on our planet with more advanced senses than humans. Turtles can sense Earth's magnetic field. Mantis shrimp can detect polarized light. Elephants can hear much lower frequencies than humans can. Butterflies can perceive a broader range of colors, including ultraviolet (UV) light.

Inspired by the enhanced visual system of the Papilio xuthus butterfly, a team of researchers have developed an imaging sensor capable of "seeing" into the UV range inaccessible to human eyes. The design of the sensor uses stacked photodiodes and perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) capable of imaging different wavelengths in the UV range. Using the spectral signatures of biomedical markers, such as amino acids, this new imaging technology is even capable of differentiating between cancer cells and normal cells with 99% confidence.

Researchers have taken inspiration from the visual system of butterflies, who are able to perceive multiple regions in the UV spectrum, and designed a camera that replicates that functionality. They did this by using novel perovskite nanocrystals, combined with silicon imaging technology, and this new camera technology can detect multiple UV regions.

UV light is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than that of  visible light(but longer than X-rays). We are most familiar with UV radiation from the sun and the dangers it poses to human health. UV light is categorized into three different regions—UVA, UVB and UVC— based on different wavelength ranges. Because humans cannot see UV light, it is challenging to capture UV information, especially discerning the small differences between each region.

Butterflies, however, can see these small variations in the UV spectrum, like humans can see shades of blue and green.UV light is incredibly difficult to capture, it just gets absorbed by everything, and butterflies have managed to do it extremely well.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 9:34am

Researchers find evidence of mpox circulating in humans since 2016

A large international team of medical researchers and epidemiologists has found evidence that monkeypox (mpox) has been circulating in humans since 2016. In their study, reported in the journal Science, the group used Bayesian evolutionary analysis of the mpox virus to show that its genomic history includes years of change due to human infections.

Mpox was first identified in the 1950s after an illness struck a group of research monkeys in Denmark. Twenty years later, the first case was detected in a human in Africa. Over the following decades, several cases of the disease were seen in humans and all were attributed to the virus jumping from other mammals.

Then, in 2017, an outbreak occurred in Nigeria and by 2022, it had spread across the globe, demonstrating that the virus had evolved to jump from human to human. In this new effort, the research team took a closer look at the genome of the virus behind mpox to learn more about its evolutionary history, particularly how it relates to human infections. The researchers sequenced the genome of the mpox virus to learn more about its evolutionary history. They found that the clade IIb was the one that had spread around the world. They also noted that it looked different from other strains that had been seen before in Africa.

They found a mutation that had led to the production of an enzyme called APOBEC3, which was found to cause further mutations that alter genome base pairs. It was also found to have come about due to infections in humans. That allowed the team to trace the evolutionary history of the virus as it infected humans—they found such mutations going back to approximately 2016, which strongly suggests that the virus has been transmittable between humans since that year. The research team concludes that there is a strong likelihood of multiple cases of small mpox outbreaks that have not been recognized, allowing the virus to spread under the radar. They further suggest stronger surveillance methods be established because the virus is still mutating rapidly and could become deadlier.

Áine O'Toole et al, APOBEC3 deaminase editing in mpox virus as evidence for sustained human transmission since at least 2016, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adg8116

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 4, 2023 at 9:29am

If the sensors succeed in more extensive trials, the scientists said, the possible applications for spaceflight are many—from helping astronauts land safely on the surface of a planet, to supporting them as they move outside a vehicle in space.

Vibrotactile Feedback as a Countermeasure for Spatial Disorientation, Frontiers in Physiology (2023). DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962
Part 3
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