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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 26, 2021 at 11:57am

Apple warns to keep iPhone 12, MagSafe accessories "safe distance" from medical devices

Apple is warning owners of the iPhone 12 and any MagSafe charging accessories to keep the gadgets at a "safe distance" from medical devices.

According to a support page on Apple's website updated Saturday, the tech giant advises owners keep medical devices at least 6 inches away from medical devices, or 12 inches if they are wirelessly charging.

The iPhone 12 as well as MagSafe, a line of accessories including cases built to make wirelessly charging the smartphones easier, contain magnets to help connect better. The smartphones also have "components and radios that emit electromagnetic fields."

The support page says devices like implanted pacemakers "might contain sensors that respond to magnets and radios when in close contact."

Apple suggests users get in touch with their doctor or the maker of their medical device to find out what type of impact the new iPhone or accessories might have.

A recent study in the Heart Rhythm journal tested the compatibility of the iPhone 12 with a patient who had a Medtronic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), which is used to manage cardiac rhythms. The study claimed when the iPhone was brought close to the ICD, "immediate suspension of ICD therapies was noted which persisted for the duration of the test."

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT211900

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-apple-iphone-magsafe-accessorie...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 26, 2021 at 11:43am

Optimal information about the invisible

Laser beams can be used to precisely measure an object's position or velocity. Normally, however, a clear, unobstructed view of this object is required—and this prerequisite is not always satisfied. In biomedicine, for example, structures are examined, which are embedded in an irregular, complicated environment. There, the laser beam is deflected, scattered and refracted, often making it impossible to obtain useful data from the measurement.

Researchers have now been able to show that meaningful results can be obtained even in such complicated environments. Indeed, there is a way to specifically modify the laser beamso that it delivers exactly the desired information in the complex, disordered environment—and not just approximately, but in a physically optimal way: Nature does not allow for more precision with coherent laser light. The new technology can be used in very different fields of application, even with different types of waves, and has now been presented in the scientific journal Nature Physics.

Dorian Bouchet et al. Maximum information states for coherent scattering measurements, Nature Physics (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-01137-4

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-optimal-invisible.html?utm_source=nwl...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 26, 2021 at 11:39am

Researchers guide a single ion through a Bose-Einstein condensate

Physicists has now developed a new method to observe a single charged particle on its path through a dense cloud of ultracold atoms. The results were published in Physical Review Letters and are further reported in a Viewpoint column in the journal Physics.

They used a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) for their experiments. This exotic state of matter consists of a dense cloud of ultracold atoms. By means of sophisticated laser excitation, the researchers created a single Rydberg atom within the gas. In this giant atom, the electron is a thousand times further away from the nucleus than in the ground state and thus only very weakly bound to the core. With a specially designed sequence of electric field pulses, the researchers snatched the electron away from the atom. The formerly neutral atom turned into a positively charged ion that remained nearly at rest despite the process of detaching the electron.

In the next step, the researchers used precise electric fields to pull the ion in a controlled way through the dense cloud of atoms in the BEC. The ion picked up speed in the electric field, collided on its way with other atoms, slowed down and was accelerated again by the electric field. The interplay between acceleration and deceleration by collisions led to a constant motion of the ion through the BEC.

This new approach allowed the researchers to measure the mobility of a single ion in a Bose-Einstein condensate for the very first time.

T. Dieterle et al. Transport of a Single Cold Ion Immersed in a Bose-Einstein Condensate, Physical Review Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.033401

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-ion-bose-einstein-condensate.html?utm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 26, 2021 at 11:34am

Study proves potential for reducing pre-term birth by treating fetus as patient

The results of a study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch may pave the way for a new medicine delivery system that could reduce the incidence of pre-term labor and premature birth by allowing physicians to treat the 'fetus as the patient'. The study has been published in Science Advances.

It has long been suspected that pre-term labor is triggered by inflammation caused by a sick fetus. A new study by scientists at UTMB has proved the hypothesis by studying several important assumptions about the relationship between the health of a mother and her unborn child.

Researchers tested their bioengineered exosomes as a delivery system for anti-inflammatory medicine directly to the fetus. Exosomes are natural nanoparticles or vesicles in our bodies, and we have trillions of them circulating through us at all times. By packaging the medicine inside a bioengineered exosome and injecting it into the mother intravenously, the exosomes travel through the blood system, cross the placental barrier and arrive in the fetus, where they deliver the medicine.

There were several steps prior to testing the drug delivery. First, Menon said it was important to prove that fetal cells, specifically immune cells, actually migrated through the mother's body to her uterine tissues as well as to her, which can cause inflammation, the leading cause of pre-term labor.

To prove migration of cells, female mice were mated with male mice who had been genetically engineered with a red fluorescent dye called tdtomato. The dye causes cells in the male to turn red, so once mating has occurred, cells in the developing fetus also turn red and can easily be tracked as they migrate through the mother.

Once scientists had proof of cell migration, they next used the mouse model to determine if bioengineered exosomes could deliver a special anti-inflammatory medicine, an inhibitor of NF-kB, called super repressor (SR) IkB from the mother's bloodstream to the fetus.

the study found that:

* Sustained effects/delays in labor required repeated dosing
* Prolongation of gestation improved pup viability
* Mouse models provided valuable information to help understand the mechanisms often seen in humans
* Future studies, including human clinical trials are needed to confirm laboratory results

Samantha Sheller-Miller et al, Exosomal delivery of NF-κB inhibitor delays LPS-induced preterm birth and modulates fetal immune cell profile in mouse models, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd3865

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-potential-pre-term-birth-fet...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 26, 2021 at 11:27am

Study explores the effects of maternal inflammation on fetal brain development

Research suggests that infections or inflammation in pregnant women can be linked with the development of neurodevelopmental disorders in their offspring. Inflammation during pregnancy (maternal immune activation, or MIA) disrupts fetal brain development and leads to abnormal behavior in offspring. While this association is well-documented, the molecular and neural mechanisms underpinning it are still poorly understood.

 Scientists have recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding how maternal immune activation (MIA) can influence the development of the fetus and potentially facilitate the occurrence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, shows that MIA can activate a particular neural pathway that regulates the translation of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules in the brain of pre-natal male mice, disrupting a process known as proteostasis.

The mRNA molecule is essentially a single-stranded molecule of RNA that puts DNA genetic instructions into action. Proteostasis (or protein homeostasis), on the other hand, is the process that regulates proteins within and around cells, maintaining their health and preventing their degradation.

When scientists blocked the ISR, whether using transgenic mice (i.e., mice with genomes altered by humans) or drugs, they were able to reverse the behavioral deficits observed in MIA offspring. Moreover, in pre-natal male mice, blocking the ISR restored balance in cortical neural activity.

Overall, this recent study unveiled specific alterations in protein homeostasis associated with maternal inflammation and occurring predominantly in pre-natal male mice, which could increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in MIA-exposed offspring. In the future, the findings gathered by Kalish, Kim and their colleagues could inspire further research aimed at better understanding such immune-neural interaction, which could ultimately inform the development of strategies to reduce the adverse effects of MIA on the fetal brain.

Maternal immune activation in mice disrupts proteostasis in the fetal brain. Nature Neuroscience(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-00762-9.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-explores-effects-maternal-in...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 25, 2021 at 9:16am

The mystery of the blue flower: nature’s rare colour owes its existence to bee vision

https://theconversation.com/the-mystery-of-the-blue-flower-natures-...

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Microbes fuelled by wind-blown mineral dust melt the Greenland ice ...

Scientists have identified a key nutrient source used by algae living on melting ice surfaces linked to rising sea levels.The Greenland ice sheet—the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet—covers almost 80% of the surface of Greenland. Over the last 25 years, surface melting and water runoff from the ice sheet has increased by about 40%.The international research team, led by the University of Leeds, analysed samples from the southwestern margin on Greenland's 1.7 million km2 ice sheet over two years.They discovered that phosphorus containing minerals may be driving ever-larger algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet. As the algal blooms grow they darken the ice surface, decreasing albedo—the ability to reflect sunlight. The blooms cause increased melting thus contributing to higher sea levels. In particular, a band of low-albedo ice, known as the Dark Zone, has developed along the western margin of the massive ice sheet.

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Puzzling six-exoplanet system with rhythmic movement challenges the...

Using a combination of telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO's VLT), astronomers have revealed a system consisting of six exoplanets, five of which are locked in a rare rhythm around their central star. The researchers believe the system could provide important clues about how planets, including those in the Solar System, form and evolve.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 25, 2021 at 9:03am

SARS-CoV-2 needs cholesterol to invade cells and form mega cells

People taking cholesterol-lowering drugs may fare better than others if they catch the novel coronavirus. A new study hints at why: the virus relies on the fatty molecule to get past the cell's protective membrane.

To cause COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 virus must force its way into people's cells—and it needs an accomplice. Cholesterol, the waxy compound better known for clogging arteries, helps the virus open cells up and slip inside.

Without cholesterol, the virus cannot sneak past a cell's protectiv... and cause infection. Cholesterol is an integral part of the membranes that surround cells and some viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. It makes sense that it should be so important for infection. The finding might underlie the better health outcomes seen in COVID-19 patients taking cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins.

This discovery of cholesterol's importance could help scientists develop new stopgap measures to treat COVID-19 until most people are vaccinated.

David W. Sanders et al. SARS-CoV-2 Requires Cholesterol for Viral Entry and Pathological Syncytia Formation, bioRxiv (2020). DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.14.422737

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-sars-cov-cholesterol-invade-cells-meg...

SARS-CoV-2 Needs Cholesterol to Invade Cells

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 25, 2021 at 8:42am

Your Body Makes 3.8 Million Cells Every Second. Most of Them Are Blood

Deep within, on a cellular scale, your body is in a constant state of activity to keep you alive. Among those processes is the turnover of cells, replacing the cells that die with fresh new ones so that you don't crumble to bits like a zombie.

A new calculation reveals just how intensive that process is. According to biologists Ron Sender and Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, your body replaces around 330 billion cells per day. At that rate, your body is making over 3.8 million new cells every second.

Most of those are blood cells, followed by cells in your gut. Less than 2 percent of your cell turnover is everything else. Confirming these numbers could help scientists better understand how the human body functions and the role cell turnover plays in both health and disease.

It's a common myth that your body completely regenerates all its cells every seven years. The reality is a lot more complicated. Some cells live just a few days, while others – such as neurons in the cerebellum and lipids in the lenses of your eyes – are limited only by the lifespan of the host (you). So humans are very far from a Ship of Theseus situation. However, while scientists have previously worked out estimates for how many cells are in the body, what kind they are, and what their lifespans are, very little work has been done to take a census of the cellular turnover rate.

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They based their calculations on a standard reference person: a healthy male between the ages of 20 and 30, weighing 70 kilograms (154 pounds) and 170 centimetres (5 feet 7 inches) tall. Then, for their estimation of cell turnover rates, they included every cell type that constitutes over 0.1 percent of the total cell population.

Cell lifespans were collected from a literature survey, using only those works that took direct measurements of the lifespans of human cells. Then they derived the overall cellular mass for each type, based on the average cell mass.

Based on this information, the pair then calculated that their standard reference person would have a cell turnover rate of around 80 grams (2.8 ounces) per day, or 330 billion cells.

Of that turnover by number, 86 percent would be blood cells, mostly erythrocytes (red blood cells, the most abundant cell type in the body) and neutrophils (the most abundant type of white blood cell). Another 12 percent would be gastrointestinal epithelial cells, with small amounts of skin cells (1.1 percent), endothelial cells that line the blood vessels, and lung cells (0.1 percent each).

Although blood cells make up most of cell turnover in terms of individual cell count, by mass it's a different story. Only 48.6 percent of the mass is blood cells, of all types. Gastrointestinal cells make up another 41 percent. Skin cells make up 4 percent, while adipocytes, or fat cells, which barely registered in cell numbers, make up another 4 percent by mass.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-01182-9

(If you're wondering what happens to all the dead cells, they either get sloughed off, in the case of skin and gastrointestinal cells, and sometimes slurped up by parasites, or broken down and partially recycled by the body. Waste not, want not!)

https://www.sciencealert.com/your-body-makes-4-million-cells-a-seco...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 25, 2021 at 8:36am

Exciting Study on Mouse Immune Cells Reveals How We Might Reverse Cognitive Decline in old age

New research hints at a cause – and possible solution – for some of the ailments and decline that often come with age.

Scientists have long known that cognitive decline as we get older and specific age-related diseases including Alzheimer's  are linked to inflammation, but they are still uncovering precisely why and how this is the case. 

Research published Wednesday in the journal Nature pinpoints the role of a messenger hormone found in much higher levels in older people, and mice, than their younger counterparts.

When the hormone was blocked in older mice, they were able to perform as well as more youthful rodents in tests of their memory and navigation.

The researchers found that higher levels of the hormone affected the metabolism of immune cells called macrophages, prompting them to store energy rather than consume it.

That ends up effectively starving the cells and sends them into a damaging inflammatory hyperdrive that contributes to age-related cognitive decline and several age-related diseases.

The hormone, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), "is a major regulator of all types of inflammation, both good and bad, and its effect depends on the receptor that is activated. This new study identified the EP2 receptor... as the receptor that leads to energy depletion and maladaptive inflammation.

Older mice that received the compounds or had the receptor deleted from their genes performed as well as young mice when tested for navigation and spatial memory, both of which deteriorate with ageing and diseases like Alzheimer's.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03160-0

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-study-on-mice-immune-cells-reveals-a...

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Researchers create new form of cultivated meat

McMaster researchers have developed a new form of cultivated meat using a method that promises more natural flavor and texture than other alternatives to traditional meat from animals.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 24, 2021 at 3:11pm

The Blanket Octopus and it's AMAZING Blanket!!

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