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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 28, 2021 at 8:48am

COVID-19, not vaccination, presents biggest blood clot risks: study

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 1:46pm

Breaking Bad Chemicals With Bacterial Detoxifiers

India’s landfills are home to tiny environmental detoxifiers—bacteria that transform chemical wastes into harmless substances.

While bacteria get a bad rap as disease-causing agents, some of these tiny organisms may just be the rescuers of the environment. An international team found that bacteria from Indian landfills could detoxify chemical wastes called hexabromocyclodecane (HBCD), publishing their study in Chemosphere.

For a long time, industrial production has been a major culprit of environmental pollution, releasing hazardous waste like HBCD. At peak production, HBCD hit scales of 10,000 tons a year as a flame retardant used in textile manufacturing and integrated in plastics for electronic devices.

By the time the chemical was banned worldwide in 2014, the damage had been done. As a long-lived environmental toxin, HBCD had already seeped into sewages, soil and the air—found even in the food chain and consequently, in human blood samples and breast milk.

Given HBCD’s persistence in the surroundings, researchers have been searching for ways to detoxify the chemical pollution from the past to create a cleaner future. Scientists from the University of Delhi and the India Habitat Center, together with collaborators from Sweden, found a solution from nature itself—showing that Sphingobium indicum bacteria inhabiting India’s landfills could digest these chemicals.

The detoxifying abilities of these bacteria come from an enzyme called LinA, which is involved in metabolizing another now-banned insecticide and chemical sibling of HBCD. Known as biological catalysts, enzymes speed up reactions like the breakdown of chemicals.

On the designated binding site, the toxin attaches itself to LinA, similar to a key being inserted into a lock. HBCD rapidly splits up into non-toxic fragments, which are then released to make room for the next chemical to latch onto the enzyme’s binding site.

By genetically modifying the bacteria, the team also altered the structure of the enzymes they produced. While LinA enzymes are highly selective about the molecules they can accept on the binding site, the genetic changes led to a more spacious site for accommodating larger chemicals.

According to the researchers, these experiments highlight the possibility of designing enzymes that can degrade other toxins besides HBCD. Through modifying biological structures, biotransformation may be key to engineering useful bacterial enzymes for remediating heavily polluted environments.

 Heeb et al. (2021) Transformation of ε-HBCD with the Sphingobium indicum Enzymes LinA1, LinA2 and LinATM, a Triple Mutant of LinA2.

https://www.asianscientist.com/2021/08/in-the-lab/bacteria-chemical...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 12:14pm

Female hummingbirds avoid harassment by looking as flashy as males

Much like in human society, female hummingbirds have taken it into their own hands to avoid harassment. By watching white-necked Jacobin hummingbirds in Panama, researchers discovered that over a quarter of females have the same brightly colored ornamentation as males, which helps them avoid aggressive male behaviors during feeding, such as pecking and body slamming. This paper appears August 26 in the journal Current Biology.

All of the Jacobin  juvenile females  had showy colors. For birds that's really unusual because you usually find that when the males and females are different the juveniles usually look like the adult females, not the adult males, and that's true almost across the board for birds. It was unusual to find one where the juveniles looked like the males. So it was clear something was at play.

Male white-necked Jacobin hummingbirds are known to have bright and flashy colors, with iridescent blue heads, bright white tails, and white bellies. Female Jacobins, on the other hand, tend to be drabber in comparison, with a muted green, gray, or black colors that allow them to blend into their environment. Researchers, however, found that around 20% of adult females have showy colors like males.

As juveniles, all females have the showy colors, but this 20% of females doesn't change to the muted color as they age. It is not clear whether this phenomenon is genetic, by the choice of the hummingbird, or due to environmental factors. However, the researchers found that it is probably the result of the female hummingbirds trying to evade harassment, including detrimental aggression during mating or feeding.

To learn why some female hummingbirds kept their showy colors, the researchers set up a scenario with stuffed hummingbirds on feeders and watched as real hummingbirds interacted with them. They found that hummingbirds harassed mainly the muted colored female hummingbirds, which is in favor of the hypothesis that the showy colors are caused by social selection. Furthermore, most females had showy colors during their juvenile period and not during their reproductive period. This means that the only time they had showy colors is precisely during the period when they're not looking for mates. In combination with other results from the study, this indicates that it is not sexual selection causing the phenomenon.

Current Biology, Falk et al.: "Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection" www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(21)01033-2 , DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.043

https://phys.org/news/2021-08-female-hummingbirds-flashy-males.html...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 11:59am

Migraines protect against diabetes

Migraines protect against diabetes!

People who get migraines are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, while some people who develop diabetes become less prone to migraines. Today, scientists studying the link between these conditions report how the peptides that cause migraine pain can influence production of insulin in mice, possibly by regulating the amount of secreted insulin or by increasing the number of pancreatic cells that produce it. These findings could improve methods to prevent or treat diabetes.

Researchers already knew that two peptides in the nervous system—calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)—play a major role in causing the pain of migraines. These same peptides, along with the related peptide amylin, are also found in the pancreas. There, they influence release of insulin from beta cells.

Insulin regulates blood sugar levels by helping other cells in the body absorb glucose and either store it or use it for energy. In type 2 diabetes, those other cells become resistant to insulin and less capable of absorbing glucose, leading to high blood sugar levels. The beta cells initially compensate by ramping up insulin production but eventually wear themselves out and die, exacerbating the issue.

Because CGRP and PACAP can seemingly protect against diabetes, researchers worry that the anti-CGRP and anti-PACAP treatments under development or already on the market for migraine could have the unintended consequence of increasing the risk of diabetes. In addition, these peptides are involved in numerous other beneficial functions in the body, such as blood vessel dilation. So scientists are also exploring the potential risks of altering the peptides' activity.

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2021/augu...

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-migraines-diabetes.html?utm_...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 11:53am

Plant roots and animals embryos rely on the same chemical for successful development

What do frog eggs have in common with anti-aging creams? Their success depends on a group of chemical compounds called retinoids, which are capable of generating and re-generating tissues. A new study in plants shows that retinoids' tissue-generating capacities are also responsible for the appropriate development of roots.

In a new study, appearing August 26 in the journal Science, a research team led by Alexandra Dickinson, assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego, and Philip Benfey, the Paul Kramer Distinguished Professor of Biology at Duke University, identifies the compound that plays a key role in triggering the development of plants' lateral roots.

The research team had a good suspect: retinal, a type of retinoid, looked like it would fit the bill.

In humans, as well as all vertebrate animals, turning a fertilized egg into an embryo with a little beating heart requires that stem cells differentiate, specialize, and generate specific tissues, such as bones, blood vessels and a nervous system. This process is kickstarted and regulated by retinal. Animals can't produce their own retinal, though, they must ingest it from plants, or from animals that eat plants.

"We know plants have the ability to produce this compound, that it's very important for animal development, and so it was very tempting to check its role in plant development as well.

A plant lipocalin promotes retinal-mediated oscillatory lateral root initiation, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abf7461

https://phys.org/news/2021-08-roots-animals-embryos-chemical-succes...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 11:43am

Study identifies nearly 600 genetic loci associated with anti-social behavior, alcohol use, opioid addiction and more

An analysis of data from 1.5 million people has identified 579 locations in the genome associated with a predisposition to different behaviors and disorders related to self-regulation, including addiction and child behavioral problems.

With these findings, researchers have constructed a genetic risk score—a number reflecting a person's overall genetic propensity based on how many risk variants they carry—that predicts a range of behavioral, medical and social outcomes, including education levels, obesity, opioid use disorder, suicide, HIV infections, criminal convictions and unemployment.

[This study] illustrates that genes don't code for a particular disorder or outcome; there are no genes 'for' substance use disorder, or 'for' behavior problems. Instead, genes influence the way our brains are wired, which can make us more at risk for certain outcomes. In this case, we find that there are genes that broadly influence self-control or impulsivity, and that this predisposition then confers risk for a variety of life outcomes.

Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction, Nature Neuroscience (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00908-3 , www.nature.com/articles/s41593-021-00908-3

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-genetic-loci-anti-social-beh...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 10:38am

 researchers to identify a new class of planets, Hycean planets, with massive planet-wide oceans beneath hydrogen-rich atmospheres. Hycean planets can be up to 2.6 times larger than Earth and have atmospheric temperatures up to nearly 200 degrees Celsius, but their oceanic conditions could be similar to those conducive for microbial life in Earth's oceans. Such planets also include tidally locked 'dark' Hycean worlds that may have habitable conditions only on their permanent night sides, and 'cold' Hycean worlds that receive little radiation from their stars.

Planets of this size dominate the known exoplanet population, although they have not been studied in nearly as much detail as super-Earths. Hycean worlds are likely quite common, meaning that the most promising places to look for life elsewhere in the Galaxy may have been hiding in plain sight.

However, size alone is not enough to confirm whether a planet is Hycean: other aspects such as mass, temperature and atmospheric properties are required for confirmation.

https://phys.org/news/2021-08-class-habitable-exoplanets-big-life.h...

part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 27, 2021 at 10:37am

New class of habitable exoplanets represent a big step forward in the search for life

A new class of exoplanet very different to our own, but which could support life, has been identified by astronomers, which could greatly accelerate the search for life outside our Solar System.

In the search for life elsewhere, astronomers have mostly looked for planets of a similar size, mass, temperature and atmospheric composition to Earth. However, astronomers  now think there are more promising possibilities out there.

The researchers have identified a new class of habitable planets, dubbed 'Hycean' planets—hot, ocean-covered planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres—which are more numerous and observable than Earth-like planets.

The researchers say the results, reported in The Astrophysical Journal, could mean that finding biosignatures of life outside our Solar System within the next two or three years is a real possibility.

Many of the prime Hycean candidates identified by the researchers are bigger and hotter than Earth, but still have the characteristics to host large oceans that could support microbial life similar to that found in some of Earth's most extreme aquatic environments.

These planets also allow for a far wider habitable zone, or 'Goldilocks zone', compared to Earth-like planets. This means that they could still support life even though they lie outside the range where a planet similar to Earth would need to be in order to be habitable.

Habitability and Biosignatures of Hycean Worlds, Astrophysical Journal (2021). doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abfd9c

part1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 26, 2021 at 11:40am

Protecting gardens and crops from insects using the 'smell of fear'

For home gardeners and farmers, herbivorous insects present a major threat to their hard work and crop yields. The predator insects that feed on these bugs emit odors that pests can sense, which changes the pests' behavior and even their physiology to avoid being eaten. With bugs becoming more resistant to traditional pesticides, researchers now report they have developed a way to bottle the "smell of fear" produced by predators to repel and disrupt destructive insects naturally without the need for harsh substances.

Smell of fear: Harnessing predatory insect odor cues as a pest management tool for herbivorous insects, ACS Fall 2021.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 26, 2021 at 11:36am

YouTube says it removed 1mn 'dangerous' videos on COVID-19

YouTube said Wednesday it has removed more than one million videos with "dangerous coronavirus misinformation" since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

YouTube said in a blog post it relies on "expert consensus from health organizations," including the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, but noted that, in some cases, "misinformation is less clear-cut" as new facts emerge.

YouTube said it was working to accelerate the process for removing videos with misinformation while simultaneously delivering those from authoritative sources.

IANS

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